2014/08/03 - Scoot over.... get personal

Before Mass:

You may remember me mentioning a few months ago that we’re starting an Evangelization Team here in our Cluster.  We have several folks who have started studying a book which will form us into a team and hopefully guide us toward what we are being called to do.  This book:  Forming Intentional Disciples, has a lot of good stuff.  I pray it will be a game-changer for our team, for our cluster, and for every one of us here today.  I’m going to be referring to this book and what it teaches us over the next few months.

Today’s readings are packed – and I could talk about a dozen different angles… but I’ll warn you that the main theme comes from the second reading, so please pay particular attention to that.  Paul gives a list of things that WON’T keep us from God – but I want you to think about – what DOES keep us from God?

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Homily:

Did you catch it?  What is it that separates us from the Love of God? 

I’m sure we’ve all heard this story before, but it fits today’s theme so well, I just have to tell it…but there’s a twist.

Edna and Elmer were driving in their pickup truck down the gravel road one afternoon.  Elmer is driving, and Edna is by the other door.  Edna was feeling – well – like there was no more spark left in their relationship.  They’d been married for almost 40 years now and she was missing those days of romance and feeling special.  She looked over at Elmer and she could still see the handsome young man he used to be – underneath that bald head and beer belly.  She said – you know – used to, when we’d go out on dates, we’d sit side-by-side in the truck and cuddle.  Elmer said – well, I’m still sitting where I aways have…

Pause

That’s where the story normally ends – and it makes a good point if we stop there.  But, you’ve probably not heard what happens next.  Elmer says, “slide on over here and put your arm around me!”  But Edna suddenly gets practical – well – I can’t scoot over there.  I have to sit here with my seatbelt and where I have airbag protection.  Besides, there’s that pile of junk on the seat between us.  CD’s, ipad, books, beer cans, ice cream containers, maps.  There’s no room!  I can’t scoot over!

Doesn’t that describe so many of our relationships?  When we’re young and in-love and getting to know each other, we can’t wait to be together – and when we are together – it’s intense.  We talk, cuddle, laugh, do things together.  As we’ve been together for a while, we gradually drift away from that closeness.  It’s not that we PLAN to drift apart… I mean – it’s just PRACTICAL for Edna to sit on the other side so she had her own seat belt and airbag.  It JUST MAKES SENSE.  I think that fits too with all our relationships – practicality stops us from doing all those things we used to do.  Those things which we set aside are often what kept the relationship fresh and alive and growing…. But – other things took their place gradually until we find we’re sitting on the other side of the front seat with someone we hardly know anymore.

Relationship – that’s what it’s all about.  Our human relationships have to be fed with time, energy, talking and listening, doing things for each other, and sharing experiences together.  Those same rules apply to our relationship with God.  If we want a personal relationship with Him, we have to spend time with Him.  We talk to Him, listen to Him, share experiences with Him, do things For Him.

Last month, I encouraged everyone to dust off their Bible and spend time with God that way – allowing Him the opportunity to speak to us through His written Word.  We also constantly encourage everyone to receive the sacraments often – and what are the sacraments but a “personal encounter with Jesus”.

But one of the things this book has highlighted is that most people in our pews – and even many of us up here presiding – don’t have a personal relationship with Jesus.  In fact, it’s become obvious that many of us don’t even know what a personal relationship with Jesus looks like nor whether it is even possible.  I don’t know yet what the book it going to teach us to do with that problem, but even the Pope has mentioned that it is this lack of a personal relationship with Jesus that has drawn many people to walk away from the Church.  So – let’s tackle that issue!

We’re not going to solve it today – but let’s start the conversation.  Let’s lay some foundation stones that we can build upon over the next months.

If we need a “personal relationship with Jesus” – and we all do – we can start by looking at our relationships with everybody around us.  Look at the folks who used to be close friends, but aren’t any longer.  What happened?  It’s likely that we stopped feeding those relationships so they stopped growing.  Classmates who used to be best friends with moved away to college, for example.  We used to spend 5 days a week, learning together, talking, eating lunch together… in short – we spent time with them.  When we stopped spending time with them, that relationship fades.  Yeah, we might get together once in a while to reminisce about old times, but often it doesn’t feel right – because we’re leading different lives and having different experiences.

Another way our relationships can fade – even if we’re still living in the same house – is if we stop listening to each other.  We turn our attention more and more to practical things or our own interests.  When we stop communicating, it’s like cutting off the water from a plant – our relationship will wither. 

Another way our relationships fade:  we stop spending time together.  It’s so easy for us guys to get busy with the yard work and hunting and our jobs and fixing the car and by golly, we’ve got to have our own personal time to spend with our buddies at the local watering hole.  Likewise, we can get occupied with the kids and schoolwork and laundry and cooking and even with doing our ‘church stuff’… and when we put all of that at the top of our priority list, and our spouse no longer is at the top – nor second place – in fact, our spouse may not be on our priority list.  A relationship cannot survive if it is not fed with TIME, PRESENCE, and LISTENING.  Yeah – there’s other things that can kill a relationship, but these are three of the basics… like water, soil, and sunshine.

So – apply that to our personal relationship with Jesus.  Do we spend time with Him?  Do we come to visit Him in Eucharistic Adoration?  Do we come to the Sacraments?  Do we serve him by serving the needy around us?  And of course – do we listen to Him?  Do we read His word?  Do we pray and share our thoughts with Him?  Hopefully over the next few months, we’ll be offering some practical advice on how to feed that relationship with Jesus.

Paul says, “What will separate us from the love of Christ? Will anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword?”  None of THAT will separate us from God – in fact – usually, the people who are suffering those things are actually brought CLOSER to God.  No – there is only one thing in this world that can separate us from the God… and that one thing – is me. 

So look at the pile of junk on the seat between you and Jesus.  Get a trashbag and throw it all away… then Slide back across the seat and put your arm around Jesus as you let him drive you through life.

2014/07/13 - Idle Words

(Note: prior to Mass – challenge the congregation to focus on the parable in the Gospel… Where am I in that parable?  Am I the sower?  The Seed?  Or something else?)
I ran across this journal in my office this week.  An old friend of mine gave it to me as a present for my ordination.  In it are a bunch of poems, prayers, scriptures, quotes – things that touched her heart and brought HER inspiration over the years.  It’s more than just a book…she invested months of her free-time HAND-WRITING every page.  It is a very personal gift which I recognize is a great honor and should be treasured.
See – my friend is a recovering alcoholic.  She gave this to me when she was only like 18 months sober… and just a few weeks ago she reached the 10 year milestone.  Seeing her commitment daily to overcome this addiction daily was an inspiration to me.  What was even cooler was watching her share her experiences with others.  She is an outspoken advocate for AA.  She KNOWS what it’s like to fight with demons – and she knows that the battle could go either way on any given day if she doesn’t stick with the method that she knows works.  She could have STAYED in her miserable condition – but she CHOSE to discipline herself and to seek God’s help to overcome the demons – and now SHE has become a healing tool in the hand of God.
I bring it up because, well, I’m ashamed to admit it, but I put this book aside and haven’t even noticed it on my shelf for several years.  I’m ashamed because I know that this book represents a picture of her heart.  It’s a testament to the pain and struggle she endured to get where she is today.  This is her personal letter to me to inspire me to seek God all the more, and to be able to help inspire others as a Deacon….  But – I left it on the shelf.  These words were idle for years.
Many of us have a book like this on our shelves at home.  It sits on the shelf gathering dust, or maybe on the coffee table.  Once in a while we notice that it is there, and it gives us a brief moment of comfort to know that the book is in our house… but if we were questioned about it… most of us haven’t read it.  Of course, I’m talking about the word of God…. The Bible.  This book is a personal letter that God wrote to you and me to inspire us!  Unfortunately, for many of us, the word of God has sat idle on your shelf for years….just like my friend’s journal,
Which takes us to the last line of that first reading from Isaiah….
“My word shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it.”
In short – God’s word is not idle.  His word has a specific purpose and according to this reading, that purpose WILL be fulfilled.  God does not speak words which can be ignored.
What is the purpose of God’s word?  Well, we sort-of get an answer in the last line of the Gospel:
To “bear fruit and yield a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold”
I say – that’s sort-of an answer, because, well – do YOU know what it means?  I admit, it’s not immediately clear to me.  I mean, I know we’re all supposed to bear fruit.  I’ve talked about that a lot lately – how we are supposed to be the ones spreading the word of God.  So, In a way, we could interpret this reading that we are the ones spreading the seed on the ground, …but that would miss the point.  In fact, Jesus himself explained that wasn’t his point this time.
So – if we’re not the ones spreading the seed – what are we?  Are we the seed?  You might read it that way – in fact, I think that’s a valid interpretation, because Jesus plants each of us in a particular spot and tells us to bear fruit…”bloom where we’re planted”.  Jesus needs us in a specific spot to bring HIS presence to that place.  Is that the point of the Gospel?  Maybe – but I don’t think so.  So who ARE we in the Gospel?
We are dirt.  Remember man that you are dirt and to dirt you shall return.
See – it makes sense that God is the one sowing the seed – and that seed is the seed of faith.  He spreads it broadly so that every inch of soil is covered….which means every one of us has the seed of faith planted in our hearts – and this is where we take control.  We are like dirt, BUT we have the ability to choose how much fertilizer we want – and how often we want to be hoed and pruned to remove the weeds and thorns.
How do we do that?  How do we fertilize our soil?  We feed it with the word of God.
What is the word of God?  First – it represents Jesus – you know, Jesus is THE WORD of God.  Remember the first chapter of John?  “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word WAS God”…. That’s Jesus – the living Word of God.  By coming here each week, we hear the words of Jesus – we hear the very words of God…. And we receive the Word of God – Jesus – in the Eucharist.  Surely that is a powerful fertilizer!
 Other ways we prepare our soil is to read the words of God for ourselves – take that book off the shelf – put it on your bedstand.  Like Fr. Larry Richards says, “No Bible, no breakfast – No Bible, no bed”.  Every morning and night, read some of it – doesn’t have to be a lot – just one chapter – or one page – or one paragraph – or even one LINE.  Let it sink in.  Ponder on it throughout the day and ask God how he is trying to fertilize us or prune us with that little piece of his word.  How is He trying to fertilizer the seed of Faith He planted in our hearts?

I want to encourage you to consider setting a goal to read the WHOLE Bible…yes, I’m serious.  But let me give you some pointers…I recommend you NOT start at the beginning!  Start with Gospels and the NT.  That’s the part we’re more familiar with – and you’ll find by reading it all, you’ll fill-in the gaps… because we don’t hear EVERYthing in our Sunday readings.  If you get bogged down by the Book of Revelation, skip it.  Likewise, once you’ve read the NT, you might try the OT.  There are some GREAT stories in the Old Testament which make the New Testament make more sense.  But don’t get bogged down by all the rules and regulations in Leviticus and Numbers… move on if you get to a section that doesn’t speak to you.  The important thing is to read and become comfortable with the Bible, to give Christ the OPPORTUNITY to speak to you.

Now - you might think you don’t have time to do that – but I like the way Matthew Kelly put it.  Imagine you die and go to heaven and you meet God the Father and he says – Welcome to Heaven!  How are you doing?  You say, “Fine, God – well, at least I think I’m fine…I’m dead…you tell me… how AM I doing?”  God says, “Did you have a good life?”  Oh, yeah, God – it was GREAT – I loved my life.  Well, tell me what you did with the 80 years I gave you?  Oh – all kinds of stuff, God – I mean – it was really GREAT.  Then he asks – did you read any good books?  Well yeah, God - several of them – lots of the best sellers.  Then he drops the big question:  ‘Did you read MY book.’  Silence - - - - - -  That would be an awkward moment, wouldn’t it?  How are we gonna tell the God of the universe we didn’t have time to read his book?  I mean – he’s just got the one!  Not like he puts out a new one each month ☺
The Bible is our family book – it was written by the Holy Spirit to inspire us and encourage us to fight our daily battle with our own addictions to sin and selfishness…and to help others too.  That’s why God wrote this letter to us!   God’s Word is not idle.

2014 June 22 - Corpus Christi - walking away

It was the worst day… of the worst week… of what may arguably have been the worst ambush ever inflicted on our US military history.  The US led United Nations forces had pushed too far north into Korea and had gotten almost cutoff before realizing they were surrounded by an overwhelming Chinese force.  They waited too long to make a retreat and ended up running the ‘gauntlet’ – that’s what they called it - a long stretch of road through a valley with Chinese controlling the heights on both sides, and they were systematically picked off.  One vehicle would get hit, creating a roadblock, and everyone else was just a sitting duck.  In the end the US lost around 11 thousand troops in those few days, and I couldn’t even find the count of wounded.  The 2^nd Infantry Division was devastated… losing over 4000 men.

I tell this little bit of history because of something their commander, Major General Dutch Keiser, said.  He had a body guard assigned to him, Corporal Jake Thorpe who had stuck by him through many battles, dedicating his life to protect the General.  While driving the jeep through the ‘gauntlet’ that day, Corporal Thorpe had been in the back manning the machine gun, when he was picked off by a sniper.  Keiser had loaded the dead body of his friend into the back of the jeep to take him out. However, there were SO many wounded along the road that eventually they had to leave Corporal Thorpe’s body on the side of the road to make room for the wounded.

Regardless of what else Keiser had been through… he said –“it was a hard thing to do…to walk away from the body of the man who had given his life to save me.”  (1)

Could you do it?  Could you walk away from the body of the man who had given his life to save you?

Many people have walked away.

You know, we talk and we talk about how, in the Mass, the bread and wine really do become the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.  But still, some people walk away.

Talking about it obviously ain’t enough.  Yes – we NEED the head-knowledge of WHY we believe that when Jesus said ‘This is my body’… he really MEANT it!  And today’s Gospel from John chapter 6 is one of the main supporting texts given to us by God to help us understand WHY we believe it.  Let me just quickly re-explain that in case you’ve forgotten.  Jesus is telling the disciples – which is the big crowd – that they have to eat his flesh and drink his blood.  Now – they immediately started murmuring – what’s this about?  We can’t eat human flesh and drink human blood – God specifically forbids that in His law!  This raised some serious doubts in the minds of those disciples.  In fact, if we would keep reading just a few more lines beyond where today’s Gospel stopped, we hear that “many of them walked away from Jesus and returned to their former way of life”.  That’s an important point… people were walking away from Jesus BECAUSE of what he was teaching.  Now – if Jesus HADN’T meant exactly what he said, this would be the perfect time for him to say – wait a minute – come back - you misunderstood me… I..I was only talking symbolically, you know… a ‘figure of speech’.  But instead of saying that, he upped the ante:  “Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood you have no life within you!”  They couldn’t take it… this was too much…and they walked away.  Again he could have stopped them but instead, he turned to the 12 apostles and offered to them… do you want to walk away too?  He was ready to lose ALL of his followers if they didn’t want to accept this one, central teaching:  This IS my body.

They believed what he said was true…. And you and I continue to take Jesus at his Word.  It’s still a stretch, but at least we can logically make sense why we should believe it.  But head knowledge isn’t enough.  We have to believe what we know to be true.

We all have doubts – probably just about everyone in here sometimes wonders… is it true?  When Fr. Eugene is up here praying the Eucharistic Prayer, It sometimes seems so mundane …. Like just wafers and wine.  The people around us don’t really seem excited by the fact that the Body and Blood of Jesus are on the altar, so it can test our faith.  You’re not alone!  We all go through that.  So – it’s not enough to ‘know’ the truth, we have to practice our faith and exercise it. 

Here are a couple of ideas…One idea is when Fr. Eugene holds up the bread and says, ‘Do this in memory of me’, even if you don’t FEEL like it at the moment, bow slightly and silently say to yourself ‘my Lord and my God’… or ‘Jesus, I believe it is You… but help my unbelief’.  When we don’t FEEL like Jesus is present, we might have to rely on our head knowledge to keep our Faith alive until God chooses to reveal the truth in a way that touches our heart.  He may never touch our hearts… but that doesn’t make it any less true.

The Eucharist truly is the source and the summit of our Faith… yet people continue to walk away.  When I ask the people who are still here WHY they HAVEN’T left, almost every time, the answer is the Eucharist.  Many people DO recognize that we are privileged to have Jesus in our midst – on our altar - and He feeds us with His own flesh. 

It would be a hard thing to do, don’t you think?…

”to walk away from the body of the man who had given his life to save me…and you.

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(1) "The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War" - David Halberstam

2014/06/08 - Pentecost "Inspired"

Look at some of the greatest manmade inventions in our world... TV, phones, cars, The Internet, the interstate highway system, the democratic government we enjoy, even though we complain about it... we’ve got it better than most of the world.  We often take these things for granted...like they’ve always been there.  But they didn't just happen.  Imagine what the world was like BEFORE the interstate highways.  Imagine what the world was like BEFORE TV or the Internet.  Imagine the world without democracy.  All of these great things have something in common… They all started as a dream in somebody's head.  Somebody was inspired to change the world for the better... So inspired that they laid aside other ambitions to concentrate on making their dream a reality.  They found a dream worthy of devoting their life to, then they went and shared that dream with other people… because they couldn’t do any of that alone.  They needed OTHER people to be inspired by their dream so THEY would invest their own time, effort, and money  to help make it happen.

If Alexander Graham Bell had kept his dream to himself, where would we be?  But - By sharing that dream, he changed the world –and now everybody in here probably owns at least one phone.

 

This is what happened to the Apostles in the first reading.  They were physically inspired to spread the word about Jesus.  Look closely at that word...IN SPIRED.  It means the spirit entered into them.  They were given a dream that they could change the world, and they allowed the spirit to propel them out of the upper room into the street…the Spirit pushed them into taking that first step.  When people have a clear goal placed before them, it inspires them to move toward the goal.

 

Picture a football team on the field, but the field has no end zones – you can’t even imagine it.  We wouldn't know which way to go.  Without a goal to shoot for, what is the point in playing the game?  If I were on that team, I'd just sit down in the middle of the field....why even bother?  Without a goal, I have nothing to inspire me.

 

Have you ever met someone whose life held so much promise, they COULD have accomplished great things… but somehow they got stuck... They had nothing to inspire them, so they did nothing with their life.  The problem is they have no dream to accomplish, so they have no goals to push them off the couch.

 

Here's our challenge.  Paul says “To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit.”

... In other words, every one of us has some talent which God gave us specifically to change the world… to help spread the word about Jesus and help our church to grow.  If our church ain't growing, it is because too few people recognize that gift and put it to use.

 

One perfect example is music.  I’d bet that sitting here right now are several people who love music.  Perhaps you can play an instrument or sing, but you’ve never committed to helping with music at Mass.  Music is important at Mass.  When it is done well it can touch our hearts.  It can INSPIRE us.  We NEED your talents – and that’s why God gave them to you.  If Michelangelo had refused to use his talents, think of the great artwork the world would never have known...   If you and I don't put our talents to work for Jesus, think of the great works the church will leave undone.

 

It's more than that though... It is by using our talents that we actually GET MORE inspired.  I remember as a kid, I was always pushing the family to get ready so we could leave for church early...why?  Not because I was holy... But because I enjoyed serving.  It made me feel connected, important, like I was doing my part for Jesus.  I was inspired by an enjoyment of serving, and the more I used my talents, the more inspired I became.  I enjoyed Mass because I was participating.

 

I think that would be true for anybody here…Would you like to feel inspired when you come to mass?  Would you like to enjoy Mass?  Pick a way to get involved.  You will change the world.

 

How else can every one of us get inspired?  Well – that’s why I’m always pushing CD’s and books and retreats.  Those three things are ways that we open our minds to allow the Holy Spirit to come in and change us.  We have to be constantly open to the Holy Spirit changing us – because the Holy Spirit doesn’t change the whole world at one time – He changes the world by changing you.  And you can only change if you’re open to the dream that the Spirit wants to give you.  The Holy Spirit gives us the ability to believe what others might say is impossible.

 

Come Holy Spirit, enkindle in us the fire of your love.  Send forth your spirit and they shall be created, and you shall renew the face of the earth.

2014/05/18 "Trajectory"

Do you think Jesus would recognize his Church?  I mean, if he came back today, would he just shake his head in disgust and say.... No no no... You got it all wrong!?

At times, we might be tempted to believe that.  Folks outside the church are quick to point out all of our faults... Yeah, we admit, we have faults.  Any organization with humans in it will fall victim to human ‘wills’ and human pride and human greed….in the end, we are gonna mess up...  You might say, it's our destiny.  So get over it.  Jesus KNEW that when he started the Church with a group of fallible human apostles.  He Knew from the beginning where we would be today… and where we are all headed.  He knew that because of ‘trajectory’.  You know what this is don’t you?...

 

Say I take this nerf gun and aim it like this…(yes…I had an actual nerf gun in church J). Where is the bullet going to land?  Will it land over there?  Will it hit the ceiling?  We know instinctively that if we point it this way and it fires correctly, it’s going to land right over there.  If we were NASA engineers, we could calculate the initial velocity, acceleration, vertical rate of ascent, the gravitational pull, the increase in speed as it descends…  lots of variables go into calculating a trajectory… but if we know all the variables, we can know where it’s gonna land – AND – every point in between here and there.

 

Now – could we do the same for God’s Church?  See, when Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, they put humanity on a trajectory toward hell.  They call that the “fall” of Adam, because up to that point, God had humanity pointed UPWARD, to be with Him.  But the fall made the angle of the nerf gun drop… straight down.  We all sin, so we all deserve to die.  Without some outside force to CHANGE our trajectory, that’s our destiny.…it’s a foregone conclusion.  Fortunately, Jesus came and set in motion a series of events which started the building of His church… and in doing so, He changed our trajectory back to where it was supposed to be.  (raise nerf gun)

 

God laid the cornerstone of his Church:  Jesus – the stone which the builders rejected.  In other words, the Israelites – the people who were SUPPOSED to be in CHARGE of building God’s Church,... They REJECTED Jesus… and HE was the chosen cornerstone of the Church.  He then laid a different foundation – upon the Apostles.  He PURPOSELY started the Church with the intention of having humans run it.  It’s very fitting that Wednesday was the feast of St. Matthias… you may not know much about him, but we read in Acts that the Apostles decided that Judas needed to be replaced, so they chose Matthias – and they laid hands on him, which still today is the sacramental sign that the power granted to them directly from Jesus is being handed on.  We see the same thing today in the first reading – and I’m particularly partial to this reading… anybody notice why?  Remember the story… the apostles said they needed help – so they chose seven men – the first one being Stephen…and they laid hands on them.  In other words, they handed on their apostolic authority.  Who or what were these men?  Deacons.  Arguably, the first Deacons of the Church.  Did Jesus intend for HIS church to have Deacons?  I would say yes!  Like I said before, he knows all the variables in the calculation, so he could predict the trajectory his Church would take.  The Holy Spirit led the Apostles to choose Matthias – just like today the Spirit led them to choose these 7 deacons.  We are all part of the expected trajectory.  We’re all stones in the walls... part of the Church built on the foundation of the apostles.

 

Did you notice that last line in the Gospel –

“whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these”

I wonder... Is that true?  How many of you have raised someone from the dead?  Cured a blind man?  Anybody walked on water in the last week?  Well – it looks like Jesus was lying!     Actually – the word for ‘greater’ in this context actually means closer to ‘More’.  In that context, we HAVE fulfilled his prophecy:  our church HAS been able to do the same works as Jesus and even greater!  He fed the 5000, which was a miracle, no doubt... But today, thru his church, he feeds more people, clothes more people, houses more people, Educates more people, and cares for more people than any organization on the planet.... EVER.

 

Is THAT the church that Jesus had in mind?  I say... Sure... Why not!?  The church today is the result of the trajectory it was placed on when He picked the first stones to start building.  

 

It actually reminds me of when I was ordained a Deacon.  Have you ever been to an ordination?  At one point, and this happens at a Priesthood ordination as well, the candidate lies down in the middle of the aisle face-down.  Kinda like a stone... Lying on the ground waiting to be chosen to be placed into the wall.  

It’s a sign of surrender.  It’s a sign of humiliation.  It’s a sign that this man’s life is about to take a whole new trajectory.  And as I read the second reading, I could imagine praying this prayer while lying on the floor…. And I suppose every one of us could pray this prayer:

Jesus – make ME a living stone.

Use me as a stumbling block to make other people stumble so you can catch their attention.  Let people see You when they see me.  Use me as a stone to build your church.  Set me back on course now… set MY trajectory… set OUR trajectory… so that we can all live in the Joy you offer us in this life, ...and be with you in Heaven one day… our destiny.

2014/04/27 - Here's the Recipe

I LOVE this time of the year – right after Easter, we get to hear from the Book of Acts – which is the book of the Bible that tells us how the earliest Christians lived.  Did you recognize what they were doing in that first reading? 
– listen to this: 

They devoted themselves
to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life,
to the breaking of bread and to the prayers…..

Recognize that?  That’s MASS!  Reading the teachings of the apostles… that the scriptures… and breaking the bread.. .that’s the Eucharist.  That’s pretty cool… but that’s not all.

I’m going to start sounding like a broken record, but did anybody read the "Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic"(1)?  Remember what the four signs are?  Prayer, Study, Generosity, and Evangelization.  Take a look at that reading – it’s all there…

Prayer:  that one’s pretty obvious… they devoted themselves to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers.

Study: …. That’s the teaching of the apostles  it mentioned.

Generosity:  It says “they would sell their property and possessions
and divide them among all according to each one’s need”….that’s GENEROSITY

Evangelization might be a little harder to see in THIS reading… but it’s obviously there.  What do you think they were doing in the Temple every day???  Obviously evangelizing, because it says,
                “And every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.”

See!  It’s all there.  I’ve not just been pushing this book because it’s a good read – but it actually gives each of us personally a way we can start living like the earliest Christians did… by living the four signs:  Prayer, Study, Generosity and Evangalization. 

Here’s an important perspective though…. Look at what God did BECAUSE of how they lived…. “every day the Lord added to their number”.  Now let that sink in a second… WHY did God add to their number every day?  Because -of how -they -lived.  In short, that means we have in this reading the RECIPE for growing our church…and the recipe is to LIVE the four signs joyfully.  That’s my MAIN point… God builds up the churches who LIVE like this.

Surely you see where I’m going with this…

Is the Lord adding to OUR number every day?  Um – well, we had three people come into the church last week at Easter, does that count?!  Yes…but if you look at our number of parishioners total, is it going up every day?  Over the last 10 years, is our Church bigger or smaller?  Why?  We’re still in the same Catholic Church that the early Christians were in… but are we living as they did?  Let’s take inventory of how we’re living the 4 signs:

We have Prayer:  We have weekend Mass and daily Mass.  A few people pray in the adoration chapel each Friday night.  And we have a few prayer groups that meet at various times every week.   And I know that many people have their personal prayer life we all do at home.

We have study:   We just had our book study during Lent.  Our Religious Ed classes just ended for the year.  We have a weekly Bible study on Monday nights.  So – we do SOME learning -  but probably less than 7% of our people come to those events.  Of course, I SURE everyone else is reading books and listening to CD’s to increase their own knowledge of the Faith.

Now Generosity….THAT is something we really do well.  Anytime there is a need or a benefit of some sort, our people are generous.  One visible example is our Grace Co-Op which has helped a lot of people in our community.  Did you know that this month is the one-year anniversary of ‘grace grub’?  You may not remember the term ‘grace grub’, but One year ago, we started taking meals to different folks in our parish each Sunday – and if you add up the number of meals… it is amazing.  We surpassed 500 official meals… but each meal is like 4-6 meals.  We just had our shantytown where we distributed 22 loads of firewood.  We’ve helped folks in the area who’ve had fires and wrecks –Denise helps people get assistance from TriCap for electricity and heating.  Our community is always reaching out to those in need.  I’d have to say as a parish, we do pretty good with generosity.

The last of the four signs is Evangelization.  Do we do that?  Hmmm… some.  We give away books and CD’s.  We invite people to come to our parish Mission.  But how much do we really try to SHARE our faith with others?  That’s what evangelization is… us sharing our faith with others.  Inviting THEM to experience the Joy that comes from our faith.

Pope Francis wrote a document about it – called the Joy of the Gospel.  One of the main points he makes is that Evangelization is the lifeblood of the Church.  Not only is it our responsibility as baptized Christians, but it is through bringing people to Christ that we find OUR greatest Joy.  That Joy then makes us even more attractive to people, so that they WANT to join our community.  Who wants to join a church where everybody is bored?

Pope Francis says – the church grows, not by proselytizing, but by attraction.  In other words, we don’t convert people to Christianity by standing on a street corner yelling at people about doctrine or telling them that Jesus is risen… we convert people by showing the JOY we have – That attracts people to join us.

Look what happened to Thomas – the other apostles TOLD him that Jesus had risen, but he wouldn’t believe it.  You and I would be just like him, you know.  In order for anybody to REALLY believe in Jesus, we have to meet him – most of us don’t get to stick our fingers in his nail holes… but we experience his presence through the JOY of community.  Ask yourself – what event caused ME to believe in Jesus?  Every one of us needs a conversion experience.  If you’re not ON FIRE for Jesus, you’ve probably not met him.  That’s not necessarily your fault, you see… the community around you is supposed to LEAD to you that encounter with Jesus. 

Personally, I think the best way to meet Jesus is through a retreat like Teens Encounter Christ or Cursillo or Christ Renews His Parish.  People who go through these retreats are changed forever. 

So the bottom line is this:  our parish isn’t growing – because WE aren’t fully living the four signs of a dynamic Catholic. aren’t fully living the way the earliest Christians did.

The GREAT news is – half the effort in solving a problem is identifying the problem.  Now, we KNOW what we really need to work.  And when we do, then, “the Lord will add to OUR number those who are being saved.”

If you want to help with this – if you want to see our church GROW – let’s work together.  Let’s provide opportunities for every parishioner of every age to Pray… to Study… to be Generous… and to Evangelize.  I’d like to start a team to focus on this effort.  If you feel like the Holy Spirit is prodding you to get involved, let’s talk.

I wish everyone could feel the fire of the Holy Spirit that comes from leading others to Christ. 

This is the source... the Recipe... for True Joy.

(1) "The Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic" - by Matthew Kelly

2014/04/06 - Jesus, where WERE you?!

If I was Martha and Mary, I’d have reacted totally differently when Jesus showed up – in fact, If I was Lazarus – I’d have come out of the tomb with both fists swinging at Jesus.  Where WERE you!?  We Waited!  We HAD FAITH!  We BELIEVED in you… just what you’ve been telling everybody to do.  We trusted you… we spent a huge amount to send that messenger to find you… WHERE WERE YOU?! 

I thought we were friends.  I thought I had done everything you asked for… but I just kept getting sicker – and you never showed up.  How could you do that to me?!  Where were you!?

Haven’t we all felt the same way at some point of our life?  It seems some people get more than their fair share of suffering in this life.  We pray – we ask others to pray.  We send messengers to find Jesus – please – come to our aid!  Make Haste to help me!  But it seems sometimes that he’s not answering.  Like he’s delayed or maybe he’s just not out there at all!  Maybe we put our faith in the wrong guy!  Jesus – where WERE you?!

Fortunately, the Church gives us this reading today – the story of the raising of Lazarus.  This is the ultimate story of hope – for more than one reason.  There’s so much packed in here, we need to take a few minutes for a little “scripture study” to unpack it.

Not long ago, Jesus barely escaped being arrested or killed in Jerusalem, and he fled across the Jordan into Gentile territory.  Then today he gets word that one of his best buddies, Lazarus is sick.  He KNOWS that if he goes back there – only two miles from Jerusalem – that this is the end.  There is no turning back.  Could that be why he waited around 2 more days before heading back?  Was he just procrastinating?  No – he said something which is our first source of hope:  “this illness is not to end in death, but is for the Glory of God”.  Remember that line – it’s going to be important.

So finally he decides to go back – and even the apostles recognize that he is going to his death.  Jesus says something else which sounds an awful lot like a riddle – or maybe it’s just nonsense?  “He who walks in the light does not stumble”.  What’s that got to do with going to your death, Jesus?  One way to interpret that is Jesus saying – I know the path I’m on is the will of God – and as long as I’m on that path, then I cannot stumble.  God is lighting my way for me.

There’s a lot more to the story – but the other part I want to focus on is when Jesus wept.  It’s the shortest verse in the Bible, but it’s loaded with meaning.  Now most people interpret that he was crying because he was sad that Lazarus had died… we have proof of that right here in the reading… but he knew that Lazarus was about to be raised, so I’m not sure that explains it.  See – I think he wept because  - well – it wasn’t supposed to be like this.  Death and suffering and weeping were not supposed to be part of the human plan… but evil had entered in and messed up everything.  I think at that moment, Jesus’ humanity did feel the pain of losing his buddy Lazarus – but that sparked a deeper feeling in him of utter sadness that Evil had caused so much pain.  He also might have been thinking about the fact that as soon as he raises Lazarus from the dead, he is sort-of signing his death-certificate.  The Pharisees are already worried about him and really worried that people are believing in him because of all the miracles he was working.  Once he raises Lazarus, people start flocking to believe in Jesus.  People from all around travel to Bethany to see this miracle man Lazarus who was dead, but is alive again.   And for that reason, the Pharisees actually looked for a way to kill LAZARUS – because he was LIVING PROOF of Jesus’ power.

So – that’s the scripture study…. Now – why is this such a reading of hope for us?

First – “this illness will not end in death, but is for the glory of God”.  Jesus makes it clear that he recognizes that suffering is taking place – and in fact, Jesus allows the suffering to go on for even longer – for one good reason… to give glory to God.  See, if he had just cured Lazarus, people could write that off  - like – well, he was going to get better anyway… Jesus is nothing special.  Or – if he had raised him from the dead one day earlier, they also would have said, ‘well, he wasn’t completely dead yet’…  But – in the Jewish belief, the soul doesn’t leave the body until the fourth day after the person dies.  So, by waiting, Jesus was able to prevent that argument.  There was simply no way to deny the magnitude of THIS miracle. 

This gives US hope, because we can always have faith that our sufferings are prolonged for some good reason.  When it seems that God is delayed or just not answering, We have to believe that Somehow, God is going to use our sufferings for his glory.  Don’t believe it?  Think about some of the most inspirational stories you’ve heard:  stories of people dealing with unbelievable suffering, but maintaining a positive view of God through it all.  Somehow it is IN our suffering that we actually come closer to KNOWing God.  We see that in our own parish here – people who have suffered more than any human should have to suffer – but they grow closer to God in that process. 

The second reason this reading gives hope is that short phrase:  Jesus Wept.  It gives us a unique insight into the mind of God.  Jesus, our brother, suffered just like we do.  The emotional trauma he endured far surpassed anything we endure, since he sees the bigger picture – and knows what was lost when mankind fell to the lies of the serpent in the garden. 

Jesus Wept.  In a way – that answers the question from the beginning of my homily.  JESUS – WHERE WERE YOU?!  Jesus’ answer is simple…. I’m right here… I’ve been here all along… suffering WITH you.