2/3/2013 – Fourth Sunday in ordinary time - Jeremiah 1:4-5, 17-19; Luke 4:21-30 –

        It is wonderful to be here with all of you here for my first Sunday mass here at St James parish in Tupelo.  It has seemed to be a whirlwind of activity for me, trying to wind down all my activities in Yazoo City and Belzoni and to get ready for the move here to northeast Mississippi.  As we hear about the calls that Jesus and Jeremiah lived out in their lives under some rather difficult and challenging circumstances, we might think about the calls that God sends us in our own lives.  I arrived here in Tupelo very late on Thursday night and got up to celebrate the 8:00 mass with the community here on Friday morning.  One of the last things I did in Yazoo City was to visit the state prison there and to say goodbye to the inmates who have been attending my Catholic services there for the past 2 ½ years.  In fact, I have been visiting inmates in three different prisons these past years, so prison ministry is something that God has called me to as a priest and that has grown very near and dear to my heart.  A few weeks ago, I noticed a saying scrawled on a whiteboard in the chapel of the federal prison in Yazoo City where I had mass with the prisoners each Saturday morning.  It said this – “Do not judge today based on the harvest that you reap – rather, look at today based upon the number of seeds that you sow.” 

          I can imagine this saying having a particular meaning to the prophet Jeremiah and the circumstances of today’s first reading.  Jeremiah feels destined and called to be a prophet.  In fact, God told Jeremiah that even before he was formed in his mother's womb, God knew him and chose him for the special purpose of being a prophet not only for the people of Israel, but rather for all the nations.

As comforting and hopeful as God’s message sounds to us today, of choosing Jeremiah as a prophet, God warns Jeremiah of the opposition and resistance his prophetic message will incur from the people. God tells him to prepare himself and arise, to tighten his belt and to get ready for action.  What a frightening message for Jeremiah to hear.  However, God tells him that he will protect him in the midst of this, that God will make him a pillar of iron, a fortified city able to withstand the enemy attacks.  God promises Jeremiah that his enemies will not prevail, that Jeremiah will be delivered. 

         Jeremiah's experiences in a hostile environment are echoed in the reaction Jesus receives in his hometown: the crowd assembled in the synagogue is astonished and initially responds favorably to the glad tidings to the poor that Jesus proclaims from the book of Isaiah.  But, the crowd begins to wonder how a carpenter's son could be doing something so beyond the boundaries of accepted behavior according to his status in society. Yet, Jesus continues to challenge their narrow view of God's love and salvation by noting how Elisha and Elijah reached out to the Gentiles in healing miracles.  The crowd becomes furious and even wants to harm Jesus, not wanting to give up its preconceptions about Jesus or about God.

         Jesus and Jeremiah continued to sow seeds in the lives of the people.  They continued to bring God’s message to the people and to proclaim the kingdom of God to all.   We, too, are called to sow seeds in our lives, to have God’s message affect how we live in the world, and to have that message change and renew the world in both little and big ways. 

We have been recognizing the Year of Faith since October, celebrating the faith traditions, devotions, and spirituality that mark our Catholic faith.  We have been trying to renew the Catholic faith within all of us, and then in turn, we are to use our faith to be evangelizers to the world.  Today, February 3, we celebrate St Blaise each year.  Blaise was a bishop is Armenia who was martyred for the faith back in the year 316.  The is a legend that has been passed down about St Blaise, about how he healed a boy was brought to him who was chocking on a fish bone in his throat and about to die.  St Blaise is now the patron saint of those suffering for maladies of the throat, so we have a special blessing of the throats today in honor of Blaise and to recall this tradition of our faith.  Coming in the middle of cold and flu season, this blessing could not come at a better time for us.  So now, we will invite people to come forward for our traditional blessing of the throats.  

2/3/2012 – Sirach 47:2-11; Mark 6:14-29 – Friday of fourth week – St Blaise -

         In our readings today, we hear about 2 different kings of Israel.  From Sirach, we hear a summary of the story of King David.  From our readings from the 2^nd Book of Samuel these past few weeks, we know that David committed adultery with Bathsheba and was not always obedient to God, but that he had many admirable qualities as well.  We also hear about King Herod today, about how he had impure thoughts about his own step-daughter, about how this led to promises that ended with the imprisonment and death of John the Baptist, even though Herod's conscience told him that this was not the right thing to do. 

         The difference between these 2 kings is that David was repentant of his sins & that he always desired to serve God in his heart.  David had his weaknesses & was often led astray, but he always returned to God & repented, he always sought the strength of the Lord rather than relying upon his own strength alone.  David's sins were forgiven, and God made great promises to David & his ancestors.  In thinking about David, we might ask ourselves if we rely on our own strength and will too much rather than putting our trust in the Lord?

         As we hear about King David & King Herod today from the Bible, we're reminded that we also have so much that we believe as a Church that is not in Scripture, that is a part of sacred Tradition and the teachings of the Magisterium.  We celebrate St. Blaise today, and the traditional blessing of the throats with candles that we receive on this feast day is one of the beloved devotional traditions of our faith.  Blaise, a bishop in Sebastea, Armenia, was martyred in 316, only 5 years after religious tolerance was granted to Christianity in the Roman Empire.  During the religious persecutions that still raged there even in this era of supposed tolerance, Blaise hid out and lived as a hermit in solitude and prayer.  Legend has it that as Blaise was captured, but when he was being hauled off to prison, he came upon a mother & her young son.  The young son was choking on a fish bone lodged in his throat.  At Blaise's command, the boy coughed up the bone and his life was saved.  After repeated beatings and torture for refusing to worship foreign idols, Blaise was beheaded and has long been remembered as a martyr of our faith. 

         As we receive special blessings through the intercessions of St. Blaise on his feast day, may we give thanks for the community of saints, for those who have passed down the faith to us, & for the blessings & graces from God that we receive each day. 

Blessing of the throat that you will receive at daily mass today ---

Through the intercessions of St. Blaise, bishop and martyr, may the Lord deliver you from any ailments of the throat and all other diseases and illnesses.  May Almighty God bless you – Father, Son, & Holy Spirit.  AMEN.