First Sunday in Advent - B: Are we patient enough

Friends

Peace be with you.

Once a week or once every other week, I have to drive to Dubuque for some errand. Sometimes it’s to pick up something from Dubuque Religious or the music store. I know I could ask any of you who have to make this journey daily to do it for me but, especially in this time of coronavirus, sometimes I just want to get out and drive. The trouble is that, I forget how frustrating it is to get from point A to point B in larger towns than ours. I get so frustrated while waiting at stoplights or waiting to get onto the roundabout for the one guy who seems to have timed it just right to prevent my entrance that I’ve started turning on a stopwatch. That way, when I rack up an hour of waiting at stop lights, I can send the city of Dubuque a bill for an hour of my wages, which, if I’ve done the math right, would mean they would owe our parishes about 30 cents. What frustrates me the most is when you are at one stop light on Dodge Street, just trying to get back into the peace of small town living, and you can see the light turn green but no one moves in front of you because the first car in your line wasn’t paying attention or it takes so long for the line to be able to move that, by the time you get to the light, it’s red again.

We live in a world of instant gratification. If we want sometime at 1:00 in the morning, we can just jump online and order it. If we want to know what time Mass is in the Cathedral in Charleston, South Carolina and whether we have to wear masks or make a reservation before we go, we search for it on the internet. When we want something, we want it now. Personally, I’ve found this particularly true since March. I can get really frustrated if things don’t happen as quickly or efficiently as I want it to. I’m guessing we all can.

This is the type of frustration the Prophet Isaiah is expressing today in our first reading. He pleads, “Return for the sake of your servant! Cut open the heavens and come down. Do mighty things that our ancestors didn’t see you do. There is none who calls upon your name, who rouses himself to cling to you: for you have hidden your face from us and have delivered us up to our guilt.” Can’t you just hear the frustration the Prophet is feeling, as he and his fellow Israelites are abandoned in Babylon? You can almost hear the stages of grief that he goes through in these couple of sentences, or at least the first four of them: denial, anger, bargaining, and depression. One has to wonder what would cause a Prophet to despair, a man whose job was to tell the people that they have gone too far from God and need to turn from their sin and return to God’s love. Has the pressure just become too much for him? Have the people become so comfortable away from Israel that they’ve forgotten the one true God completely and no longer care about the land he gave them, the very symbol of their salvation as a people? The message of Isaiah is clear, “Return! Return for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your heritage.” Come back God. We miss you. The longer you are gone, the less your people miss you. Come back before they don’t care about you at all.

The answer to this plea comes in the gospel, a gospel that is translated by the skeptic and sinner as, “God is coming! Look busy!”. For the faithful, it is much more profound and comforting than that. The gospel we hear isn’t a fear-based message. It is an incredibly hopeful message about patience in waiting. Jesus is explaining to us that this world is, in some ways, an exercise in waiting for something better. We are waiting for a place in which suffering, sickness, and death have all been destroyed. We are waiting for the fullness of hope, love, and faith of which this world is merely a foretaste.

Today, we begin this season of waiting, a season that tests our patience and forces us to sit still. Now, you may say, “Father, I hate to tell you this but we’ve been in a season of waiting since March. What do you mean we’re entering into it today?” But have we? We probably didn’t have the kind of Thanksgiving or Easter or Fourth of July we’d wish we could and I know many of you are probably feeling like this pandemic is never going to end. Still, there is much that stops us from having to wait in earnest. So, as we enter into this time of Advent, we may ask ourselves: are we willing to wait? For instance, are we willing, when we are home at night and don’t have work that absolutely has to get done, to shut off our TV, computer, smartphones, and tablets so we can spend time talking to the people in our bubble? Or only use them for connecting with someone and not for social media or a game or something else that is more an escape from waiting? Are we patient enough to take time each day to read the daily Mass readings and give ourselves time to reflect on how or whether we are becoming the kind of person we know God wants us to be?

In a few minutes, in the midst of the Our Father, I will pray, “Deliver us, Lord, we pray, from every evil, graciously grant peace in our days, that, by the help of your mercy, we may be always free from sin and safe from all distress, as we await the blessed hope and the coming of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.” How will our Advent waiting look more like waiting and less like filling the time with busy-ness so that we are filled with the blessed hope of the coming of our Savior at Christmas?

Christ the King - A The Shepherds and sheep are selfish so God’s taking the wheel.

Friends

Peace be with you.

A few of years ago, the country singer Carrie Underwood made a song famous with the title, “Jesus Take the Wheel”. It tells a simple story of a woman who narrowly avoids a car crash while her child is in the back seat. When her car goes into a skid on black ice she cries out “Jesus take the wheel”. After she finds herself safely on the side of the road, the woman stops to pray, attributing the miraculous save to divine intervention by a God who hasn’t given up on her even though she had given up on him amidst a difficult year.

I’m to a point in 2020 that, when something goes wrong, I mutter in frustration, “Great. That’s exactly what needed to happen.” No one is around when I say it and it generally means I’m just done. When I got home last night with my arms full of things from the store and my office and a plastic box fell on the ground that I was carrying into the rectory, I looked at it and said this phrase, as though I was chastising gladware for its insolence. I was late for a Zoom conference call with my friends and this was the last thing that needed to happen. In the midst of the call, I started whining about some of my frustrations and one of my friends said, “Hey, you’re doing a better job than my childhood priest. When our CCD teacher threatened to beat us and that he knew how to do it so it wouldn’t leave marks, when my mom complained to our priest about him, he told her that he was a good giver to the parish and he’d hate to upset him.” Jesus, take the wheel of this church with some, thankfully few, bad shepherds.

Our first reading is from the 34th chapter of the Book of the Prophet Ezekial. It’s not often that we can pretty clearly see the sources of where Jesus is getting his material, like where he learned the parables he shares. But, it appears this passage, and in particular the last sentence, “As for you, my sheep, says the Lord GOD, I will judge between one sheep and another, between rams and goats”, played an important role in the gospel for tonight.

There are two parts to this chapter and this verse is the division between them. Thankfully, the two parts are easy to summarize. First, God is going to take over being the shepherd because the ones he appointed have been shepherding themselves instead of shepherding the sheep. Even though there isn’t a lot of clarity as to what they have been doing, I think Jesus fills it in rather nicely. Instead of making sure the sheep had their basic needs met in terms of food, water, clothing, shelter, health, and companionship, the shepherds have been looking after themselves. They’re comfortable so what do they care about the sheep? So, God is going to take the shepherd’s crook and take over. But, there’s more context if we just read on. It says that the sheep have been scattered and the stronger sheep have done this, essentially, by picking on the weaker sheep. That’s why, by the way, in the passage we read, God gathers the lost, the strayed, and the sick but threatens to destroy the strong. From an agricultural perspective, this makes sense. You slaughter the strong sheep for the most and best meat not the sickly. But, from a theological point of view, it makes sense too. When there are lost people, especially formerly faithful who are lost, and we are comfortable being fed on the bread of life, we need to ask ourselves if we are the strong sheep ignoring the lost.

I’ve been inspired by those of you who bring communion to friends, neighbors, and family members who don’t feel comfortable coming to church during this pandemic. You are feeding the hungry and providing the shelter of Christ to those who feel exposed. Thank you for that. And, if anyone is wanting to get involved in this ministry, talk to me or Deacon Loras or Father Dave and we’ll be glad to commission you to do this. Whatever else we can do to reach out safely to those who are lost and strayed, especially if we’re the reason why, please don’t miss an opportunity to do so.

In the end, God has to take over because the people are picking on each other and the shepherds are doing nothing to stop it. The shepherds are valuing comfort and avoiding conflict instead of helping those who really need it. I know I can give into this same temptation, not wanting to upset people or intervene if I’m aware of a conflict between people. Maybe we all should be willing to give up our comfort and upset someone and let Jesus take the wheel.

33 OT: The Church, the woman of strength, inspires us to work hard, be charitable, and share the gospel

Friends

Peace be with you.

This week, like last week, we hear in our first reading from a book that is part of what our Jewish brothers and sisters refer to as “Wisdom Literature”. And, like last week, wisdom is personified as a woman. Now, I’m sure that doesn’t surprise any of us, especially any of the women in the congregation. Women are wise. And it’s common for us to use women as images of wisdom. Think of the Statue of Liberty welcoming people to New York Harbor or the statue of Lady Justice at the Supreme Court building. Still, I think this story may help us understand how we read this poem in the context of the church.

Often, this passage is read at Jewish and Christian women’s funeral services. It is also read at night by Jewish husbands to their wives on Friday evenings, the evening of the Jewish Sabbath. It’s a way for them to remind themselves of their partnership, that the husband should be thankful for his woman of strength and the woman should fear the Lord. That’s a beautiful tradition, really, and possibly one some of you may consider doing. Maybe, instead of reading Proverbs 31 each week, you could read First Corinthians 13, the “Love is patient, love is kind” passage.

Still, what does this have to do with the Christian life? One image of the church is that we are the unspotted bride of Christ. We need analogies like this to set our goals in life. So, if we, the members of the church, are meant to live as the bride of Christ, what does that mean? The church provides this shortened passage from the first reading to help guide us in this. As I read over that first reading, there are essentially three characteristics the worthy wife, which would be better translated as the woman of strength, has that the church should emulate. First, she works hard. Obtaining wool and flax and manually using a spindle would be a hard job, especially without an engine to do the work for you. Imagine having to begin making a dress or a pair of pants by sheering a sheep. In this same way we are to work hard. But at what? I’ll come back to this question.

Second, those hard working hands give generously to the poor. You work super hard to make all that stuff, you’d think you’d be able to just keep it for yourself if you have anything left over but, instead, the woman of strength gives it away to those who cannot do what she can do. It takes a special person to not let the tension of our times harden our hearts to the needs of others, yet that is exactly what the church is called to do. To be a conduit of God’s charity, God’s love, to those most in need of it. And that is what we must do too.

Lastly, rather than focusing on charm and beauty, traits this world still prizes in women, the woman of strength fears the Lord. I think this is a phrase that is easily misunderstood. I don’t think we’re supposed to be afraid of God, as though God were akin to a bully beating us up and stealing our milk money. I think the fear of the Lord needs to be understood in two ways. First, we don’t fear anything but God. That means people can make fun of what we wear or how we look but we shouldn’t be afraid of them. They are, after all, creatures like us, not the creator. And, the fear we have of God is more like respect or awe for a God who brought us into the world and could take us out but, instead, gives us a million notes of love throughout the day. The woman of strength, the church, is therefore called to notice and give thanks for the many ways God sends us these notes of love without feeling entitled to them. We are to be a people who give thanks for everything that we have.

Now, let’s go back to that first point, that the woman of strength works hard. But what are we to be working for? We are to work to build up the kingdom of God, to help ourselves and others develop a relationship with this God of whom we have awe and who calls us to charity to others. I think that’s what connects this reading to the gospel. The point of the gospel isn’t that heaven is made up of venture capitalists who make a lot of money by risky investments that pay off, though there are some who have interpreted this passage that way. If so, no one listening to Jesus’ message would have been saved. Jesus’ audience was scandalized when rich Zacchaeus wanted to join the movement or when Jesus recruited the rich tax collector Levi. No, the point is that, when it comes to evangelization, we have to think like them. We can’t just bury our head in the ground and hope that we’ll be saved, because that is in itself a sin. It’s true to say that we have to be holy but we also have to reach out to those who are not in the household and win them for Christ. That’s the hard work the church is called to do, winning souls for salvation.

It’s hard to be Lady Wisdom, the woman of strength as the church is analogized this week, in this world at this time. People see talking about religion as innately threatening. The coronavirus means people aren’t gathering in places where you can strike up a casual conversation. Heck even the idea of a casual conversation is frowned upon. And the leadership of the church isn’t helping either, with yet another scandal happening this week. Still, there is one person, one friend, that you can reach out to that wants...no needs....to hear the story of Jesus. Work hard this week, be charitable, tell them about an awe inspiring experience of God you had and then ask the Holy Spirit, the embodiment and inspiration of of Lady Wisdom to doubling your talent and finding our faith renewed and sustained.

32 OT A We find wisdom because we have been found.

Friends

Peace be with you.

A number of years ago, I was assigned to an Irish parish and and I was asked, relatively early into the assignment, to do a burial. In case you don’t know, in general, Irish parishes tend to want their cemetery in a different location than the parish church. Luxemburger and German parishes, on the other hand, tend to want the cemetery right next to the church. Think of St. Joe’s in Bellevue, for instance, versus Sts. Peter and Paul, St. Donatus, and St. Catherine. There was a church in the St. Joe Cemetery at one point roughly where the columbarium are located today but, by 1901, the largely Irish population that attended that church moved it blocks away. It’s my understanding that, at one point, Sts. Peter and Paul in Springbrook was located East of town but, when they decided to move the church into the center of town, rather than continuing to bury people out there, they started a new cemetery right around the new church. Okay, you get the picture.

So, I’m supposed to go to a cemetery that isn’t right next to the church but, halfway there, I realized I didn’t know where the cemetery was. I was supposed to meet the funeral home director at the funeral home and he would lead me out there but I got delayed and was a little late and missed the procession to the cemetery. I tried to find it on google maps to no avail. I asked around town and got the kind of directions that help locals. “Take the Frankville highway until you see where the windmill used to be on old Slim Jackson’s farm…” I got so lost and had absolutely no luck in finding anyone who could help me get there that I eventually gave up and went home. I no more than walked through the door when the funeral home director called and asked me why I didn’t show up. I told him everything I just told you and he said, “Well, why didn’t you just wait at the funeral home? You should have known I was going to come back and get you.” I thought to myself, “Should I?” and just apologized and said I’d do better in the future.

I think that’s why I have a certain sympathy for the foolish virgins in the gospel today. I am not always good about planning ahead and being ready for whatever is to come. So, it’s probably good to focus our attention on being wise, a characteristic described rather well in the first reading for today. Now, I know some of you may have noticed rather quickly that wisdom is portrayed as a woman. You may think that’s because only women are wise but it is a little more complicated than that. In the language at the time, God is portrayed as a man and lady wisdom is portrayed as God’s partner, his coworker. The book from which this passage comes, entitled Wisdom or the Wisdom of Solomon, was probably written 100 or 200 years before the birth of Jesus. It’s one of those books that is found in the Catholic Bible but not in Protestant Bibles. It’s a book all about the search for wisdom. What’s interesting is that, at the time of its writing, the Jewish people would have been interacting, with the Greek world, a world of violence, yes, but also a world of philosophers like Plato and Aristotle. So, part of what the author is doing is saying that it’s not just the Greeks who have wisdom, we do too. It’s just that, unlike the Greeks who believe you have to go on a long and arduous journey searching for wisdom, “She hastens to make herself known in anticipation of their desire.” Even before we search for wisdom, she is making herself known to us. That’s because, for believers, God existed before us and wisdom, often associated with the Holy Spirit, existed before us and has been seeking us out. That’s why the first reading says, “(wisdom) makes her own rounds, seeking those worthy of her, and graciously appears to them in the ways, and meets them with all solicitude.”

Isn’t that great? I hope it’s relieving. Instead of having to search in all kinds of places for the wisdom of God, God is searching for us. This really is something that makes Christianity different from most other religions; We have a God who searches for us. Knowing this, it should affect our prayer. Bishop Barron suggests, quite rightly, that we take five minutes a day to remind ourselves that God is looking for you and invite God into our hearts. Don’t be like me, driving all over looking for God. Just sit and be still and let God find you. Also, think about those areas of your life that you feel like you have to control. Recently, I have realized that I’m getting in trouble in this assignment because I’ve started thinking that, if I don’t do some things, they aren’t going to get done. I have to call this meeting because I can’t trust the leadership to do so. I have to set the agenda because, if they do, we’ll never get anything done. I have to be the one to turn the lights off in church or we’ll waste all kinds of electricity. Whenever we make ourselves indispensable in a situation, we lose sight that God is the one who is in charge. It’s okay to ask for help. In fact, it’s a good reminder that we need to take time to trust in others and search out others for their help, if for no other reason than because we need to be able to take time each day to be found by God and we can’t do that when we feel like we have to be in charge of everything. Of what use is a creator when we feel like we need to create everything or it just won’t get done right.

In the end, it’s easy to find wisdom. We just have to let the Father find us and there she is too.

All Saints - A: Being God’s storyteller

Friends

Peace be with you.

In the book “Building Better Families”, the Catholic apologist Matthew Kelly advises parents in nine different ways to be Great Leaders for their children. One of the ways he advises is to be a great storyteller to your children. He says in this rather lengthy quote,


The most powerful story you tell the world every day is the story of how you choose to live your life. This story, your story, affects the lives of everyone who crosses your path...and millions of people whom you will never meet or know...But beyond this very intimate story of your life, let us consider the stories we tell each other and our children in conversation. Are we constantly talking about the latest horrific world event or do we talk about the people who we look up to and why? Are we constantly discussing fame and fortune or do we make time to speak of the ordinary people who are our heroes and mentors? Do you tell your children what you loved about your parents and grandparents? Do they know the stories of the teachers and coaches (I would add nuns and priests) who had the most influence on your life? Do they know the story of your life? Have you told them the story of how you met their mother or father? Stories are powerful, and great leaders continuously develop an inspiring repertoire to have on hand when the right moment arises.



Think about this quote in the context of our readings and our celebration for today. It’s All Saints Day, a time for us to remember the named and unnamed saints who are in heaven. Our readings remind us of this. The first reading, from the Book of Revelation, is situated in a part of that book in which six of seven seals are opened and stories are being read, largely of doom and gloom. They’re talking about a coronavirus pandemic and evil politicians and a derecho. Wait, no, that’s us. They’re talking about signs of the end times that they’re experiencing. However, then they get to Chapter 7 and they remind themselves that, as St. Paul says in the second reading, we are called to be children of God, marked not by the symbols of this world, power, pleasure, and wealth, but with the mark of God on our foreheads. Most of us were signed with this mark at baptism and were renewed with it in confirmation when the bishop or priest marked our forehead with sacred chrism, making us among those who have washed our robes in the blood of the lamb and made them white. The world may not know our story but, that’s okay, because that merely means we are living up to that mark on our foreheads even more because the world also didn’t know the story of Jesus or they never would have put him to death.

In the gospel, Jesus tells us why the world wasn’t interested in his story, because he valued what heaven values not what the world valued. He said we’d be blessed, we’d be happiest, when our stories involved mourning, because we will be comforted. Only those who mourn can desire the comfort of God. Jesus’ story was all about being clean or pure of heart, because only by seeking to be like God can we see God, let alone be known by him. Jesus knew first hand that those who are insulted and persecuted because of him will receive a reward great in heaven, that they’d be blessed by him by living like he did.

What is the story of our life thus far? What would people say were our greatest accomplishments and our greatest failures? Where do we find our deepest pleasure but in God himself? How can we be sure that our lives are telling the story of Jesus and not the story of this world?

28 OT A: Custody of the eyes? What if that was your sister?

Friends

Peace be with you.

A few years ago, it seemed like every July or early August, I would get an email or note from a parishioner that would go something like this…

Dear Fr. Miller

In general, I think you are doing a good job as our pastor. You have a very beautiful voice and sometimes you even have a good homily. But, you need to do something about all these women that don’t wear the right clothes to church. And I’m not just talking about young girls. I’m talking about women who should know better than wearing spaghetti straps and shorts. Don’t they know they are coming to church? I find this very offensive. I don’t come to church to look at bare shoulders and back acne. (I’m not kidding about the back acne comment!) Church is supposed to be a formal place where you wear your finest clothes, not the swimming hole with Opey and Andy.

Yours in Christ

Older, respected woman in the community

I couldn’t help but think of these communications when I was reading this passage. If I were to apply this scripture passage literally, the message is clear: those older, respected women in the community are exactly right and I should have the ushers throw out anyone who comes to church without the right clothes on. I should set up a dress code that everyone has to meet, especially the women. I’m thinking a full length ball gown with a mantilla covering the women’s head is going to be part. Guys will have to wear a suit with a bow tie, preferably a tuxedo but I understand that not every man can afford a tux so any suit would suffice except for a leisure suit or, of course, your birthday suit.

I am, of course, being facetious. I have no intention of implementing a dress code. Having worked on three different college campuses, I think I’ve seen it all. I’ve seen women with tight fitting shirts, short shorts, and thigh high boots come and kneel down in the front row of church and volunteer to help at the parish festival. I’ve seen guys with baggy pants, baggy shorts, body-piercings and tattoos visible everywhere spending time in front of the Blessed Sacrament and who eventually discern a vocation. And I've seen guys in khaki pants, a shirt, and tie come in and act like total idiots in church. I don’t think Jesus was advocating setting a dress code for mass in this parable. He’s using an analogy to get at a deeper issue.

The King in this analogy is God and, as we know, God first made a relationship to the Jewish people. In the first reading, we heard that the end-time was supposed to be like a great banquet that the Lord of hosts would provide on his mountain. But, when God invites his chosen people to attend, at first they refuse to come and then they beat and kill the servants who invited them. The servants that invite them are, of course, the prophets, John the Baptist, and Jesus. So, the King has to give up on the guests he first invited and sends the remaining servants out to invite anyone and everyone to the banquet. Yet, when he does this, someone shows up not wearing clothes fit for a wedding. What tells me that there’s a deeper meaning than simple church regulation is that the result of being thrown out of the banquet is wailing and gnashing of teeth. It seems clear that Jesus is using people’s outward appearance to talk about what’s happening in their heart.

I think of the man who comes to mass with his beautiful family after cheating on his wife the night before. Or the nicely dressed woman who stole money from work on Friday and then comes before the Lord in the Holy Eucharist on Sunday. Or the priest who insists on the nicest robes and always wears a suit with French cuffs who can’t be bothered to help the poor person who stops at his door. Those are the garments that matter to the Lord.

On this mountain the Lord of hosts has provided a feast of rich food and choice wine, on this mountain the Lord has provided the body and blood of his only Son. We put on the wedding garments of good works to come to this mountain, even if our outward clothing isn’t always perfect.

24 OT A: Being a bright light of hope in a dark world

Friends

Peace be with you.

This weekend’s gospel is kind of unique. It’s a parallel parable, two events that are similar take place with two very different outcomes. Unfortunately, we probably aren’t as shocked by either outcome because we’ve heard it before and some of the facts kind of need to be translated. So let’s explore some of those facts to help us understand what is so shocking about this parable.

There’s a servant who, roughly, owes his master the equivalent to the national debt of the United States. No kidding, it’s a huge amount and there’s no way he could pay it back so he says “Be patient with me and I will pay you back in full.” The master must have been having a good day or something because, he’s so moved with compassion, that he not only doesn’t throw him, his wife, and his children in jail and sell of his possessions but he forgives the whole debt.

The servant leaves and immediately encounters a fellow servant who is in debt a few hundred bucks. It’s a significant amount but nothing compared to what he owed the master. When this other servant uses the same expression he just said to the master, “Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full” there is no pity in the forgiven servant’s voice. He throws his fellow servant in jail until the money shows up. And, in the context of the story, it appears the money in fact shows up and he is able to pay the debt. Maybe the first servant knew his fellow servant really could pay the debt and that he was lying. Or maybe the first servant was incredibly poor and needed to collect his debts just to be able to eat. We’re not entirely sure.

This is when the surprising part happens because: When the servant is called back in front of the master, the prudent thing the master would have done is to demand the smaller amount of money the servant got from his fellow servant. I mean, wouldn’t that just make sense? By throwing the servant who is incredibly deep in debt in jail, the master wouldn’t have been able to be repaid at all. It’s better that his servant work and slowly repay the debt over time by, for example, collecting the debts that others owed to him. You’d think, therefore, that the master would be happy that the servant is trying to pay back some of the debt.

The problem and the surprise of the story is that the master didn’t want the servant to repay the loan in the first place. He had completely forgiven it and expected this servant to have a sense of gratitude for that forgiveness. That’s the appropriate way to behave when we are treated kindly. We should want to behave just as kindly to those around us.

The problem is that it’s so easy to forget the tremendous kindness that God has had for us. There is so much darkness and despair in our world that we can follow our culture’s attitude of tit-for-tat vengeance. Our culture tells us that we should only be nice to people who are nice to us. We should only forgive those who forgive us. We should just give to those who give us something. This is the attitude of politicians and advertisers; you pat my back, I’ll pat yours.

As Christians, we are called to a more hopeful, more sacrificial life than this. God loves and and so we must love others without needing them to love us back. God has forgiven us so we must forgive everyone who harms us even if they don’t ask for forgiveness. And God has given his life for us so we must give our lives for others. We must be a beacon of hope in an all too dark world.

The God whose plan comes in a quiet whispering sound

Friends

Peace be with you.

I generally don’t associate the appearance of God with pyrotechnics. A ringmaster at a circus or a performer at a theater may appear center stage after a flash of light and bang of sound but that’s generally not the way I think about God appearing. I bring this up because it’s not true historically. It was common for natural events that are remarkable to imagine to be associated with the gods. Thor is the god of thunder, he appears with thunder both in Norse mythology and in the Marvel cinematic universe. In the mind of the Canaanite people, the major adversaries of the Jewish people, their god, Baal, was the god of fire. He appeared to them in fire. So lightening, the sun, molten lava, and other fiery things were associated with Baal.

In the 18th chapter of the First Book of Kings, the chapter immediately preceding the story we heard in the first reading, the King of Israel, whose name is Ahab, has convinced all the prophets of his day that Baal and the one true God are basically the same and, therefore, they should work for Baal. There is one brave prophet left, Elijah, who is tasked with putting down this false notion of syncretism, the belief that all religions are basically the same, and putting forth the truth that there is one God and that his name isn’t Baal. Elijah’s way of reminding the people of the things St. Paul mentions in the second reading, “They are Israelites; theirs the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; theirs the patriarchs,” is to challenge the false prophets to a fire creation off. What’s a fire creation off, you ask. Well, it’s when Elijah invites the false prophets to stack a bunch of wood in the middle of a field and then beg the god of fire to start it on fire and create a place where they can offer him sacrifice. For an entire morning the false prophets of the false god dance around trying to do this while Elijah taunts them that there God might be asleep or away on vacation or possibly even drunk and passed out. Finally, Elijah stacks up some wood, pours a bunch of water on it, and asks the one true God to show them who’s boss. God lights the wood on fire and proves he’s the one true God. Now, normally, if you hear this story this is the end and you get a homily about how important it is to worship God and not false gods like money, power, or pleasure.

However, this isn’t a normal homily. Because, immediately after the fire is going really well and all the water has been lapped up, Elijah tells the townspeople who had come out to watch this fire creation off, to take the false prophets down to the valley and kill them all. Not very nice, right? You can understand why we don’t bring it up normally. But you have to know that to understand what happens next. King Ahab finds out that all his prophets are dead and that they’ve been killed on the word of his nemesis, Elijah, utters a blood oath. A blood oath says either that guy dies or I die, with no intent on the person who said it being the one who dies. He sends out his soldiers to kill Elijah and the one true prophet of the one true God has to go into hiding. He runs for 40 days and 40 nights (remember how the Old Testament loves the number 40?) and finds himself by the same mountain that Moses first encountered God and got the ten commandments. In this Book, they call it Horeb but we’re probably more accustomed to it’s earlier name, Sinai.

And that’s when our reading starts. Except, they’ve left out a bit of dialogue. When Elijah arrives, God says to him, “Why are you here?” and Elijah responds, ““I have been most zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts, but the Israelites have forsaken your covenant. They have destroyed your altars and murdered your prophets by the sword. I alone remain, and they seek to take my life.” He feels totally alone and abandoned. That’s when God says to go stand outside and he showers down three things that are fire based. Well, sort of fire based, if you think in the mind of the time. Wind is fire based because it’s violent. Think of the gospel, how the wind and waves blow the boat around. It destroys things. And wind amplifies fire. You need oxygen to make a fire grow. Earthquakes are also violent and they may be associated with volcanic eruptions. And, the last one is fire. All three are false manifestations of the false god Baal. You see, God is saying that Elijah gets it. God isn’t all about destruction and violence. Jesus’ message to the disciples in the boat is the message of God, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”

Now, if I were to stop there, I think I’d, once again, miss the real point that God is getting across. Because, the very next thing that happens for Elijah is that God tells him that he has a plan and that it involves him choosing his successors and being taken up in a fiery chariot, presumably to heaven although that word isn’t explicitly mentioned. The point is that, even though it’s not the plan that Elijah would want, God still had a plan that worked out in the end. I don’t know about you but, so far, 2020 isn’t going the way I planned. I wouldn’t have planned a global pandemic that keeps forcing us to cancel and adjust things. I wouldn’t have planned for us to be sitting in a less than half filled church with masks on worrying about particulates. I wouldn’t have done it this way. And, even though we may be tempted to sit back and question whether God even has a plan, we can hear in the first reading that he does and we will hear it and see it unfold, not in the noise of the coronavirus or the election or our fears but in the quiet spaces where we encounter God. God has a plan, and we can see it unfold if we stop paying attention to the fires in our lives and, instead, let the one true God unfold it for us.

18th OT A: We must not fear to ask for help.

Friend

Peace be with you.

In a previous life, I was a short order cook. I wasn’t very good at it but I did it every morning during one of my summers at college starting at 6:30 and going until 2:30 and possibly 3:00. It was a particularly difficult summer, too, because I also drove medications to nursing homes from 5:30-10:00 or 11:00. I’d get home just in time to fall asleep and wake up and do it all over again the next day. I found the cooking job frustrating and rewarding at the same time. My boss would come every day and bail me out if I got behind but he wanted to sit out front and entertain people so I always felt guilty asking for help. I can remember one day when I just kept seeing more and more tickets going up and more and more people coming into the restaurant and I kept falling further and further behind. There were several points when I wanted to open the door to the kitchen and ask for help but I just kept working and falling behind until the owner finally opened the door and asked, “How are you doing? It looks like you could use some help.” I said yes and stepped aside as he took over and bailed me out. I became his assistant watching the old master put out perfect over easy eggs with hot buttered toast and a crispy hash browns. After about an hour, it slowed down and he turned and asked if I could handle it from here. I assured him I could and he said, “Don’t ever be afraid to ask for help.”

We all know what it’s like to be hungry. We all know what it’s like to be thirsty. I would guess that, in this time of covid-19, we’ve also experienced being hungry somewhere and thinking that we would ordinarily stop somewhere to get a snack but we should probably just wait until we get home. God is speaking through the prophet Isaiah to very hungry people, people in exile from their land, people facing a “new normal”, a phrase I’m sure we all hate by now, a people in slavery to their neighbors, the Babylonians. In every way, God should be telling them how disappointed he is in them and how they need to take their punishment for their wickedness. But, instead, he is inviting them to a feast. Now, this isn’t just significant because it’s food. It’s significant because you only invite your friends to feasts. So, God is reminding them that they are still his people, that he still has a close relationship to them even if they feel isolated and alone.

Similarly, in the gospel, Jesus sets up this banquet in a deserted place for people who have come to him to be healed. Notice, by the way, that Matthew starts by saying this is how Jesus responded to the death of John the Baptist. Remember that John’s death also happened at a banquet, but Herod’s banquet was filled with powerful people and ended with a drunken murder of a murder. Jesus’ banquet is filled with people who were sick who had come to be cured and ends with a miracle.

So much of my life, I think good things happen to me because I’m holy or moral. Or at least I’m not as bad as other people. Isaiah reminds us that it’s the lost who are closest to God. Jesus reminds us that the sick are the ones called to this miraculous feast. We come here injured but not broken and longing for the healing that only Jesus can provide in his body, blood, soul, and divinity offered to us in this Bread from heaven.

2EA Peace drives out fear

When I was a senior at Loras College in Dubuque, in order to graduate I had to take an oral comprehensive exam, meaning I had to meet with three professors and, for an hour, answer any and all possible questions they would want to ask about every philosophy class I had taken in the past year and I was supposed to be able to answer all their questions to their satisfaction even if I hadn’t taken the particular subject with that professor. It was an incredibly intimidating experience. I was scheduled to take my comprehensive exams on a Friday afternoon. The plan was to take the exams and go off to have a pint with some friends. I had been studying a great deal, especially two weeks prior to the test, preparing for this day since I knew that it was key to my graduating from college.

On the day of the test, I walked into the room that I thought the exam was to take only to find it dark and empty. I looked at my watch and realized I was about five minutes early so I thought to myself “Well, the professors must be in class and will be coming soon” I took out some note cards I had carried along, sat at a table, and began studying. After a few moments, I looked down at my watch and it was about five after. I thought, maybe I was wrong and the test was going to take in my advisor’s office. So I walked down to his office and knocked on the

door but no one was there. I began to fear that I had written down the wrong day or wrong time so I checked my day planner and it was right there in black ink. Still, I feared I had written down the wrong time or day or building. So I went to one of the other professors who was to administer the exam and knocked on it and there was, again, no response. Feeling more anxiety than ever, I went to the last professor’s door and again received no response. Finally, I looked on an old syllabus and found my advisor’s home telephone number. His wife answered and told me he was in Chicago for the day. I remember thanking her, hanging up the phone and feeling rage and fear. I was so angry that I just wanted to scream or throw my hands up because my professor had apparently forgotten all about my exam, which meant I was not going to earn my degree, which meant I wasn’t going to graduate on time, which meant I wouldn’t enter seminary in the Fall and wouldn’t become a priest and my whole world was coming to an end.

I wonder if these were some of the feelings Thomas was feeling between these two appearances of Jesus. Thomas was left out of the resurrection. We don't know why Thomas wasn’t in the room that evening when our Lord appeared. Maybe he was in the Temple at prayer, sheltering in place in his own locked room. We do know what his reaction was when the disciples came to him with this story that Jesus has appeared to them and said to them those words of comfort. Thomas felt betrayed. He must have felt afraid to, afraid that the Lord had risen and that he had missed it or fear that his friends were lying to him. He must have felt hurt at the possibility of being left out of something so important done by his close friend and confused at what was being said and amidst all of this pain Thomas makes the ultimate statement of disbelief “Unless I probe his hands and side I shall never believe.”

This is the power of fear. We’ve lived in a sea of fear ever since this pandemic started. We may be watching the news and hearing that it’s going to last eighteen months or two years and wondering how we’re going to survive staying at home that long. And then we hear other politicians who seem to think everything is going to go back to normal next week and we don’t know who to believe. If we look on social media, we may see people putting forth all kinds of theories about how it started and how you can prevent it and you just don’t know who to believe. If you have someone in your life who is sick, whether it’s of Covid 19 or some other illness, you may be afraid of how you can take care of them and support them. You may worry, especially if they’re a person susceptible to immune problems and breathing problems, about inadvertently giving them the virus. There is much fear out there right now.

Fear indeed has a lot of power and many emotions tied to it. Our challenge as Christians is to live in this fearful world while living in the hope of the resurrected Jesus Christ. It is a challenge that calls us to move from fear to forgiveness by faith in Jesus Christ. It is a call that liberates from living in fearful situations: situations like abuse, danger, hatred and other situations that cause fear. Our Lord calls you to be free of these situations to be able to live in that hope. When you are safe, there is a temptation to hold on to that anger and fear but our challenge as Christians is to lean how to forgive, learn how to let go. Because, hate, anger, fear, and all these kinds of emotions paralyze our lives if we become fixated on them. They make us focus on something instead of focusing on our relationship. They are especially damaging to our faith lives, the life in relationship to God.

Now, back to my story, I had thought my advisor was setting definite plans when he was, in fact, just setting forth a goal for me. When he returned, we made plans to set a definite date the following Friday and, thankfully, I passed the test, I graduated on time, went to seminary, and got ordained. And all that fear did nothing but complicate things. Today, let us hear God’s healing call that says, “Peace to you, whose sins you forgive are forgiven.” Let us who have been forgiven by God fall on our knees and say, “My Lord and My God”.

5 LA Object Permanence of the Resurrection

Friends

Peace be with you.

Many of you probably know, somewhere between 4-7 months, a child goes from only knowing what’s in the world by what they see to knowing that someone or something is there even if they can not see it. They call it object permanence. In those first few months, if you get annoyed by the sounds of an annoying toy or if a child becomes fascinated with an electrical outlet, all you have to do is remove the toy or remove the outlet from his or her sight and suddenly it doesn’t appear. However, once object permanence is established, you risk a temper tantrum for removing the object of temptation, especially if it was something that they were taking great pleasure in exploring or if they’re short on sleep.

St. John’s story of the death and resuscitation of Lazarus is extremely vivid and full of details that are definitely worth pondering and remembering. For instance, whereas St. Matthew, St. Mark, and St. Luke would have most likely simply started this story from Bethany, St. John starts two days in advance in the Northern part of Israel called Galilee. We know from the other gospels that Galilee was where Jesus did most of his ministry and that Bethany was the place he would stay, instead of Jerusalem, when he either visited the temple or did ministry in the southern part of Israel, called Judea. St. John starts this story when Jesus heard that Lazarus, his friend, is sick. Jesus knows that the illness will end in death so he...waits for two days. It says that he knew the people in the south were trying to kill him so he wanted to wait for things to calm down. So, he waits two days to go. St. Thomas says, “then let us all go up and die with him.” It seems a cynical remark but, in truth, we can hear a willingness on the part of St. Thomas and the other apostles to follow Jesus in death, which they most certainly will do when they are all martyred as one of his followers. See how subtle that is? It sounds like a cynical remark that all of us probably would have made at the idea that two days is enough to calm the anger against Jesus, but instead it points to the fact that they will all be martyred like Jesus even before Jesus has died.

We’re not sure exactly how long it took them to make it to Bethany. The next time-frame we are given is when Matha, of Mary and Martha fame in the Gospel of St. Luke says Lazarus has been dead for four days. In any case, Jesus arrives and there’s a parallel to that earlier story from the Gospel of Luke about Martha and Mary, but also a bit of contrast. You may remember that story as Mary choosing the better part by sitting contemplatively at Jesus’ feet while Martha is wearied about many things, rushing around the house trying to be the good host. The parallel is that Martha is the first to speak to Jesus. Like in the story when Jesus visits them, Martha is also the most active, running to meet him when he is still outside the city.

Now, we know they would have buried the body of Lazarus outside the city because it was illegal to bury them inside. That’s why, on the day of Easter, Mary Magdalene has to go to the tomb outside the city to try to anoint Jesus’ body. So, Jesus may have been making a beeline to the tomb of his friend and was intercepted by Martha. Their interaction speaks to the place that Martha has grown as a person. She says, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But…” She adds a “but” to this statement, “But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” There is a statement of faith, of hope, and of love. This is a different Martha from the resentful host trudging around her house. Martha is one with faith in Jesus, declaring that she knows Jesus can do this because God listens to him. Jesus then declares to her that I am, one of his famous “I AM” statements from the Gospel of John, “I am the resurrection and the life” and she responds that she has come to believe in him and so she calls her faithful sister, Mary.

Now, Mary brings with her a group of professional mourners who would have gone from funeral to funeral mourning with people, whether they knew them or not. That’s why they are crying with her, not because they really have a strong connection to the family but because they think it’s their job to go and make the family feel like it’s alright to cry and mourn. What Mary says sounds very similar to what Martha says, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” However, there's no “but” at this point. Unlike the earlier experience of sitting at the Lord’s feet in quiet contemplation, her apathy comes through. She’s absent. It’s been four days since her brother has died and she’s lost any hope that he will come back.

In response to Mary, Jesus gets perturbed and weeps. Unlike the professional mourners, he weeps because his friend Lazarus has to die. Even though Jesus knows that all of this is being done for the glory of God, he weeps at what his friend had to go through. But, he also weeps at the lack of faith surrounding from Mary and those with her.

Which is where the third interaction takes place. Storytelling is built on the rule of three, three interactions between Jesus and the sisters in this case. Jesus asks that the stone be rolled away, and this time it’s Martha whose doubts are brought forward as she worries about a stench. Martha is the one who believes but also asks Jesus to help her unbelief, as it says in the Gospel of St. Mark. I believe but I don’t want it to be tested. I don’t want to have to prove that when we roll away the stones we’re not going to smell decay on the inside.

So, Jesus gets perturbed again, frustrated that the one who so proudly said she believed is now saying that she doesn’t believe, won’t put her actions of faith behind her statement of belief. At this point, Jesus says “Lazarus, Come out!”, calling him by his name for the first time since he arrived instead of just calling him the “dead man”, Lazarus comes out wrapped in his burial cloths. It’s like the burial cloths point to the fact that this is a resuscitation instead of a resurrection. He has come back to life, but Lazarus will die. This is definitely a sign by St. John of the resurrection but I like the detail that the body is still wrapped, he is still bound by the laws of death of this world. People still come to faith in Jesus because of the resuscitation of Lazurus.

Death is a confusing thing and, certainly, in this time of Covid-19, there is death all around us. There is the metaphorical death of our freedom to be able to go where we want and be with whom we want and feeling trapped in our house and, yet, I know some people are experiencing actual death of loved ones because of this disease as well. I think it’s not the worst thing in the world to contemplate the reality of death, that each of us will likely face this evil. There are two things that come to my heart during this time. The first is that, if we are with a loved one who is most likely headed toward death and we call upon the Lord saying, “Lord, if you are here, my brother or sister won’t die.” Remember that Jesus waited two days to go to see his friend and that, in that time, Lazarus did in fact die. It was because he knew, as it said, that we would see the glory of God. Resuscitation is great but Resurrection is better. Resuscitation ends but resurrection is eternal. It gives us hope.

St. Thomas Aquinas offered four reasons to believe in the resurrection. I offer the second of his four reasons that I think directly hits us right now. He says, “By removing the dread of death, since we believe that there is another, better life to which we shall come after death, it is evident that no one should fear death or do anything through fear of death. Not that we find death to be something that we long for or yearn for or try and bring about by our own actions. We all have to rely on God to be the author of our lives. But it shouldn’t be something that we dread either, something that we are terrified to face as a reality. Resurrection should give us a sense that death is, as it said in the readings, a sleep, waiting, anticipating. It’s a real sense in faith in an object of permanence. The world tells that that, once you die, that is the end. That all we need to do is to look outside and see things passing away, our cars die, our computers die, things die and, once they do, they end. And yet, we who have faith in the Object Permanence of the resurrection know that death is a reality but is also not the end. It is something that we’ll all have to go through that will lead us to everlasting life. So, as we contemplate this, don’t forget the Object Permanence of the resurrection.

3 LA Reconciliation as the sacrament that satiates our thirst to forgive and be forgiven

Friends

Peace be with you.

This weekend was one of those weeks where there just seemed to be a cavalcade of work until I was able to sit down this morning and prepare a homily. And then nothing was coming to me. Up until 3:20 this afternoon, I thought I was going to have to walk to the pulpit and apologize because I didn’t have a homily. Then I thought about those television shows involving a character going to a counselor or a psychiatrist. There’s one guarantee with those episodes, the reason the person walked through the door is not the reason the person that is there. For instance, if you watched the West Wing a few years ago, you may remember the character of Josh going to see a psychiatrist because he got so angry at the president that he exploded in a fit of rage at him in the Oval Office. Throughout the rest of the show, you find out that Josh had cut his hand and claimed that it was from shutting a window too hard and breaking the glass when, in fact, it was because he had set down a glass of gin and broken it in his hand. Josh had PTSD from an assasination attempt on the president when he was almost critically wounded but, of course, that’s not the real reason Josh exploded. By the end of the show, you discover the he had been in a house fire when he was a child that had killed his sister and Josh still blamed himself for not doing anything to save his little sister. By the way, if this sounds familiar, it may be because the character of Randall is also visiting a psychiatrist on the show This Is Us after someone broke into his house and he beat the tar out of someone. I would guess that, as with Josh, we’ll find the roots are deeper to this than we expect.

So, what are the roots of the situation taking place in the gospel. In other words, what is bringing this samaritan woman out in the hottest part of the day in search of water? At the time, people, mostly women, got their water in the early morning because it was hard work carrying it back home. Plus, if you do it early, you may run into your friends and catch up on all the town gossip, sort of like their version of the water cooler. They could talk about walking into three stores and not finding any toilet paper and then asking why everyone is so worried about toilet paper. Or they may have complained about the fact that March Madness and Spring Training were both cancelled and wondered what, if any sports, they were going to be able to watch; professional bowling? Chess? Curling?

Which probably answers the question as to why she is out at this time of the day. She is self distancing, not because of a global pandemic but because she feels ashamed. She’s been married five times and the man she’s living with is not HER husband. Everyone in town knows it. They probably even talk about her in the morning when they’re getting their water. Most people probably avoid her, like we would do to a toddler who just sneezed on their hand and then immediately wants to give you a sign of peace.

You can imagine then how this moment must have felt after going out in the middle of the day and, while you’re hurriedly drawing water, along comes a foreigner whose people don’t have anything to do with you, who asks you for a drink. Samaritans and Jews don’t have anything to do with each other. Still, he asks for water. You’ve got water but you know a Jew isn’t going to drink your water because the vessels you have aren’t kosher. Suddenly he’s telling you that, if you’d asked him for water, he would have given you an endless supply of living water, better water than you’re gossipy neighbors get at this spring.

That’s where it gets a little weird because this man tells her that she needs to get her husband to haul it back to their house. In today’s world, that probably sounds very sexist but Jesus is really doing something powerful: he’s getting the woman to unveil what she is really thirsting for. She came for water but she was thirsting for forgiveness and reconciliation. “I do not have a husband” she says to Jesus. And Jesus acknowledges that and reveals himself as the Messiah and talks about a time when reconciliation will happen between her people and his.

What happens next is what I tend to find most instructive for where we are today. Remember all those people she’s been avoiding? Now, she runs to them with a mission. She has to reveal the messiah to them. Her method of evangelization is simple: tell her own story of forgiveness and then ask them if they have the same experience with Jesus. She has had a moment of referent spirituality and is inviting them to do the same. She allows Jesus to reveal himself to these people and invites them to go and see for themselves.



We are all thirsting to be forgiven by God. In reverence, let God reveal to you what you most want to have forgiven. You may not be entirely aware of what it is and it may go back many years and be something that has continuously plagued you. Bring that to the sacrament of reconciliation. Then go and tell others so they can believe for themselves and know that Jesus is the savior of the world.

1 L A The three pillars: Freedom in Christ

Friends

Peace be with you.

One of my jobs as your pastor is to provide a vision to focus our efforts in a particular direction. This probably seems a bit silly since the Bible contains many great vision statements. There’s the great commission that Jesus gives in the gospel of Matthew 28:19-20 “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” Or, Psalm 46:11: 1“Be still and know that I am God, exalted over nations, exalted over earth!” Actually, there’s so many that it becomes hard to choose only one. There are, of course, a few that won’t work. Proverbs 21:19 comes to mind, “Better to live in a desert than with a quarrelsome and nagging (spouse).” So, one of my challenges is to be in prayer, both individually and with all of you, and hear God calling me to lead you to holiness in this place at this time. Pope Francis, in his recent Post Synodal Exhortation to the people of the Amazon said it best when he said, “Everything that the Church has to offer must become incarnate in a distinctive way in each part of the world so that the Bride of Christ can take on a variety of faces that better manifest the inexhaustible riches of God’s grace.

The vision I’m putting forth comes from a recent time of prayer during one of the quiet times at Mass. I was reflecting in church about what that vision would look like for this assignment. It was a 1% challenge moment of silence for me and these three things sort of floated to the front of my heart: Reverent Spirituality, Freedom in Christ, and Love of Christ. (repeat that) All three are interconnected but not confused. And, they keep being brought forward to me in different ways during prayer. For instance, on Ash Wednesday, I kept thinking about how Reverent Spirituality is intimately connected to prayer, Freedom in Christ is the goal of fasting, and the Love of Christ is a life lived out in almsgiving. St. Paul presented the three theological virtues of faith, hope, and love. Reverent Spirituality is based on a need to cultivate a deep faith in our lives. Freedom in Christ is imbued with hope. And the word “love” is rooted in the last one, Love of Christ.

In today’s readings, we hear about temptation. Adam and Eve are tempted by the serpent. Jesus is tempted by the devil. Where does this fit into this vision I’m putting forward? To see how, we have to listen deeply to the scriptures. One cynical way of looking at our world is that it is one huge temptation. I can think of three temptations that I see as being paramount; selfishness, distraction, and vices, but I’m sure there are others. Selfishness is seen in ancient literature as a curvature of the spine. It’s imbued in such maxims as “Charity begins at home” and “Treat yo self!” It is the idea that my will must be first, rather than the will of God. Distraction is the idea that, if I can’t constantly be happy. I can at least not have to be attentive to what I find to be tedious or difficult. Cell phones and other technology seek to distract us. Food can be a distraction, especially the stuff that’s not really food like candy, pop. and alcohol, Which leads us to the final temptation, vices. Vices are what happen when our temptations take priority over all else in our lives, despite the fact that we could definitely live out them. In a recent homily, I used the example of a person obsessively playing a computer game about a virtual family to the detriment of the relationship within her actual family. Or think of the person so addicted to methamphetamine that his teeth are falling out. You’d think there’d come a point when the person would realize they’re better off without it but that point never seems to come.

Instead of temptation, we seek Freedom in Christ. The world needs Freedom in Christ. Indeed, Christ is the world’s Freedom! And this freedom is exemplified in Christ’s temptation. I’m going to focus in on the first interaction that Jesus has with the devil because something interesting occurred to me as I prayed with it. Did you notice that the first thing the devil tempted Jesus with is bread? The Eucharist is also connected to the Fall of Adam in Eve in Genesis so it makes sense that the devil would try and use it in Jesus’ temptation. Eve takes the fruit, gives it to Adam, and they both eat. Take, give, and eat are three of four verbs used on the night of the last supper that become intimately connected to the Eucharist. Still, there’s one verb that is missing; blessed. A blessing is an act of thanksgiving to God for a gift given by him to us and the intention to use that gift in service of God. Adam and Eve didn’t bless the fruit because their spines were curving in selfishness as a consequence of their originally sinful act.

Jesus, in contrast, when tempted by the bread of the devil, sees the mockery of the Eucharist inherit in the act and, despite his hunger, seeks the freedom that comes from fasting from temptation. Freedom is based on the idea that we are made for great things and we shouldn’t settle for the paltry things the devil provides. Freedom in Christ seeks what is pure, good, and beautiful.



The sacrament of Reconciliation helps greatly with our search for Freedom in Christ. It allows us to be rid of the selfishness, distraction, and vices that weigh us down. I hope you will take advantage of one of our schedules times of reconciliation or give me a call and set up an appointment to experience Freedom in Christ, the Christ who called you to follow him in Reverent Spirituality and who calls you to go from here to live a life saturated with his love.

6 OT A: Holiness that surpasses the scribes and pharisees

Friends

Peace be with you. 

Back when I was in grade school, my older brothers had a Lenten tradition that I would occasionally get to participate in. Some of you may have had a similar tradition. During Lent, my mom was a little more stringent than the church and would make us fast, not only from meat, but also from eating between meals. The church only mandates that we do that on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Nonetheless, my brothers would wait until 11:37 on Friday night and call the local pizza place to order a sausage pizza that would be delivered to our house a little after midnight. We had fulfilled the law...barely. We were like the kid who’s asked to take his laundry to his room who puts in on the floor right inside his bedroom door or the kid that’s asked to pick up her toys who simply pushes them all to the corner of the room. It’s all about doing enough to make sure that you don’t get into trouble.

When Christianity was being formed, there was a debate within the church as to the role the Old Testament law would play. If you simply read St. Paul, you could get the impression that we should view the Old Testament as a museum: something that used to be important that is no longer. Yet, to balance this out, we have today’s rather lengthy gospel. Jesus begins by saying that the law hasn’t passed away. In fact, Jesus hasn’t come to abolish the law but to bring it to perfection by fulfilling it. He then shows what that fulfillment looks like by using a total of six examples, of which we hear four. First, don’t just avoid killing people, avoid becoming angry with your neighbor and do what you can to reconcile with him. Secondly, don’t just avoid committing adultery, don’t look with lust at someone, especially someone who isn’t your boyfriend, girlfriend, or spouse. Thirdly, don’t divorce despite the fact that Moses allowed for it. Lastly, don’t just avoid swearing false oaths. Don’t swear oaths at all. Instead, just live your life in such a way that you fulfill the agreements that you make so that you don’t need to make oaths. Each of these examples takes a law that was already on the books and ratchets up the expectations. It definitely challenges the people who think that Jesus wasn’t about rules or laws but only cared that we be nice to one another. Jesus wasn’t a hippie pacifist. He expected that his followers obey the law and that they do so to a degree that others in the world didn’t.

Nonetheless, as I said before, there is a tension in scripture that is very much still present in the church today. Paul says that the law is unimportant, Jesus says that he is the fulfillment of the law and that his followers will follow every letter and then some. The way we feel the tension is, often, in certain hot-button moral issues. For example with the issue of homosexuality; Church leadership says that scripture and tradition are clear that, while gay people are to be loved and not unjustly discriminated against, homosexual acts are not morally good. Some theologians and many gay rights activists will quote Jesus saying, “Judge not, lest ye be judged” as though it means Jesus was a relativist, that almost nothing is immoral. So, the church advocates maintaining the law as it is and gets criticized for being judgemental and mired in the law,

To use another example, one of the demands that both the Old Testament and New demands is that we provide for the alien, or people we would today call undocumented immigrants. We are supposed to give them food and water, clothing, and even a place to stay if they need it. Still, often times the same people with whom we agree on the issues of gay marriage and abortion make laws seeking to inhibit catholic charities ability to reach out to fulfill this precept of the law. We are simply trying to recognize the dignity of human life present in immigrants and strangers just as much as it is in the unborn. 

In the end, the law was meant to define minimums for us; the least that we have to do to be okay in the eyes of God. Both Paul and Jesus agree that the problem with the law is that we shouldn’t make it the goal of our our lives to seek what’s the least we have to do to get into heaven. We should be constantly seeking to grow deeper in holiness through the acts of our lives and not rely on the minimums to decide how we treat other people. 

Let me give an example that I hear about quite frequently. I think of what happens when farmers notice a friend or neighbor who becomes sick or injured to the point they won’t be able to harvest their crop. There is nothing that says you have to fire up your combine, use your own time and fuel, and help that person harvest his crop. And, when you think about it, it would be advantageous for that neighbor to let the crop sit in the field and rot so there’s less corn or beans out there and their crop may be worth more. But that’s not the point. Someone is hurting and you can help so you do. 

If the goal of the scribes and pharisees was to define their holiness by the law in such a way that they always made sure it worked best for them, then if our holiness is going to be greater, we can’t be focused on what’s best for us. Our law must be to always do what’s best for the other. 

3 OT A: Walking in darkness one day and in light the next

Friends
Peace be with you.
About a month ago, I was able to take some time to see the movie Harriet. Sadly, it’s no longer in theaters but it’s starting to show up in some streaming services. The movie tells the story of Harriet Tubman, a slave who managed to escape from her southern slave owners to freedom in Philadelphia. Eventually she returned to assist slaves along the Underground Railroad to the freedom of the north. I was glad that the filmmakers retained her deep faith, at points attributing narrow escapes to divine visions. I was also impressed that they neither fetishize nor minimize the horrors surrounding slavery. At one point, Harriet wants to free her sister, Rachel, who is the primary house slave for her female slave owner and children. Harriet and Rachel get into a heated debate about what will happen to whom if she runs away and whether that matters. It was a good lesson on the complexities of life associated with making the right decision for ourselves while making sure that we don’t hurt those who are also affected by our choices.
Our first reading for today’s Mass probably sounds familiar. Jesus quotes it in the gospel for today. And it is also an option for Mass at Christmas. It’s a part of Sacred Scripture that we, as Christians, often look to as a bridge between the Old and New Testaments. It comes from the Book of the prophet Isaiah and is just 8 chapters in, so we’re still in the phase of this book in which the people are being warned to reform their lives or be prepared to be exiled. However, you may not entirely pick that up from the part that we just heard. It sounds very hopeful, that what seems to have been bad is getting better. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.
However, if we dig a little deeper, we quickly find that appearances are deceiving. Let’s start with Zebulum and Naphtali, these regions which are initially said to be degraded before the sea road is declared good again. Zebulum and Naphtali are two of Israel’s children, so these are two of the twelve tribes of Israel. Each tribe, when they enter the land given them by God, is given a piece of land they are responsible for caring for. Zebulum and Naphtali are given the most northern parts. The first group that attacks God’s people, the Assyrians, overrun and take over Zebulum and Naphtali and forcibly convert them to be non-Jewish, or Gentile, cities. The people that had lived there are exiled and the tribes of Zebulum and Naphtali cease to exist any longer. So, by degrading them, Israih is basically saying they’re destroyed, and yet the area has become one heck of a nice roadway as a consequence. No longer would the people of God have to stop and visit Zebulum and Naphtali. You can just pass by since it’s now controlled by the Gentiles. It’s kind like rejoicing at the death of a bitter relative because you will no longer have to worry about them showing up and ruining Christmas.
        Isaiah uses the destruction and overthrow of these regions to foreshadow the overthrow of their leaders, which happens a few years later during the Babylonian captivity. The King and his court are taken to Babylon where they eventually die. They are called, anguish, distress, gloom, and darkness, not great adjectives from a political perspective. Still, the darkness will be overcome by a bright light, according to the prophet, pointing to a future of rejoicing. The last verse say, “For the yoke that burdened them, the pole on their shoulder and the rod of their taskmaster, you have smashed as on the day of Midian.” You see, when the Israelites were arguing for a king way back in First Samuel, they were told that they would have to do all the work and the king would take both the credit for the work and the crops and animals they produce. It was God’s way of trying to talk them out of demanding a king. In this verse, God is envisioning a time when this situation would no longer exist and, instead, God would be their king and he neither needs glory nor produce. This is why we connect this reading so closely to the Christmas season.
         For Jesus, this is the passage that comes to mind when his cousin, John, is being removed from ministry and he is taking over. He is in the Galille, the name of the region that used to be called Zebulum and Naphtali. He announces himself the light for the people who sit in darkness and the shadow of death. What’s striking and somewhat connected to the mission of Harriet Tubman, is that Jesus has to get his people to see the Gentiles as people worthy of a relationship with God. This isn’t just a nice highway that one can pass through quickly without worrying about the usual hospitality expectations. There are people living there, people who deserve to have just as much hope for forgiveness of sins as the Jews did. He had to help his people see that the Gentiles were capable of being saved because they were people created in God’s image and likeness and, therefore, deserving to hear about the Kingdom of God.
       I think racism is, first and foremost, based on a notion of superiority, that one race is better than another by virtue of genetics or upbringing. The truth is that we all are in need of salvation, all of us have sinned, all of us need to repent. I think that’s why the Church encourages us to go to confession at least once-a-year and more often if we are conscious of committing a sin; to remind ourselves of our true light in Christ and to unite us as people who have sinned but are, nonetheless, united on a journey toward the kingdom that God alone can build for us.

Baptism of the Lord - A: Finding Jesus while serving the poor

Friends
 Peace be with you.
 Have you ever heard the story of St. Christopher, the patron saint of travelers and lost souls? According to a legendary account of his life, while serving the king of Canaan, Christopher decided to go and serve "the greatest king there was". He went to his king, who was reputed to be the greatest, but one day he saw the king cross himself at the mention of the devil.So he went in search of the devil so he could serve him. He came across a band of marauders, really bad guys, one of whom declared himself to be the devil. So Christopher decided to serve him. But when he saw his new master avoid a cross by the side of the road and found out that the devil feared Christ, he left him and inquired from people where to find Christ. After inquiring of many people how to find Jesus, he found everyone pointing him in the direction of a hermit who instructed him in the Christian faith. Christopher asked him how he could serve Christ. When the hermit suggested fasting and prayer, Christopher told him he wasn’t interested in that. The hermit then suggested that because of his size and strength Christopher could serve Christ by assisting people to cross a dangerous river, where people were being swept away in the current or drowning in the attempt. The hermit promised that this service would be pleasing to Christ.

After Christopher had performed this service for some time, a little child came to him to ask him to take him across the river. During the crossing, the river seemed to become deeper and deeper and the child seemed as heavy as lead, so much that Christopher could scarcely carry him and found himself nearly drowning. When he finally reached the other side, he said to the child: "You have put me in the greatest danger. I do not think the whole world could have been as heavy on my shoulders as you were." The child replied: "You had on your shoulders not only the whole world but Him who made it. I am Christ your king, whom you are serving by this work." At this, the child vanished.

I think what attracts us to this story is the idea that Christopher gets duped by Jesus. He wants to serve the most powerful person and, ye, he finds that he’s isn’t even strong enough to carry a child across a stream. I would guess a fair number of parents can sympathize with Christopher on this accound. You think you have children to be able to pass on your wisdom and knowledge and quickly find you spend most of the time making sure they don’t hurt themselves and aren’t lying in their own filth.

 I feel like this feeling is connected to St. John the Baptist in today’s Gospel. We know from the Gospel of Luke that St. John was the cousin of Jesus. We know that Mary went to be with Elizabeth, John’s mother, when she found out they were both pregnant. What we don’t know, and is not clear from any descriptions found in Sacred Scripture, is what happened after that. In other words, we don’t know about any of the interactions that happened between Jesus and his cousin John before Jesus was baptized by him. This may be because John and Jesus didn’t interact much before this. Geography may have played a part in this. Jesus was from Nazareth, which is in the north of Gallilee and John the Baptist was raised in Jerusalem or somewhere close enough to the Temple that his Father, Zechariah, could have gotten to the Temple to carry out his priestly duties. What you may not know is that Herod the Great, at one point, removed the high priests and replaced them with some that would agree with him. Herod the Great had quintupled the size of the Temple, but some of the high priests felt he had overstepped his bounds and started speaking out against him and against Rome in general so Herod replaced them.

 We know all of this because of some writings that were unearthed in caves around the Dead Sea, to the extreme south of Israel, or the Dead Sea Scrolls. Most of the scrolls contain some of the most ancient versions of Sacred Scripture that exist. However, there are a few that indicated a kind of communal living of individuals who have been uprooted from Jerusalem by Rome. It’s possible, as some scholars have speculated, that John the Baptist was taken by his aging parents to live with this community deliberately disconnected from his family and the rest of society out of fear of Rome. One reason why this is attractive is because the community near the Dead Sea, unable to sacrifice animals for the forgiveness of their sins, emphasized an alternative tradition, ritual bathing, for the washing away of sins. That may be how John the Baptizer found himself in the middle of the desert, dressed in wild clothes like that of a religious order, fasting in a way St. Christopher never could, staring into the eyes of the Messiah for whom he had been telling people to prepare without recognizing the man as his cousin.

 John’s reaction is the kind of humility that comes with being in the presence of stardom. It’s the kind of feeling you get if you go to a live concert by your favorite musician or musical group and get to see live someone you’ve only seen on Youtube. Still, I can’t help but wonder how John knew Jesus was the messiah while St. Christopher had not clue. What made Jesus stand out for John and not at all to Christopher.

 I think it has to do with their expectations. Christopher was expecting a tough guy, a powerful king who could wipe out nations. John the Baptist is expecting one whom God had chosen, one closer to the first reading in Isaiah who won’t raise his voice or break a bruised reed or snuff our a smoldering wick. John had so immersed himself in Sacred Scripture that he knew the source of true power, unlike St. Christopher who though true power came from strength.

Still, I think it’s important to also pay attention to what unites St. John the Baptist and St. Christopher. In both cases, it was when they were in humble, loving service of others that they encountered Jesus. Both of these men may have benefited from the wisdom of St. Teresa of Calcutta, who looked into the decaying faces of lepers and saw the face of Christ. She could see how important it was to see service to the poor as, ultimately, service to Christ. In just the same way, each of us are called to serve one another and, so, serve Christ. How is God calling you to humble service of his Son in service offered to his little ones.