Homily for Tuesday of 18th Week of Ordinary Time

Homily for Tuesday
18th Week of Ordinary Time

Aug. 2, 2022
Jer 30: 1-2, 12-15, 18-22
Matt 15: 22-36
Christian Brothers, St. Joseph Residence, New Rochelle

“From them will resound songs of praise, the laughter of happy men” (Jer 30: 19).

After so much prophecy of doom for Jerusalem, Jeremiah receives a happier message from the Lord, one of restoration:  “City shall be rebuilt upon hill, and palace restored as it was” (30:18).  God will offer forgiveness to his unfaithful people after a period of punishment.  They will laugh again; as Ps 126 sings, “When the Lord brought back the captives of Zion, we were like men dreaming.  Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with rejoicing” (126:1-2).

Similarly, when Peter’s faith was shaken and he sank in fright, “Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him” (Matt 14:31), saving him from the wind and the waves.  That episode foreshadows the better known episode when Peter’s faith was shaken, leading him to deny Jesus.  But Jesus again stretched out his hand—figuratively this time—with forgiveness and a new commitment of trust:  “Feed my sheep” (John 21:17).

So it is with all of us.  When God’s people are unfaithful—we can think of various crises rocking the Church—God remains faithful and restores us to health, often thru the ministries of saints and inspired leaders.  When we sinners falter, like Peter, Christ stretches out his hand—repeatedly—to forgive us.  In Reconciliation Christ’s priest literally stretches out his hand toward or over the penitent.  And Jesus continues to entrust us with a mission to nurture his people—if not actively in a classroom, still thru counsel, encouragement, and affection to our brothers, relatives, past pupils, staff, and friends.

“As many as touched the tassel of his cloak were healed” (cf. Matt 14:36), and Christ still heals and feeds his sheep thru our touch, our words, our care.