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Posted by on Sep 22, 2024

Whoever Receives One Child in My Name

Whoever Receives One Child in My Name

In times of economic and social stress, a common practice is to blame those who are different, not from one’s own family or community, for the difficulties all are facing. The sense is that if these others hadn’t come into our part of the world, all would be well. After all, they may not look like me or eat the same foods. They may wear different clothes or style their hair differently. Their music may be different. They may worship differently. Could it be that they are inherently bad or evil or responsible for the problems we are facing now? The question arises in many ways, both overt and subtle.

All too easily, this kind of thinking leads to a conclusion that is unwarranted: “Of course! All was well before they came, so they must be the reason things have changed for me and my family.” “We need to send them back to where they came from!”

But was everything really all right before others came into our lives? Not usually. There have always been challenges in our communities and nations. Peoples have moved from region to region through all of recorded history – most likely even earlier. Otherwise, how would humans have come to live all over the world?

For better or worse, movements of peoples often lead to strife, including wars and massacres. We humans are not very good at trusting that most folks really aren’t that different from each other. Our concerns are very similar. It’s our customs and ways of meeting those concerns that differ. Since there are so very many people and environments, it’s not unreasonable that many different ways of addressing the challenges we find in our local areas have been developed. When we get to know each other, we find many commonalities. In fact, much of what we take for granted today came from the meeting of peoples from different lands with different traditions.

How do we deal with conflicts when they arise? Whose paths do we follow when we face challenges as communities and nations? Do we look at what the bullies, strongmen, and dictators – those who live in fear and rule by fear – propose as the reasons for economic and social challenges? Do we need to be afraid? Do we need to close out social interaction? Do we need to build “forts” around our communities? Would higher walls fix anything? Should we just toss out everyone and their families who have come to this community from somewhere else? What if they were born here but look different than my family and I do?

Or do we welcome the newcomers and learn from the gifts and insights they bring? Where do we draw the line? What do we do?

St. James asks us to reflect, “Where do the wars and where do the conflicts among you come from? Is it not from your passions that make war within your members?”

When we listen to those fears and passions that can be so easily stirred up by powerful people whose interests are best served by keeping the less powerful up in arms against other less powerful neighbors, we do not receive the blessings we seek. As St. James notes, “Where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every foul practice, But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peaceable, gentle … full of mercy and good fruits.” (Jas 3:16-4:3)

Those who call others to live together in peace are often opposed by the powerful, as noted by the writer of Wisdom. “Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us… reproaches us for transgressions of the law… Let us put the just one to the test that we may have proof of his gentleness.” Such testing can even lead to the death of the one who works for justice. (Wis 2:12, 17-20)

Notice what happened to leaders of the Civil Rights movement in the United States. Many were beaten, imprisoned, and even killed. But through their patient endurance, things began to change.

Today, children who look different, with ancestors from around the world, can attend class together and be friends. They can work together to find solutions to the challenges they face in daily life. They can go to parties together. They can go fishing or camping together. They can date. They can marry and raise children.

Jesus’ disciples fell into the common human pattern of trying to compete for high position. He had been telling them that he would be killed and would rise from the dead, but what they focused on was something totally different. Who would be the most powerful among themselves?

Teaching them with a clear example, he brought a small child into the group of them. “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.” Then he went further, “Whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me.” (Mk 9:30-37)

How we treat our children, what we teach them is critical. Do we teach them to welcome people who have had different experiences and come from other communities? Or do we teach them to fear those who are different? What does that do to our communities, to our nation? What does it do to our world?

The song, “You’ve Got to Be Taught,” from Rogers and Hammerstein’s musical, South Pacific, is a beautiful reminder of the dangers of prejudice based on skin color or national origin. As the song points out, this all begins before children are consciously able to distinguish among people by these accidents of birth – “before you are six, or seven, or eight!” You must learn “to hate all the people your relatives hate. You’ve got to be carefully taught.”

As we look around us today and see the controversies over immigration, access to jobs and health care, support for families who are food-insecure or who have no housing, it’s critical to remember that people don’t deliberately decide that what they want is to leave their homes so they can suffer homelessness and poverty in another land. They don’t leave with the idea of taking jobs from the people in other lands or diminishing those communities to which they are traveling. They leave because they have to go from where they are or be killed. Those who were born here and yet lack the basic necessities also need help and support. They didn’t choose their parents any more than those born into wealth and opportunity did.

When basic needs are met, then people are able to grow and learn. They are able to develop the skills needed to earn a living and provide for their families.

When adults treat others who are from different backgrounds with respect and care, children learn that all are valued and all have dignity.

What do we learn from the children whom Jesus gave us as models? They play with each other. They learn from their families and teachers. They grow to be adults. They are open to receive love and to share it with their peers. As long as we don’t teach them to be afraid of others by the way we act, they will continue to act with wisdom in dealing with those they meet on this journey of life. And how do we teach them to be kind and open to the gifts of others? By the way we model this through our lives as they watch and learn how to behave in their society.

May we as a people remember this lesson – to be like children, open and loving, not focused on who gets the most or who is best. We teach our children to share. We teach them to make friends. We are stronger when we model and teach living love and acceptance than when we teach fear and hate. May we accept each day with the joy and hope of a child who is unafraid of others and who can trust that they too will have their needs met and dreams supported. May we welcome others, including the children in our midst, as we would ourselves hope to be welcomed.

“You’ve got to be taught” – whether to be afraid or to welcome “the stranger” in our midst. Through meeting and accepting “the stranger,” we meet and welcome the Lord who lives in each of us and promises, “Whoever receives one child in my name receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me.”

May this be our quest as we go through this week. May we see the face of the Lord in all we meet. Then may we see his loving smile in the response of those we meet.

Readings for the Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle B

 

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Posted by on Sep 15, 2024

Faith Without Works? No Way!

Faith Without Works? No Way!

It happens sometimes that out of the blue, an insight comes to us. Something we might never have considered, suddenly is seen as the clear explanation of a phenomenon we have noticed. Sometimes it’s a relatively minor thing. “Gee, when I go to bed a bit earlier, I’m not so tired in the morning!” “Wow, Mom doesn’t get mad if I clean out the dishwasher before she has to tell me to do it.”

Once in while in our lives, the insight is more fundamental. “When I am kind to someone rather than angry and vengeful, we can sometimes find common ground and not become enemies.” “If I forgive or overlook a slight, I may discover that another person is really afraid of being hurt by me. Then we can begin to talk and find common interests.”

And then there are the transformational encounters, those that set us on a path we might never have chosen for ourselves and that lead to a totally different life than we ever imagined. That life may be filled with joy. It may also lead to difficulties and sorrow. These encounters are never without consequence. They are life-changing.

Speaking the insight that is received

The prophets, for example, are ordinary people who have heard the Lord’s voice in an unmistakable way calling them to speak out in the face of injustice. They don’t seek this role. They typically try to get out of it. They argue with the Lord about their fitness for the role. But the Lord is persistent and the fire of that voice burns within the prophet until speech bursts forth.

Prophets can be men or women. Some are young and some are old. We know the names of some. Others remain anonymous, with their words being attributed to other more famous folks.

The prophet Isaiah spoke in the years before the Babylonian exile, calling the people and their leaders again and again to faithfulness to the Covenant. Unfortunately, the response was inadequate and Israel was conquered, its leaders and many of the people taken into exile in Babylon. Through the years, disciples and others wrote words of encouragement and prophecy that have also been gathered into the collection we know as the Book of Isaiah.

The readings known as the Servant Songs are from this later add-on to the prophecies of Isaiah. The prophet here tells of his call and its result.

“The Lord God opens my ear that I may hear; and I have not rebelled, have not turned back.” Physical and verbal abuse were heaped upon the servant by those angered by his words. (It’s safe to use the masculine here, because he speaks of giving his “cheeks to those who plucked my beard!”) Yet the servant remains faithful to God, trusting in the Lord’s help, knowing that he will not be proven wrong in his calls for fidelity to the Covenant. “See, the Lord God is my help; who will prove me wrong?” (Is 50:5-9a)

Who do you say that I am?

Jesus too came with signs and wonders, as well as teachings that were disturbing to those with power and influence in his time. He had heard the voice of his Father and knew that he must speak. The healings were signs of God’s compassion and focus on caring for the needs of the poor and the ill.

Yet who would have expected a carpenter from Nazareth to speak such words and perform such signs? People from his area of Israel were not seen as educated or as exemplars of the faith. He was not one of the priestly class. He was not a teacher of the Law. Yet here he was, speaking as one with authority and calling the people to faithfulness to the Lord.

No one expected that Jesus would go off to the Jordan River to be baptized by John and come back over a month later with a whole new sense of who he was. Most folks remained unchanged outwardly by their experience at the Jordan.

Jesus was touched in a special way in his baptism. He heard the Father’s voice calling him, awakening him to his calling. He took time to let it sink in, spending time alone in the desert praying and testing what he had experienced. He resisted the temptations to use the call for his own benefit and fame. He returned to his home territory and began teaching those who would listen and healing those whose ailments seemed incurable. This arrival of a new prophet was noteworthy and attracted a lot of attention.

One day, he asked his close friends, “Who do people say that I am?” Most folks thought he was a prophet, maybe John the Baptist or Elijah returned from the dead and heralding the coming soon of the Messiah. Then he asked them a more fundamental question: “Who do you say that I am?” This is really a critical question. It’s one we each have to ask ourselves at some point in our lives.

Peter’s answer to this question, “You are the Christ,” was a momentous statement. “The Christ” was the title of the long-awaited one who would restore everything to the way it is supposed to be. At that time, the Christ, the Anointed One, the Messiah, was expected to be the one who would restore Israel to a position of power in the world. It was a dramatic and dangerous thing to say. People had been tortured to death for claiming less. The Roman authorities did not hesitate to deal severely with folks making such claims. Jesus knew this and warned his disciples not to speak of it to anyone. Notice, however, that Jesus did not deny the claim.

Jesus knew that being the chosen one was a dangerous role. He knew in the depths of his being that he must take the word of the Lord to Jerusalem and the authorities there. He knew what typically happened to prophets who brought the Lord’s commands to them. He knew he would be risking his life. In fact, he was pretty sure it would lead to his death.

The Gospel of Mark was written within about 40 years of Jesus’ death and resurrection. In the stories leading up to his final days, we see statements that are based on the insights of the Christian community after the resurrection. Jesus’ statement that he would be killed and rise after three days may be one of those later insights. Regardless of such details, Peter was deeply upset by the idea that his friend would be killed. He tried to get Jesus to back off and not risk going to Jerusalem at all. But Jesus refused the advice. “Get behind me Satan. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”

Jesus set Peter and those who came later straight. “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” It’s not going to be an easy path. There will be opposition to all that discipleship entails. Folks in power will not take kindly to being told their honor and privileges are not signs of their personal superiority. Those who have security and comfortable lifestyles will not want to give up some of what they have so that others who have not been so fortunate can have the basics of survival and dignity. (Mk 8:27-35)

Demonstrating Faith from Works

How exactly are followers of Jesus to live in faith? Is it enough to believe intellectually? Is it OK to say that if people just worked harder they would be able to support themselves and their families? If I offer wishes for peace and a safe life to a person who has no way to experience it or make it happen, have I done what Jesus calls me to do? What risks am I willing to take?

St. James faced some of these issues as they arose in the early community. He asks point blank, “What good its it, my brothers and sisters, if someone says he has faith but does not have works?” It’s not enough to offer only good wishes. Those who have enough must share with those who do not.

People do not all have the same opportunities. Faith demands a response, a practical response, in which the needs of all are considered. If I claim to have a right to have a roof over my head, food on my table, healthcare for myself and my family, education, safety, and so forth, then I must recognize that others have the same right. We are all children of God. Yet not all have the same opportunities or social capital. So we must share what we have. And when our communities, our cities, our nations get very large, we must set up systems that assure that all have access to these benefits. St. James turns the statement around for the people of his day and for us, “Demonstrate your faith to me without works, and I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works.” (Jas 2:14-18) Only our works truly show forth our faith.

These issues of listening to the voice of the Lord and working for social and economic justice have led to struggles for centuries. The Lord has not stopped calling prophets to speak. Many of the great saints have led by their example of service to the poor. Groups of men and women have joined them in the endeavor and continue to do so even today.

In our own times, people continue to hear this call. We debate it on the local, national, and international stages. Some folks get very rich. Others remain very poor. Some take advantage of the misfortune of others. Some step up to try to help. Some stand outside and call for justice. Others work from within, to set up programs and policies to make things more equitable.

As we move through the next weeks and months, facing tremendous national and international challenges, may we be attentive to the call from Jesus, “Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it.” Losing one’s life does not always entail physical death. Sometimes it’s a question of sharing what we have.

The Bottom Line?

Faith without good works? No way! They dance together and shine wonderfully, bringing the Kingdom to birth in our times.

Readings for the Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle B

 

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Posted by on Jul 28, 2024

Just In Time With God

Just In Time With God

The family baby was around three when a flea infestation took over the house. Her mother vacuumed the entire house at least twice a day in an effort to get the fleas under control. But every time the little girl walked through the house, her sleepers were quickly covered with fleas again.

This had been going on for many days when one morning, the 20+ year-old vacuum wheezed its last. Funds were scarce that month and the family still had a hand vacuum. The woman was about to get it out and start in on the rug, on hands and knees, when a relatively new friend knocked on the door and let himself in. His first words astounded her, “You all don’t know anyone who needs a new vacuum, do you?” Totally unexpectedly, as the result of some sad events in his life, he was no longer going to need his nearly new water vacuum.

It was such an incredible gift and the timing could not have been more perfect. Within a few days, the flea problem was under control. That vacuum was truly a gift both from their friend and from God. An early example of what I’ve come to call, God’s Just-In-Time Financing!

In both the Hebrew and Christian scriptures, we hear stories of the ways God provides for the people in unexpected and seemingly impossible ways. A large crowd had gathered out in the countryside, away from the markets and inns of the small local towns. The prophet had been speaking and people listened to the Lord’s words which he spoke to them, entranced with the message. As time went slipping by, mealtime approached. A man approached the prophet with twenty barley loaves and “fresh grain in the ear.” The prophet told his servant to give this food to the people to eat. It was nowhere nearly enough to feed the one hundred or so people in the crowd, but the prophet insisted. The food was distributed and all ate their fill. There was even food left over!

Who was the prophet? Elisha. Hundreds of years before the coming of Jesus, Elisha trusted that God would provide for the people – and it happened. He didn’t claim that he had miraculously created enough food. He gave the credit to God. It didn’t matter how the Lord managed such a feat. There was precedent. Food falling from the sky as the manna did in the desert. Birds appearing where they could be caught and eaten. Or people sharing what they had so all might eat. The How of it didn’t matter. It was the When of it that did. Just in time. (2 Kgs 4:42-44)

Many years later, when Jesus and the disciples sailed across the Sea of Galilee to get a break from ministry, the people traveled by land and got there ahead of them. All four Evangelists tell us about the events of that afternoon.

The time passed quickly and it was getting to be time for all to eat. Jesus asked his disciples what they would do to feed the people. All they could offer was to send the people home or to the local towns to buy their own meals. Then, as mealtime approached, a child offered his own meal of five barley loaves and two fish to share. The disciples scoffed when Jesus accepted the gift offered by the child. But Jesus told the disciples to have the people sit down in the grassy field and distribute the food to them. There were 5,000 men present – not counting the women and children. It was a huge group!

This day was something of a turning point in Jesus’ ministry. He had been teaching and healing, but the number of people healed was small in comparison with the number touched by the sharing of food that afternoon. Now a large number of people at once were touched by the gift he brought – trust in God and a willingness to share the power of love with all. Food was not expected, but God provided, just in time that day, through Jesus. Now they wondered, when would Jesus do it again? Was he the prophet who was to come? (Jn 6:1-15)

St. Paul wrote to the Ephesians about the way they were called to live with each other in trust of God. Humility, gentleness, and patience are to be hallmarks and the keys to maintaining unity. The community is to remain one in spirit, just as God is One. All share in the one faith, one baptism, and one Lord. (Eph 4:1-6)

We never know when the Lord’s Just-in-time will appear. Sometimes what we need appears. Sometimes it’s something else that shows up, rather than what we thought we really needed. But “the hand of the Lord” is active and present each day of our lives. Our job is to open our eyes to see it and remember to ask sincerely, “Give us this day our daily bread.”

This week, may we keep our eyes open to all the ways God provides for us. And may we be part of God’s team of helpers who reach out to provide kindness and support to those in special need of the Just-in-time touch of the Lord.

Readings for the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle B

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Posted by on Jul 7, 2024

Unexpected Bearers of God’s Word

Unexpected Bearers of God’s Word

A child is born and worlds of possibility open within a family. Totally helpless and dependent on other people, the child is still a unique individual. Each comes from the womb with their own personality. One will want to nurse immediately. Another will be a bit tired and need time to begin to accept the breast. One may find it hard to nurse. Another will find it easy.

As they grow, they learn to know their family. They begin to smile and “chat” with those who care for them. They notice patterns and recognize the movements of their own hands and feet in comparison to the movements of others. Some are determined to get across the floor to reach something interesting much earlier than others. Some are happy to roll or crawl for a long time. Others want to walk, thank you very much!

We watch the children grow and rejoice in their progress. We laugh at their antics as they explore the world. We comfort them when their exploration goes awry and they get hurt. We set limits so they are protected from danger and learn the ways of their family and culture.

Generally speaking, we tend to think we know them! But I think most parents, at least, will discover at some point that there are aspects of our children, grandchildren, nieces, and nephews that are surprising to us. They have their own thoughts and experiences. They wonder about things we may never have considered. They learn in ways that are different from the ways we learn. They have talents that are not the same as ours, or they have similar ones but use them in different ways.

These children who have been entrusted to us as individuals and as a community will also hear the Lord’s voice in their own way and in a time that is right for them. We share our beliefs and experiences with them, but they must develop their own relationships – with each other, with their community, and with their God. We are there to support and guide them, but the journey is their own.

Sometimes it surprises us!

Ezekiel did not expect to become a prophet. Granted, he was a priest in exile in Babylon, but the role of a priest is very different from the role of the prophet. The priest leads the community in prayer. The priest offers the sacrifices. The priest keeps things going according to the traditions and rules of the community.

The prophet, on the other hand, is called to speak out and call for change. Prophets remind people of the Lord’s desire for care of the poor. They call for changes in the social order so that justice and mercy are available to all. They demand that the hungry be fed and those in need be clothed and housed. They remind the community of their responsibilities to God and each other.

Ezekiel the priest heard the Lord’s voice and felt the spirit enter into him, setting him on his feet. He was being sent to speak to the people, reminding them of the Lord’s rules and the covenant. The Lord told him, “You shall say to them: Thus says the Lord God!” He was called to be a prophet! (Ez 2:2-5)

Did anyone who knew him as a child expect that? Probably not. But that didn’t stop the call when the time was right and so we proclaim and remember his words to this day.

Jesus was a carpenter. He had learned the trade from his father in the town where he grew up. People liked him. He was a nice guy and had a good reputation before he went off to see that guy John, his cousin, who was baptizing people at the Jordan River. After that, he was a changed man! He didn’t come back to work in the shop. No more working on commissions in nearby towns. His mother didn’t have his income to support her anymore. Other family members stepped in to help.

Then to top it off, stories started coming back about things he had said about God, calling him Daddy! Teaching as if he were one of the rabbis. And healing people! How could an ordinary fellow heal people blind from birth or with crippled legs or arms? Was it all a bunch of tricks? “We know him, for heaven’s sake! Where would all of this come from?”

And then he came to town. He joined the community at the synagogue and as was the custom, he rose to share in the teaching. Those who heard him were amazed. “Where did this man get all this? What kind of wisdom has been given him? What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands?” It was all too much. This was the son of Mary and Joseph. They knew him. He grew up in their community. He had been their childhood friend. He had played with the other children. He had learned to respect and honor the adults. And now he was teaching them and healing people in other towns! Why not here? How can we believe what he is saying and doing? We know him!

And because they knew him, or at least believed they knew everything about him, they were not able to receive the gifts he was bringing. He was only able to cure a few people. They were unable to accept him as a bearer of messages and acts of love and healing from God. (Mk 6:1-6)

Saul of Tarsus was a well-educated, highly respected teacher of the Law, a Pharisee. He had everything going for him. A good career. The respect of all. Influence in the council of leaders in the faith. Everything.

Then he went on a trip to Damascus to arrest the followers of Jesus there. On the road, he met Jesus! And everything changed. He became Paul and one of the most well-known preachers and teachers of the early Christian movement.

We read the letters of Paul to the communities that formed when he visited their towns all over the Middle East and even traveled to Rome. Yet Paul was not one who was always welcomed. He met much resistance at all stages of his life as an Apostle. He was not easily accepted by the community in Jerusalem. He was rejected by his former colleagues in Jerusalem. He was driven out of many towns where he preached. Eventually he was sent to Rome for trial and execution. Yet he always remembered the encounter with Jesus on the road and the wonder of it.

Paul suffered from some “thorn in the flesh” that he really wished would go away. We never learn what it was, but it was hard for him to bear. Yet the Lord assured him that “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” Whatever it was, the fact that he suffered with it allowed the Lord’s power and love to shine through even more brightly to the communities he visited. In weakness there is strength. God’s ways are not our ways. (2 Cor 12:7-10)

A child is born. A world of possibilities opens. In the weakness of each person, in the uniqueness of each person, in the many experiences and gifts of each person, a world of ways opens in which the Lord touches the person and through them touches each of us. We all bring the gifts of the Lord to others. It may be in a smile. It may be in a word. It may be in encouragement to step out and try again after something goes wrong. Each one of us shares in the wonder of the unexpected. Sometimes that unexpected is even a word of love spoken to us personally from the Lord. Listen.

This week, may we keep our eyes and ears open to hear the Lord’s voice in those around us. And may we share the love we receive with all we meet along the way.

Readings for the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle B

 

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Posted by on Jun 23, 2024

Power Over the Storms

Power Over the Storms

Two winters ago, we had a series of atmospheric rivers on the West Coast. They began in November and continued well into March. Storms are normal at that time of year, but these were far more powerful and destructive than regular winter storms.

Living just a block from the ocean, we are used to hearing two days in advance when a big storm is coming. The waves crash on the beach, water splashes up over the cliffs, and we can hear them from our home. We don’t hear the waves except in winter.

That year, the winds howled, the waves crashed, trees fell across paths in the state park across the street from our home. In fact, the park was closed after a falling tree killed a man walking through one afternoon. The road along the cliffs above the water washed away a few blocks from our home. Fences along the sidewalk by the field were toppled and seaweed landed across the street, clear over to the field on the other side. Two parts of the cliffs, in areas where people are warned to stay away, slid off the rest of the cliff. One slid into the ocean. One slid down onto the beach. To my amazement, a day later, all of that rock from the cliffs had been washed away into the sea.

As it happened, in mid-March I needed to go to a nearby city to help care for a baby. The family lives near the bottom of a hill, one house removed from the road to the top. Electric buses go up and down the hill day and night. There is a distinctive whine from the engines as they go up the hill. More than once during the time I was there, I woke with a start in the night as I heard the bus go up the hill. It sounded very much like the whine of the wind as the storms blew from the ocean, across the field, and over our home.

It used to be that when I read the story of the calming of a storm on the Sea of Galilee, I thought of a storm with lots of waves and some wind. I’ve seen waves in lakes and on rivers. I’ve seen storms blowing in from the ocean. But after that winter, I have an entirely different comprehension of what the stakes can be and how powerful the winds and waves really are. It’s no wonder peoples all around the world have believed that their gods are responsible for storms. Only a very powerful force could possibly cause so much uproar or still it so quickly. The storm stops. The sun comes out from behind the clouds. The birds begin to sing again. And all is right with the world.

Jesus had been teaching in Galilee for a while on the day he decided to leave behind the crowds and go to the other side of the lake by boat. Hundreds of people had followed him around the side of the lake to hear him teach and heal the sick. He needed a rest and some time to pray. Going just a bit up the coast was not going to be enough. At evening, people would not follow him around to the other side of the lake.

He lay down in the boat to rest and he slept deeply. He didn’t notice the beginning of the storm. His friends did their best to handle it on their own, keeping the boat afloat and heading in the right direction. But eventually the waves got so big they were crashing over the top of the boat. There was real danger they would all die in the storm. That’s when they woke Jesus.

To their amazement, he didn’t seem at all worried, just puzzled that they were so frightened. “Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?”

Although they had been traveling with him, hearing the stories he told about the Kingdom of God, learning the deeper meanings of the stories, and seeing the miracles of healing bodies and minds, they still saw him as a prophet or a wise teacher. But now he can calm a storm? That is mind-blowing. “Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?” (Mk 4:35-41)

Job also had an encounter with God. He knew he was dealing with the Lord God, but he had not had a happy experience in the process. His entire family had died, his business and wealth were gone, his friends had abandoned him or tried to convince him he must be a great sinner to be so severely punished by God. Job believed in the depth of his being that all of this had happened unjustly. So, he confronted God and stated the reasons why he believed God had acted unjustly.

God responded to Job’s accusations and a conversation developed. God spoke to him from out of a storm, “Who shut within doors the sea, when it burst forth from the womb…?” God pointed out the clouds he had made, the darkness at night, the shoreline that kept the sea from sweeping over all the land. If he could do all of that, who was Job to complain of injustice?

Their conversation continued. Eventually, having proved Job’s faithfulness in the face of tragedy, God restored his fortunes. Nevertheless, the lost family could never be restored, only replaced with a new family. And hopefully, the suffering he endured could only help him become more compassionate. (Jb 38:1, 8-11)

So how do we understand storms, figuratively in stories and in the hard times of our lives and/or literally and physically in the world around us? Why does suffering come? Who is in control of the forces of nature? Who controls our behavior to and with each other? Where does Christ come into the story?

In our Christian tradition, we return to the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. He was a man, an ordinary guy as far as anyone knew, who had a role and an origin no one suspected and we can’t really explain logically. Truly human and truly divine. One in being with the Father. Yet he lived an ordinary human life, followed the call he received at his baptism, shared the truths he had come to understand about the Kingdom of Love, the Kingdom of God, and eventually died because he would not deny who he was and what he had come to understand of God’s love and plan for all of us. He was raised from the dead and we all have a very special life because of him.

St.  Paul reminded the folks in Corinth that all changed once Jesus died and was raised again from death to life. Those who live believing in him no longer live for themselves. Those who live in Christ are “a new creation: the old things have passed away … new things have come.” (2 Cor 5:14-17)

The storms of life come and go. Sometimes they blow very strongly and we wonder if we will survive. They may come upon us quickly, like a storm that blows up suddenly at sea. Other times we see them coming from a distance and have time to prepare.

Storms never last forever. The sun comes out again. New life sprouts. It’s not that God causes storms to punish folks. Rain comes with storms and waters the earth. Crops grow, the land blooms, and life moves forward.

Like the people of Corinth, the disciples in the boat, and even Job so many years ago, we don’t always understand what is happening. But we live in Christ. We are a new creation. We have a well-founded hope and confidence that new things have come. All will be well.

This week, may we all keep our eyes open to see the Lord’s presence in the events of our daily lives: the people we meet, the challenges we face, the joys we experience, the surprises that cross our paths. The Lord is there with us in the boat. We never need to be afraid, even when the winds blow wildly, or the whining engine of the electric bus wakes us in the night!

Readings for the Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle B

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Posted by on Jun 16, 2024

New Shoots and Unending Hope

New Shoots and Unending Hope

The branch had been cut off the tree and set to the side of the yard to dry out and become firewood.  It was a pretty long branch, probably one that had branched off from the trunk years ago. It sat in the sun and didn’t know it was supposed to be dead and drying out. Spring came as usual, and new shoots sprouted from the branch. They began to grow just as if they were still on the mother tree.

I don’t know how long the new growth will be sustained, but many trees have grown from the trunks, stumps, or branches of other, older trees, which have fallen in the forest or been cut down and used for firewood or building useful things such as homes. I was reminded of the song from the St. Louis Jesuits, “Wood Hath Hope,” as I saw that branch, sitting up in the air with only non-living things supporting it, and new shoots sprouting hopefully in the sun and rain of a mid-June day.

Centuries ago, when the Jewish people were in exile in Babylon, Ezekiel spoke of a tender shoot torn from the top of a cedar. (Ezek 17:22-24) In this case, the reference to the shoot came after a series of reflections on the social and political destruction of the city of Jerusalem which led to the exile. The city was destroyed in 586 BCE. Yet as a member of the community of survivors in exile in the country responsible for the destruction of their own, Ezekiel could speak of hope and new birth.

The small bit of the mighty cedar from which the Lord God plucked it will now be planted on a tall, tall mountain in the highlands of Israel. As such shoots do, this one will grow and itself become a mighty tree in which birds can build their nests.  Ezekiel tells us that all the trees of the field will learn from this that the Lord is working among them, building up the low trees and bringing down the high ones.

Like all prophecies, the story has a deeper meaning. The Lord cares for the lowly, protects and supports the lowly. In contrast, those who are strong and powerful, who don’t think they need the Lord’s protection and help, will fall.

For Ezekiel and those in exile with him, this prophecy gave hope that one day they would return home to Israel and Jerusalem might once again be restored. In time, that did indeed happen. Persia conquered Babylon and Cyrus, king of Persia, sent the Jewish people back to their land.

Jesus also spoke of small things becoming bigger. (Mk 4:26-34) He described a farmer who went out into a field and scattered his seeds. As the days passed, the seeds grew and eventually became ripe for harvest. Many grains grew from the seeds scattered on the field. The harvest was rich and more grain was available for sale or use by the farmer and also for planting the next year.

Another story described a tiny seed as comparable to the kingdom of God, a mustard seed. These tiny seeds were among the smallest we see, but they grew large enough to be like trees, sheltering and feeding birds and other small animals. I wrote about mustard seeds three years ago and invite you to read about them again today.

Jesus used stories to teach the people he met along the way each day. He took time to explain the stories to his closest friends, so they would know what he meant by them and not draw the wrong conclusion about the points he was trying to make. However, he knew that as humans, we remember stories better than long, drawn-out explanations. A story is nearly always a good place to start.

After we have spent a while pondering the stories and doing our best to live according to the lessons we have heard, we reach a point of trying to explain why we keep going and what it all means for us. St. Paul was no exception. He took time to explain to the community at Corinth what it had all come to mean for him and would ultimately mean for them. (2 Cor 5:6-10) He spoke of being at home in the body and at home with the Lord. We have two homes, he explained. The body is the reality of how we live here as humans, from infancy through the end of our lives. Being at home with the Lord is a way of saying we have ended our bodily life here with families, friends, and the realities of eating, drinking, working, playing, sleeping, and so forth. We now experience family, friends, and those who have come before us in a totally new and amazing way. We are with the Lord, the source of all life, true unending and limitless love.

To the extent we are really honest with ourselves and others, daily life is not always a garden of roses! There are hard things we have to experience and learn. There are wonderful times as well. With any luck at all, the wonderful times will be remembered clearly. However, all too often, we remember the hard times more quickly. We tend to forget that the everyday, ordinary things are far more common. Because they are so ordinary – is that why we forget them?

Paul reminds us that our lives here will come to an end. When that day comes, and we meet the Lord in person in our new home, we will remember much that has happened that we may prefer be forgotten. With the Lord’s help, may we also remember the many joys and blessings of the times we may have forgotten in which we really did meet the task set out for us from the beginning – to grow like a sprout on the branch of a tree, or a seed in a field, or a bird in a nest on a great mustard plant that grew from a tiny seed, easily overlooked as insignificant.

This is our challenge today. Where are we planted? What kind of plant are we meant to be? How will we grow and blossom to produce the fruit or grain needed by the One who tossed out the seed or plucked us from a different tree and planted us here? At best, we will simply move through our days, offering a smile, a gentle word, a greeting, a hand, a moment of silent companionship for those whose journey also continues alongside our own. And when the day comes that we go home to the Lord, may we all see the wonder of the tapestry of life that our times together have created.

Readings for the Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle B

 

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Posted by on Mar 22, 2024

A New Covenant – Written on Our Hearts

A New Covenant – Written on Our Hearts

The story of the relationship between God and humans is told beginning in the Hebrew Scriptures, with the creation myths of the Hebrew people. We learn of the creation, from two different perspectives, each intended to answer specific questions that had arisen in the course of the years. We hear of the covenant between Abraham and God, in which it became known that God is not a local god, limited to one place and time. We learn of the continuation of that covenant through Isaac and Jacob and their descendants.

Following the time in Egypt, when the people were led out into the desert by  Moses to offer sacrifice to God and move to a new land and life as free people again, Moses took them to the mountain on which he had first encountered God, Mt Sinai. There the covenant, the Law by which the people were to live, was inscribed on stone tablets. The tablets were kept in a special tent that was taken with the people wherever they went.

Eventually, in the time of King Solomon, a temple was built in Jerusalem. The tablets of the Law were carefully placed in the center of the building, the Holy of Holies. This area of the temple was kept apart from ordinary people. Only a select few priests were allowed to enter to offer sacrifice and prayers there.

By the time of the prophet Jeremiah, the Covenant had been broken many times by the people and their leaders. God was always faithful and kept sending prophets to call people back to faithfulness. There were times when enemies prevailed and times when the people were victorious over their enemies.

Jeremiah was a prophet during the time when the Babylonians were the most powerful empire. The northern kingdoms of Israel had long since been conquered. The southern ones, Juda and Benjamin, were semi-independent yet, but trouble was brewing. Jeremiah kept warning the leaders and people that if they did not reform their lives, God would allow them to be conquered. He met with unrelenting opposition and as predicted, the Babylonians came in force, destroyed the temple, and took the leaders and many of the people into exile in Babylon. They remained there for 70 years, until Cyrus of Persia conquered Babylon and returned those who had been taken into exile and their descendants to their homeland. (Jer 31:31-34)

Jeremiah’s words promise a new kind of covenant.

“But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will place my law within them and write it upon their hearts. I will be their God, and they shall be my people… All, from least to greatest, shall know me, says the LORD.”

How can this be? It’s a pretty drastic step on God’s part to assume that people will be able to hold the law of the Lord in their hearts and that all will know him.

I would like to suggest that it’s something that takes many years to learn, but that is planted at the very beginnings of our lives. We come to our parents as helpless infants. We have normal bodily functions, assuming we are healthy, but we can’t eat or drink or anything else unless someone else provides for us. We cry out for attention, help, comfort. But unless someone hears and comes to us, we will simply cry until we are exhausted. We may eventually even give up hope and die.

It is in the giving and receiving of love that we learn God’s law, which Jesus summarized as, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind … and … You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mt 22: 37-39)

We can only love if we have first experienced love. When we don’t get the love we need, it takes much longer to learn to love. We have to be healed with loving patience first.

But we are born to love and be loved, not necessarily in that order. What is learned in the depths of our hearts will always be stronger than anything written on a stone, or on a clay tablet, or in a book, or on the internet! What is written on our hearts lasts through time.

As we move towards Holy Week and the end of our Lenten journey, may we be open to receive the healing love of our God each day, and to pass it on to those we meet on our journey. As this happens, we come to experience the fulfillment of Jeremiah’s prophetic words. The covenant will be written on our hearts and all will know the Lord.

Readings for the Fifth Sunday in Lent – Cycle B

 

 

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Posted by on Dec 31, 2023

Families Come in Many Shapes and Sizes

Families Come in Many Shapes and Sizes

When one of my children got married, the photographer was ready to take family pictures of the bride and groom with each of their families. The pictures were to be outside in a lovely courtyard. Somewhere around three quarters of the people in the reception hall got up when called to report for the picture. The couple’s friends who were not family had to reassure guests who didn’t know us well, that the party wasn’t over and we would all return soon!

As family members approached the courtyard for the photo session, the photographer first took pictures of the couple. Then, as people kept approaching, he asked if the families were all present now. No, they were still coming. A few more photos of the bride and groom and the question was repeated, followed by a question about whether the groom’s family were all there yet. No, not yet. How about the bride’s family? Yes, those people sitting at that table over there, was the response. So that set of family and couple pictures were taken.

Finally, all of the groom’s family arrived on scene. There were so many of them that the photographer put all of them up on a large outdoor dining area “balcony” and he went down below to take the photos.

The contrast in size of family has played out in many weddings through the years. Once in a while, both families will be large. Often, one will be large and one will be small.

Families come in many shapes and sizes. It’s a fact of life. Some large families are close. Others are not. Some, whether large or small, have members who have differences of opinion on many topics. Siblings, parents, cousins, grandparents – all can find themselves at odds with others in the group over many things. Sometimes relationships become so strained that they break. Sometimes it’s possible to mend the relationship. Sometimes it’s not possible or advisable to do so, especially if there was a history of abuse in the picture.

Looking beyond the immediate picture of nuclear families (Mom, Dad, children), there are larger family structures. The kinship structures of peoples around the world are not identical. In some, kinship is defined by relationships along only the male line. In others kinship is based on the female line. These are quite different from the bilateral, nuclear family kinship system that is characteristic of the majority of families in Western societies today.  In some kinship systems, the family is multi-generational, with the eldest members of the family making the decisions for the younger generations. We call these corporate kinship systems. In nuclear family kinship systems, the individual adults make their own decisions for themselves and their families.

Fictive kinship adds another layer to the picture as well. Godparents, sponsors, people who are close friends of a family, can play roles like those of biological relatives. These systems provide extra support to the family as they raise their children.

This complexity comes to mind as I hear the readings for the Feast of the Holy Family. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph were a family. Parents and child together, making their way through life. Their family was a part of a larger corporate family. Kinship included relatives beyond Mary and Joseph. These relatives worked together to support themselves and their children. Kinship passed through the male line, so Jesus was raised as a member of Joseph’s extended family. Fortunately, for those who keep track of such things, the line of King David was quite large by that point in time, so Mary was also descended from David’s line.

Family dynamics – who is in charge, whose authority is primary, who takes care of whom and when – all play a role in how healthy family relationships are. Sirach presents a picture of family relationships that bear imitation. (Sir 3:2-6, 12-14) The reading is all phrased in terms of the parents and their sons, but that’s a feature of the culture of the time. One could easily substitute our less specifically male terms today to make it more inclusive.

“God sets a father in honor over his children; a mother’s authority he confirms over her children. Whoever honors their parents atones for sins, and preserves themselves from them.”

Sirach admonishes his listeners to be kind, respecting and supporting each other. Older folks care for younger ones. Those younger ones in turn care for the older ones as they age. “Kindness to a parent will not be forgotten…”

St. Paul speaks to the Colossians about living as a community. (Col 3:12-17) The same advice he gives regarding communal relationships applies to successful families too. (Successful in this case is a term referring to loving, supportive families.)

Members of the community are to “put on,” (to wear) compassion, kindness, gentleness, humility, patience, and willingness to forgive as the garments that enfold their lives. In their dealings with each other, grievances are to be forgiven because the Lord has forgiven all. Love is the bond of perfection. And above all, the peace of Christ forms all into one body.

We respond to the word of Christ dwelling within us with prayer, songs, and gratefully living in the Lord’s name.

Returning to the family of Joseph and Mary, we again see a loving family living within their tradition. (Lk 2:22-40) After the birth of a son, the family brings the child to the temple. The child is seen as belonging to God. The parents offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving for him. Poorer families offered two turtle doves or pigeons. Wealthier families offered more elaborate sacrifices. Joseph and Mary were not rich, so they offered the two birds in sacrifice.

While at the temple for Jesus’ circumcision and to offer the sacrifice for him, they met two older people who had been promised the great gift of seeing “the Christ of the Lord” before their death. The first was named Simeon. He took Jesus into his arms and praised God for having sent the child who would become “a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel.”

The other person was an old woman, a prophetess named Anna. She too gave thanks to God for having seen the child. She told all she met that this child had at last been born.

None of the people involved in these events knew all that would happen to this family and this child. But Simeon and Anna knew he was special, through the gift of the Spirit’s revelation to them. Joseph and Mary knew they had a beautiful baby boy. They gave thanks for his birth and returned to their home to raise him in a loving family and community. We are told that he grew “and became strong, filled with wisdom, and the favor of God was upon him.”

As we live and grow in our families, may the blessings lived by the Holy Family be with us too. May we grow strong together in faith, trust in God, and loving kindness. Does this mean we go around with our eyes cast down and a serious look on our faces? Absolutely not! We are children of a loving God who has a fantastic sense of humor. We are to be joyful and hopeful. We are to laugh at the funny things that happen and at our own foibles. We are to sit around and tell stories of family and friends, and the amazing things we have seen and heard. We are to care about and for each other, not throwing away anyone. All are loved by God.

On this day and in the new year that is fast upon us, may we grow in wisdom, age, and grace as well. May our eyes be open to see the Lord in each other and in those around us. May we grow hearts that are larger and more inclusive, bringing people who have no families or whose loved ones are far away into our circle of love. We are members of biological families, yes, but we are also members of the family of the Lord. That one is HUGE! May we enjoy meeting and growing together in God’s family of love.

Readings for the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph – Cycle B

 

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Posted by on Dec 23, 2023

Are You Ready?

Are You Ready?

Well, here we are at the Fourth Sunday of Advent. If you are like me, you too have been hearing for several weeks now from people you meet the question, “Are you ready for Christmas?” Some answer that they are. I think many of us answer that we aren’t. Some of us live in hopes that one of these years we’ll be ready by Christmas Eve. This year I’m thinking I might be ready for Christmas by Epiphany! But it’s the Fourth Sunday of Advent and Christmas will happen on schedule, regardless of whether I’m ready or not.

It strikes me that living in God’s time is much like being ready for Christmas, whether on the correct calendar day or not. Things happen when the time is right for them. King David wanted to build a home for God in Jerusalem. The Ark of the Covenant was still in the tent in which it had rested since the Law was given in the Sinai Desert – at the beginning of the 40 years the Israelites traveled in the desert after leaving Egypt.

David had a lovely new palace and decided it was time for God (present in the Ark) to have a nice place too. But the Lord, through Nathan the prophet, told David the time was not right and he was not the right person to do it.  What a disappointment for David! The Lord reminded him that all the military success that had led to peace in the land had been accomplished through the Lord’s support. But although David would not be the one to build a temple for the Ark, one of David’s descendants would rule over a kingdom that would last forever. This ruler and God would have a relationship like that of father and son – a close, loving relationship. (2 Sam 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16)

Mary was a person who wasn’t expecting anything extraordinary to happen in her life. She was probably in her early teens. Engaged to be married. Ready to live the life of a wife and mother. Excited and likely a bit scared too. After all, it’s a big deal to have a husband and family to care for. And then her life changed. She was visited by an angel, Gabriel by name, who told her God had other plans. Would she be willing to have a child that would not be quite the same as everyone else? Would she be willing to let God work in amazing ways in her life and through her body? Blessedly for all of us, Mary gave her consent. She didn’t have to, but she did. And nothing has been quite the same since that day. Her son, a descendant of David, fulfilled the ancient prophecy. (Lk 1:26-38)

The child born to Mary changed history. His coming ushered in a new understanding of the relationship between God and humans. New ways of living. New ways of forgiving. New ways of service. New understandings of God’s love for even the humblest person.

I don’t know if the house will be clean. The tree is still in the process of being decorated. Some of the tamales have been made. Others are in a “some assembly required” state yet. I think we have gifts for all who will come, but most are not yet wrapped. Fortunately, not everyone will be here on Christmas Day. Some things will keep an extra day or two before they need to be finished. In the meanwhile, I am going to enjoy the Fourth Sunday of Advent and its quick morning to afternoon transition to Christmas Eve.

Are you ready? Am I ready? This is the question of the day. I pray that we are ready to meet the Lord in all the many ways and times he appears in our lives.

May these next few days be filled with the blessing of love and family and friends. The rest of the “trimmings” are just that – trimmings.

Readings for the Fourth Sunday of Advent – Cycle B

 

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Posted by on Nov 5, 2023

Covenants and Family

Covenants and Family

The time spent nursing a child is some of the most precious time ever in the lives of mothers and children. Not all children nurse easily from the beginning of their lives, but once they and their mothers figure out how they can do it, the time together and the sharing become unforgettable – a deep, pre-verbal connection is formed that can last for decades. As a mother myself, who was nursed as a child and watched my siblings nursing as well, I was delighted to have the chance to do so too. Those years with my children were very special, filled with funny happenings, some frustrating times, and many simply peaceful, routine times.

St. Paul speaks of his time with the community in Thessalonika as one in which he and his companions were “gentle among you, as a nursing mother cares for her children.” (1 Thes 2: 7b-9, 13) They shared the amazing, wonderfully good news of God’s coming among us and loving each of us as parents love their children. The response of the people among whom they toiled was a source of great joy to them. He speaks of his gratitude to God for their openness and acceptance of the teaching, which shows forth in their lives. Though Paul doesn’t say it in so many words, in their lives they are examples of the contentment of the weaned child on it’s mother’s lap, happily experiencing the presence of a parent’s love and protection in life of which the Psalmist speaks. (Ps 131: 1, 2, 3)

Both the prophet Malachi and Jesus speak of family ties too when addressing the challenges of their times.

Malachi speaks at a time after the Babylonian Exile. (Mal 1:14b-2:2b-8, 10) He proclaims that the Lord is a great King, with power feared among the nations. Yet the priests who are responsible to lead the people in worship have not lived up to their calling. They have turned away from the covenant, the agreement God made with Levi, their ancestor. Malachi cries out, “Have we not all the one father? Has not the one God created us?” The covenant of the ancient fathers of the community with their God has been broken. This is a great tragedy. Israel is a family, the children of God, yet the priests have not lived up to their part in the relationship. As a result, their family connection as a community with God has been broken and so has their relationship as sisters and brothers in one family. When this happens, community strength is lost and mutual respect is gone.

How and when will the covenant be renewed? Only when the people turn again to God, their father, the one father of all.

Jesus spoke of the Pharisees, who were students and teachers of the Law, and the Scribes, who were advisors, leaders, and teachers entrusted with reading and writing the traditions and teachings that guided the community. He criticized them because they did not live what they taught. To follow all the details of the Law as they taught it was very difficult. They themselves did not follow the rules they made for ordinary people to follow. Yet Jesus did not tell people to ignore the teachings. Instead, he told people to follow the Law, but not to follow the examples of these teachers who were more interested in being seen and honored for their pretended observance of the Law than in actually living according to the Law. The fundamentals of living humbly, serving others, and recognizing all others as brothers and sisters of the one Father in heaven are the critical, essential actions. (Mt 23:1-12)

In a community and culture in which corporate families were the norm, one statement in particular is striking: “Call no one on earth your father; you have but one Father in heaven.” In corporate families, the leadership of the family is vested in one parent. In Israel of that time, the parent was the father of the extended family. Children and grandchildren and their families were all under the leadership and authority of that one parent. Individual families did not really exist in the sense we experience them. Family identity passes through the male or female line in corporate families. In patriarchal Israel, the line went through the males – from father to son. Women married into the family, leaving their own family behind. The “Father” in this large extended family made the decisions about who would do what and who would marry whom. Jesus says, only God is the Father. The earthly parents of each person are not the ultimate authority.

The bottom line for Jesus was the importance of humble service. “The greatest among you must be your servant.” Only those who serve humbly will ultimately be recognized for their greatness.

The nursing mother, the humble servant, the God who is Father. The ones who make life easier and better for others, especially the others who are poor, or of lower social status, or strangers/newcomers in the land, or who suffer illness or injury are the ones who will be exalted. These are the ones pleasing to the Father. It was thus in the time of Malachi. It was thus in the time of Jesus. It was thus in the time of St. Paul. Nothing has changed. It is still thus in our days.

May we this week be aware of the needs of others and quietly offer a hand where needed. Maybe we pick up a bit of litter in a parking lot. Maybe we smile at a neighbor. Maybe we are patient in line at the grocery store. Maybe we read a story for the umpteenth time to a small child. Maybe we sit down with a nursing child and simply allow the child to eat and rest, basking in our love. Whatever we do, when we do it in love, we do it for and with our Father in Heaven. And the Father is pleased…

Readings for the Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle A

 

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Posted by on Aug 20, 2023

Mercy that Excludes No One

Mercy that Excludes No One

Did you ever think about whether Jesus knew that his mission was not limited to the Jewish people? I had not really thought much about it, having grown up as a member of the Church. Then one day, I read the story of what happened when Jesus went across the border into an area which was not historically nor actually at that time a part of the kingdom of Israel. The area in question was around the cities of Tyre and Sidon, on the Mediterranean Sea north of Israel.

Jesus’ reputation as a healer preceded him. A woman from that area came to where he was. She was a Canaanite, one of the traditional enemies of the Israelites. She came to ask him to heal her daughter, who was being tormented by a demon. Today we would say she had a mental illness.

Jesus simply ignored her. He did not even respond negatively. Just silence. As if she didn’t even exist. She was a woman and a foreigner. No concern of his.

His disciples were irritated with her. She kept calling after them, requesting healing for her child. They asked him to send her away. “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel,” was his response.

But she was persistent. She bowed before him and begged, “Lord, help me.”

We often think of Jesus as a kind, patient, polite man, but this time he was just plain rude. “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs!” Pretty clear who was being compared to a dog.

This mother did not let that insult stop her. She was desperate for healing for her child. “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.”

This brought an insight to Jesus. Healing could be for those who had faith. It is not limited to any religious or ethnic group. “O, woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” The child was healed and Jesus learned an important lesson about God’s mercy and his mission. No one is to be excluded who comes in faith. (Mt 15:21-28)

This was not actually a new idea in Judaism. Isaiah spoke of a similar idea to the folks who had returned from exile in Babylon. Their temple had been rebuilt and now it was possible to offer sacrifice there again. But what about all the time away and the time before the temple was rebuilt? How had it been possible to keep the sabbath holy and to maintain the covenant with the Lord if temple sacrifice could not be offered?

The Lord, through his prophet, told them to take notice of what is right and just. Watch and see how the Lord’s justice is revealed. It is revealed as foreigners join themselves to the Lord and become his servants. All who keep the sabbath and hold on to the covenant will be welcomed to the holy mountain of the Lord. Their sacrifices offered on the altar will be as valid as those of the original community. The Lord’s house is “a house of prayer for all peoples.” No one will be excluded from his mercy. (Is 56:1, 6-7)

St. Paul expresses the community’s understanding of the Lord’s call in his letter to the Romans. He speaks of himself as “the apostle to the Gentiles.” He has been sent to spread the message of God’s love and mercy beyond the Jewish community into the entire world. If the people of Israel had welcomed Jesus with open arms and become his followers, it’s quite possible that the faith would not have expanded out to include everyone. Paul says that in their refusal to believe, their disobedience, his own people had made it possible for Gentiles, all the other peoples of the world, to receive the Lord’s mercy and love. No one is to be excluded. (Rom 11:13-15, 29-32)

As our communities divide into camps with opposing ideas these days, I believe we are again called to ask ourselves if we are truly willing to accept each other and wish each other well. Are we sisters and brothers in the Lord? Are we sisters and brothers, children of one creator. Are we equally loved and forgiven for our small mindedness and smug self-confidence. Too often we say, “I know what is right and you are totally wrong!”

In religious circles, it is especially important to be patient and loving with each other. We may not agree on all topics. Some will be more open to changes in social standards and structures than others. Some may interpret Scripture more literally than others. Some will distrust the findings of social or physical sciences. However, all are children of the same Father, who calls all to mercy and mutual forgiveness.

How do we keep from being a community that turns in on itself when confronted with others who have different experiences of God’s presence and love? How do we remain open and welcoming? Is it by condemning those whose ways are different from ours? Or by setting up rules and regulations to restrict access to the Eucharist and sacraments? Or do we recognize that God is bigger than all of our rules and categories. God loves all of creation and especially all people. He did, after all, according to our very ancient tradition, create us in his own image and likeness,. If that is truly the case, then we are called, like Jesus himself, to be open to those whose ways are different from our own. We are called to offer healing and reconciliation in and between communities. We are called to let the power and unrestricted love of our Father flow out through us to heal those who are suffering, physically, socially, mentally, spiritually.

God’s mercy excludes no one. So we must not exclude others either. Instead, we come together in prayer and Eucharistic thanksgiving to remember and be nourished. Then we go forth into our world and share the graces and blessings received as we allow the love of God to flow out in healing mercy through us.

This week, let’s focus on seeing the goodness and mercy of God in our families, our neighbors, our communities, and our world. All are welcomed in the Kingdom of God and all receive the merciful love of our Father.

Readings for the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle A

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Posted by on Jul 30, 2023

Wisdom – Thinking with the Heart

Wisdom – Thinking with the Heart

“Use your head!” “Don’t be a fool!” “Don’t waste what you’ve got, use it carefully!” “They wouldn’t be in this position if they’d just been more sensible!”

How many times have we all heard these kinds of statements, sometimes addressed directly to us? It’s a common understanding in Western culture that decision making is best done with the mind, a.k.a. the head. We think of the heart as the center of emotions, and emotions are not regarded as the best sources of good decisions.

In ancient Israel, the heart was seen as both the center for emotions and the center for decision-making. When the Lord came to King Solomon in a dream at night and asked what gift Solomon would like to receive, Solomon gave an unusual answer. He had become king at a young age and had to defeat many enemies, including one of his brothers, to establish control over the kingdom. Once that was settled, still a young man, he began to build his own palace and a Temple for worship of the Lord. Up to that point, the tablets of the Law had been kept in the Ark of the Covenant. Now it was time for a permanent home for them and a center for worship and sacrificial offerings.

Solomon recognized his inexperience and the challenges ahead of him in governing a large group of people. So, he asked for “an understanding heart to judge your people and to distinguish right from wrong.” (1 Kings 3:5, 7-12)

This pleased the Lord, who had expected a request for the usual kinds of things people wanted – long life, riches, conquest of enemies and so forth. But Solomon had asked for an understanding heart. The Lord’s response was heartfelt: “I give you a heart so wise and understanding that there has never been anyone like you up to now…”

Solomon is known to this day as Solomon the Wise. His reputation for wisdom spread throughout the ancient world and people traveled long distances to meet with him. As long as his decisions were based on the wisdom that came from thinking and listening with his heart, they bore good fruit. Later in life, when he forgot some of his earlier experience with the Lord and good decision-making, things didn’t always go so well. But the reputation from his earlier years remains. Solomon the Wise.

St. Paul spoke of something similar in his letter to the Romans. (Rom 8: 28-30) “All things work for good for those who love God.” Paul used a term in his letter that is often misunderstood today. Predestined.

We tend to think the word predestined means that everything is set up firmly and unchangeably ahead of time. Nothing anyone can do will change it. Some will succeed. Some will fail. It’s like a sports activity in which the winner is determined before the match begins and the competitor who may be better will deliberately compete more poorly, to meet the predetermined setup. On the big picture, spiritual side of things, some will go to a heavenly reward and some will go to eternal damnation. This can lead to a belief that we can tell who is going to be rewarded in heaven by how monetarily successful they are here on earth! Entire cultural systems have been set up based on this premise. We do our best and if we are pleasing to God, we will prosper. If we aren’t pleasing, then nothing we can do will help and no matter how hard we are working, we will be eternally punished.

What a terrible way to go through life! Who would want a God who would treat people that way? And yet, if that’s all we’ve ever heard, that’s likely to underlie much of our understanding of life.

Fortunately for all of us, predestined in the sense used by Paul doesn’t mean the same as what we expect. Predestined in this context means that God has decided to call us and help us become like Christ, ready to be in a positive, loving relationship with God both now and into eternity. Paul assures us all that God has chosen us from all eternity to become like his Son, the one firstborn of the many humans who will join together as sisters and brothers in the family of God. This is something worth celebrating and allowing to be a foundation of our lives.

So, what is this family of God, the Kingdom of God to be like? Jesus spent a lot of time trying to explain what the kingdom is. (Mt 13:44-52) “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field.” The kingdom of heaven is like “a pearl of great price.” Those who find the treasure or the pearl put it back where they found it in Jesus’ parables. Then they go and sell everything they have in order to buy the field (and the treasure) or the pearl. They don’t set up a spreadsheet and compare their assets and liabilities and determine whether this new asset will be more beneficial than sticking with their existing plans. No, they simply drop everything and choose the greater prize, the one they have marvelously come upon.

Jesus tells stories of wheat growing alongside weeds and fish, good and bad, swimming in the sea. Life is not set up with only good things happening to the good people and bad things happening to the bad people. There’s a share of good and bad for all. The trick is, how do we respond? And how do we respond to others whose situation may be more difficult than the one in which we find ourselves? Do we use our heads and try to protect what we already have at all cost? Or do we sometimes go out on a limb and saw madly behind us, hoping to help someone who is struggling or in need of a hand?

Wisdom is thinking with our hearts. As our hearts are soft, or softened, they become more pliable, more ready to love as our Lord has loved.

As we move through this week, let’s pray that areas of our hearts that are hardened will be softened, so that we can hear and think with the freedom and abundance of our God.

Readings for the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle A

 

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Posted by on Jul 23, 2023

To Weed or Not to Weed

To Weed or Not to Weed

When I was a girl, we had a big vegetable garden. The largest crop by far was the green beans. We all liked to eat them and we were a good-size family. Mom liked one particular variety of bush beans. She didn’t like pole beans, so we never grew them. The challenge with growing the beans was that there was a fungus in the soil that killed the beans if it got on the leaves. So, every year, when the soil was ready, we planted the seeds and watched the beans grow. As the beans sprouted, so did the weeds. Every year, just the same. As the bushes grew bigger and the beans began to grow, the weeds kept pace with them. That part of the garden looked a fright! But we never pulled the weeds as the beans were growing.

When the beans got big enough to harvest, we picked the first batch. It filled several washtubs and we all sat around the tubs of them on hot summer afternoons, cutting them to put into the jars for canning. We would eat those beans for the entire next year. A week or so later, a second picking would be ready and we again filled the washtubs with them for canning.  The difference was that after the second picking, we pulled out both the weeds and the bean bushes. There would not be another picking. By that time of the summer, the bushes were becoming infected and were going to die anyway.

I thought of this when I read the story Jesus told about the farmer who planted good wheat seed in his field and went home to a well-deserved rest. During the night, an enemy came and scattered weed seed in the field too. The scenario was not seen as outrageously improbable to Jesus’ audience. Family feuds were a part of life and such things would and could happen. With a grain crop, it can take a while before it becomes obvious that not everything growing in the field is the grain that was planted. An enemy who can ruin the crop would dishonor the farmer in the eyes of his peers. “How could he have planted weeds along with his wheat? Didn’t he know better? He must not be as good as we thought he was!”

When the treachery was discovered, the stalks of wheat and the stalks of the weeds were completely intermixed. The farmer would have had every right to take action against his enemy and the family of his enemy. At the very least, those who worked his fields expected that he would want them to pull the weeds out, so no one would see that they were growing among the good plants.

But the farmer took a different approach. Like Mom with the beans, he let the weeds continue to grow. Pulling them would have damaged the crop, because the stalks of the wheat would be trampled in the process of getting all the weeds out. Instead, he waited until the grain was ripe. Then the weeds could be pulled and destroyed. The wheat could be gathered and stored in the barn for use during the year.

Jesus explained to his disciples later that he himself, the Son of Man, was the farmer. The field is the world and the good seed represents the children of the kingdom. Those children of the kingdom can be led astray by others who are not of the kingdom, who deceive them and lead them to do evil. At the end of time, the children of the kingdom who have remained faithful “will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” The others will be like the weeds, destroyed as worthless instruments of hatred as were the weed seeds sowed by the farmer’s enemy.

This can be a rather frightening teaching. Would God really judge people so harshly and condemn the wrongdoer? What hope is there for any of us if that’s the way it is?

We get a hint of the answer in the book of Wisdom. This book was written sometime during the last hundred years before Christ. The author was probably Jewish, but Greek-speaking and possibly from Alexandria, Egypt. Alexandria was a great center of power and learning in the ancient world.

The author points out that God does not have to justify to anyone else actions He takes, because there are no other, or superior, gods. God’s own power is the source of justice. But that justice is not harsh. God’s mastery over everything leads to lenience to all. God teaches His people through mercy that they are to be kind and merciful themselves. “You taught your people, by these deeds, that those who are just must be kind…”

Those who choose to turn away from God and refuse to turn back and accept forgiveness, will remain separated, because God has given freedom to each person to choose how to respond. But God is merciful, and at the slightest turn toward the good, God will be waiting with open arms to welcome the one returning.

God is willing to wait, like the farmer with a field full of weeds, until each person, aided by the Spirit, turns to the Father of all, becoming part of the good harvest.

There’s a lesson for each of us here as well. When we are hurt or disappointed or embarrassed by someone else, we too have to decide whether to pull the weeds or patiently wait and hope that the situation will improve with time. Sometimes, things get better on their own. Sometimes they don’t. Sometimes, for our own safety, we have to pull the weeds – moving out of dangerous relationships or situations. But other times, we simply need to wait for someone to grow up or to realize that a change is needed. At that point, it’s better not to pull the weed and cut off the possibility of reconciliation.

Let’s pray this week for wisdom to know when to weed and when to wait as we deal with the good times and the challenging times of our lives.

Readings for the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle A

 

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Posted by on Jul 16, 2023

Rain, Seed, Harvest – the Word of God

Rain, Seed, Harvest – the Word of God

“My word shall not return to me void.”

One of the great mysteries of life is the way everything grows from a tiny beginning. Even single cell creatures must start somehow. Division of a single cell into two is a common mode of birth for such beings. But they are not fully grown at the time they pop into being. Both the old and new cells are smaller than the original one had become at the time of the division.

For larger creatures, dividing and forming an exact copy of an older one is not an option. The pattern we see is of a very small cell with genetic material that somehow guides it as it grows and changes into increasingly more complex states. Eventually, the organism gets large enough and developed enough to survive on its own and even reproduce.

The prophet Isaiah reminds the people of his time (and all of us) that the rain and snow which fall on the earth are essential for the growth of the plants on which we all depend. They come from the heavens and return only after fulfilling their role on earth. The Lord, through his prophet, says that his word is the same in this regard. The Lord’s word goes forth from heaven and does not return until its purpose has been attained.

Jesus speaks of this same reality and the conditions that affect the way the process unfolds. “A sower went out to sow.” Those who are not close to the land may never have experienced the scenario Jesus presents. Seeds are very small. Traditionally, they were scattered by hand out onto the fields. Later, machines were invented to throw the seeds out in a pattern onto the fields. Today, there are even more precise machines that poke the seeds into the soil one-by-one and add a bit of fertilizer to help the seed grow. There is much more accuracy to today’s planting methods, and presumably, better yields at harvest time. The newer method also allows farmers to care for the soil more effectively, not having to plow under the remaining short stalks and roots of the prior year’s crop and risk having the soil blown away in a windstorm or washed away in the rain.

But when Jesus was speaking, and even today for farmers around the world, seeds were tossed out across the land by the farmers. Fields are not typically surrounded by solid walls. They are bordered by roads or paths. The soil on the path or road is hard. Seeds may sprout, but only with difficulty. Lots of them become food for the birds or other small animals. Then there are the areas where there are lots of rocks. Not a lot of soil to cuddle around the roots of the plants there either. Again, they don’t survive in large numbers. They are easy to pull and dry out quickly. And then the thorns. Have you ever tried to grow a lawn or garden beside a berry patch? The berry plants send out roots far into the area around them. Anything growing inside the berry patch is not going to produce well. The berries pull the nutrients for their own fruit. It’s a continual battle to beat back the berries and let the grass grow. The same goes for wheat and other grain crops growing beside thorny plants.

Fortunately, there are large expanses of land which are not filled with rocks or thorns onto which the seeds also can fall. In a good year, with adequate rain and dry weather as the grain matures and harvest time nears, a good crop will be harvested.

I grew up in a family in which some members were and still are farmers. In Eastern Washington, farmers often grow winter wheat. It is planted in the fall and sprouts before everything gets too cold. Then the snow comes and covers the land. Growth stops, but the plants are protected from the extreme cold that would kill them if they weren’t small and insulated. As the snow melts, the ground is watered and growth resumes. By June, the crop is growing beautifully, forming heads of seeds for the next season. The plants don’t know it, but they are also growing to be food for humans and animals. As the season moves on to August, we all hold our breath. Will the weather hold until the grain can be harvested? Will the storms that inevitably come through go around the family farms?

Lives can be and have been changed dramatically by the luck of the weather. Two harvests-hailed-out in a row sent my grandparents from Montana to Spokane, Washington, where Grandpa worked as a brake mechanic for the city bus lines for the rest of his career. Other relatives had better luck. The harvests were good enough to keep going another year. It’s not surprising that farmers take pictures of their fields as the grain is growing. It’s so beautiful. And then they take pictures of the harvest too!

For Jesus, there was a lesson to be learned from the sowing and harvesting. The word comes forth from the Father. It lands in different ways among the people who hear it. Some simply don’t understand what they are hearing and are easily convinced that it means nothing for them. Some receive it happily, but when opposition arises, they don’t hold on to it. Some hear it and want to grow, but they get worried about the future and how they’ll get along, and they can’t keep going. But there are some who hear the word and it takes deep root within them. These are the ones whose faith sustains them, allows them to share with others, and carries the Father’s word forward in the world. The community grows as the word is shared and lived.

Sometimes we can get to thinking in very abstract ways about questions of faith. How does God do this or that? Who or what is God? Why does God let bad things happen? Why can’t God do bad things? Or can he? Many, many questions and concerns. But the very basic reality is that God is both practical and optimistic. God sends out a word to bring forth all of creation. God’s word is like a tiny seed, that grows and bears fruit, including seeds to continue the cycle. Each time, more are created.

St. Paul tells us that creation itself is waiting, groaning in labor pains, for the triumph of the harvest of the freedom of the children of God. The word of the sower grows in all of creation and in human society, as we learn to care for each other and this home we have in common, our Earth. When we accept the love and forgiveness of God, and become God’s children, the word is fulfilled and returns to the Father.

As we move through this coming week, may we be alert to the ways in which the word has been sown in our lives. Are we open to growing in love? Are we sharing a smile? Are we patiently helping a family member or friend who simply needs a hand now and again? Where are the seeds sown in our lives taking us? Are we ready and willing to go?

Readings for the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle A

 

Many thanks for this photo to my “cousin” Scott whose uncle and my aunt were married. Scott took this photo of one of his fields a few years ago.

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Posted by on Jul 9, 2023

Easy Yokes and Light Burdens

Easy Yokes and Light Burdens

What do you expect of a ruler? Someone strong and decisive? Someone confident and willing to make decisions? Or someone who asks questions and listens carefully to the answers that come even from the lowest social and economic tier of workers?

Zechariah speaks in prophetic form of the ruler who will come to Jerusalem. “Thus says the Lord …” lets all know that these are not the thoughts or dreams of the one who speaks. They are words received in prophecy, oracles that shed light on the thoughts and plans of the divine.

And what does the oracle foretell? “Rejoice heartily, O daughter Zion, shout for joy, O daughter Jerusalem!” Why should Zion shout for joy? Because a king is coming who will not be a warrior. A ruler who is just and humble, so humble, in fact, that he will ride a young donkey into town. Kings typically arrived with a great retinue of folks – trumpeters, chariots, archers, foot soldiers, and finally, the carriage in which the ruler rode. Servants and courtiers also traveled with the ruler, to make a luxurious camp or set up housekeeping in the home of a local noble. Rulers didn’t ride donkeys, especially not very young donkeys. They rode majestic horses or in fabulous chariots or carriages.

But this ruler foreseen by Zecharia is to come proclaiming peace to the nations. This one will rule over all the land, not just the land of Israel. All the ends of the earth. When Jesus chose to enter the city of Jerusalem riding on a donkey, he was absolutely aware of this oracle and what it would mean to the people of his community. This was a claim to being the one who was to come, the king who would rule the entire world. The people who witnessed his arrival understood clearly what he was saying. So did the rulers of Jerusalem.

What kind of ruler would he be and who would recognize and accept him? Jesus had thought about who would be open to recognizing this long-awaited king. It would not be the wise and learned, the teachers and priests of the temple or the most educated people in each little town. It would be the ordinary folks, the “little ones” who must depend totally on God’s care and help to get by in their lives. These would recognize the Father’s presence in the Son’s love and teaching.

What kind of ruler? That’s the big question. Would this one who knows the Father personally throw his weight around and demand great works of daring and costly sacrifice to elevate his stature?

Jesus answers clearly. “Come to me all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.” I’m not going to demand that you keep working so hard before I love you. I don’t expect you to give me rich gifts and build up my ego. “I will give you rest.” I am humble and will serve gently those who come to me. “My yoke is easy, and my burden light.” I don’t ask for costly sacrifices, or long, unhappy, pressured hours of work. I will be there helping to make our time together pleasant and to share the carrying of life’s burdens.

As we move through this coming week, let us remember and rejoice with Daughter Zion that the Lord has come. The yoke of servitude has been replaced with a shared journey through life. No one is alone. The Lord is always with us, our partner in the yoke, helping us handle the challenges life throws our way and reminding us to reach out to each other in love and trust, so no one is left with an unbearable burden.

“My yoke is easy and my burden light.”

Readings for the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle A

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