Prophets
13th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Originally delivered on July 1, 1990
Readings: Kings 4:8-11, 14-16; Romans 6:3-4, 8-11; Matthew 1-:37-42
Prophets will always be like us, frail sinners. today’s first and third readings, we hear about welcoming prophets. Indeed, in Matthew’s Gospel, we hear that “he who welcomes a holy man because he is known as holy receives a holy man’s reward. And I promise you that whoever gives a cup of cold water to one of these lowly ones because he is a disciple will not want for his reward.” But what about when God sends a prophet that challenges us? Will we welcome that prophet in our midst? We are always in a struggle to understand what God is telling us through these prophets. But, finally, we must remember that we are each, in all of our human weakness, called to be prophets.
4th Sunday of Advent
Originally delivered on December 18, 1988
Readings: Micah 5:1-4; Hebrews 10:5-10; Luke 1:39-45
Elizabeth greets Mary as “the mother of my Lord.” This Gospel reminds us that perhaps few of us are prophetic, like John the Baptist in last week’s reading, but many more are like Elizabeth. By accepting ourselves, as God has created us, we have the opportunity to bring God’s Grace to the world. Through the simplicity of our roles and actions, we can make a difference in the world. By choosing life rather than death, light rather than darkness, and by caring for others rather than being judgmental, God’s presence is felt by others through us.
3rd Sunday of Advent
Originally delivered on December 17, 1989
Readings: Isaiah 35:1-6, 10; James 5:7-10; Matthew 1:2-11
Today we are reminded to Rejoice! Rejoice for our being prophets to bring Jesus’ Gospel to our sisters and brothers here on Earth. We are each called to be prophets despite our frailties, doubts, and even our sins. It is in our infirmity that the Glory of God becomes more evident. So, today as we rejoice in the Good News, we are each challenged to be true prophets in our actions.
4th Sunday of Lent
Originally delivered on March 25, 1990
Readings: Samuel 16:1, 6-7, 19-13; Ephesians 5:8-14; John 9:1-41
If only we could see as Jesus sees. In today’s Gospel, Jesus heals the blind man due to his faith. Though he used the example of physical healing, in this reading, we are shown that Jesus has already given us the gift of vision to see the world as God sees. In our own time, we have prophets, such as Archbishop Oscar Romero, who have had the vision, in the depths of their beings, to experience the plight of the poor.
2nd Sunday of Advent
Originally delivered on December 8, 1991
Readings: Readings: Baruch 5:1-9; Philippians 1:4-6,8-11; Luke 3:1-6
We are challenged to let the martyrs in El Salvador to make us wonder how well we receive the Gospel to level the mountains and fill up the valleys. Are we answering the call to our own prophesy? Furthermore, we are reminded that the goal of the prophet is not to always be right, but rather, to be be sincere to our conscience. The words of today’s Gospel should be our encouragement because we will see the glory of our God.
15th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Readings: Amos 7: 12-15; Ephesians 1:3-14; Mark 6:7-13
Originally delivered on July 14, 1991
We are reminded today that it’s easy to miss the full meaning of repentance beyond being sorry. It means expressing one’s sorrow, regret, and shame for having done something wrong, and also turning oneself around. In today’s Gospel, we hear several important considerations from Jesus to his disciples. Those are that He sent them out in pairs, told them to go without many things, and to trust in Him to provide through those they would meet. In the first reading, we also hear about the challenges faced by the prophet Amos. He was an ordinary person, a shepherd, just as we are ordinary people called to a prophetic ministry of challenge and confrontation to those that victimize others. Like Amos and Jesus, as we heard in last week’s reading, as prophets, we will be challenged and rebuked. Nevertheless, we are called to challenge the comfortable notions of those that make the arrangements that leave some of our sisters and brothers marginalized. When confronted and asked who sent us, like Amos, we can be confident that God called us to be prophets.
14th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Readings: Ezekiel 2:2-5; Corinthians 12: 7-10; Mark 6:1-6
Originally delivered on July 7, 1991
Fr. Healy reminds us today that we are each called to be a prophet. And yet we must sort out what we think and believe with what is truly God’s. We hear in the second reading that our humanity (sinfulness) does not excuse us from this calling of prophecy in the name of Jesus. In the gospel, through Jesus’s own experience, we know that prophets are not that well received at home where they are known. We are also reminded that our most important ministry is to serve the needs of our sisters and brothers. We are asked to make personal the words in the first reading, “But you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord God! And whether they heed or resist – for they are a rebellious house – they shall know that a prophet has been among them.”
Weekly Homilies 