July 15, 2025, Tuesday of the 15th week, odd year
Homily
The texts of this Eucharist speak to us of weakness and power – the weakness of men and the power of God. In the first reading, taken from the Book of Exodus, we see the weakness of the Jewish people within the Egyptian empire, in particular the weakness of Moses as a baby placed in a basket on the waters of the Nile, and the power with which God will free His people from Egypt through the ministry of Moses.
Jesus usually pronounces blessings, which we call ‘beatitudes’ (Blessed are the poor, blessed are the meek, blessed are the peacemakers, etc.). In the short Gospel text we have just heard, Jesus pronounces not blessings but curses: "Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida... etc.) What attitude provokes such a reaction in Jesus? It is blindness, and more precisely, voluntary blindness, which refuses to see what is obvious.
These are two cities in Galilee where Jesus had performed many miracles and healings. The people of the city obviously benefited from these miracles and healings, but they did not receive Jesus' message calling for conversion. This is because they did not know how to interpret what was happening. They should have recognized that the one who performed such signs came from God and that his Word should therefore be received as the Word of God. And if they did not analyse the events to understand their meaning, it was probably because they did not feel capable of accepting the consequences.
God also speaks to us through people and events. Often we prefer not to listen for fear of hearing a message that disturbs us too much. Obviously, if an angel from heaven appeared to us to reveal God's will for us, we would listen and obey. But God usually speaks to us through everyday events. If we often fail to make the effort to analyze and interpret these events, it is probably because we perceive, more or less unconsciously, that they may contain a message that is too disturbing for us. What we lack most of the time is not faith; it is the courage to make the conversion required by our faith.
Let us ask for the grace of listening and discernment, and the courage to put into practice what we have perceived.
Armand Veilleux