LUKE 11:1- 13
THEY SAY THAT GOD ALWAYS ANSWERS OUR PRAYERS. THE ANSWERS ARE YES, NO, NOT RIGHT NOW, AND YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING.
OUR GOSPEL TODAY INVITES US TO THINK ABOUT PRAYER. WHILE I AM SURE THAT GOD HEARS MY PRAYERS, MY OWN EXPERIENCE, WHICH IS PROBABLY YOURS AS WELL, IS THAT GOD DOESN'T USUALLY SAY YES. AND YET, WE ARE ASSURED BY JESUS THAT WHATEVER WE ASK THE FATHER IN HIS NAME WILL BE GRANTED; AND IF WE KNOCK, IT WILL BE OPENED; MANY PASSAGES IN THE GOSPELS AND IN FACT THROUGHOUT SCRIPTURE, INSIST THAT GOD WILL ANSWER OUR PRAYERS.
BUT I THINK IT DEPENDS ON THE PRAYER. FIRST OF ALL, WE CAN'T EXPECT GOD TO CHANGE NATURAL LAW. IF HE CHANGED THE LAWS OF NATURE OR SUSPENDED THEM, EVERY TIME ONE OF US ASKS HIM SOMETHING, THE WORLD WOULD BE PRETTY CHAOTIC. WE'D HAVE RAIN ON THE FARMS AND SUNNY DAYS IN THE CITIES, ALL AT THE SAME TIME. SKIERS WOULD HAVE SNOW AND GOLFERS WOULD HAVE SPRING ALL AT THE SAME TIME. AND THESE EXAMPLES ARE SORT OF SILLY, BUT WE COULD SAY THE SAME THING ABOUT LIFE AND DEATH, ABOUT BEING SPARED FROM HURRICANES AND OTHER NATURAL DISASTERS. GOD WON'T USUALLY SUSPEND HIS OWN LAWS.
SECOND, GOD WON'T TAKE AWAY OUR NATURE AS FREE BEINGS. IF WE ARE FREE TO MAKE CHOICES, THEN THE FREEDOM IS ONLY REAL IF THE CONSEQUENCES OF OUR CHOICES ARE REAL. IF I CHOOSE TO EXERCISE AND EAT RIGHT, I CAN EXPECT MY BODY TO BECOME HEALTHIER. MY CHOICE HAS CONSEQUENCES. BUT IF I CHOOSE TO SMOKE, I CAN EXPECT A HIGHER LIKELIHOOD OF CANCER, HEART DISEASE, EMPHYSEMA, ULCERS, AND BAD COMPLEXION. MY CHOICE HAS CONSEQUENCES. AND IF I PRAY THAT MY CHOICES NOT HAVE THE CONSEQUENCES THAT FOLLOW, THEN I AM PRAYING THAT GOD WILL TAKE AWAY MY FREEDOM, AND HE WON'T. IT'S ONE OF THE GIFTS THAT MAKE US IN HIS IMAGE AND LIKENESS.
SO IF GOD WON'T USUALLY SUSPEND NATURAL LAW, AND WON'T USUALLY SPARE US FROM THE CONSEQUENCES OF OUR FREEDOM, WHAT GOOD IS PRAYER? ARE WE JUST WASTING OUR BREATH? ARE WE JUST GOING THROUGH THE MOTIONS? IN HIGH SCHOOL I WENT TO A CATHOLIC SCHOOL, AND BEFORE PLAYING A FOOTBALL GAME WE USED TO GET IN THE HUDDLE AND PRAY THAT WE WOULD WIN, AND THAT NO ONE WOULD GET HURT. GOD HAD ABOUT A 50% RESPONSE RATE TO THAT PRAYER, IF I REMEMBER CORRECTLY, EVEN WHEN WE WERE PLAYING AGAINST A PUBLIC SCHOOL TEAM.
THE APOSTLES HAVE WITNESSED THAT JESUS SPENDS A LOT OF TIME PRAYING. IT WASN'T UNUSUAL FOR DISCIPLES OF A RABBI TO ASK THEIR TEACHER TO GIVE THEM A PRAYER TO SAY, AND THE DISCIPLES ASK JESUS THE SAME THING – TEACH US TO PRAY. IF WE WERE READING A MORE ACCURATE TRANSLATION OF THIS GOSPEL, WE WOULD HEAR JESUS SAYING, “PRAY IN THIS WAY,” BEFORE HE GIVES THEM THE LORD'S PRAYER. WE SHOULD REMEMBER THAT THE LORD'S PRAYER IS A MODEL OF PRAYER, NOT PRIMARILY MEANT BY JESUS TO BE OUR PRAYER.
AND WE CAN LEARN MORE ABOUT PRAYER BY LOOKING AT THE LORD'S PRAYER. THE FIRST SET OF PETITIONS HAVE TO DO WITH GIVING GOD HIS RIGHTFUL PLACE IN OUR HEARTS AND IN OUR WORLD. BEING HUMAN, OUR FIRST IMPULSE IS TO ASK FOR SOMETHING FOR OURSELVES. BUT JESUS SAYS, PRAY THAT GOD IS PROPERLY HONORED, THAT THE WORLD GO ALONG WITH HIS WILL, AND THAT ALL PEOPLE WILL SUBMIT TO HIS RULE. THAT'S WHAT IS REALLY IMPORTANT. AND HAVING PRAYED FOR THIS, IF WE PRAY SINCERELY, WE PUT OURSELVES IN THE RIGHT FRAME OF MIND AND THE RIGHT RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD. THE NEXT SET OF PETITIONS ARE FOR OURSELVES. NOTICE THAT WE DON'T SAY “I” OR “ME”. WE SAY “GIVE US WHAT WE NEED TODAY FOR OUR BODY AND SPIRIT”; WE PRAY THAT WE WILL BE FORGIVEN – FORGIVEN AS WE FORGIVE OTHERS, BUT FORGIVEN FOR ALL THOSE TIMES THAT WE HAVE GONE AGAINST GOD'S WILL. WE PRAY THAT WE WILL BE KEPT FROM FURTHER SIN, AND THAT THINGS THAT WILL TRULY HARM US WILL BE KEPT FROM US. REMEMBER THAT JESUS TOLD US NOT TO FEAR WHAT CAN KILL THE BODY, BUT WHAT DESTROYS THE SOUL. THAT'S WHAT WE WANT TO AVOID.
YOU'LL NOTICE THAT THE LORD'S PRAYER IS FIRST OF ALL, ABOUT GOD AND GOD'S WILL; AND ABOUT US LIVING IN CONFORMITY TO GOD'S WILL, WHICH IN THE END IS THE ONLY WAY THAT WE CAN EVER HOPE TO BE HAPPY, AND THE ONLY WAY WE CAN HOPE TO BE HAPPY FOREVER. SO THAT'S THE MODEL PRAYER.
JESUS TELLS A PARABLE ABOUT PRAYER. A MAN NEEDS SOME BREAD FOR HIS GUEST, AND GOES NEXT DOOR TO BORROW IT. BUT IT'S NIGHT, AND THE HOUSEHOLDER DOESN'T WANT TO GET UP AND OPEN THE DOOR. BUT IF THE MAN KEEPS BANGING ON THE DOOR, HE'LL EVENTUALLY GET HIS WAY, EVEN IF THE HOUSEHOLDER DOESN'T WANT TO GIVE HIM THE BREAD, BECAUSE HE'LL NEVER GET TO SLEEP OTHERWISE. I DON'T THINK THAT IS PRIMARILY ABOUT BANGING ON GOD'S DOOR TO GET OUR WAY. I DO THINK THAT IT TELLS US SOMETHING ABOUT REAL PRAYER.
GOD TAKES OUR PRAYER SERIOUSLY IF WE DO. GOD DOESN'T PAY MUCH ATTENTION IF WE DON'T. ANYONE WHO IS A PARENT KNOWS THAT SOMETIMES YOUR CHILD ASKS FOR THINGS HE DOESN'T REALLY CARE WHETHER HE GETS OR NOT. YOU CAN TELL. AND YOU DON'T STIR YOURSELF MUCH TO ANSWER THOSE REQUESTS.
HOW DOES GOD TELL WHETHER YOU ARE SERIOUS? IT'S NOT HARD. IF YOU PRAY FOR AN END TO ABORTION BUT VOTE FOR CANDIDATES WHO ARE PRO-ABORTION, GOD KNOWS YOU AREN'T SERIOUS ABOUT THAT PRAYER. IF YOU PRAY THAT YOUR CHILD WILL BE GUIDED TO MAKE GOOD CHOICES BUT YOU MAKE NO EFFORT TO EDUCATE HIM IN WISDOM BY YOUR EXAMPLE AND YOUR WORDS, YOU AREN'T SERIOUS. IF YOU PRAY FOR AN END TO POVERTY BUT GIVE NOTHING OF YOUR GOODS TO END POVERTY, WELL, YOU GET THE POINT. THE MAN WHO WANTED BREAD DIDN'T SIT IN HIS HOUSE AND HOPE THAT HE WOULD GET BREAD; HE WENT NEXT DOOR AND BANGED ON THE DOOR UNTIL HE GOT IT. THE HOUSEHOLDER KNEW HE WAS SERIOUS. GOD DOES NOT FORGIVE US OUR SINS, UNLESS HE SEES THAT WE FORGIVE, REALLY FORGIVE OTHERS. ITS LIKE THE STORY OF THE MAN WHO WAS FORGIVEN A DEBT HE COULD NOT PAY, BUT WENT OUT AND DEMANDED THAT A MUCH SMALLER DEBT BE PAID TO HIM. HE ENDED UP UNFORGIVEN.
SO BE CAREFUL HOW YOU PRAY; PRAY FROM WITHIN THE WILL OF GOD, THE PURPOSE OF GOD; PRAY THAT YOU WILL BE ALIGNED WITH GOD'S WILL. AND PRAY LIKE YOU MEAN IT; IF YOU ARE GOING TO PRAY FOR SOMETHING, THEN GET OUT AND AT LEAST MAKE AN EFFORT; THEN GOD WILL SEE THAT YOU ARE SERIOUS.
AND PERHAPS THE LAST FEW WORDS ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT. ALL PRAYER, PROBABLY, BOILS DOWN TO PRAYING FOR THE HOLY SPIRIT; FOR IF THE SPIRIT LIVES IN US, THEN OUR PRAYER WILL BE RIGHT, AND OUR PRAYER WILL BE ANSWERED.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle C
LUKE 10:38-42
WHEN I LIVED IN BUFFALO, I WAS THE THESIS DIRECTOR FOR A GRADUATE STUDENT WHO HAD BEEN BORN IN ITALY, AND HAD COME TO THIS COUNTRY WITH HIS PARENTS WHEN HE WAS ABOUT SIX. HE INVITED ME AND MY FAMILY TO SUPPER ONE DAY, AND ALTHOUGH I MADE A LOT OF EXCUSES, HE KEPT INSISTING AND FINALLY WORE DOWN MY RESISTANCE. WE GOT TO HIS HOUSE AT ABOUT 1:30 PM ON A SUNDAY. WE SAT AT THE DINING ROOM TABLE, THE FATHER AT THE HEAD, MY STUDENT AND HIS SISTER ACROSS FROM MY WIFE AND MYSELF, AND MY CHILDREN AT A CARD-TABLE. MY STUDENT'S MOTHER WAS STANDING BEHIND HIS FATHER'S CHAIR. DURING THE MEAL, SHE DID NOT JOIN US, BUT KEPT GOING INTO THE KITCHEN AND BRINGING OUT VARIOUS DISHES. I KEPT THINKING THAT THE MEAL WAS OVER, BUT IT KEPT GOING, FOR ABOUT THREE HOURS, AND EVERY TIME WE WOULD FINISH ONE THING, SOMETHING ELSE WOULD BE BROUGHT OUT. I BEGAN TO REALIZE WHY MY STUDENT AND HIS SISTER CARRIED A LITTLE EXCESS WEIGHT.
DURING THE MEAL I ASKED HIM IF HIS MOTHER WOULD SIT DOWN AND JOIN US. HE REPLIED THAT THIS WAS THE WAY IT ALWAYS WAS ON SUNDAYS – SHE NEVER SAT DOWN, SHE JUST COOKED AND SERVED – IT WAS TRADITION, SHE LIKED IT THIS WAY, SHE WOULDN'T THINK OF HAVING IT ANY OTHER WAY. BUT IT JUST DIDN'T SEEM RIGHT TO ME.
DURING THE MEAL, WE HAD A NICE CONVERSATION. MY STUDENT'S FATHER WOULD GIVE HIS OPINIONS, AND WE WOULD DISCUSS THEM. HE WAS CLEARLY THE MASTER OF THE HOUSE AND THE ONE TO WHOM EVERYONE DEFERRED.
TODAY'S GOSPEL IS ANOTHER ONE OF THOSE STORIES FROM THE LIFE OF JESUS THAT EVERYONE KNOWS; IN FACT, THE STORY OF MARTHA AND MARY IS ALMOST A CLICHÉ. PEOPLE REACT PREDICTABLY. MOTHERS SYMPATHIZE WITH MARTHA, AND GET A LITTLE MAD AT JESUS FOR SEEMING TO PUT HER DOWN WHEN ALL SHE WANTS IS A LITTLE HELP IN THE KITCHEN, PLEASE. AFTER ALL, MARTHA HAD TO RUSTLE UP SUPPER FOR TWELVE APOSTLES, JESUS, AND HER BROTHER LAZARUS. THAT'S A BIG DINNER PARTY, AND IF JESUS AND HIS APOSTLES WERE LIKE MOST MEN, THEY PROBABLY DIDN'T GIVE A LOT OF ADVANCE NOTICE. BUT THOSE CATHOLICS WHO HAVE ENTERED MONASTERIES AND RELIGIOUS ORDERS LOOK AT MARY, AND PERHAPS BELIEVE IN THEIR HEARTS THAT THEY HAVE CHOSEN THE BETTER PART; THEY ARE AFTER ALL, PUTTING ASIDE WORLDLY CARES SO THAT THEY CAN LISTEN MORE INTENTLY TO JESUS. AND EVEN THOUGH THEY DON'T WANT TO ADMIT IT, MAYBE THEY FEEL A LITTLE BIT SUPERIOR TO THOSE OF US WHO HAVE SO MANY EARTHLY CARES. AND THE REST OF US ARE IN BETWEEN; SOMETIMES WHEN WE ARE MARTHA, WE WISH WE WERE MARY; AND IF WE ARE MARY, SOMETIMES THOSE OF US WHO CAN'T SIT STILL FEEL AN URGE TO GO OUT IN THE KITCHEN AND SAY, “PUT ME TO WORK” BECAUSE SITTING QUIETLY IS NOT SOMETHING WE DO WELL.
I THINK JESUS HAS A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT MESSAGE THAN WE COMMONLY HEAR, HOWEVER. INDEED, MARY HAS CHOSEN THE BETTER PART. BUT JESUS IMPLIES THAT MARTHA COULD HAVE DONE SO AS WELL. MY STUDENT'S MOTHER AND FATHER WERE LOCKED INTO STEREOTYPES; SHE COULD NEVER HAVE SAT DOWN AT THE TABLE AND JOINED IN THE CONVERSATION; HE COULD NEVER HAVE GOTTEN UP AND HELPED HER IN THE KITCHEN.
BUT JESUS IMPLIES THAT IF WE ARE LOCKED INTO STEREOTYPES, WE MISS OUT ON THE BEST THINGS LIFE HAS TO OFFER. MARY BROKE THE STEREOTYPE, LEFT THE KITCHEN AND SAT AT THE FEET OF JESUS, JUST LIKE THE APOSTLES. AND JESUS CREDITS HER WITH THAT. MARTHA WAS DOING “WOMEN'S WORK” AND BECAUSE OF THAT, LOCKED HERSELF IN A PRISON OF HER OWN MAKING; JESUS IS IN THE NEXT ROOM, SPEAKING WORDS THAT MOVE THE HEARTS OF THOSE WHO HEAR HIM; SPEAKING WORDS OF LIFE AND SALVATION; AND MARTHA CANNOT LEAVE HER POTS AND PANS TO LISTEN. BUT MARY MAY HAVE CHOSEN THE BETTER PART, BUT MARTHA'S PROBLEM IS NOT LIMITED TO HER ALONE. WHY ARE THE APOSTLES AND MARY SITTING THERE ALLOWING MARTHA TO DO ALL THE WORK? THEY ARE AS GUILTY AS SHE IS; IT IS IN PART THEIR FAULT, THEIR EXPECTATIONS, THAT PREVENT MARTHA FROM CHOOSING THE BETTER PART. AND WE CAN ALL SEE WHERE THIS IS GOING. MARY AND THE APOSTLES SHOULD HAVE RECOGNIZED THAT MARTHA WAS DOING ALL THE WORK, AND FOUND A WAY TO MAKE SURE SHE SAT AT JESUS' FEET AS WELL; MARTHA IS DOING “WOMEN'S WORK” BUT THE APOSTLES ARE ENABLERS, THEY ARE REINFORCING THE STEREOTYPE.
WE LIVE IN A WORLD OF MARTHA'S. HOW DO I KNOW THIS? EVERY TUESDAY JESUS, BODY AND BLOOD, SOUL AND DIVINITY, TAKES HIS PLACE ON THE ALTAR IN THE EXPOSED BLESSED SACRAMENT. HE SPEAKS TO THOSE WHO COME TO HIM IN THE SILENCE OF THEIR HEARTS; HE OFFERS PEACE, ENLIGHTENMENT, ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS, FORGIVENESS OF SINS. EVERY FIRST FRIDAY HE MOUNTS HIS THRONE AS WELL, AND WAITS FOR HIS PEOPLE TO CHOOSE THE BETTER PART. AND THEY DON'T. THEY ARE TOO BUSY; THEY ARE ANXIOUS AND WORRIED ABOUT MANY THINGS.
IF YOU ARE A FOLLOWER OF JESUS, IF YOU REALLY BELIEVE THAT JESUS MAKES HIMSELF PRESENT IN THE BREAD AND WINE AS CATHOLICS BELIEVE; IF YOU WANT WHAT HE HAS TO OFFER, ISN'T IT TIME THAT YOU MADE A RESOLUTION TO SPEND SOME TIME WITH THE BLESSED SACRAMENT ONCE A WEEK, IF ONLY FOR A FEW MINUTES? YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE TO COME WHEN JESUS IS EXPOSED ON TUESDAYS AND FIRST FRIDAY; HE IS ALWAYS THERE IN THE TABERNACLE. IF YOU JUST BARELY BELIEVE THAT JESUS IS PRESENT IN THE BLESSED SACRAMENT, THEN YOU OWE IT TO YOURSELF TO ACT ON THAT BELIEF, AND IN HIS PRESENCE YOUR BELIEF WILL BE STRENGTHENED.
ONCE A PRIEST WAS COMPLAINING TO MOTHER THERESA ABOUT HOW BUSY HE WAS. HE BARELY HAD TIME TO GET THROUGH THE DAY, AND BECAUSE OF THAT HE FOUND HIMSELF NEGLECTING HIS PRAYER LIFE. SHE TOLD HIM THAT IF HE COULDN'T MAKE TIME FOR PRAYER IN HIS LIFE, NOTHING HE DID MATTERED. IF HE COULDN'T MAKE TIME FOR PRAYER THEN HE WAS CLEARLY WAY TOO BUSY.
AND TODAY WE SHOULD ASK WHETHER WE ARE TOO BUSY; WHETHER WE ARE ALLOWING THE STEREOTYPE OF WHAT THE WORLD EXPECTS OF US TO RULE OUR LIVES; WHETHER WE ARE BUSY WITH POTS AND PANS AND DISTRACTIONS WHEN JESUS IS IN THE NEXT ROOM AND THERE IS A PLACE FOR US AT HIS FEET.
WHEN I LIVED IN BUFFALO, I WAS THE THESIS DIRECTOR FOR A GRADUATE STUDENT WHO HAD BEEN BORN IN ITALY, AND HAD COME TO THIS COUNTRY WITH HIS PARENTS WHEN HE WAS ABOUT SIX. HE INVITED ME AND MY FAMILY TO SUPPER ONE DAY, AND ALTHOUGH I MADE A LOT OF EXCUSES, HE KEPT INSISTING AND FINALLY WORE DOWN MY RESISTANCE. WE GOT TO HIS HOUSE AT ABOUT 1:30 PM ON A SUNDAY. WE SAT AT THE DINING ROOM TABLE, THE FATHER AT THE HEAD, MY STUDENT AND HIS SISTER ACROSS FROM MY WIFE AND MYSELF, AND MY CHILDREN AT A CARD-TABLE. MY STUDENT'S MOTHER WAS STANDING BEHIND HIS FATHER'S CHAIR. DURING THE MEAL, SHE DID NOT JOIN US, BUT KEPT GOING INTO THE KITCHEN AND BRINGING OUT VARIOUS DISHES. I KEPT THINKING THAT THE MEAL WAS OVER, BUT IT KEPT GOING, FOR ABOUT THREE HOURS, AND EVERY TIME WE WOULD FINISH ONE THING, SOMETHING ELSE WOULD BE BROUGHT OUT. I BEGAN TO REALIZE WHY MY STUDENT AND HIS SISTER CARRIED A LITTLE EXCESS WEIGHT.
DURING THE MEAL I ASKED HIM IF HIS MOTHER WOULD SIT DOWN AND JOIN US. HE REPLIED THAT THIS WAS THE WAY IT ALWAYS WAS ON SUNDAYS – SHE NEVER SAT DOWN, SHE JUST COOKED AND SERVED – IT WAS TRADITION, SHE LIKED IT THIS WAY, SHE WOULDN'T THINK OF HAVING IT ANY OTHER WAY. BUT IT JUST DIDN'T SEEM RIGHT TO ME.
DURING THE MEAL, WE HAD A NICE CONVERSATION. MY STUDENT'S FATHER WOULD GIVE HIS OPINIONS, AND WE WOULD DISCUSS THEM. HE WAS CLEARLY THE MASTER OF THE HOUSE AND THE ONE TO WHOM EVERYONE DEFERRED.
TODAY'S GOSPEL IS ANOTHER ONE OF THOSE STORIES FROM THE LIFE OF JESUS THAT EVERYONE KNOWS; IN FACT, THE STORY OF MARTHA AND MARY IS ALMOST A CLICHÉ. PEOPLE REACT PREDICTABLY. MOTHERS SYMPATHIZE WITH MARTHA, AND GET A LITTLE MAD AT JESUS FOR SEEMING TO PUT HER DOWN WHEN ALL SHE WANTS IS A LITTLE HELP IN THE KITCHEN, PLEASE. AFTER ALL, MARTHA HAD TO RUSTLE UP SUPPER FOR TWELVE APOSTLES, JESUS, AND HER BROTHER LAZARUS. THAT'S A BIG DINNER PARTY, AND IF JESUS AND HIS APOSTLES WERE LIKE MOST MEN, THEY PROBABLY DIDN'T GIVE A LOT OF ADVANCE NOTICE. BUT THOSE CATHOLICS WHO HAVE ENTERED MONASTERIES AND RELIGIOUS ORDERS LOOK AT MARY, AND PERHAPS BELIEVE IN THEIR HEARTS THAT THEY HAVE CHOSEN THE BETTER PART; THEY ARE AFTER ALL, PUTTING ASIDE WORLDLY CARES SO THAT THEY CAN LISTEN MORE INTENTLY TO JESUS. AND EVEN THOUGH THEY DON'T WANT TO ADMIT IT, MAYBE THEY FEEL A LITTLE BIT SUPERIOR TO THOSE OF US WHO HAVE SO MANY EARTHLY CARES. AND THE REST OF US ARE IN BETWEEN; SOMETIMES WHEN WE ARE MARTHA, WE WISH WE WERE MARY; AND IF WE ARE MARY, SOMETIMES THOSE OF US WHO CAN'T SIT STILL FEEL AN URGE TO GO OUT IN THE KITCHEN AND SAY, “PUT ME TO WORK” BECAUSE SITTING QUIETLY IS NOT SOMETHING WE DO WELL.
I THINK JESUS HAS A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT MESSAGE THAN WE COMMONLY HEAR, HOWEVER. INDEED, MARY HAS CHOSEN THE BETTER PART. BUT JESUS IMPLIES THAT MARTHA COULD HAVE DONE SO AS WELL. MY STUDENT'S MOTHER AND FATHER WERE LOCKED INTO STEREOTYPES; SHE COULD NEVER HAVE SAT DOWN AT THE TABLE AND JOINED IN THE CONVERSATION; HE COULD NEVER HAVE GOTTEN UP AND HELPED HER IN THE KITCHEN.
BUT JESUS IMPLIES THAT IF WE ARE LOCKED INTO STEREOTYPES, WE MISS OUT ON THE BEST THINGS LIFE HAS TO OFFER. MARY BROKE THE STEREOTYPE, LEFT THE KITCHEN AND SAT AT THE FEET OF JESUS, JUST LIKE THE APOSTLES. AND JESUS CREDITS HER WITH THAT. MARTHA WAS DOING “WOMEN'S WORK” AND BECAUSE OF THAT, LOCKED HERSELF IN A PRISON OF HER OWN MAKING; JESUS IS IN THE NEXT ROOM, SPEAKING WORDS THAT MOVE THE HEARTS OF THOSE WHO HEAR HIM; SPEAKING WORDS OF LIFE AND SALVATION; AND MARTHA CANNOT LEAVE HER POTS AND PANS TO LISTEN. BUT MARY MAY HAVE CHOSEN THE BETTER PART, BUT MARTHA'S PROBLEM IS NOT LIMITED TO HER ALONE. WHY ARE THE APOSTLES AND MARY SITTING THERE ALLOWING MARTHA TO DO ALL THE WORK? THEY ARE AS GUILTY AS SHE IS; IT IS IN PART THEIR FAULT, THEIR EXPECTATIONS, THAT PREVENT MARTHA FROM CHOOSING THE BETTER PART. AND WE CAN ALL SEE WHERE THIS IS GOING. MARY AND THE APOSTLES SHOULD HAVE RECOGNIZED THAT MARTHA WAS DOING ALL THE WORK, AND FOUND A WAY TO MAKE SURE SHE SAT AT JESUS' FEET AS WELL; MARTHA IS DOING “WOMEN'S WORK” BUT THE APOSTLES ARE ENABLERS, THEY ARE REINFORCING THE STEREOTYPE.
WE LIVE IN A WORLD OF MARTHA'S. HOW DO I KNOW THIS? EVERY TUESDAY JESUS, BODY AND BLOOD, SOUL AND DIVINITY, TAKES HIS PLACE ON THE ALTAR IN THE EXPOSED BLESSED SACRAMENT. HE SPEAKS TO THOSE WHO COME TO HIM IN THE SILENCE OF THEIR HEARTS; HE OFFERS PEACE, ENLIGHTENMENT, ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS, FORGIVENESS OF SINS. EVERY FIRST FRIDAY HE MOUNTS HIS THRONE AS WELL, AND WAITS FOR HIS PEOPLE TO CHOOSE THE BETTER PART. AND THEY DON'T. THEY ARE TOO BUSY; THEY ARE ANXIOUS AND WORRIED ABOUT MANY THINGS.
IF YOU ARE A FOLLOWER OF JESUS, IF YOU REALLY BELIEVE THAT JESUS MAKES HIMSELF PRESENT IN THE BREAD AND WINE AS CATHOLICS BELIEVE; IF YOU WANT WHAT HE HAS TO OFFER, ISN'T IT TIME THAT YOU MADE A RESOLUTION TO SPEND SOME TIME WITH THE BLESSED SACRAMENT ONCE A WEEK, IF ONLY FOR A FEW MINUTES? YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE TO COME WHEN JESUS IS EXPOSED ON TUESDAYS AND FIRST FRIDAY; HE IS ALWAYS THERE IN THE TABERNACLE. IF YOU JUST BARELY BELIEVE THAT JESUS IS PRESENT IN THE BLESSED SACRAMENT, THEN YOU OWE IT TO YOURSELF TO ACT ON THAT BELIEF, AND IN HIS PRESENCE YOUR BELIEF WILL BE STRENGTHENED.
ONCE A PRIEST WAS COMPLAINING TO MOTHER THERESA ABOUT HOW BUSY HE WAS. HE BARELY HAD TIME TO GET THROUGH THE DAY, AND BECAUSE OF THAT HE FOUND HIMSELF NEGLECTING HIS PRAYER LIFE. SHE TOLD HIM THAT IF HE COULDN'T MAKE TIME FOR PRAYER IN HIS LIFE, NOTHING HE DID MATTERED. IF HE COULDN'T MAKE TIME FOR PRAYER THEN HE WAS CLEARLY WAY TOO BUSY.
AND TODAY WE SHOULD ASK WHETHER WE ARE TOO BUSY; WHETHER WE ARE ALLOWING THE STEREOTYPE OF WHAT THE WORLD EXPECTS OF US TO RULE OUR LIVES; WHETHER WE ARE BUSY WITH POTS AND PANS AND DISTRACTIONS WHEN JESUS IS IN THE NEXT ROOM AND THERE IS A PLACE FOR US AT HIS FEET.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle C
LUKE 10:25-37
ONCE I WAS IN MIAMI AT A CONFERENCE, AND DURING THE BREAKS I WOULD WALK AROUND ENJOYING THE SUN SINCE IT WAS WINTER IN LONGMEADOW. AND I WOULD ALWAYS PASS A QUIET MAN IN A WHEELCHAIR, MISSING HIS LEGS, HOLDING OUT A CUP, NOT MOVING, NOT BLESSING ME, NOT HOLDING UP A SIGN TELLING ME HE WAS A VETERAN. AND I SAW THAT THERE WERE A FEW COINS IN THE CUP, AND A DOLLAR BILL OR TWO. AND AFTER I PASSED HIM FOR THE THIRD OR FOURTH TIME, AND AFTER I HAD RESISTED THE URGE TO GO OVER AND DROP A FEW COINS IN HIS CUP – I SUDDENLY HAD A FLASH – HOW ABSOLUTELY FORTUNATE I WAS, HOW INCREDIBLY BLESSED; AND THEN FOR A VERY BRIEF MOMENT, FOR JUST A FRACTION OF A SECOND, I WAS THE MAN IN THE WHEELCHAIR. ON IMPULSE, I PUT A TWENTY DOLLAR BILL IN HIS CUP AND TOLD HIM I HOPED HE COULD GET OUT OF THE SUN FOR A WHILE. NOW I DON'T MAKE IT A HABIT TO DO THAT; POCKET CHANGE IS WHAT I USUALLY DROP INTO THE CUPS OF BEGGARS, AND MY REAL CONTRIBUTIONS ARE TO INSTITUTIONS WHICH WILL USE MY DONATIONS WISELY, WHERE THEY WILL DO THE MOST GOOD. BUT AS I READ THE STORY OF THE GOOD SAMARITAN FOR THE MILLIONTH TIME, I AM THINKING, MAYBE I SHOULD RETHINK WHETHER I AM A NEIGHBOR.
MOST OF US HAVE HEARD THE PARABLE OF THE GOOD SAMARITAN SO OFTEN THAT WE COULD PROBABLY RECITE IT WORD FOR WORD. AND WE THINK WE GET IT. EVERYBODY IS OUR NEIGHBOR. SEEMS LIKE JESUS WENT TO A LOT OF TROUBLE TO MAKE THIS SIMPLE POINT. BUT LIKE EVERYTHING JESUS SAID, THIS PARABLE IS DEEP, AND EVERY TIME YOU THINK ABOUT IT YOU HEAR THE STORY IN A NEW WAY.
PICTURE THE SCENE; JESUS SUMMARIZES THE COMMANDMENTS IN TWO STATEMENTS, AND A LAWYER AGREES; BECAUSE THE JEWS DEBATED ABOUT WHICH COMMANDMENTS WERE THE MOST IMPORTANT, AND THERE WERE MANY JEWS, NOT JUST JESUS, WHO SAW THROUGH THE 613 COMMANDMENTS TO THE FUNDAMENTAL COMMANDMENTS OF LOVING GOD AND LOVING NEIGHBOR. BUT THE LAWYER HAS A REAL QUESTION. IF YOU READ THE OLD TESTAMENT, IT IS CONFUSING; WHO IS YOUR NEIGHBOR? SURE, THERE IS A HINT THAT WE ARE ALL GOD'S CHILDREN. THE PARABLE OF JONAH, FOR EXAMPLE, SUGGESTS THAT GOD CARES ABOUT PEOPLE WHO AREN'T ISRAELITES, SINCE HE SPARES THE PEOPLE OF NINEVEH WHEN THEY REPENT. BUT MOST OF THE WRITINGS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT COULD GIVE SUPPORT TO THE IDEA THAT THE NEIGHBOR OF A JEW WAS ANOTHER JEW, AND THAT GENTILES WERE SOMETHING ELSE; IF THEY LIVED AMONG YOU, YOU TOLERATED THEM; BUT THEY WERE DEFINITELY SECOND CLASS CITIZENS. DID THE JEWS THINK THEY WERE BETTER THAN OTHER PEOPLE? NOT THE THOUGHTFUL ONES; BUT THEY DID THINK THAT GOD HAD A SPECIAL PURPOSE FOR THE JEWISH PEOPLE, AND WHILE THAT WAS A PRIVILEGE, IT WAS ALSO A HUGE BURDEN. AND JEWS WERE SUPPOSED TO CONCENTRATE ON THEIR DUTIES TOWARDS GOD, AND NOT WORRY ABOUT THE REST OF MANKIND. THAT WAS GOD'S CONCERN.
JESUS GOES OVER TO THE LAWYER AND BEGINS A STORY. I'M SURE YOU'VE HEARD STORIES THAT START OUT, “A PRIEST, A MINISTER, AND A RABBI WENT INTO A BAR ....” OR “A DOCTOR, A LAWYER, AND AN AN ENGINEER WERE ARGUING...” IN THE SOCIETY IN WHICH JESUS LIVED, THE PRIESTS AND LEVITES, WHO PERFORMED WHAT EVERYONE AGREED WAS A NECESSARY FUNCTION, WERE INCREASINGLY DISTANT FROM THE ORDINARY PEOPLE, AND THERE WAS A LITTLE CLASS JEALOUSY. SO THERE WERE MANY STORIES THAT STARTED OUT “A PRIEST, A LEVITE AND AN ISRAELITE...” AND IN THESE STORIES, THE ISRAELITE ALWAYS SHOWED MORE COMMON SENSE, OR A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE LAW, THAN DID THE PRIEST AND THE LEVITE. SO THE LAWYER AND EVERYONE LISTENING TO JESUS SETTLED BACK TO HEAR A FAMILIAR STORY – AND THEN JESUS BRINGS UP THE SAMARITAN. YOU AND I LITERALLY CAN'T IMAGINE THE SHOCK, NOT IN OUR SOCIETY. WE MAY INDIVIDUALLY HARBOR ILL FEELINGS TOWARDS WHOLE CLASSES OF PEOPLE, BUT NOT TO THE POINT THAT WE WOULD WANT THEM ALL DEAD, WIPED OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH. NOT TO THE POINT WHERE WE WOULD FEEL SICK TO OUR STOMACH IF ONE OF THEM TOUCHED US. AND TO EVEN MENTION A SAMARITAN IN POLITE COMPANY – IT WOULD BE LIKE TALKING ABOUT YOUR BATHROOM HABITS IN A FANCY RESTAURANT. BUT THAT'S WHAT PEOPLE THOUGHT OF SAMARITANS – NOT ONLY WERE THEY HALF-BREEDS, CROSSES BETWEEN JEWS AND PAGANS; BUT THEIR RELIGION WAS HALF-BREED AS WELL, A BLASPHEMOUS MOCKERY OF THE TRUE RELIGION. AND THEY LIVED RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE LAND THAT GOD HAD GIVEN THE CHOSEN PEOPLE, LIKE A BIG OPEN SORE ON A BEAUTIFUL FACE.
AND JESUS LOOKS THE LAWYER IN THE EYE, AND THE LAWYER SUDDENLY SEES HIMSELF AS THE MAN IN THE DITCH, THE MAN WHO HAS BEEN BEATEN AND ROBBED AND LEFT FOR DEAD. WHO CAN BLAME THE PRIEST AND THE LEVITE? IT WAS A WELL KNOWN TRICK FOR BANDITS TO HIDE AND ATTACK ANYONE FOOLISH ENOUGH TO LET DOWN THEIR GUARD. AND IF THE PERSON WAS DEAD, NO ONE WOULD WANT TO TOUCH THE BODY, SINCE YOU WOULD BECOME RITUALLY UNCLEAN. AND THE LAWYER, WHO HAS PROBABLY FOUND HIMSELF IN THE SAME SITUATION AS THE PRIEST AND THE LEVITE, WHO HAD STEPPED OVER A BODY ON THE SIDEWALK OR CROSSED THE STREET TO AVOID THE LEPER SITTING IN RAGS, SUDDENLY FELT WHAT IT IS LIKE TO BE HELPLESS, TO BE DYING, AND TO BE COMPLETELY ALONE. AND AT THAT MOMENT, THERE WEREN'T JEWS AND SAMARITANS, THERE WEREN'T RITUAL PURITY LAWS, THERE WEREN'T ANY ARTIFICIAL DIVISIONS – NOT FOR THE MAN IN THE DITCH. AND JESUS RUBS IT IN. HE DOESN'T MERELY SAY THAT THE SAMARITAN HELPED THE MAN, HE DESCRIBES IN DETAIL WHAT THE SAMARITAN DID – CLEANS OUT THE WOUNDS, TEARS STRIPS FROM HIS GARMENT FOR BANDAGES, PUTS THE MAN ON HIS MULE AND WALKS THE REST OF THE NINE OR TEN MILES, PAYS THE INNKEEPER, AND PLEDGES TO PAY WHAT ELSE WOULD BE OWED ON HIS WAY BACK. AND JESUS SAYS, “WHO WAS NEIGHBOR TO THAT MAN?” AND THE LAWYER, WHO UP TILL THEN WOULD HAVE READILY AGREED THAT A JEW WAS NEIGHBOR TO A JEW, IS BROUGHT TO A NEW UNDERSTANDING; A NEIGHBOR IS DEFINED NOT BY WHO HE IS, NOT BY RACE OR RELIGION OR SOCIAL STATUS, BUT BY WHAT HE DOES.
ALL THE PEOPLE WHO HEARD JESUS GOT THE LESSON WE ALL GET – EVERYONE IS YOUR NEIGHBOR. BUT I THINK THE LAWYER, LIKE ME AT THAT MOMENT IN MIAMI, HAD FELT THE ABANDONMENT THAT THE HELPLESS FEEL, AND HAD FELT THE RELIEF AND GRATITUDE WHEN THE STRANGER WHO OWED NOTHING STOPPED TO MINISTER AND SAVED HIS LIFE. AND THE LAWYER LEARNED THE MORE IMPORTANT LESSON – A NEIGHBOR IS ONE WHO HAS MERCY. MAY GOD TEACH US ALL HOW IT FEELS TO RECEIVE MERCY, SO THAT WE WILL HAVE MERCY.
ONCE I WAS IN MIAMI AT A CONFERENCE, AND DURING THE BREAKS I WOULD WALK AROUND ENJOYING THE SUN SINCE IT WAS WINTER IN LONGMEADOW. AND I WOULD ALWAYS PASS A QUIET MAN IN A WHEELCHAIR, MISSING HIS LEGS, HOLDING OUT A CUP, NOT MOVING, NOT BLESSING ME, NOT HOLDING UP A SIGN TELLING ME HE WAS A VETERAN. AND I SAW THAT THERE WERE A FEW COINS IN THE CUP, AND A DOLLAR BILL OR TWO. AND AFTER I PASSED HIM FOR THE THIRD OR FOURTH TIME, AND AFTER I HAD RESISTED THE URGE TO GO OVER AND DROP A FEW COINS IN HIS CUP – I SUDDENLY HAD A FLASH – HOW ABSOLUTELY FORTUNATE I WAS, HOW INCREDIBLY BLESSED; AND THEN FOR A VERY BRIEF MOMENT, FOR JUST A FRACTION OF A SECOND, I WAS THE MAN IN THE WHEELCHAIR. ON IMPULSE, I PUT A TWENTY DOLLAR BILL IN HIS CUP AND TOLD HIM I HOPED HE COULD GET OUT OF THE SUN FOR A WHILE. NOW I DON'T MAKE IT A HABIT TO DO THAT; POCKET CHANGE IS WHAT I USUALLY DROP INTO THE CUPS OF BEGGARS, AND MY REAL CONTRIBUTIONS ARE TO INSTITUTIONS WHICH WILL USE MY DONATIONS WISELY, WHERE THEY WILL DO THE MOST GOOD. BUT AS I READ THE STORY OF THE GOOD SAMARITAN FOR THE MILLIONTH TIME, I AM THINKING, MAYBE I SHOULD RETHINK WHETHER I AM A NEIGHBOR.
MOST OF US HAVE HEARD THE PARABLE OF THE GOOD SAMARITAN SO OFTEN THAT WE COULD PROBABLY RECITE IT WORD FOR WORD. AND WE THINK WE GET IT. EVERYBODY IS OUR NEIGHBOR. SEEMS LIKE JESUS WENT TO A LOT OF TROUBLE TO MAKE THIS SIMPLE POINT. BUT LIKE EVERYTHING JESUS SAID, THIS PARABLE IS DEEP, AND EVERY TIME YOU THINK ABOUT IT YOU HEAR THE STORY IN A NEW WAY.
PICTURE THE SCENE; JESUS SUMMARIZES THE COMMANDMENTS IN TWO STATEMENTS, AND A LAWYER AGREES; BECAUSE THE JEWS DEBATED ABOUT WHICH COMMANDMENTS WERE THE MOST IMPORTANT, AND THERE WERE MANY JEWS, NOT JUST JESUS, WHO SAW THROUGH THE 613 COMMANDMENTS TO THE FUNDAMENTAL COMMANDMENTS OF LOVING GOD AND LOVING NEIGHBOR. BUT THE LAWYER HAS A REAL QUESTION. IF YOU READ THE OLD TESTAMENT, IT IS CONFUSING; WHO IS YOUR NEIGHBOR? SURE, THERE IS A HINT THAT WE ARE ALL GOD'S CHILDREN. THE PARABLE OF JONAH, FOR EXAMPLE, SUGGESTS THAT GOD CARES ABOUT PEOPLE WHO AREN'T ISRAELITES, SINCE HE SPARES THE PEOPLE OF NINEVEH WHEN THEY REPENT. BUT MOST OF THE WRITINGS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT COULD GIVE SUPPORT TO THE IDEA THAT THE NEIGHBOR OF A JEW WAS ANOTHER JEW, AND THAT GENTILES WERE SOMETHING ELSE; IF THEY LIVED AMONG YOU, YOU TOLERATED THEM; BUT THEY WERE DEFINITELY SECOND CLASS CITIZENS. DID THE JEWS THINK THEY WERE BETTER THAN OTHER PEOPLE? NOT THE THOUGHTFUL ONES; BUT THEY DID THINK THAT GOD HAD A SPECIAL PURPOSE FOR THE JEWISH PEOPLE, AND WHILE THAT WAS A PRIVILEGE, IT WAS ALSO A HUGE BURDEN. AND JEWS WERE SUPPOSED TO CONCENTRATE ON THEIR DUTIES TOWARDS GOD, AND NOT WORRY ABOUT THE REST OF MANKIND. THAT WAS GOD'S CONCERN.
JESUS GOES OVER TO THE LAWYER AND BEGINS A STORY. I'M SURE YOU'VE HEARD STORIES THAT START OUT, “A PRIEST, A MINISTER, AND A RABBI WENT INTO A BAR ....” OR “A DOCTOR, A LAWYER, AND AN AN ENGINEER WERE ARGUING...” IN THE SOCIETY IN WHICH JESUS LIVED, THE PRIESTS AND LEVITES, WHO PERFORMED WHAT EVERYONE AGREED WAS A NECESSARY FUNCTION, WERE INCREASINGLY DISTANT FROM THE ORDINARY PEOPLE, AND THERE WAS A LITTLE CLASS JEALOUSY. SO THERE WERE MANY STORIES THAT STARTED OUT “A PRIEST, A LEVITE AND AN ISRAELITE...” AND IN THESE STORIES, THE ISRAELITE ALWAYS SHOWED MORE COMMON SENSE, OR A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE LAW, THAN DID THE PRIEST AND THE LEVITE. SO THE LAWYER AND EVERYONE LISTENING TO JESUS SETTLED BACK TO HEAR A FAMILIAR STORY – AND THEN JESUS BRINGS UP THE SAMARITAN. YOU AND I LITERALLY CAN'T IMAGINE THE SHOCK, NOT IN OUR SOCIETY. WE MAY INDIVIDUALLY HARBOR ILL FEELINGS TOWARDS WHOLE CLASSES OF PEOPLE, BUT NOT TO THE POINT THAT WE WOULD WANT THEM ALL DEAD, WIPED OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH. NOT TO THE POINT WHERE WE WOULD FEEL SICK TO OUR STOMACH IF ONE OF THEM TOUCHED US. AND TO EVEN MENTION A SAMARITAN IN POLITE COMPANY – IT WOULD BE LIKE TALKING ABOUT YOUR BATHROOM HABITS IN A FANCY RESTAURANT. BUT THAT'S WHAT PEOPLE THOUGHT OF SAMARITANS – NOT ONLY WERE THEY HALF-BREEDS, CROSSES BETWEEN JEWS AND PAGANS; BUT THEIR RELIGION WAS HALF-BREED AS WELL, A BLASPHEMOUS MOCKERY OF THE TRUE RELIGION. AND THEY LIVED RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE LAND THAT GOD HAD GIVEN THE CHOSEN PEOPLE, LIKE A BIG OPEN SORE ON A BEAUTIFUL FACE.
AND JESUS LOOKS THE LAWYER IN THE EYE, AND THE LAWYER SUDDENLY SEES HIMSELF AS THE MAN IN THE DITCH, THE MAN WHO HAS BEEN BEATEN AND ROBBED AND LEFT FOR DEAD. WHO CAN BLAME THE PRIEST AND THE LEVITE? IT WAS A WELL KNOWN TRICK FOR BANDITS TO HIDE AND ATTACK ANYONE FOOLISH ENOUGH TO LET DOWN THEIR GUARD. AND IF THE PERSON WAS DEAD, NO ONE WOULD WANT TO TOUCH THE BODY, SINCE YOU WOULD BECOME RITUALLY UNCLEAN. AND THE LAWYER, WHO HAS PROBABLY FOUND HIMSELF IN THE SAME SITUATION AS THE PRIEST AND THE LEVITE, WHO HAD STEPPED OVER A BODY ON THE SIDEWALK OR CROSSED THE STREET TO AVOID THE LEPER SITTING IN RAGS, SUDDENLY FELT WHAT IT IS LIKE TO BE HELPLESS, TO BE DYING, AND TO BE COMPLETELY ALONE. AND AT THAT MOMENT, THERE WEREN'T JEWS AND SAMARITANS, THERE WEREN'T RITUAL PURITY LAWS, THERE WEREN'T ANY ARTIFICIAL DIVISIONS – NOT FOR THE MAN IN THE DITCH. AND JESUS RUBS IT IN. HE DOESN'T MERELY SAY THAT THE SAMARITAN HELPED THE MAN, HE DESCRIBES IN DETAIL WHAT THE SAMARITAN DID – CLEANS OUT THE WOUNDS, TEARS STRIPS FROM HIS GARMENT FOR BANDAGES, PUTS THE MAN ON HIS MULE AND WALKS THE REST OF THE NINE OR TEN MILES, PAYS THE INNKEEPER, AND PLEDGES TO PAY WHAT ELSE WOULD BE OWED ON HIS WAY BACK. AND JESUS SAYS, “WHO WAS NEIGHBOR TO THAT MAN?” AND THE LAWYER, WHO UP TILL THEN WOULD HAVE READILY AGREED THAT A JEW WAS NEIGHBOR TO A JEW, IS BROUGHT TO A NEW UNDERSTANDING; A NEIGHBOR IS DEFINED NOT BY WHO HE IS, NOT BY RACE OR RELIGION OR SOCIAL STATUS, BUT BY WHAT HE DOES.
ALL THE PEOPLE WHO HEARD JESUS GOT THE LESSON WE ALL GET – EVERYONE IS YOUR NEIGHBOR. BUT I THINK THE LAWYER, LIKE ME AT THAT MOMENT IN MIAMI, HAD FELT THE ABANDONMENT THAT THE HELPLESS FEEL, AND HAD FELT THE RELIEF AND GRATITUDE WHEN THE STRANGER WHO OWED NOTHING STOPPED TO MINISTER AND SAVED HIS LIFE. AND THE LAWYER LEARNED THE MORE IMPORTANT LESSON – A NEIGHBOR IS ONE WHO HAS MERCY. MAY GOD TEACH US ALL HOW IT FEELS TO RECEIVE MERCY, SO THAT WE WILL HAVE MERCY.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle C
LUKE 10: 1-12, 17-20
HAVE YOU EVER READ STORIES ABOUT CONVERSION? HOW PEOPLE COME TO MAKE THE DECISION TO ENTER THE CATHOLIC CHURCH? THE MOST ARTICULATE PEOPLE, THE ONES WHO WRITE BOOKS, GIVE VERY LOGICAL AND VERY BIBLICAL ARGUMENTS. SCOTT HAHN, A PROFESSOR OF BIBLICAL THEOLOGY AT STEUBENVILLE UNIVERSITY, WROTE A WONDERFUL ACCOUNT OF HIS OWN CONVERSION. HE WAS AN ORDAINED PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER, WORKING AS A PASTOR AND AS AN INSTRUCTOR IN THE SEMINARY; OVER SEVERAL YEARS, HE GRADUALLY BECAME CONVINCED THAT OF ALL THE VARIOUS VARIETIES OF CHRISTIANITY, CATHOLICISM WAS THE ONE THAT WAS MOST BIBLICAL, AND ULTIMATELY, HE JOINED THE CHURCH, ALONG WITH HIS WIFE. THAT ACCOUNT IS IN A BOOK CALLED “ROME SWEET HOME”. AND THERE ARE MANY OTHER SUCH ACCOUNTS BY CONVERTED PROTESTANTS, JEWS AND ATHEISTS, WHO BECAME INTELLECTUALLY CONVINCED OF THE TRUTH OF THE CHURCH, AND THEN MADE THE TOTAL COMMITMENT OF CONVERSION. I ENJOY READING THESE ACCOUNTS. THEY ARE WONDERFUL SOURCES FOR APOLOGETICS, WHEN I FIND MYSELF IN A DISCUSSION IN WHICH I AM CALLED UPON TO DEFEND MY FAITH.
BUT I HAVE A FEELING THAT IF YOU SPEAK TO MOST CONVERTS, VERY FEW HAVE BEEN INFLUENCED BY BRILLIANT LOGIC OR ASTUTE BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION. MOST OF THE CONVERTS I'VE DEALT WITH PERSONALLY CAME INTO THE CHURCH AFTER BEING MARRIED TO A CATHOLIC FOR A WHILE, AND AS ONE OF THEM PUT IT, “WHY NOT?” I KNOW ONE OF MY AUNTS, WHO HAD BEEN RAISED IN A SMALL DENOMINATION IN CENTRAL MISSOURI, CONVERTED AFTER HAVING HAD A LARGE FAMILY WITH MY UNCLE, AND I AM SURE THAT A GOOD PART OF HER MOTIVATION WAS PROBABLY THAT SHE FELT INCREASINGLY LEFT OUT WHEN THEY WOULD ALL GO TO SUNDAY MASS AND RECEIVE COMMUNION. OH, WELL, WHATEVER IT TAKES.
BUT THERE IS A THIRD WAY PEOPLE FIND THEIR WAY INTO THE CHURCH. I AM SURE SOME OF YOU HAVE HEARD OF DOROTHY DAY. SHE DIED IN 1980, AND SOMEDAY SHE MAY BE A SAINT. SHE GREW UP WITHOUT A RELIGION, ALTHOUGH HER PARENTS WERE NOMINAL EPISCOPALIANS. IN COLLEGE SHE BECAME A MARXIST, AND WROTE FOR VARIOUS RADICAL PUBLICATIONS. SHE LED A PROMISCUOUS LIFE, HAD AT LEAST ONE ABORTION, AND THEN, WHILE SHE WAS PREGNANT WITH THE CHILD SHE WOULD ONE DAY BEAR, SHE DECIDED TO BRING UP THE CHILD AS A CATHOLIC. HER REASONS WEREN'T CLEAR; IN HER AUTOBIOGRAPHY SHE WANTED FOR HER DAUGHTER WHAT SHE THOUGHT HAD BEEN LACKING IN HER CHILDHOOD – A SENSE OF CERTAINTY AND PURPOSE. IN ORDER TO DO THIS, SHE HAD TO LEARN W,HAT THE CHURCH TAUGHT, AND EVENTUALLY SHE ENTERED THE CHURCH AS WELL, EVEN THOUGH, AS SHE ADMITS, SHE HAD A HARD TIME ACCEPTING SOME OF THE DOCTRINES OF THE CHURCH. ONCE A CATHOLIC, SHE CONTINUED HER WORK FOR THE POOR, HER ADVOCACY OF UNIONS, HER PACIFISM – BUT SHE WAS A ROCK-SOLID CATHOLIC, DEVOTED TO THE EUCHARIST AND THE BLESSED MOTHER, SO MUCH SO THAT PEOPLE HAD A HARD TIME SEEING HOW SHE COULD BE RADICAL IN TERMS OF POLITICS BUT SO CONVENTIONAL IN TERMS OF HER RELIGIOUS BELIEFS.
SHE WROTE IN HER AUTOBIOGRAPHY: “NOT LONG AFTERWARD A PRIEST WANTED ME TO WRITE A STORY OF MY CONVERSION, TELLING HOW THE SOCIAL TEACHING OF THE CHURCH HAD LED ME TO EMBRACE CATHOLICISM. BUT I KNEW NOTHING OF THE SOCIAL TEACHING OF THE CHURCH AT THAT TIME. I HAVE NEVER HEARD OF THE ENCYCLICALS. I FELT THAT THE CHURCH WAS THE CHURCH OF THE POOR, THAT ST. PATRICK’S HAD BEEN BUILT FROM THE PENNIES OF SERVANT GIRLS, THAT IT CARED FOR THE EMIGRANT, IT ESTABLISHED HOSPITALS, ORPHANAGES, DAY NURSERIES, HOUSES OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD, HOMES FOR THE AGED ... “ DOROTHY DAY DID NOT CONVERT FOR INTELLECTUAL REASONS OR BECAUSE SHE HAD LIVED WITH A CATHOLIC. HER CONVERSION WAS ALMOST IN SPITE OF WHAT SHE KNEW OF CATHOLICS AND CATHOLICISM, BECAUSE EVEN WHEN SHE CONVERTED, SHE FELT THAT ALL THE WONDERFUL THINGS THE CHURCH DID WOULD NOT BE NECESSARY IF THE CHURCH USED ITS POWER TO CHANGE SOCIETY.
SO DOROTHY DAY WAS CONVERTED PRIMARILY AND ONLY BECAUSE IN ALL THE WORLD, THERE WAS ONE PLACE WHERE SHE COULD SEE THAT THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN WAS AT HAND – THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED IN TODAY'S GOSPEL. NOTICE THAT JESUS DID NOT EQUIP THE SEVENTY DISCIPLES WITH CLEVER ARGUMENTS OR WELL WRITTEN COMMENTARIES. IN FACT, HE INSISTED THAT THEY TRAVEL PRETTY LIGHTLY – NO WALKING STICK, NO MONEY, NO BAG IN WHICH TO CARRY A LITTLE LUNCH – NO SHOES EVEN. AND HIS CHARGE TO THEM WAS FIRST, TO HEAL THE SICK, THEN TO ANNOUNCE THAT THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS AT HAND. AND THE RESULTS WERE SPECTACULAR! EVEN JESUS WAS IMPRESSED.
IN PLACES WHERE THE CHURCH IS GROWING, IN AFRICA WHERE IT HAS TRIPLED IN MEMBERSHIP IN TWENTY YEARS; IN INDIA, WHERE THE CHURCH IS SENDING INDIAN PRIESTS AND NUNS TO OTHER COUNTRIES; EVEN IN CHINA, WHERE DESPITE INCREDIBLE ODDS, THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IS ALIVE AND HEALTHY AND GROWING – WHERE THE CHURCH IS HEALTHIEST, THAT IS WHERE PEOPLE SEE THAT THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS AT HAND.
IT'S HARDER TO SEE IT IN OUR COUNTRY. HERE IN NEW ENGLAND, WE'VE SEEN THE CHARITABLE WORKS OF THE CHURCH TAKE A REAL HIT; THIS YEAR OUR DIOCESE HAS LAID OFF ONE THIRD OF THE EMPLOYEES AND RETRENCHED IN TERMS OF ITS MINISTRIES. AMONG THOSE HARDEST HIT, OF COURSE, WILL BE THE POOR WHO HAVE DEPENDED ON THE SERVICES OF THE CHURCH. OVER THE PAST 20 YEARS WE'VE SEEN CATHOLIC SCHOOLS AND HOSPITALS CLOSE. TODAY IF YOU ARE POOR AND NEEDY YOU WOULD PROBABLY TURN TO SOME GOVERNMENT AGENCY FIRST; THE CHURCH WOULD NOT BE YOUR FIRST THOUGHT.
OUR CHURCH CAN WIN A FEW SOULS WITH INTELLECTUAL ARGUMENTS, AND A FEW MORE THROUGH MARRIAGE, ALTHOUGH WE PROBABLY LOSE AS MANY AS WE GAIN THROUGH MIXED MARRIAGES. BUT IF THE CHURCH IS TRULY GOING TO WIN SOULS SOMEHOW WE HAVE TO GET BACK TO SHOWING THE WORLD THAT THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS AT HAND. SO THE QUESTION FOR TODAY IS, HOW ARE YOU AND I GOING TO SHOW THE PEOPLE OF LONGMEADOW THAT THE KINGDOM IS AT HAND?
HAVE YOU EVER READ STORIES ABOUT CONVERSION? HOW PEOPLE COME TO MAKE THE DECISION TO ENTER THE CATHOLIC CHURCH? THE MOST ARTICULATE PEOPLE, THE ONES WHO WRITE BOOKS, GIVE VERY LOGICAL AND VERY BIBLICAL ARGUMENTS. SCOTT HAHN, A PROFESSOR OF BIBLICAL THEOLOGY AT STEUBENVILLE UNIVERSITY, WROTE A WONDERFUL ACCOUNT OF HIS OWN CONVERSION. HE WAS AN ORDAINED PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER, WORKING AS A PASTOR AND AS AN INSTRUCTOR IN THE SEMINARY; OVER SEVERAL YEARS, HE GRADUALLY BECAME CONVINCED THAT OF ALL THE VARIOUS VARIETIES OF CHRISTIANITY, CATHOLICISM WAS THE ONE THAT WAS MOST BIBLICAL, AND ULTIMATELY, HE JOINED THE CHURCH, ALONG WITH HIS WIFE. THAT ACCOUNT IS IN A BOOK CALLED “ROME SWEET HOME”. AND THERE ARE MANY OTHER SUCH ACCOUNTS BY CONVERTED PROTESTANTS, JEWS AND ATHEISTS, WHO BECAME INTELLECTUALLY CONVINCED OF THE TRUTH OF THE CHURCH, AND THEN MADE THE TOTAL COMMITMENT OF CONVERSION. I ENJOY READING THESE ACCOUNTS. THEY ARE WONDERFUL SOURCES FOR APOLOGETICS, WHEN I FIND MYSELF IN A DISCUSSION IN WHICH I AM CALLED UPON TO DEFEND MY FAITH.
BUT I HAVE A FEELING THAT IF YOU SPEAK TO MOST CONVERTS, VERY FEW HAVE BEEN INFLUENCED BY BRILLIANT LOGIC OR ASTUTE BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION. MOST OF THE CONVERTS I'VE DEALT WITH PERSONALLY CAME INTO THE CHURCH AFTER BEING MARRIED TO A CATHOLIC FOR A WHILE, AND AS ONE OF THEM PUT IT, “WHY NOT?” I KNOW ONE OF MY AUNTS, WHO HAD BEEN RAISED IN A SMALL DENOMINATION IN CENTRAL MISSOURI, CONVERTED AFTER HAVING HAD A LARGE FAMILY WITH MY UNCLE, AND I AM SURE THAT A GOOD PART OF HER MOTIVATION WAS PROBABLY THAT SHE FELT INCREASINGLY LEFT OUT WHEN THEY WOULD ALL GO TO SUNDAY MASS AND RECEIVE COMMUNION. OH, WELL, WHATEVER IT TAKES.
BUT THERE IS A THIRD WAY PEOPLE FIND THEIR WAY INTO THE CHURCH. I AM SURE SOME OF YOU HAVE HEARD OF DOROTHY DAY. SHE DIED IN 1980, AND SOMEDAY SHE MAY BE A SAINT. SHE GREW UP WITHOUT A RELIGION, ALTHOUGH HER PARENTS WERE NOMINAL EPISCOPALIANS. IN COLLEGE SHE BECAME A MARXIST, AND WROTE FOR VARIOUS RADICAL PUBLICATIONS. SHE LED A PROMISCUOUS LIFE, HAD AT LEAST ONE ABORTION, AND THEN, WHILE SHE WAS PREGNANT WITH THE CHILD SHE WOULD ONE DAY BEAR, SHE DECIDED TO BRING UP THE CHILD AS A CATHOLIC. HER REASONS WEREN'T CLEAR; IN HER AUTOBIOGRAPHY SHE WANTED FOR HER DAUGHTER WHAT SHE THOUGHT HAD BEEN LACKING IN HER CHILDHOOD – A SENSE OF CERTAINTY AND PURPOSE. IN ORDER TO DO THIS, SHE HAD TO LEARN W,HAT THE CHURCH TAUGHT, AND EVENTUALLY SHE ENTERED THE CHURCH AS WELL, EVEN THOUGH, AS SHE ADMITS, SHE HAD A HARD TIME ACCEPTING SOME OF THE DOCTRINES OF THE CHURCH. ONCE A CATHOLIC, SHE CONTINUED HER WORK FOR THE POOR, HER ADVOCACY OF UNIONS, HER PACIFISM – BUT SHE WAS A ROCK-SOLID CATHOLIC, DEVOTED TO THE EUCHARIST AND THE BLESSED MOTHER, SO MUCH SO THAT PEOPLE HAD A HARD TIME SEEING HOW SHE COULD BE RADICAL IN TERMS OF POLITICS BUT SO CONVENTIONAL IN TERMS OF HER RELIGIOUS BELIEFS.
SHE WROTE IN HER AUTOBIOGRAPHY: “NOT LONG AFTERWARD A PRIEST WANTED ME TO WRITE A STORY OF MY CONVERSION, TELLING HOW THE SOCIAL TEACHING OF THE CHURCH HAD LED ME TO EMBRACE CATHOLICISM. BUT I KNEW NOTHING OF THE SOCIAL TEACHING OF THE CHURCH AT THAT TIME. I HAVE NEVER HEARD OF THE ENCYCLICALS. I FELT THAT THE CHURCH WAS THE CHURCH OF THE POOR, THAT ST. PATRICK’S HAD BEEN BUILT FROM THE PENNIES OF SERVANT GIRLS, THAT IT CARED FOR THE EMIGRANT, IT ESTABLISHED HOSPITALS, ORPHANAGES, DAY NURSERIES, HOUSES OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD, HOMES FOR THE AGED ... “ DOROTHY DAY DID NOT CONVERT FOR INTELLECTUAL REASONS OR BECAUSE SHE HAD LIVED WITH A CATHOLIC. HER CONVERSION WAS ALMOST IN SPITE OF WHAT SHE KNEW OF CATHOLICS AND CATHOLICISM, BECAUSE EVEN WHEN SHE CONVERTED, SHE FELT THAT ALL THE WONDERFUL THINGS THE CHURCH DID WOULD NOT BE NECESSARY IF THE CHURCH USED ITS POWER TO CHANGE SOCIETY.
SO DOROTHY DAY WAS CONVERTED PRIMARILY AND ONLY BECAUSE IN ALL THE WORLD, THERE WAS ONE PLACE WHERE SHE COULD SEE THAT THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN WAS AT HAND – THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED IN TODAY'S GOSPEL. NOTICE THAT JESUS DID NOT EQUIP THE SEVENTY DISCIPLES WITH CLEVER ARGUMENTS OR WELL WRITTEN COMMENTARIES. IN FACT, HE INSISTED THAT THEY TRAVEL PRETTY LIGHTLY – NO WALKING STICK, NO MONEY, NO BAG IN WHICH TO CARRY A LITTLE LUNCH – NO SHOES EVEN. AND HIS CHARGE TO THEM WAS FIRST, TO HEAL THE SICK, THEN TO ANNOUNCE THAT THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS AT HAND. AND THE RESULTS WERE SPECTACULAR! EVEN JESUS WAS IMPRESSED.
IN PLACES WHERE THE CHURCH IS GROWING, IN AFRICA WHERE IT HAS TRIPLED IN MEMBERSHIP IN TWENTY YEARS; IN INDIA, WHERE THE CHURCH IS SENDING INDIAN PRIESTS AND NUNS TO OTHER COUNTRIES; EVEN IN CHINA, WHERE DESPITE INCREDIBLE ODDS, THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IS ALIVE AND HEALTHY AND GROWING – WHERE THE CHURCH IS HEALTHIEST, THAT IS WHERE PEOPLE SEE THAT THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS AT HAND.
IT'S HARDER TO SEE IT IN OUR COUNTRY. HERE IN NEW ENGLAND, WE'VE SEEN THE CHARITABLE WORKS OF THE CHURCH TAKE A REAL HIT; THIS YEAR OUR DIOCESE HAS LAID OFF ONE THIRD OF THE EMPLOYEES AND RETRENCHED IN TERMS OF ITS MINISTRIES. AMONG THOSE HARDEST HIT, OF COURSE, WILL BE THE POOR WHO HAVE DEPENDED ON THE SERVICES OF THE CHURCH. OVER THE PAST 20 YEARS WE'VE SEEN CATHOLIC SCHOOLS AND HOSPITALS CLOSE. TODAY IF YOU ARE POOR AND NEEDY YOU WOULD PROBABLY TURN TO SOME GOVERNMENT AGENCY FIRST; THE CHURCH WOULD NOT BE YOUR FIRST THOUGHT.
OUR CHURCH CAN WIN A FEW SOULS WITH INTELLECTUAL ARGUMENTS, AND A FEW MORE THROUGH MARRIAGE, ALTHOUGH WE PROBABLY LOSE AS MANY AS WE GAIN THROUGH MIXED MARRIAGES. BUT IF THE CHURCH IS TRULY GOING TO WIN SOULS SOMEHOW WE HAVE TO GET BACK TO SHOWING THE WORLD THAT THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS AT HAND. SO THE QUESTION FOR TODAY IS, HOW ARE YOU AND I GOING TO SHOW THE PEOPLE OF LONGMEADOW THAT THE KINGDOM IS AT HAND?
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle C
LUKE 9: 51-62
IN THE FIRST READING ELIJAH IS TAKEN UP INTO HEAVEN AND PASSES HIS MANTLE ON TO ELISHA, WHO RECEIVES A DOUBLE PORTION OF ELIJAH'S SPIRIT. BUT JUST BEFORE THIS EVENT, WE WOULD HAVE HEARD ANOTHER STORY OF ELIJAH, THE GREATEST OF THE PROPHETS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. THE KING OF SAMARIA HAD SENT FIFTY SOLDIERS TO ARREST ELIJAH. ELIJAH CALLED DOWN FIRE FROM HEAVEN AND IT CONSUMED THEM. THE KING SENT ANOTHER FIFTY SOLDIERS. ELIJAH DID THE SAME THING. EITHER THE KING BEGAN TO SEE A PATTERN HERE, OR HE COULDN'T FIND FIFTY MORE VOLUNTEERS; IN ANY EVENT, THE ATTEMPT TO ARREST ELIJAH CAME TO NOTHING.
KNOWING THIS HELPS TO MAKE SENSE OUT OF THE REACTION OF JAMES AND JOHN TO THE SAMARITAN TOWNSPEOPLE WHO REFUSED HOSPITALITY TO JESUS AND HIS FOLLOWERS. THEY WERE GOOD JEWS, THEY KNEW THE SCRIPTURES, AND IT MADE PERFECT SENSE. JESUS WAS THE NEWEST PROPHET, THE SAMARITANS WERE UP TO THEIR USUAL HOSTILITY TOWARDS THE JEWS, AND RIGHT THERE IN HOLY SCRIPTURE IT SAID WHAT PROPHETS SHOULD DO TO SAMARITANS – A FEW LIGHTNING BOLTS WOULD MAKE THEM SEE THE ERROR OF THEIR WAYS.
BUT JESUS DOES ELIJAH ONE BETTER. HE REBUKES JAMES AND JOHN. HE WHO IS INFINITELY MORE DESERVING OF RESPECT AND CAPABLE OF WIELDING MUCH GREATER POWER SHOWS MERCY. THE KINGDOM OF GOD DOES NOT PUNISH PEOPLE FOR WHAT THEY DESERVE.
AND IT IS ONLY AFTER JESUS ACTS OUT THE COMPASSION HE EXPECTS OF HIS FOLLOWERS THAT HE TURNS TO COMMITMENT.
COMMITMENT IS A WONDERFUL THING, BUT WITHOUT MERCY, IT BECOMES FANATICISM. COMMITMENT WITHOUT MERCY IS COMMUNISM, FASCISM, AL QUAEDA, THE TALIBAN, YOU NAME IT. BUT IT CAN NEVER BE CHRISTIAN.
THREE MEN VOLUNTEER TO BECOME JESUS' FOLLOWERS. THE FIRST IS BIG HEARTED: I WILL FOLLOW YOU WHEREVER YOU GO. AND JESUS IN EFFECT ANSWERS, “I HAVE NOWHERE TO GO, I HAVE NOWHERE THAT I CAN TRULY BE AT HOME. BECAUSE YOU JUST SAW WHAT HAPPENED – THE SAMARITANS THREW ME OUT, AND WHEN I GET TO JERUSALEM, IT WILL BE EVEN WORSE. AND THAT THE MAN WENT HOME TO HIS COMFORTABLE BED AND FINE SUPPER AND PLEASANT ROUTINE. HE MIGHT HAVE COMMITTED, BUT FOR HIM STRINGS WERE ATTACHED; IF HE FOLLOWED JESUS, HE WOULD CERTAINLY EXPECT THAT HE WOULD BE REWARDED IN SOME WAY. MAYBE HE THOUGHT, LIKE JAMES AND JOHN IN ANOTHER PART OF THE GOSPEL, THAT JESUS WOULD START A REVOLUTION AND HE WOULD BE IN LINE FOR A GOOD JOB. BUT JESUS EXPECTS UNCONDITIONAL COMMITMENT -- COMMITMENT TO HIM AS A PERSON.
THE SECOND MAKES A REASONABLE REQUEST: FIRST LET ME BURY MY FATHER. HIS FATHER WAS NOT DEAD. BUT IT WAS EXPECTED THAT THE OLDEST SON, WHO WOULD INHERIT MOST OF WHAT THE FATHER LEFT BEHIND, WOULD SERVE THE FATHER UNTIL HE DIED, AND WOULD SEE TO IT THAT THE FATHER HAD AN APPROPRIATE BURIAL. THAT WAS TRADITION, THAT WAS CONSIDERED A DUTY. BUT JESUS SAID, “LET THE DEAD BURY THE DEAD; BUT YOU, GO PROCLAIM THE KINGDOM OF GOD.” I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE SECOND MAN DID. I KNOW THAT WHEN I LOOK BACK ON MY OWN LIFE, THERE HAVE BEEN MANY TIMES WHEN I'VE SAID, “I'D BE HAPPY TO DO THIS OR THAT FOR YOU, JESUS, BUT IT WILL HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL I'VE FINISHED THIS PROJECT, OR SUMMER COMES, OR I'M NOT SO BUSY WITH WORK, OR MAYBE WHEN I RETIRE.” AND I'LL BET MANY OF YOU HAVE SAID THE SAME THING. SO MANY TIMES IN OUR LIVES, THE GOOD GETS IN THE WAY OF THE BETTER.
THE THIRD MAN LIKEWISE MAKES A REQUEST: LET ME SAY GOODBYE TO MY FAMILY. AND JESUS GIVES THE HARSHEST RESPONSE TO THIS MAN, “NO ONE WHO SETS A HAND TO THE PLOW AND LOOKS TO WHAT WAS LEFT BEHIND IS FIT FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD." I DON'T THINK JESUS IS TELLING US WE HAVE TO ABANDON OUR FAMILIES IF WE CHOOSE TO FOLLOW HIM.. BUT HE MUST HAVE KNOWN THE HEART OF THAT MAN, AND SEEN THAT THERE WOULD ALWAYS BE A CONFLICT BETWEEN HIS COMMITMENT TO JESUS AND HIS COMMITMENT TO HIS FAMILY. AND THAT HAPPENS TO ALL OF US AS WELL, ESPECIALLY THOSE OF US WHO ARE PARENTS. BECAUSE THE GREATEST DEMAND ON OUR TIME COMES FROM THOSE WE LIVE WITH, THOSE WE LOVE. AND WE ARE OBLIGATED TO THEM, AND WE DO HAVE THE DUTY TO SERVE THEM IN LOVE. BUT EVEN THIS CAN BECOME AN EXCUSE TO AVOID GOD'S CALL TO US.
WE ARE ALL CALLED TO DO SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL FOR GOD. BECAUSE OF OUR BAPTISMS WE ARE ALL PROPHETS – PEOPLE WHO TELL THE WORLD WHERE IT IS GOING WRONG, EVEN WHEN IT WILL BE PAINFUL, EVEN WHEN WE WILL BE LAUGHED AT. WE ARE ALL PRIESTS – GIVEN A COMMISSION TO BE THE BRIDGE BETWEEN GOD AND HUMANITY, TO SHOW GOD'S LOVE TO THE PEOPLE WE MEET THROUGH OUR WORDS AND ACTIONS. WE ARE ALL KINGS – GIVEN SOME OF THE GOODS OF THE WORLD TO MEET OUR NEEDS, BUT AFTER THAT, TO HAVE SOMETHING TO GIVE AWAY. AND THERE ISN'T ANYTHING MORE IMPORTANT FOR YOU AND I THAN TO DO SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL FOR GOD.
COMPASSION WITHOUT COMMITMENT IS EMPTY. IT DOES A STARVING PERSON NO GOOD IF YOU TELL HIM THAT YOU ARE SORRY THAT HE IS STARVING. COMMITMENT WITHOUT COMPASSION IS HEARTLESS. ALL THE TERRIBLE THINGS THAT HUMANS HAVE DONE TO EACH OTHER AND TO THE WORLD AT LARGE COME PRECISELY BECAUSE OF COMMITMENT WITHOUT COMPASSION.
BUT COMPASSION WITH COMMITMENT, REAL COMMITMENT, NOT THE CONDITIONAL COMMITMENTS THAT ARE REALLY JUST WAYS OF AVOIDING COMMITMENT, IS THE ONLY WAY TO FOLLOW JESUS CHRIST. AND IF WE LEAVE CHURCH TODAY THINKING A LITTLE BIT MORE DEEPLY ABOUT OUR OWN CALL, AND HOW WE ARE RESPONDING TO IT, WE WILL HAVE MADE SOME PROGRESS. IF WE LEAVE THINKING ABOUT THOSE THINGS THAT HOLD US BACK, THOSE GOOD THINGS THAT GET IN THE WAY OF THE BETTER, WE WILL HAVE MADE EVEN MORE PROGRESS.
THREE MEN OFFERED TO FOLLOW JESUS BUT IN THE END CHOSE NOT TO. WHEN THEY LAY DYING, I WONDER WHETHER THEY REMEMBERED THAT MOMENT, AND WHETHER THEY WISHED THEY COULD LIVE IT OVER AGAIN?
IN THE FIRST READING ELIJAH IS TAKEN UP INTO HEAVEN AND PASSES HIS MANTLE ON TO ELISHA, WHO RECEIVES A DOUBLE PORTION OF ELIJAH'S SPIRIT. BUT JUST BEFORE THIS EVENT, WE WOULD HAVE HEARD ANOTHER STORY OF ELIJAH, THE GREATEST OF THE PROPHETS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. THE KING OF SAMARIA HAD SENT FIFTY SOLDIERS TO ARREST ELIJAH. ELIJAH CALLED DOWN FIRE FROM HEAVEN AND IT CONSUMED THEM. THE KING SENT ANOTHER FIFTY SOLDIERS. ELIJAH DID THE SAME THING. EITHER THE KING BEGAN TO SEE A PATTERN HERE, OR HE COULDN'T FIND FIFTY MORE VOLUNTEERS; IN ANY EVENT, THE ATTEMPT TO ARREST ELIJAH CAME TO NOTHING.
KNOWING THIS HELPS TO MAKE SENSE OUT OF THE REACTION OF JAMES AND JOHN TO THE SAMARITAN TOWNSPEOPLE WHO REFUSED HOSPITALITY TO JESUS AND HIS FOLLOWERS. THEY WERE GOOD JEWS, THEY KNEW THE SCRIPTURES, AND IT MADE PERFECT SENSE. JESUS WAS THE NEWEST PROPHET, THE SAMARITANS WERE UP TO THEIR USUAL HOSTILITY TOWARDS THE JEWS, AND RIGHT THERE IN HOLY SCRIPTURE IT SAID WHAT PROPHETS SHOULD DO TO SAMARITANS – A FEW LIGHTNING BOLTS WOULD MAKE THEM SEE THE ERROR OF THEIR WAYS.
BUT JESUS DOES ELIJAH ONE BETTER. HE REBUKES JAMES AND JOHN. HE WHO IS INFINITELY MORE DESERVING OF RESPECT AND CAPABLE OF WIELDING MUCH GREATER POWER SHOWS MERCY. THE KINGDOM OF GOD DOES NOT PUNISH PEOPLE FOR WHAT THEY DESERVE.
AND IT IS ONLY AFTER JESUS ACTS OUT THE COMPASSION HE EXPECTS OF HIS FOLLOWERS THAT HE TURNS TO COMMITMENT.
COMMITMENT IS A WONDERFUL THING, BUT WITHOUT MERCY, IT BECOMES FANATICISM. COMMITMENT WITHOUT MERCY IS COMMUNISM, FASCISM, AL QUAEDA, THE TALIBAN, YOU NAME IT. BUT IT CAN NEVER BE CHRISTIAN.
THREE MEN VOLUNTEER TO BECOME JESUS' FOLLOWERS. THE FIRST IS BIG HEARTED: I WILL FOLLOW YOU WHEREVER YOU GO. AND JESUS IN EFFECT ANSWERS, “I HAVE NOWHERE TO GO, I HAVE NOWHERE THAT I CAN TRULY BE AT HOME. BECAUSE YOU JUST SAW WHAT HAPPENED – THE SAMARITANS THREW ME OUT, AND WHEN I GET TO JERUSALEM, IT WILL BE EVEN WORSE. AND THAT THE MAN WENT HOME TO HIS COMFORTABLE BED AND FINE SUPPER AND PLEASANT ROUTINE. HE MIGHT HAVE COMMITTED, BUT FOR HIM STRINGS WERE ATTACHED; IF HE FOLLOWED JESUS, HE WOULD CERTAINLY EXPECT THAT HE WOULD BE REWARDED IN SOME WAY. MAYBE HE THOUGHT, LIKE JAMES AND JOHN IN ANOTHER PART OF THE GOSPEL, THAT JESUS WOULD START A REVOLUTION AND HE WOULD BE IN LINE FOR A GOOD JOB. BUT JESUS EXPECTS UNCONDITIONAL COMMITMENT -- COMMITMENT TO HIM AS A PERSON.
THE SECOND MAKES A REASONABLE REQUEST: FIRST LET ME BURY MY FATHER. HIS FATHER WAS NOT DEAD. BUT IT WAS EXPECTED THAT THE OLDEST SON, WHO WOULD INHERIT MOST OF WHAT THE FATHER LEFT BEHIND, WOULD SERVE THE FATHER UNTIL HE DIED, AND WOULD SEE TO IT THAT THE FATHER HAD AN APPROPRIATE BURIAL. THAT WAS TRADITION, THAT WAS CONSIDERED A DUTY. BUT JESUS SAID, “LET THE DEAD BURY THE DEAD; BUT YOU, GO PROCLAIM THE KINGDOM OF GOD.” I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE SECOND MAN DID. I KNOW THAT WHEN I LOOK BACK ON MY OWN LIFE, THERE HAVE BEEN MANY TIMES WHEN I'VE SAID, “I'D BE HAPPY TO DO THIS OR THAT FOR YOU, JESUS, BUT IT WILL HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL I'VE FINISHED THIS PROJECT, OR SUMMER COMES, OR I'M NOT SO BUSY WITH WORK, OR MAYBE WHEN I RETIRE.” AND I'LL BET MANY OF YOU HAVE SAID THE SAME THING. SO MANY TIMES IN OUR LIVES, THE GOOD GETS IN THE WAY OF THE BETTER.
THE THIRD MAN LIKEWISE MAKES A REQUEST: LET ME SAY GOODBYE TO MY FAMILY. AND JESUS GIVES THE HARSHEST RESPONSE TO THIS MAN, “NO ONE WHO SETS A HAND TO THE PLOW AND LOOKS TO WHAT WAS LEFT BEHIND IS FIT FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD." I DON'T THINK JESUS IS TELLING US WE HAVE TO ABANDON OUR FAMILIES IF WE CHOOSE TO FOLLOW HIM.. BUT HE MUST HAVE KNOWN THE HEART OF THAT MAN, AND SEEN THAT THERE WOULD ALWAYS BE A CONFLICT BETWEEN HIS COMMITMENT TO JESUS AND HIS COMMITMENT TO HIS FAMILY. AND THAT HAPPENS TO ALL OF US AS WELL, ESPECIALLY THOSE OF US WHO ARE PARENTS. BECAUSE THE GREATEST DEMAND ON OUR TIME COMES FROM THOSE WE LIVE WITH, THOSE WE LOVE. AND WE ARE OBLIGATED TO THEM, AND WE DO HAVE THE DUTY TO SERVE THEM IN LOVE. BUT EVEN THIS CAN BECOME AN EXCUSE TO AVOID GOD'S CALL TO US.
WE ARE ALL CALLED TO DO SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL FOR GOD. BECAUSE OF OUR BAPTISMS WE ARE ALL PROPHETS – PEOPLE WHO TELL THE WORLD WHERE IT IS GOING WRONG, EVEN WHEN IT WILL BE PAINFUL, EVEN WHEN WE WILL BE LAUGHED AT. WE ARE ALL PRIESTS – GIVEN A COMMISSION TO BE THE BRIDGE BETWEEN GOD AND HUMANITY, TO SHOW GOD'S LOVE TO THE PEOPLE WE MEET THROUGH OUR WORDS AND ACTIONS. WE ARE ALL KINGS – GIVEN SOME OF THE GOODS OF THE WORLD TO MEET OUR NEEDS, BUT AFTER THAT, TO HAVE SOMETHING TO GIVE AWAY. AND THERE ISN'T ANYTHING MORE IMPORTANT FOR YOU AND I THAN TO DO SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL FOR GOD.
COMPASSION WITHOUT COMMITMENT IS EMPTY. IT DOES A STARVING PERSON NO GOOD IF YOU TELL HIM THAT YOU ARE SORRY THAT HE IS STARVING. COMMITMENT WITHOUT COMPASSION IS HEARTLESS. ALL THE TERRIBLE THINGS THAT HUMANS HAVE DONE TO EACH OTHER AND TO THE WORLD AT LARGE COME PRECISELY BECAUSE OF COMMITMENT WITHOUT COMPASSION.
BUT COMPASSION WITH COMMITMENT, REAL COMMITMENT, NOT THE CONDITIONAL COMMITMENTS THAT ARE REALLY JUST WAYS OF AVOIDING COMMITMENT, IS THE ONLY WAY TO FOLLOW JESUS CHRIST. AND IF WE LEAVE CHURCH TODAY THINKING A LITTLE BIT MORE DEEPLY ABOUT OUR OWN CALL, AND HOW WE ARE RESPONDING TO IT, WE WILL HAVE MADE SOME PROGRESS. IF WE LEAVE THINKING ABOUT THOSE THINGS THAT HOLD US BACK, THOSE GOOD THINGS THAT GET IN THE WAY OF THE BETTER, WE WILL HAVE MADE EVEN MORE PROGRESS.
THREE MEN OFFERED TO FOLLOW JESUS BUT IN THE END CHOSE NOT TO. WHEN THEY LAY DYING, I WONDER WHETHER THEY REMEMBERED THAT MOMENT, AND WHETHER THEY WISHED THEY COULD LIVE IT OVER AGAIN?
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle C
LUKE 9:18-24
MY FATHER WAS ORDINARY. I DON'T MEAN HE WAS ORDINARY TO ME OR MY SISTERS; WE OF COURSE THOUGHT HE WAS SUPERMAN. BUT OBJECTIVELY, HE MADE A LIVING AND TOOK CARE OF HIS FAMILY AND ENJOYED FISHING AND HUNTING. HE LIKED A GOOD DRINK AND FOR A GOOD PART OF HIS LIFE HE SMOKED; AND HE GOT UP EVERY MORNING AND DID WHAT HE HAD TO DO. HE HAD ONE TRAIT, THOUGH, THAT I REMEMBER. HE WAS A GOOD FRIEND TO PEOPLE. IF A FRIEND ASKED HIM TO DO SOMETHING, AND HE SAID YES, HE WOULD DO IT. AND IF HE HEARD ABOUT A FRIEND WHO HAD GOTTEN IN TROUBLE, OR WHO WAS GETTING A DIVORCE, HIS REACTION WAS TO DEFEND HIS FRIEND. ALL THROUGH HIS LIFE IT SEEMS AS THOUGH HE TENDED TO SEE THE GOOD IN EVERYONE, AND I KNOW FOR A FACT THAT HE PUT UP WITH A GREAT DEAL OF GRIEF FROM ONE PERSON, BUT NEVER WROTE THAT PERSON OFF, ALWAYS BEING READY TO START OVER AGAIN.
JESUS ONCE SAID “UNLESS YOUR VIRTUE IS GREATER THAN THE SCRIBES AND THE PHARISEES, YOU WILL NEVER ENTER THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.” THE SCRIBES AND THE PHARISEES. OUR OVERALL IMPRESSION, IF WE HAVE BEEN PAYING ATTENTION TO SCRIPTURE, SEEMS TO BE THAT THESE INDIVIDUALS ARE SELFISH, POWER-CRAZY, AND OPPONENTS OF ALL THAT IS GOOD AND TRUE. WE EVEN USE THE TERM “PHARISAICAL” TO MEAN SOMEONE WHO PREACHES ONE THING AND DOES ANOTHER. THE GOSPELS WERE WRITTEN DURING A PERIOD OF TIME WHEN THE SPLIT BETWEEN JEWS AND CHRISTIANS WAS MOVING INTO HIGH GEAR, AND THE WRITERS, PERHAPS, CAN BE FORGIVEN FOR THEIR MOSTLY BLEAK PICTURE OF THE PHARISEES. BUT WE SEE LITTLE HINTS IN THE BIBLE THAT THEY WEREN'T ALL BAD, AND IN FACT MOST WERE TRYING VERY HARD TO LIVE GOOD LIVES AND KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS. REMEMBER THE PHARISEE WHO STOOD BEFORE THE ALTAR AND SAID WITH ALL SINCERITY, “THANK YOU THAT I AM NOT LIKE THIS TAX COLLECTOR” AND WENT ON TO NAME THE THINGS HE DID BECAUSE HE LOVED GOD. AND THAT WAS TYPICAL OF THE PHARISEES; THEY SCRUPULOUSLY FOLLOWED THE TEN COMMANDMENTS; THEY WENT TO GREAT LENGTHS TO AVOID BREAKING A COMMANDMENT. FOR EXAMPLE, YOU WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO WORK ON THE SABBATH. WELL, WHAT DID THAT MEAN? AFTER MUCH REALLY HEAVY THOUGHT, THEY DECIDED YOU COULDN'T COOK, YOU COULDN'T WALK MORE THAN A CERTAIN DISTANCE, AND SO ON. THEY KNEW THAT THEY WERE PROBABLY GOING OVERBOARD, BUT IT WAS BETTER TO ERR ON THE SIDE OF TOO MUCH THAN TOO LITTLE. AND THAT WAS THE WHOLE ATTITUDE. AND THEY SCRUPULOUSLY PRACTICED CHARITY, AND THEY FASTED AND PRAYED. THEY REALLY DID HAVE VIRTUE. AND JESUS SAYS “NOT ENOUGH” AND THAT ASTONISHED HIS DISCIPLES.
BECAUSE IF YOU ARE A PHARISEE, THERE IS A DARK SIDE AS WELL. IN ORDER TO AVOID CONTAMINATION, YOU DON'T ASSOCIATE WITH PEOPLE WHO ARE LESS RIGOROUS THAN YOURSELF. YOU BEGIN TO TAKE PRIDE IN YOUR ABILITY TO FOLLOW THE LAW. YOU BEGIN TO DO THE LAW FOR THE LAW'S SAKE, NOT FOR WHAT IT WAS INTENDED IN THE FIRST PLACE. AND YOU MIGHT EVEN SPEND A LOT OF TIME TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO OBSERVE THE LAW EVEN BETTER THAN YOU HAD BEFORE – SOMETHING THAT THE ULTRA-ORTHODOX JEWS, ESPECIALLY IN ISRAEL, CONTINUE TO DO TO THIS DAY, TO THE EXCLUSION OF WORKING FOR A LIVING OR JOINING THE MILITARY, OR PARTICIPATING IN POLITICS. PHARISEES WERE MEN OF GREAT VIRTUE, BUT IN THE END, THEY CARED ONLY ABOUT HOW THEY INDIVIDUALLY LIVED OUT THEIR LIVES.
AND JESUS IS ASKING US TO GO BEYOND THAT. TO BE A CHRISTIAN IS NOT TO BE ABLE TO BELIEVE IN CERTAIN TRUTHS AS EXPRESSED IN A CREED OR THE DOCUMENTS OF VATICAN II. TO BE A CHRISTIAN IS TO TAKE UP THE CHALLENGE OF TRANSFORMING OURSELVES AND THOSE AROUND US THROUGH THE GOSPEL MESSAGE. CAN YOU AND I LOVE AN ENEMY? CAN YOU AND I TURN THE OTHER CHEEK WHEN THE FIRST IS SLAPPED, OR GO AN EXTRA MILE WITH SOMEONE WHO MAKES US GO A MILE? CAN WE AVOID THAT “EYE FOR AN EYE” MENTALITY THAT LURKS BENEATH THE SURFACE, THAT PART OF US THAT IS SO SENSITIVE TO BEING “DISRESPECTED”? IF WE ARE INSULTED, CAN WE OFFER BACK A GOOD WORD, A COMPLEMENT, AND MEAN IT?
THE CHALLENGE JESUS GIVES TODAY IN OUR GOSPEL IS NOTHING LESS THAN A CHALLENGE TO BECOME MORE THAN HUMAN. AND IT'S NOT A BIT EASY, IN THEORY OR IN PRACTICE. A PERSON LIVING AS A PHARISEE WORKS HARD TO BRING ABOUT CERTAIN CHARACTER TRAITS; BUT THESE ARE FOR THE MOST PART EXTERNALITIES. YOU CAN BE A PHARISEE AND FAST AND PRAY AND GIVE ALMS AND SCRUPULOUSLY OBEY THE LAW. BUT YOU DON'T HAVE TO CHANGE YOURSELF INWARDLY. THAT'S WHY THE PHARISEES BECAME SO UPSET WHEN JESUS ACCUSED THEM OF HYPOCRISY. THEY HADN'T TRANSFORMED THEIR INNER SELVES; THEY WERE STILL VERY SENSITIVE TO BEING “DISRESPECTED”. NOT ALL BUT SOME OF THE PHARISEES WENT TO A GREAT DEAL OF TROUBLE TO CALL ATTENTION TO THEMSELVES; IF THE LAW SAID YOU SHOULD WEAR A STOLE AROUND YOUR NECK, THE PHARISEE WOULD WEAR A REALLY WIDE STOLE. IF THE LAW SAID YOU SHOULD GIVE ALMS, A REALLY RICH PHARISEE WOULD HIRE SOMEONE TO POINT OUT THAT HE WAS GIVING ALMS, SO THAT THE WHOLE WORLD WOULD KNOW HE WAS OBEYING THE LAW.
BUT JESUS IS SAYING THAT IF YOU WANT TO FOLLOW HIM, YOU HAVE TO DIE, YOU HAVE TO DIE TO YOUR HUMAN SELF, AND TAKE ON A NEW WAY OF BEING, A WAY THAT TRANSCENDS BEING HUMAN. BECAUSE THE GOAL OF CHRISTIAN LIFE IS NOT TO OBEY LAW, IT IS TO TRANSFORM ONESELF INTO A CHRIST, AND IF YOU DO THIS, YOU CAN'T HELP BUT BEGIN THE TRANSFORMATION IN OTHERS AS WELL. WHEN YOU ARE INSULTED AND YOUR RESPONSE IS A COMPLIMENT, SOMETHING MYSTERIOUS HAPPENS, NOT ONLY TO YOU, BUT TO THE ONE WHO INSULTED YOU. WHEN SOMEONE SPEAKS EVIL OF YOU, THE INSTINCT IS TO SAY SOMETHING BAD ABOUT THAT PERSON; THE CHRIST-RESPONSE IS TO SAY SOMETHING GOOD. YOU GET THE PICTURE; YOU DIE TO SELF, YOU TAKE UP YOUR CROSS, YOU FOLLOW JESUS. AND, CARRYING YOUR CROSS, YOU FOLLOW HIM ALL THE WAY TO THE TOP OF THAT HILL OUTSIDE JERUSALEM, AND SOMEDAY YOU CAN LOOK OVER FROM YOUR OWN CROSS AND SEE THAT YOU ARE NOT ALONE IN DYING, BUT HE IS RIGHT THERE BY YOUR SIDE, PROMISING THAT TODAY YOU WILL BE WITH HIM IN PARADISE.
MY FATHER WAS ORDINARY. I DON'T MEAN HE WAS ORDINARY TO ME OR MY SISTERS; WE OF COURSE THOUGHT HE WAS SUPERMAN. BUT OBJECTIVELY, HE MADE A LIVING AND TOOK CARE OF HIS FAMILY AND ENJOYED FISHING AND HUNTING. HE LIKED A GOOD DRINK AND FOR A GOOD PART OF HIS LIFE HE SMOKED; AND HE GOT UP EVERY MORNING AND DID WHAT HE HAD TO DO. HE HAD ONE TRAIT, THOUGH, THAT I REMEMBER. HE WAS A GOOD FRIEND TO PEOPLE. IF A FRIEND ASKED HIM TO DO SOMETHING, AND HE SAID YES, HE WOULD DO IT. AND IF HE HEARD ABOUT A FRIEND WHO HAD GOTTEN IN TROUBLE, OR WHO WAS GETTING A DIVORCE, HIS REACTION WAS TO DEFEND HIS FRIEND. ALL THROUGH HIS LIFE IT SEEMS AS THOUGH HE TENDED TO SEE THE GOOD IN EVERYONE, AND I KNOW FOR A FACT THAT HE PUT UP WITH A GREAT DEAL OF GRIEF FROM ONE PERSON, BUT NEVER WROTE THAT PERSON OFF, ALWAYS BEING READY TO START OVER AGAIN.
JESUS ONCE SAID “UNLESS YOUR VIRTUE IS GREATER THAN THE SCRIBES AND THE PHARISEES, YOU WILL NEVER ENTER THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.” THE SCRIBES AND THE PHARISEES. OUR OVERALL IMPRESSION, IF WE HAVE BEEN PAYING ATTENTION TO SCRIPTURE, SEEMS TO BE THAT THESE INDIVIDUALS ARE SELFISH, POWER-CRAZY, AND OPPONENTS OF ALL THAT IS GOOD AND TRUE. WE EVEN USE THE TERM “PHARISAICAL” TO MEAN SOMEONE WHO PREACHES ONE THING AND DOES ANOTHER. THE GOSPELS WERE WRITTEN DURING A PERIOD OF TIME WHEN THE SPLIT BETWEEN JEWS AND CHRISTIANS WAS MOVING INTO HIGH GEAR, AND THE WRITERS, PERHAPS, CAN BE FORGIVEN FOR THEIR MOSTLY BLEAK PICTURE OF THE PHARISEES. BUT WE SEE LITTLE HINTS IN THE BIBLE THAT THEY WEREN'T ALL BAD, AND IN FACT MOST WERE TRYING VERY HARD TO LIVE GOOD LIVES AND KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS. REMEMBER THE PHARISEE WHO STOOD BEFORE THE ALTAR AND SAID WITH ALL SINCERITY, “THANK YOU THAT I AM NOT LIKE THIS TAX COLLECTOR” AND WENT ON TO NAME THE THINGS HE DID BECAUSE HE LOVED GOD. AND THAT WAS TYPICAL OF THE PHARISEES; THEY SCRUPULOUSLY FOLLOWED THE TEN COMMANDMENTS; THEY WENT TO GREAT LENGTHS TO AVOID BREAKING A COMMANDMENT. FOR EXAMPLE, YOU WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO WORK ON THE SABBATH. WELL, WHAT DID THAT MEAN? AFTER MUCH REALLY HEAVY THOUGHT, THEY DECIDED YOU COULDN'T COOK, YOU COULDN'T WALK MORE THAN A CERTAIN DISTANCE, AND SO ON. THEY KNEW THAT THEY WERE PROBABLY GOING OVERBOARD, BUT IT WAS BETTER TO ERR ON THE SIDE OF TOO MUCH THAN TOO LITTLE. AND THAT WAS THE WHOLE ATTITUDE. AND THEY SCRUPULOUSLY PRACTICED CHARITY, AND THEY FASTED AND PRAYED. THEY REALLY DID HAVE VIRTUE. AND JESUS SAYS “NOT ENOUGH” AND THAT ASTONISHED HIS DISCIPLES.
BECAUSE IF YOU ARE A PHARISEE, THERE IS A DARK SIDE AS WELL. IN ORDER TO AVOID CONTAMINATION, YOU DON'T ASSOCIATE WITH PEOPLE WHO ARE LESS RIGOROUS THAN YOURSELF. YOU BEGIN TO TAKE PRIDE IN YOUR ABILITY TO FOLLOW THE LAW. YOU BEGIN TO DO THE LAW FOR THE LAW'S SAKE, NOT FOR WHAT IT WAS INTENDED IN THE FIRST PLACE. AND YOU MIGHT EVEN SPEND A LOT OF TIME TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO OBSERVE THE LAW EVEN BETTER THAN YOU HAD BEFORE – SOMETHING THAT THE ULTRA-ORTHODOX JEWS, ESPECIALLY IN ISRAEL, CONTINUE TO DO TO THIS DAY, TO THE EXCLUSION OF WORKING FOR A LIVING OR JOINING THE MILITARY, OR PARTICIPATING IN POLITICS. PHARISEES WERE MEN OF GREAT VIRTUE, BUT IN THE END, THEY CARED ONLY ABOUT HOW THEY INDIVIDUALLY LIVED OUT THEIR LIVES.
AND JESUS IS ASKING US TO GO BEYOND THAT. TO BE A CHRISTIAN IS NOT TO BE ABLE TO BELIEVE IN CERTAIN TRUTHS AS EXPRESSED IN A CREED OR THE DOCUMENTS OF VATICAN II. TO BE A CHRISTIAN IS TO TAKE UP THE CHALLENGE OF TRANSFORMING OURSELVES AND THOSE AROUND US THROUGH THE GOSPEL MESSAGE. CAN YOU AND I LOVE AN ENEMY? CAN YOU AND I TURN THE OTHER CHEEK WHEN THE FIRST IS SLAPPED, OR GO AN EXTRA MILE WITH SOMEONE WHO MAKES US GO A MILE? CAN WE AVOID THAT “EYE FOR AN EYE” MENTALITY THAT LURKS BENEATH THE SURFACE, THAT PART OF US THAT IS SO SENSITIVE TO BEING “DISRESPECTED”? IF WE ARE INSULTED, CAN WE OFFER BACK A GOOD WORD, A COMPLEMENT, AND MEAN IT?
THE CHALLENGE JESUS GIVES TODAY IN OUR GOSPEL IS NOTHING LESS THAN A CHALLENGE TO BECOME MORE THAN HUMAN. AND IT'S NOT A BIT EASY, IN THEORY OR IN PRACTICE. A PERSON LIVING AS A PHARISEE WORKS HARD TO BRING ABOUT CERTAIN CHARACTER TRAITS; BUT THESE ARE FOR THE MOST PART EXTERNALITIES. YOU CAN BE A PHARISEE AND FAST AND PRAY AND GIVE ALMS AND SCRUPULOUSLY OBEY THE LAW. BUT YOU DON'T HAVE TO CHANGE YOURSELF INWARDLY. THAT'S WHY THE PHARISEES BECAME SO UPSET WHEN JESUS ACCUSED THEM OF HYPOCRISY. THEY HADN'T TRANSFORMED THEIR INNER SELVES; THEY WERE STILL VERY SENSITIVE TO BEING “DISRESPECTED”. NOT ALL BUT SOME OF THE PHARISEES WENT TO A GREAT DEAL OF TROUBLE TO CALL ATTENTION TO THEMSELVES; IF THE LAW SAID YOU SHOULD WEAR A STOLE AROUND YOUR NECK, THE PHARISEE WOULD WEAR A REALLY WIDE STOLE. IF THE LAW SAID YOU SHOULD GIVE ALMS, A REALLY RICH PHARISEE WOULD HIRE SOMEONE TO POINT OUT THAT HE WAS GIVING ALMS, SO THAT THE WHOLE WORLD WOULD KNOW HE WAS OBEYING THE LAW.
BUT JESUS IS SAYING THAT IF YOU WANT TO FOLLOW HIM, YOU HAVE TO DIE, YOU HAVE TO DIE TO YOUR HUMAN SELF, AND TAKE ON A NEW WAY OF BEING, A WAY THAT TRANSCENDS BEING HUMAN. BECAUSE THE GOAL OF CHRISTIAN LIFE IS NOT TO OBEY LAW, IT IS TO TRANSFORM ONESELF INTO A CHRIST, AND IF YOU DO THIS, YOU CAN'T HELP BUT BEGIN THE TRANSFORMATION IN OTHERS AS WELL. WHEN YOU ARE INSULTED AND YOUR RESPONSE IS A COMPLIMENT, SOMETHING MYSTERIOUS HAPPENS, NOT ONLY TO YOU, BUT TO THE ONE WHO INSULTED YOU. WHEN SOMEONE SPEAKS EVIL OF YOU, THE INSTINCT IS TO SAY SOMETHING BAD ABOUT THAT PERSON; THE CHRIST-RESPONSE IS TO SAY SOMETHING GOOD. YOU GET THE PICTURE; YOU DIE TO SELF, YOU TAKE UP YOUR CROSS, YOU FOLLOW JESUS. AND, CARRYING YOUR CROSS, YOU FOLLOW HIM ALL THE WAY TO THE TOP OF THAT HILL OUTSIDE JERUSALEM, AND SOMEDAY YOU CAN LOOK OVER FROM YOUR OWN CROSS AND SEE THAT YOU ARE NOT ALONE IN DYING, BUT HE IS RIGHT THERE BY YOUR SIDE, PROMISING THAT TODAY YOU WILL BE WITH HIM IN PARADISE.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle C
LUKE 7:36--8: 3
WHEN I WAS EIGHT YEARS OLD, I WAS ENROLLED IN THE CATHOLIC GRADE SCHOOL IN HELENA, MONTANA, AND EVERYTHING STOPPED ONE DAY IN HONOR OF THE CANONIZATION OF SAINT MARIA GORETTI. SHE HAD BEEN MURDERED AT THE AGE OF TWELVE BECAUSE SHE WOULD NOT SUBMIT TO THE SEXUAL OVERTURES OF A YOUNG MAN WHO LIVED WITH HER FAMILY. HE STABBED HER SEVERAL TIMES AND LEFT HER FOR DEAD. SHE DID NOT DIE IMMEDIATELY, THOUGH, AND WAS RUSHED TO THE HOSPITAL WHERE AN ATTEMPT WAS MADE TO SAVE HER. SHE RECOVERED CONSCIOUSNESS, AND FORGAVE HER MURDERER, ALESSANDRO SERENELLI, STATING THAT SHE WANTED HIM TO BE WITH HER IN HEAVEN SOMEDAY. THIS YOUNG MAN WAS NOT ACTING IN THE HEAT OF THE MOMENT, APPARENTLY, BECAUSE AFTER THE MURDER IT WAS FOUND THAT HE'D BEEN BOTHERING MARIA FOR ALMOST TWO YEARS, AND SHE'D BEEN AFRAID TO TELL ANYONE BECAUSE OF HIS THREAT THAT HE WOULD KILL HER LITTLE SISTER IF SHE DID.
SERENELLI WAS SENTENCED TO 30 YEARS IN PRISON, SINCE WHEN THIS HAPPENED HE WAS 20 AND THEREFORE A MINOR. THREE YEARS WENT BY IN WHICH HE SHOWED NO REMORSE. ONE DAY HE WAS VISITED BY THE LOCAL BISHOP, AND SHORTLY AFTERWARDS, REPORTED THAT HE HAD HAD A DREAM IN WHICH MARIA HAD GIVEN HIM A BOUQUET OF LILIES, WHICH BURNED UP IN HIS HANDS. HIS LIFE COMPLETELY CHANGED AND HE BEGAN A LIFE OF PRAYER AND PENANCE. WHEN HE WAS RELEASED FROM PRISON, HE VISITED MARIA'S MOTHER AND BEGGED HER FORGIVENESS. SHE FORGAVE HIM, SAYING THAT IF MARIA COULD FORGIVE HIM, SHE COULD DO NO LESS; AND THEY FORMED A FRIENDSHIP THAT LASTED THE REST OF THE MOTHER'S LIFE. ALESSANDRO JOINED MARIA'S MOTHER FOR THE CANONIZATION CEREMONY. HE JOINED THE CAPUCHIN FRANCISCANS AS A LAY BROTHER AND LIVED OUT HIS LIFE THERE, PRAYING TO MARIA FOR HER INTERCESSION EVERY DAY.
ALESSANDRO SERENELLI MAY NOT BE A CANONIZED SAINT, BUT I SUSPECT HE IS A SAINT, DESPITE THE FACT THAT HE WAS A RAPIST, A PEDOPHILE, AND A MURDERER, AND FOR ONE REASON; HE WAS FORGIVEN.
TODAY JESUS MAKES A STRANGE STATEMENT; “SO I TELL YOU, HER MANY SINS HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN BECAUSE SHE HAS SHOWN GREAT LOVE. BUT THE ONE TO WHOM LITTLE IS FORGIVEN, LOVES LITTLE”. LATER, HE REASSURES THE SINFUL WOMAN: “YOUR SINS ARE FORGIVEN” HE TELLS HER, AND THE BYSTANDERS SAY, “WHO IS THIS WHO EVEN FORGIVES SINS?” BUT JESUS NEVER SAID “I FORGIVE YOUR SINS”. HIS STATEMENTS ARE MORE IN THE NATURE OF OBSERVATIONS. HER MANY SINS ARE FORGIVEN – YOU CAN TELL THIS – BECAUSE SHE HAS SHOWN GREAT LOVE. WHICH CAME FIRST? THE FORGIVENESS? OR THE GREAT LOVE? AND BELIEVE ME, THIS SINFUL WOMAN IS SHOWING GREAT LOVE; SHE COMES INTO A MALE-ONLY GATHERING OF FRIENDS OF A PHARISEE – THAT'S DANGEROUS; SHE COMES IN APPARENTLY WITH HER HAIR UNCOVERED – BAD. AND SHE TAKES THE BOTTLE OF EXPENSIVE PERFUME, SOMETHING SHE HAD BEEN GIVEN AS A TEENAGER BY LOVING PARENTS IN ANTICIPATION OF A WEDDING SOMEDAY – AND SHE POURS IT OVER JESUS' FEET. THIS WHOLE ACT OF LOVE MIGHT HAVE GOTTEN HER STONED, BUT AT LEAST IT WOULD HAVE GOTTEN HER BEATEN, IF JESUS HAD NOT BEEN THERE. AND SHE HAD NO WAY OF KNOWING HOW IT WOULD TURN OUT; SHE JUST HAD TO SHOW JESUS THAT SHE LOVED HIM – WITH GREAT LOVE.
WAS SHE FORGIVEN IN THAT MOMENT? OR BEFORE, OR AFTER? I GUESS WE CAN'T TELL FROM THE CONTEXT. BUT WHENEVER SHE WAS FORGIVEN, SHE GAINED POWER.
WE ALL THINK THAT WHEN WE SIN, WE GO TO GOD AND BEG FORGIVENESS, AND HE FORGIVES US, REQUIRING A PENANCE, A PRAYER, AND A PROMISE NOT TO DO IT AGAIN. WE KEEP FALLING, AND HE PICKS US UP AGAIN. WE WORRY THAT MAYBE ONE OF THESE DAYS HE WILL SAY, “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! NO MORE FORGIVENESS!” OR, WE LISTEN TO THE WORLD AROUND US, WHICH TELLS US THAT WE CAN DO ABOUT ANYTHING AS LONG AS IT DOESN'T OFFEND SOMEONE ELSE OR CAUSE HARM TO THE ENVIRONMENT, AND IT WILL BE ALL RIGHT. AFTER ALL WE ARE GOOD PEOPLE. WE ARE LIKE SIMON, THE PHARISEE, WHO PROBABLY DIDN'T THINK THERE WAS MUCH THAT GOD NEEDED TO FORGIVE IN HIS LIFE. SO WHY ASK FOR FORGIVENESS IF THERE ISN'T MUCH TO FORGIVE?
BUT WE HAVE THE WRONG IDEA. GOD DOESN'T GRUDGINGLY FORGIVE US, AND NONE OF US ARE GOOD ENOUGH NOT TO NEED HIS FORGIVENESS. SIN, YOUR SIN AND MY SIN, IS LIKE A HUGE MORTGAGE PAYMENT WE HAVE TO MAKE EACH MONTH, AND ONLY A LITTLE OF OUR INCOME IS LEFT FOR ANYTHING ELSE. WHEN WE ARE IN SIN, WE HAVE CHOSEN TO OFFEND GOD, AND IN DOING SO, WE ARE CUT OFF FROM HIS GRACE, COMPLETELY OR PARTIALLY. WE ARE PARALYZED; WE HAVE TO MAKE THAT MORTGAGE PAYMENT. BUT GOD HOLDS OUT HIS FORGIVENESS TO EACH OF US FOR THE SIMPLE REASON THAT BY ACCEPTING FORGIVENESS, WE OPEN OURSELVES TO WHAT HE REALLY WANTS TO GIVE US, WHICH IS HIS GRACE, HIS HELP, INDEED, HIS VERY SELF.
WHY DO YOU THINK GREAT SAINTS WENT TO CONFESSION SO OFTEN? POPE JOHN PAUL II WENT WEEKLY, AND ENCOURAGED OTHERS TO DO THE SAME. HE KNEW THAT FREQUENT CONFESSION, EVEN IF ALL WE HAD TO CONFESS WERE LITTLE FAULTS, HAD THESE RESULTS:
GENUINE SELF-KNOWLEDGE IS INCREASED,
CHRISTIAN HUMILITY GROWS,
BAD HABITS ARE CORRECTED,
SPIRITUAL NEGLECT AND TEPIDITY ARE RESISTED,
THE CONSCIENCE IS PURIFIED,
THE WILL STRENGTHENED,
A SALUTARY SELF-CONTROL IS ATTAINED,
GRACE IS INCREASED IN VIRTUE OF THE SACRAMENT ITSELF.
IN OTHER WORDS, IF OUR MANY SINS HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN, WE ARE MUCH MORE CAPABLE OF SHOWING GREAT LOVE; IT IS AS IF THAT MORTGAGE HAS SUDDENLY BEEN PAID IN FULL AND WE ARE FREE TO USE OUR INCOME FOR WHATEVER WE WANT.
JESUS IS TELLING US TODAY THAT RECOGNIZING THAT ALL OF US HAVE MANY SINS IS REALITY; WE MAY NOT THINK WE ARE AS SINFUL AS LOTS OF PEOPLE WE KNOW, BUT THAT ISN'T IMPORTANT; WHAT IS IMPORTANT IS THAT WE UNDERSTAND HOW SINFUL WE ARE WITH RESPECT TO OUR RELATIONSHIP TO GOD. AND ONCE WE RECOGNIZE HOW GREAT AND HOW MANY ARE OUR SINS, THEN WE CAN ACCEPT THE FORGIVENESS OF GOD, THE FORGIVENESS THAT GIVES US POWER TO CHANGE OUR LIVES AND BECOME SAINTS, LIKE MARIA GORETTI'S FORGIVENESS CHANGED ALESSANDRO SERENELLI, LIKE GOD'S FORGIVENESS CHANGED THE LIFE OF THE SINFUL WOMAN WHO LOVED JESUS AND HATED HER SINS SO MUCH THAT SHE POURED OUT HER TEARS ON HIS FEET, AND DRIED THEM WITH HER HAIR, AND COVERED THEM WITH KISSES, AND ANOINTED THEM WITH EXPENSIVE PERFUME.
WHEN I WAS EIGHT YEARS OLD, I WAS ENROLLED IN THE CATHOLIC GRADE SCHOOL IN HELENA, MONTANA, AND EVERYTHING STOPPED ONE DAY IN HONOR OF THE CANONIZATION OF SAINT MARIA GORETTI. SHE HAD BEEN MURDERED AT THE AGE OF TWELVE BECAUSE SHE WOULD NOT SUBMIT TO THE SEXUAL OVERTURES OF A YOUNG MAN WHO LIVED WITH HER FAMILY. HE STABBED HER SEVERAL TIMES AND LEFT HER FOR DEAD. SHE DID NOT DIE IMMEDIATELY, THOUGH, AND WAS RUSHED TO THE HOSPITAL WHERE AN ATTEMPT WAS MADE TO SAVE HER. SHE RECOVERED CONSCIOUSNESS, AND FORGAVE HER MURDERER, ALESSANDRO SERENELLI, STATING THAT SHE WANTED HIM TO BE WITH HER IN HEAVEN SOMEDAY. THIS YOUNG MAN WAS NOT ACTING IN THE HEAT OF THE MOMENT, APPARENTLY, BECAUSE AFTER THE MURDER IT WAS FOUND THAT HE'D BEEN BOTHERING MARIA FOR ALMOST TWO YEARS, AND SHE'D BEEN AFRAID TO TELL ANYONE BECAUSE OF HIS THREAT THAT HE WOULD KILL HER LITTLE SISTER IF SHE DID.
SERENELLI WAS SENTENCED TO 30 YEARS IN PRISON, SINCE WHEN THIS HAPPENED HE WAS 20 AND THEREFORE A MINOR. THREE YEARS WENT BY IN WHICH HE SHOWED NO REMORSE. ONE DAY HE WAS VISITED BY THE LOCAL BISHOP, AND SHORTLY AFTERWARDS, REPORTED THAT HE HAD HAD A DREAM IN WHICH MARIA HAD GIVEN HIM A BOUQUET OF LILIES, WHICH BURNED UP IN HIS HANDS. HIS LIFE COMPLETELY CHANGED AND HE BEGAN A LIFE OF PRAYER AND PENANCE. WHEN HE WAS RELEASED FROM PRISON, HE VISITED MARIA'S MOTHER AND BEGGED HER FORGIVENESS. SHE FORGAVE HIM, SAYING THAT IF MARIA COULD FORGIVE HIM, SHE COULD DO NO LESS; AND THEY FORMED A FRIENDSHIP THAT LASTED THE REST OF THE MOTHER'S LIFE. ALESSANDRO JOINED MARIA'S MOTHER FOR THE CANONIZATION CEREMONY. HE JOINED THE CAPUCHIN FRANCISCANS AS A LAY BROTHER AND LIVED OUT HIS LIFE THERE, PRAYING TO MARIA FOR HER INTERCESSION EVERY DAY.
ALESSANDRO SERENELLI MAY NOT BE A CANONIZED SAINT, BUT I SUSPECT HE IS A SAINT, DESPITE THE FACT THAT HE WAS A RAPIST, A PEDOPHILE, AND A MURDERER, AND FOR ONE REASON; HE WAS FORGIVEN.
TODAY JESUS MAKES A STRANGE STATEMENT; “SO I TELL YOU, HER MANY SINS HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN BECAUSE SHE HAS SHOWN GREAT LOVE. BUT THE ONE TO WHOM LITTLE IS FORGIVEN, LOVES LITTLE”. LATER, HE REASSURES THE SINFUL WOMAN: “YOUR SINS ARE FORGIVEN” HE TELLS HER, AND THE BYSTANDERS SAY, “WHO IS THIS WHO EVEN FORGIVES SINS?” BUT JESUS NEVER SAID “I FORGIVE YOUR SINS”. HIS STATEMENTS ARE MORE IN THE NATURE OF OBSERVATIONS. HER MANY SINS ARE FORGIVEN – YOU CAN TELL THIS – BECAUSE SHE HAS SHOWN GREAT LOVE. WHICH CAME FIRST? THE FORGIVENESS? OR THE GREAT LOVE? AND BELIEVE ME, THIS SINFUL WOMAN IS SHOWING GREAT LOVE; SHE COMES INTO A MALE-ONLY GATHERING OF FRIENDS OF A PHARISEE – THAT'S DANGEROUS; SHE COMES IN APPARENTLY WITH HER HAIR UNCOVERED – BAD. AND SHE TAKES THE BOTTLE OF EXPENSIVE PERFUME, SOMETHING SHE HAD BEEN GIVEN AS A TEENAGER BY LOVING PARENTS IN ANTICIPATION OF A WEDDING SOMEDAY – AND SHE POURS IT OVER JESUS' FEET. THIS WHOLE ACT OF LOVE MIGHT HAVE GOTTEN HER STONED, BUT AT LEAST IT WOULD HAVE GOTTEN HER BEATEN, IF JESUS HAD NOT BEEN THERE. AND SHE HAD NO WAY OF KNOWING HOW IT WOULD TURN OUT; SHE JUST HAD TO SHOW JESUS THAT SHE LOVED HIM – WITH GREAT LOVE.
WAS SHE FORGIVEN IN THAT MOMENT? OR BEFORE, OR AFTER? I GUESS WE CAN'T TELL FROM THE CONTEXT. BUT WHENEVER SHE WAS FORGIVEN, SHE GAINED POWER.
WE ALL THINK THAT WHEN WE SIN, WE GO TO GOD AND BEG FORGIVENESS, AND HE FORGIVES US, REQUIRING A PENANCE, A PRAYER, AND A PROMISE NOT TO DO IT AGAIN. WE KEEP FALLING, AND HE PICKS US UP AGAIN. WE WORRY THAT MAYBE ONE OF THESE DAYS HE WILL SAY, “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! NO MORE FORGIVENESS!” OR, WE LISTEN TO THE WORLD AROUND US, WHICH TELLS US THAT WE CAN DO ABOUT ANYTHING AS LONG AS IT DOESN'T OFFEND SOMEONE ELSE OR CAUSE HARM TO THE ENVIRONMENT, AND IT WILL BE ALL RIGHT. AFTER ALL WE ARE GOOD PEOPLE. WE ARE LIKE SIMON, THE PHARISEE, WHO PROBABLY DIDN'T THINK THERE WAS MUCH THAT GOD NEEDED TO FORGIVE IN HIS LIFE. SO WHY ASK FOR FORGIVENESS IF THERE ISN'T MUCH TO FORGIVE?
BUT WE HAVE THE WRONG IDEA. GOD DOESN'T GRUDGINGLY FORGIVE US, AND NONE OF US ARE GOOD ENOUGH NOT TO NEED HIS FORGIVENESS. SIN, YOUR SIN AND MY SIN, IS LIKE A HUGE MORTGAGE PAYMENT WE HAVE TO MAKE EACH MONTH, AND ONLY A LITTLE OF OUR INCOME IS LEFT FOR ANYTHING ELSE. WHEN WE ARE IN SIN, WE HAVE CHOSEN TO OFFEND GOD, AND IN DOING SO, WE ARE CUT OFF FROM HIS GRACE, COMPLETELY OR PARTIALLY. WE ARE PARALYZED; WE HAVE TO MAKE THAT MORTGAGE PAYMENT. BUT GOD HOLDS OUT HIS FORGIVENESS TO EACH OF US FOR THE SIMPLE REASON THAT BY ACCEPTING FORGIVENESS, WE OPEN OURSELVES TO WHAT HE REALLY WANTS TO GIVE US, WHICH IS HIS GRACE, HIS HELP, INDEED, HIS VERY SELF.
WHY DO YOU THINK GREAT SAINTS WENT TO CONFESSION SO OFTEN? POPE JOHN PAUL II WENT WEEKLY, AND ENCOURAGED OTHERS TO DO THE SAME. HE KNEW THAT FREQUENT CONFESSION, EVEN IF ALL WE HAD TO CONFESS WERE LITTLE FAULTS, HAD THESE RESULTS:
GENUINE SELF-KNOWLEDGE IS INCREASED,
CHRISTIAN HUMILITY GROWS,
BAD HABITS ARE CORRECTED,
SPIRITUAL NEGLECT AND TEPIDITY ARE RESISTED,
THE CONSCIENCE IS PURIFIED,
THE WILL STRENGTHENED,
A SALUTARY SELF-CONTROL IS ATTAINED,
GRACE IS INCREASED IN VIRTUE OF THE SACRAMENT ITSELF.
IN OTHER WORDS, IF OUR MANY SINS HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN, WE ARE MUCH MORE CAPABLE OF SHOWING GREAT LOVE; IT IS AS IF THAT MORTGAGE HAS SUDDENLY BEEN PAID IN FULL AND WE ARE FREE TO USE OUR INCOME FOR WHATEVER WE WANT.
JESUS IS TELLING US TODAY THAT RECOGNIZING THAT ALL OF US HAVE MANY SINS IS REALITY; WE MAY NOT THINK WE ARE AS SINFUL AS LOTS OF PEOPLE WE KNOW, BUT THAT ISN'T IMPORTANT; WHAT IS IMPORTANT IS THAT WE UNDERSTAND HOW SINFUL WE ARE WITH RESPECT TO OUR RELATIONSHIP TO GOD. AND ONCE WE RECOGNIZE HOW GREAT AND HOW MANY ARE OUR SINS, THEN WE CAN ACCEPT THE FORGIVENESS OF GOD, THE FORGIVENESS THAT GIVES US POWER TO CHANGE OUR LIVES AND BECOME SAINTS, LIKE MARIA GORETTI'S FORGIVENESS CHANGED ALESSANDRO SERENELLI, LIKE GOD'S FORGIVENESS CHANGED THE LIFE OF THE SINFUL WOMAN WHO LOVED JESUS AND HATED HER SINS SO MUCH THAT SHE POURED OUT HER TEARS ON HIS FEET, AND DRIED THEM WITH HER HAIR, AND COVERED THEM WITH KISSES, AND ANOINTED THEM WITH EXPENSIVE PERFUME.
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