MATTHEW 13:24-33
MY WIFE AND I HAVE DIFFERENT ATTITUDES ABOUT WEEDS. SHE THINKS THAT IF YOU GO OUT AND RIP THEM UP ALL SUMMER LONG, YOUR YARD WILL LOOK A LOT BETTER. SO WHEN THE WEATHER IS JUST RIGHT SHE LIKES TO GO OUT, USUALLY RECRUITING MY DAUGHTER AND EVEN ME IF I CAN'T FIND SOMETHING ELSE TO DO, AND RIP UP WEEDS. SHE FEELS VERY VIRTUOUS DOING THIS.
I ON THE OTHER HAND THINK THAT WHEN YOU HAVE A LAWN FULL OF WEEDS AND YOU MOW IT, IT LOOKS ENOUGH LIKE REGULAR GRASS TO PASS, AND THE TRICK IS TO MOW IT JUST OFTEN ENOUGH SO IT DOESN'T GET TOO SHABBY. AND IF YOU HAVE BUSHES WITH WEEDS GROWING IN THEM, A HEDGE TRIMMER SHOULD TAKE CARE OF THE PROBLEM. ONCE IN A WHILE YOU HAVE TO REMOVE THE TOP OF A WEED, BUT THAT'S EASILY DONE WITH SHEARS AND YOU DON'T HAVE TO WRESTLE WITH THE ROOT. BECAUSE IN MY EXPERIENCE YOU CAN PULL UP ALL THE ROOTS YOU WANT, AND THE WEEDS WILL KEEP COMING BACK.
SO I AM ON THE SIDE OF THE HOUSEHOLDER. LET THE WEEDS AND WHEAT GROW TOGETHER UNTIL THE VERY LAST MINUTE, THEN SEPARATE THEM.
WHEN JESUS TOLD THE PARABLE OF THE WEEDS, HIS HEARERS HAD A SPECIFIC IMAGE IN MIND. FIRST OF ALL, ENEMIES DID DO THIS SORT OF THING. THEY WOULD SEW A SPECIFIC WEED, CALLED DARNEL, WHICH WAS REALLY HARD TO TELL FROM WHEAT UNTIL IT MATURED. IT EVEN BORE SEEDS, WHICH MADE PEOPLE SICK OF SOME OF IT GOT MILLED ALONG WITH THE WHEAT. AND THE DARNEL HAD A STRONGER ROOT SYSTEM THAN WHEAT, SO IF YOU PULLED IT UP, YOU WOULD MOST LIKELY PULL UP THE WHEAT PLANT GROWING NEXT TO IT. IF YOU WERE IMPATIENT, YOU COULD GET OUT THERE AND WORK AT IT, ONE WEED AT A TIME, AND AS YOU COLLECTED THE WEEDS, YOU WOULD PROBABLY FEEL VIRTUOUS; OR YOU COULD WAIT UNTIL THE DIFFERENCE WAS OBVIOUS, HARVEST IT ALL, AND THEN SEPARATE THE DARNEL FROM THE WHEAT IN A MUCH EASIER EFFORT.
SO ONE LESSON, PERHAPS, IS THAT WE HAVE TO HAVE PATIENCE. THERE ARE THOSE WHO WANT TO WEED, THEY ARE HAPPIEST WHEN SEPARATING THE GOOD FROM THE BAD, FIGURATIVELY OR LITERALLY. MAYBE IT IS IN CONVERSATION, WHEN WE TALK ABOUT “US” AND “THEM”. MAYBE IT IS IN ACTION, WHEN WE CLOSE THE DOORS OF FRIENDSHIP TO THOSE WHO WE SEE AS MORALLY QUESTIONABLE. MAYBE IT IS JUST IN OUR MINDS, WHEN WE JUDGE. BUT JESUS TELLS US THAT DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN THOSE WHO ARE GOOD AND THOSE WHO ARE EVIL IS A JOB FOR THE FATHER AND HIS ANGELS, NOT FOR US; AND IT WILL NOT TAKE PLACE UNTIL ALL THE EVIDENCE IS IN, AT THE END OF TIME.
AND ANOTHER LESSON, PERHAPS, IS THAT THERE IS A GODLY PURPOSE IN HAVING THE GOOD AND THE EVIL GROWING TOGETHER. WE KNOW THAT WHEN YOU PLANT DIFFERENT SPECIES IN THE SAME GARDEN, THERE IS COMPETION FOR LIGHT AND WATER, AND WHILE SOME PLANTS DIE, THOSE THAT REMAIN ARE STRONGER. THE GOOD ARE MADE BETTER BY GROWING ALONGSIDE THE EVIL ONES, ALTHOUGH THERE ARE DANGERS, THERE ARE TEMPATIONS, AND WE NEED GOD'S GRACE TO AVOID LOSING GROUND. BUT THE EVIL ONES ARE INFLUENCED BY THE GOOD AS WELL, AND BECAUSE EVIL AND GOOD GROW TOGETHER, THERE IS THE POSSIBILITY OF REDEMPTION FOR THE WEEDS, THE CHANCE TO BECOME WHEAT AND BE PART OF THE HARVEST.
AND A THIRD LESSON MAY BE THAT ALTHOUGH YOU AND I BELIEVE WE ARE WHEAT, AND WILL SOME DAY BE GATHERED INTO THE HARVEST OF OUR LORD, WE MAY NOT BE. WE MAY TURN OUT TO BE WEEDS. YOU CAN'T REALLY TELL THE DIFFERENCE UNTIL THE PLANT HAS MATURED AND BORN FRUIT. THE FRUIT MAY BE A HEAD OF WHEAT, WHICH CAN BE GROUND INTO FLOUR AND MADE INTO BREAD, OR IT MAY BE A HEAD OF DARNEL, WHICH CAN MAKE PEOPLE SICK. IN A REAL GARDEN, THE WEED AND THE WHEAT HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO GROW UP TO BE WHAT THEY ARE DESTINED TO BE. IN THE GARDEN OF OUR LORD, THERE ARE CHOICES TO BE MADE WHILE HE ALLOWS THE WHEAT AND WEEDS TO GROW ALONGSIDE OF EACH OTHER.
WE MUST CONTINUALLY TRANSFORM OURSELVES, WHICH IS ANOTHER WAY OF SAYING WE MUST CONTINUALLY REPENT, REPOSITION OURSELVES, CHANGE DIRECTION WHEN NEED BE, SO THAT WE CAN RECEIVE AND RESPOND TO ALL THE GRACES GOD GIVES US. HOW DO WE KNOW WE ARE ON THE RIGHT TRACK? WE NEED SOME SORT OF PLAN TO FOLLOW, JUST LIKE WE DO WITH EVERYTHING ELSE WE TRY TO ACCOMPLISH. THAT PLAN, OF COURSE, IS THE LIFE AND TEACHINGS OF JESUS CHRIST. AND WE FIND THAT BEST REFLECTED IN THE CHURCH. OUR ANCESTORS IN THE FAITH KNEW THIS. ST. FRANCIS AND MANY OTHER SAINTS SET OUT CONSCIOUSLY TO IMITATE THE LIFE OF JESUS, AND MEMBERS OF RELIGIOUS ORDERS TRY TO LIVE THEIR LIVES IN SOME SENSE TO REFLECT THEIR FOUNDER AND HIS OR HER SPECIAL GIFTS, BECAUSE THE FOUNDER WAS AN IMITATOR OF CHRIST.
BUT THE OTHER TWO PARABLES TELL US THAT SECOND ONLY TO THIS TASK IS THE TASK OF TRANSFORMING THE WORLD. THE PARABLE OF THE YEAST TELLS US THAT THIS TRANSFORMATION ISN'T ABOUT NUMBERS, ABOUT FORCE; IT IS THAT WITH GOD'S POWER, WE CHRISTIANS CAN ACCOMPLISH ENORMOUS AMOUNTS JUST BY BEING CHRISTIANS IN SOCIETY. IF YOU'VE EVER MADE BREAD, YOU KNOW HOW YEAST CAN TRANSFORM FLOUR, OIL AND WATER INTO SOMETHING THAT IS ALMOST A LIVING ORGANISM, AND THE YEAST BECOMES THE CATALYST THAT TURNS WHAT IS ALMOST INDIGESTIBLE INTO SOMETHING THAT TASTES AND SMELLS DELIGHTFUL.
AND IF YOU THINK YOU AREN'T UP TO THE TASK OF BECOMING WHEAT, OR BEING YEAST, THE PARABLE OF THE MUSTARD SEED TELLS US THAT NO MATTER HOW UNIMPORTANT OR INCONSEQUENTIAL WE MAY FEEL ABOUT OURSELVES, GOD CAN STILL TURN US INTO SPIRITUAL GIANTS.
SO CARRY THESE THREE PARABLES WITH YOU THIS WEEK. THINK ABOUT THEM, PRAY ABOUT THEM, AND EXAMINE YOUR OWN LIVES IN THEIR REFLECTION. THAT'S THE REASON JESUS TOLD THEM TO THE PEOPLE WHO FOLLOWED HIM THEN AND TELLS THEM TO THOSE WHO FOLLOW HIM NOW.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Monday, July 14, 2008
Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle A
MATTHEW 13:1-23
JESUS TOLD PARABLES FOR A REASON. EVERY PARABLE IS THE ANSWER TO A QUESTION, BUT ALWAYS A QUESTION THAT DOES NOT HAVE A SATISFYING ANSWER – KIND OF LIKE LIFE IN GENERAL. A LAWYER ASKS, “WHO IS OUR NEIGHBOR?” AND JESUS TELLS THE STORY OF THE GOOD SAMARITAN. WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT, THERE IS NO GOOD ANSWER TO THE QUESTION – DO WE SAY “EVERYONE IS OUR NEIGHBOR?” WELL, THAT IS CLEARLY NOT THE CASE – A NICE SENTIMENT, PERHAPS. DO WE SAY, “PEOPLE WHO ARE LIKE ME ARE MY NEIGHBOR?” IN A SENSE, YES, BECAUSE WE HAVE A TENDENCY TO BE MORE OPEN TO THOSE WHO ARE LIKE US, TO BE MORE LIKELY TO HELP THEM OUT, TO ASSOCIATE WITH THEM. BUT THE PARABLE ANSWERS THE QUESTION BY TELLING US NOT WHO IS OUR NEIGHBOR, BUT WHAT IT MEANS TO BE NEIGHBOR. AND THEN IT IS UP TO US TO DECIDE. AND EVERY PARABLE IS LIKE THIS; FIND THE QUESTION; GO THROUGH THE ANSWERS AND SEE THAT NONE OF THEM REALLY ANSWER THE QUESTION; AND THEN GO BACK TO THE PARABLE.
SO WHAT IS THE QUESTION IN THIS WELL KNOWN PARABLE ABOUT THE SEWER AND THE SEED? WELL, IT HELPS TO READ THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER. IN IT, JESUS HAS BEEN DRIVING OUT DEMONS, WORKING MIRACLES, AND ALL THE WHILE TALKING ABOUT THE KINGDOM OF GOD. THEN SOME PHARISEES AND LAWYERS COME UP TO HIM AND SAY, “TEACHER, WE WANT YOU TO DO A MIRACLE FOR US.” AND SHORTLY AFTERWARDS, WHILE JESUS IS RESPONDING TO THAT, SOMEONE TELLS HIM THAT HIS MOTHER AND BROTHERS ARE OUTSIDE AND WANT TO TALK TO HIM. ALL OF THIS IS TAKING PLACE IN THE MIDDLE OF A HUGE CROWD WHO HAVE BEEN FOLLOWING HIM AND WATCHING HIM. AND THAT IS WHEN JESUS TURNS TO THEM AND TELLS THEM THE PARABLE OF THE SEWER AND THE SEED. FOR THE CROWD FOLLOWING JESUS, HE IS KIND OF A ROCK STAR; MANY ARE ENJOYING THE SHOW, THE ARGUMENTS WITH THE PHARISEES, THE MIRACLES, THE PREACHING – IN AN AGE WITHOUT TELEVISION, A MARVELOUS WAY TO ENTERTAIN YOURSELF; AND MANY SEE THEMSELVES AS JESUS' FAN CLUB; AS THEY FOLLOW HIM ALONG THEY REINFORCE EACH OTHER, AND FEEL MORE ALIVE, MORE PURPOSEFUL. AND SOME, LIKE THE PHARISEES, WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHAT HE CAN DO AND HOW HE CAN DO IT AND MAYBE FIGURE OUT A WAY TO USE HIS POWER FOR THEMSELVES. “WORK A MIRACLE FOR US!” AND SOME LIKE HIS MOTHER AND BROTHERS, ASSUME THAT BECAUSE THEY ARE RELATED, THEY SHOULD AUTOMATICALLY HAVE ACCESS TO HIM, OVER AND ABOVE ALL THE OTHERS. IT IS PROBABLY SAFE TO SAY THAT NEARLY EVERYONE WHO IS LISTENING TO JESUS IS ASKING, “WHAT CAN HE DO FOR ME?”
AND THE ANSWER IS THE PARABLE OF THE SEWER AND THE SEED.
JESUS INTERPRETS HIS OWN PARABLE FOR THE APOSTLES WHO ASK. BUT THAT IS JUST THE FIRST LEVEL OF INTERPRETATION. IS JESUS TELLING US THAT THERE ARE FOUR KINDS OF PEOPLE, THE ONES WHO HEAR THE WORD AND NOTHING HAPPENS, THE ONES WHO EMBRACE IT ENTHUSIASTICALLY, BUT SOON GO ON TO ANOTHER ENTHUSIASM; THE ONES WHO GROW LIKE CRAZY BUT SOON GET BOGGED DOWN WITH OTHER THINGS; AND THE ONES WHO BEAR FRUIT? IF THAT IS WHAT HE MEANS, ITS KIND OF SAD, BECAUSE IT IMPLIES THAT THERE ISN'T ANYTHING I CAN DO TO CHANGE WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN; IT IMPLIES PREDESTINATION.
BUT WHEN WE THINK OF THE QUESTION, “WHAT CAN JESUS DO FOR ME?”, ANOTHER SORT OF ANSWER SPRINGS TO MIND. JESUS IS SAYING THAT HE'S ALREADY DONE HIS PART – AFTER ALL, IF YOU WERE A FARMER, YOU WOULD NOT THROW YOUR SEED ON ROCKY GROUND, OR ON A ROAD TO BE TRAMPLED UPON, OR INTO A THORN BUSH. THAT WASTED SEED COULD HAVE BEEN MADE INTO BREAD, OR USED TO SEED ANOTHER FIELD. BUT IF JESUS IS THE FARMER, HE CASTS THE SEED ON EVEN THE MOST UNPROMISING SOIL, PRECISELY BECAUSE SOMETHING CAN HAPPEN, THE SEED NEEDN'T COME TO NOTHING. BECAUSE YOU AND I ARE NOT REALLY THE GROUND, BUT WE ARE THE GARDENERS; AND IF OUR SHARE OF THE SEED IS NOT BEARING FRUIT, THEN WE ARE THE ONLY ONES WHO CAN DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT; WE NEED TO MOVE OUR GARDEN TO A BETTER SPOT, WE NEED TO CULTIVATE AND NOURISH THE SOIL AND TEAR OUT THE WEEDS SO THAT THE SEED CAN GROW AND BEAR FRUIT.
ALL OF US CAN RECOGNIZE TIMES WHEN THE WORD OF GOD HAS GONE IN ONE EAR AND OUT THE OTHER; WHEN THE WORD OF GOD MADE ME RESOLVE TO CHANGE, AND I WENT OUT AND SAID A ROSARY, OR MAYBE WENT TO THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MANY YEARS. BUT A FEW DAYS GO BY, AND NOTHING REALLY HAS CHANGED. AND I'VE BEEN THERE WHEN THE WORD OF GOD SEEMED TO TAKE ROOT AND FOR A WHILE IT SEEMED AS THOUGH I COULD PRACTICALLY FEEL JESUS WALKING WITH ME – UNTIL THE STOCK MARKET STARTED TO FALL APART, OR I GOT SICK, OR SOMETHING NEW DEMANDED MY ATTENTION, AND I DRIFTED AWAY; AND I'VE HAD SOME TIMES IN MY LIFE WHERE I THINK THE WORD OF GOD THAT I HEARD REALLY DID BEAR FRUIT, WHERE MY GARDEN WAS IN SHAPE TO MAKE THE SEED YIELD MORE THAN I WOULD HAVE EVER EXPECTED IT TO.
THE SEWER ALWAYS SEWS THE SEED. MY JOB IS TO PREPARE THE GARDEN. AND I HAVE TO PREPARE THE SAME WAY THE SAINTS PREPARED; I ASK MYSELF EVERY EVENING WHETHER I'VE DONE WHAT GOD WANTED THAT DAY, OR WHAT I WANTED. I RESOLVE EVERY MORNING TO TRY TO LISTEN MORE CLOSELY TO GOD THAT DAY. AND I PRAY, AND PRAY, AND PRAY, ASKING FOR GUIDANCE, ASKING FOR STRENGTH. AND WHEN I FALL, I GET UP AGAIN. AND IF I DON'T KNOW A LITTLE ABOUT THE BIBLE, AND IF I DON'T KNOW WHAT MY CHURCH TEACHES AND WHY, AND IF I DON'T TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE SACRAMENTS OF PENANCE AND THE HOLY EUCHARIST, I'M CERTAINLY CONDEMNING MY GARDEN TO THORNS AND ROCKS AND RAIDING BIRDS AND TRAMPLING FEET.
AND AS JESUS LOOKED AT THE CROWDS, THOSE HAPPY, SUPPORTIVE PEOPLE WHO FOLLOWED HIM EVERYWHERE, HE SAW THAT ONLY A FEW WOULD GO TO THE TROUBLE TO CREATE A GARDEN IN WHICH HIS SEEDS COULD SPROUT AND GROW AND BEAR GREAT FRUIT. AND HE LOOKS AT US THIS WAY AS WELL.
SO TAKE A LOOK AT YOUR GARDEN; CAN YOU HONESTLY SAY THAT IT IS A WELCOME PLACE FOR THE WORD OF GOD TO TAKE ROOT, TO GROW, TO FLOWER, AND TO BEAR GREAT FRUIT? AND REMEMBER, IF IT IS NOT, YOU CAN DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.
JESUS TOLD PARABLES FOR A REASON. EVERY PARABLE IS THE ANSWER TO A QUESTION, BUT ALWAYS A QUESTION THAT DOES NOT HAVE A SATISFYING ANSWER – KIND OF LIKE LIFE IN GENERAL. A LAWYER ASKS, “WHO IS OUR NEIGHBOR?” AND JESUS TELLS THE STORY OF THE GOOD SAMARITAN. WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT, THERE IS NO GOOD ANSWER TO THE QUESTION – DO WE SAY “EVERYONE IS OUR NEIGHBOR?” WELL, THAT IS CLEARLY NOT THE CASE – A NICE SENTIMENT, PERHAPS. DO WE SAY, “PEOPLE WHO ARE LIKE ME ARE MY NEIGHBOR?” IN A SENSE, YES, BECAUSE WE HAVE A TENDENCY TO BE MORE OPEN TO THOSE WHO ARE LIKE US, TO BE MORE LIKELY TO HELP THEM OUT, TO ASSOCIATE WITH THEM. BUT THE PARABLE ANSWERS THE QUESTION BY TELLING US NOT WHO IS OUR NEIGHBOR, BUT WHAT IT MEANS TO BE NEIGHBOR. AND THEN IT IS UP TO US TO DECIDE. AND EVERY PARABLE IS LIKE THIS; FIND THE QUESTION; GO THROUGH THE ANSWERS AND SEE THAT NONE OF THEM REALLY ANSWER THE QUESTION; AND THEN GO BACK TO THE PARABLE.
SO WHAT IS THE QUESTION IN THIS WELL KNOWN PARABLE ABOUT THE SEWER AND THE SEED? WELL, IT HELPS TO READ THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER. IN IT, JESUS HAS BEEN DRIVING OUT DEMONS, WORKING MIRACLES, AND ALL THE WHILE TALKING ABOUT THE KINGDOM OF GOD. THEN SOME PHARISEES AND LAWYERS COME UP TO HIM AND SAY, “TEACHER, WE WANT YOU TO DO A MIRACLE FOR US.” AND SHORTLY AFTERWARDS, WHILE JESUS IS RESPONDING TO THAT, SOMEONE TELLS HIM THAT HIS MOTHER AND BROTHERS ARE OUTSIDE AND WANT TO TALK TO HIM. ALL OF THIS IS TAKING PLACE IN THE MIDDLE OF A HUGE CROWD WHO HAVE BEEN FOLLOWING HIM AND WATCHING HIM. AND THAT IS WHEN JESUS TURNS TO THEM AND TELLS THEM THE PARABLE OF THE SEWER AND THE SEED. FOR THE CROWD FOLLOWING JESUS, HE IS KIND OF A ROCK STAR; MANY ARE ENJOYING THE SHOW, THE ARGUMENTS WITH THE PHARISEES, THE MIRACLES, THE PREACHING – IN AN AGE WITHOUT TELEVISION, A MARVELOUS WAY TO ENTERTAIN YOURSELF; AND MANY SEE THEMSELVES AS JESUS' FAN CLUB; AS THEY FOLLOW HIM ALONG THEY REINFORCE EACH OTHER, AND FEEL MORE ALIVE, MORE PURPOSEFUL. AND SOME, LIKE THE PHARISEES, WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHAT HE CAN DO AND HOW HE CAN DO IT AND MAYBE FIGURE OUT A WAY TO USE HIS POWER FOR THEMSELVES. “WORK A MIRACLE FOR US!” AND SOME LIKE HIS MOTHER AND BROTHERS, ASSUME THAT BECAUSE THEY ARE RELATED, THEY SHOULD AUTOMATICALLY HAVE ACCESS TO HIM, OVER AND ABOVE ALL THE OTHERS. IT IS PROBABLY SAFE TO SAY THAT NEARLY EVERYONE WHO IS LISTENING TO JESUS IS ASKING, “WHAT CAN HE DO FOR ME?”
AND THE ANSWER IS THE PARABLE OF THE SEWER AND THE SEED.
JESUS INTERPRETS HIS OWN PARABLE FOR THE APOSTLES WHO ASK. BUT THAT IS JUST THE FIRST LEVEL OF INTERPRETATION. IS JESUS TELLING US THAT THERE ARE FOUR KINDS OF PEOPLE, THE ONES WHO HEAR THE WORD AND NOTHING HAPPENS, THE ONES WHO EMBRACE IT ENTHUSIASTICALLY, BUT SOON GO ON TO ANOTHER ENTHUSIASM; THE ONES WHO GROW LIKE CRAZY BUT SOON GET BOGGED DOWN WITH OTHER THINGS; AND THE ONES WHO BEAR FRUIT? IF THAT IS WHAT HE MEANS, ITS KIND OF SAD, BECAUSE IT IMPLIES THAT THERE ISN'T ANYTHING I CAN DO TO CHANGE WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN; IT IMPLIES PREDESTINATION.
BUT WHEN WE THINK OF THE QUESTION, “WHAT CAN JESUS DO FOR ME?”, ANOTHER SORT OF ANSWER SPRINGS TO MIND. JESUS IS SAYING THAT HE'S ALREADY DONE HIS PART – AFTER ALL, IF YOU WERE A FARMER, YOU WOULD NOT THROW YOUR SEED ON ROCKY GROUND, OR ON A ROAD TO BE TRAMPLED UPON, OR INTO A THORN BUSH. THAT WASTED SEED COULD HAVE BEEN MADE INTO BREAD, OR USED TO SEED ANOTHER FIELD. BUT IF JESUS IS THE FARMER, HE CASTS THE SEED ON EVEN THE MOST UNPROMISING SOIL, PRECISELY BECAUSE SOMETHING CAN HAPPEN, THE SEED NEEDN'T COME TO NOTHING. BECAUSE YOU AND I ARE NOT REALLY THE GROUND, BUT WE ARE THE GARDENERS; AND IF OUR SHARE OF THE SEED IS NOT BEARING FRUIT, THEN WE ARE THE ONLY ONES WHO CAN DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT; WE NEED TO MOVE OUR GARDEN TO A BETTER SPOT, WE NEED TO CULTIVATE AND NOURISH THE SOIL AND TEAR OUT THE WEEDS SO THAT THE SEED CAN GROW AND BEAR FRUIT.
ALL OF US CAN RECOGNIZE TIMES WHEN THE WORD OF GOD HAS GONE IN ONE EAR AND OUT THE OTHER; WHEN THE WORD OF GOD MADE ME RESOLVE TO CHANGE, AND I WENT OUT AND SAID A ROSARY, OR MAYBE WENT TO THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MANY YEARS. BUT A FEW DAYS GO BY, AND NOTHING REALLY HAS CHANGED. AND I'VE BEEN THERE WHEN THE WORD OF GOD SEEMED TO TAKE ROOT AND FOR A WHILE IT SEEMED AS THOUGH I COULD PRACTICALLY FEEL JESUS WALKING WITH ME – UNTIL THE STOCK MARKET STARTED TO FALL APART, OR I GOT SICK, OR SOMETHING NEW DEMANDED MY ATTENTION, AND I DRIFTED AWAY; AND I'VE HAD SOME TIMES IN MY LIFE WHERE I THINK THE WORD OF GOD THAT I HEARD REALLY DID BEAR FRUIT, WHERE MY GARDEN WAS IN SHAPE TO MAKE THE SEED YIELD MORE THAN I WOULD HAVE EVER EXPECTED IT TO.
THE SEWER ALWAYS SEWS THE SEED. MY JOB IS TO PREPARE THE GARDEN. AND I HAVE TO PREPARE THE SAME WAY THE SAINTS PREPARED; I ASK MYSELF EVERY EVENING WHETHER I'VE DONE WHAT GOD WANTED THAT DAY, OR WHAT I WANTED. I RESOLVE EVERY MORNING TO TRY TO LISTEN MORE CLOSELY TO GOD THAT DAY. AND I PRAY, AND PRAY, AND PRAY, ASKING FOR GUIDANCE, ASKING FOR STRENGTH. AND WHEN I FALL, I GET UP AGAIN. AND IF I DON'T KNOW A LITTLE ABOUT THE BIBLE, AND IF I DON'T KNOW WHAT MY CHURCH TEACHES AND WHY, AND IF I DON'T TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE SACRAMENTS OF PENANCE AND THE HOLY EUCHARIST, I'M CERTAINLY CONDEMNING MY GARDEN TO THORNS AND ROCKS AND RAIDING BIRDS AND TRAMPLING FEET.
AND AS JESUS LOOKED AT THE CROWDS, THOSE HAPPY, SUPPORTIVE PEOPLE WHO FOLLOWED HIM EVERYWHERE, HE SAW THAT ONLY A FEW WOULD GO TO THE TROUBLE TO CREATE A GARDEN IN WHICH HIS SEEDS COULD SPROUT AND GROW AND BEAR GREAT FRUIT. AND HE LOOKS AT US THIS WAY AS WELL.
SO TAKE A LOOK AT YOUR GARDEN; CAN YOU HONESTLY SAY THAT IT IS A WELCOME PLACE FOR THE WORD OF GOD TO TAKE ROOT, TO GROW, TO FLOWER, AND TO BEAR GREAT FRUIT? AND REMEMBER, IF IT IS NOT, YOU CAN DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, 2008
OVER ON MY LEFT, YOU CAN SEE SAINT PETER HOLDING THE KEYS TO THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, THE GOLDEN KEY REPRESENTING THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS THAT COMES FROM JESUS SHEDDING HIS BLOOD, AND THE SILVER KEY THE PRIESTHOOD WHICH ADMINISTERS THE SACRAMENTS THAT HELP US TO UNTANGLE OURSELVES FROM THE WORLD, WHICH ALWAYS TRIES TO DRAG US DOWN. AND THERE IS SAINT PAUL HOLDING A SWORD AND A SCROLL, THE SWORD REPRESENTING HIS LIFE BEFORE HIS CONVERSION, THE SCROLL, HIS LIFE AFTERWARDS. TODAY THE FEAST OF SAINTS PETER AND PAUL IS CONSIDERED BY THE CHURCH SO IMPORTANT THAT IT TAKES THE PLACE OF THE THIRTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME. CERTAINLY WE SHOULD HONOR THESE TWO GREAT MEN WHO FROM A HUMAN STANDPOINT, FOUNDED THE CHURCH. PETER WAS THE FIRST POPE, PAUL THE PRE-EMINENT MISSIONARY.
BUT THE CHURCH DOES NOT SET UP FEAST DAYS JUST TO HONOR SOMEONE. THERE IS ALWAYS SOMETHING IN THE FEAST DAY THAT HAS SOMETHING FOR US TO THINK ABOUT, TO PONDER, TO PUT INTO OUR OWN LIVES. AND THIS FEAST IS NO EXCEPTION.
WE CAN THINK OF MANY PEOPLE WE CALL SAINTS WHO LIVED IN THE TIME OF CHRIST. THE APOSTLES, ST JOHN THE BAPTIST, SAINTS MARTHA, MARY, ELIZABETH, MARY MAGDALEN, SAINT JOSEPH – BUT THE ONLY ONES WE KNOW WELL, AS REAL HUMAN BEINGS, ARE SAINT PETER AND SAINT PAUL. SAINT PETER WE KNOW THROUGH HIS WORDS AND DEEDS AS RECORDED BY THE GOSPELS AND THE BOOK OF ACTS, AND WE KNOW A LITTLE ABOUT HIM BECAUSE PAUL WROTE ABOUT HIM. SAINT PAUL WE KNOW PRIMARILY BY HIS WRITINGS, AND SECONDARILY FROM THE BOOK OF ACTS. WE KNOW THAT SAINT PETER WAS A LITTLE HOT-HEADED, IMPULSIVE; HE WAS PRONE TO MISUNDERSTAND JESUS. HE WAS UNEDUCATED, AND SPOKE WITH A HILLBILLY ACCENT, BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT THE GALILEANS WERE TO THE PEOPLE FROM JERUSALEM. HE HAD A GREAT HEART. WE CAN ALL PICTURE PETER, AND WE CAN ALL THINK OF PEOPLE WE KNOW WHO ARE LIKE HIM. SAINT PAUL WAS SORT OF A FANATIC; HE WAS A PHARISEE, THE WORST KIND OF PHARISEE, THE KIND THAT JESUS WAS ALWAYS TALKING AGAINST. HE WAS A NIT-PICKER, HE KNEW HIS LAW, AND HE CONSIDERED HIMSELF BETTER IN DOING WHAT THE LAW SAID THAN ANYONE ELSE. HE WAS SO ZEALOUS FOR HIS RELIGION THAT HE STOOD BY WHILE STEPHEN WAS STONED, AND PROBABLY SAID, “GOOD RIDDANCE!” AND HE DASHED OFF TO ANTIOCH TO BRING BACK THOSE CHRISTIANS WHO IN HIS MIND WERE HERETICS, TO BE TRIED AND PUNISHED IN JERUSALEM, WHERE THE JEWISH AUTHORITIES HAD THAT RIGHT.
AFTER JESUS' DEATH PETER DOES NOT BECOME PERFECT, AND AFTER PAUL'S CONVERSION, HE IS STILL FULL OF FAULTS. IN FACT, I DON'T THINK PETER AND PAUL GOT ALONG ALL THAT WELL. PAUL SAYS IN GALATIANS, “WHEN I SAW THAT THEY WERE NOT ACTING IN LINE WITH THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL, I SAID TO PETER IN FRONT OF THEM ALL, "YOU ARE A JEW, YET YOU LIVE LIKE A GENTILE AND NOT LIKE A JEW. HOW IS IT, THEN, THAT YOU FORCE GENTILES TO FOLLOW JEWISH CUSTOMS?” I'M SURE PETER APPRECIATED THAT. AND PETER, IN THE SECOND LETTER, SAYS THIS OF PAUL: “HIS LETTERS CONTAIN SOME THINGS THAT ARE HARD TO UNDERSTAND, WHICH IGNORANT AND UNSTABLE PEOPLE DISTORT” WHICH WAS A CHARITABLE WAY OF SAYING THAT “I'M PRETTY SURE HE'S NOT A HERETIC”.
BUT HERE'S THE THING. PETER BY HIMSELF WAS A WELL-MEANING NOT OVERLY BRIGHT BUMBLER, WHO KNEW FISHING, BUT PROBABLY HAD AN OPINION ABOUT EVERYTHING; HE HAD A BIG MOUTH AND WHEN THE CHIPS WERE DOWN, HE HID. AND HE WAS JUST THE KIND WHO WOULD TELL JOKES ABOUT STUCK UP PHARISEES OVER A BEER WITH HIS FRIENDS, AND HE WOULD HAVE NEVER HAD ANYTHING TO DO WITH PAUL. BUT PETER PLUS JESUS WAS A LEADER WHO HELD THE EARLY CHURCH TOGETHER, WHO FACED DEATH MORE THAN A FEW TIMES, WHO WAS ABLE TO STAND IN JESUS' PLACE AND PUT TOGETHER THE STRUCTURES THAT EVOLVED INTO OUR CHURCH; PETER BECAME WISE AND EVEN MANAGED TO FIND A ROLE FOR PAUL, WHO MIGHT NEVER HAVE BEEN ABLE TO LIVE IN THE JERUSALEM COMMUNITY. AND PAUL BY HIMSELF WAS A HUMORLESS FANATIC, WHO NOT ONLY PRACTICED THE HUNDREDS OF LAWS OF MOSES TO THE VERY LETTER, BUT REASONED THAT TORTURE AND DEATH WERE A FITTING REWARD FOR ANYONE WHO DEVIATED FROM THE LAW; AND HE WAS WELL EDUCATED, AND UPPER MIDDLE CLASS, JUST THE KIND WHO WOULD REALLY LOOK DOWN ON PETER; AND PAUL WITH JESUS DISCOVERED LOVE, AND WENT ON TO LIVE THE WORDS HE WROTE IN THE FIRST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS: “LOVE IS PATIENT, LOVE IS KIND. IT DOES NOT ENVY, IT DOES NOT BOAST, IT IS NOT PROUD. IT IS NOT RUDE, IT IS NOT SELF-SEEKING, IT IS NOT EASILY ANGERED, IT KEEPS NO RECORD OF WRONGS.”
SO PERHAPS WE DON'T SO MUCH HONOR PETER AND PAUL TODAY AS WE HONOR JESUS, WHO TRANSFORMED THEM BOTH, WHO TOOK THEIR WORST CHARACTER TRAITS AND MADE SOMETHING WONDERFUL FROM THEM. PERHAPS TODAY WE HONOR THE FACT THAT JESUS IS WILLING TO TRANSFORM US AS WELL – HE MAY NOT HAVE MUCH TO WORK WITH, BUT HE DIDN'T WITH PETER OR PAUL EITHER. SO ONE OF OUR PRAYERS TODAY SHOULD BE “COMPLETE ME, LORD, AS YOU COMPLETED PETER AND PAUL, AND USE ME TO BUILD UP YOUR KINGDOM.”
AND PERHAPS TODAY WE SHOULD HONOR THE FACT THAT WHEN WE LOOK AT OTHER PEOPLE, ESPECIALLY PEOPLE WHOSE PERSONALITIES CLASH WITH OURS, PEOPLE WHO CAN'T SEEM TO DO ANYTHING RIGHT, PEOPLE WHO WHENEVER THEY OPEN THEIR MOUTHS SAY THE DUMBEST THINGS, PEOPLE WHO HAVE STREAKS OF CRUELTY, PEOPLE WHO ALWAYS PUT THEMSELVES FIRST – YOU CAN ADD TO THE LIST – MAYBE YOU ARE ON MY LIST AND I'M ON YOURS – WE ARE LOOKING AT THE RAW MATERIAL THAT JESUS CAN USE TO CREATE GREAT SAINTS, AND IF THAT IS THE CASE, HOW CAN WE NOT HONOR THE POTENTIAL FOR HOLINESS THAT WE SEE IN EVEN THOSE WE CAN HARDLY STAND?
SO GET TO KNOW PETER AND PAUL, GET TO SEE HOW VASTLY DIFFERENT THEY WERE AS PEOPLE, AND HOW JESUS USED THEM BOTH, AND TRANSFORMED THEM BOTH, AND MADE THEM INTO SAINTS. AND PRAY THAT HE WILL DO THE SAME FOR YOU AND I.
BUT THE CHURCH DOES NOT SET UP FEAST DAYS JUST TO HONOR SOMEONE. THERE IS ALWAYS SOMETHING IN THE FEAST DAY THAT HAS SOMETHING FOR US TO THINK ABOUT, TO PONDER, TO PUT INTO OUR OWN LIVES. AND THIS FEAST IS NO EXCEPTION.
WE CAN THINK OF MANY PEOPLE WE CALL SAINTS WHO LIVED IN THE TIME OF CHRIST. THE APOSTLES, ST JOHN THE BAPTIST, SAINTS MARTHA, MARY, ELIZABETH, MARY MAGDALEN, SAINT JOSEPH – BUT THE ONLY ONES WE KNOW WELL, AS REAL HUMAN BEINGS, ARE SAINT PETER AND SAINT PAUL. SAINT PETER WE KNOW THROUGH HIS WORDS AND DEEDS AS RECORDED BY THE GOSPELS AND THE BOOK OF ACTS, AND WE KNOW A LITTLE ABOUT HIM BECAUSE PAUL WROTE ABOUT HIM. SAINT PAUL WE KNOW PRIMARILY BY HIS WRITINGS, AND SECONDARILY FROM THE BOOK OF ACTS. WE KNOW THAT SAINT PETER WAS A LITTLE HOT-HEADED, IMPULSIVE; HE WAS PRONE TO MISUNDERSTAND JESUS. HE WAS UNEDUCATED, AND SPOKE WITH A HILLBILLY ACCENT, BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT THE GALILEANS WERE TO THE PEOPLE FROM JERUSALEM. HE HAD A GREAT HEART. WE CAN ALL PICTURE PETER, AND WE CAN ALL THINK OF PEOPLE WE KNOW WHO ARE LIKE HIM. SAINT PAUL WAS SORT OF A FANATIC; HE WAS A PHARISEE, THE WORST KIND OF PHARISEE, THE KIND THAT JESUS WAS ALWAYS TALKING AGAINST. HE WAS A NIT-PICKER, HE KNEW HIS LAW, AND HE CONSIDERED HIMSELF BETTER IN DOING WHAT THE LAW SAID THAN ANYONE ELSE. HE WAS SO ZEALOUS FOR HIS RELIGION THAT HE STOOD BY WHILE STEPHEN WAS STONED, AND PROBABLY SAID, “GOOD RIDDANCE!” AND HE DASHED OFF TO ANTIOCH TO BRING BACK THOSE CHRISTIANS WHO IN HIS MIND WERE HERETICS, TO BE TRIED AND PUNISHED IN JERUSALEM, WHERE THE JEWISH AUTHORITIES HAD THAT RIGHT.
AFTER JESUS' DEATH PETER DOES NOT BECOME PERFECT, AND AFTER PAUL'S CONVERSION, HE IS STILL FULL OF FAULTS. IN FACT, I DON'T THINK PETER AND PAUL GOT ALONG ALL THAT WELL. PAUL SAYS IN GALATIANS, “WHEN I SAW THAT THEY WERE NOT ACTING IN LINE WITH THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL, I SAID TO PETER IN FRONT OF THEM ALL, "YOU ARE A JEW, YET YOU LIVE LIKE A GENTILE AND NOT LIKE A JEW. HOW IS IT, THEN, THAT YOU FORCE GENTILES TO FOLLOW JEWISH CUSTOMS?” I'M SURE PETER APPRECIATED THAT. AND PETER, IN THE SECOND LETTER, SAYS THIS OF PAUL: “HIS LETTERS CONTAIN SOME THINGS THAT ARE HARD TO UNDERSTAND, WHICH IGNORANT AND UNSTABLE PEOPLE DISTORT” WHICH WAS A CHARITABLE WAY OF SAYING THAT “I'M PRETTY SURE HE'S NOT A HERETIC”.
BUT HERE'S THE THING. PETER BY HIMSELF WAS A WELL-MEANING NOT OVERLY BRIGHT BUMBLER, WHO KNEW FISHING, BUT PROBABLY HAD AN OPINION ABOUT EVERYTHING; HE HAD A BIG MOUTH AND WHEN THE CHIPS WERE DOWN, HE HID. AND HE WAS JUST THE KIND WHO WOULD TELL JOKES ABOUT STUCK UP PHARISEES OVER A BEER WITH HIS FRIENDS, AND HE WOULD HAVE NEVER HAD ANYTHING TO DO WITH PAUL. BUT PETER PLUS JESUS WAS A LEADER WHO HELD THE EARLY CHURCH TOGETHER, WHO FACED DEATH MORE THAN A FEW TIMES, WHO WAS ABLE TO STAND IN JESUS' PLACE AND PUT TOGETHER THE STRUCTURES THAT EVOLVED INTO OUR CHURCH; PETER BECAME WISE AND EVEN MANAGED TO FIND A ROLE FOR PAUL, WHO MIGHT NEVER HAVE BEEN ABLE TO LIVE IN THE JERUSALEM COMMUNITY. AND PAUL BY HIMSELF WAS A HUMORLESS FANATIC, WHO NOT ONLY PRACTICED THE HUNDREDS OF LAWS OF MOSES TO THE VERY LETTER, BUT REASONED THAT TORTURE AND DEATH WERE A FITTING REWARD FOR ANYONE WHO DEVIATED FROM THE LAW; AND HE WAS WELL EDUCATED, AND UPPER MIDDLE CLASS, JUST THE KIND WHO WOULD REALLY LOOK DOWN ON PETER; AND PAUL WITH JESUS DISCOVERED LOVE, AND WENT ON TO LIVE THE WORDS HE WROTE IN THE FIRST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS: “LOVE IS PATIENT, LOVE IS KIND. IT DOES NOT ENVY, IT DOES NOT BOAST, IT IS NOT PROUD. IT IS NOT RUDE, IT IS NOT SELF-SEEKING, IT IS NOT EASILY ANGERED, IT KEEPS NO RECORD OF WRONGS.”
SO PERHAPS WE DON'T SO MUCH HONOR PETER AND PAUL TODAY AS WE HONOR JESUS, WHO TRANSFORMED THEM BOTH, WHO TOOK THEIR WORST CHARACTER TRAITS AND MADE SOMETHING WONDERFUL FROM THEM. PERHAPS TODAY WE HONOR THE FACT THAT JESUS IS WILLING TO TRANSFORM US AS WELL – HE MAY NOT HAVE MUCH TO WORK WITH, BUT HE DIDN'T WITH PETER OR PAUL EITHER. SO ONE OF OUR PRAYERS TODAY SHOULD BE “COMPLETE ME, LORD, AS YOU COMPLETED PETER AND PAUL, AND USE ME TO BUILD UP YOUR KINGDOM.”
AND PERHAPS TODAY WE SHOULD HONOR THE FACT THAT WHEN WE LOOK AT OTHER PEOPLE, ESPECIALLY PEOPLE WHOSE PERSONALITIES CLASH WITH OURS, PEOPLE WHO CAN'T SEEM TO DO ANYTHING RIGHT, PEOPLE WHO WHENEVER THEY OPEN THEIR MOUTHS SAY THE DUMBEST THINGS, PEOPLE WHO HAVE STREAKS OF CRUELTY, PEOPLE WHO ALWAYS PUT THEMSELVES FIRST – YOU CAN ADD TO THE LIST – MAYBE YOU ARE ON MY LIST AND I'M ON YOURS – WE ARE LOOKING AT THE RAW MATERIAL THAT JESUS CAN USE TO CREATE GREAT SAINTS, AND IF THAT IS THE CASE, HOW CAN WE NOT HONOR THE POTENTIAL FOR HOLINESS THAT WE SEE IN EVEN THOSE WE CAN HARDLY STAND?
SO GET TO KNOW PETER AND PAUL, GET TO SEE HOW VASTLY DIFFERENT THEY WERE AS PEOPLE, AND HOW JESUS USED THEM BOTH, AND TRANSFORMED THEM BOTH, AND MADE THEM INTO SAINTS. AND PRAY THAT HE WILL DO THE SAME FOR YOU AND I.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle A
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.
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.
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.
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