HOMILY – 4TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR C

Br. Jaroslaw Kurek OSB

When a young man decides to become a monk and join our community here in Glenstal, he receives the monastic habit from the abbot. The abbot clothes the young novice in tunic and scapular and then girds him with a belt; a good leather belt, saying: As you wear the habit of our house, learn to bear the yoke of Christ. Keep in mind St Paul’s exhortation, ‘You must put on the new self which is created in God’s likeness and reveals itself in the true life that is upright and holy.’

We learn from the Institutes of John Cassian, a work recommended by St Benedict himself, that ‘it is fitting for a monk to have his loins girt’, since a monk is supposed to be a soldier for Christ who is always armed and ready for spiritual warfare. It is no accident that Cassian mentions this at the very beginning of his famous work.

The inspiration behind this remark of Cassian comes primarily from the prophets Elijah and Elisha, ‘who, according to the monastic tradition, first laid the foundations of this way of life in the Old Testament’. Jesus uses these two prophets as powerful examples in today’s Gospel, demonstrating for all of us how the divine plan was actioned throughout history.

What do these heroes of old have in common with monks and Christians of today? John Cassian tells us: monks, through their obedience, are to be eager for spiritual progress! This should be so for every Christian and this is what we see in Elijah, a prophet like fire, as the Book of Sirach says. His eagerness and zeal for the Lord are unmistakable. This is the good zeal St Benedict speaks about in his Rule: zeal that ‘separates from vices and leads to God and everlasting life’.

Now, the prophet Elijah’s life wasn’t easy, and yet he remained unyielding, carrying out the mission entrusted to him by God. He persevered in his zeal for God because he had his loins girt with a belt. In the same way, the monastic tradition sees in this belt the two-fold dynamic of the life of a monk: it restrains our fleshly inclinations, our attachment to earthly things, and keeps us vigilant in order that we may be strengthened and ready for the challenge of the monastic and Christian vocation.

This is the good zeal of which we speak. However, as Benedict warns us, there is also another kind of zeal, ‘an evil bitter zeal which separates from God and leads to Hell’ and this, sadly, is what characterised the other protagonists in today’s gospel: the inhabitants of Nazareth. Initially they were amazed by Jesus’ words, but ultimately they rejected him. Why? Because what they heard and saw, did not square with their ideas of the Messiah? Perhaps they were too familiar with Jesus, who they simplistically saw as ‘one of them’. This rejection of the Son of God separated them from him, evil thoughts entered their hearts, bitter zeal arose within them and instead of clinging to the one who wanted to save them, they expelled him from their town and from their lives.

This must never happen to us. We must remain open-minded, ready to accept all that comes from God, especially those truths that make us feel uncomfortable.

This belt, a symbol of our enduring zeal, girds the body tightly. In exactly the same way, we need to cling tightly to God. Let the good thoughts of our hearts tightly embrace the one who, in turn, will always be happy to gird us with his help and strength for our spiritual warfare.

 

 

 

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