TWENTY-SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

26 SEPTEMBER 2021

 

          Today, John speaks alone (without his brother James) to complain to Jesus that he had seen someone driving out demons in the name of Jesus.  He had tried to prevent the exorcist, because that person does not follow us.  It is important to note that John does not argue that he is not following Jesus.  He argues that he is not following US.  He wants to exclude this person, much as Joshua wanted to exclude Eldad and Medad in the first reading.

            Jesus forbids him from preventing this exorcist for three reasons.  First, the person is acting with authentic faith in Jesus Christ, making it impossible for that person to speak ill of him.  Second, Jesus insists that anyone who is not against us is for us.  Most importantly, he argues that even the simplest acts of kindness have redemptive value, if done in the name of Jesus.  While John argues for exclusion, Jesus argues for inclusion in his name.

            In our own day, there are many things that divide us.  We belong to different political ideas.  We argue about how to proceed with this pandemic.  We are divided about whether masks work or not.  We want to exclude those who are not following us.  But Jesus tells us, as he tells John, that we cannot exclude those who disagree with us.  We have much more in common with one another when we proclaim our authentic faith in Jesus Christ, when we are together with him, and when we extend simple acts of kindness to others. 

            But Jesus also warns against the real dangers to us who proclaim our faith in him.  Those dangers dwell in the deadly lure of sin.  Sin can destroy the life which Jesus Christ shares with us.  We cannot put stumbling blocks before others, especially children and the most vulnerable.  Bad behaviors can lead them into separation from God.  Then he also gives three examples of the effects of scandal on oneself.  In the ancient world, amputations were seen as a liberalization of capital punishment.  Thieves lost one of their hands.  Those who walked to do harm to others could lose a foot.  Those who were caught in adultery or any kind of infidelity could lose one or both of their eyes.  Those who were maimed in this way could not participate in public worship, because they were considered unclean.

            Jesus points out that our hands, our feet, and our eyes can lead us into sin.  In his letter, Saint James exposes the sin of the rich who defraud the poor for their own financial gain.  Jesus insists that is better to lose one of these bodily parts than to allow them to form a destructive pattern of sin.  We do not need to take these words literally.  But we need to take whatever action is necessary to protect ourselves from the damaging effects of our own bad choices on others and on ourselves.  Making bad choices is more damaging than ritual impurity.

            When I was growing up, preachers often spoke of the fires of hell.  It seemed that too many religious leaders were trying to frighten me into being good.  I am glad that we do not do this anymore.  However, we cannot ignore the truth of what Jesus is saying about safeguarding others and ourselves from the destructive patterns of sinfulness.  God does not want anyone to be separated from him for eternity.  But, God also respects our choices.  C.S. Lewis wrote:  “There are only two kinds of people in the end:  those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says in the end, “Thy will be done.’”

            In our divided world, the Lord is encouraging us to recognize those elements of faith that bind us together.  He is warning us not to allow the anger and vindictiveness of our political discourse to enter into our faith community.  But he is also telling us to pattern our lives after his and avoid whatever might tear that community of faith.

 

 

TWENTY-FIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

19 SEPTEMBER 2021

 

          Saint James makes a distinction between wisdom from below and wisdom from above.  He is not talking about wisdom in the sense of knowing things.  Rather, the wisdom he speaks of involves behavior.  As he points out, wisdom from above is pure, peaceable, gentle, compliant, and full of mercy and good fruits.  Those who embrace wisdom from above know righteousness.  Not only are their prayers answered, but they enjoy peace.

In contrast, jealousy and selfish ambition are hallmarks of wisdom from below.  Those who embrace this wisdom find themselves in disorder and every foul practice.  They become envious of what other people have.  They tend to take any action to achieve what they want and form warring factions that tear apart the bonds of their community.  Those who pursue wisdom from below are concerned only with their own passions. They cannot receive what they pray for.

            Saint James mentions the name of Jesus Christ only two times in his letter.  But we know that Jesus is the personification of wisdom from above.  As we listen to his Gospel, Saint Mark continues to reveal the mission of this incarnate wisdom from above.  Peter has correctly identified Jesus as the Messiah, the Christ, the Anointed One of God.  But Peter cannot accept that the Father has given a mission of sacrificial love to this Messiah.  As they continue to walk the way to Jerusalem, Jesus again tries to explain his mission as the Suffering Servant.  He tells them that he will be handed over in the passion, suffer death on the cross, and be raised on the third day. 

            But the disciples cannot hear this wisdom from on high.  They are too engaged in wisdom from below.  In that wisdom, they see him as a conquering hero, like King David had been.  They envision a mighty court in which the triumphant Messiah has banished the Romans and all their enemies forever.  They are discussing their roles in that court.  We can only imagine their arguments.  Peter brags that he has been named the rock, the guy in charge of everything.  John argues that Jesus loves him more than the others.  Matthew reminds them of his connections with tax collectors.  It does not take much imagination to reconstruct their discussion.

            Jesus dismisses this wisdom from below.  He has already served the sick, the possessed, the poor, the lepers, and all who have come to him for help.  Now he takes the position of a teacher by sitting down and instructing the twelve about their share in his mission.  Instead of grasping for positions of power and prestige, they must do what he is doing.  They cannot assume the regal positions of those in authority.  Instead, they must be humble servants, willing to give their lives away.  To make his point, he takes a child and places the child in their midst.  Children in the ancient world had not status and no rights.  As Apostles, as those in leadership positions, they must receive insignificant people in the same way that the Father has sent him.

            Jesus is speaking directly to us.  If we claim to be his disciples, we must be humble servants.  We must receive the most insignificant among us as we would receive him.  We cannot embrace wisdom from below.  If we dig in our heels and refuse to listen to those in legitimate authority, we are erecting barriers that harm our community.  If we seek prestige or power, we put our community at risk of conflicts and divisions.  If we look for recognition or praise, we miss the wisdom of humble service.  If we close ourselves off to those who are different from us, we risk closing ourselves to Christ himself.  Jesus is present to us in Word and Sacrament, giving us strength to embrace wisdom from above.  We can be instruments of his saving presence, bringing to our parish the peace that only God can give.

 

 

TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

12 SEPTEMBER 2021

 

          Jesus walks with his disciples on their way to Caesarea Philippi.  In those surrounding villages, he is seeking a higher ground known today as the Golan Heights, much as I seek the higher ground of Colorado for rest every January.  He stops and asks them what the gossip about his identity is.  They give a few responses:  John the Baptist, Elijah, or one of the prophets.  Because they have heard his teaching, marveled at his wisdom, and seen his miracles, he asks them who they say that he is.  Peter gives the correct answer and identifies him as the Christ, the Anointed One of God.  Warning them not to tell anyone this truth, he reveals to them the mission assigned to him by his Father.  He will suffer greatly, as the suffering servant in the first reading had suffered.  He will be rejected by the authorities, killed, and then be raised from the dead.

            This mission makes no sense to Peter, who expects the long awaited Messiah to be a conquering hero; much like King David was centuries before.  He takes Jesus aside and rebukes him, telling him to follow a much more sensible path of saving God’s Chosen People.  Jesus then rebukes Peter.  In the desert, Jesus had told Satan to get behind him for temping him to think as humans do.  Now he tells Peter to get behind him and trust in the Father’s way of thinking.

            Then he clarifies to his disciples what it will mean for them to continue to walk with him on the way to Jerusalem.  They must choose the way of sacrificial love.  His disciples must deny themselves, take up their crosses, and follow him.  He tells them that they must lose their lives if they want the Messiah to save them.  In following him, they will have legitimate concerns about their own safety, their own health, and their own wellbeing.  But those concerns cannot be the ultimate ones for those who choose to be his disciples.  They must perish.  They must be ruined when the time comes for them to make the decision to continue to walk with him.

            Jesus is speaking directly to us, his disciples who have chosen to walk the way with him as intentional disciples today.  We too have legitimate concerns for our own safety, our own health, and our own wellbeing.  But, there are times when we must put those concerns aside to walk with him through sacrificial love.  Mothers understand those times, especially when they carry infants in their wombs and endure the pain of childbirth.  Parents understand those times when they dedicate quality time to spend with their children instead of committing hours to climb the ladders of success.  Young people understand those times when they walk the way of the crucified Jesus and befriend someone unpopular at risk of becoming unpopular themselves.  During this pandemic, intentional disciples have learned to put the common good ahead of our own individual freedoms and opinions.  None of these examples involves nails and wood.  But each of them demands sacrificial love.

            Saint James understands these times well when he insists that we must express our faith by good works.  James is not contradicting Saint Paul’s words to the Romans that faith alone in Jesus Christ saves us.  But, it is critical to express our faith by our actions.  We cannot profess an authentic faith and ignore the needs of the poor around us.  That is why our parish sets aside 8 ½ % of our income to respond to the needs of those less fortunate than we are.  That is why we will respond to the requests of Father Larry Kanyike when he visits us next month to ask for our help for his impoverished parish.  That is why the work of our Saint Vincent de Paul Society is so critical.  That is why we respect the unborn, care for the sick, and tend to the dying.

            In our legitimate concern for health and wellbeing, we can trust the words of Jesus that our suffering will not destroy us, any more than his passion did not destroy him.  The Lord walks with us in good times and in bad and saves as we carry our crosses with sacrificial love.              

 

TWENTY-SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

29 AUGUST 2021

 

          As a parish, we are getting to know Father Augustine.  He is young, full of joy, and extremely energetic.  Since his arrival at the parish, he vigorously repeats the phrase, “Just do it!” over and over again.  Father Augustine is well aware that he did not invent this phrase.  Nor is he trying to sell Nike shoes and clothing.  Instead, he is expressing his intention.  After many years of preparation, he is excited about putting into action what he has been trained to do:  serving the people of this parish with love.

            The Letter of Saint James gives us the same message.  Saint James tells us centuries before Nike came into existence:  “Just do it!”  In instructing us to be doers of the word instead of just hearing it, he is calling us to act on the word of salvation we received at baptism.  In telling us to act on this word, he knows the difference between hearing and listening.  It is easy to hear something, to allow the words of another to enter into one ear and go quickly out the other.  Listening involves giving the gift of our attention.  The root of the word attention means “to stretch.”  To attend to someone or something literally means to stretch toward.  In hearing God’s word, we attend to it and even become subject to it, like attendants in the courts of kings and queens.  In attending, we are letting ourselves become pliable, stretching, and softening in response to the invitation of the word and the needs of others.  

            That is the message of Moses in first reading from the Book of Deuteronomy.  He tells his listeners that they are a very special people, because God has chosen them to be his own.  God has given them the gift of wisdom, which is the conviction that he is always present and active in their daily lives.  But they also need to be intelligent, or understanding.  Intelligence results from a serious process of discernment.  In being intelligent, they acknowledge that they cannot immediately and completely grasp what God is doing in any situation.  Intelligent people allow their personal assumptions and opinions to be challenged.  Intelligent people do not speak or act like they are God.

            That is the problem with the Pharisees and scribes in today’s Gospel.  They have taken the Law of Moses, and put a fence around it to include 613 individual laws.  These traditions make the Law of Moses a burden, not a gift.  They are so complicated that only the professional scribes can sort them out.  The Pharisees and scribes are urban dwellers.  They can easily purify their hands or vessels, because water is readily available.  However, more rural peasants do not have ready access to water.  Fishermen are unable to avoid contact with dead creatures as they sort out their nets.  As a result, the Pharisees and scribes question their holiness, as they question the holiness of the disciples of Jesus.

            Jesus responds to their questioning and calls them “hypocrites,” citing the prophet Isaiah who criticized the hypocrisy of religion devoid of human conviction.  Because the root word for hypocrisy is to act, Jesus is accusing them of acting as if they are putting the Law into practice.  Their oral laws concerning the use of water to purify do not address the root causes of sin that cause separation and division.  Jesus replaces their oral law with the freedom to love.

            We can exercise that freedom to love and “just do it.”  In this time of deep divisions, we can listen more attentively to the Word of God, allowing it to make us more pliable.  Then we can listen to each other, stretching ourselves to understand where they are coming from.  We do not need to agree with one another.  But we can soften our response.  We have witnessed the masking wars at PHM.  Now we have those wars in our school.  If we can listen more carefully, we can learn to live with one another more completely when this pandemic is finally over.

 

SOLEMNITY OF SAINT PIUS X

22 AUGUST 2021

 

          The Prophet Ezekiel writes to his people who have been scattered into exile.  Their leaders put their energies into caring for themselves instead of caring for the needs of those entrusted to their care.  Unlike shepherds who tended to the needs of their flocks, these leaders tended to their own needs.  Ezekiel comforts his scattered people, assuring them that God has not abandoned them.  He promises that God himself will pasture his sheep.

            This promise has been fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, whose image is on our triumphal arch.  The Good Shepherd draws sheep to himself, with one of his flock seated securely on his lap.  The Good Shepherd laid down his life for us, his sheep.  We see that total gift on the crucifix hanging above the Altar.

            Our Good Shepherd has entrusted to human beings the care of his flock, his Church.  None of these shepherds are perfect, and none are without sin.  Saint Peter is a good example.  Even though Peter vowed that he would die with Christ, he denied knowing him three times in the courtyard of the high priest out of fear (pictured on the triumphal arch with a charcoal fire and black smoke and the cock crowing).  In today’s Gospel, the risen Christ prepares breakfast for his disciples on the shore of the Sea of Galilee (pictured on the triumphal arch with the Sea of Galilee and a charcoal fire with white smoke).  Knowing that Peter has truly repented from his sin, he asks if he loves him.  He asks this question three times, not to rub Peter’s sin into his nose, but to indicate that he has truly forgiven him.  In response, Jesus tells Peter to feed his lambs, tend his sheep, and feed his sheep (with those words above Peter’s image on the left of the triumphal arch).  Jesus could have easily told Peter that he blew it, and that he would choose someone more dependable.  Instead, he knows that Peter will be a better shepherd.  He gives to Peter his mercy and assurance that he will never abandon him.

            Pope Saint Pius X is the 257^th Bishop of Rome.  Like all of Peter’s successors, Giuseppe Sarto was not sinless.  He had his share of weakness and faults, as we all do.  However, he was known for his extraordinary holiness and his efforts to lay down his life for his flock.  His motto was “To renew all things in Christ” (with those words inscribed above his image on the right side of the triumphal arch).  Our parish is the only parish in this diocese under the patronage of Saint Pius X, who was canonized in the early 1950’s.  In celebrating his Solemnity today, we commit ourselves to do all we can to renew all things in Christ.

            We ask for his intercession today as we continue this important work.  We are calling this third year of our five year strategic plan the “Year of Renewal.”  Each month, there will be a specific way in which we are invited to join together in the work of renewal.  During this month of August, we are beginning the process of renewing our parish from the limitations we have suffered in these past sixteen months of the ongoing pandemic.  Celebrating our feast day and our annual picnic in a new way, we are committing ourselves to rebuilding so much of what we lost.  Please pay attention to the monthly themes, which will be announced on our website and in our bulletin.  Next month, for example, we are committing ourselves to renewing our families, our community, and our participation on both of these.  Working together in each of these upcoming specific areas, we can imitate what Saint Pius X was doing in the early years of the 20^th century.  In these early years of this 21^st century, we join together in the work of renewing, trusting the Lord’s presence in our efforts and seeking the intercession of our Patron Saint.  Saint Pius X, pray for us!

 

TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

22 AUGUST 2021

 

          Every once in a while, a couple will choose today’s second reading from Saint Paul to the Ephesians as their second reading for their wedding Liturgy.  I love to watch the reaction in the congregation.  Husbands smile and poke their wives when Saint Paul announces that “wives should be subordinate to their husbands in the Lord.”  Many wives frown and poke them back.  They are listening to Saint Paul’s words through 21^st century ears.  They think that Saint Paul is encouraging men to control their wives and dominate them.

            In fact, this is not what Saint Paul is saying at all.  Saint Paul is using first century Roman marriage customs.  At that time, husbands were in complete control of the family, and every member of the family was subordinate to him – wives, children, and slaves.  This cultural pattern lasted for many centuries.  If you have ever been to a play written by William Shakespeare in the 16^th century, wives routinely refer to their husbands as “my lord.” 

            Instead, he is telling the disciples of Jesus Christ who live in Ephesus that their marriages can be visible signs of the mystery of Christ’s relationship with his Church.  Christ is the faithful bridegroom who has given everything to his bride the Church.  Good marriages help us to understand that mystery.  For that reason, husbands and wives need to subordinate themselves to each other out of reverence to Christ.  In subordinating themselves to Christ, wives subordinate themselves to their husbands.  In subordinating themselves to Christ, husbands need to die to themselves for the sake of their families, as Christ died for his bride the Church.  Instead of challenging the marriage customs of his day, he argues that faithful disciples who imitate the love of Christ can transform their lives.

            Saint Paul gives us that same message.  Today’s marriages may take different forms.  But, if we model ourselves after the self-giving love of Jesus Christ, we can allow that love to transform our lives and our culture.  In truth, couples today do not have the support they need to make and keep permanent commitments in marriage.  That is why weekends like Marriage Encounter can help support healthy marriages.  Those whose marriages have ended in divorce need our support as they move forward to be healed and to trust in the presence of the Lord Jesus in their lives as they move forward.  Those who have been widowed also need our help.  We are the Church, walking with them to accept the consolation that the Lord promises to those who grieve.  Those who are called to live as single people need our support.

            The real challenge for married couples is to believe that marriage truly is a Sacrament.  In living the Sacrament of marriage in good times and in bad, they are showing the rest of us what the love of Christ looks like.  In embracing this message of Saint Paul to the Ephesians, they can increase their trust that the Sacramental Grace of marriage is active in them.  That grace enables them to confront the challenges and difficulties in ways they could never have anticipated.

            In today’s Gospel, we hear the end of the “Bread of Life” discourse in Saint John’s Gospel.  Many of his disciples cannot accept that he gives his flesh and blood to them in the form of transformed bread and wine.  They leave him and return to their former ways of life.  They can no longer accompany him.  Peter speaks for us when Jesus asks if he wants to leave also.  “Master, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life.  We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.”  As we receive the Eucharistic Lord at this Mass, we too accept his nourishment to maintain our faith and to accompany him, trusting that he can transform our lives and world.

 

THE ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

15 AUGUST 2021

 

            The Book of Revelation was written to give hope to the baptized who were suffering for their commitment to Christ.  They believed that the Lord Jesus was raised from the dead and rules over the whole world.  However, that belief clashed with the Roman emperors’ claim that they were divine.  The Roman emperor Domitian gave himself the title “Our Lord and our God.”

            To inspire the baptized to live like Christ as their Lord and God, the author of Revelation sets heavenly visions before them.  Heaven is not a distant ideal place. Rather, it is a realm that exists side by side and intermingles with the earthly realm.  In today’s passage, the author presents a hopeful vision.  The woman with the crown of twelve stars on her head represents the twelve tribes of Israel, the Church, from whom the Messiah comes.  She is surrounded by light.  The sun envelops her.  The moon is beneath her feet.  A crown of twelve stars rests on her head.  The dragon represents the powers of darkness over the earth.  The seven crowns represent its false claims to absolute authority.  A sweeping tail demonstrates its paralyzing efficiency.  The red skin symbolizes death, the fate it intends for the woman and for those who believe in her child.  However, the dragon fails.  The newborn is “caught up to God and his throne.”  In other words, earth and heaven are intermingled on the battlefield of the cross.  The Father rescues him from death in the resurrection. 

            As we celebrate the Assumption of Mary into heaven, we reflect more deeply on her role in this Mystery.  The woman is the symbol of the Church.  But Mary is the symbol of the Church who still gives birth in the lives of the faithful.  Pope Saint Leo the Great said:  “Christ placed in the baptismal font the source of his origin in the womb of the Virgin:  the power of the most high and the overshadowing of the water to give rebirth to the believer.”  Another ancient source says, “Mary carried life in her womb; the Church, in the baptismal font.  In the body of Mary Christ put on flesh; in the waters of the Church the baptized put on Christ.”

            That is why this Solemnity of the Assumption is so important.  We put on Christ when we were baptized.  Mary is the first human person to experience the bodily resurrection of her Son.  She is the promise to us that what has happened to her can happen in us.  Her Assumption gives us the blessed hope that where she has gone, we hope to follow.  This blessed hope encourages us to live our faith now, as it encouraged the early Christians to live their faith.

            This blessed hope changes the way we view life-changing decisions.  Instead of repeating the tired phrase, “it doesn’t matter,” we realize that all our decisions great and small, truly matter.  Our decisions to take care of our health and the health of our planet truly matter.  Our decisions to respect life from the moment of conception to natural death truly matter.  Our decisions to remain faithful to our permanent commitments make a difference.

            This blessed hope focuses our attention on the importance of living with high expectations.  Our faith tells us that we are moving toward transformation, not dissolution. In God’s time, heaven and earth will be transformed into a new heaven and a new earth.  Death will not be the end, both in our individual lives, and in the life of the world.

            This blessed hope keeps our eyes focused on Jesus Christ.  In celebrating the Assumption, our attention and energies are drawn to the person of Jesus Christ.  That is what both Elizabeth and Mary do in the Gospel.  Elizabeth recognizes the great gift in the womb of her cousin.  Even her child leaps for joy in her womb.  Mary praises God for the workings in her life.  She encourages us to go in haste to be a people full of grace, not living in anxiety of the future, but waiting in joyful hope and trust that the promise of the Lord will be fulfilled.