Nuance

Making the final sweep through this weekend’s homily… referring back to a 30-year old translation of the New American Bible and finding the language so much more meaningful. It embraces the tension between the zeal for worldly wealth and the commitment to spiritual wealth.

Just after the closing verse of today’s Gospel (Luke 16:1-13) is the clincher: (Jesus, speaking to the Pharisees) “You justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God reads your hearts. What man thinks important, God holds in contempt.”

They Said Nothing

What a glorious day!  Jesus Christ is risen… but the women at the tomb… THEY SAID NOTHING. Mark’s compact Gospel, Chapter 16:1-8 more than captures the scene of the three women at the tomb.  It provides a profound insight into the collision between our human senses and the spiritual mystery, the new reality of the resurrection.

My homily for the Easter Vigil and Sunrise service can be found at the Deacons USA blog.

On a fruitful Lenten observance…

Homily for the 5th Sunday of Lent
(Reading I – Jeremiah 31:31-34, Reading II – Hebrews 5:7-9, Gospel – John 12:20-33)

Today we find ourselves deep in the season of Lent.  I realize that many of you have given up a favorite food or activity as a Lenten sacrifice, or perhaps you’ve added special  observances, such as the Stations of the Cross.  And you feel that you are truly in the spirit of preparation. Regardless of what you’ve done or haven’t done, today is an excellent time to pause for a moment and ask yourself this question,  “Why have I made this extra effort, and how is my spiritual health as I approach Holy Week and the joyous Easter season?”

[Continued in Ministry...]

The face of God…

“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am meek and humble of heart;
and you will find rest for yourselves.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”

Matthew 11:28b-30

As we approach the mid-point of the Advent season, the scripture readings for Wednesday, December 10th speak of a love that refreshes us amid life’s burdens and empowers us to present that saving love to others.  We cannot, should not refuse God’s love, nor should we ever withhold the love we have been given from others.

The words of Matthew’s gospel were brought home to me in a powerful way this past week when I encountered a woman leaving a doctor’s office.  She met me in the hallway as I entered the third floor and asked, “Do you think she is OK?” gesturing down the long corridor to a short woman in a heavy coat bent over a folding shopping cart.  As I looked down the hallway, she continued:  “I’m really in a hurry… could you check on her?”  “Sure, I can do that”, I replied.

A moment later she was gone and I was walking softly down the corridor toward the elderly woman–still bent over near an office door.  As I approached, I could see that she was doing something with her hands.  Laying my hand gently on her shoulder, I asked, “Can I help you with anything?”.  She turned her head toward me and a broad smile stretched across her face as she replied, “You’re so kind. Thank you.”  She then resumed typing some information into a small hand-held device. “I’m writing down the office hours… I need to see a foot doctor.”

A moment later she looked up again, still smiling and said, “You are such a kind man. Thank you for your concern.”  For just a moment as I stared into her eyes, I felt like I was looking into God’s face.  All warmth, love and concern.  No barriers… just a recognition that my simple act of charity was truly appreciated.

It wasn’t until the other night, preparing for this Wednesday morning’s reflection that I truly understood the significance of that moment, illuminated today in this passage from Matthew:  come to me…  don’t say ‘no’… learn from me and return what I give you… to your brother, your sister, MY children.  Can anyone who has seen the ‘face of God’ in another refuse?

“…it is a good thing for a person to remain as he is.”

Our “state” in life… that station of life that we occupy. Today’s exhortation of St. Paul to the church in Corinth strikes a nerve: it’s not our state in life that’s important, but rather, what we do with it!

Four years ago Prince Charles spoke out about one’s state in life, expressing in a memo to a senior member of his household staff that, “What is wrong with people nowadays? Why do they all seem to think they are qualified to do things far above their capabilities?“  His comments ignited a short-lived controversy in the British Isles, because he pointed directly to the “child-centered schooling” and “social utopianism” as culprits in today’s youth striving to reach beyond their capabilities.

Ah, St. Paul, were times a bit simpler then?  Somehow, I believe he would not have thought so.  Paul’s point, in 1 Cor 7:25-31 is a call to seek fulfillment in God’s creative genius and to use, to the fullest, the gifts with which He has graced each of us.

St. Paul was in an eschatalogical frame of mind as he approached the believers at Corinth… the world, as he knew it seemed to be passing away.  And so, these notes from the NAB neatly place Paul’s concern in context:

in the light of the second coming of Christ, it is not the state that is important but rather the use of it in a spirit of sacrifice… In this way all things are made subservient to the supreme end of preparedness for Christ’s coming in judgment.

The use of our state in a spirit of sacrifice… a posture of humility and acknowledgement of who we are in God’s creative plan.  Perhaps after all, that’s where Prince Charles was headed all along!

Divine Mercy, Human Faith

“Doubting Thomas”! Expressions from the Bible work their way into everyday use—often in very powerful ways, because they point to basic human truths. How often have we encountered someone so stubborn, so hardheaded that he wouldn’t believe unless he could see it with his own eyes? Perhaps YOU have been like that. I know that I have! But what does it really mean to be a doubting Thomas? On this 2nd Sunday of Easter, Divine Mercy Sunday, our Gospel message helps us to understand what we miss when we do not TRUST IN GOD.

“Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands”, Thomas demands, “and put my finger into the nail marks.. AND put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” I will not believe. This is so familiar, so human. And that’s why we identify with Thomas’ demand when we hear it: we know what it is to doubt; we know how difficult it is to believe AND to trust!

In 2000 our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, proclaimed to the world, that “from now on throughout the Church this Sunday will be called Divine Mercy Sunday”. The occasion was the Mass for the canonization of Sister Faustina Kowalska, known as the “Apostle of Divine Mercy”. Her deep interior faith revealed to her and ultimately the world, the limitless mercy of Jesus. Why is that so important to us?
[Continued in Ministry...]

Geography lessons

Reflection on the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Ex 32:7-11,13-14; 1Tm 1:12-17; Lk 15:1-32

I would like to take you on a journey with me today. Consider it a sort of biblical “Mapquest”. Today we’ve been given scripture readings that transport us through a very special geography: the landscape of our God. By paying close attention to the changes in our surroundings as we travel, we have another doorway to understand God in a more complete way.

Let’s begin right where our first reading from the Book of Exodus placed us―in the desert with the very unhappy Hebrew people. These are the same people whom Moses lead out of Egypt, pursued by the Pharaoh’s army through the Red Sea and into the desert. But Moses isn’t with them now. He has been gone for many days on Mt. Sinai, where God is creating the 10 Commandments.

The geography here is rocky and hot. The people feel stranded and they’ve turned to Aaron for leadership―convincing him to construct a golden calf to worship. And as God sees it, they have become DEPRAVED, turned away from him―in God’s eyes they are a “stiff-necked people”. He is ready to unleash his wrath on them in his anger. This is the fearsome God of the Hebrews! They need an intercessor! Moses is that person, “imploring the Lord, his God”.

The geography is stark, full of sharp contrasts, just like the unyielding sun in the desert. The first signpost is obvious: sin and divine retribution. There seems to be no forgiveness here! We are journeying with the Hebrew God of the Old Testament. A God to be feared… a God deserving of all praise and glory.

[Continued in Ministry...]

Living water… a Lenten reflection

(3rd Sunday of Lent, Year A: Exodus 17:3-7; Romans 5:1-2,5-8; John 4:5-42)

God told Moses, “I will be standing there in front of you on the rock in Horeb. Strike the rock, and the water will flow from it for the people to drink.” Moses had a big problem, but God was there for him. His people needed water, and God provided for them.

This episode from Exodus calls to mind a very hot summer experience. I was an adult leader on a 200-mile Youth Bike Tour. On a blistering August afternoon with temperatures in the 90′s, my group, the “Speedsters”, had outrun our support driver, who carried the big water jugs… and the cyclists in our group were hot, tired and VERY thirsty! At the top of a steep hill, we pulled off the road and parked our bikes under the shady maples of a farmhouse. The cool lawn in the shade was a welcome respite from the scorching mid-day sun, but we were so thirsty! And then, a minor miracle occurred: a woman stepped out on the porch from the front door of the farmhouse, welcomed us and said, “You boys looked really hot. Can I bring you some of ice cold water from our well?” In just a few minutes she returned with two large containers filled with clear, cold water. Amid a flurry of water bottles being filled, you could hear the “Ah, that’s so good!” and “Thanks!” ripple through the group. Our anonymous hostess had become a lifesaver. A more grateful pack of riders would have been hard to find.

That was quite an experience for us and it points right to the urgency of the human condition so clearly expressed in our scriptures at this mid-point of the Lenten season. For Moses, the human need of the Israelites grumbling in the desert could hardly be ignored. Moses had to confront the hardness of his tribe who were weary, hungry and thirsty after their exodus from Egypt. Moses couldn’t ignore the very real need for water any more than our cyclists could. Human nature being what it is, we are going to complain, forget what we have, and instead, focus on what we need—right now!

God was there for the Israelites in a very real and tangible way. When Moses struck the rock, he tapped the power of God’s overwhelming love and mercy for his people. The flowing water was both real and symbolic: true water to quench the thirst of the people and a powerful symbol of God’s love, “poured out into our hearts.” as St. Paul writes in the Letter to the Romans.

When we consider God’s love, “poured out into our hearts”, we’re given a powerful insight into the encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well. Jesus uses the encounter to go far beyond basic human physical need to the thirst for spiritual fulfillment. Here is a woman keenly aware of her ancestry and place in society who nonetheless is open to the words of Jesus. [Continued in Ministry]