-Last Sunday's homily is available by email
-This Sunday's Scriptures can be found at USCCB.org
-I will be celebrating mass this weekend at 8:00 and 11:00am
God is doing nothing new!
While God is always new and ever new, the Christmas mystery and the revelation of God in the human person of Jesus at Bethlehem is nothing new, it is not a new message. In fact, it is so purely and simply the same message that we have heard from God from the beginning.
In the beginning, God made them male and female in his own image and likeness and he charged them to love, to become one flesh, and to be fruitful, multiply - as in be co-creators with God. To be human: mother, father, child.
The Christmas mystery revealed today especially in the Holy Family - husband, wife, child-is the same message: our God enters our human existence and reality not as a powerful angel from on high nor as an otherworldly creature but as a helpless child of innocent and committed parents. The message is the same as that first creation: that I am love, I have created you as humans in love, I have placed my mode of loving into your very bones/humanity, and I am calling you to simply love as human beings do.
As Fr. Chuck said on Christmas eve, "God has chosen to not only create us in his image of love, call us to his work of loving, but shown us how to live in love in Jesus."
It's simple, but it ain't easy! We certainly have complicated our basic task. Mother father and child. Husband, wife, family. How far have we gotten from our Nature and our mission? How might we reconnect through the gospel with both? In simply being and loving as we were called, created, and redeemed, to do... We could find peace.
Simple! Hardly easy!
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Friday, December 21, 2012
Dec 23 Homily Prep
-Last Sunday's homily is available by email
-This Sunday's Scriptures can be found at USCCB.org
-I will be celebrating mass this weekend at 9:30 Sunday
Live it
Mary has just had the most powerful religious or spiritual experience of her life - the annunciation. That closeness and intimacy with God. She has been longing for God her whole life. She believes that God has visited her. She is on fire!
And what does she do? Evidently she did not run to the synagogue to share with the rabbi or the scribe this great spiritual phenomenon, evidently she did not call her spiritual director. She did not meet up with her small faith sharing group.
No, she went to verify the message of the angel, she went to confirm this spiritual experience in the real life of her kinswoman Elizabeth. She went as a contemplative of light radiating the presence and love of God and she manifested the meaning of her religious experience by caring for another.
It seems easy for us to long for a connection with God in faith. We want to feel religious. We are seeking spirituality. Some of us are frustrated and not experiencing enough. Others of us claim to experience this depth of religion but we do not confirm it with compassion.
The tell tale sign of true communion with God in faith is compassion for our neighbor. We cannot escape this demand. Mary shows us the truth. To encounter the loving and living God is to conceive of that love in and through one's life. There is no true love of God that is absent of a true compassion for one's neighbor in need.
I believe we can work this system in reverse as well. This is the recommendation of Jesus. Let us love one another, for God is love. We can deepen our religious experience, our spirituality by extending our compassion and love for others in the moment, here, and now, in the simple, in that which is most common, close to us, available to us, accessible!
So, if we are longing for communion with God, a deep spiritual experience.....love!
-This Sunday's Scriptures can be found at USCCB.org
-I will be celebrating mass this weekend at 9:30 Sunday
Live it
Mary has just had the most powerful religious or spiritual experience of her life - the annunciation. That closeness and intimacy with God. She has been longing for God her whole life. She believes that God has visited her. She is on fire!
And what does she do? Evidently she did not run to the synagogue to share with the rabbi or the scribe this great spiritual phenomenon, evidently she did not call her spiritual director. She did not meet up with her small faith sharing group.
No, she went to verify the message of the angel, she went to confirm this spiritual experience in the real life of her kinswoman Elizabeth. She went as a contemplative of light radiating the presence and love of God and she manifested the meaning of her religious experience by caring for another.
It seems easy for us to long for a connection with God in faith. We want to feel religious. We are seeking spirituality. Some of us are frustrated and not experiencing enough. Others of us claim to experience this depth of religion but we do not confirm it with compassion.
The tell tale sign of true communion with God in faith is compassion for our neighbor. We cannot escape this demand. Mary shows us the truth. To encounter the loving and living God is to conceive of that love in and through one's life. There is no true love of God that is absent of a true compassion for one's neighbor in need.
I believe we can work this system in reverse as well. This is the recommendation of Jesus. Let us love one another, for God is love. We can deepen our religious experience, our spirituality by extending our compassion and love for others in the moment, here, and now, in the simple, in that which is most common, close to us, available to us, accessible!
So, if we are longing for communion with God, a deep spiritual experience.....love!
Saturday, December 15, 2012
More than a happy feeling
-Last Sunday's homily is available by email
-This Sunday's Scriptures can be found at USCCB.org
-I will be celebrating mass this weekend at 9:30 and 6:00pm at St. Albert the Great and at 12:15 at the cathedral with our confirmandi and families.
It's about what you do!
All the people coming out to see John the Baptist to be baptized were experiencing religious fervor, responding to the invitation of God but very possibly seeking only a feeling. Enthusiasm and spiritual desire are an important part of our spiritual conversion. However, they cannot substitute for it. Feeling fine is not not being saved.
The remedy for this possible misunderstanding is remedied by the firmness of the Baptist. John the Baptist reminds everyone who comes to him in response to his Holiness, his fervor, his invitation.... "here is what you ought to do".
In Catholicism we call this "incarnation". Is your faith more than a feeling? Is what you seek simply better feelings? On this Gaudette(rejoicing) Sunday it is possible that we might conceive of the goal on our religious life as feeling joyful, happy. Joy is the symptom of our faith and conversion, however, it is righteous, truthful, and holy living that is the means to that joy. And the faith and knowledge that the Lord is near is the cause of our joy?
Is our faith and our religious life a cyclical and frustrating pursuit of feeling bad and then better? Or is in a response to the gift of Emmanuel?
-This Sunday's Scriptures can be found at USCCB.org
-I will be celebrating mass this weekend at 9:30 and 6:00pm at St. Albert the Great and at 12:15 at the cathedral with our confirmandi and families.
It's about what you do!
All the people coming out to see John the Baptist to be baptized were experiencing religious fervor, responding to the invitation of God but very possibly seeking only a feeling. Enthusiasm and spiritual desire are an important part of our spiritual conversion. However, they cannot substitute for it. Feeling fine is not not being saved.
The remedy for this possible misunderstanding is remedied by the firmness of the Baptist. John the Baptist reminds everyone who comes to him in response to his Holiness, his fervor, his invitation.... "here is what you ought to do".
In Catholicism we call this "incarnation". Is your faith more than a feeling? Is what you seek simply better feelings? On this Gaudette(rejoicing) Sunday it is possible that we might conceive of the goal on our religious life as feeling joyful, happy. Joy is the symptom of our faith and conversion, however, it is righteous, truthful, and holy living that is the means to that joy. And the faith and knowledge that the Lord is near is the cause of our joy?
Is our faith and our religious life a cyclical and frustrating pursuit of feeling bad and then better? Or is in a response to the gift of Emmanuel?
Friday, December 7, 2012
Ears versus mouths
-Last Sunday's homily is available by email
-This Sunday's Scriptures can be found at USCCB.org
-I will be celebrating mass this weekend at 5:30 and 8:00am
Brand New Ears!
My father was famous for saying to me that "when I died my ears would be brand new and my mouth was going to be worn out". I've heard another version that says "the reason God gave us two ears and one mouth is that we would listen twice as much as we talk".
I am struck by the prophetic vocation of John the Baptist. It begins "in the desert" and the Scripture says the "Word came to John". I don't believe that I have ever noticed this pattern in one who is called to be a prophet. One must receive the word of God before he or she can pronounce the Word of God.
I have always thought of prophetic activity as words or actions that are saying something. I have always understood the prophetic function of the church as the teaching and preaching function. What I am realizing with John the Baptist and of course Jesus himself (both modeled on Moses) is that the essence of being a prophet is "listening".
Therefore, before I accept the role of prophet of the Lord I must consider my qualifications: have I listened.
In fact, the whole Church through baptism is called to a prophetic life in Christ. Have we nurtured this essential prophetic qualification? Have we heard? Have we listened?
I am embarrassed to say that I am shocked by this insight but I can't resist being honest. How about you?
-This Sunday's Scriptures can be found at USCCB.org
-I will be celebrating mass this weekend at 5:30 and 8:00am
Brand New Ears!
My father was famous for saying to me that "when I died my ears would be brand new and my mouth was going to be worn out". I've heard another version that says "the reason God gave us two ears and one mouth is that we would listen twice as much as we talk".
I am struck by the prophetic vocation of John the Baptist. It begins "in the desert" and the Scripture says the "Word came to John". I don't believe that I have ever noticed this pattern in one who is called to be a prophet. One must receive the word of God before he or she can pronounce the Word of God.
I have always thought of prophetic activity as words or actions that are saying something. I have always understood the prophetic function of the church as the teaching and preaching function. What I am realizing with John the Baptist and of course Jesus himself (both modeled on Moses) is that the essence of being a prophet is "listening".
Therefore, before I accept the role of prophet of the Lord I must consider my qualifications: have I listened.
In fact, the whole Church through baptism is called to a prophetic life in Christ. Have we nurtured this essential prophetic qualification? Have we heard? Have we listened?
I am embarrassed to say that I am shocked by this insight but I can't resist being honest. How about you?
Friday, November 30, 2012
Advent 1 - Dec 2 Homily Prep
-Last Sunday's homily is available by email
-This Sunday's Scriptures can be found at USCCB.org
-I will be celebrating mass this weekend at 4:00pm and 11:00am
Keep Your Eye on the Ball
This end times and last things gospel text from Saint Luke proposes two options when confronted by calamity: die of fright or cling to the Lord. I am certain that the gospel recommendation is to keep your eye on the Lord, stand erect, lift your head, your redemption is at hand!
There is a lot of handwringing going on within the church and within the society about the end of the world, the end of life as we know it, the end of our western culture, the end of the American experiment. I will admit that there are a lot of frightening indicators in our world and our church that suggest painful and problematic times. Nonetheless, I believe this is Jesus' point.
What is Jesus's point? That when we hear of these things, when we see these things, when we experience these difficulties, and these pains, these frightening circumstances, we are not to turn away, turn to self, turn to defensiveness, turn to protectionism, turn to Isolationism, give up on relationships, abandon the community, build a fort, hide ourselves away, enter the bomb shelter!
No! We are called to stand up and lift our heads and fix our eyes on the redemption of the Lord that has been poured into our hearts. It is the light of Christ, the eternal life, the springs of never ending life, the restful waters, the indwelling, the power coming on the clouds of heaven - these should overwhelm us and keep us firm on our mission, on our path, in our peace!
Really?! That is precisely the point! If we are not going to cling to the hand of Jesus in the face of calamity then what good and what use is faith at all? To stroll along the sunny path of life? To celebrate the joy and the success of life? I don't get that impression from our crucified Savior.
The whole point it seems to me is that we have been given a Savior, we have received the Holy Spirit, we have been joined to the Body of Christ, precisely because we were going to need courage and clarity of vision (read: the truth) when things get stormy. If we lack faith in the stormy times-there is no point of faith at all.
So, see some storm clouds on the horizon? Standing erect, lift your head and believe
-This Sunday's Scriptures can be found at USCCB.org
-I will be celebrating mass this weekend at 4:00pm and 11:00am
Keep Your Eye on the Ball
This end times and last things gospel text from Saint Luke proposes two options when confronted by calamity: die of fright or cling to the Lord. I am certain that the gospel recommendation is to keep your eye on the Lord, stand erect, lift your head, your redemption is at hand!
There is a lot of handwringing going on within the church and within the society about the end of the world, the end of life as we know it, the end of our western culture, the end of the American experiment. I will admit that there are a lot of frightening indicators in our world and our church that suggest painful and problematic times. Nonetheless, I believe this is Jesus' point.
What is Jesus's point? That when we hear of these things, when we see these things, when we experience these difficulties, and these pains, these frightening circumstances, we are not to turn away, turn to self, turn to defensiveness, turn to protectionism, turn to Isolationism, give up on relationships, abandon the community, build a fort, hide ourselves away, enter the bomb shelter!
No! We are called to stand up and lift our heads and fix our eyes on the redemption of the Lord that has been poured into our hearts. It is the light of Christ, the eternal life, the springs of never ending life, the restful waters, the indwelling, the power coming on the clouds of heaven - these should overwhelm us and keep us firm on our mission, on our path, in our peace!
Really?! That is precisely the point! If we are not going to cling to the hand of Jesus in the face of calamity then what good and what use is faith at all? To stroll along the sunny path of life? To celebrate the joy and the success of life? I don't get that impression from our crucified Savior.
The whole point it seems to me is that we have been given a Savior, we have received the Holy Spirit, we have been joined to the Body of Christ, precisely because we were going to need courage and clarity of vision (read: the truth) when things get stormy. If we lack faith in the stormy times-there is no point of faith at all.
So, see some storm clouds on the horizon? Standing erect, lift your head and believe
Friday, November 23, 2012
November 25 Homily Prep
-Last Sunday's homily is available by email
-This Sunday's Scriptures can be found at USCCB.org
-I will be celebrating mass this weekend at 11:00am and 6:00pm Sunday
"You're not the boss of me"
That expression coming from somewhere in our preschool/early years, rather sums up the proposition of the church on this feast of Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. Are we subjects, can we subject ourselves to anyone - let alone Jesus Christ?
The only way that one can submit or subject him or herself to the will of another is if that other is perceived as True, More true than our own best idea. The question for all of us on this feast is to what extent have we encountered the truth of Jesus Christ and subjected ourselves to it?
The human condition and thus the "average Joe" cannot see or hear or perceive the truth of others because of the infantile, defensive demand to be free(In charge of himself). "You are not the boss of me" is the expression and the attitude of the independent, autonomous, headstrong child within each of us. "You are not the boss of me" is also the subtitle of the original sin in the garden of Eden. While they are created as the first man and woman they end up choosing like the first little two-year-olds!
As the church celebrates the sovereignty of Jesus Christ, king of the universe we can all have our "autonomous, independent, free-thinking" wounded little children alarmed. Before we get our "backs up" let's be reminded of Jesus in the garden. He has won the title of universal king by being the first and best, humble subject. "Your will, not mine, be done" is the motto of this kingdom.
Are you safe and secure enough, like Jesus in the garden, to hear and recognize the truth of the Lord Jesus and to subject your life to his? If not, why not? That is the point of our faith and our salvation!
-This Sunday's Scriptures can be found at USCCB.org
-I will be celebrating mass this weekend at 11:00am and 6:00pm Sunday
"You're not the boss of me"
That expression coming from somewhere in our preschool/early years, rather sums up the proposition of the church on this feast of Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. Are we subjects, can we subject ourselves to anyone - let alone Jesus Christ?
The only way that one can submit or subject him or herself to the will of another is if that other is perceived as True, More true than our own best idea. The question for all of us on this feast is to what extent have we encountered the truth of Jesus Christ and subjected ourselves to it?
The human condition and thus the "average Joe" cannot see or hear or perceive the truth of others because of the infantile, defensive demand to be free(In charge of himself). "You are not the boss of me" is the expression and the attitude of the independent, autonomous, headstrong child within each of us. "You are not the boss of me" is also the subtitle of the original sin in the garden of Eden. While they are created as the first man and woman they end up choosing like the first little two-year-olds!
As the church celebrates the sovereignty of Jesus Christ, king of the universe we can all have our "autonomous, independent, free-thinking" wounded little children alarmed. Before we get our "backs up" let's be reminded of Jesus in the garden. He has won the title of universal king by being the first and best, humble subject. "Your will, not mine, be done" is the motto of this kingdom.
Are you safe and secure enough, like Jesus in the garden, to hear and recognize the truth of the Lord Jesus and to subject your life to his? If not, why not? That is the point of our faith and our salvation!
Friday, November 16, 2012
November 18 Homily Prep
-Last Sunday's homily is available by email
-This Sunday's Scriptures can be found at USCCB.org>>>
-I will be celebrating mass this weekend at 5:30 Sat and 8:00 Sunday
Passing Away
I can't help but retell the story of a couple of weeks ago about my attending the wake of a deceased parishioner. I found a four-year-old great-grandchild of the deceased sitting alone next to a laptop computer staring at a video of his deceased great-grandmother...they called her "Mutti".
With my most compassionate intentional smile and showing concern I said to the little boy "is that your "Mutti"?" He answered "yes". I said, "I am sorry that she passed away." He looked up from the video and turned to me puzzled and said "oh, she didn't pass away, she died."
That little boy was 100% right. no sugar-coating his reality. She died. We use the expression "pass away" to say "die". Jesus uses it to communicate the very nature of things...those permanent and those transitional, if you know what I mean.
Jesus says that everything is "passing away" except, of course, his Word will never pass away. It seems that faith may be this clarity of vision: the ability to see, know and understand what is "passing away"(transitional) and what is enduring forever(real).
I am interested as to what in my life and in your life are we called to see clearly as "passing away"? If you are like me I often get my heart set on the transitional or on the unreal and I see it as reality, not passing away. I need, like that little four-year-old, to get real and see things as God sees them. The ones that are made to "pass away" and those that are intended to endure.
And, what could be the providential and graceful purpose of this "passing away"? What is the good of it except to "make way" for God's real life and reality now?
-This Sunday's Scriptures can be found at USCCB.org>>>
-I will be celebrating mass this weekend at 5:30 Sat and 8:00 Sunday
Passing Away
I can't help but retell the story of a couple of weeks ago about my attending the wake of a deceased parishioner. I found a four-year-old great-grandchild of the deceased sitting alone next to a laptop computer staring at a video of his deceased great-grandmother...they called her "Mutti".
With my most compassionate intentional smile and showing concern I said to the little boy "is that your "Mutti"?" He answered "yes". I said, "I am sorry that she passed away." He looked up from the video and turned to me puzzled and said "oh, she didn't pass away, she died."
That little boy was 100% right. no sugar-coating his reality. She died. We use the expression "pass away" to say "die". Jesus uses it to communicate the very nature of things...those permanent and those transitional, if you know what I mean.
Jesus says that everything is "passing away" except, of course, his Word will never pass away. It seems that faith may be this clarity of vision: the ability to see, know and understand what is "passing away"(transitional) and what is enduring forever(real).
I am interested as to what in my life and in your life are we called to see clearly as "passing away"? If you are like me I often get my heart set on the transitional or on the unreal and I see it as reality, not passing away. I need, like that little four-year-old, to get real and see things as God sees them. The ones that are made to "pass away" and those that are intended to endure.
And, what could be the providential and graceful purpose of this "passing away"? What is the good of it except to "make way" for God's real life and reality now?
Friday, November 9, 2012
November 11th Homily Prep
-Last Sunday's homily is available by email
-This Sunday's Scriptures can be found at USCCB.org>>>>>
-I will be celebrating mass this weekend at 4:00 Sat and 6:00pm Sunday
Give it Up!
While we are celebrating the 32nd Sunday in ordinary time, we at St. Albert the Great parish are celebrating the solemnity of our patron, St. Albert. We will be reflecting, however, on the Scriptures for Sunday.
Jesus points out to his disciples the poor widow and her generosity to the temple treasury as an "object lesson" about something much more fundamental than tithing to the Sunday collection.
The Jesus secret! I have expressed my appreciation of this "object lesson" of Jesus as the "Jesus secret" because it is the central mystery of our Christian faith and it is the principal mechanism of Jesus' revelation to the world of the love of God and the Kingdom of God. I am speaking, of course, of the Paschal Mystery.
What the poor widow shows the disciples of Jesus is that being poor in this world's estimation and giving all of the littleness of one's life (poverty) for the sake of the mission of God is the path to holiness. In the Incarnation and most poignantly in his self offering on the cross, Jesus has not only revealed the wisdom of the kingdom but accomplished the salvation of the world. We, his disciples, are invited to employ the same mechanism (the cross and resurrection) in our lives in order to announce the kingdom of God and to share in the salvation won for us.
So, what is the poverty of our lives, specifically the area of life in which we believe we are insufficient or suffering from "not enough"? If we identify this area of "not enough" we will have put our finger on the place where we are vulnerable. Vulnerability is an uncomfortable and unattractive condition for us Americans of the 21st-century. By claiming in our spirituality this vulnerable aspect of our lives we can begin the connection with the kingdom of God: we are needy! We are, like the poor widow, in this vulnerable condition, called to give ourselves away, exposing ourselves completely as having nothing but trust in God alone. (That's called holiness) it's a secret...from the world.
Its a secret (in the world) because the world says that you can find happiness only through your strength/winning and by taking what you need for happiness even from God (remember Adam and Eve). That is the invitation to self-sufficiency and death.
How might your poverty, your vulnerability be the key to your salvation. Instead of hating our poverty, weakness or vulnerability - we can use it to offer ourselves to God. That's the Jesus Secret. That would be a plan for holiness and a source of salvation, freedom, and life.
-This Sunday's Scriptures can be found at USCCB.org>>>>>
-I will be celebrating mass this weekend at 4:00 Sat and 6:00pm Sunday
Give it Up!
While we are celebrating the 32nd Sunday in ordinary time, we at St. Albert the Great parish are celebrating the solemnity of our patron, St. Albert. We will be reflecting, however, on the Scriptures for Sunday.
Jesus points out to his disciples the poor widow and her generosity to the temple treasury as an "object lesson" about something much more fundamental than tithing to the Sunday collection.
The Jesus secret! I have expressed my appreciation of this "object lesson" of Jesus as the "Jesus secret" because it is the central mystery of our Christian faith and it is the principal mechanism of Jesus' revelation to the world of the love of God and the Kingdom of God. I am speaking, of course, of the Paschal Mystery.
What the poor widow shows the disciples of Jesus is that being poor in this world's estimation and giving all of the littleness of one's life (poverty) for the sake of the mission of God is the path to holiness. In the Incarnation and most poignantly in his self offering on the cross, Jesus has not only revealed the wisdom of the kingdom but accomplished the salvation of the world. We, his disciples, are invited to employ the same mechanism (the cross and resurrection) in our lives in order to announce the kingdom of God and to share in the salvation won for us.
So, what is the poverty of our lives, specifically the area of life in which we believe we are insufficient or suffering from "not enough"? If we identify this area of "not enough" we will have put our finger on the place where we are vulnerable. Vulnerability is an uncomfortable and unattractive condition for us Americans of the 21st-century. By claiming in our spirituality this vulnerable aspect of our lives we can begin the connection with the kingdom of God: we are needy! We are, like the poor widow, in this vulnerable condition, called to give ourselves away, exposing ourselves completely as having nothing but trust in God alone. (That's called holiness) it's a secret...from the world.
Its a secret (in the world) because the world says that you can find happiness only through your strength/winning and by taking what you need for happiness even from God (remember Adam and Eve). That is the invitation to self-sufficiency and death.
How might your poverty, your vulnerability be the key to your salvation. Instead of hating our poverty, weakness or vulnerability - we can use it to offer ourselves to God. That's the Jesus Secret. That would be a plan for holiness and a source of salvation, freedom, and life.
Friday, November 2, 2012
November 4 Homily Prep
-Last Sunday's homily is available by email
-This Sunday's Scriptures can be found at USCCB.org
-I will be celebrating mass this weekend on Sat. 4:00, Sunday 9:30 and 11:00
Nailing Jello to the Wall!
I am convinced that keeping the love of God and the love of neighbor together and integrated into one Christian life is as difficult and as challenging as trying to nail Jell-O to a wall. It is as if the wounded or broken human condition (read: Original Sin) is, of it's nature, inclined to one or the other of these virtues...but not both at once.
In fact, the competition between love of God and love of neighbor may very well be the specific manifestation of original sin. I am, of course, talking about the popular or customary understanding of what "love of God" looks like (read: devout, holy, pious!) And, of course, "love of neighbor" in our popular understanding is to never offend anyone else, tolerance, if you well.
Pope Benedict, in his first encyclical as pope, "God is love" tried to bring this point to bear. He said there that there is no such thing as love of neighbor that is not true (in the line with The love of God). Conversely there is no love of God, truth, that is exclusive of the love of neighbor. The Pope had to make this point because of my suggestion above that in the world today one cannot cling to the truth revealed by God and "appear" to be "loving" according to the standards of this world (read: tolerant).
Therefore, many of us are challenged today to be faithful to the love of God or the truth about God (who is love) and at the same time deal with the perceptions and the feelings of others who do not find the truth revealed by God to be loving.
I believe in popular culture we call this today "tough love". To know the truth and to do it in love in spite of the pain that it might cause us and those we are loving. I don't think there's any way around it. And it seems that all of us, who are planning on being faithful to the Gospel, have to go through it. It is as challenging as trying to nail Jell-O to a wall.
In a world whose greatest value is tolerance, how can we cling to the love of God (who is truth revealed) and avoid this pain in our emotional lives? Can't be done-check with Jesus on the cross. For me and my household, we will obey the Lord!
-This Sunday's Scriptures can be found at USCCB.org
-I will be celebrating mass this weekend on Sat. 4:00, Sunday 9:30 and 11:00
Nailing Jello to the Wall!
I am convinced that keeping the love of God and the love of neighbor together and integrated into one Christian life is as difficult and as challenging as trying to nail Jell-O to a wall. It is as if the wounded or broken human condition (read: Original Sin) is, of it's nature, inclined to one or the other of these virtues...but not both at once.
In fact, the competition between love of God and love of neighbor may very well be the specific manifestation of original sin. I am, of course, talking about the popular or customary understanding of what "love of God" looks like (read: devout, holy, pious!) And, of course, "love of neighbor" in our popular understanding is to never offend anyone else, tolerance, if you well.
Pope Benedict, in his first encyclical as pope, "God is love" tried to bring this point to bear. He said there that there is no such thing as love of neighbor that is not true (in the line with The love of God). Conversely there is no love of God, truth, that is exclusive of the love of neighbor. The Pope had to make this point because of my suggestion above that in the world today one cannot cling to the truth revealed by God and "appear" to be "loving" according to the standards of this world (read: tolerant).
Therefore, many of us are challenged today to be faithful to the love of God or the truth about God (who is love) and at the same time deal with the perceptions and the feelings of others who do not find the truth revealed by God to be loving.
I believe in popular culture we call this today "tough love". To know the truth and to do it in love in spite of the pain that it might cause us and those we are loving. I don't think there's any way around it. And it seems that all of us, who are planning on being faithful to the Gospel, have to go through it. It is as challenging as trying to nail Jell-O to a wall.
In a world whose greatest value is tolerance, how can we cling to the love of God (who is truth revealed) and avoid this pain in our emotional lives? Can't be done-check with Jesus on the cross. For me and my household, we will obey the Lord!
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Homily Prep Oct 28
-Last Sunday's homily is available by email
-This Sunday's Scriptures can be found at USCCB.org
-I will be celebrating mass this weekend at Sat 5:30 and Sunday 8:00am and 6:00pm
Faith is all about the approach!
In order to connect with my thoughts about the homily this week it's necessary to recall the gospel story from last Sunday. If you recall the Sons of Zebedee asked the Lord to "do for us what we ask of you". Contrast this approach to the blind man in this week's gospel who is asked by Jesus "what do you want me to do for you?"
Wow. These two stories right next to each other in the scriptures and in our liturgy beg for comparison. They instruct us in the process of faith and discipleship.
1. You must recognize Jesus as Lord and Messiah - both did that
2. You must be convinced that being close to Jesus can make a difference in your life - got that!
3. You must desire what Jesus desires not what you desire for yourself. Oops.
An act of faith by one who presumes to be a disciple of Jesus of necessity requires that you desire that Jesus do something in you that will further HIS life NOT that Jesus do something to guarantee the build up of your self/ego or esteem. Secondly, faithful discipleship obviously demands that you strive to see things the way Jesus sees rather than that you get Jesus to see things YOUR way. Duh.
I know it's obvious but obviously from the time of Jesus and even among his closest followers we've not been getting this. Maybe even today Christians think that faith is a process of trying to get God to see things our way (prayer, petiton, devotion, storming heaven)rather than growing into the gradual and graceful way of seeing our lives the way God sees them. Hmmmmm.
Unless and until we have our hearts turned by faith so that we begin to see Him and His way as the answer to life's question - we are going to remain blind and worse arrogantly imposing our short-sightedness upon God and of course following our own best ideas rather than Him.
Faith...seeing myself as he sees me. hmmmmm!
-This Sunday's Scriptures can be found at USCCB.org
-I will be celebrating mass this weekend at Sat 5:30 and Sunday 8:00am and 6:00pm
Faith is all about the approach!
In order to connect with my thoughts about the homily this week it's necessary to recall the gospel story from last Sunday. If you recall the Sons of Zebedee asked the Lord to "do for us what we ask of you". Contrast this approach to the blind man in this week's gospel who is asked by Jesus "what do you want me to do for you?"
Wow. These two stories right next to each other in the scriptures and in our liturgy beg for comparison. They instruct us in the process of faith and discipleship.
1. You must recognize Jesus as Lord and Messiah - both did that
2. You must be convinced that being close to Jesus can make a difference in your life - got that!
3. You must desire what Jesus desires not what you desire for yourself. Oops.
An act of faith by one who presumes to be a disciple of Jesus of necessity requires that you desire that Jesus do something in you that will further HIS life NOT that Jesus do something to guarantee the build up of your self/ego or esteem. Secondly, faithful discipleship obviously demands that you strive to see things the way Jesus sees rather than that you get Jesus to see things YOUR way. Duh.
I know it's obvious but obviously from the time of Jesus and even among his closest followers we've not been getting this. Maybe even today Christians think that faith is a process of trying to get God to see things our way (prayer, petiton, devotion, storming heaven)rather than growing into the gradual and graceful way of seeing our lives the way God sees them. Hmmmmm.
Unless and until we have our hearts turned by faith so that we begin to see Him and His way as the answer to life's question - we are going to remain blind and worse arrogantly imposing our short-sightedness upon God and of course following our own best ideas rather than Him.
Faith...seeing myself as he sees me. hmmmmm!
Friday, October 19, 2012
October 21 Homily Prep
-Last Sunday's homily is available by email
-This Sunday's Scriptures can be found at USCCB.org>>>>
-I will be celebrating mass this weekend at 4:00 Sat and 11:00 Sunday
Faith - access code
It seems that this year of faith, this political season, and the Scriptures are presenting me with the invitation to an essential connection with God for the transformation of my life and the world. That connection is accessed by faith first, faith essentially, faith alone.
It is by faith uniquely that we gain access to communion with God, God's great mercy, the throne of grace, the truth. It is only by faith and in authentic communion that one can be transformed from death to life, from isolated, nominal, Catholic to responsible conscientious voter, from simply observant Catholic to fully alive member of the body of Christ, the church.
Maybe I am starting to sound like Martin Luther with this faith alone stuff (you know the Protestant affection for the five alones), however, I think that this fundamental act of believing it is the inescapable foundational principle of our living life to the fullest in Christ. If you don't have faith - you cannot have a full human life.
Therefore, the question remains, "do you believe?". Yes, Lord, I believe, increase my faith!
-This Sunday's Scriptures can be found at USCCB.org>>>>
-I will be celebrating mass this weekend at 4:00 Sat and 11:00 Sunday
Faith - access code
It seems that this year of faith, this political season, and the Scriptures are presenting me with the invitation to an essential connection with God for the transformation of my life and the world. That connection is accessed by faith first, faith essentially, faith alone.
It is by faith uniquely that we gain access to communion with God, God's great mercy, the throne of grace, the truth. It is only by faith and in authentic communion that one can be transformed from death to life, from isolated, nominal, Catholic to responsible conscientious voter, from simply observant Catholic to fully alive member of the body of Christ, the church.
Maybe I am starting to sound like Martin Luther with this faith alone stuff (you know the Protestant affection for the five alones), however, I think that this fundamental act of believing it is the inescapable foundational principle of our living life to the fullest in Christ. If you don't have faith - you cannot have a full human life.
Therefore, the question remains, "do you believe?". Yes, Lord, I believe, increase my faith!
Friday, October 12, 2012
October 14 Homily Prep
-Last Sunday's homily is available by email
-This Sunday's Scriptures can be found at USCCB.org >>>>>
-I will be celebrating mass this weekend at 8:00 and 12:30 Sunday
Pusillanimous!
Small souled! That's what pusillanimous means. To be of a small soul. Magnanimous means to be of large soul. The condition of the rich young man is a oxymoron. He is large in this world's standard of success, But small in his capacity of soul.
We are beginning the year of faith, can we be enlarged in our soul? Jesus was clearly trying to grow the soul, increase the faith, stretch this good, young man.... of small soul.
Can we see the smallness of our soul? Are we interested in re-igniting our faith? I'm not sure we need it? I'm not sure we want it? I'm not sure we're capable of allowing it.
Wow.
-This Sunday's Scriptures can be found at USCCB.org >>>>>
-I will be celebrating mass this weekend at 8:00 and 12:30 Sunday
Pusillanimous!
Small souled! That's what pusillanimous means. To be of a small soul. Magnanimous means to be of large soul. The condition of the rich young man is a oxymoron. He is large in this world's standard of success, But small in his capacity of soul.
We are beginning the year of faith, can we be enlarged in our soul? Jesus was clearly trying to grow the soul, increase the faith, stretch this good, young man.... of small soul.
Can we see the smallness of our soul? Are we interested in re-igniting our faith? I'm not sure we need it? I'm not sure we want it? I'm not sure we're capable of allowing it.
Wow.
Friday, October 5, 2012
Oct 7 Homily Prep
-Last Sunday's homily is available by email
-This Sunday's Scriptures can be found at USCCB.org >>>>
-I will be celebrating mass this weekend at 5:30 Saturday
Are You Disappointed in Love? Of Course!
The troubling and heartbreaking mystery buried in the text of this Sunday's respect life scriptures is that God has planted deep within us an unquenchable thirst for communion. In our broken human condition, there is no quenching that thirst. We are called to "settle".
The problem in the blindness of our broken human condition is that we have never accepted the inability of human fulfillment of love on this side of heaven. Therefore we romantically seek and don't find satisfaction in the relationships of this world. Whether it is in marriage, in the family, in the church! We go seeking that which is not promised to us. Only God can fulfill the hunger he has placed with us for communion.
Too many of us in the world spend our entire lives disappointed in the lack of fulfillment in love. We never accept in faith the limitation of our human condition and the fulfillment of our desires in God alone.
This is a tremendous waste of time, effort, and energy. Let us take a new look at the hunger of our hearts and accept the limited satisfaction that our human loving can accomplish and turn our desire to God alone.
Make sense? We don't have to be happy about it!
-This Sunday's Scriptures can be found at USCCB.org >>>>
-I will be celebrating mass this weekend at 5:30 Saturday
Are You Disappointed in Love? Of Course!
The troubling and heartbreaking mystery buried in the text of this Sunday's respect life scriptures is that God has planted deep within us an unquenchable thirst for communion. In our broken human condition, there is no quenching that thirst. We are called to "settle".
The problem in the blindness of our broken human condition is that we have never accepted the inability of human fulfillment of love on this side of heaven. Therefore we romantically seek and don't find satisfaction in the relationships of this world. Whether it is in marriage, in the family, in the church! We go seeking that which is not promised to us. Only God can fulfill the hunger he has placed with us for communion.
Too many of us in the world spend our entire lives disappointed in the lack of fulfillment in love. We never accept in faith the limitation of our human condition and the fulfillment of our desires in God alone.
This is a tremendous waste of time, effort, and energy. Let us take a new look at the hunger of our hearts and accept the limited satisfaction that our human loving can accomplish and turn our desire to God alone.
Make sense? We don't have to be happy about it!
Monday, October 1, 2012
Someone Asked for this Quote
In the homily on Faithful Citizenship September 30th I read....
"Yes, America, all this belongs to you. But your greatest beauty and your richest blessing is found in the human person: in each man, woman and child, in every immigrant, in every native-born son and daughter.
For this reason, America, your deepest identity and truest character as a nation is revealed in the position you take towards the human person. The ultimate test of your greatness in the way you treat every human being, but especially the weakest and most defenseless ones.
The best traditions of your land presume respect for those who cannot defend themselves. If you want equal justice for all, and true freedom and lasting peace, then, America, defend life! All the great causes that are yours today will have meaning only to the extent that you guarantee the right to life and protect the human person:
– feeding the poor and welcoming refugees;
– reinforcing the social fabric of this nation;
– promoting the true advancement of women;
– securing the rights of minorities;
– pursuing disarmament, while guaranteeing legitimate defence; all this will succeed only if respect for life and its protection by the law is granted to every human being from conception until natural death.
Every human person – no matter how vulnerable or helpless, no matter how young or how old, no matter how healthy, handicapped or sick, no matter how useful or productive for society – is a being of inestimable worth created in the image and likeness of God.
This is the dignity of America, the reason she exists, the condition for her survival – yes, the ultimate test of her greatness: to respect every human person, especially the weakest and most defenceless ones, those as yet unborn.
With these sentiments of love and hope for America, I now say goodbye in words that I spoke once before: "Today, therefore, my final prayer is this: that God will bless America, so that she may increasingly become - and truly be - and long remain one Nation, under God, indivisible. With liberty and justice for all."
May God bless you all.
God bless America!”
–Blessed Pope John Paul II
Farewell Ceremony from the United States
Detroit Metro Airport
19 September 1987
"Yes, America, all this belongs to you. But your greatest beauty and your richest blessing is found in the human person: in each man, woman and child, in every immigrant, in every native-born son and daughter.
For this reason, America, your deepest identity and truest character as a nation is revealed in the position you take towards the human person. The ultimate test of your greatness in the way you treat every human being, but especially the weakest and most defenseless ones.
The best traditions of your land presume respect for those who cannot defend themselves. If you want equal justice for all, and true freedom and lasting peace, then, America, defend life! All the great causes that are yours today will have meaning only to the extent that you guarantee the right to life and protect the human person:
– feeding the poor and welcoming refugees;
– reinforcing the social fabric of this nation;
– promoting the true advancement of women;
– securing the rights of minorities;
– pursuing disarmament, while guaranteeing legitimate defence; all this will succeed only if respect for life and its protection by the law is granted to every human being from conception until natural death.
Every human person – no matter how vulnerable or helpless, no matter how young or how old, no matter how healthy, handicapped or sick, no matter how useful or productive for society – is a being of inestimable worth created in the image and likeness of God.
This is the dignity of America, the reason she exists, the condition for her survival – yes, the ultimate test of her greatness: to respect every human person, especially the weakest and most defenceless ones, those as yet unborn.
With these sentiments of love and hope for America, I now say goodbye in words that I spoke once before: "Today, therefore, my final prayer is this: that God will bless America, so that she may increasingly become - and truly be - and long remain one Nation, under God, indivisible. With liberty and justice for all."
May God bless you all.
God bless America!”
–Blessed Pope John Paul II
Farewell Ceremony from the United States
Detroit Metro Airport
19 September 1987
Friday, September 28, 2012
Prophetic Citizenship!
-Last Sunday's homily is available by email
-This Sunday's Scriptures can be found at USCCB.org>>>
-I will be celebrating mass this weekend at 4:00 on Sat and 8:00 on Sunday
Be not just "faithful, but Prophetic!
The Scriptures for this 26th Sunday in ordinary time as well as the context of the political season brings the question of "what is God doing in our midst and who is accomplishing God's will in our presence".
The role of the prophet is not to "announce the future" but rather to "reveal God present" - literally, to "speak for or on behalf of" God. The question presented in both the first reading and the Gospel text today is the issue of "who" is presenting God's truth or wisdom. Both Moses and Jesus teach and instruct us that the "who" is not the important question. The "what" is of the essence.
Therefore, in our Catholic life we might stop looking for a prophet and begin to search for the "prophetic" within the church. That would demand that we stop considering the person and start considering the message, the truth, the movement of the Spirit of God in our midst.
Our Catholic teaching and ecclesiology does not contribute to this understanding of prophecy. We, like the followers of Moses, are convinced and taught that certain persons, office holders, consecrated people speak on behalf of God. The office of Pope, for example, has swirled for centuries about infallibility: when the pope speaks. Our notions of obedience are referred always to the office holder or the authority figure who speaks on behalf of God.
We have not been trained or instructed to expect the prophetic action of God to come through just the ordinary believer. In spite of the instruction of Jesus and Moses, we give too much credence to person rather than prophecy.
If the truth be told, even the Holy Father or pastor or superior or head of the household must not be obeyed if what they say is not in conformity to the truth of God. That demands discernment by the people of God. Do we have such discernment?
If, in fact, we have all been anointed like Jesus as priest, prophet, and King at our baptism can we not and should we not expect the prophetic action of God to be at work in each of us and in and through all of us as a communal manifestation of the Body of Christ in the world? Should not the Catholic Church as a body be prophetic for the rest of the world-revealing the truth, speaking on behalf of God?
When we hear the call of our church leaders to be engaged in the democratic process of this year's election, we should hear the invitation to be prophetic. Rather than "faithful citizenship" I am hearing the call for "prophetic citizenship"! What I mean is that for a Catholic to discern and hear and know the truth and then to cast a ballot based upon that truth is to be a Catholic prophet to the nation. A vote is the most effective voice that an American citizen has in our democratic society. To vote as a Catholic Christian based upon the principles and values taught by the Church, the call to justice, especially the defense of life, the truth of the gospel, is to speak on behalf of God, which is the definition of prophetic.
Can and will you be a prophet for God, a prophet for the truth, a prophet for life, a prophet for justice, a prophet for freedom, a prophet to the nations? Vote as a believing, living Catholic - that is prophetic. Would that all God's people would be prophets!
-This Sunday's Scriptures can be found at USCCB.org>>>
-I will be celebrating mass this weekend at 4:00 on Sat and 8:00 on Sunday
Be not just "faithful, but Prophetic!
The Scriptures for this 26th Sunday in ordinary time as well as the context of the political season brings the question of "what is God doing in our midst and who is accomplishing God's will in our presence".
The role of the prophet is not to "announce the future" but rather to "reveal God present" - literally, to "speak for or on behalf of" God. The question presented in both the first reading and the Gospel text today is the issue of "who" is presenting God's truth or wisdom. Both Moses and Jesus teach and instruct us that the "who" is not the important question. The "what" is of the essence.
Therefore, in our Catholic life we might stop looking for a prophet and begin to search for the "prophetic" within the church. That would demand that we stop considering the person and start considering the message, the truth, the movement of the Spirit of God in our midst.
Our Catholic teaching and ecclesiology does not contribute to this understanding of prophecy. We, like the followers of Moses, are convinced and taught that certain persons, office holders, consecrated people speak on behalf of God. The office of Pope, for example, has swirled for centuries about infallibility: when the pope speaks. Our notions of obedience are referred always to the office holder or the authority figure who speaks on behalf of God.
We have not been trained or instructed to expect the prophetic action of God to come through just the ordinary believer. In spite of the instruction of Jesus and Moses, we give too much credence to person rather than prophecy.
If the truth be told, even the Holy Father or pastor or superior or head of the household must not be obeyed if what they say is not in conformity to the truth of God. That demands discernment by the people of God. Do we have such discernment?
If, in fact, we have all been anointed like Jesus as priest, prophet, and King at our baptism can we not and should we not expect the prophetic action of God to be at work in each of us and in and through all of us as a communal manifestation of the Body of Christ in the world? Should not the Catholic Church as a body be prophetic for the rest of the world-revealing the truth, speaking on behalf of God?
When we hear the call of our church leaders to be engaged in the democratic process of this year's election, we should hear the invitation to be prophetic. Rather than "faithful citizenship" I am hearing the call for "prophetic citizenship"! What I mean is that for a Catholic to discern and hear and know the truth and then to cast a ballot based upon that truth is to be a Catholic prophet to the nation. A vote is the most effective voice that an American citizen has in our democratic society. To vote as a Catholic Christian based upon the principles and values taught by the Church, the call to justice, especially the defense of life, the truth of the gospel, is to speak on behalf of God, which is the definition of prophetic.
Can and will you be a prophet for God, a prophet for the truth, a prophet for life, a prophet for justice, a prophet for freedom, a prophet to the nations? Vote as a believing, living Catholic - that is prophetic. Would that all God's people would be prophets!
Friday, September 21, 2012
September 23 Homily Prep
-Last Sunday's homily is available by email
-This Sunday's Scriptures can be found at USCCB.org>>>>
-I will be celebrating mass this weekend at 5:30 Sat, and 8:00 and 12:30 on Sunday
Tea Leaves
Folks I don't think we are reading the tea leaves correctly. At least not the way Jesus recommends. I am struck by the comment from Jesus in last weeks gospel "you are thinking not like God does but like human beings do".
What I am referring to is this business of "assessing success or greatness". My experience tells me (and my own temptation and proclivities suggest to me) that we are reading and estimating greatness, quality, success, etc. according to or through the lens of this world's values. The driving motivation of most everyone in the church and outside of the church Is to avoid losing, being last, failing, serving and to succeed in this world, to win at the game of life in this world.
My question is "has our Christian conversion made an impact upon our judgment?". Maybe you will agree with me, even the religious and pious people have a temptation to conclude or judge that when they are losing in the world that God has abandoned them.
What this tells me is that we have not adopted or been impacted by Jesus's "inside out" revolution on humanity's journey in the world and in the kingdom. Jesus says "if you want to be great you must be the least, last, servant of the rest". That sounds fine and well until it starts to happen to us. When we start to lose, when we fall down, when we are persecuted, when we are frustrated, when it looks like we have been defeated, we turn to God and pray that He would turn it around for us. That doesn't seem to me to be Jesus's message.
What God is calling us to, what God-thinking is all about is that we are assuredly going to lose in this world, we are definitely going to die, we are going likely to be downtrodden, persecuted, and disparaged. When those things happen to us we should rejoice for the kingdom of God is at hand. I don't think we're getting it. We are not reading the tea leaves correctly.
Maybe we have been confused by the notion that if we VOLUNTARILY become the last, if we choose to lose or serve or die THEN we can see it as a path to greatness in God's eyes. This is kind of like the Mother Teresa mentality of being holy and religious "if I elect to give up on success" then my failure is a sign of closeness of God to me. But when losing, littleness, last-ness, death, servitude, etc. is imposed upon us BY life and BY others THEN we don't get it. We don't read those tea leaves so clearly as the fact that we are great.
Is it possible that this success-in-the-world routine and standard of success is the reason that the Gospel has been so unsuccessful in changing the world? Maybe?
-This Sunday's Scriptures can be found at USCCB.org>>>>
-I will be celebrating mass this weekend at 5:30 Sat, and 8:00 and 12:30 on Sunday
Tea Leaves
Folks I don't think we are reading the tea leaves correctly. At least not the way Jesus recommends. I am struck by the comment from Jesus in last weeks gospel "you are thinking not like God does but like human beings do".
What I am referring to is this business of "assessing success or greatness". My experience tells me (and my own temptation and proclivities suggest to me) that we are reading and estimating greatness, quality, success, etc. according to or through the lens of this world's values. The driving motivation of most everyone in the church and outside of the church Is to avoid losing, being last, failing, serving and to succeed in this world, to win at the game of life in this world.
My question is "has our Christian conversion made an impact upon our judgment?". Maybe you will agree with me, even the religious and pious people have a temptation to conclude or judge that when they are losing in the world that God has abandoned them.
What this tells me is that we have not adopted or been impacted by Jesus's "inside out" revolution on humanity's journey in the world and in the kingdom. Jesus says "if you want to be great you must be the least, last, servant of the rest". That sounds fine and well until it starts to happen to us. When we start to lose, when we fall down, when we are persecuted, when we are frustrated, when it looks like we have been defeated, we turn to God and pray that He would turn it around for us. That doesn't seem to me to be Jesus's message.
What God is calling us to, what God-thinking is all about is that we are assuredly going to lose in this world, we are definitely going to die, we are going likely to be downtrodden, persecuted, and disparaged. When those things happen to us we should rejoice for the kingdom of God is at hand. I don't think we're getting it. We are not reading the tea leaves correctly.
Maybe we have been confused by the notion that if we VOLUNTARILY become the last, if we choose to lose or serve or die THEN we can see it as a path to greatness in God's eyes. This is kind of like the Mother Teresa mentality of being holy and religious "if I elect to give up on success" then my failure is a sign of closeness of God to me. But when losing, littleness, last-ness, death, servitude, etc. is imposed upon us BY life and BY others THEN we don't get it. We don't read those tea leaves so clearly as the fact that we are great.
Is it possible that this success-in-the-world routine and standard of success is the reason that the Gospel has been so unsuccessful in changing the world? Maybe?
Friday, September 14, 2012
September 16 Homily Prep
-Last Sunday's homily is available by email
-This Sunday's Scriptures can be found at USCCB.org>>>>
-I will be celebrating mass this weekend at 11:00am
Working: definition 5 : being in use or operation
The type of faith that St James is describing and Jesus is witnessing to is "faith that works". What I mean is that the effect of faith on one's real life is a "faith that works" - it is accomplishing the effect in life that it is intended to do.
When Jesus asked his disciples who people say that he is, he is asking if in fact his faith is effective, is it working? He also explains the need to allow faith to work in your life which is manifest by the cross. If the faith that Jesus has come to give us is working in our lives then we will pick up our cross and follow him. Losing our life is the symptom of faith at work in our lives.
Like a fever, laying down your life, detachment from life in this world, a lack of reliance upon success in this life - this is the symptom of a lively or living faith-as St. James would call it.
So, do you have works of faith in your life? Are there observable symptoms of a living faith in your life? Is the dying and rising of Jesus evident in your daily life? This is faith.
-This Sunday's Scriptures can be found at USCCB.org>>>>
-I will be celebrating mass this weekend at 11:00am
Working: definition 5 : being in use or operation
The type of faith that St James is describing and Jesus is witnessing to is "faith that works". What I mean is that the effect of faith on one's real life is a "faith that works" - it is accomplishing the effect in life that it is intended to do.
When Jesus asked his disciples who people say that he is, he is asking if in fact his faith is effective, is it working? He also explains the need to allow faith to work in your life which is manifest by the cross. If the faith that Jesus has come to give us is working in our lives then we will pick up our cross and follow him. Losing our life is the symptom of faith at work in our lives.
Like a fever, laying down your life, detachment from life in this world, a lack of reliance upon success in this life - this is the symptom of a lively or living faith-as St. James would call it.
So, do you have works of faith in your life? Are there observable symptoms of a living faith in your life? Is the dying and rising of Jesus evident in your daily life? This is faith.
Thursday, September 6, 2012
September 9 Homily Prep
-Last Sunday's homily is available by email
-This Sunday's Scriptures can be found at USCCB.org >>>
-I will be celebrating mass this weekend at 4:00, (Sat), 8:00 and 6:00pm
Wince:
-to make pained expression:
to make an expression of pain with the face because of seeing or thinking of something unpleasant or embarrassing
-to move body back slightly:
to make an involuntary movement away from something because of pain or fear
-an expression of pain: a facial expression of pain or fear.
It seems typical for our broken human condition to squeeze our eyes firmly tight claiming that God is absent - rather than open up our eyes in faith and see the God who is with us.
Life hurts and can be startling. It makes us wince. Wincing is a reflexive squeezing of the face and eyes In the response to some threatening event. Did you ever wince in fear of something you perceived was coming after you or at you but then you realized there was nothing really there? Like being the passenger in a car of a driver who is reckless, we can live life jerking at every turn with our foot pressing against an imaginary brake pedal.
Pretty "uptight". I think that's the way we walk through life...eyes closed in a wince against the threatening appearances of the world. In that posture or disfigurement we cannot see what is because of the fear of what we see.
Today we hear that for people of faith, there is no need to walk so fearful and contracted. In fact, such contracted, uptight, posture is precisely the thing that blinds us from seeing the answer to our fears - the God who has come to save us.
Can you ease your heart, mind, your body and your eyes by faith? If so you will join me in seeing the God who has promised to be with us always. It is not that God is absent, it is our self-defensive misconceptions that blind us to the God who saves us in every moment. Emmanuel.
-This Sunday's Scriptures can be found at USCCB.org >>>
-I will be celebrating mass this weekend at 4:00, (Sat), 8:00 and 6:00pm
Wince:
-to make pained expression:
to make an expression of pain with the face because of seeing or thinking of something unpleasant or embarrassing
-to move body back slightly:
to make an involuntary movement away from something because of pain or fear
-an expression of pain: a facial expression of pain or fear.
It seems typical for our broken human condition to squeeze our eyes firmly tight claiming that God is absent - rather than open up our eyes in faith and see the God who is with us.
Life hurts and can be startling. It makes us wince. Wincing is a reflexive squeezing of the face and eyes In the response to some threatening event. Did you ever wince in fear of something you perceived was coming after you or at you but then you realized there was nothing really there? Like being the passenger in a car of a driver who is reckless, we can live life jerking at every turn with our foot pressing against an imaginary brake pedal.
Pretty "uptight". I think that's the way we walk through life...eyes closed in a wince against the threatening appearances of the world. In that posture or disfigurement we cannot see what is because of the fear of what we see.
Today we hear that for people of faith, there is no need to walk so fearful and contracted. In fact, such contracted, uptight, posture is precisely the thing that blinds us from seeing the answer to our fears - the God who has come to save us.
Can you ease your heart, mind, your body and your eyes by faith? If so you will join me in seeing the God who has promised to be with us always. It is not that God is absent, it is our self-defensive misconceptions that blind us to the God who saves us in every moment. Emmanuel.
Friday, August 31, 2012
September 2 Pomily Prep
-Last Sunday's homily is available by email
-This Sunday's Scriptures can be found at USCCB.org>>
-I will be celebrating mass this weekend at Sunday 11:00am
Litmus test!
We live in the era of empiricism and scientific method. We are all familiar with the analysis that can be done on anything: a liquid solution, the particulate matter in the air, the radioactivity in an object or area, the sugar in one's blood, the lumens of light in a room. Such analysis has called our attention to the invisible yet ascertainable quality of things.
St. James seems to have applied such discernment or empiricism to the quality of our faith and the efficaciousness of the Word of God. People of faith can discern, judge, or ascertain the efficaciousness of the word of God by examining the morality, righteousness, justice, goodness of one's works.
Some have suggested that this attitude of St. James is a corrective to the disengagement or dismissive attitude of St. Paul to the law and his emphasis on the freedom of the Spirit.
This has certainly, from the Reformation onward, been a great debate among religious people: the connection of faith to righteousness, morality, ethics, community, good works. Can we do an analysis of our faith and detect in it justice, righteousness, ethical behavior, compassion, peace?
Can our Christian lives be tested, "testify" to the effective work of the Word of God in our lives.? Is the litmus test of the Word in our lives a life of justice and compassion?
-This Sunday's Scriptures can be found at USCCB.org>>
-I will be celebrating mass this weekend at Sunday 11:00am
Litmus test!
We live in the era of empiricism and scientific method. We are all familiar with the analysis that can be done on anything: a liquid solution, the particulate matter in the air, the radioactivity in an object or area, the sugar in one's blood, the lumens of light in a room. Such analysis has called our attention to the invisible yet ascertainable quality of things.
St. James seems to have applied such discernment or empiricism to the quality of our faith and the efficaciousness of the Word of God. People of faith can discern, judge, or ascertain the efficaciousness of the word of God by examining the morality, righteousness, justice, goodness of one's works.
Some have suggested that this attitude of St. James is a corrective to the disengagement or dismissive attitude of St. Paul to the law and his emphasis on the freedom of the Spirit.
This has certainly, from the Reformation onward, been a great debate among religious people: the connection of faith to righteousness, morality, ethics, community, good works. Can we do an analysis of our faith and detect in it justice, righteousness, ethical behavior, compassion, peace?
Can our Christian lives be tested, "testify" to the effective work of the Word of God in our lives.? Is the litmus test of the Word in our lives a life of justice and compassion?
Friday, August 24, 2012
August 26 Homily Prep
-Last Sunday's homily is available by email
-This Sunday's Scriptures can be found at USCCB.org >>>
-I will be celebrating mass this weekend at 9:30am and 6:00pm
No Reservations!
I believe the actors in the movie entitled "No Reservations" were Sandra Bullock and child-star Abigail Breslin . It was a rather tender story about the call to love-to self-Sacrificing love. This call to love was manifested in the movie by the "requirement of love" which is to lose everything for its sake and to gain everything by it's Grace. the reservations in the movie had to do with a meal. Interesting.
Our fifth and final homily in this series on the "bread of life discourse" presents us with that precise invitation, opportunity, and challenge. Jesus says to his listeners, his disciples, who murmur against him out loud and have silent reservation in their hearts "will you leave me too?". The entire homily that Jesus has been sharing in dialogue with his followers has been about the new and powerful life available through intimacy with Jesus IN his body from the living Father. When it has become difficult to understand they find it threatening to their sense of self and they leave him.
They are very interested in the miracles that Jesus works, they are very interested in the truth about the Father that Jesus proposes, they are very desirous of this bread for which they will no longer hunger, but they have serious reservations about a life of intimacy with God lived in Jesus' body. They protest. They like all the self-benefiting ideas about Jesus, the miracle worker and the man of faith. But they have serious reservations about his offer of communion.
The faith of the Catholic church, the power of Jesus' Eucharistic presence in the bread of life, our lives of faith in the church are complicated by these same reservations. The incarnate, fleshy, actual, real life complications of belonging to the body of Christ, the church, is actually the only problem or reservation that we as Christians have. Everybody loves Jesus, everybody is inspired by the word of God in the Bible, everybody is looking forward to living forever with God in heaven. It's the church, the vessel, the Body of Christ in which we are called to live our daily lives of faith that gives us pause-reservations. We find it "hard" and we are tempted to walk away. Even if we don't externally walk away, we dwell in and among the church believing, belonging, participating as if we are not IN communion with the body. We are "reserved".
St. Paul's letter to the Ephesians (that has been accompanying the bread of life discourse throughout these five weeks) comes to a culmination today in the image of life with God as a marriage. The embodied communion of two lives, no longer two but one flesh, is held up for us as a goal for our life of faith. The minister asks the engaged couple "have you come here freely, without reservation, to give yourselves to each other in holy matrimony?" No reservations.
That is the level of communion that the faith requires of us as Catholics. Communion is not simply intimacy with Jesus in the sacred host. It is a life of faith lived IN communion with the body of Christ, IN the church. It is a shared life with relative strangers. It is not a cozy fellowship of friends-it is rather a communion of faith-filled members! It is a process of clinging to one another under the conviction that our communion in faith reveals and possesses the grace necessary for salvation. That doesn't always feel like friendship-it is more like marriage or family for sure.
This is a hard teaching, we are tempted to "walk away". It does not always feel like a friendly relationship with Jesus. Will we protest against the embodiment of Christ in the church, the Catholic Church, the imperfect church called to holiness? We are tempted to walk away from what feels threatening to good-feeling self preservation. We are called to have "no reservation"! Are you in?
-This Sunday's Scriptures can be found at USCCB.org >>>
-I will be celebrating mass this weekend at 9:30am and 6:00pm
No Reservations!
I believe the actors in the movie entitled "No Reservations" were Sandra Bullock and child-star Abigail Breslin . It was a rather tender story about the call to love-to self-Sacrificing love. This call to love was manifested in the movie by the "requirement of love" which is to lose everything for its sake and to gain everything by it's Grace. the reservations in the movie had to do with a meal. Interesting.
Our fifth and final homily in this series on the "bread of life discourse" presents us with that precise invitation, opportunity, and challenge. Jesus says to his listeners, his disciples, who murmur against him out loud and have silent reservation in their hearts "will you leave me too?". The entire homily that Jesus has been sharing in dialogue with his followers has been about the new and powerful life available through intimacy with Jesus IN his body from the living Father. When it has become difficult to understand they find it threatening to their sense of self and they leave him.
They are very interested in the miracles that Jesus works, they are very interested in the truth about the Father that Jesus proposes, they are very desirous of this bread for which they will no longer hunger, but they have serious reservations about a life of intimacy with God lived in Jesus' body. They protest. They like all the self-benefiting ideas about Jesus, the miracle worker and the man of faith. But they have serious reservations about his offer of communion.
The faith of the Catholic church, the power of Jesus' Eucharistic presence in the bread of life, our lives of faith in the church are complicated by these same reservations. The incarnate, fleshy, actual, real life complications of belonging to the body of Christ, the church, is actually the only problem or reservation that we as Christians have. Everybody loves Jesus, everybody is inspired by the word of God in the Bible, everybody is looking forward to living forever with God in heaven. It's the church, the vessel, the Body of Christ in which we are called to live our daily lives of faith that gives us pause-reservations. We find it "hard" and we are tempted to walk away. Even if we don't externally walk away, we dwell in and among the church believing, belonging, participating as if we are not IN communion with the body. We are "reserved".
St. Paul's letter to the Ephesians (that has been accompanying the bread of life discourse throughout these five weeks) comes to a culmination today in the image of life with God as a marriage. The embodied communion of two lives, no longer two but one flesh, is held up for us as a goal for our life of faith. The minister asks the engaged couple "have you come here freely, without reservation, to give yourselves to each other in holy matrimony?" No reservations.
That is the level of communion that the faith requires of us as Catholics. Communion is not simply intimacy with Jesus in the sacred host. It is a life of faith lived IN communion with the body of Christ, IN the church. It is a shared life with relative strangers. It is not a cozy fellowship of friends-it is rather a communion of faith-filled members! It is a process of clinging to one another under the conviction that our communion in faith reveals and possesses the grace necessary for salvation. That doesn't always feel like friendship-it is more like marriage or family for sure.
This is a hard teaching, we are tempted to "walk away". It does not always feel like a friendly relationship with Jesus. Will we protest against the embodiment of Christ in the church, the Catholic Church, the imperfect church called to holiness? We are tempted to walk away from what feels threatening to good-feeling self preservation. We are called to have "no reservation"! Are you in?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)