Curated homily anecdotes and with videos from Fr. Tony Kadavil related to Sunday’s readings; Also includes Fr. Tony’s commentary, and Children illustrations/object sermons.
Once the people of Chile and Argentina argued over the boundary between their two countries. Later, they agreed to live at peace and erected a statue to remind them of that agreement. The Argentine sculptor melted down cannons from his country’s army to form a statue of Christ. It stands today in the Andes Mountains on the border between the two countries. One hand of Christ holds a cross while the other is raised in a blessing.
For Christ is that agent of transforming power who changes hostilities into peace, injustices into brotherhood, and sufferings into a life with purpose.
Studies have shown that hugging communicates tenderness, gentleness, caring-ness –behaviors essential for healing of both body and soul. Hugging, they say, relieves many physical and emotional problems, helps people live longer, maintains health, relieves stress, and promotes sleep. The studies also show that hemoglobin, the portion of blood that carries oxygen, increases significantly when people are touched.
There’s your answer for those who say the Peace Exchange is artificial! And it certainly gives husbands and wives, parents and children, and significant others good reason to hug and hug and hug!
The Menninger Institute in Topeka, Kansas once had a fascinating experiment. They identified a group of crib babies who did not cry. Let me explain. It seems that babies cry because they instinctively know that that is the way to get attention. Crying is their way of calling out.
These babies, however, had been in abusive situations. Their parents let them cry for hours on end and never responded. Do you know what happened? The babies eventually quit crying. It was almost as though they knew that it was not worth trying.
So the Menninger Institute came in for an experiment. They got some people from retirement and even nursing homes, and every day these people held these babies and rocked them. The object was to get these children to start crying again. And you know, it worked. Physical touch had made the difference.
Perhaps Henri Nouwen, the Catholic theologian, has said this better than anyone else. The author of many books, Nouwen speaks of Christians as “wounded healers” who have compassion.
Compassion is not pity. Pity lets us stay at a distance. It is condescending. Compassion is not sympathy. Sympathy is for superiors to give to inferiors. Compassion is not charity. Charity is for the rich to continue in their status over the poor. Compassion is born of God. It means entering into the other person’s problems. It means taking on the burdens of the other. It means standing in the other person’s shoes. It is the opposite of professionalism. It is the humanizing way to deal with people.
“Just as bread without love can bring war instead of peace, professionalism without compassion will turn forgiveness into a gimmick.”
As members of the Church, we are not excused from our vocation to be healers. When a friend of ours is terminally ill, the skill of the doctors and their advanced medical tools often become powerless. What the patient needs in such a situation is our care, concern, and prayerful presence, enabling them to experience through us the love, compassion and mercy of Jesus. We do our share of Christ’s healing mission by visiting the sick, by praying for their healing, and by boosting their morale through our loving presence, encouragement, support, and inspiration.
In Thornton Wilder’s play, Our Town, Emily Webb comes back from the dead to the town of her childhood. There she finds all her long-dead acquaintances alive and her mother and father, too. The town is still the same as she remembers it when she was a child — except for one thing.
The sheer beauty and wonder of everything she sees is overwhelming. Every sight and sound, every gesture of love, each tender grace between friends is almost too much for her to bear. She had never realized the miracle of her life when she was living it.
Martin College in Pulaski, Tennessee has one of the oldest cemeteries in the state in Pulaski, dated back to 1810-1850. They have made a park of it and placed all of the tombstones where they can be easily read. It is heart-wrenching to see that one out of three graves is that of a child, a stark reminder of the incredible infant mortality rate in those rugged days.
But I noticed something else. On almost every tombstone of a child, there is chiseled on the bottom of the stone Jesus’ words: “The child is not dead but asleep.” It was then that I realized how many tens of thousands of parents throughout the last 2,000 years have taken so much comfort from these words. These are words of hope.
Pat Kelly, a major league outfielder in the ’70s, was a born-again Christian. One day Pat said to his manager, Earl Weaver, “Aren’t you glad I walk with the Lord, Earl?” Weaver replied, “I’d rather you walked with the bases loaded.”
Sports are popular because they are a metaphor for our life experience. You win some, you lose some. Sometimes you feel like the champion of the world. Sometimes you just feel beaten up.
Dr. Granger Westberg, the founder of Wholistic Medicine, Inc., Chicago, Illinois, asks this question when he talks to nurses, doctors, and pastors: “What is the healthiest hour of the week?” How would you answer that question?
Dr. Westberg surprises many people by answering, “The hour of worship on Sunday morning.” Why is that true? In order to answer that question we need to consider two other questions which Dr. Westberg often puts to his audiences: (1) What is the major factor in sickness? and (2) What is the major factor in health? How would you answer those questions
One medical study shows that the major cause of sickness is desiring revenge. Dr. Westberg quotes a survey of stroke patients most of whom admitted that there was someone against whom they felt a significant desire for revenge. In many cases, that desire for revenge is a repressed feeling, an attitude instead of an expressed action. That same medical study shows that the major factor in staying healthy is gratitude.
Joseph Stalin, dictator of Soviet Russia from 1924 to 1953, was an ex-Christian who had become an utter materialist. After his death, even the Russian Communists reversed his ruthless policies that had led to the “liquidation” (a nice word for killing) of millions of people who got in his way. Materialistic dictators think in terms of power, and power usually means armies and weapons. When the papacy was brought into international diplomatic discussion in the 1930’s, Stalin asked how many divisions of soldiers the Holy Father had at his disposal. Winston Churchill told the story in his memoirs, The Second World War. It seems that in 1935 France signed a vague agreement with Soviet Russia to give mutual assistance against aggression. French Premier Pierre Laval followed up the treaty with a visit to Moscow, during which he discussed politics with Stalin. Stalin was anxious to know just how many divisions of soldiers France had on the western front. When Laval had told him, he also brought up another matter that was important to France diplomatically. “Can’t you do something to encourage religion and the Catholics in Russia?” the French premier dared to ask the atheist dictator. “It would help me so much with the Pope.” “Oh” Stalin replied. “The Pope! How many divisions has he got?” Laval knew he had been brushed off. — The only army the Popes have is their small ceremonial Swiss Guard. Militarily, they are powerless. But as a moral force, they are very powerful. The papacy has outlived Hitler, Stalin, and a host of “Strongmen” over the centuries. Popes can say, with St. Paul, “When I am powerless, it is then that I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:10. Today’s second reading.). -Father Robert F. McNamara.
Jesus accepts us as we are. Hence, let us bring our bodily illnesses and spiritual wounds to Jesus for healing. We should pray for healing which will give us spiritual and physical health in every aspect of our lives, so that we may function in perfect harmony with the Will of God, with the people around us, and with the environment. As Christians, we believe that Jesus continues to heal us through human instruments in the medical profession, like doctors, nurses, and medical technicians. Hence, when we go to a doctor, we need to offer a prayer to Christ, the Divine Healer, that we may choose the right doctor, who will make the correct diagnosis, prescribe the correct treatment, and give us the correct medicine. Let us not forget the truth that, over, above and beyond the ability and skill of the greatest human healer, Christ still works wonders of healing. Let us also thank God for the great gift of health and use it for helping those who are sick.
View More Homily Starter Anecdotes compiled by Fr. Tony
Fr. Tony’s 8-minute Homily in 1 page
Today’s readings speak of the gift of life, both physical and spiritual, that God has given us. They urge and challenge us to be grateful for our health in body and soul and to use God’s gifts of life and health responsibly.
The first reading, taken from the Book of Wisdom, tells us that God gave us life and health, and that it was the jealousy of Satan which produced illness and death. The reading also suggests that the goal of our lives on earth is to know, to love, and to serve God here with perfect health in body and soul, and to share God’s immortal life forever. The Responsorial Psalm (Ps 30), celebrates Christ’s victory over death.
The Psalm refrain, “I will praise you Lord, for You have rescued me,” allows us to join the Psalm in thanksgiving, for by Jesus’ Sacrificial death, we, too, have been rescued from spiritual death by having our sins forgiven: “O Lord, You brought me up from the nether world; You preserved me from among those going down into the pit! … At nightfall, weeping enters in, but with the dawn, rejoicing…. You changed my mourning into dancing; O Lord, my God, forever will I give You thanks!”
In the second reading, St. Paul asks the Corinthian Christian community to show to their impoverished, suffering Jewish brothers and sisters in Jerusalem the same generous kindness and compassion Jesus showed in healing all who came to Him believing. Paul asked the Corinthians to be generous in their contributions to a fund being collected for these suffering, starving brothers and sisters. We see that the generosity of Jesus is central in today’s readings as well: Paul describes Jesus’ life, death and Resurrection as “the gracious act of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Today’s Gospel describes two of our Lord’s miracles, the healing of a woman who suffered from a chronic bleeding disease, and the returning of the dead daughter of Jairus to life. These healings teach us that Jesus wills life, full life, for all God’s children. The two healings also reveal Jesus as a generous, kind, compassionate God Who wills that men should live their wholesome lives fully, and they offer us further proof of the Divine power and Infinite mercy of our Savior Jesus. These miracles were worked by Jesus as rewards for the trusting Faith of a synagogue ruler and of a woman with a hemorrhage. Although the Faith of the ruler may have been defective, and the woman’s Faith may have been a bit superstitious, Jesus amply rewarded the Faith they had by granting them health and life.
The only lectionary translation approved for Mass in the United States; also used in Catholic dioceses of the Philippines.
This lectionary translation is used for Mass in dioceses for the majority of the English-speaking world outside the U.S. and Canada.
The Revised Common Lectionary NRSV translation is used in Christian worshp. Text provided by Vanderbilt Divinity School.
TOMORROW'S REFLECTION
EMPATHY: THE HUMAN CONNECTION TO PATIENT CARE (16B OT)
EMPATHY: THE HUMAN CONNECTION TO PATIENT CARE (16B OT)
TRUE VICTORY (15B OT)
ENCLAVE OF RESISTANCE (14B OT)
CHRIST THE REDEEMER OF THE ANDES (13B OT)
THE EDMUND FITZGERALD BURIED IN LAKE SUPERIOR (12B OT)
THE TINY SEED RITA RIZZO (MOTHER ANGELICA) PLANTED (11B OT)
CORPUS CHRISTI PROCESSIONS
ICON OF THE TRINITY BY ANDREI RUBLEV
MOVIE: BEING JOHN MALKOVICH (PENTECOST)
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