4th Sunday of Ordinary Time (2024)

Those of a certain age might remember a popular Broadway play from the early 1980s called “Mass Appeal.” A movie version was made starring Jack Lemmon as Fr. Tim Farley. It was popular just about when I was discerning my vocation to the priesthood, so it made an impression on me. The play’s main character is Fr. Farley, the beloved pastor of a well-heeled suburban parish. Fr. Farley’s homilies are known for being folksy and filled with corny humor but not much substance. He doesn’t try to tackle the day’s pressing issues in his sermons, out of fear of possibly alienating parishioners.

One day, Msgr. Thomas Burke- the Rector of the seminary- invites Fr. Farley to a meeting. Msgr. Burke wants Fr. Farley to supervise a newly ordained deacon named Mark Dolson. Dolson is a bit problematic. He is idealistic and holds some liberal theological views. Msgr. Burke wants Fr. Farley to, as one of our former bishops would have said, “retool” Mark and make him more of a conformist.

Farley and Dolson have a bit of a history. A few months earlier, Dolson was at a Mass celebrated by Fr. Farley and got up and challenged Farley on a hot-button issue in the Church. Despite that, Farley agrees to try to mentor Mark. He isn’t very successful. Dolson’s first sermon is quite confrontational towards parishioners’ complacent views. Several prominent parishioners complain to Fr. Farley. Fr. Farley tries to persuade Mark to tone down his views, but instead, Dolson criticizes Farley for being too beholden to his reputation and being inauthentic to his call to share the gospel.

Dolson’s criticism causes Farley to reconsider his attitude towards his preaching style. The following week, he delivers a much more challenging sermon than usual. It upsets several of the parish’s more significant donors, who threaten to leave the parish if Fr. Farley continues to preach that way. Farley sheepishly wants to retreat to his old homiletic style but then decides to be faithful to the Gospel of Jesus despite the consequences.

Every minister of the gospel has faced that challenge. I know the feeling very well. It takes courage to confront parishioners’ actions and opinions on complex issues. Even Jesus faced that problem. When He taught His difficult lesson on His Real Presence in the Eucharist, it was too challenging for most of His disciples, who walked away from Jesus, leaving Him with only His most faithful Apostles. Jesus wasn’t afraid to confront the actions and beliefs of the people in His audience. Scripture recounts how He offended the Pharisees with His teachings, and they left to go outside to plot against Him with their arch-enemies, the Herodians. Jesus was so offensive to them that they finally put Him to death on the cross.

The urgency for prophets and preachers to be courageous in their preaching goes back to today’s first reading from the Book of Deuteronomy. As Moses preached to the people as they stood ready to cross the Jordan River and take possession of the Promised Land, he told them God’s command.

“I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their kin,

And will put my words into his mouth;

He shall tell them all that I command him.

Whoever will not listen to my words which he speaks

In my name,

I myself will make him answer for it.”

The gospel read today tells us Jesus spoke God’s word with authority and not like the scribers. When someone asked the scribes to rule on a critical issue of faith, they often equivocated. Rather than express their own opinions, they would fall back and quote an authoritative rabbi from the past. Jesus didn’t do that. He gave His authoritative teaching that addressed the current situation with certainty.

Even Jesus wasn’t above being confronted and complained to when he shared challenging truths. In today’s gospel, we hear how a man with an unclean spirit tried to confront Him. We must resist the notion this man was a Linda Blairesque vomit-spewing demon. More likely, he appeared normal to most in the congregation. Had he been previously aggressive, the synagogue authorities would have banned him. Actually, he may have been the wealthiest man in town who took exception to Jesus’ message of social justice. He could have been a poorer man who felt he held a slight advantage over his neighbors and was threatened by Jesus’ call to community solidarity. Even today, the devil is very devious and can hide in people who appear respectable, but used by the evil one to put a stumbling block in the way of those who try to do God’s will.

Concern about pushback, worries about whether to address an issue in the liturgical setting of Mass, the fact that the congregation consists of a broad spectrum of ages and expectations and other excuses are used by preachers to side-step important issues of our day. No, important moral issues can’t be ignored in the hope that they will disappear.

Over the next three weeks, Deacon Art and I will preach about one such issue that is long overdue. We are concerned because it is an issue that the Church hasn’t recently addressed in helpful ways, so many people are confused about it. If the issue isn’t addressed now, misunderstandings will only grow in future generations.  

We’ll discuss relationships, dating, intimacy, love, and sexuality. Many people are confused about these issues and unsure what our Catholic faith teaches us and how God wants us to live with regard to the subject. So, over the next few weeks, we’ll try to provide you with some clarity on the subject.

I believe most of you would agree with me that we live in a culture saturated with confusing and misguided ideas about sexuality. I don’t intend to fan the flames of the culture wars, but I feel we live in a culture that readily abuses sexuality for inappropriate purposes. Abuse of pornography, promotion of a hook-up culture, and disparagement of those who try to live chaste lives are common. Yet, a desire for commitment and a “they lived happily ever after” romantic ending is still prevalent.

I hope the next few week’s homilies will bring everyone more clarity. We can’t address every issue of sexuality, but I hope we start leading you in the right direction. I hope these homilies will start further discussion on the subject among couples, families, and those in contact with young people.

God has a plan for human sexuality. It is a simple but not easy plan. Returning to today’s Gospel, we see how Jesus taught with astonishing authority. Jesus teaches with authority about sexuality because He knows about life. Jesus knew life so well because He was present with the Father as life began. John’s Gospel tells us Jesus is the author of life. John wrote:

"Through Him all things were made."

Jesus came to teach us about life and especially sexuality because He wants something for you, not from you. God wants our well-being and success in life. God wants us to experience joy, not pain and suffering. Sexuality is part of God’s divine plan to bring life joy, so God created it for good.

According to the Book of Genesis, the first purpose for our sexuality is procreation. It tells us:

“God blessed them,

‘Be fruitful and increase in number.’”

God said that because God wanted to share the amazing and powerful gift of creation with couples.

The second purpose for sexuality is something often lost in our culture. Sexuality’s purpose is to strengthen relationships. It is to be used as a physical way to express relational unity and permanence. God wants to use sexual relationships to bind together a husband and wife into one flesh. The Book of Genesis also teaches us:

“For this reason, a man will leave his mother and father

And be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.”

This unity of a couple isn’t only a religious idea but has a scientific basis. We have a hormone called Oxytocin that promotes our desire for intimacy. It is the bonding hormone. Sexual desire is strongest when reserved for committed relationships, most notably marriage. When people try to express themselves sexually outside the committed relationship we call marriage, we, especially young people, are setting ourselves up for hurt.

Safe sex is a misnomer. While science might be able to mitigate the chances of the unwanted consequences of a sexual encounter, it can’t stop its damage to souls. The human body might be able to accommodate multiple and casual sexual experiences physically, but our souls can’t. We are designed for relational permanence and stability.

Jesus’ teachings about sexuality didn’t stop there. In the Gospel according to Matthew, Jesus preaches the Sermon on the Mount. There, Jesus reminds His listeners of the commandment, You shall not commit adultery. Jesus goes on to increase that exponentially. He tells them:

“But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman lustfully

has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

If your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out

If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off.”

Jesus is speaking hyperbolically or with a bit of exaggeration. Still, He wants you to recognize you must cut out of your life anything that keeps you from the fullness of intimacy with your spouse. God wants you to eradicate these distractions from your life.

This teaching surprised Jesus’ listeners because they lived in a Greco-Roman culture saturated with misdirected sexuality. Not even the heroes of the Old Testament lived up to this standard. Jesus’ teaching was exceptional because it went beyond the do’s and don’ts of the law. Jesus taught about the disposition of hearts and our deepest desires. Jesus taught that purity paves the way for successful relationships between spouses and all our other contacts in life. We must be pure of heart in dealing with all our brothers and sisters.

I want to challenge you to come back to church for the next couple of weeks to hear more about God’s plan for developing life-giving intimacy with every one of our relationships in life. Believe there is a way forward for you even if you haven’t been faithful to Jesus’ teachings on human sexuality. You and our society can reclaim the purity we have lost.

The story of salvation is one of God offering all of us the opportunity to reclaim the relationship of love of God forfeited by our first parents. God offers us redemption and restoration regardless of our past. Our past does not define our future unless we let it. Make the tough decision to confront the challenge of the gospel’s truths and find a new way forward.