Category Archives: discipleship

The Recent Pew Survey, Individualism and Gratitude

14 Thursday May 2015

Posted by in discipleship, faith, individualism, life in Christ, social factors, society

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individualismIn our society’s almost dictatorial focus on the individual have we forgotten how to receive and how to be grateful?

A realization that I have arrived at through my prayer with the Community of Sant’Egidio is that our Lord was neither as influenced by nor as burdened by individualism as we are.  It can easily be demonstrated that individualism is a cherished notion in the modern American cultural landscape if not, in fact, the highest virtue we subscribe to.  We exalt the positives of individualism (and they are there certainly) but do we also recognize as readily the negatives?  I would contend that one negative derived from an uncritical adoption of the tenets of individualism is being obliged throughout life to carry the weight of the presumption that if something does not originate from me exclusively then it is not really all that worthwhile.

I remember in a previous assignment as a college chaplain how I would visit the art museum on campus once a week where the work of art majors would be on exhibit.  For many of the students this showing was their senior thesis.  Much of the work of these students was engaging, creative and very thought-provoking.  But a good amount of it was not and one would leave the exhibit with the perception and hunch that the student was almost straining under the compulsion to have to present his or her own unique perception of reality, particular viewpoint or feelings to the world.  Frankly, in this forced condition, their viewpoint was not all that interesting and often it was clichéd and just plain boring.  At these moments I would exit the exhibit with the words of a wise, old Benedictine monk friend ringing in my ears, “Get over yourself!”

This weight can work in a subtle way but it is there – the weight to always have to be unique, always original and to have to prove it!  This is quite crushing and just not humanly possible.  Christ did not seem to be burdened by this though.  Our Lord demonstrates his freedom (as well as his oneness with the Father) when he responds to Philip’s request of showing the disciples the Father in the fourteenth chapter of John’s gospel,

He who has seen me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?  Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me?  The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority; but the Father who dwells in me does his works.  Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me; or else believe me for the sake of the works themselves. (Jn. 14:9-11)

Our Lord is quite comfortable in sharing that what he has to give comes both from the Father and out of his relationship with the Father.  He does not seem constrained by the presumption that everything has to be a totally original and unique thought originating from within himself alone in order for it to be authentic and worthwhile.  This freedom that our Lord demonstrates is in fact shared with the Spirit also.

I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.  When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.  He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.  All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.  

These gospel passages lead the reader into the mystery of the Trinity but they also witness to the depth of freedom that our Lord enjoyed in his person with one such ingredient of this freedom being the ability to freely acknowledge what he has received from the Father.  Our Lord is the “free-est” person who ever walked the face of the earth – even being free of the negative weight of individualism.  Because of this our Lord could fully receive from the Father and he could fully live in gratitude.  We, on the other hand, not so much.

Recently, I have noticed a string of articles in response to a just released Pew survey on why younger people are no longer practicing their faith and leaving the Church.  I am not proposing this as the definitive answer but I do think a contributing factor in this trend is this negative weight of individualism and specifically how it limits our ability to recognize what we have received and to be grateful for that.  Many people will say that the Church needs to get better at reaching out to young people, preaching needs to be better and more engaging, we need to return to a sense of traditional Catholic identity or be more involved in pressing social issues that are of concern to younger generations … the list can go on and on.  I agree with these points and believe there is validity to them.  Yes, there is more that the Church needs to do and should do but I think there is another aspect to this equation and I offer this with the greatest pastoral sensitivity having worked many years with younger generations.  I think a number of younger people (as the wise monk would say) need to get over themselves and, frankly, just need to grow some backbone when it comes to their faith.

A number of times now in my ministry I have had the experience of a young couple approaching me for marriage preparation with one of the two being Catholic and the other one from a different Christian faith tradition only to hear them say that they plan to attend a different church once married, almost as if it is no big deal.  This then leads generally into a full discussion where I ask them if they are able to recognize how their faith tradition (Catholic or not) has helped to shape who they are.  What I have come to realize is that more often than not they do not recognize this.  This is quite damning but, I hold, not so much for the couple themselves (as I have come to see them more as victims in this equation, although some as willing victims) but rather the milieu in which they have grown up and live in.  We focus so much on the individual in our society that we fail to help people learn how to recognize what we have received and how we have been formed through outside influences including our faith.  We fail in helping one another realize that we are more than just ourselves.  I encourage the couple to realize that part of what they love and are attracted to in their fiancée is how his or her faith tradition has helped to shape who he or she is.  To summarily toss aside one’s faith tradition or ask the other person to do so or to plan to do so later as a married couple as if it does not really matter is a profound disservice and demonstrates a sad lack of awareness.

Many people suffer from this lack this awareness.  We focus so much on the individual and the illusion of how we are self-made that we forget how much we have, in fact, received, we forget how to receive and we lose the ability to be grateful.  It is a sad state of affairs really.

Yes, the Church needs to do its part but the young people also have a role to play.  They have choices to make.  I do not believe that the younger people choosing to leave the Church are necessarily innocents lacking responsibility in this whole regard.  Maybe their choice reflects how much they themselves have bought into the illusion of individualism where they cannot recognize nor be grateful for what they have received just as much as it might demonstrate certain lacks on the Church’s part.

In all times and seasons the Church must look to the Lord for wisdom, grace and insight.  The Lord’s willingness to acknowledge his reliance on the Father and the joy he found in that is a salvific corrective to the illusions of individualism with its crushing burdens.  Christ knew what he received from the Father, he knew how to receive and he knew how to be grateful.  Christ was neither as influenced by nor burdened by individualism as we are.

The words of my Benedictine monk friend are not meant to be hurtful and are actually quite pastoral if understood in a slightly different nuance, “For the sake of yourself, get over yourself and, yes, grow some backbone in regards to your faith!”

Thoughts on the Sunday readings: “Remain” (5th Sunday of Easter – B)

02 Saturday May 2015

Posted by in discipleship, homily, life in Christ, vine and branches

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Vine1Like me, this past week, you may have been saddened by the rioting occurring in Baltimore.  Now that it has been determined that there is need for a criminal investigation we pray for justice and peace in that city.  In the midst of the rioting though, I was personally moved by the report of the gathering of clergy of many different denominations also marching through the streets calling for peace.  These clergy have chosen to remain.  You may also remember not long ago reports of Orthodox priests literally placing themselves between the warring factions in the Ukraine also praying for peace.  These priests chose to remain.  Recently, there were doctors and nurses who chose not to leave the different regions of Africa that were struck by Ebola rather they stayed to help the ill.  They chose to remain.  Every day, unnoticed and unreported, men and women help the elderly, the homeless, the addicted, the imprisoned and the ill.  These men and women choose to remain.

In today’s gospel (Jn. 15:1-8) our Lord specifically uses this word “remain” over and over again.  Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me … Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit … If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you.

True strength is found not in violence, or insults, or in making a scene or calling attention to oneself but rather in the choice to remain.  The choice to persevere.  The choice to trust.  The choice not to live a distracted and self-focused life.  The choice to trust in the good of the other person.  The choice to bear patiently the injustices of our world and even wrongs endured.

No Christian is nor can ever be an isolated island.  The Christian life, by its very nature, must be rooted in the very life of Christ.  For us, Christ is not just a nice idea or ideal or great teacher; for the disciple Christ is Lord and our very lives must be rooted in his.  We must remain in Christ.  The Christian can be thrown into different raging fires of our world and not be burned, not wither precisely because the Christian is rooted in Christ who has overcome the world.  This has been seen throughout history and it continues to be seen in our world today.

A prized part of this “remaining” in Christ is found in the power of his words.  Our Lord says specifically to his disciples, You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you.  Later he says, If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you.  God’s word prunes but it prunes for life – it cuts off that which corrupts and that which stunts life.  When we begin to live God’s word then we remain in Christ.  St. John knew this and it is what he shares in his letter (1 Jn. 3:18-24), Those who keep his commandments remain in him, and he in them… 

Every day we need to pick up and read God’s word!  Every day we need to let these words sink into our hearts and every day we need to strive to live these words!

Christ never says that his disciples will not experience the fires and troubles of this world.  What he does say is that the one who remains in him will not wither, will not burn even in the midst of the fires of our world precisely because he or she is rooted in the very one who has overcome this world!  The Coptic Christians martyred by ISIS died saying the name of Jesus.  They did not wither in this fire of brutality, they remained in Christ, they endured and witnessed the hope we have in Christ and from their witness new life will emerge.  This has been seen throughout history and we see it in our world today.  We are today, and have always been, a church of martyrs.

Christ is Lord!  We remain in him.

Thoughts on the Sunday readings: “Something happened” (Third Sunday of Easter – B)

19 Sunday Apr 2015

Posted by in discipleship, Easter, life in Christ, resurrection

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resurrectionWhen I was a college student at East Tennessee State University and just starting to come back to Church, I took a college class on the history of Christianity.  When we arrived at the subject of the resurrection I remember our professor stating (much to the chagrin of some of the students) that the secular academic discipline of history could not make a conclusive statement either for or against the resurrection.  But what the discipline of history could say is that “something happened” that enabled those first disciples to move from remaining behind locked doors in fear as we find in today’s gospel (Lk. 24:35-48); “But they were startled and terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost.” to boldly proclaiming Christ as Messiah in the public square as we find Peter doing in today’s first reading (Acts 3:13-15, 17-19); “You denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you … Repent, therefore, and be converted…” 

That class (and I would say specifically that statement “something happened”) was one of the key components that led to my returning to the Church and the active practice of the faith.  What was it that enabled Peter (the one who had denied knowing Jesus) and those first disciples (the ones who had run away) the ability to move from fear to being bold and public proclaimers of Christ and the resurrection?  Was it a hoax they cooked up in their minds to steal the body away and see how long they could ride the “Jesus as Messiah” train?  Hoaxes do not last so long (two thousand plus years) nor show such continued vitality and chronic vigor.  Was it that the “spirit” of Jesus had risen – his vision of the world and living together in harmony – while his body remained dead in the tomb?  But who willingly chooses martyrdom for an idea or the “spirit” of someone’s thought (as we see throughout history beginning with those first fearful disciples)?

In today’s gospel we are given some specifics about the resurrection that are worthy of note.  Jesus again appears to his disciples.  Again he greets them with, “Peace be with you.”  Knowing their fear and their uncertainty he then goes on to say,

“Why are you troubled?  And why do questions arise in your hearts?  Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself.  Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones that you can see I have.”  And as he said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.  While they were still incredulous for joy and were amazed, he asked them, “Have you anything here to eat?”  They gave him a piece of baked fish; he took it and ate it in front of them.” 

Neither hoaxes nor ideas ask for a piece of fish to eat.

There are many ways to run from the scandal of the resurrection.  All sorts of people throughout history have proven to be quite adept at it.  One such way (often touted as being an “enlightened” approach) is to see the resurrection as a nice idea – Jesus’ spirit continuing to live on.  But today’s gospel is quite clear.  Jesus is not a ghost, not a vague idea.  Jesus is risen – body and soul!  He is the firstborn from the dead.  Jesus is risen and he has not risen in vain.

If we are to be Christian then we must be willing to encounter the fullness of the resurrection.  We must be willing to encounter that “something that happened” as my professor said so many years ago and in that encounter we must be willing to make a fundamental faith statement, “I believe”.   Only this will move us from fear to peace.

There is a saying that contends that you must have “skin in the game” in order to be truly committed to something.  When the Word became incarnate, when Christ suffered his passion and crucifixion, when the resurrected Christ shows his wounds which he still bears in glory, then God shows that he has “skin in the game” for our salvation.  If we want to know the peace and life of the gospel then we also must be willing to have “skin in the game”.  By our lives, our words, our choices and our actions we must profess, “I believe”.  Nothing less will do.

This encounter and the peace and courage it alone brings, continues today.  We can look at the successors to Peter himself as witnesses of this to our world.  These men do not have any military or economic might yet they continually stand before the powers of our world with nothing other than the word of the gospel.  Think of St. John Paul II confronting communism.  I remember when Pope Emeritus Benedict travelled to Mexico and Cuba during his pontificate.  In the face of the chaotic violence of the drug trade engulfing Mexico the eighty-five year old pontiff proclaimed firmly and resolutely that drug trafficking is a sin and it is wrong.  Then going on to Cuba at a Mass where the very Cuban government sat in the front rows, again this elderly soft-spoken man called for greater freedom.  Think of Pope Francis calling the Mafia out and all worldly powers that would de-humanize the person made in God’s image.  What enables these men to do this?  These men have encountered Christ risen and alive – not an idea of Christ, not just the spirit of Christ – but Jesus Christ himself and, from that encounter, each one has made his faith statement and has moved from fear to a bold peace.

This peace is there for us also if we also are willing to encounter Christ risen and if we are willing to profess him as Lord!

Easter Sunday – Mary, Peter and John ran!

05 Sunday Apr 2015

Posted by in discipleship, Easter, hope, joy, life in Christ, resurrection

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peter_and_john_running-dan-burr-mindreChildren like to run.  Have you ever noticed this?  Watch children at play – pure energy!  In children we see the body just needing to move – not weighed down, not encumbered by age or past hurts – pure life and pure joy!  Children run and in this running we find a witness to life and to joy!

The gospel (Jn. 20:1-9) today tells us that Mary of Magdala ran to the disciples once she saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb’s entrance.  The gospel then goes on to tell us that Peter and John ran to the tomb to investigate.  When you ask children at play, “Why do you run?” they probably will not be able to give an answer.  Maybe at best they will say, “Because we can!” or “We just want to!”  The running is just a witness to live within them.  Why did Mary run?  Why did Peter and John run?  Was it a conscious decision on their part or rather, like children, did the energy of a new life impel them?  I think it was the latter.  An unimaginable energy, an unheard of joy – the tomb was empty!  Death has been conquered!  They ran simply because they had to!

For too long history has wept before the tombs of our world.  How countless the number of men and women who have died by violence, hatred, war, famine, isolation and abandonment!  Even today it continues.  Before the tombs of our world our hearts are left heavy and we feel abandoned.  Before the tomb there is no joy, no desire to run because there seems to be no future – no hope.

Hope impelled Mary and the two disciples to run.  They ran because hope was born again in their hearts!  Not a hope born of this world that ends with the tomb but a hope born of heaven that empties the tomb from within!  In the resurrection of Christ the tomb is emptied from within!  Christ has entered even death itself – abandonment from God – and Christ has overcome death from within.  Death, sin and evil are swallowed up!  The tomb is emptied from within.  Death is robbed of its power!

The tombs of our world remain.  Sadly, too many people still weep before the tombs of violence, war, abandonment and isolation but the finality of the tomb has been broken.  Its power vanquished!

Where is the glory of the resurrection?  It is in the gospel that says there is a different way to live other than the logic of the tomb – a way that says “no” to violence, “no” to abandonment and to war, hatred and isolation.  The glory of the resurrection is found in the heart of the Christian who says “yes” to this different way of living – “yes” to friendship, “yes” to forgiveness and reconciliation, “yes” to peace and “yes” to the belief that death is not the final word!

And when we live this different way?  We run, we run so fast!  We run with Mary and Peter and John!  We run a new way with a new hope born of heaven!  Life itself impels us to run!

Christ is risen!  He is risen indeed!

The Possibility of Holiness

18 Sunday Jan 2015

Posted by in Catholic Church, Christian living, Church, discipleship, faith, following Jesus, God, gospel, holiness, Jesus, joy

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I am not holy.  My sins, failures and weaknesses are before me every day, but I believe in the possibility of holiness and it is this belief that keeps me in the Church. 

I am not naïve to the sins and failures of the institution of the Church nor its representatives – past and present, universal and local – but neither am I naïve to the sins and failures of those outside the Church and those who deride “church”.  I have also witnessed their sins and their hidden despair and I want none of it.  The louder and more forced the laugh; the deeper the despair, I believe.  
I do not want nor need a “Church” made in my image.  I know my sins.  Holiness is challenge – lived daily and without fanfare.  I am a creature and I need my Creator to heal what is broken within me.  To pretend that there is no brokenness is, in fact, to deny my Creator. 
Holiness is simple.  I am tired of a presentation of faith that needs to be hyper-stimulated.  I feel sorry for our young people who are growing up in such a world.  I am sorry for the times the Church buys into this.  Holiness cannot be manufactured.  Holiness grows simply and quietly.  What is manufactured quickly fades and leaves a void.  Maybe holiness can begin to grow in this void maybe it cannot.  I know that God can work as God so chooses and I have to trust in this.  
Holiness is not argument and it is not philosophy.  Debate does not lead to conversion, the witness of holiness does.  Philosophy and its structure is a good tool but it is not salvific faith.  The wise steward, we are told, is the one who can go to the storeroom and pull out both the old and the new as needed.  Maybe there are other tools available?
Holiness does not isolate.  Christ, the All Holy One, came into our very midst.  He called us brothers and sisters and taught us to love one another.  Holiness is found in my encounter with the other although it may not be immediately apparent.  The holiness uniquely found in community forces me out of myself and I need this.  If anything, the direction of holiness is from the mountain back down into the valley of the everyday. 
Holiness is not on a mountaintop somewhere but in the Gospel, the sacraments and community.  I need these every day.
Many people like to point to the sins of the Church.  It is nice to have an excuse isn’t it?  Pointing out the perceived sins of others does not grow holiness in my own life; it just gives me a way out.  I need to stand before my Creator on my own and not in contrast to what I perceive as the sins of others. 
Holiness is beautiful and I need beauty – a child playing peek-a-boo, friends laughing, feet being washed.  
I feel sorrow for those who have left the Church.  Christ loves the Church … how can you love Christ and not love what he loves?  Maybe Christ’s love should be bigger than my own resentments and excuses?
Holiness is living in friendship with God.            

The Feast of the Dedication of St. John Lateran and Stewardship Sunday

09 Sunday Nov 2014

Posted by in Basilica of John Lateran, Church, collection, discipleship, gospel, support

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One summer when I was in seminary I spent seven weeks in Cuernavaca, Mexico for a Spanish immersion program.  Cuernavaca is a beautiful city located in the mountains outside of Mexico City.  I was living with a host family and I would walk a couple of blocks each day to the language institute for my classes.  The previous semester in seminary I had taken a class on the writings of St. Paul and I decided to also read through all of Paul’s letters that summer.  So, each day in the afternoon after class I would walk down the street to a little neighborhood park with my Bible and Spanish books and read a little bit of St. Paul and study some Spanish, read some St. Paul and study some Spanish.  St. Paul became my Spanish study companion.  
Reading Paul’s letters though I started to note how he often emphasized and encouraged the fledgling Christian communities in their collections and support for the needs of the church.  At first I thought this was just about the reality of money and how you just need it in order to get things done.  But the more I read St. Paul, the more I realized that the collection itself was not the primary thing for him rather it was what the giving of support itself represented in the growing spiritual maturity of the community.  The willingness to give to support the needs of the church community (whether local or not) was a reflection of the gospel taking root in one’s heart – either the heart of an individual or that of a community.  It was a sign of one’s ability to let go of self in order to focus on the needs of the other.  Paul realized that the ability to give was an important demonstration of maturity in discipleship; so by encouraging these communities in their support he was actually encouraging their growth in discipleship.  
This Sunday the Church celebrates the Dedication of the Basilica of John Lateran in Rome and in our own parish we also mark this as Stewardship Sunday.  An historical note – the actual “cathedral” of the Bishop of Rome is not St. Peter’s but the Basilica of St. John Lateran.  Before the Basilica of St. Peter we know today was constructed the bishop of Rome (the Pope) resided at St. John Lateran for hundreds of years and this basilica is still considered the actual cathedral seat of Rome.  The Church celebrates this Feast of Dedication as a moment to reflect on our unity as Church throughout the world and our understanding of the Bishop of Rome having a unique authority given by Christ for the shepherding of his Church.  
It is also a good moment to reflect on the reality of what it means to be “Church” and the gift of faith we have been given and the gift we are called to pass on to others.  Paul writes in his first letter to the Corinthians, “Brothers and sisters: you are God’s building.  According to the grace of God given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building upon it.  But each one must be careful how he builds upon it, for no one can lay a foundation other than the one that is there, namely, Jesus Christ.” (1 Cor. 3:9-11)  We are collectively and each individually “God’s building”.  We are the Church – more so than any building, even more than magnificent buildings like St. John Lateran, St. Peter’s or the Shrine of our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico – we are the Church, the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit in our world.  But if we listen to Paul’s words and we take them to heart we realize that we also are “builders”.  We are not the foundation – that is Christ our Lord, but we are builders and Paul advises that each of us “must be careful” in how we build upon this foundation.  Our lives matter, how we live our lives of faith matter and not just for us but also for others.  
I have shared that both of my parents are deceased and now looking back in hindsight some of the fondest memories and, I think, most formative moments for me were when my parents demonstrated their faith.  Nothing earth-shattering rather these were daily things like prayer before a meal, saying the rosary, making the sign of a cross when we drove by a church.  To this day I remember how every so often on a Saturday morning my Dad would gather my three brothers and I in our car and drive us to church to go to confession and God knows we needed it!  But standing in line as a young boy with my father, who was not a perfect man, left a strong and lifelong impression on me.  Whether he knew it or not my father was building upon the foundation he had received both for himself and for me.  Without saying a word he was witnessing the need for forgiveness and mercy in our lives.  Our lives matter.  How we live our lives and our faith matter.
On this Feast of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. John Lateran and Stewardship Sunday it is good to reflect on what it means to be Church, on what we have received and the call for each of us to be wise builders.  St. Paul knew this.  The ability to give and to support is a reflection of our own growing maturity as disciples, of how the gospel has taken root in our lives.  How we live our lives of faith matter, not just for us but for others – especially those who come after us.       

Thoughts on the Sunday readings: "…but all we have" (Eighteenth Sunday – A)

02 Saturday Aug 2014

Posted by in Christ, discipleship, Giving, Kingdom of God, life, poor

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“…dismiss the crowds so that they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.”  (Mt. 14:13-21)  It is a reasonable request, even considerate but God’s Kingdom is about more than our sense of propriety.  Christ wants to bring his disciples into a fuller way of viewing situations and living in our world.  “There is no need for them to go away; give them some food yourselves.” 
Christ knows that there is no one so poor that they cannot give something.  It is not so much the quantity of giving that matters as it is the quality of giving.  “Five loaves and two fish are all we have here.”  “Bring them here to me,” responds our Lord.  
We look at the violence and pain in our world, maybe even in our own lives, we look at the isolation, the fear and the hatred, we consider our own weaknesses, maybe our own sense of unworthiness and it is easy to say, “But, all we have…”
There is no one so poor that they cannot give something.  
“All I have are some old clothes and some used furniture.”  Well, for a week now I have watched cars and trucks deliver such items to our parish life center to the point where the space now looks like a department store.  I am told that for five hours next Saturday in a chaotic frenzy of shopping thousands will be raised to support ministries within our parish and local community, especially those that will aid the poor.  “All I have is some free time,” but in that little time communion and companionship can be brought to a sick or elderly brother or sister.  “All I have is a desire to live the faith and share the faith.”  Our young people need mentors and teachers; people willing to demonstrate what it looks like to be a Christian in our world today.  We see the violence and injustice in our world, we might even experience it or witness it firsthand; all we might have is the ability to not cooperate in this, walk away, and maybe even speak a word of truth and love.  We see a brother or sister in pain, all we might have is the ability to listen.    
“But all we have…”  “Bring them here to me,” says our Lord.  There is no one so poor that they cannot give something.  
For full disclosure I must admit that even though I shared about next Saturday’s parish rummage sale and all the good it does, I am going to be out of town when the chaos occurs.  It is not intentional, although I must admit I am not necessarily heart-broken.  Next weekend I will be in South Bend, Indiana to witness a wedding.  The groom is a friend of mine from the Boston Community of Sant’Egidio.  He is at Notre Dame finishing up his doctoral studies in Scripture.  The bride works at a Christian Community Development Corporation.  The reason I share about them is that in our last discussion they said that, even though they do not have much, they want their wedding and their marriage to be an expression of God’s love in our world.  “All we have is our love and our faith,” they are saying.  “Bring them here to me,” our Lord responds.  Christ will bless what they have to offer and my hunch is that our Lord will bring life to many through the love of Brian and Beth.  
Our Lord invites us to look in a different way at the very real problems and pains of our world and our lives.  It is very easy to look at the immensity of it all and throw up our hands and say, “But all we have…”  Our Lord says, “But you do have something, bring it here to me.”  
There is no one so poor that they cannot give something.  And in giving, life is found.      

The Feast of the Presentation: a Sign that will be contradicted

02 Sunday Feb 2014

Posted by in detachment, discipleship, homily, presentation of the Lord, spiritual life

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Here is some sound advice from our Christian spiritual tradition.  “If you want to advance in the spiritual life and the life of faith then love what Christ loved from the cross and disdain what Christ disdained from the cross.”  
It is on the cross that Simeon’s words in today’s gospel (Lk. 2:22-40) reach their fulfillment.  The innocent child is revealed as the man of sorrows and the “Christ of the Lord” who takes on the weight of sin that we might know salvation.  
Since the children share in blood and flesh, Jesus likewise shared in them, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the Devil, and free those who through fear of death had been subject to slavery all their life.  Surely he did not help angels but rather the descendants of Abraham; therefore, he had to become like his brothers and sisters in every way, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest before God to expiate the sins of the people.  (Heb. 2:14-18)  
This is the salvation which God prepared in the sight of every people – Christ on the cross – and it continues to be a sign of contradiction and a sign of salvation to our world today. 
What did Christ disdain from the cross?  He disdained the lure of money, of power, of popularity and the ever present temptation to save oneself and all costs.  What did Christ love from the cross?  The will of the Father – that is all he had and it is all he wanted.   
If we learn to disdain what Christ disdained and love what Christ loved then we develop what the Christian spiritual tradition terms “detachment”.  Detachment is neither indifference nor ambivalence.  Both of these are kind of a negative “talk to the hand, I really don’t care” approach to life.  Detachment denies neither the energies nor the relationships of life rather it embraces them and rightly orders them.  
Fr. Robert Barron in his “Untold Blessings” series reflects on this sense of detachment and uses the Beatitudes as a way of recognizing all the things that we attach ourselves to and thereby become addicted to.  Here are just a couple of beatitudes from the sixth chapter of Luke for consideration in this regard.
Blessed are you poor…  How easily do we attach ourselves to material things?  We want the right house, the right bank account, the right toys to play with and our society tells us we should have these things – for ourselves and for those we love.  Now, look at the cross.  What did Christ have on the cross?  Nothing, all he had was the knowledge of doing the will of the Father and that was enough for Jesus.  Things are things – they are neither bad nor good in and of themselves – sometimes we will have things sometimes we won’t.  It doesn’t matter.  As we gain detachment we find joy not in things but in relationship with God and in doing his will.
Blessed are you when men hate you…  Here is a tricky one.  How easy it is to become addicted to approval.  We all want to be liked, we want to be accepted and belong.  But again, look at the cross – Jesus was hated; he was mocked and seen as a common criminal.  The same crowds that sang hosannas and waved palm branches when he entered Jerusalem were the ones that yelled “Crucify him!” to Pilate.  To Jesus it did not matter.  He loved just the same.  He was detached from the need for the approval of others.  He was focused on the will of the Father.  Neither praise nor disdain lessened the love of Christ.   There are times when we will be praised and times when we will be mocked or even condemned.  There are times we will succeed and times we will fail.  If we develop detachment it will not matter what time and situation we find ourselves in we will love just the same.
How do we gain this spiritual sense of detachment?  Do we isolate ourselves from others or do we repress all our feelings?  No, that is not the Christian way.  We look to Christ and we keep Christ at the center of our lives – just as Simeon did.  Even though he did not yet know him, Simeon awaited the coming Messiah.  He held that hope and that promise in his heart.  Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel…
Love what Christ loved from the cross, disdain what Christ disdained from the cross.         

Hating for Jesus: Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time (C)

08 Sunday Sep 2013

Posted by in cross, discipleship, following Jesus

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Courtroom scene from “Amistad”
The film “Amistad” is based on the true story of a Spanish slave ship that ends up washing ashore in New England after the slaves kidnapped from Africa were able to mutiny and take control of the ship.  The United States of America had just been established as a country and therefore was quite weak on the international scene.  The plight of these slaves becomes a political hot potato and a legal battle as the current presidential administration would like to send them back to Spain and not rock the boat with the Spanish monarchy while others are fighting for their freedom.  “Are these men free and if not, who do they belong to?” becomes the primary question. 
To help ensure that it gets its way the president’s administration sees to it that a young, up-and-coming judge is assigned to the case.  The president’s man on the case makes it known to the judge (who happens to be a Catholic) that if he finds in favor of Spain and in support of the Administration then his career is set.  For a young judge and a Catholic in Protestant New England this is his ticket!  The case begins and as things progress you begin to notice that the conscience of the young judge is prodding him to the point where you see him enter a church the night before the final judgment is to be given in the case.  He walks in, blesses himself with holy water and goes to knell in prayer before a crucifix.  The next day, to a packed courtroom, the judge finds in favor of the slaves, thus ensuring their freedom and return to Africa.  The president’s man stares at the judge and walks out of the courtroom.  By siding with the slaves the judge knows he had destroyed his career and all his aspirations but he knows it was the right thing to do.  
It is a serious thing to follow Christ and it should not be entered into lightly because to follow Christ means to go where he has gone and it means to embrace the cross just as he embraced it.  This is why our Lord in today’s gospel (Lk. 14:25-33) gives us the image of the builder and the king contemplating battle.  Both men had to truly consider and calculate out what they were contemplating.  It is a serious thing to follow Christ. 
In many ways to follow Christ means to break with how one has lived in the past, how one has lived relationships and how one has gone about all facets of one’s life.  This is why our Lord gives us these very powerful and stark words of “hating” ones mother and father, brother and sister in order to truly follow him.  The power of the word means that everything, every part of one’s life must be re-oriented by and toward one’s relationship with Christ.  Nothing can be left out or hidden away.  But to follow Christ never leads to anything but more life and more love.  As one turns to Christ in his or her life, one is able to love family, neighbor and even the stranger in a deeper and more authentic way.  
The judge giving his verdict
The judge in the story of Amistad witnesses this graced dynamic of truly following Christ.  Just as he comes to “hate” what others have promised him – the success and the power, even probably everything he had worked for and aspired to up until that moment – he is able to know an authentic joy in doing that which was the right thing to do.  He gained a joy that no one could ever take away and he gained new brothers and sisters in the freed African slaves!  
Paul in his letter (Philemon 1:9-10, 12-17) is calling Philemon to the same graced dynamic on behalf of the newly baptized, runaway slave Onesimus.  According to the law of the time Philemon was perfectly in his rights to have Onesimus killed but Paul is saying that now through Christ things are different and he is inviting Philemon to “hate” the old ways of retribution and violence and now recognize how everything must be oriented toward Christ and turned toward Christ in his life.  …Perhaps this is why he was away from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a brother, beloved especially to me, but even more so to you, as a man and in the Lord.  So if you regard me as a partner, welcome him as you would me. 
It is a truly serious thing to follow Christ.  In fact, it is the most serious thing one can ever do.  All things which separate us from Christ must be “hated” so true life in all of its depth and breadth might be found and known.

The Assumption of Mary and authenticity

15 Thursday Aug 2013

Posted by in Assumption of Mary, authenticity, discipleship, wholeness

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“King of the Hill” is a television cartoon series that tells the story of the Hill family.  It is a comedy but the episodes often make very good points to reflect upon.  There is one episode where Bobby (the Hill’s teenage son) happens to be at a skateboard park one day when he is introduced to a youth Christian evangelist.  This guy skateboards, he has tattoos and he plays in a Christian rock band.  He invites Bobby to his ministry and Bobby quickly gets immersed in it.  At first Hank and Peggy (Bobby’s parents) are thrilled.  Bobby is involved in church stuff!  But then they start to have concerns.  Bobby is staying out too late with this crowd but it is okay because “it is for the Lord”.  He begins to separate himself from his longtime friends.  He stops attending church on Sunday with his family because it is just too boring. 

Hank decides to talk to Bobby.  He goes to his room and notices Bobby’s toy box.  “What’s this?” asks Hank.  “Just a box of my old toys.” answers Bobby.  “Oh, yeah,” says Hank, “Here are the toy soldiers your mother and I bought you for your fifth birthday.  Here is that card game you got into in the sixth grade and here is your mitt from little league.”  Looking at all of this Hank then turns to his son and says, “Bobby, I know that you are caught up in the rush of this Christian group but I don’t want to see your faith become just another thing discarded and left behind in this box.” 
My dear friends; strive for the faith that endures!  Is there a place in the life of faith for energy?  Yes!  For enthusiasm?  Certainly!  Should we always strive to connect faith with where we are in life?  Definitely!  But faith is not a gimmick and a gimmicky faith really does not go very far.  It sputters out rather quickly often leaving one feeling abandoned and played.  Strive for the faith that endures!  Why is this important?  Because it is only the faith that endures that can lead one to authenticity. 
Mary, besides being the mother of Jesus and the Mother of God – a name which only she in all of human history can claim and also, besides being a disciple and someone in need of a savior – like each of us – was fully authentic.  Mary’s faith endured.  Mary’s faith endured the question of the Archangel Gabriel’s announcement.  Mary’s faith endured all those silent and probably extremely common silent years of Jesus’ life.  Mary’s faith endured the hurt of hearing her son ask, “Who is my mother?  … The one who does the will of my Father.”  Mary’s faith endured the pain of her son being mocked, whipped and put to death.  Mary’s faith endured the cross.  Mary strove for a faith that endured.  
Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthians, reminds us that Christ has been raised from the dead (body and soul) and that all of those who belong to Christ will also be raised from the dead – body and soul.  Mary already shares fully in this: body and soul … the fullness of who we are … the authenticity of who we are.  
In one form or another we are all cracked, in one form or another we are all broken, yet we all have deep within us a yearning for a wholeness that we cannot escape.  This is faith as the “remembrance of the future” (“memoria futuri”).  The yearning itself gives testimony to the truth that we are indeed meant for wholeness because why would we have a yearning for that which we could never possibly achieve?  The assumption of Mary reveals God’s answer to this yearning of the splintered human heart.  
In Christ, wholeness and authenticity is possible. 
We can begin to know it today.  We can begin to live it now.
Strive for the faith that endures!