Return in Kind For the Gifts You Have Received

This week in our parish we are continuing the theme of stewardship.  We began last week when our lay volunteers spoke to you at the end of mass giving you a quick insight to what is going on at Our Lady of Perpetual Help and what they do as individuals.  This week Fr. Nick has asked that he and I continue this conversation – reflection in more depth.

I believe there are three things or better yet three virtues that make a good steward, one) humility, two) charity, and three) perseverance.

In today’s Gospel the tax collector who went up to the Temple to pray knew that he was not worthy to do so.  He recognized a truth\s about himself; he was a sinner who needed God, in particular His mercy.  When God calls us to ministry, to become stewards we must always do so with reverence and awe, realizing that of ourselves we are not worthy to be his stewards.  In another place in Scripture it says, “Is he grateful to that servant because he did what was commanded?  So should it be with you. When you have done all you have been commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.’” (Lk 17:9-10)

God calls us all to a vocation and He also calls us to ministry, not just Sunday mass, as important and vital and life giving that – that it is.  God gives us a job in the Church; it can be from simply praying for everyone to setting up for the Parish Festival.  When He calls us in that ministry we must remember, the ministry belongs to God, it belongs to the Church and I am blessed as an unprofitable servant to be given this task.  The call and the task is all about God’s grace lest I become proud and boastful.

Charity is involved because we have to respond in kind.  God has responded to us in love.  We were dead in our sins or put in a more modern way, "we were dead men walking."  God’s great love was to fill us with life and grace through His Son Jesus Christ.  All of us have been given this gift.  He is right there on the Cross reminding us of the cost of that gift, and He also gives us the gift of resurrection because Jesus is no longer dead.  Since we have received both gifts we also are no longer dead men walking, rather people filled with the Spirit and on fire.

What then will I give; will it just be sixty minutes on a Sunday?  Driving here and back home doesn’t count just like it doesn’t count as time at your job.  So, is one hour a week enough repayment for that (pointing to the Cross)?  No, it is not, God requires the best of us and He requires us all the time.  Granted you are not ministerial priests or deacons or religious and you do not have as much time as we, but nevertheless God calls you.  He knows the busyness of your lives and your responsibilities, they are tremendous and for the Church to ask for more might even sound unfair, but it is not just the Church – meaning our Parish, but God Himself who asks.  God calls us to do more in our community.   In some ways Fr. Nick and I should not even have to ask.  You may think that is bold of me or a little to New Yorkish, but it’s true, God is the one who has been stirring your hearts and it comes from His love.  Are you listening and are you responding?

Finally, perseverance.  This is possibly the greatest if not the most difficult virtues to obtain and perfect.  Now once again, your ministry may be as simple as praying for the Parish if you can do no more, but its not just praying one or two times, but praying for our Church as much as you can and as often as you can, to build up a ministry of prayer.  For those who can do more physically to get involved in a ministry but then to not just show up once, but quite often blessing us with you presence, gifts, and talents, and most of all your friendship.  AMEN!  FJ

The Word of God Cannot be Chained!

In today’s 2nd reading from St. Paul to Timothy, Paul writes, “But the word of God is not chained.” He is referring to his imprisonment, even though the authorities, whomever they may be, can keep him in chains, they can never imprison the Word of God or keep it in chains, it is impossible. The Truth is personified in the 2nd person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ. The Word can never be held down, chained up, or put away, rather the Word pierces every human being, and it pierces us like a two edged sword, cutting in two directions, both in and out. Yet, when we refer to the Word, a term we hear often, to what or whom are we actually referring and once understood, what are we supposed to do with that Word?

When we refer to the Word of God we can be referring to 3 different things or all of them at once or in some combination. When we refer to the Word of God we are recalling to mind the Word Himself, (the Logos), Jesus Christ. “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” (Jn. 1:1) A little later in the same chapter John the Evangelist tells us, “And the Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us…” (Jn 1:14) First and foremost the Word is a person. It is with the Word, Jesus with whom we are in relationship. The second way we refer to the Word is the Word we read, and that is the Word of God as well, but in this reference it refers to Sacred Scripture, the Bible. As Christians we believe that in the Scriptures it is God Himself, through human authors influenced (not put under a spell), who speaks to us. The Scriptures are used for many purposes, be it at mass for the readings, be it at home for prayer and study, be it by theologians for scholarship, and on and on. A third way we refer to the Word is the Word we hear. When we listen to someone else read it as we did in mass today it takes on a different aspect, yes it is the same Word but when we truly listen the Word of God comes alive in our audible understanding of it.

So, these are the theological points about the Word of God and you can memorize all of that and compartmentalize it and maybe even use it one day as a master theologian. All of which would be good, but more importantly for us is that we remember the Word of God cannot be put in chains, even though we may sometimes put the Word of God on a shelf and only call on Him when in need just like the ten lepers from today’s Gospel. They called out to the Lord in pity as it says because of their disease, Jesus cured them all, but only one kept the Word alive in His heart, “Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine? Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?”

The lesson from both St. Paul and today’s Gospel is not to put the Word of God on a shelf or attempt to put it in chains. It won’t work because it will come back to cut us, what I mean here is that the Word of God will convict us in our complacency.

We are to keep the Word of God alive in our daily lives and this is done by reading Scripture at home as often as possible, to listen to the Word of God as we are doing now at mass every Sunday, and most of all to be in a relationship with the Word Himself all the time, not just for sixty minutes on Sunday or 15 minutes on a Monday reading a passage from the Bible, but always in union with Christ, just like the Samaritan who returned glorifying Jesus, so that we too will hear from Jesus as did the Samaritan, “Then he said to him, "Stand up and go your faith has saved you.”  Amen!

FJ

Get Up and Move!

In today’s Gospel Jesus tells us, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.”  When we hear this statement we sometimes get a mental lapse, i.e. we assume Jesus is speaking figuratively because it’s impossible to make a tree uproot itself and then plant it only in water.  Jesus was speaking literally, in the sense that great faith does move mountains.  It is doubt that keeps the tree where it is as well as the mountains.

In our lives we have all kinds of trees and mountains we want moved or rather to be gone.  These can range from any type of suffering, be it the suffering one experiences in a broken relationship, the death of a loved one, it could be a sin we have been struggling with, be it pride, impatience, greed, lust, abusing drink, food, or other substances not meant for the human body.  Every person wants to be free of these, be it suffering of any kind or the struggle with sin.  Jesus says, “you can be, just have faith.”

The problem lies in the fact that my natural instinct tells me it is impossible to move trees and mountains, therefore the slightest doubt weakens my faith and the trees and mountains remain.

What then must we do to have faith that will move mountains?

1)   We must pray and pray all the time

i.               We get to know someone by talking to them, intimacy begins with conversation, am I in conversation with Jesus all the time.

ii.             People confuse praying all the time with being a hermit or monk, yes they pray often and have opportunity for prayer, but when Jesus asked us to pray always, he asked us ALL, not just his monks and hermits.  We must be practical with our time and prayer

2)   We must humble ourselves

i.               Humility is the hardest of all virtues.  Accepting the will of God is very difficult; especially when I must accept His calling home of one my family.  When my dad died it was not easy to accept that God called him home and that he would no longer be with me as he once was.  I am sure many of you can relate to this, since many if not all have experienced intimate loss.

ii.             Humility requires that I not only accept it but to see it as a good.  Either God works out everything for the good for those who love Him or He does not, that choice is for each of us to decide.

iii.          Humility also requires that I confess my sins and if necessary, over and over, and over, and over, and over again!

3)   Finally we must love without measure or condition. 

i.               God demands that I not only love those who love me but even those who hurt me, be it physically, emotionally and even spiritually.  I must forgive and love them.  I must be willing to let everything go just as Christ did when He carried the cross for me and allowed me to put nails through His hands and feet.

ii.             Love has no value if I only love those who love me.

iii.          When we recall to mind some of the saints in the Church, such as St. Francis of Assisi, St. Therese of the Little Flower we can see love personified, come to life actually.  Love moved mountains for Francis and Therese, this is quite obvious both from reading into their personal lives but also the blessings that came even after their deaths, be it miracles through their intercession and the blessings in their communities.

When we think that we “CAN’T” it is really because we “WON’T.”   To have great faith as Jesus demands takes hard work, not just some head belief, but it takes prayer, humility, and a love that knows no limits. 

Struggles are real, be they struggles with suffering or sin.  But we are not a defeated people.  God has given us the means to live lives of joy and happiness, so if there is a tree or a mountain in your way, just tell it to move and it will.  And why will it move?  Because Jesus said it would!

Amen!  FJ

Jesus Welcomes Sinners and Eats With Them

“This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”  This is what we hear about Jesus from today’s Gospel.  I am sure this definitely upset the self-righteous who were in Jesus’ presence when He was hanging out with the sinners and the law-breakers.  Today’s Gospel whether in the short or long form contains the same basic theme and that is that we are all sinners and we need Jesus’ forgiveness to be made whole – to be made holy.

Lets take a look at the characters from all the readings today.  

In the first reading we find Moses.  Moses was an interesting man indeed.  He was born a Jew, but raised as an Egyptian prince.  He lived in that world and it was that world that shaped him, nevertheless he needed God, this is clear throughout his life, e.g. when he killed a fellow Egyptian, when he found God on the mountain, when he destroyed the tablets of the law, when he struck the rock twice and God commanded he do so only once.  Moses, like us needed forgiveness throughout his life and what sets him apart was his humility before the Lord.

The Psalms many of which are attributed to King David or at least speak of him show us a man who fell many times after God had already anointed him both literally and figuratively.  David was a type of savior to Israel, first, when he slayed the giant Goliath and it was from that point in which he received many blessings from God.  However, like the prodigal son, David squandered his inheritance often, taking many wives and concubines, committing adultery with Bathsheba, conspiring to commit murder against Uriah, greed and corruption and dirty politics, none of which David was short on during different moments in his life.  But like Moses, David was also very humble and admitted his guilt and relied on God’s mercy.

St. Paul from our 2^nd reading was also a man who thought he was righteous, and in his ignorance was executing Christians, St. Stephen being one of them, and it would not stop with just one, he wanted to arrest them all and bring them before the Sanhedrin for justice against their supposed false teachings and heresy.  We know the story; St. Paul is knocked to the ground by Jesus because of his great stubbornness and pride.  Eventually he pleads for the mercy of God and we know that from there he goes on to become the Great Missionary.

The stories of Moses, David, Paul, and the sinners who ate with Jesus is the story of us.  We are no different than those men and women before us.  All of us rely on the great mercy of God.

There are two very important things we should take from the readings today.  The first is, never ever become self-righteous there is probably nothing that God hates more and secondly, isn’t it comforting to know that God keeps company with the adulterer (David), the doubter (Moses), the prosecutor of the innocent (Paul), and with us who are also sinners!  It is not that God wishes us to remain in sin for Jesus says, “Go and sin no more.”  But it is reassuring to know that God does not give up on us and He can truly turn sinners to saints, an adulterer into one of the greatest kings of the earth and a man of great faith, a doubter into a man who delivered God’s commands, and a prosecutor of the innocent into one of the Church’s greatest saints.

So too does it go with us, so too does it go with us!

FJ

Picture is of Kind David offering praise to God.

Just War Theory

Jesus serves as a model of peace and love in our world, for He was a man who not only preached peace and love, but lived it.  He asked us to do the same on many occasions, i.e. love your neighbor as yourself, love your enemies, if someone strikes you on the cheek turn to him the other as well, if someone asks for your shirt, give him your coat as well.  There is no doubt that Jesus was not only generous, peaceful, loving in speech, but in deed as well, as proves His humility during His arrest and eventual crucifixion.

Jesus asks that we all live this way, peaceful; however, we do live in a world where some will become violent, greedy, controlling, and some who become downright evil.  The greatest response to evil is peace and love, being a pacifist as was our Lord, but again, either an individual or society can protect itself from an unjust aggressor, hence a second option, mind you not as good as the first but still permissible.  We know this from Scripture and tradition.  When the soldier approaches Jesus and asks Him to heal his servant and they get into the conversation about obedience and eventually the soldier’s servant is healed, Jesus never once says to the soldier “lay down your arms.”  Also, Jesus demands we give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.  In rendering that judgment and others rightful societies can protect themselves and others, however this does not go unchecked.

Today we have so many wars all in the name of protecting democracy, freedom, and even resources, let’s not kid ourselves, oil and money drive the world, no pun intended.  And now, we may possibly have another conflict on our hands with Syria.  The problem here is what do we do?  It has been proven that Syria used chemical weapons on its own citizens.  Do we police that or allow them to work it out on their own?  Not an easy call.  How do measure or decide that our actions are just and good, whether we decide to intervene or not?  As Christians we are asked to always check and examine our conscience in determining such and since the Bible does not spell out whether a war can be just or not except in a very implied way we turn to other Christian thinkers who have in order to help form our own conscience.

St. Augustine was the first Christian theologian to deal with such a topic, “The Just War Theory.”  His position was his own private understanding.  He begins with a humble and pious thought, “What is here required is not a bodily action, but an inward disposition.  The sacred seat of virtue is the heart.”  Peacefulness and virtue is one’s highest aim in life as was Jesus’ example to us, none-the-less, Augustine also would add, “Defense of one’s self or others could be a necessity, especially when authorized by a legitimate authority.”  Augustine does not give us a full discourse on just war but he paves the way for other thinkers to add to his theory.  One such man, 900 years later, St. Thomas Aquinas would further develop the theory.  Thomas came up with three major components in determining whether a war was just or not.

1.    Just was must be waged by a proper authority, i.e. The state

2.    War must occur for a good and just purpose, rather than self gain, i.e. “in the nation’s interest” would be unjust, rather it would have to be, “for the sake of restoring some good, territory, or the punishment of an evil government, military or societal sect.”

3.    Peace must be the central motive. I.E. Right intention

The theory was further developed by other Thomists (students of Thomas) who added.

1.    There has to be a reasonable chance of success

2.    Preemptive war is just because an attack is imminent, preventive wars are not, because an attack is only anticipated and there is no imminent danger.

3.    The response must match the evil, i.e. we cannot drop nuclear weapons when they are only firing ballistic missiles.

4.    Only governing authorities may declare war and if the people oppose the war it would be illegitimate to declare war.

5.    There are moral limits to what we can do, i.e. the innocent and civilians must never be a target, i.e. with today’s weapons that is sometimes not the case.

6.    Peace talks must proceed as much as humanly possible.

  

     Modern theologians would add to this especially claiming that all use of nuclear and or atomic weapons is always unjust.  Nuclear weapons by their nature target civilians and the innocent.  

     How many American wars have met these criteria?  I will not decide for you, but I ask you to decide.  I want you to go home and wrestle with this.  St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas and others have challenged us, they challenge us to be and live peacefully as did our Lord and if we find it impossible not to go to war then we are to follow a certain criteria and set of rules so that we do not become unjust.   But, to both be fair and honest have we Americans been just in our wars.  I think two positions that are unwise is to think we have never acted unjustly or that we have never acted justly, these are extreme positions, I think at times we have failed (both during military action and when we failed to help others because they could not offer us something in return)

)    but I also think at times we have followed a virtuous path (helping others through military force to be free from oppression and genocide), nevertheless the reflection is now yours and the greater question for us as Christian is, “What about Syria?”  Pope Francis has made his thoughts known, look them up, pray about it and most of all pray that Christ touches all with His sense of peace and love.  Amen.  FJ

The Happy Life: Fighting the Good Fight!

A couple of weeks ago while on retreat I had the privilege and blessing to have my younger brother come along with me.  While visiting the Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto behind Mt. Saint Mary’s College my brother asked me a simple but profound question.  “Are we hypocrites to keep asking God for forgiveness each day for the sins we continually commit?  If God has given us grace then we are hypocrites to always turn our backs on Him.”  What does Scripture say to this question? “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” (1 Jn. 1:8)  Knowing that we are sinners we are to, “... confess our sins, (for) he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 Jn. 1:9)  However, this is not easy, this continual humbling of ourselves, this acceptance of our weakness, and harder still – the continuing struggle to reach perfection or one might even say, “As Catholics do we live in a continual cycle of repentance and forgiveness?  That does not seem like a happy life, but rather a life that is burdensome.”

Today’s Gospel challenges us to, “Strive to enter the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough.”  There is a theme that runs throughout all the readings today and that is “discipline.”  The life of faith is not just “feel good,” or “spiritual” but it also entails hard work and not only hard work but an actual disciplining of us by God.  “My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord or lose heart when reproved by Him; for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines …”

St. Paul understood this concept of a continual upward calling towards God that consisted in a challenge, if not even a painful struggling against sin. 

“Therefore, that I might not become too elated, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, an angel of Satan, to beat me, to keep me from being too elated.  Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it might leave me, but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me.” (2 Cor. 12:7-9)

St. Paul in a subliminal or even in a roundabout way admits to his struggle with pride, the pride that he was receiving abundant revelations from Jesus as opposed to others not receiving as many or as important.  God disciplines Paul by placing a thorn in his flesh, to keep him humble.  I wonder, if God placed a thorn in St. Paul’s flesh, does He do the same with us?  St. Paul begged the Lord to take it away, but the Lord’s answer was, “My grace and your humility are enough.”  So it’s not the person who lets us know how holy they are, how good they are before God, but rather when we admit our sins, failings, weaknesses, and when we surrender to Jesus – that is what is pleasing to God.

People will come to confession, over and over again, week after week admitting the same sins and it can wear on the one confessing, and this also takes us to the question I asked in the opening, “is the life of a Catholic a vicious cycle?” Part of our life is knowing that we struggle between good and evil this is what fighting the good fight is all about.  From St. Paul, “I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.  From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me, which the Lord, the just judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but to all who have longed for his appearance.” (2 Tim. 4:7-8)  Even though we fall and get, fall and get up, fall and get up, we are happy and joyful because of God’s grace, we don’t live in a state of misery, for we have been set free, we allow ourselves to be humble and to feel contrite and the fight itself gives us joy – knowing that we are on the road to salvation.

We Catholics, however, will sometimes drown ourselves in guilt, for instance, “my sin is too big or great for God to forgive, or I have way too many sins, i.e. I curse, I lie, I gamble, I smoke, I drink, I gossip, how can the Lord love me?”  If we do not repent, then yes, God grants us what we want, in that case not to be forgiven, but as soon as we do repent, we are forgiven – completely!

I will leave you with this, how can I tell who a true Christian is?  A true Christian is not a person that has never sinned, exception here is our Blessed Mother, but a person who continues to get up after every fall.  God tells us that what is dearest to His heart is that He loves a humble and contrite heart, so in every humble and contrite heart you will find a Christian, that is who we are, simply running the race, I pray we run it well.  Amen.  FJ

Image is of St. Paul preaching in Athens

Where is Your Heart? Where your Treasure Is!

Today Jesus challenges us by advising us to, “Sell your belongings and give alms.  Provide money bags for yourselves that do not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven that no thief can reach or moth destroy.  For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.”  This is not always the easiest thing for us to accept let alone live it out.  We live in a world where more, better, and easier is the driving force in our lives.  There are moments, like in today’s Gospel and in other moments of self-realization that I have just way too much stuff or why do I always need the latest thing or gadget?  I’ll share with you one such moment I just recently had with this struggle of wanting, needing, and desiring more and better stuff.

My moment of realization came in following Pope Francis.  This man is some pope and a great one at that.  He is a pastor at heart and very down to earth, you have heard the stories, i.e. paying his own hotel bill after he was elected, shrugging his shoulders as in “who me” on returning to the Sistine Chapel after his election when he presented himself to his brother cardinals, and recently demanding that he be driven in a 2005 Ford Focus instead of a Mercedes Benz, and still occupying his simple room at Santa Marta.  But a big moment came when he asked all the ordained who work in the Vatican to truly consider selling their upscale vehicles, i.e. BMW’s and Mercedes since those types of vehicles do not embrace the spirit of poverty.  A new sheriff is in town and he’s laying down the law.

This example of a “spirit of poverty” really moved me and it moved me quite significantly, for just recently I was regretting not getting a “Technology Package” in my Kia Sorrento which I purchased last year.  I really wanted to have the 7inch built in dashboard display with navigation, but because they sometimes make you buy other stuff coupled with that I could not afford it.  So, about a month ago I went to Best Buy, my favorite and most dangerous store, I inquired about replacing my existing radio.  The sales representative did a good job and after explaining everything to me and all the parts that I would need, labor, etc. the total would cost me about $800.00, this was much cheaper than the original “technology package” since that ran around $2,000 dollars.  As I am driving home from Best Buy I am listening to Catholic Radio and they are talking about the spirit of poverty that Pope Francis has embraced and I hear this thing about asking his clerics to sell their high end vehicles.  Well, this haunts me for days.  I wrestle almost constantly with why I should have the built-in navigation as opposed to my original unit and I justify by telling myself it’s cheaper, it’s safer, it’s what I wanted in the first place, and lastly and most importantly I deserved it.

After about three or four days I gave in to the Lord, He won the wrestling match and I brought everything back.  I did speak with the technician who was to install it and after much conversation about what I already had and what would needed to have been done, he said, “Father, thank goodness you brought it back because it would have been a very difficult installation and there was no need to replace your unit just for navigation purposes, too much tricky wiring and the loss of what you already have, i.e. steering wheel controls, your original blue tooth and antenna.”  I walked out of there relieved.  Now, I am not patting myself on the back, trust me I have failed more than I have succeeded in this regard.  I share this with you because I imagine we all struggle with this, wanting more of the world than of Jesus.

Pope Francis, a true pastor has asked to look to the spirit of Jesus and His spirit of poverty.  Pope Francis has also taken on the name St. Francis of Assisi, a small man in stature but a giant in the faith, a man who always knew and always lived this idea making his treasure Jesus Christ.  So, where are you at in your life, where is your heart, look to your treasure and you will find the answer. 

FJ