That Christmas Spirit

Christmas Eve 2016

His dominion is vast, and forever peaceful.

The world is getting smaller, isn’t it? Technology, the ease of travel, and the global economy have brought far flung cultures closer together. And yet, ironically, the world, our country, seems to be ever more divided the closer we get.

In the midst of all our squabbling and fighting and hatred and murder and injustice, there are moments that arise in which we put it all aside and reach out to those we hurt and hate and realize the peace of Jesus. And it is no accident that this sort of thing usually happens around the feasts of Jesus.

What connects us truly is not technology, it is our humanity. That’s also what connects us to God. God has chosen to become one of us so that we can become one with Him. In St. John’s gospel Jesus says, “As you, Father, are in me, and I in you; I pray that they may be one in us, that the world may believe that you sent me.”

The message of Christ has always been one of unity, not division. There’s something about Christmas that fills a deep basic need in all people all over the world. Christmas is not just for Christians. Its message is truly universal, truly catholic, if you will. Christmas is celebrated all over the world by people of all faiths, or no faith. The meaning of Christmas is instilled in each of our hearts and souls at the moment of our conception. We believe that God became truly human so that we could become fully human.

The message of Christianity has always been one of peace. If you delve into the true history of the Church and actually understand our doctrines and our teachings, it is always a spirit of peace that emerges. As human beings, we haven’t always lived that spirit, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t there and isn’t true and valuable.

And perhaps that is why we are usually at odds with the world, because the world is not about peace. The message of Jesus has always been met with violence. The small innocent child that was born in Bethlehem became the greatest threat ever to the status quo. So much so that he was eventually tortured and killed. But his message endures just as he endures. It is telling that the first thing he assures his disciples of after his resurrection is that nothing has changed. He is still all about peace. Yes, he has suffered. Yes, they killed him. But he still brings peace. And he wishes to bestow that peace upon all mankind.

Life here on earth is not peaceful. Like Jesus, we suffer, we are attacked, we are misunderstood and maligned, and we die. But God is still all about peace. We wander far from our intended path but God is always calling us back. We have holidays, holy days, that remind us of that call from time to time, and for a time we experience a taste of His peace, until we go back to our old ways.

Just because we know we’ll fall back doesn’t mean we should stop our celebrations. It’s good that we have these few short periods of peace amidst the chaos of our lives. We need these touch points to keep us on track. Could you imagine the world without the promise of Christmas? Even the watered down, commercialized Christmas message of the secular world is based upon peace on earth, good will towards all. Christmas fills a basic human need. You can take the God label off it, but it is still God behind it. Because that need is for our salvation.

“Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” The two things go together. If you give glory to God you will have peace. If you have peace you will be giving glory to God.

Tonight we do both.

Everyone, not just Christians, want the “Christmas Spirit”. Everyone wants a kinder, gentler, more compassionate world, and we want it more than once a year. We all know that things work better, relationships are closer, and life is more peaceful when we recognize and embrace the Spirit. We want the fruit of the Spirit but we won’t name the Spirit. We get almost there but can’t seem to make it all the way for fear of offending someone. It’s like we want to say it but can’t find the words. We acknowledge the gifts but not the giver.

The true “Christmas Spirit” is the Holy Spirit. The world will try to remove Christ from Christmas but it’s impossible to do so. All the wonderful fruit of the “Christmas Spirit” is actually the fruit of the Holy Spirit St. Paul talks about in his letter to the Galatians. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” The fruit of the Holy Spirit is the result of the Holy Spirit's presence in the life of a person.

Once we recognize the Holy Spirit’s presence in Christmas it will be easier to live the “Christmas Spirit” every day of the year. We must begin to see things differently, almost in reverse.

And I think that the real reason so many people come to worship at Christmas is that deep down, in spite of all the intense pressure to make Christmas all about Santa and turkey and buying and receiving just the right presents, we all know that that’s not what it’s all about. We all know the true meaning of Christmas. We all know that we all need a savior, and that God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten Son to us to become one of us so that we could become like him.

 

We come because God wants us to come, and whether we recognize it or acknowledge it, that’s why we also want to come. The need for God is buried within us from our conception, and the important thing is not why we come, but that we come. We can work out the details later.

 

We know that no matter what we’ve done or what has happened to us this past year, for good or bad, it all comes down to that. I think that we all need to have this time to look at our lives, take stock in our actions and their meaning, and spend a little bit of time with our creator. Here we can escape what the world has done to Christmas and re-root ourselves in what is important. Unity with God, our families, and our fellow human beings. Take away all the decorations and music and presents and such, and that’s what is left.

 

My hope for you is that you can find that meaning in your lives, and that your time here at St. Mary’s will be one of peaceful contemplation of exactly what your God has done for you in giving you the Christmas gift of himself.

 

We often hear the saying, “Keep Christ in Christmas”. My prayer for you is that you keep Christ in yourself.

 

 

 

Great Expectations

3^rd Sunday of Advent

Cycle A

Is 35:1-6a,10

Ps 146:6-7,8-9,9-10

Jas 5:7-10

Mt 11:2-11

 

What have you come to see? Who have you come to see?

 

The Jews of Jesus’ day were all searching and waiting for the Messiah. They wanted desperately to be delivered from Roman oppression. God had promised that they would be saved some day. By the messiah. Who would it be? And what would he be like? Would he be humble, would he be magnificent? Would he raise a great army and overthrow the Romans to restore the kingdom to Israel? Everyone seemed to have a different expectation.

 

Could John be him? They didn’t know exactly who John the Baptist was. They had heard all sorts of rumors about him. He was definitely a great prophet. Thousands of people came to the Jordan River to be baptized by him. Was he the messiah?

 

But now John was in Herod’s prison, and his future was uncertain. John told his disciples that he was not the messiah, that there was another coming after him. John obviously knew his cousin, Jesus, but they lived far apart, so we don’t really know what sort of relationship they had growing up. John had heard of Jesus’ preaching and healing as he traveled throughout Galilee, and he knew his cousin was special. His mother had told him so. Was he really the promised one? He sent his disciples to Jesus to ask.

 

They were surprised by what they found. This was no military leader or strongman. He seemed ordinary and he was from Nazareth. Could anything good ever come from Nazareth? How could this be the one who John said was so much greater than him that he was not fit to loosen his sandals? And he spoke in riddles. He didn’t give them a straight answer. Instead he quoted the prophets and left them to figure it out for themselves. I wonder if they were disappointed.

 

Who is Jesus to you? What are your expectations of him? Will you be surprised by what you find? Will you be disappointed? Will he be the one for you or will you look for another?

 

Today, people from all over are also searching for God, They come to Jesus to see if he is the one they’ve been waiting for. For some, he meets their expectations and they become his disciples. Others are disappointed and move on to the next fad they think will bring fulfillment.

 

Are you looking for a reed swaying in the breeze, a flexible God who will bend his or her teachings as the winds of change blow with the times? Are you looking for a king, an authoritarian figure who sets the rules and then acts as judge of all? What kind of Jesus are you looking for?

 

We often project our own personalities onto our images of Jesus. For some he’s the ultimate liberal, filled with compassion and love for all. For others he’s a staunch conservative, the stern king who will come to judge the living and the dead. They make lists of his commandments and strive to keep each and every one to the letter.  But is Jesus one or the other? Is he really that one dimensional? We are always trying to change Jesus into our image, when what we are called to do instead is change ourselves into his image.

 

But we’re all searching, aren’t we? We ask, as John the Baptist did, “Are you really the one or should we keep looking?” Have you found him here, in this church? Or will you keep on looking? Are you surprised or disappointed by the Jesus that’s present in this community? Or will you walk on down the road to the next church until you find the Jesus that fits with your expectations of him?

 

What do you do when Jesus doesn’t meet your expectations? He says today, “Blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.” I guess that’s a good starting point for discipleship. At the very least be open enough to not be offended by what he says and does. First get your expectations aligned with the reality of Jesus.

 

The thing is, Jesus never needs to live up to our expectations of him. We need to live up to his expectations of us. Like the people who went out into the desert to see John, we have never met Jesus face-to-face. We have relied upon what others have told us about him. We meet Jesus in scripture, in the Mass and the other sacraments, and in the lives of his present day disciples. And we have formed our impressions of who he is from this second hand information. Some of us have actually encountered Jesus personally in our hearts and seen him working in our lives. Sometimes those encounters have surprised us and sometimes we have been discouraged. But Jesus never changes. We do. And his message never changes. Only our response to his message changes. His reality does not change based upon what we believe. We change because of what we believe. We change because Jesus is who he says he is.

 

Rejoice! The Lord is in our midst. Here is your God, He comes with vindication.. That’s the message of our readings today and that’s the message Jesus proclaimed throughout all Judea. Stop looking, you’ve found Him. He is not up in the sky somewhere or anyplace else. The Lord is in our midst. Here. Today. And that is cause for great rejoicing.

It’s time to take a break. It’s time to change gears for a bit. Today is the 3^rd Sunday of Advent, Gaudate Sunday, and gaudate means rejoice. It’s time we stop and step out of the whirlwind of parties and shopping and Santa and Christmas carols and simply rejoice in the wonders of our God and all the marvelous things He has done for us.

I think it is very easy for us today to lose sight of how wonderful we have it. We keep looking for the meaning of Christmas in the sights and sounds and traditions of the season, when all along they’re right here, in our hearts. It doesn’t matter if the secular world has hijacked Christmas. All Christmas is is living as a disciple of Christ, and so for us, Christmas isn’t a day and it isn’t a feeling. It is a way of life.

What can you do to acknowledge the most important gifts you will be receiving? How can your eyes and ears be opened to recognize the hand of God in every carol, every delicious meal, every child? How can you rejoice in just being alive and acknowledge the gift? How can you accept the mercy that God has extended to you and then offer that mercy to others, especially to those who have hurt you?

Advent is a time of great expectations. Let’s take the time the next two weeks to truly see and hear, to pay attention to the Lord who has come into the world. Lay your expectations aside and just let Jesus be Jesus. It’s the unknown gift under the Christmas tree that generates the most curiosity and excitement. Allow yourself to be surprised when you encounter him.

 

 

 

 

In Good Conscience

32^nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Cycle C

2 Macc 7: 1-2, 9-14

2 Thess 2: 16-3:5

Lk 20: 27-38

 

When I was a boy my parents had this big old bible, the one with the gold on the edges of the pages, and it had all these full page color paintings of bible stories in it.  There was the story of the Good Samaritan, the Woman at the Well, and the Fall of Jericho. I liked to look at the pictures because, heck, I was a kid.

I remember one picture in particular, that of the third brother in today’s first reading. He had his eyes raised to heaven and his hands on the chopping block, and a thin stream of blood was flowing out of his mouth. I know, pretty gruesome, but it isn’t the drawing of his hands and mouth that has stuck with me all these years. It is his eyes. The artist had captured almost a look of ecstasy on the man’s face. And I still remember the words written on the page, the same words we heard him say this morning. And I wondered what it meant to be raised to new life. I still ponder that today.

There are two themes to today’s readings. The first is conscience and the decisions we will all be called to make for our faith. The second is the reason why we make those decisions, the promise of what is to come for those who endure.

The story of the Maccabees isn’t read very often in our liturgy, and in fact, is not even included in Protestant bibles. But I think we see a lot of parallels between their story and what we are experiencing in our world today. What was happening to force such choices on the Jews and why were they so stubborn in their opposition?

After the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC, there was a struggle for control of Israel, Egypt and Syria. Eventually the Seleucids from Syria gained control and began a program of Hellenization that threatened to force the Jews to abandon their monotheism for the Greek’s paganism. They erected a shrine to the Greek god Zeus in the temple in Jerusalem, outlawed circumcision, and forced the Jews to either eat pork as a sign of abandoning their law or be tortured and killed. That is the choice that faced the seven brothers in today’s reading.

To the Jews, this was more than a religious struggle. This was a struggle for their identity as a people. They saw the Law as being both a sign of their fidelity to God and a symbol of themselves as a nation. It is easy to see why they would resist the Greek’s effort to assimilate them. They could not in good conscience go against the Law. They chose death over assimiliation.

We talk a lot about conscience today, don’t we? Your conscience is the thing that guides you in your choices, and it does not form in a vacuum. It is your sense of right and wrong, good and evil, and it must always keep in mind the consequences of your actions.

The movie, Hacksaw Ridge, opened this week. It is the story of a World War II conscientious objector who faced the difficult decision of how to serve his country without taking human life. He went on to save 75 men’s lives during the battle of Okinawa, and received the Medal of Honor for it. We celebrate his heroic story, and it is inspiring to us all. In the movie he prays, “Lord, help me get one more.”

Most of us will never have to face a life or death choice like his, or the Maccabees. But we are witnessing Christians in the world today who are making that choice daily.  Coincidentally also in Syria and other areas of the Middle East, Christians are being forced to choose between conversion to radical Islam or torture and death. What drives these Christians to choose death rather than go against their consciences is their faith in Jesus and his message of hope. I wonder how we would choose in the same situation.

When we hear these horror stories, what do we think? Do we stop and say a quick prayer for the Christians who have died? Do we do more and offer financial support to groups who are trying to help them? Do we write our senators pushing to grant more of them refugee status? Do we even notice the horror of it all because it is happening so far away? A movie about a soldier who saved 75 men without lifting a gun or firing a shot we find heroic because we all recognize and agree that war is horrible and to be avoided. But would anyone go to see a movie about a lone Christian who kneels outside the local abortion clinic or stands vigil outside a prison gas chamber, or the spouse desperate to save a dying marriage, praying, “Lord, let me save one more”? Those are the life and death things we must deal with. Those are our battlefields.Those are the tough choices we need to make, those everyday decisions on how to view our fellow human beings.

Consider the upcoming election. I think that most if not all of us have been struggling with our consciences on how we should vote. What does it mean to vote your conscience, and what are the consequences of our vote? I think so often we choose our faith based upon our politics and not the other way around. Do you see your vote as an act of faith? As an act of discipleship? As an act of heroism? Do you seek the Church’s guidance on the issues before making a decision? Do you separate church and state in your own heart, as well as in the public square, or do you view all things through your eyes of faith?

You will form your conscience whether you want to or not. It is formed by your life experiences, your moral upbringing and belief, and your faith, or lack of faith, in God. As faithful Catholics, we are called to constantly be forming our consciences. It is not that right and wrong are constantly changing, it’s that our understanding of right and wrong develops and grows. As Catholics, we are required to form our consciences within the teachings and guidance of the Church. Not because we blindly follow the law, but because, like the Maccabees, our faith defines who we are. Our relationship with God is central to our lives, because we are all called to build up the kingdom. We can abide by changes in thought and practice in society to a certain extent, but eventually we will be called upon to make a choice. It seems that more and more society’s norms are in direct opposition to our consciences. Some choices are easy and obvious, others are actually between life and death.

It is a good thing that we have a conscience to guide us, and it is a good thing that it is often a struggle to determine the correct course of action in a given situation. However, as the writer Robert Royal once said, “When someone wrestles with their conscience, it’s remarkable how often he wins.” What do you do when your conscience tells you the right thing to do is the opposite of what you want to do? What do you do when the consequences are just too dire, so you go against your conscience? I think that every time we choose to go against our conscience it dies a little bit, and it takes a long time to build it up again. It takes courage to follow a properly formed conscience.

The thing that gave the Maccabees the courage to resist was their hope in what was to come. There was a growing belief in Judaism at the time that there was an afterlife, that they would be raised again by their God to a glorious future. It was this hope that drove them to resist. It was that hope that gave them their conviction.

In Jesus’ time there were still divisions in Judaism around the existence of an afterlife and especially of the resurrection of the dead. The Sadducees didn’t believe in the resurrection, and it was they who were testing Jesus in the gospel today. They were focusing on the letter of the law and Jesus was trying to help them see the bigger picture. He was focusing on the hope of the message, and they would not allow themselves to see it. They were focusing on death, He was focusing on life.

But then, Jesus always focused on life. He never said it would be easy. In fact, he predicted the opposite. But he always said it would be worth it. And he promised to never leave us orphans. He is always there to strengthen us and give us the grace we need to make the right choices, no matter how hard they are. As St. Paul tells us today,

But the Lord is faithful;

He will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one.

May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God

and to the endurance of Christ. 

 

 

Conversation

30^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Cycle C

Sir 35: 12-14,16-18

2 Tim 4:6-8, 16-18

Lk 18:9-14

 

It matters how you talk to people, doesn’t it?

Someone introduced me to a man the other day at a party. At first he seemed an interesting sort, and I was asking him about himself. He was more than willing to comply. But after a few minutes I started feeling uneasy, because of the way he was talking about himself. Especially his accomplishments. The more he talked the more the conversation became more and more one sided. He wasn’t outright boasting, but he wasn’t actually being humble either. I could tell he had a healthy dose of ego, and it turned me off to him. After we parted, I realized that he had never asked me anything about myself. I was doing all the asking and all the listening, and he was doing all the talking. And you know, I don’t really remember what he said.

Oh, no, wait a minute. That was me.

It’s easy to talk about ourselves, isn’t it? And the people we like to talk to the most are the ones who are interested in us. It’s easy to find ourselves talking more and more about ourselves and our accomplishments when someone is encouraging us to do so. How often have you walked away from a conversation and thought, “I really don’t know much more about that person. I did all the talking.”

I don’t think that’s boasting, necessarily. It’s natural. Our favorite subject is ourselves. It’s easy to get carried away about ourselves. Most of us are not egotists, but we all know some people who are. They are just as annoying as the tax collector in today’s parable.

There are some people who never really listen to you, they are just waiting for their turn to talk. I think we all do that from time to time. But the really great conversations are the ones where we encourage each other to talk because we are truly interested in what the other has to say. We want to know more about them and they want to know more about us. That’s stimulating, not annoying. That type of relationship is not one-upmanship. That is one of mutual interest and understanding.

God’s the same way. God doesn’t want us to talk to him only about ourselves. God knows all about us. He knows our accomplishments and He’s proud of them, more proud than we are ourselves. He also knows our failures, and that’s what He wants to talk to us about. He wants us to be grateful for what we have and for what we have done with what we have. He also wants us to recognize where and when we have fallen short, ask for forgiveness, and then move on.

We pray to God because we need to say it and we need to believe that he likes to hear it. We need to know that we’re ok with God. We need to know that we have ultimate value, that we are accepted by our creator, even though we don’t really deserve it. We need to have that hope and know that there’s a purpose to life, with all its joys and sufferings. It is through our prayer that we keep our relationship with God in focus.

 

But does God answer prayers? Ah, the great question. When we ask it we are usually referring to prayers of petition. We ask God for something and then sit back and wait to see if we get it. Sometimes we do get what we ask for, but rarely does God answer us boldly and loudly, so we can easily recognize it. Rarely do we get that miracle we’ve been hoping for. But then, we never got that pony we asked our parents for for Christmas, did we? And I think we oftentimes make excuses for not getting what we asked for. “God knows best, and I guess I really didn’t need it. So I guess I’ll try to word it a bit differently next time.” Or, we look back and try hard to see how God really did answer our prayers. “Yeah, that was it, right there. It really did work out ok in the end, even if it wasn’t the way I expected it or planned it.” We desperately need to believe that God hears us.

 

But what about those prayers of hopelessness when we are enveloped in deep suffering and poverty of body and spirit? When we are not asking for things but just for an end to our pain? What about the millions of people who go to bed hungry every night, who aren’t asking for a better job or a new car but just to survive? Sometimes their prayers are never answered with the alleviation of their suffering. Does that mean they weren’t answered? Does that mean that God has abandoned them?

 

St. Paul experienced this. Many times he prayed that he be relieved of an unknown physical ailment, only to get the answer that sorry, he had to put up with it. He came to the conclusion that it was only when he was weak and had to rely totally on God that he was actually stronger. But that still didn’t make him feel any better. And today we heard that even after an entire career of bringing the Good News to people the world over, he was still alone and abandoned by them in his time of need. Just like Jesus. But even when he looked back on his life’s race and saw all the times he’d stumbled and fell, he still kept his eyes on the finish line. He never lost hope.

 

God does not guarantee that when we ask for things from Him we will necessarily get what we request. He only guarantees that we will receive His mercy and through that mercy, hope. Prayer is always answered with mercy.

 

And mercy is all about hope. Can you imagine what the world would be like if God were not merciful towards us? What if he left us to our own devices in our evil and sinfulness? Without God’s mercy there would be no good on the earth. Because we sin we need to ask for and receive forgiveness. If God in his mercy does not forgive us we are doomed to destroy ourselves. Without the possibility of forgiveness we would go insane. Without God’s mercy we would have no hope. Because the opposite of mercy is despair.

 

And true mercy requires the one who receives it to accept it with humility. Not in humiliation, but with an understanding that even though our actions require forgiveness, we still have great value. Mercy is accepting our true place in the scheme of things and knowing what our true relationship is with our creator. Have mercy on us sinners. We need to accept that we are only the creatures, and we don’t have all the answers. Sometimes it all makes sense and oftentimes it doesn’t. But that doesn’t mean we give up in frustration.

 

So, does it matter how we talk to God? Is our attitude towards prayer more important than the words themselves? It does in today’s parable. One man went away justified, the other didn’t. And it wasn’t because of what they said, it’s how they said it.

God doesn’t want us to do all the talking. God doesn’t want us to focus on ourselves. He wants us to focus on him. He wants us to stop talking and just listen sometime. He wants us to be curious about him, to ask lots of questions and get to know him better.

Your God wants to have a conversation with you. One on one, person to person. He likes to hear from you, he finds you infinitely interesting, and he loves to be with you. Do you feel the same way about him?

 

Pay Attention

26^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Cycle C

I was giving a talk a while back on stewardship, and how to me, stewardship was not about fundraising and money, giving of your time, talent and treasure. I figure that most folks support what they love, and so stewardship is all about falling in love with Jesus again, and by extension, His church and the parish. As I was talking about falling in love with your parish, I saw a man in the front row becoming more and more agitated. He was actually getting angry.

And so I stopped and asked him what was wrong. He said, “But what if you don’t love your parish, especially your priest? What if they have not been there for you when you needed them? What if they have just blown you off and don’t really care about you?” He then went on to tell me that he was suffering from cancer and had reached out to his parish priest. It took the priest a couple of days to even call him back, and then when they did talk the priest made some flippant remarks and said maybe he’d have time to visit the next week.

The man said that he was a Knight of Columbus and he had just finished doing some repairs on the church building. He was very involved in the parish and now felt that he had been abandoned in his time of need. How could he fall in love with something like that?

And you know, I didn’t have an answer for him. Whatever the situation truly was – I was only hearing one side of the story – it didn’t matter. What mattered was that this man was hungering for something and he wasn’t being fed. He longed to feed  on the scraps of his priest’s free time and didn’t even get that.

Did the priest truly not care? Was he really more concerned with his own life than that of his parishioner? I have no idea. All I know is that Lazarus was being overlooked again.

It’s tough being a priest, and I don’t want to single priests out. I am just giving an example. However, we expect our leaders to be there for us when we need them, and we feel betrayed or less than worthy when they don’t give us what we want. I am probably very guilty of this myself. I have no idea when I have made a passing remark or been too involved in my own world to see when people are reaching out to me. Major issues such as a health scare or marital problems usually get my attention. It’s the small things, the little cues people give off, that I sometimes miss. It is not indifference, it is more inattention. But people notice.

I think people have more of a problem with indifference than outright hostility. I can deal with it if you have a problem with me openly. I know what that is and I can figure out a way to handle it. But indifference is more subtle. You really don’t know why someone seems to be ignoring you or minimizing what you are saying. We don’t often know the person’s intent, and so we assign it to them. Most times we think the worst and then keep it within ourselves, and the other person doesn’t even know there is a problem.

The man in my seminar never told his priest how he felt. He just let it stew within him until something I said brought it bubbling to the surface. And that man, who had been a leader in his parish, transferred his distrust of his priest to the entire parish, and he ceased to do anything there anymore. He just went to the early Mass on Sundays because it was quiet and he could sit there without anyone bothering him.

That was the rich man’s sin today. In none of these readings today do we hear that wealth is evil and poverty is a virtue. Jesus isn’t saying that all the rich will go to hell and all the poor will go to heaven. This is not pitting the rich against the poor and vice versa in class warfare. This is all about watching out for one another. It is about being attentive, not being indifferent.

The rich man never directly hurt Lazarus. He never oppressed him or stole from him. The rich man’s sin was that he never even noticed Lazarus!  The sin of the rich man was not that he was rich, it was that he was not a good steward of the gifts he had been given. He had grown complacent in his prosperity to the point where he assumed it would always be there. His complacency blinded him to the need of his fellow man right outside his door.

We have no idea whether or not the rich man was a good man or if Lazarus was a bum. We don’t know why Lazarus was in his state or how the rich man got his wealth. Not important. All we know is that Abraham says that each was in the position they received from God.

We are all given gifts from God in some measure or other. Some people are given much, some virtually no material goods at all. Some are given great talents while others just enough to get by. We can argue about the fairness of it all some other time. What’s important is not how much you are given; it is what you do with what you have.

Recall what Jesus says in Matthew chapter 25, on how we will be judged. Those folks who wouldn’t be going to heaven didn’t even know they were doing anything wrong when they ignored the hungry, the thirsty, the naked and the poor. Didn’t matter.

Turn the story around. What if the rich man had come down with leprosy or some other horrible disease, and Lazarus knew about it but did nothing? Or even worse, didn’t care because he was so wrapped up in his own situation? Would their places in heaven be reversed?

There are plenty of good rich people and plenty of bums. But all of us are rich in some ways and poor in others. I love one of the Prayers of the Faithful options in the marriage rite that prays for “the hungry rich and the hungry poor”. We are all hungry, aren’t we? We are all at times the rich man and at times Lazarus. And most of us are spiritually poor, especially when we are materially rich.

Paul speaks to Timothy today about using the gifts he has been given. “But you, man of God, pursue righteousness, devotion, faith, love, patience, and gentleness.” Those are the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and we will all be judged on how we use those gifts.

We hear a lot about giving back. People who have wealth or fame seem to have a need to give back to society or something. That may be a worthwhile thing to do, but what are they giving back to? And why think of it as giving back, as if there’s some sort of quid pro quo involved in success. No, it must be seen as gift giving. We receive the gift from God and then pass it on to others because that’s what a gift is.

I think that most people would give up many of the things that make their lives easier if they just had more time with the important people in their lives. I know our children would really rather spend more quality time with their parents than have all the toys and electronics and stuff we give them. Even if it doesn’t seem like it.

I know that the most important part of my ministry, and Fr. Stan’s and Deacon Bob’s, is our presence to our people. Just being there for you and with you is what matters. Yeah, we’re going to screw up sometimes and say something careless or disappoint you, but heck, that’s what all that forgiveness stuff is for. I think all of us intend to do good, and so I try not to think ill of anyone. Try to think the same of us. It’s hard sometimes, but I think that’s the best way to live as a steward of the gifts we’ve been given.

Because the greatest gift God has given us is one another.

 

 

 

 

Jesus Yes, Religion No?

21^st Sunday in Ordinary Time

Cycle C

I saw a bumper sticker the other day. It’s always on a bumper sticker, isn’t it? It said, “Jesus yes, religion no”. Today’s readings made me think of that bumper sticker.

I think a lot of people feel this way. It’s that whole, “I’m spiritual but not religious bit again”. And I can sort of understand where they’re coming from. But, can you have one without the other? I think the people who make this claim come from a couple of different mindsets. First, they are mostly ignorant of history and of the bible. They have a one-sided or incomplete or inaccurate view of what the Church is and what followers of Christ are called to do. They have been told for their whole lives that most of the wars and violence in the world have been perpetrated in the name of religion. All religion does is try to force an antiquated moral code on people. Religious people are so intolerant. They are bigots. They are judgmental. We are so far beyond that today.

Second, I think many people just don’t want to be told what to do. Even deeper, they don’t like the fact that religion sets a higher standard for us to live by. It oftentimes tears off the veneer and the masks we wear and forces us to see our lives for what they really are. And we don’t like what we see. Religion requires something of us. It’s not so much that religion is judgmental; it’s that religion forces us to judge ourselves.

Why wouldn’t Christianity be attractive to everyone? If you take the teachings of Jesus by themselves, I don’t think a single person would disagree that they are noble and a great way to pattern your life. They would probably also agree that if everyone lived those teachings the world would be a great place to live. In theory. But when I am challenged to go against the common wisdom, when I am called to put myself on the line, when the teachings of Christ contradict the way I want to live my life, that’s when Christianity is attacked.  

We love Christ, its Christianity we have a problem with.

Are the teachings of Christ impossible to follow? Is the doorway too narrow to enter through?

The heresy of Universalism is very widespread today, both in society and within the Church itself. Universalism says that if God is a loving and merciful god, then how could He ever condemn any of his creatures to an eternity outside His presence. Therefore, everyone is going to Heaven. This supposes, of course, that there is no hell. There are no consequences to our actions here because everyone is saved. Jesus welcomes everyone and all behavior is tolerated. That’s a really comfortable way to believe. That’s an easy Jesus to follow. That gets me off the hook.

We don’t want the narrow gate. We want the super highway.

So, logically, if everyone is saved, then it doesn’t really matter what religion you follow, or whether you follow a religion at all. They’re all the same and they’re all usually pretty bad. Unless it’s something exotic and “spiritual”. Then that’s pretty cool. If my salvation is assured, I can do pretty much what I want with no consequences. Don’t judge me because I am my own judge, and I’m pretty lenient on myself.

I don’t want to strive for salvation. Will few be saved? Will you be one of them? Is it so difficult to do? Why do we have to strive so hard? Well, because everything worthwhile is worth working for. We think nothing of striving for success in our careers, in sports, in our relationships. We work hard at what’s important to us. Just look at the Olympic games the past two weeks. We love to hear the stories of athletes who have worked so hard for so long to succeed, especially those who have to overcome broken homes, physical injuries, and repeated failures. Some prove strong enough and some don’t.

Why are we so willing to strive for earthly success but think we won’t have to strive for eternal life?

God does not make it hard for us to get to heaven. We do. We are the ones who fight and claw and do everything we can to avoid doing what it takes to be saved. We have been shown the path; we have been shown the way. We know the way but don’t want to accept it. Partly because it goes counter to how we strive for material success. In that realm we try to do it all by ourselves. We know we have to sacrifice and toil and work really hard. That’s not what Jesus tells us to do. Jesus tells us to be like him. The last two lines of the gospel today sum it up.

Some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.

Jesus didn’t strive for earthly things. He humbled himself and took on the role of servant. When you let go of your attachment to all the stuff and success the world promises life actually gets easier. Are you strong enough to let go of it all. Are you strong enough to persevere until the end? The ones the world thinks are important are not really so, and those the world discards are the ones that really make a difference.

Jesus says there will be many who strive to enter but won’t be strong enough to do so. But he says that people will come from all over to recline at the banquet. So, which is it? He warns against making the assumption that you will be saved just because you know about Him. It takes more than that. Assume nothing. Strive to serve and Jesus will do the rest. Switch the focus off yourself and onto the Kingdom.

I think the most lasting image of the Rio Olympics won’t necessarily be Michael Phelps winning more medals than anyone in history. I don’t think it will be Ryan Lochte’s antics. I think it will be the image of Abby D’Angostino and Nikki Hamblin, who collided in the women’s 5000 meter race, and then stopped and helped each other up so they could try to finish the race. Two women who had been striving to win with all their being, but when given the choice, they chose to serve one another. They came in last in the race, but first in the hearts of the world.

After the race, D’Angostino said, “Although my actions were instinctual at that moment, the only way I can and have rationalized it is that God prepared my heart to respond that way… This whole time here he’s made clear to me that my experience in Rio was going to be about more than my race performance — and as soon as Nikki got up I knew that was it.”

So strengthen your drooping hands and your weak knees. 
Make straight paths for your feet,
that what is lame may not be disjointed but healed.

What a wonderful metaphor for our race to God. That’s the narrow gate. Never tire of doing what is good. Never take your eyes off the prize. Never take your eyes off the needs of others. Not because it is easy, but because it is difficult. Everything worthwhile usually is.

 

Eye on the Prize

19^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Cycle C

The summer Olympics are here again. Did you watch the opening ceremonies last night? One of my favorite things is the parade of nations. Every Olympics it seems the TV commentators have some inspiring story or other to tell about some of the athletes. One runner last night from Africa used to train barefoot because his parents were too poor to buy him shoes. Another woman in a wheelchair carried her country’s flag in. She had begun her career in taekwando, but after a car accident left her paralyzed she took up archery and made the Olympic team. And to make it more inspiring, she was competing on the Iranian team, which has very few women. Saudi Arabia also had some women on its team this year.

I love these stories of perseverance and courage and sacrifice. My favorite line from last night was that, for most of those athletes, the opening ceremonies are their Olympics. They have little chance of winning a medal, so just the fact that they qualified to be there is all they will take away from years and years of struggle and preparation.

What sets Olympic level athletes apart is not only their talent but their unwavering focus on the prize. They never take their eyes off the goal, even if that goal is to just participate. They are ever vigilant. That’s what our readings are about today.

When we are focused on the goal, it’s easy to be vigilant. We watch out for what is important to us. As parents, we never really stop worrying about our children. We are ever vigilant of them. When they are little we always keep one eye on them, to make sure they are safe. We do this because we love them and we don’t want anything to happen to them. We never want them to suffer or need for anything.

Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

But I also think we are so vigilant of our children because we couldn’t bear it if something happened to them. We couldn’t live with ourselves if something we did or didn’t do caused our children pain. And we are terrified of losing them.

Why do we feel this way about our children but not about our souls?

Shouldn’t we watch out for and protect our very souls? Shouldn’t that be what we are most vigilant of? After all, that’s what will be going to heaven.

There are so many dangers to us in the world today. We need to keep an eye on so many things. Physical dangers at home, in the workplace, in public. Sadly, we have been forced to train ourselves to be ever more aware of what is happening around us in public, due to the danger of terrorism and violence. Even in our churches there has been deadly violence lately.

And there are so many spiritual dangers to our souls. The breakdown of the family and many of the institutions that used to provide us with safety and stability. The lack of trust between the people we look to to protect us and the people who they protect. The dismal regard in which we hold our government. The failings of leadership in our own Church. And the constant bombardment of immoral influences through the media and the internet. Our very culture seems to be falling apart sometimes.

It is easy to become numbed by all these negative influences. Our souls seem to shut down as a protection mechanism. We oftentimes just want to throw in the towel. That’s what I think Jesus is talking about today when he tells us to be vigilant. We can’t just give up. We have to keep hoping and praying and working for the kingdom of God. We have to remain the bulwark against the evils of the world. We have to make it a habit to remain conscious of the world, not because we fear it but because we are called to change it.

Jesus doesn’t want us to be vigilant out of fear. Fear that we’ll miss out on heaven if we don’t watch out. He wants us to be vigilant because he loves us and wants us to be with him forever. He wants us to be vigilant because it’s good for us. We don’t want our children to be safe and healthy and happy because we fear the consequences. We want them to be safe and healthy and happy because we love them and couldn’t imagine life without them.

This gospel passage is usually interpreted to be referring to Jesus’ second coming or to our deaths. We are to keep ourselves in a state of grace because you never know when the next moment will be your last, and that’s a very wise way to live. However, I see it sometimes in a different way. You never know when Jesus will want to come into your life in a special way. You never know when the grace of the Holy Spirit is there waiting to help you or fulfill you. You never know when true happiness is there available to you. Therefore, be on the lookout for it. Keep yourself open to God. Don’t harden your hearts to His presence.

We need to be aware of when Jesus comes to us in other people. Not just in the poor and needy that we are called to serve. But also in the people who are called to serve and help us in our time of need. Jesus comes to us in thousands of little ways every day; in an unexpected phone call from an old friend, in a smile at the checkout counter, in the simple things that make us smile and remember for a moment what is truly important. We need to stay vigilant for those moments as well, because they can break through the negativity and give us a glimpse once again of the promise of Christ.

It’s tough sometimes to do that. There are so many things that can blind us to God’s grace. Unless you are locked up in a monastery somewhere praying 24/7, it is so easy to forget to watch out for your soul. All the stresses and problems in our lives make it hard to keep our eyes and hearts on God. And if we don’t keep God in the center of our lives He will usually fall by the wayside.

It is a lot like taking care of your health. If you are in the habit of taking care of yourself, then sickness oftentimes can be avoided. Sometimes that habit is forced upon you by your circumstances. For example, I have been blessed by very good health my entire life. Therefore, I tended to take it for granted. I ate and drank whatever I liked and exercise was a bad word for me. However, three years ago I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Suddenly I had to check my blood sugar several times a day. I had to take meds, which for a guy who never took more than an aspirin was tough to get in the routine of doing. I had to watch what I ate and drank. And I had to start exercising. Now my health is something I am vigilant of. I have gotten into the practice and habit of tracking my progress and getting better at taking care of myself. I read up on the science of diabetes. I download recipes.

This would seem natural for me. I mean, the consequences of not doing it can be fatal. I do all these things because not only do I want to live a long and healthy life, I want to feel better now. Taking these preventative measures helps me to feel better now. I do not do them out of fear of what could happen. I do them because I am happier when I do.

It’s the same with your spiritual health. We should not fear death nor the second coming of Christ. But we should make our spiritual health as important to us as our physical health. We should get in the habit of actively being aware of the state of our souls. We should build practices to strengthen our spiritual health. Not because we are afraid of the consequences but because if we do we will feel better. We will be happier because we will be aligning our spiritual selves with the Holy Spirit Himself.

To those who have been given much, more will be required. Reaching the Olympic games does not mean things get easier. They get harder. And if you have a record of winning, like Michael Phelps, you can’t rest on your laurels. The world expects even more of you. You have to push yourself even more. You have to stay motivated and focused.

It’s the same in our lives as Christians. We have been given the great gift of God’s grace. We have been given the truth and we will be expected to do something with it. We have the fullness of the revelation of God to the world, and we can’t just keep it to ourselves. With that knowledge comes great responsibility. We are required to live our lives to a higher standard, because the world is watching us.

And our vigilance should be born out of hope and joy in the promise of Jesus. We are vigilant not because we need to be but because we want to be. We look not at the consequences but to the prize. Those thousands of young people in Rio de Janiero right now have struggled and persevered not because they fear failure but because they see the prize within reach. For some of them years of preparation will be over in mere seconds, but they are willing to endure the struggle for the glory that awaits them.

Isn’t the glory that awaits us so much more? Keep your eyes on the prize.

 

Let 'Er Rip

Feast of Pentecost

Cycle C

Last year I got to travel to Paris on business. I flew into Charles de Gaulle airport and took the train to the Gare du Nord. My hotel was only a few blocks from the station, but when I got off the train I saw signs for at least six exits, all with different street names. I had no idea which one would take me in the right direction, so I just picked the closest one and went outside. I fired up my handy GPS on my phone to get directions.

It wouldn’t work. Must have been because it didn’t speak French. So I pulled up the hotel’s website. It had one of those little street maps on it with the location of the hotel. I pulled that up and expanded it. There it was, so easy to see. So I set off down the street in the direction I thought I should go. But as any of you who have been to Paris know, the streets run in every direction with no logical order. I was soon lost. I would walk in one direction hoping to run into a street I recognized on the map, but when I didn’t hit it I figured I’d gone in the wrong direction, so I turned around and went the other way. No luck there either.

After about an hour of this, I did something I never do. I asked people on the street for help. Now, Parisians are known for being friendly, helpful and polite, especially if the only words of French you know are parley vous Anglais. All I got were stares, some blank, some amused, and some hostile. They all brushed me off in their perfect French, and I was more lost than before.

Finally, I went into a small hotel, thinking that surely somebody there would be able to speak the international language of English. Negative with the front desk clerk. Negative with the manager. But finally they pulled someone from the back office who in her broken English pulled out a little tourist street map, circled where I was and drew a line directly to where I needed to go.

Finally, someone who spoke my language! I got it. I understood. It made sense to me. I was lost and now I was found.

It says in the story of Pentecost that after hearing Peter’s exhortation that day some 3000 people were baptized and became disciples. 3000 people! About one percent of the population of Jerusalem at that time. In one day! Wow. That’s some sermon. What caused such a response? What attracted them to the apostles that day and what was it about Peter’s message that changed their lives so dramatically?

They came to the spectacle. They heard the noise of the rushing wind and gathered around the house. Suddenly they realized that they were each hearing the apostles preach in their own languages. At first they thought the apostles were drunk, but then they realized that something amazing was happening. They understood what they were saying. And it wasn’t that the apostles knew a bunch of languages, people standing right next to each other heard the same words being spoken, but each in their own language simultaneously.

The message got through to them because finally somebody was speaking their language. They were not preaching at them, they were speaking to them. The message was universal, no matter what language it was spoken in. But now it was personal. Now they got it. They had been lost and now they were found. And it says they were shaken to the core.

It wasn’t the message that attracted them at first. It was the messengers. The excitement, the enthusiasm of the preachers attracted them. Initially they were confused; at first they discounted and ridiculed the messengers. Most of them had never heard of Jesus of Nazareth, they were from other countries. But then they listened and were able to understand because someone was speaking their language. They came for the excitement, they stayed for the miracle, and they were changed by the gospel.

Something drove the apostles out into the street. Something gave them great power in their speech and bolstered their confidence. Just that morning they had been a bunch of illiterate men cowering in a borrowed room in a borrowed house. Suddenly they were out in the street preaching fearlessly. They had no idea what they would do or say. They just let it rip. They were in the grip of the Spirit and they just went with it.

Have you ever felt that way? Have you ever just let ‘er rip? Has something ever gotten you so worked up you just had to tell people about it, and you didn’t worry or care about what you would say?

I think that we all have experienced that to some extent during our lives. A marriage proposal, the birth of a child, a new job, a political position, anything we’re passionate about. We have those major moments in our lives where we have a feeling of deep joy and excitement that compels us to share it with others.

It’s the same with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is within us every second of our lives. We wouldn’t exist without Him. But sometimes the Spirit moves within us in much deeper ways. Sometimes we feel His presence almost physically, and we feel compelled to share it with others. We don’t worry about what we will say, we just have to say it. The sacraments are like that.

Last week and today/yesterday we celebrated first communion here at St. Mary’s. I think we’ve all been to a first communion for the little ones. They were all sitting here up front so shiny and scrubbed and beautiful. The girls in their white dresses like little brides, the boys with their shirts untucked and ties askew. They were excited, you could see it in their eyes. They had been preparing for this for so long. At last they would be able to experience what had been denied them their whole lives. At last they would be like everybody else in church. They would receive Jesus.

And sitting right behind them were their parents, grandparents, family and friends. They had traveled from all over to be there for this very special day. And I was struck at the contrast between their faces and postures and those of the children before them. They were not, how should I say it -as enthused. Rarely did they open their mouths to join the children in prayer or song. It was as if they had forgotten why they were really there.

I know that at their own first communions they were as precious and innocent and excited as those children in front of them. And perhaps they did feel the joy that comes from the presence of the Holy Spirit, but their faces didn’t show it. Sadly, I see those same looks when I look out every Sunday.

What happens to us as we get older? What changes in us that we oftentimes forget the joy and wonder of our first holy communion? Have we been worn down so much by our everyday lives that we cannot recognize and rejoice in the wonderful gift we have been given? Does the Spirit work less in us as we mature? Do we lose sight of Him in the routine of coming to Mass every Sunday? During any relationship, we feel closer to the other sometimes more than others. We get comfortable with one another, and oftentimes we take each other for granted. Can we take the Holy Spirit for granted?

For the little ones it is new and wonderful. What can we do to keep the joy within us everyday throughout our lives? It’s hard to maintain that enthusiasm. It’s easy to see the workings of the Spirit in the major events of our lives, but like anything, with repetition it can seem stale and routine. We lose the joy we had at our first communion.

How do we get it back? How do we maintain it? Can we increase the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, or does He just come and go as he wishes?

Yes, we can increase the Spirit’s presence, simply by asking for it. Why not just ask? The Holy Spirit wants to dwell within us just as He did with the apostles that first Pentecost. Why are they any different from us? We are all disciples, we all lack confidence, we are all scared from time to time, none of us really knows what to say or do most of the time. Jesus told the apostles to wait for the advocate who would give them understanding and power and guide them. Don’t we all need that? And Jesus has given us the mechanism for being closer to Him, he has given us the way to increase the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. He has given us the sacraments.

Peter told those 3000 people that day to be baptized and they would receive the Holy Spirit. Jesus told his disciples to do this in memory of me. He said what sins you forgive are forgiven them. At every Mass at the beginning of the Eucharistic prayer the priest asks the Holy Spirit to be present in the gifts of bread and wine so that they will become the body and blood of Christ. At the end of that prayer he asks the Holy Spirit to come upon us, His people, so that we will be changed and prepared to take the gospel out into the world.

Our little children know that. For them the Holy Spirit is someone special. He has touched their hearts and souls by making them receptacles of Jesus Christ himself. They understand how special the gift is, even if they do not understand the theology behind it.

Our children are apostles to us, their parents and grandparents, family and friends. Jesus said that unless we become like the little children we will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Those 3000 people that first Pentecost were not converted by the apostles arguments but by their enthusiasm. We will not be changed by our children’s arguments, but by their enthusiasm.

Maybe if we listen to them better and see their joy we will be able to enter into that joy again ourselves. Maybe we will be able to reclaim the wonder and innocence of our own first holy communion. Maybe we can experience the wonder and enter into the mystery of every Mass, every sacrament, every time we celebrate together. And maybe, just maybe, driven by the Spirit we will reclaim the enthusiasm that was so attractive in the beginning and will renew the face of the earth.