Love As Jesus Loved Many times the last thing a person says before he or she is dying takes on a very special significance. It is as if the very essence of that individual is somehow summed up and compacted into a single message. I imagine this is how the earliest disciples felt about the words that are in our reading of the day. They were all at table with Jesus, and the impending crisis that would take his life loomed ahead of them inescapably. And then came those final, poignant words, “A new commandment I give to you; love one another. As I have loved you, you are to love one another.” This will become your unique signature in the world, the way folks will sense your true identity, your essence. This will be your ultimate reason for being. How do we love as Jesus loved? St. Augustine has given us two clues to such a question. He once observed that Jesus loved each one he had ever met as if there were none other in all the world to love. In other words, Jesus radically individualized the affection he acted out toward others. Instead of never seeing the trees for the forest, as the old adage goes, Jesus reversed that process and never failed to focus on the particular and the unique in each human being. This represents an extraordinary commitment and discipline, especially because, even in Jesus’ day, he came in contact with many, many people and, therefore, must have found it tempting to lump people together in categories, in classes, and to allow the forest mentality to blind him to the genuine uniqueness of each human being. I’ve always loved the little story about the boy who’s trying to learn the Lord’s Prayer, and one night as he knelt by his bed, these words came out: Our Father, who are in heaven How do you know my name? Such individualized affection will always remain a mystery to us mortals, and at the same time, let us never forget we’re made in the image of that extraordinary love. And doing what Jesus did in loving each one he ever met as if there were none other in all the world is at least an ideal toward which we can reach even if it always remains utterly beyond our complete grasp. The second clue St. Augustine offers is that Jesus loved all as he loved each. The way he loved was not only individualized, but it was also incredibly universal. We are able to love as Jesus did only because of the power and grace which come from our first being loved by God. By our own self-sacrificing love, we are the presence of the risen Christ for others. Christian living is to love as Jesus loved, to be the risen Christ for others.
Hear My Voice The lectionary provides an incredibly helpful catechetical pattern by which to teach the faith. The first half of the church year, as you know, focuses on the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus and answers the question, “Who is Jesus?” The second half focuses on his ministry and teaching and answers the follow up question, “What does it mean to follow Jesus?” So here we are in Easter and we have before us a portion of Jesus’ discourse on the good shepherd. Except it’s not, exactly! It’s actually three months later, during Hanukah (the festival of Dedication), and Jesus is still talking about sheep and shepherds. No wonder, then, that his conversation partners ask, with a translation that probably reflects the common idiom more closely, “How long will you keep on irritating us with this? If you think you are the Messiah, then say it plainly.” In response, Jesus says two very interesting things: 1) he has no need to testify on his own behalf as his works have already done that; 2) his interrogators do not (cannot, will not?) believe because they are not his sheep – he knows his sheep and will not lose them. On the Fourth Sunday of Easter, we might hear these statements in at least two ways. First, we might hear them as a promise that Jesus knows us — who we are and what we need.Second, we might also hear that there is no testimony to our resurrection faith more powerful than doing the works that Jesus did: healing, comforting, freeing, feeding. After all, if Jesus says that his works testify to his identity, will not ours do the same? Easter reminds us that when we sacrifice ourselves for others, we are never alone; the Good Shepherd is always with us, holding us tightly in his hand.
Cast Your Net There was an ad campaign by a major insurance company that says, “Sometimes life comes at you fast.” One of the ads shows a lady, learning that she has won the lottery, running into the back of a truck filled with dirt. Another shows a man who gets in his car to start it, only to have it fall apart. It is true that sometimes life is more than we can deal with. There are those times we would like to step aside from the push of living and just be comfortable. The disciples had been on an emotional roller coaster with the events of Good Friday and Easter, and I’m sure they were at the point of exhaustion when they returned to what they knew best-fishing. The Sea of Galilee represented a safe harbor for the disciples. For the ones who went fishing, it was what they knew. It was what they had done for years before Jesus came and called them to follow him. After all, it was by catching fish that they had made a living. And now that Jesus was gone, they returned to their safe harbor of fishing. When God interrupts lives, as Jesus did the lives of the disciples early that morning by the Sea of Galilee, it has a way of bringing us face to face with what we should be about. Too many times we are like the man in a cartoon with hair frizzed, legs trembling, and shirttail out, saying, “Doctor, I would like to see things a little less clearly.” We like to be comfortable in our safe harbors. We like to retreat into the comfort of what we know and do so well, as opposed to being challenged to grow and to follow. We like to look back instead of looking forward. Peter might have protested, “Let somebody else feed your lambs. I will be satisfied with the sentiment of saying, ‘I love you.'” The gift of another day is the opportunity to put our deeds where our creeds are. The gift of another day is the opportunity to change. Just as Jesus’ presence is persistent, so is the call. So then must our response to follow Jesus. Taking up the mission of Jesus is more than simply doing. We are called to bring his risen presence to others by tangible signs. We are to provide an abundance of nourishment, love and care to anyone we meet. This means we begin to see the risen Jesus in the everydayness of life. This means we allow ourselves to be nourished by Jesus and be transformed more and more into his risen presence. Easter is every day that we love ourselves and others into life.
We Have Seen the Lord I don’t know about you, but I think Thomas gets a bad rap. We don’t know him as “the Twin” as John describes him. No, for us he is forever, “doubting Thomas.” But think about it: He doesn’t ask for anything more than the other disciples have already received. Sure, it’s easy for them to believe — they actually saw Jesus. But he didn’t, and given the emotional torment of the last week no wonder he refuses to enter into what must have seemed like a severe case of denial. Where was Thomas when Jesus first appeared? John doesn’t tell us. My own guess was that he was out and about getting on with his life. Why do I think that? Because Thomas was a realist. When Thomas does see Jesus, of course, he makes the climatic confession of John’s Gospel, addressing Jesus as, “My Lord and my God!” Strikingly, no one else in John’s Gospel — or the other three for that matter — ascribes divinity so directly to Jesus. In doing so, Thomas affirms what the readers were told at the beginning, as he echoes the confession made in the first verse of the Gospel: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” In doing so, Thomas also offers those same readers a model for faithful response to an encounter with Jesus — belief, belief that leads to confession. If this is true, we might wonder why Jesus rebukes Thomas. Except that I don’t think Jesus is talking to Thomas anymore. Instead, I think Jesus has turned his attention to us. Who, after all, are those who will believe even though we have not seen? Not the disciples, and not Thomas. It’s John’s readers — then and now — which means that Jesus is talking to — Jesus is blessing! — us. Little wonder then that John offers his formal conclusion to the gospel immediately after this blessing by saying, “Jesus did many other things…not written in this book. These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and believing have life in his name.” Faithful disciples are Jesus’ persistent presence in today’s world. Being a living presence is expressed in everyday acts that bring new life and hope to others. In countless ways we are making tangible the risen presence of Christ. We are living proof of the resurrection.
Fulfilled In Your Hearing When do words motivate us to act? Sometimes when the speaker is a beloved figure whom we trust. At other times when the words align with our own dreams and expectations. Or when the words are new and promising. When do the words of Jesus motivate us to act? This Sunday we are confronted with the reality that we are not always going to like what we hear in God’s word. God’s word always takes us beyond where we are[or where we we want to go]. It is the very word which questions our status quo and asks us to give up our own wills and embrace God’s will. It is the very word which nudges us to surrender ourselves and our own world to encompass the larger vision of a world in which God assures that all are met with love and dignity. Jesus’ words are not just nice sayings. They are challenges to change how we think, how we relate, how we live. As humans we resist such challenges that get to the core of who and how we are. What motivates us to hear Jesus’ prophetic words and internalize them is that he is the beloved One whom we can trust. Announcing the message of the Gospel is one way we express our faithfulness in hearing God’s word. And, as those baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection, being faithful to God ‘s word always means dying to self for the sake of others. When we witness to a way of living that challenges others and their assumptions, we may well cause fury. Announcing the message of the Gospel is not undertaken for the sake of being accepted, but in order to be faithful to God’s word. Are you willing to take the risk?
What’s In A Word? There’s an old story about a couple that was walking out of church one Sunday: The wife asked the husband, “Did you see the strange hat Mrs. O’Brien was wearing?” “No, I didn’t,” replied the husband. “Bill Smith badly needs a hair cut, doesn’t he?” commented the wife. “Sorry, but I didn’t notice,” her husband said. “You know, John,” said the wife impatiently,” sometimes I wonder if you get anything at all out of going to church.” People get different things out of going to church, depending, it would seem, on what they expect to get when they go there. Today’s Gospel reading begins by telling us that when Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, that he went up to Nazareth – his home town – and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. What an interesting statement. He went into the synagogue, on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. Jesus grew up attended the synagogue in his home town it was his habit, his practice, his custom, to worship there on the Sabbath day and here he is, after his baptism and anointing with the Holy Spirit, here he is, after already having demonstrated his power and his righteousness, here he is, after showing through healings and teachings his connectedness to God attending weekly worship in the synagogue in his home town. Why? What did he expect to find there in that experience? Surely he knew it all already? What did he get out of it? Why did he go? I think that there are several reasons. The first and most basic of these is that Jesus attended the worship held each Sabbath day because it is part of what it means to keep the Sabbath Day – because it is part of what God commands us to do in the ten commandments. Second, I believe that Jesus went to the synagogue to hear the Word of God to be reminded of the Word of God and to be recreated by the Word of God this even though he was the Word of God made flesh! I believe that is because Jesus knew that the Word gives life no matter what container pours it out – just as water from a chipped and dented mug is as good as water from the finest crystal. Which brings me to another reason: the Word feeds us. The people of Israel in our first reading, and Jesus by his example today in the gospel reading, call us today to pay attention to the God who addresses us – it really means the difference between a life of exile or a life of, meaning and community; it means the difference between being fed and not being fed. Jesus went up to Nazareth – and on the Sabbath day, he entered the synagogue – as was his custom. I think he did this for many reasons – he did it so he might have fellowship with God; he did it to keep the commandments of God; he did it so he might be fed – so that he might be instructed and counseled. He did it too because it made him a part of God’s people, a people who were not only defined by the name they took and the law they obeyed but by the fact that they gathered together to hear and to pray to the one who named them. The one who said that they would be his people and that he would be their God, Today the scripture is fulfilled in our hearing as well. Our ministry? Transpose Jesus’ teachings from words on a page to a way of living. Who are the poor, the captives, the sightless in our midst? Who needs the glad tidings of God’s mercy and presence preached to them? Do our lives bear out our certainty of the Word enfleshed in us? Christian living is none other than taking God’s Word and making it concrete by the way we live. Our daily living is the Word made flesh among us.
New Wine Among Us Plenty of love is evident at a wedding. Of course, there is the love between bride and groom. and there is a love between parents. There is grandparents’ and godparents’ love. Usually the maid of honor and best man have such a close relationship with the couple that we might speak of love far more than friendship. This Sunday’s gospel is about a wedding at Cana. Mary and Jesus are guests. As with all weddings, we might presume that love abounds. This wedding, however, is quite different. It is far more than a story about the couple and their big day. It is really a story about God’s big day! Why does John begin with a wedding story? What, really, is the wedding? What, really, is the sign? The abundance and worth of the water made into wine announce the age of the Messiah when messianic abundance will be evident. Not only does Jesus change water into wine, but he transforms his disciples from being mere companions to becoming those who believe in him. They move to an intimacy of belief and their lives will never be the same. He changed them and he will change us. And our lives will never be the same- we spend ourselves for others. Here is the Good News: spending oneself for the sake of another is how we actively believe, how we share in Jesus’ glory. by spending ourselves we achieve the fullness of abundance Jesus promises and our lives will never be the same. Check Hausler Family Wines for more information.
The Baptism of the Lord Has something of importance ever slipped by you unnoticed? When did you realize its importance? What did you do about it? I don’t know about you. But I can only do one thing at a time. “Multi-tasking” is difficult for me. I stand in awe of people who can do more than one thing at a time. When I am pressured and try to do more than one thing at the moment, I can get confused. These are the times I am vulnerable. Someone could approach me with a matter of importance, and I would treat it as trivial. I must admit I have made too many wrong decisions when important decisions needed to be made. Simply because I was distracted, confused. If you are like me, then a time for reflection each day is a must. For, in reflection, we can see the gravity of events around us. And take action. Jesus was no different. But his reflection came in times of prayer. This Sunday’s gospel can be divided into two sections: John’s rejection of the title “Messiah” and the introduction of the real Messiah. “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” The baptism of fire could refer to the Final Judgment or to spiritual maturation. In the first sense, the Holy Spirit and the Final Judgment are opposed to each other. Christ as the Great Judge would favor his followers with the Spirit, while condemning those who rejected the Spirit. In the second sense, the Spirit was the support for the Christian undergoing persecution (i.e., “fire”). Those who expected to grow in the Spirit would encounter opposition, even martyrdom, as a result of their choice. Spiritual maturity had a cost. Luke presented the ministry of the Baptism as a dialogue between himself and his audience. John preached. His audience took his message to heart. At the core of John’s message was preparation for the Christ. As the people’s expectations for the Messiah rose, John defined his own status. He was the prophet, not the Messiah. He was not worthy of the Coming One. Just as Mark wrote, Luke recorded the Holy Spirit and fire prediction of John. As the note above stated, there has been some discussion about the relationship between the Holy Spirit and fire. Personally, I think they are the same, God’s love and justice. [15-16] “It happened (that) everyone (in John’s audience) was baptized also JESUS having been baptized and that, as HE was praying, the heavens were opened, the Holy Spirit visibly as a dove came down on HIM, and (there) was a voice from heaven: “YOU are my SON, (my) BELOVED, in YOU I am well pleased.” Unlike the accounts found in Mark and Matthew, Luke simply recorded the fact that Jesus had been baptized (past tense). The revelation of the Trinity occurs during Jesus’ prayer, not as he rose out of the water. This reflected Luke’s emphasis not on historical event, but upon the revelation of it importance. For Luke, it was not when an event “happens to me”; it is the moment I “get it,” I make the connection. For Luke, prayer was the time of revelation and insight; Luke portrayed Jesus in prayer before the major decisions of his ministry. For Luke, prayer was the time for grace, God with us. This could not be underestimated. Luke used the images of an actual dove and an actual voice to communicate the concrete reality of God’s grace with us. The heavens were torn open, so there was no barrier between God and his people. Grace was now present; the time of realization was in prayer. When do you realize times of grace? How has your prayer time given you those “graced” moments? Luke recorded the message of John and the baptism of Jesus along the lines of Mark and Matthew. But he changed one small detail. The moment of realization was in prayer. Prayer is a time for gentle insight and peace. It is not earth shattering, but it can be earth moving. God can rule with justice, insight, and liberation, but we must take the time to realize his gifts in prayer. We cannot multitask prayer and expect results. This week, plan for prayer time as a time for reflection. Slow down and concentrate on your words to God. And your presence with God. See how God will bless your time with him.
The Holy Family When my nephew was three, I took him with me to the local mall, just to look around. We wound our way in and out of stores and to my delight, he was enjoying the adventure. We stopped in JC Penney’s to look at clothes. And to my horror, I noticed he was not around. My heart dropped and I went into panic mode. After what seemed like an eternity [ about one minute] I found him within the carousel of clothes wanting to play hide and seek. Needless to say, we decided to immediately go home! In our gospel today, Mary and Joseph lost Jesus! They searched for him according to a predictable pattern: first, among the relatives, then they retraced their steps looking for him wherever they had been. Following this pattern led to finding Jesus. But their search also reveals another pattern, one significant for us and our daily living. Mary and Joseph looked for Jesus. In reality, this describes our own Christian living. We look for Jesus when we, like him seek to be in God’s presence; when we, like him, choose to be obedient; when we, like him grow in wisdom. Along the way we discover that Jesus enlarges when we look for him, how we find him , and what new understanding comes to us through our encounters with him. This is the pattern of faithful Christian living that brings us to fullness of life. Every good family strives for continued growth in fidelity to God and each other. Each time we choose to love one another, we grow into a deeper relationship with each other. Our family is stronger and so are we for it. A holy family is one in which relationships place God at the center. Like Mary and Joseph, good parents always nurture and take care of their children. Such is what holy family living is really all about: seeking, obeying, loving.
A Visit In the United States, professional football games become the weekend liturgies for many folks. Near the end of each half, the referees blow their whistles and take a time-out warning each team that there are only two minutes left before the end of the half. Two minutes of playing time can actually take up to fifteen minutes to play out. Those spaces are filled with advertisements and impatience. This Fourth week of Advent is a “two-day warning”. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve having its own liturgy of Vigil and Midnight Mass. These two days can be filled also with commercials and much impatience as well. Football enthusiasts might spend their two-minute warnings in prayer of petition or gratitude. We Adventers have just a little more time for emptiness and listeningness. We take this valuable time-out so that the Christmas will not be as empty as a stadium, gameless, crowdless and meaningless. The Gospel is an intimate encounter between two listening women of faith. Both have trusted in the secrecy of pregnancy. They both are moved to share their secrets. Mary has been greeted by an angel and trusts what she hears in her soul. Elizabeth hears Mary’s greeting and trusts what she hears and feels within her body. Elizabeth greets Mary with a tender benediction: “Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.” Mary is pictured as having received well a tremendous gift and promise. The first thing she is moved to do is to check it out with her cousin whom she has heard is pregnant too. Reception implies grateful distribution. So much preparation for the great Gift of God’s impregnating the womb of this world. All is set now, only the waiting and watching and wanting. God has come to us according to what makes sense to our minds, unless they are filled like the “Inn” with logic and arrogance. Through our senses God has come to visit and stay. It does remain more than we can handle in our one day of life. Yet God continues to give the Gift . He came that we might have life and be freed to give it, and Him, away in the life-long, life-giving visits we make in the lives of others. Christmas is for children, yes, but for those of us who seek intimacy in life, Christmas grows us up.
What Should We Do? The Church’s Advent prayer pauses on this mid-season Sunday to rejoice: to anticipate the joy of Christmas and, as St. Paul reminds, to “rejoice always” and to “give thanks to God in all circumstances.” That’s scriptural language for having an “attitude of gratitude.” It’s important for us, especially in our troubles, to remember the good days and to treasure memories of past joy and peace even if those gifts seem not at hand today. “Brothers and sisters: rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again, rejoice,” St. Paul commands in the Second Reading. The word for rejoice in Latin is gaudete, so quite naturally this Sunday is called Gaudete Sunday. Why all this exultation? Are we finally getting a break from the somberness of Advent? Yes, but there is more to it than that. Remember that Advent is like a retreat that the worldwide Church is making. In this upcoming third week we will consider our lives in the context of the great beauty God has put in us and around us. Can you think this way? One line in the First Reading puts it in dramatic terms. Zephaniah says that the Lord “will sing joyfully because of you, as one sings at festivals.” Because of you! Have you ever in your life thought that God’s might be singing because of you? Have you ever let your image of God expand that far? Have you ever let him, in the most profound sense of the word, be one who sings you into existence? God’s gladness sings out joyfully at every instant, and his song is the earth, the galaxies, the people and plants and chemicals and soaring hawks and encircling planets, droplets of dew and heavy black holes, youthful beauties, ancient wisdoms, and everything else that exists. We are God’s song!
A Voice Cries Out Christmas is a time for cluttering. For most of us, our calendars are already filled, and yet we find more things pushing themselves upon us. Be honest, most us know that our lives, our homes, our schedules, our world is already over stuffed and here we bring out more stuff. When we begin to decorate, boxes are pulled out from the attic, the basement, a closet or maybe from all these places. As we begin to unpack the decorations, they bring out with them so many memories. But in order to find a place to put them, we have to rearrange some of the things that are already out in our homes during the year. Most of our homes already have things filling the shelves, the tabletops, and the cabinets, and here comes more. The world doesn’t stop for Christmas. Many will still have to work or keep appointments or do those things that keep our lives running. But now we must find more time for friends and family. We add to an already hectic world more things we must do. Then there is shopping. The economic times we live in make this even a greater challenge, as we desire to please those we are giving gifts to with the budget we have to spend. This means more time and more effort. We don’t know how much the wise men paid for their gifts, much less, if they found them on sale. We really don’t know how much time or effort was invested by the shepherds, but we know that both the wise men and the shepherds all came for one reason: to worship and adore the one who came at Christmas. They were not distracted by clutter in their lives. Out of all the stars that filled the sky, the wise men stayed focused on one. The sheep had for a moment to be set aside to go to Bethlehem and see what the angels told of. John the Baptist, who speaks out in our Gospel this day, was one of the most colorful characters in all of history. He went out into the wilderness, away from the city, away from the crowds, to attract a great crowd. He seemed almost determined to fail. Despite all these things we would call poor marketing, Luke tells us that people from all over the region were flocking to hear his message. There will be new power and hope that comes from God’s presence in our lives and in our world. In these days leading up to Christmas may we see beyond the clutter of living to the hope that was born so many years ago in Bethlehem. We, too, can find the way home. The call is for us to find the way to God to be in our days and our hearts. Look at your calendar for the days between now and Christmas. Where have you set aside time for prayer, for some quiet time? A major part of uncluttering is making sure there is time for God to touch our lives and shape our days. Maybe a friend or loved one needs you more than the gift you will spend hours trying to find. Maybe more important than perfection in our decorations is a smile on our face as we spend time with those dear to us. Preparing a way means to be willing to ask some tough questions and make some hard decisions. To prepare the way of the Lord means to make choices. We must decide what we are to focus our lives and days on. We must decide what we will keep. The challenge is for us to surrender to God’s control, to prepare the way of the Lord. The challenge is to get our lives in such order, that our hearts will be open to the way of the Lord. Once we have settled the issue of who is first in our lives, we do not have to deal with the clutter of divided loyalties. The one who was born at Bethlehem will be the Lord of our lives if we are willing to let God prepare the way. The Gospel also calls for us to make the crooked places straight. We are told to make the rough ways smooth. In our lives, this may mean for us to forgive those who have hurt you, to refuse to allow what has happened to you to control your life. We need to make sure there is enough time for those that we care about. The call for us is to find a way for God to be in our days and our hearts. Those who went to the wilderness were challenged to turn and go in a new direction in their lives, leaving behind much of what they had believed and looking for a new way. Few people are kept from Christ by some great, overpowering evil. Most fail to see or hear because they are preoccupied with good things, busy at work, acquiring wealth, enjoying entertainment, being comfortable, but not seeking the best. We are challenged to unclutter our lives to find the Christ who is there with us, in us, and calling for us to come and follow.
There Will Be Signs Adjustments are a fact of life! We make them all day long, usually without thinking about it! For example, adjusting the volume on the TV,radio or iPod; we adjust our schedule to accommodate someone in need.Other adjustments take more thought and energy and have far-reaching consequences. Moving, marrying, baptizing all bring adjustments. Even changing liturgical seasons means adjusting to new gospel challenges. This Sunday’s Gospel calls us to adjust our daily living in order to develop the vigilance that enables us to discern the signs of the Lord’s presence and to adjust the choices in our lives so we are blameless in holiness and thus, are more fittingly a testimony of the Son of Man’s power and glory. The redemption at hand in the gospel is God’s work but it also calls for a response from us: growing in love, living in ways pleasing to God and being faithful. Moreover the very discernment of signs of the Lord’s presence is already a response-when we live as though the end times were now. Often the anxieties of life blind us to the genuine signs of Christ’s presence and action. This time of year is filled with all kinds of distractions. The Advent season invites us to a more balanced perspective on what we really are about: continually opening ourselves to Christ’s presence. Thus Advent calls us to do deeper discernment about our lives and this very discernment is already a way to prepare for Christ’s coming now and in future glory.
Christ the King When we were young, we had the time to indulge our imagination. We pretended to be famous, wealthy, powerful. Of course we grew up, but sometimes not out of those fantasies. In fact, multi-billion dollar industries are dedicated to making those dreams come true. But only for a while. And always for a price. Let’s take the ultimate indulgence. What does it really mean to be “king of the world?” Take a few moments and step into the shoes of Jesus. How would you answer the charge you were a king of all? What does it mean to be a king? Is it the old model of absolute power? Or is it Christ’s leadership of service? These questions are the essence of Pilate’s and Jesus’ dialogue. Jesus responds with a speech about his arena (i.e., “his kingdom”). Jesus’ arena is not that of popular culture or politics; if it was there would be a bloody revolution. Pilate still presses the point: “You are a king, aren’t you?” Jesus gives in on a semantic point (“You’re the one who says so, Pilate”) but finally gives Pilate a direct witness: Jesus speaks the truth. How does the truth Jesus speaks and the truth the “world” speaks different? The truth of the world is transient in nature; it changes with the season and the political landscape. It speaks to ambition and power, to possessions and pleasure. The truth of the world is, at best, shallow. But the truth Jesus speaks is one of the heart. The truth of Jesus is more than facts; it is one of fidelity. God is “true” to us; that means, he is faithful. He shows us his fidelity through his Son and the power of his Spirit. When we are true to God in return, we “live in truth” (that is, in relationship). Since God is eternally faithful, God’s truth goes beyond the transient nature of politics, fad, and fashion. How does your relationship with God touch you in ways the world cannot match? How has the truth of world failed you? How has God’s faithfulness sustained you? A theologian once said that all revelation is invitation. In other words, all that God reveals to us invites us to live with him. This is the reality of Jesus’ kingship. Jesus is Lord, so we might live near him in love. He is King of the World, not over us but for us and with us.
When Lord? Distress over the future again weaves itself through popular culture. After all, one wants to be left behind! (My apologies to Tim LaHaye). Uncertainty engulfs those on the fringe with paranoia and colors the majority with cynicism. So, what’s new? For the past two millennia, Christians have looked to the future and asked, “When, Lord, when?” To this question, Jesus had an answer. In Mark’s gospel, Jesus addressed the coming day of the Lord in two ways: active anticipation and faith. Look for signs, Jesus told his followers, but trust in the Lord’s time, not your own. Viewing the end of time, Jesus saw the event as the visit of the divine King. God would prepare the visit with cosmic signs and events as a means of announcement. The King would arrive in a way that reflected his power and reputation (on the clouds); his messengers-criers (“angels”) would go throughout the known world to gather all the faithful. Remember that the Jewish people had been displaced throughout the known world because of economic opportunity or oppression. Jesus implied that the injustice of Jews living on foreign soil would be corrected during his lifetime. How did his disciples know Jesus spoke the truth? Jesus gave a farming analogy of the fig tree (green before the summer) to support his belief in God’s immanent judgement. Then he compared God’s creation to his words. Nature changed, but his words would not; they were eternal and, so, trustworthy. After all that, Jesus said that only God knew the day (the time frame) or the hour (the exact moment) of these events. Doesn’t this contradict his preaching and assurance? To the impatient Westerner, the answer would seem to be “yes.” But Jesus challenged his disciples to see the process through God’s eyes. These things would happen in God’s time, not ours. The teaching of Jesus challenged both his audience and our uncertain time to trust God with the future. Anxiety and paranoia were futile responses to a situation that requires faith. When are you coming, Lord? When!? While we might not be consumed with the question of the end time, personal anxiety in life will cause us to ask the question. Jesus’ answer to us is the same one he gave his followers two thousand years ago. Look for signs of his coming in the chaos of life. And trust in his time of your deliverance. Rest assured, he will come at the right time!
Widow’s Mite What gifts or challenges do the poor, the homeless, or the suffering bring us? Sometimes we need to look at the world through different eyes. The poor give us this chance. Instead of looking at the rich and famous, we look at those less fortunate. But the poor give us another chance to look at the world in a new way. Instead of looking down in pity, they give us to chance to look at a world where material goods are not as important, where sharing one’s daily bread is a norm, not an exception. The story of the poor widow’s offering gives us this opportunity. And it provides the challenge to shake off any pretense money and comfort may bring. Everyone I know who has ever lead in ministry (including me, the author) has secretly wanted to play to an audience. Every preacher, every teacher, has a small bit of entertainer in them. Every minister has wanted their few moments under the spotlight. Of course, this is an immature reason to serve. Many people fight the urge (some even refuse to serve for this reason!). Many have this need fulfilled and have move on. Many simply grow out of the need and remain for the right reason: the joy of service. Why did Jesus criticize the scribes directly? These men were the brightest, most influential, and most important experts on the Law. Since Jews in Judea, throughout the Roman Empire, and in many parts of the world lived in self-governing enclaves, the power of these scribes could not be underestimated. They were lawyers and judges. They were civic leaders and legislators. Their knowledge and ability were vital to the survival and the growth of God’s chosen. A closer reading of the text revealed Jesus did not speak of their position and power. No, Jesus attacked the scribes for their love of the limelight. He slammed their love of reputation and implied they cheated the poorest of the poor (“houses of the widows”) for their own gain and the gain of their benefactors, the wealthy. On the heels of last week’s study about the Great Commandment (Mark 12:28-34), the words of Jesus had a special sting. What did the leaders love more, popularity or service? Self or God? The actions of the scribes said it all. Mark’s gospel compared the actions of the rich with the giving of a simple widow. Many rich would take their time to give many coins, one at a time. Then a widow entered who have the little she had. On the surface, Jesus seemed to praise the sacrifice of the widow, who offered all she had that day to God. However, many scholars believe that, beneath the surface, Jesus lamented the action of the widow. By sacrificing all she had, she became even more dependent upon others and even more of a burden on society. In a culture where survival was the priority, was such a sacrifice wise? Was this not an act of suicide? In addition, who did she give to? The temple treasury was controlled by the same scribes Jesus criticized. The treasury funds were to be used for the poor, but, some have charged, they were really used for the expensive lifestyle of the scribes that Jesus detailed. But, who was the widow ultimately dependent upon? God. She sacrificed all in the same way many neophyte Christians gave up social ties and economic support of extended family to follow the Way. This poor widow represented the Christian (just as Mary, the mother of Jesus and the widow of Joseph, embodied the movement). Jesus pointed to the self-giving of the widow as an example for all Christians to emulate. And he implicitly criticized the “show off” attitude of the rich who give to build up their reputation. The poor widow gave all she had as a gift. She also gives us a gift. The opportunity to sacrifice our convenience, our self-centeredness, our petty concerns to share what we have with others. To her and all like her, let us express our gratitude.
What Is Important? What is the highest value of our culture? How does that single value arrange other values? When we ignore the rhetoric and simply look at someone’s lifestyle (ourselves or others), we’ll soon learn the answer to the question: what’s most important? The question asks more than values. It points toward a life orientation. It helps to answer the greater question: what is the purpose of life? In a relationship with God, we can ask the same question: what’s most important? How does that question impact our prayer life, our family life, our social life? What one principle or character trait tells others we are followers of Christ? A scribe asked Jesus that question. While Jesus’ answer may have been a common one at the time, the underlining understanding Jesus gave the answer changed more than his followers. It changed the world. Jesus answered the first part of that question with the Shema, Deuteronomy 6:4-5. Love God with all your being. Love in this sense was not an inner emotion or psychological state alone. In the time and culture of Jesus, love meant allegiance. As God made a covenant with his people (a formal allegiance between a king and his subjects), he demanded a response. A commitment and a faithful life to that allegiance (i.e., covenant) was the only answer. Jesus backed up the Shema with another important verse: love of neighbor. This meant allegiance to one’s community. Of course, different groups could interpret this phrase in different ways. What did love for one’s neighbor mean to the followers of the Nazarene? For the evangelizing Christians, love meant a certain openness to the stranger, the outcast, and the sinner. For many Christians had found themselves with those titles in the past. In addition, it meant caring for those who had no one else to care for them: widows and orphans. Finally, it meant a code of conduct that showed the utmost fidelity to community itself. They clung to each other for survival, for strength, and for growth. What’s most important? What’s first? With apologies to the late Bud Abbot and Lou Costello, the question can be put another way for the Christian. Who’s on first? Just as that line set up the classic comedy routine, that line sets up our perspective on life. Who’s on first in our life? Is it us or Jesus? If the answer is us, we’re on our own. For, we have put ourselves in God’s place. So there is no room for God or others. If, however, the answer is Jesus, we can rest assured God is helping us to love him with our very being and everyone else as ourselves.
You Know Not What You Ask The humorist Dave Berry learned a thing or two on his summer internship in Washington forty years ago. But like many internships, his expectations met with very different realities. Years later, and with typical wit and wisdom, Berry deconstructed the distorted values that characterized those corridors of power: “[W]hen I got to Washington I discovered that even among young people, being a good guy was not the key thing: The key thing was your position on the great Washington totem pole of status. Way up at the top of this pole is the president; way down at the bottom, below mildew, is the public. In between is an extremely complex hierarchy of government officials, journalists, lobbyists, lawyers, and other power players, holding thousands of minutely graduated status rankings differentiated by extremely subtle nuances that only Washingtonians are capable of grasping. For example, Washingtonians know whether a person whose title is “Principal Assistant Deputy Undersecretary” is more or less important than a person whose title is “Associate Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary,” or “Principal Deputy to Deputy Assistant Secretary,” or “Deputy to the Deputy Secretary,” or “Principal Assistant Deputy Undersecretary,” or “Chief of Staff to the Assistant Assistant Secretary.” (All of these are real federal job titles.) Everybody in Washington always seems to know exactly how much status everybody else has. I don’t know how they do it. Maybe they all get together in some secret location and sniff one another’s rear ends. All I know is, back in my internship the summer of 1967, when I went to Washington parties, they were nothing like parties I’d become used to in college. I was used to parties where it was not unusual to cap off the evening by drinking bourbon from a shoe, and not necessarily your own shoe. Whereas the Washington parties were serious. Everybody made an obvious effort to figure out where everybody else fit on the totem pole, and then spent the rest of the evening sucking up to whoever was higher up. I hated it. Of course, one reason for this was that nobody ever sucked up to me, since interns rank almost as low as members of the public. ” (footnote: Dave Berry: http://www.thisisawar.com/LaughterDaveWashington.htm) The Gospel reading this week suggests that James and John, and the ten disciples who exploded at them in anger, would have fit quite nicely into the Washingtonian world that stratifies people into a hierarchy based upon their perceived power, worth, or status, and then pursues a zero-sum game of unbridled self-interest. Of course, Jesus’ rebuke of the disciples warns us of our own tendency to do the same. Answering the call of discipleship means that we are baptized into Jesus’ life and ministry. Our baptism plunges us into the dying and rising mystery of Christ. The disciples kept misunderstanding this. Discipleship means emptying ourselves to be servant over and over again and constantly learning the cost of our baptismal yes is. Serving means nothing more than giving our lives for the other. It means when our nerves are frazzled and the baby is crying, we manage to find the energy to comfort and caress. When we hear of a neighbor in need,we ring the doorbell, introduce ourselves and ask how we might help. Serving others means that we look for ways to make the lives of others better. Would that we be so bold about serving others as about seeking our own glory!
What Must I Do? When was the last time eagerness welled up in us causing us to “run” toward something? Certainly when labor begins for a couple having their first child, they may literally “run” to the hospital eager to welcome this new life into the world. We tend to be most eager and run toward something when what we seek is significant for us. In our Gospel today, a man runs up to Jesus; it doesn’t say he sauntered or walked or simply approached. He ran. This gives us a sense that there is urgency. And his question reveals that urgency, “what must I do to inherit eternal life”? His demeanor changes when Jesus, looking at him with live for keeping the commandments, challenges him to one thing further- give up everything and follow Jesus to enter the kingdom of God. His eagerness turns to sadness. He had many possessions. Unfortunately those possessions possessed him. Following Jesus demands that we choose not to be possessed by things, but by Jesus himself. To be possessed by Jesus we must giver up our greatest possession: our very selves. Then Jesus looks upon us with great love. Dispossessing ourselves of things – distractions, worries, self-centeredness, busyness, helps our hearts set rightly on eternal life.
Enfolding Love At the beginning of this gospel, Jesus reminded his listeners of what God’s original plan was for marriage. A man and a woman were to be united and live as one. It was simple. But as relationships developed, marriage must have been as complicated then as it is now because Moses had to make concessions for the people. Scholars still struggle with the words of Jesus in this gospel because imperfect relationships continue to exist today. What is clear in this reading is that in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven we must accept it as a gift. Children in ancient times as well as our own, depend entirely on their parents (or society) for their care. To children, everything is a gift because they can’t earn anything. That is how it must be for us if we are to accept the Kingdom of God. Parents are accustomed to doing and giving, mostly for their children, but certainly for others as well. That is why the notion of today’s gospel is probably one of the hardest for parents to accept. Jesus clearly lets us know that the Kingdom of God is a gift, given to us freely by God. It isn’t something we can volunteer for, clip coupons for, or negotiate. Children, if we let them, will show us how freely and innocently we can accept this gift. Parents, pay special attention to your child(ren) over the next few days and see if you can pick up any of their wisdom about the gift God offers each of us. Having healthy, loving relationships does not imply that there are no struggles. Often these struggles strengthen a relationship by softening our hearts. In such openness God is present, the kingdom of God is among us.
In His Name This past month we were privileged to watch a young athlete tagged “the blade runner”, and if you were like me, we cheered him on, hoping that he would do his best. His missing limbs were part of his triumph, his resiliency to be independent and lead a happy, productive life. But no one would wish this on another. We need our arms and legs. Yet, in this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus tells us to “cut…off” limbs that cause another to be lead astray; to cause us to be stumbling blocks. How drastic! Four times Jesus says, it would “be better for you….” here Jesus speaks to us with such candor, that there is nothing more important [not even our limbs] than our entering the kingdom of God and our not being a cause for others to be led astray and thus lose entering the kingdom. If anything gets in the way of bringing us or others to the life of the kingdom, get rid of it! On the other hand, anyone who is furthering the kingdom in his name belongs to Jesus’ inner circle. These we do not prevent from acting as long as they act in his name. Mighty deeds can only be done by those who are in relationship with God, those acting in Jesus’ name. Alone we are powerless. The inner circle is not determined by us and whom we choose to admit to the group of disciples,but by God and who God chooses to work in and through for the sake of the kingdom. What does it mean to be a follower of Christ? What are the stumbling blocks that impede our acting in Jesus’ name? Prejudice? Past negative experiences with certain persons? Jealousy? Fears? Narrow-mindedness? Self-centeredness? The Gospel invites us to go beyond our own stumbling blocks. Living the gospel as a faithful disciple requires us to take stock of our actions and how others perceive who we are and how we act. Discipleship means that everything we are and do flows from our relationship with Christ.
Who Is the Greatest? What happens when we are caught with our hand in the proverbial cookie jar? Our face turns red, our heads drop, our eyes are cast down and we are silent. So we can easily identify with the disciple’ silence in the face of Jesus’ asking them what they are discussing. Twice in this Gospel the disciples are reduced to silence. First, they are afraid to ask Jesus about his teaching that he must die and rise. Second, they are afraid to tell him that they have been arguing about who among them is the greatest. The first silence indicates a stubborn resistance to accept the demands of what they hear; the second silence indicates that they intuitively understand how far they have strayed from what Jesus is teaching them. The disciples spend the rest of their lives coming to understand what it means to follow Jesus and serve him through the least among us. By dying to self and serving the least among us, we rise to new and great life. Dying to self doesn’t simply mean we write a check to our favorite charity or bring non perishables to St Vincent de Paul Society [as good as these gestures may be]. It means surrendering our very selves for others – all others- not just those of our own picking and choosing. It means reaching out to the least among us. Like the disciples, Jesus gives us the room we need to grow and come to deeper understanding of what it means to be a faithful disciple serving others.
Who Do You Say I Am? I don’t know exactly how many times in the four Gospel accounts of the New Testament Jesus asks other people to follow him. But it’s well more than 20. The whole question of “Who is willing to follow Jesus Christ?” is pretty much the defining question of Christianity. Some may ask it personally of you : “You mean you believe all of this stuff about forgiveness, and loving enemies, and this resurrection from the dead?” However it’s worded, the whole matter of following Jesus is central to living the Christian faith. The question becomes, “What does it actually mean to follow Jesus, especially in modern times, or in middle- or upper-middle class North America?” If you’re going to take the words of Jesus seriously – those ones about “losing your life for his sake” and “denying yourself” – well, what’s your life going to look like? What does it mean to follow Jesus in your life, and in these times? In our Gospel, Peter recoils at Jesus’ revelation that as “the Christ” he must “suffer greatly…be rejected…be killed, and rise after three days.” Peter is so aghast at the words of Jesus about suffering and death that he fails to hear the most important part of the revelation about who Jesus is and what he is to accomplish. He fails to grasp that through death Jesus will be raised to new life. Today, Jesus asks us “Who do you say I am?” We may quickly answer, “You are the Christ.” However, we may hesitate when we hear Jesus say, “Take up your cross and follow me.” We must lose our life for the sake of others. this is the difficult lesson to be learned. We cannot avoid dying to self if we wish to rise to new life with Jesus. How do we die to self? We must die to our way of thinking [taking the easy way of self-interest,] and embrace how God thinks [carrying the cross of goodness, justice, integrity]. Or we must empty ourselves for the good of another even when we are tired or frustrated or don’t like the other person in need. On our own, living the paschal mystery would be just about impossible. Why we can embrace te dying is because Jesus has already shown us the way. The only way to follow Jesus is to die to self.
“Be Opened!” “Blindness cuts you off from things,” said Tom, “But deafness cuts you off from people, and that’s a lot worse.” I learned a lot from listening to Tom. “I was about fifteen,” he said “when I quite suddenly went totally deaf. I had feared blindness as a child but did not think that deafness would be a very serious handicap. Now I came to realize that the most important thing in life is being related, and this happens most of all through the faculty of hearing. When deaf, I was isolated from so much of nature. I could no longer hear the singing of birds, or the waves beating the shore. I could not hear the voices of friends, words of comfort, hope and advice. At first some people tried to communicate with me but soon they grew tired. I could see my friends getting exasperated when I missed their meanings and they tired of writing notes to me. I became embarrassed by their embarrassment. I became terribly isolated and lonely within myself.” “Soon I began to forget how to talk. Not being able to hear myself I had no control of how loudly I was speaking and I was being constantly signaled to raise or lower my voice. Insensitive people would laugh at my stammerings, so I eventually gave up trying and began to even lose the ability to talk. This meant that I could not explain myself. No matter how strong my feelings were, no matter how I was afraid and anxious, I just had to keep it bottled up inside myself. More and more I was left to myself. I did not contribute anything to the community and gradually I felt that I was useless and in the way.” “I was a handicapped person and when you are different people are afraid of you. People are afraid, especially to touch you. How I longed for a shove or hug but people saw me as too delicate. Then, I was led to believe that my affliction was a punishment from God. I spent hours wondering what I might have done that I should be cursed by God. Perhaps this was the deepest isolation – being isolated even from God.” “Then about two years ago in the same week, a neighbor offered to do pranic healing on me, a group of charismatics came and prayed over me, and a young surgeon offered to do a simple surgical procedure on my ears. He said he had read about it in a journal, he could not guarantee any results but he was sure that it would not do me any further harm. I do not know which was effective but a week later my hearing began to return. I felt that the finger of God’s love had touched me and a gush of joy overtook me for days.” “At first I talked and talked – I needed to release what was bottled up inside me. I would try to talk to everyone I met. Then I realized that I was over-talking. I was not listening and I was hurting people by inflicting myself on them. I started trying to listen; to do this I had to stop talking and open not only my ears but also my heart. Then I discovered that most hearing people are deaf. I learned too that most people had speech impediments – we can never communicate exactly what we want to say. The greatest tragedy is not to be deaf and unable to speak but it is to have these faculties and never REALLY use them to listen below the surface of things.” That was Tom’s touching story. In today’s Gospel we see Jesus cure a man who was deaf and unable to speak. “Be opened”! Jesus commands as he heals him. He warns the man not to tell others because Jesus was interested in promoting a deeper cure and a deeper kind of hearing. The focus isn’t on the miracle but that God comes to save. The healing miracle is a sign of God’s superabundant life breaking open the closed human condition. When we encounter Jesus, he commands, “Be opened!” and we too are healed; our ears are opened to hear tge Good News and our tongues are loosened to proclaim it. The encounter between Jesus and the deaf man captures the entire relationship between God and the human family. All that is necessary for us to receive salvation God offers is that we open ourselves to a relationship with God.
Look Into Your Heart “Go wash your hands before you eat”. How many parents don’t sound like broken record around meal time? Most often it is a case of hygiene, literally our hands were/are dirty. In our Gospel today, the case is different. Washing hands has nothing to do with literal dirt; rather it has to do with inner purity. Keeping the precepts, an external act, is indicative of internal conformity to God. Not keeping precepts is indicative of a broken relationship with God and results in the kinds of behaviors Jesus mentions at the end of our Gospel. Hurtful and destructive behavior comes from within the heart. So central to our Gospel is the question, where does the heart lie? Jesus calls us to examine our behaviors and look at what in our hearts gives rise to our actions. When our hearts are focused on God, our actions are loving and good. Discerning where our hearts truly lie is not always so easy. Fruitful discernment comes from personal prayer and reflection, from listening to others, examining our motives, opening ourselves to change and putting ourselves in another’s shoes to wake up to how we come across to others. Conversion of heart is crucial because it is of life or death. It is relatively easy to change outward things about ourselves, for example a hair style But to change a lifestyle, for example, a healthy diet, stopping smoking, requires consistent lifelong effort. So too to do te work of intertior transformation so that our interior intentions and external actions match up. The real challenge is to surrender to God’s action deep within us and allow that interiorization of our identity and relationship with God to e expressed in our actions. The dying and rising, the paschal mystery, urge that our interior and extetrior selves be thge same. Only when our actions witness to hearts turned toward God can we be “pure”. Conversion is not easy or swiftly achieved. The process does ensure us life in God and right relationships with each other.
Do You Want to Leave? The readings for today call for difficult decisions. The people at the time of Joshua had to decide which god they would worship—the god of their ancestors, who made great demands on them, or a new god, whose devotees enjoyed prosperity. Though many today are not happy with Paul’s descriptions of marital roles, what he was proposing was revolutionary for his day. If the patriarchal husband chose to love his wife as he loved himself, such love would go a long way in dismantling oppressive hierarchy. It is clear that Jesus was not the kind of messiah that many people chose to accept. Some of his disciples refused and returned home disappointed. These are all hard sayings; who can accept them? Making the decision for God is no easier today. Alternatives are often so much more appealing. In some situations we are attracted to success; we want to be like others; the religious values of the past seem outmoded. At other times, we prefer the status quo. We have always done it that way; if it worked, why ruffle the waters? And then there is the call to change our understanding of God, a call that might demand a significant change in our thinking and in the way we live and interact with others. All such decisions would be hard enough, if people were sure that they were deciding rightly; but that is not always the case. How could Joshua’s people or Paul’s Christians or Jesus’ followers be absolutely sure of their decisions? They had to trust in Joshua or Paul or Jesus. Ultimately, they were trusting that God would not lead them astray. And what of us? We must believe that our religious tradition can carry us into new situations, and that its values can continue to be vital despite the challenges we find there. At the same time, we must be willing to let go of practices that no longer serve people well, practices that we now realize diminish rather than enhance life. Just as Jesus risked losing his disciples and standing alone because he spoke radical words of life, so too we risk standing alone when we choose to follow Jesus, also speaking radical words of life. Choosing to stay with Jesus, then, moves us into the rhythm of death/life; when we choose to stay, we die to the old but at the same time we gain life. Finally, our understanding of God must grow and change, as we do. We get new insights, not only from teachers or preachers, but from life itself. We see genuine holiness in people of other faiths; we ourselves are willing to sacrifice for the sake of others; God no longer seems remote, or committed to only one people. These are hard sayings; who can accept them? Jesus asked, “Do you also want to leave?” Will we reply, “To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life”?
Remain In Me Have you ever wondered why a bride and groom cut the first slice of wedding cake and feed it to each other? What appears tobe a playful ritual at one time carried the symbolism of how they would feed each other by giving their bodies in love. Although so much of our eating today is on the run, we still have a strong sense within us that eating is an intimate act that binds people together. God desires an intimate relationship with us. In our Gospel today, Jesus offers himself as food so that eating his flesh and drinking his blood, we remain in him and have life through him. Such an intimate communion with Jesus cannot end in death but continues in eternal life. Only by communion with Jesus can we ever share in his life. We have no choice but to partake. Jesus does not mince words. Jesus says he gives his flesh to eat and his blood to drink. He promises eternal life to those who eat and drink. And he says that those who eat and drink would be intimately related to him. And he also says that all life is because of him. No, Jesus does not mince words. We who eat his flesh and drink his blood, who partake in the risen Lord, are to live his risen life to the fullest. Jesus is the source of our life at the same time, we can not forget that our communion with Jesus nourishes us to share that life with others. In this way we ourselves become bread for the life of others. We ourselves become the food upon which others draw their nourishment and strength, their hope and joy, their compassion and consolation. We ourselves become the bread of life for others. Our intimacy with Jesus calls us to the same intimacy with others.