Just remember that far beneath the winter snow lies a seed planted in our hearts that in the spring becomes the rose of God's love..

Thirty Third Sunday in OT  C   2019

As we head toward the end of the liturgical year, the evangelist Luke uses apocalyptic language to describe the end of the world.  We are confronted with the end of our own life and the judgement of God.  At first glance, today’s Gospel is not a feel-good Gospel of the merciful love of Jesus.

It leaves us ill at ease and puzzled about the end of the world.  The evangelist says: “Nation will fight against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.   There will be great earthquakes and plagues and famines here and there; there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven.”

At the time of Jesus, the Jerusalem Temple was an architectural masterpiece admired by Jews and Gentiles alike.  Imagine the shock effect of hearing Jesus declare that this grand temple is headed for total destruction.  It will end up as nothing more than rubble.

We would be alarmed if these words were spoken about St Joseph’s Church.  We have sacrificed much to build this Church – this magnificent organ, our baptismal font, our beautiful stained-glass windows, our beautiful mosaic.  We are attached to it.

The people who were present with Jesus were attached to their temple and all of its magnificence.  But Jesus admonished them not to be too attached to this external structure.

During times of adversity, Jesus was directing his disciples to focus on a more important Temple – the Temple of the Spirit.  Temples of the Spirit are being built for eternity.  Through baptism we become incorporated into Christ and become temples of the Holy Spirit.

We have within us the wellspring of eternal life; we have within us the spirit of Christ Jesus.  We are the Temples of the Holy Spirit.  We reverence the tabernacle in which the Eucharistic Christ is present.  We are to reverence the tabernacle of our own souls in which God dwells.  This presence within us will live beyond all the challenges of life and even beyond the death of our earthly life.

Yes, there will be adversity in life – struggles and suffering.  Some of this adversity will be the result of the forces of nature – earthquakes, fires, and flood.  Some adversity will be caused by brokenness in relationships.  Some setbacks will be caused by ourselves when our inner demons get the best of us.

There are plenty of dark clouds in the life of the Church and there are plenty of dark clouds in our country as we are in the midst of an impeachment inquiry.

But the meaning of the scriptural apocalyptic language is a story of hope in the midst of adversity.  In a word, God goes with us.  God is always a merciful, forgiving God -- not a hair on your head will be lost.  The fact that we face sometimes more than our share of issues to be dealt with that leave us vulnerable does not contradict our deep faith in a merciful, forgiving God.  Please God we can continue to trust even when we feel very, very vulnerable.

The message of the crucified Christ which is in the center of our sanctuary and is at the center of our faith life is a story of hope in the midst of the challenges of life.  The most significant challenge we face as the disciples of Jesus is to trust that there is a way forward to the struggles we face.  In fact, the setbacks of life can and hopefully do lead us to trust more fully in God’s promise that the cross is our pathway to sharing more fully in the risen life of Jesus.

Yes, today’s scriptures at the end of our liturgical year invite us to consider our own mortality – what happens when we die; are we prepared to face God’s judgement?  Somehow, some way, we have to deal with the truth that we are going to die.  For those of us in the second half of life, this reality of our own death is more on our radar screen.

One of the deep truths of our Christian faith is that only when we do not fear death can we truly begin to live.  We live life with the end in mind.  We live with the faith that in dying we are born to eternal life.

How do we prepare for the final judgment of God when our time on earth comes to an end?   We do this best when we recognize the inbreaking of God in our daily life.  Our first encounter with God is not at our death; rather God seeks to encounter us this day.  How we deal with the little deaths of life is how we prepare to encounter the loving mercy of God ultimately.  The little deaths of life are all the setbacks, the disappointments, the times we have been misunderstood and treated unfairly.

God’s judgment of us will not be feared if we can trust in God’s merciful and forgiving love that is given to us each and every day of our life.  God never takes a vacation in his love for us.  Even though there are situations in life that leave us fearful and vulnerable, may we still hope and trust in the merciful love of Jesus.

God even uses Mother Nature to remind us of the story of hope in the midst of adversity.   This time of year is a time of dying, but this reality doesn’t have to be terrifying.  As the leaves fall from the trees and have died, as the days grow shorter and the hours of darkness increase, we are very much aware of the change of seasons and the cycle of life.  But as was inscribed in the haunting song of Bette Midler’s THE ROSE:  “Just remember that far beneath the winter snow lies the seed that in the spring becomes the rose.

So too, just remember beneath the adversity we face in the Church and in the world, far beneath the winter snow there lies a seed planted in our hearts that in the spring becomes the rose of God’s love.

Have a blessed day.

Our spirituality of stewardship invites us to place God first in our lives.

Thirty Second Sunday in OT  C  2019

The Sundays of November bring us to the conclusion of the Church Year.  Today’s readings also call to our minds the conclusion of our own years on earth.  The mystery of life and death, like holy twins, reside within each one of us. 

One of my all-time favorite song is Bette Midler’s The Rose.  She sings, “It’s the soul afraid of dying, who never learns to live.”  She is right.  Unless we have identified our ultimate values, we have not begun to live fully, for we are locked behind the bars of fear.

So my question for you today is: “Just what are you willing to die for?”  I realize this is a rather heavy question, especially if you haven’t had your first cup of coffee this morning.  This is the question the Scriptures invite us to consider.  Just what is big enough, important enough that I would give my life for it?

As we edge toward the end of another liturgical year and the beginning of Advent, the Scriptures address our deepest fears and offer our profoundest hope.  What happens when you die?

In the first Scripture reading from the Book of Maccabees:  “It happened that seven brothers with their mother were arrested and tortured with whips and scourges by the king to force them to eat pork in violation of God’s law.  One of the brothers, speaking for the others, said:  “What do you expect to achieve by questioning us?  We are ready to die rather than transgress the law of our ancestors.”

The brothers and their mother had drawn a line in the sand.   Their trust and faith in God was that important to them.  Their trust in a resurrection faith was non-negotiable.  It was to die for.

The Scriptures today invite to reflect on the lives of people who place God first in their lives.

Today’s Gospel passage comes late in Luke’s Gospel and late in the liturgical year.   In the Gospel, the Sadducees were the religious leaders who denied that there was life after death.  To prove their belief, they asked Jesus a trick question about a woman who ended marrying seven brothers.  Then they Jesus the absurd question:  whose wife will this woman be in the resurrection?

The Scriptures calls us to reflect on the last things – on death and the mystery of the resurrection of Jesus.

The resurrection of Jesus is the linchpin of Christian faith, the source of our hope, the cause of our joy.  In the light of a resurrection faith, we seek to place God first in our lives.

On this Stewardship Commitment Sunday, we are inviting you to reflect on the spirituality of stewardship.  It means we wish to place God first in our lives.  It means we live a life of gratitude, conscious of the many blessings that are part of our lives.  We are inviting you to make a stewardship commitment of time and talent.

Today is our annual Stewardship Commitment Sunday.  The bulletin last week had a stewardship section on time and talent.  Our stewardship of time is our prayer life.  Does our prayer reflect our desire to place God first in our lives?  Where is there room for improvement?  Our stewardship of talent is our commitment to use one of our God-given talents for the building up our faith community in ways that we witness to the love of Jesus to one another and to all in our community.  Our stewardship of talent affirms that all of us are stakeholders in our parish life.

Our vibrancy as a parish is affirmed by all of us sharing what we have in the service of one another. 

We ask you in today’s Sunday offering to place the tear-off section of last Sunday’s bulletin in the collection.  If you forgot to bring the stewardship commitment form with you this morning, no worries.  There are extra commitment forms in the pews.  We ask to take a couple of moments after the homily to fill out a commitment form and place in the collection basket.  

I invite you to think about your commitment to stewardship and filling out a commitment card in the context of placing God first in your life.  The choices we make reflect our level of commitment.  Know that the Scriptures place our stewardship commitment in the context of our ultimate stewardship – to give our whole life back to God.  As proclaimed in the first Scripture reading from the Book of Maccabees, the stewardship of the brothers and their mother was not just 10%; it is about giving our whole life back to God.  We belong to God.  How much of ourselves can we afford to give? 

The Gospel answer to that question is clear and unmistakable.  As long as our loving continues to give to us, we are never to stop giving in the service of one another.

May we take the next few minutes either to fill out a stewardship commitment card or if your card is ready to be placed in the collection, simply be still in the presence of our loving God.

Have a Blessed Day.

What tree do I need to climb in order to encounter the Lord more deeply in my life?

THIRTY FIRST SUNDAY IN OT  C  2019

What was he thinking?  This short-of-stature tax-collector who took advantage of people climbed this sycamore tree.  Zacchaeus wanted to catch sight of Jesus as he was about to pass by.  Something must have been going inside of Zacchaeus.  Perhaps he simply meant to see Jesus without being seen.

Zacchaeus surely didn’t expect Jesus to stop and to look up at him as he was passing by.  But that’s what happened.  In fact, Jesus looked into the heart of Zacchaeus, and Zacchaeus experienced the compassionate love of Jesus at this moment.  Jesus said: “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay in your home.”

That simple word of friendship was all Zacchaeus needed to undergo a complete transformation.

The story of Zacchaeus is our story as well.  How does the Lord encounter you in your life?  As was the case of Zaccheaus, what would it take for you to realize that you need the Lord?

It is worth noting in this Gospel account that both Jesus and Zacchaeus sought each other out.  Zacchaeus climbed the sycamore tree to get a better vantage point from which to see Jesus.  In turn, Jesus called forth Zacchaeus by name saying:  “Zacchaeus, come down quickly for today I must stay at your house.”  The joy is palpable between them.

The back story on Zacchaeus:  He was an unloved sinner.  He is not an attractive person.  He worked for the enemy as a Roman tax collector.  He had become a wealthy man, perhaps by overtaxing the poor.  His physical smallness matched the low esteem in which he was held.   Then there was an awareness in Zacchaeus that his lifestyle led to loneliness and greediness.  He was coming to the awareness that there was more to life than getting rich by taking advantage of people. 

At this point, Zacchaeus just wanted to see Jesus.  And so, he climbed the sycamore hoping to catch a glimpse of Jesus who was going to be passing by.

A significant moment of grace in this Gospel account is when Jesus stopped and caught sight of Zacchaeus in the sycamore tree.  Jesus looked into his heart with love and invited him down as Jesus wished to come to his house today.  Zacchaeus, at that moment, experienced himself as loved by the Lord.  This beautiful moment of encounter with the Lord was a conversion in Zacchaeus.  Nothing would ever be the same.

This is our story as well when we experience ourselves as being loved by the Lord.  Nothing is ever the same.

Notice the sharp contrast between Zacchaeus as he is the recipient of the Lord’s extravagant mercy and unconditional forgiveness and the crowd of the so-called righteous who grumbled judgmentally at God’s mercy.   In this Gospel account, Jesus desired to save not only the sinner Zacchaeus, but Jesus wanted also to save the people who were so ready to condemn Zaccheaus.  As a sinner’s home became salvation’s house for Zacchaeus, Jesus was directing this message to the religious leaders of his day that God is extravagant in mercy and unconditional in the forgiveness of sins.  Instead of anger and violence and judgment, they are to proclaim to one and all the merciful love of God to people in need.

Who are the lost in the Gospel today?  Is it Zacchaeus who rejoices in the compassion and forgiveness of Jesus or is it the righteous who grumble that Jesus is staying at the house of a sinner. Jesus is inviting Zacchaeus to experience repentance and to move forward into life and the fullness of life.  The folks who were accompanying Jesus were left grumbling at God’s mercy.

Where do find ourselves in this Gospel account as we gather for this celebration of the Eucharist.  Are we aware of our need to encounter the Lord as did Zacchaeus or are we more focused on our judgments on the worthiness or unworthiness of others?  Are we scandalized by the extravagance in which Jesus reaches out to others?

In the Gospel, Zacchaeus  wanted more of life that what his wealth provided him.  He had isolated by his greed and wealth.  He wanted to experience the love he saw in the followers of Jesus.  This awareness of his need for the healing and forgiving love of God provides the fertile soil to experience the extravagance of God’s mercy.

As we gather for Eucharist, please God we too have that awareness of our need for God’s healing love.  If you recall last Sunday’s Gospel about another tax collector, his simple prayer:  “Lord, be merciful to me a sinner.”  Do we come before the Lord in a spirit of humility? 

I invite you as pray over this Gospel is to ask yourself the question:  What tree do I need to climb in order to encounter the Lord more deeply in my life?  

  

I tell you in our parish life, the tree we are climbing is to share ministry more intentionally with parishioners of Holy Spirit.  As you take home a bulletin today, you will notice that it is a joint bulletin and this bulletin is being given to parishioners of both parishes.  The cover of the bulletin highlight our call to a stewardship of time and talent.  There is a tear off section to the stewardship section.  We are asking you to tear off this section of the bulletin and to prayerfully commit to a stewardship of time in which prayer become a more focused priority for your life,  and a stewardship of talent in which you commit a talent of yours in helping us as a parish community to witness to the love of Jesus in our parish and in our communities.

In receiving Jesus into his home, Zacchaeus accepted God’s outreach of love.  Zacchaeus was then inspired to share what he had.  Zacchaeus said to the Lord, “Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone I shall repay it four times over.

Zacchaeus not only physically welcomes Jesus into his home but also offers him every aspect of his life.  Are we willing to welcome Jesus into our hearts, and are we willing to commit ourselves to a life of stewardship in our spiritual journey.  Perhaps you have never previously filled out a commitment card reflecting your desire to share some of your talents in the service of others.

The Lord wishes to encounter you as much as the Lord desired to encounter Zaccaheus.  When we open ourselves up to accepting God’s love into our hearts, we like Zacchaeus will experience how our lives change in our desire to serve the needs of one another.

Next Sunday is Stewardship Commitment Sunday in which you will be invited to place your tear-off commitment in the collection next Sunday.

Have a Blessed Day.