Learning From The Master So here again in our Gospel today, we have yet another teaching about the temptation to serve wealth rather than God. There is a rich man who is portrayed as the type who likes to parade his wealth around before others. I picture Michael Cain as he appeared in the movie Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, but you can pick your own image to hold in your mind as you imagine this story on the Big Screen. Since he wore purple, this man may have been some sort of noble or held an office. He lives in a gated community in Jerusalem’s most prestigious suburb and he loves to host big, fancy parties. Playing opposite the role of Michael Cain as the rich man is Nick Nolte as Lazarus. He is broken in body, mind, and spirit, and has to fight the dogs off for the bread that the rich man throws out. Those same dogs lick his sores. Both of our characters die. Lazarus lands a place in the heavenly realm next door to Father Abraham (brilliantly portrayed by James Earl Jones), and within eye shot of Michael Cain, who has unfortunately suffered a role reversal in the afterlife and taken the place of Lazarus outside the security gates. In the climactic moment, Michael Cain falls down on the ground before James Earl Jones and begs him for water while ignoring the presence of Nick Nolte. I can just hear James Earl Jones at this moment intoning from a distance, “Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.” The great divide between the rich and the poor that existed on earth apparently continues in heaven. The story does not conclude with a happy ending. Even though the rich man is finally able to look beyond his own self-centeredness for just long enough to make a plea for his brothers, Abraham does not offer much in the way of encouragement about their fate. Just like the rich man, if his brothers cannot reach past the cultural norms and heed to the calls to justice made by Moses and the prophets, they have sealed their futures. Nothing can help them now. It is a tough story to hear, even with great actors playing all the lead roles. Most people avoid seeing movies that don’t have a happy ending, and this one just doesn’t. If Hollywood decides to film this thing, I have a feeling it will not be a box-office smash. There is just no way to soften the blow here. “The ever-widening gap between the rich and the poor is one of the most important issues of our day. The intrepid “moral of the story” expressed in this parable is that if you do not cross the chasm between the rich and the poor in this life, you surely will not be able to do it in the next. As followers of Jesus Christ, we simply cannot ignore the gospel mandate to end the economic disparities that exist in this world. Can we preach this? Maybe not the first year in an economically affluent community, but at some point this message needs to be boldly preached, not just as a word of hope for those who are suffering now, but also as a very clear word of caution for those who would take even an economically modest lifestyle for granted — ESPECIALLY those who would take an economically modest lifestyle for granted. There can be no great chasms between us. Adapted from Renew International: Prayer Time Cycle C https://youtu.be/ToddeYDefSE
Twenty-Fifth Sunday In Ordinary Time Today’s Gospel puts to us a familiar and basic question: Whom do we serve? We have heard all our lives that we “cannot serve both God and mammon.” This is such a common gospel saying; we are very familiar with it. We interpret the “mammon” as money, wealth, possessions. The basic question nudges us to think of serving “mammon” in another way, in terms of serving self. We are our own greatest wealth, our greatest possession. But even we ourselves can get in the way of Gospel living. The challenge is to pay attention to how we are living and sincerely ask the basic question, Whom do we serve? Our answer might surprise us at times. The wily steward is clearly self-serving and decisive in doing what he thinks necessary for his own immediate well-being. But by acting in this way, he risks squandering his eternal well-being (“eternal dwellings”). To secure this, he needed to choose to serve God rather than self. Serving self keeps us mired in our immediate concerns, wants, needs. Serving God frees us to be decisive in doing what is necessary to secure the best for both this life and the next. The irony is that had the wily steward chosen to serve God and God alone, he would have, in fact, chosen to serve himself in the best way possible. By serving God and God alone he would have secured the only future worth having—eternal Life. So, the question for us remains, Whom do we serve? It is a critical and ongoing question for us. [Living Liturgy, 2013] When it comes to paschal mystery living, we often squander opportunities to gain “true wealth.” The thrust of the gospel is that we act prudently in this life in order to “be welcomed into eternal dwellings.” Prudence demands that we not squander opportunities to be charitable and just toward others. Prudence demands that we not squander opportunities to die to self. Prudence demands that we not squander opportunities to be trustworthy with the ministry of discipleship which we take on each time we say yes to our baptismal commitment Most of us are serious about our paschal mystery living. We honestly try to live good lives. When opportunities present themselves to act in a Christian way, most of us respond appropriately most of the time. This gospel challenges us to take this one step further. Paschal mystery living isn’t simply a matter of surrendering to the self-sacrificing possibilities that come our way simply in the normal course of daily living. With an eye to the future, we must also surrender ourselves to actually searching out opportunities to live the paschal mystery. There is such an urgency about discipleship and proclaiming the Good News of salvation that we cannot be passive in any way. Ultimately, any kind of passivity is self serving. This gospel calls us to be God-serving. Only by serving God do we gain everything for this life, and assure our place in “eternal dwellings.” Adapted Renew International PrayerTime Cycle C
Twenty-Third Sunday In Ordinary Time We are always told to read the fine print before signing a contract. We want no surprises. We want to make sure that all parties of the contract receive their agreed share. As much as possible we want to be assured that the cost of whatever we are signing—whether in money, time, or work—is worth every ounce of ourselves we put into fulfilling the contract. This Sunday’s gospel begins with the statement that “great crowds were traveling with Jesus.” Interesting: they didn’t know the fine print yet! Jesus bluntly challenges the crowd to take up the demands of discipleship with eyes wide open. He clearly spells out the fine print in large, large letters: disciples must put Jesus ahead of their families and even their own lives, carry their cross, and renounce all they have. Discipleship is total and unconditional. By the time Jesus arrives in Jerusalem, is tried and condemned, is nailed to the cross, the crowd had diminished greatly. Few were left. Most of his disciples abandoned him. The people turned on him. Fine print can be costly. [Living Liturgy 2013] Jesus intends no surprises for those who choose discipleship. Here’s the fine print: we have to die if we wish to follow Jesus. The cost of discipleship seems disproportionately high compared to anything we could want or value as humans. This doesn’t seem like a very fair or advantageous contract. And this is the point: following Jesus to Jerusalem leads us beyond human calculations, beyond a signed deal. Following Jesus leads to death, to be sure, but to a death that grants us a share in God’s very Life, an outcome worth any price. Jesus forewarns the “great crowds” traveling with him that they must “calculate the cost” and the risk of journeying with him to Jerusalem. Even family relationships cannot come before the demands of following him. However, we really cannot calculate the cost of discipleship. Yes, we must follow Jesus with eyes wide open. We must read the fine print of the cost of following him. The cost of discipleship? Everything we have and are. The reward of discipleship? Everything God has and is. The amazing thing is that we know the cost of discipleship, yet we spend our whole lives trying to figure it out! Or trying to avoid expending the cost. There is no easy road for disciples. We must follow Jesus wherever he leads. We know that we must hand our lives over to Jesus. At the same time, we know we are not traveling this journey alone. Faced with calculating the cost of discipleship, do we choose to be part of Jesus’ faithful companions on the journey, or do we choose to become drifters? We are Jesus’ faithful companions when, for example, we take the necessary steps to forgive someone who has seriously hurt us or stay the course of living with less so those with little can have what they need. We drift away from Jesus when, for example, we follow the path of least resistance in face of an unjust situation or we insist on our own way despite the needs of others in our family or workplace. The cost of discipleship is this choice: to be Jesus’ companions—or drifter. That’s fine print we are pleased to read! Adapted from Renew International Prayer Time Cycle C
Friend, We Have A Better Place For You! Jesus often had confrontations with some of the religious leaders about meals or the Sabbath. He was sure to be tested in the circumstances of today’s Gospel since he was eating a meal with the religious leaders on the Sabbath! At the meal, Jesus noticed that the guests hurried to recline at the place of honor. He taught them that when they were invited to a wedding feast, they should sit at the lowest place. If they sat at the highest place and someone higher than they came in, their host would approach the lower guest and ask him to move down. This, of course, would be a source of humiliation. Instead, if the guest took the lower seat, the host would come to him as a friend and invite him to take a higher seat. Then, all would look on this person with great admiration. Jesus also advised them on giving a dinner. Instead of inviting close friends and relatives and all the people who might repay the invitation, Jesus encouraged his listeners to invite those who could never reciprocate. Jesus explained that by doing this the host’s place would be insured at the heavenly banquet. At Jesus’ “wedding banquet” all who hear and heed Jesus’ admonition to humility, inclusivity, and generosity sit in the one “place of honor.” There is one “place of honor” because we are all one Body in Christ. There needs to be only one place near our Host, symbolizing our unity and strength in his one Body. Further, we can never exhaust the gift of this “place of honor.” It is a share in the very Life and ministry of our Host. This “place of honor,” therefore, is not a limited space, a single seat, a physical arrangement of host and guests one to another. It is a spacious relationship of all of us to the risen Jesus that is a share in his divine Life. This “place of honor” is given to “the righteous,” all of us who have chosen to live and act as Jesus the Host. How blessed are we! [Benzinger, Lectionary Resources] To be invited to the one “place of honor” means that we must let go of anything that limits our relationship to our Host and to each other. If we wish God to raise us up (“repaid at the resurrection of the righteous”), then we must live our lives raising others up. We must build strong relationships of unity. We must forget about seeking our own paltry honor and instead give ourselves over to the “place of honor” to which our Host invites us. Each Sunday we are invited to God’s banquet table. We ourselves are nourished at the same time that we are called to share the abundance of God’s Life by reaching out to others in need. We eat and drink in order to be gracious to others. This is the most profound blessedness! Adapted from Renew International Prayer Time Cycle C
The Narrow Gate At first reading, this Gospel passage is missing some of the hopeful words we read elsewhere about God’s love for us and all of creation spending eternity in the Kingdom. In this Gospel we read that the door is narrow, that not many people will get through it, and once it’s shut, there’s no opening it again. One way that scholars interpret this passage is that it was geared for the religious leaders of Jesus’ time. They were fairly confident that they were among God’s chosen people and just because of who they were, they were automatically entitled to enter the Kingdom of God. Jesus came to be sure all people had a chance to enter the door of heaven. Many other people, according to Jesus, would enter before the arrogant leaders. We all claim to know Jesus; after all, we are for the most part faithful churchgoers who weekly eat and drink in his company. This gospel warns us that this isn’t enough. There is an urgency about our paschal mystery living; we don’t have forever to make up our minds to respond to God’s offer of salvation. Each day we must take up our own cross, die to self, and live for the sake of others. This is how we enter through the narrow gate and how we get to know Jesus intimately enough to receive salvation: we must live and act like Jesus. Becoming least is a metaphor for dying to self; this is what Jesus asks: that the first become the last. What limits the scope of salvation is not God’s reach but our weak response. We must beg God for the strength to respond fully. Our strength comes from God. Adapted from Renew International Prayer Time Year C
Be Who God Dreams You To Be In today’s gospel Jesus exclaims, “I have come to set the earth on fire, / and how I wish it were already blazing!” We see fire in so many of the signs and symbols of our church: the candles that we light at the altar and ambo, the sanctuary lamp lit whenever Jesus is present in the tabernacle, the Easter fire that lights the paschal candle, which in turn lights our own individual candles and the candle of each newly baptized member of our church. Flame marks all of the significant moments in our life of faith, and often the everyday moments too, as we light a candle to pray at home, to enjoy a family meal, or to blow out on a birthday cake. And this makes sense. Jesus tells us in John’s gospel, “I am the light of the world” (8:12; NABRE), and in Matthew’s gospel he commissions us to act as people of flame, saying: “You are the light of the world” (5:14; NABRE). Why does Jesus use fire imagery so much? What does fire do? Fire transforms: what is cold becomes hot, what is hard becomes soft, what is dirty is purified, what is hidden in darkness becomes illuminated for all to see. In Jesus’ life we see these moments of transformation taking place as he ministers to the people he meets on the dusty roads of ancient Israel. And now it is our turn. We are called into this mission of Jesus to set the world on fire. But how? At World Youth Day 2000, Pope John Paul II paraphrased a famous quote of St. Catherine of Siena, “If you are what you should be, you will set the whole world ablaze!” Nothing more, nothing less: Be who God dreams you to be! Paraphrased PrayerTime Cycle C Renew International
Be Vigilant Jesus told the disciples not to be afraid, but rather to get sturdy purses to hold all they will receive from God. If they served God, their reward would be great—but it would not be the reward of worldly wealth. In the second part of the Gospel, Jesus preached the message of watchfulness and being ready for his return. In a servant explanation of his point, Jesus told them that God would be so happy to see them at the banquet that God would put on an apron and cook a meal for them. This is similar to the message Jesus gave the disciples at the Last Supper when he washed their feet in service. When the third millennium arrived, many people worried that the world would end. We all read accounts of predictions citing signs and scripture. Mostly the mood was one of fear and anxiety. Today’s Gospel assures us that we have nothing to fear. Our only responsibility is to be ready for Jesus’ return. We also hear that we have been entrusted with this Good News. So now what do we do with it? Most likely we know we are basically good people, good parents, and good disciples. But is there something more we can do, or does some part of our responsibility need attention? During these summer days, we might quietly reflect on how we view the end times and check our readiness. How are we doing with the Good News we’ve been given? [Living Liturgy 2016] The final line of this gospel is most demanding and directly applicable to our daily paschal mystery living: “Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.” We’ve been entrusted with much: furthering Jesus’ mission of bringing the Good News of salvation to all as his disciples. We have been entrusted with even more: we are not simply servants, but because of our baptism and being plunged into the paschal mystery we become members of the Body of Christ. We followers of Jesus are most vigilant for the master, that is, Jesus himself, when we are being who the Master is because his Life has been given to us. We are to be the presence of the Master himself, continuing his gracious ministry on behalf of others. Our faithfulness is measured by even more than doing God’s will; it is measured by our being the presence of the risen Christ for all those we meet. Any doing must flow from our being. Only then do we truly continue Jesus’ ministry. The real surprise of the gospel is that we ourselves, in our daily paschal mystery living of dying to ourselves for the sake of others, become more perfectly that presence of the very Master for whom we are vigilant. In a sense our vigilance is less about looking for Someone and more about being Someone. Our vigilance is for our own faithfulness. If we are preoccupied by possessions, schedules, work, sports, entertainment, and so forth, our hearts are already filled with exhaustible, insecure, and corruptible matters. The challenge of this gospel is to redirect our hearts to what is our true treasure, Jesus, and then be faithful disciples. The gift is great. Our Treasure is Jesus. Adapted from Renew International PRAYER TIME Cycle C
Where Is Our Treasure? Today’s gospel challenges us to consider one central question, what (or where) is our treasure? For the rich man in the parable the answer is obvious. His treasure is the stability provided by a bounteous harvest. He even builds a storehouse for this treasure (new and larger barns), and once it is safely tucked away tells himself, “Now as for you, / you have so many good things stored up for many years, / rest, eat, drink, be merry!” The stability he thinks he has found is an illusion, however, because life is fragile and uncertain. It is natural for human beings to seek stability and control. We want to know that we have enough to provide for our needs and the needs of our families. But at what point do we begin to place all of our faith and hope in material goods, instead of in God, the only true constant in life? And when can we truly say, enough is enough? Greed is a sickness of the spirit that constantly goads us to acquire more and more. The things we seek will never fill the deepest longings of our hearts, and, as long as wealth or power, fame, or beauty is our aim, we will never be satisfied. Adapted from Prayer Time C Renew International Jesus offers us another way. A few verses after this gospel reading he tells the disciples to focus on the “inexhaustible treasure in heaven that no thief can reach nor moth destroy. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be” (12:33-34; NABRE). Where do you store your treasure? Where do you keep your heart?
Teach Us To Pray In an early church writing called the Didache (The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles; probably second century), we have the first “commandment” about prayer: to pray the Our Father “as the Lord bid us in his gospel . . . pray in this way three times a day” (8:2, 3). The Didache doesn’t say when the three times a day are to be, but presumably at traditional prayer times: upon rising, at midday, upon retiring. This prayer has been in the hearts of Christians since the early disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray. He gave them words. But he also gave them much more. Jesus, in this gospel, gives us a way to address God (as “Father”), how we ought to pray (with perseverance), and why we pray (because God gives us all “good gifts”). Jesus teaches us that prayer is and must be from oneself, very personal. Prayer is a gift of self. Jesus’ disciples want him to teach them to pray “just as John taught his disciples.” Jesus couldn’t teach them the prayer of John, however, because he was not John. He was himself, and would teach a prayer that is the very gift of himself to us. Jesus’ prayer to his Father flows from who he is—the One who praises, intercedes, forgives, reconciles, and protects. In this he gives us a pattern for our prayer, even if we do not use these very words. Our prayer flows from our physical needs, our emotional attachments and relationships, our spiritual desires. In the end, however, Jesus’ prayer is for his Father to “give the Holy Spirit.” Then, no request is too great, no seeking is unrewarded, no door is locked. The Holy Spirit transforms our prayer— and us—into turning ourselves toward God, into allowing the prayer to change us into those who seek only what God desires for us. This gospel challenges us to go beyond specific needs and get to the larger picture: a focus on the gifts God offers us always in prayer, and often in surprising and unexpected ways. What inspires confidence in us is not whether God gives us what we specifically ask for in prayer; our confidence comes from the Spirit who dwells within and establishes a most intimate relationship between God and us—shared Life. Unlike small children who seem to have a capacity to stay endlessly with some tasks, most of us need to develop a habit of daily prayer. With such busy schedules, this can be difficult. Choosing a specific time and being persistent about honoring that time for prayer helps. Adapted from Renew International Prayer Time Cycle C Music for reflection
Need of One Thing Only Attentiveness can be challenging sometimes. As an older sister trying to finish a term paper my little sister kept pestering me to play. Or I am out to dinner with friends trying to catch up on news and one keeps answering her cell phone. The dog keeps barking to be let out while my brother-in-law is playing solitaire games on his tablet. To be attentive—especially to be attentive to another person—means that we focus, that we eliminate distractions, that we allow one thing to command our full attention. This Sunday’s Gospel is about attentiveness. Martha is attentive about getting food prepared and serving; Mary is attentive about listening to her Guest. Both are doing good things. However, one is choosing the “better part.” Jesus tells Martha in this gospel that there “is need of only one thing.” What is it? On the surface, the answer would seem to be “listening to him speak,” as Mary is doing. Even this is not enough, however. We must also heed how Jesus judges Martha: “you are anxious and worried about many things.” The “one thing” is to be single-minded, single-hearted, open-minded, open-hearted. The “one thing” is to surrender ourselves to Jesus’ Presence, whether sitting or standing, resting or working, receiving or giving. [Living Liturgy 2013] The gospel is about hosts and guest and hospitality, but Jesus puts an unparalleled twist on the notion of hospitality. Martha’s “hospitality” was made edgy because of her becoming burdened with the cooking and serving and only focusing on that, losing sight of Jesus. Martha settles for being only a servant (and complaining about it at that!) while Jesus is looking for disciples. Mary’s hospitality was more gracious than Martha’s because she focused her attention on Jesus: “sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him.” The surprise is that Jesus affirms that the “better part” is to be attentive to his Presence. The “better part” is to be a disciple, attuned to the Master! There are many ways that Jesus is present to us if we take the time to be attentive to his Presence. We usually address living the paschal mystery in terms of how we die to ourselves in our everyday living. This gospel suggests a radically different—and complementary—way of living the paschal mystery: being attentive to Jesus’ abiding Presence! Adapted from Renew International Prayer Time Cycle C
Who Is My Neighbor? There is an isolated spot on a dangerous road in the Middle East known as “The Bloody Pass.” The road, at the time of this event, was more of a narrow path — a twisting, turning path with cliffs and caves on either side — lots of places for thugs to hide. This particular place, “The Bloody Pass,” got its name because of the violence that commonly occurred there. Unfortunately, one poor man happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. He was attacked by bandits and left half-dead, tossed to the side of the road. He was bleeding and certainly would die without help. The bandits even took his clothes. Recognize this story? It’s one of Jesus’ most well-known parables — the Good Samaritan. In fact, most of us have heard it so many times that we tend to gloss over it, thinking, Yeah, yeah, the Good Samaritan — help people in trouble and stuff… got it. Notice the setup for the story of the Good Samaritan. What prompted Jesus to tell this story in the first place? Verse 25 says that an “expert in the law” wanted to “test” Jesus. In other words, this man, who knew the Old Testament and Jewish law backward and forward, inside and out, was trying to trip Jesus up. When the man asked, “What do I have to do to inherit eternal life?” How did Jesus respond? He said, basically, “Hey, you’re the expert. What does the Law say?” The “Law” Jesus referred to here is the “law of Moses,” or the first five books of the Old Testament. The expert then recited what Jesus calls in Matthew 22 the greatest and the second greatest commandments: He answered: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind,” and, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” In return, Jesus responded, in essence, “You got it. Do those two things — one, love God with your whole being and, two, love your neighbor as yourself — and you will live.” “OK, Jesus, tell me this: Who is my neighbor?” Who is my neighbor? Who is it, exactly, that God calls us to love just as much as we love ourselves? And beyond that, once we know who our neighbor is, what do we do? How do we show that we love our neighbor as much as we love ourselves? Jesus answers the question in a beautiful story of compassion in action. Jesus ended His conversation with the lawyer with a powerful command: Go and do likewise. That command — go and do likewise : the mandate to love our neighbor as ourselves . “Who is our neighbor?” The parable of the Good Samaritan gives us the answer. It’s simple – our neighbor is anyone in need that we are in a position to help – the unselfish attention to a sick child, the vigil kept at the bedside of a dying relative, the outreach to the poor and oppressed in our world, making the stranger feel at home among us. In these ways is Christ’s love made manifest. Adapted from Renew International Prayer Time Cycle C
The Kingdom Of God Is At Hand I have a really good spiritual director, who quietly takes in my words, body language, eye movement and then responds appropriately. She reads people and situations quickly and accurately. Being in a conversation with those who are glancing at their cell phone every other second sends an important message to us: they are not giving full attention to the conversation and the phone is more important than the conversation. Even worse, the phone is more important than we are.This situation usually draws a rather negative response from me. I might roll my eyes, stop the conversation, or even walk away from the phone bound person. Interactions and responses are part of our everyday living. Often they are inconsequential enough. Sometimes, however, interaction and response have long lasting consequences. This Sunday’s gospel is about Jesus’ disciples reading people and responses. The interaction-response has long-lasting and life-changing consequences. When Jesus sends disciples forth as “laborers for his harvest,” he predicts two responses to their presence. Either disciples will be welcomed and will be able to minister fruitfully, or they will be rejected and their ministry becomes judgment against the unwelcoming town. In either case, however, the “kingdom of God is at hand.” In either case, the acceptance or rejection of the disciples makes clear that the “kingdom of God” is not dependent upon any one response, but upon God’s gracious gift of Presence. How so? Whether accepted or rejected, disciples “harvest” the “kingdom of God” by their very presence, by their very proclamation of Jesus’ name, by their very fidelity to Jesus’ mission. [Living Liturgy 2013] No wonder disciples rejoice! Their rejoicing is an acknowledgment that God is present and working through them. The “kingdom of God” is present in the very persons of those who take up Jesus’ invitation to be laborers in bringing about an abundant harvest. The abundance of the harvest is guaranteed in two ways. If Jesus’ disciples are not welcomed, they are not to quit the journey but continue it. Part of the ministry of laborer-disciples is the very “going”—the disciples’ faithfulness to Jesus’ sending them forth to proclaim that the “kingdom of God is at hand.”While response to Gospel proclamation is obviously important, there can be no response at all unless disciples go forth on the journey, proclaim the Gospel faithfully, and rely on God’s gift of divine Presence through them. We must respond to God’s gift of Presence to us before we can call forth response from others. This divine Presence is the source of disciples’ rejoicing. The establishment of God’s reign is already an in-breaking of the final glory that will be ours—our “names are [already] written in heaven.” References to the abundance of the end times are captured in the “harvest” metaphor Jesus uses. Jesus looks at the harvest and sees abundance, fulfillment. Some of this abundance and fulfillment is surely realized in our own taking up of Jesus’ mission to bring peace, to heal, and to dispel evil. The challenge of the gospel is that we don’t get so lost in doing Jesus’ mission that we forget being faithful disciples is in itself already an in-breaking of God’s kingdom. Living the paschal mystery means that we let go of even the responses others might give to our Gospel living and surrender ourselves to be laborers for the harvest of peace and Presence. Adapted from PrayerTime Cycle C Renew International
Blessed, Broken, Given Jesus’ actions in this Sunday’s Gospel – choosing, blessing, breaking and giving – foreshadows the total gift of self on the Cross, in the Eucharist. The fullest presence of the kingdom of God is revealed by the total gift of self. When we receive Jesus’ gift of self in the Eucharist and choose to be transformed into being that same gift for others, we are the visible presence of the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God comes to fulfillment in every act of total self-giving. Jesus is the one who gave himself totally and continues to give himself to us in the Eucharist. In this gospel, Jesus not only fills the hungry with good things, he fills them to overflowing. Human food leaves us hungry and desiring more. Jesus’ food leaves us satisfied. But the satisfaction comes from what the eating and drinking lead us to do: give ourselves over to others in self-surrender as Jesus did. The focus of this feast is not limited to the Eucharistic elements but leads to our pledge of self-giving. When we eat and drink the Body and Blood of Christ we are transformed more perfectly into the presence of the risen Christ for others. This transformation is both a gift and a challenge. It is the challenge to spend ourselves for others, to give of ourselves. The deepest mystery of this feast is that we, too, must give our very own body and blood to others so that they may be satisfied. And when the leftover fragments of ourselves are gathered up, we will find ourselves sharing in the everlasting abundance of the banquet! Such a mystery! Adapted from Renew International PrayerTime cycle C
Send Down Your Spirit Artist He Qi As the saying goes, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.” Horses can have a mind of their own and be stubborn. So can humans! We often need prodding—motivation—to do something, especially if it’s something we don’t enjoy. When it comes to us humans, motivation plays a huge role in why we do anything and how we do everything. Need is a strong motivator, as is love. This solemnity is really about motivation, the reason why we listen to Jesus and choose to follow him. We followers of Jesus never stand alone. We have each other to motivate ourselves toward faithful action. But even more: we always have the Spirit who dwells within and among us and binds us into one. Through the Holy Spirit we all share in the same risen Life, the same saving mission, the same love. There is strength in numbers. There is motivation in numbers. Our strength is the gift of the Spirit who binds us in love and unity as the one Body of Christ. Our motivation is that with the gift of the Holy Spirit we become one with God’s love in a unique way. We become bigger than ourselves. In today’s gospel, Jesus reminds us that our love binds us together and to him. Our love motivates us to keep his commandments and word, the measure of our being together in community. Love is a strong motivator. The strength of our love for Jesus is the measure of how well we keep his commandments and word, how well we care for each other. Why and how we keep Jesus’ command¬ments and word is, in the end, keeping him—the divine Word who was sent by the Father. Pentecost is a celebration of both the gift of the Spirit and the effects of that gift—we are sharers in the one Body of Christ who take up Jesus’ mission to preach the Good News of salvation. [Living Liturgy 2013] The Father sent the “Advocate, the Holy Spirit” to teach us “everything.” What is this “everything” we need the Spirit to teach us? Why and how keeping Jesus’ commandments and word is the unconditional condition of loving him. Why and how this love is the wellspring of our relationship to Jesus and his Father in their Spirit. What the Spirit teaches us, in the end, is why we do anything and how we do everything. Adapted from Renew International: PrayerTime Cycle C
Fifth Sunday of Easter: Love One Another Among my family and friends, there are a number of couples who have very good marriages. Every person among them will affirm, and affirm vigorously, that making their marriage has been hard work. Not hard work in the sense of drudgery. Rather this hard work is more like that of an artist or an engineer bringing into being a new creation. It takes skill, imagination, the commitment of hours, attention to detail, faithfulness in the boring patches, but especially devotion from the depths of the self. In short, it takes true love. Yet the commitment of marriage is even greater than that of the artist or engineer. They can walk away from their creation, or take a holiday. True love in marriage and in families doesn’t have that luxury. And it is not just in marriage that such love occurs. The story of Sr Rachel Fassera, an Italian nun working in Uganda, is overwhelming . When students in her care were kidnapped by the Lord’s Resistance Army, she tracked through the jungle and begged, prayed and nagged until most of them were released. The account of this incident shows the complexity and difficulty that love must sometime negotiate in this real and messy world. When Jesus tells us to love as he has loved us, he is not speaking of a sweet and gentle love that makes life easy. No, he is talking of bringing us, weak and broken as we are to the fullness of life in our real and messy world. When I seriously consider the love that Jesus has shown to me, I must admit that he does embrace me as I am….but he doesn’t let me stay that way. From tender suggestions to vigorous and sometimes unpleasant rebukes, he works on me, trying to induce, encourage and sometimes almost, dare I say it, bully me into a richer and fuller life. And he asks me in turn to show that love. Why am I fearful to do so? Perhaps because I am nervous of receiving such an overwhelming love. But I need not fear. Jesus is still working on me. Adapted from Renew International Prayer Time
My Sheep Hear My Voice If you look up today’s Gospel on Google, you get 1.9 million hits. If you put the text in quotes (“my sheep hear my voice”) you still get 1.5 million hits. That’s 1,500,000 web pages that address this text in some way. Plus at least one hit for shopping. Lots of those pages spend pixels focusing on the sheep part, and discussing that, yes, sheep actually do learn their shepherd’s voice, and yes, those same sheep only follow when they hear that voice. One page even noted that a recording of the shepherd’s voice works just as well. I’m taking a different tack on the subject. What I want to know is: what does this mean for us today? Jesus isn’t in the next room —and I think it’s safe to say that our physical ears are not going to hear his physical voice any time soon. So, forget the sheep — as a Christ-follower, what does it mean to “hear his voice”? I’ve got two answers — or really, two sides of the same answer. First of all, I think it means that, over time, our hearts and minds become attuned to the sound of the eternal. The values, the truths, of the Kingdom actually resonate with us, or even within us. We are able to discern the godly within the everyday. Better put, the eternal in us responds. We hear Jesus’s voice. By the same token, I think we also come to recognize when something goes against God’s way, when something is out of kilter with the Kingdom and its values. We are able to know, or even to feel, that something isn’t right, even if we cannot always articulate it. We resist following it, just as the sheep resist following someone or something who isn’t the Shepherd. If we spend time both IN the word and WITH the Word, is it unreasonable to expect that eventually we would develop a sense around what the Word means, and be able to hear the Word in others’ words? [Living Liturgy 2013] The world around us is full of words, full of messages. Let’s learn to hear the eternal, and to resonate with it when we do. Adapted from Renew International Prayer Time Cycle C
Breakfast Served! When I diet I figure that a good way to cut calories and lose weight is to begin early in the morning and skip breakfast and follow a diet based in leptoconnect. However, everything I read tells me that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Breakfast gives me the personal jolt I need to get myself going with work or whatever; a balanced, nutritious breakfast also jolts the metabolism and gives off energy. After the resurrection, the disciples need a jolt. They cannot return to their former way of living. They have encountered Jesus during his earthly ministry. Now they encounter the risen Christ and are invited to share in his ongoing ministry. This Sunday’s gospel is one in which the word “breakfast” occurs . It is early in the morning—“already dawn.” The right time for breakfast with all its advantages. The disciples have been out fishing and, upon returning to shore, Jesus asks them, “have you caught anything to eat?” Their answer was a simple, unqualified “No.” No fish, no breakfast. Not so! Jesus invites them, “Come, have breakfast.” It is as though Jesus knows the disciples need a jolt—they need to be tugged out of their familiar routine and transformed. They need the spiritual nutrition of encounter and belief for them to declare their love and follow with fidelity. [Living Liturgy 2013] This gospel details the transformation made possible by the risen Christ. The Resurrection transforms the way things are. The risen Christ transforms the way we are, enabling us to obey his ongoing invitation, “Follow me.” We are fortified by Jesus’ risen Presence, by his invitation to follow, by his own love for us that transforms our love into faithfulness and fruitfulness. Risen Life fortifies us for the transformation needed on our discipleship journey of seeing-believing. Risen Life is given to us by Christ, but we must also seek it. Risen Life is a gift, but we must also grasp it. How does the risen Lord now call us to transformation? to follow him? The risen Lord stands on the shore of all our activity waiting to reveal to us the depths of what we cannot find on our own, the depths of who we can become. Risen Life is not found by going back to who we used to be and where we were. Risen Life is only found by continuing to follow the risen Lord in new directions, wherever he leads us. Even where we might “not want to go.” Adapted from Renew International
See – Touch – Believe! image by He Qi This Easter season is not so easily understood. We know Jesus rose from the dead; we cannot so easily grasp how this has an immediate effect on us. The resurrection is a mystery. Risen Life is different, a new happening, a fresh experience. Most surely, risen Life is of God. It instills Easter joy. Our gospel shows us why the resurrection makes all the difference in the world. When the risen Lord appears to the disciples locked away behind closed doors, fear is dispelled by peace, sin is dispelled by forgiveness, doubt is dispelled by Presence, unbelieving is dispelled by seeing-believing. The Lord comes to the disciples a first time on that first Easter Sunday evening when Thomas is not present. Thomas makes known quite clearly to the other disciples what he needs in order to believe that Jesus is alive. He must encounter, see, touch—put his finger and hand in the wounds that he expects to see on Jesus’ body. A week later, when Thomas is present, Jesus appears to the disciples again, and responds to Thomas’s unbelief. Jesus is not angry with Thomas for not believing; he does not judge him. He simply invites: here, see, touch, and believe. Seeing-believing—for Thomas and for us—is not merely an exercise in intellectual assent, but a practical encounter played out through our acceptance of the risen Life that is offered us. Risen Life is God’s divine Life transforming who and how we are. Resurrection makes all the difference—for us, for all of creation. [Living Liturgy 2013] We live risen Life and hasten its fulfillment when we, like Thomas, see and believe. Seeing is believing. What do we see? People in need. How do we believe? Reach out and touch them with transforming presence. What do we see? Unjust situations. How do we believe? Act to transform systems and relationships. What do we see? Holiness in others who follow Christ. How do we believe? Choose to be transformed with them as the Body of Christ. Adapted from Renew International A musical reflection… <a href="http://davecrosby.bandcamp.com/track/peace-in-christ">Peace in Christ by Claire Ryann Crosby</a>
Who Will Listen To Us? He Qi_Easter morning Can you imagine the conversation between these women returning from the tomb? Words and memories would have tumbled over each other as they shared their excitement. Yet surely there was a voice among them bringing them back to the reality of their situation, stating the obvious, ‘But they won’t listen to us – we are only women!’ All four Gospel accounts have their differences but one thing they agree on: the Resurrection of Jesus was first revealed to women! Women, whose testimony was discounted in both Jewish law and society. What was God thinking? Maybe that the last had become first, maybe that the lowly had been raised up, maybe that the hungry had been filled. When we look back to the beginning of Luke’s Gospel we see that it is the slip of a village girl who believes the extraordinary message of the angel, while the elderly devout priest struggles to believe and that God must go to the further lengths than the message of an angel to bring him to faith. The same thing happens with the disciples. The practical woman who stated her fears was right: the men didn’t listen to them and Jesus had to come himself before they could come to faith. If we have problems understanding what Resurrection faith means we need to look to where there is weakness, to the rejected, to the ignored. The people who are deemed least in our society are the ones who can lead us into the mighty ways of God. This is why the poor, the sick, the weak are treasured- not because they are people upon who we can exercise our good works, or philanthropy. No, we do good to them so that we may enter into the richness of grace and faith that God will offer us through them. Adapted from Renew International
Jerusalem, My Destiny 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….” Adapted from Renew International
Neither Do I Condemn You Some people like to be center stage. They are natural born entertainers who feed off and thrive on audience responses. Other people, like me, avoid this kind of attention focused on themselves. Might we surmise that the woman in our Gospel today was hardly happy about being center stage? Her life hung in the balance. How would Jesus respond to the challenge of the scribes and Pharisees? Hardly the way anyone anticipated! The scribes and Pharisees wished to make this woman an example of her as a grave sinner deserving of death. Ironically, Jesus makes an example of them as sinners and they turned away from him and went away! Once they were faced with their own sinfulness and the futility of their test, they chose not to remain with the One who would grant them forgiveness and mercy, reconciliation and new life. The woman, however, remained with Jesus. And for this choice, she received forgiveness, mercy, new life. [Living Liturgy 2010] The center of this gospel is not the woman or her sin- it is Jesus. He is the one who draws people to himself, teaches, challenges others about the truth of their lives, forgives, commands not to sin again. This is the same Jesus we encounter during Lent. This is the same Jesus who offers us forgiveness and new life. Jesus did not imprison people by their past actions, but called them to the truth of who they were and the goodness within them. He freed people from the death of their own sinful actions and offered to those who would remain with him new life. The deepest truth about ourselves lies not so much in recognizing our sinfulness as it lies in deepening our relationship with Christ. The closer we become to Christ, the more we recognize our own sinfulness and repent of our ways. Then we hear Christ say to us,” Neither do I condemn you.” Adapted from Renew International Musical Reflection
Surprise Party! We humans tend to act out of a contractual frame of mind, that is, we give with expectations of equal return. For example, an expensive gift requires an expensive gift in return; or, if we invite friends to dinner, we expect to be invited back. Forgiveness and mercy, however, must arise from a different frame of mind because they are purely gratuitous. The embrace of a merciful father is undeserved yet fully and freely given. [Living Liturgy 2010] While we may call this parable “The Prodigal Son’, in fact it is about a prodigal father. It is the father who first reaches out and then puts aside all convention and lavishly receives the son back into the family. This is how God acts toward us. This parable reminds us that God offers us much more. If we choose to die to self and return to God, we are greeted with forgiveness and feasting. We are welcomed back and transformed sharing in divine life. Receiving God’s forgiveness and mercy and offering the same to another is how we pass from Wednesday ashes to Easter feasting. Adapted Living Liturgy 2010 Musical Reflection
Entering Into the Mystery of God Well, this is the closest we get to someone asking Jesus the question so many in our time want the answer to: why do the innocent suffer? The disciples asked: were these people innocent? which amounts pretty much to our question. If I had been there my breath would have stopped, my hearing would have focused acutely and….I would have howled at the answer. Jesus, Jesus does not answer the question. At least not in the way I want, nor in the way most people, who agonize over this question, want. If ever there was a chance for a clear cut answer that would put paid to the questions about the goodness of God, this was it…except that Jesus didn’t take it! Look what he did in this conversation. They asked about ‘them’. He said, ‘Look to yourselves. Use their suffering as an incentive to actively turn away from evil and pursue goodness in your lives.’ That certainly isn’t the answer I want but maybe it is the answer I need. When we agonise over the pain of the innocent, it is a short step to presuming that we are amongst them and that our pain is undeserved. Maybe it is, but then maybe it isn’t. If we are not truly examining our consciences and our actions, we could be doing wrong unthinkingly, and worrying over other people is one way to elude our own responsibilities. That being said, we also need to look at what Jesus did at the end of his life. One thing the New Testament is clear about, Jesus was innocent. Tempted terribly, yes, but innocent. If anyone didn’t deserve to suffer it was him. Yet he did. Jesus’ answer to the suffering of the innocent was to share in that suffering. That is the answer he gives to our awful question but does it make any sense? Not until we follow in his footsteps and, in extending ourselves in loving care of our brothers and sisters, suffer in some innocent way that he did. The answer to our question lies not in our head but in our experience. It is not given to the mind but rather to the heart and when we have discovered it in some small way we will find we have entered into the mystery of God. Adapted from Renew International
We Saw His Glory This gospel about the Transfiguration is a familiar one. My temptation is to all too quickly limit its meaning and power. There is more to this event than a glimpse of glory. It tells us of what we can expect along the journey toward glory! At the beginning of Lent, our goal is laid out for us. Jesus went up the mountain to pray and was transformed, that is, changed. Lent is not only the desert but also the mountain we go up to pray to be transformed. Jesus talks about his passing through suffering and death to the glory of risen life. Our salvation is to follow Jesus into his passion and death so that we too, might attain the glory of new life. Our following Jesus is spelled out in the ordinary dyings of our everyday living: reaching out to visit a lonely elderly person, listening to a troubled adolescent, biting our tongue instead of saying sharp words, still having patience when we are pushed too far or simply run out of energy. The utterly amazing thing about embracing these little, everyday dyings is that we ourselves experience some sort of transfiguration. As we learn to say yes to God and others, we grow deeper into our own identity as the chosen ones of God. We become more perfect members of Christ’s Body when we act like Jesus did- when we reach out to others who are in need, when we bring a comforting touch, when we forgive. All these are ways we are faithful on our journey to Jerusalem. Our whole life is a transfiguration, a passing over from our old sinful ways to the ways of light and race offered by God. Adapted from Renew International Musical Reflection
First Sunday of Lent: Into The Desert I’ve heard it said that it takes 28 days to change a habit. Lent goes for 40 days so this season isn’t about self-improvement. Besides, the devil didn’t drive Jesus into the desert for self-improvement. Rather he was driven there to feel weakness, vulnerability and then extreme temptation. Jesus was firstly tempted to allow basic needs to dominate his life. He was asked to allow his desire for food to determine his actions rather than God’s word for him. Jesus was then tempted to enter into power games in his exercise of authority. If he went under the power of the devil, all people would go under him. But Jesus was to offer his salvation in complete respect for human freedom. Jesus was then tempted to put on a dramatic show that would capture people’s attention. He was to offer ‘show rather than substance.’ That Jesus underwent such a long period of time experiencing weakness, vulnerability and testing should make us reassess their role in our lives. And considering the temptations he faced should lead us to ask questions about our own lives: How do I allow my perceived needs, or even my wants, to determine my actions and lifestyle rather than being the person God is calling me to be?Do I play power games and www.dreamjackpot.com, by allowing myself to be dominated or by dominating, rather than simply serving or allowing myself to be served?Do I allow myself to be captivated by ‘show’ or ‘appearances’ rather than do the labor of uncovering true substance in my life and in the lives of others? The answers to these questions can haunt us for some time…but then we are given the next forty days just to do so. Adapted from Renew International
Bear Good Fruit The first part of our Gospel leaves a lot of room to fill in the blanks! We don’t know anything about the two tragic events reported in the gospel. Jesus uses these events as teachable moments. These events involve tragic death, and Jesus uses these tragedies to make absolute that unless we repent, we also will die! Then, using the parable of the fig tree, Jesus reveals the patience of God with us, despite our slowness to repent.This is God’s work of mercy; to take what is almost dead and coax it to new life. [Living Liturgy 2010] Standing secure in the graciousness of the new life God offers us does not mean that we don’t need to cooperate with God to cultivate and fertilize our spiritual lives. God waits for us to bear fruit. God waits each and every day of our lives for us to bear fruit. The Good News is; God never gives up on us. All we need to do is respond by dying to self and God brings forth new life in us. Musical Reflection
Left Everything! Having someone take command of us can bring opposite effects from us. In our Gospel today, Peter and the others are docked and cleaning up after a night of unsuccessful fishing. We might surmise that they were a bit testy. Jesus gets into Peter’s boat and asks him to move away from the shore a bit where he sits and teaches. Then Jesus commands him to put out into the deep. Peter must have had an inkling of who Jesus was for he responds in the affirmative. If we pay attention to the details of the Gospel beyond the immediate call and response events, we might be caught by surprise. Too often we feel the burdens of discipleship is solely on our shoulders . The gospel depicts Jesus initiating the call. Our discipleship rests upon Jesus long before we begin to follow. The surprise of the Gospel is that we are never alone when we hear and follow God’s call; divine Presence always abides within us, enables us to hear the commands and call of God and to answer the call and remain faithful to it. God meets people where they are. Sinfulness is not a stumbling block to following God’s call. We simply go deeper; beyond our sinfulness to hear God call, each of us to discipleship. In spited of our objections, God gently and persistently says to each of us, “You are still the one I want.” We are invited to be overwhelmed by God’s graciousness and self-revelation and answer “Send me!” God’s is a gentle command. Our response must be strong. Adapted from Renew International