Before Mass:
As you listen to the story in today’s Gospel about the man born blind, think about this question: What do you and I ‘know’ about God? Some people admit they know nothing of God – some of us pretend to know a lot about God – and others think we know it all! … or at least… we know all we need to know. That’s a dangerous place to be – thinking we know it all. It sets us up to judge everyone around us – and we may even find ourselves judging God himself.
Homily:
When Jerry was in high school, like most young people, he wasn’t sure he believed in Jesus – or even in God for that matter. It just seemed like with all the scientific evidence out there for evolution and the age of the word and the big bang theory – the stories in the bible seemed like irrelevant old-fashioned tales that grandmothers use to keep their kids in line. Like most people his age – and truthfully – like many people of all ages – he didn’t see a ‘need’ for God anymore. Science explained it all.
So he decided to stop believing. He called himself an agnostic – but he lived more like an atheist. See – an agnostic is somebody who thinks we can’t prove God exists… but an atheist ‘knows’ there is no God. Yeah, atheists can be good, moral people – but without God, everyone decides for themselves what is right and what is wrong… again, because without God, there’s no objective morality. Jerry started living that way – doing what HE wanted to do - doing things which got him into trouble – and he hurt people – and even hurt himself more than he even knew.
In college, Jerry had sunk to the lowest of his life – he was doing all the things he was expected to do at college. At first it was fun – something new – he felt like an adult when he did those things. But one night, his girlfriend broke up with him – You’re just no fun to be around anymore. You use people – you’re always drunk – and all you think of is yourself.
It was a kick in the gut… The next night, Jerry said ‘no’ when his roommates invited him to go partying again – he thought – is this really fun? Getting so drunk that I can’t remember the evening – then throwing up and dealing with a hang-over the next day? He was also cut to the core by his ex-girlfriend’s accusations. Jerry had been a good kid his whole life – and to think that he was now known as a ‘trouble-maker and a ‘user’ – that was a wake up call for him. He realized if he continued down this path, he would live a lonely life because he would hurt anyone he came close to. For some reason, he had a vision of his grandma sitting in her rocking chair praying the rosary. It was a common sight as a kid…but something made it come to his mind this morning. His grandma was a saint... and he wanted more than ever to be like her. He wanted to be the person he used to be.
One of his high school friends was also on campus – she was involved in the campus ministry. He’d regularly made fun of her with his buddies as she would invite them to the Sunday evening Mass. But she never let it phase her… she just kept asking. Thinking of how he’d treated her, he regretted it – and he could see what an absolute jerk he had become.
He texted her and asked if he could go to church with her that afternoon… and they talked for hours afterward. He told her how he realized that living life without a moral compass was leading him to be a person he didn’t like. He admitted to her he still didn’t really know if God existed or if Jesus was the Son of God – but he envied the life he saw that she had – the life he used to have with his grandma - so I want to know Jesus again – I want to have the faith I had as a kid – I want to like myself again.
Jerry was like the blind man in the gospel today - notice that he was born blind – so he didn’t even know what it MEANT to see! To him, the world had no light in it – he’d never seen light, so he didn’t even know what light was! But Jesus met him where he was and touched him. Notice the guy only had to do two things: he had to let Jesus touch him – and he had to wash in the pool of Siloam… it’s an act of faith… a stepping away from his past in order to grasp the grace that Jesus was giving.
His eyes were opened immediately – but his faith in Jesus took a bit more time – notice his Progression of faith:
- When he was first being questioned by his neighbors, he just referred to the man who cured him as “the man called Jesus”;
-Then when being questioned by the Pharisees about the cure, he admitted, “He is a prophet”;
-When the Pharisees question him a second time, he progressed to say Jesus was “a man … from God”;
-But after getting thrown out, he met Jesus who asked him, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” After a brief exchange, He made his profession of faith: “I do believe, Lord.”
Notice too how all through the reading, people ‘know’ everything – for example: the apostles asked if this man was blind because of his own sin or his parents sin. They ‘knew’ that anybody with a physical handicap only had it because of sin. Jesus says – hogwash. OK – that’s not a direct translation, but it’s pretty close ;)
The Pharisees say – we ‘know’ this man can’t be from God because he doesn’t keep the Sabbath. See – in the day – you were not allowed to heal anything on that day… so if you sprained your ankle, you couldn’t even pour cold water over it to stop the swelling. They were so stuck in their ‘knowledge’ of right and wrong that they didn’t seem to care that the laws of the universe had been bent to heal a man born blind! Their knowledge blinded them.
The only person who was NOT secure in his knowledge was the man who had been blind – he made this profound statement: “If he is a sinner, I do not know. One thing I do know is that I was blind and now I see.”
HE was the only one who actually KNEW anything. Where did he get this knowledge? It wasn’t anything he learned from a book or a sermon… his knowledge came from his EXPERIENCE. He had been touched by Jesus and it changed his life.
How’s this apply to you and me? We all are born blind, but gradually our eyes adjust and we can make out shapes – then we recognize mom’s face – and gradually we see the world around us as it is. We are also born spiritually blind – but fortunately for most of us, our parents introduced us to Jesus. As kids, we had a childish faith – not a bad thing – in fact, we should all be blessed to have the faith of a child – but at some point, we start questioning… why do we go to church? Is this really the body and blood of Jesus? Does God exist? Questions are good – let me reiterate – we all NEED to question. Because until we question, our faith is really just a matter of acting out what our parents taught us. We might learn our prayers and receive the Sacraments and ‘think we know’ all the answers, but knowing answers is not the same as knowing Jesus. It’s only in looking back at our EXPERIENCE of Jesus that we realize our eyes have been opened.
But here’s the thing –Jesus can’t open our eyes – He can’t touch us - until we admit we’re blind.
Sunday, March 31, 2019
Saturday, March 16, 2019
2019/03/17 - Counting Stars
Before Mass:
How’s your Lent going? I have a confession to make – I ate ice cream Thursday – I know, I know, I gave up sweets for Lent but – well – it seemed justified at the time….but I wish I had better will power.
Anybody else having trouble? I heard something this week which gave me another perspective – we are SUPPOSED to have trouble keeping our resolutions. Really – if we DON’T struggle – if we get through Lent Easily, then we’re not doing Lent right. In order to gain the fruits of this time of penance, we have to feel the weight of the cross – and the main thing we’ll learn is that we CAN’T do it. If we rely solely on ourselves to persevere through Lent, we will fail – but that teaches us perhaps the most important lesson of all: we ALL need a savior. We all need Jesus to take part of the weight of the cross we voluntarily pick up.
Why do we do this? We are being changed – transfigured – like Christ. But before we can be glorified, we must carry our cross.
So – if you’re having an easy Lent – step it up a notch – don’t leave your cross standing in a corner. If you’re having a tough Lent, congratulations – get back up and pick up that cross again but rely on Jesus standing right beside you helping to carry your cross.
Homily:
What’s the point of the Gospel – the Transfiguration? Matt, Mark, and Luke all tell us this story – so it’s obviously important – but Luke gives us a detail the others omitted. It says, ‘while he was praying’… Big deal, right – Jesus prayed all the time – why is this note-worthy? Because Prayer was the context for when he was transfigured. It was in prayer that he would light-up. It was in prayer that he was changed. It was in prayer that he was glorified. It was in prayer that he conversed with the law and the prophets – connecting himself with the roots of the Faith.
This is what can happen to us through prayer: It can light us up – we can connect with the law and the prophets…most importantly, it can change us. In the second reading it says, ‘He will change our lowly body to conform with his glorified body ‘ for us – God promised to glorify US as well – but how do we tap into that Glory? By following Jesus’ example – go to a private place and pray.
I know – sounds too simple - but that’s the genius of Christianity – tapping into the very depths of God’s promises is as simple as raising our minds to God – allowing His Word to light us up.
Does that happen to you and me? Do we ‘light up’ when we pray? I’ll admit, most of the time, I’d have to say ‘no’.
Perhaps if we all had a clue just how big God’s promises are to us… maybe then we would shine like Jesus did. How big are the promises? God tried to give Abram an idea by saying – see the number of the stars – and count them if you can – just so will your descendents be.
If you were to stand outside on a particularly clear night away from all the city lights, you would be able to make out around 6000 stars. Is that how many descendents Abram was going to have? Take a guess for yourself how many stars there are… go ahead, pick a number.
In his show Cosmos, Carl Sagan stood on a seashore. He reached down and scooped up a double handful of sand.
He said – if you counted the number of grains of sand in his hands, it would be close to the number of stars that you could see with a naked eye on a clear, moonless night. But he made the claim that there's at least one star for every grain of sand on planet earth. Think of the billions of trillions of grains of sand in the world's sandboxes, beaches, and deserts.
Impossible… No way, people said… There's just no way that can be true.
And they were right – Scientists now know that there are at least 10 stars for every grain of sand on our planet. And since we likely haven’t seen the whole universe yet, even that number may be low.
For example – Y’all know the Big Dipper – if you just look at the scoop part of the dipper, Astronomers have so far identified more than five million galaxies lying just within that little square part of the sky. Think about that – just that small part of the sky has 5 million GALAXIES, each of them having 100-400 billion stars. We can’t even imagine a number big enough to count all the stars.
Who cares… well I do. This show that God’s blessings are more than abundant – or even super-abundant – it says that God’s blessings are not just un-countable…. But His promises are beyond our wildest imagination. God made a promise to Abram that his descendants would be more than the stars…. Let it baffle your mind that when God makes a promise to you, he will fulfill it beyond your wildest imagination.
And you can count on that.
*special thanks to Glenn McDonald, Director of Mission Integration for the Ascension Ministry Service Center in Indianapolis, Indiana for the inspiration/information about the stars.
How’s your Lent going? I have a confession to make – I ate ice cream Thursday – I know, I know, I gave up sweets for Lent but – well – it seemed justified at the time….but I wish I had better will power.
Anybody else having trouble? I heard something this week which gave me another perspective – we are SUPPOSED to have trouble keeping our resolutions. Really – if we DON’T struggle – if we get through Lent Easily, then we’re not doing Lent right. In order to gain the fruits of this time of penance, we have to feel the weight of the cross – and the main thing we’ll learn is that we CAN’T do it. If we rely solely on ourselves to persevere through Lent, we will fail – but that teaches us perhaps the most important lesson of all: we ALL need a savior. We all need Jesus to take part of the weight of the cross we voluntarily pick up.
Why do we do this? We are being changed – transfigured – like Christ. But before we can be glorified, we must carry our cross.
So – if you’re having an easy Lent – step it up a notch – don’t leave your cross standing in a corner. If you’re having a tough Lent, congratulations – get back up and pick up that cross again but rely on Jesus standing right beside you helping to carry your cross.
Homily:
What’s the point of the Gospel – the Transfiguration? Matt, Mark, and Luke all tell us this story – so it’s obviously important – but Luke gives us a detail the others omitted. It says, ‘while he was praying’… Big deal, right – Jesus prayed all the time – why is this note-worthy? Because Prayer was the context for when he was transfigured. It was in prayer that he would light-up. It was in prayer that he was changed. It was in prayer that he was glorified. It was in prayer that he conversed with the law and the prophets – connecting himself with the roots of the Faith.
This is what can happen to us through prayer: It can light us up – we can connect with the law and the prophets…most importantly, it can change us. In the second reading it says, ‘He will change our lowly body to conform with his glorified body ‘ for us – God promised to glorify US as well – but how do we tap into that Glory? By following Jesus’ example – go to a private place and pray.
I know – sounds too simple - but that’s the genius of Christianity – tapping into the very depths of God’s promises is as simple as raising our minds to God – allowing His Word to light us up.
Does that happen to you and me? Do we ‘light up’ when we pray? I’ll admit, most of the time, I’d have to say ‘no’.
Perhaps if we all had a clue just how big God’s promises are to us… maybe then we would shine like Jesus did. How big are the promises? God tried to give Abram an idea by saying – see the number of the stars – and count them if you can – just so will your descendents be.
If you were to stand outside on a particularly clear night away from all the city lights, you would be able to make out around 6000 stars. Is that how many descendents Abram was going to have? Take a guess for yourself how many stars there are… go ahead, pick a number.
In his show Cosmos, Carl Sagan stood on a seashore. He reached down and scooped up a double handful of sand.
He said – if you counted the number of grains of sand in his hands, it would be close to the number of stars that you could see with a naked eye on a clear, moonless night. But he made the claim that there's at least one star for every grain of sand on planet earth. Think of the billions of trillions of grains of sand in the world's sandboxes, beaches, and deserts.
Impossible… No way, people said… There's just no way that can be true.
And they were right – Scientists now know that there are at least 10 stars for every grain of sand on our planet. And since we likely haven’t seen the whole universe yet, even that number may be low.
For example – Y’all know the Big Dipper – if you just look at the scoop part of the dipper, Astronomers have so far identified more than five million galaxies lying just within that little square part of the sky. Think about that – just that small part of the sky has 5 million GALAXIES, each of them having 100-400 billion stars. We can’t even imagine a number big enough to count all the stars.
Who cares… well I do. This show that God’s blessings are more than abundant – or even super-abundant – it says that God’s blessings are not just un-countable…. But His promises are beyond our wildest imagination. God made a promise to Abram that his descendants would be more than the stars…. Let it baffle your mind that when God makes a promise to you, he will fulfill it beyond your wildest imagination.
And you can count on that.
*special thanks to Glenn McDonald, Director of Mission Integration for the Ascension Ministry Service Center in Indianapolis, Indiana for the inspiration/information about the stars.
Saturday, February 23, 2019
2019/02/24 - Unexpected
Before Mass:
There’s some back-story to the first reading which we all need to have in mind – Saul was the anointed King of Israel – but he was doing a bad job of it, so Samuel anointed David as the next king. It’s an odd situation where two can rightfully claim the throne. Saul was threatened by David – he was popular – a great warrior – and everybody loved him. Saul was afraid he’d take his throne, so he set out to kill him. David was on the run for like 15-20 years – living in the wilderness with a ragtag group of supporters – basically waiting for Saul to die so he could step into the throne. Today’s Gospel picks up somewhere during that time when David was on the run. The important thing to note is that by every right – David could have killed Saul – remember that. He was anointed by God to be the king, Saul tried to kill him, and apparently God delivered Saul directly into David’s hand… any sane person would agree that David had EVERY right to kill Saul.
Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 81
READING 1 1 SM 26:2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-23
RESPONSORIAL PSALM PS 103:1-2, 3-4, 8, 10, 12-13
READING 2 1 COR 15:45-49
GOSPEL LK 6:27-38
Homily:
We all have someone in our lives who has done us wrong. Picture that person in your mind right now.
Amanda’s Ex cheated on her for over a year before she found out – then he blamed her for the marriage falling apart and in a messy divorce, he left her with almost nothing.
George’s boss has a bad attitude – he constantly demeans him and gives him the least desirable jobs…. Passing him up for promotions and raises.
Don’s classmate bullied him for years – and spread rumors about him so that nobody in the school wanted to be friends with him anymore.
Clare’s mom told her years ago that when she died, she wanted Clare to have her wedding ring – but her sister took it – claiming she had a right to it since she was older.
A drunk driver ran over Jerry’s youngest kid on her bike – leaving her crippled for life. Every day Jerry has to help his daughter deal with the aftermath. Jerry is bitter and angry and simply cannot forgive the man who did this to his daughter.
In all of these scenarios, and the one in your own life, you have every RIGHT to be mad – to hold a grudge – to wish that they would rot in hell. Nobody would blame you one bit for being bitter and withholding forgiveness…. They don’t DESERVE forgiveness.
David was in that kind of situation. He had every right to kill Saul and, in fact, when he passed up the chance, I’m sure the other men were making fun of him for passing up this chance: Besides, maybe this WAS God’s plan that David should kill Saul so he could take his rightful throne. But David did the unexpected: he showed mercy.
Jesus says – “love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”
Forgive and you will be forgiven.”
We’ve heard these phrases throughout our lives – they’re nice Christians sayings - - but do we live them? Don’t read them as some general ‘love everybody’ statements – let them touch you specifically. Love your enemies – yes – even that person you thought of a few minutes ago – your ex, your classmate, your boss or co-worker, your brother or sister – let this teaching get personal.
You, no doubt, have every right to be angry at that person – they hurt you – and likely are not even remorseful about it. They don’t DESERVE your forgiveness. You have every right to wish them harm – to curse them. Seriously, nobody is going to blame you for striking back at them – because that’s what any other person would do.
But – we aren’t just any other person, we are Christian. Christians do the unexpected.
See – we are called to be Holy – which is simply to try to live like God – to try to act like Jesus. When Jesus met the woman at the well, he could have condemned her as a sinner – but instead he loved her and she became one of the first evangelists. When Jesus met the woman caught in adultery – by every right of the law, he could have joined in stoning her – but he did something unexpected and refused to condemn her.
When you and I sin – and we do that every day – by every right, God can smite us – but God does the unexpected – he shows mercy continually. If God can forgive us, we can forgive others. In fact, if we don’t forgive others, not only are we not reflecting God to the world, but we will live in misery.
Think of a time you had harsh words with someone close to you – how did you feel afterward? Many people feel a pit in their stomache as long as there is unforgiveness. The obvious cure to that stomache pain would be to forgive and move on – but instead – we hold a grudge, don’t we? I know families who have been torn apart for decades because nobody will make the first move to forgive. In our righteous indignation, we conjure up unforgiveness by recalling how RIGHT we are and how wrong they are – ‘well she said this or he did this and they never even felt sorry about it and if they think I’m just gonna forgive them for that then they got another thing coming!’…..and the pit in our stomache grows – and we’re miserable – and people around us are miserable because of us. I heard somewhere that unforgiveness is like drinking poison in hopes that the other person dies.
Long before Jesus said these words, David set the example for us – instead of grasping at what was his right – he waited for God to deliver the throne to him. Vengeance belongs to God. Notice – there's something else about David we can learn from: if there’s somebody that is dangerous to us or our children -somebody who is toxic to us – be like David and get out of there. We may not be able to have a relationship with everyone – but we can still do the unexpected… we can forgive them. It may seem hard or impossible for any normal person to forgive…
...but we’re not just any normal person – we are Christians. We do the unexpected.
There’s some back-story to the first reading which we all need to have in mind – Saul was the anointed King of Israel – but he was doing a bad job of it, so Samuel anointed David as the next king. It’s an odd situation where two can rightfully claim the throne. Saul was threatened by David – he was popular – a great warrior – and everybody loved him. Saul was afraid he’d take his throne, so he set out to kill him. David was on the run for like 15-20 years – living in the wilderness with a ragtag group of supporters – basically waiting for Saul to die so he could step into the throne. Today’s Gospel picks up somewhere during that time when David was on the run. The important thing to note is that by every right – David could have killed Saul – remember that. He was anointed by God to be the king, Saul tried to kill him, and apparently God delivered Saul directly into David’s hand… any sane person would agree that David had EVERY right to kill Saul.
Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 81
READING 1 1 SM 26:2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-23
RESPONSORIAL PSALM PS 103:1-2, 3-4, 8, 10, 12-13
READING 2 1 COR 15:45-49
GOSPEL LK 6:27-38
Homily:
We all have someone in our lives who has done us wrong. Picture that person in your mind right now.
Amanda’s Ex cheated on her for over a year before she found out – then he blamed her for the marriage falling apart and in a messy divorce, he left her with almost nothing.
George’s boss has a bad attitude – he constantly demeans him and gives him the least desirable jobs…. Passing him up for promotions and raises.
Don’s classmate bullied him for years – and spread rumors about him so that nobody in the school wanted to be friends with him anymore.
Clare’s mom told her years ago that when she died, she wanted Clare to have her wedding ring – but her sister took it – claiming she had a right to it since she was older.
A drunk driver ran over Jerry’s youngest kid on her bike – leaving her crippled for life. Every day Jerry has to help his daughter deal with the aftermath. Jerry is bitter and angry and simply cannot forgive the man who did this to his daughter.
In all of these scenarios, and the one in your own life, you have every RIGHT to be mad – to hold a grudge – to wish that they would rot in hell. Nobody would blame you one bit for being bitter and withholding forgiveness…. They don’t DESERVE forgiveness.
David was in that kind of situation. He had every right to kill Saul and, in fact, when he passed up the chance, I’m sure the other men were making fun of him for passing up this chance: Besides, maybe this WAS God’s plan that David should kill Saul so he could take his rightful throne. But David did the unexpected: he showed mercy.
Jesus says – “love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”
Forgive and you will be forgiven.”
We’ve heard these phrases throughout our lives – they’re nice Christians sayings - - but do we live them? Don’t read them as some general ‘love everybody’ statements – let them touch you specifically. Love your enemies – yes – even that person you thought of a few minutes ago – your ex, your classmate, your boss or co-worker, your brother or sister – let this teaching get personal.
You, no doubt, have every right to be angry at that person – they hurt you – and likely are not even remorseful about it. They don’t DESERVE your forgiveness. You have every right to wish them harm – to curse them. Seriously, nobody is going to blame you for striking back at them – because that’s what any other person would do.
But – we aren’t just any other person, we are Christian. Christians do the unexpected.
See – we are called to be Holy – which is simply to try to live like God – to try to act like Jesus. When Jesus met the woman at the well, he could have condemned her as a sinner – but instead he loved her and she became one of the first evangelists. When Jesus met the woman caught in adultery – by every right of the law, he could have joined in stoning her – but he did something unexpected and refused to condemn her.
When you and I sin – and we do that every day – by every right, God can smite us – but God does the unexpected – he shows mercy continually. If God can forgive us, we can forgive others. In fact, if we don’t forgive others, not only are we not reflecting God to the world, but we will live in misery.
Think of a time you had harsh words with someone close to you – how did you feel afterward? Many people feel a pit in their stomache as long as there is unforgiveness. The obvious cure to that stomache pain would be to forgive and move on – but instead – we hold a grudge, don’t we? I know families who have been torn apart for decades because nobody will make the first move to forgive. In our righteous indignation, we conjure up unforgiveness by recalling how RIGHT we are and how wrong they are – ‘well she said this or he did this and they never even felt sorry about it and if they think I’m just gonna forgive them for that then they got another thing coming!’…..and the pit in our stomache grows – and we’re miserable – and people around us are miserable because of us. I heard somewhere that unforgiveness is like drinking poison in hopes that the other person dies.
Long before Jesus said these words, David set the example for us – instead of grasping at what was his right – he waited for God to deliver the throne to him. Vengeance belongs to God. Notice – there's something else about David we can learn from: if there’s somebody that is dangerous to us or our children -somebody who is toxic to us – be like David and get out of there. We may not be able to have a relationship with everyone – but we can still do the unexpected… we can forgive them. It may seem hard or impossible for any normal person to forgive…
...but we’re not just any normal person – we are Christians. We do the unexpected.
Saturday, February 2, 2019
2019/02/01 - What's Love Got to do with it?
Before Mass
For our homily today - I met with the Junior Religious Ed class to help me get ideas.
I’ll warn you the homily is mainly going to focus on the 2nd reading- and it’s one most of us have probably heard many times in our lives – and mainly at weddings. So often, perhaps, that as soon as we hear ‘love is patient’, we either can finish the reading in our heads, or our minds immediately turn to focus on something else. It’s a great reading about love and yes – it does fit very well with weddings – but, that’s not why it was written…. Paul wasn’t intending to write to newly married couples. He was writing this for you and me – and the message is a lot stronger than any of us might remember after hearing it several times.
So I invite you to listen with fresh ears. Ask yourself as Paul speaks – how does this apply to me? How should this impact my DAILY life? In fact, how should this impact every moment of my life, including this very second?
Homily
Some people complain that religion is too black and white – that life is made up of a lot of gray area and religion is just too strict and becomes pious, irrelevant babble.
On the other hand, a lot of people complain that religion is too wishy-washy – that so many things are a ‘mystery’ and we can’t really KNOW anything, so religion is TOO gray to provide answers in the hard questions of life.
And to those people, I’d say, “you’re right!”… and I’d like to apologize if that has frustrated you and pushed you away from Christianity. See, a lot of Christians just kind-of go to church on Sunday and religion doesn’t really impact the rest of their week. In fact, you might not even KNOW they were Christian. The outspoken Christians – the ones you KNOW are Christian – usually fall into one of two sterotypes: there’s the staunch doctrinal self-righteous finger pointer who declares everything is black and white and to hell with anyone who steps out of line! At the other end are the nice guys who always have a smile and never have answers and anything goes because God is all about Love, so why can’t we all just get along. Again – these are just sterotypes – doesn’t describe anybody in here - but these are how much of the world views us!
Given those two options, is it any wonder so many people reject Christianity?
Jesus was about more than doctrines and butterflies. He came not just to teach us, but to SHOW us how to Love. That is the heart of Christianity. The purpose of our religion – the purpose of our LIVES, is to become more like God – and God is Love, so the more we Love, the more we’re like God. They’ll know we are Christians by our …Love, so the song goes. It’s not just a catchy tune or phrase, this is the heart of what it means to LIVE as a Christian. It’s more than doing Christian things, it’s about being the hands and feet of Love.
Paul gives several one-liners about how we fail in that. If I speak without Love, I am a noisy gong. If I do anything to boast, but don’t have love, I gain nothing. This reading is not just a nice reading for weddings… it instructs us how to live as Christians.
This is VERY practical advice here… if I speak without love, I am a noisy gong. How many people do we know who keep beating their drums without love and we just stop listening to them?
Know anybody who does great things, but they only do it so they can brag about it? Paul says, if I give away everything but don’t do it for love – it gains me nothing!
Let this scripture instruct you personally… An easy way to do that is to change-out the word Love with YOUR name.
So, instead of Love is Patient, Love is Kind…. Bill is Patient. Susan is kind. Greg is not Jealous. Eugene is not pompous. Maggie is not rude. Cayden is not quick-tempered. Dave does not brood over injury. Tammy does not rejoice over wrongdoing. Keep going… this is an instruction booklet for how we should live! Hmmm… we could also use this as an examination of conscience. When we’re preparing for reconciliation, read it and think – when was I NOT kind…NOT patient…when did I speak without love?
Hopefully you can see that Christianity is way more than finger pointing and way more than “let’s all get along”. The early Christians were known for one thing: “See how they love one another”. That love was – and continues to be – a magnet, drawing people to Christ.
In all things we do… in ALL things we do… let Love be our guide. Love never fails.
For our homily today - I met with the Junior Religious Ed class to help me get ideas.
I’ll warn you the homily is mainly going to focus on the 2nd reading- and it’s one most of us have probably heard many times in our lives – and mainly at weddings. So often, perhaps, that as soon as we hear ‘love is patient’, we either can finish the reading in our heads, or our minds immediately turn to focus on something else. It’s a great reading about love and yes – it does fit very well with weddings – but, that’s not why it was written…. Paul wasn’t intending to write to newly married couples. He was writing this for you and me – and the message is a lot stronger than any of us might remember after hearing it several times.
So I invite you to listen with fresh ears. Ask yourself as Paul speaks – how does this apply to me? How should this impact my DAILY life? In fact, how should this impact every moment of my life, including this very second?
Homily
Some people complain that religion is too black and white – that life is made up of a lot of gray area and religion is just too strict and becomes pious, irrelevant babble.
On the other hand, a lot of people complain that religion is too wishy-washy – that so many things are a ‘mystery’ and we can’t really KNOW anything, so religion is TOO gray to provide answers in the hard questions of life.
And to those people, I’d say, “you’re right!”… and I’d like to apologize if that has frustrated you and pushed you away from Christianity. See, a lot of Christians just kind-of go to church on Sunday and religion doesn’t really impact the rest of their week. In fact, you might not even KNOW they were Christian. The outspoken Christians – the ones you KNOW are Christian – usually fall into one of two sterotypes: there’s the staunch doctrinal self-righteous finger pointer who declares everything is black and white and to hell with anyone who steps out of line! At the other end are the nice guys who always have a smile and never have answers and anything goes because God is all about Love, so why can’t we all just get along. Again – these are just sterotypes – doesn’t describe anybody in here - but these are how much of the world views us!
Given those two options, is it any wonder so many people reject Christianity?
Jesus was about more than doctrines and butterflies. He came not just to teach us, but to SHOW us how to Love. That is the heart of Christianity. The purpose of our religion – the purpose of our LIVES, is to become more like God – and God is Love, so the more we Love, the more we’re like God. They’ll know we are Christians by our …Love, so the song goes. It’s not just a catchy tune or phrase, this is the heart of what it means to LIVE as a Christian. It’s more than doing Christian things, it’s about being the hands and feet of Love.
Paul gives several one-liners about how we fail in that. If I speak without Love, I am a noisy gong. If I do anything to boast, but don’t have love, I gain nothing. This reading is not just a nice reading for weddings… it instructs us how to live as Christians.
This is VERY practical advice here… if I speak without love, I am a noisy gong. How many people do we know who keep beating their drums without love and we just stop listening to them?
Know anybody who does great things, but they only do it so they can brag about it? Paul says, if I give away everything but don’t do it for love – it gains me nothing!
Let this scripture instruct you personally… An easy way to do that is to change-out the word Love with YOUR name.
So, instead of Love is Patient, Love is Kind…. Bill is Patient. Susan is kind. Greg is not Jealous. Eugene is not pompous. Maggie is not rude. Cayden is not quick-tempered. Dave does not brood over injury. Tammy does not rejoice over wrongdoing. Keep going… this is an instruction booklet for how we should live! Hmmm… we could also use this as an examination of conscience. When we’re preparing for reconciliation, read it and think – when was I NOT kind…NOT patient…when did I speak without love?
Hopefully you can see that Christianity is way more than finger pointing and way more than “let’s all get along”. The early Christians were known for one thing: “See how they love one another”. That love was – and continues to be – a magnet, drawing people to Christ.
In all things we do… in ALL things we do… let Love be our guide. Love never fails.
Saturday, January 19, 2019
2019/01/20 - Christian Unity
* Note: Readings are not the standard readings for the week. Scroll down below homily for the readings. *
BEFORE MASS:
I need to warn you, today's readings are NOT in the books. We were encouraged to offer a Mass for Christian Unity this weekend, so the readings are completely different. That’s exciting, actually, because some of these readings you may never have heard before – especially the first reading from Ezekiel – he uses some great imagery – but you might need just a bit of back-story for it to really make sense.
You may remember that King Solomon as wise– but you may not remember that in his later years as King, he did some pretty stupid stuff… so bad in fact, that Israel split into two countries – there was Israel in the north, made up of 10 of the 12 tribes – and Judah in the south – made up of the other two tribes. This division was not from God – it was because of human weakness – and in our reading, we’ll hear God promise to remove that division.
This is symbolic of the Christian unity we're praying for today.
Homily:
Imagine if your greatest enemy became your friend… impossible?
I love that story from Ezekiel – those two sticks represented the kingdom of Israel which was split into two – and God promised to bring them back together. It was a division that never should have happened – it was due to human failings that the tribes became enemies in the first place. But divisions are not of God… so God promised to remove that division.
So it is with ANY divisions we create among ourselves. Any time it’s us vs them, we are not of God – Dubois vs Celestine, democrats vs republicans, Catholic vs Protestant, even Christian vs Islam… divisions are not of God. Yet – how can God possibly remove these barriers between us?
A wise man once said, “Love is the only force capable of transforming enemies into friends.” Let that sink in - “Love is the only force capable of transforming enemies into friends.”
That wise man, whom we celebrate in this nation tomorrow, Martin Luther King Jr, saw the injustice and harm to society that came from divisions. He saw that these divisions were not from God and therefore these enemies were like two sticks which God would bring back together – but not without a struggle. Humans have a hard time giving up prejudices with which we were raised. Besides that, we all have experiences in our lives which TEACH us to distrust “them” – whichever group we blame for the current ills of society. In the 30’s in Germany it was the Jews.. in Mexico 100 years ago – and even in this country – the Catholics were the enemy. Today ‘they’ might be the muslims or the Mexicans or for some people sitting here today ‘they’ might still be blacks. We learn these divisions from our culture, our parents, or from personal experience. Once those wounds are inflicted, it becomes hard – almost impossible for enemies to become friends.
“Love is the only force capable of transforming enemies into friends.”
Love is of God – and anytime we allow Love to enter into a relationship, God can transform ANY relationship into friendship.
The same holds true for our religious differences. Any divisions are not of God. This country is still primarily Christian, but the numbers are dropping fast. Part of the reason for that is the in-fighting among Christians. When we don’t have a common message of Love to take to the world, the world will turn away. Christ prayed that we would all be ‘one’. But again, human failings – this time among Christians – splintered the body of Christ. The two biggest splits came between east and west 1000 years ago – and then in the reformation 500 years ago. Inside of that, we can find stories of individuals who decided they knew better than the Church – like maybe they wanted to marry someone and the Church said ‘no’ – so they started their own church… creating yet another division. Over 30 thousands divisions of Christianity in this country alone…
Divisions are not of God.
Even in our own community, there are several divisions of Christians – many of which have walked away from the Catholic Church for one reason or another. What’s really alarming is the number of un-churched people now in our area. Somehow, even though we are here – we have not been the light on the hill drawing all people to Christ. How can this be?
Perhaps it’s our divisions. Why belong to Christianity when Christians can’t even agree on what they believe?
Divisions are not of God.
Today we pray specifically that Jesus’ prayer be fulfilled – that we would all be one. We pray that the Spirit would reach into the hearts of all Christian leaders to work toward unity. There’s actually been amazing progress made already – just a few years ago, the Lutherans and Catholics signed a document which ended the disputes over Sola Fide – salvation through faith alone – coming to a common understanding and ending 500 years of fighting about it. There are still other differences that separate us – and they may ‘seem’ impossible to overcome – but so was Sola Fide! The Holy Spirit can do it- and that’s what we pray for - God can change hearts. This Ecumenical service we’re having on the 10th to pray for our schools is another sign of our coming together as Christians.
We pray too on a personal level that we could each be convicted of the prejudices, discriminations, bickering – anything is not of God – anything that causes divisions. God can change our hearts.
I want to end with a very short story.
In WWII, there was a band of soldiers fighting their way across Germany and one of the platoon was killed. They saw a small church nearby and asked the priest if they could bury their friend in the church's cemetery, but he insisted that only people belonging to THEIR faith could be buried in this cemetery. If you want, you can bury him outside the fence, though. The guys were kind of put-off, but what else could they do - they buried their comrade outside the fence. The next morning, they passed the church one last time as they were leaving the area, and their friend's grave was now inside the fence! During the night, the priest had moved the fence!!
God can heal our divisions - He can change hearts - and He can even move fences.
READINGS FOR MASS OF CHRISTIAN UNITY
FIRST READING
(867:3) Ezekiel 37:15-19,21b-22, 26-28
15* Thus the word of the LORD came to me: 16As for you, son of man, take one stick and write on it, “Judah and those Israelites associated with it.” Then take another stick and write on it: “Joseph, Ephraim’s stick, and the whole house of Israel associated with it.” 17Join the two sticks together so they become one stick in your hand. 18When your people ask you, “Will you not tell us what you mean by all this?” 19answer them: Thus says the Lord GOD: I will take the stick of Joseph, now in Ephraim’s hand, and the tribes of Israel associated with it, and join to it the stick of Judah, making them one stick; they shall become one in my hand.f 21b I will soon take the Israelites from among the nations to which they have gone and gather them from all around to bring them back to their land. 22 I will make them one nation in the land, upon the mountains of Israel, and there shall be one king for them all. They shall never again be two nations, never again be divided into two kingdoms.g
26j I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them. I will multiply them and put my sanctuary among them forever. 27My dwelling shall be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people.k 28Then the nations shall know that I, the LORD, make Israel holy, by putting my sanctuary among them forever.
(869) Responsorial Psalm
1.
Jeremiah 31:10, 11-12abcd, 13
R. (see 10c) Lord, gather your scattered people.
Hear the word of the LORD, O nations,
proclaim it on distant isles, and say:
He who scattered Israel, now gathers them together,
he guards them as a shepherd his flock.
R. Lord, gather your scattered people.
The LORD shall ransom Jacob,
he shall redeem him from the hand of his conqueror.
Shouting, they shall mount the heights of Zion,
they shall come streaming to the LORD's blessings:
The grain, the wine, and the oil,
the sheep and the oxen.
R. Lord, gather your scattered people.
Then the virgins shall make merry and dance,
and young men and old as well.
I will turn their mourning into joy,
I will console and gladden them after their sorrows.
R. Lord, gather your scattered people.
SECOND READING
(868:7) 1 Timothy 2:5-8
Beloved:
There is one God.
There is also one mediator between God and men,
the man Christ Jesus,
who gave himself as ransom for all.
This was the testimony at the proper time.
For this I was appointed preacher and Apostle
(I am speaking the truth, I am not lying),
teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
It is my wish, then, that in every place the men should pray,
lifting up holy hands, without anger or argument.
GOSPEL (871:8) John 17:20-26
Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said:
"Holy Father, I pray not only for these,
but also for those who will believe in me through their word,
so that they may all be one,
as you, Father, are in me and I in you,
that they also may be in us,
that the world may believe that you sent me.
And I have given them the glory you gave me,
so that they may be one, as we are one,
I in them and you in me,
that they may be brought to perfection as one,
that the world may know that you sent me,
and that you loved them even as you loved me.
Father, they are your gift to me.
I wish that where I am they also may be with me,
that they may see my glory that you gave me,
because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
Righteous Father, the world also does not know you,
but I know you, and they know that you sent me.
I made known to them your name and I will make it known,
that the love with which you loved me
may be in them and I in them."
BEFORE MASS:
I need to warn you, today's readings are NOT in the books. We were encouraged to offer a Mass for Christian Unity this weekend, so the readings are completely different. That’s exciting, actually, because some of these readings you may never have heard before – especially the first reading from Ezekiel – he uses some great imagery – but you might need just a bit of back-story for it to really make sense.
You may remember that King Solomon as wise– but you may not remember that in his later years as King, he did some pretty stupid stuff… so bad in fact, that Israel split into two countries – there was Israel in the north, made up of 10 of the 12 tribes – and Judah in the south – made up of the other two tribes. This division was not from God – it was because of human weakness – and in our reading, we’ll hear God promise to remove that division.
This is symbolic of the Christian unity we're praying for today.
Homily:
Imagine if your greatest enemy became your friend… impossible?
I love that story from Ezekiel – those two sticks represented the kingdom of Israel which was split into two – and God promised to bring them back together. It was a division that never should have happened – it was due to human failings that the tribes became enemies in the first place. But divisions are not of God… so God promised to remove that division.
So it is with ANY divisions we create among ourselves. Any time it’s us vs them, we are not of God – Dubois vs Celestine, democrats vs republicans, Catholic vs Protestant, even Christian vs Islam… divisions are not of God. Yet – how can God possibly remove these barriers between us?
A wise man once said, “Love is the only force capable of transforming enemies into friends.” Let that sink in - “Love is the only force capable of transforming enemies into friends.”
That wise man, whom we celebrate in this nation tomorrow, Martin Luther King Jr, saw the injustice and harm to society that came from divisions. He saw that these divisions were not from God and therefore these enemies were like two sticks which God would bring back together – but not without a struggle. Humans have a hard time giving up prejudices with which we were raised. Besides that, we all have experiences in our lives which TEACH us to distrust “them” – whichever group we blame for the current ills of society. In the 30’s in Germany it was the Jews.. in Mexico 100 years ago – and even in this country – the Catholics were the enemy. Today ‘they’ might be the muslims or the Mexicans or for some people sitting here today ‘they’ might still be blacks. We learn these divisions from our culture, our parents, or from personal experience. Once those wounds are inflicted, it becomes hard – almost impossible for enemies to become friends.
“Love is the only force capable of transforming enemies into friends.”
Love is of God – and anytime we allow Love to enter into a relationship, God can transform ANY relationship into friendship.
The same holds true for our religious differences. Any divisions are not of God. This country is still primarily Christian, but the numbers are dropping fast. Part of the reason for that is the in-fighting among Christians. When we don’t have a common message of Love to take to the world, the world will turn away. Christ prayed that we would all be ‘one’. But again, human failings – this time among Christians – splintered the body of Christ. The two biggest splits came between east and west 1000 years ago – and then in the reformation 500 years ago. Inside of that, we can find stories of individuals who decided they knew better than the Church – like maybe they wanted to marry someone and the Church said ‘no’ – so they started their own church… creating yet another division. Over 30 thousands divisions of Christianity in this country alone…
Divisions are not of God.
Even in our own community, there are several divisions of Christians – many of which have walked away from the Catholic Church for one reason or another. What’s really alarming is the number of un-churched people now in our area. Somehow, even though we are here – we have not been the light on the hill drawing all people to Christ. How can this be?
Perhaps it’s our divisions. Why belong to Christianity when Christians can’t even agree on what they believe?
Divisions are not of God.
Today we pray specifically that Jesus’ prayer be fulfilled – that we would all be one. We pray that the Spirit would reach into the hearts of all Christian leaders to work toward unity. There’s actually been amazing progress made already – just a few years ago, the Lutherans and Catholics signed a document which ended the disputes over Sola Fide – salvation through faith alone – coming to a common understanding and ending 500 years of fighting about it. There are still other differences that separate us – and they may ‘seem’ impossible to overcome – but so was Sola Fide! The Holy Spirit can do it- and that’s what we pray for - God can change hearts. This Ecumenical service we’re having on the 10th to pray for our schools is another sign of our coming together as Christians.
We pray too on a personal level that we could each be convicted of the prejudices, discriminations, bickering – anything is not of God – anything that causes divisions. God can change our hearts.
I want to end with a very short story.
In WWII, there was a band of soldiers fighting their way across Germany and one of the platoon was killed. They saw a small church nearby and asked the priest if they could bury their friend in the church's cemetery, but he insisted that only people belonging to THEIR faith could be buried in this cemetery. If you want, you can bury him outside the fence, though. The guys were kind of put-off, but what else could they do - they buried their comrade outside the fence. The next morning, they passed the church one last time as they were leaving the area, and their friend's grave was now inside the fence! During the night, the priest had moved the fence!!
God can heal our divisions - He can change hearts - and He can even move fences.
READINGS FOR MASS OF CHRISTIAN UNITY
FIRST READING
(867:3) Ezekiel 37:15-19,21b-22, 26-28
15* Thus the word of the LORD came to me: 16As for you, son of man, take one stick and write on it, “Judah and those Israelites associated with it.” Then take another stick and write on it: “Joseph, Ephraim’s stick, and the whole house of Israel associated with it.” 17Join the two sticks together so they become one stick in your hand. 18When your people ask you, “Will you not tell us what you mean by all this?” 19answer them: Thus says the Lord GOD: I will take the stick of Joseph, now in Ephraim’s hand, and the tribes of Israel associated with it, and join to it the stick of Judah, making them one stick; they shall become one in my hand.f 21b I will soon take the Israelites from among the nations to which they have gone and gather them from all around to bring them back to their land. 22 I will make them one nation in the land, upon the mountains of Israel, and there shall be one king for them all. They shall never again be two nations, never again be divided into two kingdoms.g
26j I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them. I will multiply them and put my sanctuary among them forever. 27My dwelling shall be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people.k 28Then the nations shall know that I, the LORD, make Israel holy, by putting my sanctuary among them forever.
(869) Responsorial Psalm
1.
Jeremiah 31:10, 11-12abcd, 13
R. (see 10c) Lord, gather your scattered people.
Hear the word of the LORD, O nations,
proclaim it on distant isles, and say:
He who scattered Israel, now gathers them together,
he guards them as a shepherd his flock.
R. Lord, gather your scattered people.
The LORD shall ransom Jacob,
he shall redeem him from the hand of his conqueror.
Shouting, they shall mount the heights of Zion,
they shall come streaming to the LORD's blessings:
The grain, the wine, and the oil,
the sheep and the oxen.
R. Lord, gather your scattered people.
Then the virgins shall make merry and dance,
and young men and old as well.
I will turn their mourning into joy,
I will console and gladden them after their sorrows.
R. Lord, gather your scattered people.
SECOND READING
(868:7) 1 Timothy 2:5-8
Beloved:
There is one God.
There is also one mediator between God and men,
the man Christ Jesus,
who gave himself as ransom for all.
This was the testimony at the proper time.
For this I was appointed preacher and Apostle
(I am speaking the truth, I am not lying),
teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
It is my wish, then, that in every place the men should pray,
lifting up holy hands, without anger or argument.
GOSPEL (871:8) John 17:20-26
Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said:
"Holy Father, I pray not only for these,
but also for those who will believe in me through their word,
so that they may all be one,
as you, Father, are in me and I in you,
that they also may be in us,
that the world may believe that you sent me.
And I have given them the glory you gave me,
so that they may be one, as we are one,
I in them and you in me,
that they may be brought to perfection as one,
that the world may know that you sent me,
and that you loved them even as you loved me.
Father, they are your gift to me.
I wish that where I am they also may be with me,
that they may see my glory that you gave me,
because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
Righteous Father, the world also does not know you,
but I know you, and they know that you sent me.
I made known to them your name and I will make it known,
that the love with which you loved me
may be in them and I in them."
Sunday, December 23, 2018
2018/12/23 - Whatever Love Requires
Before Mass:
Paul’s making an important point in the second reading: He says, ‘Sacrifice and offering you did not desire’. What he’s talking about is the old testament Law – where if you sinned, you had to sacrifice a dove or goat or something else depending on what the sin was. The reading says God did not desire that kind of sacrifice… OK that’s good since we don’t do that anymore…. so what DOES God want from us? He says, ‘I come to do your will’… so what IS God’s will?
Homily
Some people think Catholicism is all about “following the rules”. You HAVE to go to Mass every week AND holy days, you HAVE to go to confession, you have to save sex for marriage and you have to get married in the church and get your kids baptized and confirmed. You have to tithe your 10%. You can’t eat an hour before Mass. Then there’s all the Lenten days of fasting and abstinence… lots of ‘rules.
Yet – if truth be told – most people don’t ‘follow the rules’. Why is that? I vaguely remember a quote from years ago: it’s human nature that when we’re faced with a rule, we see ourselves as exceptions to the rule…. when we’re faced with a rule, we see ourselves as exceptions to the rule. We come up with excuses why this rule doesn’t apply to me. Like I know the sign says STOP, but I don’t see anybody coming, so I can blow right through this one.
Imagine living in Jerusalem back in the day – they had rules on top of rules on top of rules. No way the average Josephus could follow every one of them….unless you were a Pharisee who prided themselves in being perfect followers of the law. But – the bad news for them and the good news for us is: it’s not about following rules, but rather doing the will of God. Everything – EVERYTHING we do we should be seeking to do the will of God. What is God’s will? Let me give you another phrase them might be easier to understand. Since God is Love, we could say, do whatever Love requires.
Do whatever love requires – what’s that look like?
Jerry was walking with his grandsons in the woods – they were super excited because they were going to hike to the stream and look for fossils. Plus, they’d get all dirty and wet and Mom wasn’t there to get mad at them! As they got close to the stream, the boys couldn’t contain their enthusiasm, so they ran ahead of Jerry. But a minute later, one of them let out a blood-curdling scream and didn’t stop. Jerry could see his arms flailing in the air as he danced around on the rocks.
Immediately, Jerry sprinted to the boys and saw they were being swarmed by yellow-jackets. Jerry instinctively grabbed the younger boy and pushed him toward the shore with a command to run toward the house. Then he grabbed the other boy by the collar and pulled him out of the water where he had sought refuge, and carried him to shore with the same command to run. Jerry followed, but he was being bitten and he noticed the yellow-jackets were following them, so he purposely hung back so the boys might get to safety. Ended up, Jerry was bitten multiple times and miraculously, the boys had escaped any injury.
Was Jerry following a rule that says grandfathers must allow themselves to be bitten to protect their grandchildren? No – Jerry was just doing whatever Love requires.
Similarly, when we come to Mass or follow any of the other Catholic ‘rules’ – it’s not out of obligation – but we’re doing whatever love requires. Let’s take that one rule and think about it: why is it a big deal if we miss Mass on Sunday? Think of it as a relationship. Say you and your spouse decide that Saturday evening is your Date night. It’s on the calendar and you both keep that open religiously. So what if one Saturday your buddies say let’s play cards tonight… should you go?
Just like we have to invest time on our relationship with our spouse, our relationship with God requires time – and the best way to do that is to build habits like I’ll pray every day when I get up and I’ll go to Mass every weekend. Is that a rule? No – it’s whatever love requires.
Look at Mary in the Gospel – was she following a rule that said she must go take care of her cousin Elizabeth? No – but she gives us a great example of what we’re supposed to do. Once she received Jesus inside her body, she immediately thought of others. That’s what we’re called to do to – once we receive Jesus here in the Eucharist, we should go outside ourselves to help others.
In fact, this time of year, when it is darkest of all and people can easily become depressed, this would be a great time to follow Mary’s lead. Let’s all find someone in our neighborhoods who is stuck at home. Take them some cookies or soup or just stop by to talk. It will make their day – and likely make your day as well.
Do Whatever Love requires.
Saturday, October 20, 2018
Homily 2018/10/21: Ask Not?
Before Mass:
Do you and I really know how to pray? You know, we’ve all walked into church and to prepare for Mass, we kneel down to pray. What’s in that prayer?
Imagine if we knelt down and said, Jesus, I want you to do this, this, this, this, and this. Amen.
When I put it that way, it doesn’t sound much like prayer does it – yet – for many of us, that might be the only type of prayer we do…asking for stuff. We’ve never been taught how to pray – or what prayer is all about. Myself included.
There’s so many different things going on in the reading, but what I noticed was a lesson on prayer. So – first listen to the Gospel: John and James are walking with Jesus and can ask him anything they want… Pay attention to what they asked for – how they asked – and what was Jesus’ immediate reply. What does this tell us about prayer?
READING 1: IS 53:10-11
PSALM 33:4-5, 18-19, 20, 22
READING 2: HEB 4:14-16
GOSPEL MK 10:35-45
Homily:
Jesus – we want you to do whatever we ask. Well – yeah – don’t we all wish that? Jesus isn’t some genie in a bottle ready fulfill our every wish. Listening to James and John ask it, it seems so obvious that is NOT the right way to ask God for anything. Or is it???
Notice Jesus’ response – it wasn’t, “well you ungrateful little snobs, that’s not how you talk to God” – instead Jesus asked ‘what do you wish me to do for you’. That implies that Jesus DOES want us to tell him what we want….even if it’s not something realistic or good…. Put our desires into words and lay them before Jesus. That basic action can change our lives IF we let it.
‘What do you want me to do for you?’…. Imagine if Jesus asked YOU that. We all have dreams and goals. Maybe it’s as simple as getting a gold star on my test today – or having that pimple disappear off of my face – some of us dream of getting the big buck – or a promotion at work – or accepted into the nursing program as school. Maybe our dream is for that popular, good-looking person to take notice of us. Dreams are important – they drive us to move beyond our current circumstances toward something better. Dreams are ‘important’... but not all dreams are ‘good’….as we’ll soon find out about James and John’s request.
But – by just by putting our dreams into words, we define it for ourselves – maybe for the first time – and often, like listening to James and John, we’ll immediately convict ourselves and realize how shallow or self-centered the request is. If I pray for my wife to change, just by putting into words exactly what I wish for, I’ll realize that I have a part to play in that change. If I pray to get a 22 point buck so people remember me, I’ll realize that while getting a buck for the record books might bring temporary fame, what really makes someone memorable is how they treated other people..... how they served God and others. **
What do you want me to do for you? By taking our dreams to prayer – putting them into words – and then allowing God to speak back to us, we are changed. See – we’re not praying to change GOD’S mind, but we’re praying so that OUR mind can be changed to be more like God’s mind. We don’t pray to get what WE want, we pray so that we will want what GOD wants.
Jesus encouraged James and John to go ahead and make their request – but taught them they were seeking the wrong thing. They asked to be on his right and left when he entered his glory…. Think about that – when DID Jesus enter his glory? ON THE CROSS! THAT was the throne of His kingdom – and who was on his right and his left? The two criminals crucified with him! James and John REALLY didn’t know what they were asking for!!! Looking back later, they could clearly understand how their prayer was for the wrong thing.
This was a teachable moment… so Instead of praying for power, Jesus taught them they were most powerful when they became the servant of all. In His kingdom, the Slave is the greatest.
Many of us weren’t really taught how to pray – but here are some ideas which might guide us.
First – prayer is about relationship. How do you know you have a relationship with your spouse or friends: you talk to each other, right? Is it possible to have a relationship without talking to the other person? Prayer is not how we WORK ON our relationship with God…. Prayer IS our relationship with God. Relationships fall apart when people stop talking. If we don’t pray, our relationship with God falls apart.
Second - we MUST have silence. I learned a long time ago that if my wife wants to talk to me, that TV had better be off – and that phone had better be turned upside down. I’m just too easily distracted! Same with talking with God: remove all distractions.
Third – Speak – yes, we should share our thoughts, wishes, praise, hunger, heartache, and even anger with God. Relationships are strengthened when the level of sharing is deep. Superficial sharing makes for a superficial relationship.
Fourth – Listen - if our prayer consists of US doing all the talking and not allowing time for God to speak back, we don’t have a relationship. None of us would like to be around a person who only talks about themselves and never tries to learn from the other person. God can teach us so much if we just listen.
Fifth – and I think this is the big learning from today – pray ‘thy will be done’ – and then ask God to show you how to make YOUR will align with His will. Get this: Every time we ask God for something that is His will, He WILL grant it!! Jesus even struggled with that in the Garden of Gethsemane – trying to make his human will line-up with what he knew he needed to do to fulfill God’s will. Maybe that’s the bottom line with these suffering-servant readings: when we have prayed enough so that we’ll seek God’s will even when it means suffering for us, THEN we have reached the point of true glory.
Paraphrasing a quote from J. F. Kennedy: Ask not what your God can do for you, but ask what You can do for your God!
** this is a nod to our buddy, Tim Friedman who proceeded us to heaven 3 years ago this month
Do you and I really know how to pray? You know, we’ve all walked into church and to prepare for Mass, we kneel down to pray. What’s in that prayer?
Imagine if we knelt down and said, Jesus, I want you to do this, this, this, this, and this. Amen.
When I put it that way, it doesn’t sound much like prayer does it – yet – for many of us, that might be the only type of prayer we do…asking for stuff. We’ve never been taught how to pray – or what prayer is all about. Myself included.
There’s so many different things going on in the reading, but what I noticed was a lesson on prayer. So – first listen to the Gospel: John and James are walking with Jesus and can ask him anything they want… Pay attention to what they asked for – how they asked – and what was Jesus’ immediate reply. What does this tell us about prayer?
READING 1: IS 53:10-11
PSALM 33:4-5, 18-19, 20, 22
READING 2: HEB 4:14-16
GOSPEL MK 10:35-45
Homily:
Jesus – we want you to do whatever we ask. Well – yeah – don’t we all wish that? Jesus isn’t some genie in a bottle ready fulfill our every wish. Listening to James and John ask it, it seems so obvious that is NOT the right way to ask God for anything. Or is it???
Notice Jesus’ response – it wasn’t, “well you ungrateful little snobs, that’s not how you talk to God” – instead Jesus asked ‘what do you wish me to do for you’. That implies that Jesus DOES want us to tell him what we want….even if it’s not something realistic or good…. Put our desires into words and lay them before Jesus. That basic action can change our lives IF we let it.
‘What do you want me to do for you?’…. Imagine if Jesus asked YOU that. We all have dreams and goals. Maybe it’s as simple as getting a gold star on my test today – or having that pimple disappear off of my face – some of us dream of getting the big buck – or a promotion at work – or accepted into the nursing program as school. Maybe our dream is for that popular, good-looking person to take notice of us. Dreams are important – they drive us to move beyond our current circumstances toward something better. Dreams are ‘important’... but not all dreams are ‘good’….as we’ll soon find out about James and John’s request.
But – by just by putting our dreams into words, we define it for ourselves – maybe for the first time – and often, like listening to James and John, we’ll immediately convict ourselves and realize how shallow or self-centered the request is. If I pray for my wife to change, just by putting into words exactly what I wish for, I’ll realize that I have a part to play in that change. If I pray to get a 22 point buck so people remember me, I’ll realize that while getting a buck for the record books might bring temporary fame, what really makes someone memorable is how they treated other people..... how they served God and others. **
What do you want me to do for you? By taking our dreams to prayer – putting them into words – and then allowing God to speak back to us, we are changed. See – we’re not praying to change GOD’S mind, but we’re praying so that OUR mind can be changed to be more like God’s mind. We don’t pray to get what WE want, we pray so that we will want what GOD wants.
Jesus encouraged James and John to go ahead and make their request – but taught them they were seeking the wrong thing. They asked to be on his right and left when he entered his glory…. Think about that – when DID Jesus enter his glory? ON THE CROSS! THAT was the throne of His kingdom – and who was on his right and his left? The two criminals crucified with him! James and John REALLY didn’t know what they were asking for!!! Looking back later, they could clearly understand how their prayer was for the wrong thing.
This was a teachable moment… so Instead of praying for power, Jesus taught them they were most powerful when they became the servant of all. In His kingdom, the Slave is the greatest.
Many of us weren’t really taught how to pray – but here are some ideas which might guide us.
First – prayer is about relationship. How do you know you have a relationship with your spouse or friends: you talk to each other, right? Is it possible to have a relationship without talking to the other person? Prayer is not how we WORK ON our relationship with God…. Prayer IS our relationship with God. Relationships fall apart when people stop talking. If we don’t pray, our relationship with God falls apart.
Second - we MUST have silence. I learned a long time ago that if my wife wants to talk to me, that TV had better be off – and that phone had better be turned upside down. I’m just too easily distracted! Same with talking with God: remove all distractions.
Third – Speak – yes, we should share our thoughts, wishes, praise, hunger, heartache, and even anger with God. Relationships are strengthened when the level of sharing is deep. Superficial sharing makes for a superficial relationship.
Fourth – Listen - if our prayer consists of US doing all the talking and not allowing time for God to speak back, we don’t have a relationship. None of us would like to be around a person who only talks about themselves and never tries to learn from the other person. God can teach us so much if we just listen.
Fifth – and I think this is the big learning from today – pray ‘thy will be done’ – and then ask God to show you how to make YOUR will align with His will. Get this: Every time we ask God for something that is His will, He WILL grant it!! Jesus even struggled with that in the Garden of Gethsemane – trying to make his human will line-up with what he knew he needed to do to fulfill God’s will. Maybe that’s the bottom line with these suffering-servant readings: when we have prayed enough so that we’ll seek God’s will even when it means suffering for us, THEN we have reached the point of true glory.
Paraphrasing a quote from J. F. Kennedy: Ask not what your God can do for you, but ask what You can do for your God!
** this is a nod to our buddy, Tim Friedman who proceeded us to heaven 3 years ago this month
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