To begin today’s reflection, I have no question for you. Instead, I merely want to say what I think might be a focus for the strange stories we heard in today’s readings. I believe our focus for today’s reflection should be about dedication and commitment. To start: can you put yourself in the position of the younger brothers in our two stories?
Our first reading from the Second Book of Maccabees is a rather gruesome one. Fortunately today’s reading was shortened to take out the gory parts. Nevertheless, can you imagine the anxiety of each succeeding brother, waiting for his turn with the king’s executioners? Although the first one had courage, I really believe that each of the younger ones had to summon up even more courage. And their mother too.
In the second story about another seven brothers, some might find a strange kind of humor: especially if you enjoy reading books by Stephen King. Can you imagine the thoughts of the younger brothers as each one married the widow left by the brother before him?
But what is the point of both tales? I believe they tell us something of the Jewish views on dedication and commitment to the Laws of God. The seven brothers in Maccabees died because they refused to break the Hebrew dietary law on not eating pork. The seven brothers in our gospel story died because they followed the kinship law whereby a man was to marry an older brother’s widow if he died without a son so that children could be raised with the dead man’s name and rights of inheritance.
Fortunately, few of us are called to this kind of dedication and commitment, although there are places in the world, in Latin America and in Africa, where Christians are called upon to die because of their beliefs. For the rest of us, there are different kinds of dedication and commitment. I thought of these other forms of dedication and commitment when I prayed and meditated on today’s readings for this homily.
This weekend, here at Christ the Good Shepherd, there are several public examples of our call to be dedicated and committed members of our faith community. Yesterday morning we celebrated a funeral mass for Joe Hughes who was deeply involved in the life of this parish. Later in the day, we celebrated the 5:30 mass in honor of Mary Ann Malone. Mary Ann was the first staff member at Good Shepherd, almost twelve years ago. Without her, we would have been an entirely different community. Mary Ann is now moving to North Texas with her husband, Terry, who has a new job there. Both Mary Ann and Terry have been examples of dedication and commitment to all of us here; they will be dearly missed.
This morning, we have two other examples of dedication and commitment. At the 10:45 mass, we have the “Rite of Acceptance into the Order of Catechumens” for those who seek Baptism and entrance into our community next Easter and the “Rite of Welcoming” for those who have been baptized and are continuing their journey of faith in expectation of becoming full members of our community at the next Easter Vigil service. These nineteen men and women are individual examples of dedication and commitment.
At the 12:30 mass this afternoon, we will witness still another form of dedication and commitment as we celebrate infant Baptisms during the liturgy. The parents of these children will be making commitments on behalf of their young ones. They will also be dedicating themselves to being Christian mothers and fathers.
There are other examples of dedication and commitment today in Baltimore, Maryland. This morning as they conclude their week-long meeting, the bishops of the United States are gathering for a mass which celebrates the Bicentennial of the American Catholic Church. We don’t often recall our American Catholic heritage. So it would be appropriate, I believe, to reflect for a moment on our history.
Two hundred years ago, Catholics in the newly formed United States were part of a missionary church under the direction of the Catholic bishop located in London. Realizing this situation could not continue, the priests in the U.S. petitioned Rome for something quite out of the ordinary. In the spirit of our new democracy, they wanted to elect a bishop for their new country. The Vatican agreed to this and an assembly of American priests meeting in Rome elected John Carroll as bishop of the diocese of Baltimore, a diocese which incorporated the entire Thirteen States. In a document dated November 6, 1789, pope Pius VI confirmed their election and declared John Carroll as our first bishop.
Today, Catholics in the United States make up the largest Christian denomination in our nation. We have grown in the past two-hundred years from a mere three-thousand to a population in excess of fifty-four-million. Our American Catholic experience speaks of the dedication of not only the clergy in this country but more importantly, it speaks of the commitment of all of the people of God.
Elsewhere in the world we have recently had magnificent examples of what can happen when people are dedicated and committed to the cause of freedom. The people of Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, the people of Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Bulgaria and especially the people of East and West Germany have seen many political walls come tumbling down within the last few weeks and days. On this Veterans Day weekend, we recall those in our own country who have also died for the sake of freedom.
However, each one of us has a personal dedication and commitment. There have been causes to die for, and causes to live for. Today in the United States we are not called upon to die for our faith as were the fourteen brothers in this morning’s readings. However, we are called upon to live for our faith. As Jesus reminded the Sadducees, our God is a God of the living not of the dead.
Just what did Jesus mean when he reminded them about Moses and the burning bush? It was this. God said that he is the God of Abraham, he is the God of Isaac, he “is” the God of Jacob. God did not say that he “was” the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For God, the patriarchs still exist, they are not dead. It is for this reason that Jesus said that “God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. All are alive for him.“
In Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians, he reminded them that “not everyone has faith. The Lord, however, keeps faith, he it is who will strengthen you and guard you against the evil one.” In other words, we are dedicated to God; but what is more important, God is committed to us, to our welfare.
Each one of us needs to determine to what we are dedicated, to what we are committed. When we consider personal areas of dedication or commitment our first thoughts often go to matters of careers. We talk about a person being dedicated or committed to a chosen profession. Others will as readily think about commitments to relationships, to marriage, to family.
Oftentimes, natural disasters lead us to reflect upon such matters as dedication and commitment. In the past month we have had more than our usual share of such events: what with Hugo, the San Francisco earthquake and the Phillips explosion and fire. All of these events have been part of my prayers and thoughts when I began to focus on dedication and commitment for today’s reflection.
Many who live in the quake area had their homes completely destroyed. For others, the damage was so severe that they could not return to their homes. For some, they were allowed to enter the wreckage of their homes for only fifteen minutes, during which they were to gather up life-long possessions and memories, never to return. These people had to examine their life-long dedications and commitments. They needed to look closely at their relationships and their possessions to determine their importance.
When I began this reflection, I did not have a question for you. But so some of you won’t be disappointed, I have one for you now. It’s this: “You have fifteen minutes to take whatever you want from your home; what will it be?” And recall what Jesus said: “Remember, where your treasure is, your heart is also.” And I might add: Where your heart resides, you will find your dedication and your commitment.
Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time; November 12, 1989
2 Mc 7:1-2, 9-14; 2 Thess 2:16-3, 5; Lk 20:27-38