22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B - August 29, 2021

 22^nd Sunday of Ordinary Time

Cycle B

August 29, 2021

Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton 5pm and 8:30am

Bon Secours Retreat and Conference Center 11am 

 

Dog Food

 

Some years ago, I read a newspaper article about a particular kind of dog food. 

 

I was interested in it at that time because I had a dog. Well, the sales of this dog food were falling behind their competitors. 

 

And so, there was a meeting of the board of directors of the company that was producing the food. The chairman was frustrated: “I don’t understand this. 

 

“We’re working hard to produce this food. Our art department has designed award-winning labels for the cans and our advertisers have been putting on an aggressive media campaign.  

 

“So why are our sales down? Can anyone tell me?”

 

For a few moments, there was dead silence in the boardroom. Finally, a senior, wise old board member piped up with the answer: “The dogs don’t like it!”

 

Scripture

 

That story opens up for us Jesus’ main point in today’s gospel.

 

The senior board member was pointing out that it is what’s inside the can that counts. In a similar way, Jesus is saying that it is what’s inside us that counts.

 

The context is that some people are thinking they are living a good life simply by practicing certain rituals. Jesus chides them because they are paying no attention to what’s inside, to their motives or intentions.

 

Jesus’ point is that obeying the commandments of God and observing the traditions of religion are important, but what lies within our hearts is most important. I see Jesus here leading us to an insight into our moral development.  

 

My thought is this. If we look at our life experience, we can identify three levels of moral development.

 

They are: 1) the self-centered, 2) the authority-centered and 3) the inner-centered. Let’s take a look at these as a way to understand what’s inside of us and why we do what we do.

 

Self-Centered

 

First, there is the self-centered level.  

 

When we act on this level, we do something because of what we are going to get out of it as a result. For example, when I was a little boy, I would help to clean off the dinner table because I knew that my parents would give me a bowl of ice cream if I did that.  

 

This self-centered level is usually the beginning of our moral development,  and sometimes we all live on this level even as adults. We do something because of what we will get out of it as a result.

 

Authority-Centered

 

Then the second level of moral living is the authority-centered.  

 

Here we have risen a bit because we do things in response to some authority outside of ourselves. For example, the Church tells us priests to pray certain prayers every day – called the Liturgy of the Hours – and sometimes I might do that because the Church tells me to, even though I am just breezing through the prayers, and my heart isn’t really in it. 

 

Sometimes we all live on this authority-centered level, and the authority may be our Church, our boss at work or others. This is okay, but Jesus calls us to a higher level of moral development.

 

Inner-Centered

 

This third level is the inner-centered.  

 

Here we own within ourselves the values that are underneath the laws, commandments, or directives we are given, and then we live out of these values.  For example, we adults may volunteer in some organization or program because we genuinely want to do something for the overall good of everyone.  

 

Here we are living on an inner-centered level, and here the basis of our behavior is the values that we have come to own within ourselves. This level of moral living transforms us as persons and brings out the best in us.  

 

In fact, even though we call it inner-centered, this way of living is really other-centered because it involves a giving of ourselves to something or someone beyond ourselves. I suggest that Jesus calls us to this level of moral living by reminding us that it is what’s inside us, within our hearts that counts most.

Wednesday of 20th Week in Ordinary Time, Cycle B - August 18, 2021

 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time

Cycle B

August 22, 2021

(This weekend, the deacon is giving the homily at the Masses. Therefore, I am sending you a recent weekday homily.)

 

Wednesday of 20^th Week in Ordinary Time

August 18, 2021   

Bon Secours Retreat and Conference Center 11am

 

Gospel: Matthew 19:23-30

 

Today’s gospel is a good lesson about comparing ourselves to others.

The workers in this vineyard who began working at dawn would have been okay if they had not known how much pay those who worked only part of the day received.

They learned this and compared themselves to those guys. 

The comparison is what led them to be resentful and envious.

A good lesson from this is to find our peace in ourselves, in who God made us as persons, and in what gifts God has given us.

We don’t need to compare ourselves to anyone.

We just need to become fully who God made us to be and to use fully what gifts God has given us.

If we do that, we will find peace and fulfillment.

 

Father James Martin in one of his writings says that when we compare ourselves to others, we tend to minimize our gifts and maximize our problems.

We minimize our gifts and maximize our problems. 

So, when we compare ourselves with others, we tend to see them as better or as better off or as having more.

We maximize their gifts and minimize our own.

And when we compare ourselves with others, we tend to see them as not having as many problems or challenges in life as we do.

We minimize their problems and maximize our own.

 

So again, when we compare, we minimize our own gifts and maximize our own problems.

That is why it makes good spiritual sense not to compare.

As James Martin says, “Compare and despair.”

“Compare and despair.”

Just takes ourselves and our gifts as we are, do our best, respond to God as we are, and peace and fulfillment will follow. 

 

 

Father Michael Schleupner

 

Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Cycle B - August 15, 2021

 Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Cycle B

August 15, 2021

Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton 5pm and 11am

 

A Guide Sees God  

 

There is a story about a man and his young son who went on a camping trip in the mountains of New Mexico.

 

They hired an experienced old guide, a Native American. He led them into areas that they probably would never have found on their own.

 

This old guide was always pointing out beautiful little sights that most hikers would have missed. The young son was fascinated by the guide’s ability to see so much in the surroundings. 

 

One day he said to this Native American, “I’ll bet that you can see God out there.” The old guide smiled and replied, “Son, as life goes on it’s getting hard for me to see anything but God out there.”

 

Mary Sees God in the Child 

 

That wise, old guide helps us to appreciate why we in our tradition hold Mary in such a place of honor. 

 

Mary sees God everywhere in her life. To begin with, she sees God at work in bringing this special child into the world.

 

Mary does not really understand this, but she still sees the power and mystery of God at work. She is open to God’s presence.

 

Mary Sees God in the Poor 

 

Then, in today’s gospel, we hear the story of Mary visiting her older cousin Elizabeth.

 

In this visit, Mary offers the prayer or canticle that we just heard. Experts in Scripture call this prayer of Mary the great reversal.

 

The idea is that some people, in the religion of Mary’s day, saw affluence, success, or power as signs of God’s favor and presence. In fact, we still this in some Christian preachers today – that faith will lead to physical and material comfort.

 

But here, in this prayer, Mary sees the reverse – that God has reversed things. Just think of her words.

 

She sees God as lifting up the lowly, filling the hungry, and favoring the weak. It is as if Mary has already seen the truth of the words that her Son would eventually speak: “Blessed are the poor in spirit.”

 

So, in those who are materially poor, and in those who may not be materially poor – maybe like a lot of us – not materially poor but are poor in spirit – Mary sees God here. It is when we are poor in spirit that God is truly present.

 

It is when we know that we need and depend on God, when we know that we are not ultimately in control, when we know that we one with all other persons and not above them, and when we know that we one with all of creation and not just its master – it is then that God is present with us. Mary already sees this and sees God in all that is.

 

Conclusion

 

So, like the old guide in the mountains, Mary sees God in unlikely places and persons.

 

This is what makes her such a holy person. In fact, our tradition says that this is what makes her a singular human being, the most God-like of all of us.

 

This is why our tradition has believed that Mary came to the fullness of life with God right at the final moment of her life on earth. She was assumed, taken up by God into heaven.  

 

This is what today’s title of the Assumption of Mary means. And I think this is why our prayer the Hail Mary is so beautiful and appropriate.

 

We pray: “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.” Maybe especially on this day in honor of the Assumption of Mary, we pray that our death may in some way be like hers.

 

Though we are imperfect, we ask her to be with us and pray that at our dying, we too will be taken up to heaven, to resurrected life with God. “Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.”     

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B - August 8, 2021

 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Cycle B

August 8, 2021          

Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton 8:30am 

Bon Secours Retreat and Conference Center 11am 

 

A Mother’s Presence

 

Recently I read an article about a woman who was a wife and mother; she died when her daughter was only twelve years-old.

 

This mother had suffered for almost four years. But, despite surgeries and chemo, she was the best mom and friend a child could have.

 

Every day ended with mother and daughter spending time together. Every night mom tucked her daughter in with a kiss and the expression: “I love you to the moon and back.”

 

Though not unexpected, her mom’s death was devastating to this twelve-year-old. The morning after her mother’s funeral, she woke up to find a box on the desk in her room.

 

Her dad had placed it there after she had fallen asleep. She opened the box to find a collection of envelopes, each addressed in the same way: “To my beautiful daughter.”

 

There were envelopes to be opened at specific times, each with handwritten words: “on your 16^thbirthday,” “on your graduation from high school,” “on the day you leave for college,” “on your graduation from college,” “on the day of your first full-time job,” “on your 21^st birthday,” “on your 30^th birthday,” and so on.

 

There were also cards to be opened: “when things go bad,” “after a painful breakup,” “when you feel alone.” And then came the last three envelopes in the box: “on your engagement,” “on the day of your marriage,” “on the birth of your first child.”

 

Over the ensuing years, this daughter would open the envelopes and read what her mother had written. Her mom was with her, offering encouragement, comfort, and wisdom at each milestone of her life, and always ending with the expression: “I love you to the moon and back.”

 

She opened the last envelope the day her own daughter was born. In it was a photo: a picture of her mother holding her when she was six months old. 

 

The card read: “Congratulations on becoming a mother. What a lucky little girl my grandchild is to have you for her mom.

 

“You’ll be a terrific parent. May your child bring you as much joy as you brought to your dad and me. Love her to the moon and back.”      

 

Jesus’ Presence  

 

Well, today’s gospel, for the third week in a row, is from the sixth chapter of John’s Gospel.

 

The entire chapter is about Jesus giving us the bread of life. Last week, the message was that this imperishable food satisfies our highest human needs and leads us to eternal life.

 

Today, I am seeing another message. Jesus gives us his very self as the “bread of life” for our sustenance.

 

This “bread of life” is a twofold reality: 1) Word and 2) Sacrament. It is Jesus’ Word to encourage, comfort, sometimes challenge, and always guide us. 

 

And this “bread of life” is also Sacrament. It is Jesus himself, his body and blood, under the forms of bread and wine.

 

Conclusion

 

So, Jesus is always here for us and is always giving himself to us as Word and Sacrament. 

 

He is with us each week and each step of our life. What that mother did for her daughter expresses in a very human way what Jesus is doing for us here and now as the “bread of life.”

 

She expresses the kind of person that the “bread of life” shapes us to become and what it moves us to do for one another. Jesus says: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever.”

 

Jesus is saying what that mother was saying to her daughter every step of the way: “I am here for you always. I love you to the moon and back. “ 

 

18th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B - August 1, 2021

 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Cycle B

August 1, 2021          

Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton 5pm, 8:30am and 11am 

 

Needs as Motivators

 

About ten years ago, I came across a book by an author named Douglas McGregor.

 

McGregor was an American management professor, and he wrote about motivation in the workplace. He holds that, in the workplace and, actually, in life in general, our human needs serve as motivators.

 

McGregor says that our human needs are the reason why we set goals for ourselves. He divides these into lower needs and higher needs and then draws an interesting contrast between them.

 

Lower needs are things like salary, food, and shelter. Higher needs are things like self-esteem, self-fulfillment, and relationships.

 

The lower needs differ from the higher needs because there’s a point where the lower needs get relatively satisfied, and then they no longer really satisfy us. Then satisfaction only comes from the higher needs.

 

For example, money and a nice home and good food – these things only satisfy to a point. But unfortunately, instead of moving to the higher needs, we sometimes get stuck in the lower needs.

 

We may think that more of them, like more money or a bigger house, will make us happier. But this is not the case because these will never satisfy us as our higher needs will.

 

Jesus: Higher Needs 

 

Okay! Being stuck in these lower needs is where Jesus finds the people in today’s gospel.

 

He says: “You are looking for me not because you see signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled” – a reference to Jesus’ feeding of the 5,000 in last week’s gospel. And then Jesus says: “Do not work for food that perishes” – food that satisfies only the lower needs.

 

Instead, “Work for food that endures for eternal life” – food that satisfies a higher need. And then Jesus identifies three sources for this imperishable food that satisfies our higher needs.   

 

Imperishable Food

 

First, Jesus stresses that real satisfaction comes from relationships and not from things. He says: “I am the bread of life.”

 

Underneath this statement is the truth that what is more important in life is persons and not things. So, we need to put our energy into relationships because they will satisfy us in ways that material things never can.   

 

It might be the relationship with your husband or wife or best friend, or with your son or daughter or parent. Or it might be relating in a respectful and fair way with someone at work. 

 

And then, Jesus gets very specific about the relationship that is most important for satisfying our higher needs. He says: “Whoever comes to me will never hunger.”

 

In other words, human relationships are important, and we need to give priority to them. But there is an even fuller satisfaction that comes from a relationship with Jesus.

 

A relationship with him through prayer, Scripture, and the sacraments, especially the Eucharist – this will bring lasting satisfaction. And beyond that, this can positively enhance our other relationships.

 

The third source of imperishable food that Jesus identifies is really the glue that holds all of them together. The people ask, “What can we do to accomplish the works of God?”

 

And Jesus answers, “Believe in the one he sent.” So, faith is the glue.

 

With faith, we live with a vision that there is the Creator who made us and to whom we will return; that there is the Christ who shows us the way to satisfy our highest needs; and that there is the Holy Spirit who is always with us. This faith brings us a great inner satisfaction. 

 

Conclusion

 

So, Jesus calls us to seek 1) relationships and 2) himself and 3) faith as the food that will satisfy our highest human needs. If we do this, then we are seeking “food that endures for eternal life.”

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B - July 25, 2021

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Cycle B

July 25, 2021

Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton 5pm and 8:30 

 

(This weekend, the deacon is giving the homily at the Masses. Therefore, I am not preaching. Instead of sending you a recent weekday homily, I am resending the Inbox Inspirations of May 19. The topic is: The Vaccine. I am doing this because of the rising number of Covid infections and decreasing number of vaccinations in our country. Please consider sharing this with others if appropriate.)

 

The Vaccine  

 

Dear Friends,  

Today I want to share with you my spiritual reasons for getting the Covid vaccine.

I received the vaccine (two doses) as soon as I had the opportunity.

Yes, I did pay attention to the reports about it and did talk with my brother who is a medical doctor with a specialty and practice in infectious disease for over forty years. 

Nevertheless, aside from the science, there were three spiritual reasons motivating me to get vaccinated.

First, I believe that God usually acts through ordinary means.

God can do the extraordinary, like the miracles we hear about in the gospels.

But most of the time, God acts through the ordinary.

I believe that God’s healing action was at work in our scientists who were able to develop this vaccine.

God usually acts through the human, through other persons, and I believe God has done so here. 

The vaccine has saved and will save countless lives.

Second, part of the stewardship that God expects of us is to take care of our bodies.

This can mean lots of things – like exercise and good diet.

In this instance, being a good steward of my body led me to get vaccinated.

The Church teaches that we do not have to resort to extraordinary means to preserve or care for life, but we do need to use ordinary means for this.

I see the vaccine as an ordinary means to care for my health – to be a good steward of my body.

And third, I believe in our Catholic or Christian moral principle of the common good.

According to this principle, we are to act in accord for the common good of society.

This means that our actions should be geared not just to what I want or prefer, but to what is for the overall good of everyone.

In this instance, being vaccinated is, for me, acting on behalf of the common good of our society and of our world.

My doing this helps to break the cycle or transmission of this dangerous disease and, in that way, promotes the overall good of all God’s daughters and sons on this earth.

I am happy to share these personal reflections with you.

 

Father Michael Schleupner