Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord, Cycle B - June 2, 2019

Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord

Cycle C

June 2, 2019       

Tuesdays with Morrie

I imagine that many of us have heard of the book “Tuesdays with Morrie.”

It was first published in 1997 and was soon made into a movie.  The book has remained well-known.

Tuesdays with Morrie is about a university professor, Doctor Morrie Schwartz, and a Detroit sportswriter, Mitch Albom.  Morrie Schwartz had been Mitch Albom’s teacher and mentor at Brandeis University in Massachusetts.  

In 1994, Doctor Schwartz was diagnosed with ALS, Lou Gehrig’s Disease.  He was told that he had a year to live and he decided to do just that – to live his last year to the fullest.  

Morrie Schwartz was even interviewed on ABC’s Nightlineprogram.  He talked about what he was learning through his illness.

Mitch Albom saw this program and decided to visit his former professor.  This was the first of fourteen visits -- all on Tuesdays.

Morrie’s Messages

These visits became the content of Mitch Albom’s book, Tuesdays with Morrie.  

In these visits, Morrie Schwartz expressed the importance of transcending the violence and hatred in our culture.  He reflected on life, suffering, family, marriage, aging, and death.

Naturally, Doctor Schwartz’s perspective was as a man facing his own death. And his reflections brought a whole new perspective to Mitch Albom.  

Mitch had been overwhelmed with work and he was desperate for love and meaning. In their last visit, Morrie Schwartz really summed up things.

He said that“As long as we love each other, and remember the feeling of love we had, we can die without really going away. All the love you created is still there.

“You live on – in the hearts of everyone you have touched or nurtured while you were there.  Death ends life [as we know it, but] not a relationship.”   

Jesus’ Messages

Those reflections of Morrie Schwartz are similar to what we hear from Jesus.

Jesus has taught great lessons to the apostles.  He has taught them, above all else, to become loving persons – to love God as God has loved us, and to love one another as we love ourselves.

Jesus sums up all of this as he is about to return to the Father.  He then leaves the apostles bodily, physically, visibly.

But Jesus has told the apostles that he will continue to be with them and us through his Holy Spirit.  In effect, something similar to what Morrie Schwartz said, Jesus is saying that his ascension or return to the Father ends life as we know it, but nota relationship.  

This means that we live with Jesus present within us and he empowers us to live out of this inner center of love.  This is how life continues with Jesus.

And, I want to add, this is also how we are to view our living on with a loved one who has died.  And on the other hand, it is how we are to look upon our remaining with our loved ones after we have died.

6th Sunday of Easter, Cycle B - May 26, 2019

6^th Sunday of Easter

Cycle C

May 26, 2019      

Saint Mary Parish, Pylesville 4:00pm

 Saint Matthew Parish, Baltimore 11:00am 

The Branding

There is a story about a family from New York who bought a ranch out in the West.

They planned to raise cattle there. Things were moving along okay and then a problem arose. 

The father, his wife and his sons disagreed on what name to give the ranch. One day, the father said to some of his neighbors who lived near the ranch: “I wanted to name it the Bar-J. 

“My wife favored the Suzy-Q. My one son liked the Flying-W and the other son wanted the Lazy-Y. 

“So, we’re calling it the Bar-J-Suzy-Q-Flying-W-Lazy-Y.” The neighbors thought that this was a long and strange name but didn’t comment on that.

Instead, one of them asked, “Well, where are all the cattle?” The father replied, “Oh! None of them survived the branding!”

Early Church Conflict 

That story is kind of a light way to look at today’s first reading.

The passage is about a disagreement among the early Christians that was more serious than the naming of a ranch. The issue was this.  

Did the non-Jews who wanted to be baptized and become Christian first have to become Jews and accept all the Jewish practices? The issue caused a significant conflict.

The early Christians resolved this disagreement and the way they did it is a good model for us in dealing with conflicts. I see three ingredients here that are important for conflict resolution: 1) Act, 2) Ask, and 3) Appreciate.

1.   Act

First, we need to act. We need to face up to the conflict and deal with it. 

The early Christians in today’s first reading acted quickly to address the conflict and heal the rift that was growing. If we don’t do this, the conflict will probably just get worse and become harmful.

That’s basically what happened with the family who disagreed on the name of the ranch and the result was that they ended up with no cattle. I think the Scriptural counsel of “not letting the sun go down on our anger” is another way of telling us to act and deal with a conflict.

2.    Ask 

The second important ingredient for conflict resolution is to ask for assistance. Sometimes conflicts need discernment from a third party.

Again, today’s Scripture passage says that the whole Jerusalem church participated in working out the disagreement. The lesson is that if the persons directly involved cannot resolve the conflict, the wisdom of others may be needed.

This might include another family member, a trusted friend, or a professional counselor. The point is: let’s be open to ask for the assistance of others when we are not successfully resolving a conflict.    

3.  Appreciate

And then the third ingredient is to appreciate the other persons involved in the conflict. Be respectful of them and try to understand their point of view.

The Scripture shows the early Christians doing exactly that. So, we need to work on the issue – how late the teens should be allowed to stay out or which household responsibilities will each spouse be responsible for. 

And in doing this, we need to stay focused on the issue and not attack each other personally or call each other names, things like that. We need to appreciate each other as persons. 

  

God, the Holy Spirit

So, 1) Act, 2) Ask, and 3) Appreciate – three A words for dealing maturely and spiritually with conflicts.

And as we do all of this, we also turn to God in prayer. We ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten and guide us.

The early Christians prayed together and, in the end, they even said, “It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and ours too.” That’s how clear they were about God’s presence in what they were doing.

Now, it will not always be possible to pray together with others with whom we are in conflict. But, we can at least do this on our own, privately.

If we do, the chances of resolving a conflict are much higher. And then, the chances are also much higher of experiencing the peace that Jesus offers as his farewell gift in today’s gospel.      

5th Sunday of Easter, Cycle B - May 19, 2019

5^th Sunday of Easter

Cycle C

May 19, 2019

St. Mary Parish, Pylesville 9:30 and 11:15am

The Heifer Project

Several years ago, my brother Charlie and sister-in-law Lynn sent me a different kind of Christmas gift.

The gift was a sheep. Now, they didn’t send a sheep to me by FedEx.

What they did was to donate a sheep to a very poor family in Uganda. They gave this in my name and as part of what is called is called the Heifer Project.

The Heifer Project is a not-for-profit organization that helps very poor families in Third World countries. The plan is to give a specific animal to a specific family.

The animal might be a sheep, a goat, a heifer, chickens, and on it goes. The family is taught how to care for the animal and then the animal becomes a source of income.  

For example, the family might sell the eggs from the chickens or the wool from the sheep. In some Third World countries, this money enables parents to send their children to school, since they do not have free public education.  

“By Your Love For One Another…”

Well, I remembered all of this when I was reflecting on today’s gospel.

Jesus says, “Such as my love has been for you, so must your love be for one another. This is how people will know you as my disciples: by your love for one another.”  

The Heifer Project is a good example of living out Jesus’ words. My brother and sister-in-law gave a sheep in my name that one Christmas.

And their giving this also helped others who were very much in need. Now, as I look at Jesus’ life, I am seeing three ingredients that are part of our loving others as Jesus has loved us.

1. Looking Beyond Myself

First, we need to look beyond ourselves.

We are to look beyond what I need or what I want. And sometimes we are even to look beyond what is in my best interest to the needs and well-being of others.

When you think about it, this is exactly what Jesus does for us in the Eucharist. He is looking beyond himself to us and our needs.

When I see parents giving of themselves so unselfishly to care for their little baby or child – that, for me, is a great example of this. So, looking beyond ourselves to the needs of others is an essential ingredient in loving as Jesus has loved. 

2. Feeling Compassion

Then, we are to allow the needs of others to touch our hearts.

This means that we feel compassion for those who are hurting. We feel empathy for those who are burdened in some way. 

Jesus repeatedly feels compassion – for the hungry, the sick, the grieving, the rejected. So, we feel compassion for the friend who has lost his job and is facing a lot of uncertainty 

Or we feel empathy for persons in other parts of the world who are subjected to ethnic cleansing. So, allowing the needs of others to touch our hearts is an essential ingredient in loving as Jesus has loved.

3. Committing Something

Finally, we are to do something – to commit something of ourselves to assist others.

We see Jesus repeatedly doing this. In fact, he commits himself so fully to us that he even gives his life for us.

Maybe a father resolves to spend more time with his college-age son who may be going off the tracks a bit. Or maybe you decide to prepare and take a meal over to your neighbor who is grieving the loss of her husband.

Or maybe we donate some money to Catholic Relief Services to assist them in their work in Third World countries. So, committing something of ourselves to assist others is an essential ingredient in loving as Jesus has loved.

Conclusion

So,

1) Looking beyond ourselves to the needs of others, 

2) allowing their needs to touch our hearts, and 

3) committing something of ourselves to help – 

this is loving as Jesus has loved.  

And as Jesus says, “This is how people will know you are my disciples: by your love for one another.”

2nd Sunday of Easter, Cycle B - April 28, 2019

2nd Sunday of Easter

Cycle C

April 28, 2019

4pm at Saint Mary Parish, Pylesville

11am at Saint Matthew Parish, Baltimore

 

A Couple’s Struggle 

This past week, I received an email from a young man named Sean.

Sean and his wife Sharon are in their late twenties. I have known Sean since he was a little boy and I even gave him his First Communion. 

Sean emailed me saying that they are considering having their five-month-old baby baptized and would like me to do it. However, they are not sure about this because of where they are with their faith. 

Sean wrote this: “Dear Father Mike, I wanted to reach out to you. In full transparency, my wife and I identify as agnostics and are trying to discover our beliefs and path. 

“We plan on raising our daughter understanding Christianity while also being exposed to many other faith traditions. We would like to have her baptized out of respect for our family’s belief and because of our own Catholic upbringing.

“Understanding our current situation, would you be comfortable in baptizing our daughter? We are open to discussing this in further detail.” 

Thomas’ Struggle

Well, Sean and Sharon and I have begun talking and we will discern what is appropriate to do.

I share this email because today’s gospel is also about a struggle with faith. It’s interesting that in our Catholic liturgy, there is a three-year cycle of readings. 

So, over three years, we hear a wide variety of passages and seldom is a gospel repeated. But, on this Sunday after Easter, the gospel reading is the same every year – the same for all three cycles of readings. 

Why? Why is this story about Thomas struggling with his faith always read on this Sunday?

I think it is because the Church knows that faith in the risen Christ and in our own resurrection is challenging. It hits us directly with the question: do you believe?

Two Recommendations 

I want to make two recommendations that might help us or someone we know who is struggling with faith.

First, focus on the gospels. The gospels, taken as a whole, give us a healthy, full, and accurate image of God.  

Don’t focus so much on the Old Testament which sometimes portrays God as simply a judge who is punishing and even vindictive. Some of that seeps into the New Testament.

But the thrust of the New Testament is very different. We see Jesus healing and not hurting, guiding and not coercing, lifting up and not putting down, accepting and not rejecting. 

This is the image of God that Jesus gives us. So, focus on the gospels as the heart of faith. 

My second recommendation is to work at developing a relationship with Jesus. In each passage of the gospel, imagine that Jesus is speaking to you.

Ask: what is Jesus, God, saying to me in this passage? What is he saying about me or my life?

In turn, speak to Jesus in your own words. Tell him what you are thinking, how you are feeling, and where you are struggling.

This approach allows God to be a person and not just an abstraction or a list of truths. It allows faith to be a relationship and that may end up satisfying much of our struggling.

Conclusion

The last thing I want to say is to see our faith as a decision to trust – to trust in the person of God.

Father Richard Rohr expresses this in a way that I find very helpful. Father Rohr is a Franciscan priest, a theologian, and an author of many books and articles.

He says this: “I believe that faith may be the ability to trust the Big River of God’s providential love, which is the visible embodiment (the Son), the flow (the Holy Spirit), and the source itself (the Father).” So, he sees faith primarily as trust and he likens God to a big river of love.

“I believe that faith may be the ability to trust the Big River of God’s providential love, which is the visible embodiment (the Son), the flow (the Holy Spirit), and the source itself (the Father).”Maybe that approach will help us and others when we are struggling with faith.

Holy Thursday, Cycle B - April 18, 2019

Holy Thursday 

Cycle B

April 18, 2019

Sisters of Saint Joseph

Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania 

“Took, Blessed, Broke, and Gave” 

In a few minutes, I will stand here at the altar and lead us in the Eucharistic Prayer.

I will repeat some words that we have heard many times. The prayer says that Jesus “took the bread, blessed it, broke it and gave it to his disciples.”

This evening, I am focusing on those four action words. Jesus “took, blessed, broke, and gave.”

What I am thinking is that Jesus has also taken and blessed, broken and given us. Here is what I have in mind.

We Are Taken and Blessed 

First, we are taken and blessed.

I remember when I was growing up, we would often organize our own baseball games on a field in the neighborhood. Each time we did this, two of us would be the “managers” of the two teams and they would take turns choosing players from among the guys who were there.

Well, it was a big deal to be taken or chosen first. It meant that you were a good player and it was a real ego-booster.

Thank God, in the end, everyone was taken. No one was left out.

Well, the first thing we have to realize in the spiritual life is that God has taken and blessed each one of us.  God has spoken over us the same words that God speaks over Jesus at his baptism: “You are my beloved son. You are my beloved daughter.”

In this, God has touched the very core of our being. In and through Jesus, God has made us valued and worthy, wanted and loved.

This is so important as our foundation for living. In our world, value and worth is often contingent on having sparkling white teeth or having a good job or even on having a good assignment in the priesthood or religious life. 

But in truth, Jesus assures us that God has already taken and blessed each one of us, as in my childhood pick-up baseball games. What a wonderful sense of self and what a strong foundation for living this is for us. 

We Are Broken and Given 

And then, Jesus has broken and given us.

Here we have to understand the word broken a little bit differently. Jesus has not really broken us but wants us to realize that we are already broken.

Each one of us is broken in at least some way because we are human. We are incomplete in our own humanity and we are restless for the wholeness that only God can give.

We may be broken because of something that has happened to us or because of an addiction or because of a lost relationship. Or maybe because we feel guilty about something we have done.

So, Jesus wants us to be aware of our brokenness. And then, with that awareness, we can be given.

We can be given or give of ourselves with compassion and wisdom. We can do this with loved ones, family and friends.

We can do this with those in our local community or with co-workers at our jobs. And we can do this for those who are living in desperate situations and whom we may never personally know, maybe in Philadelphia or in Central America or in South Sudan or wherever.

In other words, we will be given authentically because we know that we ourselves are also broken. That is the richness of these words.  

Conclusion

So, at the Last Supper, Jesus “took, blessed, broke, and gave”the bread to us. 

He gives us this Eucharistic bread to strengthen us so that we, in turn, can be a bread for one another. This will happen as we realize that we, like the bread, also are taken and blessed, broken and given.