Fourth Sunday of Lent (March 31, 2019)

Luke, chapter 15 is the “lost and found department” of Luke’s Gospel. We hear the stories of the woman who lost her coin, the shepherd who lost his sheep, and now the father who lost his son. All three rejoiced at their find. All three are a response to the Pharisees’ and Scribes’ complaints that Jesus eats with tax collectors and sinners, outcasts.

No more striking account of God’s understanding and love for the sinner is to be found in the scriptures than in Luke’s story of the forgiving father.

Perhaps, you, like myself as we mature, see these two sons not so much as individuals, but as archetypes, those forces, extremely deep within us, that impel us. With the younger son, it is the will to independence. The younger son says, treat me like the heir that I am: “Father, give me my share of the inheritance that is coming to me.” He wasted it and was penniless – becoming a hired hand who could not even eat the food for the pigs he was tending and yearned to be a hired hand who ate well in his father’s house.

He presumed that the consequence of his sin was the loss of sonship. His memorized apology was based more on his own hunger and hard times than on having insulted his father. Perhaps, we identify more with this son in our younger years. Jesus saw this son’s identity in the sinners and tax collectors.

At first hearing, the elder son resonates with us because of a second archetype deep within us: self-righteousness. As we mature spiritually, we see that the elder son’s attitude is impelled not by love for his father but by: “look at all that I have done for you; I deserve better than this.” However, God does not keep score in his love as we tend to do when we are immature.

Did you notice that our father physically left what he was doing and went out to meet each son? He spotted the younger son down the road. He went to meet him. He did not let him finish his prepared, self-serving apology. He called for a robe and a ring and sandals and preparation for a wonderful banquet of joy. All these gifts clearly imply a relationship of a restored son, not a newly hired hand.

When the elder son was pouting and grousing outside his home, the father also went out to meet him. He did not “chew him out.” He spoke lovingly to him. His movement toward each son was divine grace.

The younger son must have been overwhelmed with his father’s loving forgiveness and finding that he did not have to crawl back, but simply come back to a place he did not even dream of occupying.

We do not know what happened with the elder son, who represents the scribes and Pharisees that accused Jesus. Hardness of heart involves deep pride with heels dug in - an “I’ll do it my way” mind set. These folks, so often, do not change their ways. The story does not reveal its outcome. At this point, Jesus’ story just stops; it does not have an ending.

As we spiritually mature, we finally “get it.” The story follows the Jewish leaders’ upsetment with Jesus’ eating with tax collectors and sinners. Jesus tells three stories about lost and found and the rejoicing, never rejecting at recovery. The climactic parable could easily be renamed, the greathearted father. Jesus gives us a story of how we should forgive as our father forgives. We remember that when Jesus said, “Be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect,” it was in the context of the father’s forgiveness, not in our doing everything perfectly. Thinking that we have to do everything perfectly is a spiritual affliction currently known as “perfectionism.”

The church assigns to “Laetare” – rejoice-Sunday in Lent – this likely candidate for the most beloved parable, the story of great rejoicing. He presents for us the model of “the great-hearted father” during our season of self-examination.

Third Sunday of Lent (March 24, 2019)

I have great respect and admiration for those “working the program” in Alcoholics Anonymous. One of the admirable aspects of AA is the wonderful aphorisms, helpful “sayings,” that they have.

One is: “It’s not my drinking that gets me stinking, it’s my stinking thinking that gets me drinking.” I’ll repeat . . . Stinking thinking, unproductive, self-hurtful thinking, can put an alcoholic on the slippery slope towards falling back into taking a drink. There is a close parallel in the spiritual life. Jesus gives two examples at the beginning of today’s Gospel where he reads the stinking thinking in his listener’s minds.

In the first instance, he perceives that the hearers thought that Pilate acted for god who did not accept the Galileans’ sacrificial offerings and therefore sent him, Pilate, to kill them. In the second example, the falling of a tower and killing 18 was an action willfully done by God. In current, American parlance, Jesus’ answer to both situations was “no way! “

The seekers in today’s Gospel are like ourselves when we ask a theoretical question about someone else, but we are really asking for a very practical answer for ourselves.

The point to this Gospel incident is that each of us has the clear mission to do God’s will. God does have expectations of us. When you and I fall short, God is in some divine way disappointed in us.

John Shea has good insights that I would like to share with you. He identifies parallel instances in the Gospels where Jesus makes the same point as the story of the fig tree: the story about the prodigal son who squanders his inheritance, the light that is put under the basket instead of on top of the lamp stand, the salt that must be thrown out because it has lost its power. We can add Jesus’ words to the Jewish leaders: “The kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation that will yield a rich harvest.” [Mt. 21]

The story of the fig tree is that it, too, is a story of someone who is not performing, not doing the will of the master. The will of God. Without doubt, is that we change and produce fruit that we help to bring about the kingdom of God on earth. The lord’s prayer, the prayer that Jesus himself taught, prays that the kingdom of our Father in heaven come, that his will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Christians may disagree on many things, but never that doing the will of God is paramount in Jesus’ teaching.

Christian, stinking thinking can take different forms in addition to the stories that begin this section of Luke where bad things happen to presumably good people. It can take the form of some catholic devotion that adherents think that saying certain prayers fulfills all of Christianity. It can take the form of a curable, mental disorder, like scrupulosity, where one is consumed with fear of committing mortal sin. It can take the form of there being a divine plan for everyone, so whatever bad thing happens must be in God’s divine plan. Where did that destructive idea come from? It has been around for a long time.

The mind can hold only so much. If it is filled, is consumed with thoughts such as “any of the above,” the mind cannot grow. John Henry Neumann, the Anglican priest, converted to Catholicism said that what is true in nature is true of our minds: “Growth is the only evidence of life.”

Life is not looking outside ourselves at “already done deals” to work backwards into what can be seen as God’s will. It is in listening to the will of God in our time of prayer that we come to understand what God calls us to. It is in prayer that we can discern God’s will, what needs to be changed, and then begin to weed and cultivate the soil of the unproducing aspect of our situation without playing time-wasting, speculative, mind games.

That is metanoia. That is the work of Lent.

Second Sunday of Lent (March 17, 2019)

In the past I have spoken about different aspects of the Transfiguration. This year I thought it might be helpful to speak to the message itself. What is the point of the Transfiguration?

After the miraculous, dazzling brilliance and conversation between Jesus and Moses and Elijah, Peter, who seems always good for a blurt, said, “Let’s build three tents;” that is, let’s not just stand here; let’s do something. Immediately, the group was enveloped in a cloud of divine presence, and the words here repeat the father’s words at Jesus’ baptism. Jesus is named the beloved son of the Father. But, there is an additional line here at the transfiguration that is not found at the baptism. It is recorded in all three synoptic Gospels: “Listen to him.” The father ignored Jesus’ blurt. He simply says, “Listen to him.”

Then, Jesus was alone with the three apostles with the Father’s words still ringing in their ears. The father had not said, “Look at him and the splendor of his luminous body.” The father did not have a list of things for them to do. The Father was not interested in housing. He simply said, “Listen to him.”

The crisp command, “Listen to him” is the climax of the transfiguration and the key to its meaning. When we stop to listen, we realize that “Listen to him” is the one and only directive we hear from the Father in the entire New Testament. The Transfiguration was not for the personal gratification of Jesus and the apostles, but that we might learn the supreme importance of listening. As with Jesus, the life of glory will follow as day follows night.

This command to listen was not a vague mandate, but it referred to Jesus’ recent teaching that his career would come agonizingly to an end. Instead of being crowned king of Israel, as many had hoped, he would “suffer greatly, be rejected, be killed and on the third day be raised.” They need to listen to the fact that the path to glory in following him would not likely come in this life. Jesus taught that by his own words and his own example.

This explains why Moses and Elijah were on the mountain. Years ago, they too had been rejected by their fellow Israelites - just as Jesus. The teaching of Jesus and his rejection was foreshadowed in their lives. Now, they are glorified. John, the beloved disciple would spend his lifetime of ministry dedicated to writing what he had heard and seen, so that we might be able to listen

What should we serious Christians learn from this event? First and primarily, we need to listen to Jesus’ words of love for us. Then, after listening to his message, we spread his and our love to our neighbors.

We begin to listen, first, by being quiet. We need to stop talking. Then, we need to be silently present to the events recorded about Jesus’ life. We need to listen to the words Jesus spoke – and, more profoundly, be present to Jesus’ wordless presence within us. The truth of his life, of his words, of his simple presence emerges within us and transforms us.

Jesus was transfigured before Peter, James and John. In this Eucharist, Jesus brings the power of Transfiguration to us in the transfiguration of bread and wine into himself. We welcome him. We are then sent forth to transfigure those whose lives we touch. A wonderful Lenten practice.

First Sunday in Lent (March 10, 2019)

Immediately after John baptized Jesus and the father called Jesus his “beloved son” and the Holy Spirit filled him with himself, Jesus was then “led by the spirit into the desert.” This was just before Jesus began his public ministry. These temptations probably represent temptations Jesus had throughout his whole life, but the Gospel writers telescoped them into a one-time event.

I have heard many homilies and read many commentaries about Jesus’ temptations. They do not contradict one another, but each writer seems to have a different emphasis about pride, selfishness, and the abuse of power. I thought that this year I would simply reflect on “temptation” in general.

Temptations are impulsive thoughts about strategies, ploys that I use that are counter-productive to becoming who god calls me to be. An impulsive thought that may move us doing something good, we call “inspiration.” An impulsive thought that may lead us to do something evil, we call “temptation.”

Personally, I suspended “the devil” notion years ago. I surely do need God, but I do not need to conjure up a character to account for my own inclinations to do my own will. I do not need a “devil” to blame for my selfishness. I am quite capable of coming up with less than virtuous ideas all by myself. I do not need a snake to blame - as we read in the genesis myth. I do not outright deny the existence, just the need in my life. You make your own decision.

Jesus always had his priorities straight and followed them. He did not sin, but he was human, so he had temptations as all humans have.

We humans do not always have our priorities straight. We sin in choosing not to follow the appropriate order of priorities to which Jesus calls us. At times, we put ourselves ahead of God or someone in need. We sin.

Today, we are looking at what inclines us to sin. A helpful way for me – and perhaps you – is to check first, our priorities and second, our temptations, our inclinations regarding those priorities, by looking at the people and things in our lives in the light of the time, talent and treasure we expend on those priorities.

Temptation wears a thousand masks. It never asks: would you like to do something evil. The serpent asked: “Would you like to be like God? Then eat.” Temptations “sound” good. Paul and John call impulsive thoughts “spirits”; the “spirits” should be discerned to determine whether they are or not God’s will. To discern them, we first need to recognize them. Our current state of mind is expressed in our priorities.

One way to recognize our priorities is to evaluate them according to the amount of time, talent, and treasure spent on each. Use your imaginations, your wits, as to how. You might want to score your priorities on a scale of one to “whatever” and then score the time, talent, and treasure expended on each. Such pencil and paper devices can be very revealing. It is a practice like this that I use during my annual retreat. I find that it helps me to concentrate and face the facts of what my priorities really are. It also helps to expose the inclinations, temptations that I experience in my day-to-day spiritual life.

Our inclination to possess things, our desire to control our lives can get out of hand and be hurtful to ourselves and others. Unlike New Year’s resolutions, Lent provides a protracted period of time to look thoughtfully at ourselves and see ourselves as we are and not as we would like to think we are.

Lent is the season for conversion of mind and heart. If we want to grow spiritually, to go through ongoing conversion, we need to know ourselves as we really are. An examen of first, our current priorities, and second, our impulsive thoughts makes for a productive start.

Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time (March 3, 2019)

“From the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks…”

Today’s selections from the Book of Sirach and Luke’s Gospel suggest a powerful standard by which we can judge the heart and mind of another person: the subject and manner about which one speaks.

Pretty obvious, isn’t it? Negative people tend to speak negatively. Jealous people speak resentfully. Judgmental people speak suspiciously. Their conversations tend to weigh others down.

By contrast, positive people speak positively. Happy people speak graciously. Energized people speak enthusiastically. Their conversations tend to lift others up.

If the eyes are the windows to the soul, conversation seems to be expressions of the heart.

Francis de Sales writes in his Introduction to the Devout Life: “Just as physicians learn about a person’s health or sickness by looking at the tongue, so our words are a true indication of the state of our souls.” (Part III, Chapter 26) This diagnosis has several aspects.

First: how do we speak of God? “If you are truly in love with God you should often speak of God in familiar conversation with others…just as bees extract with their mouths nothing but honey, so your tongue should always be sweetened with its God…always with attention and reverence.” (Ibid)

Second: how do we speak of others? “Be careful never to let an indecent word leave your lips, for even if you do not speak with an evil intention those who hear it may take it a different way.” When one’s heart is filled with evil or rancor or intrigue, their tongues are no longer like the sweet ones of the bees but become “like a lot of wasps gathered together to feed on corruption.” (Part III, Chapter 27)

Third: how balanced is our conversation? “It seems to me that we should avoid two extremes,” observes Francis de Sales. “To be too reserved and to refuse to take part in conversation looks like lack of confidence in the others or some kind of disdain. On the other hand, to be always babbling or joking without giving others time or chance to speak when they wish is a mark of shallowness and levity.” (Part III, Chapter 30)

What do the content and tone of our words tell others about our hearts?

Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (February 24, 2019)

Today’s gospel offers us the great challenge for a disciple of Jesus:

“Love your enemies, do good to those who dislike you, bless those who speak ill of you and pray for those who mistreat you.” “Be merciful just as your heavenly Father is merciful.”

We all know how difficult this is to do.

We’ll never be able to do it without God’s grace, without learning to be very conscious that God is present with us each day, without asking God for the strength of his grace many times each day. The invitation of Jesus to love those who get in our face, who know how to push all our buttons, goes against our natural feelings of irritation and anger. Jesus seems to be asking too much.

What Jesus is asking of us is to be all that grace enables us to be. By our baptism, we have been given a share in the life and love of God. Jesus has become our brother; we are children of our heavenly Father by grace. Divine life is in us and that life enables us to live as Jesus lived. Jesus is asking us to learn to live by the new life we have been given. Because of grace, we are able to be merciful as our Father is merciful. Jesus has shown us how to love those who irritate us, how to forgive those who injure us.

St. Francis de Sales recommends several practices that can help us remember the strength of divine life within us.

Begin the day with a short prayer of awareness: “My God, you are here loving me today; help me to remember you’re with me as we go through the day.” Then, talk with God about the grace I will need to deal with particular people in my life who can irritate me or have mistreated me. During the day, when I know I’m going to meet such a person, I ask God’s help that I may relate with that person in a way that is pleasing to God. Then, each evening, thank God for the times when grace gave me strength and ask pardon for the times I forgot to ask for God’s help and failed because I tried to do it on my own.

The key is learning the discipline of remembering that I share divine life. When my prayer leads me to greater awareness of God’s loving presence each day, then I will more likely become dependent on the grace God makes available to me. Then the challenge that Jesus offers – to love my enemies – is not so impossible for me to try to meet. I can meet it because I trust in God who lives in me.

Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time (February 17, 2019)

“Blessed are they who trust in the Lord, whose hope is the Lord.”

What does it mean to “trust?” The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language defines it thus: “Firm reliance on the integrity, ability or character of a person or thing.”

Imagine a world without trust. Imagine a world in which nobody believed in the “integrity, ability or character” of others. Such a place could indeed be described as a living hell. Trust is the mortar that binds us together. Trust is what enables us to form families, friends, community and country. Trust is an integral part of what it means to be human.

In stark contrast with the importance of trusting one another, Jeremiah warns: “Cursed are those who trust in human beings.” What are we to make of this?  Simply put, trusting one another is not enough to sustain us in life. Why?  Because, as we know all too well – and painfully – we humans, despite our best efforts, are not always trustworthy.  If our trust is limited to the human plane, we run the risk of being overwhelmed by the woes of pain, disappointment, heartache and cynicism.

Our ultimate trust must be found in God, the one is always trustworthy. Our ultimate trust must be found in God, the faithful friend who never deceives or betrays. Our fundamental trust allows us to not merely survive this life, but to thrive in it, especially when confronted by our own imperfections and those of others. St. Francis de Sales wrote: “If the whole world turns topsy-turvy, if all around is darkness and smoke and din, God is still with us.  If we believe that God lives in the darkness and on Mount Sinai which is full of smoke and surrounded with the roar of thunder and lightning, shall not all be well with us as long as we place our trust in God?” (Stopp, Selected Letters, p. 125)

Cursed are we if expect others to fulfill all of our deepest wants, our deepest needs, our deepest desires and our deepest dreams without fail. Such expectations lead to bitterness, resentment and despair. Blessed are we if we take confidence and consolation in the God who is always trustworthy, even when we humans are not. Our trust in God will not shield us from life’s inevitable disappointments – those we receive, those we cause – but it will enable us to name them, to work through them and to ultimately move beyond them.

Our trust in God enables us to celebrate the ways we are trustworthy. Likewise, our trust in God enables us to forgive one another when we are not.

FIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (February 10, 2019)

I saw an interesting tee shirt, that read: “Some fish to forget troubles; some fish to eat dinner. Me?  I like worms.” Jesus might have worn a tee that said: “Some people fish for fish.  Me? I fish for people.”

Today, Jesus calls Peter, James and John to help him fish. Isn’t their reaction amazing?  These three, Jewish, commercial fishermen had the haul of fish of their lives --their biggest profit lay ahead. Jesus calls them to become people-fishers. They neither protest nor ask to first sell the fish. They immediately leave their nets.

These three would become the inner circle of the Twelve. The trio that would be with him when he would raise Jairus’ daughter to life, when he would be transfigured on Mt. Tabor, when he would be on the mount of olives the night before he was killed.  Evidently, the men did show some fear because Jesus counsels them not to be afraid.  They courageously accept Jesus’ offer. What charisma Jesus must have had! Let the Jesus-adventure begin!

The time had come in Jesus’ life to put out into the deep waters of Israel and the world and begin, like a fisherman, to lure people into the kingdom of his father. 

Today, there are two movements that comprise evangelization - a big word for a simple idea, the process of bringing people to Jesus. One movement addresses the recognized fact that many who call themselves catholic Christians are not really “hooked” by Jesus.  They are nominal or sometime, Catholic Christians. Church leaders claim the first task of evangelization is converting the already baptized Catholics who have been lured away by other values or addictions.  

Also, there are some baptized, church-going Catholics who are concerned with the “things” of religion: this devotion or that prayer.  Prayer-sayers are not what Jesus wants.  Jesus wants pray-ers, communicators with him in relationship.  Any practice in religion must be a means toward the end of relationship with Jesus. No particular devotion hooked Peter, James or john in today’s gospel.  They were lured and hooked on the person of Jesus.

There are physical addictions that lure us from time for our Lord. Our people get hooked on drugs, food, alcohol, smoking. 

There are also cultural addictions that take the time needed for relationship with our lord: sports [playing or watching], hobbies, shopping, TV-watching, texting, the internet and more.  These can be addictive as well.

The second movement of evangelization consists in introducing those not of our faith expression – or of no faith expression – to our faith in Jesus.

God is love; Jesus is love enfleshed and calls us - as he called Peter, James and john - into a personal relationship with himself and his father and the spirit. When he lures us with his love, we are moved to return his love with our love; we are hooked – as the great fisherman wants us to be.

Anyone associated with the oblates has heard the motto of St. Francis de sales: Tenui nec Dimittam . . . I have held on and I will not let go.   A loose translation in the light of this gospel loose translation could be: “I have been hooked on Jesus who loves me and I will not get unhooked. “

Like the wonderful relationship of love between humans, our relationship with our god grows and deepens. It is so real - it becomes visible to others.  Remember in the Acts of the Apostles: “See the Christians, see how they love one another.” It still happens today.  Our neighbors see something in us that they want. They seek. They inquire; they join the RCIA. That is how the second movement of evangelization happens.  It is how the call of Jesus to Peter, James and John continues.

Let’s look in our spiritual mirrors. Do people see something of Jesus in you that Peter, James and John saw in the person of Jesus?  To the extent that they do, we know that we are growing spiritually; we know that the RCIA will flourish.  The work of Jesus will go on and spread. Jesus called it the “Kingdom of God.”

FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (February 3, 2019)

Magicians are wonderful entertainers. Much of the “magic” that they do has to do with toying with our expectations. 

Expectations are also an important part of religion. We have expectations of god, but we have to learn how to deal with our expectations being too high or too low. Today’s Gospel reading addresses faulty expectations. 

Jesus was well received in his first talk with his fellow townspeople in Nazareth. He read the 61st chapter of the prophet Isaiah telling of the wonderful things that would happen for the afflicted when the messiah would arrive.  

Then, Jesus told them that God’s loving care was not the Jews’ exclusive right.  Their expectations of our loving God were flawed. He gave them two examples to prove his point:

• When the killer-famine came in the days of Elijah, God fed a poor widow from Sidon, a non-Jew in a foreign land;

• When leprosy was rampant in the days of Elisha, God did not heal a Jew, but a Syrian army officer named Naaman.

Jesus was telling the hometown crowd what they needed to hear. They were worshiping a god they made too small. They claimed to worship the god of the universe but had reduced him to a tribal deity. 

His hearers did two things. First, they did what we often do when we hear something that we do not want to hear. We react.  “Isn’t this Joseph’s kid?” We know him; who does he think he is? Jesus saw their reaction and answered with an adage from Israel’s history that is still applicable today: “A prophet is not known in his own country.” 

Second, they came close to doing what their ancestors had done to many a prophet. If they didn’t like the message, they killed the messenger. They pushed Jesus out of the synagogue, to the edge of a cliff. The account says he passed through the crowd; we do not know how.   Was it that their hot blood cooled when they realized they were actually about to kill a longtime neighbor? Did they see Mary and remember what a kind person she was? Your guess is as good as mine.

 God’s prophetic, corrective word may come to us in different forms: 

• A Scripture verse or a homily that impacts us as if we are hearing it for the first time;

• A recuperation time gives us pause, and time to ask where we are going with our life, as in the case of Ignatius of Loyola; 

• And, it can happen that someone confronts us as Jesus confronted his hearers - as in the intervention of a family for an addicted member.

If we are tempted to sit in judgment on the people of Nazareth, we forget that we are probably more like them than different. When we hear criticism, an expressed expectation, it may have merit. Let’s not react with a knee-jerk reaction. Prophets are the antidotes to the defense mechanism, denial. We tend to be blind in our own concerns. We can see a speck in another’s eye and miss a plank in our own eye.

Let us be wise enough to listen gently to a prophetic voice and, like Jesus, to speak courageously and gently in a prophetic manner, when, as leaders, we need to remind another of God’s expectation.

THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (January 27, 2019)

We heard both last week and this, Paul’s message to the Corinthians and us about gifts. Paul says that it is no longer necessary for Jesus to be physically present to us. The spirit distributes gifts to us, the baptized. We, with our gifts, blossom into the body of Christ. The church calls this the “mystical body of Christ.” We need our imaginations to conceive Jesus as the head and each of us as body parts. Mystical points to mysticism.

Huston Smith humorously, winsomely, and lucidly notes that mysticism begins with “mist,” ends with “schism,” and has an “I” in the middle. Appreciating who we are and who Christ is blurs the boundary between humanity and divinity in our relationship with God: it is “misty.” It also causes a “schism” - the schism of a break from our former understanding of distance and, perhaps, from those who still have that understanding. The “I” is not the ego, but the “I” of “I am who am,” the God we meet in the inner sanctum of our true self. We meet our neighbors there, too.

Because of our varied talents:

• Some perform the function of his feet by taking Christ’s presence peacefully and prophetically to far away places;
  
  
• Some perform the work of his hands in caring for children, for the sick, for the elderly;
  
  
• Some perform the function of his heart in consoling the broken-hearted;
  
  
• Some perform the work of his mouth in his work of teaching and preaching;
  
  
• Some perform the work of his ears - listening compassionately;
  
  
• Many multi-task.

We see a very clear image of the mystical body right here at mass. The Second Vatican Council in the Constitution the Liturgy #7 says: “No other action of the church equals its [Eucharist’s] title to power or to its degree of effectiveness.” We have a deacon, a celebrant, readers, we have Eucharistic ministers, and we have ministers of hospitality, ushers, altar servers, ministers of music. A sacristan, bread bakers, linen washers. Each contributes in an integral way to the celebration of Jesus’ presence in word and sacrament and in the presence of one another in community.

Eucharist exemplifies the reality that each of us has a function to perform in this body of Christ as hands, feet, heart, mouth, ears to one another. This is the “talent” piece of stewardship’s: time -treasure - talent.

Our culture focuses on celebrities in entertainment and sports. Now is the season for the “hooray for me” shows: Golden Globes, Emmys and Oscars and the various competitive music categories. I think these awards diminish the worth of real all-stars who are not in the limelight of competition but stand in the shadows of helpful cooperation. The truly beautiful people affirm that what God value is what is important. Beautiful people remember that a gift is a gift. We did not create this gift, so we cannot take undue pride in it. The only proper response is gratitude and good stewardship. We use our gifts in community, where we share our gifts.

Let us all realize that without any one of us, this community tends to diminish. We all need to affirm others around us and give each contributor his/her due. The greatest sign of respect we can give to others is giving them responsibility. Jesus could hardly show us greater respect when he does by asking us to continue his mission through him, with him, and in him.

Today’s second reading is the theological basis of the saying: “None of us has it all together - but together we do have it all.”

SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (January 20, 2019)

As we move into ordinary time, we hear a passage from the fourth Gospel, John, symbolized by an eagle because of the theological heights to which he soars.

Today’s Gospel recounts the first of the seven signs in the first half of John’s Gospel. At first hearing, signs sound like miracles. A more careful listening reveals an important difference. John’s “signs” have two levels: the one that our senses read and the one that points to a deeper reality – some aspect of the meaning of Jesus’ life. John’s Gospel is different.

Abundant wine traditionally symbolizes God’s generosity. Water jugs of that period contained about 25 gallons. Just the additional wine was enough for 100 guests to have 30, 8oz glasses of wine each. Could we call that a staggering amount of wine? This would certainly provide a challenge to wine enthusiasts.

This episode begins with Mary. Mary’s faith elicited Jesus’ response - which was, at first, reluctant. John makes it clear that Mary’s faith is central to the action of the story. She is also the catalyst for the belief of others.

John makes a startling statement: “They began to believe at this time.” Mary’s faith, her initiative, her trust, brought those present - guests and disciples alike - to trust Jesus. As we know, trust is faith.

Wine in abundance was an Old Testament symbol of god’s salvation at the end of time. This first sign of Jesus in Cana points to Jesus as the source of wine in abundance. John’s gospel is subtle; it is not a simple, “miracle story.”

Do we appreciate the signs that Jesus has placed in our lives? Do we grow from what god has done in our lives and allow it to deepen our faith and significantly change our lives?

Do we allow life changes in our relationship with god to spark the growth of faith in others? This is what the gospel is challenging us to do today. We learn from a sign.

BAPTISM OF THE LORD (January 13, 2019)

Jesus is full of surprises. Here we see one at the kickoff of his public ministry. Jesus’ cousin, john the baptizer, has just said that his [John’s] baptism with water will be followed by one mightier than he whose sandals he is not worthy to untie. Jesus will baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire. This scene is followed immediately by Jesus’ coming to john and asking for john’s baptism by water. Interesting.

Why does Jesus get baptized with john’s baptism of repentance? Jesus, who committed no sin, was in no need of repentance, but he got baptized nonetheless. As we saw a few weeks ago, baptismal water symbolizes a dying / drowning experience. In john’s gospel we learn that baptism is like re-entering the water in our mother’s womb and emerging from that womb-water with a new life in Christ. Why does he do it? Although he was like us in all things but sin, Jesus humbled himself and chose to do what his fellow Jews who were sinners were doing. Jesus had john baptize him in order to identify completely with us. What an awesome example of humility!

Jesus seems to take John’s baptizing as a sign from his father to begin his own public ministry. Do you notice that Jesus uses real-life-experiences as indicators of his father’s will? Today, it is the action of cousin John that initiates his action. Jesus seeks to do his father’s will every moment. When he finds himself in the garden of Gethsemane near the end of his time with us, he prays that what was apparently going to happen would not happen. Yet, he concludes: “Father, not my will, but yours be done.” But we are getting ahead of today’s gospel.

On this day, Jesus did what he later counseled his apostles to do. He will instruct them not to “lord it over” others. He did not lord it over anyone who sinned. He identified himself with us all who are sinners and experienced the baptism of repentance with John. He provided good example as a leader from his first act. He led by example.

He is a world-leader without equal; he did what leaders seldom do. So many leaders act in a superior fashion with those they lead. Jesus would later chastise the Pharisees for “lording it over” others, self-importantly taking the first seats in synagogues. From his first day of ministry, he did not lord it over others, sinners. He identified with those he came to be with. He associated with all; he ate with all, unlike the religious establishment of his time who shunned those Jews whom they deemed “unclean” as well as the gentiles. It was a hallmark of Jesus’ life that he would be present to anyone who sought his presence. Is this not a lesson for religious leaders of our time? Is this not a lesson for all of us who have a share in Jesus’ power?

How will we use that power today?

EPIPHANY (JANUARY 6, 2019)

Matthew’s sketch of the birth of Jesus provides us with a picture of Jesus’ future. In broad strokes, he tells us of the visit of the Magi, Persians, fascinated by astrology, who – without GPS-equipped camels - saw and followed a curious star in the heavens. They were not Jews awaiting a messiah, but wise pagan-gentiles in search of a Jewish king. They stopped for direction from king Herod, the paranoid puppet of Rome. Herod tried to get them to inform him later of this infant king’s whereabouts, so he could kill him as he had, his brothers and at least two sons as possible threats to his kingship. Matthew foretells that Jesus had serious opposition from the beginning; and it will get worse at the hands of Herod’s living son who will later condemn him to die.

We have all heard the jokes that say that the wise men were not as wise as women would have been. The men brought the wrong gifts for a newborn. Please note that the men did stop and ask for directions.

Let’s look at their gifts.

One brought gold. So, it wasn’t pampers. But, what do you suppose paid for Mary, Joseph, and Jesus’ trip to and settlement in Egypt when they could not return to Nazareth and Jesus’ likely death at the hands of Herod? Today, we continue to “Live + Jesus” by sharing our “gold” with the Jesus in others, except that we call it sharing our “treasure.”

They brought frankincense. Frankincense got its name from the Franks, the crusaders who brought back from Yemen and Oman this gum cut from trees. The sap, attached to some bark, was allowed to dry and had multiple uses through time. It was seen as a cure for different poisons and several illnesses. It is still burned as incense in worship services. It is also burned in aromatherapy for its stress-reducing property. Today, we use our “frankincense,” our gift of healing words of encouragement and support with those who need us.

They brought myrrh, the strangest of the three gifts. Myrrh, like frankincense, is made from dried sap of different trees. So, it wasn’t baby formula. It was used – and is still used - in over a third of all Saudis as medicine. Today, we are called to become a healing ointment in our relationships.

MARY, MOTHER OF GOD (JANUARY 1, 2019)

Mary is celebrated in surprising places; she is the person who has been on the cover of TIME MAGAZINE more than any other.

Mary is honored with many, many titles. Today we celebrate her under the most basic of all her titles: Mary the mother of God. This is the one title from which all others flow - and my personal, only title. For me, all other titles are redundant. All other titles derive from this one. She, a young, unknown Jewish girl from a relatively obscure village, was chosen to bear in her body the messiah.

Little is known about her. Matthew and Luke are the only two authors in the new testament that include any description of events before Jesus began his public ministry. Nothing at all is known about Mary prior to the angel’s arrival.

Devotion to her approached adoration by the beginning of Vatican II in 1962, there was a proposal to publish a separate document on Mary. The council fathers decided against it. They noted that many of the faithful were honoring Mary more than Jesus. So, the council fathers decided to speak of Mary in the context of the church. Why? She was present at its foundation; she was the mother of Jesus and she was one of his first disciples.

There is a dubious Latin inscription in many churches: ad Jesum per Mariam - to Jesus thru Mary. We cannot ever forget that Jesus/God is the end point of our prayer and worship. We need no intermediary when we speak to our Lord – his door is always open; there is no gatekeeper.

The primary place of Jesus is brought out in today’s Gospel. When we carefully read it, we recognize that the focus is not on Mary but on Jesus and what his coming into the world means. This highlights the difference between how Peter reacted so differently, decades later, at Jesus’ transfiguration from the way Mary reacted, here. Peter experienced a marvel and said: let’s do something – let’s build three tents here. Mary’s reaction to her experience of angels and shepherds is not to do, but to treasure, to reflect, to ponder.

Reflection follows observing and listening carefully. She took the experience to heart. She quietly went over the words, interacted with the experience, allowed it to saturate her memory of it. Mary’s attitude of treasuring and pondering brings us back to the very heart of Christianity: Jesus - the one whom she treasures and ponders.

Besides forming Jesus body during her pregnancy, Mary would later help Jesus form his human personality as he grew. We need to remember that Jesus was like you and me in all things but sin. His mother influenced his personality as our mothers influenced us. For us, there were traits we took on from our mother and perhaps others we did not take. Jesus’ personality traits can also be traced to his mother: his gentleness, his compassion for people who were hurting, his kind and respectful treatment of women in an historical period that treated women as things, mere possessions. These gifts were part of her motherhood; these were the qualities she passed on to Jesus.

Standing at the threshold of a new year, we are invited to honor Mary both for teaching us the need for reflection on our experience and for her helping to form Jesus’ personality. More profoundly, we honor Jesus who came to show us the way to his father, the way into the kingdom of God.

Our treasuring and pondering prepare us to be ready for the mysteries of what this New Year will hold for us.