26th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B - September 26, 2021

 26th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Cycle B

September 26, 2021

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

            

Hopkins Buildings 

                                                                                                                       

One day several years ago, I was leaving Johns Hopkins Hospital after visiting a person who had major cardiac surgery.

                                                                                                                                 

Something at Hopkins really caught my attention. I was leaving the Sheikh Zarad building.

 

This building is for patients who are in critical care, including heart surgery. It is named after Sheikh Zarad who was the major donor.

 

He is a Muslim and is from the United Arab Emirates. What caught my eye is that the ground floor hallway connects the Sheikh Zarad building to the Weinberg building. 

 

This building is a cancer center, and the major donors are Harry and Jeannette Weinberg. They were a Jewish couple from Baltimore. 

 

And then, not far from these buildings is the Anne Pinkard School of Nursing. Anne Pinkard was a Catholic, a member of the Shrine of the Sacred Heart Parish in Baltimore. 

 

She and her husband Walt – an Episcopalean – were major donors to this building. Well, today’s gospel triggers my memory of these buildings at Hopkins.

 

“Whoever is not against us is for us.”

 

The apostles are upset because someone, who is not part of their group, is helping others and invoking the name of Jesus. 

 

So, the apostles try to stop this man for just one reason. He is not part of their group. 

 

But Jesus says: “Let him alone. Whoever is not against us is for us.”

 

Jesus’ point is that he wants us to recognize good by whomever it is done. He doesn’t want us to be exclusivist and think that only those who are part of our group are good and can do good.

 

He doesn’t want us to think that only Christians or only Catholics or only those who agree with us on everything can do good. He wants us, as I said, to accept good by whomever it is done.

 

Jesus is calling us to embrace this open mindset. And if we do, there will be good results.

 

The Effects in General  

 

This is why I am remembering those buildings at Hopkins.

 

Muslims, Jews, Catholics, other Christians, and probably persons of other faiths or of no faith tradition are all cooperating in the mission of Johns Hopkins Hospital. The results are excellent.

 

This happens because of openness to the good that everyone can do – even though there are major differences among those involved. This openness brings people closer together and leads them to collaborate with one another.

 

The result of this kind of action is that it prevents differences from becoming divisions. It prevents differences from becoming divisions.

 

And, it helps to melt some of the divisions that we have allowed differences to create. It helps to melt some of the divisions that we have allowed differences to create.

 

The Effects for Our Church

 

Jesus’ words today – “Whoever is not against us is for us” – are good guidance for us and our Church.

 

We as a Catholic Church and any religious group can easily slide into the exclusivist attitude of the apostles. In the name of God and of what we believe to be true, we can fail to see the good in those who are not part of our group – our Church. 

 

Sometimes we have done this because of disagreements – maybe on issues of faith or morality. Jesus tells us not to slide into this exclusivist mindset.

 

In fact, that is the point he is hammering home in the last part of this gospel passage. Jesus is using some exaggeration here – ideas like cutting off our hand or foot or plucking out our eye if they are a source of sin. 

 

We are not to take these words literally. Instead, Jesus is really trying to get us to redirect a mindset that cuts off others who are different and not part of our group.

 

Instead of cutting off others, Jesus wants us to cut off some traits in ourselves – like holding a grudge, or wasting food or water or energy, or stereotyping others, things like that. Cut off those traits from ourselves instead of cutting off others. 

 

Be open to the good that all others do and be inclusive of them. That will prevent differences from becoming divisions and melt some of the divisions that we have allowed differences to create.  

 

25th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B - September 19, 2021

 25th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Cycle B

September 19, 2021

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

 

“…keeping up with myself” 

 

A parent named George Durrant tells a little story about his children.

 

One day George took his three children to the playground at a nearby park. All three of them were on the swings.

 

The two older children – Devon and Katherine – had learned how to pump and swing on their own. They were going higher and higher.

 

Devon said, “I’m keeping up with Katherine.” And Katherine said, “I’m keeping up with Devon.”  

 

The youngest child, little Miranda, wanted to try to start on her own without her father’s help, but she was barely moving. She simply said, “I’m just keeping up with myself.”  

 

Getting Ahead of Others 

 

Little Miranda helps us to appreciate one of the lessons in today’s gospel.

 

The apostles are arguing about which one of them is the greatest. I would say that underneath all of this, each of them wants to feel valuable and important. 

 

What they really want is a sense of self-worth. And the apostles are trying to attain this by being seen as better or above one another. 

 

In doing this, they are doing exactly the opposite of what little Miranda does on the swings. She doesn’t try to be better than her brother and sister.

 

Instead, she just keeps up with herself. Well, in response to the apostles, in Jesus brings a little child—maybe like little Miranda – he brings a child into the group and teaches two lessons.

 

1. The Value of Each Person 

 

First, each person, each of us is already valuable just in being ourselves.

 

In Jesus’ culture, children were at the bottom of the ladder. For example, if a family did not have enough food, the father would eat first, then the mother, and only then would the children get what was left over.

 

To us, this sounds crazy and backwards. Maybe some of you or some of our parents held back on eating or on buying something so that the children could have enough. 

 

Well, here Jesus says, “Whoever receives a child [and remember, a child is at the bottom of the ladder] – whoever receives a child such as this, receives me.” He is saying that a child and, very importantly, who that child symbolizes –the last or the least in society – these persons are valuable.

 

Our value is inherent in our very being. So, we can be like little Miranda on the swings and we don’t have to be seen as better or above anyone else. 

 

This is why our Church teaches the value of human life from conception right through to natural death. There is an inherent value and worth in each person and in the life of each person.  

 

This is why we are to respect human life. And, by the way, right here – in our inherent, God-given value – this is where we find our true self-worth and not in the way the apostles are looking for it.     

     

2. Care for the Least

 

Then, Jesus teaches a second lesson that flows from this.

 

He calls us to care for the last or the least among us. He’s calling for a new mindset.

 

So, we are not to see ourselves as better than those whose income is at poverty level or who need financial assistance. We are not to look upon them as a drain on society but as being as valuable as ourselves.

 

I sometimes think of it this way. In a hospital, doctors and nurses and all the health care professionals simply treat us when we are sick.

 

They don’t ask if our intestinal or coronary trouble is our own fault because of eating all kinds of fatty foods and, if that’s the case, then they refuse to treat us. They simply treat us, help us to get better, and advise us on how to take care of ourselves.

 

Well, in the same way, we are to value the last or the least in our society. We are to care for them without questioning why they are the last or the least.  

 

And interestingly, in doing this, we ourselves again will find self-worth. Our sense of self will be strengthened and enhanced.

 

Conclusion

 

So, some insightful, and maybe challenging lessons today!

24th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B - September 12, 2021

                           24th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Cycle B

September 12, 2021

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

Bon Secours Retreat and Conference Center 11am 

 

“Who Do You Say That I Am?”

 

Imagine that Jesus asks us the question that he asks Peter today.

 

“Who do you say that I am?” Or, we could ask it this way: “Who do I say that Jesus is?”

 

This is probably the central question that the gospels ask each one of us. I have thought about this quite a bit over the years. 

 

I answered this question one way in roughly the first twenty years of my life. But since then, I have come to answer it differently.

 

My First Twenty Years

 

Up until I was about twenty years old, I believed that Jesus was my Savior, but my idea of Savior was rather limited.

 

It was basically what we say in the creed or Profession of Faith. For me, Jesus was the Son of God who died for my sins.

 

He rose from the dead and offered me the hope of resurrection, but with a big BUT. The big BUT was that I had to measure up and obey the commandments.

 

If I did, I would go to heaven. And if I didn’t, I would go to hell – and sometimes, that seemed more likely.

 

For me, in those early years, I did not feel close to Jesus. Instead, I saw him as distant, a judge, a punisher, a tough school teacher, or a disciplinarian.

 

In turn, my primary feelings in relation to Jesus or God were guilt about anything wrong I had done and anxiety about the after-life. That’s how I used to answer the question “Who do you say that I am?”

 

Today

 

Today, I am in a very different place.

 

Lots of things have contributed to this – my education, my life experiences, and some wise spiritual mentors. Today, I first see Jesus as God who has become human, as a person on this earth with us.  

 

So, I now feel close to Jesus and positive about my relationship with God. I like to look at Jesus as what I call the three L’s: Light, Life, and Love.

 

I see him as the Light who leads me out of darkness. The darkness might be emotional baggage that leads me to see the glass as half empty and not half full.

 

Or it might be the twisted ways of the world that exalt violent words and behavior. Jesus as the Light leads me out of these forms of darkness.

 

Then I see Jesus as the Life who leads me through the different forms of death, including physical death. I see him as revealing the mystery that I intuitively know, even though I cannot explain it.

 

He states this mystery to Peter in today’s gospel: that suffering and death lead to life and resurrection. In this way, Jesus is for me the beginning, the goal, and the sustainer of Life.

 

And for the third L, I see Jesus as the Love who leads me from self-diminishment to self-esteem. I see him as the Love who leads me from treating others as objects to treating them as persons like myself.

 

And interestingly, even though he calls me to take up my cross of suffering, Jesus as Love also calls me to alleviate the suffering of others. This is what Saint James is exhorting in our second reading today.

 

Conclusion

 

So, that is how I used to answer and how today I now answer the question: “Who do you say that I am?”

 

I share my personal answers with you because each of us needs to answer this question personally. We need to do this for ourselves and our own relationship with God or Jesus.

 

It is a pivotal question. Our answer will have a lot to do not only with how we see and feel about God, but also with the kind of person we become and the kind of things we say and do.

23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B - September 5, 2021

 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Cycle B

September 5, 2021     

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

 

Heidi’s Parents

 

Nine years ago this summer, I flew to Denver to officiate at my nephew David’s wedding.

 

David was marrying a young woman named Heidi. I had met Heidi on a previous visit to Denver.

 

Well, at the rehearsal, I met Heidi’s mother and father. They are both deaf and their serious hearing impairment makes it impossible for them to speak clearly.

 

As I understand it, the speech impairment follows the hearing impairment. At any rate, Heidi’s parents are very warm, friendly, and likeable persons. 

 

The Deaf and Mute Man 

 

I think of Heidi’s parents when I read today’s gospel.

 

There is this man who is both deaf and mute. And notice: Jesus first enables the man to hear and then, after that, to speak.  

 

If he can hear, then his speaking will follow. And notice also: Jesus heals the man by using just two words: “Be opened!”

 

“Be opened!” In opening the man’s ears and mouth, Jesus heals the man physically.

 

But, as wonderful as this is, the healing is even more than the physical. In those days, unlike Heidi’s parents today, those who were deaf and mute were very isolated from society.  

 

They were treated as incapable of holding a job or of being with others in any way at all. On top of that, they were also perceived as alienated from God.

 

Why?  Because their disability was seen as a punishment for sin, even though no one could name the sin. So, Jesus’ healing of this man is physical, and it is also social and spiritual – that’s how great it is!   

 

“Be Opened!”

 

Now, I think we need to take this one step farther. 

 

Jesus’ words – “Be opened!” – are also intended for us. he calls us to “Be opened!”

 

Some years ago, I came across a very simple morning prayer. It is easy to remember.

 

“Lord, open me: inward to you, outward to others.” “Lord, open me: inward to you, outward to others.”

 

Jesus wants us to “Be opened!” And for that to happen, we need to want it and pray for it.

 

“Open Us: Inward” 

 

So first, we pray: “Lord, open us: inward to you.”

 

Open us to your presence within. You are here, within us, removing our isolation and being our constant companion in the journey of life.

 

Open us to your strength within. You are our empowerment to deal with the everyday stuff of life and our refuge when times are tough.

 

Open us to your love within. You are the outreaching, unconditional love of God and the grounding of our self-worth.

 

And open us to your healing within. You, little by little, put together our loose ends, remove our alienation from God, and make us whole and holy persons.

     

“Open Us: Outward”

 

And then, we pray: “Lord, open us: outward to others.”

 

First open our ears. Help us to hear the happiness or sadness, the self-confidence or self-doubt of another person.

 

And then Lord, open our mouths. Help us to speak words of comfort to a neighbor who is grieving or words of challenge to a society that is caught in violent words and actions.

 

Also, Lord, open our eyes. Help us to see a spouses’s need for a caring intervention about alcohol or an aging parent’s need for help around the house.

 

And finally, Lord, open our minds. Help us to examine our judgments about people who are different from us or our prejudices toward certain groups of people.  

 

Conclusion

 

So, Jesus says: “Be opened!”

 

And we pray: “Lord, open me: inward to you, outward to others.”

 

And, by the way, my nephew David and Heidi remain happily married and are the parents of two wonderful little girls, Elsie and Mila.