What we do with what we have is to the heart of our discipleship .

 

Twenty Sixth Sunday in OT  C  2022

 

Today’s Gospel begins with the words: “There was a rich man.”  The real message in this parable of the rich man is that he needs to see his life in the context of stewardship.  We could critique Jesus in his parables as always talking about money.  Did not Jesus get the memo that money is personal, and you are not supposed to talk about it?  After all, we come to Church to pray.

Very, very true.  We come to Church to pray.  We come to Church to raise our awareness about spirituality, do we not?  We come to pray and reflect on our longing for God.

In last Sunday’s Gospel and this Sunday’s as well, Jesus stays on point to an essential component of spirituality and discipleship -- what we do with what we have is to the heart of discipleship.  Jesus is saying again and again in Luke’s Gospel that we are to share what we have with those who don’t have.  We are to serve and to help and to love one another.

In the Gospel parable of the rich man and Lazarus, the extravagant luxury of the rich man is played off against the utter destitution of Lazarus.  The rich man is not a miser; he is not a cheat; he pays his taxes; hopefully he goes to Church every Sunday.  Why bother him?  The point of the parable is that he is simply numb to the poor man Lazarus and inattentive to his needs.  For us to live a Gospel way of life, this is a big deal.

In fact, it is a deal breaker.  In the parable, we see the decisiveness of death.  If change and growth is to happen, it needs to happen this side of the grave.  The parable is meant to bother us, to get under our skin, to annoy us.

The point of the parable is not about rewarding the poor and punishing the rich. Rather, it is about the sense of duty and responsibility that comes with what we have been given. Despite his riches, the rich man simply does not look beyond his own gate. He does not care; he does not recognize Lazarus as a fellow human being and his brother. He fails in his responsibility as the brother’s keeper.

 

 

 

My Gospel question for all of us today is who and where is Lazarus among us today?  Lazarus lives in the children of this world who are dying each day from war, hunger, abuse, neglect, and disease.  As you and I look with great love on the children of our families and our parish family, may we be mindful of all children who suffer in our society today.

Lazarus lives in the immigrants, refugees, and otherwise displaced people.   While I fully recognize that immigration is a hot political topic in this election cycle, Lazarus lives is the heart of each and every immigrant.  They are God’s beloved.

Lazarus lives on in the many people in need who are supported by our diocesan Catholic Ministries Appeal – children and adults of immigrant farm families, the sick in the hospital, the young adults on our college campuses, serving people in need through Catholic Charities, and promoting the sanctity of all human life.

As we pray over today’s Gospel, unapologetically and in the name of Jesus, I ask you to generously support this year’s CMA.  Our parish goal is $219,000.  This is a big number, but may we see our commitment to the CMA not just as an obligation dumped on us, but it is an opportunity for us to share the blessings of life we have been given.  God loves a cheerful giver.

Our goal is very doable with a twofold parish commitment:  First, all of us are asked to participate in this year’s CMA, and secondly those who have been blessed financially, we ask that you give generously and increase your gift over last year if you are able.  I assure you I will personally give generously to the CMA and increase my gift over last year.

Those who have given previously will be receiving a letter from Bishop Matano and myself and an accompanying pledge card.  If you have not previously given to the CMA, there will be pledge envelopes in the pews for your convenience.

Yes, excuses abound for not responding to the Lazarus in our midst as we are asked to support the CMA.  You may say: “I can’t give to every beggar…That person should find a job…I don’t like our Bishop and therefore I’m not giving to the CMA…I need to take care of myself and my family.”

 

 

 

Today’s Gospel doesn’t hand out any free passes.    Each of us is to give and help in the ways we can.  While each of us has different gifts and different resources, none of us can remain indifferent to the poor among us.  The torment for the rich man began by locking himself in his narrow ego, going against his calling to give.

We need to begin with our remembrance that every Lazarus is a child of God, created in God’s image.  For that very reason, every Lazarus deserves my respect, my love, my proactive care.

We are called to revive the quality of caring that Jesus showed to all people.  If God cannot act through you and me to recognize the Lazarus who lives among us, then through whom will their needs be met? 

We are gathered for the meal which is the Eucharist. We are fed with his body and blood; we are nourished with the fullness of life and love. But we are reminded that the flesh we eat is broken for others and the blood we drink is shed for the life of the world.

Therefore we cannot properly receive the bread of life unless at the same time we give the bread of life to those in need wherever and whoever they may be.

May our sharing at this table strengthen us in our commitment to be humble servants of our brothers and sisters.  May we be filled with the fullness of life and the love of God and endeavor to share that life and love with others.

 

Have a blessed day. 

 

Today's Gospel proclaims how the Lord seeks us out; never gives up on us; and shares his merciful love with all of of us.

 

Twenty Fourth Sunday on OT  C  2022

 

The three parables in today’s Gospel are part of the basic memory of the disciples about the content of the Good News.  Today’s Gospel proclaims how the Lord seeks us out; never gives up on us; and shares his merciful love with those in need.

 

We are invited to see in these parables as a metaphor for God’s searching love that draws the sinner and the lost back to the fold, back home, back to God’s loving heart.

 

In the first parable, imagine God as a shepherd abandoning ninety-nine obedient sheep to seek the stupid one who got lost. From one perspective the parable of the shepherd doesn’t make sense to leave the 99 sheep, but from another perspective this beautiful parable reveals to us a God who never gives up on us.

 

 In the second parable. Imagine God as a distraught woman losing something and turning the house upside down to find it.

 

 Then in the third parable, imagine God as an unconditionally forgiving father granting an unworthy son an undeserved feast.

 

The parable of the prodigal son is the parable of the prodigal, forgiving father.  The father was filled with joy when he spotted his son returning home – the son a bit desperate, recognizing he had made a mess of his life.  The message of the parable is found in the father.   The father ran to his son, embraced him, put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet and welcomed his son with an

extravagant celebration.  Jesus tells us this parable to describe the extravagant forgiving love of God for us.  Like the prodigal son, we are the recipients of God’s merciful love.

 

As you pray over this parable, who is the person in your life you find most difficult to forgive?   Who has judged you very unfairly, who has betrayed your trust, who has cheated on you, or who even in your own family do you experience considerable tension?

 

 

Sometimes genuine forgiveness is so difficult to come by.

As you pray over this parable of the prodigal son, consider the feelings of the father in this parable.  His younger son demanded his share of the inheritance coming to him upon his father’s death.  He wanted it now so he could abandon his family and his home and go off to live a reckless lifestyle.

 

 Consider the sense of abandonment, the betrayal, the anger the father must have felt.  From the son’s perspective, he seemed to be oblivious to the hurt he was inflicting on his dad.

 

Fast forward to when the son was penniless and came to his senses and decided to return to his father’s house, he came back just to be treated as one of his dad’s servants.

 

The point of this beautiful gospel parable is the father’s reaction when he caught sight of his son. He ran to him.  He embraced him with much love.  He put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet and ordered the fatted calf to be killed and to have a celebration.

 

The father led with compassionate healing forgiveness rather than judgment and confrontation.  What happened to his negative feelings and judgments he surely could have carrying around?  This is a challenge for me to get my head around this.  But this is how God loves us. 

 

This beautiful parable of the prodigal son can rightly be called the parable of the forgiving father.  The message of the parable is not so much about the recklessness of the son as it is about the forgiving, loving father.

 

Now consider again the person you have the most difficulty extending a hand of forgiving love.  If you encountered this person just now, how would your encounter compare with the father’s encounter with his younger son?

 

Are we able to lead with compassion rather than judgment?  This is the grace we seek from today’s Scriptures.  And it is only with God’s grace are we able to let go of our negative feelings.

 

In this world of prodigal sons and prodigal daughters, do we witness to the judgmental scowl of the older brother in today’s Gospel parable, or do we witness to the reconciling love of the Father?

 

I suggest that the only way for us to extend forgiveness to those in your life that are so challenging for you is for you and me to humbly recognize ourselves as the prodigal son in this parable.

 

The prodigal son abandoned home and family in favor of reckless living.  While we may not have physically left home and family as did the prodigal son, the prayer of the parable invites us to reflect on how we have spiritually abandoned home and family.

 

When have the challenges of life have caused us to lose trust that our loving God holds us in the palm of his hand?  When have we questioned or doubted God’s healing presence in our life?

 

Our sinfulness our greed, our pride, the judgments we make about others are an abandonment of our Father’s house of merciful love.

 

As we examine our conscience, there are many ways we have abandoned the faithful and unending love of Jesus

 

The older brother in the parable of the prodigal son needs to caution us against the rigidity and the resentment that can be the downfall of the righteous.  People can feel distant from the Church for any number of reasons:  divorce and

remarriage, same sex attraction, alleged or real insensitivity on the part of church authorities, scandal caused by church leaders, disagreements over moral issues such as abortion, euthanasia, stem cell research, capital punishment, war, and so on.

 

May we, the church of St. Joseph’s, be a faith community that re-commits ourselves to witness to God’s love and mercy in our world.  May we commit ourselves to bring healing and forgiveness to a broken world.  May we in all situations and circumstances witness to the love of Jesus Christ in our world.

All are welcome in our faith community.   May we be faithful witnesses of God’s compassionate love in the lives of all people.

 

The message of the Gospel is always two-sided:  he reconciles us, and we must reconcile others.

 

May we test the Catholicity of our faith community by the ways we witness to the 15^th chapter of Luke’s Gospel.  We gather indeed because has chosen and sought us out and never gives up on us.  We gather to give thanks to God who is the Good Shepherd and the Merciful Father.  As we have been given, so we are to share.  We are to  welcome, forgive, be peacemakers, and be a community that proactively reaches in the service of the marginalized and the poor.

 

Have a Blessed Day.

 

May the unplanned crosses of life lead us to trust more fully in Jesus whose promise to us is that our times are in His hands.

 

Twenty Third Sunday in OT  C  2022

 

I recently had a mountaintop experience.  I went to the wise one and said:  “I’ve traveled many miles to have you answer my question, O wise One.”  “I am honored my son.  What is your question?”  “How can I eliminate stress and frustration from my daily life?  How can I achieve inner peace and tranquility?”  “The answer is simple, my son.” What is it, O wise one, what is it?”   “SELL YOUR GOLF CLUBS.”

Labor Day weekend marks summer’s end.  Vacations are over.  The academic year begins again.  In the parish, faith formation resumes again and the parish ministries revive.  Depending on your perspective, it is the best of time; it is the worst of times.   

As we pray over the Scriptures, in this season or in any season of the year, we know that Jesus is the face of God made visible and the one who challenges each day on the quality of our discipleship.  Much of the Lucan Gospel is set against the backdrop of Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem where he was to suffer and die.  On their way, Jesus continued the formation of his disciples, telling them both the blessings and the struggles entailed in following Him.  As Jesus teaches, his message and words reach across the centuries and invites and challenges us in our discipleship of Jesus.

In our Gospel today, we hear that Jesus was thronged by large crowds swelling around him as he journeyed to Jerusalem.  If he was a politician that would be grand news indeed.  Indeed, politicians often will say or do anything to increase their ranks.  Not so with Jesus.

So when Jesus saw the crowds rushing toward him, coming along side to journey with Him to Jerusalem, he offered the words of our Gospel for today.  There are three jarring statements:  “If anyone comes to me, and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters--yes even his own life, he cannot be my disciple...Anyone who does not carry his own cross and follow me cannot be my disciple…Any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.”

What?  Say that again!  Hate your family, carry a cross, and give up everything else in life—that is the cost of following Jesus.  Who would sign up to be a disciple?  For anyone just looking for an easy tour of the Holy Land, that was not the Messiah you would want to follow.  Jesus is not enlisting fair-weather fans.  Jesus wants to be very clear with his would-be disciples.

For a disciple of Jesus, discipleship demands single-minded loyalty.  Every disciple of Jesus must be prepared to endure suffering.

What does Jesus mean when he says we are to hate.  It would seem that Jesus did not get the memo from Pope Francis that we are to be a Church of mercy and love.  In fact, what Jesus is confronting his disciples with is that we must choose Jesus and in so doing we need to reorder all other priorities which compromise our discipleship of Jesus.  We need to reorder even intimate relationships if they block us from making Christ first in our lives.  Discipleship of the Lord Jesus can never be a “Sunday only” commitment.

I have always have found much inspiration from Mother Teresa. Indeed, Mother Teresa had a single minded loyalty to Christ and her service to people most in need.  Indeed, Mother Teresa was prepared to endure suffering for the sake of serving the poor.  May we embrace the spirituality of Mother Teresa who says: “it’s not how much we give but how much love we put into giving.” Another piece of her wisdom:  “If you judge people, you have no time to love them.”  If you ever question the need for prayer before we engage in ministry, listen again to the words of Mother Teresa:  “Unless you can hear Jesus in the silence of your own heart, you will not be able to hear Him saying “I thirst” in the hearts of the poor.”

We as a Church are grateful for the ministry and the spirituality of Mother Teresa.  May we be inspired by her single--minded love of Christ.  Her vocation is not our vocation in the sense that we are not missionaries of charity in Calcutta.  However, our vocation to be a disciple of Jesus is the same discipleship as Mother Teresa’s.   Discipleship of Jesus takes many forms, and we are to interpret this Gospel in the light of the particular form of discipleship to which we have committed ourselves—marriage, parenting, friendship, career, religious life, lay ecclesial ministry, or priesthood.  We also think of other commitments we and others make:  to the social change of bringing reconciliation between ethnic groups or religions.

For us to respond to the jarring demands of discipleship expressed in today’s Gospel, our hearts need to be touched by the person of Jesus.  We need conversion experiences.  In the words of Mother Teresa, we need to hear Jesus in the silence of our own hearts.  We need to experience ourselves as God’s beloved sons and daughters.  We need to know the merciful love of Jesus in our lives.

What will it take for us to experience and know God’s love for us?  This is what motivates us to renounce anything that keeps us from our discipleship of Jesus.

Again in the words of Mother Teresa:  “At the end of life we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received, how much money you have made, how many things we have done, we will be judged by “I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat, I was naked and you clothed me.  I was homeless, and you took me in.

We pray for parents who have let go of their children as they have gone off to college; we pray for collegians as they begin a new chapter in their journey of discipleship; we pray for parishioners who have chosen to engage in ministry that pushes them out of their comfort zone; and we pray for parishioners who are coming to terms with the aging process; we pray for parishioners who are dealing with illness in their lives.

The truth is many of us are being challenged to “give up something.”  This may be a voluntary or just plain dealing with the reality of life.  May we discover Christ in this letting go process.  May this letting go be grace-filled and challenge us to trust in Christ more fully as we renounce, as take up a new cross, as we have to die to something that is difficult to let go of.  May we see with a spiritual sightedness that indeed like Christ we are on a journey to Jerusalem in which we need to continuously die to self and to make Christ more central to our lives. 

Have a blessed day.