SEVENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

24 FEBRUARY 2019

          We continue to hear from Saint Luke’s account of the Sermon on the Plain.  Last Sunday, Jesus began his sermon by telling the poor, hungry, mourning, and persecuted that they are already part of the Kingdom of God.   He says that the rich, the well fed, the happy, and the popular people already have their reward.  Today, he continues to give us the blueprint for living in the Kingdom of God.  It is a very different blueprint than what our modern culture gives.

            Our modern culture would tell David that he should have gotten revenge on King Saul, because Saul had allowed his jealousy of David to pursue and try to kill him.  But David respected God’s choice of the king as his anointed one, even though the king’s heart remained hardened.  Our modern culture offers us another example:  an economy of exchange.  We can get trapped into a cycle of gift giving.  When we receive a gift from another person, then we are bound to match that gift with something in return, creating a cycle that traps us into ongoing gift exchange that never ends.  Jesus argues that those who live in the Kingdom of God have received gifts that can never be returned.  In gratitude, we thank God and make every effort to treat others as God has treated us, not expecting a return from our gift of love.

            Because God loves everyone, even those who reject his love, we who live in God’s Kingdom must love our enemies and respond to violence with courageous acts of love.  Loving our enemy does not mean that we move to Syria and hug all the ISIS fighters.  Instead, we pray for our enemies.  Praying for our enemies can involve asking for a change of heart on their part, or letting go of a deep hurt.  Loving an enemy means wanting the best for the good of the other.  We who live in the Kingdom of God need to be generous and merciful.

            We became members of the Kingdom of God when we were baptized.  Living in this Kingdom is both demanding and difficult.  The death of Jesus on the cross is a powerful sign of living in the Kingdom.  But so also is the power of the resurrection.  That is why it is so critical for those who live in God’s Kingdom to develop a habit of praying.  We give thanks to God for all he has given us at every Sunday Eucharist.  This weekly source and summit invites us to enter more deeply into a life of prayer during the week, both alone and with our families.  The upcoming Season of Lent presents us with a perfect opportunity to renew our stewardship of prayer.  Please read the materials which are waiting for you in the Parish Life Center.  Please listen to James Summers, as he speaks of his own journey of prayer.

Stewardship talk

Good evening (morning)

As Father said, I’m James Summers.  Best know by most as Wendy’s husband.

I’ve been blessed to be asked to speak to you about Stewardship of prayer.  As Scripture tells us, “There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit.  there are different forms of service but the same Lord; there are different workings but the same God who produces all of them in everyone”.  This teaching starts to tell us about the gifts God gives us so that we can be church … be a vital, functioning, contributing part of the Body of Christ.

Some of you know that Wendy and I came to this area in 1999 due to a job offer I received.  What you may not know is that we had come from a large parish in Wheaton Ill, just west of Chicago.  My experience in that parish was not the best.  I actually had to fight to be allowed to be a lector despite 10 years of experience at a previous parish. 

When we bought our house in Granger this was the closest Catholic Church.  But it reminded me of the one in Wheaton and I really, really, really did not want to come here.  But Wendy insisted we give it a try and as any husband knows, one of the secrets to a long happy marriage is knowing when to say, “Yes dear”.  So, we came.

At this point you should be asking what does this have to do with Stewardship of prayer?  Well, I want you to think about the gifts you have been blessed with.  I want you to think of the impact sharing those gifts might have on you and everyone you might touch. 

Back in ’99 we walked in the doors of the old church and my attitude was something less than prayerful.  And out of nowhere this couple, Bill and Nancy Wieger just appeared and said, “Welcome to St. Pius”.  This was before we had hospitality ministers.  This was just this couple sharing their gift of kindness.  I know in that moment I saw Jesus in Bill’s eyes.  I’m sure if it hadn’t been for that moment, I would not have had the many opportunities afforded to me to proclaim the word here.  I’m sure if it had not been for that moment, I would not have gone on a Christ Renews His Parish Weekend.  I’m NOT sure that if it hadn’t been for that moment, I’d still be a Catholic much less studying to become a permanent deacon.

So, the question is what is your gift?  How is God asking you to share it?  How might sharing it change your life for the betterment of the body?  How might your gift change the lives of others in ways that only God knows? 

I know Bill and Nancy dramatically changed my life in that brief moment.  I’ve been told they touched many, many others in this church the same way. 

There are so many ways to share your Gifts at St Pius.  You might be like me and love to Proclaim the Word.  You might have a voice that needs to be in the choir.  You might be able to work with kids in a loving and special way. 

You might be able to change a life by saying “You are welcomed here.”

I ask you to take some time today, this week and pray on it.  And soften your heart so that you can listen and consider this bit of Scripture:

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send?  Who will go for us?”

“Here I am” I said. “Send me”. 

Thank you.  God bless.

SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

17 FEBRUARY 2019

          We are more accustomed to the Beatitudes in the Gospel of Saint Matthew, who wrote his Gospel to a predominantly Jewish audience.  They would have understood why Jesus went up a mountain as the new Moses to give the new law.  In Saint Matthew’s version, there are nine different groups of people whom Jesus names blessed, or fortunate, or happy.

            Saint Luke wrote his Gospel to a predominantly Greek audience.  He places Jesus on the level ground.  Having read the first two chapters of his Gospel, his readers would know that Jesus had come down from heaven in the Incarnation.  Having taken on human flesh, Jesus preaches in the everyday plane of our existence.  Jesus names four groups of people as blessed:  the poor, the hungry, the weeping, and the persecuted.  Then he pronounces woe on four other groups:  the rich, those who eat well, those who laugh, and the really popular people.

            This is the living word of God spoken to us at this Mass.  The Lord is speaking to us who live comfortable lives, who are well fed, who know how to enjoy ourselves, and who embrace good reputations.  Jesus is not telling us to drag our families into abject poverty.  Nor is he saying that we must become malnourished, or walk around with long faces, or make people angry all the time.  He is saying that we cannot depend on these things to bring ultimate happiness.  In fact, these realities have the potential to decrease our trust in God.

            Our first reading can help us to understand this message.  The Prophet Jeremiah uses similar direct and harsh language.  He insists that those who trust in human beings are cursed.  Those who trust in God are blessed.  In other words, if we put all our confidence and trust in human beings, we will be ultimately disappointed.  There are two fundamental orientations, and Jeremiah provides a picture of each one.  Those who put all their energies into anything other than God become like a barren bush in the desert.  Those who place their trust in God are like a tree planted near running waters.  Even when life becomes difficult, those roots will receive nourishment from a bedrock trust in God’s life giving presence.

            Many disciples of Jesus Christ in Third World countries do not live comfortable lives.  Too many live on the edge of poverty without enough to eat.  Many are persecuted for their faith.  They already know what it means to be blessed, because they have put their trust in God.  I saw that trust when I was with Father Larry at the dedication of his church in Uganda.  If we rely too heavily on our possessions, we begin to lose trust in God’s love for us.  If we eat well all the time, we forget that our ultimate hunger can only be fulfilled by God.  Once we see the damage caused by our bad choices and our sins, we can see the importance of weeping over them.  We will learn that it is more important to speak the truth with love than to be popular. 

            The Season of Lent is just around the corner.  On Ash Wednesday, we will be marked with the ashes of our mortality.  Those ashes remind us that the day will come when we will open our eyes in eternity to know the truth of how we have lived our lives as disciples of Jesus Christ.  The forty days of Lent provide a perfect time to do some spiritual soul searching.  When we spend more time in prayer, we can ask ourselves if we have placed our fundamental trust in anything other than God.  When we fast, we learn that giving up certain foods and drinks can intensify our hunger and thirsting for God.  When we give alms, we provide food and drink for so many people who are malnourished and dying of hunger in our world.  Lent invites us to mourn for the many ways we have not lived our baptismal promises and refused to die with Christ.  Lent prepares us to renew our faith in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Saint Paul is pretty clear in stating that without faith in the resurrection, we have no hope!

FIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

10 FEBRUARY 2019

          The prophet Isaiah remembers well the event that changed his life.  It happened in 742, the year King Uzziah died.  Isaiah is doing what priests do in the Temple.  He is praying.  All of a sudden, he is given a vision of God.  Because such visions are impossible to put into human terms, Isaiah uses images:  the train of the Lord’s garment fills the Temple, Seraphim stationed above, and the smoke and earthquake (reminiscent of his ancestors’ encounter with God at Mount Sinai).  Overwhelmed by this incredible experience, Isaiah realizes that he is a sinner.  The Lord purifies him with the burning coal and sends him to be his prophet.

            Simon Peter also remembers the event that changed his life.  It happened at the Sea of Galilee.  He is doing what fishermen do, even when they have caught nothing.  He is cleaning his nets.  Jesus asks him to use his boat as a pulpit.  Because Simon had been drawn to Jesus and was grateful that he had healed his mother-in-law, he gladly obliges.  But then, Jesus tells him to go back out to the deep water to lower his nets for a catch.  Simon Peter must be thinking:  what does this landlubber from Nazareth know about fishing, especially after we professionals have failed all night?  However, he obeys.  In catching that huge amount of fish, he encounters the divine, much as Isaiah had encountered the divine in the Temple centuries before.  Like Isaiah, Simon recognizes that he is a sinner who cannot come near the holiness of the Son of God.  But Jesus tells him not to be afraid and calls him to catch people through the net of the Gospel.  Peter and his companions are so affected by this encounter that they leave their nets and everything to follow Jesus and eventually become the leader of his Church.

            The Lord continues to grace us with his presence.  He has already called each of us to follow him when we passed through the waters of Baptism.  As we continue to walk as his disciples, there are occasions when we encounter the Lord’s presence and find it difficult to put that experience into words.  Maybe it happened to you at your marriage, or at the birth of your first child, or on a weekend retreat.  It happened to me when I was ordained a Deacon in Cincinnati in 1973.  I had spent months agonizing over whether or not I should be ordained.  I had never had so many doubts in my life.  Is God really calling me to be a deacon and then a priest?  My parents had moved out of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend and lived in the Chicago area.  No one in my immediate family lived in this Diocese any more.  I had many doubts about whether or not I could live the celibate life.  Despite all of those doubts, I presented myself to the Cathedral for ordination.  After Archbishop Bernardin laid hands on me, and as a priest friend was vesting me in the stole and dalmatic, I had the most overwhelming experience that has not repeated until the day that Bishop Rhoades dedicated this church.  I still cannot put that experience into words.  But it convinced me that the Lord was calling me to priestly service, no matter how unworthy and sinful I may have been.

            Saul of Tarsus had one of those experiences on his way to Damascus to persecute the followers of Jesus of Nazareth.  He encountered the risen Lord and responded to his call to be the Apostle to the Gentiles.  Saint Paul remained painfully aware of his sinfulness and murderous intents.  He knew that he was not among the original Twelve.  But, his experience of the risen Lord convinced him that the Lord was calling him to proclaim the Gospel beyond the confines of God’s Chosen People.  The risen Lord is calling us to do the same.  He chooses us, not because we are good or because we are gifted.  He chooses us, because he loves us and wants us to bring his Good News to our world – not so much by our clever words, but more by the way we try to live our baptismal promises with trust and without fear.   

FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

3 FEBRUARY 2019

          Those who attend Catholic weddings will recognize the passage from Saint Paul to the Corinthians.  Even though this reading is not required, most couples choose this reading, because they sense that their emotional love must deepen if their marriage is to last. 

            While it is true that Paul’s words surely speak to a couple living a healthy marriage, he wrote these words to the Church in Corinth that was being torn apart by divisions.  At his prompting, many had recognized the gifts or charisms given to them by the Holy Spirit.  Some were speaking in tongues, while others enjoyed incredible knowledge or prophecy.  Others were known for their work for the poor.  Because the different groups had been arguing about whose gift was more important, Paul puts his foot down.  He acknowledges that each of these gifts is very important.  But he insists that these gifts must be used with love.  He does not use the Greek word “eros” (the root for our English word “erotic”).  That type of love implies a possessive desire that seeks its own good.  Instead, he uses the Greek word “agape,” which implies charity and compassion and is outward oriented.  He points out that all the gifts given by the Holy Spirit will pass away when people die.  But love will never die, because God is love.  Those who learn to love will be identified with God, even after death.

            Like the Church in Corinth many centuries ago, our members at Saint Pius have also been given many gifts.  We have parishioners who have advanced degrees in theology and the other sciences.  Others are talented musicians or gifted teachers.  Many have the gift of organization and leadership.  Others have mechanical abilities and can offer practical solutions.  Others have a keen sense of serving the needs of the poor and those who live in the margins.  And the list goes on.  Saint Paul reminds us today to thank God for these gifts.  But he also reminds us that we cannot argue about which gifts are more important.  Instead, he reminds us that we need to place our gifts at the service of the community, and that we need to give them with love.

            During these last two weekends, both women and men have received the gift of a parish retreat through Christ Renews His Parish.  Those of you who have received this gift and have been able to give it to another group know the power of this retreat.  You know that your relationship with Christ has been renewed.  You know that you have been connected with a small group of people in a very large parish.  But you also know that this retreat works only when you have cooperated with the Holy Spirit, recognized your gift, and connected it with the needs of the parish.  That outward movement, the movement of love, has indeed renewed our parish in many significant ways.  Those of you who are married understand the same dynamic.  Deacon Lou’s Marriage in Christ Seminar emphasizes the dynamic of agape love, and those of you who have gone through that seminar understand it.  When we have the courage to put our gifts in the service of communion, whether that involves the communion of married life or the communion of parish life, then Christ can use us to increase his divine love.

            It takes a great deal of courage to live this love.  When Jesus sits down in the synagogue in his home town and announces that he has fulfilled the promises made by Isaiah, the hometown crowd is initially pleased.  Their humble village can now boast of a famous figure accomplishing mighty works.  But then, he tells them that his mission is to take Isiah’s words beyond their own tribe and identity.  They become so angry that they try to throw him off the cliff.  As his mission continues, his disciples will learn that he is the Son of God, not the son of Joseph.  They will be horrified by his death and thrilled with his resurrection.  They will understand that his sacrificial love will bring light to a darkened world.  We are called to live this same love.

THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

27 JANUARY 2019

          About 450 years before the birth of Christ, King Artaxerxes of Persia gave his Jewish cupbearer, Nehemiah, permission to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.  This permission to return from fifty years of Exile brought joy to his people.  But, that joy was short lived when those who had chosen to return finally completed their journey.  They found their beloved city in complete ruins.  If any structures remained, squatters had moved in.  So Nehemiah directs the priest Ezra to gather the people.  With nothing else to give them hope, Ezra reads the Torah (the first five books of the Bible) to the people to inform them that God loves them.  The people had lost this most basic element of their identity.  God had chosen them to be his people, a reality most of them had forgotten.  That is why Ezra’s reading from God’s Word brought so much joy.  Knowing their identity and God’s presence in their difficult task, they celebrate with a festive meal and realize that rejoicing in the Lord must be their strength.

            Over four centuries later, Jesus returns to his hometown, goes to the synagogue, and reads from the Prophet Isaiah.  Unlike the people of Nehemiah’s time, the people of Nazareth are very familiar with this passage and had heard it often with hope for the future.  Just as Ezra and his scribes had helped their people to understand the words of the Torah, Jesus explains the passage by announcing: “today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”  He identifies himself as the one sent to bring glad tidings to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.

            Saint Luke addresses his Gospel to Theophilus, a Greek word meaning one loved by God. In other words, he is addressing his Gospel to each of us, because we are loved by God.  Saint Luke stresses the working of the Holy Spirit in the person of Jesus Christ.  It was through the Holy Spirit that the eternal Word was made flesh in the womb of the Virgin.  The Holy Spirit had driven Jesus into the desert for forty days to realize his vocation.  It was the Holy Spirit who appeared as a dove when Jesus emerged from his baptism in the Jordan River.  Now, it is the Holy Spirit who leads Jesus to his hometown to make this remarkable announcement.

            In writing to the Church in Corinth, Saint Paul reminds us of what it means to be loved by God.  When we passed through the waters of Baptism, we were incorporated into his Body.  That is our identity.  The mission of Jesus Christ can be continued in our midst today when we take our identity in Christ seriously.  As members of Christ’s body, each of us has been given different gifts.  Jesus is challenging us to put those gifts at the service of the Church and to trust that the Holy Spirit will give us the courage to use those gifts to make his presence in our world a more visible reality.  We hear him speak to us every Sunday, and he feeds us with the finest banquet – his real presence in the Eucharist. 

            Like Ezra and the scribes who helped their people understand the importance of God’s Word, we are also given tools to better understand our roles today.  That is why we are encouraging everyone to read the book Why I Am Catholic and you should be too.  That is why we encourage everyone to make a retreat.  The women are participating in their retreat this weekend.  There are still openings for the men’s retreat next weekend.  An important part of the Strategic Five Year Plan will involve new ways to grow in our faith.  The Word of God is addressed to us now, and the Holy Spirit will continue to guide us as explore what it means for us to be chosen through Baptism to be people loved by God and called to rejoice that God is the source of our joy and hope.  No matter what difficulties we may be experiencing in our lives or in our Church, the Lord is present and gives us hope and direction.

THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD

13 JANUARY 2019

          Saint Luke gives no details of the actual baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River.  However, it is clear that the Word made flesh, whose birth we have been celebrating during this Christmas Season, had been immersed in the same muddy and sinful waters as the rest of us.  After emerging from the waters, Saint Luke tells us that Jesus is engaged in prayer.  As he is praying, the Holy Spirit descends upon him in bodily form like a dove.  This is the same Spirit that hovered over the watery chaos of the world at the beginning of creation.  This is the same Holy Spirit who caused the conception of Jesus in his mother’s womb. 

            Then Jesus then hears a voice from heaven declaring, “You are my beloved Son; with whom I am well pleased.”  As the only begotten Son of God, Jesus will exercise his ministry through the power of the Holy Spirit.  Through the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus will reveal his true nature by teaching, healing, and working miracles.  Through the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus will give himself as the good shepherd of Isaiah’s prophecy and become the Lamb of God sacrificed for our salvation.  After his saving death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven, this same Holy Spirit will come upon the Apostles at Pentecost and form the infant Church.

            It is most fitting that we end the Christmas Season by celebrating the Baptism of the Lord.  This feast reminds us of the critical importance of our Baptism.  When we were baptized, we were grafted onto Jesus Christ.  In fact, some people refer to Baptism as being “christened.”  That is what happens to us.  Our identity is intimately tied with that of Jesus Christ.  We become God’s beloved sons and daughters.  When infants emerge from the waters of Baptism, they are anointed with Chrism, the sacred oil that emphasizes their identity with Christ.  Eventually, the baptized are confirmed with Chrism, sealed with the Holy Spirit to live our baptismal promises to point toward Christ, dwelling in our midst, as John the Baptist had done.

            As God’s beloved sons and daughters, we depend on the Holy Spirit to guide us in living as people truly grafted (or immersed, to use a water imagery) onto Jesus Christ.  That is why our Baptismal Font can accommodate the baptism by immersion of both adults and infants (not a hot tub!).  In writing to Titus, Saint Paul quotes a confession of faith used at a baptismal liturgy.  He reminds Titus that being grafted onto Jesus Christ is a pure and simple grace.  Titus does not earn that gift.  He does not deserve that gift.  But once grafted onto Christ, Titus works with the power of the Holy Spirit to live temperately, justly, and devoutly in an age that of lawlessness.

            The same is true for us.  We became God’s beloved sons and daughters at when we were baptized.  But that was only the beginning.  The rest of the Sacraments flow from Baptism.  We are sealed by the Holy Spirit at Confirmation to empower us to live as Christ.  We are fed by the Eucharist to nourish us for our mission.  When we break our connection with Christ or damage it through sin, the Sacrament of Reconciliation reconnects us with Christ.  When we experience sickness, the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick heals us.  Those of you who are married receive strength to live your commitment, as do we who live the Sacrament of Holy Orders.

            During this Christmas Season, we have been reminded that Jesus took on human flesh and dwells in our midst as God’s beloved Son.  Today’s feast sends us out as God’s beloved sons and daughters to recognize the Lord’s real presence in the Sacramental life of the Church.  In recognizing that real presence, we can more readily cooperate with the Holy Spirit in making that presence more evident in a world filled with lawlessness and darkness. 

THE EPIPHANY OF THE LORD

6 JANUARY 2019

          We know very little about the mysterious Magi who appear in the Gospel of Saint Matthew.  We conjecture that they are the kings mentioned in Psalm 72 (our Responsorial Psalm today) who have traveled from Persia (modern day Iran).   We presume that they are astrologers, interested in studying the heavenly bodies.  We count them as three individuals, because they bring three gifts to the newborn King.  Over the centuries, artists have been intrigued by their story and portrayed it in plays, poems, songs, and religious images.

            What we do know about them is that they are not members of God’s Chosen People.  The Jews would regard them as unclean pagans.  They are spiritual seekers who have seen news of a remarkable birth in the natural signs of the stars.  They have traveled far to reach Jerusalem, where they presume that proper king would be born.  They seek advice from the present king, Herod, who consults the chief priests and scribes.  The religious leaders cite Micah's prophesy pointing to Bethlehem.  With this revealed quote from Scripture, they complete the final seven miles to Bethlehem, where they find the child.  Their gifts express the truth about this child:  gold signifying that he is a king; frankincense identifying him as God; and myrrh pointing to his role as a suffering servant who will die for the sake of all.  Changed by this encounter, they return home by a different route, knowing that God had been seeking them all along.

            Like the Magi, there are many spiritual seekers today.  Some of them are probably members of our families.  They tend to be sincere young people who see themselves as spiritual but not religious.  They are seeking to find God through many different means – through communing with nature, studying world religions, pursuing philosophy, or by relying on their own instincts.  We are gathered for Mass today, because we know the importance of being religious.  We know what the Magi discovered.  Despite their efforts to seek God, it was God who was seeking them all along.  Saint Matthew understood this point in writing his Gospel and emphasizes God’s universal call to respond to the Good News of the Gospel.

            At this time in our parish, we are finishing the work of our five year plan, which many of you have helped through responding to our parish survey.  We hope that the plan will give practical guidance to improve our work to help people see the value of being religious.  When spiritual seekers come to us, we must avoid the insecurity of Herod, who was threatened by someone he perceived as a rival.  We cannot dismiss them like the priests and scribes, who were so smug that they did not follow through with their own advice in studying Scripture. 

            The prophet Isaiah wrote to people living in darkness.  They had just returned from fifty years of exile, and they were living in the poverty stricken ruins of Jerusalem.  Isaiah challenges them to look beyond the darkness to recognize the glory of the Lord shining through them.  We must do the same.  We too dwell in darkness:  the darkness of a world broken by war, hatred, and racism; in a nation torn apart and by angry partisan divisions; and in a Church plunged into darkness by the revelations of failures by priests who violated the trust of those entrusted to their care and by bishops who did not address the issue.  Isaiah insisted that his people trust in God’s promise, even when the results of that promise were not visible.  This Feast is called Epiphany, because that word literally means “to manifest”.  God kept his promise by manifesting himself in the birth of a child in the manger.  Our task is to help those who are seeking God to understand that God has been seeking them all along.  We hope that they can see the value of being religious.  Enlightened by the Word of God and fed by the Eucharist, all of us can complete the final few miles of the journey to encounter the Lord dwelling in our midst.