Our readings for Sunday are here.
These are the poems, my notes, and interpretations of Fr Dennis’ homilies from the
- June 30, 2013
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The poems Fr Dennis references in these years are:
- 2013 homily — At North Farm by John Ashbery
In 2013, we reflected on —
- In the first reading,
- the mantle is a sign of a successor — in this case, Elisha being the successor of Elijah the prophet.
- Elijah is being kind of cranky with God in the context of this vignette.
- Elisha is responding in an all out “Yes!” and making sure he can’t turn back by breaking the plow and burning it.
- In the Gospel, when Jesus refers to the looking back while using one of the light plows of the time, he is likely alluding that looking back while using the plows of his day would likely create a crooked furrow.
- In D2’s and our youth, his mom (and likely our parents) often rolled out platitudes such as “anything worth doing is worth doing well.” In his case, because often he was lazy and could do reasonably well without much effort, and now being older, and for whatever reason for each of us — we simply cannot do everything well … but there are still some things worth doing, even if we must do so poorly.
- Another maxim, fitting to Elisha, is nothing succeeds like success (or excess)! There is the success and excess of this world; and the excess that is the just right response to the overflowingness of Christ’s call and God’s Love that fits in our freedom of choice; i.e., it is no slavery on part.
- But our response is often mixed, tinged with regret and constraint in letting go, like the varied examples in today’s gospel reading.
- “At North Farm” evokes the “and yet” quality that captures our desire to
- to match God’s excess toward us and “do well.” This something, this relationship with God is very much worth doing well.
- and yet not letting that desire interfere with the reality of our limitations and still do this meaningful something, even when we must do so “poorly.” Because, through Christ’s unrestrained and obedient offering of excess, we are “all in” by way of the Eucharist.
So … I’m not sure I have a good fox image handy for the “Foxes have dens” quote. But I found one with a fox outside its den! I hadn’t thought about this with the passage of foxes having dens and birds having nests; but, both have dens and nests only when they are incubating or raising their young. The kits are inside the den for one or two months while the dog and vixen hunt for food and protect them, and then foxes sleep outside. The same goes for birds. I’m not sure where reflection will lead with the idea that Jesus has nowhere to rest his head, in this context.
The Surest Sign 