Wednesday, December 28, 2016

Experiencing God 226 The Laborers' Struggle

 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard. About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing.  He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right. So they went.  He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing? Because no one has hired us, they answered.  He said to them, You also go and work in my vineyard. 

When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman. Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.  The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius.  When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner.  These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day. But he answered one of them, I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius?  Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you.  Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ So the last will be first, and the first will be last.
Gospel of Matthew

In the early nineties, I was asked to chair a committee which was set up to begin a recognition and awards program for the office employees.  The purpose was to increase motivation and moral in the office by recognizing employee achievements.

The first thing the committee decided upon was to give awards based on years of service.  From that point on, anyone achieving ten years of service would receive a pin, and anyone achieving twenty years service would receive a pen with their name engraved on it.

What surprised the committee were the complaints that begin to come in from those who had previously achieved their ten and twenty years of service.  They wanted the awards as well.  Their complaints were so vocal that the committee changed their plans and gave these token awards to all staff who had previously achieved their service requirements.  

In the workplace, there is nothing that irks employees more than to see a staff member receive a benefit that has not been given to them as well. It generates a sense of injustice and a feeling of unfairness.

So we can see why the above Gospel reading is a challenge to us. Why should someone who worked for only one hour get paid the same wage as the one who worked all day; and to add insult to injury, to get paid first?  This opens up other questions as well. Why does one person live to the ripe old age of one hundred, while another dies in the prime of their life?  Why are some people good looking, smart, rich, etc. while others struggle financial, are unpopular, and never seem to get ahead?  These are questions we all struggle with.  And the reason we struggle so much with them is because they challenge our human perception of reality and fairness. 

What Jesus is telling us in this Gospel parable is that God does not measure things by our human standards and perceptions. 

The great scripture writers of the past (and this applies not only to Christianity but all of the world religions) have emphasized that we must not get too caught up in the standards ingrained in human consciousness as to what is important and what is not. The human ego will always focus on "self" and looking after "oneself" first. God's focus is on the "other". God's focus and concern is on us. 

The "First Principal and Foundation of Faith" found in the St. Ignatius Exercises speaks of God's focus.

"We are created to praise, reverence and serve God our Lord, and by this means to save our soul.  The other things on the face of the earth are created to help us in attaining this end, for which we were created.  Therefore, we are to make use of things in as far as they help us in the attainment of this end, and rid ourselves of them in as far as they prove a hindrance.

Therefore, we must make ourselves indifferent to all created things, as far as we are allowed free choice and are not under any prohibition.  Consequently, as far as we are concerned, we should not prefer health to sickness, riches to poverty, honor to dishonor, long life to short life.  The same holds for all other things.  Our one desire and choice should be what is more conducive to the end for which we are created."   

God's plan for creation has little to do with what we are able to attain for ourselves, but everything to do with how we use ourselves and our gifts to build His Kingdom among us.  We all possess a strong human urge that works against this, yet dying to "self" will always be the means by which we give witness to God's presence and love.  This gives answer to the very curious phrase at the conclusion of the parable:  "Therefore, the last will be first, and the first will be last."

Monday, December 26, 2016

Experiencing God 225 Our Illusion Of Greatness

"After leaving the synagogue, Jesus, James, and John went home with Simon and Andrew. Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed, sick with a fever, and they told Jesus about her at once. He went to her, took her by the hand, and raised her up. The fever left her, and she served them. That evening, at sunset, people brought to Jesus those who were sick or demon-possessed. The whole town gathered near the door. He healed many who were sick with all kinds of diseases, and he threw out many demons. 
Gospel of Mark

Most of you probably recall the intriguing story surrounding Jim and Tammy Faye Baker. Back in the eighties, they were well known for their involvement in the PTL (Praise The Lord) Club. I'm sure that when this couple graduated from Bible school in Minneapolis in 1961 to become itinerant evangelists, their intentions for being good Christian witnesses was probably real. As they clung to their early victories and successes in their ministry, their fame eventually rose to where they had an audience of over twelve million TV viewers, and they had contributions in excess of one million dollars a week flowing into their coffers. At the peak of his ministry, Jimmy Baker had been recorded as saying: "I believe that if Jesus were alive today, He would be on TV."
Of course, we all know that the Baker reign finally ended when it was revealed that he had lost large sums of money donated by thousands of people for the right of memberships in a luxury hotel at "Heritage" which did not exist.  

Its easy for any of us to get caught up in our successes to the point where what started out as God's will becomes only our will.  Many times this happens at a subconscious level even before we are aware of it.  Has this happened to me?  Many times.  The fact is, we like to do what we do well.  We like the attention it brings us, and often times, we see our successes as God's special gift to us.

In the above Gospel account, Jesus is having all kinds of those successes.  He cures Simon Peter's mother-in-law.  He cures all the diseases of those who are brought to Him.  Devils are being cast out, lame people are walking, blind people are seeing, deaf people are hearing.  If anyone could lay claim to being a great healer, it is Jesus.  We read: "The crowds were looking for Him and when they caught up with Him, they wanted to prevent Him from leaving."  Jesus' response to them was: "That's not the reason I'm here.  "I've come  to proclaim the good news in other places as well." 

If anything should convince us that Jesus is who He says He is, it should be the fact that He refuses to get caught up in our ego centered world.  He refuses to cling to all those illusions of success, illusions of importance, illusions of power that so easily take us off God's path and place us on our own path.  Often this path that we take leads to greater suffering, not only for ourselves, but for others.  

Jesus' success to sticking to God's plan is tied up in one line of our Gospel reading.  "When daylight came, He left the house and made His way to a deserted place to pray."  

If Baker had taken the time to leave his glittery life style and go to a deserted place by himself and really pray, then perhaps he would have heard that quiet voice within that spoke of God's plan for him, and not the plan he had for himself.  

"Doing" is great.  We all need to be "doing"; but if our "doing" is not guided by the Spirit discovered during the times that we spend in secret, in a deserted place; then how can we get in touch with God's hidden presence to seek the guidance we need.  We will only be guided by our own illusions, our own little successes, our own need for recognition or power.       

Monday, December 19, 2016

Experiencing God 224 Act Justly, Love Kindly, Walk Humbly

"With what shall I come before the Lord?  What is good, and what does the Lord require of me. To Act Justly, To love kindly, and to walk humbly with God"
Micah

If you have ever visited St. John XXIII Church, you may have noticed a banner over the choir area of the church with this particular quote from the sixth chapter of the prophet Micah.  

Too often in church life, we impose expectations on ourselves and others that often go far beyond what is necessary or acceptable. One of the root causes of this is that we get so caught up in what we are doing that we forget the real reason as to why we are doing it. And worse still, we become quite indigent if someone tries to interfere by suggesting an alternative way.  When this happens, then we have stepped beyond what is acceptable and forgotten the basics of "acting justly", "loving kindly" and "walking humbly with God".

St. Paul has written a lot about this in his letters to the Thessalonians.  

The doctrinal importance of these two short letters cannot be understated.  They were written to the small Christian community in Northern Greece to help them focus on what was really important in the practice of Christian faith.  It had nothing to do with having the best choir, the best church, the best homilies, or the best program.  These things were not even mentioned in the letters.  I would like to take a quick look at what St. Paul is emphasizing as important to the new community in Thessalonia.   

1.  The qualities of faith, hope and love is really what characterizes the Christian way of life.  Are you growing in these attributes, and are you encouraging others in these areas?
2.  Jesus is our Lord, the Son of God raised to new life.  For those who accept and live by this truth share in this promise of new life.
3.  God has given the Holy Spirit to assist those who believe in the Good News of Christ.
4.  Christians must grow in and live a life of chastity, justice, order and charity, working at our tasks in the expectation of Christ's coming anew.
5.  Persecution and resistance is an integral part of the Christian vocation.
6.  The nature of the apostolic mission is a commission from God and is to be discharged with a disinterested love, in constant prayer and thanksgiving. 
7.  Our success in this apostolic mission depends not on ourselves, but on the power of Grace.  Confidence in prayer and the Presence of Grace is necessary for growth in the Christian life. 

In the Gospels, the ones who created the greatest resistance to this plan were the Scribes and the Pharisees.   Woes or warnings were issued to them often.  Most of these warning had to do with their insistence of following external practices that lead to an attitude of self-justification for those who practiced them but a burden for those who failed.  

"Woe to you Scribes and Pharisees, for you are like white-washed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful, but inside they are full of bones of the dead."  

As a result, they neglected the basics. 

"With what shall I come before the Lord:  To Act Justly, To Love Kindly, and to Walk humbly with my God."

Sunday, December 18, 2016

Experiencing God 223 On Missing The Mark

Within my earthly temple there’s a crowd;
There’s one of us that’s humble, one that’s proud.
There’s one that’s broken hearted for his sins,
There’s one that unrepentant, sits and grins.
There’s one that love his neighbour as himself,
And one that cares for naught but fame and wealth.
From much corroding care I should be free,
If I could once determine which is me. 
Poem by Edward Martin

At the beginning of each of our church services, we say the prayer of contrition, acknowledging that we have missed the mark, we have failed to meet the standards of holiness that we know God is calling us too.

I believe we can all acknowledge that we often miss the mark; we fall short. But is it much more difficult for us to know why we do it, and then take the appropriate action to correct the inappropriate behavior. 

So I got angry at the kids and shouted at them again.  I was unkind to the lady at the supermarket.  I ate too much at the party last night and was up most of the night.  There appears to be a breakdown in communication between what I know to be correct and what I actually do. 

Sin or missing the mark is like living with a divided self. There is the inner self that knows what is right, but another self that fails to respond in the most appropriate fashion.  

In chapter seven of Romans, St. Paul explains the problem this way:

"I do not understand my own actions.  For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh.  I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me."

In his commentary on "Inner Conflict", St. Paul speaks at length about this divided self, how it comes about, and what to do about.  For St. Paul, the answer to the dilemma is to be found in the person of Christ and the gift of grace.  

It is not enough just to understand this intellectually.  It's not enough just to know that Jesus died for my sins; that I am forgiven.  And it is not enough to know that if I do this, I will be with Him some day in heaven.  This understanding does not resolve the problem of the split that we experience within ourselves, between what we know to be right and what we do.  We must also surrender to and experience the Grace that is able to enter this split within ourselves in order to heal the brokenness that lies there.  What is this Grace?

The word Grace means gift.  A gift is something that you do not buy.  There is no price you can put on it. This gift is just there.  It's a gift that comes from within.  Why is it there?  We don't know.  It just is.  You can call it Spirit.  You can call it love.  You can call it God.  The name is not that important. Grace is symbolic of "the power of God within us". 

St. Paul concluded his chapter seven of Romans with the following:  "Wretched man then I am.  Who will rescue me from this body of death.  Thanks be to God through Christ Jesus our Lord."

To be healed of our brokenness requires more than believing, although believing is a great place to start.  Like St. Paul, we must be open to receiving the gift of Grace, and we must surrender to it.  Grace is efficacious; that is, it effects the change within us that it symbolizes. It symbolizes the power of God within. Grace draws our Spirit in union with Christ's Spirit so that we may live a life of Grace. 

We are on a journey towards wholeness.  Grace gives us the ability to change.  Although we will continue to struggle against the forces of our false self which seem to have dominion over us, surrendering to Grace must be the refuge we seek.  

Saturday, December 17, 2016

Experiencing God 222 The teacher Leaning Hard On Thee.

LORD, who am I to teach the way
To little children day by day,
So prone myself to go astray?

I teach them KNOWLEDGE, but I know
How faint they flicker and how low
The candles of my knowledge glow. 

I teach them POWER to will and do,
But only now to learn anew
My own great weakness through and through.

I teach them LOVE for all mankind
And all God’s creatures, but I find
My love comes lagging far behind.

Lord, if their guide I still must be,
Oh let the little children see
The teacher leaning hard on Thee. 

The Teacher by Leslie Hill


I thought this poem to be very appropriate on the Feast Day of Simon and Jude because very little is known about them.  For those who are accustomed to hearing a long list of achievements and sacrifices accompanying our Saints, Simon and Jude will be a disappointment.  But, then again, maybe they can serve as a reminder to all of us that apostleship has really little to do with a record of achievements. 

As expressed in the poem, it has much more to do with leaning hard, by faith, on the one who calls us into discipleship in the first place.  

Simon and Jude were called to be apostles of  Christ.  They said "yes" to that request.  This "yes" to Christ for them meant that they were to share, as best they could, Jesus' message that the Kingdom of God is close at hand.  The message that they taught is beautifully captured by St. Paul in his writing to the Ephesians during those early years when the church was just beginning.  St. Paul's message was for all people, but in a particular way, for the Gentiles who found themselves not only outside, but alienated from the Jewish culture and tradition.

"You are no longer aliens or foreign visitors.  You are citizens like all the saints and part of God's household.  You are part of a building that has the apostles and prophets for its foundation;  and Jesus Himself for its main cornerstone.  You too, referring to all people, are being built into a house where God lives in the Spirit. "

This vision of church presented by St. Paul is much more universal than what we find in his other letters.  In his other letters, St. Paul speaks of the church as being the Body of Christ from a local perspective, but in Ephesians, he blows that image away and emphasizes a universal image including people of all cultures. Jews and Gentiles are joined together as one great people of God.  In his earlier chapters of Ephesians, he announces that this is God's great plan, hidden from the beginning of the world.  It's as if God, through Christ, wishes to erase all social and religious barriers that had previously divided humankind into separate and conflicting groups, to create a united people, a new community of the faithful.

When we look at the world today with its seemingly unending conflicts, war and division, we must sometimes wonder how such a universal vision presented some two thousand years ago could ever take place.   

The way, as Jesus taught, the way as illustrated by the above poem, is not to be found in our own individual achievements and plans. 

Lord, if their guide I still must be, 
Oh let the little children see
The teacher leaning hard on Thee. 

Experiencing God 221 Remembrance Day

"Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”
Gospel of Matthew

On this remembrance day, we have just heard the Gospel story about the healing of the ten lepers. This group that met Jesus on the road were composed of both Jews and Samaritans. The companionship of those who are usually considered bitter enemies indicates the desperation of their condition, a condition which led them to depend on one another. So this group, who largely depended on the charity of others for survival, shouted after Jesus at a distance. Jesus’ response to them is a single command. They were told to show themselves to the priests whose responsibility it was to judge whether a leper was permitted to return to society. They obeyed Jesus’ instruction, and were healed of their affliction.

The jarring part of the story is that only one of them returned to express gratitude, even though all ten were healed.

And even more shocking to the people who witnessed this event is the fact that one who returned was a foreigner, a Samaritan.

Why did only one leper out of the ten return to show gratitude? Without passing judgement on the nine who continued on their journey, let’s take a look at the one who returned. It is said that he was filled with gratitude for what had been done for him.

If we look at gratitude or gratefulness, we discover that it is related to grace. Gratefulness means “the release of loveliness”. It is the quality of the heart which responds with graciousness in expressing an act of thanksgiving.

I just finished a book by Caroline Myss called “Invisible Acts of Power”. This book is full of stories of people whose lives were transformed, changed forever, because of a small and often invisible acts of kindness performed by someone to a person in need.  Some were given money when desperately broke. Others were given encouragement when filled with despair. Others were challenged to pursue a gift or talent. These small invisible acts were received with overflowing gratitude because it gave witness to something much greater than the act itself. I was loved, I was accepted, even during the time when I was unable to love and accept myself; at the time of my greatest need.

The Samaritan approached Jesus with reverence, and gave praise to God. He was able, through grace, to recognize, to appreciate the mercy and love shown to him, given to him, as a free gift, during a time when hope was lost. Are we able to recognize those times in which we should be filled with gratefulness as well?

St. Paul showed this depth of gratitude when he wrote in Titus: "For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions, passing our days in malice and envy, despicable, hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God appeared, He saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to His mercy and love.
The faith of all the lepers led to their physical healing; and who knows, perhaps it was more than this for the others as well; but for the Samaritan, at least, the healing brought salvation through wholeness and a proper relationship to God.

In the book “Invisible Acts of Power”, it was the people who received their unexpected gift with “gratefulness” that were changed and transformed. They in turn, began to “release their loveliness” on those around them. Where ingratitude easily leads to a poor return for kindness received, intolerance towards others, discontentment and grumbling; gratefulness leads to the opposite. It seems that it is the grateful who wish to fight the objects of despair, darkness and poverty they see around them with a release of their own loveliness upon those they encounter.

It is from this that we can better understand John MacRae's poem, "In Flanders Fields".

Take up our quarrel with the foe; 
To you from failing hands we throw the torch: 
Be yours to hold it high. 
If you break faith with us who die we shall not sleep, 
though poppies grow in Flanders fields.

Remembrance day is not just a time to fast and mourn. It is not just a time to remember those who died in war. Still less, is it not a time to say that war or fighting in war is good and honorable. But it is a time to show gratitude to those who, through no desire of their own, chose to confront the despair, darkness and poverty they saw, that threatened the hope and freedom of those they loved. It is a time that we in turn commit ourselves in the struggle against despair, darkness and poverty, the things that lead to war, so that war will not happen again.

This Remembrance Day, like the leper healed of his affliction, we return to show gratitude. We share a hope, a freedom, a gift of life made possible through the love and sacrifice of those who have acted on our behalf. And through the grace of our gratitude, we are urged to participate in the ways that lead to peace.

Experiencing God 220 The Joy Of Giving

"For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property.  To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away.  He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more.  So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money."
Gospel of Matthew

A few years ago, I found an article in the newspaper called "Questions to ask before you say yes".  If started out with the following story:

"For months, I had spent time helping Jane to understand why she needed Jesus.  As we studied the Gospel story of the parable of the talents found in Matthew, she suddenly recognized that such a truth demanded a decision.  There was a brief heavy silence.  Then, "No".  I could never be a Christian", Jane announced.  "I don't have time for all those church meetings."  Amazed, I tried to convince her that she had gotten the wrong idea about what it meant to be a Christian. But she had made up her mind.  Just then, her children came home from school, and the moment was lost.  Sadly, I walked back to my house.  Had I given her that impression of Christianity?  Did something so vital and wonderful as a relationship with Christ appear to an onlooker as no more than a requirement to attend all those meetings.  I'm still troubled by my friend's conclusion."

We all know the parable of the talents found in Matthew's Gospel.  I don't know if a reflection on this particular parable has ever actually been instrumental in a person deciding not to become a Christian, but I do believe it poses a problem to most of us at times by raising the question: "Am I doing enough".  This can generate a sense of guilt as to the extent of our involvements.  Is this what Jesus intended when he shared this parable with His disciples on the road to Jerusalem?  Although it may be a healthy exercise to reflect periodically on ones involvements, and to decide how best to use ones gifts, I don't think the parable was written for that purpose.  

In its present form, the parable is designed to answer questions as to what we are suppose to do during the time between the resurrection of Christ and our present day.  Are we to sit around idle, preserving the status quo, waiting in wonder for Jesus to return, or are we to get on with the business at hand; being the eyes, ears, feet and hands of Christ for the world.  The problem encountered in the parable story, the servant with the one talent placed it in a hole in the ground.  He was not open to God's action in his life.  He lived with a closed and fearful heart incapable of seeing and sharing the abundance of riches that was part of his graced filled inheritance.  He chose to ignore it, or as it is described, he chose to bury it in the ground.  And because he buried it, he lost it.  

This gives rise to the question:  Am I fully aware of God's presence in my life?  Am I open to receive God's abundant grace and love, and be a carrier of that grace to those I encounter in my day to day journey?  Am I willing to be one who participates, in whatever way I can, in building God's kingdom, right here, right now.  

It has nothing to do with multitasking.  It has everything to do with openness, awareness, and willingness to be a part of a dynamic grace driven process of which we are all a part.  

If our purpose and mission is kept on the forefront of our minds, then the ways and means by which each of us fulfill this purpose and mission will fall into its rightful place.  It should not be driven by a duty filled obligation to attend all of those meetings, or whatever else that is motivated by guilt or shame.  Our action must give rise to a joy, not only from gratitude for the gift that is present, but for the opportunity to share it.   

Experiencing God 219 The Narrow Way Is Not Sensational

"As Jesus cured many who were sick, and cast out demons, He would not permit the demons to speak because they knew Him".
Gospel of Mark

In the above Gospel quote from Mark, we hear about many miracles that Jesus is performing.  The first was Simon Peter's mother-in-law, followed by many who were sick and possessed with demons. We read that during that evening, the whole city gathered around the place where Jesus was staying, many who were sick with various diseases.  Included with the healing stories is one phrase which can be easily missed.   "As Jesus cured many who were sick, and cast out demons, He would not permit the demons to speak because they knew Him".  

If you examine closely the gospel of Mark, this phrase is repeated over and over.  Lets just look at a few:

In Ch. 1 vs. 44, after healing a leper, Jesus says: "See that you say nothing to anyone".

In Ch. 3. vs. 12, when Jesus was curing many in the regions of Tyre and Sidon, we read: "Whenever unclean spirits saw Him, they fell before Him, and shouted; you are the Son of God, but He sternly ordered them not to make Him known."

In Ch. 5, after healing the high priest's daughter who had died, we read:  "He strictly ordered them that no one should know this."

In Ch. 7, vs 36, after healing the deaf man, we  read: "Jesus ordered those present to tell no one.

In Ch. 8, vs 30, when Jesus asked His disciples "who do you say that I am", and Peter gave the answer: "you are the Messiah", Jesus again sternly ordered them: Tell no one about Me."

In Ch. 9, vs 9, after witnessing the transfiguration, we read: "Jesus ordered Peter, James and John to tell no one about what they had seen."

Why all the secrecy?  

I believe the answer can be found in the following reading from Mark:

"In the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up and went out to a deserted place, and they He prayed.  And Simon and his companions hunted for Him.  When they found Him, they said: Everyone is searching for you.  He answered: Let us go to the neighboring towns so that I may proclaim the message there also, for that is what I come to do."

Simon and his companions were excited that morning when they found Jesus.  "Everyone is searching for you".  Jesus knows people well.  And He knew that if He got caught up in this popularity  frenzy, His true mission could never be accomplished, and people would have no understanding as to why He was called in the first place.  Jesus had compassion for the people He met.  He wanted them to experience wholeness, to be free of enslavement: So he healed them of their ailments.  But He knew that His purpose was not contained in this alone.  He came to proclaim that the Kingdom of God was at hand and the path to attain it could not be found in the sensational. 

Jesus' true identity as Messiah can only be realized when we examine His entire life and mission, not just the sensational.  Jesus wants to make clear that the path to the Kingdom is through self-emptying, which means becoming powerless in the ways of the world.  "Jesus did not deem his equality with God as something to be grasped at, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave."

Jesus' Messiah-ship is based on following God's will, which means allowing the small "self", the "ego" to diminish so that the "true self" may become our true identity.  And this is not the way of the sensational, but of obedience, submission and surrender to the truth revealed to us by Christ.  Jesus would describe "the way" as narrow, that few would choose it, because it is not the popular choice.

Friday, December 16, 2016

Experiencing God 218 The Path Of Life

"I write to you young people because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you.  Do not love the things of the world.  The love of the Father is not in those who love the world, for all that is in the world, the desire of the eyes, the pride in riches, comes not from the Father, but from the world."
First letter of John

I believe we can all say that the things of the world are not evil.  In fact, they are good.  Everything has been created for our use and enjoyment, just as we ourselves are called to live in gratitude and thanksgiving for life.  The problem comes, of course, when we become attached to and are compulsively driven to attain the things of the world.  Suddenly the desire of our eyes, and the pride of attainment become our primary focus.  We become slaves to the things that were met for our use and enjoyment. 

If we are driven with the desire to attain, then we cannot abide in God's love or will.  It is as simple as that.  We are substituting, consciously and sub-consciously, one desire for another.  Why is it harmful to us?  Because the things of the world are passing away.  Wholeness and fullness can never be accomplished through things. 

If we place our hope in passing things, then we place our hope in that which cannot possibly fulfill our deepest and inmost desires. This can only be done my placing our hope in that which is eternal. 

From "Wisdom" literature around the world in every faith expression we hear:  "To place our hope in that which is not permanent, in that which is passing, is "foolishness".  So why is it so easy to get caught up in passing things?

One of the main reasons is because things are visible to us, and provide us with a certain temporary sense of satisfaction, comfort and security.  They satisfy the "small self", the very thing Jesus encourages us to let go of.  "Dying to self", our small self, was Jesus' commission for Himself  and for us in order that the Kingdom of God may be revealed and made present in our lives as it was in His.  So our inordinate desire or attachment to things directly opposes our seeing and experiencing God's Kingdom, God's Presence.  

What do we hope for?  Where do we place our hope?  Like Peter, we have to respond:  "Where is it we are to go?  You and only you have shown us the path to life."  

Experiencing God 217 The Love That Makes Us Whole

To the one who returned with gratitude, Jesus said: "Stand up and go, your faith has made you well."
Gospel of Luke

Recently, the Archbishop met with the Deacons, Candidates, and their wives to discuss his third pastoral priority for the "year of faith".  This priority has to do with the New Evangelization as it relates to Christian Marriage and Family.  

Before he began any discussion on marriage and family, he spoke to us at length on faith.  What is faith, he asked.  Then he went on to explain that faith is a response from the heart.  It is an expression of gratitude, an expression of amazement -- an amazement at the unconditional love offered us by God through our connection with the person of Christ.  Through faith, we have the experience of being loved because we are accepted, we are forgiven.  He said that with faith, there is a "wow" factor which is really one of awe and amazement.  With God, everything changes for us.  Faith changes how we treat others.  It changes how we deal with the circumstances of our lives.  It changes who we are.  It shifts our priorities as to what is important.  With God, everything changes.

What is gratitude?  The ordinary definition is a feeling of appreciation and thankfulness.  It is something we normally feel when someone does something good for us, or it can be a general feeling that we have about life in general.  

In the Gospel quote above, Jesus, in His travels, has encountered ten lepers.  We are told that this group is made up of both Jews and Samaritans.  At a respectable distance away, the ten lepers begin to cry out:  "Jesus, master!  Have mercy on us!"  And Jesus sees them, and responds with compassion as to their plight.  He tells them to go show themselves to the priest.  

On their way to see the priest, they all discover that they are healed of their disease. As the story goes, only one returns to give thanks and praise for the healing.  And we hear that the one who returned is a Samaritan.  It was not the ones who were steeped in their Jewish faith tradition who returned, but the one who would be considered by the people of his day as an outsider.  

What did this one person have that the others seemed to lack.  I think we would all agree that he possessed the gift of gratitude, an appreciation and love for God's goodness to him.  He had a quality of the heart that resulted in gratitude and praise.  To this one who returned with gratitude, Jesus said:  "Stand up and go, your faith has made you well."

As the story goes, the faith of all the lepers led to a physical healing, but to the one with gratitude in his heart, this healing brought salvation through wholeness and a proper relationship with God.  

So what do we have to learn from this?  

To practice one's faith is a good thing.  We need to know things like our creed, our catechism, the teachings of the church, the rules.  We cannot discount the importance of these things.  However, it is equally as important and maybe even more important to have gratitude as the disposition of our heart.  Are you filled with gratitude for God's abundant love for you?  Are you overflowing with an appreciation and thankfulness for the abundance of God's blessings poured into your life; an abundance, though undeserved, is freely given?  Is your heart transformed by Jesus' personal love for you that finds its expression in many thousands of different ways each day?  Does your gratitude overflow to others that you encounter in your daily walk?

St Paul says to Titus:  "When the kindness and love of God for us was revealed, it was not because he was concerned with any righteous actions we might have done.  It was for no reason except His own compassion that He saves us and makes us whole.  

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Experiencing God 216 The Truth That Makes Us Free

"If you make my word your home, you will indeed be my disciples, and you will learn the truth, and the truth will make you free."
Gospel of Luke

The "word", which is really Christ Himself, must be incorporated within our very selves.  It has to be more than an intellectual understanding.  We must be comfortable with living out that word in our day to day lives.  And when the "word" is deeply planted in our being, then as Christ promised, the truth will be revealed to us, a truth that results in our freedom.  This is not a future freedom.  It is a freedom in the here and now. 

So what is this freedom?

On my last ten or so retreats, I have followed Fr. George Maloney's retreat book called "Alone with the Alone". The forth day of this eight day retreat experience is called: "Jesus, the freest of all persons".  It starts out with the following:

"The work of Jesus is to bring us into greater and greater freedom as children of God.  Jesus still lives among us, touching us, freeing us by the love that He pours into our hearts through the Spirit.  He seeks to free us from our unreal selves by allowing us to know our real selves in loving relationship to Him and the Father." 

In our culture, false notions of truth and freedom are often presented to us.  In our culture, truth is often considered as something relative to the criteria that we may personally choose, and freedom has to do with doing whatever we please, regardless of what God or others may think.  

When we examine these false notions of truth and freedom, we discover that instead of being liberated, they become the opposite; they become enslaving.  There are probably many reasons for this, but the most obvious reason is that these false notions cause a separateness between our "true self" and the "self" we perceive ourselves to be.  Our interior "true self" begins to battle with the "self" we perceive ourselves to be which become reflected in our distorted exterior behavior.  

All of us have been made in the image and likeness of God.  It was St. Irenaeus who said: "The glory of God is a person, fully human and fully alive."  Jesus lived more fully human and alive than any other human person because in every situation, in every human encounter, He lived from His "true self". Jesus adapts wonderfully to each situation in life because He seeks always the loving presence of His Father in every event.  The Father is His guide and master, and Jesus seeks only to act and react insofar as he can glorify the Father. He is freed from self-absorption as He responds with the fullness of His Being to living each moment in accordance to that disposition that flowed from His "true self".  

Jesus proclaims:  "I do nothing of myself; what the Father has taught me is what I preach.  He who sent me is with me, and has not left me to myself.  For I always do what pleases Him."  

This is why Jesus can say to the Pharisees:  "If you reject me, then you reject also the one who sent me."  

True freedom can never be found in doing what we please, when we please.  True freedom is found where Jesus found it: That is when we see ourselves and each of our life's encounters as being in living relationship and harmony the Father. 

Experiencing God 215 Transformed By Love

"I love because God loves me first."
Letter of John

I recall quite vividly an elderly lady whose name was Margaret.  She use to sit in the very front row of our church.  Often times when I greeted Margaret, she would tell me just how much she loved God.  Her love for God and God's love for her was something that was very real to her.  And often times, when she spoke to others, she would remark how special they were in God's eyes.  It was as if what she experienced personally in her own life was reflected in what she saw in others.

In the first letter of John, there is a powerful line full of meaning.  It reads: "I love because God loves me first."  This line has a particular significance to me because, until that moment I personally experienced God's love in a deep and personal way, I don't think I knew much about what love was.  But the moment that God's love broke into my life as an experienced reality, my life changed, and it continues to change as this realization deepens.  Change in what way?  My life changed in how I saw the exterior world.  The exterior world now seemed to be a reflection of what I was experiencing interiorly.  When I feel loved, the world seems to be a much more loving place. 

Two things are clearly evident from the Gospels:
1.  God's love for us extends to the point of Christ's willingness to die for us.  I wonder how much we fully experience the extent of this love.  And I wonder what our lives would be like if we did.  This love, when realized, has the ability to transform.
2.  Unfortunately, the Gospels also reveal that people generally prefer the darkness to the light.  They continue to live in and spread darkness.  I'm not sure if "prefer" is the right word.  Maybe there are those who just seem to prefer darkness because they have not yet experienced that deep penetrating encounter with the light, the light that can cut through all hardness of heart, and change one in an instant.  We cannot underestimate the power of Grace to work in the most unexpected places. and at the most unexpected times.  

Jesus tells Nicodemus:  "You cannot see God's Kingdom unless you are born from above, but the Spirit is like the wind; it blows where ever it pleases."  Our task is only to be a witness to the light, to be witness to God's love with its power to enlighten and change.  

Like my friend Margaret, are we not to reflect to the exterior world that which we experience interiorly?  What is that?  That through Christ, through this incredible mystery of His love for us, we are being saved, made whole. "We love because God loves us first."

Experiencing God 214 What Truly Is The Sign Of Jonah

"The only sign that will be given is the sign of Jonah."
Gospel of Luke

Usually when a new person begins to gain some attention on the world stage, whether it be a politician, a religious leader, or a business person, people become curious.  We ask; Who is this person? Is what they are saying really true?  Should we take this person seriously?  Should we respond to what they say?

Jesus has become such a person among the people of Israel.

In the gospel reading, Jesus is being challenged by the legal experts of the day to prove His credentials. Is He the anointed one?  "If you are who you say, show us a sign"  Jesus responds with the following two stories from the Hebrew Scriptures.

When rumors of Solomon's wisdom and wealth began to circulate around the world during his reign, the queen of Sheba came to investigate, to find out if what she had heard was true.  She saw, listened, and responded.  She changed

When Jonah appeared in Nineveh, that great pagan city outside the boundaries of Israel, the people of that city became very curious about this man and his message --"in forty days, unless you repent, you will be destroyed."  Would we also not pay attention if someone were to arrive with a message such as that.   Jonah's message was that unless the people listened and changed, the consequences would be dire for them.  They saw, listened and responded to his request.  

In the above gospel quote, Jesus is recalling these two past incidents as He responds to the demands that were imposed on Him by the people around Him: "If you are who you say you are, show us a sign.  Prove it."  Many people, particularly the religious leaders, were pressing Jesus to give them proof of His claims.  They were not content with what they saw and heard; they insisted on further signs.  They wanted more.  Probably in truth, they had already decided to reject Him and His message in their hearts, and only wanted to discredit Him.  

Jesus' message to them is really His same message to us today.  "The only sign that will be given to you is the sign of Jonah". The message of truth, the message of freedom from slavery from sin and hurtful desires is all out there now.  It requires only your response.  That response is to change. When you do, then God's Kingdom will be made visible to you.  What you are looking for is already evident, but your heart must first be open to receive it.  I can't force you to listen.  

This is an important lesson for us as we proceed with the New Evangelization initiatives that are so common today.  The purpose of these initiatives, of course, is to move towards meaningful ways to convey the message of Christ to those who are currently disengaged from faith and who have little or no  interest in faith practice. We cannot impose our views on others.  We cannot impose our rules and the message of the gospel on anyone whose heart is not open to listen and receive it.  It just does not work that way.  But we can and must propose the message of Christ in a way that hearts will be softened, that change will begin to take place.  It is then that the true message of Christ will break through, and the Kingdom of God will be revealed.   

The sign of Jonah that Jesus speaks about is the sign of seeing, listening, discerning, and responding by way of a change of heart.  

Our task is to propose the Good News of the Gospel to all who will listen, and for those who listen, engage them in meaningful ways to develop their faith.

Experiencing God 213 What is Christian Servanthood

Anyone who wants to be great among you must be your servant
Gospel of Matthew

This theme in Matthew's gospel is one that continuously runs through all four gospels.  It's a theme that the disciples had a very hard time to understand and implement in their lives.  It is also a theme that each one of us struggle with daily because it runs counter to our normal way of thinking and behaving.  It runs counter to the naturally born impulse that exists at the base of our human experience.  That impulse is to look after "self" first, and then consider others.  This impulse is reflected in our laws, in the ethics of our work places, in our culture.  Yet, it is not the stuff on which the Kingdom of God is built.

In Philippines, we read:  "Let each of you look not to your own interest, but to the interest of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ, who, though He was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave."

In the above gospel, Jesus first announces His ultimate act of self-emptying; dying on the cross; not a symbolic act of surrendering self like washing feet, but the real concrete action that would be impossible to turn back from or reverse.  To die for another requires a complete act of faith in God's underlying plan for humanity.

As any good mother would do, James and John's  mother steps forth with a request.  "Will you provide for my sons a special place of position in this Kingdom of yours -- one at your left and one at your right."  Would we want any less for our children?  But it shows that they do not understand.  Jesus is very kind in His response.  "What you ask for I cannot give!  Can they drink the cup that I am going to drink?  

Is He not speaking of His self-emptying?  Is He not speaking about moving beyond the flesh of the ego whose first concern is "self" and all that it implies?  

Putting oneself first is the natural response of the ego, but the Kingdom can only be discovered as we learn to pass by its demands to discover the domain that lies beyond it.  That domain is the Kingdom where God dwells.  

Jesus' response: "Anyone who wants to be the first among you, must be slave."  In other words, look not to your own interest but to the interest of others.  Empty yourself of "self".  Do that, be that, and the Kingdom of God is yours.

Perhaps another way of putting it is that this illusionary self, the ego self, that projects itself onto the world with its sense of importance and ambition blinds us to the true reality of God's Kingdom living and present among us, within us.  Deal with that and the Kingdom of God is yours.  

We can't be hard on the disciples without being hard on ourselves because we all suffer from the same inner impulse, but we can overcome this tendency by imitating Christ - "I have come, not to be served, but to serve, and to give my life as a ransom for many."