You Are the Body of Christ Change is very difficult for most of us. even small interruptions in our daily routines can throw us off track! Sometimes the change affects everything about our daily living. The sisters living at our motherhouse know this to be true as they begin to reposition their living space, many are moving to temporary bedrooms throughout the house! But no change we humans can imagine or encounter equals the change proposed by Jesus in our Gospel today and implied by the celebration of this solemnity. Jesus invites us to a change that makes a difference in who we are. Real change means transformation of self. It means no longer clinging to who we are or acting as we wish but letting go. The real challenge of this solemnity is that we are invited to change. And what is at stake is life everlasting. The real change Jesus invites us to is in changing ourselves into who he is: living bread. We are called to be blessed, broken and given so others may become the Body of Christ. We who are baptized are the Body of Christ. The challenge of this solemnity is to change – to be transformed so that we can more readily embrace Jesus’ very identity. We are to be his life poured out in our everyday good living. We are to give our life unreservedly for others. This is the way to eternal life.
God Is One. Yet God Is Three. This Sunday is Trinity Sunday – the first Sunday after Pentecost a time of year that Popes and Bishops, Councils and Synods, have, for years thought it good and wise to remind the millions of seekers – the millions of faithful – for whom they care – that God is a mystery which is best understood in three ways as creator — or father; as redeemer — or son and as sustainer — or spirit. God is one. Yet God is three. God is here. Yet God is everywhere. God is mighty. Yet God is tender. God is just. Yet God has mercy. God is spirit. Yet God takes on flesh. God is in Christ. Christ is in Us. God is Spirit and the Spirit blows where it wills. Yet the Spirit abides in our hearts. God is one. Yet God is three. The Spirit of God, God the Spirit, is the one which guides us – the one which comforts us – the one that convicts us and conveys God’s mercy to us – the one who listens – and the one who speaks – and in speaking never asks of us that which is wrong – and never does through us – that which would bring shame to the name of God It is by the Spirit that our prayer is prayer to God and by the Spirit that our prayer is answered. God is one, yet God is three. God is a mystery — a mystery so big, so awesome, so holy that our limited minds can never grasp the wholeness of it but God has placed in us a capacity to appreciate the mystery that God is and to embrace that mystery . God has revealed God’s self , not just in the act of creation – in nature and its manifest goodness and beauty, – not just in the nudges and nods of the Spirit – in the prophet’s vision and the old man’s dreams, God has revealed God’s self in the one called Jesus the one called Christ – the one who was born by the Spirit and who worked all his works by the Spirit and who healed and forgave by the Spirit and in all that he spoke he spoke the word of God by the Spirit. In Christ, God reveals himself as the one who loves – and who does so in tangible, concrete, incarnate – in fleshed – ways. Grab hold of the mystery — appreciate it and embrace it: the mystery that not only is God one in three and three in one but the mystery that God loves you, the mystery that God cares for you, the mystery that God can and will, if you let him, use you to do great things that God can and will, if you are open to his bidding, use you to bring healing, and wholeness, and hope first to your homes, then to your neighbors and finally to the whole world through the gospel that we have received.
Receive the Holy Spirit Some of us can remember a time when locking doors was simply not something people did. neighborhoods were communities that looked out for each other. Strangers coming into the midst were noted. But beyond this there was a trust and companionship that marked the atmosphere and locking doors seemed unnecessary. Today our neighborhoods tend to be marked by fear. Fear has become a way of life for some of us. But fear is nothing new. In today’s gospel, we find the disciples in a locked room because they were afraid. Fear marks a serious breakdown in relationships. Forgiveness marks a serious attempt to rebuild relationships. It is no surprise, then, that Jesus bestows on this fearful group the gift of peace, the Holy Spirit, then sends them out on a mission of forgiveness. Twice Jesus says, “Peace be with you.” Peace is indicative of the presence of the Spirit in those whose lives are characterized by forgiveness. Peace is the way we witness to healed relationships within us and the larger community. This forgiveness is about building right relationships, about allowing the peace of Christ to replace fears that stifle our conbecting to one another. The risen Christ breathes into us the Spirit-this capacity to firgive-and sends us into the world to unleash this Spirit. Every day is a Pentecost.
Go Into the World It would have been easy for the disciples to assume that everything was over. The call, the commitment, the commission could have all ended on that fateful Friday, when the one to whom they had committed their lives was murdered. Even in the face of the resurrection, there did not have to be an understanding that what began three years earlier would continue. The trauma of the crucifixion of their teacher, friend, messiah had sent them scattering in fear and grief. And as much as Jesus had tried to prepare them, they really weren’t ready for life and work without him. It could have been over. But something happened after they received the testimony of the women. “He’s not dead. He’s alive!” they said. “Go and meet him in Galilee.” And when the disciples gathered at the Mountain of Galilee, the resurrected Christ, the living Lord, Jesus, met them there. God has a way of showing up and showing out in mountains. God met Moses at the back side of a mountain–Mt. Horeb–where God gave Moses the message and mission of liberation of his people. God met Moses at the back side of Mt. Horeb, where God revealed God’s self to him and God’s purpose for Moses’ life. God met Elijah at Mt. Carmel, where God declared once again that God was God, and God’s people believed, because God showed up and God showed out. Jesus took Peter, James, and John to the Mount of Transfiguration where once again they were given an epiphany, a glimpse of the eternity and glory of Jesus. Yes, there’s something special about God and mountains. Other Gospel writers did not necessarily mention a mountain. Mark and Luke had Jesus meeting the disciples around the dinner table. John had them locked up in a room and Jesus coming through the door, but Matthew, Matthew, the one who wrote to a people who understood the power of mountains, Matthew, the one who wanted to connect the Jesus of his day with the Hebrew scriptures, Matthew mentioned that the disciples met him at a mountain in Galilee. The Galilean mountain signified that something new and powerful was to be initiated. It’s not over. As Jesus greets them and they’re worshipping him and even in the midst of their worship, there is still some question, there is still some uncertainty, Jesus declares to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” Jesus commissions the disciples, he gives them their job description. He gives them their purpose. He gives them their mission statement. It was Jesus’ way of saying to the disciples, “It’s not over. Jesus commanded the disciples to move, to move beyond where they were standing. Don’t get stuck in where you’ve been. Don’t get stuck in where you think you are, but dare to move out! , “Go! Move from where you are. Go out and be about the business of making disciples.” But it’s not over. We have work to do. It’s not over. It’s not over! In a society in which healthy self-esteem is so difficult consider what Jesus does for us: he gives us the power to continue his work….It is not over!
How Much Do You Love Me? At first reading, the words of Jesus in this passage from John are not very inspiring. “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” It is that little word “if.” From our grandparents down to our grandchildren, we have all lived with or kept company with people who talk as though their love for us was conditional. “If you loved me, you would …” Fill in the blank. What is stunning about today’s gospel passage is that it seems to vary from the unconditional love Jesus has been demonstrating in every gospel reading we have had since Easter Sunday. In John 20, to the brokenhearted Mary Magdalene, Jesus simply spoke her name. In John’s “Shepherd Discourse,” like the sheep hearing his voice, Mary recognized him with joy. When the disciples were hiding behind locked doors in fear, Jesus simply stood there among them, sorrowful that they were unable to trust the good news brought to them by the women that morning, but not wasting any time with recriminations or scenes of righteous indignation. In the “Doubting Thomas” passage, Jesus never said anything along the lines of “If you’d really loved me you would know me without my having to get undressed and show you my scars.” On the road to Emmaus, Jesus, in the guise of a stranger, patiently did what he had so often done with his friends and disciples while walking along the road: he talked to them about the meanings of scripture. Keeping his disguise, he deliberately recreated a very particular memory for them while they were at table together: he took, blessed, broke, and shared bread. Once they recognized him, Jesus did not stay around to say, “Well it took you long enough.” He discretely vanished, leaving them to rejoice with one another. These post-Resurrection appearances strongly suggest that the risen Jesus loved his disciples unconditionally. Yet suddenly in today’s reading, going back to a time immediately before his arrest in Gethsemane, we have the big “if.” There may be absolute, unconditional love for us on God’s side of things, but on our side, Jesus poses a condition: if you love me, you will obey my commandments. The clue, of course, lies not so much in the “if” but in that word “obey.” We need to decide precisely what commandments John wants us to understand at this point. Are we to understand the whole tradition of commandments, from Sinai on down, or are we to infer the new commandment that Jesus handing over to his friends in John 13:34: “A new commandment I give you, that you love one another even as I have loved you”? It may be, of course, that the distinction is beside the point. Loving Jesus is simply a matter of being gentle and reverent toward others, having a clear conscience, doing good. In other words, love as Jesus loved; be self-giving as Jesus was, receive others as he did, do the Father’s will as he did. Most of all open ourselves to the Spirit who dwells within us. In the wonderful, treasured words of St. Paul, we may therefore be sure that nothing, “neither death nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come … will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus.”
Do Not Let Your Hearts Be Troubled What is a home? When you think of the word or image or idea of a home, what comes to mind? Some say home is where the heart is. Others say home is where you hang your hat. Robert Frost once wrote, “Home is the place, where when you have to go there, they have to take you in.” Somehow, someway, home has a special place in the human heart. It seems as though we are all longing for a place to call home. “To feel at home.” It’s a lovely phrase. It also expresses the deepest longings of the human heart. St. Augustine gave famous expression to this longing when he wrote of God, “You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in thee.” Somehow our restless hearts are always looking for a place to rest, a place to find true and abiding peace, a place to call home. In our gospel for today, we hear words that speak directly to the longing of the human heart for a home. Jesus says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may also be.” Jesus assures them that even though their relationship is changing, it is not ending. Even though he will no longer be with them in the flesh, they will remain connected. Jesus is going to prepare a place for them in his Father’s house, where they will remain united to him forever, “so that where I am, there you may be also.” Our true home is with God, in God’s heart. Our true home, ultimately, is not a place, but a relationship, a relationship in the very heart of God, made possible by Christ. Even now we can experience a foretaste of this eternal home. When we do the works that Christ commands us to do, when we love one another as Christ loved us and gave himself for us, then God’s love will dwell in us, then God’s love will make a home in us. When the brokenhearted are comforted, then God will make a home with us. When people lay down their lives for one another, then God will make a home with us. When all of God’s children are invited to God’s table to share in his body and blood, then God will make a home with us.
Hear His Voice-Follow Him Five year old Aaron was teaching Grandma how to use the radio in her new car and showing her what the other buttons meant. Then he said, “Grandma, you are missing buttons. You don’t have a GPS ones like on Dad’s car! How do you know where to go?” When they got home, Grandma turned to Aaron and showed him the new road atlas she had just purchased. Aaron was fascinated by the paper map and spent over an hour studying it and asking questions. He asked his Grandmother, “Is this newer than Dad’s GPS?” Our Gospel today point to another guide, one not new at all, but one that will never be outdated and will never mislead us! This guide is Jesus himself, the Good Shepherd. Jesus can only be our guiding Shepherd if we become familiar enough with his voice so that we can follow him. Following his voice is the only way to new and abundant life. In 1963 Pope Paul VI designated Good Shepherd Sunday as World Day of Prayer for Vocations. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, protects us as his flock and promises us the gift of eternal life. As followers of Jesus we are called to remain faithful to the grace of God. As we celebrate this feast we pray for fidelity to our vocation. The Church invites us to honor the vocation of all Christians given at baptism. May we who have dedicated our lives to God through the vocation of marriage, priesthood, diaconate, consecrated life, and the single life remain faithful to our commitments. May those who are discerning their life vocation listen to the voice of the Good Shepherd to guide them. And we pray: Gentle God, You call us by name and lead us to life. Through baptism you commission us to proclaim the Good News. Bless and strengthen all men and women, lay and ordained, who serve in the Church. Guide and give wisdom to those discerning their vocation. Enrich our Church with dedicated married and single people, with priests, religious and deacons. Filled with joy and your Holy Spirit may we follow Jesus, our Good Shepherd, now and always. Amen. © 2010NCCV www.nccv–vocations.org
World Day of Prayer for Vocations: Is God Calling You? Today, Good Shepherd Sunday, is a special celebration of our Christian vocation. The world–wide Church unites in prayer on this World Day of Prayer for Vocations. The Good Shepherd calls us and guides us on our Christian journey. By our baptism we are all called, chosen, and sent to carry on the mission of Jesus. In 1963 Pope Paul VI designated Good Shepherd Sunday as World Day of Prayer for Vocations. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, protects us as his flock and promises us the gift of eternal life. As followers of Jesus we are called to remain faithful to the grace of God. As we celebrate this feast we pray for fidelity to our vocation. The Church invites us to honor the vocation of all Christians given at baptism. May we who have dedicated our lives to God through the vocation of marriage, priesthood, the diaconate, consecrated life, and the single life remain faithful to our commitments. May those who are discerning their life vocation listen to the voice of the Good Shepherd to guide them. One of the things that Catholics believe is that God calls everyone to some vocation, some specific way of living out holiness. It could be as a married person, a single person, a priest or vowed religious (a nun). So the answer to the question is that God IS calling you. The next question one needs to answer is this: to what way of life is God calling you. Do you think God might be directing you to think about becoming a nun? if you have a burning passion for Gospel service, especially with the poor an ability to take initiative and generate change a spirit of flexible adaptation a concern for families Then, The Ursuline Sisters of Youngstown are who you want to meet. The Ursulines promise a prayerful, supportive community, centered in Christ, Scripture and Eucharist. We are willing to share our lives and our values with women who are interested in permanent, vowed community life or perhaps temporary commitment. Come and See For more information: call Sister Mary McCormick: 330.301.6891 or Email [email protected]
To Really Listen A little boy and his mother were in town for the day. They went into a restaurant for a snack. When the waiter came along the mother began to order but the waiter noticed that the little boy wanted to say something. “Let the little man tell us himself what he wants,” said the waiter. “I’ll have a ham-bur-ger,” said the little boy. When the waiter went off to get the order the little boy said, “you know, Mommy, that man thinks I’m real.” There is nothing more affirming than being heard. It is what gives one reality, a sense of who one is. There is nothing more painful than not being heard, not being understood, especially when one is trying to express one’s deep feelings or hurts or needs. Just imagine saying to somebody, “I am going in now to get the results of my tests. The doctor thinks I may have cancer,” and that other person replies, “I hope the corner shop is open, I would like to buy cigarettes.” The first time we hear of Jesus speaking we hear of his wisdom and of his listening ability. When Mary and Joseph found him in the temple he was “listening to them and asking them questions.” It was because he listened to them that the teachers heard him and were amazed by the wisdom of his answers. Again and again in his ministry, we see Jesus listening to others and allowing, or even encouraging them to express their pain and their need. Perhaps the greatest example of ministry through listening that Jesus gives us is when he joins the disciples on the road to Emmaus after he has risen from the dead. The disciples were dejected, walking away from Jerusalem, the place of their failure and broken dreams. So depressed are they that they do not even recognize Jesus when he joins them. He asks them why they are sad. They answered, “are you the only one who does not know what happened?” “What happened?” he asks. Then they told him their story. After listening to them he points out to them what the Scriptures say about the Messiah and how he was destined to suffer. Thus, they begin to see that another conclusion may be drawn from the facts. This is as it should be. Christ has indeed risen. The story of dejection becomes a story of hope. It was only when he had listened to them that they could hear him speak. The Emmaus story is a model for our life. It is a model of listening in which we have to be trained. We have to be able to listen to another without distraction, without judgment or condemnation, without worrying about what our response will be, without being defensive, without intrusion by our egos and our personal agendas, trusting that the Lord will give us the appropriate response when it is needed. And we also become more present to ourselves, to others and to God, and more available to be his instruments.
I Don’t Believe It! “You’re kidding!”, “I don’t believe it!”, “You’re pulling my leg!” With these and other expressions we exclaim our disbelief at something that has been said or reported to us as having been done. Thomas seems to be doing only the human thing when he asked for proof from the disciples who had claimed to have seen the Lord. He got more than he bargained for! Thomas refuses to believe that Jesus is alive without physical proof and Jesus is willing to accommodate. He returns and invites Thomas to see, touch and believe. We, like Thomas, need to encounter the risen Jesus in tangible ways. The risen Lord is relentless in bringing us to the same belief he coaxed out of Thomas. Today the “proof” comes in his being present to us and in his offer of peace. It comes to us through the community of believers who reinforce for each other that Jesus is indeed alive and among us because His Spirit is within us. Jesus is present in the stranger who reaches out to help us. Jesus is present in the person who recognizes in us and calls forth talent we didn’t know we had. Jesus is present when we listen to one another, when we forgive one another, when we encourage another. Through these acts what happened to Thomas happens for us today.
Christ Is Risen Alleluia! This morning is so full of images – the empty tomb – the voice of angels Mary’s encounter with Jesus – the promises made through the prophets coming true it is so rich – so full – so basic to who we are as an Easter People. Friday – sad Friday – the day we call Good Friday – is brushed aside in one glorious moment of realization one moment of startling fear and overwhelming joy – a moment of holy awe – as the significance of what is seen – and what is unseen comes crashing in. Jesus is Risen. Death could not hold him. And if it cannot hold him, it cannot hold us. All that Jesus said about life and death all that was understood only as idea -as a concept -as a vision is made real in that empty tomb and in that encounter in the garden. And we today share in it. We share in the promises made to the Children of Israel and to the entire world through the Prophets. We share in the promises made to the disciples and to all who listened to Jesus as he walked towards his death upon a cross. We share in it -for the word that he spoke to them -and to us — is made true and real by what we testify to this morn, it is made true by the resurrection. What is this Easter morn? It is God’s promise of a new day. It is God’s promise of a new life. It is God’s promise of a new world coming to pass in our midst. Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.
Good Friday- Above All They thought it was all over. Jesus’ disciples had followed him faithfully. They had given up everything and devoted their lives to His cause. They were expecting a revolution, the in-breaking of God’s Kingdom! What they got was a cross. What they got was the end of their dream. It didn’t matter who would be first and who would be last in the Kingdom now. Even Peter, the most passionate of Jesus’ followers, the one who had walked on water, denied that he ever knew Jesus. The book of Hebrews tells us that Jesus was able to endure the cross because of the joy set before Him. He knew that on the other side of that excruciating pain and humiliation, death would be defeated. The Kingdom of God would break through. It wouldn’t look like an earthly kingdom. It would be far, far better. On Friday, the disciples didn’t see what Jesus saw. They didn’t know that Sunday was coming. What a glorious surprise awaited them… On this Good Friday, remember the hope and expectations we have, knowing that it may only be Friday, but Sunday is coming! Have a great Easter!
Why Have You Abandoned Me? We cry this day, “Hosanna!”, but unlike the people of the city of Jerusalem of long ago, we need not ask, “who is this?” This is Jesus, the one who models for us the mystery of life: dying to self so that we may be exalted, raised to new life. This week we celebrate in pointed liturgies the meaning of our whole Christian living: dying to self so that God can raise us up too. This dying can be as simple as setting aside time to participate in all the Triduum liturgies or as demanding as to recognize what in our lives we still need to abandon to be exalted as daughters and sons of God living new life. Perhaps what we need to abandon is a habit of thinking of ourselves and our own needs first, ahead of others. Perhaps it means not making ourselves the center of attention. Perhaps what we need to abandon is a lot of clutter we’ve accumulated that can tend to take our minds off what is really important. Perhaps we need to abandon the frenetic pace of our lives and cut some things out so we can concentrate on our loved one more or help those in need. In all, what we give up, what we abandon, leads to a new lease on life. Most important, it leads to new and deeper relationships and richer experiences. With Jesus, we pray, “into your hands….”
For What Do You Thirst? A stranger approaches Jacob’s Well at high noon. He is tired and thirsty. There he meets a woman who has come to draw water. Something happens between them. . . . The original readers of the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman must have felt themselves on familiar ground. The scene and characters would have wakened resonances to another well-side story, a romance, lodged deep insider the community’s memory: In Genesis the sojourner Jacob comes to a well at “high day” where he beholds his kinswoman Rachel and, Genesis adds wryly, her father’s sheep. He waters the sheep. “Then Jacob kissed Rachel. and wept aloud.” Boy meets girl; boy kisses girl; boy and girl eventually (with a huge assist from Leah) create a family of tribes, the children of Israel, that’s the way a love story is supposed turn out. In John’s version, of course, the story takes a very different turn. From the first sharply spoken word, the conversation assumes the character of a confrontation. He is a teacher from above, brimming with heavenly wisdom; she is a woman of the world who by now has become hardened to the jokes in her village. Like Jesus, she too is thirsty, but thirsty for something she cannot name. What could these two have to say to one another? The story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman turns out to be a love story after all, for only one who loves you knows you as you are and not as you pretend to be. Only one who loves you knows your deepest desires. Only one who loves you can look at your past without blinking. Filled to the brim with new insight and life, the Samaritan woman runs to the townspeople to proclaim the identity of this amazing Man she encountered. We encounter and hear Jesus everyday in the goodness and honesty of others, through our Lenten practices that bring us closer to Jesus and each other as well as the truth about ourselves. Filled to the brim with new insight and life, we share in the very life of Jesus, proclaiming his presence by the very way we live.
Transfigured Before Them The story of the Transfiguration of Jesus in today’s gospel in one of the stranger stories in any of the Gospels. Jesus had a powerful “religious experience” at some point in his public life, an experience which had a profound effect on him and on the apostles who were with him. In the context of St. Matthew’s Gospel it becomes a turning point in Jesus’s life, an experience in which he saw that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer and die while he was there. Since Jesus was human he was fated to die just as all of us are fated to die. In his death, however, there would be something more. Since God was present in Jesus in a special way, God would also go down into the valley of death to show us how great was his love for us, to assure us that He would be with us at the time of our own deaths, and how all of us should face death. The manner of Jesus’s death was not fated. He could have declined to go to Jerusalem without sin. Yet he came to see that he had to go there and so he did. All lives, the great theologian Karl Rahner once said, are unfinished symphonies. Jesus surely had other dreams. Undoubtedly he wanted to persuade his people that God loved them even more than they imagined. Yet he came to see that his work would be during his life time an unfinished symphony and would be finished only long after his return to the Father in Heaven. There is an almost perfect parallel between that part of his story and the one in the film Mr. Holland’s Opus. It is also perhaps the story of all our unfinished symphonies: We don’t always do what we had wanted to do. But often what we do turns out to be even better. Lent calls us to recognize the glory God offers us now. Such glimpses of glory quicken our journey to Easter-a celebration of renewed life now and the promise of eternal glory.
God Alone Christians tell the same story over and over even though we know how it ends. We dread the execution even as we anticipate the resurrection. The wisdom of our tradition asserts that our path is not a line but a circle—or a spiral. As we turn from Epiphany to Lent we leave the joy and wonder of the incarnation, moving from revelation and recognition to the hard work of repentance. Forgetting that we were created for joy, many of us wrongly equate repentance with renouncing pleasure. We act as if our greatest sins were watching too much TV or eating too many chocolates. By “giving them up for Lent,” we continue to participate in the culture of consumption and individualism with a program of self-improvement. Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote, “Repentance is an absolute, spiritual decision made in truthfulness. Its motivations are remorse for the past and responsibility for the future.” Could this be so for us? On the surface, it might not look so different. We might still put down the chocolate bar and turn off the television, but we might also talk about our cultural addiction to spectacle, or forced child labor in the chocolate industry. Lent might look different if together we supported and created alternative media. And, rather than trading our sodas for bottled water, we stood with indigenous women defending their sacred waters. The purpose of our fasting during Lent is to lead us, like Jesus, to hunger only for God and, like Jesus to choose to serve God alone.
The Bedrock of Our Life Growing up on Lake Erie, one of our favorite past times was building sand castles on hundreds of yards of sand. When I think of sand castles at their best, I think of the sand castle building events each summer down at the beach where sand castle building enthusiasts were given a plot of sand, about thirty feet by thirty feet, and with their team of ten people, they created exotic sand castles and sand dragons and sand animals. And we the public walked through this myriad of sand sculptures, all glorious in their detail, like in a wonderland of sand fantasies, and we marveled as we walked from one creation to another. And before you knew it, within six hours, the tide came in and wiped it all away, so hardly a trace of the artistic beauty remained and with a few tides coming and going, there is not a single trace of the sand castles and sand dragons. And this whole process becomes a metaphor about life. In our Gospel today, Jesus tells a parable about a wise man building his house on rock. Neither rain, wind nor tide could topple the house. It remained solid, stable. livable. The parable is really about our true home [the kingdom of heaven] and how we ensure that we enter ino and remain in this home by doing more than just simply listening to Jesus’ words. Jesus’ words must become our words; his deeds our deeds. It is a matter of encountering Jesus so that his words are internalized as a deeper relationship with him. The listening is conforming ourselves to Christ. The bedrock of our life is doing God’s will revealed to us through Jesus’ words. Surely this word is enough for us.
What Kind of Sacrifice Does the Lord Have in Mind for Us? Saint Angela invited her daughters to place themselves at the foot of the cross. As we prepare to celebrate the season of Lent, I ponder her words. Jesus did the unthinkable! He wedded authority with selfless service and with loving sacrifice. Authority without sacrificial love is brutish and self-serving. Jesus also used stark language to explain what kind of sacrifice he had in mind. It was a bitter one involving crucifixion. What kind of sacrifice does the Lord have in mind for us? For some such a sacrifice entails physical suffering and the painful struggle of martyrdom. But for many, it entails the long routine of the Christian life, with all its daily sacrifices, disappointments, set-backs, struggles, and temptations. We strive to be ready to lay down our life each and every day in the little and big sacrifices required. An early church father summed up Jesus’ teaching with the expression: to serve is to reign with Christ. We share in God’s reign by laying down our lives in humble service as Jesus did for our sake. Are you willing to lay down your life and to serve others as Jesus did? Are you ready to place yourself at the feet of Christ crucified?
Priorities! Priorities! My friends tell me that I am a blue ribbon, world class worrier! As this worrier, I try my best to serve God and the world every day. When discussing this fact of a first class worrier, a friend of mine reminded me of this Arab proverb: “Trust in God, but tie up your camel!” I know God will take care of me and always has. And I suspect that I have to be a good steward of my resources and decisions. So I pray and I fret about the fine print in all life’s events! I believe God is in details – and so are the demons if I am not careful! Does trusting God really mean throwing caution to the wind and acting like there is no tomorrow? In our Gospel, we are told that devil-may-care abandon is actually not of divine origin. At the same time, Jesus says focusing all our energy on chasing after our daily bread leads us to forget that it is also given to us, not just earned. At the bottom line we do have to choose between God and mammon. It may come to this – unting the camel and letting go! In your prayer today – how many camels do you have on a leash that prevent you from trusting God?
Be Holy as God is Holy Living with perfectionists can drive us crazy! Not only are they hard on themselves, they are also hard on everyone around them! We tend to avoid perfectionists and perfectionism. When I read our Gospel today and heard Jesus say, “Be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect”, I immediately changed perfect from an adjective to a verb! That is, I see “perfect” as a journey to be “holy as God is holy”. The Gospel challenges us to go about living with a greater purpose! Jesus offers us a model for going the extra mile. Jesus looked at the Romans and saw not enemies, but children of God. He saw lepers not as outcasts but as deserving compassion and care. He handed over not his cloak but his very life! In all of these and other ways, Jesus made visible the holiness of God. If we live by the Gospel, we are called to radically readjust how we live. We are called not to be limited in our loving, in our responding to the needs of those around us. The poor, the sick, the needy, the disenfranchised, family members, coworkers, all cry out to us for our love and care. This is how we respond to Jesus’ command to “be perfect”.
You Have Heard…But I Say to You It’s mid-February and in many places mid-winter “blahs” have set in. Nights are long and cold, and the length of days that the brighter time offers may feel far off. In this Epiphany season, it is Jesus who shows us the brighter path to walk. It is Jesus who shows us life Today’s Gospel from Matthew is one of the most intense accounts of the way Jesus changed things. “You have heard it said” he begins each part of his teaching and then goes on to say, “But I say to you.” He does what he said he would do–not abolishing the laws of God–but fulfilling them. He never says, “You have heard it said ‘You shall not kill’ but I say it’s okay.” On the contrary, Jesus’ teaching requires more–don’t be angry or name-call. Rather Jesus challenges us to go beyond the face of the law to redefine the way we live and relate to God and each other. In fact, Jesus says, if you are going to offer your gift at the altar and remember that your brother has anything against you, leave the gift and go be reconciled. The examples Jesus gives us illustrate ways to open ourselves up to act toward others in the gracious ways God acts toward us. Which of Jesus’ teachings in today’s Gospel do you find most difficult? It is a great compliment to be called “a person of his/her word.” Who would you name as such a person? What “yes” that God asks is most challenging for you? What “no” that God asks is easiest for you?
You Are the Light of the World When the well known humorist Erma Bombeck took a university writing course as a young student, one of her assignments was returned to her with a simple but powerful note, ‘You can write!” That comment launched her successful writing career. How often our latent talents are unleashed because of the encouragement of someone else who sees in us what we do not recognize! In the gospel today, Jesus uses the examples of salt and light to help us understand who we are. We are salt-we enhance others. We are light-we shine for others. Yet, who we are as disciples only finds its deepest meaning in our relationship with God and others. Just as salt and light are no good in and of themselves, so the good that we do is measured in our relationships with others. Our discipleship is for the sake of others.
Kingdom People Today, Jesus begins the series of teachings that we call the “Sermon on the Mount”. The Beatitudes – as this part is called – set out the qualities of someone who lives in the Kingdom. A Kingdom-dweller doesn’t belong to one category – rather he or she belongs to all of them. They are poor in spirit – gentle – at times mourning – they hunger and thirst for what is right – they are merciful – and seekers after peace. Where the Ten Commandments offer clear guidelines for behavior – what is and what is not allowed – the Beatitudes speak more of an inner disposition. For the one who loves God, the desire is always to live in a way that maintains the harmony and communion of their relationship. It begins to sound idyllic – and, as the poetry and rhythm of beautiful images of Kingdom living and the fruits it bears flow into our heads – we can find ourselves lulled into a sense of security that this is how life is going to be. But there is a sting in the tale. Jesus – as we have seen before – is a realist. He knows that the world is not yet ready for people who live according to Kingdom principles. He knows that all too often those who hunger and thirst for what is right will be disappointed – those who are gentle will be exploited – those who are merciful cannot expect mercy to be shown them – and those who mourn often have very good reason to – and cannot expect comfort. And so He concludes with words that seem hard – but are realistic – and, in fact, are a source of strength and comfort. Jesus is pointing out a simple truth – one that His own life – and death bore testimony to…The world cannot handle Kingdom people. But He reassures His listeners – and us: even when the world hates you for living as a Kingdom person – or ridicules you – or exploits you – even then, remember that you are blest by God. Those are the very times when you can be most sure that you are living according to the values of heaven and bringing them into the world.
Come After Me I decided this week to begin cleaning the cupboards in my bedroom, one at a time! And treasures are found. What I noticed is that I collect candles – in all shapes, sizes and fragrances. Some I have used on our dinner table when guests have been invited to dinner. They lend a pleasant glow to the atmosphere. Some I have used in an emergency. When the electricity has gone out and I light one single candle, the light from that candle makes all the difference in the world! In our Gospel today, Jesus goes to a Gentile region which the Jewish community considered to be in darkness. It is as though Jesus goes to a land of darkness so the light of his Good News won’t be missed. It is here, in this region of darkness that Jesus begins his saving work. As Jesus begins his mission, he offers two commands: “Repent” and “Come after me.” Two invitations to walk into the light, revealing God’s Kingdom at hand. The “kingdom is at hand” when we turn from darkness and become Christ’s light for others. Just as one candle can dispel the darkness, so can the little light each of us is dispel the darkness of indifference, confusion, selfishness and greed tgat surrounds us. All we need to do is repent and follow.
Behold the Lamb of God When members of my family introduce someone, they always give that person an automatic promotion. If she’s a doctor, they will exaggerate, introducing her as a brilliant surgeon. A teacher’s aide becomes a full professor. I am told that I do the same thing. I still turn an ordinary singer into a brilliant musician, a plain-looking person into a great beauty. When I’m talking about a dog, a mutt becomes a golden retriever who can juggle. In my family, we see life as a series of grand stories that simply must be populated with larger-than-life characters. The problem is that we can get it wrong, and lose the essence of who a person is. For instance, when a labor union organizer is introduced as the head of a corporation’s labor relations department, he has switched sides. If someone is called the perfect mother, she loses the right to tear her hair out when the baby throws raspberry yogurt across the room. In our grand descriptions, however generously offered, we may strip our characters of the right to be who they really are. We are told that when John the Baptist saw Jesus coming, he declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” Talk about a grand introduction! What could Jesus have felt in that moment? Did he want to say, “Stop. I’m not all that”? Or was he comfortable with the introduction? What John recognized about Jesus was surely something exciting and new. This One is the Lamb of God and the Son of God who will take away sin and baptize with the Holy Spirit. We can recognize him if we actively watch for him. We are able to see Jesus when we put on the mind of Christ. Our active watching is really living as Jesus did: when we see the face of Jesus in the poor and needy; when we reach out a helping hand to those overburdened, when we encourage the discouraged. This is how we remain faithful to the mission God gave us. All this is possible because the Spirit descends upon us too.
Feast of the Holy Family Seating around the family dinner table is very interesting! 52 years ago we moved into a home my father and his brothers built and we had our places at the table. Today, we still want to sit next to each other in those same places! “Sitting next to” is an expression of a loving relationship and trust is forged! At first glance, today’s feast may seem a bit confusing. How can this family be a model when they were so obviously graced by God? If we read the Gospel, we see that this family had its share of distress and peril too. Joseph was challenged to hear God’s voice, perceive the danger and act to protect Mary and Jesus. In this is holiness: listening to God’s voice, heeding whatever God asks and acting faithfully for the good and well-being of others. What are some of the signals God sends us to which we must respond? The signals are there and like Joseph, we must be alert and responsive.
A Christmas Prayer Day-breaking God, we come to meet you this morning. We come as the mighty and the lowly, threadbare shepherds just in from the fields, stately magi come on a caravan. We gather together around a baby in a manger in a stable behind a small town inn. We gaze together upon a newborn infant fidgeting in sleep. We hear the soothing hum of a mother, the stalwart silence of a father, the rustle of hay and the footfall of the cattle and the donkey, the occasional flurry of wings in the rafters, the almost silent padding of a cat on the floor, the shifting weight of all of us gathered, watching. What are you dreaming as you squirm in sleep? What world of possibility inhabits your dreams? Are you dreaming a future for us? Are you dreaming endless peace for a war-torn world? Are you dreaming earth restored to balance? Are you dreaming a banquet for the hungry? Are you dreaming healing for our illnesses and relief for our pain? Are you dreaming dignity for the devalued? Are you dreaming work for the unemployed? Are you dreaming restored life for the addicted? Are you dreaming calm for the anxious? Are you dreaming restoration for broken relationships? Are you dreaming a world of love and respect, communication and forgiveness? Are you dreaming a world of song and dance, art and color, poetry and mystery, delight and awe? What beautiful new world are you dreaming for us? Is it the world in which you want to grow? Now your eyes flicker and open. Morning is upon us. Day-breaking God, God of the awakened infant. What dreams linger as you open your eyes from sleep? We meet you in these wide-open still-focusing infant eyes. We look into your eyes. You look back at us. What do you see? Do you see your dreams? Do you see the world in us waiting to be? Do you see deep into us and meet your own reflection as the morning star rising, bright day breaking in our souls? Peer into us with your infant eyes and let your day break in us. Let healing dawn in our wounds. Let comfort dawn in our afflictions. Let honesty dawn in our half-truths. Let forgiveness dawn in our bitterness. Let compassion dawn in our indifference. Let joy dawn in our sorrows. Let courage dawn in our fears. Let hope dawn in our despair. Let dawn break as the song of the angels bursting forth to sing in our hearts. Day-breaking God, peer into us with your infant eyes and let your day break in us. Let us know your awesome power rising within us and among us to create the world of your dreams. Day-breaking God, dawning as infant eyes blinking open in a dimlit stable, what infinity stretches between our eyes and yours, what wonder, what hope? In our gathering around you here may we welcome all wonders in one sight and dream with you, the wonders yet to be. Amen. Dr. Susan M. (Elli) Elliott December 26, 2004, December 25, 2005