HOMILY: The Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting occurred on December 14, 2012, in Newtown, Connecticut. Twenty-six people were killed. Our artworks for today were created on January 28, 2020, by fourth-grade students at Sandy Hook.
HOMILY: I realise, again, my love for Sr Corita Kent (1918-1986), whose artworks embody so wonderfully/colourfully an orthodox faith – what we might call, after Catherine Keller, and in recognition of orthodoxy’s depth (diverse gifts and vocations), “polydoxy”.
HOMILY: Nehumi lived and laboured for the ones he loved. I’m in awe of the story – the leaps of faith, the open doors, the guiding hands, commitments honoured, elders remembered – the weight of responsibility he regarded a blessing – the grandchildren lifted high.
HOMILY: As we heard in the liturgy last week, Jesus stands and reads from Isaiah 61, omitting a reference to divine vengeance (Isa. 61:2b) and adding a phrase to do with “release” (from Isa. 58:6; see also Lev. 25:10). Jesus reads deeply/creatively.
HOMILY: Going back to a formative place can affect how we see ourselves and think about how others see us. Revisiting a place that was familiar to us in childhood allows us to see what has changed and how we have changed …
HOMILY: We hear these words so easily … and hearing them again so soon after Christmas, we drop into the standard association of them with the baby in Bethlehem’s manger – and rightly so. But then, we can dismiss them without being startled …
HOMILY: Jesus, Mary and Joseph go to Jerusalem. There is a festival. Afterwards, Jesus, aged 12, stays behind … wants to learn more about the struggles of God’s people. Rebellious or independent, Jesus learns that family is community. He asks and answers questions (the young have something new to say to their elders).
HOMILY: The prophet Micah directs the people to Bethlehem, a low place, the birthplace of David, as the location from which, God says, the nation will be restored.
HOMILY: Brothers James and John, committed disciples and privileged witnesses, request/demand places of honour in the kindom. The episode stirs up memories and worries. We see what’s wrong with this ambition. It’s dispiriting, frightening. And very much a part of the competitiveness we know so well.
HOMILY: Thirteenth-century saints Francis and Clare of Assisi impress us still. There are aspects of their lives we might recall with the help of key words: conversion; rebuilding; haircutting; song-writing and letter-writing; peace-making; founding; touching and healing; preaching; stigmata; Nativity; Stations of the Cross.