MATTHEW 10:26-33
THE EUCHARISTIC CONGRESS IN QUEBEC CITY IS ENDING THIS WEEKEND. FATHER REILLY AND OUR BISHOP, AND 66 OTHER PEOPLE FROM OUR DIOCESE ARE THERE. THE CONGRESS WAS PRIVILEGED TO HEAR AN ADDRESS FROM ELIZABETH NGUYEN THI THU HONG, THE YOUNGEST SISTER OF CARDINAL FRANCIS XAVIER NGUYEN VAN THUAN, WHO DIED IN 2002, AND IS A CANDIDATE FOR BEATIFICATION. HE WAS APPOINTED BISHOP OF HO CHI MIN CITY IN VIET NAM SHORTLY BEFORE THE COMMUNISTS TOOK OVER. HE WAS IMPRISONED FOR NINE YEARS, SIX OF WHICH WERE IN SOLITARY CONFINEMENT. HE WAS ALLOWED TO CORRESPOND WITH SOME OF HIS FRIENDS, AND REQUESTED THAT THEY SEND HIM SOME MEDICINE FOR HIS STOMACH, THE KIND HE TOOK EVERY MORNING. THEY SENT HIM WINE IN A BOTTLE LABELED “STOMACH MEDICINE” AND FRAGMENTS OF EUCHARISTIC BREAD. WHILE IN SOLITARY CONFINEMENT, HE WOULD SAY MASS EVERY DAY WITH THESE ELEMENTS. WHEN HE WAS RELEASED TO THE GENERAL PRISON POPULATION, HE GATHERED TOGETHER CATHOLIC PRISONERS AND WOULD SAY MASS FOR THEM IN SECRET, IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT; AND HE CONTINUED TO MINISTER NOT ONLY TO CATHOLICS, BUT TO ANY PRISONER WHO NEEDED HIM. DURING ALL THIS TIME, HE CORRESPONDED WITH HIS FRIENDS AND FAMILY, AND THE GENERAL TONE OF HIS WRITINGS WERE THAT HE WAS NOT AFRAID, HE WAS CONTENT, HE WAS IN FACT HAPPY, BECAUSE OF THE CONSTANT COMPANIONSHIP OF JESUS. WHEN HE WAS RELEASED AND EXILED FROM VIET NAM, HE BECAME THE PREFECT IN CHARGE OF THE JUSTICE AND PEACE COMMISSION IN THE VATICAN, A JOB HE HELD UNTIL HE DIED.
CARDINAL VAN THUAN TOOK JESUS' TEACHING LITERALLY; “DO NOT LET MEN INTIMIDATE YOU; WHAT I TELL YOU IN DARKNESS, SPEAK IN THE LIGHT; DON'T FEAR THOSE WHO CAN DESTROY THE BODY; IF YOU ACKNOWLEDGE ME BEFORE MEN, I WILL ACKNOWLEDGE YOU BEFORE MY FATHER IN HEAVEN.
HAVE YOU AND I IDENTIFIED OUR FEARS? WE ALL HAVE THEM. I FEAR GROWING OLD, AND LOSING MY STRENGTH, MY MENTAL AND PHYSICAL ABILITIES. I FEAR WHETHER I WILL HAVE ENOUGH TO HAVE A COMFORTABLE RETIREMENT. I FEAR WHETHER OUR COUNTRY IS GOING TO LAST, OR WHETHER, AS IT SEEMS MORE AND MORE LIKELY, IT IS GOING TO IMPLODE AS WE CAN'T AFFORD ENERGY, AS THE GAP BETWEEN RICH AND POOR INCREASES, AS VIOLENCE BECOMES PART OF OUR DAILY LIVES. I COULD MAKE ALONG LIST OF MY FEARS, WHICH I MOSTLY TRY TO IGNORE, BUT EVERY NOW AND THEN ONE OF THEM WILL SURFACE LIKE A GHOST IN A HAUNTED HOUSE, AND REMIND ME HOW FRAGILE EVERYTHING IS.
BUT FEAR IS NOT CHRISTIAN. JESUS TELLS US, HE COMMANDS US, NOT TO FEAR, NOT TO BE INTIMIDATED. AND HE TELLS US HOW. HE SAYS, MAKE IT YOUR BUSINESS TO PROCLAIM WHAT HE HAS REVEALED TO YOU. BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN CREATED FOR, TO PROCLAIM THE GOOD NEWS, WITH YOUR WORDS, WITH YOUR LIFE. THE GOOD NEWS WILL BE PROCLAIMED, WHETHER YOU DO IT OR NOT. BUT IF YOU DO IT, YOU ARE ACKNOWLEDGING JESUS BEFORE MEN, AND JESUS PROMISES THAT THIS WILL NOT BE FORGOTTEN. HE ASSURES US THAT NO POWER EXCEPT THE FATHER CAN AFFECT US WHERE WE REALLY LIVE, IN THAT PART OF OUR BEING WE CALL OUR SOUL. AND HE REMINDS US THAT THE FATHER LOOKS AT EACH ONE OF US WITH GREAT LOVE, AND CARES ABOUT EVERY HAIR ON OUR HEADS, EVERYTHING ABOUT US, GOOD AND NOT SO GOOD. IN ANOTHER PART OF SCRIPTURE, IT SAYS THAT THE FATHER TAKES DELIGHT IN US.
AND FEAR IS WHAT KEEPS US FROM DOING WHAT JESUS ASKS. CAN YOU THINK OF ANY TIME DURING THE PAST WEEK WHEN YOU FAILED TO PROCLAIM WHAT YOU'VE BEEN TAUGHT? WHEN YOU FAILED TO ACKNOWLEDGE JESUS BEFORE MEN? I CAN. THIS LAST WEEK, I'VE HURT A FEW FEELINGS – VERY UNCHRISTIAN; I HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK UP WHEN SOMEONE MADE AN IGNORANT REMARK ABOUT CHRISTIANITY, BUT IT DIDN'T SEEM LIKE THE RIGHT TIME OR PLACE. I COULD TELL THAT ONE OF MY CO-WORKERS WAS TROUBLED, BUT I DIDN'T WANT TO GET INVOLVED, SO I ACTED AS THOUGH I WASN'T AWARE OF HER PROBLEM. I AM SURE THAT IF YOU LOOK AT YOUR WEEK, YOU COULD THINK OF TIMES WHEN YOU FAILED TO PROCLAIM WHAT YOU'VE BEEN TAUGHT AS WELL.
JESUS CAME INTO THE WORLD AND DESIGNATED HIS APOSTLES TO BEGIN THE GREAT WORK OF BRINGING ABOUT HIS KINGDOM. THE KINGDOM WILL COME, THAT IS A PROMISE. AND IT WILL COME BECAUSE OF THE WORK OF THE APOSTLES, OF THE SAINTS, OF YOU AND I. THE KINGDOM, IN FACT, IS WHAT HUMAN BEINGS ARE FOR – AND IT IS FOR US HUMAN BEINGS. THE KINGDOM IS PEACE, AND JUSTICE, AND SUFFICIENT RESOURCES FOR ALL, SO THAT EVERY PERSON CAN REALIZE ALL OF HIS OR HER HUMAN POTENTIAL. BUT PERHAPS THE CHIEF CHARACTERISTIC OF THE KINGDOM IS THAT THOSE WHO ARE IN IT WILL HAVE NO FEAR BECAUSE THE WORDS JESUS SPEAKS TODAY WILL BE PART OF THEIR MAKE-UP; THEY WILL BE MUCH MORE THAN WORDS, THEY WILL BE AT THE CORE OF OUR LIVES. AND THE MOST AMAZING THING IS THAT WE CAN ENTER THAT KINGDOM NOW, EVEN IF NO ONE ELSE DOES.
SO WHAT ARE YOUR FEARS? HOW HAVE YOU FAILED TO PROCLAIM WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN TAUGHT? HOW HAVE YOU FAILED TO ACKNOWLEDGE JESUS BEFORE MEN? AND FINALLY, AS YOU THINK ABOUT THE KINGDOM, DO YOU FIND YOURSELF HUNGERING AND THIRSTING FOR IT? BECAUSE THAT IS THE BEGINNING – TO IMAGINE THE WORLD THAT COULD BE, THAT SHOULD BE, THE WORLD WHERE JESUS IS KING AND THERE IS NOTHING HIDDEN, AND THERE IS NO FEAR.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle A
MATTHEW 9:36-10:8
WHEN I WAS ABOUT 10, SOME OF MY CLASSMATES TOOK PRIDE IN PETTY THEFT. THEY WOULD GO INTO A STORE AND STEAL SMALL OBJECTS-- MINIATURE SQUIRT GUNS BEING ONE PRIZED ITEM. AT FIRST I JUST WATCHED MY FRIENDS WITH ENVY, BUT FINALLY GOT ENOUGH NERVE TO STEAL MY FIRST SQUIRT GUN. I GOT AWAY WITH IT! A COUPLE MORE PETTY THEFTS FOLLOWED; I CAPTURED A HERSHEY BAR, A COUPLE OF ROLLS OF LIFE SAVERS, A PEN. ONE EVENING MY DAD, MY SISTER AND I WERE VISITING MY GRANDMOTHER AND GRANDFATHER. GETTING BORED WITH GROWN UP TALK, SHE AND I ASKED TO BE ALLOWED TO GO TO THE LITTLE CORNER STORE. AS USUAL, SHE WENT OVER TO THE CANDY COUNTER AND LOOKED AT CANDY, WHILE I STUDIED THE COMIC BOOKS. IT OCCURRED TO ME THAT SINCE I WAS AN ACCOMPLISHED THIEF, I SHOULD HAVE NO PROBLEM IN STUFFING A FEW OF MY FAVORITE COMIC BOOKS UNDER MY JACKET. I DID. AS WE WALKED OUT THE DOOR, I FELT A HAND GRAB MY SHOULDER. I WAS BUSTED! I HAD VISIONS OF GOING TO JAIL, OF ENDING UP IN REFORM SCHOOL, OF A LIFE RUINED. MY SISTER WAS CRYING. I MAY HAVE BEEN AS WELL. THE STORE OWNER KEPT ASKING ME MY NAME, AND WHEN I BLUBBERED IT OUT, HE ASKED ME HOW HE COULD GET IN TOUCH WITH MY PARENTS. I GAVE HIM MY GRANDMOTHER'S NUMBER. OVER THE NEXT FEW MINUTES, SEVERAL PAINFUL HOURS WENT BY, AND THEN MY DAD SHOWED UP. THE STORE OWNER WAS ANGRY, AND HE LET MY FATHER KNOW HOW UPSET HE WAS THAT KIDS WERE TAKING THINGS FROM HIS STORE, AND HE COULDN'T JUST BLAME THE KIDS, IT WAS THEIR PARENTS FAULT AS WELL. MY FATHER STOOD THERE AND DIDN'T SAY A WORD. WHEN THE MAN FINISHED, MY DAD APOLOGIZED ON MY BEHALF, AND SINCE NOTHING HAD ACTUALLY BEEN STOLEN, I WAS ALLOWED TO GO. MY FATHER WAS VERY QUIET. I KNEW I WOULD BE GROUNDED, I KNEW I WOULD BE PUNISHED, AND MOST OF ALL, I KNEW THAT WHEN MY MOTHER FOUND OUT, I WOULD REALLY BE IN TROUBLE. AND THEN HE SPOKE. “I'M DISAPPOINTED,” HE SAID. “I THOUGHT YOU NEW BETTER.” I TOLD HIM THAT I DID, AND I PROMISED THAT I'D NEVER STEAL ANYTHING AGAIN. AND I NEVER DID, NOT BECAUSE I WAS AFRAID OF GETTING CAUGHT, BUT BECAUSE I NEVER WANTED TO DISAPPOINT MY FATHER LIKE THAT AGAIN. MY FATHER DIDN'T PUNISH ME, DIDN'T GROUND ME, DIDN'T EVEN TELL MY MOTHER. IN FACT, HE NEVER MENTIONED IT AGAIN. IT WAS AS THOUGH HE FORGOT ALL ABOUT IT.
I LEARNED SOME THINGS THAT DAY. I WITNESSED MY FATHER BEING HUMILIATED IN MY PLACE; I LEARNED THAT HE LOVED ME AND FORGAVE ME COMPLETELY; AND I HAD A SENSE AT TEN YEARS OLD THAT MY FATHER WOULD BE THERE TO MAKE THINGS RIGHT WHEN I WENT WRONG.
THAT IS WHAT ST. PAUL IS TALKING ABOUT; IT IS PRECISELY IN THIS THAT GOD PROVES HIS LOVE FOR US; WHILE WE WERE STILL SINNERS, CHRIST DIED FOR US. AND IN THE GOSPEL, JESUS DEMONSTRATES THIS; HE IS MOVED WITH PITY FOR THE PEOPLE WHO ARE LEADERLESS, WHO SEEM TO HAVE NO DIRECTION, NO PURPOSE. HE GIVES HIS APOSTLES A SHARE IN HIS POWER, AND SENDS THEM OUT TO ANNOUNCE THAT THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND.
THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. WHAT JESUS WANTS EVERYONE TO KNOW IS THAT WE HAVE A FATHER WHO LOVES US, WHO IS THERE WITH US, SHARING OUR JOYS AND OUR PAINS, A FATHER WHO IN THE PERSON OF HIS SON TAKES ON HIMSELF WHAT WE DESERVE FOR DISOBEYING HIM, FOR OFFENDING HIM; A FATHER WHO GUARANTEES THAT NO MATTER HOW THINGS LOOK NOW, ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER TO FULFILL HIS PURPOSE.
IN ANOTHER PART OF THE GOSPEL, YOU REMEMBER WHEN JOHN THE BAPTIST SENDS HIS DISCIPLES TO ASK JESUS IF HE IS THE ONE WHO IS TO COME, THE ONE WHO IS TO USHER IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD; AND HE REPLIES, GO TELL JOHN WHAT YOU HAVE SEEN, THE LAME WALK, THE BLIND SEE, THE POOR HAVE THE GOOD NEWS PREACHED TO THEM. THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS THERE WHEN WE DO THE WORKS OF JESUS, WHEN WE LIVE AS YOU MIGHT EXPECT SOMEONE TO LIVE WHO HAS SO WONDERFUL, SO GREAT A FATHER.
WHEN ONE OF MY DAUGHTERS WAS ABOUT TEN, I GOT A CALL FROM A LOCAL CLOTHING STORE, ASKING ME TO COME DOWN BECAUSE MY DAUGHTER HAD BEEN CAUGHT WALKING OUT OF THE STORE WITH A SCARF THAT SHE HAD NOT PAID FOR. WHEN I WENT IN, SHE SITTING ON A CHAIR WITH TEARS RUNNING DOWN HER FACE, BARELY ABLE TO CATCH HER BREATH FOR CRYING. THE MANAGER LECTURED ME ABOUT MY RESPONSIBILITIES AS A FATHER, AND I WAS TEMPTED TO POINT OUT THAT SHE WAS JUST A KID, AND THERE HAD BEEN NO REAL HARM DONE, AND I WOULD TAKE CARE OF MAKING SURE SHE WAS ADEQUATELY PUNISHED. BUT OF COURSE I COULD NOT FORGET HOW MY OWN FATHER HAD HANDLED THE SITUATION; SO I EVENTUALLY APOLOGIZED, ACCEPTED THE BLAME, AND WALKED OUT WITH MY DAUGHTER. AND AS I WAS THINKING UP THE PUNISHMENT I WAS GOING TO GIVE HER, I LOOKED AT HER AND KNEW THAT SHE HAD LEARNED HER LESSON, AND I TOLD HER THAT I WAS DISAPPOINTED, AND THAT SHE KNEW BETTER, AND THEN I LET IT GO.
JESUS SAID, “THE GIFT YOU HAVE RECEIVED, GIVE AS A GIFT”.
JESUS COMMISSIONED HIS APOSTLES AND US TO ANNOUNCE THAT THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND. IF WE ARE TO DO THAT, WE NEED TO EXPERIENCE THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IN OUR OWN LIVES, AS I DID SO MANY YEARS AGO, AS MY DAUGHTER DID. WE NEED TO REFLECT ON THE FATHER WHO LOVES US AND GIVES EVERYTHING TO US. WE NEED TO LOOK AT ALL THE GIFTS THAT HE HAS GIVEN US, EVEN SOMETIMES THOSE THINGS WHICH WE DON'T SEE AS GIFTS RIGHT AWAY – BECAUSE SOMETIMES AN ILLNESS IS A GIFT, LOSING SOMETHING IS A GIFT, AND THERE ARE GIFTS THAT WE NEVER REALIZE ARE GIFTS UNTIL MANY YEARS LATER. IN FACT, OUR WHOLE LIFE IS A GIFT, EVERYTHING IN IT IS A GIFT. THAT IS THE PROMISE OF THE KINGDOM.
AND EVERY TIME WE DO A WORK OF GOD, A WORK OF HEALING, A WORK OF INCLUDING SOMEONE WHO HAS BEEN EXCLUDED, A WORK OF BRINGING A PERSON WHO WAS DEAD TO THE LIFE THAT IS JESUS – THERE ARE SO MANY OPPORTUNITIES -- WE SHOW THAT THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND.
AND FEW OF US MEET THE MARK. SO LET US PRAY TODAY THAT WE WILL TAKE SERIOUSLY THE MISSION THAT JESUS GIVES US. AFTER ALL, EVERYTHING JESUS DID AND CONTINUES TO DO, HAS ONLY ONE PURPOSE, TO SHOW THE GLORY OF THE FATHER. AND THAT IS WHAT HE WANTS US TO DO AS WELL.
WHEN I WAS ABOUT 10, SOME OF MY CLASSMATES TOOK PRIDE IN PETTY THEFT. THEY WOULD GO INTO A STORE AND STEAL SMALL OBJECTS-- MINIATURE SQUIRT GUNS BEING ONE PRIZED ITEM. AT FIRST I JUST WATCHED MY FRIENDS WITH ENVY, BUT FINALLY GOT ENOUGH NERVE TO STEAL MY FIRST SQUIRT GUN. I GOT AWAY WITH IT! A COUPLE MORE PETTY THEFTS FOLLOWED; I CAPTURED A HERSHEY BAR, A COUPLE OF ROLLS OF LIFE SAVERS, A PEN. ONE EVENING MY DAD, MY SISTER AND I WERE VISITING MY GRANDMOTHER AND GRANDFATHER. GETTING BORED WITH GROWN UP TALK, SHE AND I ASKED TO BE ALLOWED TO GO TO THE LITTLE CORNER STORE. AS USUAL, SHE WENT OVER TO THE CANDY COUNTER AND LOOKED AT CANDY, WHILE I STUDIED THE COMIC BOOKS. IT OCCURRED TO ME THAT SINCE I WAS AN ACCOMPLISHED THIEF, I SHOULD HAVE NO PROBLEM IN STUFFING A FEW OF MY FAVORITE COMIC BOOKS UNDER MY JACKET. I DID. AS WE WALKED OUT THE DOOR, I FELT A HAND GRAB MY SHOULDER. I WAS BUSTED! I HAD VISIONS OF GOING TO JAIL, OF ENDING UP IN REFORM SCHOOL, OF A LIFE RUINED. MY SISTER WAS CRYING. I MAY HAVE BEEN AS WELL. THE STORE OWNER KEPT ASKING ME MY NAME, AND WHEN I BLUBBERED IT OUT, HE ASKED ME HOW HE COULD GET IN TOUCH WITH MY PARENTS. I GAVE HIM MY GRANDMOTHER'S NUMBER. OVER THE NEXT FEW MINUTES, SEVERAL PAINFUL HOURS WENT BY, AND THEN MY DAD SHOWED UP. THE STORE OWNER WAS ANGRY, AND HE LET MY FATHER KNOW HOW UPSET HE WAS THAT KIDS WERE TAKING THINGS FROM HIS STORE, AND HE COULDN'T JUST BLAME THE KIDS, IT WAS THEIR PARENTS FAULT AS WELL. MY FATHER STOOD THERE AND DIDN'T SAY A WORD. WHEN THE MAN FINISHED, MY DAD APOLOGIZED ON MY BEHALF, AND SINCE NOTHING HAD ACTUALLY BEEN STOLEN, I WAS ALLOWED TO GO. MY FATHER WAS VERY QUIET. I KNEW I WOULD BE GROUNDED, I KNEW I WOULD BE PUNISHED, AND MOST OF ALL, I KNEW THAT WHEN MY MOTHER FOUND OUT, I WOULD REALLY BE IN TROUBLE. AND THEN HE SPOKE. “I'M DISAPPOINTED,” HE SAID. “I THOUGHT YOU NEW BETTER.” I TOLD HIM THAT I DID, AND I PROMISED THAT I'D NEVER STEAL ANYTHING AGAIN. AND I NEVER DID, NOT BECAUSE I WAS AFRAID OF GETTING CAUGHT, BUT BECAUSE I NEVER WANTED TO DISAPPOINT MY FATHER LIKE THAT AGAIN. MY FATHER DIDN'T PUNISH ME, DIDN'T GROUND ME, DIDN'T EVEN TELL MY MOTHER. IN FACT, HE NEVER MENTIONED IT AGAIN. IT WAS AS THOUGH HE FORGOT ALL ABOUT IT.
I LEARNED SOME THINGS THAT DAY. I WITNESSED MY FATHER BEING HUMILIATED IN MY PLACE; I LEARNED THAT HE LOVED ME AND FORGAVE ME COMPLETELY; AND I HAD A SENSE AT TEN YEARS OLD THAT MY FATHER WOULD BE THERE TO MAKE THINGS RIGHT WHEN I WENT WRONG.
THAT IS WHAT ST. PAUL IS TALKING ABOUT; IT IS PRECISELY IN THIS THAT GOD PROVES HIS LOVE FOR US; WHILE WE WERE STILL SINNERS, CHRIST DIED FOR US. AND IN THE GOSPEL, JESUS DEMONSTRATES THIS; HE IS MOVED WITH PITY FOR THE PEOPLE WHO ARE LEADERLESS, WHO SEEM TO HAVE NO DIRECTION, NO PURPOSE. HE GIVES HIS APOSTLES A SHARE IN HIS POWER, AND SENDS THEM OUT TO ANNOUNCE THAT THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND.
THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. WHAT JESUS WANTS EVERYONE TO KNOW IS THAT WE HAVE A FATHER WHO LOVES US, WHO IS THERE WITH US, SHARING OUR JOYS AND OUR PAINS, A FATHER WHO IN THE PERSON OF HIS SON TAKES ON HIMSELF WHAT WE DESERVE FOR DISOBEYING HIM, FOR OFFENDING HIM; A FATHER WHO GUARANTEES THAT NO MATTER HOW THINGS LOOK NOW, ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER TO FULFILL HIS PURPOSE.
IN ANOTHER PART OF THE GOSPEL, YOU REMEMBER WHEN JOHN THE BAPTIST SENDS HIS DISCIPLES TO ASK JESUS IF HE IS THE ONE WHO IS TO COME, THE ONE WHO IS TO USHER IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD; AND HE REPLIES, GO TELL JOHN WHAT YOU HAVE SEEN, THE LAME WALK, THE BLIND SEE, THE POOR HAVE THE GOOD NEWS PREACHED TO THEM. THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS THERE WHEN WE DO THE WORKS OF JESUS, WHEN WE LIVE AS YOU MIGHT EXPECT SOMEONE TO LIVE WHO HAS SO WONDERFUL, SO GREAT A FATHER.
WHEN ONE OF MY DAUGHTERS WAS ABOUT TEN, I GOT A CALL FROM A LOCAL CLOTHING STORE, ASKING ME TO COME DOWN BECAUSE MY DAUGHTER HAD BEEN CAUGHT WALKING OUT OF THE STORE WITH A SCARF THAT SHE HAD NOT PAID FOR. WHEN I WENT IN, SHE SITTING ON A CHAIR WITH TEARS RUNNING DOWN HER FACE, BARELY ABLE TO CATCH HER BREATH FOR CRYING. THE MANAGER LECTURED ME ABOUT MY RESPONSIBILITIES AS A FATHER, AND I WAS TEMPTED TO POINT OUT THAT SHE WAS JUST A KID, AND THERE HAD BEEN NO REAL HARM DONE, AND I WOULD TAKE CARE OF MAKING SURE SHE WAS ADEQUATELY PUNISHED. BUT OF COURSE I COULD NOT FORGET HOW MY OWN FATHER HAD HANDLED THE SITUATION; SO I EVENTUALLY APOLOGIZED, ACCEPTED THE BLAME, AND WALKED OUT WITH MY DAUGHTER. AND AS I WAS THINKING UP THE PUNISHMENT I WAS GOING TO GIVE HER, I LOOKED AT HER AND KNEW THAT SHE HAD LEARNED HER LESSON, AND I TOLD HER THAT I WAS DISAPPOINTED, AND THAT SHE KNEW BETTER, AND THEN I LET IT GO.
JESUS SAID, “THE GIFT YOU HAVE RECEIVED, GIVE AS A GIFT”.
JESUS COMMISSIONED HIS APOSTLES AND US TO ANNOUNCE THAT THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND. IF WE ARE TO DO THAT, WE NEED TO EXPERIENCE THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IN OUR OWN LIVES, AS I DID SO MANY YEARS AGO, AS MY DAUGHTER DID. WE NEED TO REFLECT ON THE FATHER WHO LOVES US AND GIVES EVERYTHING TO US. WE NEED TO LOOK AT ALL THE GIFTS THAT HE HAS GIVEN US, EVEN SOMETIMES THOSE THINGS WHICH WE DON'T SEE AS GIFTS RIGHT AWAY – BECAUSE SOMETIMES AN ILLNESS IS A GIFT, LOSING SOMETHING IS A GIFT, AND THERE ARE GIFTS THAT WE NEVER REALIZE ARE GIFTS UNTIL MANY YEARS LATER. IN FACT, OUR WHOLE LIFE IS A GIFT, EVERYTHING IN IT IS A GIFT. THAT IS THE PROMISE OF THE KINGDOM.
AND EVERY TIME WE DO A WORK OF GOD, A WORK OF HEALING, A WORK OF INCLUDING SOMEONE WHO HAS BEEN EXCLUDED, A WORK OF BRINGING A PERSON WHO WAS DEAD TO THE LIFE THAT IS JESUS – THERE ARE SO MANY OPPORTUNITIES -- WE SHOW THAT THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND.
AND FEW OF US MEET THE MARK. SO LET US PRAY TODAY THAT WE WILL TAKE SERIOUSLY THE MISSION THAT JESUS GIVES US. AFTER ALL, EVERYTHING JESUS DID AND CONTINUES TO DO, HAS ONLY ONE PURPOSE, TO SHOW THE GLORY OF THE FATHER. AND THAT IS WHAT HE WANTS US TO DO AS WELL.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle A
MATTHEW 9:9-13
DO YOU REMEMBER THAT STORY FROM THE GOSPEL OF LUKE? PETER AND HIS CREW HAVE BEEN FISHING ALL NIGHT, AND HAVEN'T CAUGHT A THING. THEN JESUS TELLS THEM TO GO OUT IN DEEP WATER AND LET DOWN THEIR NETS. WELL MORNING WAS NOT A GREAT TIME, AND DEEP WATER WAS NOT A GREAT PLACE, TO EXPECT TO CATCH FISH, BUT PETER OBEYED, AND THE NEXT THING THEY KNEW THEY NEARLY SWAMPED THEIR BOATS WITH FISH. AND PETER FELL TO HIS KNEES AND SAID, “DEPART FROM ME, LORD, FOR I AM A SINFUL MAN.”
PETER IS WELL-CHARACTERIZED IN THE GOSPELS. HE HAS TROUBLE UNDERSTANDING WHAT JESUS IS TALKING ABOUT. HE IS LOYAL, HE IS LOUD, HE SPEAKS BEFORE THINKING, HE MAKES PROMISES HE DOESN'T KEEP, AND EVEN AFTER JESUS DIES AND ASCENDS INTO HEAVEN, EVEN AFTER PETER BECOMES THE LEADER OF THE CHRISTIAN BODY, HE STILL IS SOMETIMES UNCERTAIN, AND SOMETIMES DEAD WRONG, AS WHEN HE DECIDED NOT TO EAT WITH GENTILE CHRISTIANS, AND PAUL HAD TO REPRIMAND HIM.
WHAT WAS GOING THROUGH PETER'S MIND WHEN HE ACCUSED HIMSELF OF BEING A SINNER? I DOUBT PETER HAD EVER DONE ANYTHING WE WOULD CONSIDER REALLY BAD. BUT MAYBE THAT MORNING, HE HAD QUARRELED WITH HIS WIFE. MAYBE HE COULD HAVE BEEN MORE GENEROUS WHEN THEY PASSED THE COLLECTION PLATE DOWN AT THE SYNAGOGUE, BUT WASN'T. HE MAY HAVE PASSED A BEGGAR ON THE STREET AND LOOKED THE OTHER WAY. HE MAY HAVE DRUNK MORE WINE THAN HE SHOULD HAVE AT THAT WEDDING HE HAD ATTENDED A FEW WEEKS AGO.
SO WE ARE ALL LIKE PETER. OUR DAYS ARE FILLED WITH NOT QUITE MEETING THE MARK, FORGETTING THE WORDS AND EXAMPLE OF JESUS, SAYING AND DOING THINGS THAT WE LATER REGRET, NOT SAYING AND NOT DOING THINGS THAT WE SHOULD HAVE SAID OR DONE. IS THERE A DAY IN YOUR LIFE OR MINE WHEN WE CAN TRULY SAY, “I DID EVERYTHING RIGHT TODAY, I WOULD NOT CHANGE A THING IF I COULD.”
AND YOU KNOW, WE ALL ACCEPT THAT WE AREN'T PERFECT; AND WE FORGIVE OURSELVES, AND GO ON AND TRY TO DO BETTER THEN NEXT DAY.
AND PETER WAS NO DIFFERENT, UP UNTIL THAT MOMENT – THE MOMENT WHEN HE SUDDENLY REALIZED THAT HE WAS IN THE PRESENCE OF THE DIVINE, AND HE LOOKED AT HIS OWN LIFE, THE LIFE WHICH UP UNTIL THEN HE HAD THOUGHT WAS PRETTY GOOD – AND SUDDENLY SAW THAT IN THE LIGHT OF THE DIVINE, HE WAS HOPELESS, HE COULD NOT CLAIM TO EVEN A LITTLE GOODNESS, HE WAS A BUNDLE OF SELFISHNESS AND MORAL FAILURE AND THE FACT THAT HE HADN'T DONE ANYTHING TERRIBLY WRONG WAS MORE DUE TO LACK OF OPPORTUNITY AND FEAR OF BEING FOUND OUT THAN ANY GOODNESS ON HIS PART. AND HE CRIED OUT, “DEPART FROM ME, LORD, FOR I AM A SINFUL MAN.”
IN TODAY'S GOSPEL WE MEET OUR OLD FRIENDS THE PHARISEES. THEY COULD NOT SAY “I AM A SINFUL MAN” BECAUSE THEY DEFINED THEMSELVES BY THEIR PURITY, THEIR STRICT ADHERENCE TO THE LAW. THEY NOT ONLY FOLLOWED THE LAW PERFECTLY, BUT THEY AVOIDED ANYTHING THAT EVEN REMOTELY COULD CAUSE THEM TO BREAK THE LAW. AND FOR THAT REASON, THEY WOULD NEVER ASSOCIATE WITH A SINNER.
AND JESUS SAYS TO THEM, “I DID NOT COME TO CALL THE RIGHTEOUS, BUT SINNERS.” THE PHARISEES, IF THEY WOULD HAVE HONESTLY EXAMINED THEMSELVES IN THE BRILLIANT LIGHT OF THE DIVINE, AS PETER DID, WOULD HAVE COME TO THE SAME CONCLUSION PETER DID, “I AM A SINFUL MAN”. BUT THEY DID NOT, AND JESUS KNEW THAT HE COULD NOT DO A THING FOR THEM UNTIL THEY RECOGNIZED THAT THERE WAS NO HOPE EXCEPT FOR WHAT HE COULD DO FOR THEM.
SO HOW ABOUT YOU AND I? ARE WE CONSCIOUS OF THE CALL OF JESUS, THE CALL THAT OFFERS US THE FATHER'S MERCY, THE CALL THAT HOLDS A PROMISE TO HEAL US, TO ACCEPT US AS WE ARE, TO TAKE OUR MISERABLE HUMANITY AND FORM IT INTO DIVINITY?
WELL, WE CAN'T HEAR THE CALL UNLESS WE KNOW DEEP DOWN IN OUR HEARTS THAT WE ARE SINNERS. WE HAVE TO SEE THAT OUR PETTY LITTLE FAULTS AND FAILURES MAKE US MUCH MORE LIKE ADOLF HITLER OR A MASS MURDERER THAN LIKE JESUS CHRIST. WE HAVE TO SEE THAT WHAT WE THINK ARE LITTLE QUIRKS AND MERE HUMAN FAILINGS ARE VERY SERIOUS IN GOD'S EYES. WE HAVE TO SEE WHAT GOD WANTS US TO BECOME, AND HOW FAR WE ARE FROM THAT GOAL BECAUSE OF OUR OWN FREE WILL. AND ONLY THEN WILL WE BE ABLE TO HEAR THE CALL OF JESUS THAT IS THE ONLY HOPE WE HAVE.
SAINT MATTHEW KNEW HE DIDN'T MEET THE MARK. HE KNEW THAT BEING A TAX COLLECTOR, WORKING FOR THE ROMANS, WHILE NOT SINFUL IN ITSELF, WAS FULL OF OPPORTUNITIES TO SIN. AND MATTHEW DIDN'T CHEAT OUTRIGHT, BUT SINCE HIS LIVELIHOOD DEPENDED ON THE TAXES HE COLLECTED, HE PROBABLY THOUGHT OF HIMSELF BEFORE THE PEOPLE FROM WHOM HE COLLECTED TAXES, AND THE ROMANS TO WHOM HE GAVE THEM. THAT WOULD BE THE HUMAN THING TO DO. AND EVEN WHEN HE DIDN'T SLIP A LITTLE, THE VERY ACT OF COLLECTING TAXES MADE HIS CUSTOMERS TRY TO CHEAT, TO HOLD BACK; IT MADE THEM SIN, IT MADE THEM BECOME LESS HUMAN. BEING A TAX COLLECTOR WAS ALMOST A RECIPE FOR BEING IMMERSED IN SIN. BUT SO IS JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING ELSE WE HUMANS CAN DO.
MATTHEW RECOGNIZES THAT HE IS A SINNER, AND FINDS HIMSELF DINING WITH CHRIST, WHILE THE PHARISEES ARE OUT IN THE COLD. MATTHEW HEARS THE CALL OF JESUS, AND THE PHARISEES DO NOT.
TODAY, LET US BE CONSCIOUS OF THE FACT THAT WE ARE SINNERS, AND THAT LIKE PETER, LIKE MATTHEW, LET US REALIZE THAT WE CAN'T ESCAPE THIS REALITY. AND ONCE WE KNOW THIS, NOT JUST IN OUR MINDS BUT IN THE DEEPEST PARTS OF OUR SELVES, ONCE THIS HAPPENS, WE WILL HEAR THE VOICE OF JESUS CALLING US.
DO YOU REMEMBER THAT STORY FROM THE GOSPEL OF LUKE? PETER AND HIS CREW HAVE BEEN FISHING ALL NIGHT, AND HAVEN'T CAUGHT A THING. THEN JESUS TELLS THEM TO GO OUT IN DEEP WATER AND LET DOWN THEIR NETS. WELL MORNING WAS NOT A GREAT TIME, AND DEEP WATER WAS NOT A GREAT PLACE, TO EXPECT TO CATCH FISH, BUT PETER OBEYED, AND THE NEXT THING THEY KNEW THEY NEARLY SWAMPED THEIR BOATS WITH FISH. AND PETER FELL TO HIS KNEES AND SAID, “DEPART FROM ME, LORD, FOR I AM A SINFUL MAN.”
PETER IS WELL-CHARACTERIZED IN THE GOSPELS. HE HAS TROUBLE UNDERSTANDING WHAT JESUS IS TALKING ABOUT. HE IS LOYAL, HE IS LOUD, HE SPEAKS BEFORE THINKING, HE MAKES PROMISES HE DOESN'T KEEP, AND EVEN AFTER JESUS DIES AND ASCENDS INTO HEAVEN, EVEN AFTER PETER BECOMES THE LEADER OF THE CHRISTIAN BODY, HE STILL IS SOMETIMES UNCERTAIN, AND SOMETIMES DEAD WRONG, AS WHEN HE DECIDED NOT TO EAT WITH GENTILE CHRISTIANS, AND PAUL HAD TO REPRIMAND HIM.
WHAT WAS GOING THROUGH PETER'S MIND WHEN HE ACCUSED HIMSELF OF BEING A SINNER? I DOUBT PETER HAD EVER DONE ANYTHING WE WOULD CONSIDER REALLY BAD. BUT MAYBE THAT MORNING, HE HAD QUARRELED WITH HIS WIFE. MAYBE HE COULD HAVE BEEN MORE GENEROUS WHEN THEY PASSED THE COLLECTION PLATE DOWN AT THE SYNAGOGUE, BUT WASN'T. HE MAY HAVE PASSED A BEGGAR ON THE STREET AND LOOKED THE OTHER WAY. HE MAY HAVE DRUNK MORE WINE THAN HE SHOULD HAVE AT THAT WEDDING HE HAD ATTENDED A FEW WEEKS AGO.
SO WE ARE ALL LIKE PETER. OUR DAYS ARE FILLED WITH NOT QUITE MEETING THE MARK, FORGETTING THE WORDS AND EXAMPLE OF JESUS, SAYING AND DOING THINGS THAT WE LATER REGRET, NOT SAYING AND NOT DOING THINGS THAT WE SHOULD HAVE SAID OR DONE. IS THERE A DAY IN YOUR LIFE OR MINE WHEN WE CAN TRULY SAY, “I DID EVERYTHING RIGHT TODAY, I WOULD NOT CHANGE A THING IF I COULD.”
AND YOU KNOW, WE ALL ACCEPT THAT WE AREN'T PERFECT; AND WE FORGIVE OURSELVES, AND GO ON AND TRY TO DO BETTER THEN NEXT DAY.
AND PETER WAS NO DIFFERENT, UP UNTIL THAT MOMENT – THE MOMENT WHEN HE SUDDENLY REALIZED THAT HE WAS IN THE PRESENCE OF THE DIVINE, AND HE LOOKED AT HIS OWN LIFE, THE LIFE WHICH UP UNTIL THEN HE HAD THOUGHT WAS PRETTY GOOD – AND SUDDENLY SAW THAT IN THE LIGHT OF THE DIVINE, HE WAS HOPELESS, HE COULD NOT CLAIM TO EVEN A LITTLE GOODNESS, HE WAS A BUNDLE OF SELFISHNESS AND MORAL FAILURE AND THE FACT THAT HE HADN'T DONE ANYTHING TERRIBLY WRONG WAS MORE DUE TO LACK OF OPPORTUNITY AND FEAR OF BEING FOUND OUT THAN ANY GOODNESS ON HIS PART. AND HE CRIED OUT, “DEPART FROM ME, LORD, FOR I AM A SINFUL MAN.”
IN TODAY'S GOSPEL WE MEET OUR OLD FRIENDS THE PHARISEES. THEY COULD NOT SAY “I AM A SINFUL MAN” BECAUSE THEY DEFINED THEMSELVES BY THEIR PURITY, THEIR STRICT ADHERENCE TO THE LAW. THEY NOT ONLY FOLLOWED THE LAW PERFECTLY, BUT THEY AVOIDED ANYTHING THAT EVEN REMOTELY COULD CAUSE THEM TO BREAK THE LAW. AND FOR THAT REASON, THEY WOULD NEVER ASSOCIATE WITH A SINNER.
AND JESUS SAYS TO THEM, “I DID NOT COME TO CALL THE RIGHTEOUS, BUT SINNERS.” THE PHARISEES, IF THEY WOULD HAVE HONESTLY EXAMINED THEMSELVES IN THE BRILLIANT LIGHT OF THE DIVINE, AS PETER DID, WOULD HAVE COME TO THE SAME CONCLUSION PETER DID, “I AM A SINFUL MAN”. BUT THEY DID NOT, AND JESUS KNEW THAT HE COULD NOT DO A THING FOR THEM UNTIL THEY RECOGNIZED THAT THERE WAS NO HOPE EXCEPT FOR WHAT HE COULD DO FOR THEM.
SO HOW ABOUT YOU AND I? ARE WE CONSCIOUS OF THE CALL OF JESUS, THE CALL THAT OFFERS US THE FATHER'S MERCY, THE CALL THAT HOLDS A PROMISE TO HEAL US, TO ACCEPT US AS WE ARE, TO TAKE OUR MISERABLE HUMANITY AND FORM IT INTO DIVINITY?
WELL, WE CAN'T HEAR THE CALL UNLESS WE KNOW DEEP DOWN IN OUR HEARTS THAT WE ARE SINNERS. WE HAVE TO SEE THAT OUR PETTY LITTLE FAULTS AND FAILURES MAKE US MUCH MORE LIKE ADOLF HITLER OR A MASS MURDERER THAN LIKE JESUS CHRIST. WE HAVE TO SEE THAT WHAT WE THINK ARE LITTLE QUIRKS AND MERE HUMAN FAILINGS ARE VERY SERIOUS IN GOD'S EYES. WE HAVE TO SEE WHAT GOD WANTS US TO BECOME, AND HOW FAR WE ARE FROM THAT GOAL BECAUSE OF OUR OWN FREE WILL. AND ONLY THEN WILL WE BE ABLE TO HEAR THE CALL OF JESUS THAT IS THE ONLY HOPE WE HAVE.
SAINT MATTHEW KNEW HE DIDN'T MEET THE MARK. HE KNEW THAT BEING A TAX COLLECTOR, WORKING FOR THE ROMANS, WHILE NOT SINFUL IN ITSELF, WAS FULL OF OPPORTUNITIES TO SIN. AND MATTHEW DIDN'T CHEAT OUTRIGHT, BUT SINCE HIS LIVELIHOOD DEPENDED ON THE TAXES HE COLLECTED, HE PROBABLY THOUGHT OF HIMSELF BEFORE THE PEOPLE FROM WHOM HE COLLECTED TAXES, AND THE ROMANS TO WHOM HE GAVE THEM. THAT WOULD BE THE HUMAN THING TO DO. AND EVEN WHEN HE DIDN'T SLIP A LITTLE, THE VERY ACT OF COLLECTING TAXES MADE HIS CUSTOMERS TRY TO CHEAT, TO HOLD BACK; IT MADE THEM SIN, IT MADE THEM BECOME LESS HUMAN. BEING A TAX COLLECTOR WAS ALMOST A RECIPE FOR BEING IMMERSED IN SIN. BUT SO IS JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING ELSE WE HUMANS CAN DO.
MATTHEW RECOGNIZES THAT HE IS A SINNER, AND FINDS HIMSELF DINING WITH CHRIST, WHILE THE PHARISEES ARE OUT IN THE COLD. MATTHEW HEARS THE CALL OF JESUS, AND THE PHARISEES DO NOT.
TODAY, LET US BE CONSCIOUS OF THE FACT THAT WE ARE SINNERS, AND THAT LIKE PETER, LIKE MATTHEW, LET US REALIZE THAT WE CAN'T ESCAPE THIS REALITY. AND ONCE WE KNOW THIS, NOT JUST IN OUR MINDS BUT IN THE DEEPEST PARTS OF OUR SELVES, ONCE THIS HAPPENS, WE WILL HEAR THE VOICE OF JESUS CALLING US.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle A
MATTHEW 7:21-29
MANY YEARS AGO IN BUFFALO A YOUNG PHYSICIAN JOINED OUR TRAINING PROGRAM. HE HAD HAD A HARD LIFE. HE’D BEEN RAISED BY HIS MOTHER, NEVER KNEW HIS DAD; HE HAD STRUGGLED TO PUT HIMSELF THROUGH COLLEGE, AND HAD TO TAKE TIME OFF TO MAKE ENOUGH MONEY TO GET THROUGH MEDICAL SCHOOL. ON THE WAY HE GOT MARRIED, BUT AFTER TWO CHILDREN, HIS WIFE DESERTED HIM AND THE CHILDREN, AND RAN OFF WITH SOMEONE ELSE. HE STRUGGLED TO GET THROUGH HIS RESIDENCY WITH THE HELP OF HIS MOTHER WHO PROVIDED CHILD CARE. AFTER THIS, HE WORKED IN EMERGENCY ROOMS FOR ABOUT SIX YEARS, BECAUSE THIS ALLOWED HIM TO SPEND MORE TIME WITH HIS DAUGHTERS. EVENTUALLY HE MET A YOUNG LADY WHO WAS AN ARDENT SEVENTH DAY ADVENTIST, AND HE BECAME ONE ALSO, AND THEY GOT MARRIED, AND HE FINALLY HAD GOTTEN TO THE POINT WHERE HE COULD PURSUE TRAINING IN CANCER MEDICINE.HIS TIME IN THE TRAINING PROGRAM WAS UNEVENTFUL. HE HAD A HAPPY HOME LIFE AND TOOK HIS RELIGION VERY SERIOUSLY, AND ALTHOUGH I USED TO THINK SEVENTH DAY ADVENTISTS WERE PRETTY STRANGE, HE WAS LIKE MOST SERIOUS CHRISTIANS, MORE INTERESTED IN HIS OWN RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD THAN WITH PROSELYTIZING OTHER PEOPLE, AND WE FOUND THAT OUR RESPECTIVE DENOMINATIONS HAD MORE IN COMMON THAN WAS DIFFERENT..AFTER HE FINISHED HIS TRAINING PROGRAM, HE MOVED TO SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. I RAN ACROSS HIM SEVERAL YEARS LATER. HE WAS THE HEAD OF A LARGE CANCER CLINIC, MADE A LOT OF MONEY, HIS KIDS HAD GROWN AND LEFT HOME, HE AND HIS SECOND WIFE HAD DIVORCED, HE HAD A TROPHY GIRL-FRIEND TO WHOM HE WAS NOT MARRIED, AND HE NO LONGER BELIEVED IN GOD.TODAY JESUS TELLS US ABOUT TWO KINDS OF PEOPLE, THOSE WHO HEAR WHAT HE HAS TO SAY AND ACT ON WHAT THEY HAVE HEARD, AND THOSE WHO HEAR, BUT DO NOT ACT. THE FORMER CAN WEATHER THE STORMS OF LIFE, AND THE LATTER CANNOT.WE ALL HAVE STORMS IN OUR LIVES. JESUS PROMISED THAT WE WOULD. HE DID NOT SAY THE HOLY PEOPLE, THE GOOD PEOPLE, THE CHURCH-GOING PEOPLE WOULD BE SPARED. BUT SOME OF US, AND I’M NOT EXCLUDING MYSELF, MIGHT LOOK AT OUR OWN LIVES AND SAY, WHERE ARE THOSE STORMS? WE WHO LIVE IN LONGMEADOW, IN THE 21ST CENTURY, WHO HAVE GOOD HEALTH THROUGHOUT MOST OF OUR LIVES, WHO MAKE VERY GOOD LIVINGS, WHO DON’T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT WHETHER WE WILL GO HUNGRY TONIGHT, OR WHETHER WE WILL HAVE TO SLEEP IN THE RAIN, MIGHT LOOK AT OUR LIVES AND SAY, “I DON’T SEE A LOT OF STORMS.” NOW I AM AWARE THAT MANY OF OUR PARISHIONERS HAVE HAD TRAGEDY IN THEIR LIVES, DEATHS OF LOVED ONES, DIFFICULT MARRIAGES, CHILDREN WHO DISAPPOINT, GOALS NOT ACHIEVED. BUT JESUS IS TALKING ABOUT FAITH-SHAKING STORMS. AND IF YOU ARE STILL COMING TO CHURCH, MAYBE YOU HAVEN’T HAD THAT KIND OF STORM.IN JESUS’ TIME AND IN THE EARLY CHURCH, PERSECUTION WAS SUCH A STORM. AND IF YOU DIDN’T GET PERSECUTED IN DIRECT, PAINFUL WAYS, YOU MIGHT FIND YOURSELF SHUT OUT FROM GOOD JOBS, PREVENTED FROM LIVING IN NICE NEIGHBORHOODS, OR MARGINALIZED IN OTHER WAYS BECAUSE YOU WERE A CHRISTIAN. AND IT WAS NO WONDER THAT NOT EVERYONE STAYED A CHRISTIAN UNDER THESE PRESSURES. I THINK WE CAN ALL IMAGINE OURSELVES GOING THROUGH THIS KIND OF STORM, THE STORM WHERE EVERY DAY YOU WONDER WHERE GOD IS, WHY ISN’T HE HELPING, WHAT DOES HE HAVE AGAINST YOU?BUT THERE IS ANOTHER, MORE SUBTLE KIND OF STORM. MY FRIEND, PERHAPS, WENT THROUGH THIS, AND LOST HIS FAITH. THIS IS THE STORM OF SUCCESS. IT IS ONLY NATURAL FOR PEOPLE TO TRY TO BETTER THEIR LIVES. AND SOMETIMES, AFTER A GREAT DEAL OF HARD WORK, AND A LITTLE LUCK, WE FIND OURSELVES SUCCESSFUL, OR FAMOUS, OR POWERFUL—WE FIND THAT WE HAVE ACHIEVED AND PERHAPS EVEN GONE BEYOND THOSE GOALS WE SET OUT TO REACH. AND IN THIS SITUATION, THERE ARE SOME WHO SEE NO NEED FOR THE RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND PRACTICES THAT THEY HELD SO STRONGLY WHEN THEY WERE JUST STARTING OUT. IT’S KIND OF WHAT HAS BEEN HAPPENING TO EUROPE DURING THE LAST FIFTY YEARS. AND WHEN YOU LOSE YOUR FAITH IN THIS KIND OF STORM, YOU MAY NOT EVEN REALIZE WHAT YOU ARE MISSING, BECAUSE YOU HAVE WHAT YOU’VE ALWAYS WANTED, YOU ARE COMFORTABLE, AND YOU DON’T SEE A NEED FOR ANYTHING ELSE.JESUS WARNS US THAT IF WE WANT TO WEATHER STORMS, WE HAVE TO BUILD OUR FAITH ON ROCK, AND THE WAY TO DO THIS IS VERY SIMPLE; WE STUDY HIS WORD, AND WE ACT ON IT. WE LISTEN TO WHAT HE SAYS, AND THEN WE ASK WHETHER OUR LIVES REFLECT WHAT HE SAYS; AND IF THEY DO NOT, WE TRY TO CHANGE. AND THEN WE STUDY MORE, EXAMINE MORE, AND CHANGE MORE. BECAUSE THAT IS HOW WE BUILD, AND IF WE AREN’T DOING THAT, WE MAY THINK WE ARE DOING ALL RIGHT NOW, BUT WHEN THE STORM COMES, THE STORM JESUS PROMISED WOULD COME, WE ARE IN DANGER OF LOSING OUR FAITH, WE ARE IN DANGER OF HEARING OUR MASTER SAY, “I NEVER KNEW YOU, DEPART FROM ME.”WHEN THE STORM COMES, WILL WE BE READY? ONLY IF WE BEGIN BUILDING AND CONTINUE TO BUILD ON A FIRM FOUNDATION. AND THE ONLY WAY TO DO THIS IS TO LISTEN TO THE WORDS OF JESUS, AND ACT ON THEM.
MANY YEARS AGO IN BUFFALO A YOUNG PHYSICIAN JOINED OUR TRAINING PROGRAM. HE HAD HAD A HARD LIFE. HE’D BEEN RAISED BY HIS MOTHER, NEVER KNEW HIS DAD; HE HAD STRUGGLED TO PUT HIMSELF THROUGH COLLEGE, AND HAD TO TAKE TIME OFF TO MAKE ENOUGH MONEY TO GET THROUGH MEDICAL SCHOOL. ON THE WAY HE GOT MARRIED, BUT AFTER TWO CHILDREN, HIS WIFE DESERTED HIM AND THE CHILDREN, AND RAN OFF WITH SOMEONE ELSE. HE STRUGGLED TO GET THROUGH HIS RESIDENCY WITH THE HELP OF HIS MOTHER WHO PROVIDED CHILD CARE. AFTER THIS, HE WORKED IN EMERGENCY ROOMS FOR ABOUT SIX YEARS, BECAUSE THIS ALLOWED HIM TO SPEND MORE TIME WITH HIS DAUGHTERS. EVENTUALLY HE MET A YOUNG LADY WHO WAS AN ARDENT SEVENTH DAY ADVENTIST, AND HE BECAME ONE ALSO, AND THEY GOT MARRIED, AND HE FINALLY HAD GOTTEN TO THE POINT WHERE HE COULD PURSUE TRAINING IN CANCER MEDICINE.HIS TIME IN THE TRAINING PROGRAM WAS UNEVENTFUL. HE HAD A HAPPY HOME LIFE AND TOOK HIS RELIGION VERY SERIOUSLY, AND ALTHOUGH I USED TO THINK SEVENTH DAY ADVENTISTS WERE PRETTY STRANGE, HE WAS LIKE MOST SERIOUS CHRISTIANS, MORE INTERESTED IN HIS OWN RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD THAN WITH PROSELYTIZING OTHER PEOPLE, AND WE FOUND THAT OUR RESPECTIVE DENOMINATIONS HAD MORE IN COMMON THAN WAS DIFFERENT..AFTER HE FINISHED HIS TRAINING PROGRAM, HE MOVED TO SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. I RAN ACROSS HIM SEVERAL YEARS LATER. HE WAS THE HEAD OF A LARGE CANCER CLINIC, MADE A LOT OF MONEY, HIS KIDS HAD GROWN AND LEFT HOME, HE AND HIS SECOND WIFE HAD DIVORCED, HE HAD A TROPHY GIRL-FRIEND TO WHOM HE WAS NOT MARRIED, AND HE NO LONGER BELIEVED IN GOD.TODAY JESUS TELLS US ABOUT TWO KINDS OF PEOPLE, THOSE WHO HEAR WHAT HE HAS TO SAY AND ACT ON WHAT THEY HAVE HEARD, AND THOSE WHO HEAR, BUT DO NOT ACT. THE FORMER CAN WEATHER THE STORMS OF LIFE, AND THE LATTER CANNOT.WE ALL HAVE STORMS IN OUR LIVES. JESUS PROMISED THAT WE WOULD. HE DID NOT SAY THE HOLY PEOPLE, THE GOOD PEOPLE, THE CHURCH-GOING PEOPLE WOULD BE SPARED. BUT SOME OF US, AND I’M NOT EXCLUDING MYSELF, MIGHT LOOK AT OUR OWN LIVES AND SAY, WHERE ARE THOSE STORMS? WE WHO LIVE IN LONGMEADOW, IN THE 21ST CENTURY, WHO HAVE GOOD HEALTH THROUGHOUT MOST OF OUR LIVES, WHO MAKE VERY GOOD LIVINGS, WHO DON’T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT WHETHER WE WILL GO HUNGRY TONIGHT, OR WHETHER WE WILL HAVE TO SLEEP IN THE RAIN, MIGHT LOOK AT OUR LIVES AND SAY, “I DON’T SEE A LOT OF STORMS.” NOW I AM AWARE THAT MANY OF OUR PARISHIONERS HAVE HAD TRAGEDY IN THEIR LIVES, DEATHS OF LOVED ONES, DIFFICULT MARRIAGES, CHILDREN WHO DISAPPOINT, GOALS NOT ACHIEVED. BUT JESUS IS TALKING ABOUT FAITH-SHAKING STORMS. AND IF YOU ARE STILL COMING TO CHURCH, MAYBE YOU HAVEN’T HAD THAT KIND OF STORM.IN JESUS’ TIME AND IN THE EARLY CHURCH, PERSECUTION WAS SUCH A STORM. AND IF YOU DIDN’T GET PERSECUTED IN DIRECT, PAINFUL WAYS, YOU MIGHT FIND YOURSELF SHUT OUT FROM GOOD JOBS, PREVENTED FROM LIVING IN NICE NEIGHBORHOODS, OR MARGINALIZED IN OTHER WAYS BECAUSE YOU WERE A CHRISTIAN. AND IT WAS NO WONDER THAT NOT EVERYONE STAYED A CHRISTIAN UNDER THESE PRESSURES. I THINK WE CAN ALL IMAGINE OURSELVES GOING THROUGH THIS KIND OF STORM, THE STORM WHERE EVERY DAY YOU WONDER WHERE GOD IS, WHY ISN’T HE HELPING, WHAT DOES HE HAVE AGAINST YOU?BUT THERE IS ANOTHER, MORE SUBTLE KIND OF STORM. MY FRIEND, PERHAPS, WENT THROUGH THIS, AND LOST HIS FAITH. THIS IS THE STORM OF SUCCESS. IT IS ONLY NATURAL FOR PEOPLE TO TRY TO BETTER THEIR LIVES. AND SOMETIMES, AFTER A GREAT DEAL OF HARD WORK, AND A LITTLE LUCK, WE FIND OURSELVES SUCCESSFUL, OR FAMOUS, OR POWERFUL—WE FIND THAT WE HAVE ACHIEVED AND PERHAPS EVEN GONE BEYOND THOSE GOALS WE SET OUT TO REACH. AND IN THIS SITUATION, THERE ARE SOME WHO SEE NO NEED FOR THE RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND PRACTICES THAT THEY HELD SO STRONGLY WHEN THEY WERE JUST STARTING OUT. IT’S KIND OF WHAT HAS BEEN HAPPENING TO EUROPE DURING THE LAST FIFTY YEARS. AND WHEN YOU LOSE YOUR FAITH IN THIS KIND OF STORM, YOU MAY NOT EVEN REALIZE WHAT YOU ARE MISSING, BECAUSE YOU HAVE WHAT YOU’VE ALWAYS WANTED, YOU ARE COMFORTABLE, AND YOU DON’T SEE A NEED FOR ANYTHING ELSE.JESUS WARNS US THAT IF WE WANT TO WEATHER STORMS, WE HAVE TO BUILD OUR FAITH ON ROCK, AND THE WAY TO DO THIS IS VERY SIMPLE; WE STUDY HIS WORD, AND WE ACT ON IT. WE LISTEN TO WHAT HE SAYS, AND THEN WE ASK WHETHER OUR LIVES REFLECT WHAT HE SAYS; AND IF THEY DO NOT, WE TRY TO CHANGE. AND THEN WE STUDY MORE, EXAMINE MORE, AND CHANGE MORE. BECAUSE THAT IS HOW WE BUILD, AND IF WE AREN’T DOING THAT, WE MAY THINK WE ARE DOING ALL RIGHT NOW, BUT WHEN THE STORM COMES, THE STORM JESUS PROMISED WOULD COME, WE ARE IN DANGER OF LOSING OUR FAITH, WE ARE IN DANGER OF HEARING OUR MASTER SAY, “I NEVER KNEW YOU, DEPART FROM ME.”WHEN THE STORM COMES, WILL WE BE READY? ONLY IF WE BEGIN BUILDING AND CONTINUE TO BUILD ON A FIRM FOUNDATION. AND THE ONLY WAY TO DO THIS IS TO LISTEN TO THE WORDS OF JESUS, AND ACT ON THEM.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Feast of Corpus Christi
John 6:51-58
LIKE ALL OF YOU I’VE RECEIVED THE HOLY EUCHARIST TOO MANY TIMES TO COUNT. BUT THREE TIMES COME TO MIND TODAY.
THE FIRST WAS WHEN I RECEIVED MY FIRST COMMUNION. IT WAS THE SPRING OF MY SECOND GRADE. I HAD BEEN ANTICIPATING IT FOR MANY MONTHS. IN THOSE DAYS AND MAYBE EVEN NOW, YOU COULD BUY NECCO WAFERS WHICH WERE LITTLE SUGAR DISKS, AND I REMEMBER PRETENDING THAT I WAS A PRIEST AND HANDING OUT THE NECCO WAFERS TO MY SISTER AND COUSINS, WHO LOOKED AT ME WITH ENVY BECAUSE I WOULD SOON BE RECEIVING THE REAL THING. AND ON THAT DAY, DRESSED IN MY WHITE SHIRT AND BLACK TIE WALKING NEXT TO SANDRA ROOT IN HER PRETTY WHITE DRESS, THE LORD FED ME WITH HIS BODY AND BLOOD FOR THE FIRST TIME. I REMEMBER HOW I WAS CONSCIOUS OF HIS PRESENCE IN ME, AND I WENT THROUGH MOST OF THE DAY WITHOUT ANNOYING MY SISTER, AND TRYING TO BE GOOD.
THE SECOND TIME WAS AT MY WEDDING. JOAN AND I GOT MARRIED DURING THE TRANSITION TIME, WHEN THE CHURCH WAS MOVING FROM THE OLD TO NEW RITUALS. WE KNELT SIDE BY SIDE IN THE SANCTUARY OF THE CHURCH. IN THE PRESENCE OF THE PRIEST WE CONFERRED THE SACRAMENT OF MATRIMONY ON EACH OTHER. AND THEN WE RECEIVED THE EUCHARIST TOGETHER. I WAS CONSCIOUS AT THAT MOMENT OF HOW SHE AND I HAD VOWED TO SHARE OUR LIVES WITH EACH OTHER, AND WITH US THAT DAY WAS JESUS, WHOSE BODY AND BLOOD WE SHARED AS FOOD AND DRINK, IN THE FIRST MEAL WE HAD AS HUSBAND AND WIFE. RECEIVING THE EUCHARIST TOGETHER CONTINUES TO HELP US LIVE OUT OUR MARRIAGE.
A THIRD TIME WAS WHEN I RECEIVED THE EUCHARIST AT MY MOTHER’S FUNERAL. AT THAT MOMENT I WAS CONSCIOUS OF THE FACT THAT EVEN THOUGH SHE HAD PASSED AWAY, SHE AND I HAD STEPPED OUTSIDE OF TIME WHEN WE RECEIVED THE EUCHARIST; IT IS THE SAME JESUS CHRIST IN ETERNITY WHO FED HER AND FEEDS ME. I LOVED MY MOTHER, BUT THERE WERE WOUNDS IN OUR RELATIONSHIP, FOR HER, I AM SURE, AS WELL AS FOR ME. BUT BECAUSE THE BODY OF JESUS WAS OUR FOOD AND DRINK, AND THE BODY IS ONE, WE BECAME ONE, HAVE ALWAYS BEEN ONE, AND THOSE MOMENTS OF HURT AND ANGER AND DIVISION ARE WASHED AWAY.
THINK OF THE WORDS OF CONSECRATION: THIS IS MY BODY, WHICH IS GIVEN UP FOR YOU. LIKE THAT FIRST COMMUNION, ONE REASON FOR THE EUCHARIST IS THAT JESUS WANTS TO BE UNITED WITH US, SO THAT WE WILL CAN BECOME ONE WITH HIM, SO THAT WE CAN LIVE IN HIM AND RECEIVE HIS GRACE HERE ON EARTH, AND SO THAT WE CAN DIE IN HIM AND RISE IN HIM TO SPEND ETERNITY IN HEAVEN.
THIS IS THE BLOOD OF THE NEW AND ETERNAL COVENANT: THE COVENANT WHICH JESUS MADE WITH US IS A SACRAMENTAL ONE. ALL THE SACRAMENTS IN A SENSE FLOW FROM THE EUCHARIST, THE SUPREME SACRAMENT. IN A CONTRACT, TWO PARTIES AGREE THAT IF ONE DOES SOMETHING THE OTHER WILL DO SOMETHING. IN A COVENANT, THE TWO PARTIES AGREE THAT EACH WILL DO SOMETHING FOR THE OTHER UNCONDITIONALLY. JESUS GAVE HIMSELF UP FOR YOU AND I BY ENTERING INTO OUR LIFE, BY BECOMING ONE OF US, AND BY DYING ON THE CROSS FOR US. HE HAS UPHELD HIS END. WHEN WE RECEIVE A SACRAMENT, WE ARE SOLEMNLY PROMISING TO HOLD UP OUR END. IN BAPTISM, CONFIRMATION, MATRIMONY, AND HOLY ORDERS WE ENTER INTO THE NEW AND ETERNAL COVENANT IN DIFFERENT WAYS, FOR OUR SAKE AND FOR THE SAKE OF THE CHURCH.
WHICH WILL BE GIVEN FOR YOU AND FOR MANY, FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SIN: SIN IS DIVISION. DIVISION COMES NATURALLY TO US. SOMETIMES THE DIVISION IS TRIVIAL – YOU ARE EITHER A MEMBER OF MY PARISH OR YOU AREN’T. SOMETIMES IT IS MORE SERIOUS; YOU ARE POOR, I AM RICH; YOU ARE A FOREIGNER, I AM AN AMERICAN. YOU ARE BLACK, I AM WHITE, YOU SPEAK SPANISH, I SPEAK ENGLISH. DIVISIONS MAY MAKE US NOT NOTICE EACH OTHER; MAY MAKE US TRY TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF EACH OTHER; MAY RESULT IN VIOLENCE TOWARDS EACH OTHER; DIVISIONS MORE OR LESS DIMINISH OUR HUMANITY. AND THAT IS WHY THE EUCHARIST IS GIVEN FOR YOU AND FOR MANY, FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SIN. WE EAT THE ONE INDIVISIBLE BREAD AND DRINK FROM THE ONE CUP OF WINE; AND DIVISIONS, EVEN THE DIVISIONS BETWEEN THE LIVING AND THE DEAD, THE PAST AND THE FUTURE, BETWEEN JEW AND GREEK, SLAVE AND FREE, MALE AND FEMALE, ARE ERASED IN CHRIST. WHEN WE EAT THIS BREAD AND DRINK THIS WINE WE PLEDGE TO OVERCOME THOSE DIVISIONS, WHICH ALWAYS LEAD TO DESTRUCTION OF LOVE.
ON FIRST FRIDAY I LIKE TO COME TO SAINT MARY’S IN THE EVENING. THE BLESSED SACRAMENT IS IN THE MONSTRANCE AND GOLDEN RAYS RADIATE FROM IT. I LOOK AT MY LORD FOR A WHILE WITHOUT WORDS. I TRY TO HEAR HIM SPEAK TO MY HEART, AND I TELL HIM WHAT IS ON MY MIND. AND THEN I READ A LITTLE, FROM A SPIRITUAL BOOK, OR A BIOGRAPHY OF A SAINT. SOMETIMES I EVEN DOZE OFF. THERE IS A GREAT PEACE IN BEING IN THE PHYSICAL PRESENCE OF JESUS, KNOWING THAT HE IS LOVES ME AND DOESN'T GIVE UP ON ME, KNOWING THAT HIS GRACES ARE GUARANTEED TO ME THROUGH THE COVENANT SACRAMENTS I’VE RECEIVED AS I GO THROUGH MY LIFE; AND KNOWING THAT WHEN I LOOK AT THE EUCHARIST I SEE MY WIFE, MY MOTHER AND FATHER, MY PATRON SAINTS, MY CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN, -- ALL THOSE I LOVE TAKEN UP INTO THAT ONE BODY BECAUSE THEY HAVE ALL EATEN OF THAT ONE BREAD.
ON THIS FEAST OF THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST, THANK OUR LORD FOR THE FACT THAT HE GAVE US THIS SACRAMENT. AND IF YOU COME TO ADORATION ON FIRST FRIDAY, AND I HOPE YOU DO, JESUS WILL WELCOME YOU WITH OPEN ARMS.
LIKE ALL OF YOU I’VE RECEIVED THE HOLY EUCHARIST TOO MANY TIMES TO COUNT. BUT THREE TIMES COME TO MIND TODAY.
THE FIRST WAS WHEN I RECEIVED MY FIRST COMMUNION. IT WAS THE SPRING OF MY SECOND GRADE. I HAD BEEN ANTICIPATING IT FOR MANY MONTHS. IN THOSE DAYS AND MAYBE EVEN NOW, YOU COULD BUY NECCO WAFERS WHICH WERE LITTLE SUGAR DISKS, AND I REMEMBER PRETENDING THAT I WAS A PRIEST AND HANDING OUT THE NECCO WAFERS TO MY SISTER AND COUSINS, WHO LOOKED AT ME WITH ENVY BECAUSE I WOULD SOON BE RECEIVING THE REAL THING. AND ON THAT DAY, DRESSED IN MY WHITE SHIRT AND BLACK TIE WALKING NEXT TO SANDRA ROOT IN HER PRETTY WHITE DRESS, THE LORD FED ME WITH HIS BODY AND BLOOD FOR THE FIRST TIME. I REMEMBER HOW I WAS CONSCIOUS OF HIS PRESENCE IN ME, AND I WENT THROUGH MOST OF THE DAY WITHOUT ANNOYING MY SISTER, AND TRYING TO BE GOOD.
THE SECOND TIME WAS AT MY WEDDING. JOAN AND I GOT MARRIED DURING THE TRANSITION TIME, WHEN THE CHURCH WAS MOVING FROM THE OLD TO NEW RITUALS. WE KNELT SIDE BY SIDE IN THE SANCTUARY OF THE CHURCH. IN THE PRESENCE OF THE PRIEST WE CONFERRED THE SACRAMENT OF MATRIMONY ON EACH OTHER. AND THEN WE RECEIVED THE EUCHARIST TOGETHER. I WAS CONSCIOUS AT THAT MOMENT OF HOW SHE AND I HAD VOWED TO SHARE OUR LIVES WITH EACH OTHER, AND WITH US THAT DAY WAS JESUS, WHOSE BODY AND BLOOD WE SHARED AS FOOD AND DRINK, IN THE FIRST MEAL WE HAD AS HUSBAND AND WIFE. RECEIVING THE EUCHARIST TOGETHER CONTINUES TO HELP US LIVE OUT OUR MARRIAGE.
A THIRD TIME WAS WHEN I RECEIVED THE EUCHARIST AT MY MOTHER’S FUNERAL. AT THAT MOMENT I WAS CONSCIOUS OF THE FACT THAT EVEN THOUGH SHE HAD PASSED AWAY, SHE AND I HAD STEPPED OUTSIDE OF TIME WHEN WE RECEIVED THE EUCHARIST; IT IS THE SAME JESUS CHRIST IN ETERNITY WHO FED HER AND FEEDS ME. I LOVED MY MOTHER, BUT THERE WERE WOUNDS IN OUR RELATIONSHIP, FOR HER, I AM SURE, AS WELL AS FOR ME. BUT BECAUSE THE BODY OF JESUS WAS OUR FOOD AND DRINK, AND THE BODY IS ONE, WE BECAME ONE, HAVE ALWAYS BEEN ONE, AND THOSE MOMENTS OF HURT AND ANGER AND DIVISION ARE WASHED AWAY.
THINK OF THE WORDS OF CONSECRATION: THIS IS MY BODY, WHICH IS GIVEN UP FOR YOU. LIKE THAT FIRST COMMUNION, ONE REASON FOR THE EUCHARIST IS THAT JESUS WANTS TO BE UNITED WITH US, SO THAT WE WILL CAN BECOME ONE WITH HIM, SO THAT WE CAN LIVE IN HIM AND RECEIVE HIS GRACE HERE ON EARTH, AND SO THAT WE CAN DIE IN HIM AND RISE IN HIM TO SPEND ETERNITY IN HEAVEN.
THIS IS THE BLOOD OF THE NEW AND ETERNAL COVENANT: THE COVENANT WHICH JESUS MADE WITH US IS A SACRAMENTAL ONE. ALL THE SACRAMENTS IN A SENSE FLOW FROM THE EUCHARIST, THE SUPREME SACRAMENT. IN A CONTRACT, TWO PARTIES AGREE THAT IF ONE DOES SOMETHING THE OTHER WILL DO SOMETHING. IN A COVENANT, THE TWO PARTIES AGREE THAT EACH WILL DO SOMETHING FOR THE OTHER UNCONDITIONALLY. JESUS GAVE HIMSELF UP FOR YOU AND I BY ENTERING INTO OUR LIFE, BY BECOMING ONE OF US, AND BY DYING ON THE CROSS FOR US. HE HAS UPHELD HIS END. WHEN WE RECEIVE A SACRAMENT, WE ARE SOLEMNLY PROMISING TO HOLD UP OUR END. IN BAPTISM, CONFIRMATION, MATRIMONY, AND HOLY ORDERS WE ENTER INTO THE NEW AND ETERNAL COVENANT IN DIFFERENT WAYS, FOR OUR SAKE AND FOR THE SAKE OF THE CHURCH.
WHICH WILL BE GIVEN FOR YOU AND FOR MANY, FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SIN: SIN IS DIVISION. DIVISION COMES NATURALLY TO US. SOMETIMES THE DIVISION IS TRIVIAL – YOU ARE EITHER A MEMBER OF MY PARISH OR YOU AREN’T. SOMETIMES IT IS MORE SERIOUS; YOU ARE POOR, I AM RICH; YOU ARE A FOREIGNER, I AM AN AMERICAN. YOU ARE BLACK, I AM WHITE, YOU SPEAK SPANISH, I SPEAK ENGLISH. DIVISIONS MAY MAKE US NOT NOTICE EACH OTHER; MAY MAKE US TRY TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF EACH OTHER; MAY RESULT IN VIOLENCE TOWARDS EACH OTHER; DIVISIONS MORE OR LESS DIMINISH OUR HUMANITY. AND THAT IS WHY THE EUCHARIST IS GIVEN FOR YOU AND FOR MANY, FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SIN. WE EAT THE ONE INDIVISIBLE BREAD AND DRINK FROM THE ONE CUP OF WINE; AND DIVISIONS, EVEN THE DIVISIONS BETWEEN THE LIVING AND THE DEAD, THE PAST AND THE FUTURE, BETWEEN JEW AND GREEK, SLAVE AND FREE, MALE AND FEMALE, ARE ERASED IN CHRIST. WHEN WE EAT THIS BREAD AND DRINK THIS WINE WE PLEDGE TO OVERCOME THOSE DIVISIONS, WHICH ALWAYS LEAD TO DESTRUCTION OF LOVE.
ON FIRST FRIDAY I LIKE TO COME TO SAINT MARY’S IN THE EVENING. THE BLESSED SACRAMENT IS IN THE MONSTRANCE AND GOLDEN RAYS RADIATE FROM IT. I LOOK AT MY LORD FOR A WHILE WITHOUT WORDS. I TRY TO HEAR HIM SPEAK TO MY HEART, AND I TELL HIM WHAT IS ON MY MIND. AND THEN I READ A LITTLE, FROM A SPIRITUAL BOOK, OR A BIOGRAPHY OF A SAINT. SOMETIMES I EVEN DOZE OFF. THERE IS A GREAT PEACE IN BEING IN THE PHYSICAL PRESENCE OF JESUS, KNOWING THAT HE IS LOVES ME AND DOESN'T GIVE UP ON ME, KNOWING THAT HIS GRACES ARE GUARANTEED TO ME THROUGH THE COVENANT SACRAMENTS I’VE RECEIVED AS I GO THROUGH MY LIFE; AND KNOWING THAT WHEN I LOOK AT THE EUCHARIST I SEE MY WIFE, MY MOTHER AND FATHER, MY PATRON SAINTS, MY CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN, -- ALL THOSE I LOVE TAKEN UP INTO THAT ONE BODY BECAUSE THEY HAVE ALL EATEN OF THAT ONE BREAD.
ON THIS FEAST OF THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST, THANK OUR LORD FOR THE FACT THAT HE GAVE US THIS SACRAMENT. AND IF YOU COME TO ADORATION ON FIRST FRIDAY, AND I HOPE YOU DO, JESUS WILL WELCOME YOU WITH OPEN ARMS.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Trinity Sunday, cycle A
JOHN 3:16-18
THE TRINITY IS A VERY DIFFICULT DOCTRINE TO DESCRIBE OR EVEN TO IMAGINE. AND YET, OUR CHURCH TELLS US THAT GOD HIMSELF HAS REVEALED THIS TO US. SO THE QUESTION THEN BECOMES, WHY? IF I DON’T UNDERSTAND IT, AND THINKING ABOUT IT MAKES MY HEAD HURT, WHY DID GOD REVEAL THIS TO ME?THINK OF ALL THE WAYS THAT PEOPLE HAVE TRIED TO DESCRIBE THE TRINITY. SAINT PATRICK’S FAMOUS USE OF THE SHAMROCK – THREE LEAVES, ONE PLANT – BUT NO, THAT DOESN’T WORK, BECAUSE THE THREE LEAVES ARE PART OF ONE THING, BUT EACH PERSON IN THE TRINITY IS ALL GOD. WORDS LIKE “CREATOR, REDEEMER, SANCTIFIER” HAVE BEEN USED. BUT THAT DOESN’T WORK, BECAUSE WHILE IT MIGHT DESCRIBE ACTIVITY, IT SAYS NOTHING ABOUT EQUALITY OF PERSON, OR THE FACT THAT GOD IS ONE, OR THE FACT THAT EACH MEMBER PARTICIPATES IN EVERYTHING DONE BY EACH MEMBER. ONE ANALOGY I LIKED UNTIL I THOUGHT ABOUT IT WAS THAT GOD THE FATHER IS LIKE THE SUN, GOD THE SON IS LIKE THE SUNBEAM, AND GOD THE SPIRIT IS LIKE THE WARMTH THAT IS CAUSED IN WHAT THE SUNBEAM STRIKES. SUN, LIGHT, AND WARMTH ARE ONE, AND YET DIFFERENT. BUT THE TRINITY IS MADE UP OF PERSONS, WHICH MEANS THAT THEY HAVE FREEDOM TO ACT. THE SUN-LIGHT-WARMTH IDEA IS VERY MECHANICAL, AND THERE IS NO CHOICE. YOU CAN’T DESCRIBE THE TRINITY, AND WHEN YOU TRY TO DO SO, YOU HAVE TO ACCEPT THAT YOU ARE AT LEAST 90% WRONG.BUT MAYBE THERE IS A WAY TO THINK ABOUT THE TRINITY WHICH MEANS SOMETHING TO YOU AND I. INSTEAD OF BEGINNING WITH THE PERSONS, BEGIN WITH LOVE, FOR ST. JOHN SAYS, GOD IS LOVE. IS LOVE A THING? NO, OF COURSE NOT. IS LOVE AN EMOTION? NO, TO THAT AS WELL. MY WIFE CAN TELL YOU THAT THERE ARE PLENTY OF TIMES WHEN SHE’S BEEN REALLY MAD AT ME BUT HAD TO LOVE ME NEVERTHELESS. IS LOVE REAL? YOU TELL ME. I’VE LOVED AND EXPERIENCED LOVE, SO I COULD NEVER DENY THAT IT IS REAL.LOVE, IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT, IS A RELATIONSHIP WHICH SEEKS THE BEST FOR WHATEVER IS LOVED. THE LOVE THAT WE CALL GOD NOT ONLY WANTS THE BEST, BUT IS ABLE TO BRING ABOUT THE BEST. SO THE LOVE BRINGS FORTH THE UNIVERSE, IN SPACE AND TIME – IN REALITY AND IN OUR IMAGINATIONS; AND IN THE COURSE OF ETERNITY, EVERYTHING THAT COULD POSSIBLY EXIST IS BROUGHT INTO EXISTENCE, BECAUSE TO EXIST IS BETTER THAN TO NOT EXIST. AND THAT IS WHY WE CALL LOVE FATHER – EVERYTHING THAT EXISTS IS CHILD TO THAT PARENT.
BUT THE BEST FOR US, FOR YOU AND I AS BEINGS CREATED TO LOVE, IS MORE THAN MERE EXISTENCE. THE BEST FOR US IS TO HAVE OUR ABILITY TO LOVE FULFILLED. IT HAS BEEN SAID THAT THERE IS A GOD-SHAPED HOLE IN EVERY PERSON, AND THERE IS NO SATISFACTION UNTIL IT IS FILLED. AND BECAUSE OF SIN WE CAN'T FILL THAT HOLE. SO LOVE EMPTIES HIMSELF OUT SO THAT WE CAN BE FILLED UP; LOVE BECOMES SIN SO THAT WE CAN BE RIGHTEOUS. AND GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD THAT HE GAVE US HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, THAT WHOEVER BELIEVE IN HIM SHALL NOT PERISH, BUT SHALL HAVE ETERNAL LIFE. AND THAT IS WHY WE CALL LOVE SON.
NOW IT IS NOT ENOUGH THAT LOVE CALLS US INTO EXISTENCE, THAT LOVE MAKES IT POSSIBLE FOR US TO BE COMPLETED BY LOVE, BUT LOVE DOES NOT STOP THERE. LOVE ENTERS US, DWELLS WITHIN US, GIVES US WISDOM TO SEE WHAT IS REAL AND WHAT IS FALSE, GIVES US STRENGTH TO PURSUE THE GOOD AND AVOID EVIL, EVEN GIVES US POWER TO DO THINGS THAT WE MIGHT NEVER BE ABLE TO DO OTHERWISE. AND MOST IMPORTANT, LOVE TURNS OUR ATTENTION TO JESUS, WHO IN TURN SHOWS US THE FATHER, SO THAT WE CAN BEGIN TO UNDERSTAND WHAT LOVE HAS DONE, AND COOPERATE WITH WHAT LOVE CONTINUES TO DO. AND THAT IS WHY WE CALL LOVE SPIRIT.NOW IF I STOPPED RIGHT THERE, I WOULD BE GUILTY OF AN HERESY CALLED MODALISM. THAT MEANS THAT I AM GIVING THE ACTIONS OF GOD DIFFERENT NAMES DEPENDING ON WHERE GOD IS ACTING. BUT THESE ARE NOT JUST NAMES, THEY DENOTE PERSONS. FOR A PERSON IS CAPABLE OF ACTING WITHOUT BEING ACTED UPON, A PERSON IS SELF-STARTING. AND ONLY A PERSON CAN LOVE. SO THE SECOND PART OF THIS TRINITARIAN MYSTERY IS THAT GOD IS NOT A PERSON, NOT A THING, NOT A BEING IN THE SENSE THAT YOU AND I ARE BEINGS. GOD IS A COMMUNITY, A COMMUNION. THERE IS NO ZEUS, THERE IS NO ALLAH, THERE IS NO SENIOR GOD AND JUNIOR GODS. EACH PERSON HAS A UNIQUE ROLE, BUT ALL THINK AND ACT IN PERFECT COORDINATION. THE MYSTICS TRIED TO DESCRIBE THIS BY THE TERM “PERICHORESIS” WHICH MEANS “DANCING AROUND”. IF YOU'VE EVER SEEN REALLY GREAT DANCING, THE DANCERS MOVE TOGETHER IN A WAY THAT IS PRECISE AND DYNAMIC AND EVEN BEAUTIFUL.
AND EVEN IN OUR HUMAN LIVES, WE RECOGNIZE THAT FOR LOVE TO BE COMPLETELY REALIZED, THERE MUST BE NOT ONE PERSON, BECAUSE THERE CAN BE NO OBJECT OF LOVE; NOT TWO PERSONS, BECAUSE TWO PERSONS IN LOVE (AND IF YOU'VE EVER BEEN MADLY IN LOVE, YOU KNOW I'M RIGHT) TEND TO LOSE TRACK OF THE REST OF THE WORLD, AND THE LOVE BECOMES SELFISH; THERE MUST BE AT LEAST THREE PERSONS FOR LOVE TO GROW, TO OVERFLOW, TO BE CREATIVE, TO HAVE POWER. SO IT IS BECAUSE THERE ARE THREE PERSONS IN THE COMMUNITY WE CALL GOD THAT WE CAN HAVE A RELATIONSHIP WITH THIS TRINITY, IN FACT, THAT WE CAN LIVE FOREVER IN THE HEART OF THE TRINITY.
TODAY WE HAVE BOOKS BEING WRITTEN BY VARIOUS ATHEISTS, WHO TALK ABOUT HOW JUVENILE, HOW ABSURD, IT IS TO BELIEVE IN A GOD. SAMUEL HARRIS, ONE OF THESE WRITERS, SAYS THAT DURING THE LIFETIME OF THE HUMAN RACE, PEOPLE HAVE BELIEVED IN THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS OF GODS. HARRIS SAYS THE ONLY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HIM AND YOU AND I IS THAT HE DOESN'T BELIEVE IN ANY OF THESE GODS, AND YOU AND I DON'T BELIEVE IN ANY OF THEM EITHER, EXCEPT FOR ONE. BUT I WOULD CORRECT HARRIS. THE GOD IN WHOM I BELIEVE IS NOT ANY OF THESE, NOT EVEN THE ONE HE THINKS I BELIEVE IN. MY GOD IS LOVE, AND LOVE IS REAL, AND THE PERSONS IN GOD CAN ONLY BE UNDERSTOOD IN RELATIONSHIP TO EACH OTHER; AND WE ARE INVITED INTO THIS RELATIONSHIP, AND ONLY IF WE SURRENDER TO IT WILL WE TRULY FIND OURSELVES.
IT IS HARD TO THINK ABOUT THE TRINITY. BUT IT IS GOOD FOR US TO THINK ABOUT IT, BECAUSE THE ONLY KIND OF GOD THAT MAKES ANY SENSE IS THE TRINITARIAN GOD REVEALED BY JESUS.
SO THIS WEEK LOOK FOR SIGNS OF GOD THE FATHER IN THE LEAVES AND FLOWERS AND TREES, IN ALL OF CREATION. LOOK FOR SIGNS OF GOD THE SON IN THE GOODNESS OF PEOPLE WHO GIVE SOMETHING OF THEMSELVES TO YOU; AND LOOK FOR SIGNS OF GOD THE SPIRIT IN THE INSIGHTS YOU GET, IN THE IMPULSES TO LOVE THAT YOU WILL HAVE. AND MAY YOU SEE WHAT IS REALLY TRUE, THAT YOU LIVE IN THE TRINITY.
THE TRINITY IS A VERY DIFFICULT DOCTRINE TO DESCRIBE OR EVEN TO IMAGINE. AND YET, OUR CHURCH TELLS US THAT GOD HIMSELF HAS REVEALED THIS TO US. SO THE QUESTION THEN BECOMES, WHY? IF I DON’T UNDERSTAND IT, AND THINKING ABOUT IT MAKES MY HEAD HURT, WHY DID GOD REVEAL THIS TO ME?THINK OF ALL THE WAYS THAT PEOPLE HAVE TRIED TO DESCRIBE THE TRINITY. SAINT PATRICK’S FAMOUS USE OF THE SHAMROCK – THREE LEAVES, ONE PLANT – BUT NO, THAT DOESN’T WORK, BECAUSE THE THREE LEAVES ARE PART OF ONE THING, BUT EACH PERSON IN THE TRINITY IS ALL GOD. WORDS LIKE “CREATOR, REDEEMER, SANCTIFIER” HAVE BEEN USED. BUT THAT DOESN’T WORK, BECAUSE WHILE IT MIGHT DESCRIBE ACTIVITY, IT SAYS NOTHING ABOUT EQUALITY OF PERSON, OR THE FACT THAT GOD IS ONE, OR THE FACT THAT EACH MEMBER PARTICIPATES IN EVERYTHING DONE BY EACH MEMBER. ONE ANALOGY I LIKED UNTIL I THOUGHT ABOUT IT WAS THAT GOD THE FATHER IS LIKE THE SUN, GOD THE SON IS LIKE THE SUNBEAM, AND GOD THE SPIRIT IS LIKE THE WARMTH THAT IS CAUSED IN WHAT THE SUNBEAM STRIKES. SUN, LIGHT, AND WARMTH ARE ONE, AND YET DIFFERENT. BUT THE TRINITY IS MADE UP OF PERSONS, WHICH MEANS THAT THEY HAVE FREEDOM TO ACT. THE SUN-LIGHT-WARMTH IDEA IS VERY MECHANICAL, AND THERE IS NO CHOICE. YOU CAN’T DESCRIBE THE TRINITY, AND WHEN YOU TRY TO DO SO, YOU HAVE TO ACCEPT THAT YOU ARE AT LEAST 90% WRONG.BUT MAYBE THERE IS A WAY TO THINK ABOUT THE TRINITY WHICH MEANS SOMETHING TO YOU AND I. INSTEAD OF BEGINNING WITH THE PERSONS, BEGIN WITH LOVE, FOR ST. JOHN SAYS, GOD IS LOVE. IS LOVE A THING? NO, OF COURSE NOT. IS LOVE AN EMOTION? NO, TO THAT AS WELL. MY WIFE CAN TELL YOU THAT THERE ARE PLENTY OF TIMES WHEN SHE’S BEEN REALLY MAD AT ME BUT HAD TO LOVE ME NEVERTHELESS. IS LOVE REAL? YOU TELL ME. I’VE LOVED AND EXPERIENCED LOVE, SO I COULD NEVER DENY THAT IT IS REAL.LOVE, IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT, IS A RELATIONSHIP WHICH SEEKS THE BEST FOR WHATEVER IS LOVED. THE LOVE THAT WE CALL GOD NOT ONLY WANTS THE BEST, BUT IS ABLE TO BRING ABOUT THE BEST. SO THE LOVE BRINGS FORTH THE UNIVERSE, IN SPACE AND TIME – IN REALITY AND IN OUR IMAGINATIONS; AND IN THE COURSE OF ETERNITY, EVERYTHING THAT COULD POSSIBLY EXIST IS BROUGHT INTO EXISTENCE, BECAUSE TO EXIST IS BETTER THAN TO NOT EXIST. AND THAT IS WHY WE CALL LOVE FATHER – EVERYTHING THAT EXISTS IS CHILD TO THAT PARENT.
BUT THE BEST FOR US, FOR YOU AND I AS BEINGS CREATED TO LOVE, IS MORE THAN MERE EXISTENCE. THE BEST FOR US IS TO HAVE OUR ABILITY TO LOVE FULFILLED. IT HAS BEEN SAID THAT THERE IS A GOD-SHAPED HOLE IN EVERY PERSON, AND THERE IS NO SATISFACTION UNTIL IT IS FILLED. AND BECAUSE OF SIN WE CAN'T FILL THAT HOLE. SO LOVE EMPTIES HIMSELF OUT SO THAT WE CAN BE FILLED UP; LOVE BECOMES SIN SO THAT WE CAN BE RIGHTEOUS. AND GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD THAT HE GAVE US HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, THAT WHOEVER BELIEVE IN HIM SHALL NOT PERISH, BUT SHALL HAVE ETERNAL LIFE. AND THAT IS WHY WE CALL LOVE SON.
NOW IT IS NOT ENOUGH THAT LOVE CALLS US INTO EXISTENCE, THAT LOVE MAKES IT POSSIBLE FOR US TO BE COMPLETED BY LOVE, BUT LOVE DOES NOT STOP THERE. LOVE ENTERS US, DWELLS WITHIN US, GIVES US WISDOM TO SEE WHAT IS REAL AND WHAT IS FALSE, GIVES US STRENGTH TO PURSUE THE GOOD AND AVOID EVIL, EVEN GIVES US POWER TO DO THINGS THAT WE MIGHT NEVER BE ABLE TO DO OTHERWISE. AND MOST IMPORTANT, LOVE TURNS OUR ATTENTION TO JESUS, WHO IN TURN SHOWS US THE FATHER, SO THAT WE CAN BEGIN TO UNDERSTAND WHAT LOVE HAS DONE, AND COOPERATE WITH WHAT LOVE CONTINUES TO DO. AND THAT IS WHY WE CALL LOVE SPIRIT.NOW IF I STOPPED RIGHT THERE, I WOULD BE GUILTY OF AN HERESY CALLED MODALISM. THAT MEANS THAT I AM GIVING THE ACTIONS OF GOD DIFFERENT NAMES DEPENDING ON WHERE GOD IS ACTING. BUT THESE ARE NOT JUST NAMES, THEY DENOTE PERSONS. FOR A PERSON IS CAPABLE OF ACTING WITHOUT BEING ACTED UPON, A PERSON IS SELF-STARTING. AND ONLY A PERSON CAN LOVE. SO THE SECOND PART OF THIS TRINITARIAN MYSTERY IS THAT GOD IS NOT A PERSON, NOT A THING, NOT A BEING IN THE SENSE THAT YOU AND I ARE BEINGS. GOD IS A COMMUNITY, A COMMUNION. THERE IS NO ZEUS, THERE IS NO ALLAH, THERE IS NO SENIOR GOD AND JUNIOR GODS. EACH PERSON HAS A UNIQUE ROLE, BUT ALL THINK AND ACT IN PERFECT COORDINATION. THE MYSTICS TRIED TO DESCRIBE THIS BY THE TERM “PERICHORESIS” WHICH MEANS “DANCING AROUND”. IF YOU'VE EVER SEEN REALLY GREAT DANCING, THE DANCERS MOVE TOGETHER IN A WAY THAT IS PRECISE AND DYNAMIC AND EVEN BEAUTIFUL.
AND EVEN IN OUR HUMAN LIVES, WE RECOGNIZE THAT FOR LOVE TO BE COMPLETELY REALIZED, THERE MUST BE NOT ONE PERSON, BECAUSE THERE CAN BE NO OBJECT OF LOVE; NOT TWO PERSONS, BECAUSE TWO PERSONS IN LOVE (AND IF YOU'VE EVER BEEN MADLY IN LOVE, YOU KNOW I'M RIGHT) TEND TO LOSE TRACK OF THE REST OF THE WORLD, AND THE LOVE BECOMES SELFISH; THERE MUST BE AT LEAST THREE PERSONS FOR LOVE TO GROW, TO OVERFLOW, TO BE CREATIVE, TO HAVE POWER. SO IT IS BECAUSE THERE ARE THREE PERSONS IN THE COMMUNITY WE CALL GOD THAT WE CAN HAVE A RELATIONSHIP WITH THIS TRINITY, IN FACT, THAT WE CAN LIVE FOREVER IN THE HEART OF THE TRINITY.
TODAY WE HAVE BOOKS BEING WRITTEN BY VARIOUS ATHEISTS, WHO TALK ABOUT HOW JUVENILE, HOW ABSURD, IT IS TO BELIEVE IN A GOD. SAMUEL HARRIS, ONE OF THESE WRITERS, SAYS THAT DURING THE LIFETIME OF THE HUMAN RACE, PEOPLE HAVE BELIEVED IN THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS OF GODS. HARRIS SAYS THE ONLY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HIM AND YOU AND I IS THAT HE DOESN'T BELIEVE IN ANY OF THESE GODS, AND YOU AND I DON'T BELIEVE IN ANY OF THEM EITHER, EXCEPT FOR ONE. BUT I WOULD CORRECT HARRIS. THE GOD IN WHOM I BELIEVE IS NOT ANY OF THESE, NOT EVEN THE ONE HE THINKS I BELIEVE IN. MY GOD IS LOVE, AND LOVE IS REAL, AND THE PERSONS IN GOD CAN ONLY BE UNDERSTOOD IN RELATIONSHIP TO EACH OTHER; AND WE ARE INVITED INTO THIS RELATIONSHIP, AND ONLY IF WE SURRENDER TO IT WILL WE TRULY FIND OURSELVES.
IT IS HARD TO THINK ABOUT THE TRINITY. BUT IT IS GOOD FOR US TO THINK ABOUT IT, BECAUSE THE ONLY KIND OF GOD THAT MAKES ANY SENSE IS THE TRINITARIAN GOD REVEALED BY JESUS.
SO THIS WEEK LOOK FOR SIGNS OF GOD THE FATHER IN THE LEAVES AND FLOWERS AND TREES, IN ALL OF CREATION. LOOK FOR SIGNS OF GOD THE SON IN THE GOODNESS OF PEOPLE WHO GIVE SOMETHING OF THEMSELVES TO YOU; AND LOOK FOR SIGNS OF GOD THE SPIRIT IN THE INSIGHTS YOU GET, IN THE IMPULSES TO LOVE THAT YOU WILL HAVE. AND MAY YOU SEE WHAT IS REALLY TRUE, THAT YOU LIVE IN THE TRINITY.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Pentecost Sunday, cycle A
JOHN 20:19-23
I REMEMBER MY TWIN GRANDSON'S FOURTH BIRTHDAY. THERE WERE TONGUES OF FLAME ON THE BIRTHDAY CAKE AND A MIGHTY WIND WHEN THEY BLEW THE CANDLES OUT. AND TODAY IS THE BIRTHDAY OF THE CHURCH. OF COURSE WE MIGHT HAVE DECIDED THAT THE BIRTHDAY WAS WHEN JESUS WAS BORN, OR PERHAPS ON HOLY THURSDAY WHEN HE ORDAINED THE FIRST PRIESTS AND CELEBRATED THE FIRST EUCHARIST, OR MAYBE GOOD FRIDAY, BECAUSE THE CHURCH WAS IN A SENSE, BORN FROM HIS SIDE IN THE WATER AND THE BLOOD THAT SPILLED FORTH WHEN HE WAS PIERCED WITH A SPEAR. OR MAYBE EASTER SUNDAY, WHEN HE ROSE FROM THE DEAD. THOSE ARE ALL LOGICAL CHOICES, BUT REALLY, WE CELEBRATE THE BEGINNING OF THE CHURCH ON PENTECOST.
IN THE GOSPEL TODAY, JESUS BLOWS HIS BREATH ON THE APOSTLES AND TELLS THEM TO RECEIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT. IF YOU LOOK IN YOUR BIBLE, YOU WOULD SEE THAT THIS EVENT TAKES PLACE WHEN JESUS FIRST APPEARS TO HIS APOSTLES, NAMELY, EASTER SUNDAY. BUT WHAT DO THE APOSTLES DO WHEN THEY HAVE RECEIVED THE HOLY SPIRIT? WELL, WE FIND THEM HUDDLED IN THE UPPER ROOM EIGHT DAYS LATER, STILL FRIGHTENED. WE FIND THEM GOING BACK TO GALILEE AND SOME OF THEM TAKING UP THEIR OLD TRADE. AND EVEN THOUGH JESUS MOVES AMONG THEM AND APPEARS TO ABOUT 500 PEOPLE AFTER HE DIES, EVEN AFTER THE ASCENSION, THE BOOK OF ACTS TELLS US THAT THERE ARE ABOUT 120 FOLLOWERS WHO ARE GATHERED THERE, NOT A VERY PROMISING BEGINNING. AND THEN THE HOLY SPIRIT COMES UPON THEM AGAIN, THIS TIME WITH WIND AND TONGUES OF FIRE, AND SOMETHING AMAZING HAPPENS; THEY BEGIN TO PREACH IN DIFFERENT LANGUAGES, AND ACCORDING TO THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES, 3000 WERE ADDED TO THEIR NUMBER THAT DAY. AND THE BOOK OF ACTS DESCRIBES MIRACLES – PETER RAISING A DEAD WOMAN, CURING A LAME MAN, PAUL WORKING MIRACLES AS WELL, AND MIRACLES ARE WORKED ON THEM AS WELL. THEY ARE BROKEN OUT OF PRISON THROUGH SUPERNATURAL MEANS, PHILIP IS TRANSPORTED BY AN ANGEL, PAUL IS GUIDED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT ON HIS JOURNEYS – THIS TIME THE COMING OF THE SPIRIT CHANGED THINGS IN A BIG WAY.
SO WE MIGHT ASK, DOES THE SPIRIT COME MORE THAN ONCE? AND IF HE DOES, WHY WAS THE SECOND TIME FOLLOWED BY ALL THE POWER, ALL THE MIRACLES, ALL THE GROWTH, AND THE FIRST, BY HARDLY ANYTHING AT ALL? AND WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO US, HERE AND NOW?
OUR FAITH TELLS US THAT WE ALL RECEIVE THE SPIRIT – WE RECEIVE HIM AT BAPTISM, WE RECEIVE HIM THROUGH ALL THE SACRAMENTS, BUT ESPECIALLY IN THE SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION. HIS CONCERN IN THIS COMING IS THAT WE KEEP OUR EYES FOCUSED ON JESUS, OUR EXAMPLE, OUR TEACHER, THE HEAD OF OUR BODY. AND HE DOES THIS BECAUSE HE WANTS TO MAKE US ONE, TO GATHER US TOGETHER, AND OFFER US TO THE FATHER. HE DWELLS IN US, WE ARE HIS TEMPLE, AND ALTHOUGH WE ALL RECEIVE THAT SAME SPIRIT, HE GIVES EACH OF US WHAT WE NEED IN THE WAY OF GUIDANCE AND PROTECTION FROM WHAT MIGHT TURN US AWAY FROM OUR DESTINY.
BUT THE SPIRIT COMES TO US ANOTHER WAY SOMETIMES. HE TAKES POSSESSION OF US, SO THAT THE GIFTS WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN WILL BE USED FOR THE GOOD OF THE CHURCH, FOR THE GOOD OF OUR FELLOW MAN. AND THIS MAY BE SPECTACULAR OR VERY PEDESTRIAN OR SOMEWHERE IN BETWEEN. THE BOOK OF ACTS REPORTS THE SPIRIT-LED ACTIVITIES OF THE EARLY CHURCH, BUT THERE WERE ABOUT 120 WHO RECEIVED THE SPIRIT THAT DAY, INCLUDING MARY, THE MOTHER OF JESUS. WE DON'T HEAR ABOUT HER PREACHING, OR WORKING MIRACLES, AND IT MAY BE THAT HER CONTRIBUTION TO THE EARLY CHURCH WAS TO MAKE SURE THE APOSTLE JOHN GOT HIS LAUNDRY DONE AND DINNER ON THE TABLE; PERHAPS HER CONTRIBUTION WAS TO SIT WITH LUKE AND RECALL THE EVENTS SURROUNDING JESUS' BIRTH. AND WE DON'T NEED TO EVEN BE CONSCIOUS THAT THE SPIRIT IS WORKING IN US FOR THE GOOD OF THE CHURCH. WHEN THE KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS GIVE UP THEIR TIME TO PROVIDE A MOTHER'S DAY BREAKFAST, THE HOLY SPIRIT IS MOVING THEM. WHEN OUR SAINT MARY'S GUILD BRINGS SO MANY GIFTS TO THE PARISH, THE HOLY SPIRIT IS POSSESSING THEM. VOLUNTEERS FOR THE SOUP KITCHEN, FAITH FORMATION, EUCHARISTIC MINISTERS, LECTORS, USHERS, THE CHOIR, THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THERE BUILDING UP THE CHURCH – AND THAT'S JUST THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG.
SAINT PAUL TELLS US THAT THE SPIRIT GIVES EACH ONE OF US GIFTS FOR BUILDING UP THE CHURCH.
SO THE SPIRIT WAS CONFERRED UPON THE APOSTLES BY JESUS, TO BE THEIR ADVOCATE AND GUIDE, TO BEGIN THE WORK OF MAKING THEM OVER FOR THE FATHER. AND THE SPIRIT RUSHED UPON THE APOSTLES AND THE INFANT CHURCH AND THE BLESSED MOTHER TO GIVE THEM ALL GIFTS -- OF POWER, OF MIRACLES, OF WISDOM, OF STRENGTH, AND MAYBE SOME GIFTS THAT WE HARDLY WOULD CONSIDER GIFTS, BUT JUST AS IMPORTANT FOR CREATING AND BUILDING UP THE CHURCH.
AND THE SPIRIT MOVES AMONG US EVEN TODAY. AND WHEN YOU READ THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES, YOU CAN SEE A THEME. AS THE APOSTLES EXERCISE THEIR GIFTS, THE CHURCH GROWS. AS THEY BOLDLY PROCLAIM, AS THEY FAITHFULLY ENDURE PUNISHMENT AND RIDICULE AND PERSECUTION, AS THEY KEEP GETTING UP AFTER BEING KNOCKED DOWN AND KEEP ON EXERCISING THEIR GIFTS, THE GIFTS GET STRONGER, WHAT THEY DO BECOMES MORE EFFECTIVE, AND HERE WE ARE TODAY, A CHURCH ONE BILLION STRONG, A PEOPLE BUILT UP BY 2000 YEARS OF SAINTS WHO EXERCISED THEIR GIFTS AND COOPERATED WITH THE SPIRIT – 2000 YEARS OF MISSIONARIES, OF INSTITUTIONS OF EDUCATION, OF HOSPITALS, OF GREAT PREACHERS AND THEOLOGIANS, OF FAITHFUL MARRIED COUPLES AND HOLY FAMILIES, OF DEVOTED PRIESTS AND BISHOPS AND DEACONS AND RELIGIOUS AND LAY PEOPLE –WE ARE ALL PROOF THAT WHAT THE SPIRIT STARTED ON PENTECOST SUNDAY SO LONG AGO, HE CONTINUES TO THIS DAY.
HOLY SPIRIT, CHANGE US, MAKE US MORE LIKE JESUS, MAKE US MORE WORTHY OF BEING HIS GIFT TO THE FATHER, AND POUR OUT YOUR GIFTS TO US, SO THAT WE CAN STRENGTHEN EACH OTHER, SO THAT WE CAN REACH OUT TO ALL YOUR CHILDREN. AND FINALLY, HOLY SPIRIT, GIVE US THE GIFT OF HOLY BOLDNESS, SO THAT WE WILL NEVER HOLD BACK WHEN YOU INSPIRE US TO USE OUR GIFTS.
I REMEMBER MY TWIN GRANDSON'S FOURTH BIRTHDAY. THERE WERE TONGUES OF FLAME ON THE BIRTHDAY CAKE AND A MIGHTY WIND WHEN THEY BLEW THE CANDLES OUT. AND TODAY IS THE BIRTHDAY OF THE CHURCH. OF COURSE WE MIGHT HAVE DECIDED THAT THE BIRTHDAY WAS WHEN JESUS WAS BORN, OR PERHAPS ON HOLY THURSDAY WHEN HE ORDAINED THE FIRST PRIESTS AND CELEBRATED THE FIRST EUCHARIST, OR MAYBE GOOD FRIDAY, BECAUSE THE CHURCH WAS IN A SENSE, BORN FROM HIS SIDE IN THE WATER AND THE BLOOD THAT SPILLED FORTH WHEN HE WAS PIERCED WITH A SPEAR. OR MAYBE EASTER SUNDAY, WHEN HE ROSE FROM THE DEAD. THOSE ARE ALL LOGICAL CHOICES, BUT REALLY, WE CELEBRATE THE BEGINNING OF THE CHURCH ON PENTECOST.
IN THE GOSPEL TODAY, JESUS BLOWS HIS BREATH ON THE APOSTLES AND TELLS THEM TO RECEIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT. IF YOU LOOK IN YOUR BIBLE, YOU WOULD SEE THAT THIS EVENT TAKES PLACE WHEN JESUS FIRST APPEARS TO HIS APOSTLES, NAMELY, EASTER SUNDAY. BUT WHAT DO THE APOSTLES DO WHEN THEY HAVE RECEIVED THE HOLY SPIRIT? WELL, WE FIND THEM HUDDLED IN THE UPPER ROOM EIGHT DAYS LATER, STILL FRIGHTENED. WE FIND THEM GOING BACK TO GALILEE AND SOME OF THEM TAKING UP THEIR OLD TRADE. AND EVEN THOUGH JESUS MOVES AMONG THEM AND APPEARS TO ABOUT 500 PEOPLE AFTER HE DIES, EVEN AFTER THE ASCENSION, THE BOOK OF ACTS TELLS US THAT THERE ARE ABOUT 120 FOLLOWERS WHO ARE GATHERED THERE, NOT A VERY PROMISING BEGINNING. AND THEN THE HOLY SPIRIT COMES UPON THEM AGAIN, THIS TIME WITH WIND AND TONGUES OF FIRE, AND SOMETHING AMAZING HAPPENS; THEY BEGIN TO PREACH IN DIFFERENT LANGUAGES, AND ACCORDING TO THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES, 3000 WERE ADDED TO THEIR NUMBER THAT DAY. AND THE BOOK OF ACTS DESCRIBES MIRACLES – PETER RAISING A DEAD WOMAN, CURING A LAME MAN, PAUL WORKING MIRACLES AS WELL, AND MIRACLES ARE WORKED ON THEM AS WELL. THEY ARE BROKEN OUT OF PRISON THROUGH SUPERNATURAL MEANS, PHILIP IS TRANSPORTED BY AN ANGEL, PAUL IS GUIDED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT ON HIS JOURNEYS – THIS TIME THE COMING OF THE SPIRIT CHANGED THINGS IN A BIG WAY.
SO WE MIGHT ASK, DOES THE SPIRIT COME MORE THAN ONCE? AND IF HE DOES, WHY WAS THE SECOND TIME FOLLOWED BY ALL THE POWER, ALL THE MIRACLES, ALL THE GROWTH, AND THE FIRST, BY HARDLY ANYTHING AT ALL? AND WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO US, HERE AND NOW?
OUR FAITH TELLS US THAT WE ALL RECEIVE THE SPIRIT – WE RECEIVE HIM AT BAPTISM, WE RECEIVE HIM THROUGH ALL THE SACRAMENTS, BUT ESPECIALLY IN THE SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION. HIS CONCERN IN THIS COMING IS THAT WE KEEP OUR EYES FOCUSED ON JESUS, OUR EXAMPLE, OUR TEACHER, THE HEAD OF OUR BODY. AND HE DOES THIS BECAUSE HE WANTS TO MAKE US ONE, TO GATHER US TOGETHER, AND OFFER US TO THE FATHER. HE DWELLS IN US, WE ARE HIS TEMPLE, AND ALTHOUGH WE ALL RECEIVE THAT SAME SPIRIT, HE GIVES EACH OF US WHAT WE NEED IN THE WAY OF GUIDANCE AND PROTECTION FROM WHAT MIGHT TURN US AWAY FROM OUR DESTINY.
BUT THE SPIRIT COMES TO US ANOTHER WAY SOMETIMES. HE TAKES POSSESSION OF US, SO THAT THE GIFTS WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN WILL BE USED FOR THE GOOD OF THE CHURCH, FOR THE GOOD OF OUR FELLOW MAN. AND THIS MAY BE SPECTACULAR OR VERY PEDESTRIAN OR SOMEWHERE IN BETWEEN. THE BOOK OF ACTS REPORTS THE SPIRIT-LED ACTIVITIES OF THE EARLY CHURCH, BUT THERE WERE ABOUT 120 WHO RECEIVED THE SPIRIT THAT DAY, INCLUDING MARY, THE MOTHER OF JESUS. WE DON'T HEAR ABOUT HER PREACHING, OR WORKING MIRACLES, AND IT MAY BE THAT HER CONTRIBUTION TO THE EARLY CHURCH WAS TO MAKE SURE THE APOSTLE JOHN GOT HIS LAUNDRY DONE AND DINNER ON THE TABLE; PERHAPS HER CONTRIBUTION WAS TO SIT WITH LUKE AND RECALL THE EVENTS SURROUNDING JESUS' BIRTH. AND WE DON'T NEED TO EVEN BE CONSCIOUS THAT THE SPIRIT IS WORKING IN US FOR THE GOOD OF THE CHURCH. WHEN THE KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS GIVE UP THEIR TIME TO PROVIDE A MOTHER'S DAY BREAKFAST, THE HOLY SPIRIT IS MOVING THEM. WHEN OUR SAINT MARY'S GUILD BRINGS SO MANY GIFTS TO THE PARISH, THE HOLY SPIRIT IS POSSESSING THEM. VOLUNTEERS FOR THE SOUP KITCHEN, FAITH FORMATION, EUCHARISTIC MINISTERS, LECTORS, USHERS, THE CHOIR, THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THERE BUILDING UP THE CHURCH – AND THAT'S JUST THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG.
SAINT PAUL TELLS US THAT THE SPIRIT GIVES EACH ONE OF US GIFTS FOR BUILDING UP THE CHURCH.
SO THE SPIRIT WAS CONFERRED UPON THE APOSTLES BY JESUS, TO BE THEIR ADVOCATE AND GUIDE, TO BEGIN THE WORK OF MAKING THEM OVER FOR THE FATHER. AND THE SPIRIT RUSHED UPON THE APOSTLES AND THE INFANT CHURCH AND THE BLESSED MOTHER TO GIVE THEM ALL GIFTS -- OF POWER, OF MIRACLES, OF WISDOM, OF STRENGTH, AND MAYBE SOME GIFTS THAT WE HARDLY WOULD CONSIDER GIFTS, BUT JUST AS IMPORTANT FOR CREATING AND BUILDING UP THE CHURCH.
AND THE SPIRIT MOVES AMONG US EVEN TODAY. AND WHEN YOU READ THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES, YOU CAN SEE A THEME. AS THE APOSTLES EXERCISE THEIR GIFTS, THE CHURCH GROWS. AS THEY BOLDLY PROCLAIM, AS THEY FAITHFULLY ENDURE PUNISHMENT AND RIDICULE AND PERSECUTION, AS THEY KEEP GETTING UP AFTER BEING KNOCKED DOWN AND KEEP ON EXERCISING THEIR GIFTS, THE GIFTS GET STRONGER, WHAT THEY DO BECOMES MORE EFFECTIVE, AND HERE WE ARE TODAY, A CHURCH ONE BILLION STRONG, A PEOPLE BUILT UP BY 2000 YEARS OF SAINTS WHO EXERCISED THEIR GIFTS AND COOPERATED WITH THE SPIRIT – 2000 YEARS OF MISSIONARIES, OF INSTITUTIONS OF EDUCATION, OF HOSPITALS, OF GREAT PREACHERS AND THEOLOGIANS, OF FAITHFUL MARRIED COUPLES AND HOLY FAMILIES, OF DEVOTED PRIESTS AND BISHOPS AND DEACONS AND RELIGIOUS AND LAY PEOPLE –WE ARE ALL PROOF THAT WHAT THE SPIRIT STARTED ON PENTECOST SUNDAY SO LONG AGO, HE CONTINUES TO THIS DAY.
HOLY SPIRIT, CHANGE US, MAKE US MORE LIKE JESUS, MAKE US MORE WORTHY OF BEING HIS GIFT TO THE FATHER, AND POUR OUT YOUR GIFTS TO US, SO THAT WE CAN STRENGTHEN EACH OTHER, SO THAT WE CAN REACH OUT TO ALL YOUR CHILDREN. AND FINALLY, HOLY SPIRIT, GIVE US THE GIFT OF HOLY BOLDNESS, SO THAT WE WILL NEVER HOLD BACK WHEN YOU INSPIRE US TO USE OUR GIFTS.
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