Gospel Reflection 20070826
Believing in God doesn't equip you with all the answers.
Sometimes having true faith means giving up the control and trusting in God no matter what, trusting that the answers will come in time.
Whatever problems one faces, it's normal to look for rational answers. We want to know why! But even when answers aren't found right away, we can discover our true sense of faith and help others find theirs.
Developing and maintaining faith and trust in God are lifelong tasks.
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Strive to Enter the Narrow Gate
August 26, 2007
Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time
Gospel
Lk 13:22-30
Jesus passed through towns and villages,
teaching as he went and making his way to Jerusalem.
Someone asked him,
“Lord, will only a few people be saved?”
He answered them,
“Strive to enter through the narrow gate,
for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter
but will not be strong enough.
After the master of the house has arisen and locked the door,
then will you stand outside knocking and saying,
‘Lord, open the door for us.’
He will say to you in reply,
‘I do not know where you are from.
And you will say,
‘We ate and drank in your company and you taught in our streets.’
Then he will say to you,
‘I do not know where you are from.
Depart from me, all you evildoers!’
And there will be wailing and grinding of teeth
when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
and all the prophets in the kingdom of God
and you yourselves cast out.
And people will come from the east and the west
and from the north and the south
and will recline at table in the kingdom of God.
For behold, some are last who will be first,
and some are first who will be last.”
Salvation is not a privilege of a race or a chosen people, but a matter of how we respond in freedom to grace and the invitation of the Lord to a certain way of life.
Strive to Enter the Narrow Gate to Eternal Life
Very many opportunities are available to us during our lives. From this large assortment, we must decide which ones we want, which ones suit our personalities, and then strive to get them. The ones that we choose are not just going to fall into our laps—we have to go get them. If we pursue them half-heartedly, we are apt to miss them. One could say that the gate that we have to go through to attain what we want is a narrow one since there are much larger and easier gates that we could just fall through without even trying. These larger gates can distract us from the narrow gate we would like to go through.
Let me give you some examples of common choices we must make.
· While in school and college, we must decide what kind of vocation we would like to enter after we graduate. To prepare ourselves, we must strive to get good grades if we want to succeed in that vocation. The gate we are preparing to go through is a narrow one.
· When we find a job we like, it is important to strive to do it well so as to maintain our employment. To do the job half-heatedly means that we may soon be looking for another one. The gate to keeping a good job is also a narrow one.
· During our recreational time, many of us participate in competitive sports. We soon find out that if we want to win, we must strive diligently to pass through a narrow gate of being a winner. The alternative gate is much wider if our goal is to participate just for the fun of it.
The difficulty of striving to get what we want goes beyond the secular part of our lives and also applies to the spiritual part. In today’s gospel, Jesus tells his questioners that to be saved requires that they “strive to enter through the narrow gate.”
Jesus has freely offered salvation to everyone. But, will we choose salvation from the many opportunities available? Or will we slide through one of the larger gates in life that is much easier and perhaps more fun to do in the short term? We must strive to accept Jesus’ offer of salvation.
Salvation is a pure gift offered to us by Jesus. There is nothing we do can earn this gift, it is free from God. But a gift is not a gift until it is accepted. As human beings, we have free will and can choose either to accept his gift or to reject it. We can wait too long to accept the gift, or we can become so calloused with the other pleasures of earth that we no longer know that the gift is being offered.
A friend of mine may be slipping through a wide gate while losing sight of the narrow gate. A few years ago, he enthusiastically joined the Church. But slowly he began to drift away as his quantity of money allowed him to participate in whatever he wants. Presently, he thinks that he has complete control of his life and that he no longer needs God or his Christian community. He seems to be losing his desire to strive for the narrow gate of salvation. Jesus tells us that timing is very important when striving for the narrow gate. He says that when people knock on the door after it is closed, he will say, “I do not know where you are from.”
Since God is in charge of final judgment, why do we try to decide who will be saved? We, as disciples of Jesus, must not be judgmental about who we think will go through the narrow gate; our vision of God must be not myopic or parochial. We must see with a wide-angle lens that God’s salvation is open to all. God’s salvation is unbounded and it reaches out to those whom we may not only distrust but also sometimes even despise.
We must be careful not to think that only those with our point of view are faithful and deserving of salvation. We must not think that only those will be saved who belong to the right religious groups, who believe correct religious doctrines, and who follow an approved way of life.
There is something dangerous about being smugly convinced of our own salvation because we have followed the rules. When we are so sure of ourselves, we can easily fall into the error of being as sure of the moral failures of others as well.
Jesus’ invitation to salvation is open to all of us. It is his will to save us. The good news is that it is never too late. What is our response? Is each of us striving to go through the narrow gate?
After rudeness, my biggest pet peeve is snobbery. It irks me no end to see someone look down on someone else, regardless of the reason. I realize, however, that sometimes snobbery is not completely our fault. It seems like, from the day we are born, advertisers are trying to get us to want their products. And, if we do buy their products, we are, obviously, a person of great discernment-one of the elite.
It feeds our egos, doesn't it, to know that we have reached a certain level of exclusivity-to know that we are just a "little better" than other, less discerning people.
What is particularly galling to me is snobbery in the area of religion. Unfortunately, there are too many people in Christian denominations who think that they have the exclusive domain of truth-that God has chosen them and them alone, for His exclusive little family. These people are like advertisers for specialty products except that they are specialty advertisers for the soul-join our religion and you are guaranteed to go to heaven when you die.
One problem with this type of thinking is that it is always claimed by those who see themselves on the inside of this tiny circle of grace. Another problem is that this type of thinking usually leads to judgmental and arrogant and snobbish attitudes toward people outside of their circle. Another problem with this type of thinking is that Jesus never taught it. In fact, He had some very harsh words for the people who did teach it-white sepulchers immediately come to mind.
So, the question is, is this the way God thinks? Did God bring salvation to only a select few-only to an elite inner group? Or, did he give his grace to everyone? The scripture today tells us that God's grace will be available to everyone, not just the elite few.
When Jesus said this, he shocked all of his listeners. They were Jews and assumed they would be the only ones in heaven. Even if a few non-Jews entered heaven, they (the Jews) would have the best places. And, Jesus warned them that, if they thought like that, they themselves would have no places at all in heaven. Because of their arrogance and snobbishness, non-Jews would take their places and they, the chosen people, would be on the outside, looking in.
The lesson for us Christians is plain. The possession of a baptismal certificate and regular Church attendance does not guarantee our salvation. We must go through, like Jesus said, the narrow door. So, what exactly is the narrow door? The narrow door is every moral decision that we make. Do we choose for God or do we choose against God? It is like a fork in the road. The correct road-the narrow road-takes us to heaven. The wrong road-the wide road, the easy road-leads us to Satan. Each choice that we make, makes it easier to make the next one, whether it is the correct one or not-like a slippery slope.
To go through the narrow door will cost us. For many, it will cost a lot-our job, our family, our security, maybe even our life. When we do make the "leap of faith" and follow Christ through the narrow door, we may find ourselves in an ocean of troubles, with very little peace of mind. We may wonder, "Is it really worthwhile to follow Jesus"?
If you are one of these people, then the reading Heb 12:5-7, 11-13 is for you. It tells us that the trials and tribulations of life are not signs of the absence of God but that they are signs of his presence. It tells us that God is allowing challenges to come into our lives so that we can grow closer to him.
The idea that God is a supernatural protector who guards his own people from suffering is not a Christian idea but a pagan one. God is never at our disposal. We are at His disposal.
Our faith does not give us exact answers to our nagging questions about why we must undergo suffering. Our faith, however, gives us the strength to endure our trials and tribulations.
The narrow door, besides being the making of correct moral decisions, is the patient endurance of all of the difficult things that confront us in our lives. Jesus will be there with us all of the way. He invites us to walk the same road the he walked. He invites us to make our own way to Jerusalem, there to pass through the narrow door to Calvary. But, we must remember, beyond Calvary is the resurrection and the joy of eternal life with God.
Make the correct choice. If you do, you will not be disappointed (or worse) when you meet Jesus face to face. Guaranteed!!
Mmmmm! Mmmmm! Summer time means home grown fruits and vegetables. Is there anything tastier than the first homegrown tomatoes, peaches, or corn on the cob? And now the first of the apples and grapes are coming in. Ahhhhh... the first fruits of Summer are always the best!
This image of the first fruits of the harvest is a theme in today's Gospel. Appropriately during the harvest season, the church has us reflecting on God's harvest of souls and what it takes to be among the first fruits offered to God.
But how do we make sure we are counted among God's harvest? Through baptism we are already claimed by God as sons and daughters. The death and resurrection of Jesus makes us co-heirs with him to the glory of everlasting life in heaven. Heb 12:5-7, 11-13 reminds us however, that the Lord disciplines his children. Like any loving parent, God disciplines, corrects, and tries to show us the narrow gate to enter.
We, like most children, don't like the discipline at first. We may try to test God's limits. We may think we can do whatever we want and not be discovered. We may even fool ourselves into believing that God will not discipline us or punish us in the end. As the letter to the Hebrew so aptly states, " At the time, all discipline seems a cause not for joy but for pain, yet it later brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who are trained by it." God disciplines us because he loves us and He wants us to stay on the narrow path which leads to being a part of his harvest in heaven.
If we return to our image of the first fruits, we know that before we can enjoy the produce, much hard work is required. There is not only the planting and the watering, but also the weeding, the pruning, the removal of what is rotten from what is good and worthy of consumption. Similarly, there is work and labor required on our part after the seeds of faith are sown at baptism. We must cultivate our faith; allow the Lord to "prune" back our pride, selfishness, and ego. We must allow the Lord to help us "weed" out the sin in our lives so that we are producing good, abundant fruit.
We know from the gospel stories that Jesus disciplined His disciples. He rebuked James when he wanted to call down thunder and lightening upon the Samaritan town that would not welcome Jesus. He chastised Peter for judging as man judges and not by how God judges. Jesus corrects the disciples for vying for a place of honor when He comes into his kingdom. The disciples had to be pruned, weeded, cut back, and conformed into the pupils Jesus was calling them to be. The word "disciple" and "discipline" come from the same root word "discipulus" which means a pupil who is instructed or trained. We should expect that If we are disciples of Jesus, he will train us, correct us, discipline us so that we look more and more like him.
This is what lies at the heart of today's gospel passage from Luke 13. The Lord calls all people of every nation, north, south, east and west, to walk in his way. The way he has shown us is a narrow path with a narrow gate to enter. It requires that we die to our self, be stripped, and pruned in order to enter. Not all of those who cry, "Lord, open the door for us, "will be admitted. Those who accept the Lord's discipline and are trained in the way of the Lord will be recognized as disciples. They will be admitted into the great harvest of God's kingdom. They will be presented to the Father as "a pure offering in a clean vessel," (Is 66:21).
In what sense do I know Jesus? In what sense does He know me?
When asked, “Lord, will only a few be saved?”, Jesus makes it clear twice that He will not open the door of the Kingdom to those of whom He says, “I do not know where you are from. Depart from me you evil-doers.” In other words, “I do not know you; we have no relationship; I do not acknowledge any intimacy with you.” What a terrible thing to hear from the mouth of the Savior, especially if you have had the privilege of knowing His Name! Elaborating the words of those shut out, Jesus could well be saying: “You say I ate and drank in your company; you say I taught in your streets. If I did, why did you not then listen to my teaching, treasure my presence, repent from your evil-doing and come freely through the door of my open Heart? I may have been at table with you and taught you, but you wanted me to come to you only on your terms, not on mine; you wanted me to think like you and be a member of your club; you wanted me to entertain you with clever words and witty parables, cure your sick, forgive your sins, raise your dead, but you had no intention of striving to let yourself be converted to me or to be healed by me. I came in love and truth to break your stubborn heads and hearts of stone, but instead you preferred evil, you pierced my heart with a lance, the lance of your self-sufficiency, and you crowned my head with thorns, the thorns of your fake religious attitudes. You treated my wisdom as dreaming, my company as social pleasantry, my love as naïve and superficial affection. I had sent you prophets and you stoned them; I send you apostles and you ridicule what they say in my name. How could I know you if you would not let yourself be known by being open to me? How can I now believe that you knock on this door for any other reason than again to throw me out and destroy my kingdom? Your tears and your wailing do not move me, for your hearts are filled with insincerity and hypocrisy.”
Because of sin, complacency and arrogance, many of the children of Abraham and the sons of the prophets failed to recognize Jesus when at last he came. In our times, notwithstanding millennia of history illumined and enriched by the same Jesus in His Church, many of our own who have inherited the patrimony of the apostles, have again fallen victim to exasperating hardness of heart. Listening has become selective and self-serving, legitimate questioning to bolster faith has been replaced with ideological antagonism, the call to religious obedience is cynically dismissed out of hand or rejected as downright invasive, doctrine is considered as obsolete opinion or is manipulated to rationalize partisan world-views, God has been declared as irrelevant for human coexistence, for science and even for freedom; religion has become an optional pastime, an insult to human intelligence, a refuge for the neurotic … and so the list could go on. For all this we blame materialism and spiritualism, our background, our foreground, our parents, our teachers, our public authorities … and that list can also go on. But when, perhaps not without a hint of self-righteousness, we have exhausted our blame-lists, shut the door and turned off the light, where does our hardness of heart come home to roost if not in our personal use and abuse of our own free will?
Jesus might well agree with our complaints, and sustain our hands as our fingers go limp from pointing out the guilty. But the question remains: what about me? Am I blameless? Is it conceivable that I might actually be responsible for myself?! Many of those we blame are quite possibly guilty, and may both know it and repent of it - though we may be unwilling to believe them. But their guilt does not explain away my responsibility. Responding to the Word and to the company of Jesus is something each human being must do from the core of who they are. Association with Jesus is not enough – look at Judas! Saying, “Lord, Lord” is not enough – look at Peter! Is it right to bemoan the distorted religious perspectives of the day when our own commitment to Christ and His Church is filtered through polarizing ideology of any kind, or relegated to empty routine, or reduced to lip-service and nice feelings? Where is the discipline proper to discipleship? Where is our courage to be strong in humility?
Heb 12:5-7, 11-13 helps us find the courage to reach for the narrow gate. The author to the Letter of the Hebrews extols the grace of discipline and the virtue of accepting it. If the Father disciplines you, by word or by suffering, do not lose heart, he says, “for whom the Lord loves, He disciplines; he scourges every son he acknowledges.” He acknowledges! He recognizes! That is to say, He knows, or to whom He says, “I know you and so I open the narrow gate, that is Christ my Beloved Son, to you.” God disciplines our freedom because He treats us as His children. He knows that discipline can be painful at the time, but later it makes us just and brings us peace. We are urged to make straight paths so that our lameness may not lead to disablement but to healing. Those straight paths are sketched out for us in the doctrine of Christ and His Church and in the sufferings of life, provided we seek humble and sincerely to recognize the hand of God behind or beyond them.
Knowing Jesus is, then, certainly a privilege, but it is also a responsibility; more is asked of the one to whom more is given, and being intimate with Jesus in the Body of His Church is the greatest gift we can have. Many who know Him not, still sense His presence and seek it; He sends us to them that they may find it. But they will not find Him in us if He does “not know” us, and He will only know us if, in the words of Mary, we do whatever He tells us. He stands at the door of our hearts and knocks; if we open up to Him, we will find –lo and behold!- that we have actually already entered through the narrow gate into the infinite knowledge and love of His Sacred Heart.
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St. Louis of France
(1226-1270)
At his coronation as king of France, Louis bound himself by oath to behave as God's anointed, as the father of his people and feudal lord of the King of Peace. Other kings had done the same, of course. Louis was different in that he actually interpreted his kingly duties in the light of faith. After the violence of two previous reigns, he brought peace and justice.
He was crowned king at 12, at his father's death. His mother, Blanche of Castile, ruled during his minority. When he was 19, (and his bride 12) he was married to Marguerite of Provence. It was a loving marriage, though was not without challenge. They had 10 children.
Louis "took the cross" for a Crusade when he was 30. His army took Damietta on the Nile but not long after, weakened by dysentery and without support, they were surrounded and captured. Louis obtained the release of the army by giving up the city of Damietta in addition to paying a ransom. He stayed in Syria four years.
He deserves credit for extending justice in civil administration. He drew up regulations for his officials which became the first of a series of reform laws. He replaced trial by battle with a form of examination of witnesses and encouraged the beginning of using written records in court.
Louis was always respectful of the papacy, but defended royal interests against the popes and refused to acknowledge Innocent IV's sentence against Emperor Frederick II.
Louis was devoted to his people, founding hospitals, visiting the sick and, like his patron St. Francis, caring even for people with leprosy. (He is one of the patrons of the Secular Franciscan Order.) Louis united France—lords and townsfolk, peasants and priests and knights—by the force of his personality and holiness. For many years the nation was at peace.
Every day Louis had 13 special guests from among the poor to eat with him, and a large number of poor were served meals near his palace. During Advent and Lent, all who presented themselves were given a meal, and Louis often served them in person. He kept lists of needy people, whom he regularly relieved, in every province of his dominion.
Disturbed by new Muslim advances in Syria, he led another crusade in 1267, at the age of 41. His crusade was diverted to Tunis for his brother's sake. The army was decimated by disease within a month, and Louis himself died on foreign soil at the age of 44. He was canonized 27 years later.
Comment:
Louis was strong-willed, strong-minded. His word was trusted utterly, and his courage in action was remarkable. What is most remarkable was his sense of respect for anyone with whom he dealt, especially the "humble folk of the Lord." To care for his people he built cathedrals, churches, libraries, hospitals and orphanages. He dealt with princes honestly and equitably. He hoped to be treated the same way by the King of Kings, to whom he gave his life, his family and his country.
Gospel Reflection 20070819
You'll find your life richer if you strive to do right.
"Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, they will be satisfied." (from the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5:3-10) Most everyone wants to do what is right. When you hunger and thirst for righteousness, you need to do right—like eating when you're hungry and drinking when you're thirsty. Spiritual hunger and spiritual thirst won't lead you to the nearest drive-through, but they will push you into action. Jesus is talking about more than a generic goodness. It's more than avoiding what's wrong. It's really looking for what is best and the right way to live.
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Division – The Purpose of Jesus’ Life
August 19, 2007
Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Gospel
Lk 12:49-53
Jesus said to his disciples:
“I have come to set the earth on fire,
and how I wish it were already blazing!
There is a baptism with which I must be baptized,
and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished!
Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth?
No, I tell you, but rather division.
From now on a household of five will be divided,
three against two and two against three;
a father will be divided against his son
and a son against his father,
a mother against her daughter
and a daughter against her mother,
a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”
In today’s gospel we read that Jesus said, “Do you think that I came to establish peace on earth? No, I tell you, rather Division. A son will be divided against his father, a mother against her daughter.” As we read this passage I think many of us might ask, “Why would Jesus come to cause division rather than peace?” To understand His meaning we must examine our everyday lives. The young people may have experienced the following situation. You have a date, your parents expect you home by midnight but you don’t get home until 1 a.m. The next time you ask for the car they answer, “No, you cannot have the car this evening because you didn’t get home on time last week.”
What happens? You have division. As a young person you may be angry and your family is temporarily divided because you really want the car but you did not heed your parents’ wishes and so... no car. How does the child usually react? By saying, “Oh, I understand, I was late so therefore I must pay a price for my behavior?” I would say that seldom do the parents get that reaction. In reality, the child usually argues about why he or she was late, it will never happen again, you don’t understand, etc. etc. Then there may be a few days of icy silence. But, there was a rule, it was broken and the two parties are divided.
In reality, the whole purpose of Jesus’ life was “division”. He brought to the world a different concept, one with which the Jews and the Romans did not agree. He preached “change”. Then, and now, He preaches obedience, repentance, charity and love. He told the Jews the Romans and us that His Father demands we obey His Commandments. Those are not requests that are easy for us to obey. `Just as young people do not want to be deprived of the car in 2007 so the people of Jesus’ time did not want to live by His teaching. And, so, there was division.
It happened to Jeremiah. He preached repentance, denounced false piety and told the kings they would be judged, not on the grandeur of their palaces, but on their justice to the oppressed. He was thrown into a pit, a cistern, and left to die. Paul, too, preached a message that divided him from those who heard the message of Jesus. He caused a division so deep that he was martyred... he lost his life.
We face the same challenge these three men faced... are we going to follow the teachings of Jeremiah, of Jesus Christ and of Paul or will we separate and divide, ourselves from their messages? Is it fair, just and reasonable for a parent to expect a child to obey? I believe everyone here, children and adults, would agree that it is perfectly reasonable to expect to be disciplined when one disobeys. However, in real life, it is very difficult to accept that concept.
In reality, we are facing greater difficulties than did those who lived at the time of these readings. The society in which we live is more corrupt than the society in which they lived. No matter our age, teenagers, young adults, middle aged or older, our modern society exposes us to more temptations and a greater opportunity to “divide” themselves from Jesus than did the societies we hear about in today’s readings.
Stop and think. The information sources we have all indicate that the Commandments no longer mean anything. Each of us are required to make decisions. Those decisions can lead to "division". The lifestyles and conduct that our culture promotes “divide” from the teachings of Jesus Christ. But Jesus doesn’t cause the “division”! We cause the division! The Commandments of God are not going to be repealed and if the “division” is to be healed, we must divide ourselves from the modern teaching that indicate the Commandments not longer apply.
As we contemplate the words of today’s reading we must ask ourselves, “Am I dividing myself from the teachings of God and His son Jesus Christ? Do the young people here understand that their parents have the responsibility to teach them the morality given to all of us? When occasions arise in which you think, “My Mom and Dad are unreasonable,” pause a moment and ask, “What does Jesus teach us?” He teaches obedience to reasonable discipline. But, you have to accept that and not divide yourselves from the parents.
We all must examine our lives in the spirit of today’s gospel and ask, “Am I dividing myself from God’s word?” It may be actions we take or times when we do not act in charity, love of others less fortunate or we miss opportunities to be a model for others around us. But most of all, we must realize the words of Jesus apply to each of us. He came to “divide” us from the sins of the world. He came to teach us the disciple we need to follow his teachings. It is our responsibility and we must strive to follow His lead every day of our lives.
If we don’t succeed we could suffer the worst “division” possible. Our “division" from eternal salvation. THINK ABOUT IT!
The new millennium has witnessed and continues to witness much violence. Hardly any day passes that we do not hear the sad news of violent aggression and brutality unleashed against innocent people somewhere around the world. To make matters worse, perpetrators of these acts of violence often try to justify these atrocities by claiming that they are fighting a holy war in God’s name. Think of the crusades, the Taliban in Afghanistan, Al Qaeda in Iraq, and the Lord’s Resistance Army in Uganda. Today’s readings are indeed a call to war: not a war against other people but a war against sin and corruption; not a war against people we perceive as evil, but a war against the evil one, the devil. Let us listen to these words of Jesus:
Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; they will be divided: father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law. (Luke 12:51-53)
Scholars tell us that Jesus is speaking here not about the purpose of his coming but about the inevitable consequence of his coming. Jesus came to reveal the true sons and daughters of God who listen to God’s word, and the children of this world who oppose Gods design. This divides all humankind into two camps, the camp of the godly and the camp of the ungodly. There is perpetual conflict, a state of war, between these two groups as one group strives to raise the world up to God and the other to pull it down to hell. These two groups do not live in two different parts of the world, they live side by side in the same neighborhood, they live together under the same roof, and in fact the forces of good and evil often exist together in the same person.
The holy war to which Christ calls us, therefore, is not a war against people of certain nationalities or cultures, creeds or ideologies, but a war in which we first have to identify the forces for evil in our own persons and in the persons of those who are dear to us (father, son, mother, daughter, mother-in-law, daughter-in-law) and then declare an uncompromising war against these forces.
What are some of these evil forces that we are asked to war against? Well, why don’t we start with the Seven Deadly Sins: Pride (superiority complex), Covetousness (greed, seeking material prosperity at the expense of one’s soul), Lust (sexual abuse of minors, pornography, treating women as objects of pleasure), Anger (bitterness, hate, bearing grudges), Gluttony (excessive eating and drinking), Envy (self hate, rivalry), Sloth (seeking success without working for it). To these we can add the mother of all evils, injustice. If we declare war against these then we are fighting a holy war.
If we are at war then we should be prepared for some roughness. The enemy is also fighting against us and we may have to suffer some harm or hardship. God never abandons His people. Jesus, our leader in God’s holy war did not escape the suffering and death on the cross. But on the third day God raised him to life victorious. God never abandons his people. He will not abandon us if we fight His holy war — the war against evil in ourselves and in the world.
I once received a letter from a young seminarian who told of his desire to live the gospel wholeheartedly. The main barrier, he confessed, was the advice from a few elders warning him that he should not get carried away. It reminded me of the time when I was younger and had just read the Gospels seriously for the first time. There was a passion and intensity to them that could set one on fire. What a powerful vision, what a wondrous revolution the Gospels heralded.
I, too, heard the advice of prudent minds. "Don't get carried away. We don't want you going off the deep end." That was only the first time I received counsel which, though offered in charity, seemed to tame something unleashed in me whenever I read the Gospels. After all, one did not want to burn out, much less cause trouble.
But that's what the Gospels do. They start fires in us. They cause trouble. The Gospels are a pain in the neck of prudent heads and moderate minds. Jesus we just stick on a wall. We paint him pious, nice, and pretty, surely not a troublemaker or a firebrand. Or was he? "I have come to light a fire on the earth. How I wish the blaze were ignited... Do you think I have come to establish peace on the earth? The contrary is true; I have come for division." Now, of course, we know that this is not the whole story. After all, he was called the Prince of Peace, and he promised a peace that "the world cannot give."
As for causing division, why would his priestly prayer ask that we might be completely one in him and each other? Moreover, the Gospels readily provide a litany of love. The problem is, I believe, that the love and unity Christ offers are at odds with the counterfeits we coin. If Christ's peace takes hold of us, it brings an interior freedom that makes us dangerous and divisive, especially if we cannot be bought off or intimidated.
His unity is repugnant to any person or culture that demands moral accommodation as its cost. His love is obnoxious to anyone who thinks charity begins at home. His peace does not come cheap. In fact, in this matter of following Christ, even households can be divided if the price of unity is deception. Brothers and sisters, whether in blood or in community of faith, can find themselves in opposition. The command of love stokes the fire of conflict—both with others and within our hearts—over money, territory, family, and tribe. Love in itself, much more strong and abiding than a spark of quick passion, is a refining blaze of covenant and fidelity.
Peace and unity will come, not by dousing the fire of faith or declaring a false truce with evil, but by focusing our attention on the one who kindled love in the first place. "Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, who inspires… Remember him. Do not grow despondent or abandon the struggle."
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St. Joan of the Cross
(1666-1736)
An encounter with a shabby old woman many dismissed as insane prompted St. Joan to dedicate her life to the poor. For Joan, who had a reputation as a businesswoman intent on monetary success, this was a significant conversion.
Born in 1666 in Anjou, France, Joan worked in the family business—a small shop near a religious shrine—from an early age. After her parents' death she took over the shop herself. She quickly became known for her greediness and insensitivity to the beggars who often came seeking help.
That was until she was touched by the strange woman who claimed she was on intimate terms with the deity. Joan, who had always been devout, even scrupulous, became a new person. She began caring for needy children. Then the poor, elderly and sick came to her. Over time she closed the family business so she could devote herself fully to good works and penance.
She went on to foundwhat came to be known as the Congregation of St. Anne of Providence. It was then she took the religious name of Joan of the Cross. By the time of her death in 1736 she had founded 12 religious houses, hospices and schools. Pope John Paul II canonized her in 1982.
Comment:
The downtown areas of most major cities hold a population of "street people." Well-dressed folks usually avoid making eye contact, probably for fear of being asked for a handout. That was Joan's attitude until the day one of them touched her heart. Most people thought the old woman was crazy, but she put Joan on the road to sainthood. Who knows what the next beggar we meet might do for us?
Gospel Reflection 20070812
The choices are simple and stark: death or life; injustice or justice; idolatry or the Living God. We must choose life. We must choose Justice. We must choose the Living God.
The choice between the Living God and inert idols is not only a choice between justice and injustice; it is also a choice between life and death.
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Are You Preparing for Certain or Uncertain Things?
August 12, 2007
Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Gospel
Lk 12:32-48
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not be afraid any longer, little flock,
for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom.
Sell your belongings and give alms.
Provide money bags for yourselves that do not wear out,
an inexhaustible treasure in heaven
that no thief can reach nor moth destroy.
For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.
“Gird your loins and light your lamps
and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding,
ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks.
Blessed are those servants
whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival.
Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself,
have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them.
And should he come in the second or third watch
and find them prepared in this way,
blessed are those servants.
Be sure of this:
if the master of the house had known the hour
when the thief was coming,
he would not have let his house be broken into.
You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect,
the Son of Man will come.”
Then Peter said,
“Lord, is this parable meant for us or for everyone?”
And the Lord replied,
“Who, then, is the faithful and prudent steward
whom the master will put in charge of his servants
to distribute the food allowance at the proper time?
Blessed is that servant whom his master on arrival finds doing so.
Truly, I say to you, the master will put the servant
in charge of all his property.
But if that servant says to himself,
‘My master is delayed in coming,’
and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants,
to eat and drink and get drunk,
then that servant’s master will come
on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour
and will punish the servant severely
and assign him a place with the unfaithful.
That servant who knew his master’s will
but did not make preparations nor act in accord with his will
shall be beaten severely;
and the servant who was ignorant of his master’s will
but acted in a way deserving of a severe beating
shall be beaten only lightly.
Much will be required of the person entrusted with much,
and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.”
An unskilled worker goes for a job interview and demands a pay higher than that demanded by skilled workers. When asked why he demands so much for his unskilled work he explains that because he is new to the job he would put in more effort and time than the skilled workers to do the same job. Therefore, he should be paid more. This is certainly an unusual way of reasoning. Booker T. Washington echoed a similar sentiment when he said, "I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which one has overcome while trying to succeed." This rare way of thinking is reflected in today's gospel.
Today's gospel is on the theme of remaining faithful as we wait for the return of the Lord. Jesus uses two parables to make the point. First there is the Parable of the Watchful Servants where Jesus encourages his disciples to be vigilant and ready for action as they wait for the coming of the Master. That he will come is certain, but when he will come no one knows. The Lord comes unexpectedly into our lives everyday through events and people we meet. But the ultimate, unexpected coming of the Lord in our lives is at the moment of death. We should be watchful to recognize the Lord and prepared to meet him in the little unexpected opportunities of everyday life. This is the best way to prepare for the ultimate encounter with the Lord at the hour of our death.
In the second parable, the Parable of the Faithful or Unfaithful Servant, Jesus reiterates the lesson of the first parable under the heading of faithfulness. He portrays two different attitudes of disciples in the absence of the Master. The wise disciple remains steadfast at his duty post even in the master's absence. The foolish disciple takes to a complacent lifestyle and takes the law into his own hands. The day of reckoning comes with the master's return. The faithful servant receives a promotion, the unfaithful one is "cut to pieces" and given a place with the unbelievers.
Jesus then goes on to expand and throw more light on the issue of reward and punishment. "That slave who knew what his master wanted, but did not prepare himself or do what was wanted, will receive a severe beating. But the one who did not know and did what deserved a beating will receive a light beating” (Luke 12:47-48a). We are all to familiar with the two groups in which disciples will be separated on judgment day: the sheep on the right and the goats on the left, the blessed and the accursed, the faithful and the unfaithful. But what is this extra teaching that Jesus gives here on those who will receive "a light beating?" Surely it is not the blessed in heaven for they receive no beating at all. And it is not the accursed in hell for they receive a severe beating.
Passages like this lead one to the conclusion that beside heaven and hell, there is an in-between state of remedial punishment. Catholic teaching calls it purgatory, a state of temporary, remedial punishment for believers who die in venial sin. They cannot be admitted to heaven directly because they have guilt and yet they cannot be consigned to everlasting punishment in hell because their sin is not mortal (1 John 5:16-17). Many Protestant Christians have a problem with the doctrine of purgatory. One reason for this is that the Reformation Bible does not include some of the books in the Catholic Bible, such as 2 Maccabees, which clearly support this doctrine,. But the doctrine of purgatory makes sense, especially in light of Biblical passages, such as today's gospel, that provide a third alternative to outright blessedness and outright condemnation.
The doctrine of purgatory satisfies God's mercy as well as God's justice. It is good news to the struggling brother or sister who never quite seems to make it to the Christians ideals we all aim at. It is a great source of hope for us to know that even if we die in this imperfect, struggling state we may receive “a light beating” but we will still be admitted to the eternal happiness of heaven.
Jesus often taught by telling parables. He would take a common subject or event that the people would know about and weave in the lesson he wanted them to hear. Many times he would give the story a quirky ending or include something that would kind of turn the story upside down in order to get the crowds attention. He did this in the story of the servants waiting on their master to return from a wedding. In Jesus’ day, servants were slaves, even though in the Roman Empire the higher class of slaves shared the household of the master and often had excellent educations. But they were still owned by their master and were expected to serve them.
In the parable of the vigilant servants, the twist Jesus threw in was that when the master returned from the wedding, those servants who were prepared for his return were in for a big surprise. Instead of ordering them to feed him, prepare his bath or whatever else he might want, the story says that he will seat them at table and begin to wait on them instead. This is a new and unexpected twist that his listeners would not expect to hear. Ordinarily no master of an eastern household would ever wait on his servants. He would expect them to wait on him, no matter how tired they were or how hard they had worked. Then when the master was satisfied, they could sit down and eat for themselves.
This was a whole new concept for his listeners to grasp, but it introduced the new Christian concepts of values. Christ is showing that he will come and be of service and wait on his followers. Remember, he told his disciples, “I have not come to be served, but to serve,” and at the Last Supper he washed the feet of the Apostles. He would make his life a life of service to them, preaching to them, curing them of sickness and helping them in every way, even to the point of giving his life for them. This new and startling concept turned their cultural value system upside down. By telling this story, Jesus was giving a vision of the wonders that await those who are prepared at his second coming.
Normally when we think of being ready, we usually think of being prepared for the worst that could happen: locks on the door in case of thieves, life jackets in the event of a boat accident. But, in the parable, it is a case of getting ready for the best. It was a wedding festival with friends, music, dancing and good food. The Kingdom of God is like a wedding feast – only better. It is a joyous occasion filled with all good things where Jesus wants us to join him in the celebration.
When I was a kid, we played a game called “Hide and Seek.” I suspect that young people today still play it. One child would be designated “it” and would have to close their eyes and count to one hundred while the rest of us ran and hid. When the count of 100 had been reached, the “it” child would shout, “Ready or not, here I come.” If we were lollygagging around and didn’t hide quickly enough or just half-heartedly hid, we would be found and have to be “it” for the next go round. The secret to not having to be “it” was being prepared when the kid shouted, ready or not, here I come.
This parable focuses on the unpredictable return of Jesus and our need to be prepared for his return. He’s saying to us, “Ready or not, here I come.” Isn’t it interesting that most of us believe in preparation for many uncertainties, but not with the most important event of our lives? We carry a spare tie in our car as preparation for a flat. We have insurance in preparation for a theft, fire trucks in preparation for a fire. Airline stewards provide pre-flight instruction in preparation for turbulent weather and we seek education in preparation for a good job. Preparation in our society is a sign of wisdom. But think about this. Of all the preparations that we make for the things I just mentioned, not a single one is a certainty – yet we feel compelled to prepare ourselves for them.
The return of Jesus IS a certainty. We can never know precisely when he will return or when we will die, but his return is certain. We must constantly watch, being always faithful and ready so that we may be found worthy to share in the heavenly banquet he has prepared for us. So the question of the parable is not whether or not Christ is coming again, or when he is coming, or even how he is coming. The point is about being prepared for his coming and ready to receive him whenever he comes, now or later.
In the road of life, which we follow, there are many uncertainties and distractions. We don’t know where the road will take us; we don’t know when it will end. But one thing is certain. At the end of the journey; our Lord will be there to meet us, to welcome us into the heavenly kingdom…IF we have prepared ourselves. Preparation cannot be a “sometime” thing, but living each moment of our life for Jesus. If we can do that, we will be prepared to greet our Master whenever he comes.
Picture yourself shopping for a used car. You go into a dealership and, finding the exact car you want, you ask the salesperson about the guarantee. He looks with a meaningful gaze into your eyes and tells you that he attends church each Sunday, is devoted to his wife and children, coaches youth sports and then says “if anything goes wrong with the car you can take my word that I will do right by you”. You then go down the street to another used car dealer, find the same car, ask about the guarantee and are told by the salesperson you will get a written, signed money back guarantee, no strings attached. Which car do you buy?
Our culture trains us to always go for the guarantee, preferably in writing. In business, a contest between a guarantee and a promise is no contest. However, our personal relationships – both with our God and with one another – are built on promises rather than guarantees.
Our God calls us to a live of faith.
We are called to believe in the presence, love and care of the Lord in our lives. Not a Lord who requires bargaining (“if I do this God, will I get that”). God and men and women are lovers, not business people in a negotiation.
Faith means we believe in the promise. We do not watch the events of our lives and try to interpret the good and bad moments as signs of God’s love or lack of love for us. That is a contract mentality. Instead, with faith, we trust that we are sons and daughters of God and that God is with us through the joys and sorrows of our lives. We have no promise of a life free from pain – we do have faith, however, in the promise of our God to wipe away our tears.
Faith means we believe in a loving God. Not a God who pores over our daily lives as if they were spelling quizzes, searching for our errors; instead, our God looks for our patterns of faithfulness – looks for us to try, sometimes fail, admit failures, seek forgiveness, try harder again and rely more on God and each other.
At the end of Luke’s Gospel today we hear: “From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required”.
Gathered here in church we are ministers and witnesses to the gospel. Much has been given to us. We have the words of our Lord to believe and to proclaim. Much is expected of us. We are expected to live out our lives in the spirit of the gospel.
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St. Ignatius of Loyola
(1491-1556)
The founder of the Jesuits was on his way to military fame and fortune when a cannon ball shattered his leg. Because there were no books of romance on hand during his convalescence, he whiled away the time reading a life of Christ and lives of the saints. His conscience was deeply touched, and a long, painful turning to Christ began. Having seen the Mother of God in a vision, he made a pilgrimage to her shrine at Montserrat (near Barcelona). He remained for almost a year at nearby Manresa, sometimes with the Dominicans, sometimes in a pauper's hospice, often in a cave in the hills praying. After a period of great peace of mind, he went through a harrowing trial of scruples. There was no comfort in anything—prayer, fasting, sacraments, penance. At length, his peace of mind returned.
It was during this year of conversion that he began to write down material that later became his greatest work, the Spiritual Exercises.
He finally achieved his purpose of going to the Holy Land, but could not remain, as he planned, because of the hostility of the Turks. He spent the next 11 years in various European universities, studying with great difficulty, beginning almost as a child. Like many others, he fell victim twice to the suspicions of the time, and was twice jailed for brief periods.
In 1534, at the age of 43, he and six others (one of whom was St. Francis Xavier) vowed to live in poverty and chastity and to go to the Holy Land. If this became impossible, they vowed to offer themselves to the apostolic service of the pope. The latter became the only choice. Four years later Ignatius made the association permanent. The new Society of Jesus was approved by Paul III, and Ignatius was elected to serve as the first general.
When companions were sent on various missions by the pope, Ignatius remained in Rome, consolidating the new venture, but still finding time to found homes for orphans, catechumens and penitents. He founded the Roman College, intended to be the model of all other colleges of the Society.
Ignatius was a true mystic. He centered his spiritual life on the essential foundations of Christianity—the Trinity, Christ, the Eucharist. His spirituality is expressed in the Jesuit motto, ad majorem Dei gloriam—"for the greater glory of God." In his concept, obedience was to be the prominent virtue, to assure the effectiveness and mobility of his men. All activity was to be guided by a true love of the Church and unconditional obedience to the Holy Father, for which reason all professed members took a fourth vow to go wherever the pope should send them for the salvation of souls.
Comment:
Luther nailed his theses to the church door at Wittenberg in 1517. Seventeen years later, Ignatius founded the Society that was to play so prominent a part in the Counter-Reformation. He was an implacable foe of Protestantism. Yet the seeds of ecumenism may be found in his words: "Great care must be taken to show forth orthodox truth in such a way that if any heretics happen to be present they may have an example of charity and Christian moderation. No hard words should be used nor any sort of contempt for their errors be shown." One of the greatest twentieth-century ecumenists was Cardinal Bea, a Jesuit.
Quote:
Ignatius recommended this prayer to penitents: "Receive, Lord, all my liberty, my memory, my understanding and my whole will. You have given me all that I have, all that I am, and I surrender all to your divine will, that you dispose of me. Give me only your love and your grace. With this I am rich enough, and I have no more to ask."
Gospel Reflection 20070805
Anxiety is the mark of a life preoccupied with material things.
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Making material things our top priority is absolute foolishness… work to become Rich in the matters of God.
August 5, 2007
Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Gospel
Lk 12:13-21
Someone in the crowd said to Jesus,
“Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.”
He replied to him,
“Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?”
Then he said to the crowd,
“Take care to guard against all greed,
for though one may be rich,
one’s life does not consist of possessions.”
Then he told them a parable.
“There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest.
He asked himself, ‘What shall I do,
for I do not have space to store my harvest?’
And he said, ‘This is what I shall do:
I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones.
There I shall store all my grain and other goods
and I shall say to myself, “Now as for you,
you have so many good things stored up for many years,
rest, eat, drink, be merry!”’
But God said to him,
‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you;
and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’
Thus will it be for all who store up treasure for themselves
but are not rich in what matters to God.”
A preacher notices a woman in the congregation who begins to weep as soon as he begins to preach. Thinking he has made a big catch he preaches with even greater fervor. The more he preaches, the more the woman cries. Finally, the preaching over, it is time to give testimonies. The preacher points to the woman and says, “Sister, I can see you were mightily moved as we proclaimed the word of God. Now can you please share with us what it was that convicted your spirit so much.” The woman hesitates, but the pastor insists so she comes up and takes the microphone. “You see,” she begins, “Last year I lost my he-goat, the most precious thing I possessed. I prayed and cried much over it and then I forgot all about it. But as soon as you came out to preach and I saw your beard, it reminded me all over again of the he-goat. I still cry whenever I remember it.” She did not remember one word of what the preacher said.
Possessions are necessary for life. But possessions can assume such an importance in one’s life that they become obsessions. When one is so consumed with the things that one could have, so much so that one no longer hears the urgent call of God, then one has indeed got one’s priorities all mixed up. Such is the man in today’s gospel who asks Jesus to come and make his brother give him his share of the family inheritance. Jesus is not against him having more wealth, nor is he against justice being done between the man and his brother. Jesus is rather disappointed that after listening to all his preaching, the first concern of this man still remains his share of the inheritance. This man is in the same position as the woman who has brooding over her lost goat while the words of life were falling on deaf ears. Like the woman, this man also could probably not remember one word of what the preacher said.
Jesus, fearing there could be more people in the crowd like this man, turns and says to them, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions” (Luke 12:15). Greed? What greed? The man was only asking for justice to be done between him and his brother. Shouldn’t a man of God be concerned about fairness? O, yes. Jesus warns us that greed comes in different guises, even in the guise of justice. Have you ever heard a respectable man opposing plans to improve conditions for welfare recipients: “I’ve worked and paid taxes all my life. How can the government spend my money on welfare recipients who do nothing but sit down and do drugs everyday?” Sounds like an argument for justice and fairness. But it could indeed be greed in disguise. That is why Jesus warns us and emphasizes it: “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed” Greed can be upfront or subtle, conscious or unconscious. We must be on our guard against greed in all its forms.
To illustrate his point Jesus tells the Parable of the Rich Fool. When you read the parable you ask yourself, “What wrong did this man do?” Think about it. The man did his honest work on his farmland. The land gave a good harvest, as expected. The man decided to build a larger storage for the crop so that he could live the rest of his life on Easy Street. Except he did not know that the rest of his life was less than twenty-four hours. Jesus uses him as an illustration of greed even though he took nobody’s money. He did not do something wrong. His greed lies in what he did not do. Sir Fred Catherwood is quoted as saying that greed is “the belief that there is no life after death. We grab what we can while we can however we can and then hold on to it hard.” Now you see why the rich man qualifies as an example of greed. Now you see why Jesus was so hard on greed. Greed is the worship of another god. The name of that god is Mammon or Money or Materialism. Today’s gospel invites us to believe in the God of Jesus Christ who alone can give eternal life and not in the god of this world who gives us the false promise of immortality through accumulation of possessions.
Greed arises when our heart loves material things and possessions in selfish and disordered ways. God created “things” - material reality - for a purpose: to help me fulfill my mission in this life. Jesus has called us to “love the Lord your God with your whole heart, your whole soul, with all your strength and with all your mind.” But we only have one heart, one soul, one will and one mind. If I love material wealth in a disordered way, then my one heart, one soul, etc. will be divided and pulled in many directions simultaneously. Love becomes diluted by disordered affection for the things God created. Our heart is capable of loving multiple persons and things (God, parents, children, friends), but only to the degree it is capable of focusing on one of them. When we focus our love on God first, our love for others and the world increases in intensity.
“We was robbed.” No that isn’t what the rich man said just before he died in today’s gospel.
It was what one of those quotable baseball managers of the 1950s or 60s said after a game in which an umpire made a call that cost his team the game.
The quote does however apply to you and me today. We have been robbed.
The U. S. government at some point began to take care of the poor. Government programs, like welfare and emergency programs for those who suffer floods and earthquakes are some examples.
Then the church through Catholic Charities, the parish through tithing, food pantries, and in other social service ways take on the responsibilities of taking care of those in need. We’ve been robbed!
Write a check pay your taxes and be relieved of the rewards and joy of meeting the needs of others. We’ve been robbed.
Satan is very tricky. He has used this to lull us into the trap of, “others in need are being taken care of, and thus all we need to do is store up for ourselves and perhaps our families. Relieved of the responsibilities we become myopic-- self-centered and individualistic.
We’ve been tricked and we have been robbed!
Today’s gospel repeats a basic truth. God wants us to take care of others and he will in turn take care of us. God wants us to depend on him, not our possessions, our family, our friends our portfolio. Give and it will be given to you. Less is more, lilies of the field, sparrows of the sky. Stop taking care of you and start helping others in need. Every one who has will tell you that they can’t out generous God.
Satan uses this good work of the government and the church and convinces us we should just focus on our bigger barns or homes with stored up antiques or stock or cash.
God is saying to me and you, help others in need to the point of using some of your of what you think you need and not just out of excess and thus become dependent on me and I will be your God, not your money or house or car or portfolio.
It is a cruel, twisting hoax that Satan has used on us to rob us of a giant part of our personal and community relationships with God. He is so subtle, so devious, so cultural!
We are being called, again today, to give up making ourselves happy. We are called to help others and then God will take care of us.
Spiritually the healthiest place we can be is when we forget about taking care of ourselves, when we become dependant on God. That’s why God didn’t like the golden calf, the Israelites in the dessert wanted to depend on the calf for their needs and not on the God that was giving them manna and birds to eat and water from a rock, shade from the sun by the cloud that represented him in the day and fire to warm them at night that also represented his very presence.
Entering into a relationship that God wants with us requires us to not build bigger barns, but to deny that bigger houses and better and more degrees and savings accounts and retirement plans and portfolios will take care of us, will be our gods.
It is not that you can’t have these things, because I believe God will give you all you need and more than you probably can imagine. You see if you earn it by your self it is hard not to become dependant on your self for your needs and you become your own God.
It is not that you can’t have nice things it is if you do they become the things that control your life. If they control how much you can do for your neighbor and those in need then they are your dependence and your god.
If your house payments are so big you can’t do for others, or even support your Church, then they control your life and that that controls your life is your God.
If your car payment is so big there is nothing to give the poor--it controls your life--it becomes the golden calf the bigger barn.
You cannot out give God. God wants your dependence so he can be generous and give you more than you know what to do with. The man in the parable chooses to build bigger barns when God gave him so much, barns that he could thus depend on instead of God.
God’s chosen relationship with us is we fulfill each other’s needs and he takes care of us by having us take care of others who take care of us.
It is dependence, it is attaining peace, it is attaining heaven together not alone. It is the communion of saints.
Our world says, NO our world says independence, self care, pull your self up by the boot straps, be your own person, be your own man, don’t even look into the eyes of others as you pass them on the sidewalk, get your self the biggest house, newest car, biggest portfolio.
We are called to be counter cultural and until we believe and begin to act our beliefs we will be self centered, self indulgent, unhappy deep down, baptized, church going Christians.
Want to be happy on earth? Want your children and grandchildren to be happy? Teach them by demonstrating for them to give them selves away and trust in God’s care and watch the generosity and love of God fill them with happiness and peace and joy.
OR
Build bigger houses to store up and suddenly reach life’s end with a nagging feeling that you wasted your life. A feeling that, you robbed yourself.
The passage from Luke’s Gospel begins by taking up the theme: unnecessary abundance of material goods is no final guarantee of possession of the riches that really matter. The parable of the rich fool illustrates how fleeting the possession of material riches can be. Our goal should be to make ourselves rich with the things that God considers to be riches.
Once I see what the inspired word of God wishes to teach me, it is up to me to see how this teaching can be applied to my life. A certain amount of material possessions are necessary in life. But the search for such possessions can easily degenerate into a mindless quest for more and more and still more. This is a well-known fact that many people spend their lives looking for ever larger bank accounts, ever-grander life styles, ever-richer friends. The fact that they feel compelled to engage in this endless quest is itself an indication of how unsatisfactory such goals are. That which is not yet possessed always seems more desirable than what already is. The process is never-ending. The single-minded quest of subordinating everything to a search for Jesus Christ is the only really satisfying way to live a Christian life, and the more single-mindedly it is centered on Christ, the more content the Christian will be. Christ is endlessly fascinating, but only to those who experience the search for him in the way they live.
Think about it. More to the point, pray about it.
"If you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Think of what is above, not of what is on earth." Karl Marx said that religion was the opium of the people because it taught them to hope and pray in a "kingdom to come" instead of trying to better their condition on earth. At first blush, this seems to be the intent of our readings today. Yet if we look more closely at the teachings of Jesus, we can see his true intent.
When Mary and John moved out of their apartment into their three bedroom home, they couldn't help but notice the larger four and five bedroom homes just a few blocks away. They seemed like mansions and their own home seemed so small and inconsequential. Then they noticed that their friends, who still lived in apartments, really admired their new home when they came to visit. They also saw that the owners of those big houses seemed to envy their family's loving closeness.
It was then that Mary and John began to think that if we always look for bigger and better things to fill our lives, we will never be able to discover how truly happy we already are!"
The gospel shows even more forcefully the absolute foolishness of making material things our top priority. Jesus refuses to arbitrate a family quarrel over a will. He points out the folly of counting on wealth for security saying: "for though one may be rich, one's life does not consist of possessions." In the end everything that we own ends up owning us, everything that we try to control ends up controlling us. If we think that material things will make us happy, we will soon discover that half our time will be taken up trying to acquire things and the other half trying to protect them. As if to reinforce this idea, Jesus immediately reminds his disciples that the unrelenting search for the means to obtain more material things is useless. All of those things will remain here on earth after we die. And after we die we will be judged by how rich we are "in what matters to God."
God's plan for humanity is not some "pie in the sky" ideal meant to aid the rich at the expense of the poor, as Karl Marx seemed to think. It is a wellspring for new relationships with God and with our fellow sisters and brothers. If we are to call ourselves daughters and sons of God, if the work of our hands is to prosper, we must pay less attention to what the world tells us about the way to be successful and pay more attention to what God has to say. "If today you hear God's voice, harden not your hearts."
Rich In the Matters of God
Avoid the Greed that is Idolatry
In the Gospel, Jesus seems almost perturbed by the request for him to settle a family squabble over inheritance. Jesus warns: “Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.” Relating the parable of the rich man’s imminent death after he had worked so hard to build larger barns to preserve all the fruits of the exceptional harvest for himself, Jesus observes: “Thus will it be for all who store up treasure for themselves but are not rich in what matters to God.” The message seems clear, greed is to be avoided. If our heart’s main desire is the acquisition of material things, we are engaging in idolatry. We have allowed material wealth to usurp God’s place in our hearts. The wealth that Jesus exhorts his disciples to seek is what he terms becoming rich in the matters of God.
II
Rich in Comparison to the Rest of the World and in Comparison to the Past
This seems very clear and yet the question arises: How does one determine what is more than one needs or can legitimately use? How does one distinguish: what is prudent planning in providing for oneself and one’s family so that others are not burdened, from what is a lack of faith revealing itself in a perpetual anxiety over never having adequate financial security. No matter how big your bank account, no matter the size of your portfolio, no matter the soundness of your retirement plan, it never seems enough to give peace of mind and heart.
How do you know if you have too much wealth? Our perception of what are necessities and what is excessive wealth can vary from century to century and from continent to continent. Most of us in church this morning do not consider ourselves wealthy people. Yet, compared to most people in the world today, we live very comfortable lives. Most of us are not worried if we are going to be able to eat today or if we will have a safe place to sleep tonight or if we can obtain needed health care. In truth, we are richer than most people in the world today.
We are certainly rich in comparison to people throughout history. The richest person in Jesus’ time could not even conceive of possessing what is commonplace today—running water, central heating and air-conditioning systems in our homes, information and entertainment cabled into our living rooms, the ability to communicate almost instantaneously with anyone else in our community, nation and even world.
What we consider a necessity today would have been considered a luxury for our grandparents! What is considered bare essentials in our society and in our part of the world would be viewed as the frivolous extravagance elsewhere! Is it possible that a middle class American today could be in the same category with the rich man described in the Gospel? How do we make sure that we are not just piling up wealth? How do we protect ourselves from the idolatry that is greed?
III
An Attitude of the Heart
What Jesus is talking about in the Gospel has less to do with the size of a bank account or the square footage of a home than with the attitude of the heart. Jesus teaches in the Gospel: “…one’s life does not consist of possessions.” The rich man in the Gospel is possessed by his possessions. He was convinced that he needed them for happiness and that he could never possibly have enough.
The wealth that Jesus is criticizing in the Gospel is a desire for things of this world that robs the mind of peace and the heart from recognizing the greater needs of those around us. The desire for wealth and things of this world becomes a poison that deprives us of authentic and enduring happiness. Such greed is idolatry because a desire for the things of this world has displaced God from his rightful place in our hearts.
IV
Rich In the Matters of God/Acknowledging the Lord As the Source of All Good
Jesus counsels the disciples they should be working to become rich in the matters of God rather than rich with the things of this world. What does it mean to be rich in the matters of God? How does one become rich in the matters of God?
Being rich in the matters of God means first of all having God where he belongs in our lives. The person rich in the matters of God has placed God first in his life. It begins by acknowledging that everything has its source in God, everything except sin is His creation. It means recognizing whatever we seemingly possess—life, health, family, friends, food, clothing, housing, medical care, education, job opportunities—actually all comes from God’s hand. They are all His gifts to us.
Rich in the matters of God begins with an attitude of heart that sees ourselves not as owners in the ultimate sense of anything, but rather as stewards of gifts that God has entrusted to us. This is not to devalue our hard work and efforts. It does, however, place our labors in proper perspective. We must ask ourselves where did we get the intelligence, the energy, the ability, the health, the stamina to work hard? In truth is not everything ultimately God’s gift to us?
The person rich in the matters of God has a grateful heart rather than a grasping hand. The person rich in the matters of God is not overwhelmed with anxiety and worry, but trusts that the Lord who has provided in so many ways in the past will not abandon him or her in the present moment or in future years.
Does this mean the person rich in the matters of God does not work hard, because he figures God will take care of everything anyway? Not at all! The person rich in the matters of God has even more energy to bring to every aspect of life. The person rich in the matters of God is not driven by worry and anxiety but by a profound gratitude that desires to use all of his gifts and abilities to their maximum in order to give God glory.
V
Surrendering Worry and Anxiety To the Lord
Several years ago, I was at a dinner honoring a father and son for the work that they had done to help the youth of the community. The father, who was advanced in years, in accepting the award related how when he was a young man with a young family felt quite overwhelmed with the responsibilities of running his own business and caring for his family. He described himself actually on the verge of a nervous breakdown because he was so worried about failing to meet all of his responsibilities.
He found himself in church one day moved to turn all of his life over to the Lord. He acknowledged that he just could not do it on his own anymore.
He immediately felt a profound relief. All of his previous very intense anxieties seem to dissipate. The problems with his business and the challenges with his family had not disappeared, but his attitude had dramatically changed.
He continued to work hard and do his best. Now he possessed this perpetual peace emanating from a blessed assurance that the Lord was with him, would guide him and provide him with what he needed to care for his family. This attitude adjustment made all the difference in the world.
He was no longer an emotional wreck, but became a very successful businessman. He knew that his apparent success was not his own doing and he constantly was seeking ways to share the fruits of his labors with others, particularly the youth in his community. He had grown rich in the matters of God by surrendering all his worries and fears to the Lord.
VI
Giving the Lord First Fruits
Being rich in the matters of God inevitably means that we are looking for ways to share his gifts with others. The person rich in the matters of God is not focused on satisfying every want and creature comfort, before considering the needs of others. In fact, the person rich in the matters of God strives to give the Lord first fruits, not the meager leftovers.
Rich in the matters of God requires sharing generously our resources to assist with God’s work in the world – the Church. It means seeking opportunities to help those who are most in need.
If we have become rich in the matters of God, we are looking for opportunities to make sacrifices of love for the Lord. It may appear that we are giving until it hurts, until it requires some sacrifice on our part. In reality, we are giving until it feels good. We have found a special joy in giving to the Lord and his people. We have discovered there is much more joy in giving than receiving. We have learned, often from painful experience, there is no joy to be found in struggling to hang on to everything the Lord has given to us.
VII
Viper Evangelization
Being rich in the matters of God is seeking in every circumstance for opportunities to use our earthly possessions to do the Lord’s work.
A man who had been born into a family of very modest material means, but rich in the matters of God, had become incredibly successful in the high tech communications business. In the process, he had become wealthy beyond his wildest expectations.
From the faith that his family had given him, he understood that the material blessings he now enjoyed were to be shared with others. He continued to live a modest lifestyle. However, he did indulge himself by purchasing his dream car, a Dodge Viper.
The man and his brother were driving the Viper in a very remote rural area. A young man in a very old car kept pulling up alongside to get a look at the Viper. Eventually, they stopped at a gas station to refuel. The young man in the old car stopped also. He could not restrain himself from gawking at the car.
The man began to talk with the youth. He found out it was the young man’s 18th birthday. The man asked the youth if he would like a ride in the Viper. The young man was thrilled. The man’s brother drove the old car while the man and the youth drove the Viper to the young man’s home.
As they approached his home, the young man asked: “What does one have to do to get a Viper?” The man said without hesitation: “Do what God wants you to do with your life. God may or may not allow you to own a Viper, but He will give you even better things.”
The man could see this was not the kind of answer the young man wanted. He said to the youth: “You could have worked and schemed to find a way to get a ride in a Viper and never succeeded. Yet God, without you doing anything, arranged for you to have ride in a Viper on your 18th birthday.”
When you are rich in the matters of God, you recognize opportunities to use whatever God has given you to share His love and His good news with others. Everything in life becomes oriented to the service of the Lord.
Conclusion
Let us pray today for the grace and the wisdom to grow rich in the matters of God.
For some of us, this means acknowledging that whatever successes we enjoy and whatever things we possess, they are all God’s gifts to us. It requires of us to open our hearts to be filled with a profound gratitude for God’s goodness to us.
For some, the Lord is asking us to begin to return to Him the first fruits of our labors for the building up of His kingdom and to help those in need. It means realizing that the leftovers are not adequate to express our gratitude to the Lord for all that He has done for us.
For others, it means surrendering the worries and anxieties that burden our hearts to Him. It means entrusting our lives to His provident love.
For some, the Lord is asking us to open our eyes to recognize the opportunities He is giving us to share the gift of faith with others. It means seizing the chances to share what is most precious with others, giving them the opportunity to grow rich in the matters of God.
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St. John Vianney
(1786-1859)
A man with vision overcomes obstacles and performs deeds that seem impossible. John Vianney was a man with vision: He wanted to become a priest. But he had to overcome his meager formal schooling, which inadequately prepared him for seminary studies.
His failure to comprehend Latin lectures forced him to discontinue. But his vision of being a priest urged him to seek private tutoring. After a lengthy battle with the books, John was ordained.
Situations calling for "impossible" deeds followed him everywhere. As pastor of the parish at Ars, John encountered people who were indifferent and quite comfortable with their style of living. His vision led him through severe fasts and short nights of sleep.
With Catherine Lassagne and Benedicta Lardet, he established La Providence, a home for girls. Only a man of vision could have such trust that God would provide for the spiritual and material needs of all those who came to make La Providence their home.
His work as a confessor is John Vianney's most remarkable accomplishment. In the winter months he was to spend 11 to 12 hours daily reconciling people with God. In the summer months this time was increased to 16 hours. Unless a man was dedicated to his vision of a priestly vocation, he could not have endured this giving of self day after day.
Many people look forward to retirement and taking it easy, doing the things they always wanted to do but never had the time. But John Vianney had no thoughts of retirement. As his fame spread, more hours were consumed in serving God's people. Even the few hours he would allow himself for sleep were disturbed frequently by the devil.
Who, but a man with vision, could keep going with ever-increasing strength?
Comment:
Indifference toward religion, coupled with a love for material comfort, seem to be common signs of our times. A person from another planet observing us would not likely judge us to be pilgrim people, on our way to somewhere else. John Vianney, on the other hand, was a man on a journey with his goal before him at all times.
Quote:
Recommending liturgical prayer, John Vianney would say, "Private prayer is like straw scattered here and there: If you set it on fire it makes a lot of little flames. But gather these straws into a bundle and light them, and you get a mighty fire, rising like a column into the sky; public prayer is like that."
