"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.
Tuesday, December 13, 2016
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."
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."
Saturday, January 16, 2016
Experiencing God 212 Our Need to Wait
" I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now"
Gospel of Matthew
This is a very curious remark that Jesus said to His apostles in the upper room. What does it mean? Could it mean that the apostles have been overloaded with information and they cannot absorb anything else. Could it mean that that if Jesus spoke in greater depth, it would just go over the apostles' heads.
I think the true meaning of what Jesus is saying can be found in the statement that follows: "When the Spirit of truth comes, He will lead you to the complete truth." In other words, before you can completely understand what I am all about, before you can attain that wisdom that comes from God, certain events must take place. And what has to happen is Jesus' death, resurrection and ascension to the Father. It is only after these events that the Holy Spirit will come to open their minds as to the truth of what Jesus is all about. In the meantime, they just have to wait.
What is true for the apostles is also true for us. We must wait on the Spirit. We are at an advantage over the apostles because we live in post resurrection times. We have the knowledge and understanding all these events leading up to the ascension and the formation of the early Christian church, but in many instances, we still have to wait.
I recall a time in my mid twenties after my baptism when I was really struggling with my faith. At that time, I could say that I knew Jesus was a person of history, and I believed He was God's son, yet a personal experience of Jesus in my life was absent. And because Jesus was not a part of my experience, there certainly was an absence of what my faith was all about. It was only after a time of waiting, a time of struggle, that I was able to personally surrender my life to the Lord, It was then that I experienced in a real way this encounter with Christ. And through this encounter, my inner eyes of understanding were opened. I began to experience the fullness of the Gospel. I saw the Holy Spirit as being present and active, not only in my life, but in the world. It was as if the lights came on.
It was this encounter with the living Christ that led to my confirmation and discernment of Diaconate ministry.
This waiting, this struggle with not knowing but wanting to understand, and eventual surrender to God's living presence is what this Gospel is all about. I would suspect that at the time when these words were shared by Jesus, the apostles were saying to themselves; What is He talking about? But at Pentecost, when they received the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, they would proclaim; "Ah, now I understand. Now I know."
Gospel of Matthew
This is a very curious remark that Jesus said to His apostles in the upper room. What does it mean? Could it mean that the apostles have been overloaded with information and they cannot absorb anything else. Could it mean that that if Jesus spoke in greater depth, it would just go over the apostles' heads.
I think the true meaning of what Jesus is saying can be found in the statement that follows: "When the Spirit of truth comes, He will lead you to the complete truth." In other words, before you can completely understand what I am all about, before you can attain that wisdom that comes from God, certain events must take place. And what has to happen is Jesus' death, resurrection and ascension to the Father. It is only after these events that the Holy Spirit will come to open their minds as to the truth of what Jesus is all about. In the meantime, they just have to wait.
What is true for the apostles is also true for us. We must wait on the Spirit. We are at an advantage over the apostles because we live in post resurrection times. We have the knowledge and understanding all these events leading up to the ascension and the formation of the early Christian church, but in many instances, we still have to wait.
I recall a time in my mid twenties after my baptism when I was really struggling with my faith. At that time, I could say that I knew Jesus was a person of history, and I believed He was God's son, yet a personal experience of Jesus in my life was absent. And because Jesus was not a part of my experience, there certainly was an absence of what my faith was all about. It was only after a time of waiting, a time of struggle, that I was able to personally surrender my life to the Lord, It was then that I experienced in a real way this encounter with Christ. And through this encounter, my inner eyes of understanding were opened. I began to experience the fullness of the Gospel. I saw the Holy Spirit as being present and active, not only in my life, but in the world. It was as if the lights came on.
It was this encounter with the living Christ that led to my confirmation and discernment of Diaconate ministry.
This waiting, this struggle with not knowing but wanting to understand, and eventual surrender to God's living presence is what this Gospel is all about. I would suspect that at the time when these words were shared by Jesus, the apostles were saying to themselves; What is He talking about? But at Pentecost, when they received the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, they would proclaim; "Ah, now I understand. Now I know."
Experiencing God 211 Fan Into Flame
"Fan into a flame the gift that God has given you when I laid my hands on you"
Timothy
This past weekend many of us attended the Transmission Conference at St. Mary's University. This conference was the Archbishop's response to the further implementation of the New Evangelization process started two years ago. You might say that this conference is a fanning into flame the gifts that God has given us as a result of our Baptism and the commitment we have made to be sharers of the faith.
As with Timothy, we are reminded that God's gift is not a spirit of timidity, but a Spirit of power, love and self-control, and we are never to be ashamed of witnessing to the Lord.
The question that came to my mind during the conference is: What is the church's primary role when it comes to the New Evangelization, and as a result, what is my role in this process? If I am to "fan into flame" God's gift to me, then how am I to respond? I think this is a valid question that each of us can ask ourselves.
One thing became clear to me during this conference as I was listening to the Archbishop. He said that for every weekend church service we attend, we say the creed. The creed is an expression of our faith. We say: "I believe in God, the Father Almighty; I believe in Jesus Christ His only Son; I believe in the Holy Spirit", and so on. This word creed or "believe" in the original Greek text has a much deeper meaning then that used from an English context. Credo or believe in Greek is made up of two words: "to give" and "my heart". So it means "to give my heart". If we apply this to the creed, then we are saying: "I give my heart to God, the Father Almighty; I give my heart to Jesus Christ, His only Son; I give my heart to the Holy Spirit."
The Archbishop continues: "To give our hearts has a much stronger meaning than "I believe". It implies a surrender, a commitment, an intense love requiring a response of reverence and obedience. It is in this "giving of our hearts" that we experience God's Spirit of power in our lives.
Although believing implies that we accept, giving of our hearts implies that God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit have become the very substance of our being. If we can make this transition from believing to the giving of our hearts, then this is probably the greatest response we can make to the New Evangelizaiton process. From that will flow a deep heart felt desire to share, in many different ways, the love that we have experienced from giving our hearts to the Lord.
With the giving of our hearts, we have at this moment the promise of salvation from Christ, and union with God for eternity."
This fanning into flame, or giving of our hearts implies that as church, we are to embark on radical hospitality, passionate worship, intentional faith development, risk taking service, and extravagant generosity in order to make God visible in our somewhat darkened world. We do this, not in timidity or fear, but by cooperating with God's power and love.
Timothy
This past weekend many of us attended the Transmission Conference at St. Mary's University. This conference was the Archbishop's response to the further implementation of the New Evangelization process started two years ago. You might say that this conference is a fanning into flame the gifts that God has given us as a result of our Baptism and the commitment we have made to be sharers of the faith.
As with Timothy, we are reminded that God's gift is not a spirit of timidity, but a Spirit of power, love and self-control, and we are never to be ashamed of witnessing to the Lord.
The question that came to my mind during the conference is: What is the church's primary role when it comes to the New Evangelization, and as a result, what is my role in this process? If I am to "fan into flame" God's gift to me, then how am I to respond? I think this is a valid question that each of us can ask ourselves.
One thing became clear to me during this conference as I was listening to the Archbishop. He said that for every weekend church service we attend, we say the creed. The creed is an expression of our faith. We say: "I believe in God, the Father Almighty; I believe in Jesus Christ His only Son; I believe in the Holy Spirit", and so on. This word creed or "believe" in the original Greek text has a much deeper meaning then that used from an English context. Credo or believe in Greek is made up of two words: "to give" and "my heart". So it means "to give my heart". If we apply this to the creed, then we are saying: "I give my heart to God, the Father Almighty; I give my heart to Jesus Christ, His only Son; I give my heart to the Holy Spirit."
The Archbishop continues: "To give our hearts has a much stronger meaning than "I believe". It implies a surrender, a commitment, an intense love requiring a response of reverence and obedience. It is in this "giving of our hearts" that we experience God's Spirit of power in our lives.
Although believing implies that we accept, giving of our hearts implies that God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit have become the very substance of our being. If we can make this transition from believing to the giving of our hearts, then this is probably the greatest response we can make to the New Evangelizaiton process. From that will flow a deep heart felt desire to share, in many different ways, the love that we have experienced from giving our hearts to the Lord.
With the giving of our hearts, we have at this moment the promise of salvation from Christ, and union with God for eternity."
This fanning into flame, or giving of our hearts implies that as church, we are to embark on radical hospitality, passionate worship, intentional faith development, risk taking service, and extravagant generosity in order to make God visible in our somewhat darkened world. We do this, not in timidity or fear, but by cooperating with God's power and love.
Experiencing God 210 A Pure Heart
"Having purified your souls, love one another earnestly from a pure heart since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of the imperishable (through the living and abiding word of God)
First Peter
The above reading from Peter is echoing the words of Jesus when he spoke to Nicodemus in the Gospel of John. "I tell you, no one can see the Kingdom of God without being born from above. What is born of flesh is flesh. What is born of the Spirit is Spirit." For Peter, this rebirth comes through the living and abiding word of God. And we know from the Gospel account that the living and abiding word is Jesus Himself. "For God so love the world that he gave His only Son so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but have eternal life."
So our rebirth is a Spiritual reality, springing from an imperishable seed, Christ, who changes us from living only in the flesh to living by the Spirit. But this change must be reflected in our behavior. When we live by the Spirit, we live in unity with one another. We manifest the fruits of the Spirit which represent signs of that unity. When we live by the flesh, then factions and disagreements, bitterness and anger usually follow.
We are all familiar with the Gospel where two brothers James and John step forth with certain ambitions. They want to sit at Jesus' left and right in His new Kingdom. They want certain positions of prestige and importance. And what happens when the other disciples hear about it? They feel indignant, put out, maybe jealous; and divisions begin to arise among them. Is this of the Spirit? Of course not.
Jesus wants to make this quite clear. This interplay of ambition and desires that form part of our day-to-day culture most often gives rise to division and factions This is not how the fruits of the Spirit should be reflected in our behavior. And Jesus is quick to point this our.
"Anyone who wants to become great among you must be servant to all." To be Christian is to be servant. To be Christian is to manifest the fruits of the Spirit. To be Christian is to give one's life as a ransom for many. To be Christian is to love one another earnestly from a pure heart.
As long as we live in community, we are going to experience this tug and pull, this resistance and submission to the Spirit who desires to work among us. As with James and John, community is the place we learn to discern that which flows from the flesh (from ourselves) and that which flows from Spirit which brings patience and forgiveness. When we allow prayer to be the cornerstone of our day, then we create an enviroment where the Spirit is able to speak and we are able to listen.
First Peter
The above reading from Peter is echoing the words of Jesus when he spoke to Nicodemus in the Gospel of John. "I tell you, no one can see the Kingdom of God without being born from above. What is born of flesh is flesh. What is born of the Spirit is Spirit." For Peter, this rebirth comes through the living and abiding word of God. And we know from the Gospel account that the living and abiding word is Jesus Himself. "For God so love the world that he gave His only Son so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but have eternal life."
So our rebirth is a Spiritual reality, springing from an imperishable seed, Christ, who changes us from living only in the flesh to living by the Spirit. But this change must be reflected in our behavior. When we live by the Spirit, we live in unity with one another. We manifest the fruits of the Spirit which represent signs of that unity. When we live by the flesh, then factions and disagreements, bitterness and anger usually follow.
We are all familiar with the Gospel where two brothers James and John step forth with certain ambitions. They want to sit at Jesus' left and right in His new Kingdom. They want certain positions of prestige and importance. And what happens when the other disciples hear about it? They feel indignant, put out, maybe jealous; and divisions begin to arise among them. Is this of the Spirit? Of course not.
Jesus wants to make this quite clear. This interplay of ambition and desires that form part of our day-to-day culture most often gives rise to division and factions This is not how the fruits of the Spirit should be reflected in our behavior. And Jesus is quick to point this our.
"Anyone who wants to become great among you must be servant to all." To be Christian is to be servant. To be Christian is to manifest the fruits of the Spirit. To be Christian is to give one's life as a ransom for many. To be Christian is to love one another earnestly from a pure heart.
As long as we live in community, we are going to experience this tug and pull, this resistance and submission to the Spirit who desires to work among us. As with James and John, community is the place we learn to discern that which flows from the flesh (from ourselves) and that which flows from Spirit which brings patience and forgiveness. When we allow prayer to be the cornerstone of our day, then we create an enviroment where the Spirit is able to speak and we are able to listen.
Experiencing God 209 Nearness of God's Kingdom
"Go and proclaim the Good News, the Kingdom of Heaven has come near."
Gospel of Matthew
Do you believe in the life-changing powers of the Gospel and experience its transforming effects in your life?
Throughout the Gospels, in fact, throughout the New Testament, there is this continuous mentioning of two realities: First there is the reality that we identify with our five outward senses, the world as we know it; what we physically see, hear, smell, taste and feel. And then there is the more obscure reality which Jesus calls the Kingdom of Heaven. Since it is somewhat blurred, unclear, less visible, many without faith question whether it really exists.
When Jesus was questioned by Pilate-- Are you the King of the Jews --; Jesus' response was: "My Kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over." Pilate knew Jesus was no threat and thought He was a dreamer.
Jesus says to Nicodemus: "No one can enter God's Kingdom without being born of water and the Spirit. What is born of flesh is flesh. What is born of Spirit is Spirit." Nicodemus is confused by this. "How can anyone be reborn again?"
Jesus begins the beatitudes with: "Blessed are the poor of Spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven", and Jesus reminds us continually that this more obscure reality of the Kingdom of Heaven is not based on the ways we express ourselves in the world which seek ambition, power, prestige, ownership, control etc. Jesus tells us that unless we change and become like little children, we will never enter this Kingdom of Heaven.
When describing this Kingdom, Jesus does not do so directly because it is beyond our ordinary vocabulary. He says: "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and planted in a field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but it grows into a large tree where birds find comfort in its branches. It is like a treasure hidden in a field which someone finds, and hides, and then goes off and sells all he has in order to buy the field."
St. Paul approaches this Kingdom a little differently. He says: "Live by the Spirit, for what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit." Then he goes on and identified all the sufferings we inflict on ourselves by living entirely by the worldly reality versus the Spirit. With the Spirit we have love, joy, peace, patience, and so on. With the world we have jealousy, anger, quarrels, factions, envy etc.
If we want to change the world, then we must proclaim the Kingdom of Heaven. The power of the Gospel with its supernatural qualities to transform lives can only happen through changed hearts that are open to God's abundant joy. The disciples were commissioned with that task as we are today.
Do you believe in the life-changing power of the Gospel and experience its transforming effects in your life?
Gospel of Matthew
Do you believe in the life-changing powers of the Gospel and experience its transforming effects in your life?
Throughout the Gospels, in fact, throughout the New Testament, there is this continuous mentioning of two realities: First there is the reality that we identify with our five outward senses, the world as we know it; what we physically see, hear, smell, taste and feel. And then there is the more obscure reality which Jesus calls the Kingdom of Heaven. Since it is somewhat blurred, unclear, less visible, many without faith question whether it really exists.
When Jesus was questioned by Pilate-- Are you the King of the Jews --; Jesus' response was: "My Kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over." Pilate knew Jesus was no threat and thought He was a dreamer.
Jesus says to Nicodemus: "No one can enter God's Kingdom without being born of water and the Spirit. What is born of flesh is flesh. What is born of Spirit is Spirit." Nicodemus is confused by this. "How can anyone be reborn again?"
Jesus begins the beatitudes with: "Blessed are the poor of Spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven", and Jesus reminds us continually that this more obscure reality of the Kingdom of Heaven is not based on the ways we express ourselves in the world which seek ambition, power, prestige, ownership, control etc. Jesus tells us that unless we change and become like little children, we will never enter this Kingdom of Heaven.
When describing this Kingdom, Jesus does not do so directly because it is beyond our ordinary vocabulary. He says: "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and planted in a field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but it grows into a large tree where birds find comfort in its branches. It is like a treasure hidden in a field which someone finds, and hides, and then goes off and sells all he has in order to buy the field."
St. Paul approaches this Kingdom a little differently. He says: "Live by the Spirit, for what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit." Then he goes on and identified all the sufferings we inflict on ourselves by living entirely by the worldly reality versus the Spirit. With the Spirit we have love, joy, peace, patience, and so on. With the world we have jealousy, anger, quarrels, factions, envy etc.
If we want to change the world, then we must proclaim the Kingdom of Heaven. The power of the Gospel with its supernatural qualities to transform lives can only happen through changed hearts that are open to God's abundant joy. The disciples were commissioned with that task as we are today.
Do you believe in the life-changing power of the Gospel and experience its transforming effects in your life?
Monday, December 21, 2015
Experiencing God 208 The New Evangelization
As Jesus and his disciples travelled along, they met a man
on the road who said to him: “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus answered, “Foxes have holes and birds
of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”
Another to whom he said: “Follow me”, replied, “Let me go
and bury my father first.” But he
answered, “Leave the dead to bury their dead, your duty is to go and spread the
news of the Kingdom of God.”
Another said: “I will follow you, sir, but first let me go
and say good bye to my people at home.”
Jesus said to him: “Once the hand is laid to the plough, no one who
looks back is fit for the Kingdom of God”.
Upon first reading of the gospel, Jesus seems abnormally
strict in his requirements to be a follower of His. “Leave the dead to bury the dead”, he says to
the man who requested that he first be allowed to bury his father. “As for you, go and proclaim the Kingdom of
God.”
In order to understand the gospel, we have to first
understand that it has little or anything to do with providing funeral services
for ones parents, or saying good bye to ones relatives and friends. It has to do with our attachments. Jesus understood human nature well. He knew that if we were driven by an
attraction to one thing, then it would automatically be given a preference over
other things. And in fact, it would hide
from our view the very thing of greater importance. That’s why he said to his disciples: “You
cannot serve both God and money. You
will end up loving one at the expense of the other”. There’s nothing wrong with money. It’s just a medium of exchange to provide for
our needs. But if money becomes our
master, if it becomes an attachment, then God and His Kingdom will not be
revealed to us because it becomes hidden from us by our attraction to something else. The Kingdom will lie beyond our realization
because our focus is on other things.
We see this all the time in our human emotions. It’s very hard if not impossible to
experience two contradictory emotions at one time. If I really love you, it is impossible for me
to hate you at the same time. If I am
filled with joy for the success or accomplishment of a friend, then it will be
impossible for me to be envious or jealous of my friend’s accomplishment at the
same time. Well, the same is true for an
experience of the Kingdom of God within.
God is all around, God is present in all things including
ourselves. God manifests His presence to
all people at all times. His love is
ever present, but so few have an experience of this. Our culture declares God is dead. We feel on our own. Why is this?
Because we have been blinded by our attachment to other things. Other things have become the focus of our
attention. Our task is not to pass
judgement on those who have difficulty experiencing the presence of God, or to
consider them somehow lesser than ourselves.
Our task is to reveal to them, in the manner of how we live our lives
that there is something in our midst that is more important than what they are
attached to.
That was Jesus’ mission; to reveal to us that the Kingdom of
God is at hand, that it is present among us.
This is not an intellectual understanding, but an actual
experience. Jesus became the “way” to
that experienced realization through the life that He lived. So now He asks us to follow Him in the “way”
in order to make the Kingdom visible to others.
“As for you, go and proclaim the Kingdom of God” he instructs the man
who wants to leave to bury his father.
When I was working, I often ran into people who would
say: “I admire your faith and I should
go to church. Well, maybe after
retirement I’ll have more time for that.
Right now, I’m just too busy with my job, my family. I just don’t have time to pray right now.
These are the people that Jesus was speaking about in
today’s gospel. They were not bad
people, just people distracted and attached to other things. I want to follow you, but I still have
responsibilities for my parents. When
they are dead and gone, I’ll have more time then. Or let me say farewell to my relations and
friends. Perhaps then I can join
you. Really, what has one to do with the
other?
In following Jesus, we are not
making a choice between our parents and our friends and God. In following Jesus, we are acknowledging that
we have discovered something much more attractive, much more important, and
much more fulfilling than all those other attractions that we see around us
that compete for our attention.. We have
discovered the treasure hidden in the field, we have discovered the pearl of
great price, and we so much want to share that with those we meet, including
our parents and family and friends if need be.
We’ve been hearing a lot lately about the new
evangelization. For me, this is what the
new evangelization is all about. We
cannot offer to others what we do not have ourselves. Discover within yourself God’s Kingdom,
discover within yourself the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the presence of God,
be energized by a renewal of our own faith, and then we have something to
share, to be a witness too. The church
is in a crisis because, in many ways, we have failed to proclaim God’s Kingdom
in a manner that effectively touches the hearts of others. Through our own renewal, we will discover
our new ardour, our new methods, our new expressions that will reveal God’s
Kingdom, not only to ourselves, but also to those we meet.
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