Meditation is an ideal way to pray. Using God's word (Lectio Divina) allows me to hear, listen and reflect on what the Lord wants to say to me - to one of his disciples - just like He did two thousand years ago.
The best time to reflect is at the beginning of the day and for at least 15 to 30 minutes.
Prior to going to sleep, read the Mass readings for the next day and then, in the morning, reflect on the Meditation offered on this website.
I hope these daily meditations allow you to know, love and imitate the Lord in a more meaningful way.
God bless you!


Thursday, July 26, 2012

Mt 13:10-17 No Scapechicken!

Mt 13:10-17  No Scapechicken!
(Click here for readings)
The disciples approached Jesus and said, “Why do you speak to the crowd in parables?”  He said to them in reply, “…This is why I speak to them in parables, because they look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand…Blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear.”
A sociology professor asked his class if anybody was a racist.  Of course all the students shook their heads in denial.  “Are you sure?” the professor asked.  A few minutes later, he tested one student by asking him, “Tell me what you think about this statement:  If you want to make the world a better place, then you have to kill all the African-Americans, all the Jewish people and all the firemen.”   The student, looking confused, responded, “Why all the firemen?” 
The professor walked away with a smile on his face, satisfied that he had made his point. 
However, I think I would have objected to such a rash conclusion.  The student was not being a racist.  He was being a student.
We know, from our history, that African-Americans have been the object of discrimination and slavery by others.  We also know, from history, that the Jews have been slaughtered by the millions by others.  But the reaction of the student, regarding firemen, would have made me wonder:  Why are firemen the object of this man's fury?
The same question can be asked regarding Christians who support (traditional) marriage:  Why are they the object (or target) of so much fury? 
If I was a supporter of "gay marriage" and asked a Southern Baptist gentleman what he thought about "gay marriage”, I would hope he would be honest with me.  Then I would hope he would agree with me.  But if he didn't, I wouldn't be surprised.  In fact, I’d like to know why he didn't agree with me and I’d like to have the opportunity to share my point of view with him.  But since I asked him the question and hoped he would be honest with me, would it be right to be furious with him?  Did I ask him the question in order to set him up to be a scapegoat?
When I walk into a restaurant, I want to be served quickly and be treated with respect, with dignity and with good food.  I don’t expect the owner of the fast food chain or the waiter or even the cashier to agree with me on any other issues, especially political or social issues.  Just like the President of the United States, I want my food to taste great and be void of all diseases. 
But now, it appears as though the gay community wants all restaurant owners, all cashiers and all waiters to agree with them when it comes to accepting “gay marriage”.  BEWARE ALL CASHIERS, ALL WAITERS, ALL OWNERS, ALL PEOPLE!  Beware if anyone asks you a question regarding “gay marriage”.  Beware if you speak your mind and defend what has never had to be defended before.  Beware if you are honest.  Beware if you do not agree with them.  Watch out!
Why in the world is the gay community (and its hysterical supporters) shocked by a practicing Christian’s belief in scripture; in marriage; and in honesty?  And, at the same time, would serve anyone, regardless of their gender specific tendencies, a good meal? 
What did they expect this man to say?  Are they upset that he was honest?  Are they upset that he is a Christian?  Will they do the same to others as well; to Muslim owners?
The Boys Scouts of America (BSA) recently received over 300,000 signatures from individuals who oppose their policy regarding homosexuals serving as leaders.  But not one of those signatures proves a thing; namely, why the BSA’s stance is wrong.  After all, when millions of Germans voted for Hitler, did it mean they were right?
This Tuesday is Chick-fil-A appreciation day.  The gay community went after the wrong man.  They thought he only cared about money; they thought he only cared about chicken.   This scapechicken may very well turn out to be a lightning rod for Christians everywhere. 

20 comments:

  1. Father Alfonse - Out of due respect, what does any of this have to do with the gospel message of the day? Sorry for my ignorance. I wish major chains like Chick-fil-a would keep their religious stance silent. Are they going to refuse to sell chicken nuggets to a gay couple that walk into the restaurant because the "company" supports traditional marriage? The whole gay thing makes me so uncomfortable, especially when public companies have to make an issue of it.

    This is a convoluted meditation......Very random and not of your usual quality. (Please don't slap me for my comment! And this goes to the blog readers, too.)

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    1. It has to do with the Topic of the Day. I understand what Father is saying.

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  2. No problem. Sorry about that. I took Christ's words when he said, "They look but do not see and hear but do not listen."

    So, why are people shocked at a Christian's response to gay marriage? Why all the sudden fury over this man's comments? He gave his answer. It wasn't radical, or senseless or meanspirited. It was honest. It was traditional. It was scriptural. So, people will hear whatever they want to hear and see whatever they want to see. Has any gay person ever been denied a chicken sandwich? Or been denied the right to eat at their restaurant? Now, they are boycotting it??? So basically you have to keep your mouth shut when someone asks you a question. Ears that do not want to hear.
    Hope that makes it clearer. Sorry for the confusion.

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  3. Let me add also...that if Christ spoke directly of who he was, he would have been directly sent to the Cross. That's the reason why he spoke in parables. People did not want to hear the truth. They wanted to hear what they wanted to hear.

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  4. Amen Father. I will be at Chic fil a on 8-1, probably more than once.

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  5. Father Alfonse, I have to admit when I first read this I read the bashing. But because it is a meditation I had to go back and read it again and paid more attention to the Scripture and meditated on the Word.
    This reminded me of an activity I do with families I work with when we talk about perspectives. The activity is simply drawing a dot in the middle of a white page. I will ask them to tell me what they see. The majority of the people will say they see the. black dot (represents negative). Why don't they say they see what is the most obvious, a white page (represents positive) with a black dot? Scripture says "Because they look but do not see". Chick-fil-A also closes on Sundays so the employees can spend time worshiping and with families. Did we even see that wonderful deed, of course not, because it was too white! "Blessed are your eyes, because they see".

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  6. Wednesday, Aug 1st is the Appreciation Day. Just a minor correction. No need to publish this comment.

    Craig

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  7. Americans (in general) have always been fighting for freedom: liberty to speak what is important to us. That is why this HHS mandate coming up is so important to Christians. We must speak out!! The same applies to those who do not believe as we believe. It is a two way street. It can’t be otherwise. As a very wise veteran of WWII said, “I fought for those whose beliefs are exactly the opposite of mine, and I would do it again.” It is a hard pill to swallow but I must look at every angle of freedom. I am going to go to Chick’fil A on Aug 1 (thanks for the heads up), and I no longer go to Starbucks who’s outspoken stance on abortion and unnatural marriage were made known. It’s my choice, my freedom. Thank God for liberty. But please, dear God, help me to ‘see’ where ‘they’ are coming from, even if I believe different than them. Didn’t Christ die for sinners? for me, a sinner? Then I too want to be w/ Christ in dying for sinners….dying to myself.

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  8. Thank your Father Alfonse.

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  9. This is incredibly sad. The basic premise that someone can't believe what they want to believe is just absolutely not true. Similarly, it is false that the purpose of avoiding spending one's money at one business versus another is an attack on their religious views. What is true is that people who don't agree can organize to say we're not going to spend our money here or there. Just as many religious and other organizations have done with other companies, i.e. Starbucks, J.C. Penny's, etc. This is not an attack on someone's religion but when the head guy at the company says that I'm inviting judgment on the country, because of how I believe, it is not wrong of me to avoid spending my money there.

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  10. The vulgarity and profanity that is used by the gay community and it's supporters in response to this individual is not worthy of the seriousness of the issue. Christians who disagree and their organizations do not use vulgarity or profanity when attacking ideas.
    2nd. Boycotting and organization is not the point of this meditation. No one would argue the point you made. What is the point is asking a question and being furious with the answer. Chick-fil-a has been a supporter for decades of marriage and Christian values. No one seemed to mind until a question was asked that forced the issue. The question was asked to place ideology before a meal. If someone does not agree with them, then dont go. But to have the audacity to say that this position does not reflect the "our city's values" and to threaten shutting them out of the city makes you wonder if dallas and others would do that to JC Penny? Do you see the idiocity of this? Do you see how thia polarizes a community? Why not help them understand one another? But what I would have liked to hear is the same said of the president BEFORE he came out in support of gay marriage. Did he also not reflect "our new found values?". Would they have asked him to stay clear? Chick-fil-a has never denied anyone a meal. But f u want to make politics out of every meal then by all means do so and th divide this country even more and see what the consequences are if u ask a question.

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  11. The problem is not Chik-Fil-A supporting only heterosexual marriage. The problem is Chik-Fil-A regularly donates money and food to organizations that wish to demonize homosexuals such as Focus on the Family, Family Research Council, and Exodus International. This has been going on for a long time, and frankly yelling and screaming about it isn't going to solve anything. For now I'm simply boycotting Chik-Fil-A. It pains me to do so, as I do love their chicken, however I feel I must do this for the time being.

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    1. So........because a company, or person behind a company chooses to stand up for the truth, the Word!, all of a sudden they are demonizing people? Seriously? So what if Chick-Fil-A donates to organizations who choose to "Love the sinner, hate the sin!" Focus on the Family is a Christian organization, shouldn't they also follow the teachings of the Bible? But to say they demonize homosexuals is ridiculous. It is clear that the Bible does not condone homosexual activity! I have great compassion for homosexuals, as I believe most do not choose this for themselves. But if we are Christians and try to live The Word ourselves, shouldn't we stand behind organizations that follow their own religious morals? I do not believe gay marriage is what God had in mind whatsoever, but this doesn't mean I will not spend my money at places of business who don't share my opinion. We all need to grow up!

      They look but do not see, hear but do not listen or understand...... I can imagine how all of this mess is so offensive to our Father!

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    2. I doubt God cares about who you love. I would think he's more concerned about who you hate.

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  12. John. You're right. But we're not talking about love. We are talking about marriage. I can love everyone. I don't marry everyone.

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    1. Well I am afraid the Catholic church does not have an authority on marriage, as it has existed in many forms long before any trace of Christianity existed. Also non-Christians are allowed to get married, and do not need any sort of religious authority to do so. If you do not believe me, then go down to the courthouse and ask a judge to marry you. He or she will, as long as the ones asking to get married are of legal age and opposite genders, because this is Texas.

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    2. John, you must made our point.

      as long as the ones asking to get married are of legal age and opposite genders.........

      I don't think your words about the Catholic Church or Christianity are the main discussion here - we're talking about one man and one woman which constitutes a marriage.

      May I suggest reading Leviticus 18, specifically 18:22 - the laws on sexual behavior/morality are right there easy to understand. This Book goes back way beyond the beginning of Christianity.

      We try to find ways to justify our "feel good" activities and think God will understand and forgive, however if there is no remorse for our poor choices/actions, we'll be in big trouble the day we meet our maker, both Christians and non believers alike. We can only hope and pray that Heaven will be our gift for living The Gospel, carrying our crosses, suffering, and loving Christ and others.

      May God have mercy on us.

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    3. Leviticus also says you may not wear cotton/polyester blended clothes, you may not eat shrimp or any other shellfish, you may not have a round haircut (i.e. Beatles' haircuts), you may not eat any meat of pigs, and you may not get a tattoo. Why are these not being called out as abominations?

      However, you are wrong about what you think are merely "feel good activities". The only difference between a heterosexual relationship and a homosexual relationship is the genders of the involved parties. I know this, because I love another man with all my heart and all my soul, and it is just as real as any heterosexual relationship you may present.

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  13. I don't for one second believe that the feelings of love that you have for this man is any different than the feelings of love a heterosexual couple has. I think most people would agree with that, but again that's not what we're talking about. We're talking about marriage, and what God's plan is for marriage.

    We could quote many scriptures and scripture stories regarding this manner, such as Genesis 19:4, and the account of Sodom ad Gomorrah in Genesis 18 & 19, but if you seriously feel that the OT doesn't apply to our lives, although we get our Ten Commandments from the OT which I'm very sure you would agree still apply to all our lives, then check out some NT scriptures that talk just about this: Jude 7, 1 Cor 6:9, 1 Tim 1:9-10, and Romans 1:26-27.

    We are all sinners and we all have our crosses to bear, but we can't be the authors of our own bible and choose what does and does not apply to our lives. This will be my last post, and know that I will pray for you........ God bless you.

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  14. I agree with the philosophical opinions of Chik-Fil-A, but I never eat there because I cannot tolerate the grease and chemicals.

    I disagree with the political and moral positions of Whole Foods, but I buy 95% of my groceries there and often eat in their cafe, because I need my food to be organic and non-GMO due to chemical sensitivities. I am grateful to be able to get what I need there.

    They have never asked me to leave when I bowed my head and made the sign of the cross while saying grace.

    I would suggest that we all concentrate on treating everyone with respect and courtesy and avoid politicizing commercial transactions.

    The gay community does itself no favor by being confrontational and taking offense at those who disagree with their agenda. They would gain more credibility if they were to stand with us against abortion, child abuse, and pornography.

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