SEVENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

20 FEBRUARY 2022

 

            Saul had been anointed by Samuel as the first king of Israel.  Unfortunately, Saul became consumed with jealousy at the success of David, who had won the victory over Goliath, the Philistine.  The king was convinced that David was trying to overthrow him.  In today’s first reading, David proves conclusively that the king is wrong.  David demonstrates his respect for the Lord’s anointed one when he refuses to kill his enemy, even though the king is trying to kill him.  Saul refuses to listen and is killed in battle.  David succeeds him as king.  Despite David’s flaws and sins, he is remembered as Israel’s greatest king.

            Jesus is the descendent of David who has come to establish his Kingdom in our midst.  Unlike David, he has no flaws and no sins.  In establishing his kingdom, he calls his disciples to a more radical love.  In the new Israel, disciples must go beyond the commands of the Law of Moses to love their neighbors.  We must love our enemies, do good to those who hate us, bless those who curse us, and pray for those who mistreat us.  In other words, Jesus commands us to love as he will love us by giving himself on the cross to show his love for us.

            The Lord is speaking directly to us.  In the past few years, we have suffered deep divisions in our families, in our parish, and even in our school.  With arguments over masking, vaccinations, and other issues, COVID has put us even more on edge.  Sadly, within our different communities, factions have evolved that have pitted us against each other as enemies.  Jesus tells us to be civil with one another in our differences.  We cannot vilify or take revenge on those with whom we disagree.  We cannot make fun of them.  We cannot make up nicknames that offend them.  We must intensify our efforts to love them, to do good to them, to bless them, and to pray for them.

            His words apply to us also as we renew our commitment to the Stewardship of Sacrificial Giving.  We can be tempted to attach strings to our gifts.  We can say that I give my gift only if the ones receiving do what I want.  Jesus assures us that generosity will be returned to us in ways that we can never imagine.

            Dan McDonough has come to believe in the Stewardship of Sacrificial Giving.  Please listen to his story, as you pray over your own decision to share a generous portion of your treasure.

 

Stewardship of Sacrificial Giving

Hi, my name is Dan McDonough and I have a question I’d like you ponder for a couple minutes. “Is it possible to out give God?” This summer I will be married to my wife Jody for 34 years. We have two boys, Matt and Sam. Although we have not been parishioners here for a long time, my parents have been here over 30 years and we’ve often come to church with them over that time. I learned about tithing at a very young age and got my first chance to tithe as a teenager. At 19, I had my first commission sales job. I remember praying to God way back then asking God to help me be successful in sales, because the more I sold the more I could give. That started me on a lifelong habit of sharing what I’ve been given. I enjoy giving and helping others. You really do feel better when you are generous. I’ve been through several up and down times in my adult life. Overall, I’m grateful for all God has blessed me with. We’ve always tried to give, even when we had nothing. About 12 years ago, we were facing possible bankruptcy. We had borrowed all we could, and I was not sure what to do. Maybe we didn’t give much then, but we still gave from what little we had. It was then that others were generous to us. It was humbling, but I’m forever grateful for those that were there for us. Over the next four years things gradually improved, and we dug our way out of the hole we were in. We grow as Christians when we are tested and things are tough, not when things are easy. I’ve heard countless stories about people who gave when they had little to give, only to have been blessed with a gift later that dwarfed what they gave. I’m not saying you will always be repaid financially, but in some way you will. Even if it does not happen here. The ultimate gift we could receive would be to spend eternity with God. I’ve not met too many people that like to talk about money and tithing, especially Catholic pastors. It’s an uncomfortable subject for most, but someone has to do it. A parish like St. Pius has lots of expenses to keep all the many ministries, buildings and people in place to serve the needs of its parishioners. St. Pius really offers so many ways to be involved, but there is a cost to accomplish that. When it comes to ministries in any parish, many people feel that someone else will step up, that they don’t have time or the money to share. Matthew Kelly has said that 20 % of the people in a parish give 80% of time, treasure and talents. I’d like to challenge anyone who feels that they are probably not in the 20%, to do more. I know that I can do more as well; we must push ourselves out of our comfort zones. Remember this, it’s all God’s anyway, he’s just letting us use it while we are here. We must be good shepherds of all we’ve been given. He is going to ask us what we did to feed his children. For those who are not doing so, I strongly encourage you to use the electronic giving format. It helps you assure that you are giving consistently every week, even when you are out of town. It helps the parish budget as well. Faith is what we need to rely on. Have faith that you can give, and everything will be fine. God will not abandon you because you are sharing what he gave you. I’m not sure that anyone could give like the widow that gave the only two coins she had, but we are not being asked to do that much. During our married life, we’ve been very involved in 4 parishes. I’ve been on many CRHP teams, church committees, school boards, etc. Often, I would think, I really don’t have time for all of this with as busy as I am. But looking back, it helped us grow into who we are now. I promise you; we ALL think we are too busy to get involved, and most of us are wrong in that assessment. It’s amazing how it all works out, whether it’s giving of time, talent or treasure. So, in closing I’d like to return to my original question. “Is it possible to out give God?” I contend that the answer is obviously a resounding NO. I’ve been saying for years, “You can’t out give God”. If you only remember one thing I said, remember that. God Bless

 

SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

13 FEBRUARY 2022

 

            In the first reading, the Prophet Jeremiah contrasts the blessings enjoyed by a person who trusts in the Lord with the curses suffered by one who trusts only in human beings.  He compares the one who trusts in the Lord to a tree planted beside the waters.  It stretches out its roots to the stream for nourishment.  He compares the one who trusts only in human beings to a barren bush in the desert.  It is isolated from the life-giving stream and stuck in a salt and empty waste.  Our Psalm contains these same contrasts.  In both cases, the tree does not accidentally find itself near the stream.  It is planted there!

            In the Gospel, Jesus uses this same literary device to contrast the blessings of those who have embraced his message with the curses of those who have refused.  Saint Luke tells us that he gives this version of the Beatitudes on level ground to the Twelve, the crowd of disciples, and to a large number of curious folks.  He is on level ground, because he has emptied himself of the privileges of divinity and taken on their nature.  He invites them to empty themselves of any attachments that keep them from embracing God’s gracious gift of love.  He calls the poor blessed (or happy or fortunate), because they do not need to have any status or wealth to be numbered as part of the Kingdom of God.  Those who are hungry are blessed, because they do not depend on any other external quantity to satisfy them.  Those who are weeping are blessed, because they can express sorrow over the power of sin in our world, especially in its power to draw us from a deeper connection with Jesus Christ.  Disciples are blessed when they have the courage to speak the truth in the face of rejection and persecution.

            Then he warns those who have not emptied himself that they are cursed.  The rich are cursed, because they think that their power or possessions can save them.  Those who are filled up cannot imagine being hungry for the Lord’s presence.  Those who pursue the feelings of happiness cannot understand the dangers of being drawn away from intimacy with the Lord.  Those who value popularity with other people above all cannot expect to be conformed to the image of Christ, who embraced rejection and trusted in being raised from the dead.

            Jesus is calling his disciples to respond to God’s love with action.  The Second Vatican Council insisted on a renewal of moral theology to emphasize that Christian living draw more on the Scriptures.  With that instruction, we can understand that the Beatitudes reveal God’s plan for our happiness here and in the world to come.  As we listen, we need to be aware that the Paschal Mystery of the Lord’s death and resurrection overshadows these words of Jesus.  Jesus invites us to be part of his kingdom now.  The kingdom is not a place.  Rather, it is a verb, a reality that he has brought to us and which he invites us to embrace. 

            With the aid of God’s grace, we can learn to live these Beatitudes by practicing the theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity.  Empowered by the Holy Spirit, we can embrace the moral virtues of prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance.  Then the fruits of the Holy Spirit – love, joy, and peace – can become more manifest in our lives.

            Jesus Christ does not want any of his beloved disciples to be cursed.  He wants us to be happy and fortunate.  He wants us to see each other as equal in the kingdom of God, hungering for his love, aware of the power of sin, and one with him in speaking an unpopular truth.  He also warns us against the dangers of relying on ourselves and our possessions, on filling our lives with what we think will fulfill our deepest hungers, pursuing the transitional emotion of happiness all the time, and pursuing popularity at all costs.  He wants our behavior to put us firmly in the Kingdom of God now.

FIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

6 FEBRUARY 2022

 

            Simon is doing what he does every day, washing his nets after fishing all night.  He allows Jesus to use his boat as a pulpit, because he had witnessed Jesus healing his mother-in-law.  Suddenly, Jesus tells Peter to return to deep water and lower his nets for a catch.  Peter is frustrated by this request of someone who knows nothing about fishing.  But, because he had heard the words of this itinerant preacher whom he calls “Master,” he obeys his command.  When he and his partners recognize the miracle of the huge catch of fish, he addresses Jesus as Lord and falls to his knees.  Like the Prophet Isaiah who had also encountered the Divine, Simon recognizes his unworthiness before the presence of the Son of God.  Jesus tells him not to be afraid, in spite of his unworthiness. 

            In 1840, a forty-two year old woman set sail from France to cross the Ocean to America.  She had been a comfortable single woman who did not speak English.  She had every reason to stay in France, to live her life in a familiar environment.  Once she reached this country, she set down a new life in the wilderness of southern Indiana.  She faced nearly impossible challenges, but did not fear and never looked back.  Her name is Mother Theodore Guerin, a Catholic nun recently canonized by Pope Francis.  Her image is on our triumphal arch, because she is a fellow Hoosier.  By the time of her death, she established several Catholic schools, some of them in Fort Wayne.  She founded an order of nuns and organized the oldest Catholic Liberal Arts College for women in America, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods in Terre Haute.   She recognized the call of God in the ordinary circumstances of her daily life and ventured into the deep and uncharted waters. 

            Mother Guerin followed the example of those we encounter in today’s readings.  Isaiah was praying in the Temple, trying to stay focused.  He responded to the Lord’s call to become the most beloved Prophet of the Old Testament.  Saul was making his way to Damascus to take care of business.  On his way, he encountered the risen Lord.  He became Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles.  Simon puts out into deep water and becomes Simon Peter, the first of the Apostles.

            The Lord continues to call each of us in our comfortable daily existence to put into the deep water.  Perhaps you are in an ongoing feud with a fellow worker or a neighbor.  The Lord might be calling you to cast your net into the deep water of forgiveness and mercy and tolerance.  Married couples can get stuck in the ordinary circumstances of simply tolerating each other.  The Lord might be calling you to cast your nets into a more profound and intimate experience of the Sacrament of marriage.  The Lord might be calling young people to the deeper water of personal encounter with others instead of being stuck in the common experience of online contact.

            Perhaps the Lord is calling us to do what Mother Guerin did –commit ourselves deep water of humble service.  The pandemic has taken a hit on our ability to serve the needs of others as parish stewards.  We are trying to rebuild that stewardship.  The Lord might be calling you to be part of the Saint Vincent de Paul Society to care for the poor and vulnerable.  He might be calling you to serve the needs of those who come to bury their dead here, offering consolation and a shared meal.  He might be calling you to serve as a minister of hospitality to welcome in his name those who come to the parish wondering if they can experience the Lord’s presence here.  Faithful stewards do not cast their nets into the deep water for their own benefit.  We cast our nets for the benefit of others.  We will be successful if our service is rooted in Christ.

Through the intercession of Mother Guerin, we can take steps into the unknown to make a difference and evangelize in our own ways and our own time.  If a fellow Hoosier who lived on the border of Kentucky can do it, so can we who live on the border of Michigan!

 

FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

30 JANUARY 2022

 

          When couples meet with Jeremy Hoy to plan their weddings, many couples choose this passage from Saint Paul’s Letter to the Corinthians as their New Testament reading.  As much as Paul’s words directly apply to married couples, his intended audience was the Church of Corinth.  The members of that Christian community had embraced the Gospel message given to them by Paul.  However, there were deep divisions within the community that threatened their unity as members of the Body of Christ.

            Saint Paul tells them that solution to their divisions is to love one another.  Unlike the word love in English, there are three different words for love in Greek.  He could have used the Greek word Eros for love.  This is the root word for our English word erotic. Eros is love with all the lights on self:  my wants, my desires, my lusts, and my passions.  Eros is not the word Paul uses here.  The second Greek word for love is phileo.  We define that word as “brotherly love,” or love given and received in friendship with others.  Phileo is reciprocal or exchanged love between human beings.  But phileo is not Paul’s word here.

            Paul uses the word agape, which is a self-less and self-giving love.  Agape is the Greek word to describe God’s selfless gift to us.  It is not self-centered.  It is not given with expectation of receiving anything in return.  Paul tells the community to embrace this still more excellent way of loving.  If they learn to love in this way, they move beyond a focus on their individual wants or needs.  They can love one another as God loves them.

            We see this type of loving in the words of the Prophet Jeremiah.  He expresses love for his people by telling them the truth about their behavior.  He knows that he will receive nothing but condemnation in return.  He trusts the love God had given him in forming him as a prophet.  Jesus expresses that same love when he announces to the hometown folks that the prophecy of Isaiah was finally fulfilled in him. He understands that they will find him too familiar.  They will be outraged when he announces that his message will extend beyond the limits of God’s chosen people.  They try to throw him off the cliff.  However, it is not his hour.  He will fulfill his agape love when he will be crucified on another hill outside of Jerusalem.

            Like the Corinthian community, we have our share of divisions.  We are divided along political lines.  We disagree on how to respond to COVID.  These past two years have put unusual pressures on all of us, affecting the ways we deal with one another. I have never seen so much bitterness in my years as a priest.  Saint Paul speaks to us and encourages us to put aside childish ways and embrace the wisdom of agape love.  He is very specific about what agape love looks like.  We can be much more patient and kind with one another, even when we disagree with each other.  We can surrender our jealousies about what others have to accept the different gifts each of us has received.  That will keep us from being pompous, inflated, and rude.  Agape love makes us more even tempered so that we do not brood when we are injured.  Instead of rejoicing over wrongdoing, we can more readily rejoice with the truth.  Agape love will keep us focused on actions on behalf of the other, instead of focusing on what we want or think we need.

            Practicing agape love will not resolve arguments or put disagreements behind us.  But it will enable us to engage each other with completely different attitudes.  All disagreements and divisions will eventually pass away.  But agape love will not.  It will enable us to bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, and endure all things.  It worked for Jeremiah.  It worked for Jesus Christ in the glory of the resurrection.  It worked for the Christian community of Corinth. It can work for us, if we have the courage to embrace it.

 

SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

16 JANUARY 2022

 

          The Prophet Isaiah speaks in God’s name to his people who have just been released from their captivity in Babylon.  It had seemed to them that God had been silent during those forty years.  Now, God rejoices over Jerusalem as a lover rejoices over his bride.  God no longer calls his people “forsaken” or “desolate” because of their sins.  Instead, God gives them new names.  He calls them “My Delight” and “espoused.”  Just as Adam had named all creatures in the Book of Genesis to reflect his stewardship of creation, God gives his people a new direction, a new mission.  God is the joyful bridegroom who sees his people dressed in the splendor of a bride.

            Saint John uses marriage imagery to describe Jesus’ first miracle at the wedding feast at Cana.  His focus is not on the bride and groom.  They are facing embarrassment because they ran out of wine.  His focus is on Jesus, the bridegroom who will form a new Covenant, replacing the Covenant mediated through Moses.  At the base of Mount Sinai, Moses announced that the Lord would reveal his glory on the third day and form them into a Covenant community.  On the third day, Jesus reveals his glory by changing water into wine.  He is the bridegroom who will form disciples and create a new community. The six stone water jars represent the Old Covenant.  In forming the New Covenant, Jesus exceeds all expectations by changing 130 gallons of water into wine.  That is an incredible amount of wine!  The headwaiter confirms that something new and unexpected has happened.  Jesus reveals his glory for the first time and invites his disciples to begin to place their trust in him.

            The mother of Jesus plays an important role in this first sign.  She informs her Son of the problem.  He appears to respond rudely when he calls her “woman” and asks how her concern affects him.  The text literally says, “What is this to me and to you?”  His hour will eventually come when the bridegroom will give himself completely out of love for his bride, the Church.  At this moment, he has established a new relationship with his mother.  She is now more than his physical mother.  She is a disciple who puts complete trust in her Son.  As a faithful disciple, she tells the servers to do what he says.

            The next time that the mother of Jesus appears in the Gospel of John is at the foot of the cross on Calvary.  In that terrible moment when her Son’s hour has finally come, she will remain a faithful and committed disciple.  Her Son will give her to the care of the beloved disciple, who also stands at the foot of the cross.  Her Son will also give his beloved disciple to his mother.  Because Saint John never mentions the name of the beloved disciple, he invites each one of us to see ourselves as his beloved disciple standing at the foot of the cross with Mary as our mother.

            The Lord formed us as his beloved disciples into the new community of the Church when we were baptized.  As we continue to recognize signs of his presence and deepen our trust in him, we follow the example of the Mother of God, the first and most faithful disciple.  We ask her intercession as we continue to discern what spiritual gifts the Lord has given us.  As Saint Paul points out to Corinthians, the Lord has given each of us individual gifts.  He gives these gifts not for our individual needs, but for the benefit of the community.  We can exercise our role as beloved disciples by putting these gifts at the service of this community.  We can better understand our role as beloved disciples, as our Lord’s Delight.  Espoused to him as his bride, we can work together to make a difference in a world torn apart by hatred, violence, racism, and lack of respect.

 

 

THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD

9 JANUARY 2022

 

          The Prophet Isaiah speaks to his people who are in captivity in Babylon.  He shifts his tone from condemning his people for their past sins to giving them hope that they will be restored as God’s people in the future.  He speaks of comfort for Jerusalem with great tenderness.  He promises a new exodus back to the Promised Land, with road construction workers filling in the valleys and leveling the mountains and hills.

            On this last day of this Christmas Season, we see his prophecy fulfilled in the voice of John the Baptist.  John is extremely popular with the crowds.  But, he humbly insists that he is not the Christ.  Instead, he points to Jesus.  He tells the poor in spirit that their valleys will be filled in so that they can embrace their savior.  He insists that the mountains of the proud must be leveled before they can be saved.  He invites the crowd to be plunged into the River Jordan as a sign that they will make the changes in their lives to allow them to embrace the Christ.

            Then he baptizes Jesus in the dirty waters of the Jordan.  He does not baptize Jesus for the forgiveness of any sins.  He plunges Jesus into those same waters to say that he has shared everything of our humanity, both good and bad, except for sin.  He plunges Jesus into those waters to show the absolute love he has for all of us, despite our sins and many faults.

            Saint Luke does not describe the actual baptism of Jesus.  He says that after he has been baptized, he is praying.  Throughout the Gospel of Luke, Jesus prays at every important event in his ministry as a matter of faithful obedience to his Father.  The heaven is opened and the Spirit descends on him, much as the Spirit of God hovered over the waters of creation in Genesis.  Jesus initiates a new creation, a new way of living and existing.  The voice from the heaven calls him his beloved Son in whom he is well pleased.  Abraham had called Isaac his beloved son three times before taking him up Mount Moriah.  Jesus will be that obedient Son, giving himself to us out of love.  He is also the faithful servant of the Lord, bringing the ultimate comfort spoken by Isaiah.

            We became God’s beloved children when we were baptized.  Our baptismal font is a powerful sign of being plunged into the watery grave of Christ’s death.  We emerge from those waters completely free of sin and totally one with Jesus Christ.  We are loved, even though we are sinners.  The Father delights in us, just as he delighted in his Beloved Son.

            As we leave this Christmas Season, we can do exactly what Jesus did.  We can pray to have the courage to cooperate with the grace of our baptism.  We are part of a new creation.  We have been given new life and a new way of existing.  The Holy Spirit can empower us to live that new life more completely.  The suscipe prayer of Saint Ignatius of Loyola can be ours:           

Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty,

            my memory, my understanding,        

            and my entire will,     

            all I have and call my own.

 

            You have given all to me.

            To you, Lord, I return it.

 

            Everything is yours; do with it what you will.

            Give me only your love and your grace.

            That is enough for me.

 

THE EPIPHANY OF THE LORD

2 JANUARY 2022

 

          The Prophet Isaiah speaks to his people who have just returned from forty years of exile in Babylon.  Despite their joy at returning home, they found Jerusalem in ruins.  Darkness had descended on the destroyed city and demolished temple.  Isaiah reminds his people that God had not abandoned his Covenant promises, even though they had not been faithful.  Isaiah promises that God will manifest his light in Jerusalem.  God will restore his temple and city to allow all the nations to see his glory.  As in the days when the Queen of Sheba brought lavish gifts to King Solomon, caravans of camels will come to Jerusalem from Sheba bearing the precious gifts of gold and frankincense, proclaiming the praises of the Lord.

            Saint Matthew sees this prophecy fulfilled in the birth of Jesus Christ.  The glory of the Lord shines forth in God taking on human flesh.  Led by a star, the mysterious magi from the east see an ordinary child in Bethlehem through human eyes.  However, by faith, they see much more.  They fall down and worship God in human flesh and offer him gifts of gold for his kingship, frankincense for his divinity, and myrrh for his humanity.  This child will save the world by entering into the fate of all humans:  death, to be destroyed by the resurrection.   

            Saint Matthew wrote his Gospel to Christians who had grown up in their Jewish heritage.  For that reason, his story of the magi makes an important point.  From the beginning, God intended the gifts of God’s presence and light to go beyond its Jewish roots to all of the earth.  We are beneficiaries of those gifts.  We encounter Jesus Christ in the same way that the magi encountered him.  When we come to the Eucharist, we see ordinary bread and wine through human eyes.  However, by faith, we see much more.  We recognize the risen Lord truly present  in the Eucharist.  We too can bring him gifts.  We may not bring him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  We bring the gifts of our hearts in praise and thanksgiving. 

            Nourished by the Lord’s real presence in the Eucharist, we can give at least three gifts of our hearts to our world.  First, we can be both light bearers and light reflectors.  Our world is wallowing these days in the darkness of hatred and mistrust, much to our own making.  We can dare to be people of light, allowing the light of Christ to shine through our actions.

            Second, we can give the light of acceptance.  It is easy to confuse “acceptance” with “condone.”  Of course, there are all kinds of behaviors in our lives and in the lives of others that we do not condone.  Instead of writing off those people whose actions we do not condone, we can work on those behaviors in our own lives which need to be changed.  We can work to accept others. We begin the difficult process of bringing the light of Christ to the darkness around us.

            Finally, we can give the gift of joy.  Throughout this holy season of Christmas, we have been praising God with joyful carols.  We can be people of joy when this season ends next Sunday.  Instead of dwelling in the darkness of negativity and despair, we can learn to live in the affirming reality of grace.

            Many people worry about how we will emerge from these two dark years of division and acrimony both in the Church and in our nation.  Satan has been having a field day with all the negative events of these last two years.  The Solemnity of Epiphany gives the answer.  We can emerge from this season as people who embrace the shining light of the Incarnate Word dwelling in our midst.  Then we can reflect that light to everyone, absolutely everyone!