Homélies de Dom Armand Veilleux

Détails
Catégorie : Homélies de Dom Armand Veilleux

16 September 2024 -- Monday, 24th week of Ordinary Time, even-numbered year

1 Cor 11, 17-26; Luke 7-1-10

Homily

The first reading, from Paul's 1st letter to Timothy, contains one of Paul's most powerful theological statements -- a statement that must be taken into account if we are to understand many of Paul's other statements. He says: ‘God, our Saviour, wants everyone to be saved and to come to the full knowledge of the truth’...

And the Gospel we have just heard is a good example of this. It gives us the example of someone who was not a Jew and who was not a disciple of Jesus, but who showed in his life a faith that Jesus considered greater than anything he found in Israel.

This centurion, an officer in the Roman army, was a very good man. He was respectful of the Jews, whose religion was different from his own. Respectful to the point of building them a synagogue. He had even established a friendly relationship with the elders of the Jewish people, to the point that they interceded for him with Jesus. He also had a servant whom he loved very much. It's remarkable that a man should have such a love for a servant, to the point of seeking every possible means to have him healed.

This man had heard about Jesus, and because he was a good man, it was obvious to him that Jesus was a true prophet, that he really did have the power to heal. He is an intelligent and well-organised man. First of all, he knows exactly who he is and what his position is. He has superiors above him and he has soldiers and servants under him. He obeys and is obeyed. So he believes that all Jesus has to do is give an order and his servant will be healed. What's more, he doesn't want to waste Jesus' time, especially as he himself is not one of his disciples and is therefore not worthy to receive him in his house. So he sent his people to tell Jesus: ‘Don't bother coming, I'm not worthy; just say the word and my servant will be healed’.

Jesus was astonished by such faith. In fact, not only did Jesus not go to the centurion's house and perform any signs, but he did not say any words of healing. He simply comments on the centurion's faith. And the servant is healed. In many other healings reported in the Gospel, Jesus says to the person who has been healed, ‘Your faith has saved you.’ What healed the centurion's servant was the centurion's faith.

We all have enormous healing powers in our being - in our bodies as well as in our minds - which have been given to us by the creator and which can cure most of our illnesses. Most of these powers remain permanently untapped. Even at the physical level, many medicines used by medicine do not heal directly but simply release the healing powers present in our bodies. The same is true at a deeper level. As we see in many cases in the Gospel, faith in Jesus releases the healing power present in the person who asks Jesus for healing.

We all have many wounds and a great need for healing. But God has given us the healing powers to heal most of these wounds. This healing power, however, must be released through faith. And the wonderful thing is that it works not only for ourselves but also for others, as in the case of the Centurion whose faith obtained the healing of his beloved servant.

Let us ask the Lord to increase our faith so that we, and all those with whom we live, may be healed of anything that distances us from God or from each other.

   Pope Cornelius, whom we celebrate today, died in exile because of his firm resolve to open the way to reconciliation for those who, through weakness, had apostasised during the persecutions. Cyprian knew how to walk a fine line between disagreeing in principle with Pope Stephen about the validity of baptism conferred by heretics and his full communion with the same pope, and he confirmed the solidity of his faith by dying a martyr's death.

Armand Veilleux

Détails
Catégorie : Homélies de Dom Armand Veilleux

September 15, 2024 -- 24th Sunday ‘B

Is 50:5-9a; Jas 2:14-18; Mk 8:27-35

Homily

This is the time of year when the weather changes. Sometimes it still feels like summer; at other times it's almost winter. The leaves on the trees have started to fall. There is no doubt about it; we know it will soon be decidedly autumn.

Détails
Catégorie : Homélies de Dom Armand Veilleux

15 septembre 2024 -- 24ème dimanche "B"

Is 50, 5-9a; Jc 2, 14-18; Mc 8, 27-35

H O M É L I E

          Nous sommes à l'époque de l'année où la température change. Parfois on se dirait encore en été; à d'autres moments c'est presque l'hiver. Les feuilles des arbres ont commencé à tomber. Il n'y a pas de doute possible; nous savons que ce sera bientôt décidément l'automne.

Détails
Catégorie : Homélies de Dom Armand Veilleux

15 septembre 2024 -- 24ème dimanche "B"

Is 50, 5-9a; Jc 2, 14-18; Mc 8, 27-35

H O M É L I E

          Nous sommes à l'époque de l'année où la température change. Parfois on se dirait encore en été; à d'autres moments c'est presque l'hiver. Les feuilles des arbres ont commencé à tomber. Il n'y a pas de doute possible; nous savons que ce sera bientôt décidément l'automne.

Détails
Catégorie : Homélies de Dom Armand Veilleux

14 September 2024 - Feast of the Glorious Cross

Num 21:4-9; Phil 2:6-11; Jn 3:13-17

Homily

Our missals tend to call today's feast the ‘Feast of the Glorious Cross’. This is undoubtedly a very beautiful expression, but the traditional name for this feast, which is a literal translation of the Greek name, is ‘ Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross ’. The word ‘exaltation’ is admirably ambiguous. It can refer to the movement of raising the cross on which a condemned man is standing (in the very act of crucifixion), or it can refer to the movement of raising the cross high, as a sign of triumph, to give glory to God.

Détails
Catégorie : Homélies de Dom Armand Veilleux

14 septembre 2024 – Fête de la Croix glorieuse

Nb 21, 4-9 ; Ph 2, 6-11 ; Jn 3, 13-17

H O M É L I E

          Nos missels tendent à donner à la fête d’aujourd’hui le nom de « Fête de la croix glorieuse ». C’est sans doute là une très belle expression ; mais le nom traditionnel de cette fête, qui est une traduction littérale du nom grec, est celui de « Fête de l’Exaltation de la Sainte Croix ». Le mot « exaltation » est admirablement ambigu. Il peut désigner le mouvement consistant à élever la croix sur laquelle se trouve un condamné (dans l’acte même de la crucifixion), ou bien le mouvement consistant à élever la croix bien haut, en signe de triomphe, et pour lui rendre gloire.

Détails
Catégorie : Homélies de Dom Armand Veilleux

8 September 2024 -- 23rd Sunday “B”

Is 35:4-7a; Jas 2:1-5; Mk 7:31-37

Homily

The Gospels rarely show us Jesus outside the territory of Israel. In the passage immediately preceding the one we have just read, in Mark's Gospel, Jesus went to the region of Tyre, north of the Lake of Galilee. It was a border region, with a mixed population, mostly of pagan religion. It was there that he had healed the daughter of the Syro-Phoenician woman. And at the beginning of today's text, we see him leave Tyre, go through Sidon towards the Lake of Galilee and go straight to pagan territory, to the federation of ten cities called the Decapolis.

What did Jesus do in pagan, i.e. non-Jewish, lands? He didn't preach. He did not try to convert the inhabitants to Judaism. He doesn't even talk to them about the Kingdom, as he does to the Jews. Rather, he brings about the Kingdom. He simply heals them. And this story is an introduction to the story of the second multiplication of the loaves.

This story of healing, which is unique to Mark, is full of details that are heavy with symbolism. The sick man is said to have been deaf and dumb. Now, the Greek adjective (mogilalon) that we translate here as mute, meaning rather someone who speaks with difficulty, does not exist in classical Greek and is only found once, here, in the NT and once in the OT, precisely in the prophecy of Isaiah that we had as our first reading. Mark's text therefore refers explicitly to Isaiah's prophecy: The eyes of the blind will be opened, the deaf will hear and the mouth of those who have difficulty speaking will shout for joy.

Isaiah is the prophet of consolation. The people were still crushed by the pain of the Babylonian exile, and needed a message of encouragement and hope, which Isaiah gave them. Isaiah evokes the memory of the land of Palestine that awaits them after the exile: a fertile and spacious land, with its natural wealth, its springs and torrents, a veritable earthly paradise. It is in this same land that Jesus finds himself in Mark's account.

A deaf-mute was brought to him. In Mark's mind, this could well represent the disciples who, in the previous text (= last Sunday's Gospel), had not understood Jesus‘ teaching (about what comes from the heart of man), and so could not yet convey Jesus’ message correctly. This sick man is brought to Jesus; he does not come of his own accord, and it is not said who brings him. They beg Jesus (they don't simply ‘ask’ him; they ‘beg’ him) - not to heal him, but to lay hands on him, and therefore to transmit his vital force.

Jesus raises his eyes to heaven, in a gesture of prayer to his Father, sighing - which underlines the importance of the moment, and probably expresses his sadness at the slowness of his disciples to understand. After touching the sick man's ears and tongue, he said to him: ‘ Open up ’. The word ‘ effata ’ is an Aramaic word, an imperative in the second person singular. Jesus does not say to the ears and tongue ‘ open up ’ (in a plural form). He says to the sick person, to the person: ‘ open up ’ )in the singular form). When people open themselves to the grace and person of Jesus, they can speak and hear. They are freed from their obstacles.

Let's look again at the context in which Jesus performed this miracle. It was one of the rare occasions when He entered Gentile territory. He did not speak to these non-Jews in the language of the prophets of Israel. He will obviously not try to turn them into Jews. He will evangelise them -- not by bringing them intellectual content, by talking to them about salvation, but simply by bringing salvation into their midst, by bringing salvation to them in the form of healing.

In some countries today, it is not possible to proclaim the Gospel in words, since what is called ‘proselytism’ is forbidden. In Algeria, for example. In these countries, small communities of Christians evangelise simply by living charity among the people. Just as our brothers at Tibhirine did, with such obvious and surprising results.

Even our European societies, which from a material point of view are fertile lands like the Decapolis of Jesus' time, have largely lost touch with the oral expressions of the Christian message. Some of us are undoubtedly called to preach this message in words. But this is not possible everywhere or always. What is always possible, for all of us and at all times, is to live the kingdom, to embody Christian love in gestures of charity and communion like those of Jesus touching the ears of the deaf man with his fingers and touching his tongue with his own saliva.

The Reign of God is in actions before it is in words.

Armand VEILLEUX