2021/12/26 - Holy Family... like a chipped plate

Before Mass: 

Today we actually have the convergence of THREE feasts at one…. First, obviously, it’s Christmas – it’s one of those holy days that’s so big, we actually celebrate it for 8 days.. it’s call the octave of Christmas.  Second, it’s Dec 26th - the Feast of St. Stephen – he was one of the first deacons of the Church and he was officially the first martyr.  You can read about him in the book of Acts in the Bible.  It’s actually because of Stephen that I can do some of the things I do… deacons were ordained to serve at the table… so that’s why I’m up here in the sanctuary and I am considered to be ‘minister of the cup’.  Also, Stephen was inspired to preach the Gospel – and that’s why Deacons are ordained to read the Gospel and preach the homily.  In Stephen’s case, that’s also what got him stoned to death… something I don’t really want to repeat, by the way.

However, today’s major emphasis is on the Feast of the Holy Family… and that’s what we’ll talk about in the homily.  What makes a Holy family 'HOLY'?  I want to give you a nugget before we read the readings so you can listen with a different perspective.

To be HOLY is to be ‘set apart’.  Remember that: to be Holy is to be set apart.  Each of the readings give us some insight for how PEOPLE are set apart for God…. So listen for that today.

 

Homily

This week I was getting out a plate to make a salad and as I turned I misjudged the height of the counter and accidentally chipped a piece off of this plate.  While I was sorry I did it – luckily for me, this plate already had three chips in it, so it wasn’t that big of a deal.  It wasn’t like the plates on the bottom of our stack which we hardly ever use… they’ve been set apart for use when we have company – I guess so our company doesn’t see that the man of the house is a clutz and chips the dishes.

Most of us probably have a similar set of plates – those special Christmas plates which only get used for one Christmas dinner each year – and even then the kids don’t dare touch them… they use the paper plates. 

One family was digging through their great grandmother’s things after she passed away and they stumbled across a box of unopened china – matching the set that was in the china cabinet...which never got used....  The box said it was packed in 1894…. Yet it was never opened.  Those plates were set apart because they were too priceless… too fragile… so they never got used for the purpose for which they were intended…for three generations.

Contrast that with another family I know who use the good china at EVERY meal… they recognize that EVERY time the family gets together is a special occasion.  They learned that the hard way:  See – one of the young boys of the family had died several years back – and the Mom realized that her son had NEVER used the special plates.  Her son had never felt like any occasion was special enough – that HE wasn’t special enough to get out the fine china.

Mom unpacked those boxes immediately and put the dishes into the kitchen cupboard where, to the bewilderment of everyone else in the family, they used it for EVERY meal… even for a bowl of ice cream!  At first they were all really nervous – and the first time one of them broke – everyone stared at it in horror, wondering what Mom would say.  She simply grabbed a broom and started cleaning it up and said – that’s what they’re for – to be used.  Just get you another one.  

Here’s my theory:  I think God sees US as like fine china.  Every one of us is priceless and fragile, so He has set us apart.  However, whereas normally WE set things apart and almost never use them, God is more like the Mom in my story…. He has set us apart to be used every day.  Not because we aren’t special… we are infinitely special to him… but because he wants us to fulfill the purpose for which we were made… to show everyone else how special they are.  You and I have been set apart.

Like I said before Mass, to be Holy literally means to be ‘set apart’.  You and I ARE Holy, because God has made us so.  Listen again to the line in the second reading – ‘See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God.  And so we are.’  I love how he said that...'and so we are'.  It's like, God said it - so it is.

Did you catch that?  We are children of God… how did we get that title?  Baptism… just like Samuel was taken to the temple and dedicated to the Lord and Jesus was taken to the temple on the 8th day for dedication, you and I were likely brought to the Church as infants and baptized… dedicated to the Lord.  Baptism is basically an adoption ceremony where you and I are adopted as a son or daughter of God.  In baptism, we are made HOLY… we are set apart… not because of anything WE did or anything we deserved – but because of God’s action.  That partly explains why we baptize infants.  While it might seem to make sense that we should wait and be baptized when we’re old enough to make the decision for ourselves, in reality, that's bad theology.  This is an act of GOD and not OUR actions. 

Yet – as we grow up – we do decide whether we want to LIVE our lives as a child of God.  We decide our actions and what we believe.  How do we fulfill the purpose for which we were made?  How do we continue to set ourselves apart for God?  Let’s look back at THE Holy Family.

Besides the fact that THE Holy Family is made up of the son of God and two saints… what made them ‘holy’?  

What really sets Jesus, Mary and Joseph apart is each of their of deliberate decisions. They each willingly decided to live out the purpose for which God had created them.  Joseph chose to accept Mary and her unborn Son as his own and dedicate his life to protecting them. Mary chose to bear the Christ and put her life at the service of Him. And the Son of God chose to become flesh, to become a member of a human family.  In short, their family’s holiness is reflected in the fact that they didn’t put their own desires first.  They counted others as more important than themselves.  

That’s different.  That’s not like normal humans… at least not like our culture teaches us.  Like them, Your family and mine are also called to be set apart.  The family unit is the place where each of us is trained to put others first.  As you know, infants are completely selfish when they’re born… they have no way to think of others – but as they grow up, we teach our kids to think of others rather than themselves.  In short, we teach them to ACT holy.

As members of the family of God, you and I are all set apart to look out for others.  John reminded us in the second reading, we are called to love one another.  THAT is how the family of God is recognizable to the world… because we love one another.  That includes our immediate family – our parish family – but much more even.

This past Monday, several dozen folks from our area headed to Kentucky to assist with the disaster clean-up.  As you would expect, the devastation was jaw-dropping.  We were in what WAS a wooded subdivision in Bremen Kentucky… but some houses were completely gone… others were off their foundation, and some were half-torn-away.  The trees were gone or down by the hundreds.  The homeowners were shell-shocked – which was understandable considering their entire life had been turned upside down literally in just a few minutes.

We stood in one yard looking at the immensity of the job and just didn’t know where to start.  By lunchtime we had at least 60 people working in two yards – and by the end of the day, we had most of that mess cleaned up.  Feeling like we had made a dent, all we had to do was turn around and see dozens more yards in this neighborhood needing just as much work… and then you think about the fact that this stretched for over 200 miles.  It’s unfathomable.  We’ve seen tornados in our area, so we have personal experience of the devastation… but the scale in Kentucky is unbelievable.

I bring that up because of the people.  It felt like family.  People were so appreciative that we’d come from so far to help.  At lunchtime, two ladies drove up in a four-wheeler ‘Hey you want lunch’?  They unloaded enough food to feed an army….and left to get more.  Then another 4-wheeler came by asking if we needed any food… then an hour later another lady came by INSISTING we take some hot food… and who can resist smoked pork?!

Like I said – it felt like family.  Everyone was ready to tell their story and hear your story.  Thankfulness was in every conversation.  Every person there was like this chipped plate… every one was special, but every one was being used by God to fulfill the purpose for which we were made… to love one another....to show everyone else how special they are.

So we ate - and shared stories - and worked hard together.

It felt like family.  A Holy Family.  

 

2021/12/12 - Darkness does NOT win

Gaudete!  Rejoice!  Humbug…What’s there to rejoice about anyway?  That’s how the Israelites would have responded when this prophecy was first proclaimed by Zephaniah.  The whole world was going crazy and the country was in deep trouble….

Things were going from bad to worse – the leaders of the country had abandoned morality and instead they honored the gods of money, power, sex, and personal freedom.  Child sacrifice to false gods was becoming normal.  Most people had abandoned the faith handed down to them from their parents.  People who still followed religion were looked down upon and ridiculed.  Zephaniah could read the writing on the wall….It was obvious that God was not going to let this continue – that bad things were going to happen… not as punishment, but as a consequence… and as a way for God to bring the country back to himself.  

That’s what the prophecy from Zephaniah is about… in most of the book, he is warning of the impending doom – begging them to change their ways.  You see – he is prophesying BEFORE the exile… before the darkness has closed in.  But in the snippet we hear in today’s first reading, he’s looking BEYOND the upcoming darkness to the time when the Messiah would come.  He’s looking BEYOND the upcoming exile to the time when God the Father would rescue His people.  Rather than let His people sit in complete despair, God offers this ray of hope – like a flashlight – or a candle– so that when the darkness comes, they have this hope to hold-on to.  The darkness will not last forever… the sun will rise again.  The Lord is Near – our God is in our midst.  THIS is good news.

Obviously, this message was meant for Israel… not us, right?... We can’t imagine living in a country that has abandoned morality… that sacrifices its children to the gods of money, power, sex, and personal freedom.  We can’t imagine living in a country where people have walked away from the Faith – walked away from the TRUTH - and those who do follow religion are ridiculed.  

If you’ve watched any news in the last couple of years, you know that Zephaniah’s prophecy applies to every age – including ours – where the darkness is creeping in.  It is a message of hope.  It reminds us to Stand fast – even rejoice in our sufferings because the darkness does not win.  The Lord is Near – our God is in our midst.  Do you think God gets all anxious watching the nightly news?  God’s GOT this! The light will return… He already has a plan to rescue us even before the darkness closes in.

31 years ago this week, an earthquake devastated the northwestern section of Armenia, killing an estimated 25,000 persons. In one small town, immediately after the earthquake, a father’s first thought was ‘MY SON!’.  He rushed to the local elementary school, only to find that the school had been flattened and there was no sign of life.

But without hesitation, he started digging… it never occurred to him NOT to dig. This father concentrated his efforts on the spot where he believed his son's classroom had been.  He kept repeating what he had often told his son, "No matter what, I'll always be there for you when you need me!"

Many other parents flocked to the area.  Many didn’t even bother digging… it was hopeless… there’s no way anyone survived that collapse.  Some did help – but after an hour or two, gave up.

So, he proceeded alone – through the day and into the night… for 8 hours... for 12 hours... 24 hours... 36 hours. Then in the 38th hour, as he heaved away a heavy piece of rubble, he heard voices. He screamed his son’s name, "Armand!"  "Dad! It's me”!  Then, he heard his son turn to the other kids in the hole saying – “See- I told you he would come!”  

Moments later, the dad was helping his son Armand and 13 other frightened, hungry, thirsty boys and girls climb out of the debris. Out of the darkness and into the light!  They were as good as dead, but he had brought them back to life! The father embraced his son and said – ‘sorry it took so long, son…were you scared?  Armand said – ‘it was so dark and scary – many of the kids were crying… but I told them – ‘My Father promised no matter what, he’d always be there if I needed him. – so he WILL save me...and if he can save me he can save you too.’   

God - OUR Heavenly Father, is in the rescue business. THAT is the Good News.  You and I were trapped in darkness of our sin until Jesus came to save us.  What’s more, that promise from the father continues for us today even as the darkness closes in around us… The Lord is Near.  That’s where the Peace beyond all Understanding comes from that Paul mentioned in the second reading.

What’s that look like anyway, this ‘peace beyond all understanding’?  

It means that when the world is falling in around us, when it makes no sense at all to still have hope – we can trust that Our God IS IN OUR MIDST!  God has a plan to rescue us from the darkness even before it gets dark!!  

2021/10/24 - What you really, really want...

We don’t usually get a name…. In the Gospels, we usually hear about the "crippled man" or "the woman with a hemorrhage"… but today we get a name – Bartimaeus.  This is significant because it says this guy MUST be a real person – not just a story.  He could have still been alive when these stories started circulating and he could easily have stepped forward saying “that’s not how it happened”. 

So, this is a real event – but the masterful way Mark tells the story reveals spiritual insights as well, which means this story is also about you and me.

First - The blind man is a beggar.  He has no power.  He has no control.  He is at the mercy of the people around him even to be able to eat.  And he is at the mercy of God to inspire people to have compassion.

You and I are that beggar…. We have no control.  We are at the mercy of God and the people around us to help us through life.  We may ‘think’ we’re in control, but events happen which prove to us time and time again that we have no control.  Every good thing people have done for us was because God inspired them to compassion.

Second - The beggar is blind.  His entire world is limited to what he can hear and feel.  He knows there is more to life beyond the reach of his fingers, because he can hear it – he can sense it – but he can’t see it.

You and I are the blind man.  Experience tells us there must be more to life than what we can hear and feel – Science CAN’T explain everything.  Something in us KNOWS there is a God – but the culture tells us to only believe what we can see.  Yet, some people have such a good sense of the divine that it’s as if they CAN see God… we want that sense too!  So we call out – Lord, I want to see! 

Third - Bartimaeus doesn’t know Jesus – but he’s heard the crowds talk about him… how he healed that deaf man and that woman with a hemmorhage – and for the first time he could remember, a strange feeling called hope arose inside of him.  Jesus is the source of his Hope, so he wants to meet Jesus.

You and I are Bartimaeus – at some point in our life, we realize that we don’t have a relationship with Jesus.  We hear other people around us who seem to have that relationship – who have a joy or peace about them that can only be on account of Him – and it raises a feeling inside of us – even when all hope is gone, our hope lies in meeting Jesus.

It’s like we KNOW that God is out there – we KNOW that Jesus is real – we’ve heard stories about Him.  We KNOW he works miracles, but we’ve not SEEN it for ourselves.  Yet, just the fact that others HAVE seen miracles creates that feeling of hope in us – so we cry out – Son of David, have pity on me! 

Jesus asked him, “what do you want me to do for you?” – and without hesitation, Bartimaeus answered – Lord, I want to see!  Notice, there was no hesitation…

How much are we like him?  Do we KNOW what we want from Jesus?  Is it on the tip of your tongue?  Would you be able to answer that question if Jesus asked you?  What do you want from me?

Also notice that when Jesus called him, the man dropped everything and ran to him.  Let that sink in – if a blind man drops something, it’s GONE…forEVER. He’ll never 'see' it again.  He’s ready to risk everything he has – everything he has put his faith in – everything he has acquired in his meager existence to create ‘some’ level of comfort – or at least to survive the cold nights.  He was ready to leave it all behind because his greatest desire was to be able to SEE.

What do YOU want to see?  Do your actions support your ideal?  Are you doing the things necessary to attain your greatest desire?  Would you drop everything to attain it?  Would you leave your life behind for a chance to meet Jesus?  For example - 

Jerry always said he wanted to see mountains, but every vacation was at the beach.
Sara wanted to see northern lights but couldn’t stand the cold, so she never went north.
Alex says he wants to meet Jesus, but he never made it a priority to go on a weekend retreat.

Too often, what we SAY is our deepest desire isn’t really true – and our actions prove it.

Here’s a short story to hopefully make my point clearer:
When he was still in high school, Jerry and his buddy Joe would go to dances – Jerry loved it – he was out there busting a move – break dancing – and he especially liked dancing the slow songs with the girls.

Joe hated it.  He thought he was too cool to get out there and act like a fool… he thought the girls would think he was a dweeb, so he sat against the wall.  In his mind, Jerry was a dweeb – acting like a fool out there on the floor.  He didn’t notice that Jerry was the one slow dancing with the girls…  Joe hated it so much he didn’t really even want to go to dances anymore.

But then…, Elizabeth showed up – and Joe was smitten – she was the girl of his dreams – and he overcame his fear of looking stupid and asked her to dance.  They danced a slow dance and he wished the music would never end… but then a fast dance started and he stood there kinda awkwardly for a moment, but Elizabeth just said – c’mon let’s keep dancing – and she started dancing – and Joe – still awkward – tried to mimic what he’d seen Jerry do – dancing around a bit – but looking over his shoulder in case somebody was laughing at him.  Notice that- his beloved was dancing in front of him, but he was so self-conscious that his attention was not on her.

Slowly, he got more comfortable and his attention gradually re-focused on Elizabeth.  Her smile made him feel less self-conscious and he relaxed and danced and looked her in the eyes.

And wouldn’t you know it – by the end of the night, Joe LOVED dancing.  After that night, HE was the one who would be coaxing Jerry to go with him to the next dance, hoping that Elizabeth would be there.

The moral of the story, is that we all need SOMEthing, some desire, to pull us out of our comfort zones.  Our normal tendency as humans is to be SELF-conscious – to think only of ourselves.  It would be a lonely existence except that God planted a desire in us to connect with others.  In theological speak, it’s called EROS – it’s that passionate desire that has the power to overwhelm our inhibitions and change the way we act.  In short – EROS pushed Joe away from being a wall-flower and onto the dance floor, where he discovered the love of his life.  (They’ve been married now for over 30 years now, by the way)

Without EROS, we’d all be stuck in our own world.  Without eros, boy would never meet girl.  We would only look at our SELVES and never look at our beloved face to face.

What’s your EROS?  What is your deepest desire?  What desire has God placed on YOUR heart?

Several years ago, I was out of town at a Catholic conference and went to Mass – and somehow I was convicted that I was not in a state of Grace, so when it came time for communion, I simply crossed my arms to receive a blessing.  I still recall the exact words this Priest used to bless me:   “May God grant you your deepest desire”.

At first, I thought – is that a good prayer?  Because if you asked me what I desired, - well, you can probably guess what I desired – because I’m a red-blooded man.  But I knew there had to be more to this blessing than those kind of surface desires…. This blessing was that God would fulfill my DEEPEST desire.

What IS my deepest desire?  Ask yourself that… what is YOUR deepest desire?  I propose to you that whatever our deepest desire is was put there by God… and that deepest desire IS to be united with God.  It’s like a homing signal placed inside of us which draws us ever back to our Father.  Until we RECOGNIZE our deepest desire, we won’t live our life in a way to achieve that desire.  We’ll always find reasons why we shouldn’t drop everything and go after that desire.

If we learn nothing else from Bartimaeus, let it be this:  Jesus IS our deepest desire.  Drop everything and run to him… and when you can see, -  look your beloved in the eye and see God face to face.

2021/08/22 - This is a hard teaching

Catching some of the news in the past week, not only from Haiti, but from Afghanistan… I can only imagine what it’s like to be a woman living in Afghanistan right now…  for the past 20 years, the US has pushed back the Taliban and maintained a semblance of peace.  Now that the US has started pulling out, The Taliban is reimposing Sharia law over the country, which means women no longer have any rights.  What’s worse, if anyone associated herself with the US while we were occupying the country, she now has a target on her forehead.  Those women who aren’t already dead are trying to erase any associations – shredding documents – burying their phones – putting on their burkas and trying to blend-in  - submitting to the male-dominated regime.  They no longer have a choice…about how they live, about religion, about education, about kids, or even how they dress.  They are less than second-class citizens in their own home. 

It reminds me of an interview a few years ago of an Islamic woman who became Christian.  By the way, She lives with a constant death-threat now, because: You do not have a choice to leave Islam.  Second – she talked about videos that some men were making in order to help Islamic men be better heads of their households.  One title was  “How to beat your Islamic wife into submission”.  <pause>

This may be the kind of thoughts that come to mind as we read our second reading:  Paul tells us, “Wives be subordinate to your husband”.  As many times as I’ve preached on this reading – as much as I KNOW this is not what it sounds like, I can’t help but bristle at that statement – feeling in my heart what many women must think when they hear that.  Women in our culture – women sitting here right now – have too often been treated without the respect they deserve – and historically, this passage was used as a justification for men to impose their wills on women… giving them no real choice. 

However, Paul was writing to a culture not unlike what I just described in Afghanistan.  Women were less-than second-class citizens in their own homes.  Paul is trying to raise Christian families out of that culture.  While you and I would likely use different words which would be less misunderstood, the sentiment he’s trying to communicate includes guidelines for BOTH husbands and wives.  Seriously – listen again to the first line of that reading:  Brothers and sisters: Be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ.  He’s addressing both husbands and wives – both should be subordinate.  He then gets more specific:  Women are to be subordinate to their husband… or another translation might be ‘submissive’… SUB-MISSIVE which literally means “under the mission” of the husband.  What is the mission of husband?  He tells us in the very next line… Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the church and handed himself over for her to sanctify her.

In other words – the mission of the husband is to give himself completely for his bride.  That means we are to lay down our very lives for the sake of our bride!  What bride WOULDN’T want to put herself under that mission?  What bride would NOT want to allow her husband to love her that way?  Just as Christ gave himself completely so that we could become part of the body of Christ, the husband’s job is to give himself completely so that “the two can become one flesh”.  Noone hates his own flesh, so we cannot treat each other without respect and love.

Still – we may find ourselves saying “this is a hard teaching, who can accept it?” 

Jesus heard that same statement in today’s Gospel as he was teaching his disciples perhaps the most important lesson of His ministry.  The disciples could not accept that he REALLY meant they had to eat his flesh.  That goes against their deeply entrenched Jewish beliefs that eating someone’s flesh would be sacrilege.  Because they couldn’t accept that one teaching, many of them walked away.  While that is sad, for me it is the BEST reason I’ve found for believing that Jesus really meant what He said…  See, If he was only speaking symbolically, he would immediately have said – wait guys – don’t leave!  I was just using a metaphor – you know – my body is LIKE food…. C’mon back now.

No – instead Jesus upped the ante several times, using words that made it VERY clear he was talking about really eating his flesh.  Instead of clearing up any misconceptions, he says, “does that shock you?”.  Then he doubled-down again – even asking his inner-circle of Apostles… do you want to leave too?? 

He gave them a choice.  They could accept his teaching and continue to follow – or they could go back to living like the rest of the culture.  Many of them chose to go back to their old lives…. Over this one, central teaching.

Which takes us back to that first reading:  Joshua was the leader who took over as leader after the death of Moses.  After conquering the promised land, Joshua gave them the choice:  decide today whom you will serve, the gods your fathers served beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose country you are now dwelling. 

In other words, there is a whole culture around you – and you’re going to be tempted to conform to that culture.  You’re going to be tempted to chase after false gods of  money, sex, power, and fame.

Joshua laid the choice before them – allowing them to walk away if they wanted – but He made it very clear which answer is the path to true joy:  “As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”

You and I have that same choice today – not just a once-in-a-lifetime decision, but we have to choose each and every day… each moment even!  We can choose to conform to the culture … but the path to true joy is through this one-flesh union with Christ himself. 

Unlike many people in the world, WE have the choice – something we should no take for granted.  We have the choice to walk away.  But hopefully we’ll all answer as Peter did:  “to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life. “

Now is the time for you and me to decide.  In the words of Joshua: 

“If it does not please you to serve the LORD,

decide today whom you will serve,…

As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”

2021/03/21 - The sliver of light visible from inside the tomb

Before Mass:

Today we’ll hear the familiar, amazing story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.  One thing I need to bring up which may help you understand the story.  In the ancient world, you had to be dead for three days to be declared legally dead.  Up to that point, you might just be sleeping.  But when the body started to decay, that was a clear sign that the spirit had left the body.  That’s a key point, so keep it in mind.

There’s so much in this story, so listen closely – but I’ll call your attention to this one line – actually you’ll hear it twice: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”.  Have you ever said something like that to God?  I propose to you that this one statement applies to all of our lives.  We all have that thing in our life which seems hopeless – and if God really loved me and really was with me, He would have fixed it a long time ago!  In fact, if God really loved me, he would never have let this happen!

Call those situations to mind as you prepare to listen to the Gospel – because this is not just a story of something that happened 2000 years ago – it is our story – your story – my story.  Each of us has given up on God ever showing up in some aspect of our lives… but today listen closely to hear the command of Jesus… ‘Roll away the stone’.

Homily

OK – so finish this sentence:  Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.  So when he heard that he was ill, he  ______.  We’d expect it to say – so Jesus immediately ran back to his friend to cure him.  Any of us would have done that.  But no – our Gospel says, ‘when he heard he was ill, he remained where he was for two days.  What kind of heartless Messiah is Jesus to LET his friend die!  We HAVE faith in you Jesus – we KNOW you can heal him – and THAT makes it even worse.  We know our God has the power to remove whatever it is in our own lives… this illness – this death – this evil – this relationship gone bad – the job situation - whatever it is in our life – We HAVE FAITH that Jesus COULD take it away, but apparently He has CHOSEN NOT to act.  What?  God – I thought I was your friend- I’ve served you my whole life – I pray – I fast – I go to Mass – why aren’t you acting?

Our tendency is to come to the conclusion that – well either God isn’t as powerful as we thought He was – or I’m not his friend like I think I am.  At first, we maintain our faith in God and think – I must be doing something wrong… so we re-double our efforts at prayer and fasting and trying to do everything right to win the favor of God to take this pain away…. But still, we hear only silence.  At some point, we give up – OK – there’s nothing I can do about this, and God, if you’re there, you apparently ain’t gonna do nothin’ either – so we roll a stone across the entrance of the tomb and walk away.  We get discouraged… which literally means to lose heart – ‘cor’ being the root word meaning heart.

Yet, even in our despair, we know somewhere in the depths of our spirit that God is still good and any hope that exists will come through God.  That’s why both Martha and Mary approached Jesus and the first thing they said was, ‘if you would have been here, my brother would not have died’.  They had faith!... but Jesus let them down.  They had become discouraged – lost heart – given up on Jesus, rolled the stone across the entrance of the tomb and walked away.

Why?  That's the question most of us ask... Why doesn’t God cure everyone?  Why doesn’t he annihilate the pandemic?  Why didn’t he stop it before it started?  Why has he taken a year already.  Why is our country going down the toilet?  Why are the morals of our society being ripped to shreds?  Why doesn't God act?

I’d say it’s the same reason that Jesus gave for why he didn’t get up immediately and run to save Lazarus.  Listen:

“This illness is not to end in death, but is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

Somehow, Jesus knew that the only way people were really going to understand the kingdom he was preaching was to see firsthand that behind every death is a resurrection… beyond every hopeless situation is hope…  beyond every discouragement is a new heart.  Sounds harsh – but Jesus knew he had to let the situation progress beyond hope, because – without death there can be no resurrection.  Jesus knew that people needed to COMPLETELY give up hope before they could realize that all their hope is in Him alone.  That’s why he waited… so that Lazarus would be in the tomb for four days.  Legally, a person had to be dead for three days before they could be declared dead.  Up to that point, there was still hope that maybe they’re just sleeping or maybe their spirit will reenter their bodies… If Jesus had shown up before Lazarus died, it would have been just another miraculous cure, instead of this super-miracle.  If Jesus had shown up even one day earlier, Lazarus would not yet have been legally declared dead, and the impact of the miracle again would have been minimized because people would have explained it away with whatever science they could use to back up their opinions – they would come up with an answer why Lazarus was alive, and it wouldn’t have anything to do with Jesus. 

Like Lazarus, you and I aren’t given a choice whether we want to suffer.  Suffering is a part of life.  We pray for miracles – we pray for Jesus to show up – but often we’re disappointed because He doesn’t show up when and how we want him to.

But even when all evidence is to the contrary, God IS up to SOMETHING.  Somehow He will reveal His glory through our situation…  Perhaps we could pray differently – we could pray more daringly: ‘God – I surrender all to you.  Do with me whatever brings you the most Glory.’  Embrace the suffering… embrace the cross we’ve been given.  Surrender everything to Jesus.  Yikes – that’s a tough prayer.

Only when things are hopeless can we see clearly that Jesus is the only source of Hope.  Only when things are dark can we see the cracks of light shining into our tomb.  Only when we’ve become discouraged – lost heart – can we receive a new heart and a new Spirit.

As we all lie in our tomb of grief and despair and discouragement, hope springs eternally in our hearts.  We strain our ears in the silence… listening for the command of Jesus as he speaks into the darkness:  “Roll away the stone”.

2021/02/28 - Hand over the Playdough

Before Mass

How’s your Lent going?  If you’ve fallen down on your resolutions, I have great news… today is a new day… you can start again.  Why do we give up stuff for Lent, anyway?  You ever wonder that?  Hopefully today’s readings homily will give you a new perspective on that.

Y’all know the story of Abraham, right?  Today we’ll hear about when God asked him to sacrifice his only Son Isaac.  <pause>  If that doesn’t bug us, then we’re not listening… GOD ASKED ABRAHAM TO SACRIFICE HIS ONLY SON!  What kind of God would ask a father to give up his only son?  Doesn’t seem like a very loving God, does it? 

I have some ideas – maybe not THE answer, but something to consider which may make more sense.  So as you listen think about why WOULD God ask Abraham to do that?  And what does that have to do with me?

Homily

I need a volunteer – somebody who likes to play with playdough.  Come on up here.

I need this playdough made into the shape of a heart for my homily… Can you make it?  (Ella agrees)… OK – go ahead (but I don’t give her the playdough).  Go ahead – make a heart… (Ella will say something like – I can’t if you don’t give it to me).  Oh – can I trust you with it?  You won’t keep it?  I kind of like my playdough, you know… I don’t want you to ruin it.  (finally give it and she makes a heart).  Awesome, thanks – that’s exactly what I needed.  I’ll set it right here, because I’ll use it in a few minutes.

OK – back to that story of Abraham… we gotta go back just a bit in the story to make my point.

Abraham had his life all planned out and HE was going to make it happen… then if you remember, God stepped in and told him to Go out to a land I will show you… leave your country, your land, your relatives, your friends, your livelihood, your entire sphere of influence and go somewhere where you will be a nobody.  If you can surrender all of that to me, I will make great things happen through you.  Amazingly, Abraham did as God asked… he went wherever God told him to go… but that’s not the end of the story.  Abraham wanted a son more than anything, and when he finally GOT that son, once again he thought he had his life under control once again.  This is where our story comes in today... Abraham had surrendered everything to God – except one thing – his son – his only beloved Son.  Like any good father, his world revolved around his son… his future depended on that son.

Because Abraham was holding on so tightly, God was not able to do great things through him.  He had to be able and willing to let go of the thing most precious to him – once again amazingly, Abraham did as God asked… fortunately he didn’t have to go through with it, but his actions proved that he was willing to surrender everything, including his own most precious possession – his son… and now he is considered the spiritual father of more than half of the world’s population.  I’d say God upheld his end of the bargain… and he’s not done yet!  Did Abraham EARN that?  It might look like it… he did what God told him to do so God blessed him, right? 

That’s not how God works.  We don’t EARN anything.  It was because Abraham surrendered everything to God that God was able to work miracles and bless the world through him.

But – there’s another story here… what was Isaac thinking during this traumatic event?  We usually think of Isaac as a little boy looking up to daddy asking, ‘Daddy, where is the lamb for the sacrifice?’… but if we look closer and do the math… It appears that Isaac was actually in his 30’s…let that sink in – a man in his 30’s, carrying the wood for the sacrifice up mount Moriah.  Sound familiar?  Isaac was like Jesus – a man in his 30’s carrying the wood for the sacrifice up Calvary… which is a mountain in the Moriah range… the same mountains that Isaac was climbing… possible even the same exact mountain.

What would a man in his 30’s think about being sacrificed by his own father?  Other than fear, I can say he must have had a lot of faith that God would raise him from the dead.  Isaac’s show of faith was maybe even more incredible than Abraham’s, as he was willing to surrender his MOST PRECIOUS thing… his very life … the ultimate sacrifice.

Just like Ella couldn’t make a heart out of the playdough until I gave it up – until I surrendered it – you and I are called to put everything into God’s hands and let Him mold us into who HE needs us to be.

That’s what Lent is about…  practicing surrendering to God.   We train our wills by finding by something in our lives that we’re attached to – and we surrender it to God.  Maybe you’ve never really been taught that before... Lent is a training ground for Holiness.  It’s a time to make intentional sacrifices.

There’s something in our psyche that we know sacrifice is a good thing… it seems to be a universal truth in all cultures… if I give up something good, then something good can come out of it.  If I give up something better, then something better can come out of it.  So likewise, if I make the ultimate sacrifice, God can bring about the ultimate good.  Again…It’s not that we EARN anything… don’t fall into a performance mentality that makes us think we are in control or God owes us something.  Sacrifice is about seeing what God can do with whatever we put into his hands.

Don’t just give up chocolate… unless that is the most precious thing in your life.  Give up something hard… For many of us, maybe time is our most precious thing…. I’m really busy, got a lot going on, my plate is full…. We never seem to have enough time, so it is precious.  Consider giving some of your time to spend more time with your kids or wife – or volunteering – or prayer – or adoration – or stations of the cross… things you know you should do anyway, but – well – life is busy and those things just never reach the top of the list.  Give serious thought to what is most precious in your life and whether you could surrender it to God.  Eventually, every one of us will have to surrender our lives to God… either now or at the end of our lives.  But if we want God to transform us, why not start today?  Find something precious to give up in order to train our wills to be ready to surrender anything/everything if God asked.

I was listening to a podcast and this nun was talking about how in their monastery, they all give up the same things. which makes a lot of sense in a community like that… you don’t want to start any competition of who can be holiest…might end up with nobody eating anything for 40 days J  But she was thinking in her prayer how she was SOOOO glad they didn’t give up coffee in the monastery, because she could never live without coffee!  Then she hung her head…. She knew exactly what God was calling her to give up this Lent – so she asked her superior for permission to give up coffee. 

Likewise, our men doing Exodus and women doing Fiat are making a lot of sacrifices and doing a lot of extra reading and prayers during these 90 days leading up to Easter… not because we’re holier than anybody else, but because we WANT to be holy… we want to train our wills to be able to surrender everything to God, knowing that we will be freed from all of our earthly attachments. 

God wants to Transfigure every one of his beloved sons and daughters to look like Jesus in the Transfiguration… He wants to make you and me into images of His love in the world…to show His glory to the world.  But just like Ella couldn’t make a heart until I surrendered the playdough to her, God cannot transfigure us / mold us to look like Jesus, until we open up put our lives into His hands.

2021/01/31 - Who do we give Authority to Speak to our Heart?

Video (much better than reading): https://www.youtube.com/watch?fbclid=IwAR3XfFxAY1SU-TSinEWGF0P8EfdItUxxG1dzkE4U2z_r_EzakQzNJfZSFBc&v=GYm29F7yEeA&feature=youtu.be

Preview/Context: 00:00 - 03:30
Homily:  16:10 - 24:10

Text Below:

Before Mass

Who do we give authority to speak into our hearts?  That’s the question to consider as you listen to the readings today – it applies to all of the readings - even the 2^nd reading, although I won’t talk about that today.  Who do you give authority to speak to your heart?

There’s a backstory to the first reading which I need to share to set the context.

Remember when the Israelites were in the Desert at Mt Sinai and God gave them the 10 commandments?  Well – at first, God came onto the mountain with thunder and lightning, speaking directly to the Israelites who were gathered at the base of the mountain.  Each person heard him speaking directly to their heart.  It was so overwhelming, they were so scared to death!  They told Moses – you talk to God and tell us what He says – don’t let him talk directly to us again!  So Moses became the mouthpiece of God for the Israelites – but God promised that He would raise up a prophet from their own kin who would speak His words.  This is an important prophecy:  first it refers to Joshua, who immediately succeeded Moses as the prophet – and HE became the new mouthpiece for God.  But it also refers ultimately to another prophet named Jeshua… we call him Jesus.  When Jesus came he fulfilled that prophecy perfectly because God himself came in human form – from the kin of the Israelites – and once again God was able to speak directly to His people! 

Hopefully that will make the first reading more understandable – but also – the Gospel is the first time in Mark that Jesus starts teaching – talking directly to His people, so today is the fulfillment of that prophecy.  We’re only on verse 21 of the Gospel of Mark, but in this short time we pick up several themes – He proclaims that the Kingdom of God is at Hand, He teaches, and He proves that He has been given ultimate authority by performing his first miracle.

As we read that Gospel, I want to invite you to imagine yourself in the story…

HOMILY

Who do we give authority to speak into our hearts?  If God himself was to speak to you or me today, would we listen?  Are we like the Israelites… do we even WANT God to speak to us?  I propose that most people DON’T want to hear God speak unless He agrees with them.  Seriously, for the most part, people don’t really want to hear ANYone else’s opinion…  we just want to hear our OWN opinion coming from someone else’s mouth.  If your opinion doesn’t 100% match mine, don’t talk to me.  In fact, you must have a demon in you, so go back to where you came from.  Yeah – it ramps up quick like that.

Surely you’ve noticed that it’s almost impossible to have a civil discussion about anything nowadays.  We immediately get ramped up, indignant, offended.  Why has it gotten so bad?  I’m pretty sure social media is largely to blame:  not only do we get fed stuff every minute which is DESIGNED to get a rise out of us, but the social media algorithms know what we click on and what we agree with and will feed us stuff specifically designed to keep us clicking… specifically designed to make us harden our hearts and dig our heels in even further!  Think about it!  If I think X is true, the social media folks will only shoot me snipits of headlines which catch my attention, cater to my opinion, and only prove that those who oppose my way of thinking are not just wrong – but they’re wackos bent on destroying society as we know it, and I’d better get really MAD!

It’s such a devious plan that it almost feels demonic… like some evil force is infiltrating our culture – even infiltrating our church - just TRYING to tear us apart.  This divide is tearing apart our country, tearing apart our church, tearing apart our families, and often, tearing each of our own hearts. 

Like the demon in the Synagogue today, this demon is among us – even in our Church.  The demons are getting braver… coming closer to Jesus… they know who He is – and they think that by calling out Jesus to those around us, he can drive Jesus away… But they have no power over Jesus… demons have no power except that which we give to them.  Hear that – demons are created beings – created by God – and they have zero power except that which we allow them to have.

It’s important that we identify those demons in our own lives – call them by name – and throw them out of the Church / out of our lives.  In some ways, the 70 men and women participating in Exodus and Fiat are learning that.  Every one of us are finding that we have allowed something to control our lives… not necessarily anything demonic, but you and I become a slave to anything that we give control to other than Jesus.  By purposely taking on asceticisms – which is things that are hard to do, like Fasting – we are learning to exert control over our will – and thereby allow Jesus to take His rightful spot at the center of our lives.  Only Jesus has that authority to speak to our heart.

What can we do?
Pay attention to whom we give authority to speak into our lives.  Recognize that the traditional media and social media have been commandeered by someone with an ideology bent on calling out and putting a spin on everything you hear to make us all think that anyone who thinks differently than ME is self-centered, self-serving, immoral, and just an all-around mean person.  As long as the demons can keep us thinking that way, we are doomed.  Let’s Fight back.

Name the demons and call them out.

If your blood pressure goes up every time you watch the news, stop watching the news.  I’m not saying we should bury our heads in the sand – but find a source of Truth instead of the half-lies, spin, and hype that is being fed to us.

If your anger boils every time you look at Facebook or Twitter, delete those accounts.

If you’re sure you’re right and everyone else is wrong, think again.  If Love is not part of the equation, we’ll get the wrong answer every time.  A good friend has a catchy quote:  If you’re wrong in HOW you’re right, then you’re still wrong.  In other words, Truth spoken without love can still be evil.  This is NOT a right-wing or left-wing statement… These tactics are infecting everyone.  Yes – even Demons can speak truth..or at least half-truths… but with evil intent:  to divide the Body of Christ.

Instead of concentrating on what’s wrong with the world, narrow your focus and concentrate on loving the person in front of you.  If there’s no person in front of you, then reach out to someone… there are plenty of people in need of human contact.  Practice love… spread love… establish the Kingdom of God now.  

It starts by letting Jesus have authority to speak to your heart.