Fr Kevin Kilgore

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Gospel: Mark 12: 28-34

One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him,
“Which is the first of all the commandments?”
Jesus replied, “The first is this:
Hear, O Israel!
The Lord our God is Lord alone!
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, 
with all your soul, 
with all your mind, 
and with all your strength.
The second is this:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
There is no other commandment greater than these.”
The scribe said to him, “Well said, teacher.
You are right in saying,
He is One and there is no other than he.
And to love him with all your heart,
with all your understanding, 
with all your strength,
and to love your neighbor as yourself
is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
And when Jesus saw that he answered with understanding,
he said to him,
“You are not far from the Kingdom of God.”
And no one dared to ask him any more questions.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!

On the surface, we may associate this day with parades, dancing, Guinness, soda bread, and even the Chicago River dyed green.

But behind this feast is the remarkable story of a man whose life and legacy still speaks to us today.

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When he was a boy, Patrick was kidnapped by Irish raiders and sold into slavery. He spent the next several years suffering terribly from hunger and the cold.

Eventually, he escaped and made his way back to Britain, where he entered the seminary and became a priest, serving locally for 20 years.

One night Patrick had a dream. A voice with an Irish accent pleaded with him, “We appeal to you, to come and walk among us.” 

Patrick knew the call came from the Lord, so he returned to Ireland a free man.

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Imagine the courage it took him to return to the land that once enslaved him. But off he went, spending the final 28 years of his life spreading the Catholic faith.

With the help of his friends and the grace of the Holy Spirit, Patrick converted an entire nation. 

Today 90% of Ireland identifies as Catholic.

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Imagine what this parish – and the Church at large – can do if we embrace Patrick’s courageous spirit, sharing our faith with others one word, one gesture, one invite at a time. 

(Consider what we’ve already done!)

Together, we will continue our mission of building community; worshiping God; and making disciples. 

Saint Patrick, pray for us!

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Image credits: (1) National Geographic Kids (2) The Conversation (3) Catholic Faith Store

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Jeremiah: 7: 23-28

Thus says the LORD: 
This is what I commanded my people:
Listen to my voice;
then I will be your God and you shall be my people.
Walk in all the ways that I command you,
so that you may prosper.

But they obeyed not, nor did they pay heed.
They walked in the hardness of their evil hearts
and turned their backs, not their faces, to me.
From the day that your fathers left the land of Egypt even to this day,
I have sent you untiringly all my servants the prophets.
Yet they have not obeyed me nor paid heed;
they have stiffened their necks and done worse than their fathers.
When you speak all these words to them,
they will not listen to you either;
when you call to them, they will not answer you.
Say to them:
This is the nation that does not listen
to the voice of the LORD, its God,
or take correction.
Faithfulness has disappeared;
the word itself is banished from their speech.

The Word of the Lord.

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Yesterday, in our first reading from the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses spoke to Israel with such hope. He had led them safely through the desert for forty long years. Now, the Promised Land is in sight!

While Moses will not enter, the rest of God’s people will.

In some of his final words to them, Moses warns Israel to observe carefully the commandments of the Lord, and to, “teach them to your children and to your children’s children.”

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Disobeying God’s commandments will only lead Israel to separation, unhappiness, and ultimately, death. It’s a lesson that every believer must learn.

But today the LORD declares, “My people did not obey… They have walked in hardness of heart… They have stiffened their necks and done worse than their fathers.”

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This word “stiff necked” originally referred to an ox who was slow or unwilling to change direction.

The LORD declares that Israel has been stubborn like an ox, stuck in their sinful ways, despite all God has done for them.

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Am I afraid to change? Stuck in a sinful way? 

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Lent is the appointed time to acknowledge any part of ourselves that is reluctant – or afraid – to change. Through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, the LORD gives us the grace we need to be renewed.

As the Psalmist says, “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.”

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Image credits: (1) Success Consciousness (2) The Jewish News of Northern California (3) Psychology Today

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2 Kings 5: 1-15

Naaman, the army commander of the king of Aram,
was highly esteemed and respected by his master,
for through him the LORD had brought victory to Aram.
But valiant as he was, the man was a leper.
Now the Arameans had captured in a raid on the land of Israel
a little girl, who became the servant of Naaman’s wife.
“If only my master would present himself to the prophet in Samaria,”
she said to her mistress, “he would cure him of his leprosy.”
Naaman went and told his lord
just what the slave girl from the land of Israel had said.
“Go,” said the king of Aram.
“I will send along a letter to the king of Israel.”
So Naaman set out, taking along ten silver talents,
six thousand gold pieces, and ten festal garments.
To the king of Israel he brought the letter, which read:
“With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you,
that you may cure him of his leprosy.”

When he read the letter,
the king of Israel tore his garments and exclaimed:
“Am I a god with power over life and death,
that this man should send someone to me to be cured of leprosy?
Take note! You can see he is only looking for a quarrel with me!”
When Elisha, the man of God,
heard that the king of Israel had torn his garments,
he sent word to the king:
“Why have you torn your garments?
Let him come to me and find out
that there is a prophet in Israel.”

Naaman came with his horses and chariots
and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house.
The prophet sent him the message:
“Go and wash seven times in the Jordan,
and your flesh will heal, and you will be clean.”
But Naaman went away angry, saying,
“I thought that he would surely come out and stand there
to invoke the LORD his God,
and would move his hand over the spot,
and thus cure the leprosy.
Are not the rivers of Damascus, the Abana and the Pharpar,
better than all the waters of Israel? 
Could I not wash in them and be cleansed?”
With this, he turned about in anger and left.

But his servants came up and reasoned with him.
“My father,” they said,
“if the prophet had told you to do something extraordinary,
would you not have done it?
All the more now, since he said to you,
‘Wash and be clean,’ should you do as he said.”
So Naaman went down and plunged into the Jordan seven times
at the word of the man of God.
His flesh became again like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

He returned with his whole retinue to the man of God.
On his arrival he stood before him and said,
“Now I know that there is no God in all the earth,
except in Israel.”

The Word of the LORD.

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Throughout the Old Testament, Israel is attacked by its neighbors. Quests for power and domination then were no different than they are today. 

Often nations would go into battle with competing gods. The gods of the victor were the ones to be worshiped, because they were seen to be the most powerful.

In our first reading, Israel has been attacked by the Syrian army, and one of its respected commanders is named, Namaan. Though victorious in battle and respected by his peers, Namaan has contracted leprosy – not only a threat to his status, but also to his life.

Desperate for a cure, he’s told by a captured Jewish servant girl that her God is the one true God and that his prophet, Elisha, can cure Namaan.

Desperate, Namaan listens.

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He gathers a cadre of horses and chariots, six thousand pieces of gold, and elaborately weaved garments as gifts.

But when he arrives at Elisha’s tent, the prophet won’t even greet Namaan. He doesn’t want all of Namaan’s “stuff.” He simply tells him to wash seven times in the Jordan.

At first, Namaan struggles to accept the simple task. But he learns that what God wants from him is not a load of stuff; God wants Namaan to trust.

So, off he goes. He bathes and is healed.

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What does this story say to us?

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Often when we want something from the Lord, we can make it complicated by making a laundry list of promises, reciting a bundle of prayers, and fasting until we feel that awful twinge in our stomach.

While the Lord must appreciate the effort, the one thing he wants from us is: trust.

As we read in the Book of Proverbs: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart; lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”

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Image credits: (1) Got Questions (2) JW.org (3) iBelieve