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.

17th Sunday of Ordinary Time
Cycle A
July 26, 2020

Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton

Stumbling upon the Kingdom

In Jesus’ day, there was no M&T or PNC or any other kind of bank.

There were no savings accounts and no safe deposit boxes. Instead, people would often bury their valuables in the ground, in a piece of property that they owned.

As you can imagine, one problem was that if the owner died and no one knew about the buried treasure, it could lie there for years and years. Sometimes someone would accidentally find it.

And if they did, the finder might use every last penny he had to buy that piece of property so that the treasure would be his. That’s what sometimes happened in Jesus’ day – very different from our day!

This is the situation in the first short parable we hear today. And Jesus’ point is that sometimes we kind of stumble upon the kingdom of God.

Sometimes we are not looking for it, but we find the kingdom of God in unexpected ways – much like the guy in the parable who stumbled upon this treasure. Maybe in the kindness of a friend, maybe in something that happens at work, or maybe right here, in the Eucharist, with the fresh awareness that God is really present and close to us!

 Often, in ways like this, we stumble on the Unexpected One – spelled with capital letters – we stumble on the Unexpected One. We find God and the kingdom of God and Jesus calls us to value this above all other things. 
 

Seeking the Kingdom

Then, Jesus also tells a short parable today about a person seeking – actively looking for fine pearls.

Unlike the person in the first parable, the guy here is deliberately looking for a precious pearl. He eventually finds one, realizes how precious it is and sells all that he has to buy it.

Jesus’ point is that the kingdom of God is like this – and when those who have been looking finally find it, we are to give ourselves to it. So maybe we have been looking within the structure of our religion and faith, or maybe we have been looking outside that structure.

And then we find God maybe in an amazing insight in Scripture or in some other book, or maybe in the fulfillment that comes from serving someone in need. And then we know what is important in life and where God is and what this kingdom of God is all about.
 

The Kingdom Nearby 

I want to close with a Jewish, Hasidic tale that I recently came across.

It is a story about a Rabbi Eisik from Cracow in Poland. This rabbi is very poor but has never given up his faith in God.

The story goes that he dreamed three nights in a row that he should look for a treasure in Prague in the Czech Republic. In his dream, he learns that the treasure is under the bridge that leads to the king’s palace.

So, Rabbi Eisik leaves Cracow and sets out for Prague. He arrives there but finds that the bridge is patrolled by the king’s guard.

Still, Rabbi Eisik goes to the bridge every day and just looks, wondering how he can search for the treasure that was in his dream. Finally, the captain of the guard asks him if he is looking for someone or something.

Rabbi Eisik tells the captain about his dream – without telling him his name or where he came from. The captain smiles and says, “And so, to pursue the dream, you have worn out your shoes to come here.

“As for having such faith in dreams, if I had that, I would have been off to Cracow to dig for a treasure under the stove in the room of a Jew named Eisik.” With those words, Eisik bows to the captain, travels home to Cracow, and digs up the treasure from under his own stove.

The point of this Hasidic story! The treasure of the kingdom of God may be something we accidentally stumble upon or something we find after a lot of seeking and searching.

But, it may be very close at hand. It may be right at home, right in our ordinary, everyday life.

 

12th Sunday of Ordinary Time
Cycle A
June 21, 2020

Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton

Our Fears

About twenty-five years ago, I had an injury to my neck and my doctor sent me for an MRI.

I was afraid and dreading this – having to lie down motionless in that narrow, enclosed tube.  As soon as I got in there, I felt a bit claustrophobic and I quickly decided to do two things: keep my eyes closed and pray the rosary – I used my fingers to count the Hail Mary’s.

The MRI lasted about thirty minutes. The prayer helped me to deal with my fear of being in such a closed space. 

I am sure that many of you have had MRIs and you know what I am talking about. And, of course, besides this fear of closed spaces, there are other fears that we may have: like right now, the fear of getting infected with the coronavirus; or the fear of confronting a problem with your spouse; or the fear of losing your job.

My bet is that all of us have some fears. We all have something that we are afraid of.

 

Have No Fear 

Now, in today’s gospel, Jesus tells us three times not to be afraid.

Jesus is very aware of the many challenges and struggles that we will have to face.  But still, he repeatedly says, “Do not be afraid.” 

Well, the simple truth is that at times, we do have fears and we are afraid.  We can try to deny or repress our fear and pretend that it isn’t there, but we all know that this doesn’t really work. 

So, what can we do?  Jesus teaches us how to approach this.
 

Have Faith

He first says, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?

“Yet not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father’s knowing about it.” The Greek word for “fall to the ground” really means to “alight” or “lights upon the ground.”

So amazingly, Jesus is saying that every time even one little sparrow just touches the ground lightly, the heavenly Father notices. And God does this even though sparrows are so numerous and of little monetary value.

And then Jesus says, “Even the hairs on your head are all counted.”   Obviously, that requires a little more work from God for some of us guys than it does for others!

But Jesus’ point with these two images is that God is always watching over and caring for us. And so, we need to turn to God in the midst of our fear.

Our fear will probably not go away. But faith and prayer will help us to deal with it and do what we have to do or what God wants us to do in a particular situation.
 

Fear Kills/Faith Gives Life

Some years ago, I came across a book entitled A Sense of Self by Howard Thurman.

Thurman tells what he calls a folk tale. According to this folk tale, in late summer a rattlesnake sheds its old skin and a new skin takes its place.

During this time, the snake remains basically immobile and blind, but at the slightest movement near it, it tries to strike out. And if some object touches its body, the snake in its fear strikes the spot that was touched.

But when it does this, it releases into its own body the deadly poison from its fangs. So, in its fear and panic, the snake destroys itself. 

This folk tale helps us to see the contrast between fear and faith, or more precisely, between fear and fear with faith. It helps us to realize that fear destroys life, while faith gives life.

Fear diminishes us as persons, while faith frees us to become all that we can be. And perhaps most important of all, fear removes hope, while faith gives us hope.

So, when you get down to the bottom of things, it is not really a question of fear or faith. Rather, it is a question of bringing faith to our fear.

That, I believe, is what Jesus means when he repeatedly says, “Do not be afraid.”