About three years ago, Jerry was sitting in the pew where you are now – and he heard the exact same readings we just heard. Like most of us – most of it just went over his head. I mean – Jesus just dumped the mother-load on us today – there is SO MUCH in these readings, I could give a thousand homilies…but don’t worry, I’ll only give one. Well – Jerry remembered to pray that prayer, “God show me one way in this Mass I can be a better person this week"….and because he did that, one phrase really stuck with him: “If you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother.”
So, he thought – what if Jesus is serious? So he raised a quick prayer to God – is there somebody I need to ask for forgiveness? Just that quick, a pine tree flashed into his thoughts – a small one, only a foot tall. That’s when he remembered Mrs. Murphy.
As a kid, he would often cross Mrs. Murphy’s yard on his way to school or to visit friends. One day he noticed about a dozen freshly planted pine trees where he’d not noticed them before. He thought – those are pretty cool – I’d like to havesome trees like that in my yard– so that night, he snuck over there and since they were freshly planted, he was able to simply pull them out of the ground. He took them home and hid them behind the garage – since it was dark. He thought he’d plant them the next day. Well, the next day was Saturday, so he got up late and got busy playing…Sometime after noon, he noticed the trees… they were laying in the sun and wind – roots exposed – so needless to say, they were dead. No big deal, he thought – he shrugged his shoulders and went on playing – and didn’t think more about those trees…
Until Monday monring… he was on his way to school and Mrs. Murphy called out to him from the back porch. My husband bought me some pine trees for our anniversary and we planted them Friday, but when we came out Saturday, they were gone. I know you come through here all the time – did you happen to notice anybody digging up my trees or know somebody who would do something like that?
Jerry swallowed hard – thinking fast – he said – “No I hadn’t even noticed the trees. But, you might check with Randy down the road – I wouldn’t be surprised if he did something like that.”
He went home and threw all of those little trees in the trash can to hide them….. After than, he avoided walking across Mrs. Murphy’s yard – and he forgot completely about those trees.
Until today – in Mass – “if your brother has anything against you, go first and be reconciled”. He thought – OK God, so –what am I supposed to do about it? Surely I’m not supposed to get up in the middle of Mass and go ask for forgiveness…I mean – that would be silly. - but he just couldn’t shake the thought. Finally, he stood up and acted like he was heading to the rest room – and he kept walking – right out the back door.
As he drove the 30 miles to his old hometown, he kept telling himself how crazy this was. Mrs. Murphy probably doesn’t even live there anymore – heck – she may not even be alive! But he kept driving. He drove past the Murphy house and saw a light on in the front room, so he knew somebody was home. He drove around the block like 4 times – each time thinking how stupid this was….but finally he got up the nerve to pull in the driveway. An old lady hobbled to the door and squinted at him through thick glasses.
Hi, are you Mrs. Murphy? Why yes, do I know you?
Mrs. Murphy – you may not remember me, but I’m Jerry – I used to live just a few doors down on the block behind you – remember – I used to cross through your yard on my way to school. Oh – Jerry – yes, I remember now, come on in – would you like some lemonade?– what brings you back home?
Well, Mrs. Murphy – do you remember about 30 years ago you had some little pine trees planted in the back yard and they disappeared? Well – I …. I was the one who took them… and you’re not going to believe this, but well, I was in church this morning and felt like Jesus was telling me I needed to come clean with you and ask forgiveness. So – I’ve got 118 dollars on me and I’m hoping that’s enough to pay for those trees.
Mrs. Murphy had to pick her jaw up off the floor – which means she also probably had to pick her dentures up off the floor. She hollered out – Roger, get in here!
An old man with a walker hobbled into the room to see what the excitement was about. Mrs. Murphy excitedly explained – Roger – you remember Jerry? The little red-head kid who used to cross through our yard? Well he says that Jesus told him to come here today to confess to us that he stole those trees you gave me on our anniversary 30 years ago… can you believe it?! And, he wants to pay us $118 to make up for it. Roger said, Jerry – I really appreciate your honesty – but that was 30 years ago – you just keep your money.
Jerry said – look – I’m only doing what God told me to do. This is your money – whether you want it or not. I don’t care if you give away or what – but it’s your money.
They talked for what seemed like hours – about those trees, about old times and old friends, about what had happened in the old neighborhood, AND about their common faith in Jesus.
As Jerry headed back to his car, there was a definite spring in his step and a feeling of peace…and finally he understood why God had planted that little tree in his thoughts that morning at church. Not only had he uprooted those trees all those years ago, but he had hurt that friendship with the Murphy’s. Had he not come back here, he never would have felt this peace, and the relationship would still be dead.
What trees have you and I uprooted? What relationships have we uprooted? Every time we cause someone else pain, it’s like exposing the roots of our relationship…not just their roots, but our roots too. A tree with bare roots cannot grow and will soon wither and die.
Jesus wants to plant himself in our hearts today in the Eucharist, but he knows that if we have exposed roots, we cannot grow. Our relationship with Jesus cannot grow either – because our relationship with Jesus grows through relationship with other people That’s why forgiveness HAS to come BEFORE the altar.
Like Jerry - you and I can experience the joy that comes from reaching out to those we’ve hurt. It won’t always go that well, because some people just aren’t ready to forgive. But when they are – wow – look out. And here’s the exciting part: Think about what happened AFTER Jerry left that house. For the past three years, Mr. and Mrs. Murphy have told that story a thousand times about how Jesus told Jerry to come back and pay for those trees. Every time they told the story, somebody new had to stop and think about what past hurts THEY had caused, and what relationships they had uprooted. Not only that, but they were inspired by hearing about somebody who actually LIVED an authentic Christian life. We are all awed whenever we come across somebody who actually DOES what Jesus told us to do. Think what would happen if every one of us really lived these teachings that Jesus gave us. We would change the world! Literally, we would CHANGE THE WORLD!
…And, I think that’s what Jesus had in mind all along.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Sunday, January 9, 2011
January 9, 2011: Baptism of our Lord
How did people recognize Jesus? Was it his long hair and sandals that gave him away? Maybe it was the halo on his head?
No....what made people recognize Jesus was what He DID! The prophets had taught for centrues about what the Messiah would do – and today’s first reading is one of the best ones. Isaiah was telling Israel how to recognize God’s chosen servant–He will bring justice to the world, show compassion, give sight to the blind, free the prisoners… So when Jesus DID come, the Israelites should have been able to look at what he DID and say with absolute confidence – that’s HIM – obviously, He’s the one!
But this prophecy also applies to someone else? Can you think who that might be? Like I said, Isaiah is describing how we can recognize God’s chosen servant. Hopefully,… that’s you and me. When you and I were baptized, WE were chosen by God and given a mission just like Jesus’ mission. WE are to go out to bring justice, show compassion, give sight to the blind, free the prisoners, and shine the light on those in darkness! THAT is how the rest of the world recognizes disciples of Jesus – when WE take an ACTIVE role in helping others.
In that same reading is another line which might be hard to understand…, “A bruised reed he shall not break, and a smoldering wick he shall not quench”. Now this has been argued to mean many things… But usually this understood to point out the compassion of Jesus. In other words, Jesus won’t condemn anyone who has even the slightest amount of Faith. Any smidgeon of faith and shred of hope is allowed to live, because there is always a chance to fan it into a flame. As God’s chosen servant, Jesus is the source of Hope for those who have no earthly reason to be hopeful.
One of the best examples where I see that is Haiti. Somehow they continue to cling to their shred of hope because of their faith in God.
It’s been bad in Haiti for a very long time…. But it seems in many ways, things keep going from bad to worse. Somehow they continue to hope. One year ago this week was the devastating earthquake that killed almost a quarter million people (or more) and destroyed much of what shabby infrastructure they had. Somehow they continue to hope. One of our parishioners, Gary Boice, just got back from Haiti yesterday… and while he could see that progress has been made, people still live in tents everywhere and water, sewage, and hygiene are major problems. That has contributed to the Cholera epidemic which is currently gripping the whole country. It seems there is NO reason for them to go on hoping…they keep getting hit by one disaster after another….their wick is barely smoldering…yet they go on hoping.
You’ll notice in the bulletin, we got a letter from Fr. Brunot last week. He’s the pastor at Dupity – the parish we have been helping. 20 people have died in that one, small village, and many more are sick in the clinic. He has asked specifically for help in getting them chlorox and soap as the basic means for preventing further spread of the disease. If you’d like to help with that, we’ve put boxes at each door for donations. We won’t have a second collection, so you’ll have to remember on your way out.
Just over a year ago, hope abounded in Dupity as they finally got running water for the first time – a project that has almost definitely saved some lives. However, only a small portion of the population of Dupity lives in town. Those outside the town still use un-purified stream water. Gary and possibly some others will be going back to Dupity later this month to see how else we can help. Everything moves slowly in Haiti, and it’s frustrating for US to keep trying to jump through hoops to get anything done….yet…if THEY can continue to hope in spite of everything they’re going through, then surely we can learn from them and not give up either. Their hope is like the smoldering wick – and we cannot extinguish it – instead we should do everything we can to fan it into a flame. We have to act, because that’s what Jesus would do.
Jesus’ baptism today was a turning point for him. Today was the start of his public ministry. Through this symbolic act, Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit and was catapulted into action. What did he do? Peter told us in the 2nd reading – “He went about doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil”. Jesus was the fulfillment of the prophecies…but so are we! Just like Jesus, our baptism should catapult us into action.
As a way of connecting our own baptism with Jesus’…In just a minute, we’re going to stand and renew our own baptismal promises. I’m going to read them slowly…because we need to think about what each phrase means…These are the same truths we pray in the creed every week…they’re so familiar that we nonchalantly rush through them and SAY we believe it without considering what it means. DO you believe in God? Really? DO you believe in Jesus? Really? If we really believe it, our lives CANNOT be business as usual. We are chosen by God. We are his chosen servant. The only way the world will recognize Christ in the world is if WE show compassion, WE bring justice, WE give sight to the blind, WE free the prisoners, and where there is a smoldering wick of hope, we will fan it into a flame. Please stand.
V. Do you reject Satan? R. I do.
V. And all his works? R. I do.
V. And all his empty promises? R. I do.
V. Do you believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth? R. I do.
V. Do you believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was born of the Virgin Mary was crucified, died, and was buried, rose from the dead, and is now seated at the right hand of the Father? R. I do.
V.Do you believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting? R. I do.
V. God, the all-powerful Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has given us a new birth by water and the Holy Spirit, and forgiven all our sins. May he also keep us faithful to our Lord Jesus Christ for ever and ever.
R. Amen.
Normally, at this point of the ceremony, we would sprinkle with holy water, but instead I want you everybody to take an active part in completing the ceremony yourself. As we leave church today, dip your hand in the holy water and recommit yourself to live as God’s servant. As you do, you can just imagine the Father saying, “This is my beloved servant in whom I am well pleased”.
No....what made people recognize Jesus was what He DID! The prophets had taught for centrues about what the Messiah would do – and today’s first reading is one of the best ones. Isaiah was telling Israel how to recognize God’s chosen servant–He will bring justice to the world, show compassion, give sight to the blind, free the prisoners… So when Jesus DID come, the Israelites should have been able to look at what he DID and say with absolute confidence – that’s HIM – obviously, He’s the one!
But this prophecy also applies to someone else? Can you think who that might be? Like I said, Isaiah is describing how we can recognize God’s chosen servant. Hopefully,… that’s you and me. When you and I were baptized, WE were chosen by God and given a mission just like Jesus’ mission. WE are to go out to bring justice, show compassion, give sight to the blind, free the prisoners, and shine the light on those in darkness! THAT is how the rest of the world recognizes disciples of Jesus – when WE take an ACTIVE role in helping others.
In that same reading is another line which might be hard to understand…, “A bruised reed he shall not break, and a smoldering wick he shall not quench”. Now this has been argued to mean many things… But usually this understood to point out the compassion of Jesus. In other words, Jesus won’t condemn anyone who has even the slightest amount of Faith. Any smidgeon of faith and shred of hope is allowed to live, because there is always a chance to fan it into a flame. As God’s chosen servant, Jesus is the source of Hope for those who have no earthly reason to be hopeful.
One of the best examples where I see that is Haiti. Somehow they continue to cling to their shred of hope because of their faith in God.
It’s been bad in Haiti for a very long time…. But it seems in many ways, things keep going from bad to worse. Somehow they continue to hope. One year ago this week was the devastating earthquake that killed almost a quarter million people (or more) and destroyed much of what shabby infrastructure they had. Somehow they continue to hope. One of our parishioners, Gary Boice, just got back from Haiti yesterday… and while he could see that progress has been made, people still live in tents everywhere and water, sewage, and hygiene are major problems. That has contributed to the Cholera epidemic which is currently gripping the whole country. It seems there is NO reason for them to go on hoping…they keep getting hit by one disaster after another….their wick is barely smoldering…yet they go on hoping.
You’ll notice in the bulletin, we got a letter from Fr. Brunot last week. He’s the pastor at Dupity – the parish we have been helping. 20 people have died in that one, small village, and many more are sick in the clinic. He has asked specifically for help in getting them chlorox and soap as the basic means for preventing further spread of the disease. If you’d like to help with that, we’ve put boxes at each door for donations. We won’t have a second collection, so you’ll have to remember on your way out.
Just over a year ago, hope abounded in Dupity as they finally got running water for the first time – a project that has almost definitely saved some lives. However, only a small portion of the population of Dupity lives in town. Those outside the town still use un-purified stream water. Gary and possibly some others will be going back to Dupity later this month to see how else we can help. Everything moves slowly in Haiti, and it’s frustrating for US to keep trying to jump through hoops to get anything done….yet…if THEY can continue to hope in spite of everything they’re going through, then surely we can learn from them and not give up either. Their hope is like the smoldering wick – and we cannot extinguish it – instead we should do everything we can to fan it into a flame. We have to act, because that’s what Jesus would do.
Jesus’ baptism today was a turning point for him. Today was the start of his public ministry. Through this symbolic act, Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit and was catapulted into action. What did he do? Peter told us in the 2nd reading – “He went about doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil”. Jesus was the fulfillment of the prophecies…but so are we! Just like Jesus, our baptism should catapult us into action.
As a way of connecting our own baptism with Jesus’…In just a minute, we’re going to stand and renew our own baptismal promises. I’m going to read them slowly…because we need to think about what each phrase means…These are the same truths we pray in the creed every week…they’re so familiar that we nonchalantly rush through them and SAY we believe it without considering what it means. DO you believe in God? Really? DO you believe in Jesus? Really? If we really believe it, our lives CANNOT be business as usual. We are chosen by God. We are his chosen servant. The only way the world will recognize Christ in the world is if WE show compassion, WE bring justice, WE give sight to the blind, WE free the prisoners, and where there is a smoldering wick of hope, we will fan it into a flame. Please stand.
V. Do you reject Satan? R. I do.
V. And all his works? R. I do.
V. And all his empty promises? R. I do.
V. Do you believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth? R. I do.
V. Do you believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was born of the Virgin Mary was crucified, died, and was buried, rose from the dead, and is now seated at the right hand of the Father? R. I do.
V.Do you believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting? R. I do.
V. God, the all-powerful Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has given us a new birth by water and the Holy Spirit, and forgiven all our sins. May he also keep us faithful to our Lord Jesus Christ for ever and ever.
R. Amen.
Normally, at this point of the ceremony, we would sprinkle with holy water, but instead I want you everybody to take an active part in completing the ceremony yourself. As we leave church today, dip your hand in the holy water and recommit yourself to live as God’s servant. As you do, you can just imagine the Father saying, “This is my beloved servant in whom I am well pleased”.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
December 26, 2010: Feast of the Holy Family Cycle A
One of the good things about being in front of Mass is that I get to see other people’s expressions. Most of the time, there is no expression at all – but TODAY – I could see lots of furrowed brows, rolling eyes, and people elbowing each other. On this Feast of the Holy Family, Paul gives everyone in the family some instructions – but the one that really makes most of us cringe is when he says, ‘wives be subordinate to your husband’.
I think it shows amazing self-control that more women don’t just get up and walk out of church when he says that! For us today, it might call to mind images of women in Burkas in Afghanistan where the Taliban have degraded women to mere property with no rights, no education, no worth.
Why aren’t we really upset about this? Our natural reaction – I’d say for both women AND men – is to explain it away. Well – Paul was talking to a patriarchal society of the first century and those rules don’t really apply. That is true…Paul wasn’t interested in trying to change the roles of people in society… he wasn’t trying to make waves to improve society, because Jesus was coming back soon and there was no need to try to make waves. (A good example was in his letter to Philemon where he talked about the slave Onesimus and sent him back to his master. He didn’t even TRY to abolish slavery, even though we know today slavery is wrong.) He was basically saying…whatever your responsibilities are, fulfill them to the best of your ability for Christ’s sake.
But – What if the Holy Spirit really is trying to teach us something with this hard reading? What if it really DOES mean for wives to be subordinate to their husband? I’ve been asking around – trying to get a handle on this myself – because I admit that I also cringe when I read it.
We all fall under someone in the chain of command. For example, when Fr. Atilla and I were ordained, we put our hands between the hands of the Bishop and vowed to obey him and his successors. That doesn’t mean that every time we have a decision to make, we have to call the Bishop to ask his permission… but it DOES mean that the Bishop has the responsibility to make sure we’re leading his flock the way HE deems to be appropriate. You see – ALL of us here are actually in the Bishop’s flock. Fr. Atilla is our pastor – he is our local shepherd – but the flock really is part of the Bishop’s flock called the Diocese of Evansville. Even the Bishop, however, falls under a chain of command which goes all the way up to the Pope. This is where our analogy to today’s reading fits the best. The Pope is the Bishop of Rome. His flock is Rome….not the whole world. However, because he is also the successor of Peter, the first of the apostles, then he is called the ‘First among equals’ – meaning he has no greater authority over any diocese in the world than the bishop of that diocese. However, in situations where decisions must be made regarding the worldwide church, he has been given the keys to the kingdom…the authority to make the final decision. If you look at how that works – you’ll notice that he doesn’t speak on his own. He always consults with others before declaring anything. It should be the same with a married couple. They ARE equals and all decisions should be based on respectful conversation. Most of the time, either person makes decisions – no questions asked. However, just like in the Church, someone must have ultimate responsibility.
Now – if every man was a saint like Joseph in the Gospel – it would be easy to allow the husband to have ultimate responsibility as the spiritual leader of the family. Notice that Joseph also fell under the chain of command. He must have been a spiritual man – actively seeking God’s will in his life…otherwise he wouldn’t have heard and understood his dreams and acted so quickly to protect his family.
Today’s men – myself included – don’t usually fall into that mold. We are SUPPOSED to be the spiritual leaders of our family…yet how many men live up to that role? How many families come to church while Dad is out hunting, watching the game, sleeping in, working the garage? How many Dad’s insist that the family pray a rosary together? How many Husbands pray for their wife and insist that she take some time for herself on a regular basis? Some do – in fact, there are some great examples of these men in our own parish here….but sadly, many do not.
You see – THAT’s why this teaching grates so much on our nerves – because we KNOW that in today’s world, the WIFE is normally the spiritual leader of the family. In general, men have fallen short and have not picked up the role of spiritual leader well – if at all.
But – maybe that’s why Paul taught this. Maybe it has to do with the psychology of men. We NEED a battle to fight – we need a purpose to our lives. Without a purpose, we fill that need with all sorts of addictions: alcohol, sex, drugs, and work….how many work-a-holic men do you know? Maybe Paul’s teaching is designed to give us men our purpose. Just imagine if every man in our parish would turn our work-a-holic energy toward being the spiritual leader of our family!
I’ve talked to several women about this in the last week to get their opinions, and most of them would LOVE to be subordinate to a husband who had that kind of a mission.
You see – Paul’s command is not about putting women in their place – but it’s about telling every one of us that one of the best ways we live out or Christianity is to fulfill our responsibilities in our family…for the sake of our marriages, for the sake of our children, for the sake of the Church, and for the good of society in general. Strong families make for a strong society – and strong families need to have a strong spiritual leader so that every family is a Holy Family.
I think it shows amazing self-control that more women don’t just get up and walk out of church when he says that! For us today, it might call to mind images of women in Burkas in Afghanistan where the Taliban have degraded women to mere property with no rights, no education, no worth.
Why aren’t we really upset about this? Our natural reaction – I’d say for both women AND men – is to explain it away. Well – Paul was talking to a patriarchal society of the first century and those rules don’t really apply. That is true…Paul wasn’t interested in trying to change the roles of people in society… he wasn’t trying to make waves to improve society, because Jesus was coming back soon and there was no need to try to make waves. (A good example was in his letter to Philemon where he talked about the slave Onesimus and sent him back to his master. He didn’t even TRY to abolish slavery, even though we know today slavery is wrong.) He was basically saying…whatever your responsibilities are, fulfill them to the best of your ability for Christ’s sake.
But – What if the Holy Spirit really is trying to teach us something with this hard reading? What if it really DOES mean for wives to be subordinate to their husband? I’ve been asking around – trying to get a handle on this myself – because I admit that I also cringe when I read it.
We all fall under someone in the chain of command. For example, when Fr. Atilla and I were ordained, we put our hands between the hands of the Bishop and vowed to obey him and his successors. That doesn’t mean that every time we have a decision to make, we have to call the Bishop to ask his permission… but it DOES mean that the Bishop has the responsibility to make sure we’re leading his flock the way HE deems to be appropriate. You see – ALL of us here are actually in the Bishop’s flock. Fr. Atilla is our pastor – he is our local shepherd – but the flock really is part of the Bishop’s flock called the Diocese of Evansville. Even the Bishop, however, falls under a chain of command which goes all the way up to the Pope. This is where our analogy to today’s reading fits the best. The Pope is the Bishop of Rome. His flock is Rome….not the whole world. However, because he is also the successor of Peter, the first of the apostles, then he is called the ‘First among equals’ – meaning he has no greater authority over any diocese in the world than the bishop of that diocese. However, in situations where decisions must be made regarding the worldwide church, he has been given the keys to the kingdom…the authority to make the final decision. If you look at how that works – you’ll notice that he doesn’t speak on his own. He always consults with others before declaring anything. It should be the same with a married couple. They ARE equals and all decisions should be based on respectful conversation. Most of the time, either person makes decisions – no questions asked. However, just like in the Church, someone must have ultimate responsibility.
Now – if every man was a saint like Joseph in the Gospel – it would be easy to allow the husband to have ultimate responsibility as the spiritual leader of the family. Notice that Joseph also fell under the chain of command. He must have been a spiritual man – actively seeking God’s will in his life…otherwise he wouldn’t have heard and understood his dreams and acted so quickly to protect his family.
Today’s men – myself included – don’t usually fall into that mold. We are SUPPOSED to be the spiritual leaders of our family…yet how many men live up to that role? How many families come to church while Dad is out hunting, watching the game, sleeping in, working the garage? How many Dad’s insist that the family pray a rosary together? How many Husbands pray for their wife and insist that she take some time for herself on a regular basis? Some do – in fact, there are some great examples of these men in our own parish here….but sadly, many do not.
You see – THAT’s why this teaching grates so much on our nerves – because we KNOW that in today’s world, the WIFE is normally the spiritual leader of the family. In general, men have fallen short and have not picked up the role of spiritual leader well – if at all.
But – maybe that’s why Paul taught this. Maybe it has to do with the psychology of men. We NEED a battle to fight – we need a purpose to our lives. Without a purpose, we fill that need with all sorts of addictions: alcohol, sex, drugs, and work….how many work-a-holic men do you know? Maybe Paul’s teaching is designed to give us men our purpose. Just imagine if every man in our parish would turn our work-a-holic energy toward being the spiritual leader of our family!
I’ve talked to several women about this in the last week to get their opinions, and most of them would LOVE to be subordinate to a husband who had that kind of a mission.
You see – Paul’s command is not about putting women in their place – but it’s about telling every one of us that one of the best ways we live out or Christianity is to fulfill our responsibilities in our family…for the sake of our marriages, for the sake of our children, for the sake of the Church, and for the good of society in general. Strong families make for a strong society – and strong families need to have a strong spiritual leader so that every family is a Holy Family.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
November 14, 2010: Wisdom of Speaking (33rd Sunday Ordinary Time - Cycle C)
Jesus really needs to work on his marketing techniques. He WANTS us all to buy-in this “disciple” stuff – but then he turns around and gives us today’s Gospel….You’ll be persecuted ….oh – and some of you will be put to death…. Fortunately for us, he was only talking to THEM and not to US…right? I mean - all of the persecution that Jesus warned about was 2000 years ago, wasn’t it?
In 1914 – less than 100 years ago, The Mexican government had become VERY anti-Catholic. They closed churches and demolished them. It became illegal for the Church to run a school…which by-the-way is still true in Mexico. The priests went into hiding. In some places the Mass was outlawed altogether and priests and nuns were forbidden to wear their religious garb. One seminarian, Miguel Agustin Pro Juarez fled to the U.S. to complete his studies . He returned to Mexico in 1926 as a Priest – even though conditions continued to worsen for the Church there. He spent his time serving the people of God – helping the sick and the poor – and celebrating Mass with the few Catholics who dared to join him, since the Mass was against the law. In 1927, somebody attempted to assassinate the Mexican president, and somehow Fr. Juarez got blamed for it – so they arrested him and immediately sentenced him to be executed.
On the morning of 23 November, soldiers took him to the prison yard. Fr. Miguel knelt and briefly prayed quietly. He then rose, and said, "May God have mercy on you! Lord, with all my heart I forgive my enemies!" Seconds before the firing squad was ordered to Fire, he stretched his arms out in the form of a cross with a rosary in one hand and a crucifix in the other, and he proclaimed “Vivo, Cristo Rey!” ….”Long live Christ the King!”
Jesus warned us this would happen… he told us in the Gospel that we would be drug before kings and courts – and some of us would be killed – BUT - that would our big opportunity to testify to his name. Can you imagine what you would say if it happened to you? Jesus told us not to worry about what we would say – that he would give us a wisdom in speaking that none can refute or resist!
But – Jesus – if none can resist it – why did Fr. Miguel die? Why have Christians died by the thousands over the years?
I’m thinking that maybe the ‘wisdom in speaking’ that Jesus gives us is not at all what we think. If I was choosing, I’d want some great philosophical or theological argument that would capture the hearts of my persecutors and bring them to Christ – so I could walk free and stay alive. However, I’m thinking the wisdom he gives may be for us to simply shut up.
Because - When someone innocent is killed, Their silence screams louder than any argument. Just think about the young people we’ve lost too early from our own community. Their death just tears at our hearts – because we know they didn’t deserve it. It’s just not fair! Jesus was the perfect example. Have you ever listened to the Passion story on Good Friday and thought – Jesus – if you would just say this or just do that….you could have gone free! The whole Gospel would be different, because Jesus wouldn’t have died. But maybe that’s the point. The Gospel HAD to go that way. Jesus HAD to die – because it was his SILENT acceptance of his execution that touched the hearts of the first century Christians – and continues to tug our heartstrings today.
The persecution of Catholics continues. Just two weeks ago, militants broke into the Catholic Church in Baghdad and killed 56 people. They killed another 5 just this week. In India, where Christians are less than 3% of the population, they are routinely singled out and persecuted. Every year, 1.2 million innocent babies are aborted just in this country. This is today. … this is not 2000 years ago. Christianity is still under attack.
Jesus’ warnings and promises are still relevant to us today. Since we live in an area that is mostly Christian, we may think this doesn’t apply to us – but many believe that the persecution of Christians, and Catholics in particular will likely increase in our lifetime. How will we give testimony? I hope that I have the eloquence to speak the words of Blessed Miguel Agustin Pro Juarez, “Vivo Christo Rey”. If not, I hope Jesus gives me the wisdom to just shut up…because the silence of the innocent screams louder than any argument.
In 1914 – less than 100 years ago, The Mexican government had become VERY anti-Catholic. They closed churches and demolished them. It became illegal for the Church to run a school…which by-the-way is still true in Mexico. The priests went into hiding. In some places the Mass was outlawed altogether and priests and nuns were forbidden to wear their religious garb. One seminarian, Miguel Agustin Pro Juarez fled to the U.S. to complete his studies . He returned to Mexico in 1926 as a Priest – even though conditions continued to worsen for the Church there. He spent his time serving the people of God – helping the sick and the poor – and celebrating Mass with the few Catholics who dared to join him, since the Mass was against the law. In 1927, somebody attempted to assassinate the Mexican president, and somehow Fr. Juarez got blamed for it – so they arrested him and immediately sentenced him to be executed.
On the morning of 23 November, soldiers took him to the prison yard. Fr. Miguel knelt and briefly prayed quietly. He then rose, and said, "May God have mercy on you! Lord, with all my heart I forgive my enemies!" Seconds before the firing squad was ordered to Fire, he stretched his arms out in the form of a cross with a rosary in one hand and a crucifix in the other, and he proclaimed “Vivo, Cristo Rey!” ….”Long live Christ the King!”
Jesus warned us this would happen… he told us in the Gospel that we would be drug before kings and courts – and some of us would be killed – BUT - that would our big opportunity to testify to his name. Can you imagine what you would say if it happened to you? Jesus told us not to worry about what we would say – that he would give us a wisdom in speaking that none can refute or resist!
But – Jesus – if none can resist it – why did Fr. Miguel die? Why have Christians died by the thousands over the years?
I’m thinking that maybe the ‘wisdom in speaking’ that Jesus gives us is not at all what we think. If I was choosing, I’d want some great philosophical or theological argument that would capture the hearts of my persecutors and bring them to Christ – so I could walk free and stay alive. However, I’m thinking the wisdom he gives may be for us to simply shut up.
Because - When someone innocent is killed, Their silence screams louder than any argument. Just think about the young people we’ve lost too early from our own community. Their death just tears at our hearts – because we know they didn’t deserve it. It’s just not fair! Jesus was the perfect example. Have you ever listened to the Passion story on Good Friday and thought – Jesus – if you would just say this or just do that….you could have gone free! The whole Gospel would be different, because Jesus wouldn’t have died. But maybe that’s the point. The Gospel HAD to go that way. Jesus HAD to die – because it was his SILENT acceptance of his execution that touched the hearts of the first century Christians – and continues to tug our heartstrings today.
The persecution of Catholics continues. Just two weeks ago, militants broke into the Catholic Church in Baghdad and killed 56 people. They killed another 5 just this week. In India, where Christians are less than 3% of the population, they are routinely singled out and persecuted. Every year, 1.2 million innocent babies are aborted just in this country. This is today. … this is not 2000 years ago. Christianity is still under attack.
Jesus’ warnings and promises are still relevant to us today. Since we live in an area that is mostly Christian, we may think this doesn’t apply to us – but many believe that the persecution of Christians, and Catholics in particular will likely increase in our lifetime. How will we give testimony? I hope that I have the eloquence to speak the words of Blessed Miguel Agustin Pro Juarez, “Vivo Christo Rey”. If not, I hope Jesus gives me the wisdom to just shut up…because the silence of the innocent screams louder than any argument.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
October 10, 2010: The Lord has revealed to the nations His saving power (28th Sunday Ordinary Time - Cycle C)
Every so often in our lives, something rocks our world…and what we thought was all in control just falls through our hands like sand. Maybe it’s a major health issue, the downturn in our job, or the death of someone close to us, … (or just this morning, one lady told me she probably has cancer, another told me about a lung problem that has put her in the hospital twice, and then I heard about a 14-month-old boy who fell into a lake yesterday and is barely clinging to life). When these things happen, we don’t know what to do, so we stand looking up to Heaven saying, “Jesus, have pity on us”. Too often, we have to be broken down to the point that WE’re not in control anymore. We have to get to the point that there is NOTHING else we can do. If anything is going to change, …God is the one who has to do it.
The 10 lepers in the Gospel had reached that poing. They’d sunk as low as they could. In those days, leprosy meant being cast out from society. They lived in a no-man’s land between Israel and Samaria – a place where nobody goes. And that’s the point, when you’re ‘unclean’ with leprosy, you are not allowed to be around people. Without community – without civilized food, shelter, sewage, normal human interaction – these 10 men had zero control over their lives. So they turned to the only place they could…. Jesus, Son of David,have pity on us!
Alcoholics and others who have been through the 12-step process probably understand this phenomenon better than most. As long as an alcoholic maintains ‘some’ control of their lives, they haven’t hit bottom yet. And…If they haven’t hit bottom, then they’re not placing ALL their hope and trust in God. It’s as if God insists that we give ourselves up COMPLETELY – down to that last shred of pride – before he can start to rebuild us the way HE intends us to be.
Our first reading told us the story of Naaman, but it didn’t tell us the WHOLE story… so , like Paul Harvey…I’m gonna tell you the REST of the story.
Naaman was a powerful general from another country who came down with leprosy – he’d tried everything to get rid of it – lotions, salves, pills, doctors, sunshine, bathing, …he even tried some of those wonder-cure-alls on the infomercial on TV….but nothing helped. He was at the end of his rope – ready to give up. Then somebody suggested that Israel had a prophet who was known to possess great power. Hope was rekindled! So, he loaded up a bunch of gold and headed south to find Elisha the prophet…all along thinking about what he’d say to Elisha and how to convince him that HE was important! He DESERVED to be cured by Elisha’s God. Well – somehow, Elisha heard he was coming, and rather than going out to meet him – he simply sent a messenger to Naaman telling him to wash 7 times in the Jordan.
Naaman was insulted…no, more than that…Naaman was ticked off! He’d travelled far and was expecting Elisha to pray loudly over him and wave his hands over his skin to heal him in a big public display. Instead Naaman didn’t even give him the dignity of coming to see this ‘important’ man. He thought to himself - Why should I bathe in this muddy, ugly, stinky Jordan when there are beautiful rivers back home. He refused to bathe. Fortunately, his servants reasoned with him that if Elisha had asked him to do some extraordinary feat, he would gladly have done it – like lay in the sun for 20 days in a row – eat 3 quarts of prunes each day – cover himself in a some special mud….he would have done WHATEVER Elisha commanded. So why not do this SIMPLE thing? You know the rest of the story… Naaman gave up his last shred of pride and dignity and plunged himself 7 times and was completely healed. You see – he couldn’t be healed until he gave up even his pride and humbly plunged into the muddy water.
Aren’t all of us the same way? We pray to God…but we have our preconceived notions about how we want God to fix the situation. We try to control our lives to the point that God has a hard time making himself noticed. We might TRY to turn a problem over to God, but often, the answer to our prayer is not the way we had it planned in OUR mind, so we figure He didn’t answer….and we take control back. A good example would be if one of us prayed really hard for our Mom to be healed of cancer – and for three months, she gradually fades further away until she finally passes. We might go to God angry that he didn’t answer our prayer…but what we have to realize is that He gave her three months to spend quality time with her family – to get affairs in order – to heal some past hurts that had split the family – and finally, it taught us to let go – something we might not have been incapable of doing before.
Little Billy was only 9 years old when he told his Dad that he wanted to be a cowboy when he grew up. He was SURE that’s what he wanted to be, and it’s all he talked about. He had the plastic guns and cowboy hat, the boots with spurs….Now – fast forward 9 years and Billy (who is now ‘Bill’) is graduating from high school - and he started talking to his Dad about going to college to be an Engineer…but his Dad says, Whoa, whoa, who.. ‘College? Afraid not, Billy…remember…you wanted to be a cowboy. I’ve sunk all my money into a ranch in Texas and we’ll be moving there next month.’ Would his dad be wise to do that? Of course not. Dad’s know very well what’s best for their kids.
Fortunately, God knows what we need – in spite of what we ask for. Our Psalm today says “The Lord has revealed to the nations His saving power’. God reveals his power normally without some extraordinary event, but rather …in the ordinary. God works miracles in our lives daily – slowly working HIS will to make us who we need to be – and to change the world one heart at a time. He reveals himself in the woman who gives her life selflessly to care for her children. God reveals himself in the teachers who put their heart and soul into helping their students to open their minds. He reveals himself in the 85 year old man who visits his wife every day in the nursing home even though she no longer remembers who he is. There’s another example which our community here got to be a part of:
You’ve probably heard of the Community Meal served in Jasper now several days each week. They see God at work all the time – and this week, our community got to be part of it. So many people responded to our call for food for the funeral for Benton Kluesner, that we had several desserts left-over. So, we took them to the Community Meal. The guy there explained that they already had their meat and vegetable for the day, but were wondering what they could offer for dessert….and God provided…as he always does. The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power.
Apparently, that happens ALL the time for them. Actually, that happens all the time for every one of us, but we don’t notice…often we shrug it off as just ‘coincidence’. Remember though: “A Coincidence is when God chooses to remain anonymous”.
The 10 lepers in the Gospel had reached that poing. They’d sunk as low as they could. In those days, leprosy meant being cast out from society. They lived in a no-man’s land between Israel and Samaria – a place where nobody goes. And that’s the point, when you’re ‘unclean’ with leprosy, you are not allowed to be around people. Without community – without civilized food, shelter, sewage, normal human interaction – these 10 men had zero control over their lives. So they turned to the only place they could…. Jesus, Son of David,have pity on us!
Alcoholics and others who have been through the 12-step process probably understand this phenomenon better than most. As long as an alcoholic maintains ‘some’ control of their lives, they haven’t hit bottom yet. And…If they haven’t hit bottom, then they’re not placing ALL their hope and trust in God. It’s as if God insists that we give ourselves up COMPLETELY – down to that last shred of pride – before he can start to rebuild us the way HE intends us to be.
Our first reading told us the story of Naaman, but it didn’t tell us the WHOLE story… so , like Paul Harvey…I’m gonna tell you the REST of the story.
Naaman was a powerful general from another country who came down with leprosy – he’d tried everything to get rid of it – lotions, salves, pills, doctors, sunshine, bathing, …he even tried some of those wonder-cure-alls on the infomercial on TV….but nothing helped. He was at the end of his rope – ready to give up. Then somebody suggested that Israel had a prophet who was known to possess great power. Hope was rekindled! So, he loaded up a bunch of gold and headed south to find Elisha the prophet…all along thinking about what he’d say to Elisha and how to convince him that HE was important! He DESERVED to be cured by Elisha’s God. Well – somehow, Elisha heard he was coming, and rather than going out to meet him – he simply sent a messenger to Naaman telling him to wash 7 times in the Jordan.
Naaman was insulted…no, more than that…Naaman was ticked off! He’d travelled far and was expecting Elisha to pray loudly over him and wave his hands over his skin to heal him in a big public display. Instead Naaman didn’t even give him the dignity of coming to see this ‘important’ man. He thought to himself - Why should I bathe in this muddy, ugly, stinky Jordan when there are beautiful rivers back home. He refused to bathe. Fortunately, his servants reasoned with him that if Elisha had asked him to do some extraordinary feat, he would gladly have done it – like lay in the sun for 20 days in a row – eat 3 quarts of prunes each day – cover himself in a some special mud….he would have done WHATEVER Elisha commanded. So why not do this SIMPLE thing? You know the rest of the story… Naaman gave up his last shred of pride and dignity and plunged himself 7 times and was completely healed. You see – he couldn’t be healed until he gave up even his pride and humbly plunged into the muddy water.
Aren’t all of us the same way? We pray to God…but we have our preconceived notions about how we want God to fix the situation. We try to control our lives to the point that God has a hard time making himself noticed. We might TRY to turn a problem over to God, but often, the answer to our prayer is not the way we had it planned in OUR mind, so we figure He didn’t answer….and we take control back. A good example would be if one of us prayed really hard for our Mom to be healed of cancer – and for three months, she gradually fades further away until she finally passes. We might go to God angry that he didn’t answer our prayer…but what we have to realize is that He gave her three months to spend quality time with her family – to get affairs in order – to heal some past hurts that had split the family – and finally, it taught us to let go – something we might not have been incapable of doing before.
Little Billy was only 9 years old when he told his Dad that he wanted to be a cowboy when he grew up. He was SURE that’s what he wanted to be, and it’s all he talked about. He had the plastic guns and cowboy hat, the boots with spurs….Now – fast forward 9 years and Billy (who is now ‘Bill’) is graduating from high school - and he started talking to his Dad about going to college to be an Engineer…but his Dad says, Whoa, whoa, who.. ‘College? Afraid not, Billy…remember…you wanted to be a cowboy. I’ve sunk all my money into a ranch in Texas and we’ll be moving there next month.’ Would his dad be wise to do that? Of course not. Dad’s know very well what’s best for their kids.
Fortunately, God knows what we need – in spite of what we ask for. Our Psalm today says “The Lord has revealed to the nations His saving power’. God reveals his power normally without some extraordinary event, but rather …in the ordinary. God works miracles in our lives daily – slowly working HIS will to make us who we need to be – and to change the world one heart at a time. He reveals himself in the woman who gives her life selflessly to care for her children. God reveals himself in the teachers who put their heart and soul into helping their students to open their minds. He reveals himself in the 85 year old man who visits his wife every day in the nursing home even though she no longer remembers who he is. There’s another example which our community here got to be a part of:
You’ve probably heard of the Community Meal served in Jasper now several days each week. They see God at work all the time – and this week, our community got to be part of it. So many people responded to our call for food for the funeral for Benton Kluesner, that we had several desserts left-over. So, we took them to the Community Meal. The guy there explained that they already had their meat and vegetable for the day, but were wondering what they could offer for dessert….and God provided…as he always does. The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power.
Apparently, that happens ALL the time for them. Actually, that happens all the time for every one of us, but we don’t notice…often we shrug it off as just ‘coincidence’. Remember though: “A Coincidence is when God chooses to remain anonymous”.
Friday, August 20, 2010
August 22, 2010: Take the Narrow Gate (21st Sunday in Ordinary Time)
Sometimes I wish Jesus would stop talking in riddles and just tell it to us plain. ‘many are called but few are chosen’…. ‘use the narrow gate’…. What are we supposed to do with THAT?
The good part about this kind of language is that it forces us to think. If I told you 2 + 2 = 4, you all recognize that as a true statement and don’t give it another thought, do you. When we recognize – or at least when we THINK we recognize truth – we let it go in one ear and out the other. But when we’re faced with something that doesn’t immediately seem like it makes sense, we are forced to think about it.
Well – I don’t think Jesus wants His teachings to go in one ear and out the other – they’re MEANT to challenge us. “use the narrow gate”, he says– what’s he mean? Probably the most common interpretation is that in order to get to heaven, you have to follow this strict code of conduct…do X, Y, and Z and you’ll get there. If you were a Pharisee, you’d LIKE this interpretation, because it matches what you already believe.
He may have meant something completely different than that. What if I said that we could all get $1000 credit on our taxes if you call this phone number before noon tomorrow? We’d all jump to it! $1000 is a lot of money…in fact some of us would be on the phone before we got out of the parking lot after Mass. We wouldn’t want to miss this narrow window of opportunity? Maybe that’s what Jesus is saying – the narrow gate is actually a narrow window of opportunity. We only have a certain number of years on this earth to grow in Love, to experience the Kingdom of God here on earth, so we need to be striving with all our effort to experience it.
Instead of being a recipe for how to get to heaven, I think it’s a guideline for how we, as disciples, are supposed to live…with a sense of urgency. How we are to experience the greater joys of THIS life? …By being disciples. The word ‘Disciple’ comes from the word ‘discipline’ – and we heard a lot about that word in our 2nd reading. God disciplines those He loves. But we don’t like discipline – especially in our culture where we want to do what we want, when we want, as much as we want. I even remember a guy telling me once, ‘I hate anybody who tells me what I can and can’t do!’. I see that as the epitome of our culture – we despise discipline. In reality, discipline is exactly what we need to be a disciple…by definition, a disciple is somebody who takes on the discipline of somebody they want to be like. For example, maybe I wanted to be a disciple of Payton Manning..you know, the quarterback for the Colts. What if I go to every one of his games and sit in the bleachers on the 50-yard-line….would that make me a disciple?! No way…If I were really a disciple, I’d wear a football uniform. Go to practice every day. Watch what I eat. Exercise and weight train every day – and study the playbooks every evening. I would do everything I possibly could be try to be exactly like Payton.
Are we true disciples of Jesus if we come to church every week and sit on the 50-yard-line? Not really….look what happened to the people in the Gospel: they went to the gate and said, ‘master, let us in’? but he said, “I don’t know you”. But, but, but…we ate and drank with you…in other words, ‘we went to Mass with you’! But again he said I don’t know who you are. Being a disciple is more than sitting in a pew each Sunday. As disciples of Jesus – we are taking on the discipline of Jesus – we read His words, we receive Him in the Sacraments, we talk to him in prayer, and we follow the commands He gave us….why? So we can be like Him….Because we believe that He showed us the greatest path to true happiness by how he lived – and how he died.
You may remember one of the CD’s we passed out this spring from Matthew Kelly, called “A Call to Joy”. It’s possibly my favorite CD: it starts a little slow, but he explains some about how his spiritual life got started…and in this story, you and I can pick up some concrete, manageable ways to add some discipline to our own lives. A friend of his challenged him to stop at church for just 5-10 minutes on the way to school…5-10 minutes – that’s all. Well, he reluctantly started doing it – and developed a habit. Looking back 6 months later, he wondered how he’d ever gotten by without it…and his friend challenged him to take another step. That’s something every one of us can do – 5-10 minutes – on our way to work or school or on the way home….and once that becomes a habit, we can look back and see how God has helped us to grow because of this little discipline.
Discipline – it’s something we all need. It’s as simple as developing habits so that we’ll integrate our relationship with Jesus into our everyday lives. For example, a month ago, I got a phone call to help out on a retreat – something I LOVE to do – but I recognized there were some good reasons that maybe I should not say Yes this time…so I hem-hawed around for a couple of days. Then, Mary asked me, ‘Did you pray about it?’. Now, you would THINK that as a Deacon, I would just naturally have prayed about that decision…but I hadn’t! I had prayed, but for some reason, it hadn’t occurred to me to take THAT decision to God – so I did, and I’m not kidding you - within 30 minutes I had my answer.
My point for saying that I’m hoping we can all relate to this. I recognized my own need to develop the discipline to pray about EVERY decision, so that when the big decisions come along, I will just automatically take it to God without even thinking about it. The more good spiritual habits we form, the more we’re open to hearing God speak to us – and the more we’ll be open to doing HIS Will.
Every September I head to Colorado with some Catholic buddies. We go to hike, fish, camp, and pray. It’s really like a retreat, and we all look forward to it every year. There’s a problem though – the pine beetles have decimated much of the forests in Colorado – especially up near Rocky Mtn National Park. It is so sad to drive or hike through those area and see all the trees that have turned orange – or have lost their needles altogether. I’m told that part of the reason this beetle infestation has gotten so large is the fact that man has suppressed the natural fires that normally occur every couple hundred years. Apparently, the fires would control the populations of the beetles…if we let them burn. It’s ironic that our very attempts to protect the beauty of that area are what caused the greatest damage to the beauty. I’m not here to argue about whether we should allow wildfires to burn out of control – but my point is that God has a plan – and fire is part of that plan. Doesn’t the same apply to us? Like the second reading teaches us, we shouldn’t look on the Discipline of God as merely an affliction – but as the only way to keep us spiritually healthy – to grow to be more like Jesus.
We can’t become more like Jesus and remain as we are.
The good part about this kind of language is that it forces us to think. If I told you 2 + 2 = 4, you all recognize that as a true statement and don’t give it another thought, do you. When we recognize – or at least when we THINK we recognize truth – we let it go in one ear and out the other. But when we’re faced with something that doesn’t immediately seem like it makes sense, we are forced to think about it.
Well – I don’t think Jesus wants His teachings to go in one ear and out the other – they’re MEANT to challenge us. “use the narrow gate”, he says– what’s he mean? Probably the most common interpretation is that in order to get to heaven, you have to follow this strict code of conduct…do X, Y, and Z and you’ll get there. If you were a Pharisee, you’d LIKE this interpretation, because it matches what you already believe.
He may have meant something completely different than that. What if I said that we could all get $1000 credit on our taxes if you call this phone number before noon tomorrow? We’d all jump to it! $1000 is a lot of money…in fact some of us would be on the phone before we got out of the parking lot after Mass. We wouldn’t want to miss this narrow window of opportunity? Maybe that’s what Jesus is saying – the narrow gate is actually a narrow window of opportunity. We only have a certain number of years on this earth to grow in Love, to experience the Kingdom of God here on earth, so we need to be striving with all our effort to experience it.
Instead of being a recipe for how to get to heaven, I think it’s a guideline for how we, as disciples, are supposed to live…with a sense of urgency. How we are to experience the greater joys of THIS life? …By being disciples. The word ‘Disciple’ comes from the word ‘discipline’ – and we heard a lot about that word in our 2nd reading. God disciplines those He loves. But we don’t like discipline – especially in our culture where we want to do what we want, when we want, as much as we want. I even remember a guy telling me once, ‘I hate anybody who tells me what I can and can’t do!’. I see that as the epitome of our culture – we despise discipline. In reality, discipline is exactly what we need to be a disciple…by definition, a disciple is somebody who takes on the discipline of somebody they want to be like. For example, maybe I wanted to be a disciple of Payton Manning..you know, the quarterback for the Colts. What if I go to every one of his games and sit in the bleachers on the 50-yard-line….would that make me a disciple?! No way…If I were really a disciple, I’d wear a football uniform. Go to practice every day. Watch what I eat. Exercise and weight train every day – and study the playbooks every evening. I would do everything I possibly could be try to be exactly like Payton.
Are we true disciples of Jesus if we come to church every week and sit on the 50-yard-line? Not really….look what happened to the people in the Gospel: they went to the gate and said, ‘master, let us in’? but he said, “I don’t know you”. But, but, but…we ate and drank with you…in other words, ‘we went to Mass with you’! But again he said I don’t know who you are. Being a disciple is more than sitting in a pew each Sunday. As disciples of Jesus – we are taking on the discipline of Jesus – we read His words, we receive Him in the Sacraments, we talk to him in prayer, and we follow the commands He gave us….why? So we can be like Him….Because we believe that He showed us the greatest path to true happiness by how he lived – and how he died.
You may remember one of the CD’s we passed out this spring from Matthew Kelly, called “A Call to Joy”. It’s possibly my favorite CD: it starts a little slow, but he explains some about how his spiritual life got started…and in this story, you and I can pick up some concrete, manageable ways to add some discipline to our own lives. A friend of his challenged him to stop at church for just 5-10 minutes on the way to school…5-10 minutes – that’s all. Well, he reluctantly started doing it – and developed a habit. Looking back 6 months later, he wondered how he’d ever gotten by without it…and his friend challenged him to take another step. That’s something every one of us can do – 5-10 minutes – on our way to work or school or on the way home….and once that becomes a habit, we can look back and see how God has helped us to grow because of this little discipline.
Discipline – it’s something we all need. It’s as simple as developing habits so that we’ll integrate our relationship with Jesus into our everyday lives. For example, a month ago, I got a phone call to help out on a retreat – something I LOVE to do – but I recognized there were some good reasons that maybe I should not say Yes this time…so I hem-hawed around for a couple of days. Then, Mary asked me, ‘Did you pray about it?’. Now, you would THINK that as a Deacon, I would just naturally have prayed about that decision…but I hadn’t! I had prayed, but for some reason, it hadn’t occurred to me to take THAT decision to God – so I did, and I’m not kidding you - within 30 minutes I had my answer.
My point for saying that I’m hoping we can all relate to this. I recognized my own need to develop the discipline to pray about EVERY decision, so that when the big decisions come along, I will just automatically take it to God without even thinking about it. The more good spiritual habits we form, the more we’re open to hearing God speak to us – and the more we’ll be open to doing HIS Will.
Every September I head to Colorado with some Catholic buddies. We go to hike, fish, camp, and pray. It’s really like a retreat, and we all look forward to it every year. There’s a problem though – the pine beetles have decimated much of the forests in Colorado – especially up near Rocky Mtn National Park. It is so sad to drive or hike through those area and see all the trees that have turned orange – or have lost their needles altogether. I’m told that part of the reason this beetle infestation has gotten so large is the fact that man has suppressed the natural fires that normally occur every couple hundred years. Apparently, the fires would control the populations of the beetles…if we let them burn. It’s ironic that our very attempts to protect the beauty of that area are what caused the greatest damage to the beauty. I’m not here to argue about whether we should allow wildfires to burn out of control – but my point is that God has a plan – and fire is part of that plan. Doesn’t the same apply to us? Like the second reading teaches us, we shouldn’t look on the Discipline of God as merely an affliction – but as the only way to keep us spiritually healthy – to grow to be more like Jesus.
We can’t become more like Jesus and remain as we are.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
2010 June 13 - Do You See this Woman? (11th Sunday Ordinary Time Cycle C)
It seems like such an unimportant question, right there in the middle of the Gospel….Jesus asked, ”Do you see this woman”? Now –when Jesus asks a question, I’d say we’d better take a few minutes and look at her. Who is she? And why was she crying?
I think it’s pretty safe to assume that she and Jesus have met before. Something happened BEFORE this Gospel. We don’t really know WHAT...but I got to wondering if she might have been the woman in John’s Gospel – you all know the story..the Pharisees drug a woman up to Jesus and told him that she’d been caught in the act of adultery and the Law of Moses DEMANDS that she should be stoned to death. Jesus said that famous line – Let him without sin cast the first stone. After everybody had walked away, he said “Nobody’s left to condemn you…I don’t condemn her either – go and sin no more.”
Now – maybe the woman in today’s Gospel is NOT that woman – but I’d bet that she had a similar experience with Jesus, so I’ll use her as my example today. Her sin was public knowledge – everybody knew about it – ….that’s why they all looked down their noses and started whispering to each other when she walked in. She had been drug before the court of public opinion and found unacceptable. I’d bet that has something to do with why she was crying.
Have you ever gone through a really tough, stressful time –– like maybe our senior year in college where we had our senior project due, plus our part time job, plus finals all in the same week - or like waiting for the results from a medical test, and finally getting the answer – When those times were over – how did you feel. The burden has been lifted! Somehow, In the midst of the chaos, we might hold it together, but when it’s over – we just need to cry.
I felt that same way recently after a particularly bad week at work. A buddy at work has a tumor in his abdomen, so another lady and I were learning how to fill-in for him while he was out for surgery. We were spending a stupid number of hours and were stressed beyond my limits physically and mentally…but that Friday, we got word that his tumor was inoperable. The emotions that brought up went on top of all the other stress of the week… On the way home, I had the thought that I needed to stop at church and talk to Jesus…and so I came in and knelt down right here next to the tabernacle. As I did, I could feel the stress melting away, and the emotion welling up and I felt the need to cry. I’m kind of embarrassed to say that, but I wanted to share because at that moment – I was like the woman in the Gospel. I was crying at the feet of Jesus. I had only endured a week or two of stress, but SHE had endured months or even years of living a life you and I could only imagine. Every day, she bit her lip, lowered her self-esteem, and endured the snobbish looks as people shunned her – endured being treated like an object and not a person. After so long, she came to believe that she WASN’T a person after all – somehow she DESERVED what she got. Do you see this woman? When people did look at her, all they saw was her sin.
Until today…, she was drug out into the street and was SURE she was going to die. She was terrified…she’d seen other women stoned to death for what she had done. But then she saw Jesus. And for the first time she could remember, someone looked at her as a person – not an object. He looked PAST her sin and saw the heart of a good person - someone whom God loved deeply. In HIS eyes, instead of condemnation – she saw mercy – she saw love – real love – not the make-believe love she had grown accustomed to. That vision of love changed her life.
That brings us back to today’s Gospel –this woman is SO taken with the Love she saw in those eyes, that she ignores the stares and sneers and whispered innuendos of those around her and approaches Jesus. As she falls at his feet, the stress melts away and she can’t contain the emotion welling up inside her as the tears start to fall uncontrollably. She feels all the regret for years of sin controlling her life, but mainly she feels relief.. a chance to start again, and thankfulness for the forgiveness she has already received. See – everyone in society would have been telling her since she was a little girl that her sin was unforgivable….UNFORGIVABLE. But today, she found the truth…and her only possible response was to fall down and cry at the feet of Jesus.
So – Do you see this woman? Do you see this woman in anyone you know? Is there someone we routinely ignore? Somebody whom we’ve already written off as “unacceptable”? Somebody we immediately Judge – and all we see is their sin – what they’ve done wrong? Or – maybe we’ve allowed what someone TOLD us about somebody to taint our image of them before we even met them. Do you see this woman?
Do you see this woman in YOU? Surely, you and I can relate somehow. We’ve all sinned – and very likely our sin is as disgusting to God as this woman’s sin – or David’s sin in the first reading when he had Uriah killed. At some point, each one of us will realize that we’ve allowed our sin to control some part of our lives – we might even think we’re unforgivable. When we finally meet Jesus face-to-face and look into those eyes of Love…at that moment, all the stress, pain, deceit, shame…all of it…will be washed away …and the only response we can possibly make: is to fall down and cry at the feet of Jesus.
I think it’s pretty safe to assume that she and Jesus have met before. Something happened BEFORE this Gospel. We don’t really know WHAT...but I got to wondering if she might have been the woman in John’s Gospel – you all know the story..the Pharisees drug a woman up to Jesus and told him that she’d been caught in the act of adultery and the Law of Moses DEMANDS that she should be stoned to death. Jesus said that famous line – Let him without sin cast the first stone. After everybody had walked away, he said “Nobody’s left to condemn you…I don’t condemn her either – go and sin no more.”
Now – maybe the woman in today’s Gospel is NOT that woman – but I’d bet that she had a similar experience with Jesus, so I’ll use her as my example today. Her sin was public knowledge – everybody knew about it – ….that’s why they all looked down their noses and started whispering to each other when she walked in. She had been drug before the court of public opinion and found unacceptable. I’d bet that has something to do with why she was crying.
Have you ever gone through a really tough, stressful time –– like maybe our senior year in college where we had our senior project due, plus our part time job, plus finals all in the same week - or like waiting for the results from a medical test, and finally getting the answer – When those times were over – how did you feel. The burden has been lifted! Somehow, In the midst of the chaos, we might hold it together, but when it’s over – we just need to cry.
I felt that same way recently after a particularly bad week at work. A buddy at work has a tumor in his abdomen, so another lady and I were learning how to fill-in for him while he was out for surgery. We were spending a stupid number of hours and were stressed beyond my limits physically and mentally…but that Friday, we got word that his tumor was inoperable. The emotions that brought up went on top of all the other stress of the week… On the way home, I had the thought that I needed to stop at church and talk to Jesus…and so I came in and knelt down right here next to the tabernacle. As I did, I could feel the stress melting away, and the emotion welling up and I felt the need to cry. I’m kind of embarrassed to say that, but I wanted to share because at that moment – I was like the woman in the Gospel. I was crying at the feet of Jesus. I had only endured a week or two of stress, but SHE had endured months or even years of living a life you and I could only imagine. Every day, she bit her lip, lowered her self-esteem, and endured the snobbish looks as people shunned her – endured being treated like an object and not a person. After so long, she came to believe that she WASN’T a person after all – somehow she DESERVED what she got. Do you see this woman? When people did look at her, all they saw was her sin.
Until today…, she was drug out into the street and was SURE she was going to die. She was terrified…she’d seen other women stoned to death for what she had done. But then she saw Jesus. And for the first time she could remember, someone looked at her as a person – not an object. He looked PAST her sin and saw the heart of a good person - someone whom God loved deeply. In HIS eyes, instead of condemnation – she saw mercy – she saw love – real love – not the make-believe love she had grown accustomed to. That vision of love changed her life.
That brings us back to today’s Gospel –this woman is SO taken with the Love she saw in those eyes, that she ignores the stares and sneers and whispered innuendos of those around her and approaches Jesus. As she falls at his feet, the stress melts away and she can’t contain the emotion welling up inside her as the tears start to fall uncontrollably. She feels all the regret for years of sin controlling her life, but mainly she feels relief.. a chance to start again, and thankfulness for the forgiveness she has already received. See – everyone in society would have been telling her since she was a little girl that her sin was unforgivable….UNFORGIVABLE. But today, she found the truth…and her only possible response was to fall down and cry at the feet of Jesus.
So – Do you see this woman? Do you see this woman in anyone you know? Is there someone we routinely ignore? Somebody whom we’ve already written off as “unacceptable”? Somebody we immediately Judge – and all we see is their sin – what they’ve done wrong? Or – maybe we’ve allowed what someone TOLD us about somebody to taint our image of them before we even met them. Do you see this woman?
Do you see this woman in YOU? Surely, you and I can relate somehow. We’ve all sinned – and very likely our sin is as disgusting to God as this woman’s sin – or David’s sin in the first reading when he had Uriah killed. At some point, each one of us will realize that we’ve allowed our sin to control some part of our lives – we might even think we’re unforgivable. When we finally meet Jesus face-to-face and look into those eyes of Love…at that moment, all the stress, pain, deceit, shame…all of it…will be washed away …and the only response we can possibly make: is to fall down and cry at the feet of Jesus.
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