Homily for the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B. Theme is focused on hospitality and our call to be Christ to the world. With the growing faction of orthodoxy in the Church, many are focused on spiritual worthiness versus gospel hospitality. They miss the message!
1. 15 July 2012 15th Sunday of Ordinary Time Princeton, NJ
Celebrations will begin this fall commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of Vatican II. When asked why he
was convening the second Vatican Council Pope John XXIII would reply that he felt a need to open the
windows of the Church and allow some fresh air in. Of all the rich material generated by this Council, I think
one of the most important tenets is the following:
“The full, conscious, and active participation of all God's People is the goal to be considered
before all else because it is through this kind of participation that every person is filled with
the true Christian Spirit. Filled with this Spirit, we are all sent into life to be that which we
become in the liturgy, the Body and life Blood of Christ for the world.”
This is the same premise echoed in one of the dismissal options spoken by the Deacon/Priest at the end of
mass – “The mass is ended, go and announce the Gospel of the Lord.” It is a reminder of what we are
called to do. We are a sent people. We are called to leave this liturgy and to be Christ to those in our world.
But it is not always easy. Remember last week’s Gospel? Jesus heads back home to Nazareth with the
disciples in tow. Where on the Sabbath he joins his friends and neighbors in the synagogue and begins to
teach, only to find out that no one really wants to hear what he had to say. Why? Because it did not fit in
with what they were thinking. It didn’t fit what they wanted. It didn’t fit what they thought Jesus should be.
After all he was just the son of a carpenter, so who is he to think that he can stand before them acting like a
prophet. Insulted and mocked and turned away by those Jesus grew up with, can you imagine how he felt?
So much for his initial success in announcing the good news in his own home town! No doubt that his
disciples who witnessed all this got a real awakening as to how hard it was going to be to spread this ‘good
news’ and to be Christ to others.
Which brings us to today’s Gospel and the continuation of the story. So, after striking out himself in
Nazareth, Jesus culls from his disciples the “twelve” – ala, the starting Team. And he sends them forth, two
by two, in order to do what Christ has been doing – teaching and healing. But we know that their eyes had
just been opened to the fact that they may not always be well received. So his instructions to the apostles
are pretty simple: take only the clothes on your back, your sandals and your walking stick and go to
someone’ home and stay where you are welcomed, and where they will listen. In other words, coming off
their unwelcoming trip to Nazareth, he sends them forth to teach and heal, or to use the words of Vatican II –
to be Christ for the world. But they were to only stay where shown hospitality and, in turn, give it back. For in
ancient cultures hospitality was a religious act. It was a way to extend God’s mercy to others. It was a way
to be Christ to others.
Indeed, hospitality is core to our own personal journeys and embedded in our baptismal call to go and
announce the good news of the Lord. Being open to another, being welcoming to a friend or stranger, being
receptive to an outstretched hand is fundamental to the Gospel. Unlike the synagogue crowd in Nazareth, it
requires us to accept people as they are, to give thanks for the gifts that they have, to meet them in the
space that they reside. Often I think we miss the mark in being hospitable to others, I know I do. Think of the
times that you may find yourself unwelcoming, uncaring, self centered and focused on power and
possessions. In essence, hospitality gone astray.
This is why Jesus told them to leave with only a stick and sandals. He knew that for them to be heard they
had to be powerless. For true hospitality requires you to be willing to cross boundaries, to entertain new
1 Deacon Jim Knipper
2. ideas and to be open to the diversity of the world. Christ spent his years teaching and preaching his new
way of living from a place of powerless, humility and with inclusivity. It still boggles my mind how some want
to ignore the Gospel, ignore Vatican II and have our religion focused on spiritual worthiness versus gospel
hospitality. Every week it seems we read another example of the growing faction of orthodoxy within our
Church who would love to ignore the directions and documents that came forth from Vatican II and roll back
time to the way it was before 1963. I guess, no surprise. They are the same issues Jesus faced back at
home in Nazareth.
So allow me to close with a story.
Once there was a college student named Bill. Wearing a nose ring, Bill had wild hair, spiked with
vivid colors and always wore a rainbow alliance T-shirt with holes in it, torn jeans and bare feet. Born
into a Christian family Bill sought out a church to attend while at college. Across the street from his
college was a well dressed, conservative and very traditional church. One Sunday Bill decided to visit
that church. He walked in with his nose ring, bare feet, T-shirt, and wild hair. The liturgy had already
started, so Bill walked down the aisle looking for a seat. But the church was packed, and he could not
find a seat anywhere. By now people were uncomfortable, but no one said anything as he got closer
to the front of the church. When he realized there were no seats left, he simply sat in the aisle.
Although this was perfectly acceptable behavior at his college fellowship group—trust me—this had
never happened before in this church! The tension in the congregation was palpable. The preacher
didn't know what to do so he stood there in silence.
About that time, an elderly man, one of the old patriarchs of that church, slowly made his way down
the aisle toward Bill. The man was in his eighties, had silver-gray hair, and always wore a three-piece
suit. He was a godly man, very elegant, dignified, traditional, and conservative. As he started walking
toward this boy, everyone was saying to themselves, “you can't blame him for what he's going to do.
How can you expect a man of his age and of his background to understand some college kid with a
nose ring, wild hair and jeans, sitting on the church floor?” The old man required a walking stick, so it
took a long time for him to reach the boy. The church was utterly silent except for the clicking of the
old man's cane. All eyes were focused on him. Finally, the old man reached the boy. He paused a
moment, then dropped his walking stick on the floor. With great difficulty, the old man lowered himself
and sat down next to the boy. He reached over and grabbed the boy's hand and said, ‘welcome.’
This old man knew that the Gospel calls us – and challenges us to think differently, to live differently, and to
communicate differently so that we can be community to others – all of which requires dialogue, humility and
graciousness. It requires a loss of ego and addiction to our own thinking. It requires us to bestow the graces
of hospitality to all others and to be open to receive the same.
And so it is - we are reminded this Sunday, that each of us, filled with the Holy Spirit, are called to fully
participate in liturgy and in life. For we are indeed a sent people, reminded to go out every day and
announce the gospel of our Lord.
2 Deacon Jim Knipper