Know the Word, Preach the Word

I love this Sunday’s first reading from Jeremiah. It has a lot to do with knowing God’s Word, but also preaching that Word and to do so boldly. Jeremiah took that Word in; he let it stir in his heart and then brought it forth to the People of Israel. Sometimes that Word is accepted by others, but often it is rejected or only accepted partially and the person who pays the consequences is usually the one who is preaching, and not just the priest or deacon, but anyone who preaches the Good Word, anywhere and anytime. Jeremiah himself says, “The Word of the Lord has brought me derision and reproach all the day.” He is clearly saying that not everyone was open to this Word, many have turned against him. Nevertheless there are two great lessons for us here, the first) we must know Sacred Scripture and two) we must preach it.

How do I get to know Scripture? Well, simply read it. So many Catholics are not comfortable with Scripture if not avoiding it altogether. St. Jerome (4^th Century Church Father, Biblical Scholar, and most likely a Croatian – born in what is today called Split) said, “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.” The bible is about Jesus who himself is the Word of God. Often Catholics will ask, “How can I talk to God and how do I know if He is talking back to me?” That is called prayer. We can use Scripture in many ways, but the three most important are to 1) pray the Scripture, i.e. asking God for guidance, to meditate and reflect, 2) to learn about salvation history, and 3) to delve deeper into the Divine mysteries, i.e. the deeper questions concerning God and life. In all of these we hear God’s voice talking back to us.

Knowing is only half of what is required, the second leg which is the other half and maybe the more important aspect is that I must preach what I know. This does not mean we are to smash the bible over peoples’ heads if they are ignorant, mistaken, or have gone astray, no indeed, rather we must preach first and foremost with compassion and by our actions. And yet, sometimes we must be firm and not waver. Remember that Jesus says, “Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.” (Luke 9:26)

Sometimes people will challenge Christian beliefs, often times they themselves usually challenge those beliefs because of some morality issue, some hurt in their own lives, or some complaint against religion and institution. As a Catholic one must be equipped to respond at least on a rudimentary level to people’s questions, complaints, and concerns about our faith. It is not just for the priest, though that is a big part of my job, but the people as well who are on the front lines so-to-speak, i.e. at work, school, with friends, and in many places that the priest cannot be all at once, that is why the work of the Church is shared by all.

The deeper question is, “Why wouldn’t I want to learn as much as I can about God?” He is the one who has given me life, all that I have in it, the one who will take me to Himself when my life here ends. I think those reasons are good enough. But the most important reason is the one Jeremiah has left us with and I will simply close with his words and pray that they touch all our hearts. “… (The Word of the Lord) becomes like fire burning in my heart, imprisoned in my bones; I grow weary holding it in, I cannot endure it. (emphasis mine)

Fr. John

Image of St. John the Apostle

image from http://saints.sqpn.com/saint-john-the-apostle-gallery/

Even From the Scraps

This week’s Gospel from St. Matthew is not an easy one to accept. It almost seems that Jesus is calling a non-Jew a dog. On the surface that would seem so, but that is not what Jesus meant or what he was seeking to accomplish. Rather, Jesus was trying to teach us true faith, one that is based on - from front to end and permeated with humility.

The Canaanite woman (a non-Jew) approaches Jesus asking him to heal her sick daughter. Jesus responds that one is not supposed to throw the food of the children of Israel to dogs. He states his mission is to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. The woman could have done a few things here. One) she could have simply walked away, dejected and defeated, but she does not. Two) she could have let Jesus have it and respond by saying, “How dare you call me a dog!” Three) Or, as she did, she could humble herself and persist in asking Jesus for his help.

Her response is, “Even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from their masters’ tables.” Her response is honest, humble, and even courageous. We have to remember there are people watching her; the disciples are there, others who were following Jesus and others who may have gathered. So, her response was not done in private, but public – therefore courageous. She admits she is not a Jew, but she admits something even better, she is a woman of faith, for only faith could have led her to humble herself. She is also stating that she is ok with leftovers, because even the leftovers from God are filled with grace, and grace is grace, whether it comes now or later.

Jesus finally responds, “Your faith has saved your daughter.” This story was not just for the woman and her daughter, but also for all the Jews who were present to teach them true faith – faith that is humble and a faith that perseveres. The story is also for us, so that our faith will also be humble and one that perseveres.

Points for our reflection are; do we expect things from God? Do we feel that we deserve anything from God? Does God owe us the first serving so-to-speak? “No,” he does not owe us anything. Pride is the root of all evil, because it gives us a sense of entitlement. The woman had no sense of entitlement; rather she was satisfied to receive grace even when it was falling from the table like leftovers for a pet. How close are we to that kind of faith? Jesus wants our faith to be like that of the Canaanite woman. It is not easy to have that kind of faith, but through prayer, the sacrament of confession, the Eucharist, and our fellowship with one another we can move towards it. We have taken the right step already, since we are here to receive our Lord, and we are content to receive be first or last, be it the best serving or even like the scraps that fall from the Mater’s table.

Fr. John

The Lord's Extended Hand

This week’s Gospel from Matthew chapter fourteen is the famous “Walking on the Water” story in which Peter starts out fine but then begins to sink. An interesting that happens at the end which is easy to overlook, but is crucial to the story at hand is that it was not only Peter who would sink in the raging water, but you and I as well.

After Jesus saves Peter and he is back in the boat the winds finally die down at Jesus’ command. The Apostles are in awe because Jesus also commands the elements of nature, making a violent storm turn calm. They begin to recognize that there is Divinity at work here, and as the passage says, “Those who were in the boat did him homage, saying, ‘Truly, you are the Son of God.’”

Jesus is patient with his disciples and only reveals who He is and what His mission is over a period of time. They would not have been able to handle the full Truth all at once. Somewhere about half way through Jesus’ three year ministry the Apostles pretty much have a decent grasp that Jesus is Yahweh, though probably still difficult to comprehend since they had a human being in front of their eyes and probably looked to him more in that sense.

The story of Peter sinking in the water was not an isolated event, but reminiscent of all the Apostles, because soon enough all of them sank in the water the night Jesus was arrested. Before the storm they all walked on water, all were on cloud nine, as we say, but when the storm came they grew frightened for the winds were stronger than they could bear, so they ran. And yet, they knew Jesus was Yahweh. They saw Him catch Peter, calm the winds, heal the sick, multiply loaves of bread and fish, they saw much. Still it seems that was all forgotten when the storms of life hit.

We should not be too hard on the Apostles here, because you and I would have sunk as well. Who would have been ready to die with Jesus that night? Who would have been able to endure torture, mockery, and crucifixion? None of us, we would have all run and we would have run at full sprint.

In our own lives we have run from Christ when storms came, we looked for the answers elsewhere. It’s part of our weak human nature, and still Jesus continues to extend his arm to snatch us up from the violent wind and rain and to see us safely back into the boat. Isn’t awesome to know that God infinitely holds out His arm to keep us from sinking? All we have to do is reach up and hold on.

FJ

What Can Separate Us from the Love of Christ?

In today’s 2^nd reading St. Paul asks, “What can separate us from the love of Christ?” He goes on to answer that nothing external can separate me from Christ’s love, i.e. famine, nakedness, persecution, angels, or any creature – can separate us from Jesus. I wish to take a little liberty with Paul’s passage. I want to go a little further and ask, not just those things that are external to us, but also thing internal, i.e. my very self.

As Catholics we are taught that there are different kinds of sins all varying in degree of depravity and consequences. The Church teaches there are venial sins, these sins are “lesser” types of sins that hurt our relationship with God but do not break our relationship with Him. We believe in “deadly sins” which describe vice, our sinful disposition-weakness, they can be venial or mortal depending on the act and its circumstances. Finally, we believe in mortal sins which sever our relationship with God; they destroy charity in us given by God.

The problem we have in the Church is that people sometimes think they have committed mortal sin when in reality they have not, they are suffering from old school Catholic guilt. Then there is the opposite danger, where people no longer believe that there is such a thing as mortal sin or at least they never committed one.

First off, what constitutes a mortal sin? Three factors are necessary. One) the person must know the act is grave; Two) the person must have given it sufficient thought; Three) the person’s free will must not be hampered in any way. If these three conditions are met then the person has committed a mortal sin, at least that is what we can say objectively, but as always, the person is judged according to their own conscience before God.

As you can see for the Christian it would be difficult to commit a mortal sin, though not impossible. Some may not agree with me. But here is the problem. Let’s say you are in relationship with God, i.e. in good graces on Monday morning. Then on Monday evening you commit a mortal sin, now you are damned, but on Tuesday morning you go to confession, now you are saved, but on Tuesday evening you commit the same mortal sin, now you are damned, but on Wednesday morning you go to Confession, now you are saved, you get the point – saved in the morning, damned in the evening. It’s silly.

Our relationship with God doesn’t solely work that way, i.e. on conditions. Our relationship with God starts simply with that- relationship. One cannot escape conditions in life, even with God, but they are secondary to relationship. When a person’s disposition is one of faith in order for a person to be separated from God one must make a conscience choice to do so, just as a child would make a conscience decision to separate themselves from their parents. A child’s relationship from its parents is not severed because they may have done something bad or even awful, it may hurt the relationship, but not break it, it is only broken when a child decides either through one act or many that he or she no longer wants any part of them. An act of that nature would require sufficient thought, a free choice, and knowledge that the choice is indeed severe. You can see how difficult that is, so too with mortal sin.

Please do not misunderstand me, mortal sin is possible, even in one single act, I am just saying it’s not as easy to commit as people believe. Let’s take missing mass for example. Missing mass is wrong and sinful and it “could be” a mortal sin depending on the choice of why not to go. Here are two examples.

One) A person is on vacation having a great time, they wake up a little late on Sunday, they suddenly remember its Sunday, they quickly decide not to go to mass since they got up a little late, they are away, etc. In this case the person did not give the matter sufficient thought, they are still guilty of sin, but of a lesser nature, though it could lead to worse sins and to more grave vice. Remember if you play with fire you get burned, no pun intended.

Two) A person wakes up early Sunday morning, thinks for a while about not going to mass, can’t stand going actually, knows that the Church teaches one must not deprive themselves of the assembly, but has decided freely in his or her own mind I can worship God my way, hence I will no longer go to mass. In this case the probability of mortal sin has increased and could very well have been committed. The person gave the matter sufficient thought, knows the Church’s teaching and still makes a free choice not to go.

The second example is not most Catholics, but the first example is, and that needs to be changed, mass is not a luxury, but a calling of us to a wedding, who would refuse to go the Jesus’ wedding, especially when he is wedding us.

Back to Paul’s original question, “What can separate us from the love of Christ?” I don’t think that much can separate us from the love of Christ. It is improbable, but not impossible to be separated from Christ’s love. Do you think Jesus would go through what he did so that he would lose? No, Jesus is a winner and one either believes he is beating Satan or losing to him. You either believe positively or negatively, you either have more people going to hell or heaven, which one are you?

Think of the love parents have for their children and how much it would take for their relationship to be severed? It would take a whole lot. If that is the case for weak human beings then how much more is it so for a powerful God? Is it logical to think it less? No.

Again, I am not giving people license to sin, all sin is wrong, some of it even deadly, but it would take a lot more than we think to separate us from the love of Christ. Amen.

Fr. John

picture of Peter (us) sinking in doubt and even sin and still God holds on!, picture taken from: http://spiritlessons.com/Documents/Jesus_Pictures/Jesus_Christ_Pictures.htm

Letter from Bishops to Congress on Budget Cuts

http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/human-life-and-dignity/economy/upload/budget-debate-letter-to-house-2011-07-26.pdf

Wisdom: Not "Me" but in the "You"

When we pray do we ask God how He can help us or do we ask God how we can help Him? In today’s 1^st reading from the 1^st book of Kings, King Solomon does not ask God for more land, more gold, more soldiers, or anything of that type. Rather, King Solomon asks God, “Give your servant, therefore, an understanding heart to judge your people and to distinguish right from wrong. For who is able to govern this vast people of yours?” In return King Solomon is blessed a hundred fold,

“Because you have asked for this—not for a long life for yourself,
nor for riches, nor for the life of your enemies, but for understanding so that you may know what is right—I do as you requested. I give you a heart so wise and understanding that there has never been anyone like you up to now, and after you there will come no one to equal you.”

We are well aware of the saying, “As wise as Solomon,” or “With the wisdom of Solomon.” A saying handed down for generations over spans of millennia. There is a great lesson here for us. Blessings only come when we are more concerned with others than ourselves.

There is much that concerns us in life and preoccupies us with the proverbial “me.” One such question which is at the root of all questions is, “Will I be successful?” Much of our efforts in life are centered on that question. We prepare ourselves through education and practice in finding a career and then succeeding in that career. We put ourselves through school, college, all sorts of training to obtain our goals and desires. We will work, work, work, until we reach our goal, both in financial security and prestige in the work place.

Another concern or preoccupation is to find a vocation and be successful at that as well, be it married life, the single life, or a call to ministry. Many moments are given to. “What will I be in life,” “What road will I take,” or the more practical, “How will I get there?” People will beat themselves up over life questions such as these, always falling back to the, me, me, me. And that is where the danger lies, in the “me.”

Goals in life are not necessarily bad, they are actually something good. The Lord wants us asking questions, he wants us to be organized, to have direction, to be efficient, and most of all to be virtuous. However, God does not want us to get lost in there and only have our world revolve around “me.”

King Solomon had a tough job, a thankless one at that. Being a king, president, prime minister, is indeed sometimes thankless, if not downright awful. The scrutiny one undergoes is horrific and the reward does not fit the sacrifice. And yet, King Solomon is concerned more about right judgment so that his people will be treated fairly, well, and compassionately. His main concern is for his neighbor and not so much for himself.

When we seek accomplishments in life, whatever they may be, for whose benefit do we seek such things, for our own or for others?

Scripture tells us, “With the measure you have measured, it will be measured out to you . . . and the least you have done to your brothers or sisters you have done unto me.” God hates sin; He hates pride obviously, but also greed. When I look only to “me” I am greedy, when I look to others, then I am selfless.

If you look at what got us into the economic mess that we are in today, it’s because of greed. It wasn’t only the politicians and bankers, but it was me and you as well. We all wanted to know, “What can I get for me?” It seemed like the more I can get the better. You see, I have to have that dream house with the white picket fence, 2.1 children and a family dog. I also have to have three televisions, a cell phone for my 2.1 children – even for the dog. When that’s not enough, I also need to rebuild the home, take out a 2^nd mortgage, and with the left over cash from the 2^nd mortgage buy a boat. All of it for, “me.” And then when it goes bad, I ask God for help. Greed only compiles sin upon sin until everything comes crashing down, and why, because the house was built on sand and when a good strong wind came, that house of greed came tumbling down. King Solomon was like you and I, a faithful man, started off on the right foot, with a great blessing, but one palace was not enough, nor was one wife enough. Eventually there were multiple palaces; hundreds of wives and concubines, until it all came crashing down. And before the end Solomon remembered, it was never supposed to be just for “me.” Blessings are granted a hundred fold when I turn to God and ask Him, “What can I do for you?”

The house that stands on a firm foundation or on a loose one is you and I. How and where will we build our house? Will we build it with the proverbial “me” or will we build it for others, especially for God?

Happiness, it’s what we all want and strive for. That is what is really at the root of all of this conversation. The answer is simple; it comes from God and service to Him and neighbor. It occurs when we move from “me” to “you.” It will never rest in material things, but always in service. That is the heart of Christianity, service. Pray then with me that we will all respond to the call for others and sacrifice our own benefits. If we do then we will be in good company with King Solomon, and in God’s heart we will always stay, and our blessings will be a hundred fold.

Fr. John

Image from http://amalku.blogspot.com/2011/05/king-solomon-and-baby.html

God is Merciful, Am I?

God is merciful. We all expect that and more. We are always ready to have God forgive us for our wrongs, evil deeds, and sins – yes there are still sins, not everything can be explained away by behavioral psychology as good as that practice and science is in its service to humanity.

When we sin, hopefully we feel some type of conviction to seek God and ask for His mercy. The first reading from Wisdom reminds us that, “you gave your children good ground for hope that you would permit repentance for their sins.”

I want to discuss two things with you today, the Sacrament of reconciliation and since God forgives us everything, does that mean that I too must forgive those who have wronged me of everything?

There has been and continues to be huge drop off in Confession over the last twenty years or so. This is for a number of reasons, the first being, society has deemed many behaviors as not sinful, it has even gone so far as declaring that what we believe to be sinful is actually something good, and something we should all do. For example, it is no longer sinful to engage in premarital relations, to cheat on my IRS return, - actually some will claim that has never been sinful. Remember give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s. It is ok to miss mass for the kid’s soccer games, vacation, or just to sleep in. I can go on and on. And just to be fair I too am a sinner and have justified many things in life, it doesn’t make them right or good.

Since we justify our actions and are tricked into believing we are not sinning therefore gives us ample reason not to go to confession, since I don’t need it. There are other reasons people don’t go, i.e. I can go directly to God, I am too embarrassed to go, or I don’t have time to go.

None of those reasons are sufficient. The sacrament of confession is an integral part to healing and forgiveness. It helps us to become humble and rely on God. It brings healing when we can speak out loud our actions; it feels as if a heavy burden has been lifted from our shoulders. Confession stands as part two of forgiveness, part one is when we immediately ask God to forgive us and He does, but to be reconciled to the Church – His body, we must declare our sins out loud, c.f. James 5:16, and remember that our first Pope declared his sins or at least his threefold penance out loud.

It is easy for God to forgive us, and we have great opportunities to do so, why not make use of such graces?

Back to our second point, if God is quick to forgive and to forget my sins, must I also do the same? Yes! This might actually be harder for us. Scripture tells us he who hates his brother is a murderer, and who is my brother? EVERYONE!

People will always bring up extreme cases in which logic supposedly dictates that forgiveness should be withheld. I won’t get into them here and it is a struggle to forgive extreme evil and evil persons, we must be honest. What I am talking about is the hurt we do to one another, when families are broken apart through divorce, betrayal, some money dispute, etc. Family members will ignore one another for years out of principle. Let me ask you, “Is it worth it to take that principle and stand before Almighty God declaring our own righteousness in the matter?” Scripture says, “No one is righteous, no not even one, they have all fallen short of the glory of God.” C.f. Romans 3.

I know it is hard to forgive sometimes, but just remember how hard it was for Jesus to forgive us, it took 40 lashes, beatings, mockery, a crown of thorns, a few miles walk with a heavy cross, three nails, and finally a spear – though already departed. If Jesus can give us that, can’t we give some mercy to our neighbors? Unless we thought carrying a cross was just a nice pious statement.

It’s a cross to go to confession sometimes, it’s a cross to forgive those who have hurt me, but unless I embrace both those crosses I am only a Christian in name and not at heart. We can’t lift those crosses alone, but together with me helping you and you helping me those crosses will be a little lighter.

Fr. John