Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle B

MARK 1:21-28

SOME OF US REMEMBER BISHOP FULTON SHEEN, WHO WAS A FAMOUS TELEVISION PREACHER. YOU CAN FIND A LOT OF HIS SERMONS ON YOU TUBE IF YOU ARE INTERESTED. AFTER HE WAS ORDAINED HE OBTAINED A DOCTORATE IN PHILOSOPHY AND WON THE CARDINAL MERCEIR PRIZE FOR HIS THESIS, WHICH WAS A GREAT HONOR. WHEN HE RETURNED TO THE US, HE TAUGHT IN A SEMINARY. ONE DAY HE GAVE A SERMON, AND AFTERWARD ONE SEMINARIAN SAID TO HIM, “THAT WAS THE MOST BRILLIANT SERMON I'VE EVER HEARD!” “WHAT DID YOU LIKE ABOUT IT?” SAID FATHER SHEEN. “OH, I DIDN'T UNDERSTAND IT AT ALL,” SAID THE SEMINARIAN, “BUT I COULD TELL IT WAS BRILLIANT.” FATHER SHEEN DECIDED THEN AND THERE TO WORK ON SIMPLIFYING HIS SERMONS, AND THE REST IS HISTORY.

IT'S ALWAYS NICE TO HEAR THAT SOMEONE LIKED YOUR SERMON. BUT I THINK MOST PREACHERS LEARN THAT IF SOMEONE TELLS YOU HE LIKED YOUR SERMON, YOU SHOULDN'T ASK HIM WHY. BECAUSE PEOPLE ALMOST NEVER LIKE YOUR SERMON BECAUSE OF THE POINT YOU WERE TRYING TO MAKE. THEY LIKED A STORY YOU TOLD, OR MAYBE A PHRASE THAT RANG A BELL. IN FACT, ONCE I WAS STANDING AT THE DOOR AFTER A MASS FOR WHICH I HAD SERVED, BUT DID NOT PREACH, AND A PARISHONER TOLD ME HE LIKED MY SERMON. I THANKED HIM. THAT WAS THE EASY WAY OUT.

IN MARK'S GOSPEL WE HEAR THAT JESUS WENT INTO THE SYNAGOGUE AND TAUGHT. THE PEOPLE WERE ASTONISHED AT HIS TEACHING. BUT WE HAVE NO IDEA WHAT HE TALKED ABOUT IN HIS SERMON. MAYBE MARK DIDN'T EITHER. MAYBE IT'S AN OCCUPATIONAL HAZARD. PEOPLE WHO HEAR SERMONS DON'T OFTEN REMEMBER THEM. THE ONLY REASON WE REMEMBER A SERMON IS BECAUSE SOMEONE HEARD IT AND WROTE IT DOWN.

SO WHY DON'T WE JUST WRITE DOWN OUR SERMONS SO YOU COULD TAKE THEM HOME AND READ THEM AT YOUR LEISURE? IT WOULD SHORTEN THE MASS, AND IF YOU WANTED TO REALLY SPEND TIME DIGESTING THE SERMON YOU COULD. AFTER ALL, NOW THAT EVERYONE CAN READ, LISTENING TO A SERMON SEEMS SORT OF ANTIQUATED.

SO WHAT'S GOING ON? WELL, IT HAS TO DO A WITH A SIMPLE PHRASE IN THE NEW MASS. WHEN A PRIEST OR DEACON SAYS, “THE LORD BE WITH YOU,” WE USED TO SAY, “AND ALSO WITH YOU.” THAT ALMOST SOUNDS LIKE “HAVE A GOOD DAY.” AND “SAME TO YOU.” BUT NOW WE SAY, “AND WITH YOUR SPIRIT.” WHEN THE PRIEST OR DEACON SAYS, “THE LORD BE WITH YOU,” HE IS ABOUT TO START A PRAYER ON BEHALF OF THE CONGREGATION, OR PROCLAIM THE GOSPEL. HE PRAYS THAT THE LORD COMES INTO OUR MIDST TO PRAY WITH US, OR TO HELP US HEAR THE GOSPEL. THE PEOPLE REPLY, “AND WITH YOUR SPIRIT.” CARDINAL GEORGE SAYS THAT WE ARE REFERRING TO THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST, WHO COMES TO AN INDIVIDUAL IN A SPECIAL WAY THROUGH ORDINATION. WHEN WE SAY “AND WITH YOUR SPIRIT” WE ARE REMINDING EACH OTHER THAT REGARDLESS OF THE MINISTER PERFORMING A LITURGICAL PART, IT IS REALLY CHRIST WHO LEADS OUR LITURGY. WE HAVE THIS EXCHANGE FIVE TIMES DURING MASS, AND EACH TIME WE ARE PRAYING THAT WE WILL ENCOUNTER CHRIST IN THE ACTION TO FOLLOW.

AND THAT GOES FOR THE SERMON AS WELL. THE PURPOSE OF THE SERMON IS NOT TO TEACH, ALTHOUGH IF YOU LEARN SOMETHING, THAT'S GREAT. IT IS NOT TO FIRE YOU UP, ALTHOUGH IF YOU LEAVE WITH A LITTLE MORE ENTHUSIASM FOR PRACTICING YOUR FAITH, THAT'S WONDERFUL. THE PURPOSE OF THE SERMON IS TO CONNECT YOU, AND I, MORE CLOSELY TO CHRIST. AND THAT ISN'T ACCOMPLISHED BY THE SKILL OF THE PREACHER, OR HOW CAREFULLY YOU LISTEN, BUT BY THE HOLY SPIRIT. THE WORST SERMON I EVER HEARD WAS IN A CHAPEL ON THE CAMPUS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF DALLAS. IT WAS DELIVERED BY AN ELDERLY PRIEST WHO I THINK HAD LUNG CANCER, AND IT WENT ON FOR 50 MINUTES. IT WANDERED THROUGH DENSE AND DEEP PHILOSOPHY AND THEOLOGY, AND WAS DELIVERED IN A MONOTONE, INTERRUPTED BY LOTS OF COUGHING. I COULDN'T TELL YOU WHAT THAT SERMON WAS ABOUT, BUT TO THIS DAY MY MIND GOES BACK TO THE PRIEST, AND I THINK ABOUT HOW HE HAD GIVEN HIS WHOLE LIFE TO CHRIST. AND I HOPE SOMEDAY I WILL LOVE JESUS AS MUCH AS HE MUST HAVE. I BELIEVE THAT SERMON BROUGHT ME CLOSER TO JESUS. BUT THAT'S AN EXTREME. EVERY HOMILY CAN CONNECTING US WITH CHRIST. THAT'S BECAUSE JESUS SPEAKS THROUGH THE MINISTER, UNWORTHY AND CLUMSY AS HE MIGHT BE.

AND THAT'S WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THE GOSPEL TODAY. THE PEOPLE WHO HEARD HIS TEACHING WERE ASTOUNDED. THEY WERE USED TO SCRIBES, WHO TAUGHT WHAT THEY HAD PREVIOUSLY BEEN TAUGHT. THEY GAVE FOOTNOTES, AND REFERRED TO WHAT OTHER PEOPLE HAD SAID ABOUT THE TOPIC. BUT JESUS TAUGHT IN A WAY THAT ASTONISHED PEOPLE. BEING ASTONISHED IS NOT AN INTELLECTUAL EVENT; IT IS AN EMOTIONAL, EVEN A SPIRITUAL EVENT. THE DEMON DRIVEN OUT OF THE POSSESSED MAN WAS ASTONISHED AS WELL. THE WORDS AND ACTIONS OF JESUS REVEALED TO THE DEMON THAT JESUS WAS THE HOLY ONE OF GOD. AND THE PEOPLE WHO LISTENED TO HIS TEACHING THAT DAY HAD A TOUCH OF REVELATION THEMSELVES. THEY CAME TO KNOW JESUS THROUGH HIS TEACHING, AND THROUGH HIS ACTIONS. AND SOME OF THEM DEVELOPED THAT CONNECTION THAT WE ALL WANT, THAT UNION WITH JESUS OUR SAVIOR.

NEXT TIME YOU REACH THE POINT IN THE HOLY SACRIFICE OF THE MASS WHEN THE PRIEST OR DEACON PREACHES, DON'T READ THE BULLETIN; DON'T LET YOUR MIND WANDER OFF TO WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO DO WITH THE REST OF YOUR DAY. OPEN YOURSELF UP TO THE GRACES OF THE EVENT, THE GRACES THAT YOU PRAYED FOR WHEN YOU ASKED THAT THE LORD BE WITH HIS SPIRIT, SO THAT HIS SERMON WOULD BE AN INSTRUMENT OF GRACE, A MOMENT WHEN YOU AND THE SAVIOR WOULD CONNECT. AND LET THOSE PRAYERS BE FULFILLED. SOMETHING IN THAT MOMENT WILL TOUCH YOU; IT MAY HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH WHAT IS SAID, OR IT MAY COME ABOUT IN SPITE OF WHAT IS SAID.

A GREAT SERMON CAN BE A WORK OF ART; IT CAN BE A STIMULUS TO THE INTELLECT; IT CAN MOVE PEOPLE TO GO ON A CRUSADE. BUT IF A SERMON DOESN'T BRING YOU AND I TO CLOSER JESUS CHRIST, IF IT DOESN'T REVEAL SOMETHING OF HIS PERSON TO US, IF IT DOESN'T CHANGE US FOR THE BETTER IN SOME WAY, THEN IT WAS A FAILURE.