Tag Archives: faith

“Father, I thank you for hearing me.”

02 Sunday Apr 2017

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Jesus-Raises-Lazarus-from-the-Dead-540x300There is almost an ordinariness to the way our Lord goes about his mission of proclaiming and living God’s Kingdom.  Even his miracles and the raising of his friend Lazarus are not exceptions.  Our Lord takes his time in getting to the scene of Lazarus’ illness and death.  He takes time in speaking with both Martha and Mary.  Arriving at the tomb he asks that the stone be rolled back.  He addresses the Father and then, with a loud voice, cries, “Lazarus, come out!”  The once-dead man walks out. 

There are no flashes of light or rolling thunder.  Our Lord does not need to make strange incantations or weave any sort of spell.  He does not even seem to have to fast in preparation for such an extraordinary thing.  There is no burning of incense or sacrifices offered.  Jesus simply gives honor to the Father, calls Lazarus forth and his friend is restored to life.  

This is not a feat of our Lord’s own will at work.  Jesus is not a comic book superhero saving the world through his own strength and determination nor is he a wizard overcoming by his own intellect and perseverance (a.k.a., “will to power”).  Scripture tells us that Christ let go of his own glory and power and took on the form of a slave.  The salvation won through Christ is through the “letting-go” of the divinity which allows the humanity to live in full relationship of love and trust with the Father.  Jesus tells us that he can do nothing apart from the Father.  Jesus does not heal, or feed the multitude, or cast out demons or walk on water or raise the dead through his own, independent and isolated exercise of will but through his relationship with the Father.  Therefore he does not need the trappings of the superhero or of esoteric magic.  It is all through relationship and relationship is often one of the most ordinary of things. 

St. Paul in his letter to the Romans reminds us that we also have been invited into this relationship.  “But you are not in the flesh; on the contrary, you are in the spirit, if only the Spirit of God dwells in you.  Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.  But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is alive because of righteousness.  If the Spirit of the One who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the One who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also, through his Spirit dwelling in you.”  (Rom. 8:8-11) 

How often and how easily we overlook the grace we have been given, that is indeed active within us!  We easily we get lost in the noise and distractions of our world.  The Spirit of the One who raised Christ from the dead has been given us and dwells within us – giving life and transforming us.  God does not need the trappings of the extraordinary to accomplish his purpose.  The sacraments are a prime example of this.  Water, bread, wine, oil, the words of the priest, the love of a couple – yet underneath the ordinary divine grace, relationship and life is found and given.  

We should not disdain the ordinary and the grace and new life found there.  Just as Christ emptied himself of glory and held to his relationship with the Father so should we.  Life is not found in our control, our ego, our own little “wills to power”, living within our own little bubbles.  Life, salvation, healing, grace is found through relationship – recognizing God’s presence given and within and seeking to live always in the amazing ordinariness of that relationship. 

“Father, I thank you for hearing me.  I know that you always hear me; but because of the crowd here I have said this, that they may believe that you sent me.”

 

The Law of Generosity: Be holy as God is holy.

18 Saturday Feb 2017

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Jesus - way, truth, lifeThe “eye for an eye” teaching that our Lord refers to in today’s gospel (Mt. 5:38-48) was actually an attempt to restrict violence in a time when revenge was indiscriminate and excessive.

In the revenge culture of the time not only was it the perpetrator of a violent act who became a possible target for reprisal but any member of the same family, clan, ethnic group or even someone “thought” to be responsible or connected.  The culture of revenge was excessive.  An “eye for an eye” therefore was an attempt to limit the continuous cycle of revenge and violence.  With this understanding it would almost be better to read the injunction as “one eye for one eye and no more”.

For our Lord though it was not enough.  His desire is not just to limit the cycles and structures of violence but to actually heal the human heart from which all evil desires spring.  Evil and violence can never overcome evil and violence, even when co-opted for a good.  Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had an astute awareness of this truth.  In his writings and speeches we certainly find the call to end the massive injustices that the African-American community faced but we also find Dr. King reflecting on how the path of non-violence was also meant as a means to help heal those white brothers and sisters whose hearts were hardened by racism and prejudice.

God says to Moses, Be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy.  You shall not bear hatred for your brother or sister in your heart.  Though you may have to reprove your fellow citizen, do not incur sin because of him.  Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against any of your people.  You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  (Lv. 19:1-2, 17-18)

In contrast to the law of co-opted violence, our Lord calls us to the law of abundant generosity – to be holy as God is holy, who makes the sun to rise on the bad as well as the good.  God is love; he is abundant in his mercy.  Our Lord is not naïve; he knows the full weight of evil and violence.  On the cross, Jesus took on the full weight of sin and its structures.

In the law of abundant generosity, Jesus is calling us to a pragmatism of generosity.  Evil and violence cannot heal the human heart (even when co-opted in an attempt for the good).  Evil and violence cannot end the cycles of revenge and violence … only love can.  When someone strikes you on one cheek, turn the other one.  When someone wants your tunic, give your cloak as well.  When someone presses you into service for one mile, go for two.  Our Lord proposes to us the pragmatism of generosity.  It is through this pragmatism that is found true healing for hearts that are wounded and hardened.

There is a story told of a painter who arrived one day in a small town and set himself up in the town square offering portrait paintings. For a few days he sat in the square with no one purchasing a portrait.  On the fourth day the artist approached the town drunk (whom he had noticed earlier) and said, “Listen, come and let me paint your portrait.  I need to keep my skills up and at the end you will have a free portrait.”  The man agreed.  He sat in the portrait chair and straightened himself up as best he could.  The painter looked at him silently, reflected for a few moments, smiled and began to paint.  The painting continued for a few days but the painter would never allow the man to view the painting while it was in progress.  Finally, the portrait was completed.  The painter handed the portrait to the man and the man’s mouth fell open.  Pictured in the painting was not a town drunk but an accomplished man – there was a gleam in his eyes, he held a steady gaze.  Instead of scruffy clothes and a disheveled appearance, the man was clean shaven and wore a nice suit.  “What is this?” demanded the man, “You have not painted me.”  “You are right,” replied the painter calmly, “I have not painted you as you now are but as the man whom you might become.”

The pragmatism of generosity sees and responds to the other person in terms of who he or she is meant to be.  Jesus calls us to live this law of generosity – to be holy as God is holy.

The choices we make and their consequences.

11 Saturday Feb 2017

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sermon02The first reading from the Book of Sirach (Sir. 15:15-20) begins with a very direct statement,

If you choose you can keep the commandments, they will save you; if you trust in God, you too shall live; he has set before you fire and water to whichever you choose, stretch forth your hand.  Before man are life and death, good and evil, whichever he chooses shall be given him.  

We all have been given the ability and the freedom to exercise our will.  We can each one of us make choices and all choices have consequences.  We are all free to make choices but no one is free to deny the consequences of his or her choices.  How we choose to exercise our will can lead to either more life or can lead to death (in a variety of forms).

Earlier this week the priests of our diocese gathered for our annual study days and at one point the presenter talked a little about the physiological effects of prayer.  He shared that there are studies which indicate that the discipline of prayer is a factor in the development of the areas of our brain connected with attention, focus and compassion.  Prayer (a spiritual discipline) can positively affect our minds, our biology.  This makes sense for Christians because we hold mind, body and spirit together.  It is all connected.  The choice to pray and to enter into the things of faith, which is an exercise of the will, is a choice that leads to more life. 

Interestingly, the presenter also shared that there are studies coming out indicating that there is another choice we can make that negatively impacts the biology of the brain and that is the choice for porn.  Studies are demonstrating that persons who fall into this habit experience an over-development of the lowest level of brain functioning (the reptilian area of the brain) and less development of the areas connected with attention, focus and compassion. 

All choices have consequences – some lead to life and some lead to death.

Our God is a God of life and not death. 

Our Lord goes deep in today’s gospel.  (Mt. 5:17-37)  He is not content to remain on the surface but wants to go to the heart where healing is needed.  Christ is the fulfillment of the law and the prophets and he wants us to know that in our keeping of the commandments is found life.  So Christ calls us to look within – to look at the anger, the greed, the judgmentalism, the pride, the lust that can dwell there – and to begin making choices (by his grace) beyond those sad realities and temptations.  Choices made for sin all leave us locked within our small selves.  God does not want this for us.  God wants us to be turned outward – towards Him and towards our brothers and sisters.  Here is where life is found. 

One final thought.  It begins today – by the choices we make now.  Some of you know that I am not the most consistent in my jogging routine (more than partly due to my own choices, some poor) but I have been around enough joggers to know that you don’t just get up one morning and say, “Today, I will run a marathon.”  It doesn’t work that way.  To run a marathon you prepare months in advance and during those months you make daily choices – some choices are not “fun” and some are downright painful.  The choice to watch what you eat, the choice to plan and chart miles, the choice to run even when you don’t want to, the choice to not do other things when you need to get your running hours in, etc…  The race does not begin the day of the marathon; it begins the months before and it continues with all those daily choices.

We will all face “marathons” in life – times of struggle that will try and test us.  To begin trying to make the choices for life when the struggle is upon us is often just too late.  The choices for God and His commandments that we make today and parents, the choices you help your children to make today, are the choices that will see us through the marathon when it comes. 

Each one of us is free to make our choices but no one is free to deny the consequences of the choices we make. 

Before man are life and death, good and evil…

But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven.   

Salt and Light: the straightforward nature of discipleship

04 Saturday Feb 2017

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christ-and-disciplesIn Matthew 5:13-16, our Lord gives us two very distinctive images of what it means to live the life of discipleship – salt and light.  We can say that part of the distinctiveness of these images is that both express a sense of “straightforwardness”.

The taste of salt is immediately known.  It is not a flavor that hides under other flavors.  When salt is added the effect on the taste of something is unmistakable.  The same can be said for light.  It also is immediate in its effect.  Either it is there or it is not.  When light shines in a dark space it is known.  Both salt and light are straightforward in their nature.

St. Augustine, in a commentary on Psalm 112 (the psalm which we hear this Sunday) reflects on the similar straightforward nature of discipleship.  Augustine contrasts the straightforwardness of the disciple with the persons who stumble in their envy of the sinner or who feel that their good deeds perish and are of no worth unless they receive some perishable reward in return – such as the acknowledgement and flattery of others.  But the disciple who is straightforward is the one who does the good simply because it is the right thing to do – whether noticed or appreciated by others or not.  The disciple, “neither seeks the approval of other people nor covets earthly riches…” 

Augustine goes on to note that Psalm 112 proclaims that “glory and wealth are in the house of the just one…”  This “house” of the just one is in fact his or her heart and it is there that the just person dwells in a richer style than anything that the world can afford.  The “glory and wealth” of the just one is his or her righteousness before God.  This is a “house” that no thief can break into and a “wealth” that can never be stolen.

In his words to his disciples our Lord is very specific.  “You are the salt of the earth … You are the light of the world …” This straightforward nature of discipleship is already within – it has been placed there by God’s grace in baptism.  We are sons and daughters of God!  This truth does not have to be earned or gained.  It is already present in the very makeup of who we are in Christ!  

We, on our part, have to trust, believe and live it out.  We must overcome the temptation to limit ourselves by the narrow horizons that we (through the voices of our world and our own painful experiences) set.  “Salt losing its taste…” and “light being hidden under a bushel basket…” is, in fact, our giving into our limited horizons and not living according to the fullness of God’s horizon.  It is our being overcome by fear.  As a wise man has noted, our playing small does not serve the will of God! 

This straightforward nature of discipleship has been witnessed these past couple of weeks by our U.S. Bishops’ response to the refugee ban recently issued. Here is a little bit of their letter, 

“We must screen vigilantly for infiltrators who would do us harm, but we must always be equally vigilant in the welcome of friends … Our desire is not to enter the political arena, but rather to proclaim Christ alive in the world today.  In the very moment a family abandons their home under the threat of death, Jesus is present.  And He says to each of us, ‘whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’” (MT. 25:40)

It is straightforward.  It is challenging.  It is the Gospel.  

We are the salt of the earth … we are the light of the world … in all things we are called to strive to live according to the horizon that God has set for us. 

Come, let us adore him.

08 Sunday Jan 2017

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adoration-of-the-magiDuring the weeks of Advent we hoped for and awaited the coming of the Messiah.  On Christmas we rejoiced in the birth of our savior.  Now, on Epiphany we travel with the wise men from the East in order to “do him homage”, in order to adore Christ. 

Adoration is the proper attitude of today’s feast.  Just as the wise men reveal that the gospel message is meant to go out to all nations and peoples; it also reveals that all peoples and nations are meant to travel to Bethlehem and adore the Christ-child, and do him homage. 

But what does it mean to “adore” and how do we know that we are doing it properly?  Just as the three gifts offered by the wise men reveal truths about Christ so they also reveal truths about our adoration.

Gold is a proper gift to offer a king.  By offering gold the wise men were acknowledging the infant Jesus as the “newborn king of the Jews”.  Gold symbolizes the kingship of Christ.  Gold is our best that we offer to God in gratitude.  God loves us and God wants us to know and experience the joys and beauty of life.  In moments of joy and beauty, if we can just turn to God and say “thank you” then we are adoring, we are offering gold to God.  We ought to thank God for all the blessings, beauty and joys of life.  Gratitude is the gold we have to offer. 

Frankincense accompanies worship and sacrifice.  It is the stuff of priests.  Christ is the High Priest who offers himself as the sinless lamb for us.  The gift of frankincense given at the birth of Christ is a foreshadowing of his great sacrifice and offering of himself on the cross.  We offer frankincense when we offer prayers and a desire to live in relationship with God.  This is part of the great mystery of our faith.  God wants relationship and friendship with us, God seeks us out.  When we are willing to live in relationship with God, when we make the time to pray and just be with God then we are offering frankincense for ourselves and for our world. 

Myrrh is used to anoint bodies at burial.  Myrrh given at the birth of our Lord points toward the death Christ would suffer for us.  When we are willing to die to self for Christ, when we offer up our pains, sufferings, and even little annoyances of life we are, in essence, bringing myrrh to our Lord.  This also is adoration – to bring God our pains, sorrows, dying to self and the injustices we bear in life. 

Today, we come to adore.  Epiphany teaches us how to adore our Lord and Savior – to bring our joys and gratitudes–this is gold; to bring our prayers and desire to live in relationship with God – this is frankincense and to bring our sorrows, dying to self and the injustices we bear in life – this is myrrh. 

Today, we adore.    

Christmas, 2016

25 Sunday Dec 2016

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birth-of-jesusCaesar demanded a census and the whole world was in motion and turmoil.  People and families around the empire travelling to their own town.  The emperor had spoken and therefore it had to be! 

Joseph and Mary – humble, poor, obedient to authority – travel to Bethlehem, even with Mary near child-birth.  They register for the census but the gospel does not specify one thing; did they register before the birth of Christ or after?  Did their census notation say, “one Jewish couple expecting a child” or “one Jewish couple with newborn male”?  I tend to believe that Joseph and Mary registered with the census before the birth of Jesus because it would be consistent with God’s way of working throughout scripture.

Let the powers of the world flex their muscle and show all their strength.  Peoples need to travel, life needs to be interrupted, Caesar Augustus wants a census!  God laughs.  God comes silently and humbly amidst all the turmoil of the time.  God even uses the great emperor’s project to accomplish His plan.  Who today remembers the census that Caesar ordered?  Yet all time and history celebrates the birth of the son of Mary.  Christ coming after the census is fulfilled demonstrates who is really the Lord of history.

Caesar in the exercise of his power and might through the census was trying to grasp and claim the entire empire.  “These … all these lands and peoples … are mine!” is what Caesar was saying through his census.  Christ being born after the census shows that he does not belong to the power of Caesar nor to any worldly-power yesterday or today.  Jesus will not go down in history as a small notation in a Roman emperor’s census, rather he will be revealed as the very one who ushers in God’s Kingdom to which all the kingdoms and powers of the world must submit. 

The Word of God enters the world unexpectedly.  Information is power.  A census – a measurement of peoples – gives information and therefore it gives the emperor great power and control.  Yet right beyond the boundary of Caesar’s knowledge occurs the greatest event in all of human history and Caesar misses it.  Caesar has no knowledge of it.  The first ones who do come to know of it?  Not Caesar but rather the lowly shepherds – the poor and the insignificant ones in the eyes of the world.  It is to them that the angel appears and tells of this new thing that God has done!  “Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all people … a savior has been born for you who is Christ and Lord.”  (Lk. 2:10-11)  It is not abstract and isolated ideologies and theologies cut off from everyday reality that grasp the ever-new work of God, rather it is simple people of faith – the poor and the humble.

The lessons of Christmas are so profound and so necessary.  Despite the turmoil of any age and the raw exercising of power, God is at work accomplishing his plan.  This babe born in Bethlehem is the one to whom all knees must bend and all hearts must bow and when we can do that, then peace and joy will be found!  In Christ, knowledge comes humbly – knowledge for the pains of our world and the pains of our hearts.  Abstract and isolated ideologies quickly become cold, hard and dictatorial.  This is not God’s way.  God reveals himself to the poor and the humble and God chooses to abide with them. 

Lord Jesus, we welcome you.  Heal our world.  Soften our hearts.  Help us to know the newness of your peace.  You are Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever and Prince of Peace.  Lord Jesus, you choose to be born in your time and in your way.  May we be humble and poor enough to recognize you when you come to us.

Thank you Jesus for loving us.           

“Arrival” and catching the language of God.

03 Saturday Dec 2016

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arrivalThis last week I saw the movie “Arrival”.  I found the movie to be very thought-provoking.  I do not want to ruin the movie for anyone so I will not delve too deeply into the story but the heart of the movie is about language, thought and even time.  The movie asks a simple question; “If aliens arrived on earth how would we communicate?”  Especially if the aliens were so different physiologically from us and did not communicate by sound as we do.  The movie centers on a  translator and her work to overcome this barrier.  At one point in the movie there is a discussion about how learning another language might actually effect and even change a person’s way of thinking.  Learning a new language helps us to think differently and to see the world differently.  

In biblical thought, a prophet is not a fortune-teller or someone who can somehow magically tell what is going to happen in the future.  Rather, a biblical prophet is someone who lives a deep relationship with God and who is able to read the signs of the times from that perspective.  To make use of the discussion in the movie – a prophet is someone who has caught a bit of the language of God and is able therefore to think differently and to see the world differently.  A prophet is someone who begins to see as God sees and to dream as God dreams.  

In today’s gospel (Mt. 3:1-12) we are given the figure of John the Baptist.  The man whom Christ himself called the greatest of prophets.  John is this uniquely charismatic figure drawing huge crowds from all over Jerusalem, Judea and the whole region around the Jordan.  He proclaims the coming Kingdom of God and he calls his listeners to repentance.  Almost as if to provide a contrast, the gospel brings the Pharisees and Sadducees into the picture.  They approach the baptism of John not as a true spirit of repentance but because it looks good before the crowd who they knew held John in high regard.  John’s eyes were on the promise of eternity and the mercy of God because he had caught the language of God while the eyes of these religious authorities were only on what looked good in the moment and what would seem pleasing to others.  John’s eyes were on the ever new possibility of the Kingdom of God precisely because he had caught the language of God. 

We could say that John already saw and set his life by the vision offered by the prophet Isaiah in the first reading (Is. 11:1-10).  John saw that day when the one would come on whom the spirit of the Lord would rest and who would judge rightly and who would strike the ruthless and bring forth justice and through whom the wolf and the lamb would be guest of one another.  In the Jordan River, John would baptize the one who is himself the incarnate Word of the Father. 

In Christ, the language of God is fully revealed and spoken and it overcomes all the sad divisions of our world.  Isaiah’s poetic use of imagery is all about the divisions and fears and animosities of life being overcome – “the cow and the bear shall be neighbors … the baby shall play by the cobras den …” – all this shall occur through Christ. 

And it continues through his body, the Church.  In Christ the role of the prophet is not ended, it is multiplied infinitely!  Through our baptisms we are all called to be prophets!  In the Eucharistic Prayer entitled, “Jesus, the Way to the Father” we find these words, “Grant that all the faithful of the Church, looking into the signs of the times by the light of faith, may constantly devote themselves to the service of the Gospel.” 

To be a prophet is not to somehow magically see into the future but to live in deep relationship with God and to read the signs of the times from that perspective.  The prophet learns the language of God fully revealed in Christ.  The prophet allows that language to change his or her own pattern of thought and the prophet lives by the ever new possibility of God’s Kingdom which says that all the sad divisions of our world and our individual lives can be healed and can be overcome.  

To learn a language changes the way we think.  The prophets caught the language of God, John learned it and even baptized the Word incarnate and, now, the Word is given and spoken to us. 

We can live differently.  We can live through the very Word given to us as God intends.

Christ the King and we, His people.

19 Saturday Nov 2016

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christ-the-kingThis past week I was able to visit with a parishioner who, as a hobby, makes wine.  At one point during the visit he showed me the room with all his wine making equipment.  He took me to a table on which sat two large buckets.  He pulled off a cloth cover on each bucket and in one was a batch of blueberries fermenting and in the other were blackberries fermenting.  What I found interesting was that you could actually hear the fermenting process occurring as the juice was in the process of being changed into wine.  

In today’s second reading taken from St. Paul’s Letter to the Colossians (Col. 1:12-20) we find Paul writing that, “(God the Father) delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”  Paul then goes on to share a beautiful hymn which states that Christ is the “firstborn of all creation” and that now all things are held together in him!  We are part of the body of Christ and we are citizens of the Kingdom of God where Christ is our King!  Just as we have been transferred into the kingdom of the beloved Son, so are we meant to help transform our world and the times in which we find ourselves.  

If there is a king then there must be a kingdom and there must be subjects loyal to the king and the kingdom.  

As disciples of Christ in the world we live by a different norm, a different understanding than that which is often proclaimed in the world.  After all, our king hung on the cross, mocked by everyone and viewed as a total failure.  But Christ was obedient not to the world and it’s message of seeking self and power but to the will of the Father who says life is found in letting go of self and seeking to serve.  By following our king we are meant to be a leaven that transforms the world just as we, ourselves, are transformed.

Like many people I believe, I also have been disheartened by this recent election cycle.  I do not want to get into the two candidates.  The election is over and that is done.  What has disheartened me most is the vitriol, the divisiveness, the half-truths and even lies paraded as fact (by all sides) displayed during this election cycle.  This election has demonstrated to the whole world the division within our society.  The division is there and it is deep. 

What do we do as Church?  We seek to be what we have always been called to be – citizens of the Kingdom of Christ and by so doing be a leaven of unity within a divided and fractured world.  This is in our DNA as Catholics.  “Catholic” means universal – a universal where both uniqueness and communion is upheld.  It is possible to be pro-life and pro-woman.  It is possible to uphold the dignity of immigrants and refugees while also seeking the security of a nation.  It is possible to uphold the dignity of the poor and all races and seek to be good stewards of the creation God has given us while not demonizing other people.  Is this easy?  No, but it is possible.  It is not possible if we parade lies and half-truths as truth.  It is possible if we follow Christ our king and live as members of his kingdom in our world.

To the Hispanic and all immigrant members of our church – a special word.  I understand that there is fear and worry.  I do not know exactly what will happen.  What I do know are a couple of things.  The Church upholds the dignity of all persons and will always do so.  Second, no matter who sits in the White House or who controls the levers of power in Washington, D.C.; Christ is King and to him, first and foremost, is our allegiance due and it is through him that all men and women are delivered from darkness.

St. Paul reminds us and it rings through the ages, “(God the Father) delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”  

“The Kingdom of God is justice and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.  Come, Lord, and open in us the gates of your kingdom!”  (Hymn from the Taize community)  Lord Jesus, you are our king!  May we be your loyal subjects and may we be a leaven of unity, justice, peace and joy in our world! 

 

 

That which endures

12 Saturday Nov 2016

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church-destroyed-by-earthquakeScholars suggest that by the time Luke composed his gospel the temple had already been destroyed.  This grand edifice, seemingly unmovable, adorned with costly stones that people were admiring in this passage was, by the time of Luke setting quill to parchment, just a heap of ruins.  It demonstrates how quickly things can change and also how little we really know about what will happen tomorrow.  We like to think we are in charge … but we are not.

Using the temple’s destruction and our Lord’s prophesying of that even as a springboard; today’s gospel (Lk. 21:5-19) invites us to go deep in the spiritual life.

There are levels to the spiritual life.  Saints and mystics throughout the Church’s history testify to this.  The first level and most basic is a level often caught up with outer things.  The grandeur of a temple, the use of precious stones, only a certain style of music or liturgy in worship, only this type of devotional practice or prayer.  Is there a value to the beauty of a church or worship or prayer?  Certainly, that is not being denied but all of these exist in order to usher one into an encounter with the Divine.  If they themselves become the focus then something is off-kilter.  As a friend of mine once said, there is always the temptation to major in the minors.

We have all heard of the recent earthquakes that have hit Italy.  In one of these earthquakes a beautiful church connected to St. Benedict completed collapsed.  A picture I saw just had the front façade standing with all else behind it flattened out.  Miraculously no person was killed when this happened.  What I found inspiring was that as soon as the monks and nuns of the community whose church has been destroyed determined that everyone in their community was accounted for they went out into the larger area and began to minister to others in need – helping physically to dig people out of the rubble and also bringing the sacraments to people.  They did this because they were rooted in something deeper than a building (an external).

The deeper reality our Lord is inviting each of us to in the journey of faith is relationship with him.  There will be false predictions that the end is upon us, nation will rise against nation, and there will be earthquakes, famines, plagues and signs in the sky.  These are all shifts in the greater turning of human history but there will also be personal shifts and turmoil.  People will be led before kings, governors and all the different powers of the world and our lives.  Families will be split and there will not be understanding.  Christians will be hated.  Yet in the midst of all this foretold turmoil of the history of our world and our own personal histories, our Lord – the one who foretold the destruction of the temple – says this, “Remember, you are not to prepare your defense beforehand, for I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute.”  

“…for I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking…”  The truth implied here in the midst of all the turmoils that this life brings is a living relationship with Christ.  Remaining on the level of the external spiritually – while not really knowing the Lord or allowing him to know us – will not cut it when life gets tumultuous.  In all seasons of life the Christian must root him or herself in relationship with Christ.  Only in this relationship can be found the wisdom and perseverance that we need in life.

Our Lord listened as people who had no idea of what tomorrow would bring spoke admiringly of the temple.  He asked them to move beyond the external to that which truly lasts.  He asks us to do the same – to trust in him and to find life.

A God and a community who seek out

10 Saturday Sep 2016

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good-shepherdOne of the truths revealed in today’s gospel (Lk. 15:1-10) is that our God is not a God content to let people remain anonymous.  The shepherd goes out in search of the lost sheep because that one sheep truly matters to him.  The woman turns the house over searching for the lost coin because that coin is of real concern to her.  We are of concern to God.  We are not alone in a vast universe governed by random chance.  We do not have a God who does not care.  God is willing to seek each one of us out, willing to even enter the darkness of sin and death, to find us and then rejoice in the finding!

But this truth also applies to us who are called to be God’s people in our world.  The Christian community is not meant to be an anonymous collection of individuals made up of people without names and without love – separate and alone.  Because we have been loved by God and sought out by God we must, in turn, strive to love as God loves and seek out as God seeks out.  The community Jesus calls us to is not one of anonymous and separate persons but of brothers and sisters who know each other by name.  Friendship and care must be at the heart of the Christian community but it needs to be noted that this friendship is not of our own doing or crafting.  The friendship of the Christian community flows out of Jesus’ own call to his disciples and obedience to his Word.  The origin of friendship in the Christian community is in God himself.  This is a great mystery and it is a mystery we are called to live and it is a mystery we proclaim in front of a world that seems so intent on reducing the full dignity of the human person to just a caricature of the anonymous individual.

Every person has a name.  Every person has a worth.  Every person is valued and sought out by God.  No one is left behind.  We need to live this friendship of Christ as Church and, by so doing, witness to our world.  For a Christian community to have the most beautiful sanctuary or the most active list of ministries without this friendship that seeks out is (to paraphrase St. Paul and our Lord himself) to be just a noisy gong, a clashing cymbal and even a whitewashed tomb.  No life is ultimately produced.

The identity of the Church is not found by remaining within but is realized in mission.  It has been this way from the very beginning with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the call to proclaim the good news to the ends of the world!  We each have a name given by God and a task given by God, we only become who we are meant to be as we live the task we have been given.  The Christian community only becomes who she is meant to be when she lives the friendship she has been given by Christ.

This friendship begins within the Christian community herself and then it goes out into the world.  We must seek out one another.  We must be of concern to one another.  In order to be true to the gift that we were given (meaning being sought out by God himself), we cannot remain content in just being a collection of anonymous individuals.  When we meet one another in the friendship of Christ we learn we can even look out on the multitudes of our world and see not just anonymous individuals who threaten my space and my freedom but brothers and sisters and the multitudes of people who are alone and suffering learn that they are in fact not alone and that there is a God and a people who seek to care and who seek to know their name.