Why Wounded Catholics Build Walls (And How Jesus Tears Them Down)

 

When Inspiration Feels Out of Reach

I have to admit, I was having a hard time coming up with a homily for these readings.

Imagine if I came to you and simply said, “Folks, you’re on your own.” Some of you might even be secretly happy about that. But there is a lesson in the struggle itself.

We can never give up on being inspired by God and his word. Never.

Even if at the end we feel blocked and want to raise the white flag, surrendering and saying, “I’ve got nothing,” that surrender can be honest and even holy. What matters is that we have really tried, that we have given our best and not given up too quickly.

That same pattern is hidden in the readings. There is the rule. There is the passion. And then there is something more that Christ brings.

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The Rule in Leviticus: Brutal but Protective

The first reading comes from the book of Leviticus. Many people think of Leviticus as one of the most difficult, if not the worst, books in the Bible. It is full of rules and laws. It feels very legalistic.

In today’s passage, we hear about a person with a sore on the skin. They have to show themselves to the priest. The priest examines them. If the priest determines that the sore is leprous, that it is leprosy, then hard things follow.

• The person must tear their garments.

• They are not to comb their hair.

• They are not to groom their beard.

• They must leave the community.

• And as they move about, they must cry out, “Unclean, unclean, unclean!” so that others can avoid them.

Brutal. That is the word. Brutal.

Why such a harsh rule?

Very likely because someone dear to them had been lost to this disease. Someone was infected, the illness spread, and maybe a child or a spouse. The community decided they would never let that happen again. They ruled that anyone with a sickness must get out immediately. The first reading gives us the strict rule to survive.

The Passion of Saint Paul

We hear from Saint Paul in the second reading. He tells his brothers and sisters to do everything for God whether they eat or drink. He urges them to avoid giving offense to anyone. He tries to please everyone in every way to ensure they may be saved. He does not seek his own personal benefit. He tells the people to be imitators of him because he imitates Christ.

You immediately see that Saint Paul is a passionate man. He loves the Lord deeply. He wants to serve the Lord completely. He does not care about himself or his own health. He wants to serve God with all his heart and all his love. He is willing to sacrifice everything for God because of his profound passion.

The first reading gives you the rule to protect yourself. The second reading gives you the passion. There is no stopping a person when they become passionate about something. They can use that passion for good or for bad.

Choosing How to Use Our Passion

I heard my father say many times that I should never get married. He would repeat this advice constantly. He said it because he was married and then he got divorced. He was incredibly upset about his situation.

I did not stay single because of what my father said. I simply did not find the right woman at the right time at the right place. I am not going to allow my passionate anger or resentment to stop me from living my life.

Just this week I heard young girls say that all boys are terrible. They say these things because their hearts were broken. They might even say that love does not exist. They claim love is just a myth and mushy nonsense. A person says these things because they experienced a broken heart.

This is the exact same reason someone would yell at a person with leprosy to get out of town. They want to save their own skin. They might have lost someone they loved after contracting a deadly illness.

Christ Brings Compassion

Now we arrive at the gospel. We have the black and white rule for survival. We have Saint Paul urging us to be passionate for Christ. What does Christ bring to this equation? Christ brings compassion.

The rules exists so that we survive. Christ exists so that we thrive. We truly live when we have compassion.

A leper broke the rule when he came to Jesus. He did not stay away from the crowd. He fell to his knees and begged Jesus for help. He told Jesus that he could make him clean if he wished to do so.

Jesus was moved with pity and deep compassion. He stretched out his hand and touched the man. Jesus broke the strict societal rule by touching him. You are not supposed to touch a person with leprosy under any circumstances. Jesus touched the man anyway. He told the man that he did will it and commanded him to be made clean. The man was made clean immediately.

Jesus then warned the man not to tell anyone what happened. We must ask why Jesus gave this specific command. He was not worried about being too busy. He was not worried about a massive crowd of lepers coming to his house for healing. Jesus was certainly not thinking about himself.

Jesus told the man to stay quiet for one very specific reason. The Pharisees and the scribes would declare Jesus unclean if they found out he touched a leper. The religious leaders would tell the public they could not go near Jesus. They would warn everyone to stay away to avoid catching leprosy. The first rule is always about saving yourself.

Living the Christian Ideal

Jesus and Christianity are fundamentally about showing compassion. Showing compassion means showing love to others. Christianity is always about love.

My hero GK Chesterton was a famous man who spoke profoundly about this concept. He said,

“The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult and left untried.”

The Christian ideal is to love your enemies and show compassion to the sick. Chesterton noted that people often abandon this ideal because it requires too much effort.

We have not even scratched the surface of this calling. You might think I am more Christian because I am standing up here giving a homily. You might say I follow Christ more closely because I serve as a priest. We still have not scratched the surface of the compassion Jesus asks from each and every one of us.

The Lord is inviting us to take a new path as we approach Lent. You already have the rule. You must now have the passion and show the compassion. You must show love regardless of the troubles you are going through right now. You can choose how to react to your personal losses and enduring difficulties. You can be passionately angry or you can show compassion and love. The Lord is inviting us today to live the Christian ideal and to love where love does not exist. 

Amen?

The True Goal of Lent: Beyond Sacrifices to Transformation

Here we are on our journey, third Sunday of Lent, and I hope everyone is having a good, strong Lenten season and, God willing, will finish across the finish line stronger than before.

What Does It Mean to Be “Stronger Than Before”?

What does it mean to be stronger than before? Does it mean, “I did it”? I gave up my Coca-Cola. I gave up my cookies.

No. These are just the means to a goal.

The goal is to be another Christ.

The Burning Bush: God’s Passionate Love

In the first reading today from the book of Exodus, we have the burning bush, this passionate, strong, intense fire that the Lord has for us, the love that God has for us.

Fire is the symbol of passion, of intensity.

The fact that God appears to Moses through a burning bush that does not consume means: I did not come into the world to destroy the world. I came into the world to love you.

And I have this passion to love you.
And I want to be a part of your life.

St. Paul’s Warning: Don’t Rely on Yourself

And then in the second reading today from Saint Paul, he reminds us — he’s very determined to tell us:

“Whoever thinks he is standing secure should take care not to fall.”

Don’t be too confident in yourself, in your own abilities. Trust in God.

We need God in this world.
We need God in my life.

If I’m looking for transformation in my life, I need to have the Lord by my side. I need to have that burning bush right next to me - inside of me.

The Gospel: Repent… and Bear Fruit

And in today’s Gospel, the Lord reminds us: do you think these people are worse than you are? Do you think the horrible things that happened to them is because they were bad people?

No.

He says, unless you repent the same thing can happen to us. 

Then He gives the parable: the gardener plants a tree, it doesn’t produce any fruit. They water it, they take care of it, they nurture it. Finally, the planter says: okay, I’ll let it stand for another year. I’ll give it a little bit more time to produce fruit, to do something.

These are the readings for today.

What Does It Mean to Repent?

What does it mean to repent?

I’ll tell you: yesterday, our children that are preparing for confirmation had their retreat.

I had my whole homily ready, and then all of a sudden, I had to throw everything out the door, because there was something that the children were doing that just inspired me. They all had these little candles (this is one I stole), and they turned them on and they were walking in procession to put these candles next to a cross that we had on the altar.

They were doing it so solemnly turning on their candle. I thought: If it was that easy. If being able to be a light of the world was just a switch at the bottom. If it were just that easy.

Sometimes we can be very cynical. It’s so hard to change. It doesn’t happen easily. I know all of you know that.

A True Story: “Look How Ugly You Are”

Not too long ago, I saw a young lady and she said to me, “Father, do you remember me?”

I’m like, “No.”

She said, “Well, a few years back, I came to you,” and she told me this story. 

I remembered that story. There are some things you never forget.

Almost ten years ago, when she was in high school, she had just changed schools, went to a new high school. She was kind of shy, nervous, awkward - you know, regular teenage girl. She was struggling to make friends.

One day, one of the most popular girls in the school said, “Why don’t you come over to my house? We’re gonna have a sleepover. I’d love to have you there.”

The girl was enthused.

But while she was there, as they were getting ready, they were in the bathroom. She was surprised other girls were there. She thought it was just her and the other one.

While they were getting ready in the bathroom, all of a sudden the popular girl says to her:

“Look at yourself in the mirror. Look. Look how ugly you are. Look how ugly.”

True story.

The girl said, “What?”

“Yeah, yeah — look how ugly. Say it, say it: I’m ugly. Say it.”

And the girl said, “I’m ugly.”

“You see? Even you believe it.”

Aall the other girls were laughing.

When she told me that story… I had to work hard to ask, “What did you do?”

She said: “I prayed.” This little fifteen-year-old girl: I prayed.

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Forgiveness That Doesn’t Turn Off the Light

Recently she told me, “Guess what?”

I said, “What?”

She said, “The girl that did that to me wrote me a letter asking for forgiveness for what she had done to me.”

She wrote:

“Please forgive me. I am so sorry. There isn’t a day that doesn’t go by that I don’t remember what I did to you. I ask for your forgiveness. Please accept my apologies.”

Amazing - that this girl knew who she was. She understood: I am a child of God. I am not going to allow anyone to turn off my light.

That burning bush reminds us that God’s light never dies. God’s presence is always there.

If you think you are so secure in yourself, like St. Paul says, be careful not to fall.

The World’s Rule vs. Jesus’ Strength

How many teenage kids know the rule in high school?

You hate me, I hate you.
You hurt me, I hurt you.
You talk bad about me, I talk bad about you.
You don’t like me, I don’t like you.
You gossip about me, I gossip about you.
You touch me, I’m going to slap you in the face so hard your head will spin.

But the Lord challenges us:

You don’t like me. I will always like you.
You talk bad about me. I will never talk bad about you.
You hurt me. I’m never going to hurt you.

What a difference. What a difference when you are that strong.

You know why that’s strong?

Because Jesus was that strong.

Can you imagine from the cross: “Forgive them. They don’t know what they’re doing.”

The strength you must have, the faith you must have, to be able to handle that and never change regardless of the circumstance that you’re living.

Talk about when you know who you are. No one can take that away from you.

Let the Lord Water You and Prune You

In today’s readings, the Lord is saying: let me water you. Let me prune you.

During Lent, the Lord wants to challenge each and every one of us.

Why?

To discover who you are.
To reveal the mystery of who you are.
So that the world can see the light in you.

Don’t lose this opportunity.

It doesn’t have to be negative. It doesn’t have to be only when someone is persecuting you.

Even when you feel inspired by God to do something above and beyond what you ever imagined, don’t turn off the light. Don’t say, “Oh no, that’s crazy.” 

Do you think Moses was some Marvel character? Do you think Abraham was some amazing seven-foot-tall hero? Do you think King David was something? All of them, when they were called by God, there was nothing spectacular about any of them. Nothing. Saint Paul — nothing. Peter — nothing. 

What did they do that is remarkable?

They allowed God to challenge them.

They allowed God to say: you want to know what you’re capable of doing? You want to know who you are? Let me work with you. Let me help you reveal yourself to the world — and to discover who you are.

During Lent, the goal is to keep this light shining bright and allow the Lord to challenge us.

Amen.