{"id":2809,"date":"2014-07-21T18:53:09","date_gmt":"2014-07-21T18:53:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/?page_id=2809"},"modified":"2022-01-12T11:25:35","modified_gmt":"2022-01-12T16:25:35","slug":"b-16th-sunday-in-ordinary-time","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/homilies\/cycle-b\/b-16th-sunday-in-ordinary-time\/","title":{"rendered":"B: 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Weight of Compassion<\/strong><\/h2>\n
July 20, 2003<\/h5>\n

Mark 6:30-34<\/h3>\n

Rabbi Israel of Risbah tells the story of a wealthy and corrupt man who lived most of his life thinking only of himself and not of others.\u00a0 On one particular night, however, when he was returning home in a cold and wet rain, he looked outside of his carriage and saw a local farmer who was stuck with his horses and his wagon in the mud by the side of the road.\u00a0 The rich man thought to himself, \u201cThis is no night for anyone to be stuck outside.\u201d\u00a0 So he uncharacteristicly told his driver to stop, and the two of them got out and hitched their carriage to the wagon of the farmer and pulled him from out of the mud.\u00a0 Then they accompanied him home to his hut.\u00a0 And when the rich man saw the poverty in which the man lived, he gave him a considerable amount of money that helped him save his farm and educate his children.<\/p>\n

Many years later the rich man died and came before the eternal tribunal. God said to him, \u201cNow we must weigh your good deeds against your bad to see whether you might enter into eternal life.\u201d\u00a0 But when all the sins and crimes of that man were placed on the scales of justice, they were so overwhelming that it seemed that there would be no way for his salvation.\u00a0 Then the Angel of Mercy spoke up and said, \u201cLord God Almighty, remember that one night when this man helped the poor farmer who was stuck at the side of the road.\u00a0 That should be placed on the scales.\u201d\u00a0 God agreed.\u00a0 It was placed on the scales, but it was certainly not enough to offset all this man\u2019s wickedness.\u00a0 So the Angel of Mercy thought a bit more and said, \u201cI think it would be fair to also place in this man\u2019s favor all the good that came from that deed:\u00a0 the money that he gave that saved the man\u2019s farm and educated his children, and all\u00a0 the good that has been able to happen because of that.\u201d\u00a0 God agreed.\u00a0 So that, too, was placed upon the scales.\u00a0 But again, it was not nearly enough to budge them.\u00a0 The Angel of Mercy thought a bit more and said, \u201cIt was not only this man that was saved from the side of the road, but also the horses and the wagon.\u00a0 Perhaps we should put those on the scale as well.\u2019\u00a0 God nodded favorably.\u00a0 When they were placed on the scale, it budged just a bit, but still not enough.\u00a0 So one last time the Angel of Mercy said, \u201cIt\u2019s only fair to count in our calculations what this man was saved from.\u00a0 So I suggest that we put all the waste and the mud out of which he was pulled on the scales as well.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cAbsolutely,\u201d God said.\u00a0 When it was done, the scales moved, and the astonished rich man entered into his eternal reward.<\/p>\n

Nothing is more important to God than compassion.\u00a0 Compassion is at the very heart of the Gospel.\u00a0 Jesus shows this clearly today in our gospel selection.\u00a0 For though he is tired and wants to get away from everyone, when he sees the vast crowd, he has compassion on them.\u00a0 In his full humanity he knows their need, their poverty, their confusion.\u00a0 So he puts his agenda aside and ministers to them.<\/p>\n

Compassion is at the heart of the Gospel.\u00a0 Compassion is not simply a feeling.\u00a0 It is a way of looking at life, and it factors into the choices that we make each day.\u00a0 For on each day we face a number of choices in which we need to decide between judgment and compassion.\u00a0 We look at the people that we live with, the people that we love.\u00a0 We know their faults and neuroses.\u00a0 We know what is wrong with them.\u00a0 So we need to choose whether we are going to judge them because they are not the people we would like them to be or have compassion on them because we, too, have shortcomings and failures.<\/p>\n

We get behind an elderly person on the freeway, driving ten miles below the speed limit, and again we have a choice of whether to lean on the horn and yell something out as we pass or have compassion.\u00a0 Compassion allows us to understand that here is a person struggling to stay active and independent, and that we are likely to face that same struggle sometime in our future.\u00a0When we hear of somebody who is stricken by AIDS, we have the choice of judgment against that person because of their carelessness or lifestyle or compassion because we know our own fragility.\u00a0 We know that one way or another we will have to deal with disease and sickness in our own life.\u00a0As we watch the evening news and see Iraqis protesting against American troops in their country, we have the choice of judging them because they\u2019re not thankful for having us remove Saddam Hussein who was oppressing them or having compassion because we understand their decades of oppression and poverty and their desire to self-determine their future.<\/p>\n

Compassion is at the heart of the Gospel.\u00a0 Each day we have a number of choices between judgment and compassion.\u00a0 Both, of course, are necessary.\u00a0 There are times when we must make judgments and live by them.\u00a0 But the call of the Gospel asks us to include compassion in our choices.\u00a0 Our scriptures reveal to us a God who is a God of compassion.\u00a0 One way or another our God finds a way to have mercy prevail.\u00a0 God knows that our judgments, even good judgments, have the tendency to pull people apart, whereas compassion has the power of pulling us together.\u00a0 God knows that the more people in this world who act with compassion, the more likely it is that we will have a world that understands each other, a world in which healing and peace become real and possible.<\/p>\n

So the challenge that comes to us today from the Gospel is to let compassion be a part of the choices we make every day.\u00a0 In\u00a0 doing so we will not only be following the example of Jesus; we will also be making a choice that is the best choice for our own good.\u00a0 Because compassion spreads its benefits on all and calls us together.\u00a0 To be people without compassion is like being like two men sitting in a lifeboat, doing nothing.\u00a0 They are watching as people at the other end of the lifeboat are frantically bailing to keep the boat afloat.\u00a0 The one man says to the other, \u201cThank God that the hole is not at our end of the boat.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Power of Compassion<\/strong><\/h2>\n
July 19, 2009<\/h5>\n

Mark 6: 30 – 34<\/h3>\n

I\u2019d like to say a few words today about compassion.\u00a0 Compassion comes from a Latin word that means to feel with or to suffer with.\u00a0 And upon first glance, compassion might not seem to be that significant or important an activity.\u00a0 After all we can feel with someone but how is that a good thing?\u00a0 How does that help the person or ourselves?\u00a0 It is easy to come to a quick summation of compassion as a kind of sloppy sentimentality towards the weak.<\/p>\n

But if we were to assume that dismissive attitude towards compassion we would find ourselves in disagreement with some of the greatest minds of western civilization.\u00a0 Dietrich Von Bonhoeffer, who marshaled opposition against the Nazi\u2019s during the Second World War said, \u201cWe need to learn to regard people less in light of what they do or fail to do and more in light of what they suffer.\u201d\u00a0 And Arthur Schopenhauer the great German Philosopher has said, \u201cCompassion is the foundation of all morality.\u201d\u00a0 The foundation of all morality\u2014that is pretty strong stuff for feeling with another.\u00a0 So how can we explain this exalted estimation of compassion on behalf of so many people who analyze human nature?<\/p>\n

I think the answer can be found in today\u2019s gospel.\u00a0 Jesus gets out of the boat and sees a vast crowd and \u201che has compassion on them because they are like sheep without a shepherd.\u201d\u00a0 In his full humanity Jesus senses the lack of insight, the fear, the confusion of so many in the crowd. He feels those things with them.\u00a0 But that compassion leads Jesus to act.\u00a0 Having felt with the other, now Jesus acts to teach them, to give them guidance and direction, to lead them out of their confusion.\u00a0 This is the real importance of compassion \u2013 it leads to action.\u00a0 When we feel with another, we are led to service. And compassion is important even when it is not yet clear to us how we can help.\u00a0 Because by feeling with the other person we open ourselves to the possibility of helping, we open ourselves to wait and to expect whatever opportunity is offered to us to help someone else in need.\u00a0 And those opportunities are hard to predict.<\/p>\n

An elderly man was lying in the intensive care ward of a hospital close to death.\u00a0 And in his fear and delirium he kept calling out for his son.\u00a0 The overworked nurse was frustrated because she had called the man\u2019s son many times and he had not yet arrived.\u00a0 Finally a somewhat disheveled and confused young man stumbled into the waiting room and the nurse went out immediately.\u00a0 \u201cFollow me,\u201d she said. She led him to the bedside of the elderly man.\u00a0 She bent over and whispered into the man\u2019s ear, \u201cYour son is here.\u201d\u00a0 The old man opened his eyes and could see a shadowy form by the side of the bed.\u00a0\u00a0 He smiled and extended his hand.\u00a0 The young man grasped it and held it tight.\u00a0 The nurse brought a chair over to the bedside and the young man sat and remained with the elderly man all night long, giving him comfort and hope.\u00a0 As morning dawned the old man died. The young man put his lifeless hand back down onto the bed and stood up to inform the nurse.\u00a0 When she heard the news, she began to offer her sympathies to the young man. But he stopped her.\u00a0 \u201cIt is not necessary to offer sympathy to me,\u201d he said, \u201cI don\u2019t know who that man was.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cWhat!\u201d said the nurse, \u201cI thought he was your father.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cNo,\u201d said the young man, \u201cI came into the waiting room and you said to follow you. So I did.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cWhy didn\u2019t you say something when I brought you to the bedside?\u201d the nurse said. \u201cWell, when I came to the bedside I saw that the man really needed a son, and his son was not there.\u00a0 And when it became clear to me that he could not tell whether I was his son or not, then I knew he needed me.\u201d<\/p>\n

A strange and beautiful story but a story that could not have happened had not that young man felt compassion for the other man.\u00a0 Who is it in your life who is in need?\u00a0 Who is it in your life that is suffering?\u00a0 Will you allow yourself to feel compassion?\u00a0 Don\u2019t hold back from feeling compassion because you are not sure how you can help.\u00a0 Feel first and action will follow.\u00a0 And as you wait for a way or an opportunity to help, know that in your very compassion you are already supporting the other person.\u00a0 Because whenever we understand or share in someone else\u2019s pain we are saying to that person I value you, you have a dignity and a worth which your suffering cannot erase.<\/p>\n

Compassion then is not a marginal or incidental feeling. It is the first step towards action and it is the affirmation of another\u2019s dignity. It is a reflection of the mercy of God.<\/p>\n

Judging With Compassion<\/b><\/h2>\n
July \u00a022, 2012<\/h5>\n

Mark 6: 30 – 34<\/h3>\n

Today\u2019s gospel affirms something we know to be true about Jesus. He had compassion for those in need. When he disembarks from boat in today\u2019s gospel, he sees a huge crowd. The text tells us that his heart was moved with pity because they were like sheep without a shepherd. Then, he begins to teach them. Jesus sees their spiritual hunger and he instructs them. In the very next passage of Mark\u2019s gospel, Jesus learns that the same crowd has no food. He then feeds them by multiplying the loaves and fishes. So, Jesus teaches those who are spiritually hungry and feeds those who are physically hungry. He does both because he has compassion on those he encounters.<\/p>\n

Now, we always try to follow Jesus\u2019 example, and there is nothing more Christian than helping those in need. But helping those in need is not as simple as it might first seem. In the real world we must always decide whether giving people what they want or what they need will help them or will hurt them. When we encounter someone who is poor, unemployed, uneducated, or wounded, we must decide whether our generosity to them will improve their life or make them dependent on further generosity from us or from others. Whether our generosity is personal or comes through governmental programs that address social ills, we must always decide whether the giving or the grant will lift the people from their need or relegate them to a life of dependency.<\/p>\n

We cannot avoid making that choice. Here is where the example of Jesus is so important. Before Jesus decides whether he is going to give or not, before he decides whether he is going to help or not, he first has compassion on those who are in need. We must do the same. Let me be clear, having compassion for those in need does not necessarily mean we will help them. Sometimes our help is only an enablement of a problem. But unless we begin with compassion, we will not recognize that we have a choice to help or not.<\/p>\n

We must begin with compassion rather than judgment, because when we begin with judgment we absolve ourselves from deciding whether it is proper to intervene or not. Imagine what would have happened in the gospel if Jesus began with judgment. If he stepped off the boat and said, \u201cLook at all these spiritually dead people. Why don\u2019t they take responsibility for their lives? Why don\u2019t they spend more time in the temple or studying God\u2019s law? Look at these foolish people coming out to a deserted place without food. How do they expect to eat if they do not even have the sense to carry a lunch with them?\u201d<\/p>\n

Jesus could have begun with judgment, but he began with compassion. We must do the same. But, how do we do that? How do we make our first step one of compassion? There is a saying that has been around in the Christian tradition for a long time. It is not in the bible, but all of you have heard it. It is used when we face someone in need. It says, \u201cThere for the grace of God go I.\u201d If we could approach every person in need with that saying in mind, we would always be people of compassion. We would be people who realize that our lives could be different. What if we had different parents? What if we were born in another country? What if we were not as talented? What if we had genetic or health issues? We could easily find ourselves among the poor, the unemployed, the uneducated, and the wounded. When we understand that any person in need could be us, we would approach that person with compassion.<\/p>\n

Again, let me emphasize that approaching people with compassion does not necessarily determine if or how we will help them. It is, however, the necessary foundation on which any decision to help must be made. If we are to follow Jesus\u2019 example, we begin with compassion. And, compassion begins when we realize that there for the grace of God go I.<\/p>\n

Giving Away, Giving Thanks<\/strong><\/h2>\n
July 19, 2015<\/h5>\n

Mark 6: 30-34<\/h3>\n

When the apostles return from their missionary journey in today\u2019s gospel, Jesus asks them to pause from their work. He says to them, \u201cCome away by yourselves to a deserted place, and rest for a while.\u201d Now Jesus clearly wants the apostles to work, to spread the gospel, to help those in need. But he also wants them to stop and rest. Why is it so important for Jesus that we as his disciples pause to rest? He knows that if we do so, we will become better servants and better people. When we stop and become still, we are able to do two things: we can give away and give thanks.<\/p>\n

When we quiet ourselves in the Lord\u2019s presence, we are able to give away to the Lord those things that trouble us and over which we have no control. It might be a worry that we have about a family member who is in trouble. It might be a hurt that we cannot heal or a fear that we cannot overcome. Whenever we realize that there is nothing more that we can do, it is time for us to give away our worry and fear to the Lord. It is by quieting ourselves that we are able to hand over these burdens to him.<\/p>\n

When we quiet ourselves we are also able to give thanks. In the silence of our hearts we are able to thank God for the people in our lives who love us, support us, and give us joy. We are able to lift up in thankfulness the blessings of our health, our abilities, and our freedom. When we give thanks for the blessings of our lives, our lives deepen and we live more fully.<\/p>\n

As followers of Jesus, then, it is important to carve out of our schedules a few moments of stillness and quiet, a few minutes in which we can give away and give thanks. You might choose to do this the first thing in the morning, when you wake up, or in the last few moments before you go to sleep. You could take ten minutes in the morning with your first cup of coffee or as you brush your teeth. Sometimes going to a specific place helps to quiet us: an extra room, the basement, the bathroom. Whatever it takes we should find a way to become still and say to the Lord: \u201cTake this fear, this worry, this hurt. I no longer want to carry it. Lord, make me thankful for my wife, for my son, for my coworker. Let me give thanks for the opportunities I have today to work, to help, to love.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is important to find a few moments in our schedule to be still each day. Doing so, however, is no guarantee of success. In today\u2019s gospel when Jesus and the disciples arrive at the deserted place where they hope to rest, there is a vast crowd. The needs of the crowd required them to begin working and preaching and healing again. The same is true for us. On any given day, our quiet time can be bumped by needs that arise. Last minute homework, an unexpected phone call, a broken hot water tank can shift us back into necessary activity. But the important thing is to try, the important thing is to set aside a few minutes in which we hope to be still to give away and give thanks. Because if we try, there will be some days on which we will succeed. And the days on which we do not will be the days when God will recognize our intention and find a way to bless us just the same.<\/p>\n

“And Also With You”<\/strong><\/h2>\n
July 22, 2018<\/h5>\n

Ephesians 2:13-18<\/h3>\n

Most of us remember before the implementation of New Roman Missal that our responses at mass followed a different translation. So, for example, at the beginning of the mass the Priest greets the people, \u201cThe Lord be with you,\u201d and now we say, \u201cAnd with your spirit.\u201d Does anyone remember the old response? Yes, it was, \u201cAnd, also with you.\u201d So in the old translation the Priest would say, \u201cThe Lord be with you,\u201d and everyone would say, \u201cAnd, also with you.\u201d And, of course, just like today, this response became automatic. A Priest I know told me of an incident that occurred in his parish with the old translation. They had just put a new sound system in the church. At the beginning of mass the Priest was fumbling with his remote mike which was not responding. Finally in frustration he said, \u201cThere\u2019s something wrong with this mike.\u201d And everyone responded, \u201cAnd also with you.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a silly story, but it points to a truth. There is something wrong with all of us. None of us are perfect people. That truth can be helpful to us today as we face the challenge of today\u2019s second reading. Today The Letter to the Ephesians describes the mission of Jesus in clear and powerful terms. It tells us that Jesus has come to tear down the wall of hostility that divides us from one another, to make us one by his cross. So the mission of Jesus is a mission of unity, a mission that calls us to tear down the walls that divide us from one another. But this mission is great challenge because our world is filled with walls that divide us: walls that divide one country from another, one race from another, walls that divide Democrats and Republicans, citizens and immigrants, those who are gay and those who are straight. We cannot walk too far in our world without confronting a wall, and the walls are strong. They have been built up over the years out of fear, misunderstanding, and self-interest.<\/p>\n

So, how can we even begin to follow Jesus\u2019 command that we tear the walls down? We can begin by remembering the truth that comes from the silly story with which I began my homily. There is something wrong with all of us. None of us are perfect. When we look over a wall and say, \u201cThere\u2019s something wrong with that person there,\u201d it is crucial to remember that something is wrong also with us. The thing we share with every person and every group of people is imperfection. Therefore, our shortcomings, our failures, our blind spots can provide common ground for us to understand others. If we approach people believing we are perfect and superior, we will never understand what others think or feel. But, if we can approach others humbly, aware of our mistakes, we become more open and more willing to communicate.<\/p>\n

Jesus calls us to work against those things that divide us from one another. That begins by realizing that whenever we decide a person\u2019s idea or attitude is wrong, it is also with us. It is only when we mutually share our weakness that we begin to understand why we need one another and how we can work together to tear down the walls that endanger understanding and peace in our world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Weight of Compassion July 20, 2003 Mark 6:30-34 Rabbi Israel of Risbah tells the story of a wealthy and corrupt man who lived most of his life thinking only of himself and not of others.\u00a0 On one particular night, however, when he was returning home in a cold and wet rain, he looked outside … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5879,"featured_media":0,"parent":585,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":{"0":"post-2809","1":"page","2":"type-page","3":"status-publish","5":"infinite-scroll-item"},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5879"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2809"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2809\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5610,"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2809\/revisions\/5610"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/585"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}