As Simple As I Gets

Chumley's, New York City

The 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today’s Readings: [Click here]

When I lived in New York, one of my favorite restaurants was a former speakeasy called Chumley’s hidden away in Greenwich Village. They made a wonderful beef shish kabob with mustard sauce. The sauce was so good that I wanted to learn to make it myself. I hunted around and found a pretty good recipe—but it was a bit involved. It took several mixing bowls and saucepans. According to the instructions, things were supposed to be blended and heated separately, then combined in a particular order. It was so good, though, that for years, I always did it that way and got great results.

Then one day, I wondered what would happen if I just streamlined things. I put all the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet stuff in a saucepan. Then I just whisked it all together and heated it up. Guess what? Exactly the same result—just tremendously simplified!

Wouldn’t it be nice if religion worked the same way?

In ancient times, the old rabbis known as the “Sages”—mostly Pharisees—made a thorough inventory of all the commandments and laws contained in the Five Books of Moses. They discovered that there were 613 of these precepts. Of these, 248 were affirmative laws telling people what they had to do. The remaining 365 were negative precepts and prohibitions. To protect these laws and guard the purity of their faith, the rabbis heaped all kinds of regulations and sanctions on top of these 613 commandments—many “ifs,” “buts,” “hows” and “whens” of their own making. It was like turning the IRS loose on the bible when they got done!

Later on, King David, a lover of God and a holy man, reduced it all to eleven precepts in Psalm 15 (v.2-5). He wrote: “Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary? He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart and has no slander on his tongue, who does his neighbor no wrong and casts no slur on his fellowman, who despises a vile man but honors those who fear the Lord, who keeps his oath even when it hurts, who lends his money without usury and does not accept a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things will never be shaken.”

The prophet Isaiah simplified them even further to six rules (Isa 33:15-16a): “He who walks righteously and speaks what is right, who rejects gain from extortion and keeps his hand from accepting bribes, who stops his ears against plots of murder and shuts his eyes against contemplating evil—this is the man who will dwell on the heights…”

Micah got it down to three (Mic 6:8): “And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

Amos the prophet further reduced the commandments to two (Am 5:4): “This is what the Lord says to the house of Israel: ‘Seek me and live;’…”

And Habakkuk got it down to just one law (Hab 2:4): “The righteous will live by his faith.”

Jesus follows this tradition of simplifying the commandments to a few pithy, profound words. When the Pharisees asked him what is the greatest commandment, the Lord replies by quoting the Shema, a prayer known by every Jew (Dt 6:4-5) and a line from Leviticus (Lv 19:18). His two straightforward principles that summarize the law and the prophets are these: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. And a second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mt 22:37-39).

In saying this, Christ gives us the entire law in a nutshell: love God, love your neighbor, and love yourself.

In some ways, the 613 detailed laws of Moses and the rabbis were easier to deal with: at least you knew what was required in virtually every instance… and you’d also know the penalty if you broke the law. Jesus’ law is more complicated, because it implies a great deal of personal responsibility. It’s as though God knew that as a human race, we had “grown up” enough to be able to make some good choices on our own—just the way parents give more freedom and trust to their teenagers as they mature and demonstrate good judgment.

To follow these two great commandments, we have got to stay close to God, who is love, so we can learn what love is… as well as its implications for our lives as we continue on our faith journey. Staying close to God requires nurturing through prayer. Remember, God’s law is not a rulebook; it is a loving relationship. In other words, Jesus makes it clear that instead of focusing on the letter of the law or its minutiae, we must return to the heart and soul of all those ancient biblical rules.

Picture in your mind how you deal with the people in this world you love the most. How you go out of your way to care for them, be patient with them, know all about their likes and dreams so you can surprise them with nice things, go to bat for them whenever you need to… all that kind of thing. Now generalize and expand that so it radiates out first and foremost to God, and then to everyone else. That’s what it’s all about. Definitely not easy, but something we can strive for.

We give thanks today that our good and gracious God has given us guidelines for our lives... guidelines to help us be better people. We ask for the gift of discernment to help us learn the law of love so we can truly live a life of love.

Being God’s Instrument

The 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today’s Readings: [Click here]

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

Once, for example, I went to the wake of a parishioner—a 22-year-old 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. Months later, one of the friends said to me, “I want to thank you, Father. You really turned my life around with what you told me at Eric’s funeral. You even got me coming 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 a 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 in our 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 him 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 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.

Am I Pro-Life?

The 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today’s Readings: [Click here]

In the Catholic Church in America, October is the month for celebrating life. 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? You use your free will to do things that endanger life.

Now, of course, there are 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 prescription medicines lately? Of course you have. You know that loads of 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 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 affordable health care for everyone?

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. In my last parish assignment, we had 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 oh… by the way… these same folks often have no problem with the death penalty or supporting an endless war in the Middle East.

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 our parish: we are Christ-centered! Sounds good. Better than: Welcome to our parish: we are 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.

Peaceful Navigation

The 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today’s Readings: [Click here]

In 1969, 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.