None of us get a free pass from the cross in life.

 

Twenty Second Sunday in OT  A  2020

 From last Sunday’s Gospel, Peter had just confessed Jesus to be the Messiah, the Son of the living God.  In response, Jesus said to Peter:  “You are rock, and on this rock I will build my Church.  And I give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.”  Peter’s leadership in the early Church was clearly established.  Peter voiced the Church’s foundational faith.

In the next very important step of discipleship, Jesus confides to his disciples what it means to be the Messiah.

Jesus’ explanation of discipleship did not compute with Peter.  He was clearly looking for a “no-pain” version of Christianity.  Peter strongly objected to Jesus’ prediction of his passion.  Jesus contradicts Peter’s no-pain version of Christianity not only with “Get behind me, Satan!” but also with the oft-quoted statement “Those who wish to come after me must deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow me.”  For Peter in his discipleship, it is not enough to talk the talk in declaring Jesus to be the Son of God.  He must also walk the walk in following Jesus to his passion and death.

The cross was central to who Jesus is as our Messiah and Lord.  This is what Peter must learn.  And likewise, this is what we too must learn in our path of discipleship.

How are we like Peter and prefer a ‘no-pain’ version of Christianity?  What happens when you or a member of your family is given the test results that indicate cancer?  What happens when life doesn’t seem to be fair?  Why me?  I didn’t deserve this.  Why did God allow this to happen to me?

All of us, have we not, asked the question “why” when the results have not been what we wanted.   Why do bad things happen to good people?

None of us get a free pass from the cross in life.

Today’s First Reading catches the prophet Jeremiah in a moment of weakness.  His intimate lament contains some of the strongest language of doubt found in the Bible.  “You duped me O Lord, and I let myself be duped…All the day I am the object of laughter; everyone mocks me.”  Preaching God’s Word has brought him only derision and reproach.

Jeremiah felt that God was not standing by him.  There was a side to Jeremiah that was not willing to deal with the cost of discipleship.  This is similar to Peter’s objection to Jesus’ prediction of his passion

God does not deceive – and Jeremiah at his core knows this.   God tests the just and disciplines His children through sufferings and trials.

What Jeremiah learns, Jesus states explicitly in today’s Gospel.  To follow Him is to take up a cross, deny yourself – your priorities, preferences, and comforts.

 In our time of suffering, may we discover the inner strength that comes from God who is within us to trust that God’s love for us is unending.  Yes, in your life and in mine, stuff happens that we don’t like – dealing with Covid-19 and the social distancing restrictions that is demanded of us.  Who of us planned that our lives would be turned upside down since last March?

Who of us planned the sudden departure of a priest that we loved so very much – Fr Jeff Chichester.  We certain wish him all of God’s blessings in all that he says and does.  What is the toll on us with the loss of a very good priest who has touched our lives?   What are we to do?

How does this affect our spiritual journey?  This is the question of Jeremiah, the apostle Paul, and Peter in the Gospel.  This is the question of a mom and a dad in dealing with their child’s serious illness.   This is the question we face when a family member dies much too young.  This happens when our chosen career path doesn’t work out. 

We experience suffering personally, and we experience the suffering that happens to us globally as well.  Half a world away, women are kidnapped and sold as sex slaves by shadowy militias.  So much of the world is living in poverty.  Uncomfortably closer to us, there are flares of racial conflict in the streets of our cities.  Black Lives Matter.

Peter echoes our sentiments when he says:  “God forbid, Lord!  No such thing shall ever happen to you.”

God forbid that the Church has to deal with people with people that don’t have time to come to Sunday Eucharist.  God forbid that clergy in the exercise of religious leadership are not kind and compassionate. God forbid that any members of your family do not believe in the same way you do.  God forbid that I wrestle with greed, excess, control of people, and sexual self-interest.

Yes, the Church still is suffering.  Jesus wants us to judge as God and not as humans do.  God desires a Church that is forgiving.   God desires a Church rich in mercy and compassion.  The prayerful Gospel question is:  what is the cost of discipleship for me to be a follower of Christ?  As did Peter we have to learn that the cross was central to our discipleship of the Lord Jesus.  Our spiritual path is to be a disciple of the crucified Lord.  In walking the walk of discipleship, we must be willing to embrace the cost of discipleship.

In your spiritual journey, how do you talk to the Lord in facing illness, death, relationships that have fallen apart, in dealing with depression and loneliness?  Do you experience frustration, anger, and abandonment from a God who is supposed to be taking care of you?

Can you experience a God who accompanies you in moments of darkness as well as moments of light? Can you experience a God whose love for you is unending even amidst the trials of life?  This was the question Jeremiah, Paul, and Peter experienced in today’s Scripture readings.  Paul prays that we will be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God.

True discipleship happens only after we hear and accept this challenge:  “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.  For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

God is good…all the time.

Have a Blessed Day.

 

 

 

We are to be merciful for God has shown us mercy.

 

Twenty First Sunday in OT  A  2020

 

In today’s Gospel, Jesus asked his disciples two questions:  The first was an informational discussion question: “Who did people say that I am?”  It was a warmup question.

The Lord’s second question was the real gut question Jesus was asking.  It was a heart question, a faith question: “Who do you that I am?”

 Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  Jesus said to him:  “Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah…And so, I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church.”  In Peter’s answer, he was saying that his relationship with Jesus was the commitment that defined his life.

St. Peter is a paradoxical leader of the Church in that he exhibits both strength and weakness in his faith journey.  In next Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus is saying to Peter: “Get behind me, Satan!  You are an obstacle to me.  You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”

And yet, Peter was chosen to be the first pope not by accident, but rather by divine design.  His very failure became his credential to be the foremost preacher of God’s limitless mercy.

Can you resonate with that powerful statement?  Where in your life are you most aware of your need for the merciful love of Jesus?  What weakness, failure, or sinfulness puts you most in touch with your need for God’s healing grace? St Paul proclaims that we have this treasure in earthen vessels.  God lives within us surrounded by the humanness of who we are.  Yet, God chooses to witness to his merciful love int the lives of others.

I know for myself when I am in touch with my own sinfulness, when I too quick to judgment on others, when I carry the weight of the world on my own shoulders, I am most challenged to trust in the limitless mercy of Jesus.

 Going back to Peter, people would see in the face of Peter the look of one who knows the giving and forgiving God.  Peter would speak from his own experience: “Do not be afraid.”  God’s love has pursued Peter in his sin and found him and gave him a new life.  Peter was a sinner saved by the love of Jesus.   The Good News Peter would fearlessly proclaim is God’s love will pursue you in your sin and find you and give you new life. 

There is nothing you can do that is going to stop God from loving you.

We Catholics boldly speak of the primacy of the pope.  What of the primacy of our first Pope?  Peter has primacy because he is first in failure, first in suffering, first in his need for God’s mercy to serve the Church.  Somehow Jesus understands that Peter can only preach God’s reconciling love if he first experiences it himself.  It is because Peter will fail so completely and weep so bitterly over his denial of Jesus that, when he is finally reconciled with Jesus at the Sea of Tiberius, he will truly understand God’s message of mercy.

This realization in the life of Peter leads us to ask ourselves:  what are our credentials to proclaim the limitless mercy of God?  Perhaps it is our own failures and weaknesses that have been forgiven by God’s grace that leads us to share God’s merciful love with one another.

Pope Francis began his time as pope by acknowledging that he was a sinner and that God had first “mercied” him before choosing him.  His papal motto, miserando atque eligendo.  He was chosen to be pope because he was well acquainted with the mercy and forgiveness of God.

In the penitential rite at the beginning of the celebration of the Eucharist, we acknowledge and celebrate our need for God’s merciful forgiveness.  Before receiving Communion, we say, “Lord, I am not worthy that you should come under my roof; but say only the word and my soul shall be healed.”  The Eucharist is not a reward for the perfect.  The Eucharist is God’s gift of love to us who are not worthy, who are sinners, but are grateful for the merciful love of Jesus that is shared with us.

 What qualifies you to receive Communion during this liturgy? It is your perfection or self-righteousness?   Perhaps it is your experience of dealing with a divorce or an addiction or a relationship that has gone South or unemployment or downsizing or some disillusionment from a person you have previously trusted that qualifies you to be in need of the merciful love of Jesus that is shared with you in the mystery of the Eucharist.  Again, the Eucharist is not a prize for the perfect; it is medicine for us who are very imperfect.

In the Gospel, Jesus said to Peter: “I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.”  The first and the most important power that was given to Peter and his successors was the forgiveness of sins.

As you pray over this beautiful Gospel, may we discern that certain keys have been entrusted to each of us.   What keys has the Lord entrusted to you?  Part of the take-home message of today’s gospel is that certain keys have been entrusted to each of us.  With the keys that have been given to us, we are to open the way to Jesus for others instead of locking those doors.  We should welcome more people that we turn away and serve more people than we refuse.  Jesus comes to give us Good News that we are to share with others.

As we look to receive the Eucharist in our liturgy, may the grace of Communion encourage us in those moments when we recognize and tend to the presence of Jesus in the poor.  The grace of Communion will enable us to speak out against injustice and translate our words into actions.  The grace of Communion will be there on those days when we give of ourselves to help, to listen, to serve, and to befriend.  Grace will inspire us to quiet ourselves, to pray and to allow the presence of God a place in our lives.  Grace will move us to put others and their need ahead of our own.

May the struggles of our life lead us to trust in Jesus as the source of our inner strength.    Deep within is the person God our Father dreams we can be.  May all of us commit ourselves to do what the Lord asks of us in the building of the Church.  We are to be merciful for God has shown us mercy.

As Jesus gazes across the centuries to today, how might you respond to the question: “Who do you say that I am?”

 

Have a Blessed Day.

Our prayer is that we live in a Church where everyone belongs, where everyone is welcome.

 

Twentieth Sunday in OT  A  2020

In the Gospel, the Canaanite woman cried out: “Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David.  My daughter is tormented by a demon.”  But Jesus did not say a word in answer to her.  Jesus’ disciples said: “Send her away.”  Jesus then said to the disciples: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”  (It sounds like Jesus is saying his Church is a gated community, a member’s only club.) The persistent woman came and did Jesus homage, saying, “Lord, help me.”  He said: “It is not right to take food of the children and throw it to the dogs.”  (A rather harsh reply) She responded with courageous faith: “Please Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.”  Jesus finally affirms the woman: “Woman, great is your faith.  Let it be done for you as you wish.  Your daughter is healed.”

In today’s Gospel passage, this is not a pleasant conversation; not one you want to hear your children overhear.  You wonder how it ever got recorded in our family Bible.  It is less a conversation and more an argument.  In no other miracle account has a petitioner been treated so harshly.

Reflecting on the disciples’ encounter with the Canaanite woman, are their people who we attempt to exclude from God’s presence today?  We ask ourselves are their people who do not feel welcome in entering our Church?  Sad to say, sometimes, when a person’s family life has been torn apart, they don ‘t feel welcome in Church.  Church is only for “good Catholics.”  Nothing could be further from the truth.  In the words of Pope Francis, the Church is a field hospital.  The love of Jesus touches most deeply in the broken places of our lives.

Let’s face it:  the inclusive work of the Church is hard work, and it goes against the way the world is organized, the way our worldly hearts want to behave.  We would rather hang out with people like us -- people who speak our language, vote for our political party, share our skin color, live in our zip codes.  But that is not the way of God, and, please God, not the way of the Church. 

We see in our Gospel story for today, where Jesus met a Gentile woman, who begged him to heal her daughter.  This posed a problem for Jesus, not because he did not care for this woman and her daughter, but because the plan of God was to begin the spread of Christianity from the center of Israel.    Jesus wanted to honor God’s chosen people, the Israelites.  Yet, human need and this woman’s great faith “converts” (in parenthesis) Jesus to reveal more fully that everyone is welcome, everyone belongs in the kingdom of God.

The Canaanite woman becomes a sign of the Gospel universality.  No one belongs under the table, much less away from it.  As we come to the table of the Lord to celebrate Eucharist at the Lord’s altar table, is it not true in the plan of God that no one belongs under the Eucharistic table, no one is to be excluded.  All are welcome.

A way of looking at the welcome of Jesus is to ask ourselves:  if Jesus will welcome even us, who are we to issue restrictions?  In the words of Pope Francis: “Who am I to judge?”  May we never lose touch with our own craziness, our own messiness, our own sinfulness, and yet know, at the same time, we are God’s beloved.  As God issues no restrictions on the love he has for us, so too, may we issue no restrictions on God’s love for all of His people.

Please God, in this house of God, everyone belongs.  There are no restrictions with gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender children of God.  There are no restrictions with people of other faiths, of other zip codes, of other skin color.  All are welcome.  All of us are recipients of the generous, unconditional love of God.

The Canaanite woman of the Gospel and her daughter in need of much love and healing stand for all the folks who cry out:  Black Lives Matter.  The message of Jesus stands against all forms of hatred, racism, and bigotry that can be called America’s original sin.   We stand against every form of oppression.”

On this day, in which we welcome into our faith community  newly baptized, the precious gift and grace for Charlie Ryan Truisi and Shea Costello is that they receives the life of Christ Jesus.  Plain and simple, they are God’s beloved.  We pray that the Church and the community they live in will inspire all newly baptized to come to know the merciful love of Jesus.

May the world they live in all the days of our life be not a world of racism and hatred and war.  No child in all of God’s creation deserves to be raised in an environment of hatred.  This is not God’s plan for any child.

May the hope we have for our newly baptized and for all children on the face of the earth inspire us to live lives where forgiveness, joy, respect, and love characterize how we are with one another.

In the words of Martin Luther King, “I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.  He then goes on to say:   I have decided to stick with love.  Hate is too great a burden to bear.”

I would add: “We have a dream that we will pray and live in a Church where everyone belongs, where we celebrate that all of us are the recipients of the merciful love of Jesus.

 

Have a blessed day.

 

 

 

The grace we seek in today's Scriptures is to cultivate faith in Jesus that is greater than our fears.

 

Nineteenth Sunday in  OT  A  2020

 

Today’s Scripture readings invite us to pray over the ways we encounter the Lord in our lives -- the ways we become in touch with God’s presence.  There is much to be learned from the first disciples on the Sea of Galilee and the prophet Elijah in the first Scripture reading.  As we engage today’s Gospel of the disciples on the Sea of Galilee, we’re in the midst of an angry sea, in a boat that seems fragile and there are howling winds and enormous waves that threaten to capsize the disciples.

At some point in time, the storminess on the Sea of Galilee may describe anyone’s life – one’s parish or school; one’s business or neighborhood or family; one’s personal life as our employer tells us that our job is downsized or outsourced, or our doctor explains our test results.  Living in these days of the pandemic crisis has us all on high alert. This storminess has been the life of the community of the Church many times since Jesus walked on water, and it is what today’s Gospel account is all about.   When we focus on the power of the winds and the depths of the waves and how wet and cold we are, then we panic and grasp and clutch and…sink.  When we give our life over to Jesus, when we trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior, we save our life.

This message is straightforward and easy to understand but so hard to live out when we are gripped by our fears.    The grace we seek from today’s Scriptures is to cultivate faith in Jesus that is greater than our fears.  The words of Jesus that are spoken to us again and again are: “It is I; do not be afraid.”  We aren’t being asked to walk on water, but to act like we believe that God’s love for us is more powerful than chaos, evil and apathy. 

As you well know, Catholicism is much more than a system of beliefs; it is a way of life where are not controlled by our fears; rather we seek the inner peace and trust that are God’s precious gifts to us

There is a remarkable similarity between the situation Elijah found himself in today’s first Scripture reading and the disciples’ predicament in today’s Gospel.  The similarity is to be found in that the disciples and the prophet were invited to encounter the Lord in times of great fear.

Elijah had incurred the wrath of Jezebel, wife of Ahab, the King of Israel, and, as a result, the prophet had to flee into the desert and to the mountaintop.   There, he began to despair.  Although he felt alone and helpless, he was soon to learn that the God for whom he had fearlessly prophesied had not abandoned him.  God was near, providing food for the journey and an experience of God’s presence in his life.

The Lord said to Elijah: “Go outside and stand on the mountain before the Lord; the Lord will be passing by.”    As Elijah waited, the Lord was not to be found in the wind, or the earthquake or the fire.  Elijah was puzzled because he had expected to experience God in the dramatic elements of life.  Early in his ministry, he raised a widow’s son from the dead.

But then after the fire, there was a tiny whispering sound, this is where Elijah experienced God’s presence. Elijah allowed God to speak to him in the silence of his heart.   And so, we ask the question, where do we experience the Lord in our lives?  What is our tiny whispering sound?    Elijah was able to tune out the noise of the world to hear the voice of God from within.  Do you not find it true that the more faithfully you listen to the voice of God within you, the better you will be able to recognize the presence of God in the people of your life.    Yes, we need to be able to pray without words.  Be still and know that I am God, says the psalmist.  The Lord speaks to us in the tiny whispering sounds of our life.

The Lord also speaks to us in the stress and craziness of life as well.   When in your life do you experience the turbulence of the sea and your fears and anxiety get the best of you?  Are there times when you panic there is too much to do and not enough time to do it?  As a parent or grandparent, what happens when you do not approve of the choices your children are making?  As a teen or young adult, what happens when your heart is broken from a relationship that falls apart?  How is it for you when you are disillusioned by those in authority – in the government, in the Church, or in your place of business?  Personally, when happens loneliness or depression gets the best of you, where do you turn?

In the Gospel account of the storm of Sea of Galilee, the evangelist Matthew tells us that Jesus came to the disciples during the fourth watch of the night.  That is 3:00 am.

If you are awake at 3:00 am, often it is a sign of something wrong.  If you are unable to sleep tossing and turning, if you are waiting for someone to come home at 3:00 am, if the phone rings or there’s a knock on the door, if people are out on the streets at 3:00 am, it often is not a very good sign.

For some people, it’s 3:00 am emotionally.  Whatever problems we experience, whatever hurt or guilt or grief we wrestle with, it’s always worse in the middle of the night.  In the life of the Church, we may think it is 3:00 am if the numbers in our parish community are dwindling, when the pandemic crisis gets in the way of praying as we wish, or when we are rightly disillusioned with the issue of clergy sex abuse.

The fears and struggles of our life may make it seem like it is 3:00 am no matter what time it is.  Exactly when it seems that things couldn’t get any worse, Jesus comes to us walking on the sea of our sadness and discontent.  With love and assurance, Jesus says: “Take courage.  It is I.  Do not be afraid.”  Then like Elijah and like the disciples, we will draw courage from His presence – so much courage that like Peter; we dare to venture out into the deep.

As we pray over today’s Scripture readings, the grace that was given to the prophet Elijah was to recognize God in the “tiny whisperings sounds” in life – in the silence and the gentle breezes.  May we seek the awareness of discovering God’s presence in the ordinary events of our day – even holding a child in your arms.   As the disciples did on the Sea of Galilee, may we also recognize God’s presence in the storminess of our life.   The Lord is speaking to us: “Take courage. It is I.  Do not be afraid.”

 

Have a Blessed Day.

Our spiritual life is not just about our personal piety; our spiritual life is to be lived in the service of people in need.

 

 

Eighteenth Sunday in OT A 2020

 

Thus says the Lord:  All you who are thirsty, come to the water!  This beautiful verse from the 55^th chapter of the prophet Isaiah is the invitation that all are welcome to the blessings of salvation.  God calls each of us to come as we are – not as we wish we were or who we hope to be one day – but as we truly are.  God calls out “All you who are thirsty, come to the water.”  In Christ there is enough for all and enough for each.

The Scriptures today speak of the boundless generosity of God.  God gives freely and God gives us in extravagant measure.  In God’s eyes, there is no such thing as essential workers and non-essential.  In God’s eyes, we are all essential and very much loved.

“Come to the water!”  We each received this invitation from the Lord on the day of our baptism when we were brought to the baptismal water to quench our spiritual thirst for God.  We received the life and the love of Jesus in the Sacrament of Baptism.

The grace of baptism for each one of us is lifelong.  As we are spiritually thirsty, the invitation is for us to come to the waters of our Baptismal life in Christ.

Today’s Gospel is such an important lesson in understanding the baptismal mission that has been given to us.

In the Gospel, we read: “When it was evening, the disciples approached him and said, ‘This is a deserted place and it is already late; dismiss the crowds so they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.’  Jesus said to them, ‘There is no need for them to go away; give them some food yourselves.’”

 The disciples voiced a hurried, desperate uneasiness.  “Master, send these people away.”  We can’t deal with it.  Jesus looks at his disciples, knowing their blood pressure is up and their patience is down and says: “This is not a problem.  They don’t need to go away.  Just handle it.”

As we reflect upon this passage, we need to know that our spiritual life is not just about personal piety; our spiritual life is to be lived in the service of people in need.  This is how Jesus lived.  This is how the disciples of Jesus are to live.  Our call is a call to service.  It doesn’t mean we have all the answers, but it does mean we are to offer our loving support and service to one another.  It does mean that in Christ Jesus we are brothers and sisters to one another.

The baptismal mission given to us on the day of our baptism is that we are to share in the mission of Jesus.  The first requirement of the disciples of Jesus is to love and serve one another.  This is the clear message of Jesus to the first disciples.  Equally, it the clear message of Jesus to us that we too are called to love and to serve as the first requirement of our discipleship.

Perhaps we can identify with the disciples in today’s Gospel.  Feeding 5,000 would be a large task for most of us.  Are some problems too big to handle?  How do you look at “insurmountable” tasks in your own life? 

For example, how about dealing with this pandemic crisis?  Who of us is not getting a little weary dealing with this deadly virus and would like to return to our normal life?  In our saner moments, we know we need to continue to be vigilant in providing for our health and the health of others.  Mask wearing needs to be a way of life for us during these days.

Dealing with this crisis is like trying to feed five thousand people with five barley loaves and two fish.  It seems like an impossible task left to our own devices.  Yes, we need the healing grace of God for our hurting planet.  We need to be people of prayer who trust that Jesus is present to us during these days of the pandemic.  May the miracle we seek come to us through our vigilance that we exercise in following necessary safety protocols and giving the needed support to our medical personnel as they seek to develop a vaccine to this deadly virus.  Miracles happen when we are our best selves. 

 

The miracle of feeding the five thousand with five loaves of bread is a forerunner to Jesus feeding us with the Bread of Life in the Sacrament of the Eucharist.  We ask ourselves what food doesn’t satisfy us on our deepest levels and what is the food that satisfies the deepest hungers of our lives?   As the first Scripture reading invites all who are thirsty, come to the waters, to come to the waters of Baptism.  The Gospel miracle of the feeding of the five thousand invites us to the mystery of the Eucharist in which the bread Christ offers stills the deepest hunger of all, and the life that Christ gives conquers all death.

 St Augustine would often end Mass by saying to his people: “Be what you eat.”  As we receive the Eucharist today –whether that be with spiritual communion or receiving the Body of Christ here in Church -- may we be that loving and caring presence of Christ in our world today.  May we be motivated by a joyful gratitude for what we already have and by a constant concern for the needs and concerns of others.  May we attend not only to our own hungers but to the hungers of those in our world who suffer with empty stomachs, aching hearts and lonely spirits constantly crying out for help. 

Think of the need that people all around you have for a personal encounter with the mercy and forgiveness of Jesus Christ, opening the way for them to have a place at the table of the eucharistic banquet of the Lord.  In terms of the words of Pope Francis:  “The joy of the gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter the Lord.”

As we transition into the Liturgy of the Eucharist, may we always be mindful that the Eucharist will never be complete so long as people still go hungry in our world.

Have a Blessed Day.