23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Cycle A - September 6, 2020

 23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time

 Correcting Others

Six or seven years ago, I read an article that I still remember.
A man named Jerome Weidman writes that he was in the third grade, in a public school in New York City. His math teacher was Mrs. O’Neill.
One day Mrs. O’Neill was grading test papers, and she noticed that twelve boys had given the same answer to a question, the same unusual and wrong answer. She correctly assumed that the boys had cheated.
The next day, Mrs. O’Neill asked the twelve boys to stay after school for a minute. Without accusing them of anything, she simply wrote on the blackboard a quotation from an English author. 
“The measure of real character is what individuals would do if they knew they would never be found out.” Isn’t that a great statement?
“The measure of real character is what individuals would do if they knew they would never be found out.” Jerome Weidman says that this was an important lesson in his life.

Jesus and Correcting 

 That teacher, Mrs. O’Neill, respectfully confronted those boys with their wrongdoing and what she did illustrates the message of today’s gospel.  
The passage tells us what to do if we see someone doing something that is morally wrong or something that is personally hurtful. In the gospel, Jesus gives a three-step process.

Step 1: One-on-One

First, Jesus says that we are to talk about the problem one-on-one.
Notice that he says that we are to talk with the person. Now, to be real about it, we may first talk about the person to somebody else, but our motive needs to be to prepare to talk directly with the person and to be able to speak in a constructive way.
So, maybe you need to talk with your spouse about the sharing of household responsibilities. Or maybe you need to talk with a family member who looks like he is into some kind of substance abuse.
When we do this, we need to be respectful and not put down or beat up others. Our motive needs to be a positive change of behavior or some reconciliation in the relationship.  

Step 2: Third-Party Assistance 

Okay, Jesus then says that if the other person is closed to looking at the issue, we should ask for the assistance of someone else.
This could mean both parents together talking with a son or daughter about their hanging out with the wrong crowd. Or it could mean a husband and wife going to a marriage counselor.
There are times in life when some kind of third-party assistance is required. There is a humorous Arab proverb about this that makes a good point.
It says: “If one person calls you a donkey or a you-know-what, you may pay no attention to that person. But if five people call you one, go out and buy yourself…a saddle” – I think that says it pretty well. 

Step 3: Keep Reaching Out

Finally, for the third step, Jesus says that if someone will not listen even to several people, then treat that person like a tax collector or non-believer.
In the past, we as a Church interpreted this as meaning: have nothing to do with them or excommunicate them. Today, many Scripture scholars give us a different insight.
They point out that Jesus continues to associate with tax collectors and non-believers. He never gives up on them.
So here, instead of talking about excommunication, Jesus is really talking about communication – and continued communication. He is talking about excluding sin, but not excluding the sinner – the person.
So, maybe someone persists in sinful or harmful behavior or maybe they believe differently on some point of faith. Yes, we have to be true to ourselves about what we believe is right. 
And, in some instances, we may have to protect ourselves – as in situations of domestic violence or sexual abuse. But usually, Jesus is calling us to keep relating and keep communicating. 
I see this as the spirit and direction that Pope Francis is trying to instill in our Church and in us. 

22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Cycle A - August 30, 2020

 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time

Lose to Gain

Today Jesus says: “You have to lose your life to find it.” Sports coaches and athletes say: “No pain; no gain.”
Psychologists say: “Lose your false self to find your true self.” Spiritual writers say: “The dark night precedes the dawn.”
What is it that we must lose and what do we gain? Well, the good news is that we don’t lose anything essential to our humanity.
We don’t lose anything that is good within us. All we really lose is our inhumanity, the not-so-good stuff.

What Do We Lose?

For example, Jesus wants us to lose our self-centeredness, which isolates us from other people. We are to lose our prejudices, which blind us to the truth.
Jesus wants us to lose our consumerism, which distracts us from life’s deeper realities. We are to lose our insecurity, which restrains us from doing what is right.  
Jesus wants us to lose our obsession with money, which prevents us from being generous. And we are to lose our fear, which keeps us from loving. 

What Do We Gain?

To the degree that we do this losing, we gain. Through the power of Christ and our relationship with him, our humanity and our life are actually fuller.
Now, we don’t have to get there all at once. We can do it step by step.
And we don’t have to advance or become perfect in every dimension of life. Actually, most saints are imperfect and unfinished in some way.
And the amazing truth is that in allowing our humanity to become fuller, we simultaneously become divine. We experience God as more and more living within us and experience ourselves as more and more living in God.  
So, in losing our lives in God, we don’t really lose at all. Instead, we emerge into a fullness that we would never have dreamed of. 
But we have to remember: only with God and only in going through this process of losing can we gain and be our fullest self.
 

21st Sunday of Ordinary Time, Cycle A - August 23, 2020

 21st Sunday of Ordinary Time
 Cycle A


Standing in Wonder: The Universe 

Three years ago this month, I remember watching the solar eclipse. We were careful to wear the protective eye glasses that had been advised. 
What I remember most was standing in wonder at the universe, and beyond that, standing in wonder at God. Saint Paul beautifully expresses this wonder in today’s second reading.
“Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How inscrutable are his judgments and how unsearchable his ways!”
It is as if Paul is also looking up and beyond ourselves and our world. Paul stands in wonder at the greatness and mystery of God.
 

Standing in Wonder: The Son of God 

And then, today’s gospel opens up another experience of wonder. 
The apostles had already stood in wonder as they saw Jesus calming the stormy lake and healing people. Now Peter says that he believes that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  
This idea is both simple and simply awesome. There is the Almighty One, the One before whom we stand in wonder when we look up to the heavens and beyond ourselves.
And now, Peter and we declare that this Almighty One has become one of us. And so, along with Peter and the other apostles, we stand in wonder before Jesus.  
And, as if that isn’t enough, God in Jesus shows us how to live everyday life in that wonder. He shows us how to live standing in wonder, as if we are looking up and beyond ourselves and our world.  
 

Living in Wonder 

For example, we live in wonder before Jesus:

• when we pray from our hearts and really mean what we say;
• when we receive Holy Communion, and are aware that this is Jesus, the Son of God coming to us;
• when we receive Holy Communion and are aware that this Communion – spelled with a capital C – enlivens our communion – spelled with a small c – with all God’s sons and daughters on this earth.

Again, we live in wonder before Jesus:

• when we are faithful to our commitments to one another;
• when we sacrifice for the good of our families;
• when we take a minute to say something supportive to the clerk at the check-out line who seems to be having a bad day.

And again, we live in wonder before Jesus:

• when we speak respectfully about others and to others, no matter what;
• when we do things that promote unity among people;
• when we try to build bridges between others and ourselves.

And finally, we live in wonder before Jesus:

• when we look above and beyond our own needs and concerns to the common good of all;
• when we maintain hope based on our faith that God will be with us, no matter what;
• when we cherish human life across the board and equally, wherever or in whomever it is found.

Conclusion

They are some of the ways that come to my mind – some of the ways that Jesus shows us how to live everyday life in wonder, how to live as if we are looking up and beyond ourselves and our world.
 

20th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Cycle A - August 16, 2020

20th Sunday of Ordinary Time
 Cycle A


What a Story!

Well, what a story today’s gospel is!
Jesus’ first responses to that woman are really surprising. They are so inconsistent with everything else Jesus does.
So, what’s going on here? How are we to understand this?
The most likely explanation is that Jesus is the Son of God and is divine, but he is also fully human. And so, even Jesus has to work through the prejudices that can seep into all of us.  

Prejudices/Barriers

And that’s exactly what happens here. Jesus breaks through the barriers of his day.
First, there is gender. He is talking with a woman when women are viewed as second-class and are not even to be recognized if they are unaccompanied by their husband.  
Then, there is religion. This woman is a not a Jew, and that’s why Jesus calls her a “dog” – the demeaning expression of that day for all non-Jews.  
Next, there is culture. This woman is of a different culture and probably dresses differently and has different social customs.
And finally, there is nationality. She is a Canaanite, and they are viewed as enemies. 
Well, Jesus eventually breaks through all of these barriers or prejudices. He comes to see this woman as a person – a mother who loves her daughter and desperately wants her to get well.
He sees her as a person with needs and feelings and hopes like anyone else. And this is what leads Jesus to break through all the prejudices and barriers that we humans can put up between ourselves and others.

A Lesson for Today

I don’t think I have to say that this is a good lesson for us today. And we need to take this in and look at Jesus’ example.
We may have prejudices based on race, religion, ethnic group, country of origin, religion, and on it goes. The polarization in our country, at least to some extent, is caused by these prejudices.
We need to go beyond them and see others as persons like ourselves.  If we do that, differences and diversity will not lead to such harmful, hurtful barriers. 

A Recommendation for Us Catholics

From all of this, I am seeing one recommendation for us Catholics and for Catholicism in general.
My thought is that part of our uniqueness as a capital C Catholic Church must be that we are truly a small c catholic Church.  Small c means that we are universal, inclusive, and respectful.
At this point in time and in today’s culture, this approach is especially needed.  We need to express our faith with this approach in mind.
So, today we need to teach our faith positively, not negatively. We need to lift up the richness that we have in Scripture and sacraments and spirituality, and we need to express positively the way of Jesus in the gospels.
We need to invite others to freely consider faith and belonging to this faith community. But we also need to avoid manipulating others with guilt and fear by saying that they have to do it this way or else eternal damnation will follow.
And with that, we need to be respectful of differences in others and even in others within our Church. Yes, we need to positively lift up inclusion and stop resorting to exclusion from the Eucharist or exclusion from the Church itself as a way to bring people to Christ.  
This, I think, is the way to be both Catholic with a capital C and catholic with a small c in this day and age. It will be a way of faith that does not play on prejudice and hatred and that does not erect barriers.
This is to be the uniqueness and witness of Catholicism at this moment in history. And, by the way, I believe that this is precisely the way that Pope Francis is trying to instill in us as individuals and as a Church.

19th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Cycle A - August 9, 2020

 

19th Sunday of Ordinary Time  
Cycle A


When I was twenty-five years old, I experienced the first real storm of my life. 
My mother was diagnosed with cancer, and it was advanced. Mom died nine months later. 
This was a very painful loss for me. It was a major storm in my life, right in my first year of priesthood. 
Well, not just me, but all of us have storms in our lives. It could be right now, in the pandemic – anxiety about whether we will get infected with Covid, anxiety about our finances or about losing our job.
It could be the death of a parent or a child, or a husband or wife or dear friend. It could be loneliness or depression. 
It could be failing to get into the college where we wanted to go. It could be the need to deal with an addiction. 
You, I am sure, can think of other examples We all have storms in our lives. 

Peter’s Storm 

 I think of this as we hear today’s gospel.
Peter and the other disciples are in a boat on the lake, and it gets stormy. The wind and the waves are tossing the boat around.
It is a real storm, but it is also symbolic. It is intended to be symbolic of the storms in our lives.
In this situation, Peter in his fear looks to Jesus and calls out, “Lord, save me!”  So, he turns to Jesus in the midst of the storm.
That, I think, is the message. We need to do the same thing.
The question is: what does this mean? How do we turn to God in the midst of a storm?
In my life, I have come to see three things as important. Three habits or practices are important for allowing God to help us get through the storms. 

Three Habits or Practices

First, some prayer every morning is helpful and even essential. It can be simple, and it is probably better if it is in our words and not a learned prayer.
In this prayer, and this is very important, resolve to do your best today. Resolve to give yourself as best you can to whatever you have to do this day and ask God’s help in doing this.
This is important because sometimes we will just have to push ourselves and make ourselves keep moving through the storms. So, in the morning, ask God’s help in your resolve to give yourself as best you can to your responsibilities of the day. 
Then second, choose a brief, one-sentence prayer and repeat this often throughout the day. For example, Peter’s words, “Lord, save me.”
Or, Jesus’ words: “Do not be afraid.” Or, “I am with you always.”  
A one-sentence prayer helps us to stay centered on God throughout the day. It helps us to keep our eyes on Jesus when we are in stormy seas.
And then, third, make space for some silence. Elijah in the first reading gives us a great example of this.
He hears the Lord not in any dramatic way – not in the thunder or the wind or the fire, but rather, in silence. My experience is that in the storms of life, we need to go within and listen to our inner self, and this is why we need some silence in our lives. 
God often speaks through our feelings, our deepest desires, our ideas and our longings. God can really help us through our storms in this way, and we need to be quiet and listen to him in our inner self.

Conclusion 

So, 1) a prayer of resolve in the morning, 2) a one-sentence prayer for repeating throughout the day, and 3) some silence to help us go to our inner self – these are ways to turn to Jesus and allow him to help us in the storms of our lives.