March 17, 2013: Didn't Expect That

I’m drawn to that phrase in the first reading:  “I am doing something new! Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?”  It’s almost like God is saying – “You think THAT was cool!?  You ain’t seen nothing yet… watch this!  Expect the unexpected.”  That certainly fits with the excitement this week of our new Pope Francis – the first Pope from the Americas, the first Jesuit – he wasn’t what everybody expected!  God repeats, “I am doing something new!”.

What will be new?  I know the newspapers and news programs have been asking anybody they can “what do you hope for in a new pope”?  How would you answer that?  What NEW thing would you like to see God do through this Pope? 

If anyone asked me, my answer would be – I hope we have a strong defender of the Catholic faith – someone who will protect what we have believed for 2000 years.  At the same time, I hope our church finds new energy to evangelize folks – not just outside the church – but the people in the pews – and those who no longer come to Mass – to bring us all to a stronger belief in the teachings handed down from the Apostles.  I pray that this transition of a new Pope is simply the turning of a page of history which continues the amazing story of the Body of Christ.  The Lord IS doing something new – and I can’t wait to see what it is!  Expect the unexpected! 

Let’s look at the story in the Gospel….about the woman who was about to be stoned.  In the PAST, the Jews knew they had every RIGHT to stone this woman to death.  In fact, the only reason they didn’t already do it in this case is because Rome had forbidden them to put anyone to death.  But this was their law – the law of God handed down from Moses.  Ever since they left Egypt, God was very stern about them putting to death ANYTHING or ANYONE who threatened the law.  If you have been watching the Bible on the History channel, you may remember what happened to King Saul.  He spared the life of an opposing King, and for that, he lost favor with God.  That’s how the Jews thought God worked!  From experience, they saw that when Israel sinned, they were punished –severely – the first reading comes from one of those times of punishment when the Israelites were exiled to Babylon.  So they took the law seriously… they didn’t want to be exiled again – so they tried to nip it in the bud!  Paul was one of the greatest defenders of that law.  In fact, it’s not in the story, but you can bet that Paul would have been one of the first people to get into this mob to stone this woman. 

 

But notice something new happened in the second reading – Paul had spent his entire life zealously defending that law – but in today’s second reading – he says everything he lived for in the past he now considers rubbish!  Pretty strong words… but he had found something NEW.  Nobody expected Paul, of all people, to become Christian!!!  Expect the unexpected. 

Jesus doesn’t do the expected either.  He doesn’t pick up a rock like any normal, self-respecting Jew… instead he draws with his finger in the dirt.  That had to be SO frustrating to the people in that crowd.  Here they were all fired up and ready to satisfy their thirst for blood – but Jesus lets the air out of their tires.  “Let him without sin cast the first stone.”  In other words, Jesus is saying – look – you all KNOW that YOU are sinners TOO – and there is NO sin that DOESN’T deserve death.  If you are self-righteous enough to think that your sin is not as bad as hers, go ahead…stone her… but remember that whatever lack of mercy you show toward her will be shown to you in return. 

Jesus is doing something new:  In the mind of the Jew, JUSTICE was the chief characteristic of God… but Jesus is showing us that God’s MERCY triumphs over Justice. 

Another thing to notice – put yourself in the shoes of the woman in the story.  Imagine the shame – but more than that - imagine the fear!  She had to be scared-to-death with this angry mob dragging her into the street and picking up rocks.  Can you even imagine how scared we would be in that situation?  That’s important – because it changes how we would react to the last line in the Gospel – “Go and sin no more.”   

Well isn’t that nice of Jesus…such a pious thought… go and sin no more….  We hear the same thing when we leave confession- go and sin no more.  It goes in one ear and out the other.  But imagine if we realized like SHE did that WE DESERVED to DIE for our sins – and we just about got what we deserved.  Those words of forgiveness from Jesus are more than ‘nice’… those words saved her very life…. You and I deserve the very same penalty for our sins.  Yet – we tend to forget that.  We haven’t been drug into the street by a blood-thirsty mob.  It hasn’t become REAL to us.  

(pick up stone)  A friend of mine came home from church one evening and found her husband with another woman.  What a shock… what a kick in the gut.  Imagine the intense pain of betrayal she felt.   Imagine the overwhelming anger which rose up inside of her as she kicked that other woman out….all the while thinking, “what am I going to DO with HIM!?”.

 

By all rights, she could have kicked HIM out as well.  How can you do this TO ME!?  Given the same situation, any one of us would have kicked the bum out!  But she didn’t.  Instead of kicking him out… she tried to forgive him.  Instead of stoning him, they talked… and in talking, they resurrected a relationship.  He realized how unworthy he was of such a forgiving wife…. And THAT realization helped him to change.  No – it wasn’t easy – but in the end, their relationship is stronger now…because of the mercy she gave.  She did the unexpected. 

You and I have all had something like this happen.  Some guy pulls out in front of us and causes us to have a wreck…  somebody at work doesn’t pull their weight… our own parents made a big mistake when raising us…  a brother or sister stole something that was rightfully ours in the will…. we have EVERY right to be angry with them!  We have every right to stone them… to put them out of our lives.  But Jesus is doing something new.  He offers mercy instead of justice.  Any time we pick up a stone – any time our anger flares up – we should remind ourselves that we TOO deserve to be stoned.  Look at the rock in your hand…then think of the mercy of Jesus – and do the unexpected.  (drop the stone)

2013 March 3 - Bearing Fruit

I met a guy last week who had moved his family out to the Southwest US for about 7 years.  He pulled the kids out of the public school there because of the high drop-out rate – and the major drug problems.  He put them instead into school (ran by another demonination).  There are no Catholic schools in that area, so that’s the best he could do.  At first I thought – THAT is horrible!  …since they tend to be very anti-Catholic, so I could just imagine what those kids had to endure.

But – this guy says it turned out to be a great thing!  Every day, those kids would get challenged about their Catholic Faith – and every evening, the whole family would spend time looking up the answers in the Catechism and Bible – then they’d make these flash cards which reminded them how to respond to each challenge against the faith – along with scripture references.  They would study these cards during their 30 minute drive to school.  In the end, these kids could stand-up to Adults and defend the Catholic Faith.  They knew their faith, because they had to.

Next this guy starts going on and on about he HATES the Catholic Church here in southern Indiana.  From his view, everybody here sleeps through Mass – and few, if any, KNOW much about their Faith.  Something as simple as ‘why are we wearing purple today?’…. People can’t answer.

On one hand, I thought his comments were a bit harsh – but on the other hand – he’s got a point.  The church out there was the minority and was constantly under attack from all sides – so people HAD to know their faith.  People HAD to join together each Sunday to build each other up and get back into the battle.

Here… we have no enemy really.  That’s quite a blessing… but it is also a curse.  Because we have no common enemy, we have grown very complacent in the practice of our Faith.  Since most of us have never been challenged like his kids were, then we’ve never been forced to learn our Faith.  That is a bigger problem than you may think.

Because we don’t know our Faith, it is very easy for people to leave the Church.  First – because they don’t know their faith, they probably think that one church is as good as another.  They never understood that Jesus started the Catholic Church – and gave us his Body and Blood on the altar.  No other church has that…. But most of us don’t know that…or we’re not really convinced of it.  Second – because we don’t know our Faith, folks from other churches can raise a couple of common objectives to the Catholic Faith – presenting some seemingly logical arguments from the Bible – and WE just throw in the towel.  It’s impossible to defend something you know little about… especially against people who have their eyes and minds set on “saving” us Catholics.  Third, most people today are motivated by ‘fun’, ‘entertainment’, and ‘feeling good’.  We have a consumer-based mentality about our Faith… “what’s in it for me?”   If our parishioners go to one of these ‘feel good mega-churches’, it would be hard to convince themselves that coming to our church and sleeping through Mass can possibly be better than the enjoyable music and heart-touching sermon at the other place.  The other church doesn’t even have to TRY to pull us out of the church – we’re leaving on our own.  Our young people – and even our older people – are getting picked off one by one.

Can we do anything about it?  Absolutely!  That’s what’s cool about being a Christian… God gives us all the Grace we need to make things happen.  He’ll hoe around us and fertilize us… if we cooperate with Him.  First – as with anything – we must Pray.  Pray for guidance from the Holy Spirit – and that the Spirit will guide our Church Leaders…and US!.  Second – we must study!  Join a Scripture study.  Read spiritual books and listen to Catholic CD’s.  Study Apologetics, which is the study of ‘how to defend the Faith’.  Do you know your Bible?  Do you know who Esau is?  Sampson?  Ruth?  Elijah?  We might recognize that they are all names out of the Bible – but do we know their stories?  Many of us – especially our youth - don’t know even the most basic stories of the Bible.  Maybe consider watching the new Bible miniseries on the History Channel the next 5 Sunday nights.  I’ve not seen it, but it is directed by a Catholic – Roma Downey, so  I suspect it will be some solid teaching…and entertaining as well.  Whatever you do… study!  If we’re not growing, we’re dying.  Study is the fertilizer that helps us to grow.  Third – celebrate the Liturgy… not just watch…CELEBRATE.   I know that’s hard to do.  Our liturgy lulls us into a state of complacency… I know how hard it is to stay engaged all through the Mass… but we have to try.  The most obvious thing we can do is to PRAY ALONG and SING ALONG.  I know – that’s really radical… but we HAVE to do it.  I remember the first time I went to a Promise Keepers convention in Indy.  Imagine 60,000 men all singing HOLY, HOLY, HOLY in the big dome up their… that is a moving experience.  You can FEEL the spirit in a crowd that is actively participating.  I got the same experience at Mass last weekend at Mass with 50 men at the Cursillo.  It’s not the size of the crowd – it’s the fact that everyone participates.  We CAN have the same thing here – but it’s gonna take each of us to come out of our comfort zone and PARTICIPATE… pray along – SING along.   Don’t underestimate how important that is.  Imagine going to a movie and falling sleep in your seat… , leaving the theater we’d be saying… “that was boring”…”that was a waste of time”… “I didn’t get anything out of it”.  If you don’t put something into it, you’ll get nothing out of it.  Same goes for Mass… if we don’t stay engaged, not only do WE not get anything out of it… but everyone around us is also lulled into the same state of complacency…

Think about the impact:  if I don’t sing or pray – then nobody around me will.  And if few people sing and pray, then our Liturgy feels …well… lifeless.  If we fail to change this, then our parishioners will never experience the FEEL of the Spirit!  – and our people will continue to get picked off one by one.

The farmer in the Gospel wanted to cut down the tree – no sense letting it use up all the nutrients in the soil if it’s not going to bear fruit.  That could apply so many ways.  First – it applied to the Jews… since they hadn’t borne fruit in their relationship with God, God may have been tempted to cut them down…. But Jesus convinced the Father to give them another chance.

Second – it applies to our selves…. Each of us individually is a tree planted by God to bear fruit.  What is that fruit?  To spread the Good news.  To Love God and neighbor.  To build the Kingdom of God.  To introduce others to Jesus.  If we’re not doing any of that… why shouldn’t the farmer cut us down?

Finally – it applies to our Parish.  Does our parish bear fruit?  How many of our young people have we sent to the seminary in the last 5 years?  How many people have we invited to join the Catholic Faith?  How many people are leaving us because our liturgies, instead of being life-giving, may seem life-draining?

I know this is hard to hear – but I think it’s time we took an honest look at ourselves before it’s too late.  You know – we are NOT being shut down by the Strategic Planning committee – but you gotta know the question will be raised sooner or later– as we get fewer and fewer priests – sooner or later, the Bishop is going to be looking around for dead trees to cut down.  I love this parish, and I’ll do whatever I can to keep it bearing fruit.  But – Fr. Eugene and I cannot do it alone.  He and I need to feel the Spirit here too…we need your help.

Fr. Kaiser put it this way:  it’s in giving the Sacraments that the priest gets fed.  You hear that?  It is in celebrating the Eucharist and Confession and Baptisms that the PRIEST gets fed.  A consumer-mentality would say that all of US are fed by the Priest… true… but that’s not the whole story.  When folks don’t come or don’t participate, it’s easy to get discouraged and disheartened…It’s easy for the PRIEST to feel like HE is the tree not bearing fruit.   

Our challenge is to participate and stay engaged at Mass… a tough challenge…but when we do that, we can create a new feeling of Spirit in our worship which feeds us all.  God will hoe around us and fertilize us – giving us every possible chance to bear fruit.

2013 February 10 - Change of Plans

Somebody once said, “If you want to hear God laugh, tell him your plans”.

We’ve all got plans…  Some of us have big plans – how we’re going to “change the world”… and others have more simple plans to just settle down in our own little quiet corner of the world and live happily ever after.  Just one problem with that - few of our plans actually turn out the way we expect them to.  Do you think God has anything to do with that?  He might…You know, every time we pray, we pray this phrase : thy kingdom come, thy will be done… THY will be done… not MY will be done.  So do we mean it?  Do we REALLY want God to make HIS will happen in our lives?  If we really mean it, “thy will be done” would be the toughest prayer to pray – because we would be giving up all control.  We’d be doing what He wants – going where He wants – our plans would mean nothing.On the other hand, if you’ve ever met somebody who DOES pray this prayer and really mean it – there’s something about them… they’ve got this peace about them that the rest of us can only wish for.  We THINK that giving-in to God’s will is the hardest thing in the world, but it’s really more like jumping into the river.  We just have to take that first step – then let His current carry us.

All three readings show us what happens when we encounter God.  It will be so peaceful, won’t it?    NOT!  Isaiah was sure he was going to die… why?  Because he had seen God!  “woe is me… I am doomed… for I am a man of unclean lips, yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”  Why was THAT his reaction to seeing God?  The Bible makes it very clear that God cannot look upon evil… he can’t be in the presence of sin…. So if you see God, you’re about to die.

 Then in the Gospel, Peter had a similar reaction… once he saw the miracle of the great catch of fish, Peter realized that Jesus was no ordinary Man… He was God !– he fell on his knees (something a Jew would never do for anyone but God) and said “depart from me Lord, for I am a sinful man”… he must have been scared to death like Isaiah.

See the common thread? – when WE see God, two things are gonna happen.  First – we will realize we are unclean – we are sinful – we are WAY unworthy to be in the presence of God.  BUT once we’ve been humbled, we’ll recognize that God isn’t out to kill us… no – we realize He has been calling us…   “Whom shall I send”?  “Come Follow Me…From now on you’ll be fishers of Men”.  You see the pattern?  God reveals himself to us – and our first response is to recognize our unworthiness – then out of gratitude, we leave everything to follow him and do his will.

Even Paul had had that experience…. Paul was one of the greatest servants of spreading the Word of God….writing a third of the New Testatment.  But before He could do that – he had to be humbled.. so God knocked him off his high horse.  Paul had his plans… and those plans included killing all of the Christians… but God changed those plans.  Paul’s life was never easy – but he recognized that serving God was the TRUE path to peace.

Do you know anybody who lives like that?  Every one of us does to one degree or another – the fact that we’re here in Church right now means that we follow God’s plan at least SOME!  I mean, if we weren’t following God’s plan, we’d all still be at home in bed.  But do you know anybody who LIVES to do God’s will?  I hate to embarrass him, but I think it’s no accident that Fr. Eugene is a priest.  He had his plans – his plans included pigs and farming… but at some point, he heard God ask him… whom will I send?  And he answered… Send Me!  And aren’t we glad he did?!

The other thing about someone who truly seeking God’s will – it’s not a one-time thing.  No – it’s an every day – every moment prayer seeking to understand what God’s will is.  They’re never satisfied with what they’ve already done- but they’re always looking to improve themselves so that they can do God’s will even better.

For example – last week Fr. Eugene announced at the end of Mass that he hadn’t been doing a good job for several weeks and he promised to do better.  Well – most of us misinterpreted that and got worried that something is wrong– but let me explain.  He actually recognized through prayer some ways that he felt like he could step it up – ways that God was calling Him to serve even BETTER… so he raised the bar – and again through prayer, he felt like God wanted him to tell us all about it.

What an example of humility for us.  What a blessing for us to have someone humbling seeking God’s will to be our shepherd. 

No – this is not just a Fr. Eugene Fan Club homily… this challenge applies to each and every one of us.  Do we Seek God’s will?  Where is he asking YOU to step it up?  Do we allow HIS plans to trump our plans?  I’m positive that At least one person in here right now has been called by God to be a priest – you know who you are… have we allowed God’s plans to become OUR plans?  It’s not just about priests either - EVERY one of us has is being called to do SOMETHING for God every day… to build up His kingdom… to help His people.   Put out to deep water!  And we all want to make excuses… we’ve been fishing all night and caught nothing… I’m tired…  I don’t have the skills… Let somebody else do it….  But once we lower those nets and see the great catch of fish… when we recognize the miracles that come from serving God, then perhaps we’ll recognize that serving Him is the ONLY true path to peace… THEN we can humbly say, “Send Me”…. and leave everything to follow him.

 

 

2013/01/20 - Pen in a drawer

This is a homemade pen… I wish I could say I made it – but SOMEbody did.  He painstakingly whittled down the wood to just the right size for holding – sanded and finished it- made it smooth in the hand.  He made this pencil for a specific purpose – to write with.  But not just any words – he made this to write words of encouragement, words of love, words that will change the world for good!!!

But  -what if the pen had a mind of it’s own.  Instead of writing words of love and encouragement, the pen decided to write words of slander, and gossip, and blasphemy.  This pen WOULD change the world – but this wasn’t quite what the maker had in mind.  Instead of spreading hope and love, this pen was used to poke someone's eye out.

Or what if this pen was made perfectly, but then laid in a drawer for 100 years until the ink dried out.  It was made to change the world, but since it never wrote anything, it's purpose was never fulfilled…

That’s what the 2^nd reading is talking about.  "To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit."  Each one of us was given some talent or gift with a specific purpose.  We may not yet know what that gift is or what OUR purpose is – but we know that somehow, that talent or gift is meant to build up Christ's church.  We were made to spread the love of Jesus… serving others before thinking of ourselves.  We were made to change the ordinary life of the people around us into the extraordinary life of hope that Christ holds out for us.  In short – we each have a gift that was given for US to change the world.

You might even say, that WE are called to change the water into wine.  Now that I think about it – I guess we really DO that… there’s 60 gallons of it working in my basement right now!  Because of the grapes and sugar that you all contributed, this community really IS turning water into wine.  But, I digress...

Notice something in the Gospel – there were 6 empty jars sitting there.  What were they for?  They had been made for a specific purpose… they were used in the ceremonial washings that the Jews did before meals.  God had given them the law of the old testament as a way to change THEM…to lead them closer to him.  But just like my pencil, the law seemed to have a mind of its own and people forgot what its purpose was.  Instead of bringing people closer to God, it became just a bunch of rules – and people became SOOO scrupulous that they had to wash a certain number of times and let it drip from their fingers a certain number of times – and the only thing that was important was whether or not you followed the RULES perfectly… and God was lost in the process.  The old covenant didn’t fulfill its purpose.

See – there’s more to the Gospel than changing water into wine.  Those six jars signify that Jesus was taking the misunderstood law of the old testament and transforming it into a new covenant.  Not only that, but think a little deeper… what else might this miracle be a symbol of?  What is it that is THE central act that seals the new covenant?  One act – and we do it every week – in fact – over 300,000 times per day all over the world – the wine is changed into the blood of Jesus... And when we drink that wine, our blood is changed into the blood of Jesus..because we become Christ's body.

That's right...The blood of Jesus flows through our veins. You and I were given “a manifestation of the spirit”...a talent...a gift...and If we allow God to use us for HIS purpose, and don't hide ourselves in a drawer somewhere, then through us, Jesus can not only change water into wine... He can change the world!

Now, think about how this applies to You personally ...  Each of us has a set of talents...something we are good at...something we like to do...and God put you in this parish specifically to use that gift to help His church.  Let me give you some examples:  Some people sing.  Some read.  Fr Eugene was given the gift to remember names...and to bring us the eucharist and other sacraments,  some people like to be involved, but want to avoid the limelight, so they serve as sacristans.  These are the people who setup for mass.  It is a great way to be involved and learn about the mass, but not have to be in front of people...and we really could use a few more folks to help once a month.  Another example ..say you are good at organizing events... Many of our commissions could use your help.  For example, the parish social or the mardi gras..., specifically, I know the adult formation team has several events scheduled over the next four months.  We need people from both parishes who are willing to pitch in to just help make things happen.  If you are like me, You want to grow in YOUR knowledge of the faith AND you want to help others to learn as well..then this is the group for you. 

Seriously.  How is God using you for his parish?  Some cut the grass, install lights, take up collection, teach religious Ed...the list goes on.  You've heard the saying "it takes a village", well it fits here...it takes a parish, because each of us has a different gift to share.  Don't leave your gift laying in the drawer.

2012/12/23 Heroes

What’s a hero look like? 

Muscles bulging, taking on the bad guys, Bullets bounce harmlessly off him, explosions are mere nuisances, and nobody but the bad guys ever get hurt. He has x-ray vision, can hear through walls, flies through the air, and is impervious to pain. At some point growing up, most of us have wanted to be that superhero… Here he comes to save the day!

But as we grow up, we realize that person doesn’t exist.  People let us down.  Situations don’t work out like we wish.  Bullets really DO kill the heroes as well as the people they’re trying to protect.

This past week, in the barrage of articles and Facebook posts about Connecticut, one of them caught my attention – she said as a child her Mom always told her that whenever something bad happens like that, to look for the heroes.  The heroes in this case were the teachers and principal who put themselves into harm’s way to try to save their students.

By looking to the heroes, we find people who have lived up to what God intended them to be – they put forth superhuman efforts in the face of situations that would make ANY person freeze with unbelievable fear. 

There is a hero in today’s Gospel as well.  The words Elizabeth used made it obvious that for her, Mary was a Hero.  She had said ‘yes’ to God when any normal human being might have cowered in fear:  being unwed and pregnant, her fiancé would probably disown her, her parents would be severely embarrassed, and the Jewish community – who thought of her as the purest example of womanly virtue, would be scandalized – and might even stone her.  No – this was too much to ask a young girl to bear.. but she bore it with her ‘Fiat’… her ‘let it be done to me according to your will’.  That's why she was Elizabeth's hero.

There’s another way that Mary is a hero in this reading.  Having just found out that her cousin was about to have a baby, she dropped everything and went IMMEDIATELY to help.

We have heroes like that in our own community.  For example, every week, somebody in our parish takes communion to the people who cannot be here.  This is so much more valuable than you and I can know.  These people tend to feel cut off from our community, and just to have someone visit is a God-send.  To bring them Communion is a direct way of keeping them connected to our worship here as the Body of Christ.  All of us are members of this Body of Christ – and when one part of the body hurts, the rest of the body turns its attention to that part.  Think about it – if you have a back ache, nothing else matters – the rest of your body will keep changing positions until it finds a way to help the back ache less.  So it is with the members of our community:  when one is hurting, we should do whatever we can to help.

This is especially important this time of year – when there is so much darkness.  People are more prone to depression anyway – but the Holidays actually make it even worse for some.  Experiencing Christmas alone for the first time – or just with one family member missing – can lead us to dwell on the hole in our heart and actually dread the season because we don’t Feel holly-jolly.  That’s a normal response, so if that’s how you’re feeling this Christmas, know that you’re not alone.

The job for all of us is to be like Mary – in a way, when we come here to receive Jesus into us… we become ‘pregnant’ with Jesus – and then we are compelled to drop everything and take Jesus to those who can’t be here.  Seek out those who might have a reason to be depressed – or maybe they’re just physically unable to get out.  Stop and visit.  Offer to help.  Offer them a meal…. Then every one of us can be a hero.

I have two examples of heroes in our community that I heard just this week.  One was a family of young kids that went to a nursing home.  The Mom didn't really want to go, but she was blown away by the reaction of the residents when she walked through the doors with those kids.  People who were so focused on their own pains and depression suddenly lit up with excitement!!… and the infant!!… EVERYbody had to hold that baby.  Besides that - the kids loved all the attention, so it was a win-win for everybody.  That family was a hero for those residents that day.

The other situation was a father who got called to the hospital because his son had had an accident.  He and his wife rushed to the hospital and actually beat the ambulance.  At this point, they didn’t know exactly how bad off their son was, so they were emotionally a wreck.  As he stood there waiting, he made one phone call to a buddy from church – asking for prayers.  20 minutes later, 5 heroes showed up.  5 prayer warriors – there to knock on heaven’s door – and to do anything they could do physically to help the father and mother deal with whatever awaited them – even if it was just to be there and sit with them to wait for the news from the doctors.

Every person here can be that kind of superhero… think about it – is there anybody in the world who thinks that YOU are their hero?  If not, who might God have put in your path who NEEDS you to be their hero?

A parishioner sent me a story this week which was perfect for last week's homily... But it also ties last week to this week's message.

A group of salesmen were running late getting to the airport after their convention.  In order to make their flight, they had to run through the concourse.  Jerry rounded a corner and accidentally bumped into a to a table which held a display of apples. Apples flew everywhere. Jerry mumbled a quick "sorry" then continued running to catch up with his buddies.  They made it just in time as they were giving the last call for boarding.  Jerry breathed a sigh of relief as he stepped up to the gate... But then he experienced a twinge of compassion for the girl whose apple stand he had been overturned. He told his buddies to go on without him, waved good-bye, told one of them to call his wife when they arrived and explain that he would be taking a later flight. His buddies looked at him like he was crazy... but Jerry turned around and jogged back to the terminal where the apples were all over the floor.  He was glad he did.

The 16-year-old girl was totally blind! She was softly crying, tears running down her cheeks in frustration, and at the same time helplessly groping for her spilled produce as the crowd swirled about her; no one stopping and no one to care for her plight.

Jerry knelt on the floor with her, gathered up the apples, put them back on the table and helped organize her display. As he did this, he noticed that many of them had become battered and bruised; these he set aside in another basket. When he had finished, he pulled out his wallet and said to the girl, "Here, please take this $40 for the damage we did. Are you okay?"

She nodded through her tears. He continued on with, "I hope we didn't spoil your day too badly."

As Jerry started to walk away, the bewildered blind girl called out to him, "Mister...." He paused and turned to look back into those blind eyes. She continued, "Are you Jesus?"

He stopped in mid-stride ... and he wondered. He gently went back and said, "No, I am nothing like Jesus - He is good, kind, caring, loving, and would never have bumped into your display in the first place."

The girl gently nodded: "I only asked because I prayed for Jesus to help me gather the apples. He sent you to help me.... He sent you to be my hero! "

Kind of in shock from the turn of events, he slowly made his way to catch the later flight ...with that question burning and bouncing about in his soul: "Are you Jesus?"  

2012/12/16 - Mistaken for Jesus

I’m sure this happens to Fr. Eugene all the time, but it’s only happened to me once or twice.  I went over to a parishioner’s house one Sunday – I think it was right after  First Communion and somebody promised me some homemade ice cream, so I HAD to go  :)  One of the younger kids in the house was all excited because “Jesus is coming to our house”.  He thought I was Jesus…Obviously that kid didn’t know me very well.  :)

On the other hand, it was kind of flattering.  And I got to thinking… isn’t that what we all want to be mistaken for?  Jesus?  Really – if you and I are living the life of a true Christian, then when people see us, they really SHOULD see Jesus. 

Do you think that would be possible?

I want to propose to you that we are like a statue… a sculptor starts with a plain block of wood or marble…, but by the time they lay down their tools, an image has appeared.  That image was there all along – it just had to be revealed. 

After creating the famous statue of David, someone asked Michangelo how he did it… “It’s easy”, he said, “I just chip away anything that doesn’t look like David”. 

Same goes for you and me – we start out as a block of wood or marble – but our goal is to look like Jesus.  His image is already IN us – after all, God MADE us in His image… we just have to reveal it.  So we gotta chip away anything in our self that doesn’t look like Jesus.  How do we do that?  Let’s look at the Gospel. 

Whenever we hear of John the Baptist, we hear about ‘a voice of one crying out in the desert’… but what was he saying?  Just before our reading today, John just delivered a real fire and brimstone sermon...YOU BROOD OF VIPERS!  THE TREE THAT DOESN’T BARE GOOD FRUIT WILL BE CUT DOWN AND THROWN INTO THE FIRE!  He’s not politically correct, but He got people’s attention, and they were scared...”what do we do?”  “I don’t want to be thrown into the fire…. What do I do?” 

What SHOULD we do?  What if someone asked YOU what they had to do to please God?  How would you answer? 

Sell everything and give the money to the poor?  Go serve in the slums of Calcutta or Haiti?  Give your life as a martyr? 

Notice that’s not what John says… instead John gives them the mundane, almost boring answer:... Basically, do what you already know is the right thing.  Soldiers don’t falsely accuse anyone.  Tax collectors, stop collecting more than the correct amount.  If anyone has two coats and sees someone in need, give one to them!  This is not rocket science or anything hard to do… just “do what you already know is right!” 

That may sound simple – but is it?  Let me give an example of what John might say to us today.  Drivers – just drive the speed limit and no more.  What?!  OK, John – you’ve gone too far now.  You can’t be serious!  Everybody knows the speed limit is more like a ‘suggestion’ and as long as you stay within 5 miles per hour or so, there’s no problem… everybody does it… you can’t expect ME to be the exception!  Besides, if I drive the speed limit there will always be somebody riding my tail upset with me.  I can’t do that. Everybody is doing it – and you can’t expect ME to be the exception.  Isn’t that what the tax collector would have said?  What?!  I HAVE to collect more than the prescribed amount in order to feed my family.  Besides, everybody is doing it – and everybody expects me to do it… you can’t expect ME to be the exception.   If I stop collecting extra, then the other tax collectors will be upset with me because it will make it more obvious that THEY are cheating. 

So – you can see –John’s demand wasn’t such a painless command after all. Eventually, if we want to be like Jesus, we just might have to go to Calcutta or give our life as a martyr… but we start by whittling away at our little sinful behaviors that we’ve grown so accustomed to.  In everything we do – we should do the right thing – not doing what everybody else is doing .  Yeah – we’ll stand out in the crowd.   

Kinda like John- he was a FREAK – wearing furs, eating bugs, living in the wilderness… But did you notice that people were mistaking John for Jesus… they thought maybe John was the messiah.   

That’s our goal… to be mistaken for Jesus.  Every one of us CAN be…. We just gotta keep chipping away anything about ourselves that doesn’t look like Jesus.