Tuesday, February 25, 2020

Saturday of the 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A - February 8, 2020

Saturday of the 4th Week in Ordinary Time

February 8, 2020          11am 

Bon Secours Retreat and Conference Center


Jesus says to the apostles: “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.”
Jesus knows that he and the apostles need to take a break.
They need some time to eat, to sleep, and even to get refocused.
They needed some space away from it all to recall what they were really doing and what they were all about.

But, almost as soon as they got to the place where Jesus thought they could do this, a whole group of people showed up.
They wanted attention, some words of wisdom, even some healing.
And Jesus responds and gives his time to them.
I have to imagine that the apostles did the same thing.

I bet lots of us have had experiences like this:
really needing some time to ourselves but having a tough time getting it.
There’s always more to do or someone who needs us.
Getting this personal time – this can be difficult.

I don’t have an easy answer for this.
I think we need to live the best we can with this tension. 
But, I do have three quick pieces of advice that may help us.
First, make sure that we ourselves really want the space and time for ourselves.
Make sure we keep looking for it.
Second, make sure that we are not compulsively inventing one thing after another to do.
Or that we are not always saying “Yes” just to please the other person.
And third, make sure that the incursions to our alone time are real needs of others.
Make sure that it is responding to others with real needs that leads us to shorten or sometimes go without this time to self, as Jesus does today.

It’s a tension we have to live with.

Tuesday, February 11, 2020

5th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A - February 9, 2020

5th Sunday of Ordinary Time
Cycle A
February 8-9, 2020

Salt in Food


I seldom add salt to food.

We all know what the medical profession says about limiting the amount of sodium in our diet.  Most food needs some salt, but I rarely add more to what is already in it.

But, every August, I find myself using the salt shaker.  I enjoy a simple tomato sandwich: slices of vine-ripe August tomato, mayonnaise on the bread, a slice of cheddar cheese, and definitely a dash of salt on the tomato.

The salt brings out the wonderful taste of the tomato.  It just isn’t quite as good without the salt.

Those who like to cook tell me how important salt is. Just the right amount brings out the full flavor of the beef or green beans or whatever, but too much salt can ruin the taste.

We Are Salt

Our use of salt on food helps us to appreciate today’s gospel.

Jesus tells us that we are “the salt of the earth.”  The idea is that we are to flavor and enhance the world.

Just as salt does for food, we are to bring out the best in those around us.  So, parents are salt by helping their children develop their math skills or by working with them on their reading.

Teachers and guidance counselors are salt by guiding young people into the extra-curriculars that will develop them well – the school newspaper, or drama, or lacrosse, whatever.  We can be salt by listening carefully to a spouse or friend, helping them to clarify what their upset is all about, and then assisting them in figuring out how they might best express themselves.

It is important to remember that ordinary salt is something we seldom notice.  We never say: “Wow, that salt really tastes good!”

Instead, we say: “That fried chicken was great!”  If it is the right amount, the salt enhances and draws the best out of the food but draws no attention to itself.

That is an important feature of salt.  Jesus wants us to have this same feature.

We Are Light

Jesus also tells us that we are to be “the light of the world.”  

Well, we don’t sit and look at a light bulb and we definitely should not look directly at the sun.  Instead, we look at what light illumines.

So, something like being salt, as light we are not to be the center of attention.  Instead, we are to light up what is beyond us and enable others to see certain things.

Maybe it is the light of an insight, when we try to guide a young adult on a relationship issue.  Maybe it is the light of lifting up the good possibilities that someone still has instead of just focusing on their mistakes and failures.

Maybe it is pointing out the light instead of cursing the darkness in general.  Instead of just harping on the bad things is our society and world, we can lift up persons who give generously of their time in Habitat for Humanity and things like that.

Several years ago, Pope Francis gave an interview to a journalist who is a non-believer, probably an agnostic.  And the Pope showed great respect for this talented man. 

He affirmed the good things this man is doing and said we meet and are one in doing good.  That’s a way to be light in today’s world and it is a good example for us maybe in dealing with a son or daughter or others who have fallen away from the practice of the faith. 

Conclusion

So, Jesus uses some simple images to describe how he wants us to be his disciples.  Both salt and light focus beyond themselves, not on themselves.

And both are very positive in the way they act.  Helpful images and lessons for us today!

Tuesday, February 4, 2020

Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, Cycle A - February 2, 2020

Feast of the Presentation of the Lord
 Cycle A
February 2, 2020
Saint Mary Parish, Pylesville 4:00pm and 8:00am 
Saint Matthew Parish, Baltimore 11:00am 

Habits 

This morning, I want to reflect with you on habits.

Habits! If we think about it for just a second, each of us can quickly see that we have habits in our lives.

When I get out of bed in the morning, I brush my teeth and shave and shower and get dressed. And all of this is habit.

When we go to bed at night, we make sure that the doors are locked and the lights are out. Habits.

We get in the car and automatically buckle our seatbelts. Habit.

We may drive to work or to the grocery store and not even think about which roads to take or which turns to make. Habit.

There is an expression that we human beings are creatures of habit – creatures of habit! I’ve heard an estimate that 40 to 50% of the things we do in everyday life are out of habit – amazing!

Definition of Habit 

A habit can be defined as any practice that we do regularly and routinely with little or no effort of the mind or the will.

So, any practice that we do maybe every day, maybe even at the same time every day. And we do it without having to think about it or having to decide whether to do it or not.

We just do it automatically – something that has become automatic probably from just doing it over and over again. So, A habit is any practice that we do regularly and routinely with little or no effort of the mind or the will.

Habits: Simeon and Anna

In today’s gospel, we see these two older persons: Simeon and Anna.

They are like warm, wise, loving grandparents. And what strikes me is that Simeon and Anna have habits of faithfulness.

They come to the temple regularly. They pray every day.

And these habits of faithfulness to God give them hope and peace. Simeon has the hope that he will see the savior of God before he dies.

His habits of faithfulness sustain this hope. And this in turn makes him so peaceful that he is ready to die after he has seen the Christ Child.

Simeon offers that beautiful prayer that we hear today: “Now, master, you can let your servant go in peace, for my eyes have seen your salvation.”The same thing is true for Anna.

She is eighty-four years-old and gives thanks to God upon seeing the Christ Child. Her habits of faithfulness have also sustained her hope and brought her inner peace.

Our Habits 

Today, I want to recommend three habits of faithfulness for us to consider. 

If we don’t have any of these in our lives right now, please consider trying to develop one of them. If we already have one of these in our lives, maybe we are ready to adopt a second.

So, maybe a habit of pre-set prayer – a habit of praying the Our Father or the Hail Mary, a decade of the rosary, or a psalm from the Old Testament. Some habit of pre-set prayer, a prayer composed by someone else that we may have learned by heart, praying a prayer like this each day and, if possible, at a set time each day.

Or maybe a habit of meditative prayer – a habit of reading a short passage of a gospel – one parable or teaching or action of Jesus – and reflecting to see what God is saying to me and wants me to do here. A habit of meditative prayer each day and again, if possible, at a set time each day.

Or maybe a habit of thankful prayer – a habit of looking back on the day and thanking God for both the ordinary and the special blessings of that day. A habit of thankful prayer, maybe at the end of each day, sometime in the evening or right before going to bed.
  
Conclusion

So, pick one or two of these habits of faithfulness.

Make this part of your everyday life. Let this practice become a habit – an automatic.

And see if it doesn’t do for you what habits of faithfulness did for Simeon and Anna. See if it doesn’t sustain you with hope and give you an inner peace.