Homily for the Fifteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year C)July 13, 2025 [First Homily at New Future Priestly Assignment]

July 13, 2025 0 By BLACKCATHOLIC

The following transcript of the homily is in the original formatting that was used for the sake of live delivery with all cues, emphasis, and notes included.

Transcript:

“It is something very near to you, already in your mouths and in your hearts; you have only to carry it out.” Words from our first reading from the Book of Deuteronomy.

In the Name of the Father + the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

If you know anything about me, then you know that when it comes to my preaching I like to get pretty biblical and I like to weave different things in and out homiletically.

So this homily is going to be in part an introduction of myself to the parish as we are lead through an exposition of the word.

So in between things here and there I hope you will learn a little about me as you learn even more about what the Lord has done and is still doing in and through the word of God.

And if you know anything about me, then you also know that I like sandwiches.

And so if we combine the Bible with the idea of sandwiches, and if you listen closely, we will see how our first reading exists in sort of “covenant sandwich”, and by the end of this homily you might be just a little bit hungry.

But don’t worry because we are about to feed you all in couple of minutes with Food so good that it is to die for, and that’s fantastic because when we eat this Bread and drink this Cup we proclaim the death of the Lord until He comes again.

But anyway, what is this covenant sandwich?

Now, before we get to the slice of our first reading in the middle, we have to talk about the two pieces of biblical context on the outside.

First, we must know that Moses has summoned all Israel together at the plains of Moab.

Everybody that could be there is there “standing here in order to enter into a covenant with the Lord.

– Moses is laying out the terms of the Covenant God commanded him to make with the people.

– And with Moses acting as His mouthpiece, the Lord Himself recounts their deliverance from Egypt and from 40 years of wandering in the desert.

– Moses describes the consequences that God will bring upon those who try to invoke the blessings of the Covenant while following it half-heartedly: destruction and the scattering of the people out of the Promised Land.

– But even if they were to fail, God would not give up on them God himself would restore their fortune and make them even more prosperous if they returned in their hearts and repented of their sins.

All this leading into the events of our first reading serves as the top piece of our contextual bread.

Then if we were look just a step beyond our first reading in the biblical text we see Moses setting before the Israelites two ultimate paths and their different results.

– On one hand, life, prosperity, and God’s blessings for faithfulness to the Law.

– On the other hand, death, destruction, and God’s wrath for infidelity to the Law.

– To live long in the Promised Land or to perish quickly in it.

– To have life or to have death; the blessing vs. the curse.

Thus, Moses lets the people know that they are faced with a pivotal decision:

And so He says: “Choose life that you and your children may live.” (Deuteronomy 30:19)

All this is the bottom piece of our contextual bread.

Now, before these dire stakes are presented before them Moses gives the people an exhortation about the law itself

– And it is THIS exhortation is our first reading and is our main focus.

Thus, on top we have the recounting of the Law,

– on the bottom we have the response to the Law,

– and in the middle we have the exhortation on essential characteristic of the Law.

This middle part is the scriptural meat.

And with that we have our covenant sandwich (so sit back and lets eat it like a Big Mac).

Moses tells the people that a return to the Lord with the whole heart and soul

IS the very heart and soul of the Law.

And this is the source of why the Law is ready-made for the people to know and follow.

– It is not unreachable to mortal men who cannot go to heaven and get it.

– It is also not so lofty that only “qualified” ones can live by it.

– And it is not so remote that only the most audacious can cross the sea, bring it home, and proclaim it.

In fact, the Law is already AMONG and WITHIN in the people – it is known by them.

God’s word as expressed by the Law, is already clear, near, and dear to them from the greatest to the smallest Israelite.

– They have only to carry it out – it is that simple.

Now, if you know anything about me, then know that I’m a convert to the Catholic faith.

And as a convert I realized a long time ago that the Eucharist is the greatest thing we have precisely because it’s so simple.

Because when we look into the Eucharist we can know the astonishing truth that the God of the universe is RIGHT HERE.

And the truth of the Eucharist is not so lofty that only a dude who went to seminary for 6.5 years has the ability to grasp it.

Nor is it so remote that only a theologian who has crossed the Atlantic Ocean to the Vatican and has come back can experience it.

“No, it is something very near to you,”

– It is in the tabernacle waiting for you.

It is “already in your mouths,”

– After you say “Amen” when it is held up in front of you.

And it is “in your hearts,”

– When you receive it in a state of grace and preparation.

When the Eucharist is “in your hearts” then “you have only to carry it out.”

And we Catholics do this in two ways:

– One, we physically carry out the Eucharist in our bodies after we receive it.

– Two, more importantly, we spiritually “carry out” the Eucharist in our actions.

And we must do both in the world.

The Eucharist is the ultimate sign of the fullest participation in our Law

– the New Covenant of the New Israel that is the Church.

And the Law of this New Covenant IS Christ Himself.

So every preacher is a Moses standing before the people in the various parochial Moabs we call parishes, pointing to the Eucharist and crying out:

“You have only to carry it out, so choose this Life that you may truly live!”

For, thus says the LORD your God: “Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal LIFE, and I will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:54)

Now, if you know anything about me, then you know that I’m a sinner.

And, like the Israelites, on my own, I lack the ability to fulfill the Law of Christ,

And, on my own, I lack even the ability of being your future associate pastor with only a portion of the burden of your souls.

And, like the man that fell victim to robbers, on my own, I lie on the ground half-dead,

Beaten by sin and mugged by my own infidelities.

– So be my neighbor – pray for a brother – in this house of the Mother.

– And so that I might fulfill my own living of the Law of Christ.

The Law that says be moved with compassion.

The Law that says approach victim.

The Law that says pour the oil and wine.

The Law that says spend the two silver coins.

The Law that says make sure he is taken care of.

The Law that says return on the way.

The Law that says “mercy”.

The Law that we share together in baptism and carry out in all the sacraments,

but especially in the Eucharist because fulfilling the statutes of this Law is fueled by the Daily Bread that not only comes from God – IT IS GOD.

And like the Old Law with the Israelites, the New Law with the Church is not abstract and out of reach but realistic and practical,

Even as the true obedience to it comes from He who was obedient even to the point of death.

– But the New Law has an even more abundant Life to give in exchange for faithfulness.

– And the New Law is even nearer to us because the New Law is Christ and Christ is the Word and the “Word became flesh and dwelled among us.” (John 1:14)

As Moses gathered his people to renew their commitment to the Old Law, every Mass is a renewal ceremony of our dedication to the New Law, and at the end we must make the pivotal decision to give entire selves to the Lord, for the Lord gives Himself entirely to us in Eucharist.

– And then we must love our neighbor with the same Eucharistic love we have received from Him so that we might have eternal life.

And if you know anything about me, know then that I seek to “do likewise” for you.

In the Name of the Father + the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Given at Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church in Hendersonville, TN.