2013/07/14 - The Guy in the Ditch

Alright… So the obvious message in the gospel today is that even the total stranger...in fact, even somebody who might be our enemy...is our neighbor.  And if we want to inherit eternal life, we are supposed to love our neighbor as ourselves.  The bottom line is this...we cannot ignore the man in the ditch.

If that was all there was to the message, we'd be done... But Jesus always teaches more than one thing at a time.  But rather than me TELLING you what the other underlying message is, I want to tell you my own parable... Instead of the Good Samaritan... I want to tell you the parable of the ‘Good American’.

 

Larry worked hard every day.  He took a lot of pride in how hard he worked, in fact, so he tried to be the first one to arrive each day and to stay as long or longer than anyone else.  He also took great pride in the relationship he had with his customers... going out of his way to do everything he could for them.  They often remarked how HE was the person they could count on.  That made him feel good.  Oh... and he tried to be a true friend to his coworkers... offering to drop them off at the car repair... or join them for a drink a night or two each week to socialize and keep up on their family lives.  These relationships were important to him...  In fact, he was known to be a ‘great guy’ who would help ANYbody.  He would never walk past the salvation army bucket at the entrance of Walmart without throwing in some change. 

When he got home from work, dinner was usually on the table, and often, the rest of the family had already eaten, since the kids can't wait that late to eat.  The kids came up immediately wanting to tell him about their day at school and what the puppy did that they were training.  He explained he would have to talk to them later, since he had such a long day and needed to eat his supper.  His wife also wanted to talk about her day... being that she had spent most of the day with the kids and craved an adult conversation.  He sat down to eat with the newspaper in front of him and once in a while said, “umhm”... But basically didn't hear most of what she said.  After supper, the kids wanted to play some x-box with him, but he remembered that the garage door opener was acting up and he needed to work on it.  So he headed to the garage where he quickly lost himself in cleaning off the work bench while drinking a highball.  Twice, the kids came out wanting to play, but he sternly told them he was busy and they should go clean their room or read a book... 

The next night was much the same, but this time he got home a little earlier, because he needed to get the grass cut.  The next night he didn't come home for supper at all, because he had his K of C meeting at church.  His wife made a comment about him never being home, but he spouted back indignantly... “Do you want me to give up my night at church?  Most wives would love to have a husband that gets involved at church.”  She asked if he would be home the next night, but he explained that Bob from worked needed help rebuilding his carburetor....  

This was a normal week for the good American. 

As weeks turned into months turned into years, his wife became more frustrated and the more she tried to change things the more he got indignant about doing the best he could to provide for the family.  “I don't have time to sit around and waste...” 

The next night, his son asked

"Daddy, may I ask you a question?"

DAD: "Yeah sure, what is it?"

SON: "Daddy, how much do you make an hour?"

DAD: "That's none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?"

SON: "I just need to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?"

DAD: "If you must know, I make about $40 an hour."

SON: "Oh! … and his head drooped.”  He thought for a minute then lit up with an idea:

SON: "Daddy, may I please borrow $20?"

Larry was immediately furious.

DAD: "If the only reason you asked how much I make is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you are being so selfish. I work hard every day for that money."

The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door.

Larry sat down and stewed… getting even angrier about his son’s questions. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money?

After about an hour or so though, Larry had calmed down a bit, and started to think:

You know, I really didn’t give him a chance to answer…Maybe there WAS something he really needed to buy with that $ 20… and he really didn't ask for money very often. So he went to the door of his son’s room and opened the door.

DAD: "Are you asleep, son?"

SON: "No daddy, I'm awake".

DAD: "I've been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier. It's been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you. Here's the $20 you asked for."

The little boy’s face lit-up, and he sat straight up, smiling.

SON: "Oh, thank you daddy!"

Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills. Larry - seeing that his sone already had money, started to get angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then looked up at his father.

DAD: "Why do you want more money if you already have some?"

SON: "Because I didn't have enough, but now I do.

"Daddy, I have $40 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you." 

The priest and the Levite in the Gospel ignored the man in the ditch – but they did it for a good reason!  If they had touched this man who was probably dead, they would have become unclean, and according to the law of God, they would not be able to perform their ministry at the temple.  Larry too made good decisions, like any good American… but it’s too easy to concentrate on certain things that we THINK are important… and completely ignore the MOST important things.

 

I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know… let me go back to the first reading to summarize:

“For this command that I enjoin on you today is not too mysterious and remote for you. It is not up in the sky, that you should say, ‘Who will go up in the sky to get it for us and tell us of it, that we may carry it out?’ Nor is it across the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will cross the sea to get it for us and tell us of it, that we may carry it out?’ No, it is something very near to you, already in your mouths and in your hearts; you have only to carry it out.

In other words... We already KNOW what to do, so I can stop preaching.

But our challenge is this…Look around at home... And this goes for everyone... This story is about a man, but applies equally to everyone... Teens, kids, wives and husbands…even a certain permanent deacon I know who has a wife. We often show more respect to a stranger than we do to the people closest to us....Look around home and pay close attention to who YOU are ignoring in the ditch.

2013/07/07 - Ite Missa est 72

The Lord be with you...   Awesome... Did you hear that line in the last sentence of the 2nd reading?  That’s how Paul ended his letter to the Galatians…. “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit,brothers and sisters'

It's been like 20 months now since we changed the words we say at Mass, and most of us have grown accustomed to saying, "and with your spirit" instead of ‘and also with you’.  This is a perfect example of how the words we say at Mass match exactly to scripture.

Let’s look now at that Gospel – look at that first line:  “At that time the Lord appointed seventy-two others whom he sent ahead of him in pairs”.  Now, if you're paying attention, you gotta wonder...Who were these “others”?  I had always figured these were the elite of Jesus’ followers… the apostles… but there were only 12 of them – so who were the 72?  They were disciples.  They were part of the crowd… they were ordinary people who had decided that living for Jesus was the most important thing they could do.  There’s no proof – but there’s a good chance that Luke, the gospel writer, was one of these 72, because he was the only one who specifically mentioned the 72.  Luke was a doctor...

Luke and all these other people gave up their normal jobs to travel to other towns to prepare the way for Jesus…. To tell people about Jesus…

Who are the 72 today?  Hopefully that’s obvious – they’re not the apostles – so they’re not the Bishops.  They’re not the priests or deacons.  They are the farmers and doctors and students and housewives and accountants and house builders and stone workers… in short – WE are the 72.  Would you give up your livelihood to live for Jesus?

Just like then, Jesus gives us our marching orders… “the harvest is abundant, but the laborers are few”.  At the end of every Mass, WE are sent forth just like that.  In fact, you’ve heard it before, but the name of the Mass comes from the Latin “ite missa est” – which was the last thing said in the old Latin Mass – and it means – “it is sent”.  “it” refers to the congregation… the people of God have come together to get our marching orders to be sent ahead of Jesus.  THAT is our purpose for gathering.

THIS is what is means to be a Christian.  We have been sent out to work the harvest... and that means making disciples for Christ.  But Mike, this reading is from 2000 years ago... before the world knew about Jesus.... surely WE aren't supposed to be evangelizing....Wrong.  If we AREN'T doing that, we are not fulfilling our mission. Who are WE supposed to tell about Jesus?  “the harvest is abundant”…. Really!  Let that sink in...  the harvest IS abundant.  People NEED and WANT To hear the good news.  The world NEEDS our Christian example to keep it from falling completely into anarchy and immorality.  I’m blown away by how people act with total disregard for others...the way they act makes it obvious they don’t know Jesus.  Many people...right here in our area, need to SEE what it means to be Christian. This area used to be overwhelmingly Christian and most of that was Catholic.  Now… people have walked away for one reason or another.   Many people have never had a personal experience of Jesus – and it is OUR job to bring it to them.  You know, some so-called churches, although their theology is way off-base, they take this command from Jesus so serious that if you go six months without bringing somebody into the church, you are considered ‘lapsed’!

Pope Benedict spoke often of the “new evangelization”.  Throughout the history of the Church, it was a given that our role as disciples was to go out to the world to tell them about Christ – and to provide Catholic education for our Children.  Today… too many people don’t really know Christ.  Those of us who DO know him have to share that experience with others.  Not me and Fr. Eugene… but each person sitting here.  YOU are the ones with the personal relationships which allow you to influence the people in your life. 

How?  Good question.  First, by sharing our joy and our hope.  Imagine if we didn't have God to turn to when tragedies hit our life.  Where would our hope come from... That is huge.  Just by us SHOWING our faith in small ways, we are changing the world around us.  Even small things like praying before meals at a restaurant, we impact people around us.  Often when you do that, people will step up to you and thank you for doing it!  It's not an “in your face” sorta thing... It is just doing what we always do... Giving thanks to God before enjoying the blessings he gave us.  What is normal to you?  You may have seen Duck Dynasty on TV.... Part of what makes it such a good show is that every show ends with them sitting down to a meal... And EVERY meal starts with a blessing.  Prayer!  Right there on prime-time, nationwide TV!  It is my hope that this will help prayer to become normal to more people.  What is normal to you?  I know growing up, my mom and dad would sit on the couch every night praying the liturgy of the hours together... And than... Dad would go kneel by the bed to say his personal prayers.  My prayer life ain't as good as theirs, but because of their example, THAT seems normal to me.  I wonder... what is NORMAL to OUR kids?  What example have we set?

Notice too that Jesus sent them out two by two.  We were not meant to do this alone.  In fact, if we try to do it alone, we will fail.  An isolated Christian is a dead Christian.  We need like-minded Christians to encourage us, to bolster us when we hit a rough patch, and to hold us accountable when we stray from the way.

It reminds me of a flock of geese...Surely you’ve noticed they always fly as a group – almost NEVER flying alone.  There are some great lessons that WE can learn from them… lessons that Jesus already knew about when he sent us all out in pairs.  First – geese fly in a V formation – because by flying right behind another bird, the flock can fly up to 70% farther than they could if they flew alone.  Something about the flap of the wings of the bird in front creates a updraft so the birds behind take less energy to fly.  If one bird falls out of formation, he quickly feels the drag of the air and moves to get back into formation as quick as possible. 

For us as Christians – we are sent out as a group – not alone.  We’re not MEANT to do it alone,… we need a small group.... we help each other make it farther and easier by creating momentum.  It’s much easier for one of us to pray at our meal at McDonald’s if several of us do it together.  It’s much easier for us to say ‘no’ to the crowd if several of us say ‘no’ together.  It’s easier for us to give up our personal free time to study scripture, if we have likeminded friends to discuss it with and who challenge us to take an extra step.

Also – in the flock – the birds encourage each other – honking to the bird up front to encourage them on and let them know we’re still here.  As one bird gets tired from leading, they drop back and another bird takes the lead for a while – thereby sharing the load of the toughest job.  As Christians, we all are leaders at some point.  Maybe it’s in our family – or in our circle of friends.  Maybe it’s just how we act when we’re in public… but OUR actions make it easier for others to live their Christian lives as well.  Our joy and hope rub off on people.  People should LIKE to be around us, because...well… We're not like everybody else.

Finally – the flock follows one leader – headed unswervingly in one direction.  They have a goal – to make it south – or north, depending on the time of year.  Likewise as Christians, we received our marching order from Jesus in the Gospel today – go out and make disciples!!!  That is our primary goal!  If we’re not doing that, we’re headed in the wrong direction.

There’s a bunch more we can learn from geese – but let this be enough for today:  next time you see a flock of geese overhead, just imagine that each honk is saying . “and with your spirit"

2013/06/09 - Proof that God has visited His people

God .... has VISITED his people.

It may seem like in biblical time, raising from the dead was a common occurrence... We heard about two such events in the first reading and gospel.  We all remember Lazarus ...and of course, Jesus raised himself.  You may also remember that even Peter and Paul each were credited with bringing somebody back to life in the book of Acts.  But while it may SEEM like it happened a lot... I didn't.  These were EXTAORDINARY events.  When someone raised from the dead, it was a sign of.. A song of well, something... Of what?  In the first reading the understanding of the sign came from the widow "you are a man of God. The word of the LORD comes truly from your mouth.”

In the gospel, the understanding of the sign was even more impressive, “A great prophet has arisen in our midst,” and “God has visited his people.”

That sign held a lot of meaning to the Israelites... It was prophesied that Elijah, the great prophet of old times, would return before the Messiah came... So the people weren’t really looking for the messiah… they were looking for Elijah… and the fact that Jesus performed the exact miracle that Elijah did, (raising the only son of a widow) would have raised more than eyebrows... It raised hope that the time of fulfillment of the prophecies had arrived.... that God had indeed visited his people... 

As always, we gotta ask... Why do WE care?  Why do we tell these same stories over and over each year?

Deep down... We all are looking for proof…  proof that Jesus was God, that he really does care about US personally, and all this religion stuff is not just some made-up rules to keep us from having fun.  Even people with the deepest faith still search for proof that they haven't been misled somewhere along the line.  We all want We want proof…That's why we look for miracles.  It's why we travel to places like Lourdes and Medjugorie... It's why we read the scriptures and various books and CDs and videos...  We are always looking for that proof… for that confirmation of what we have dared to believe.  I mean, really, why would anybody believe that a Jewish carpenter rose from the dead 2000 years ago and why would we believe that he is God and that he started the church and gave us the Eucharist to sustain us.  Seems like a pretty well developed story, if you ask me. 

But somewhere along the line, we experienced Jesus.  We felt his presence and recognized the miracles he works in our own lives.  For some of us that experience came in a retreat.  For others it was the birth of their first child.  For others, God seemed to give them a special gift of the Holy Spirit so that they believed almost without effort or question... That they could feel and believe the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.  We envy people who have that kind of faith… because all of us keep searching…. For proof.

Paul instinctively knew this when he wrote the letter to the Galatians... He prefaced his letter with all the facts that prove his credentials.  He had every reason to boast of his human accomplishments... But instead, he was teaching about a man/god who had risen from the dead… what would possibly make people listen? He basically was saying… ok –maybe you don’t believe all of the miracle stories you’ve heard …you’re just not sure it’s true… but look… I’m not just some fly-by-night religious freak.  I’ve got credentials!  He needed people to recognize HIM as a prophet or apostle... so they would recognize the truth is his message of grace.  The message is:  God has visited his people! 

But, We all keep looking.  We search the scriptures.  We talk to people who seem to have a direct line to God.  Once in a while we feel like we have grasped something… some piece of truth that give us some proof…. So We pass along great quotes and insights which give us a faith-boost.  We post things on Facebook... Tweet them on twitter.... Forward emails and links to great YouTube videos.  This is important, both for us – and for those we share them with.

There is another way we can all help each other... And ourselves.... And that is to share YOUR story.  All of us have been visited by God.  We've seen minor or even Major miracles in our lives... And some of us are blessed enough to be able to recognize those miracles.  The rest of us might recognize the miracles too... If we knew where to look.  Just like the people in Jesus’ time, if we’re not LOOKING for Jesus, we may not recognize him.  We gotta be LOOKING for miracles.  I think the best way to learn where to look for miracles is to hear about others experiences. 

That’s how the people of biblical times dealt with their doubts… they told the stories… ‘hey – remember the time that Elijah raised that guy from the dead?’.  The stories were their life-line to keep them connected to God throughout the stormy history of Israel.

So it should be for us… Share your stories...  ‘Remember that time we were at our wits end at the hospital waiting for news… how God sent this couple at just the right time’.  Remember our sister who was scared to death by the cat-scan - but...  How the cancer shrunk beyond the hope of the doctors...  Remember how even in the worst circumstances, it was our faith that carried us through....

Most likely you are still waiting for the miracle … it feels like God has abandoned you… the failing health… the failing marriage… Yes... We need to share our sufferings too.  We all suffer.  Being Christian does not give us immunity.  But it is those times of suffering that are our greatest opportunity for God to act.  By sharing the stories of our sufferings, we let other people know that they are not alone in their sufferings.  The stories are our lifeline.  They are our proof that God has visited.

Our Proof doesn't always come in extreme ways...like raising from the dead.  More often, the Holy Spirit reveals himself in the mundane.  For example, this week, I had already read the readings and was mulling over how the raising from the dead was proof that Elijah and Jesus were doing the work of God.  I had this rolling around in my head for several days.... Then Tuesday night I got my latest CD in the mail and guess what the title was.......   “Prove it, God!... And He Did!”  I don't see that as mere coincidence... It was a small miracle and it pointed me where to take this homily.  I no longer believe in coincidence.... A cooincidence is just when God tries to remain anonymous... It is really a GOD incident!  By the way – this CD is amazing…I’ve already listened to it twice.  Patty Schneier from St. Louis tells HER story… and it’s well-worth hearing.  I’ll definitely get some to put at the doors as a CD of the month.

Do you experience little miracles....little God-incidences in your life?  SHARE those stories.  It helps you to recognize the miracle, but it also gives other people some proof...some reason too believe...and just as important, it helps other people to understand where to look and what to look for.  If we're not looking for God, we won't see him. 

If you don't have someone else to share your story with... you can send me an email... I always love personal stories.  Another way is something new we're doing as a cluster...  We are putting together a book of stories from our parish.  Seriously...  Here is a book that was put together at another parish...and it's nothing but people sharing how God is working in THEIR lives.  This is Powerful stuff.  It reminds us all that God IS still at work... that he still has pity on his children.  It is proof that even today....           ....God has visited his people.