Homily: Being Someone to Others

Holy Family 2006 Mother Jones p 158 Blessed Among Women Bernard Bush Belonging: To share another’s life you must be willing to sacrifice yourself and to affirm another’s freedom means sacrificing your own selfishness. If you refuse to sacrifice you will become prisoners of your possessions. Premature self sacrifice means you never possessed what you gave up. People of obsessive ambition sacrifice so much of value in themselves and in their lives that, when they fail, there’s nothing left inside. Protect and Defend – Richard North Patterson There are self-sacrificers who use self-sacrifice to cloak their self-seeking and become bitter when people don’t praise them. The fact is that community is real, when there is a self-sacrificing welcome like the logs that burn themselves to ashes Christians know that union with the sacrifice of our Savior contributes to the building up of the Body of Christ. 79 ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF PEOPLES PAUL VI Jo Carr tells about a children's Christmas program she once attended: "All the songs had been sung, and the candles lit. The shepherds had come to peek at the baby, and the wise men had brought their gifts. The angels had given their message. Then all the cast in the story of the first Christmas began to leave...wise men, shepherds, angels. Only Mary and Joseph and the child remained. Then Joseph turned to go. And Mary, glancing back at the crib, began to follow. But suddenly she turned back, snatched up the baby doll by the foot, clutched it under her arm, and left Sometimes like that little girl, you may forget that Jesus with all his power is within you motivating you to sacrifice yourself as he did by laying down his life for you. How often, for example, do you sacrifice your preferences in favor of what another member of your family wants? How willing are you to sacrifice your comfort in order to get involved in a cause? For example, the cause of peace as opposed to the continuing warfare in Iraq. How willing are you to sacrifice your time to help your children or grandchildren with their homework or just spend some quality time relaxing with them? John Uldrich's mother was a social worker who worked with unwed mothers. Over the years she helped many families. Some of these grateful parents asked if there was anything they could do for her. "Well," she told them, "if you have any good used clean clothes or toys, I'll take them." John remembers the boxes that mysteriously appeared in the garage. Each year at Christmas John's mother would deliver the toys and clothing to her clients. John remembers the Christmas he was nine years old. One day he passed through the garage and noticed "the most wondrous airplane." The airplane was made of metal and very big, "about three feet long with a three-foot wingspan." Airplanes interested young John. He was sure the plane in his garage just had to be for him. "Surely my mother would give the treasure to me," he thought. But as Christmas Day approached his mother delivered the airplane to someone else. "This seemed like the meanest thing a kid's mother could do," John thought at the time. John was very disappointed on Christmas Day when he did not get the airplane. One day in the spring John's mother asked him to go along with her on one of her visits to a poor family. His sisters and he took turns going on these trips. It was their mother's way of having private time with each of them and also of letting them see another side of life. That day they visited a family with thirteen children who lived in an old farmhouse. While his mother visited the family John wandered around by himself. As John turned the corner of a weathered barn, he stopped short. There was his airplane! A little boy was pushing it through the sand and the grass and the dirt. Somehow, though, it was all right. Some maturing must have taken place because John was okay about this boy having it. On their drive home John's mother never mentioned the airplane. Many years later John discovered that one of the boys in that family became a 747 pilot and another was a military flight instructor. "I like to think that maybe receiving that airplane as a Christmas gift was a factor in determining what they did with their lives." John says. (3) John Uldrich discovered a simple truth about Christmas. It is to be shared. Sacrifice is not just one long string of excruciating minuses stretched like a hangman’s rope to choke your joy of living. At Christmas share not only with your own family, but your extended family and relatives, friends, co workers and parishioners. And share not only at Christmas but all throughout the year. Humor: A New Mexico congresswoman never sacrificed a moment in her busy life. So she hurriedly called to make plane reservations, “I want to go from Chicago to Rhino, New York” The agent was at a loss for words. Finally, the agent: “Are you sure that’s the name of the town?” “Yes, what flights do you have?” replied the Congresswoman.. After some searching, the agent came back with, “I’m sorry, ma’am, I’ve looked up every airport code in the country and can’t find a Rhino anywhere.” The Congresswoman retorted, “Oh don’t be silly! Everyone knows where it is. Check your map! It’s near N Y city. The agent scoured a map of the state of New York and finally offered, “You don’t mean Buffalo, do you?” “That’s it! I knew it was a big animal”, she admitted!!! Always make sacrifices for your family. Epiphany Two centuries before Christ, King Ptolemy of Egypt wanted a lighthouse built in Alexandria, Egypt. Ptolemy was a proud king. He wanted his name engraved at the top of the lighthouse. The builder carried out his orders, but first, he carved his own name in the stone. Then he plastered over his name and engraved the name of the king. The salt spray, wind, and rain gradually loosened the plaster, which erased the king's name completely. This left only the real builder's name. The builder had the last laugh, though, of course, neither he nor the king lived to see it.Power is a subjective thing, isn't it? Like beauty, power is in the eye of the beholder. You can learn a lot about a people by knowing how they view power. What represents power in our culture? Is it physical strength, is it wisdom, is it a beautiful appearance, is it money, is it titles, is it intelligence, is it family ties? What is the difference between power and control? What are legitimate and illegitimate uses of power?In his book Somebodies and Nobodies: Overcoming the Abuse of Rank, author Robert Fuller charges that American society is infected with the disease he calls "rankism." We admire and imitate those with rank. We admire and imitate those who have more power in our society, while ignoring or abusing those who have less. Fuller cites the fact that we expect our company to pay for our health insurance, but we don't offer health insurance to those who mow our lawns or clean our houses. We know our doctor's name, but not the name of the doctor's assistant. We assume that those who are healthy, wealthy, beautiful, or powerful somehow earned their success, while those at the opposite end of the scale also earned their misfortune. We allow people in power to abuse their power and to rob their subordinates of the dignity that should be a God-given right of all people. (1) What constitutes an effective use of power? And why is power so easy to abuse?Imagine asking these same questions a few thousand years ago, in Biblical times. Kings had almost absolute power over their subjects. And absolute power usually results in cruelty and oppression. Power exercised without wisdom, without mercy, without justice . . . this has been the story of the human race since the beginning of time. Survival of the fittest. Might makes right. Power expressed to its logical, and lethal, limits. Is that just the nature of power? Should we accept this as the inevitable pattern of the universe?Our passage for today, Psalm 72, was written by King Solomon, or by someone in his royal court. Solomon was the son of David, a king who abused his power by committing adultery with Bathsheba, then arranging for the murder of Bathsheba's husband. Surely, Solomon contemplated his father's wicked deeds, and the power that made them possible.Solomon himself amassed more riches, honor, and power than any other king before him. And yet, he writes in the book of Ecclesiastes, "I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure . . . Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, chasing after the wind . . ." (Ecc. 2: 10-11). In the end, Solomon found his power to be meaningless. So it is very interesting to read Psalm 72, Solomon's vision of a future king sent from God."Give the king your justice, O God, and your righteousness to a king's son. May he judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice. May the mountains yield prosperity for the people, and the hills, in righteousness. May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the needy, and crush the oppressor. May he live while the sun endures, and as long as the moon, throughout all generations. May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass, like showers that water the earth. In his days may righteousness flourish and peace abound, until the moon is no more . . ."May the kings of Tarshish and of the isles render him tribute, may the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts. May all kings fall down before him, all nations give him service. For he delivers the needy when they call, the poor and those who have no helper. He has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy. From oppression and violence he redeems their life; and precious is their blood in his sight." (NIV)What does a Godly king look like? He is a righteous judge. Instead of using his power to oppress others, this king watches out for the afflicted, the needy, children, the oppressed, and the weak. This is what power plus love looks like. This is what Jesus looks like.Seven hundred years before Jesus' birth, the prophet Isaiah declared that one day a perfect king would set up a kingdom in which the blind would see, the deaf would hear, the lame would walk, and the mute would shout for joy. (Isa. 35: 4-6) And in Matthew 10: 4-6, when Jesus was asked to prove his identity as Messiah, he said simply, "The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor."(NIV) Jesus does not prove his identity by a show of force; he proves it by his love for the powerless in his society.In his book Violence Unveiled, French scholar Gil Bailie writes that, for centuries, cultures sanctioned violence of the majority class against the minority class. Humans lived by the classic, Darwinian theory of "might makes right." But all that changed, he claims, the day that Jesus was crucified, the day that "God took the side of the victim." Author Philip Yancey, commenting on Bailie's book, writes, "The gospel may not make societies less violent, but it makes them less sure of their violence. Before Jesus, nations didn't worry about the distinction between "˜just' and "˜unjust' wars . . . Today the victim occupies the moral high ground everywhere in the Western world." It is only the belief in a God that values individuals as unique beings made in God's image that makes the idea of individual rights possible. (2)But Jesus did not set up his kingdom on earth when he was here. He had all the power in the universe available to him, and he gave it all up to die in our place on the cross. He laid down his power to identify with the least powerful of us, to show us the way out of rankism, and elitism, and "might makes right," and all the other power ploys that divide and torture us.After the Nazis invaded Holland during World War II, they established ghettos for the Jews in Amsterdam. Many of the wealthy, aristocratic Dutch citizens responded by moving into the ghettos with the Jews to share their humiliation. And in Denmark, King Christian the 10th of Denmark established, by word and by example, that Jews were equal citizens in his country. He and other government officials began secret negotiations with Sweden. Eventually, thousands of Danish Jews were deported to Sweden, safely out of the clutches of the encroaching Nazi forces. In the face of evil and injustice, the king chose to identify himself with the oppressed. Why? Because he served a King who did the same. King Christian of Denmark knew where the real power lay. The real power was not found in the soldiers and guns and tanks. Real power comes from a love that is willing to die for what is right. * *Pastor Gordon MacDonald, in his book Forging a Real World Faith, tells of a senior vice president of a New York bank who was accosted by a drunk man on a commuter train. The bank vice president tried to ignore the drunk man, which only made things worse. Finally, the drunk man forced a confrontation. The bank vice president had a choice to make. He looked the man straight in the eye and said gently, "You know, God really loves you."In that instant, the drunk man's hostility melted away. He sat down and said, "My mother used to talk like that," and then he began to open up.The two men sat and talked for a long time on that train, and the V.P. told the drunk man about God's love, and how God could help him turn his life around. Over the next several months, these men spoke to one another often.Think how differently that encounter could have gone. The bank president had all the power on his side. He could have insulted the drunk man, or allowed himself to be drawn into a fistfight. He could have called on the police or other passengers. He could have continued ignoring the man, denying the man even the basic human dignity of having his presence acknowledged. Instead, he chose to respond to the drunk man with God's love and mercy. Why? Because he served a King who did the same. (3)Numerous kings and dictators have used their power to oppress or kill or enslave their people. They have demanded obedience and ruled by fear. Jesus changed the world simply by the force of his love. When Jesus first came, he came in the form of a humble man, a peasant with no money or political power. When he comes again, as the Bible promises he will, then he will establish the perfect kingdom prophesied by Isaiah, and Solomon, and Jesus himself--the kingdom of righteousness and justice and mercy and peace. And, just as our passage tells us, every other kingdom and power on earth will bow before him and pay him homage as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. As Philippians 2 says, ". . . at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (911) EPIPHANY 2006 I’m sure you’ve all heard the story of Lady Godiva. How she road naked on a horse through the town. But there is more to this story than that. Supposedly she lived in the 11th century England, was married to a Count and was herself a Countess. Distraught by the crushing burden of taxes her husband was levying on his subjects, she begged him to relieve the peasants of their tax burdens. Exasperated by her endless entreaties he, thinking he was being very clever, told Godiva that if she road naked through the streets of the town he would cut back on his taxes. Thus the legend of Lady Godiva of Coventry. Today we are celebrating the feast of the Epiphany. As you know, Epiphany means to show forth, to manifest, to make visible, to reveal. As the child Jesus manifested himself to the wise men, so you today are to manifest Jesus to all those around you. How do you do this? Lady Godiva manifested Jesus through her concern for poor peasants and the need for justice. Basically justice asks not how much to the poor require but how much do we who are better off really need? For example, in 1965 in the US, CEO’s made 24 times more than the average worker, in 2005, CEO’s made 262 times more. In the US 43% of total income goes to the top 10%. One year after the television images of Katrina were seared into our minds, thirty-seven million Americans still live in poverty, left out and left behind. Globally, thirty-thousand children die needlessly from hunger and disease every day. $540,000 tax dollars were given for research on onions and our government warns us about a shortage in social security funds. Our nation is spending $2 billion a week in the Iraq war while 13 million children in the US live in poverty. Granted these are dismal examples. But I cannot talk about justice and not touch upon the injustices in our world. Too often our version of justice is as remote from real justice as clanging pots and pans are from Mozart. Now I am not suggesting that in showing forth Jesus by working for justice, you can rectify the injustices in the examples I have just given. You each bring whatever talents you have to the work of justice just as you bring varying amounts to deposit in the bank. But I am suggesting that you can manifest Jesus by working for justice closer to home. For example, Parents: do the penalties you levy on your children for misconduct far outweigh the misconduct? Teens and younger children: do you take it for granted that cheating is okay? Do you lie without giving it a thought? Do you steal without remorse? Do you think that voting is a waste of time and won’t make a difference? Are not these actions violations of justice. Evil continues because good persons think working for justice is optional. Arthur Van Seters in his book, Preaching as a Social Act said, There is a false interpretation of divine Providence that whatever is, is God’s will and should not be changed. So, according to this false interpretation, if injustice persists in our culture, so be it. The perennial question, But what can I do? What you can do is begin to build a just community by becoming involved with the stranger next to you. In Walter Murphy’s novel, The Vicar of Christ, Declan Walsh, a layman and former American Supreme Court Justice, is elected Pope. He takes the name Francesco in honor of St. Francis of Assisi. Murphy describes Pope Francesco’s papacy in this way: Pope Francesco does not play the pontifical game according to the rules the Vatican prelates have established. He is deeply concerned about the realities of justice and insistent that the Roman Catholic Church reshape itself to become a servant for justice in the world. He also seeks to mount a massive campaign for social justice throughout the entire world. . He calls the church to take seriously and become faithful to the call of God for justice. He meets with opposition from within and outside the Church. In the end, the leadership of Pope Francesco costs him his life by assassination. In the movie Ghosts of Mississippi, one of the characters says, Justice is the soothing balm for the wounds inflicted on society. On this feast of the Epiphany, if you are sincere about manifesting Jesus to those around you, you will use your imagination for discovering ways to make justice more visible in your culture. Humor: A man climbs to the top of the snow- covered mountain. He is wondering, “Can God really hear me from here?” So he yells, “God, what should I do with my life?” God answers, “Strive for justice, feed the hungry, care for the poor.” “Oh,” said the man. “I was just testing.” God retorted, “So was I,” Thought: manifest Jesus through justice. Baptism of Jesus On January 3rd, the Mars rover named “Spirit” will begin its fourth year of diligent exploration. It has been sending back so many photographs that NASA has figured out a way to teach the little rover how to detect changes in images, so that it sends only images back to Earth with new information. For example, if Rover is taking photographs of dust devils, it now pauses and waits until the image changes before taking the next photo. This will mean less work for the scientists sifting through the many, many amazing photographs ‘Spirit’ sends home. What a great name for such a small machine. I hope that it makes some great discovery. We need a bit of spirit in our world. A young girl by the name of Sofi was born in Siberia, a bitterly cold and desolate area of Russia. A difficult place to be a child but Sofi's life was going to be even rougher than most. She was an orphan. Then suddenly at the age of 2 she was adopted, sight unseen, by Laurie Collis a single mother in Scottsdale, Arizona.She is now doing well. So well that she entered an essay contest when she was in the third grade and out of 10,000 applicants, she won! Toy maker Lego and The Planetary Society sponsored the event. As a result of winning her family received an all expense paid trip to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to watch the lift off of the Mars Rover.While there she was asked to read an excerpt from her winning essay. Here is part of it: "I used to live in an orphanage. It was dark and cold and lonely. At night, I looked up at the sparkly sky and felt better. I dreamed I could fly there. In America, I can make all my dreams come true. Thank you for giving me the 'Spirit' and the 'Opportunity'," the names of the rovers. There’s something to be said about the big influence of small things. She’s just a little girl and it was just a simple story about her experience. But it struck the right cord.There was a Scottish minister who told his congregation about dreaming he had died. When he came to the pearly gates, to his dismay, he would be denied entrance until he presented his credentials. Proudly the Pastor articulated the number of sermons preached and the prominent pulpits occupied. But Saint Peter said no one had heard them in heaven. The discouraged servant enumerated his community involvement. He was told they were not recorded. Sorrowfully, the pastor turned to leave, when Peter said, "Stay a moment, and tell me, are you the man who fed the sparrows?""Yes," the Scotsman replied, "but what does that have to do with it?""Come in," said Saint Peter, "the Master of the sparrows wants to thank you."Here is the pertinent, though often overlooked, point: great and prominent positions indicate skill and capacity, but small services suggest the depth of one's consecration. We overlook the big influence of small things.And so it is with Jesus' Baptism. It’s a small thing for Jesus to do. It was not necessary for him to be baptized since there was no sin in his life for which to repent. But he submits to John's Baptism of Repentance anyway. Why? To identify with our sins. He joined in the popular movement of his day. It was a grass roots movement started by a desert monk named John the Baptist. John was calling for the repentance of Israel. Jesus chooses to be baptized because he wants to participate with the people in their desires to be close to God.It’s a small thing Jesus does but what a big influence. It forever marks baptism as the way we Christians publicly declare our repentance and dependence on God’s grace. Never sell the small things you do short. Stephen Kendrick in his book, Holy Clues: The Gospel According to Sherlock Holmes, says, quoting Chesterton: Holmes was obsessed with the small things instead of the great; it constitutes, as Chesterton said, a kind of wild poetry of the commonplace. Our baptism opens up to us the opportunity to do many valuable small things even if it’s just feeding sparrows. Ask Jesus your indwelling friend to help you to use your baptismal power to do small things well. SUNDAY JANUARY 14TH 2ND IN ORDINARY TIME C Years ago when Johnny Carson was the host of The Tonight Show he interviewed an eight year old boy. The young man was asked to appear because he had rescued two friends in a coal mine outside his hometown in West Virginia. As Johnny questioned the boy, it became apparent to him and the audience that the young man was a Christian. So Johnny asked him if he attended Sunday school. When the boy said he did Johnny inquired, "What are you learning in Sunday school?" "Last week," came his reply, "our lesson was about when Jesus went to a WEDDING and turned water into wine." The audience roared, but Johnny tried to keep a straight face. Then he said, "And what did you learn from that story?" The boy squirmed in his chair. It was apparent he hadn't thought about this. But then he lifted up his face and said, "If you're going to have a WEDDING, make sure you invite Jesus!" The little boy said. No one laughed. In our gospel story today, Jesus and his mother were invited to a wedding. My hour has not yet come, Jesus whispers to his mother who has come like a thief in the night to steal a miraculous intervention. Mary desperately wants to save the newly weds the embarrassment of being called cheap. She could just hear the guests grumbling, After all the gifts we gave them they didn’t even have enough wine to satisfy our celebration. But Jesus sounds as definitive as God handing down the Commandments, it’s not yet my hour. But his mother, with a persistence of a visionary insists, your hour arrived the moment you parted the Jordan waters with your toes just as Moses before you parted the Red Sea to provide a way out of slavery to freedom. Was I sent to keep a party going? Jesus asks. Were you not sent to celebrate God’s infinite abundance? his mother replies softly. If I make water blush into wine, will I not be shackled with the accusation of being a drunkard? Are you not already intoxicated by the exuberance of the divine generosity that sent you into this world of ours? Was I not sent to pull people out of the swamp of their sins? Do you have to be a prophet of gloom as your cousin John is? Or are you here to share the sunshine of God’s boundless joy? Is there not a difference between pleasure and joy? Jesus asks. Does not the pleasure of creation lead to the joy of the Creator? Mary insists. Jesus heaves a heavy sigh of resignation. His mother is the force of the prophets. She sounds to him like Isaiah 24:7: The wine mourns, the vine languishes, all the merry-hearted groan. Jesus relents. Fill the water jugs to the brim of reckless generosity, he orders. Sometimes you can focus so exclusively on Jesus’ demands and challenges like denying yourself, taking up your cross each and every day that you may lose sight of the joy and generosity of Jesus. Doesn’t this gospel story about a wedding tell you that the joy and generosity Jesus brought into the world have roots in the family? STORY: All Seasons p. 111. What a tragedy that in our culture when a wholesome family living lives of selfless generosity and contagious joy within their homes are looked upon as freaks. Adrian van Kaam, the spiritual psychologist, in his book, Living Creatively, reminds us that joy shared is joy doubled. In other words, the more generously you share your joy, the more joy you will have for yourself and for others. As Pope JP wrote in his encyclical, “On the Family” in 1981, “…sacrifice cannot be removed from family life, but must in fact be wholeheartedly accepted if the love between husband and wife is to be deepened and become a source of intimate joy.” Generous sacrifice leads to the intimacy of joy. What a reinforcing insight! The water at the Cana marriage tells you to find joy in the commonplace and the wine tells you to find adventure in every moment. You all know that true joy comes from the little things in life, the small acts of generosity that you make and receive. HUM OR A saleswoman is driving toward home in Northern Arizona when she sees an Native American woman hitchhiking. Since the trip had been long and quiet, she stops the car and the Native American woman gets in. After a bit of small talk, the Native American woman notices a brown bag on the front seat. “What’s in the bag?”, she asks. “It’s a bottle of wine. I got it for my husband”, says the saleswoman. The Native American woman is silent for a while and then she says, “Good trade.” Ask Jesus your indwelling friend to change the water of you small efforts into the wine of exuberant joyous results. THOUGHT Make your life mellow like fine wine. Always bring joy out of generosity. Third Sunday C Ordinary 10:30 2007 A four year old was at the pediatrician for a check up. As the doctor looked in her ears and asked, "Do you think I'll find Big Bird in here?" The little girl stayed silent. Next, the doctor took a tongue depressor and looked down her throat. He asked, "Do you think I'll find the Cookie Monster down there?" Again, the little girl was silent. Then the doctor put a stethoscope to her chest. As he listened to her = heart beat, he asked, "Do you think I'll hear Barney in there?" "Oh, no!" the little girl replied. "Jesus is in my heart. Barney's on my underpants." This story emphasizes the need for the spoken word in a one on one communication. In our gospel story Luke begins by telling Theophilus about the words he will use to help Theophilus to realize the certainty of the teachings he has received. Whether you realize it or not words are powerful For example, here are two versions of the same event: People described as a group of protestors or a hoard of attackers. The words underscore the difference between a peaceful yet active gathering and a violent, unruly crowd. Words can be used in all kinds of ways: Words can express love or cause destruction; words can instruct or criticize; words can sooth or wound; words can heal or inflict damage; words can affirm or disparage. Fr Walter Burghardt says, in his book, Tell the Next Generation, Words can be weapons or words can be healing; words can unite in friendship or sever in enmity; words can unlock who you are or mask you from others. Words are power. Mark Twain said the difference between the precise word and the imprecise word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug. For example, look at the way the word love is tossed around. If the word love means anything, it means, I am committing myself to your growth, your development, your becoming all you can be as a unique human being. Love means I celebrate your humanness not in spite of your flaws but because of your flaws, failures and limitations. Love means I support your growing awareness of the wonders of living, your increasing joy in the mystery of other human beings, your expanding desire to help others to come alive to all they are capable of becoming. Words are the stuff of human communication. Words are the oil that keeps the wheels of communication running smoothly. Words can be the sunny light that brightens minds darkened by ignorance or words can warm hearts frozen by the sub zero temperature of alienation. The famous scripture scholar, John L Mc Kensie wrote in an essay entitled, The Word of God in the Old Testament: No one can speak without revealing him or herself. The most important words you can utter are words of affirmation. Yet how often all you do is look for faults and shortcomings which sets up a negative attitude toward the other person. For example, husbands and wives, instead of looking for the good in each other, just look at what annoys them about each other. Or, for example, how often you dismiss a classmate with a label like stuck up or stupid or geek or show-off or slob. Don’t these labels you toss around like pebbles into a pond reveal you as a snob, as a put-down artist? And all the while people are craving words of affirmation because people in general are not all that secure and need the support of affirming words like they need air to breathe. HUMOROUS: The 2nd grade teacher says,” The word for today is fascinate, and you have to come up with a sentence using that word.” Judy raises her hand and says, ”I went to the zoo on Friday, and it was fascinating.” The teacher says, “That’s nice but we want to use fascinate, not fascinating.” Bill raises his hand and says, “I went to a movie Saturday and I was fascinated.” The teacher says, “That’s nice too, but we want to use fascinate.” Jimmy extends his hand and says, “ My dad has a shirt with 12 buttons on it but he’s so fat he can only fasten 8.” The thought I leave with you is this: choose words with care and love. Fourth Sunday Ord C 12:15 In his autobiography, Up from Slavery, Booker T. Washington tells of being awakened every morning in the slave quarters long before daylight by an old rooster crowing. The sound of the crowing rooster was the sign for the slaves to hit the floor and move out to the field to begin a day of hard work. According to Washington, when President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation and the slaves realized they had been freed, something changed in the Washington shanty. He recalls awakening the morning afterwards not to the sound of a rooster crowing, but his mother chasing that rooster around the barnyard with an axe. According to Mr. Washington, the Emancipation Proclamation was hard on roosters all across the South. That day the Booker T. Washington family fried and ate their alarm clock for dinner. Before the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, the Washington family's day was dictated by the ritual crowing of the rooster. Now Booker T. Washington's family knew the true meaning of freedom. Young Booker T. discovered that the first day he didn't have to get out of bed was the first day he really desired to get up and start living for his own reasons. He realized a purpose for living and a passionate call to show loving concern for everyone in need. And that is what Booker T Washington did with his life: show loving concern for all who had any need. In our gospel story, Jesus is no longer teaching on an out-of-the-way hillside but sits down now to teach in a synagogue as out in the open as the birds of the air or the lilies of the field. All eyes are fixed on him with the same intensity as the Magi had in following the guiding star. He had come to Nazareth carried on the waves of enthusiastic amazement and high esteem by all who had heard him. Unlike his cousin John who called people back to the old law, Jesus has come to make all things new. To make all things new, Jesus knows he had to discard the old wineskins that would do nothing but burst under the pressure of the fresh wine of his teachings. To make certain that the fruit he is planting will be an abundant harvest, Jesus shows loving concern for all people by rooting out the weeds of Jewish prejudice and hatred against the Gentiles. So Jesus proclaims that God’s loving concern is all inclusive. The people protest in cries that get louder and louder with the increased mass hysteria . Our God, the God of the Chosen People, will never extend salvation to those Roman pagans who worship as many gods as there are soldiers in a regiment. He will never offer his blessings to those Samaritans who worship on Mount Gerizim instead of in the holy city of Jerusalem as they do, And the wave of approval which carried Jesus into the synagogue now becomes a storm of indignation, sweeping Jesus to the brow of a hill where they intended to hurl him to his death. What you need, perhaps desperately need, to ask yourself is this: How open is my loving concern for others? Will I let the door of my heart stand open to receive people as they are not as I think they should be? Or will I allow my judgmentalism slam the door of my heart shut? Kathleen Norris, in her book, The Cloister Walk, reminds us that We need a focused love to grow into the kind of openness we need if we are going to see and hear each other in a world torn apart by our differences. For example, do you see those who would rather live off the dole of society than be involved in productive work as members with you of the same community? Or do you just discount them as being lazy or stupid? Do you truly appreciate differences among people according to skin color or ethnic Do you encourage rather than tolerate these differences? If you would meet a disoriented drug addict on the street would you call the police or a relief agency – or would you just be a passerby like the high priest and the Levite who hurried past the beaten and robbed man in the ditch? Do you ignore the malnutrition and starvation of a Third World country as you listen to the sounds of a lawn being watered or inhale the smell a backyard cookout? Are you involved in feeding the hungry or clothing the naked or have you trivialized your religion, claiming that all you must do is save your own soul? How concerned are you to the people around you who are in need? Whether their needs are material or emotional or psychological or spiritual. Does the door of your heartfelt loving concern stand wide open to all or is there just a small opening for a chosen few? Remember, you can’t listen to this gospel story without asking yourself these and similar questions, that is, if you really want to follow Jesus. HUMOR about concern A fifteen-year-old boy came bounding into the house, and found his mom in bed. He asked if she were sick or something. He was truly concerned. Mom replied that, as a matter of fact, she didn’t feel too well. The son said, “Well, don’t worry a bit about dinner. I’ll be happy to carry you down to the stove.” THOUGHT: Always show concern for everyone. Fifth Sunday Ord C 7:30 2007 A wealthy man was waiting for his day servant who was late. When the servant finally arrived, his boss reamed him out for being so late. The servant said, “Sir my daughter died last night.” The wealthy man retorted I don’t care, you were late, get out you’re fired.” The wealthy man’s lack of compassion sends shock waves through our souls. In our gospel story, Jesus demonstrates compassion by helping his disciples to catch a great number of fish after they had labored all night and caught nothing. Compassion stands like a mountain of granite against the typhoons of our culture’s degrading brutality. People who live life to the fullest dive into the refreshing waters of exuberance and swim with the currents of compassion and understanding. You should not indulge in the easy compassion that leaps into your heart out of the sunken eyes of a belly-bloated child. Rather learn the kind of compassion that focuses your eyes, once blind with rage at the wanton evil in the world, on the potential goodness even in evildoers. You count if you offer your velvet compassion of shared human flaws. Twilight Zone Let us hope that no technology will ever replace human compassion otherwise we will cease to be human. In Richard North Patterson’s novel, Protect and Defend, one of the characters says, “Law without compassion is a shortcut to injustice. You are never nearer to God than in your compassionate moments. In compassion everything is sacred. Compassion is the basis of all morality. Compassion is one of the highest forms of love. Compassion allows you to feel another’s feelings. Compassion lets the door of your heart stand open without judgment. You live in relationships and as followers of Jesus compassion is the essential experience of your relationships Kathleen Fischer in her book, Reclaiming The Connections, says, “Our capacity for compassion is rooted in the imagination.” Your imagination helps you to put yourself in another’s place, to hear with another’s ears to see through another’s eyes. To walk in another’s shoes for a month. You listen with your imagination so that the words you hear are like a palette of paints with which you create vivid multicolored pictures, whether those pictures are beautiful or hideous. And those pictures activate in a concrete way your compassion. Compassion to be effective must be creative, must see possibilities where others see only stone walls of obstruction. Compassion stretches your imagination beyond the complacent white picket fence of logic that circumscribes the well-groomed yard of orderly thought. Compassion always launches out into the deep of new challenges to help others to live their lives to the fullest, to overcome depression, to love unconditionally. HUMOR A man and woman had been married for more than 60 years. They had shared everything. They had talked about everything. They had kept no secrets from each other except that the little old woman had a shoebox in the top of her closet that she had cautioned her husband never to open or ask her about. The wife was well known for her compassion. In fact they had lived a rather compassionate life together all these years. For all of these years, he had never thought about the box, but one day the little old woman got very sick and the doctor said she would not recover. In trying to sort out their affairs, the little old man took down the shoebox and took it to his wife’s bedside. She agreed that it was time that he should know what was in the box. When he opened it, he found two crocheted dolls and a stack of money totaling $25,000. He asked her about the contents. “When we were to be married,” she said, “my grandmother told me the secret of a happy marriage was to never argue. She told me that if I ever got angry with you, I should just keep quiet and crochet a doll.” The little old man was so moved; he had to fight back tears. Only two precious dolls were in the box. She had only been angry with him two times in all those years of living and loving. He almost burst with happiness. “Honey,” he said, “that explains the doll, but what about all of this money? Where did it come from?” “Oh,” she said, “that’s the money I made from selling the dolls.” The thought I leave with you today is this: heal pain with compassion. Sixth Sunday C 9 ’07 (2) Poor College Student Writes A college student wrote a letter home, "Dearfolks, I feel miserable because I have to keepwriting for money. I feel ashamed and unhappy.I have to ask for another hundred, but myconscience is killing me. I hope that you forgive me.Your son,Marvin.P.S. I felt so terrible I ran after the mailman whopicked this up in the box at the corner. I wantedto take this letter and burn it, but it was too late.I wish I had never sent this letter."A few days later he received a letter from hisfather. It said, "Your wishes were answered.Your letter never came!" In Luke’s sermon on the plain as opposed to Matt’s sermon on the mount, Jesus challenges everything our me first, consumer oriented, market driven, bottom line centered culture holds dear. In a word, Jesus is challenging you to live with a spirit of poverty. A spirit of poverty does not mean that you must give up everything you have and live in a shanty in a slum, not having two dimes to rub against each other. Rather a spirit of poverty means that you are not so attached to your possessions that you can’t live without them. A spirit of poverty means that you are keenly aware of those here is our own nation, the wealthiest nation on earth, who clothe themselves in newspapers against the winter winds or those whose bloated stomachs are the size of large empty bowls. A spirit of poverty means that you are empathetic toward the hordes of destitute people milling around in third world countries because wealthier countries refuse to give those peasants an equal access to this world’s goods. The problem we face in coping with the poverty stricken is expressed by Father Walter Burghardt in his book, Long Have I Loved You: A Theologian Reflects on His Church. He says, “We are exposed to the cry of the poor mostly by the media, only at a comfortable distance.” Yet no one has ever become poor by giving. Our hope for the future is a spirit of poverty that helps us discover the real possibilities for siding with the poor and oppressed against their oppressors, with peace against war, with life against death. Pope Paul VI in his encyclical, Call To Action, said, “The new poor are the handicapped and the maladjusted, the old and groups on the fringe of society.” Whatever else, you need to be aware that there are in your circle those who are in need. For example, there are people with poor self images, who are plunged into self doubt and have to pull themselves inch by torturous inch out of the Grand Canyon of feeling worthless. People who stand deep in the poverty of an inferiority complex or suffer malnutrition from the steady diet of spiritual pabulum or be morally cramped with the acid indigestion of bitterness. You need to be as aware of them as you are of those in threadbare rags who stand in stoic lines of hunger outside a soup kitchen each day. The question is not what do the poor require but what do we who are better off really need. There is a humorous story which I’ve twisted to fit in here. A pastor with poor eyesight got new lenses. It was the first time he had bifocals. As he stood in the pulpit and looked down through his bifocals, everything was fine. But when he looked through the top of his glasses he felt dizzy. He said to his congregation, “Forgive me for taking off and putting on my new glasses so much. When I look down, everything is fine, but when I look out at you, I get sick. HUMOR During my husband's time as a mature student, we didn't have much money for our family of seven. At a friend's wedding, my four-year-old daughter was sitting next to me when the vicar asked, "Do you take this man for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health?" Our daughter turned to me and whispered loudly, "You chose poorer, didn't you Mummy?" The thought I leave with you today is this: God is the cry of the poor. SEVENTH Sunday ord 9 2007Comedian George Burn's club gave a big dinner in honor of his ninety-fifth birthday. The dais was loaded with talent. One of the first speakers was Irving Brecher, the creator-writer of the popular television show of the fifties, THE LIFE OF RILEY, and the director of many fine movies. Here is what Brecher had to say about Burns: "What is so unusual about our guest of honor this evening is that in a profession that is so frenetically competitive ” where the pressure to make it big is so intense that often friends turn on one another ” George Burns does not have a single enemy." Brecher paused for a moment, then added, "They all died." (1) WHO ARE YOUR ENEMIES? That's the question for the morning. Now you may say, "I don't have any enemies." A little girl wrote to her pastor: Dear Father, I heard you say to love our enemies. I am only six and do not have any yet. I hope to have some when I am seven. Love, Jennifer. That may be your attitude. "I don't have any enemies. I love everybody and everybody loves me." Maybe so. Or maybe you need to stretch our view of who an enemy may be. Could someone in your family be an enemy? A sister-in-law, perhaps, even a parent? Or maybe someone with whom you work? Maybe it's someone you're in competition with. Competitors may become enemies. Not just in business but within the family. Brothers compete, sisters compete, spouses compete. Friends compete. Neighbors compete. Nothing wrong with that. But feelings can be rubbed raw. Resentment can build. Soon a neighbor is secretly glad to see another neighbor's misfortune. Who is your enemy? There may be persons whom we secretly harbor ill feelings toward that we have never thought to classify under Jesus' definition as enemies. But in a sense they are enemies. They are persons for whom we have ill feelings, or they are persons who harbor ill feelings toward us. Of course, some enemies may arise because we try to do the right thing. I recall a story about a pastor who was concerned about some unsavory businesses that had opened near a school. His protests finally led to a court case, and the defense attorney did all he could to embarrass the pastor. "Are you not a pastor?" the lawyer asked. "And doesn't the word pastor mean `shepherd'?" To this definition the minister agreed. "Well, if you are a shepherd, why aren't you out taking care of the sheep?" "Because today," said the pastor, "I'm fighting the wolves!" (4) Well, there are wolves out there. If there are persons who are hurting others and you are in the position of being able to stop them, then that is an enemy you need to stop. Notice that Jesus did not say, "Do not have enemies." Anyone who tries to do anything of significance in this world is going to have enemies. I can guarantee you that both Mother Teresa and Billy Graham, as respected as they are, have enemies. Who are your enemies? Your enemy could be someone who is tempting you to do wrong. Your enemy may be someone who has hurt you in the past and that hurt lingers and will not go away. Your enemy could be someone you simply disagree with strongly, but that disagreement has caused a barrier to be erected between the two of you. Who is your enemy? That is the first question for the morning. The second is this: HOW IS YOUR ENEMY AFFECTING YOU SPIRITUALLY? One enemy you all face is the appalling accretion of violent entertainment that permeates American life - what Newsweek described as "the flood of mass-produced and mass-consumed violence that pours upon us, masquerading as amusement and threatening to erode the psychological and moral boundary between real life and make-believe?" There is a way you can respond to an enemy. You can retaliate. You may remember the old story about a man who was informed by his doctor that he had rabies. The man had waited so long to go the doctor that nothing could be done about his condition. After telling the sad news, the doctor left. Later, he stopped back by to check on the patient who was writing something on a piece of paper. "Are you writing a will?" the doctor asked. "No," said the man, "I'm making a list of all the people I'm going to bite!" JESUS SAYS that the WAY TO DEAL WITH enemies to LOVE THEM. Sometimes, for our own sake, that is the only way we can deal with our enemies. Forgiving our enemies is the first step toward loving them. You say, "But what she did to me was too horrible. I can't forgive." And I ask, who is your anger and resentment hurting most of all? My guess is that it is worse on you than it is your enemy. Why not begin with a clean slate from this day forward? Why not clear the decks and make a new start, today? The invitation to love our enemies can be viewed as wildly unrealistic or as a challenge to enter into a growth process that is continually ongoing. Christian Psychology: Toward a New Synthesis -- John M. McDonagh Forgiveness is the virtue of the brave. Gandhi Without a willingness to forgive those who have hurt us it is not likely that our lives can go on in any meaningful manner. Charles Dickens HUMOR A woman wrote to Dear Abbey My husband is a hard worker but many of his co-workers are leery of him. Every time he gets caught, he denies it all. Then he admits that he was wrong and begs me to forgive him. This has been going on for so long, everyone in town knows he is a cheat. I don’t know what to do. Signed: Frustrated Dear Frustrated: You should dump him. Now that you are a senator, you don’t need him THOUGHT Always forgive and love your enemies. FIRST SUNDAY LENT A – FEB 25 2007 – 5pm – 12:15 Luke 4: 1-13 STORY: When da Vinci was looking for a model for the face of Christ in his painting of the Last Supper, he found a young man, handsome and clean cut and hired him. His name was Georgio Bandinelli Finally it was time to do the face of Judas. da Vinci found a beggar whose face was so hardened and scared with sin that da Vinci could barely look at him. But he hired him. When he was finished, da Vinci said, I don’t even know your name. The beggar answered, I am Bandinelli, I posed for your Jesus. We enter the Jesus story. Jesus is being tempted in the same way as Bandinelli was. Unlike Bandinelli who gave into temptation and twisted the Christ-like face into the grotesque mask of Judas, Jesus is as resistant to temptation as God’s eternal word resists the distortions of our culture. Jesus whose hunger gnaws at his stomach like a vulture tearing into the carcass of a dead lamb, gears up for a battle that is far more formidable than that of David confronting Goliath. Then it was sword against slingshot. Now it is subtle innuendo trying to seduce the One who says, I am Truth. Now it is slithering manipulation versus the One who says, I have come to do the will of him who sent me. Donald Gelpi in his book, Experiencing God, tells us that the temptations of Jesus symbolize the fact that we his followers will enter into a lifetime of being tested. You’re familiar with tests such as others’ hostile arguments which you’re called upon to forgive. Or obnoxious putdowns which you are called upon to turn the other cheek. Or gross ingratitude which you are called upon to respond with even greater generosity. Then there are the tests that come from society: human insensitivity, racism, sexism, greed, pollution, murder. What about injustice and violence, unnecessary wars, cheating and dishonesty, gross inequities that make the rich richer and the poor poorer? All these and more are the tests you must face and cope with during your lifetime. These tests begin in early childhood. STORY: A teacher on a snowy day is trying to get all the kindergarten children’s coats, gloves and boots on. One little girt starts crying. I can’t find my boots, she wails. Honey, the teacher says, your boots are over there in the corner. They’re not my boots, she sobs. My boots had snow on them. Another little girl was asked, What are sins of omission? She thought for a while and then said, I think they’re the sins we should have committed but didn’t. The temptation in facing these and other tests is to shrug your shoulders and crawl deeper into the cocoon of your own selfish security just as Jesus could have feasted on bread from stones or won the worship of all the powerful nations in the world had he given in to his temptations. Jesus’ temptations are as real as the stones that could have been turned into bread. Jesus’ temptations are as real as his bloody sweat in the Garden of Olives when he was being lured into passing the cup of suffering back to his Father. Jesus’ temptations are as real as the flesh the Word of God became. Lent is not a season as somber as a wake. Rather picture Jesus, after he has defeated his tempter, standing there in the desert with his face wreathed in a gratified smile. Enter into Lent with that picture of Jesus in your mind and you will find that lent is a time of joy as you triumph over temptations and make them occasions of deepening your spiritual life HUMOR: A sign at a business establishment in Philadelphia, PA: "WE WOULD RATHER DO BUSINESS WITH 1000 AL QAEDA TERRORISTS THAN WITH A SINGLE AMERICAN" This sign was prominently displayed in the window of a business in Philadelphia. You are probably outraged at the thought of such an inflammatory statement.One would think that anti-hate groups from all across the country would be marching on this business... And that the National Guard might have to be called to keep the angry crowds back.But, perhaps in these stressful times one might be tempted to let the proprietors simply make their statement . . . We are a society who holds Freedom of Speech as perhaps our greatest liberty . . . And after all, it is just a sign.You may ask what kind of business would dare post such a sign?Answer: A Funeral Home (Who said morticians had no sense of humor?) THOUGHT: Use Lent to grow spiritually by overcoming temptations..Second Sunday Lent 2007 7:30Mark Twain once categorized people into three groups: commonplace, remarkable, and lunatics. I don't know about you, but I can think of people who belong in all three groups. St. Paul, though, says there are only two kinds of people ” citizens of the world and citizens of heaven. And the contrasts between the two are stark. Here is how St. Paul describes citizens of the world. HE SAYS THEIR DESTINY IS DESTRUCTION. Recent wire reports carried the story of a motorist who stole $9 worth of gasoline and died in a fiery wreck while making his getaway. "He died a very painful death for $9 of gas," said a witness who tried to douse the flames with a fire extinguisher. How very, very sad. Rarely when we do wrong do we see what the end result can be. The Bible does not pull punches. The wages of sin is death. Comedienne Paula Poundstone says in one of her routines that the wages of sin are death, but by the time taxes are taken out, it's just sort of a tired feeling. We wish her little gag was accurate, but that is not the Biblical testimony. Paul says of the citizens of this world their destiny is destruction. Paul also SAYS, THEIR GLORY IS IN THEIR SHAME. In other words, they live in active rebellion against the things of God. Have you ever known anyone who could not have a good time unless he or she was doing something bad? Have you ever known anyone who could not express their feelings without the use of an obscenity? Even worse, perhaps, are those who flaunt moral law with no consciousness of any wrongdoing. A few years ago a story jumped from the sports sections to the front pages of newspapers all over this land. One was the revelation from Magic Johnson that he is infected with the AIDS virus. Johnson indeed should have the sympathy of every one of us. He is a warm man with a tremendous personality who has given basketball fans many years of pleasure. We would not want to demean in any way the courage he showed in sharing his problem with the public. However, the only lesson he had to share with young people from his own tragedy is "practice safe sex." Later, after a rather strong public outcry he admitted that abstinence is the only sure preventive of AIDS. "Their destiny is destruction," says St. Paul, and their glory is in their shame. But St Paul establishes a balance – a balance you can strive for during this Lenten season.St. Paul states: "But our citizenship is in heaven. Your balance is between being citizens of this world and citizens of heaven.. Citizens of heaven are much more fortunate, says St. Paul. They can look forward to the day when their imperfect bodies will be transformed by Christ into glorious new bodies. What is a citizen of heaven? A citizen of heaven lives a life of discipline and devotion. A life of faith and faithfulness. A life of conscience and commitment. And it is this life you should be striving to develop during this Lenten season.Perhaps you saw the movie FIELD OF DREAMS. It is a beautiful story about a young farmer who hears a voice in his cornfield. The voice says to him, "If you build it, he will come." Build what? he wants to know. A ball park, he learns. Who will come? Shoeless Joe Jackson, the great star of the Chicago White Sox. So the farmer plows under his corn and builds a ball diamond. It seems like a foolish exercise. A cornfield is real. It is something you can touch, something you can enjoy here and now ” but a ball field and a ball player long since gone from the scene? What an absurd dream. Sure enough, though, one day Shoeless Joe Jackson walks out of the cornfield and begins to play ball. So do seven other White Sox players, and then some old New York Giants. It is a tender story, and it probably sounds crazy if you haven't seen it, but it almost invariably gives people's spirits a lift. Lent reminds you that you are people who are both citizens of this world but also live in a world of dreams. Lent tells you that you have the advantage of believing Jesus’ words that there is something better for you.There is the story of a very wealthy young man who had all that a person could want ” materially. However, he was born with a deformity which left him with a very ugly face. Because of this one flaw he would stay in his house and walk around in his garden, which was closed in by a high wall. However, in the evening he would leave his walled-in garden and walk down by the seashore. One night he heard beautiful music. He hid himself in the shadows, and there he saw a young girl playing a violin. Each night he would leave his house, walk down to the seashore and listen to the young lady play the beautiful music. However, because of his ugliness he would hide in the shadows, hoping not to be seen. Later, the young man told his servant, "Take this money and give it to the lady with the violin, in order that she may go to the best school of music in Europe and master the beautiful music." After years of study, she returned home and was taken to the house of the man who paid for her education. He was standing in his garden with his back to the gate. The gate was opened for her and she came up behind him, threw her arms around his waist and cried, "I love you! I love you!" He said, "No, it's impossible for you to love me." All the more she cried, "I love you." The young man turned around and said, "How can you love me when you see so much ugliness in my face?" She replied, "You see, sir, I am blind." So it is because Jesus suffered and died for us, God, too, is blind to the ugliness of our sin. There is a story about two men who, under the influence of liquor, found their way to the dock where their boat was tied. The two men wanted to return home, so they got in the boat and began to row. Though they rowed hard all night, they did not reach the other side of the bay. When the gray dawn of the morning broke, they were in exactly the same spot from which they started. They had neglected to loosen the mooring-line and raise the anchor! Lent is the time when you can cut the cord, get rid of anything holding you back from your progress in your spiritual development.Lent is the time to establish the balance between being a citizen of this world and a citizen of heaven. HUMOR A little girl was diligently pounding away on her grandfather’s computer. Her grandfather asked her what she was writing. She told him I’m writing a story. “What’s the story about?” he asked. “I don’t know,” she replied. “You know I can’t read.” Thought: Be holy by acquiring balance.. Ash Wednesday C 21 February, 2007 I am told there is an old tradition among the Hasidic Jews that everyone should have two pockets in their coats, and that in those pockets we should carry two little pieces of paper. On one of them should be written, "I am only dust and ashes." And on the other, "The whole universe was created for me." Some days we really need to remember the second one, to remember that we are all God's adopted sons and daughters, joint heirs with Christ of all that has been made. And some days, such as tonight, we need to remember that first slip of paper, and come forward to be marked with the symbol of our mortality. I am only dust and ashes. The whole universe was created for me. Sorrow and joy. Repentance and forgiveness. Fasting and feasting. These are the things that we need to keep in tension as we walk with the Lord. And never more so than in this season that begins here tonight. Lent is the season in which we are called over and over again to remember the sacrifice Jesus made for us on the cross. And Lent is also the season in which we are called over and over again to prepare ourselves for his death and resurrection, knowing that as we die with him, so also will we rise with him. And so another tension-death and resurrection. I am only dust and ashes. The whole universe was created for me. Tonight I call you to experience these tensions. I call you to a season of remembering both the fast and feast which are ours to claim. I invite you to fast from worry, and instead to feast on trust in God's grace. I invite you to fast from complaining, and to feast instead on appreciation. I invite you to fast from the negative, and to feast on the positive. I invite you to fast from unrelenting pressure, and instead to feast on unceasing prayer. I invite you to fast from hostility, and feast on tenderness. Why not fast from bitterness, and feast on forgiveness? Why not fast from sarcasm, and feast on honesty? Why not fast from self-pity, and feast on compassion? My friends, I invite you to fast from sorrow, and feast on serenity, to fast from idle gossip, and feast on purposeful silence. I call you to fast from judging others, and to feast on the Christ within. Fast from anger, and feast on optimism. Fast from personal anxiety, and feast on eternal truth. Fast from discouragement, and feast on hope. Fast from discontent and feast on gratitude. Fast from thoughts of illness, and feast on the healing power of God. Fast from lethargy, and feast on enthusiasm. Fast from nostalgia, and feast on the future. Fast from problems, and feast on prayer. I invite you during this Lenten season to change something. Change something that bothers you about your own life, your own behavior. You are only dust and ashes, and to dust you will return. In other words, it is later than you think. Repent and believe the good news. In other words turn around, and believe, really believe, that the whole universe was created for you. Believe, really believe, that through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we are delivered from the twin realities of sin and death. May this season be a season filled with grace, and may that grace sustain you and refresh you along the way. Let us pray: Gracious and loving God, make us all pilgrims throughout these forty days. Lead us through discipline to discipleship, and through fasting to feasting. Free us from our own struggles, so that we may better serve each other. Relieve us of the bondage of self, that we may better do your will. Help us to be obedient and joyful, humble and caring, merciful and loving. Anchor us in your word and make us coworkers with your son Jesus, in whose name we pray. Amen. Third Sunday Lent 2007 Luke 13: 1-9 – 5:30; 10:30 . A beloved rabbi died and rose to heaven. There he was greeted with the hosts of angels singing and praising the rabbi for all his good works."Please don’t make such a fuss," the rabbi protested. "I was not so perfect as you make me seem."At that point the Lord God himself appeared in glory. "What’s the problem, my son? You lived a near-perfect life on earth. You deserve all the honors we can give you.""No, my Lord," the rabbi protested. "I failed miserably with my daughter. You see, she became a Christian.""I understand," said the Lord. "I had a similar problem with my son.” Like the rabbi often you may take a nose dive into guilt. As a result, you may think much less of yourself, or even be plunged into the depths of depression. For example, impatience or anger with the children, misunderstandings between husband and wife that explode into fiery arguments leaving third degree burns that take a long time to heal. Or gossip so petty that when you think of it, you’re embarrassed because the pettiness reminds you of how small and insecure you are. Gossip about co-workers or neighbors or in-laws or fellow students or family members, teachers, parish priests. You just hate to admit something we all have in common: we are all mistake makers. But Jesus reassures you through the parable of the fig tree that you always have second chances. In fact the parable of the fig tree has been called the gospel of the second chance. Since Jesus forgives you over and over, again and again, second chances become chances as innumerable as the stars in the midnight sky. Why then, I ask you, are you so hesitant, so reluctant, so uncertain that you will not forgive yourself? During Lent you recall your sins in order to do penance for them. But what about recalling your sins so that you can forgive yourself of them. I think on a spiritual level that one of the most forceful impediments to your development is your hesitancy or refusal to forgive yourself. On the psychological level, not forgiving yourself can be one of the heaviest boulders pulling you down into the suffocating depth of depression. A lot of psychological and emotional problems are caused by lack of self-forgiveness. I cannot emphasize enough how imperative it is for you to forgive yourself. If you want to feel as free as a soaring eagle, as happy as someone who’s just fallen in love, as released from bondage as a slave whose chains have been shattered, as carefree as a child jumping rope, then forgive yourself! Dominic Maruca in his essay, “A Reflection on Guilt,” says, “The memory of things past is a worm that will not die; whether that worm continues to grow or is changed into a brightly colored winged creature depends on whether we can find the forgiveness we need to bestow.” And I would add, to bestow first and foremost on yourself. Not forgiving yourself only indicates that you do not actually believe in Jesus’ infinite mercy, that you shove into the archives of forgotten stories, the parable of the Prodigal son, that you prefer to be haunted by the ghosts of past sins than to embrace the cross on which Jesus died for the forgiveness of all sins and for your power to forgive yourself. Jesus’ infinite mercy will not get through to you if you constantly put up the barrier of not forgiving yourself. Even more! How can you truly forgive others if you won’t forgive yourself? Remember the words of the prophet Isaiah: “Though your sins be like scarlet, they will become white as snow.” If you will not forgive yourself, then your religion will be an unbending, inflexible, self-righteous, judgmental legalism. The legalism Jesus constantly preached against. Your relationship with God will be a stodgy, stuffy, dull, pompous, humorless religion. On the other hand, if you do forgive yourself, you will live your faith in joy and happiness, in good humor and laughter. After all since God gives you the gift of laughter, then God himself must laugh. Someone said laughter is like jogging on the inside. Pity the people who go through life without a sense of humor. There is a story that should encourage you to forgive yourself. A young nun in the 14th century was reputed to be having visions of Jesus. Typical of the bureaucracy, the bishop summoned her. “You’re having visions of Jesus, are you?” “Yes, your Excellency,” the young nun answered with expected humility and respect. “Well,” the bishop blustered, “the next time you have one of these visions, you ask Jesus what the great sin was that the bishop committed before he was crowned bishop.” “Yes, you Excellency,” the young nun answered with expected humility and respect. Months passed. Then the young nun showed up at the bishop’s palace. “Oh,” the bishop said, “you’ve had another vision of Jesus?” “Yes,” your Excellency,” the young nun answered with expected humility and respect. “And did you ask Jesus the question I told you to ask? What great sin the bishop committed before he was crowned bishop?” “Yes,” your Excellency,” the young nun answered with expected humility and respect. “So tell me,” the bishop commanded, “what did Jesus say?” “Your Excellency, Jesus said, ‘I don’t remember.’” HUMOR : Story about Peter O’Toole, the famous actor who is in his 80’s. He was asked if he exercised. He replied that the only exercise he gets is walking behind the caskets of those who exercised. THOUGHT Use Lent to forgive yourself. Fourth Sunday Lent 10:30 Luke 15: 1-32 In 1986 Henri Nouwen, a Dutch theologian and well known spiritual writer, toured St. Petersburg, Russia, the former Leningrad. While there he visited the famous Hermitage where he saw Rembrandt’s painting of the Prodigal Son. The painting was in a hallway and received the natural light of a nearby window. Nouwen stood for two hours, mesmerized by this remarkable painting. As he stood there the sun changed, and at every change of the light’s angle he saw a different aspect of the painting revealed. He would later write: “There were as many paintings in the Prodigal Son as there were changes in the day.” Later Nouwen wrote a book entitled The Return of the Prodigal Son, a series of meditations on this painting. I have this book and his meditations are beautiful and challenging, especially those on the two sons. It is difficult to see something new in the parable of the Prodigal son. Been there heard that. You have heard the story so many times you believe that you have squeezed it dry of meaning. When you hear the opening words of the parable once again, “And there was a man who had two sons,” you may greet the words with ho-hum. Yet, I would suggest that just as Henri Nouwen saw a half dozen different facets to Rembrandt’s painting of the Prodigal Son, so too are there many different angles to the story itself. This morning I would like to re-examine this familiar story. First off, Jesus parable, probably the most famous of all, was not just a story about God’s infinite forgiveness. The story of the prodigal is a frontal attack on the legalism and self-righteousness of the religious leaders of his day. For example, the father, an elderly and dignified man of means, was forbidden by the law to run. But Jesus says the father rushed down the hill. Thus breaking the law. The law demanded that the father of a prodigal son should excommunicate that son from the family or at least treat that son as a slave. But Jesus says the father had sandals and a ring placed on his son and threw a gala party for his return. Thus breaking the law. The law demanded that a son who refused to join his father at a banquet should be immediately put to death. But Jesus says the father pleaded with his elderly son to join him. Thus breaking the law. Through this story of the prodigal son, Jesus is saying it is not the law and the observance of the law, not the prim and proper, prissy posturing that are the be all and end all of your relationship with God. With this story of the prodigal, Jesus undermined the religious leaders’ legalistic, self-righteous commitment to the letter of the law. Rather through this story of the Prodigal son, Jesus is saying that it is love and forgiveness, all-inclusive invitations and acceptance, partying and laughter that are the qualities of your relationship with God. As in all his parables, Jesus is revealing God who is Father. What is Jesus revealing about God in this story of the prodigal son? By telling this story of the father who broke all the laws, Jesus is indicating that God’s boundless forgiveness cannot be confined by human-made rules and regulations. Does this mean that sins can be forgiven without the Sacrament of Penance? That’s exactly what it means. Does this mean we throw out the Sacrament of Penance? Absolutely not. It means that God forgives you in many, different ways, that God’s forgiveness falls on you like a snowstorm. Recall, the words of the Prophet Isaiah: Though your sins be as scarlet they shall become white as snow. Think of the parable of the owner of the harvest who gave the eleventh hour workers a full day’s pay. Or the parable of the Samaritan who picked up the tab for the hotel. Our God is a God of infinite abundance, a God of unending forgiveness, a God of endless surprises. So many people try to bribe God with their self-righteousness. For example, if you do this for me, dear God, I’ll do this for you. That’s not living your faith. That is a legalistic, self-righteous contract. The elder son who usually dismissed as incidental to Jesus’ story of the prodigal, actually plays a prominent role in this story. The elder son represents the self-righteousness of the religious leaders of his day as well as those who are self-righteous here and now in today’s church. We’re now almost through the Lenten season. If you have been trying to do something extra for Lent, you might be tempted to feel a bit self-righteous. “When the space for God is filled with self-righteousness, we lose touch with our true selves.” Availability: The Problem and the Gift – Robert J. Wicks You wound one another with your dehumanizing power plays, your need to always be right, to appear more virtuous than others, your pride of self-righteousness. But Eugene Kennedy in his book, The Choice to be Human, says, “The way for the passage of the thundering and self-righteous seekers of power over people is no wider than a strand of hair.” Flannery O’Connor’s short story, “Everything That Rises Must Converge,” is an in-depth portrait of self-righteousness that must face its own sinfulness. And I would add that the last thing the self-righteous want to do is face up to, never mind admit, their sinfulness. The self-righteous would much rather crucify those who confront them. It happened two thousand years ago, it happens today, at least verbally. Russell Abata -- Self-Esteem: Key to Happiness, “If you show off the superiority part of your image you will come across as proud, self-righteous, judgmental, critical and isolated.” Scott Peck - People of the Lie “The evil in this world is committed by the spiritual fat cats, the Pharisees of our own day, the self-righteous who think they are without sin because they are unwilling to suffer the discomfort of significant self-examination.” There is a ditty that goes: To live above with saints we love, Oh! That will be a glory! To live below with saints we know, Well, that's a different story! Self-righteousness is difficult to deal with because it so easily disguises itself as virtue. Who appears more virtuous than the self-righteous? This parable of the prodigal is challenging you to be ruthlessly honest to yourself about yourself. HUMOR An annoyingly self-righteous man went to the doctor for a check-up. He said, “I feel terrible. Please examine me and tell me what’s wrong with me.” “Let’s begin with a few questions,” said the doctor, “Do you drink much?” “Alcohol?” said the man. “I’m a teetotaler. Never touch a drop.” “How about smoking?” asked the doctor. “Never,” replied the man. “Tobacco is bad, and I have strong principles against it.” “Well, uh.” asked the doctor, “do you have a good sex life?” “Oh, no,” said the man. “Sex is sin..” The doctor paused, looked at the man hard, and asked, “Well, do you have pains in your head?” “Yes,” said the man. “I have terrible pains in my head.” “O.K.,” said the doctor. “That’s your trouble. Your halo is on too tight!! THOUGHT Use Lent to be honest to yourself about yourself. Fifth Sunday Lent C 2007 12;15 Story I’m ok you’re ok Stories for All Season p 100 Still the idea of I’m ok, you’re ok is a valid one. It doesn’t mean that you bypass others’ faults and failure or treat them as non existent. But it does mean that you focus on the strengths and worth of others more than on your own? This is the exact opposite of what the religious leaders did in our gospel story. What motivated the religious leaders to want to fulfill the law by stoning the woman caught in adultery? Because she broke the law? Remember Jesus’ story about the Prodigal son? You should it was in our gospel story last weekend. Was it truly a dedication to preserving the observance of the law? Or could their motivation have been their own lack of self-worth. And their lack of self worth was the prism through which they saw everyone else’s behavior? Did their lack of interior self-worth force them to find their worth in the external law? And to emphasize their worth, they had to condemn anyone, like this woman in our gospel story, who broke the law. Then Jesus comes along. His self-worth is fully developed. He has no need to call upon the law as the source of his self-worth as did the religious leaders. So where the religious leaders condemn the woman, Jesus forgives her her sin. An old story comes to us from Alexander the Great's conquest of the Persian Empire. In that conquest Alexander's soldiers overran the palace of Darius the king. Looking for things to steal, one soldier came upon a leather bag containing the crown jewels of Persia. The stones were worth millions. However, the ignorant soldier dumped them on a rubbish heap, saving only the leather bag. He ran around the camp telling the other men about the marvelous bag he'd found to carry his food. How often do you throw away the jewels of your self-worth and keep the bag of your accomplishments or your financial status or you influence. And when you settle down in a moment of honest reflection, you realize that you are as empty inside as that bag. Empty because all your worth comes from things outside you. You haven’t come to the recognition that you as you are a worthwhile person, whether or not the passing parade lavished you with confetti that is quickly swept up, thrown away and burnt into the ashes of forgotten achievements. Now how can you come to this recognition that you are a worthwhile person? First, you can make a written list of your worth qualities. For example, worth qualities lie compassion, humor, the ability to listen, concern for others, joy, hope love. Keep the list nearby and every time you think of another worth quality, add it to your list. All you want to do here is to admit that you do have this or that worth quality. Secondly, go back over you list at least as often as you water your indoor plants. This will keep your worth qualities prominently in your conscious mind. Thirdly, check your worth qualities to see where each one is on a scale of 1 – 10. Ten being the most developed. For example, you have the worth quality of compassion but you see that compassion is at a 4, then you know that even though you have that worth quality of compassion, you need to develop it more. You will come to a conclusion not that I am perfect but that I am a worthwhile person. Also, that I have a lot to offer to others. This can be a very freeing experience. It will release you from the bondage of self-doubt, from the prison of selfishness, from the swamp land of insecurity. If you keep up positive self talk such as saying to yourself over and over, I am a worthwhile person, you will be able to move into any group with confidence, assured that you have something to offer. You will no longer be dependent on your external appearances for your worth like the religious leaders in our gospel story who drew their worth from their sanctimonious appearance. You will now draw on your own interior self-worth. Let me illustrate this with a story. Story: mother with ugly arms Thursday after Ash Wednesday 2001. HUMOR A husband and wife are traveling by car from Key West to Boston. After almost twenty-four hours on the road, they’re too tired to continue, and they decide to stop for a rest. They stop at a nice hotel and take a room, but they only plan to sleep for four hours and then get back on the road. When they check out four hours later, the desk clerk hands them a bill for $350. The man explodes and demands to know why the charge is so high. He tells the clerk although it’s a nice hotel the rooms certainly aren’t worth $350. When the clerk tells him $350 is the standard rate, the man insists on speaking to the Manager. The Manager appears, listens to the man, and then explains that the hotel has an Olympic-sized pool and a huge conference center that were available for the husband and wife to use. “But we didn’t use them,” the man complains. “Well, they are here, and you could have,” explains the Manager. He goes on to explain they could have taken in one of the shows for which the hotel is famous. “The best entertainers from New York, Hollywood and Las Vegas perform here,” the Manager says. “But we didn’t go to any of those shows, “complains the man again. “Well, we have them, and you could have,” the Manager replies. No matter what facility the Manager mentions, the man replies, “But we didn’t use it!” The Manager is unmoved, and eventually the man gives up and agrees to pay. He writes a check and gives it to the Manager. The Manager is surprised when he looks at the check. “But sir,” he says, this check is only made out for $50.” “That’s correct,” says the man. “I charged you $300 for kissing my wife.” “But I didn’t!” exclaims the Manager. Well, too bad,” the man replies. “She was here and you could have.” THOUGHT Fifth Sunday Lent C 2007 12:15 Story: A younger priest had read the very popular book, I’m Okay, You’re Okay. On this particular weekend he decided to use the book as a source for his homily. And so he did. After Mass, he met a visiting priest in the sacristy. With cheerful enthusiasm he asked the visitor, “What did you think of my homily?” (Big mistake). The visiting priest said he thought the younger priest had done an admirable job (read one and a half stars). Then the visitor said, “While you were preaching, I couldn’t help imagining Jesus hanging on the cross, saying to his mother Mary and beloved disciple John, ‘If I’m okay and you’re okay, what am I doing up here?’” Still the idea of I’m ok, you’re ok is a valid one. It doesn’t mean that you bypass others’ faults and failures or treat them as non existent. But it does mean that you focus on the strengths and worth of others more than on their weaknesses and frailties. This is the exact opposite of what the religious leaders did in our gospel story. What motivated the religious leaders to want to fulfill the law by stoning the woman caught in adultery? Because she broke the law? The image of crushing another human being’s head is so gross, so ghastly that it can be kept in your imagination only for a split second. Were the religious leaders really that dedicated to the law, to the strict observance of the letter of the law? Or had the religious leaders made an idol out of the law, just as the Romans worshipped the statue of Jupiter? Were the religious leaders enslaved to every jot and title of the letter of the law as they were enslaved under the crushing heel of the Roman Empire? And like the Roman Empire, did the Law enslave the religious leaders and all the Hebrew people while giving the appearance of freedom? Were the religious leaders and the people like an eagle that can be held back from the swooping freedom of the highest, bluest skies as firmly with the string of trivial faultfinding as with the cable of serious true or false accusations of sin? Then Jesus comes along and tosses the comfortable, tidy legalistic world of the religious leaders upside down like a cataclysmic hurricane attacking a skyscraper. Jesus simply says with words as tender as a mother’s to a toddler, “Go and sin no more.” In this gospel story, no word about an act of contrition, no firm purpose of amendment, no avoiding the near occasions of sin. But it is as clear as brand new Plexiglas that repentance is always a condition for forgiveness. Jesus is always doing things like that. He told the story of the father who didn’t even let his prodigal son finish his act of contrition, but instantly forgave him. Jesus told this story of the Prodigal son not only to reveal the infinite forgiveness of God, but to launch a frontal attack against the self-righteous legalistic religion of the religious leaders. For example, the father, an elderly and dignified man of means, was forbidden by law to run. But Jesus says the father rushed down the hill. Thus breaking the law. The law demanded that the father of a prodigal son should excommunicate that son from the family or at least treat that son as a slave. But Jesus says the father had sandals and a ring and the finest robe placed on his son and threw a gala party for his return. Thus breaking the law. The law demanded that a son who refused to join his father at the banquet should be immediately put to death. But Jesus says the father pleaded with his elderly son to join him in the partying. Thus breaking the law. What is Jesus saying through this story of the prodigal son? Jesus is saying it is not the law and the observance of the law, not the prim and proper, prissy posturing that are the be all and end all of your relationship with God anymore than a gorgeous wedding gown makes the perfect bride. With this story of the prodigal, Jesus undermined the religious leaders’ legalistic, self-righteous commitment to the letter of the law. Rather through this story of the Prodigal son, Jesus is saying that it is love and forgiveness, all-inclusive invitations and acceptance, partying and laughter that are the qualities that highlight your relationship with God just as the father celebrated his son’s return probably with a zest bordering on an orgy of repentance and forgiveness. As in all his parables, Jesus is revealing God who is Father. What is Jesus revealing about God in this story of the prodigal son? By telling this story of the father who broke the laws, Jesus is indicating that God’s boundless forgiveness cannot be confined by human-made rules and regulations. Does this mean that sins can be forgiven without the Sacrament of Penance? That’s exactly what it means. Does this mean we throw out the Sacrament of Penance? Absolutely not. The Sacrament of Penance is necessary to externalize the admission of your sins; to hear yourself expressing sorrow for your sins;. to provide a sacred external sign guaranteeing the grace of forgiveness. The story of the prodigal means that God forgives you in many, many different ways; that God’s forgiveness falls on you like a snowstorm. Recall, the words of the Prophet Isaiah: “Though your sins be as scarlet they shall become white as snow.” Think of the parable of the owner of the harvest who spread the entire daily wage to the 11th hour workers as breezily as he scattered the seeds that produced the harvest, gathered with the sweat of the all-day workers. Or the parable of the Samaritan who poured healing balm into the wounds of a traveling stranger who turned out to be a hated enemy, a Jew, and then without counting the cost, picked up the entire tab for all of the hotel accommodations. What is Jesus revealing in these stories? Jesus is revealing to you that our God is a God of infinite abundance, a God of endless surprises, a God of unending forgiveness. Ironically, back here on Earth, in the midst of this explosive profusion of boundless, loving forgiveness, the New Mexico Legislature voted to restore Pluto to the status of a planet – at least when passing over New Mexico. Talk about prioritizing! Yet this is the culture in which you are to live the abundance, the surprises, the forgiveness of God. This is the world in which you are to live the values of your faith. The elder son who is usually dismissed as incidental to Jesus’ story of the prodigal, actually plays a prominent role in this story. The elder son represents the self-righteousness of the religious leaders of Jesus’ day as well as those who are self-righteous and judgmental here and now in our church today. We’re now almost through the Lenten season. If you have been trying to do something extra for Lent, you might be tempted to feel a bit self-righteous. Robert Wicks in his book, Availability: The Problem and the Gift, warns, “When the space for God is filled with self-righteousness, we lose touch with our true selves You wound one another with your dehumanizing power plays, your obsessive need to always be right, to appear more virtuous than others, with your enslaving pride of self-righteousness. But Eugene Kennedy in his book, The Choice to be Human, consoles you with his words, “The way for the passage of the thundering and self-righteous seekers of power over people is no wider than a strand of hair.” Flannery O’Connor’s short story, “Everything That Rises Must Converge,” is an in-depth portrait of self-righteousness that must face its own sinfulness. And I would add that the last thing the self-righteous want to do is face up to, never mind admit, their sinfulness. The self-righteous would much rather crucify those who confront them. It happened two thousand years ago, it happens today, at least verbally. Scott Peck in his book, People of the Lie, states with merciless clarity, “The evil in this world is committed by the spiritual fat cats, the Pharisees of our own day, the self-righteous who think they are without sin because they are unwilling to admit any sin.” There is a humorous ditty that goes to the core of this meditation like an archer habitually hitting the bull’s eye: To live above with saints we love, Oh! That will be a glory! To live below with saints we know, Well, that's a different story! Self-righteousness is difficult to deal with because it disguises itself as virtue as easily as a chameleon changes colors. Who appears more virtuous than the self-righteous? The event of the adulterous woman and the parable of the prodigal son are challenging you to be ruthlessly honest to yourself about yourself. HUMOR An annoyingly self-righteous man went to the doctor for a check-up. He said, “I feel terrible. Please examine me and tell me what’s wrong with me.” “Let’s begin with a few questions,” said the doctor, “Do you drink much?” “Alcohol?” said the man. “I’m a teetotaler. Never touched a drop in my whole life.” “How about smoking?” asked the doctor. “Never,” replied the man. “Tobacco is bad, and I have strong principles against it.” “Well, uh.” asked the doctor, “do you have a good sex life?” “Oh, no,” said the man. “Sex is sin..” The doctor paused, looked at the man hard, and asked, “Well, do you have pains in your head?” “Yes,” said the man. “I have terrible, terrible pains in my head.” “O.K.,” said the doctor. “That’s your trouble. Your halo is on too tight!! THOUGHT Use Lent to be honest to yourself about yourself. PALM/PASSION SUNDAY 2007 5:30 PM 12:15 PM A young Polish boy wanted to play piano, but his teacher told him that his fingers were too stubby and that he would never play well. The boy was advised to try the cornet, but was later told by an expert musician that he did not have the lip to ever be good. Then one day he met the great pianist, Anton Rubinstein. The famous musician gave this young boy the first bit of encouragement he ever received. “Young man,” Rubinstein said, “you might be able to play the piano. In fact, I think you can...if you will practice seven hours a day.” That was all the encouragement he needed! The great Rubinstein had told him he could do it! He would have to dedicate his life to practicing piano, but he could do it! He could be good! Anïton Rubinstein said so! He did practice for many hours a day and his hard work was rewarded; for years later, Jan Paderewski became one of the most famous pianists of his time. An encouraging word carried within it the power to ignite a young boy’s eager spirit, which burned brightly for decades From the cross Jesus cried out, “It is finished.” Not finished like closing the cover on the last chapter of a book. But finished like bread in an oven is finished and ready to be eaten. Like wine is finished and ready for drinking. Like a child is finished in the womb and ready to live his or her own life. Jesus’ earthly work is finished and ready to be continued by us, his followers. And we have Jesus’ puzzling yet wondrous promise, “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do even greater works than these.” If only you would believe in this promise, what power for good you would have! Never again would you feel helpless like a sliver of wood swept along on a tumultuous river. Never again would you complain, like a bleating lamb surrounded by ravenous wolves, But what can I do? You have Jesus’ power in you. And Jesus said, “All power in heaven and earth has been given to me.” This is now your power. Think about it! Meditate on it! With Jesus’ power in you, there is no interpersonal obstacle you cannot overcome, no emotional difficulty you cannot vanquish, no cross you cannot carry. I ask you to join me as we fix our gaze today and all during Holy Week on the image of Christ crucified, holding in our hearts Jesus’ suffering love, as glorious as a ruby, as precious as a diamond. I ask you to join me in feeling the power of Jesus coursing through us like a pulsing blood stream. Let us return to our daily lives, confident and mighty and daring in the power of Christ crucified. Let us together live St. Paul’s mystical insight into this Jesus-power: “I can do all things in him who strengthens me.” GOOD FRIDAY 2007 The Doll and a White Rose – Story told by Jennifer McCall I hurried into the local department store to grab some last minute Christmas gifts. I looked at all the people and grumbled to myself. I would be in here forever and I just had so much to do. Christmas was beginning to become such a drag. I kinda wished that I could just sleep through Christmas. But I hurried the best I could through all the people to the toy department. Once again I kind of mumbled to myself at the prices of all these toys. And wondered if the grandkids would even play with them. I found myself in the doll aisle. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a little boy about 5 holding a lovely doll. He kept touching her hair and he held her so gently. I could not seem to help myself. I just kept looking over at the little boy and wondered who the doll was for. I watched him turn to a woman and he called his aunt by name and said, "Are you sure I don't have enough money" She replied a bit impatiently, "You know that you don't have enough money for it.” The aunt told the little boy not to go anywhere that she had to go get some other things and would be back in a few minutes. And then she left the aisle. The boy continued to hold the doll and a few dollars in his hand. After a bit I asked the boy who the doll was for. He said, "It is the doll my sister wanted so badly for Christmas. She just knew that Santa would bring it.” I told him that maybe Santa was going to bring it. He said "No, Santa can't go where my sister is...I have to give the doll to my Mamma to take it to her." I asked him where his sister was. He looked at me with the saddest eyes and said "She was gone to be with Jesus." My Daddy says that Mama is going to have to go to be with her. My heart nearly stopped beating. Then the boy looked at me again and said, "I told my Daddy to tell Mama not to go yet. I told him to tell her to wait till I got back from the store." I saw that the little boy had lowered his head and had grown so very quiet. While he was not looking I reached into my purse and pulled out a handful of bills. I asked the little boy, "Shall we count that money one more time?" He grew excited and said "Yes, I just know it has to be enough". So I slipped my money in with his and we began to count it. Of course it was plenty for the doll. He softly said, "Thank you Jesus for giving me enough money." Then the boy said "I just asked Jesus to give me enough money to buy this doll so Mama can take it with her to give to my sister. And he heard my prayer. I wanted to ask him for enough to buy my Mama a white rose, but I didn't ask him, but he gave me enough to buy the doll and a rose for my Mama." "She loves white roses so very, very much." In a few minutes the aunt came back and I wheeled my cart away. I could not keep from thinking about the little boy as I finished my shopping in a totally different spirit than when I had started. And I kept remembering a story I had seen in the newspaper several days earlier about a drunk driver hitting a car and killing a little girl and the Mother was in serious condition. The family was deciding on whether to remove the life support. Now surely this little boy did not belong with that story. Two days later I read in the paper where a family had disconnected the life support and the young woman had died. I could not forget the little boy and just kept wondering if the two were somehow connected. Later that day, I could not help myself and I went out and bought some white roses and took them to the funeral home.. And there she was in the casket holding a lovely white rose, the beautiful doll. The little boy ran over to me and wrapped his arms around my legs. His father followed. With a wan smile he simply said, “Thank you, thank you so very much.” I left there in tears, my life changed forever. The love that little boy had for his little sister and his mother was overwhelming. And in a split second a drunk driver had torn the life of that little boy to pieces. When you hear this story of the love the little boy had for his sister and mother, aren’t you inspired to use this story as a springboard into Jesus’ love which motivated Jesus to lay down his life for us his friends? As you approach Jesus’ cross on this Good Friday, keep in mind, like a mantra, Jesus’ words, There is no greater love than to lay down your life for your friends. You are Jesus’ friends. Jesus, the crucified, is your friend. Isn’t this the kind of love Jesus demonstrated on the cross? But to an infinite degree. A love as boundless as staring at an endless ocean, and yet not even coming close to the love Jesus has for you. Jesus’ love is a love that, sadly, is not too often found in adults as it is in the little boy in our story. Somewhere along the way adults have been socialized into a cautious, hesitant, measuring, maneuvering, poke-and-withdraw feinting, manipulating, wait-and-see untrusting, questioning and the suspicious, fearful withholding of love. If that can be called love at all. Brennan Manning, in his book, The Signature Of Jesus, wrote, “Christ on the Cross is God’s enduring Word to the world saying, ‘See how much I love you; see how much you must love one another.’” Jesus crucified is the ultimate answer to how far love will go, what measure of rejection love will endure, how much selfishness and betrayal love will withstand. On the cross Jesus discovered the outermost limit of faith and in doing so he located the exact boundary of despair –Why have you forsaken me? Over the almost 49 years of my priesthood, I have found that the severest cross I have to bear is not always bitter opposition but pleasant indifference. Most likely you have the same experience. Vatican II’s The Pastoral Constitution On The Church In The Modern World states as clearly as a church’s chimes, We must shoulder the cross inflicted on those who search after peace and justice. On the cross, Jesus revealed that God’s loving power is not to make you feel cozy. Rather on the cross, Jesus challenged you to become converted from lethargy to zeal, from indifference to involvement, from grudge-bearing to forgiveness, from hatred to love. The lowest ebb is the turn of the tide; so Jesus rises from his bloody sweat in the Garden with shoulders courageously squared for the bloody cross. On the cross, minutes passed in agonizing slow motion as Jesus made love real. The crowd was an emotional kaleidoscope, one minute singing Hosannas and the next screaming, Crucify him. Jesus’ stories had leaped over the heads of the religious leaders but found a home in the hearts of the common people; but in the darkness of Calvary, ordinary people could no longer see the point of the stories so they repeated their shout for the death of the Storyteller: Crucify him! Jesus hung on the cross in the darkness as if evil had sucked all the light out of the universe On Good Friday in a very special way you enter into the sufferings of Jesus crucified. The cross of Jesus reveals that God enters the pain, suffering and misery of human cruelty to one another and the butchery of war, especially the mockery of making war for the sake of peace. Gregory Baum in his book, Religion and Alienation, says, The cross stands in the center of history revealing the cruel suffering inflicted on prophets. You as prophets are to come away from this Good Friday liturgy resolved to touch people where they are suffering, to be aware of what disturbs, exasperates and wounds them and to be sensitive to what is going on behind the masks they are wearing. John Shea in his book Stories of God says, The Cross of Christ reveals God’s self-giving love which frees us from self-serving apathy. The crosses we bear are for our triumph as problems are for solving, as mistakes are for growing. I ask you to respond today to Jesus’ self-sacrificing love with your sacrificial love of those in your life who need your forgiveness, compassion, inclusion and support Thought: Always have a living faith that is a loving faith. EASTER SUNDAY—2007 9AM Sam and his wife were kneeling in church one day. The pastor came by and asked Sam, who was a general fix-it man, to do some rewiring in the confessionals. The only way to reach the wiring was to enter the attic over the altar and crawl over the ceiling by balancing on the rafters. Concerned for her husband’s safety, his wife, Christine, waited in the pew. Unbeknown to Christine, some other parishioners were gathering in the vestibule. Worried about her husband, Christine looked up at the ceiling and yelled, “Sam. Sam, are you up there? Did you make it okay?” There was quite an outburst from the vestibule when Sam’s booming voice yelled back, “Yes, I made it up here just fine.” The resurrection of Jesus which we are celebrating today on Easter Sunday is our belief that we will make it up there just fine. But there is more to Jesus’ resurrection than your afterlife. This afterlife mentality can lead to an exclusively otherworldly spirituality. A spirituality that is monumentally indifferent to the here and now and concerned only with the there and then. The otherworldly kind of spirituality is intent on saving your own soul but disregards the injustices in this world. The savage cruelties that hundreds of thousands of people are suffering each and every day. I’m a news junkie. I probably watch more news than most. The violence of arson, assaults, shootings, murders, bombings as well as harassment of blacks, Jews, Hispanics Asians, Arabs, homosexuals that make up the daily fare of our news broadcasts is often very depressing. And yet these horrific events are the stuff of my prayer, the hope of my zeal. If you regard the resurrection of Jesus as only a guarantee that one day you will enter heaven, then here and now in your everyday life you may be involved in a popcorn spirituality that thinks of Jesus only as a dead memory instead of a living presence. A living presence within you. You need to take into your heart the elegantly refreshing insight of theologian John Robinson. “The life the disciples had known and shared with Jesus was not buried with Jesus but is now alive in them.” When you believe that Jesus the risen Lord is alive in you, then his resurrection challenges you to do all you can here and now to bring hope out of injustice, love out of emotional instability, help out of callousness, nobility out of manipulation, contentment out of perplexity, order out of chaos, peace out of confrontation. In other words, you cannot celebrate Jesus’ resurrection here in your Eucharist and then go back into your daily life with a dreamy detachment or pleasant indifference or a nonchalant apathy toward those who are in need anymore than you can go from being a Doctor Jekyll to being a Mr. Hyde in a heartbeat. This is why I always proclaim before the reception of Jesus in the Eucharist: Happy are we who are called to his table of loving service. Remember it was the resurrected Jesus who told his disciples to leave the security of the upper room and to go out into the whole world. Go, that is, do something. Even if that something is only as small as the Widow’s Mite. As Matthew Fox in his book, Compassion, reminds us, The resurrection does not mean rising up as much as it means exiting, going out and leaving behind the cloistered comfort of your ego as Jesus left behind his death. The resurrection calls you to go out to those who are in need. Whether it’s a simple word of encouragement or a long drawn out session of listening and advising. Whether it’s helping a neighbor to move something in his yard or moving someone to embrace the gospel ideal. The wonderful aspect of the resurrection is that the service you give to others is not a drudgery as though helping people were a mortal enemy or a slave-driving despot The wonderful aspect of the resurrection is that there are always delightful surprises in giving loving service to others. In fact, Joyce Rupp in her book, Fresh Bread and Other Gifts of Spiritual Nourishment, says that Easter tells you that the resurrected Jesus is always calling you to be surprised and amazed at the things that bring you joy, for example, love, care, concern, service, growth, beauty, friendship, mystery. All these bring you Easter joy. In other words, Easter tells you to be surprised at how much hope simple events fill your heart with; to be surprised at how this hopeful God always reenters your life through the people around you, especially those who are in need of the enrichment you can give them. Keep in mind that the resurrection is the symbol of your total fulfillment that comes from your total selflessness. Thought: Use Jesus’ resurrection power throughout the year. SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER – John 20:19 10:30 2007 It was a hot Saturday morning. Because there was no air conditioning, the doors and windows were all open in the church to bring in a bit of air. Some worshipers out of courtesy gathered for the funeral service of an old man who had no family. They could also hear the auctioneer’s voice from the next building almost as clearly as they could hear their own minister. The service came to an end. “Lord, may thy servant depart in peace,” said the minister. Through the window came the words, “going once, going twice, gone!” This is the experience the disciples are having. As far as they are concerned, Jesus is gone. The disciples are hiding out in the upper room. They’re hiding from the Jewish authorities. But even more so, with transparent predictability they’re hiding from their own fear. What will become of us now? they muttered to one another. We should never have followed him, one of the disciples says with more anguish than anger. Their emotions are running the gamut: from uneasiness to worry to dread to fear and then to turmoil. The mood is like a tornado swirling before it hits its peak of destruction. Finally one of the disciples ties this mix of emotions together like stitching the final thread into a multicolored quilt. I miss him, she says with fierce modesty, I feel so lonely. He filled my every day with his presence and now there is nothing but a void. When he was with us, everything seemed possible. Now nothing seems attainable. As if directed by a cantor, they all break out in a chorus of response that, yes, it is loneliness that is cutting through their hearts like the nails that pierced Jesus’ hands and feet. But then there is the good news that is refreshingly devoid of wishful thinking. Unlike human relationships that break up, Jesus maintains his relationship by coming and standing in the midst of his disciples. And with the keen insight of divine wisdom, Jesus knows the turmoil of his disciples’ emotions. So he says to them, “Peace be with you.” It’s not the kind of peace described in Steve Shagan’s novel, The Circle, as the peace that comes from selling and buying of arms to maintain the appearance of harmony. It’s not the world’s peace which is the absence of conflict rather it is the peace of Jesus which is the presence of collaboration. Jesus’ peace scatters the gloom of loneliness like sunlight dispels darkness. John Powell says in his book , Happiness Is An Inside Job, For those who accept themselves, being alone is peaceful solitude; for those who don’t accept themselves, solitude is painful loneliness. How essential accepting yourself is if you are suffering from loneliness even within marriage. Theologian John A. Robison offers this elegantly refreshing insight: The life the disciple had known and share with Jesus was not buried with Jesus but is now alive in them. When you believe that Jesus is not only risen out of death but is alive within you, living in you, first, you will never be lonely, no matter what disasters strike down your relationships with others. And secondly, you will always be at peace, no matter how many people try to disrupt your life, your plans, your dreams, your joys. But you must believe that Jesus the resurrected Christ is living in you. You must believe this with your whole heart and mind and soul and with all the strength of your faith. When you do believe that Jesus the resurrected Lord is living within you, then you, like the first disciples, will go out to others. You will bring to them the loving good news that says to everyone around you, I can raise you up to a new life. A new life of faith, hope, optimism, joy, courage, love, resiliency but most of all peace. Never again will you doubt your faith in cringing loneliness, as Thomas did, because you will believe with dynamic passion that Jesus, who is your Peace, is alive within you. Humor: Sometime after Sidney died, his widow, Tillie, was finally able to speak about what a thoughtful and wonderful man her late husband had been. “Sidney thought of everything,” she told them. “Just before he died, Sidney called me to his bedside. He handed me three envelopes. ‘Tillie,’ he told me, ‘I have put all my last wishes in these three envelopes. After I am dead, please open them and do exactly as I have instructed. Then I can rest in peace’.” “What was in the envelopes?” her friends asked. “The first envelope contained $5,000 with a note, ‘Please use this money to buy a nice casket.’ So I bought a beautiful mahogany casket with such a comfortable lining that I know Sidney is resting very comfortably. “The second envelope contained $10,000 with a note, ‘Please use this for a nice funeral.’ I arranged Sidney a very dignified funeral and bought all his favorite foods for everyone attending.” “And the third envelope?” asked her friends. “The third envelope contained $25,000 with a note, ‘Please use this to buy a nice stone.’ Holding her hand in the air and showing off her ten carat diamond ring., Tillie said, “So, do you like my stone?” Thought: Strive for peace that gives life to love. THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER C– JOHN 21:1-19 12:15 The farmer’s son was a lot more religious than his dad. He also worked a lot less than his dad. His dad simply farmed well, worked hard, and helped his neighbors - the ones close by and (through the church) those in other countries. One day the son, who did very little work but was very religious, was lying on the haystack and saw a sign in the clouds. He saw the letters, “PC.” He rushed off to dad. “Did you see those letters, dad? he exploded with fanatic fervor. PC! Preach Christ! God is calling me.” “Yes son,” said his dad. “God is calling you all right. But the letters PC stand for Pick Corn. Now get busy.” Jesus doesn’t tell you today to pick corn. But he is telling you to share your fish i.e. to share what you have with others. Bring some of the fish you have just caught, he tells you. And he is commanding you as certainly as a teacher demands a research paper to get busy, there is a lot of work to be done. Notice Jesus, with the cordial openness of selfless love, does not ask for all the fish – just enough for him to have something to eat. So too Jesus doesn’t demand that you share everything you have with others – just enough to help them in their need. What he wants from you is a kind of tame recklessness in your generosity. As Pope Paul VI stated in his encyclical A Call To Action, The more fortunate should renounce some of their rights so as to place their goods more generously at the service of others. You make a living by what you get; you make a life by what you give. And what should you give most of all? Kahil Gibran, the mystic author of the book, The Prophet, answers, You give little when you give your possessions; it is when you give yourself that you truly give. As far as your possessions are concerned, remember this: If you want to have it all, you’ll find all of it has you. Perhaps the question this gospel story confronts you with today is this: Do I give grudgingly, or only to a few, chosen ones? The one work Jesus calls you to and expects you to do with spendthrift generosity is that of continuing his resurrection by causing resurrections in others. You can cause a resurrection in someone who is depressed by offering honest words of encouragement but not flattery. You can find some good in that person and affirm that good. In this way you help that person to rise out of the death of depression into a new life of enthusiasm. You can cause resurrections in people by your acts of kindness, causing people to rise out of the death of the drudgery of everyday living into the new life of the unexplored joy of seeing each new day as a fresh adventure. You can cause a resurrection in someone who is self-righteous and judgmental by reminding that person that the judgment seat of God belongs to God alone and that those who condemn will be condemned, no matter how pious a pose they strike. In this way you cause that person to rise out of the death of judgmentalism into a new life of compassion. You can cause resurrections in those who habitually manipulate others in their relationships by confronting them with the need to be honest with themselves about themselves – perhaps even suggesting therapy. In this way you cause them to rise out of the death of superficial and self-centered relationships into the new life of loving and caring relationships. You can cause resurrections in others, sometimes by expressing honest and justified anger at those who attempt to control you. Those who try to manipulate you by being bullies. Those who constantly nit-pick or start frivolous arguments and you need to let them know that they just cannot dominate you by force. You can cause a resurrection by helping them to rise out of the death of brutal domination into a new life of gracious sensitivity. You can pray for the students of Virginia Tech by causing resurrections, helping them to rise out of the death of grief and sorrow into the new life of coping positively with the horrific tragedy that occurred on their campus this past week. Keep the image of the disciples sharing their fish with Jesus in your heart and ask yourself how much you are sharing Jesus’ resurrection power by causing resurrections in others but with all others, not just a chosen few. HUMOR A teacher gave her fifth grade class an assignment: Get their parents to tell them a story with a moral at the end of it. The next day the children came back and one by one began to share their stories. "Tony, do you have a story to share?""Yes ma'am. My daddy told a story about my Aunt Karen. She was a pilot in Desert Storm and her plane got hit. She had to bail out over enemy territory and all she had was a flask of whiskey, a pistol and a survival knife. She drank the whiskey on the way down so it wouldn't break and then her parachute landed right in the middle of twenty enemy troops. She shot fifteen of them with the gun until she ran out of bullets, killed four more with the knife, till the blade broke, and then she killed the last terrorist with her bare hands." "Good Heavens" said the horrified teacher. "What kind of moral did your daddy tell you from this horrible story?" Little Tony replied proudly, "Stay away from Aunt Karen when she's drinking" THOUGHT: Always cause resurrections in others. Fifth Sunday Easter 9 AM 2007 There is a humorous story about Alexander Dumas, author of The Three Musketeers. It seems that Dumas and a friend had a severe argument. The matter got so out of hand that one challenged the other to a duel. Both Dumas and his friend were superb marksmen. Fearing that both men might fall in such a duel they resolved to draw straws instead. Whoever drew the shorter straw would then be pledged to shoot himself. Dumas was the unlucky one. He drew the short straw. With a heavy sigh, he picked up his pistol and trudged into the library and closed the door, leaving the company of friends who had gathered to witness the non-duel outside. In a few moments a solitary shot was fired. All the curious pressed into the library. They found Dumas standing with his pistol still smoking. "An amazing thing just happened," said Dumas. "I missed." I am amazed how many are church-goers all their lives and still have missed the Gospel challenges. Many are still stuck in the Old Testament as if in quicksand, bound by legalisms, restricted by the "Thou shalt nots" without being empowered by "Thou shalts." Some examine their consciences exclusively against the Ten Commandments, but ignore the new and eleventh and most important commandment of all, the commandment of the New Testament. Jesus said, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this shall everyone know that you are my disciples, that you have love one for another." (RSV) Note, first of all, that this is what Jesus most desires out of you that you love one another. You may tithe. You may teach in the Religious Ed Program. You may sing in the choir, serve on various parish committees, take communion to shut ins. All of these are wonderful works.. But if you do not love, you have missed the point of the Gospel. Lucy stands with her arms folded and a resolute expression on her face, while Charlie Brown pleads, "Lucy, you MUST be more loving. This world really needs love. You have to let yourself love to make this world a better place in which to live!" Lucy whirls around angrily causing Charlie Brown to do a backwards flip and screams at him: "Look, block-head the WORLD I love. It’s PEOPLE I hate." A priest was playing golf with three lay men. A lightning storm broke out. The four headed for the bar at the 19th hole. The three laymen were complaining about the foul weather. The priest said, “I can see God in the sunshine or the rain. It’s people I can’t stand. So whom do you love? Jesus challenges you to love everyone. You are to love not only your immediate neighbors but also the cashier who checks your groceries and the State Trooper who stops you on the expressway as well as the obnoxious people who cross your path every day. And the most challenging demand of all: love your enemies. You are to put your faith into action through loving deeds. As someone has said, "We are judged by our actions, not our intentions. We may have a heart of gold-but so does a hard-boiled egg." If you took all the psychology texts, boiled them down to one sentence to produce one statement about human behavior you could never improve on Jesus’ simple statement. "As I have loved you, love also one another." Most authorities tell us that we learn to love by being loved. Just as the abused child may become an abuser, a loved child learns to express affection. How desperately we need to love and to be loved unconditionally. We love because we are first loved. The problem with the Old Testament is that the emphasis is on the negative. You are told what you should not do, but not as clearly what you should. The Old Testament includes the commandments to love God and to love one’s neighbor. However, we don’t see a loving God in action until Jesus comes. Jesus showed you what love really is. Then he went where no one has ever gone before. He gave up his own life on Calvary to show yous just how far God the Father will go to demonstrate his boundless and never ending love. Brennan Manning in his book The Signature of Jesus said, God’s message from the cross is this: See how much I love you. See how much you must love one another. When you understand love and make it your own, then you are able to love each other as Jesus loves us and calls us to love. But there is one more thing which must be said. OUR LOVE FOR ONE ANOTHER IS OUR PRIMARY WITNESS TO THE WORLD. Jesus said, "By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another." There was a preschool teacher who faced what she thought was "burnout." She was a committed teacher whose heart particularly went out to the so-called "disadvantaged child." She had begun to despair over some of the children who seemed so lost, so limited-and in some cases, so neglected at home. In her growing frustration she vacillated between the feeling that there was something wrong with her, or that there was something wrong with "this current crop of preschoolers. They just don ™t respond like they used to." Then her mother died. It was necessary for her to take a week off from her teaching duties to attend her mother’s funeral. She was very close to her mother. Following the funeral she needed some time alone to deal with her feelings. Her frustrations at the preschool seemed like an even heavier burden at this point in her life. After a weekend of aimless shopping, puttering in the garden and watching TV, she realized she must return to her classroom. She felt more like a soldier going into battle than a teacher of preschoolers. The first day back was about what she expected. Her hurt and despair produced resentment which she kept carefully hidden. She went through the paces like the competent professional she was. She smiled at the right times and was admirably patient considering the environment and her raw feelings. But then it happened. She had come around the corner to discover Rachel picking the last chrysanthemum from the pot in the hall. Rachel, by the way, was the most distant, most disruptive child in the class. In a stern, trembling voice the teacher demanded, "Rachel, what are you doing?" Rachel held out in her little hand the flowers she had already picked. "Mrs. Terrell," she said, "You used to be like a mother. Would these flowers help you to be like a mother again? I know you are fussed in your mind. Wouldn’t you like some flowers?" Mrs. Terrell thought, fussed in my mind? You mean it shows? To a five year old? She spoke: "Rachel, what is a mother like?" "A mother is like you used to be," Rachel said. "A mother likes being with children." "But Rachel," said Mrs. Terrell, "I like being with children. I’ve just...well, I’ve been...well, Rachel, my mother...passed away, and..." Rachel meekly interrupted, "You mean she died?" "Yes, Rachel," said her teacher sadly, "She died." Rachel looked up at her teacher and asked, "Did she live until she died?" Mrs. Terrell thought, what kind of question is that? "Well, honey, of course," she said, "All people live until they die; they..." Rachel interrupted her again. "Oh, no they don’t Mrs. Terrell. Some people seem to die while they are still walking around. They stop being what they used to be. Mrs. Terrell, don’t die just because your mother did. Be alive while you are alive." Out of the mouths of babes. How do we witness to the world that Jesus is alive? We do it by being alive ourselves. How do we witness to the world that God is love? We do it by loving one another. My friend, Fr Joe Gallagher in his book, Christians Under Pressure, said, Some people die at the age of 20 even though they’re not buried until the age of 70. In that most popular film a few years back, THE COLOR PURPLE, Sophie experienced some kindnesses in a dark and troubling time in her life that deeply affected her. Looking back on those kindnesses, she said, "It was then I knew that there was a God." You witness to the world that Jesus Christ lives in your hearts every time you perform any act of kindness.. "BY THIS," said Jesus, "shall everyone know that you are my disciples, that you love one another." HUMOR: A Wife’s Prayer... Dear Lord, I pray for Wisdom to understand my husband; I pray for love so I can forgive him; And I pray for patience to deal with his moods; But dear Lord I do not pray for strength because, Lord, if I get strength, I’ll probably beat him to death. Amen THOUGHT: Work to love and be loved. SIXTH SUNDAY EASTER -- MOTHER’S DAY 7:30 2007 Once upon a time a child was ready to be born, So one day he asked God: They tell me you are sending me to earth tomorrow but how am I going to live there being so small and helpless? Among the many angels, I chose one for you, Your angel will be waiting for you to take care of you. But tell me, here in Heaven, I don't do anything else but sing and smile, that's enough for me to be happy. Your angel will sing for you and will also smile for you every day. And you will feel your angel's love and be happy. And how am I going to be able to understand when people talk to me, if I don't know the language that people talk? Your angel will tell you the most beautiful and sweet words you will ever hear, and with much patience and care, your angel will teach you how to speak. And what am I going to do when I want to talk to you? Your angel will place your hands together and will teach you how to pray. I've heard that on earth there are bad men. Who will protect me? Your angel will defend you even if it means risking life. But I will always be sad because I will not see you anymore. Your angel will always talk to you about me and will teach you the way for you to come back to me, even though I will always be next to you. At that moment there was much peace in Heaven, but voices from earth could already be heard, and the child in a hurry asked softly; Oh God, if I am about to leave you now, please tell me my angel's name. You will call your angel: Mommy Antoine Saint Exupery in his world renowned novel, The Little Prince, offers this profound insight. He said: Love consists not in gazing at one another, rather love is looking outward in the same direction together. HUMOROUS: A Jewish mother gave her son two ties for his birthday. Her son was taking his mother out for dinner. So I put on one of the ties his mother had given him. He came out of the bedroom, “Well,” he said, “how does the tie look?” His mother looked him over and then said, “What? Don’t you like the other tie?” THOUGHT: Always love and treasure your mother, whether living in heaven or here on earth.. Seventh Sunday of Easter 2007 5:30 PM In her book, Chasing Grace, psychologist Martha Manning recalls experiencing God’s grace in a very unexpected place: Doctor Manning was felled by a bad case of the flu. She was feeling miser-able. Her friend, a physician at the teaching hospital where she worked, urged her to come in for treatment. So Doctor Manning bundled herself up and came in. But in her sweat clothes and heavy coat, with no makeup and a face puffed up by sniffling, chills and teary eyes, no one at the hospital recognized her - and, to make matters worse, she forgot her purse, so she had no credentials to identify herself with. Upon entering the outpatient clinic, she asked for her doctor friend. Unable to present any identification to the nurse she was gruffly ordered to sit down and wait her turn like everyone else. The crowded waiting room was thick with body odor, booze and antiseptic. It was hard to find an empty place to sit, since many of the people appeared to have brought along all their earthly possessions. No one made a move to clear a space for Martha - until an elderly man cleared the seat next to him, placing his plastic bags on the floor by his feet. ‘Miss, c’mon over here.” His toothless smile was the greatest act of kindness she had seen all day. ‘You’re not from here.’ he said knowingly. ‘What’s aihn’ you?’ He felt Martha’s forehead and winced. ‘Child, you’re burning up. And that cough is mean. Don’t worry, they’ll fix you up, give you shots and those big pills, and you’ll be fine.’ Martha was so grateful for such unexpected kindness, she started to cry. The old man took his ratty old blanket and placed it between Martha’s head and the wall for her to use as a pillow. ‘Just try to sleep. It makes the time move much faster.” Some time later, Doctor Manning’s friend found her in the waiting room. The nurse apologized profusely for not recognizing her. ‘If only we had known who you were.’ But as Doctor Manning writes: ‘I was sick and groggy. Limp and weak. I didn’t know the day or the time... The people in charge didn’t know who I was. But the man sitting next to me knew. The only credentials he needed was that I was sick and lost and scared. Nothing else mattered. CONNECTION: In his ‘high priestly prayer,’ which you have just heard proclaimed, Jesus pleads with his Father that the same love that binds him to his Father will bind us to one another. Jesus prays that our love for each other will be like his love for us: total, selfless, unconditional and unlimited love. It is the kind of love that transcends credentials and labels like the ones Dr. Manning could not present. It’s a love that realizes that true joy can be experienced only in acts of kindness and compassion such as the elderly man showed to Dr. Manning. It is a love as real to us as the sun and rain which nourish our earth. We know especially from the wedding ceremony that true love unites. But we know from this story that it doesn’t always have to be romantic love that floats in the rarefied atmosphere of lavish or giddy enthusiasm. Here were two strangers sitting together but relish the love that bound them together. The elderly man’s love as concern and Dr. Manning’s love as gratitude. Through your love for others you can begin to build a worldwide community by getting deeply involved with the stranger next to you as did the elderly man with Dr. Manning. Before you can love others you must believe – really believe – that God loves you. Sometimes you may say God loves you but your actions betray the conviction of your words. Archbishop Fulton Sheen said in one of his talks, God loves you despite your unworthiness. It is his love that will make you better, not your betterment which makes God love you. n other words, God’s love is a free gift. And so should your love be a gift freely given, not measuring like a surveyor to see how much love you can accumulate like property. rue love is a gift not an obsession. Love is like a butterfly; it’s most beautiful when it’s set free. True love unites but it doesn’t bind like shackles You love someone – and this is especially true of husbands and wives – when you recognize that love is not rooted in the flimsy ecstasy of starry-eyed feelings. All sails and no anchor. Rather you love someone when you want the very best for that person and want it with all your heart, all the time, with all your energy. This means that to love someone as Jesus loves you, you must work – and work with spendthrift energy – for example, at helping the other person overcome a sense of self-inflicted worthlessness so that that person can enter into an exciting, rejuvenating sense of self-worth and self-acceptance. There is another aspect of love that I want to emphasize. Kathleen Norris in her book, The Cloister Walk, says, We should have a focused love so we can grow into the kind of openness that we need if we are going to see and hear each other in a world polarized by our differences. In other words, you need to love one another because of your differences not in spite of them. When you think about it, in genuine loving relationships, the beauty of your communication is the shared celebration of your differences. It is precisely your differences that first attracted you to each other. It is precisely your differences that motivate you to want the very best for each other. It is precisely your differences that make you unique and precious in the eyes of the God whose love makes you better. HUMOR E mail from a young man to his girlfriend: “Darling, I love you and I think you’re wonderful. In order to be with you I would suffer the greatest difficulties and would face the greatest dangers that anyone can imagine. In fact, to spend only one minute with you, I would climb the highest mountain in the world. I would swim across the widest river. I would enter the deepest forest and with my bare hands fight against the fiercest animals.” Love Stanley P.S.: I’ll be over to see you Wednesday night if it doesn’t rain.” THOUGHT Learn to cherish the sacrifices of love. ASCENSION THURSDAY 8:45 2007 The inauguration of Nelson Mandela as president of the Republic of South Africa goes down in the annals of history as a most memorable moment. Imagine historians a hundred years from now trying to recreate the excitement and the significance of what took place in Pretoria and Capetown in 1994. Three centuries of bitter and harsh white rule were brought to a close as Mandela was elected the first black president by its first all-race parliament. What dramatized that election was the fact that Mr. Mandela had patiently endured 27 years of imprisonment because he protested the system of bigotry and hatred of the white people against the black people.. He had refused freedom when he was offered the opportunity to return to his home province without the opportunity to actively continue his protest. His patience and hope were rewarded by those who saw fit to remove the racial barriers in order to create a truly democratic election for all the peoples of South Africa. Nelson Mandela will go down in history as a witness to justice and peace. Before Jesus ascended into heaven, he challenged his followers to be witnesses to him. How can you be witnesses to Jesus For example, you can be witnesses to Jesus by respecting one another. Instead of making fun of someone because he or she is different, you will respect that person’s differences and befriend that person. Or for example, you can be witnesses to Jesus by forgiving someone who has hurt your feelings. Rather than holding a grudge against that person. You can forgive that person even if that person doesn’t even apologize. Or for example, you can be witnesses to Jesus by helping a fellow student who is having trouble with some subject instead of mocking that student for being dumb. Or for example, you can be witnesses to Jesus by listening to one another – really paying attention – not just waiting for the other person to take a breath so you can start talking. HUMOR >In a trial, a Southern small-town prosecuting attorney called>his first witness, a grandmotherly, elderly woman to the stand.>He approached her and asked, "Mrs. Jones, do you know me?">She responded, "Why, yes, I do know you, Mr. Williams. I've>known you since you were a young boy, and frankly, you've been a big>disappointment to me. You lie, you cheat on your wife, and you manipulate>people and talk about them behind their backs. You think you're a big shot>when you haven't the brains to realize you never will amount to anything>more than a two-bit paper pusher. Yes, I know you.">The lawyer was stunned! Not knowing what else to do, he pointed across>the room and asked, "Mrs. Jones, do you know the defense attorney?" She>again replied, "Why, yes, I do.>I've known Mr. Bradley since he was a youngster, too. He's lazy,>bigoted, and he has a drinking problem. He can't build a normal >relationship>with anyone and his law practice is one of the worst in the entire state.>Not to mention he cheated on his wife with 3 different women. One of them>was your wife. Yes, I know him.">The defense attorney almost died. The judge asked both of the>counselors to approach the bench and, in a very quiet voice, said,>"If either of you idiots asks her if she knows me, I'll send you to>the electric chair." The most inspiring witnesses are the saints. I suggest you study the stories of the saints and find out how each one was a witness to Jesus. There are many other ways you can be witnesses to Jesus. Perhaps you can discuss these other ways in you religion classes. Meanwhile, ask Jesus to help you to always be witnesses to him. PENTECOST – 10:30 2007 There is a saying taken from Native American spirituality that seems to me to be most appropriate as we celebrate the Holy Spirit on this Pentecost Sunday. It goes: The voice of the Great Spirit can be heard in the twittering of birds, in the rippling of mighty waters, in the sweet breathing of flowers. What a beautiful, religious sentiment. I particularly like the sweet breathing of flowers. What a sensitive, poetic way to describe the smell of flowers. What a gracious insight into Native American spirituality. It’s like a flower opening up its petals and inviting you into its beauty. The earthiness of Native American spirituality puts them into immediate contact with God, the Great Spirit, like a loving embrace between two people. I think it’s a shame that early missionaries to the New World didn’t adopt and adapt some of the insights from Native American spirituality. If they had today we would have a shimmeringly renewed faith. Sometimes people will say to me, You talk a lot about God dwelling within us but I get so busy, pulled in all kinds of directions as though I were caught in a hurricane and a whole day goes by without a thought given to the indwelling Trinity. If you find yourself in this situation, you need to sit and contemplate the Holy Spirit’s gift of knowledge. It is the gift of knowledge which enables you to make the connection between what is created and the Creator Spirit. But you must activate the gift of knowledge by developing your awareness. You can develop your awareness by stopping mentally and saying to yourself, Now I am aware of … and fill in the blank with whatever you are aware of at the time. For example, Now I am aware of this sunset or this child or this feeling of anxiety or Jesus in the consecrated host, all the ordinary events in your life. Thomas More in his book, The Reenchantment Of Everyday Life, says, “The creative person is keenly aware of beauty in the ordinary.” With your habit of awareness you can use the Holy Spirit’s gift of knowledge to make connections between what you are aware of and the Holy Sprit. For example, you can make a connection between the twittering of birds and the infinite harmony of God’s oneness which he shares with you as unity with the members of Christ’s Mystical Body. Or a connection between the rippling of mighty waters and God’s all-powerfulness which he shares with you as your perseverance. Or a connection between the sweet breathing of flowers and the Breath of God who is the Holy Spirit inspiring you to be more heroic in your efforts to do good. This connecting was pinpointed in the movie, Desperate Trail. One of the characters says, “The stars are God’s teeth and you can always see the stars because God’s always smiling.” Whether you realize it or not, being aware of what is created is a mystical experience which elevates you to the mystical experience of God, the Creator Spirit. Let me conclude with a story about awareness. It’s called, “A Walk With My Grandson, Ricky.” Notice the connection made in this story and use the story as a model for yourself. Ricky: “Grandma, why do trees take their clothes off at the end of summer?” Grandma: “Because their clothes get worn out and must be exchanged for new ones.” Ricky: “Where do their new clothes come from?” Grandma: “From underneath the ground. Deep down, mother nature is busy preparing a new spring wardrobe for them.” Ricky: “Grandma, did you ever notice that the sky looks like an upside-down lake?” Grandma: “And those little white clouds look like sailboats, don’t they?” Ricky: “I wonder where they’re sailing to.” Grandma: “Maybe to a cloud meeting.” Ricky: “What would they do there?” Grandma: “Probably they decide if the earth needs more rain.” Ricky: “Gee, God thinks of everything, doesn’t he, Grandma?” Humorous: Unconnected CallsMy daughter Marina worked in my law office while she attended graduate school. One morning a call came in for her. I said she wasn't in yet and offered to take a message. The caller said she'd phone back later. At 11:00 a.m., the caller tried again, and I reported that Marina had gone to lunch. The last call came in at 3:30 p.m. "I'm sorry," I said, "she's left for the day. May I take a message?" "Yes," the caller replied. "How can I get a job with you?" Ask the Holy Spirit dwelling within you to help you to be aware of the connections between creation and the Creator. Thought :Always be aware of creative connections. Trinity Sunday – 10:30 2007 A family was hosting an eleven year old girl from India. One Sunday the little girl decided on her own to go with the family to Mass. When they arrived home, the husband asked her what she thought about the Mass. “It was okay,” she said, “but why don’t they pray for the West Coast too?” When they inquired what she meant, she said, “You know, in the name of the Father and the Son and whole East Coast.” How often do you make the sign of the cross without even saying the words, Father, Son and Holy Spirit? When you say the words, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, this puts you into immediate contact with the mystery of the Trinity. You will never understand the mystery of three unique persons sharing the same divine nature. Stephen Kendrick in his book, Holy Clues: The Gospel According to Sherlock Holmes, says, “We cannot solve life’s mystery but we can become more and more aware of how we live within mystery and how mystery dwells within us.” But what you can understand is that God is not just God in himself, God is God for us. All you have to do is look at the gospel story. There Jesus is revealing God to you. He reveals a God who is for the people: forgiving the woman taken in adultery, healing the eyes of the blind man, feeding the 5,000. Jesus reveals a God who is God for us. Even more, you can understand that the three Persons of the Trinity who share the same divine life, share that divine life with you. And where God’s life is, there is God. Our God is so infinite for us that he dwells within us. In the movie, The Color Purple, one of the characters says, “You came into the world with God but only those who search inside find him.” The indwelling of God the Trinity is the most treasurable gift you have. Yet how often do you stop and remember that God the almighty, eternal, all-knowing, all-loving Trinity, Father, Son and Spirit, lives within you, closer to you than you are to yourself? How often do you direct your prayers to God up there instead of to God within you? How often do you make yourself aware that God the Trinity is dwelling in your wife or husband, in your children, in your co-worker, in the stranger next to you? It’s one thing to have the Trinity dwelling within you but what good is it if you are seldom or never conscious of the Father, Son and Spirit making their home within you? Jesus says, “My Father and I will come and make our home within you.” And where the Father and Son are, there is their Holy Spirit. Three persons but one God. If the Trinity is already dwelling within you, why do you need to receive Jesus in the Eucharist? Susan Muto & Adrian van Kaam in their book, Commitment: Key to Christian Maturity, offer you an answer. They wrote: “The Eucharist raises our calling to the highest level of active communion with the Indwelling Trinity.” You need to make an effort. The effort to become habitually aware of the Trinity’s indwelling within you. You begin by stopping mentally several times a day and saying to yourself, Now I am aware that the Trinity is living within me, loving me. Now I am aware that the Father is within me calling me to become all that he wants me to be. Now I am aware of the Son dwelling within me saying to me, “I call you my friends.” Now I am aware of the Holy Spirit within me enlightening, guiding and motivating me to become holier. In the novel, The Sparrow, by Mary Doria Russel, Sandoz, the Jesuit, is described this way: he could feel sometimes the tidal pull in some deep stratum of his soul. That deep stratum of the soul is God the Trinity dwelling within you. And the more aware you become of the Trinity’s indwelling, the more you will experience the Trinity’s tidal pull, luring you deeper and deeper into the life and love of the Father, Son and Spirit within you. As you continue developing this habit of being aware of the Trinity dwelling within you, you begin to have a genuine mystical experience of God. You are becoming a mystic. No longer is yours a religion of obligations and duties. Now you are mystically one with the God who so loves you that he makes his home within you. Obligations give way to enthusiasm. Duties become energetic zeal. And living your faith becomes boundless joy not paralyzing drudgery. Resolve today on this feast of the Holy Trinity to make the effort to become more aware of God the Trinity living in you, closer to you than you are to yourself. Humorous story about awareness: Jim and Edna were both patients in a mental hospital. One day while they were walking past the hospital swimming pool, Jim suddenly jumped into the deep end. He sank to the bottom of the pool and stayed there. Edna promptly jumped in to save him. She swam to the bottom and pulled Jim out. When the medical director became aware of Edna’s heroic act he immediately ordered her to be discharged from the hospital, as he now considered her to be mentally stable in her awareness of what to do in a crisis. When he went to tell Edna the news he said, “Edna, I have good news and bad news. The good news is you’re being discharged; since you were able to rationally respond to a crisis by jumping in and saving the life of another patient, I have concluded that your act displays sound awareness.” The bad news is Jim, the patient you saved, hanged himself with his bathrobe belt in the bathroom. I am so sorry, but he’s dead.” Edna replied, “He didn’t hang himself, I put him up there to dry out. Now... How soon can I go home?” Thought: Always be aware of the Trinity dwelling within you. Corpus Christi 7:30 2007 Ruth went to her mail box and there was only one letter. She picked it up and looked at it before opening, but then she looked at the envelope again. There was no stamp, no postmark, only her name and address. She read the letter: Dear Ruth, I’m going to be in your neighborhood Saturday evening and I’d like to stop by for a visit. Love Always, Jesus Her hands were shaking as she placed the letter on the table. “Why would the Lord want to visit me? I’m nobody special. I don’t have anything to offer.” With that thought, Ruth remembered her empty kitchen cabinets. “Oh my goodness, I really don’t have anything to offer. I’ll have to run down to the store and buy something for dinner.” She reached for her purse and counted out its contents. Five dollars and forty cents. “Well, I can get some bread and cold cuts, at least.” She threw on her coat and hurried out the door. A loaf of French bread, a half-pound of sliced turkey, and a carton of milk...leaving Ruth with grand total of twelve cents to last her until Monday. Nonetheless, she felt good as she headed home, her meager offerings tucked under her arm. “Hey lady, can you help us, lady?” Ruth had been so absorbed in her dinner plans, she hadn’t even noticed two figures huddled in the alleyway. A man and a woman, both of them dressed in little more than rags. “Look lady, I ain’t got a job, ya know, and my wife and I have been living out here on the street, and, well, now it’s getting cold and we’re getting kinda hungry and, well, if you could help us, lady, we’d really appreciate it.” Ruth looked at them both. They were dirty, they smelled bad and, frankly, she was certain that they could get some kind of work if they really wanted to. “Sir, I’d like to help you, but I’m a poor woman myself. All I have is a few cold cuts and some bread, and I’m having an important guest for dinner tonight and I was planning on serving that to Him.” “Yeah, well, okay lady, I understand. Thanks anyway.” The man put his arm around the woman’s shoulders, turned and headed back into the alley. As she watched them leave, Ruth felt a familiar twinge in her heart. “Sir, wait!” The couple stopped and turned as she ran down the alley after them. “Look, why don’t you take this food. I’ll figure out something else to serve my guest.” She handed the man her grocery bag. “Thank you lady. Thank you very much!” “Yes, thank you!” It was the man’s wife, and Ruth could see now that she was shivering. “You know, I’ve got another coat at home. Here, why don’t you take this one.” Ruth unbuttoned her jacket and slipped it over the woman’s shoulders. Then smiling, she turned and walked back to the street...without her coat and with nothing to serve her guest. “Thank you lady! Thank you very much!” Ruth was chilled by the time she reached her front door, and worried too. The Lord was coming to visit and she didn’t have anything to offer Him. She fumbled through her purse for the door key. But as she did, she noticed another envelope in her mailbox. “That’s odd. The mailman doesn’t usually come twice in one day.” She took the envelope out of the box and opened it. Dear Ruth, It was so good to see you again. Thank you for the lovely meal. And thank you, too, for the beautiful coat. Love Always Jesus This, of course, is a fictitious story but it does put flesh on Jesus’ words, Whatsoever … In receiving Jesus in Communion, you may be as solemn as a cloistered monk, as fervent as a first communicant. But the proof of your devotion to Jesus Eucharistic extends beyond the moment of Communion. The proof, for example, is not what you do or how you act here in church but how you care for others out there in your daily life. You all know from your experience that it is much easier to be pious here in church than to be patient, forgiving and loving in your daily interpersonal relationships. Just as Jesus feeds you here with himself as the bread of life, so you are to feed those in need with the bread of your life with generosity as did the woman in our story. You are to feed them not only with material food as is done, forexample, in a soup kitchen but also you are to feed them with your concern, your time, your helpfulness, your kindness, your affirmations. You come here to Eucharist not so much to serve God but to learn how God breaks bread that you can do it in the same way. Like David, for example, who shared the sacred bread of the Temple with his soldiers, like Jesus who shares the bread become his flesh, so too you are to share the bread of your life with everyone, deserving or not. Bread is sustenance. So you are to sustain others with the nourishment of your Christian love. Not by being “preachy” but by the way you live his word. E.g. living his parable of the prodigal son by forgiving someone before he or she is able even to say, I’m sorry. Your loving service to those in need will make your devotion to Jesus in the Eucharist more concrete, more intimate. Macrina Wiederkehr in her book, A Tree Full of Angels, offers us a wonderful connection between the Eucharist and ourselves. She writes, Each of us is called to be bread for the world. Can’t you at least be bread for those around you just as Jesus is bread for you, feeding them with the nourishment of your own spirituality? Humorous: A man climbs to the top of the snow- covered mountain. He is wondering, “Can God really hear me from here?” So he yells, “God, what should I do with my life?” God answers, “Feed the hungry.” “Oh,” said the man. “I was just testing.” “So was I,” God retorted. Thought: Always be bread for others. JOHN THE BAPTIST 10:30 6/24 2007 Probably you or I would not have been drawn to the preaching of John the Baptist. A man clothed in camel's hair and wild animal's skins and subsisting on a diet of locusts and wild honey out in the wilderness would not seem to have much to say about the way we live our lives. His appearance was eccentric. His preaching was dreadfully morbid "all about sin and repentance" calling people snakes and warning them of the wrath that was to come. We like our sins treated more gently. Preferably we would like them mentioned not at all.Two things may surprise us. One is how popular John the Baptist was in his own time. The other is his prominence in the drama of the first Christmas.As to his popularity, Mark tells us, "all the people of the Judaean countryside and everyone in Jerusalem went out to him in the desert and received his baptism in the river Jordan, publicly confessing their sins." (1) That was some revival! Can you imagine every single person in a large metropolitan area and in all the surrounding counties repenting of their sins and being baptized in a river? Among those who came to be baptized was a young carpenter, a cousin of John the Baptist, named Jesus of Nazareth. But we are getting ahead of our story. Today, we want to know about John's prominence in the story of the first Christmas.Luke begins his version of the Christmas story not with Mary and Joseph but with a couple named Zacharias and Elizabeth. Zacharias was a priest. He and Elizabeth were deeply religious people who did their best to keep all of God's commandments. They were also childless, much to their sorrow.One day, while Zacharias was going about his priestly functions in the temple, he was startled by the appearance of an angel. It was Gabriel. "Do not be afraid, Zacharias," said Gabriel. "Your prayers have been heard. Elizabeth your wife will bear you a son, and you are to call him John."Zacharias was nearly knocked off his feet. "How can I know that this is true?" he asked. "I am an old man myself and my wife is getting on in years.""I am Gabriel," the angel answered. "I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to tell you this good news." As a sign to Zacharias that this message was true, he was literally "struck speechless," which is how you or I would probably be under similar circumstances.When the new infant was born, there was much joy in the home of Zacharias and Elizabeth. On the eighth day they took him to be circumcised. It was the custom to give the child its name at this rite of circumcision. Family and friends thought that the infant boy would be named Zacharias after his father. But Elizabeth spoke up and said, "Oh, no! His name is John.""But none of your relations is called John," they replied. And they made signs to the poor mute Zacharias to see what name he wanted the child to have.Zacharias beckoned for a writing tablet and wrote the words: "His name is John." At this moment Zacharias' speech was restored and his first words were to thank God. The neighbors were awe-struck, and news of these events spread throughout Judea. People asked, "What is this child's future going to be?" For as Luke says "the Lord's blessing was plainly upon him."Six months after Gabriel had given the joyous news to Zacharias that he would father a son, Gabriel also appeared to a young woman in Nazareth named Mary. Gabriel's message to Mary was that she too would bear a son, but not just any son. He would be the Son of the Most High and his name would be Jesus.Mary was a cousin of Elizabeth. They must have been very close, for Mary spent three months of her pregnancy living with Zacharias and Elizabeth. Indeed, Elizabeth was the first person in the Scriptures to declare that Jesus is Lord. You will find the story in the first chapter of Luke.As you are aware, we know very little about Jesus' childhood. However, in view of Mary and Elizabeth's relationship, can we not speculate that young John and his six-month younger cousin Jesus spent a great deal of time together? Perhaps they played together and fished together and did all the things young boys and young men like to do. Might this not explain the kind of man John the Baptist became? He was in intimate contact with Jesus. Cousins can certainly have that kind of influence on each other. Might this also not explain John the Baptist's reaction when he saw Jesus come out with the others to be baptized? Matthew tells us that John was reluctant to baptize his younger cousin.. "I need you to baptize me," John protested. This says something special to me about Jesus' character as a youth and young adult.The Jewish historian Josephus tells us that John the Baptist's ministry was a stunning success. Untold numbers of people from all over the area came to be baptized by him in the river Jordan. Many of those who were baptized became his disciples. They studied with John and sought to follow him as others later were to follow Jesus. Indeed, two of Jesus' most prominent disciples, Andrew and John, were originally followers of John the Baptist. You will remember that one of the most gifted and influential preachers mentioned in the book of Acts was a man named Apollos, who, according to Acts 18: 25, was baptized as a disciple of John.YET, CONSIDER THE HUMILITY OF THIS MAN JOHN."Somewhere among you," he said, "stands a man you do not know. He comes after me, it is true, but I am not fit to undo his shoes!"Two hundred years ago there was another man named John, a preacher of extraordinary power and influence in England and America. We know John Wesley as the founder of the Methodists. Surprisingly, however, Wesley was not the most popular preacher of his day. A man named George Whitefield preached to far more people than Wesley, baptized many more into the Kingdom of God and was a favorite of such prominent Americans as Benjamin Franklin.Whitefield and Wesley were the best of friends until they had a severe falling out over Whitefield's strict adherence to Calvinist doctrine. Whitefield was asked following this falling out, "Do you expect that you will see John Wesley in heaven?" "No," answered Whitefield."That's what I thought you would say," his questioner replied. "But you don't know what I mean," said Whitefield. "Wesley will be so far up there near the great Throne, I will never see him."Such an answer takes a certain kind of divine humility. John the Baptist, in spite of his own popularity, sought to direct attention not to himself but to Jesus. That kind of humility is a rare commodity.People magazine reported many years ago about a $22,000 painting, a billboard, really, standing in downtown Hollywood where thousands of cars passed it each day. It was a painting of an infamous young woman named Angelyne. Why was Angelyne on a billboard? Because she wanted to be famous. For what? The answer is, for nothing. She is, one interviewer writes, "untalented by her own admission." Angelyne really didn't do anything. She just wanted people to notice her. "I'm the first person in the history of this town to become famous for doing nothing," she said. "I can feel myself getting more and more famous every day."John the Baptist's life looms large in contrast. His goal was not to draw attention to himself. His greatest desire was to glorify Jesus. Leonard Bernstein once said that the hardest instrument to play is second fiddle. John willingly took on the part of second fiddle. John was a humble man.HE WAS ALSO A MAN OF ENORMOUS COURAGE. The ending to John's life was tragic. He offended the royal family of his day by confronting them with their sins and he was beheaded. John the Baptist was a preacher of righteousness and he would not betray his convictions. The world has always been made better by men and women of such character.Millions of Christians have been inspired by the life and death of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German pastor and theologian who was killed during World War II.Bonhoeffer was as outspoken concerning the sins of Adolf Hitler as John the Baptist was about the sins of Herod. Friends in the United States and England, knowing the probable consequences of opposing Hitler, arranged for Bonhoeffer to leave Germany. After a few months, however, Bonhoeffer knew he must return to his homeland. There he preached ever more strongly against what was happening to his people. Needless to say, he aroused great opposition. Soon he was forced to go underground. Later he was imprisoned. There he was executed.Out of his struggles he wrote a monumental work, THE COST OF DISCIPLESHIP. It stands as an eternal judgment of those who want Christ but do not want to bear a cross. John the Baptist understood the cost of discipleship. He knew what it was to sacrifice everything in answer to God's call.HE WAS DETERMINED TO BEAR WITNESS TO THE LIGHT. On the banks of the Jordan he proclaimed that the Kingdom of God was at hand. When he saw Jesus he declared, "Behold the Lamb of God."Many years ago a pastor in Glasgow, Scotland named George McLeod chanced to look up at the stained-glass windows over the chancel of the sanctuary. The phrase, "Glory to God in the highest" was carved in the glass. As he looked he noticed that a pane of glass was broken and missing, the pane on which the letter "e" in the word "highest" was carved. Suddenly he found himself seeing the words that were now there, "Glory to God in the High St." High Street was a nearby avenue. It struck McLeod that the only way to glorify God IS to glorify him in the High St. (2) The only way to truly glorify God is to glorify him where we live, work and play. Certainly John did that. He did it in his preaching. He did it in his life.Somewhere I heard about identical twin brothers who lived in the same town “one was a physician and the other was a pastor. One Monday morning, the doctor ran into someone who said, "That was a marvelous sermon you preached last Sunday." "Oh, no," the doctor protested, "you've got the wrong man. That was my brother. He preaches and I practice." (3) There is a lot of that. John the Baptist preached but he also practiced and his influence has been felt ever since.As you celebrate this Christmas season, as you think about the shepherds and the wise men and the star and Mary and Joseph and all the rest of the important figures and events of that first Christmas, remember another small child six months of age born to a deeply devout couple named Zacharias and Elizabeth. He was not the Messiah. He simply bore witness to the Messiah. No star shone over the house where he lay. Only a mute old man beamed down at him with pride and great joy. It was the joy of one who had lived to see the promises of God fulfilled. It was clear at John's birth, according to Luke, that the Lord's blessing was upon him, and it was. He grew into a man of humility, courage and determination who proclaimed the coming of the Lord. Jesus himself composed John's epitaph when he said on one occasion, "No greater man has ever been born than John."There is the path to greatness “a path that you and I would do well to follow. Humility. Courage. And a commitment to bear witness to the light of God.___________________________________1. Scriptural quotations in this sermon are taken from THE NEW TESTAMENT IN MODERN ENGLISH, Translated by J. B. Phillips (New York: The MacMillan Co., 1960).2. Robert Raines, THE SECULAR CONGREGATION. Feast: John the Baptist 6/24 10:30 2007 (at Trinity high school) A father sitting at the dining room table spent most of his meal correcting his little boy’s table manners. He said to his wife, “Will the training ever be finished?” His wife replied, “A boy’s training will never end. He just gets married and then his wife takes over the job of training him. And please, dear, don’t talk with food in your mouth.” John the Baptist spent most of his life in the wilderness training for his mission. He fasted severely, eating only locusts and wild honey. Then he began his mission as the prophet who announced the coming of Jesus. There is an intimacy between Jesus and John the Baptist as warm as the Jordan waters under a summer sun. There is a shared vision between Jesus and John the Baptist as unifying as the one truth of God which each proclaims. But there were differences between the two: John came fasting from the wilderness to confront sinners; Jesus came from the towns and villages, eating and drinking with sinners. John was aloof like a desert scorpion who knew his sting could paralyze the spirit of repentance. Jesus was gregarious like a cluster of grapes crushed into refreshing wine who celebrated the return of every repentant sinner. Now Jesus speaks about John to the few disciples he had gathered in the beginning of his mission. There is no one greater born of woman than John the Baptist. Yet he is the least in the Kingdom of heaven. His disciples, not yet used to Jesus’ paradoxes are stunned. How, one of his new disciples asks, can one and the same person be the greatest and the least? Jesus smiles, knowing this is a trial run for his teaching. John, he explains, is the greatest of prophets because he preaches as no one has the wrath of God reserved for unrepentant sinners. But he is the least because he has not heard or internalized my teaching that God has an unconditional love for all sinners. John is the night stalker, entering into the darkness of people’s souls; I am the Light of the world, illuminating the goodness in people’s hearts. John came to call people back to the Old Law; I have come to make all things new. There is a dual path through your spiritual life: the path that leads to John who preaches repentance for our sinfulness and the path that takes us to Jesus who reveals that our God continues to dwell on earth by living within us. John Shea in his book, The Challenge of Jesus, reminds you that for Jesus repentance is always a joyous occasion, calling for celebration. For example, the shepherd who found his lost sheep placed the sheep on his shoulders and called in his friends to celebrate. The same is true of the woman who found her lost coin. She too celebrated her joy by celebrating with her neighbors. This is a far cry from the God who is out to get us, who can’t wait to condemn us. For me the message of this feast is that I am to repent of my sins so that God, the indwelling Trinity, will be freer to exert his love through me more influentially, more dynamically. I must always train myself anew to be a Christ-bearer, to bring Christ to others through my sacrificial service, through my empathetic listening, through my joy in living my faith. HUMOR The tiresome jury selection process continued, each side hotly contesting and dismissing potential jurors. Johnny Shea was called for his question session. “Property holder?” “Yes, I am, Your Honor.” “Married or single?” “Married for over twenty-five years, Your Honor.” “Formed or expressed an opinion?” “Not since I married, Your Honor.” THOUGHT Always repent that you may love more. 13th Sunday Ordinary C 2007 7:30 & 10:30 STORY It was a Sunday morning and a small group of people was gathered in a chapel for Mass in South America. Suddenly a band of guerillas came storming out of the jungle and smashed into the chapel with machine guns aimed at the people. The leader ordered the priest to be dragged outside to be executed. Then the leader asked, “Anyone else here believe in this Jesus stuff?” Everyone froze in fear. Then one man came forward and said, “I believe in Jesus with all my heart.” He too was dragged outside to be executed. The leader asked again, “Anyone else?” Several others came forward and they were dragged outside. Those inside could hear the blast of machine guns. No one else was willing to profess their faith. So the leader said, “You people have no right to be here,” and he herded them outside. They were shocked to see the priest and the ones who had professed their faith in Jesus standing there. The leader told the priest and those with him to go back into the chapel and continue the Mass. To the others he said, “Don’t you go in there until you have the courage to stand up and profess your faith.” Then the gorillas disappeared back into the jungle. It takes the courage of your convictions, the courage of your faith to put your hand to the plow and never look back. Sometimes you find yourself sneaking a look back at the values of your culture to see if you can straddle the fence between your culture’s values and your gospel values, to see if you can live the challenge of the gospel in the unchallenging comfort of the world. For example, when a group is demeaning someone, harshly gossiping about the person, you may think to yourself, I can to along with them as long as I don’t add to their callous rash judgments. On the other hand, if you have the courage of your faith, if you keep your hand on the plow, you will speak up and tell this group that they are doing wrong, that they are self-righteous, that they are committing the sin of rash judgment. You won’t be shot for doing this, like the people in our story who were threatened with execution, but you may be excluded from the group, you may be the next one they slander. But is such a group really worth belonging to? Jesus words about putting your hand to the plow are a symbol of commitment. Or as one of our seminary professors called it, bull-dog tenacity. It’s an apt image. You sink your teeth into the gospel and never let go no matter how many times or how many people try to pull you away from living the gospel. Commitment is putting your life where you mouth is. Go back to our example. You cannot say that rash judgment is unjust but act as if it’s okay under certain convenient circumstances. If you are truly committed to the teachings of Jesus, your actions will speak louder than your words. As Jesus says, they’ll know you by your fruits. The German theologian, Johannes Metz in his book, Poverty of Spirit, remarked, to put your hand to the plow means that you have no support and no power except the enthusiasm and commitment of your own heart. In other words, when every one around you is living according to the values of our culture, you reach into your heartfelt commitment to Jesus and live his values. Are you committed to the risk of doing this? Are you committed to shunning the corrupt opportunism of our culture even if this means you have to embrace the cross? Are you committed to living the gospel values as fearlessly as those people in our story who stood up to the gorillas and professed their faith? Only you can answer these questions. In the movie, The Ghost and the Darkness, one of the characters said, “The struggle is the glory” Humor: There is a humorous story about a reversal of commitment: A Florida senior citizen drove his brand new Corvette convertible out of the dealership. Taking off down the road, he floored itto 80 mph, enjoying the wind blowing through what little hair he had left."Amazing," he thought as he flew down I-75, pushing the pedal even more.Looking in his rear view mirror, he saw a state trooper behind him, blue lights flashing and siren blaring. He floored it to100 mph, then 110, then 120.Suddenly he thought, "What am I doing? I'm too old for this," and pulled over to await the trooper's arrival.Pulling in behind him, the trooper walked up to the Corvette, looked at his watch and said, "Sir, my shift ends in 30 minutes.Today is Friday. If you can give me a reason for speeding that I've never heard before, I'll let you go."The old gentleman paused. Then said, "Years ago, my wife ran off with a Florida State Trooper. I thought you were bringingher back.""Have a good day, sir," replied the trooper. Thought: Always live your commitment to Jesus. 14th Sunday C Luke 10 7:30, 10:30 I want us to center on verse 18. How suggestive is that word of Jesus: listen to it. "I saw Satan fall like lightening from heaven."Jesus is reflecting on the ministry of the seventy. They went out, following Jesus' instructions, and were amazed at what happened. They returned with joy saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!" It was then that Jesus said to them, "I saw Satan fall."That is the image for the sermon today. "I saw Satan fall." And this is the question: Has there been a time in your life when Jesus, looking at your life and ministry, has said, "I saw Satan fall?"I want you to close your eyes--would you do that? Close your eyes and ponder that question in silence for just a moment. Has there ever been a time in your life when Jesus, looking at your life and ministry, has said, "I saw Satan fall?"Not an easy question to answer, is it? But am I wrong in suggesting that indeed that should be the result of our ministry--the fall of Satan.Maybe you can answer the question better after the sermon is over, after I remind you of when Satan falls. We will take our cue from the ministry of the seventy, and some of the expressions of that ministry that we find in these verses of our text.I.Note this as a beginning point: Satan falls when a person trusts Jesus with his life. Look at verses three and four:vs. 3 Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves.vs. 4 Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road.What a trust! And that kind of trust is what made Satan fall.It is a radical trust Jesus is calling for. His tactic was to send his disciples out utterly defenseless, totally dependent on him, and on the reception of the people to whom he sent them. They were to carry no cash, no spare clothes or provisions. Jesus was not only testing them, he had something else in mind as well. To be confronted by these servants of Christ, the people to whom they went would be forced to make a decision as to what they should do with them."If the missionaries had enough money to support themselves, then letting them hire a room in a hotel would be a simple commercial transaction carrying no spiritual implication. But if the people were faced with penniless, destitute men, claiming to be Messiah's own ambassadors, they would be forced to decide whether they would receive and entertain them as such, or reject them." (David Gooding, According to Luke, p. 197)Earl Davis, Pastor of the First Baptist Church here in Memphis, tells a precious story that speaks to us here. A pastor and his wife drove up to the church a bit early for the evening activities one Sunday and noticed one of the little girls of the church, perhaps seven or eight years old, sitting on the front steps with a big suitcase. The pastor's wife figured that the little girl had run away from home, so she went over and sat down beside her and began a conversation. A few general questions revealed that the little girl was not running away from home. "Well, why do you have this suitcase with you?" asked the pastor's wife. The little girl responded, "This morning the pastor asked who would follow Jesus wherever he went, and I said I would." She had come prepared.William Manson spoke a challenging word concerning the nature of the Christian life. He says, "The life the Christian is called to live with Christ is not simply an improved version or expansion of the life of the past, but a contradiction of that former life." (quoted by Earl C. Davis, "The Law of Self-Denial," First Baptist Church, Memphis, TN)Now the primary contradiction is that we cease trusting things and our own resources and we begin to radically trust Christ.A man in this congregation witnesses to it. I was visiting with him in the hospital. He had had a close call. His recuperation was going to require a long time and much discipline. "It has been a saving experience," he said. "I have learned that I am not invincible." Then tears came to his eyes as he said, "I have confessed to God and I want you to hear my confession also." "I have trusted too much in myself and my money. I am praying every day that the Lord will forgive me and I am seeking to put my total trust in him."I saw Satan fall in the hospital room that day, because Satan falls when a person trusts Christ with his life.Not long ago I was in the hospital visiting some patients and I heard the Harvey Team being paged. It is a chilling experience to hear that alarm go off, go out over the speakers and see doctors and nurses run into the room where some person trembles on the border between life and death. I said a prayer for both the patient and the family, but I also reflected on my own life. Every time I try to die to self, the devil calls in his spiritual Harvey Team, and they work like the devil, to keep the old man, the carnal man, the man who trusts in his own self alive. So it is a ongoing experience. It is an ongoing effort, a never-ending struggle--to deny ourselves, to cease trusting things and our own resources and to trust Christ completely. When we do that Satan falls.II.Now, a second word. Satan falls when a person stands firm against evil in whatever form evil may take. Look at Jesus' instruction to his disciples in verse 10 and 11.vs. 10 But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say,vs. 11 Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.I have never been a demonstrator--that is, I have never participated in many public demonstrations. But maybe I have been wrong in that. I do know that demonstrations have been a positive force in the past thirty years in some of the most important social issues of our time. Demonstrations fired and kept the Civil Rights Movement alive. Demonstrations played a significant role in bringing the Vietnam War to a close. Jesus was calling for a demonstration from his disciples. He is telling them that they are to shake the dust off their feet if people refuse to hear the gospel.Whether public demonstration or not, public action is called for from the church and individual Christians.Winston Churchill was great with words. He was always able to put in brilliant succinctness, expansive ideas and challenges. He said of the slow Allied response to Hiltler's onslaught at the beginning of World War II, "Virtuous motives, trembled by inertia and timidity, are no match for armed and resolute weakness." (The Gathering Storm, p. 171)III.Closely akin to a stand against evil is this dynamic: when a person exercises the power of Christ obediently in faith believing, then Satan falls. Let's read verses 8 and 9."Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you;"Cure the sick who are there, and say to them, 'The Kingdom of God has come near to you.'"Don't get hung up here with the ministry of healing which Jesus obviously gave to his disciples. You don't have to jump off the deep end of a pool to get into the water. You can walk in from the shallow end. But to get in, you have got to step or jump in somewhere.Ray Sexton, a psychiatrist in our church, told me about a troubled man who went to see a psychiatrist.After customary introductions, the psychiatrist asked him to tell him his problem.Embarrassingly, the patient reported that he had difficulty when he arrived in his home. He would walk into his bedroom thinking that something was under his bed. Consequently, he would crawl under his bed, look thoroughly and seeing nothing, he would then be hit with the idea that something was on top of his bed. Quickly, he would look to the top of his bed closely and see nothing. Again, the idea would hit him that something was under his bed. He would then drop down under his bed looking thoroughly and see nothing. He would feel that something was on top of his bed again. This would go on over and over. Top, underneath, top, underneath, top, underneath. The gentleman told the psychiatrist that this was driving him crazy. He needed some relief in order to carry on his other business.The psychiatrist reassured him that he had a correctable problem but that it would require weekly visits to dig out the deeper rooted conflicts. The cost would be $100 per visit, per week over a period of about two years.Somewhat dazed, the patient left the office without making his appointments. He was not seen or heard from by the psychiatrist for about six months. The psychiatrist accidentally ran into him at a neighborhood restaurant. The psychiatrist asked him, "Joe I haven't heard from you, whatever happened?"The patient said, "Well when you told me how long it would take and the expense, I was devastated. I immediately went to the bar to drink away my despair but the bartender cured me in one session for ten dollars. I haven't had a problem since."The psychiatrist asked him, "What in the world did the bartender do?"Joe happily responded, "The bartender told me to go home and saw the legs off of my bed."So we can do something, and we must do something. We've got to step or jump in somewhere.Do you remember the child who was the sole survivor when two great airliners collided in New York City some years ago? He had been thrown clear, landed in a snow bank deep enough to cushion his fall, and was then rushed to a nearby hospital. He was barely alive, however, because his body was so burned and broken. As he lay in the emergency room, he opened his eyes and looked into the smiling face of a nurse. She was a stranger to him, but the lad whispered to her, "I go to Sunday School." She responded with tears welling in her eyes, "Then you have come to the right place. God is here with you--and He and I are not going to leave you alone. (Story told by Leonard Sweet, United Theological Seminary, Dayton, Ohio, repeated by Donald Shelby, "Together, We Will,")We can get in there, can't we? Making sure that where we are, God is. Making sure that we obey Christ in giving cups of cold water and feeding the hungry and visiting the sick and prisoners. We can get in somewhere. And when we get in--taking a step of faith and attempting what we know we could never do in our own power alone, Satan will fall.IV.Now this final word. Satan falls when a person is so at one with Christ that Christ lives and acts through that person. Look at verse 16."Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me."That is a pretty radical picture isn't it? He who hears you hears me--and he who rejects you rejects me--a radical picture of oneness with Christ. But it is consistent with all of Jesus' teaching. You remember his metaphor of the vine and the branches in chapter 15 of John's gospel in which Jesus tells us who God is, and who he is in relation to God, and who we are in relation to him:I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine dresser . . . I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.And do you recall his petition in what we have come to call the "High Priestly Prayer" in John 17. Not the prayer he taught us to pray, but his own last anguishing prayer for his disciples and us. Listen to him as he prays:"I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me."I in them and thou in me . . . that the world may know that thou hast sent me and has loved them even as thou hast loved me.Satan falls when that happens--when a person is so at one with Christ that Christ lives and acts through that person.One of the best letters of reference ever received at the University of Alabama Medical School, according to the Director of Admissions, came from an old mountaineer. The letter readI know'd this kid from the day he was born. He played with my kids, helped me with the chores. I don't know if he has sense enuf to make it in medical school, but I know he will be the kind of man I'd like to come here to take care of me and my folks. (Don Shelby, Final Evaluations)Isn't that beautiful? And it hints at what I am saying. We can be so at one with Christ that Christ will live and act through us.Go back to my original question now--the question with which we began: Has there been a time in your life when Jesus, looking at your life and ministry, has said, "I saw Satan fall?" Maybe you can begin to answer the question now. For Satan falls when a person trusts Jesus with his life. Satan falls when a person stands firm against evil. Satan falls when a person exercises the power of Christ obediently in faith. And Satan falls when a person is so at one with Christ that Christ lives and acts through that person.Final closing: There was a significant verse in our scripture lesson that I simply did not have time to deal with--it was the closing verse of the lesson--verse 20. Jesus told his followers that it was wonderful that they discovered that all the demons were subject to them in Jesus' name--and that was something to rejoice over--but he said to them the most important thing for you to rejoice about is that your names are written in heaven. We can go on that, can't we--we can rejoice even when we are failing in ministry, even when we feel ourselves a failure--if we know our names are written in heaven.14th Sunday Ordinary 9 AM 2007 One of the wildest of animals is the African wild boar. Yet even this fierce, ugly creature can respond to the strange experience of being loved. Dr. Schweitzer, who you know was not only a medical doctor but a missionary, adopted a savage hog whom he called Josephine. Treating the animal with much love, Schweitzer gradually saw the fierce, wild nature softening. Before long that wild pig followed the doctor on his medical and missionary visits to the sick through the African village. When the mission bell of the chapel sounded, the boar trotted along with Doctor Schweitzer to the chapel. Jesus instructs you on mission as he did his first disciples as you just heard in our gospel story this morning. But the instructions Jesus gave to his disciples must be updated. These instructions are made current through the homily… I hope. The zealous and indomitable Archbishop Hallinan of Atlanta, now deceased, in his book, written immediately after Vatican II, The Days Of Hope And Promise, said, “The context of Christ’s message and mission does not change but the manner and approach must be adapted to the needs of today.” For example, instead of carrying no money, today you might be advised to carry none of your own baggage of guilt or fear into the lives of those you are trying to help. It’s important to keep in mind that your mission of witnessing to the values of Jesus is far more then a fundamentalist parroting of bible quotations engraved on the leaves of your memory or gospel words used to fill in the blank squares in the crossword puzzle of life's problems. You fulfill your mission of witnessing to Jesus’ values by the way you live his values just as you live a healthy life by regular checkups with your doctor.. For example, when someone’s holding desperately onto the final, frail thread of hope, you can witness to Jesus’ power by your gestures of encouragement and words of affirmation. Or when a son or daughter is bound by the chains of an addiction, you can witness to Jesus’ love by keeping the door of your heart wide open and not shutting that door with the thud of a bank vault. As I said, your mission is to preach the gospel by the way you live the gospel. And it is only through practical witness that the gospel can be preached with any hope of being heard You should never give up on your mission of witnessing to Jesus because you are weak or flawed or sinful. As the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World from Vatican II reminds you, God often reveals the might of the gospel through the weakness of its witnesses. For example, just because you are impatient from time to time, doesn’t mean that you cannot teach your children patience. Bernard Bush in his book, Belonging, says, “Most of us are ordinary people doing ordinary work in an extraordinary mission.” Just as plants bear witness to the reality of roots, so the flowers of your efforts to live the Jesus’ values bear witness to the depth of your faith. Sister Clare Fitzgerald in a lecture stated with electrifying sensitivity, Faith is the visible witness to God’s unconditional loving relationship with us and at this moment of history you and I are being called to shape and form a new expression of that profound love. To be a new expression of God’s profound and unconditional love, it is essential for you to remember that in your interpersonal interactions you are to be witnesses of Jesus, not judges of one another. Ask Jesus, your indwelling friend, to help you to always fulfill your mission of giving witness to his values no matter what sacrifices you must make or what insults you must suffer. Humor: There was a barber that thought that he should share his faith with his customers more than he had been doing lately. So the next morning when the sun came up and the barber got up out of bed he said, “Today I am going to witness to the first man that walks through my door.” Soon after he opened his shop the first man came in and said, “I want a shave!” The barber said, “Sure, just sit in the seat and I’ll be with you in a moment.” The barber went in the back and prayed a quick desperate prayer saying, “God, the first customer came in and I’m going to witness to him. So please give me the wisdom to know just the right thing to say to him. Amen.” Then quickly the barber came out with his razor knife in one hand and a Bible in the other while saying, “Good morning sir. I have a question for you..........Are you ready to die?” Thought: Always fulfill your mission by witnessing to Jesus’ values. Sermons, Sermon Illustrations, Children's Sermons, and Christian Skits from eSermons.com. document.write(weekDay[current_weekDay] + " " + monthName[current_month] + " " + current_day + ", " + current_year); Sunday July 1, 2007 Home Contact Us About Us eSermons Search eSermons Upgrade Me Edit My Sermons Add My Sermons This Week's Texts Proper 8 GO Lk 9:51-62 EP Gal 5:1, 13-25 OT 2Ki 2:1-2, 6-14 PS Ps 77:1-2, 11-20 View: RC , EP , LCMS Member: TR Haney My Account Upgrade Renew Membership Help Ser Illus BAS FS LA BA DR CS CB 4-7 CB 8-12 PPT _uacct = "UA-278553-1"; urchinTracker(); !5th Sunday C 2007 10:30 A man told this story. He said: There are some things that we can’t do. We have physical limitations for example – flying off the roof of a building, deciding to grow a couple of inches, or shrink a couple of inches – but we also have internal limitations. One of mine, the man said, is that I get nervous about last minute things. And then when I’m nervous, it’s almost automatic that I will snap at an undeserving anyone. It’s a limitation: the only thing I can do about it is try to do Christmas shopping early and try to hold my tongue. That way, on Christmas Eve, I don’t bite the heads off the shop assistants or my own unfortunate family. Each of us has a series of physical and psychological limitations that we have to deal with. That’s life. How does this story about limitations fit in with the parable about the Good Samaritan? Usually, the homily on the Good Samaritan urges you to do some good for those in need. To stop what you’re doing or where you’re going and help another. And this is a legitimate challenge. But today through this man’s story, I’d like to direct the attention of all you good Samaritans to the fact of your limitations in doing good. To help you realize that you can’t play God in helping others anymore than you can play Samson in the face of a lion. Notice that the Samaritan in the parable doesn’t chase after the thieves to persuade them to leave their lives of crime behind and become productive citizens. He doesn’t go to the city council to plead for more police. He doesn’t start a vigilante group to patrol the roadway to prevent further robberies. He doesn’t start a support group for battered and robbed travelers. He does what he can. Some time ago there was an uproar when people involved in working for justice criticized Mother Theresa because she wasn’t working to change the sinful social and political structures which were causing the poverty and disease in India. All she was doing, they complained, was tending to individuals. These arm chair Samaritans who never picked up dying people from the street, took them into their homes and cared for them while they were dying berated Mother Theresa for doing only that – only that! ? Robert Wicks in his book, Seeking Perspective, said, “Contemplation is not pietistic passivity but a willingness to accept life unconditionally and to fathom its possibilities within the limits of human failure and sin.” The lesson on limitations was brought home to me by my first pastor. There I was newly ordained. My 12 years in the seminary were like a dam holding back my zeal. And now through ordination, the floodgates were wide open. I was going to help everybody, save everybody, turn the world into God’s kingdom on earth. Father Charles Allen, my first pastor, said to me one day, that the advantage of having two priests in a parish was that people one priest couldn’t reach, the other priest might be able to get through to. At the time I thought he was trying to undermine my bulldozing zeal. But what he was telling me was that I shouldn’t try to play God, that I was only human therefore limited therefore imperfect. That what counted was my steadfast everyday efforts not my ticker-tape accomplishments. In all probability he saved me from becoming disillusioned when I eventually and inevitably failed. Richard Wollheim's in his book , On The Emotions said, “Discouragement teaches you that just as you are limited so too are all the people in your relationships limited. But the mystical tradition of your faith inspires you and them to continue expanding beyond theses limitations by recognizing that no one and nothing in this life is perfect.” Sometimes everyday actions like words of affirmation or a smile of encouragement can do more good than frantically trying to convert a whole group to the experience of Jesus. In fact, your words, your acts of affirmation are the very way people will experience Jesus. Remember what Jesus said about the good seed? It will bear a harvest of 30 or 60 or 100-fold. Jesus makes room for less than 100%. When a batter hits .300, he’s considered a star. A .300 batting average is your 30-fold. Striving for 100-fold can leave you discouraged and disillusioned. Remember, a pebble thrown into a lake makes ripples all across the lake. As long as you are causing ripples, all your efforts for good are worth making. And sometimes you may be pleasantly surprised that you were able to make waves. Never get discouraged about doing good especially when you don’t seem immediate results. HUMOR: The bishop had been receiving complaints about Father Murphy’s homilies. So he called the priest in. Now the bishop did not want to dwell on Father Murphy’s limitation as a preacher, so he decided to be gentle but honest with him. “Murph,” the bishop smiled, “how long have we known one another? Thirty years” “Yes bishop,” the priest replied. “Well, Murph we know one another well enough that we can be open and honest with each other, right?” “Yes, bishop,” Father Murphy replied. “Well, Murph, I’m getting complaints about you homilies: too long, distracted, repetitive, boring, Now you do a lot of good work in your parish. Can’t you put some zip into your homilies? Maybe a beginning that’s a grabber. For instance, this weekend I’m starting my homily this way: I’m in love with a married woman. Then I’ll wait a few seconds and say, Her name is Mary. Then I’ll preach on the Blessed Mother. You see how it works, Murph?” “Yes, bishop,” Murph replied. “So go and put some zip in your homilies,” the bishop smiled graciously. The following Sunday Father Murphy ascended the pulpit and began. “Our bishop is in love with a married woman (pause) and for the life of me I can’t remember her name.” THOUGHT Always persevere in doing good. 16th Sunday – July 19 --LUKE 10: 38-42 12:15 Jesus’ days were soaked with the sweat of bone-wearying sermons, energy-draining cures and non-stop journeying from village to village, from mountainside to valley. There was the time when he was so exhausted he actually fell into a deep sleep during a storm at sea, in an almost coma-like unawareness of the howling winds and engulfing waves. There are times when the ache in his back and neck is as fierce as nails piercing his flesh. Times when the relentless efforts of his mission seemed like a crucifixion.. Times when every fiber of his body screams for relief and relaxation. And so on occasion he stops at Mary and Martha’s home and crashes. Here with his closest friends he doesn’t have to be on guard, fencing with the sword-like attacks of the religious leaders or stretching on tiptoe to reach out to those who need to be healed. Here, in Mary and Martha’s home, he can curl up in the warmth of their friendship and relax. At least for a while. As often happens, friends can say things that others wouldn’t dare to broach because friends don’t have to put on airs. And so the serenity of Jesus’ relaxation is shattered by the whining complaint from Martha rattling around in the kitchen, slamming pots and pans on the stove. I’m swamped in here, Martha all but screams. Since my sister seems to be oblivious to the work involved in preparing a meal, will you at least tell her to get her pretty, uncalloused hands out here to help me? Jesus looks at Mary and Mary smiles as if to say, You know how Martha is. Jesus follows Mary out into the kitchen. As a friend he can be as open and honest with Martha as she was with him. You know, Martha, you’re so intense that you’re going to have an anxiety attack. May I suggest that you get your priorities in order? In the midst of all you well-meaning work, the one thing necessary is that you are consciously aware of your intimacy with God no matter how busy you are. This will help you to keep your balance. Sally Hill points out in her book, New Clothes from Old Threads, in her meditation on the fairy tale, Rumpelstiltzkin, “When we get caught up in a whirlwind of activities, we lose our sense of balance which enables us to distribute our energies like beads on the necklace of our lives.” There are times when we need to roll up our sleeves and dig in. And there are times when we need to sit back, relax and enjoy the wonders of God’s loving presence in our lives and work. There’s a story about a man had a very tense day at the office So he sat down to relax and read the newspaper. One little son comes and asks him for money for an ice cream cone. The dad gave him the coins. His little daughter came to him crying. She hurt her leg and wanted her dad to kiss her boo boo and take the hurt away. So he kissed her leg. As he went back to reading the paper, his baby boy came running up to him. With a deep sigh and a smile he asked, “And what to you want? Nothing Daddy. I just want to sit on your lap. Isn’t this what Mary is teaching you? To curl up, as it were, on God’s lap? The need to put aside the torturing grind of your brutal everyday responsibilities and work and give yourself some time for meditative prayer? The need to listen to Jesus’ invitation, Come aside and rest awhile? It may mean getting up a little earlier or finding a room in the evening where the door can be closed. John Shea in his book, Gospel Light, says that when we close down the outer world, the inner world will begin to open. You may be thinking right now, That’s easy for you to say. You don’t have meals to get ready. You don’t have a boss breathing down your neck. You don’t have kids who go after you like nibbling ducks or who want to sit in your lap. That’s true. But I must tell you that the eight to ten hours I spend preparing my weekend homily is intense prayerful work. I need to tell you this because you need to know that you can always pray while involved in the busyness of your day. You could also pray by asking Jesus, who is as much your friend as he was a friend of Mary and Martha, to help you to balance the active and contemplative components of your life with the regularity of breathing out and breathing in. HUMOR There is a story about balance in communicating. A friend of mine was in the hospital awaiting the arrival of her first child. When I telephoned the hospital to see if the baby had arrived, the nurse said it had. I asked if it was a boy or girl and was told that it was against hospital policy to give this information over the phone. “Fine,” I said. “I can understand that. But can you tell me what she didn’t have?” “It wasn’t a boy,” came the reply. THOUGHT: Always maintain a balance between prayer and action. 17th Sunday Ord Luke 11:1-13 5:30 & 10:30 7/29/07 The daughter of Karl Marx said to a friend, “I was never brought up in any formal religion and I’m not religious. Then the other day I came across a prayer I thought was very beautiful.” “What prayer is that?” her friend asked. The daughter of Karl Marx began repeating in German, “Our Father who art in heaven …” But there is a drawback. When we pray, Our Father who art in heaven, there could be engendered a feeling of distance. The symbol of heaven can often mean the place where we are going to and have not yet arrived. A place far off beyond the outermost galaxies. When you stand outside at night and look up at the star-studded sky, this feeling of the Father’s removal might seem even more exaggerated. But let’s look at it this way. Where God the Father is, there is heaven. But where is God the Father? The seldom mentioned doctrine of the Divine Indwelling tells you that God the Father is within you, closer to you than you are to yourself. The infinite, all-powerful, all-knowing, eternal God, Father, Son and Spirit dwells within you. So when you pray, Our Father who art in heaven and you believe heaven is within you now at this very moment, your prayer can be directed not to the God up there or out there but to the God who is more intimately related to you than your own bloodstream, than your own soul. In fact all your prayers can be directed to God the Father within you. This morning, for example, when you hear me begin the Eucharistic prayer with the word, Father, you can immediately become aware of the Father’s presence within you. You can direct the entire Eucharistic prayer to your Indwelling Father. I’ve told this story before but it bears repeating. It’s a charming story told about a little girl who was visiting her grandparents on their farm. She was having the most intriguing time going from chickens to cows to pigs. She studied her grandfather while he milked the cows. Her microscopic eyes were fastened on her grandmother while she baked pies that “smelled like heaven” as her grandmother would say with such a beautiful smile. She loved visiting her grandparents. It was such a thrilling adventure. One day she walked with her grandfather down to the well. As he lowered the bucket, she asked, exploding the soft, calm summer day with a theological bomb, as children so often can, “Grandpa, where does God live?” Her grandfather paused and thought for a while. Then he picked his little granddaughter up with arms as sturdy as the branches of an old oak tree. He held her over the well and asked, “What do you see down there?” “I see me!” she squealed with the trumpeting excitement of discovery. “Well, Honey,” her grandfather whispered, “that’s where God lives.” As I said this doctrine of the Divine Indwelling is seldom mentioned. Why? I don’t know. It’s one of the most ancient and fundamental tenets of our faith. It’s absolutely overwhelming when you ponder it. The infinite, all-powerful God who knows you totally and thoroughly is at home within you.! If you have difficulty praying, it may be due to the fact, as Michael Quoist points out in his book, Christ Is Alive, that you have placed God above your life up in heaven. As a result you don’t experience intimacy with the God who so desperately wants intimacy with you. Try to imagine what your praying would be like if when you prayed, you were wrapped in the enthralling awareness that God the Father who is Intimacy itself is within you. Whitney Houston’s song, “I Believe in You and Me,” addresses the challenges of becoming deeply invested in a close relationship. There is a line in the song, “we will be in love eternally.” The word, eternally, speaks of an enduring love. Enduring love gradually builds a mutually shared knowing and being known. The trust and faith required for this type of closeness is never arrived at quickly or easily. Rather, it develops slowly within an ongoing environment of respect and caring. God the Father’s knowing you and his respect and caring for you needs no proof. What you need to work on through your personal prayer is a growing knowledge of God the indwelling Father and an increased respect for him. The next time you pray, for instance, in our petitions this morning, go within yourself to where the Father is living and making his home. I guarantee that you will feel a joy that will make intimacy with the indwelling Father as real as the sound of your voice. In your personal prayer, ask your Indwelling Father to give you the courage to stand up and work for peace when our anti gospel culture proclaims that war is necessary, war is good, war is beneficial. Ask your indwelling Father for courage to stand up and work for justice when our anti gospel culture says, Let the downtrodden exist on the island of poverty in the midst of the ocean of material prosperity. HUMOR >>> A contractor was hired to make repairs in the >>> heating/cooling vents in >>> the local Catholic church. As this man was crawling >>> around inside the >>> ceiling, he peeked through a vent and saw a little >>> old lady kneeling and >>> counting her Rosary beads. Being a Protestant, he >>> decided to >>> have a little fun with this >>> old bat and blow her mind. He called down through >>> the vent in a booming >>> deep voice, “THIS IS JESUS CHRIST. YOUR PRAYERS WILL >>> BE ANSWERED.” The >>> little old lady didn’t even look up, but continued >>> to pray and count her >>> beads. The contractor decided maybe she didn’t hear >>> him, and said again, >>> “THIS IS JESUS CHRIST! YOUR PRAYERS WILL BE >>> ANSWERED!” Finally the >>> little old woman looked up and screamed, “SHUT UP! >>> I’M TALKING TO YOUR >>> MOTHER!” THOUGHT Always pray to the God living within you. 18th Sunday C Luke 12:13-21 –8/5/07 7AM Connections #1 A In Steven Spielberg’s movie AI, (Artificial Intelligence), David is the prototype of a new line of child robots programmed with the ability to love. Monica and Henry take David into their home. At first Monica is repelled by the spooky human-looking toy. But Henry explains to her that David has an imprinting protocol and if they decided to keep him then all they had to do was activate the code that would hardwire David’s emotional capability. This they did and David loved them with all the power of his mechanized ability. But the parents found it almost impossible to return his love. All throughout the movie, the robot boy, David, exists in the lonely blurred background of interpersonal relationships. His loneliness plunges him, like an Olympic diver, into his search for having his love returned. His search for being loved. In his novel, The Court, William Coughlin has one of his characters say: Love is not romance. It’s hard to describe. Maybe the best description is that love is the opposite of loneliness. In other words, it seems to me, that love is the need to be loved. However it is as important as remembering your zip code to keep in mind that if being loved is you goal, the only way to be loved is to be a person worthy of love. So what flashes on the screen of life is this question: How can you make yourself worthy of love? The gospel parable offers the answer. You can make yourself lovable by sharing what you have and who you are. For instance, you make yourself worthy of being loved by developing your abilities and sharing them with others. For example, sharing your ability to be present to others. How present are you, for example, to a woman who has had an abortion and is locked in the prison of guilt? Are you present to that woman with empathy, understanding, support? How present are you to someone who is divorced and struggling with the lonely task of being a loving single parent? A parent who may not be experiencing love from children who resent the divorce? A parent who sleeps alone at night with only an extra pillow for company? How present are you to a lonely shut in with a disease that causes her to be as immobilized as a broken down truck on the side of a desolate road? How present are you to a classmate who is constantly being shoved to the outer limits of school activities and extracurricular friendships? One of the main obstacles that blocks your being present to others is your self-absorption. By that I mean that you are so preoccupied with yourself that you pay little or no attention to another person. In the movie, “As Good As It Gets,” the waitress, Helen Hunt, begins to tell her customer, Jack Nicholson, about her sick son. She barely gets started when Nicholson interrupts with something about himself. Helen Hunt shrugs her shoulders and walks away. And Nicholson is so self-absorbed that he doesn’t even realize what he did. Our gospel parable warns you against not sharing your possessions with others. But to share what you have with others, you must first be present to them. HUMOR There’s a humorous story about presence. A little boy flung open the front door. “Boy, Grandma, am I ever glad you came to visit us.” “Why is that?” the grandmother asked sweetly. “Because now daddy will do his trick.” “And what trick is that?” Grandma asked sweetly. “Daddy said if you came to visit us, he’d climb the walls.” THOUGHT Always be someone to others.