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Institute for Homiletics

A Collaboration of The Catholic Foundation and the University of Dallas

Year B

Scripture Study for

The Genesis passage gives an account of the origination of sexual  attraction and marriage, as well as the fact that there are many  different kinds of animals in the world. God recognizes that humans  are not meant to be alone; they are essentially social creatures. None  of the animals, both similar to the man yet fundamentally different,  is a “suitable partner.” The woman, on the other hand, is an exact  counterpart to the man, being made of the same “stuff.” The fact  that man and woman are both essentially the same (bone of bones,  flesh of flesh) and yet differentiated explains why there is such an  irresistible attraction between them and why they regularly seek to  “become one flesh.” 

The Letter to the Hebrews begins with an affirmation that “in  these last days” God has spoken to the world through the Son. This  Son is “far superior to the angels,” yet when he became human, he  was “for a little while” lower than the angels. Only by becoming  incarnate could the Son be made “perfect through suffering.” Only  by becoming a human could Jesus be a true brother to those who  “taste death,” and thus bring them salvation through that death.  As will become clear later in the letter, by offering himself on the cross, Jesus became the eternal High Priest, and as such he is able  to consecrate others, giving them access to God and bringing them  to glory. 

The Pharisees test Jesus to see if he will uphold the Mosaic  teaching allowing a man to divorce his wife (Deuteronomy 24:1– 4). Possibly behind the question also lies the execution of John the  Baptist, who was put to death precisely because he challenged royal  marriage practices. Were the Pharisees hoping to get Jesus in trouble  with the authorities? In any case, in his response, based on Genesis,  Jesus insists that marriage cannot be abrogated by human—even  Mosaically-sanctioned—power. Perhaps because this response seems  to deny the authority of Moses, the disciples are perplexed. Yet Jesus  insists that anyone who claims to divorce someone is not, in fact,  divorced in the eyes of God, who alone can effect such a separation. 

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God, Protector of Little Ones

It was 5:30 a.m. I went out the back door for a walk. My mind  had things to think about. Some people have streetlights and  sidewalks. I have woods. It was dark—really dark. I’d walked that  path a thousand times. But it was so black. Suddenly, a loud primal  “Whaaaaa!” sounded a few feet from me. I looked into the dark.  What was that? I could see nothing. I turned and shakily walked  back to the house. 

Have you ever heard a deer hiss? When you come between a  mother deer and her fawn in the night, that gentle mama becomes  a raging protector. The noise she makes is terrifying. 

Have you ever heard Jesus hiss? In today’s reading, we may  dismiss what Jesus has to say as hyperbole, an overstatement for the  sake of making his point. But gentle Jesus can also become a raging  protector when his little ones are threatened. Don’t you dare lead  one of these little ones astray! “It would be better for you if a great  millstone were put around your neck and you were thrown into the  sea.” Whoa. 

Young people have shared stories with me: a ninth grader date raped by a senior football player; a sixteen-year-old abused in his  youth group; a child molested by a trusted family friend. Rage  rises within me. I want to hiss “Whaaaaa!” like that deer. That  mistreatment affects them for years. They don’t get over it. How  dare someone treat these little ones that way? 

Gentle Jesus isn’t exaggerating. He means it. To his disciples and to  us, he gives a loud primal “Whaaaaa!” Unquenchable fire! Thrown  into Gehenna! Where the worm does not die! Don’t you dare cause  one of these little ones to stumble. Cut off your hand. Pluck your  eye out. Whatever you have to do, do it. Do not hurt my little ones! 

Consider/Discuss 

  • A father feels a surge of protectiveness for his pink and wrinkled newborn.  The mother of a toddler flies into a rage when she thinks another child will  hurt her daughter. A teacher keeps her students close when they are on a  field trip. A mother bear will attack a hiker who gets close to her cubs. If  these are our God-given instincts to protect the helpless, does the Creator  also feel a protective rage over the mistreatments? Do we dare mess with  God’s righteous indignation? Might a “hiss” from Jesus make us more  careful about how we behave? 
  • That surge of protectiveness—have you felt it rise within you? Sometimes  it is a healthy and necessary thing. Sometimes it can hinder or damage  relationships. How do we discern the difference? 

Living and Praying with the Word 

Lord, only you are righteous and good. Thank you for the  protective instincts that spur us to keep those we love safe. You ask  us to watch over your children, for they are precious to you. But at  the same time, you detect failings that we hide or cannot see. Do not  let our instincts of protectiveness go wrong, keeping outsiders out,  becoming tribal, keeping others from partaking of your bounty. You  detest any evil in us. Root out our unknown faults. Chop off all that  is not of you so that we follow you more purely.

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Scripture Study for

As Israel wanders in the wilderness on the way to the Promised  Land, they become increasingly discontented, and complain so much  that Moses cries out to God to end his life (Numbers 11:14). God  responds by endowing seventy elders with the same spirit enjoyed by  Moses, so “that they may share the burden of the people with you.”  The elders begin to prophesy around the tent of meeting, that is, in  the designated area where God speaks to Moses. Joshua’s concern  about Eldad and Medad appears to be related to the fact that they  are prophesying in the camp, outside this designated zone. Moses, on  the other hand, is not concerned about where prophesying happens;  he is just glad that it does. 

James continues to develop his teaching regarding the Christian’s  relationship to wealth. He has already admonished against  privileging the wealthy over the poor (2:1–4) and following the  grasping, covetous wisdom of the world (3:13–4:3). Now he turns  toward the rich themselves with classical warnings: their wealth is  transient and may not last through their lives. When they die, they  will discover the true wealth they possess. James assumes here that  the wealthy have gained their riches through injustice, either by  mistreating workers or by subverting justice to their advantage. In  either case, in their wealth they have become complacent, just like  satisfied cows, oblivious to the fact that they are fattening themselves  up for slaughter.

The Gospel reading addresses the themes of tolerance and  intolerance. In the first part, Jesus admonishes his followers to be  less concerned about who “follows us” and more concerned about  what they are doing. In doing good “in [Jesus’] name,” or for  the sake of Christ, those who may not be part of the recognized  followers are nevertheless doing something that pleases God. Sin, on  the other hand, does not please God and cannot be tolerated. Those  who muddle along in life without ever striving to eradicate whatever  separates them from God will find themselves unable to enter into  the reign of God. God loves the good, no matter who does it, but  evil cannot be tolerated, for it opposes the very good that God loves. 

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God, Give Me Strength!

He stares at the ground. A spider creeps toward his sandal and  then scurries away. This morning in the dark, his chest is heavy.  There is so much more that he wants for them, but they don’t get it.  The bickering, the hard-heartedness, the self-absorption—it weighs  him down. 

Images flow across his mind: his disciples striving, competing,  “Who is the greatest?” Wanting his favor. Wanting to look good.  Wanting to be the best. His brain is tired. They just don’t understand.  His spirit is low. What more can he do? It feels as though all of  human history has been burdened by this kind of hardness of heart,  this continual “no” to an orientation toward goodness. He sees that  this mission to bring abundance and light—it is not going to end  well. He told his friends that yesterday for the first time. They were  not listening. Is this world worth pouring out his life for? Is it worth  the cost? 

A smell of bread floats through the air. Someone is up before the  dawn. Someone has the courage to start this day anew, no matter  what yesterday brought. The aroma brings him back to childhood:  the bread his mother baked, the joy on Joseph’s face as they broke  the warm loaves together at the family table. 

He remembers yesterday’s touch of the little boy’s fingers on his  forearm. The child had smiled at him while the adults were arguing.  The Father must still trust in the human race: God keeps creating  children, starting anew, believing once again. The memory of the  child’s innocence gives him courage. He can give his life for this  child. He will give his life for this child. 

The Bread of Life raises his chin from his hand and stands. It is a  new day, to be lived for God alone.

Consider/Discuss 

  • Discouraged. Disheartened. Bent low. Do you ever have mornings like that?  Or days like that? What little things or memories does God give you that  get you moving, pick you up, give you courage, and keep you going? 
  • One of the great slave spiritual hymns has the refrain, “I ain’t gonna grieve  my Lord no more.” What kind of sadness does God feel when seeing our  human hard-heartedness? What is one thing that I can do differently today  to help create a world that doesn’t “grieve the Lord no more”? 

Living and Praying with the Word 

Lord, I know that you gave me feet. But they aren’t moving this  morning. I know that you gave me a brain. But it’s not awake yet. I  know that you gave me a heart. I can feel it beating. There are days  like this one when it feels as though nothing is happening within me.  I don’t even feel that I can pray. But I know that you love me today,  too. Maybe you had days like that as well? Whatever I’ve got, I hand  it to you. It’s not much, but it’s me. Here, Lord, here it is.

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Scripture Study for

In a passage that would be at home in the prophetic literature,  the book of Wisdom speaks of a “just one,” who knows the ways of  God and strives to live according to them. This is in contrast to the  wicked, who reject any notion of the hereafter and are heedless of  divine justice and oppress the poor and the pious (Wisdom 2:1–11).  The just one’s reproaches in this regard provoke violent plans. If  God really does look out for the just, then God will surely defend  them from attack. Thus the wicked seek to prove that the pious man  who “boasts that God is his Father” (2:16) is deluded. Neither his  piety nor God will protect him from condemnation. 

James continues to develop the notion of being “doers of  the word” by focusing on internal matters within the Christian  community and the cultivation of wisdom. The wise are humble,  not given to jealousy or self-advancement, and thus true wisdom (as  opposed to earthly/unspiritual/demonic wisdom) promotes peace.  James has already admonished his audience to control their tongues  (3:1–12); now he exhorts them to control those impulses that lead  to provoking others and seeking one’s advantage. Worldly wisdom  promotes covetousness and greed, leading to grasping for what one  does not have. Those who are doers of the word, who have true  faith, ask God for what they want rather than try to grab it from  others.

On the way to Capernaum, Jesus continues to teach his disciples  that he will be abused and killed but will indeed rise. Given Peter’s  halted attempt to reason with Jesus earlier, they are understandably  confused: this is not what anyone expects of the Messiah. The  disciples also fail to discern the larger meaning, which is that divine  power is not made manifest in the same way that human power  typically is. Jesus’ followers must learn to adjust themselves to act in  accordance with God’s ways, not those of the world. Children, who  are essentially powerless and who have not yet reached the age when  they are grasping for it, are exemplars of the mentality Jesus seeks to  inculcate in his disciples.

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