The Secret Bookcase

The 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today’s Readings: [Click here]

On my web browser home page, there is a link to all sorts of neat “how-to” articles: how to make mayonnaise, how to wiggle your ears, how to do fancy napkin folding, and tons of other stuff. The list changes every day. The other morning, one of the items I discovered was “how to build a secret bookcase”—you know, like in one of those mystery movies where if you press a panel in the right spot, the bookcase swings away from the wall and reveals a secret room or passageway. The key to making it open, of course, is knowing the exact right place to push.

In many ways, it’s the same in the spiritual life.

Jesus tells us very clearly in today’s gospel: Ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

Now, I can tell you that I have prayed, and asked for, and sought many things that never came to me. I asked and did not receive. I sought and did not find. I knocked and no one was home. Maybe you’ve experienced this, too.

Well, it finally dawned on me that this asking/seeking/knocking business is just like operating the secret bookcase. The key is knowing where to push.

I read a very captivating meditation earlier this week comparing God’s will to a hurricane. The author commented that in the eye of a hurricane, there is a remarkable stillness even though just a few miles away the wind and rain and destruction are fierce. He said that in just the same way, in the center of God’s will there is also complete calm and peace—more than we could ever imagine—even though life may be very chaotic all around us.

So his point is that we’ve got to do our best to stay exactly in the center of God’s will. That’s where we’ll find safety and peace. And that’s the place where asking, seeking and knocking do definitely pay off.

The million dollar question, then, is how to find this centering point with God. Remember, the Lord is not trying to make it difficult or tricky for us. He wants us to get to this place. So if anything, he’s going to make it easy to find.

In this same gospel today, Jesus shows his disciples one the best ways to get there. He teaches them the “Our Father.” To pray this prayer with sincerity is to praise God’s holy name… to ask that his will be done on earth… to humbly seek God’s forgiveness for our shortcomings… to ask that our physical and spiritual needs be taken care of… to pray for a generous and merciful heart… and to seek God’s protection from evil. If we can get our brain and our heart to that place, that’s the center point where asking, seeking and knocking always work.

On the other hand, if in some flight of fancy we move away into more remote places in the world, we may find ourselves in the midst of a spiritual hurricane where prayers don’t get answered the way we’d like.

It’s interesting that our first reading today from Genesis is the prelude to the story of the destruction of Sodom. From the conversation between God and Abraham, it seems pretty clear that fifty people would have been a relatively small percentage of the people who lived in that city—so the population may have been perhaps a thousand or more. As Abraham continues to badger the Lord, God finally says that even if there were just ten decent people there, he would spare the city. We soon find that there weren’t even that many. It’s very sad how so many people there were misled by their selfishness and drawn away from the center of God’s will out into the dangerous and destructive storm. I guess the lesson is pretty clear that if we aren’t careful and if we fail to live and love as Jesus teaches us to, we can be at grave spiritual risk.

I said earlier that the beauty of the Lord’s Prayer is that it can lead us to that safe place in the center of God’s will. Now, this doesn’t happen by magic. It’s not an incantation—just say the words and you’ll be instantly transported there. It doesn’t quite work that way.

No, when God created us in his image and likeness, he gave us free will and a very crucial mechanism—a divine compass, we might say. That is our conscience. One of the documents of the Second Vatican Council beautifully describes it this way: “Conscience is man’s most secret core and his sanctuary. There he is alone with God whose voice echoes in his depths” (Gaudium et spes, 16).

Conscience, then, is much more than just feelings. It’s more like a sacred computer, which we have to program with good data that comes from prayer, the word of God, holy inspirations, and the witness and advice of others in conjunction with the teaching of the Church. Our conscience is the place where the living God, the Holy Spirit, dwells within us. This is precisely the baptismal spirit that Paul describes in Colossians today—he brought you to life along with him. This is where we find not some hidden panel to swing open the secret bookcase, but rather the place where we’ve got to be in order to successfully ask, seek and knock.

Jesus’ life demonstrates that the center of God’s will isn’t always a comfortable or popular place. It isn’t always a place where the majority rules. But it is definitely a place where love, justice, mercy, compassion, and judgment-free acceptance do rule. And when we make those holy values our own, our asking, seeking and knocking work like a charm.

I pray that each of us may seek and find that sacred and beautiful place in the center of God’s will.

Hospitality

The 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today’s Readings: [Click here]

If you ask the average person what “church” means, they’d probably say this [gesturing]: a building with four walls, an altar and a pulpit, maybe some stained glass windows, lovely rows of pews. They’d probably also say that church is a place you can go to meet Christ… to hear the word of God.

Isn’t it rich, though, that most of our churches are fairly empty. We may have hundreds, or even thousands, of families on our membership rolls… but where is everybody when we throw open the doors? If this is truly the place to meet God, why don’t they want to be here?

I think the world is tired of hearing about Christ. They’re tired of being preached at to do this or not to do that. They’re tired of looking at beautiful windows or carvings with images that seem as remote to our life as Leave It to Beaver reruns. That’s why people aren’t here. They think there’s nothing for them.

No, what people want is found only partially, only marginally, here in this building. What they really want is to see and experience Jesus in us.

Think about it. What the “church” really is, is the living, mystical body of Christ. Jesus is its head; the Holy Spirit is its life-breath and soul; and we are its members. This is the church that St. Paul described as “the pillar and foundation of the truth” (1 Tim 3:15). This is why Jesus told us, “You are the light of the world. … Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (Mt 5:14,16).

Part of the reason that we’ve become weary of the message and even blasé about letting the light of Christ radiate from us is that we have forgotten the enormous promise of the Good News, the gospel… and that is this: God will never be outdone in generosity! “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap” (Lk 6:38).

Our readings today describe one of the most important ways that we can be Christ and see Christ in our lives—and that is in hospitality.

I love the story of Abraham and his three visitors. It kind of reminds me of the meeting between Clarence the Angel and Jimmy Stewart’s character, George Bailey, in It’s A Wonderful Life. No doubt, the three visitors were also angels—coming on a mission from God to once again test Abraham’s faithfulness.

Oh, and hospitality was more than opening a box of Ritz crackers and slicing some cheese onto a plate. Look at everything that Abraham and Sarah and their servants did: they bathed their visitors’ feet, gave them a place to nap in the shade, baked fresh bread from scratch, slaughtered and cooked up a steer, and served it with curds and milk. Evidently, the guests allowed themselves to be pampered for a bit.

And God, who would not allow himself to be outdone in generosity, had an amazing gift in return. The visitors delivered some very great tidings: that a son was on the way to Abraham and Sarah—a couple well into their 90s!

Here’s an interesting question to consider: would God have blessed Abraham and Sarah with this child if they hadn’t been so hospitable?

Actually, when Abraham’s visitors left him, their very next stop was the city of Sodom. Except for Lot, the people of this city were violent and fearful of strangers. With their suspicion and mob mentality, they refused to welcome or help travelers. God reacted by wiping out the town precisely for this reason—the exact opposite of the reward that Abraham received: the creation of a new community of God.

As we consider these passages, it makes you wonder how many blessings and strokes of divine generosity we may have forfeited by being stingy or unwelcoming or judgmental in our own lives… It also makes you wonder if we truly made God’s kind of hospitality our way of life, whether our churches would be a lot fuller and our members a lot happier and more joyful…

Luke’s gospel story about Martha and Mary is also about hospitality. Despite Martha’s mini-rant about nobody helping her—hey, haven’t we all been there?—the fact is, both sisters were great hosts to the Lord. Martha tended to all the duties of cooking and serving and keeping everybody’s drink freshened… while Mary provided the conversation and good listening to make any guest feel important and welcome. And again, we discover that God will not be outdone in generosity. In exchange for Martha’s hospitality, Jesus brought her brother, Lazarus, back from the dead (Jn 11:1-44). And oh yes, we also shouldn’t forget another part of her reward that happens to fall next weekend—July 29: the feast of St. Martha—a joyous day indeed in heaven. I hope one day we’ll all have our own feast day, too—even if it’s just All Saints’ Day.

So the next time we look around inside this lovely church building and lament that more people aren’t here, we should remember that this is in large part because of us. May our light so shine among men that they may see our good works—and let it begin with genuine warmth and welcoming hospitality to everyone we meet.

The Law Behind the Law

The 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today’s Readings: [Click here]

From the time that we’re kids, we are taught that we’ve got to follow the rules. I remember my parents’ strict law that there was to be no fighting in the back seat! Then in school, we couldn’t chew gum… or run in the hallways… or dare to wear regular street shoes on the shiny gym floor. As adults, we’ve got plenty of other rules that must be followed: pay your taxes… wear your seatbelt… don’t hold your beer in one hand and try to steer the car with the other… don’t smoke in public buildings…

I guess God has always had rules for us, too. I think we all want to be good people and be pleasing to the Lord because we want his blessings and we want to make it to heaven!

In our first reading today from the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy, Moses reminds the people how important it is to listen to God and [quote] “keep his commandments and statutes that are written in this book of the law.” When he says “this book,” he’s referring to the Torah—the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.

When Jesus preached his famous Sermon on the Mount, he taught the people (Mt 5: 17-18): “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the law until everything is accomplished.”

So it sounds like all those laws and rules taught by Moses and all the other prophets are still binding and must be obeyed—because Jesus added in his Sermon on the Mount that “[A]nyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments . . . will be called least in the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 5: 19).

Now, in reading through some of these venerable biblical laws, I have some questions. See what you think.

Leviticus 25: 44 says that we can own slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. I wonder if anyone can clarify this.

Leviticus 1: 9 instructs me, as a priest, to burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice. I know that this creates a pleasing odor for the Lord, but the problem is my neighbors. The folks up and down Main Street, and even onto Busey Street, claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?

I also have several neighbors, especially farmers, who insist on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35: 2 clearly states that they should be put to death. I wonder if I am morally obligated to kill them myself, or should I ask the sheriff to do it?

And oh, speaking of farmers… I’ve been told that some of the farmers around here are breaking the law of Leviticus 19: 19 by planting two different crops—corn and beans—in the same field. And so are their wives and kids by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread, like cotton and polyester. Well, the penalty is pretty clear. I wonder if it’s really necessary to go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them, as Leviticus 24: 10-16 requires. Don’t you think we could just burn them to death in a private family affair, like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws, Leviticus 20: 14, or with men who sleep with men, Leviticus 20: 13?

And oh yes, the law is clear in Leviticus 11: 6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes a person unclean. Do you think I should contact the coaches and tell them that their teams can play football only if they wear gloves?

We all know that these ancient laws don’t bind us any longer. The same goes for so many others—the old Jewish dietary laws… the prohibition against women speaking in church or teaching children or not covering their heads… rules against cutting your hair… laws requiring you to marry your sister-in-law if your brother dies… and many, many more. We know well that the Church wouldn’t lead us to break Jesus’ clear command to follow the law! So what’s the deal here?

Jesus tells us in the gospel today that the law… God’s supreme law… is the law of love: You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself. That is what “the Law and the Prophets” is all about. That is what is uppermost in God’s mind. The law is not so much about particular behaviors or actions or omissions as it is about attitudes and empathy and mercy. All of the ancient laws were based on people not getting hurt. In other words, they were based on love.

It wasn’t healthy to eat pork or handle hog carcasses in a desert land with no refrigeration or standards of cleanliness. Slavery was common, but think of how cruel it would be if you owned your daughter’s best friends’ father! Sleeping with your wife’s mother, or your wife’s good-looking brother, could create all kind of awful jealousy in the small community—and if a famine or disaster came, it would be important to all stick together. Even something as innocuous-sounding as not mixing fabrics in a garment was based on love—so your clothes wouldn’t fall apart and you’d have no protection against the elements.

So the lesson today is another important reminder of what really is the most essential rule in God’s mind and heart—and that is the law of love. As the gospel story of the Good Samaritan illustrates, the law of love asks us to look around and think so we can see when another fellow human being is in need. Love asks us to jump in and help, even if it’s inconvenient or it might cost us. Love asks us to follow through, even if we’re tired of the whole thing. And love asks us to do it all with a peaceful, humble and generous spirit.

May we not be little Pharisees who are more concerned with insignificant trifles or with following some ancient statute to the letter than we are with God’s precious children. Jesus broke a lot of the biblical rules of his day to put people first and to love them genuinely, because he understood the law behind the law. Like him—our model and our Master—may we, too, love from the depths of our heart. Amen.

A Gentle Presence in the World

The 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today’s Readings: [Click here]

After I graduated from college, I took a year off and moved to Copenhagen, Denmark, with a couple of friends. We bought a small ship there—a tramp steamer—and supported ourselves by hauling cargo all over the Baltic. It was a fantastic experience, and the people of Scandinavia were exceptionally warm and kind and courteous.

I stress how polite they were, because when I flew back to the States, I landed at Kennedy Airport in New York. When I got through customs and was heading towards the baggage claim, the first thing that grabbed my attention was this big guy dragging a heavy suitcase and bellowing at his poor wife. “Marie, shut your mouth!” Actually, there was a very nasty word between “your” and “mouth”… but since this is a family church, I’ll leave that to your imagination. So much for my welcome home!

In the gospel today, Jesus sends the 72 disciples out in pairs to be his advance men in the towns and villages he planned to visit. From his instructions, we can see that the Lord anticipated that there would be warm and gracious welcomes in some communities, but in others, they might run into the likes of Marie’s charming husband.

The Lord was certainly wise to make sure that each disciple had a partner or companion when they set out. As so many of us have learned in life, successes are always sweeter, and hard times easier to bear, when you can share them with a close friend or someone you love. Besides, the disciples’ work wasn’t easy. It’s often hard to get people to be open-minded enough to reconsider their faith and their attitudes. So Jesus knew that each pair could rely on each other and encourage one another and draw strength from each other when the going got tough. But the main thing is, they were able to go out and prepare the way for the Lord… to be laborers for his harvest.

When I first started studying French in junior high school, our teacher introduced us to the great French singer, Edith Piaf. One of her signature songs is Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien—which loosely translated is, “I have no regrets.” I know that in looking back over my own life, I don’t have any regrets over the things I did. I didn’t always make the best decisions, but I can see now that at least they were learning experiences. On the other hand, the regrets I do have are for things I did not do… risks that I was too afraid to take… maybe with some opportunity or some relationship. I sometimes wonder what would have happened if only I did them. I guess I’ll never know.

The Lord is telling us today that this “no regrets” business is equally true in spiritual matters—especially in our efforts to further the kingdom of God. If we’re afraid to speak up or take a little risk in putting out our faith, then we may wind up with regrets. And I don’t think any of us intentionally wants to disappoint the Lord.

The fact of the matter is, as we move through life, we encounter many opportunities to show that we are Christians. We have many opportunities to tell people around us that God is active in the world… and that God is active in our lives. But how many of these opportunities do we take?

We all run into situations where we see friends and family members and even perfect strangers doing things we think are a mistake. We may even want to help. I had to laugh when I read one of my “Dear Amy” columns the other day. A woman wrote in that she had a young guy come to her house to do a termite inspection. He saw her dog and remarked how he was getting married and had to give his own dog away because his fiancée is allergic. The woman wanted to tell him not to marry that girl if it meant having to do such a terrible thing. Amy basically told her to butt out.

So yeah, sometimes we may think we have the answer to solve somebody’s problem. We want to barge right in and tell them what to do—or even better, tell them that God will sort everything out and make it all better if only they’d have more faith or pray harder. I can almost hear you thinking: how far do you think that approach would get you?

The opposite approach might be to look the other way and just ignore the problem. But isn’t that one of those lost opportunities that we might regret? How does that help us to answer God’s call to show love and be a laborer for the Lord’s harvest?

I wonder if there might be a third way—kind of a middle ground—where we can give witness to God and yet at the same time let people come to find faith in their own time. Actually, I believe there is.

We do this by a certain constancy in our life… by always showing friendship and caring and compassion to friends and strangers alike. God’s love isn’t supposed to be an emergency flashlight we reach for when the power goes out. It should be a constant glow in our lives—and a key element of who we are. As people get to know us and see how we reflect God’s peace through all kinds of situations, they will be drawn to seek that same kind of peace in their own lives. And that’s precisely what our mission is all about.

I pray today that we will all be willing to cultivate the self-control, courage and stamina to be a gentle presence in our little corner of the world. If we try, Jesus promises us—like the 72—that we may rejoice, because our names are written in heaven.

Reconnecting with God

The 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today’s Readings: [Click here]

After several weeks of feast days and special liturgical celebrations—Trinity Sunday, the Body and Blood of Christ, the birth of John the Baptist—today we squarely return to Ordinary Time in the church calendar. And we can look forward to green vestments right up until December when Advent starts a brand new cycle.

“Ordinary time” doesn’t mean ordinary in the sense of plain or commonplace or mundane, but rather the word has the same root as “ordinal”—which just refers to counting or numbering a string of Sundays. Today, for example, is simply called the 13th Sunday of the year.

I thought that as we return to this phase of the church calendar, it might be good to begin by getting ourselves reintroduced to God.

Now, of course, you already “know” God! But what I’m speaking about is a way to make a deeper connection with him. I think every spiritual seeker searches for this: the way to love God more and at the same time to better experience his love for us. And more than just intellectually. I’m talking about a love that is palpable… tangible… something you can feel and see in your everyday life.

So how do we begin? At every mass—and hopefully every day—we pray the Our Father—the perfect prayer that Jesus taught us. Christ introduces us to God not just as some distant creator, but as our parent—the one who gave us life and birth.

But why “our father”? Why not our mother? Actually, God is pure Spirit. We say “he” for cultural reasons, but God does not have a gender. He is not masculine or feminine… or perhaps we can say he is both.

My point is, maybe the image of God as father doesn’t do it for you—or even gets in the way of a decent relationship with him. Perhaps you never knew your own father, because he was dead or absent. In my case, I never had a deep, close relationship with my father. He worked in the city and commuted every day. He dragged in dead tired at night and just wanted to sit and read the paper and rest up. As a kid, I couldn’t understand why he didn’t seem to want to be closer to me. So there was a distance between us. It was hard for me as a child and a young adult, because I saw the deeper bonds my friends had with their own dads—but we learn to cope, right? My point is, the image of God as father is tough for me to wrap my heart around. Maybe it is for you, too.

But you see, that’s the beauty of God! He’s not limited by a word or a title. He’s bigger than father or mother or any gender or any limitation. He’s everything! And he can be who you need him to be.

Think of who you are and who and what you love the most in this whole wide world. That is where God is deeply and actively involved in your life. That gives you an inkling of who he is.

The things you love to do, the places where your passions lie—God loves too, because they are part of his glorious creation. Fishing… reading… dancing… soccer… gardening… building things… art and music… cooking—they’re all part of God’s amazing world. He wants to share the joy with you if you’ll let him in.

And even more than activities or inanimate objects, the special person or people who make your pulse quicken—they are also very much God’s beloved. Sometimes people try to talk us out of loving somebody—“He’s no good for you!” “She’s on the rebound and is going to break your heart!” “Look at the age difference!” And so on. But when it comes to real love, God doesn’t care who you love or why you love them—because he does, too! True love is never “wrong,” because it is a reflection of God and his own love.

But the problem isn’t generally the loving part. It’s often the dumb mistakes we may make in the name of love. All of us can use some advice, and that’s why God has provided us with family, friends and his Church.

The “perfect” father or mother or friend or beloved one is above all going to be true to you. They’re going to tell you how it is, even if you may not want to hear it at the time. They’re going to put your interest first. Because of their love, you can trust them.

And that’s what the “Our Father” is really all about.

To build a true and deep relationship with God, we’ve got to learn to get our feet wet in the pool of God’s realm. We’ve got to learn that he really cares and that we can trust him. We’ve got to come to believe that we can always confide in him and know that he won’t laugh at us or condemn us or let us down. Ever. No matter what.

St. Paul writes so beautifully to the Galatians today: “For freedom Christ set us free; so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.”

To know and experience God’s powerful love is the epitome of freedom. When we know we are safe and protected, we can be truly free… spread our wings… and do wonderful things in life. And in the midst of all that, God becomes very real—whatever you choose to call him.

I pray that all of us will make a little time this coming week to reflect on the amazing reality of God’s deep and personal love for us… and then search for our own special way of tapping into it. In your prayer, ask the Lord to show you the way. Amen!