topleft05.jpg (18208 bytes)HOMILY
 Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)
28 September 03



With the beginning of the new school year just underway, a lot of people
especially students and their parentsare directing their attention upon teachers.  We’re still “sizing them up,” so to speak, perhaps to see if teachers are going live up to our hopes and expectationsas high as we’ve set themor down to our suspicions and fearsas deep as they may be.

With the eyes of students and parents focused squarely upon them, teachers surely are subject to a lot of intense private and public scrutiny.  And while every student wants to have and every parent wants each of their children to have a “good” teacher (and, by the way, most students and parents believe they know infallibly what that means although frequently that is not known until after years pass), we all know that teachers are human beings, just like parents.  For the most part, teachers are well-intentioned, hard working, and proficient in all that they do in their classrooms.  At the same time, we all know that teachers are not perfect and, just like you and me, have their strengths and weaknesses, good and bad moments, and ups and downs as well.

What all of us hope and expectand I believe this counts for most teachers as wellis that their strengths and good moments and ups far outweigh their weaknesses and bad moments and downs so that every student benefits by participating in every teacher’s classroom.  At the same time, what most of us are suspicious of and fear is that a teacher may have that one horribly bad moment causing a student the type of harm which, when it happens, seems almost impossible to repair and sometimes results in an emotional scar that is very difficult to overcome and only after a very long time, if ever.

In today’s gospel, Jesus likens discipleship to being a teacher.  And in this particular lesson, Jesus doesn’t focus upon good teachers but bad teachers and, in particular, how failure in the role of teacher of the faith and morals is a very bad thing not only for the student but, even more so, for the disciple whose responsibility and obligation is to teach faith and morals.  Listen to what Jesus says:

“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.”

Whether we like it or not, that’s you and me Jesus is talking about!  And, he isn’t painting a very pretty portrait if, through our words and actions, we cause any “little one” to sin.  Jesus tells us that we’d be better off dead at the bottom of a lake than that place where our failure will lead us.  “Better for you to enter into the kingdom of God…,” Jesus says, “…than…to be thrown into Gehenna….”

Now, Gehenna isn’t quite the vision of Hell our imagination conjures up of the eternal Inferno Dante portrayed so vividly and graphically in his Divine Comedy.

Unfortunately, it’s worse.

For the ancient Jews, Gehenna conjured up vivid and graphic memories as well as the putrid stench of the Valley of Hinnom which ran to the south and west of Jerusalem.  The valley had a long history, dating back to the ancient times, when Israel’s kings allowed child sacrifice and one king actually sacrificed his own children in that valley.  Recall early in Israel’s history how God stayed Abraham’s hand from slaying his son, Isaac.  For ancient Israel, this was a crucial turning point in their faith and moral development as God’s Chosen People.  For the ancient Jews, faith and morality did not require that a father offer one’s first born son to God as the gods of their neighbors demanded; no, faith in the One, True, and Living God required listening to His voice in the events of one’s life and walking the pathway that led away from the security of Haran and into the insecurity of the unknown future trusting always in God, just as Abraham did.

Over many generations, the Jews came to view the Valley of Hinnom as the dwelling place of Evil, a good for nothing place, fit only to serve as a garbage dump.  It was here that the city burned its rubbish.  But, it was also the place where the bodies of executed criminals and dead animals were sent to be incinerated.  The fires burned constantly.  And, when the winds shifted from the northwest to the southwest, the putrid stench of the maggot-infested rot filling the Valley of Hinnom permeated all of Jerusalem.  Hence, we heard Jesus’ reference to Gehenna as the inferno where the where ‘their worm [the maggot] does not die, and the fire is not quenched.’ ”

During his three years of public ministry, Jesus taught many things and he spoke to his disciples about many sins.  But, Jesus was never this threateningas we heard todaywhen he talked about a disciple giving scandal and, through one’s words or actions, leading any “little one” to sin.

In this teaching, Jesus tells his disciples that giving scandal warrants a particular death penalty utilized by the Romans, namely, drowning.  But, one’s death sentence didn’t terminate in one’s drowning.  No, at some point after having drowned, the criminal’s body would inevitably rise to the surface (somewhat like the Lacy Peterson case), only then be thrown into the unquenchable fire of Gehenna.  Drowning, then, wasn’t one’s wretched end; no, burning was the end, reducing the criminal to nothingness.  The inferno permanently erased the criminal from the face of the earth; in effect, one’s life had no meaning whatsoever and there’d be no trace left of one’s existence.

The Valley of Hinnom was the fate awaiting any disciple who gives scandal or, as Jesus described this, it would be better for a disciple to go to heaven without a hand, a foot, or an eye than to it would be for a disciple to risk drowning, immolation, and nothingness.

While parents oftentimes are quick to wonder about and to challenge those who teach their children, parents aren’t so quick to wonder about and to challenge themselves in their role as the primary teachers of their children in the matters of faith and morals.  Parents oftentimes are quick to scrutinize and question a teacher’s approach or methods, but aren’t as quick to scrutinize and question their approach or methods in raising their children in the matters of faith and morality.

Jesus’ teaching in today’s gospel challenges parents to think about how they might give scandal and how they might cause their “little ones” to sin, never once giving any thought to the fate Jesus described awaiting those disciples who happen to be parents.

Today’s Epistle provides all of usand, early in this new school year, parents, in particularsome helpful images to spur a little examination of conscience.

“Your wealth has rotted away, your clothes have become moth-eaten, your gold and silver have corroded…,” St. James wrote to the Christian community in Jerusalem.

Consider for a moment everything you havenot everything you wantand note that St. James isn’t condemning having wealth and clothes but the fact that these material possessions corrode and decay.  When we place more value in acquiring possessions than we do in acquiring holiness, we corrode and decay as our possessions devour our flesh, as St. James says, “like a fire” which leaves nothing but ashes behind.  Undoubtedly, the images of Gehenna and the Valley of Hinnom weren’t far from the mind of St. James or those early Christians who lived in Jerusalem.  And, these images shouldn’t be far from our minds as well.

But, what is the scandal here?  And how do parents as “bad teachers” promote scandal that causes “little ones” to sin?

It happens in not too subtle ways.

Think about all of the things we’ve really wanted and sometimes actually believed we couldn’t live without.  Remember, as kids, how we begged, cried, cajoled, pitched a hissy fit, or perhaps even stole to get what we wanted?  But, we got it and we enjoyed it.  That is, until the next thing came along.  Once again, we begged, cried, cajoled, pitched a hissy fit, or perhaps even stole to get what we wanted so badly.  We got it and we enjoyed it.  And, this spiral of desire began to take root in our souls.

Here’s where scandal slowly began to enter the picture.

Armed with our new “toy,” the old “toy” no longer gave us the pleasure we once experienced.  We cast it aside or we put it where we no longer could see it, perhaps in a box in the closet or in a secluded and dark corner of the attic or basement.

Then, we amassed more and more toys until our closets, attics, or basements were teeming over with the cornucopia of unbridled avarice that no longer provided any pleasure.  We had acquired so many toys that we decided to host a garage sale or yard sale in the hope that we could make money from the sale of our junk and, then, could buy the new toys our hearts desired.

But, we never gave one thought to the providing for the needs of the poor and the destitute.  Or, we gave our leftover junk to the Salvation Army or Catholic Charities and claimed an income tax deduction for our “heroic” generosity.  Or, too busy to host that garage sale or yard sale or to give our junk to the Salvation Army or Catholic Charities, we bagged it all up in heavy duty, forty gallon, plastic trash bags for Mascaro’s to haul away to the trash incinerator in Norristown.

So, here’s the scandal these bad teachers are giving to the “little ones”: instead of teaching their children about their absolute obligation to provide for the needs of the poor and the destitute, these parents have taught their “little ones” instead how to use charity to benefit themselves.  Instead of teaching their children how to give of their time and to give selflessly of the first fruitsthe bestof their labors, these bad teachers have taught their “little ones” to give the poor and destitute what they’d otherwise cast away.  Instead of touching the poor and destitute, these bad teachers have taught their children to keep the poor and destitute at arm’s length by giving of their largesse not anything that causes pain.  And, worse yet, these bad teachers have taught their children this is what the holiness of Jesus’ disciples consists in.

That’s the scandal!

To all of this, St. James says: “You have lived on earth in luxury and pleasure; you have fattened your hearts for the day of slaughter.”

Now, to this point, we’ve only considered our material possessions.  What about our religious behavior?

How often do parents find themselves teaching their children that holiness consists of certain religious behaviors which the parents fail to exhibit in their own lives?  It’s real easy to give lip service to daily prayer, isn’t it?  But, how often do parents actually lead their children in prayer in the morning? at the dinner table? before going to bed each night?   That’s to say nothing about reading the scripture with their children.  Forget about that.  How often do parents read scripture for themselves and make reference to God’s word in the decisions they make so, as the primary teachers of their children in the matters of faith and morals, parents model to their children the importance of God’s word in their daily lives?

Material possessions and religious behaviors can give scandal.  But, what about our religious attitudes?

How many of parents pay lip service to fulfilling their Sunday obligation as Catholics but don’t participate in the Mass, read the bulletin during the homily, or don’t become engaged in any way whatsoever in the Mass?  How many of parents believe that it’s up to the teachers in Catholic schools or CCD programs to provide instruction in faith and morals yet haven’t themselves engaged in any religious education since graduating from Catholic school or CCD?  Or, when confronted with a difficulty with a child, how many of parents think first about paying a psychologist for a professional opinion than consulting the pastor for a spiritual opinion?

As Jesus’ disciples, the scandal is not the hypocrisy evident in the disjoint between pious words and the lack of piety in one’s actions.  No, as bad as that is, the true scandal is how parents teach their children that prayer, scripture, religious practices, and religious attitudes aren’t important and have no relevance to daily life as we really live it at home.  And this scandal becomes apparent as parents lead their children, the “little ones,” down the pathway that renders holiness of life irrelevant to how Jesus’ disciples live each day of their lives.

 “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin,” Jesus says, “it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.”

I don’t know about you, but I find this to be a very difficult teaching.  It’s difficult not only for parents in their role as the primary teachers of their children in matters of faith and moral but also for each and every one of us in our role as baptized disciples.  This teaching cuts straight to the corethrough all of our rationalizationsand puts each of us on notice not only about what discipleship requires of us as teachers of the faith and morals but also alerts us to the fate awaiting us when we do not teach as Jesus did.

Some pretty tough stuff, no?

The good news is that the awareness of how we cause scandal—made evident to us through a careful examination of conscience rooted in Jesus’ teaching—provides the opportunity to become more single-minded and tireless in our efforts to teach as Jesus did.  Awareness that we have fallen short of our responsibilities and obligations as disciples is not something to fear nor is it something that we need be ashamed of.  No, the awareness of our failures is be a moment of grace through we can turn to God and ask Him to forgive us and to strengthen us not only to practice what we preach but also that we do not lead others astray or place obstacles in their way, especially those “little ones” God has entrusted to our ministry as teachers of the faith and morality.

 

 

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