SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT

12 MARCH 2017

          Last Sunday, we heard from the third chapter of Genesis.  We heard that Adam and Eve were not content to be creatures.  They listened to the serpent’s lie that God was withholding something from them.  In eating the forbidden fruit, they took for themselves what belongs to God alone – the prerogative to determine what is right or wrong, what is good or bad.  In listening to the serpent, they realized how vulnerable they were and how badly they could mess things up when they tried to be gods themselves.  In the next chapters, things get worse.  Cain listened to his inner voice of jealousy and murdered Abel.  As people continued to listen to the serpent’s lies, the alienating effects of their sins disintegrated life so much that God regretted his creation.  He flooded the earth and started over again with Noah and his family.  But people continued to ignore the voice of God.  Instead of listening to God’s voice, they listened to their inner voices telling them to do whatever they wanted to do.  Chapter 11 ends with the Tower of Babel, symbolizing a complete breakdown of communication among tribes and nations. 

            Today, we hear from the twelfth chapter of Genesis.  We meet Abram, who lives in the land of the Chaldees (modern day Iraq).  When God speaks, Abram listens.  God tells him to leave his homeland and all his ties with his family and to trust that God will settle him into a new land and make him a father of a great nation.  The old man knows that this move is very difficult.  He will be tested many times over in trusting God’s promise.  In listening to God, Abram will be transformed into Abraham.  Like all of us, our father in faith was not perfect.  He had his flaws and weaknesses.  But over the next 1500 years, his listening to God will establish a pattern of listening.  Moses will listen to God and lead his people to freedom.  David will listen to God and establish a house that will endure.  The prophets will listen to God and speak God’s word to people who continue to make the mistake of assuming for themselves what belongs to God – the right to distinguish between good or bad, right or wrong.

            This listening culminates when the Eternal Word of God takes flesh and dwells in our midst.  Jesus listens to his Father.  In the desert, he resists the serpent’s temptations and remains faithful to the Father’s will.  He continues to teach his disciples that the promised Messiah will bring life and salvation through suffering and death.  But his disciples have trouble listening.  Today, this son of Abraham is transfigured in the presence of three of his disciples:  Peter, James, and John.  They receive a vision, a gift from God confirming that Jesus is the true Messiah, that he has fulfilled everything in the Law and the Prophets.  The vision opens their eyes to see and their ears to hear what is impossible for humans to see or hear on our own.  Pain and sorrow, suffering and death are not the end.  The journey will end with the resurrection.   The voice that had spoken from the heavens when Jesus was baptized repeats the same message:  “This is my Beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”

            That same voice speaks to us today.  Like our first parents, we listen to the lies of the serpent telling us that we are the ultimate determiners of what is right or wrong.  Too often, we have believed that lie and made sinful choices that have caused alienation for ourselves and for others.  But we are also disciples of Jesus Christ.  As we continue our forty day journey, our Lenten disciplines can open our ears to listen more carefully to him.  We can get discouraged when life is unfair and beats us up.  Carrying the cross and trusting that God will take care of us often tests our faith.  Our journey will not end on Good Friday.  It will end on Easter Sunday.  We may not have seen the same vision on the Mountain of the Transfiguration.  But, we have been given the vision of faith: God’s gift of being able to see what is impossible for human sight.   

FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT

5 MARCH 2017

          Our Scripture readings begin in a garden.  Genesis tells us that God scooped up clay, breathed into it, and created us in his image.  As creatures, we were meant to be in perfect unity with God and each other, and we were meant to enjoy all the fruits of his creation.  God did not forbid Adam and Eve from eating of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil because he was an authoritarian nitpicker who wanted them to watch what they ate.  He wanted them to know the difference between being a creator and being a creature.  That tree symbolizes equality with God.  The serpent told Eve that God was withholding something from them.  Both of our first parents listened to that lie and ate the fruit.  In other words, they were not satisfied with being creatures.  Instead of trusting that God is the final arbiter of what is good and what is evil, they wanted to assume that divine prerogative for themselves.  Once they realized their pride and arrogance, they became ashamed.  In their shame, they realized that were naked and vulnerable, and the intended unity was destroyed. That is what happens when we try to pretend that we are God, instead of being satisfied with being created in God’s image.

            Our Scripture readings end in a desert.  Jesus has just been baptized in the Jordan River.  The voice from heaven declared that he is God’s Beloved Son.  Even though Jesus is the Son of God, he shares in the clay of the earth in his humanity.  When the Spirit drives him into the desert, the prince of lies tries the same tactic that had worked with Adam and Eve in the garden.  He tries to get Jesus to assume for himself the prerogatives that belong to his Father alone.  If he is the Son of God, he can turn stones into bread to satisfy his hunger after fasting for forty days.  If he is the Son of God, he can throw himself off the parapet of the temple to prove his Father’s real love for him.  If he would bow down and worship the devil, he could have all the power in the world and not have to go through the humiliation of his passion and death.  In resisting those temptations in the desert, Jesus makes up his mind to trust in the will of the Father and fulfill his mission as the Suffering Servant.  He does not make the same mistake as our first parents.

            The Spirit has led us into this forty day Season of Lent to test us.  We resemble the people of Israel more than we resemble the Son of God.  They failed the testing of the evil one over and over again during their forty year journey from slavery to freedom in the desert.  When they were hungry, they could not trust in God and demanded food.  We too look for immediate fixes from God when life gets difficult.  When they did not get immediate results, they tested God and demanded signs from Moses.  When we are afflicted with sickness or death or failure, we tend to say the same thing.  “I will believe in you, Lord, if you take away my spouse’s cancer.”  “I will get involved in one of the parish ministries if I can get my own way.”  We may not fashion a golden calf, but we certainly give much more attention to the power of wealth or personal gain or popularity than we give to surrendering ourselves to the will of God.

            Through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, we are reminded that we are made in the image of God and that we are creatures, not the creator.  We learn that God is the ultimate decider of good and evil.  We learn that we make ourselves naked and vulnerable when we attribute to ourselves the prerogatives of deciding what is right and wrong.  We learn the truth that Saint Paul proclaims to the Corinthians – that sin and death entered the world through one man, Adam.  Through Jesus Christ, the new Adam, we have been reconciled and given eternal life.  Finally, we learn that what began in the garden will end in another garden.  On Easter Sunday, the Gospel will tell us that the risen Christ reveals himself to Mary Magdalene in a garden and sends her to tell the good news of the resurrection to his disciples.

EIGHTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

26 FEBRUARY 2017

          Jesus tells us today that we should not worry about our life, about what we are to eat and drink, or about what we should wear.  These are basic human needs, and Jesus is not calling us to quit our day jobs and run around naked!  Even birds of the air have to forage for food and water.  Wild flowers depend on sun and rain.  Instead, he is telling us to make sure that our priorities are correct.  He uses the word “mammon,” which is not exactly in our everyday vocabulary.  His term “mammon” is neutral – neither good nor bad.  It refers to our property or anything of value.  Jesus says that if mammon is our chief priority, then we will be consumed with worrying about fulfilling our basic needs and wanting much more.  However, if our main priority is God, then we will not worry so much and trust that our work in providing basic human needs will not fail.

            This Wednesday, we enter into the Season of Lent.  By voluntarily stripping ourselves through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, we renew our absolute trust and abandonment in God.  Prayer is the first and most important of these disciplines, because prayer reveals that everything we have is a gift from God.  Now, you would expect me to say these things, because that is my day job.  But, please listen to a “normal” person, Rob Lovett, who will speak to you about his life of prayer.  In hearing his words, please consider the specific ways in which you will renew your stewardship of prayer during these forty days of Lent.

  

Rob Lovett’s talk on Stewardship of Prayer

Good morning. I can’t tell you how honored I am to be asked by Father Bill to talk to you about my prayer life. But I’m pretty sure I know why he asked me. Over the past few years I’ve had reason to pray. Let me start by telling you that I’m a baby Catholic. I’m overjoyed to be saying that I converted just 2 short years ago. And I’m happy I did. I probably would not have done so (despite years of encouragement by my wife Janet) had I not attended a Christ Renews His Parish retreat. It was a life changing weekend for me and I would highly recommend everyone here to attend a weekend the first chance you get. I should also say 2 things before I get started. First, I am not one of Matthew Kelly’s 7%. I could do more. But I know I fit in with this crowd because I feel guilty that I’m not. And second and this is important to me, I don’t want you to feel sorry for me or my family after you hear what I have to say. I want you to hear is that God is with us no matter what life throws at us. As I mentioned, over the past few years I and many around me have needed help from our Father to get through life.

On June 17, 2012 our family got the news that no parent should ever have to hear. Our daughter Chelsea had been in a tragic accident and died instantly. I know I’m not the only one in this room that knows that horror . . . all the air is suddenly sucked out of your lungs . . . I felt total, complete emotional devastation. We called our dear friends the Rectanus’s and Father Bill. They came and helped us get through that horrible night. At some point that day I began to pray. I prayed for Chelsea, that she would be comforted by our Lord and all those that had gone before her; I prayed for Janet, that she could find some peace, her devastation could not be described nor can it to this day; I prayed for Chelsea’s twin Paige who had just had a part of her soul torn away; and prayed for her brothers Zachary and Jacob who loved their sister very much. We had all just lost one of the most important parts of our lives, way too suddenly!

With time God answered those prayers. Since those days, calm and normalcy came back into our lives, we began to cope with that loss and do that pretty well today. The Lord even saw fit to give us the gift of our grandchild Charlotte. Suffice it to say that she brightens every day even the gloomy ones. I pray to give thanks for that little angel! It is pretty cool to live with a saint! I’m thinking that God wanted me to pray harder.

In the fall of 2015 my son Jacob bit the bullet and went to college. He really wanted to get a clean break and chose Northern Arizona University. He was on top of the world, studying Geology, and living where you could hike and camp practically every weekend. Communication with Jake at that time was few and far between, he was just too busy enjoying life. On a weekend near the end of his 1st semester, from a random phone call Janet found out that he was very sick and had been for over a week with no relief in sight. He went to the campus infirmary and they told him to get to the local hospital immediately. After 4 days and many infusions of blood, they confirmed that he had acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The long story shortened is that we got Jake back to the area in a Chicago hospital (where he did his finals for the semester I might add) and it began a long journey getting him well. That journey included a stem cell transplant that gave him a new immune system. Believe me I prayed! In this case it wasn’t just me doing the praying. Thousands of people, all over the world prayed for Jacob and those prayers worked. My prayers were mostly that Jake would survive but I also prayed for Jacob to keep his head and get through this ordeal. I prayed that his doctors and nurses made good decisions for his care. I’ve never seen a person take all the poking a prodding that he had to take and do it with smile. His nurses loved him because he was to pleasant and easy going. God answered all those prayers. Jacob started 2017 back in Flagstaff, back in class, back with his girlfriend and calling me to vent about getting a B on a math test. (I’ll take that call all day long) He still has some medical issues to deal with but he is. In a call to his mom and me one Saturday night a couple of weeks ago he talked about how happy he was to be working on a life again.

For some time now I’ve prayed every day. I thank God for all that he’s given me. Our family eats well, we have clothes on our backs and the best part is that we have each other. I thank him for the miracles he has done in my life, leading me to Him through the Catholic Church, my granddaughter and Jacob’s recovery. I ask him for forgiveness for me being me on a daily basis and ask him to help me work on me. And finally I ask him for intercession in the lives of people around me that need his help. Folks, life puts up hurdles and roadblocks in our lives, some bigger than others. No matter the size they all look huge when they’re happening. We all need help dealing with them. I personally could not have survived these last few years without the comfort I got from knowing that God loves me and everyone around me and He wants the best for me. I strongly encourage you to take time every day to have a conversation with our Father.

SEVENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

19 FEBRUARY 2017

          For the past few weeks, we have been hearing from Saint Paul’s first letter to the Church at Corinth.  He has been urging the members of that Christian community to avoid the “wisdom of this world.” Scripture commentaries have helped me to understand the “wisdom” of that ancient Roman community in Corinth.  If Paul were writing to the Church of Saint Pius in our day, what would he classify as today’s “wisdom of this world”?

            So, I did a little survey of the television channels when I was working out at the gym.  There were a couple of soup operas that highlighted marital infidelity and the revenge of the offended parties.  I watched participants in the audience going crazy about a friend guessing the correct price of a dream vacation on “the Price Is Right”.  I watched two guys screaming at each other on ESPN about some slight suffered by a player in the NBA.  Then I tuned into two 24-hour news channels, with “Breaking News” bannered on the bottom and the people putting down those with whom they disagreed.  I next saw a clip about “keeping up with the Kardashians” and watched self-absorbed people arguing about the “good” life.  I even tried to find recourse in the Cooking Channel, hoping to find a new recipe.  But instead, I watched an aspiring young chef leaving the kitchen in despair after being chopped!

            The wasteland of daytime television reveals something about the “wisdom” of our world.  Instead, Saint Paul insists that we embrace the wisdom of God, found most clearly in the cross of Jesus Christ.  Today, Jesus gives us specifics about embracing his cross as true wisdom.  He speaks first about responding to violence and gives four examples.  In telling us to turn the other cheek, he is not telling battered women to continue to put up with abuse.  Rather, he is telling us to find creative ways to respond to insults and injuries.  Turning the other cheek gives the violent person a chance to reconsider.  His next advice involves some humor.  If a poor peasant is taken to court because someone wants his tunic, he can give over his coat too, standing there naked and embarrassing the one who is trying to take advantage.  Roman soldiers often humiliated Jewish residents by forcing them to carry their packs for a mile.  If a resident carries the pack for two miles, he or she demonstrates that they depend on God, not on the rude soldier.  He urges us to be generous to those who want to borrow, not worrying about whether we will be repaid.

            Jesus also reveals another way of embracing the cross – by loving our enemies.  He is not talking about having warm feelings for terrorists who want to murder and spread mayhem.  He is calling us to want the best for everyone, even for those who hate us.  He calls us to be perfect, not in the sense that we will be morally faultless in all our daily conduct, but in the sense that we try to love as God loves.  God loves everyone – even those who have no intention of returning God’s love.  It is easy to love those who will return our favors or invite us to dinner after we invite them.  It is more difficult to love, especially when we will not be repaid in any way.

            In rejecting the wisdom of this world, Jesus does not want us to be doormats.  Nor does Paul, whom no one would have considered a doormat!  In fact, Martin Luther King proved that responding in non-violent ways was the best way to secure civil rights.  The same is true of Mahatma Gandhi.  It is much more difficult to embrace the wisdom of the cross.  But, if we have the courage to embrace the wisdom of the cross, then we truly will be the temple of God.  Our new church is a beautiful temple that will serve this parish for generations.  But the real temple dwells in this parish community, especially if we take seriously the wisdom of the cross and trust in the transforming love of Jesus Christ, who died not just for the righteous, but for everyone. 

SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

12 FEBRUARY 2017

          Saint Matthew wrote his Gospel for Jewish Christians.  In his Gospel, he wanted to demonstrate that Jesus is the new Moses, giving the new law.  That is why he begins his Gospel with Jesus going up the mountain to give the Sermon on the Mount, much as Moses had gone up Mount Sinai.  There, Jesus, the new Moses, presents eight beatitudes – eight attitudes central to disciples living his new law of love.  Then, he says that those who live these beatitudes are like salt and light.  They preserve and enlighten.  Today, he addresses the question which would have been on the minds and in the hearts of the original readers of this Gospel:  how does the Old Law of Moses relate to this new law of love?  Jesus answers by stating that he has not come to abolish the Law of Moses, but to fulfill it.  Then he gives six specific examples.  We heard the first four today, and we will hear the other two next Sunday.

            If we are to become intentional disciples and provide salt and light to our world, we need to reflect on each of his examples.  The fifth commandment of the Law of Moses forbids murder.  Jesus raises the bar and tells us to avoid anger.  He is not talking about our human emotion of anger, which we all share.  He is not referring to the healthy ways in which we need to express that human emotion.  He is talking about deep seated resentments and hatreds which can consume us and damage or destroy human relationships.  We give one another the sign of peace before receiving the Lord in Communion as a way of stating that we are willing to work on reconciliation with those against whom we hold these grievances.

            The sixth commandment of the Law of Moses forbids adultery.  So does Jesus.  However, he goes further.  He warns us against the danger of making a person of the opposite sex into an object and obsessing over that person as an object of desire.  That is why pornography is so dangerous.  It encourages the type of lust which Jesus warns against.  Fortunately, we do not take as a literal command his words about tearing out our eyes or hands if we have been tempted!  We would all be walking around blind and without hands!

            The Law of Moses allowed divorce.  However, only a husband could file for a divorce, and he did not have to give any reason.  The wife had absolutely no rights.  Once he had gotten rid of her, she could be forced into another marriage or even into prostitution to make ends meet.  Jesus calls married disciples to a higher standard.  To this day, the Church continues to teach that only death can end a valid bond of marriage.  We do not regard divorce as ending a valid bond of marriage.  We urge married couples to do everything possible to repair any damage in marriages.

            The Law of Moses regulated the feudal system of Jesus’ day.  A person of lower rank swore an oath to a patron.  While we do not live in a feudal system anymore, our peers or our business interests might put us at odds with Gospel values.  Jesus instructs us to tell the truth at all times and to fulfill our oaths to God. 

            Jesus clearly raises the bar of expectations for us, his disciples.  His new Law deepens the wisdom which Sirach describes in the first reading.  God has clearly shown forth his love for us in allowing his Son to be sacrificed on the cross.  That love is extended to everyone.  But, as Sirach points out, God gives us a choice.  We can ignore that love and do whatever we want.  Or, we can choose to imitate that love by living Christ’s new commandment to love one another as he has loved us.  Living as faithful disciples involves making life changing choices to accept God’s mysterious wisdom manifested in the cross.  Living as faithful disciples also involves embracing that wisdom in the choices we make each day.  In making these daily choices, we preserve the Gospel message and provide hope in a darkened world.  We become salt and light.

FIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

5 FEBRUARY 2017

          The words of Isaiah are addressed to his people who have returned from their exile in Babylon.  In rebuilding their city and temple, they are recovering their lost religious traditions.  They have returned to the practice of fasting.  The prophet makes it clear that abstaining from food for religious purposes must find its expression in action.  Real fasting, he says, needs to be seen in sharing bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and homeless, and not turning their backs on family members with whom they are alienated.  If their fasting is manifested in these actions, they will be like a light shining in the darkness.

            Jesus gives his disciples a similar message.  In last Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus had told his disciples how they can be blessed, or happy.  He had told them that happy people show forth the mercy of God.  Merciful people are happy, because they hunger and thirst for righteousness (a right relationship with God).  Merciful people are happy, because they keep their hearts clean and ready for God.  Merciful people are happy, because they use peaceful means to settle disputes.  Merciful people are happy in counterintuitive ways.  The poor in spirit are happy, because they do not rely on wealth for salvation.  Those who mourn are ultimately happy, because they know that chasing after pleasure does not satisfy.  Meek people are happy, because they do not rely on power to make them feel important.  Even persecuted people can be happy, because they are detached from honor and are not obsessed with what others think of them.

            Jesus speaks of these people being blessed by referring to them in the third person.  However, then he turns to his disciples and says that you will be blessed when they insult and persecute you because of me.  In other words, you who embrace these beatitudes will run into opposition from those who think that wealth, pleasure, power, and honor are the most important objects in life.  But the world needs disciples who live the beatitudes, because those disciples become salt and light for the world.

            In the ancient world, salt was critical for survival.  Cities were built near sources of water and deposits of salt.  The word “salary” comes from the amount of salt given to each Roman soldier.  Without refrigeration in a hot climate, salt preserved meat and fish.  Salt was used to purify people, conquered lands, and sacrifices.  Salt was also given to guests as a sign of hospitality.  Faithful disciples of Jesus Christ are critical for the survival of the world.  Faithful disciples preserve his message.  When we live the beatitudes, our actions purify those elements of the culture that are contrary to the Gospel.  In offering hospitality to those strangers who come to us, we offer the welcome of Jesus Christ.

            Light was also critical in the ancient world.  Without electricity, even the smallest oil lamp or a single campfire could draw people to safety.  That is why the prophet Isaiah speaks of Jerusalem being a light to the nations.  Set on Mount Zion, travelers at night could clearly see the city as they approached it.  Those who live the beatitudes allow the light of Jesus Christ to shine through them and draw people to trust him and his saving works.

            When Jesus uses the word “you,” he uses it in the plural.  Each of us has been called to be a disciple through the waters of baptism.  We are salt and light more effectively when we live the beatitudes as a community.  We may be showing forth our communal faith in a very visible way as we prepare to dedicate our new church.  But we cannot lose sight of the more important ways in which we are salt and light:  when we share our bread with the hungry, when we shelter the oppressed and the homeless, when we clothe the naked, and when we open our arms to welcome back family members who have been alienated.

FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

29 JANUARY 2017

          The prophet Zephaniah addresses his people in exile in Babylon.  He encourages them to continue to observe the Lord’s law, to seek justice and humility, and to trust that the Lord has not abandoned them.  In fact, he assures them that their detachment from Jerusalem will have a positive result, when the faithful remnant will return to their homeland.

            At one level, we cannot begin to imagine what it is like for refugees all over the world, exiled from their homeland because of violence.  But we are in exile, because we no longer have a church building.  The Lord speaks to us through Zephaniah and gives us the same message. 

The Lord is preparing us for a new reality in our new church in this detachment.  First, we are already detached from our seating.  Most of us have camped out in the same places every week.  People are not sitting in their usual places anymore.  That will help us to adapt to a new configuration at the end of March.  Second, most of us go to the same Mass each week.  None of those Masses will remain the same, and we will have to choose a new time.  This time of exile will prepare us for a new physical reality.

            In the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord is preparing us for much more than a beautiful new physical reality.  He is preparing us for membership in the Kingdom of Heaven.  He is teaching us how to be truly happy, because that is what “blessed” means.  Four of the Beatitudes are positive.  At the heart of true happiness lies God’s mercy.  God loves us in his mercy, no matter how many bad choices we make.  If we truly live God’s mercy, then we can give it away to others.  Merciful people realize that only God can satisfy their ultimate hungers and thirsts.  When we hunger and thirst for righteousness, we want to live in right relationship with God.  Merciful people know how to be clean of heart, because putting God first will purify other desires for those things that do not satisfy.  Merciful people are happy when they reject all kinds of violence and strive to solve problems with peaceful means.

            The other four beatitudes teach us the value of detachment.  Saint Thomas Aquinas pointed out that there are four desires which can easily replace our desire for God:  money, pleasure, power, and honor.  Jesus says that we must learn to detach ourselves from these desires if we are to be truly happy.  Truly happy people are poor in spirit, because they have learned that bigger cars or homes or bank accounts do not make them happy in the end.  If the poor in spirit are blessed with wealth, they know how to use it wisely.  Truly happy people allow themselves to mourn in times of difficulty and sadness.  They have learned that chasing after pleasure all the time cannot satisfy.  Truly happy people are meek, not in the sense that they lie down and allow everyone to walk over them.  They are meek, in the sense that they know that always striving for power and control will not fulfill them.  They have learned to trust that God is in charge.  Truly happy people are sometimes persecuted or talked about behind their backs, because they have learned that their wellbeing does not depend on what other people think about them.  They follow their consciences with a peace that the world cannot give.

            We only have two months to allow the Lord to teach us how to detach ourselves from the physical realities that we have known and prepare ourselves to adapt to the realities of a new physical space.  But the Lord has given us the rest of our lives to learn how to embrace those four beatitudes which bring us happiness, and how to detach ourselves from the traps of money, pleasure, power, and honor.  He wants us to know those things are not bad in themselves, and that using them in correctly can guide us as we walk together in this pilgrimage of faith to the new and eternal Jerusalem.