October 5th 2008 Twenty seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time < Next Homily - Previous Homily >

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  While this remains a hotly disputed passage of St. Mark’s Gospel and while we must remain wary of imposing our concepts on the meanings of words from Jesus’s time, there is no question that he intends here to revise the Law of Moses. Men could only commit adultery against the husband of the woman with whom they had sex. They could never commit adultery against their wives. Jesus firmly equalizes the law. Extra marital sex is a sin against your spouse, whether you be a man or a woman. It was an idea that was shocking at that time. Jesus believed against the ethics of his time in the equality of genders, as described in the creation story. One can reasonably assume that Jesus would not be happy with the high divorce rates today and would us to do all we can to lower those rates.

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   Once upon a time there was a man who made a lot of money in a tech firm – enough to retire on when he was only thirty five. He didn’t intend to sit around for the rest of his life doing nothing. He planned to return to school to complete his degree work, to enjoy the arts, to play basketball every week, to help out in a poor parish, and to spend more time with his wife and kids. Well, he had just retired and was, as he said “unwinding” when his wife’s mother became quite sick. His wife had to fly all the way across the country to take care of her mother and suggested he hire a nanny or a housekeeper to take care of things. She had played both roles by staying home when her four kids were still under seven years old. No problem our hero replied, I’ll take care of them. I’ve always wanted to spend more time with them. It’ll be easy compared to the high powered corporate offices where I’ve been for the last fifteen years. His wife hesitated, are you sure, she asked. Of course, he said, no problem, a piece of cake. She sighed, as only a woman could sigh when she knows she’s hearing nonsense, and went off to her mother’s bedside. She called home twice every day. Both father and kids said everything was fine. The kids seemed to be enjoying themselves. Dad kept saying a “piece of cake.” Well, her mother recovered in two weeks and she flew home. She found two nannies and two housekeepers and a house that was in chaos, which is about what she suspected. Naturally. Poor Daddy was a basket case, barely able to speak two coherent sentences. I’ll take the corporate board room any day, he managed to murmur.

Psalm 80:8-19

8 Thou didst bring a vine out of Egypt; thou didst drive out the nations and plant it.
9 Thou didst clear the ground for it; it took deep root and filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered with its shade, the mighty cedars with its branches;
11 it sent out its branches to the sea, and its shoots to the River.
12 Why then hast thou broken down its walls, so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit?
13 The boar from the forest ravages it, and all that move in the field feed on it.
14 Turn again, O God of hosts! Look down from heaven, and see;  have regard for this vine,
15 the stock which thy right hand planted.
16 They have burned it with fire, they have cut it down; may they perish at the rebuke of thy countenance!
17 But let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, the son of man whom thou hast made strong for thyself!
18 Then we will never turn back from thee; give us life, and we will call on thy name!
19 Restore us, O LORD God of hosts! let thy face shine, that we may be saved!

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