October 30, 2005: Service and Love

+THE THIRTY-FIRST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

Today’s Readings: Mal. 1: 14–2: 10; Ps. 131; 1 Thess. 2: 7–13; Mt. 23: 1–12 (Key reading)


In the news this week we learned that Rosa Parks passed away. As you probably know, fifty years ago in very segregated Montgomery, Alabama, she refused to give up her bus seat to a white man. History tells us that this was one of the main sparks that began the civil rights movement in our country. In fact, Rosa Parks has been called the mother of that movement.

It’s interesting how things play out. Did Mrs. Parks set out to start a national movement? That’s very doubtful. She was a 42-year-old seamstress trudging home after a long day of work, and she was tired… and yes, she was also sick and tired of the unfairness of the Jim Crow laws. Why should she have to give up her seat just because a white person was standing? That’s not fair. And so, she took on the system.

Our Lord speaks of another noteworthy seat in the gospel today. He remarks that the scribes and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses. Now Moses also didn’t set out to be one of the defining characters of Judaism or even a lawgiver. He was an 80-year-old man trying nervously to do what God told him to get his people out from under the injustice of the Pharaoh. He, too, took on the system.

Yes, slavery and oppression were foisted upon two peoples: the Jews of ancient Egypt and the blacks of modern America. In each case, God empowered and inspired a simple, humble individual to be a trigger to begin the process of setting things right.

Most of us, of course, are not likely to be starters of great social movements… yet we do have a role in them. An important role, actually. It’s our job to teach our children what’s right by our words and more importantly by our example. We’re charged with correctly forming our conscience and following it. We’re asked by God to love and help our neighbor. These are very important duties and responsibilities.

Jesus is disgusted with the religious leaders of his day. They say the right words, but that’s as far as they go. Our Lord says: They preach but they do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to carry, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they will not lift a finger to help them. They merely want honors and glory…

Ouch. What a terrible condemnation—especially when our highest duty is supposed to be service and love.

What’s interesting is that Christ doesn’t expect most of us to do spectacular feats—just little, ordinary things done with love. We’re supposed to smile and say kind things. Give the other guy the right of way. If someone drops something, we should pick it up for them—or at least let them know. If we can do a little favor or lend a hand, we should. Give folks the benefit of the doubt. Let things go without whining or complaining. Speak up for others when they need you to. That kind of thing.

And then God—the same God who multiplied the loaves and fishes—will multiply and supercharge our kindnesses with grace and turn them into much greater goods.

Sometimes folks wonder, “What difference can I make? I’m just one person.”

Let me tell you a little story. Not too long ago, I saw a show on PBS that featured interviews with World War II survivors. The soldiers recalled how they spent a particular day. One guy sat in a foxhole all day. Once or twice a German tank drove by and he shot at it. Some soldiers played cards and frittered away the time. A few spoke about being involved in furious firefights. Mostly, the day passed like any other day for an infantry soldier on the front. Later on, they learned that they had just participated in one of the biggest, more decisive engagements of the entire war, the Battle of the Bulge. It didn’t feel decisive to any of them at the time, because they didn’t have the big picture of what was happening. They didn’t know what impact they were having… in fact, they didn’t even know that they were involved at all.

Likewise, Rosa Parks didn’t have the big picture. Moses didn’t have the big picture. And we certainly don’t have the big picture except when we remind ourselves that life is a series of small, faith-testing events and we’ve got to constantly choose how to get involved and how to respond.

Jesus says today: You have but one master, the Christ. The greatest among you must be the servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

Once again, Christ shows us that humility is the key. We shouldn’t worry about being great or powerful or doing brilliant and dazzling things. No, we should simply trust God and learn to recognize the opportunities he gives us to be of service and to love… and then do it. What could be simpler?

Let us pray for ourselves and for each other that God may give us the grace we need.

October 16, 2005: Being God’s Instrument

+THE TWENTY-NINTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

Today’s Readings: Isa. 45: 1 –6; Ps. 96; Thess. 1: 1–5; Matt. 22: 15–21

I’d like to make a confession to you all today—and some of you may already know this: there are lots of times when I don’t know what I’m talking about.

One time, for example, I went to the wake of a parishioner of mine—a 22-year-old young man who died in a motorcycle accident. I was talking to some of his friends, trying to console them and help them make sense of this tragic loss. Many months later, one of these friends came to me and said, “I wanted to thank you, Father. You really turned my life around with what you told me at Eric’s funeral. You even got me coming back to church again.”

I blinked and smiled, thinking to myself, “What the heck did I say?”

Or the time I came into a hospital room to talk to the lady dying of cancer. She was scared of dying, and kind of bitter, too. My natural tendency, if someone presents me with a problem, is to try to solve it—but, of course, there was no making this all better. But we talked and over the next few weeks, we continued to visit… until the Lord called her home. At the funeral, the woman’s daughter came up to thank me for helping her mom so much—giving her peace and acceptance.

Again, I assumed the position: a blank smile, remembering that I was completely clueless and having no idea what I might have said.

Example #3. Chatting with a teenager who thanked me for making a big difference in his life in confession. He refreshed my memory about what issue he had spoken about… and true to form, I had no idea of what I advised him.

There are many other examples, too… but you get the idea of why I said that there are lots of times when I don’t know what I’m talking about.

That’s why I can really relate to King Cyrus of Persia whom Isaiah spoke about in the first reading today. Cyrus was a pagan king in the empire of Persia and Babylonia where the Jews of Israel had been exiled a century before. Out of the blue, he decided to release the Jews from captivity so they could go back to their homeland. And not only that. He also paid for the supplies and labor to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem!

Why would Cyrus do such a thing? He was an astute and powerful leader, but the Jews were a conquered people—nobodies. They didn’t pose any threat to him at home, and their release didn’t offer them the least political advantage. And frankly, Cyrus wasn’t known as a particularly benevolent or enlightened ruler. So what gives?

The Scripture says that the Lord had “anointed” Cyrus… and was holding onto his right hand. It also says that God had called him by name and gave him a title, even though Cyrus didn’t know him!

In other words, God decided to use Cyrus as his instrument. Why? For one thing, to accomplish the Lord’s purposes. And for another, to show the glory of God. If God can work through a non-believer with a mind and might of his own, just think how powerful this God really is!

The Bible, of course, is jam-packed with all kinds of characters whom God has used despite their obvious lack of abilities. Abraham was 99 years old—Art Kane’s age!—when God gave him a son. Moses was a terrible stutterer—yet God worked through him to get Pharaoh to free the Jews from Egypt. Bathsheba was an adulteress, yet God gave her Solomon, who became the wisest king of the ancient world. Mary was a nobody, yet she became the Mother of God.

So really, why should we be surprised when God uses one of us to be his instrument of blessing?

I was amused to read how another priest explained how God works. He said, sometimes God works with us. Sometimes he works through us. And sometimes he says, “Just get out my way. I’ll take care of this myself.”

Like Cyrus, we may not even know how God is using us… or even that he is. But to know it, to see the grace in it, and even to offer that he work through us is a tremendous blessing and gift. What could be more loving and generous than to tell God, “Lord, use me. Work through me to serve others. I put myself in your hands.”

One of the very beautiful dicta from the Second Vatican Council is that besides the ordained priesthood like mine, there is also a common priesthood of the faithful. Yes, you are all priests. Obviously not in the same way that I’m a priest, but priests in a way nonetheless. That means that in a special and mystical way, you all share in the priestly power of Jesus Christ. And what is a priest? It’s a go-between… and agent… a liaison between God and other people. When you volunteer to use your body and intellect and free will to serve God, you are acting as a priest in the most excellent way possible.

As we’ve heard over and over, God will not be outdone in generosity. If you put yourselves in his hands and offer to serve, his blessings in your life are sure to be phenomenal.

How to start? Well, pray for a heart that is open to God’s holy will. Most of us are too rigid and narrow. I love the little expression, “If you try to solve every problem with a hammer, then soon everything begins to look like a nail.” Trust God. Ask him to help you change and grow so you can be a multi-purpose instrument in his hands.

Don’t be afraid. God won’t ask more of you than he knows you can handle. The Holy Spirit will put the right words in your mouth, at just the right time.

And be joyful. What a great privilege and thrill to be God’s tool. People line up to get a pen that the President signs a bill with. How much better to be that implement!

Dear friends, may our good and gracious God open your eyes and heart today to be his conduit of healing, peace and love.

October 9, 2005: Am I Pro-Life?

+THE TWENTY-EIGHTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

October is recognized as the month for celebrating life. In the church, we do our “Pennies for Life” and many priests talk about the evils of abortion and assisted suicide and the like. If you open up the newspaper, you’ll also see all things pink to commemorate Breast Cancer Awareness Month—in other words, we celebrate life by keeping it healthy.

It goes without saying that life is the most precious gift that God gives us. It is truly remarkable and mysterious that God has ordained to take a bunch of chemicals and material substances, add a breath of divine spirit, and somehow knit it all together into a living, breathing, thinking, and free-acting organism that we call a human being. To respect and cherish this gift is to be Pro-Life.

But the little expression “pro-life” has been co-opted, as they say, into a political term. It has come to mean the opposite of “Right to Choose”—the code motto for people who believe that a woman should be able to decide whether to have an abortion. As the politics take over, “pro-life” is backed into a tight corner and it becomes for all intents and purposes a single issue.

But that’s ridiculous. Let’s see what it really means to be pro-life.

To begin with, let’s put the obvious life-and-death stuff on the table: murder, suicide, euthanasia, the death penalty, war, smoking cigarettes, taking or selling dangerous drugs, drunken driving, reckless sports like car-racing or parachute jumping, crossing the street without looking both ways… All these behaviors and activities are essentially anti-life, aren’t they? They represent using your free will to choose to do things that potentially endanger life.

Now, of course, we admit of some mitigating circumstances or justifications for doing some of these things. After all, what fun is life if we have to live it in a protective bubble all the time? Life means taking some risks… which we accept, but tempered, hopefully, by prudence and conscience. Even Jesus put himself in harm’s way sometimes. He walked among angry crowds. He let the devil tempt him. He insulted the most powerful civil and religious leaders of his day.

Another aspect of really being “pro-life” has to do with supporting and protecting life. Here’s where we get into issues of health—physical, mental and spiritual; love and respect; compassion and nurturing; looking out for each other.

Have you seen the cost of medicines lately? Of course you have. You know that many, many retired people must pay hundreds of dollars a month for their medications. If they can’t afford it, they often have to go without. A friend of mine recently slammed her finger in the car door and went to the emergency room for an X-ray, a tetanus shot, a couple of stitches—and a $1,200 bill! What happens to those who aren’t privileged enough to have that much in their checking account? How can we profess to be pro-life if we get sputtering-mad over abortion… but shrug when it comes to health care?

And what about the children? Kids get bullied in school by their peers—and sometimes by their teachers! Many parents and coaches push kids way too far in sports. Just last week, horror of horrors, there was a Confirmation practice the same night as a girls’ sporting event. Sorry, Jesus. The coach wouldn’t tolerate it if someone didn’t show up to play. Do pro-life people put so much pressure on children… and then act shocked when a kid releases the pressure by drinking or suicide or bringing a gun to school?

I’m amused, too, by folks who call themselves pro-life who demand that we not give communion to politicians who support abortion laws. Does the Lord really want us to use his Body and Blood as a political club?

And how about the way we treat the “lepers” in the church today? People who are divorced and remarried and—get this!—have the audacity to come to church to pray—together! Or couples who are living together and maybe even have a baby. Gay people who want to love and honor each other and beyond that, basically to be left alone. People, even priests or bishops, who have gotten into trouble in the past… have paid their debt to society… and now hope to move on in life.

And we mustn’t forget that pro-life people support the sick, the lonely, the homeless, the hungry, those in prison… the good, the bad, the ugly, the monsters of society… all who share in the gift of human life.

If according to all of this you can’t honestly call yourself 100% pro-life, please don’t fret. I think we’re all in the same boat. Like a trip through the cafeteria line, we pick and choose our pro-life causes and leave the rest. But if we consciously leave some behind, there’s another label for us: sinner.

Yikes! I don’t like being called a sinner, and I don’t refer to myself that way, even though St. Paul said we have all sinned and fallen short.

Oftentimes, religious folk talk about sin but seem to de-emphasize the “we all” part. The Pharisees didn’t say, “Why is he eating with sinners like us?” No, it was sinners like them—those tax collectors.

We prefer to call ourselves Christ-centered. Welcome to St. John’s: we’re Christ-centered! Sounds good. Better than: Welcome to St. John’s: we’re sinner-centered.

Yet… I think the sinner-centered church is probably where Jesus is more likely to be found. Remember what our Lord said: I came not for the healthy, but for the sick. A church that knows it’s full of sinners and doesn’t whitewash the fact is on the right track.

Likewise, the person who admits that he’s not quite as respectful and passionate about all human life as he thought he was is OK, because that admission takes humility and it cracks open the door to let Christ’s love in—and out!

Dear friends, to truly be pro-life requires a radical change of attitude and an openness to the spark of divine goodness in every single one of us. I pray that we’ll offer to let the Divine Physician heal our own heart so we can see and honor life just as God himself does.


Today’s Readings:
Isaiah 25: 6–10
Psalm 23
Philippians 4: 12–20
Matthew 22: 1–14

October 2, 2005: Peaceful Navigation

+THE TWENTY-SEVENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

Thirty-five years ago, when the Concorde began to fly between the United States and Europe, it was the focus of a lot of media attention. It traveled at Mach 2—twice the speed of sound or about 1,350 miles per hour—so you could cross the Atlantic in less than four hours. No one had even flown a commercial plane that fast before.

Many prominent media people were invited to fly on the first few maiden flights. These VIPs were given a tour of the cockpit and a brief lecture about the Concorde.

One reporter was very surprised to learn that no one actually kept the plane on course. Because of its phenomenal speed and the slowness of human reaction time, the course was actually maintained by two computers. The first computer took a course reading every few seconds and, if the airplane had veered off course, it instantaneously fed this information to the second, which would make the needed correction and confirm the new course. Every time the computer made a course adjustment, it would beep to alert the captain.

As the reporter watched the system in action, he realized that the computer was beeping almost continuously. He turned to the tour guide and commented about this. He asked what percentage of the time the plane was off course. The crew member smiled and said, “About 99% of the time, sir.”

So this VIP reporter said with some awe in his voice, “And we’re going to land in Paris at 9:03 PM?” “Yes, sir,” the crewman replied. “Plus or minus 60 seconds.”

This story certainly raises an interesting thought. Maybe the problem of keeping the Concorde on course wouldn’t just be a problem related to slow human reaction time. Maybe part of the problem would be related to what we might call human friction—things that interfere with the smooth operation of life… things like pride and defensiveness and worry.

Imagine two human beings trying to steer the plane. Picture one telling the other every few seconds that his steering was off. How long do you think it would take before the other one would say, “No, I’m not!” and just be pig-headed about staying the course—the wrong course! You’d miss Paris by many miles. You might even miss Europe entirely! But even more importantly, a human being, being wrong 99% of the time, might lose heart.

St. Paul writes today: Brothers and sisters, have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Phil 4: 6-7).

Have no anxiety?! Don’t worry?! God’s going to take care of it?!

Yep. That’s what he says.

How might we get that to happen?

Maybe we could focus ourselves the same way that the Concorde was focused on its destination and navigate a course in just this same way.

If we stopped demanding of ourselves that we be on course all the time, we might actually start looking at our mistakes differently and give them close, quick attention and a frictionless response. Admitting our shortcomings won’t prevent us from reaching our dreams nearly as much as wanting to be right all the time will!

A few weeks ago, we heard the gospel in which Jesus said: If your brother sins, go and correct him in private. If he listens to you, you have won over your brother (Mt 18: 15). Admittedly, it’s not always easy to go and tell somebody that they’re sinning without sounding judgmental or getting them mad… but those who have the courage to tell us when we’re messing up are actually doing us a huge favor. They’re like navigators for us—like that first computer that alerts us when we’re off course. Our response shouldn’t be to take umbrage or get upset or defensive, but to say Thank You! And then one quick “beep!” and get ourselves back on course without further thought or fretting.

If we did this, we wouldn’t be so anxious about things. Yes, we’d have to give up our moment-to-moment attachments to being right, being in control, second-guessing people’s reactions… and to let go of pride, approval, recognition or sometimes even success. But as St. Paul reminds us, this will lead to God’s peace—the peace of God that surpasses all understanding. Don’t try to figure it out. Just embrace the mystery of it on faith.

Our tools, according to this profound text, are prayer and petition, thanksgiving and making our requests known to God.

Put it in your own words, but basically you must pray, “Lord, put me on course. Keep my family and friends on course—and strangers and enemies, too.” When things go right, you add, “Thank you, Lord, for guiding me so well.”

In time, the faithful follower of Jesus Christ will learn to discern the course corrections relayed by God and readjust as necessary. As the saints tell us, it’s amazing how the Lord will guide us so smoothly and certainly to our destination.


Today’s Readings:
Isaiah 5: 1–7
Psalm 80
Philippians 4: 6–9
Matthew 21: 33–43