Mk 12:1-12 Respecting Christ

Mk 12:1-12 Respecting Christ

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I really do not look for a fight. It does me more harm than good. Yesterday was one of those rough and tough days. I have to admit that it started off pretty well. I had just finished the 10:30 Mass and I was greeting a lot of parishioners. They seemed very happy with my homily and the Eucharistic celebration. It is always uplifting for a priest to get some positive feedback.

One individual came up to me and greeted me. He was with a woman. We had a great conversation but this woman standing next to him did not greet me or say anything. In fact, she looked awfully perturbed. I asked her why she wasn’t smiling. I was shocked at what she said. “Well, I just don’t agree with what the Catholic Church believes.” I asked her what she believed. To my amazement, she said, “I believe that Jesus is my Lord and Savior.” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I told her, “Guess what honey, we believe that too.” As I have mentioned in far too many homilies. I am not a good apologist and I never will be. My heart begins to race as if I am being physically attacked. My stomach begins to turn as if I had the worst possible meal. I continued, “Did you hear anything we said today? Like, ‘We believe in one God…We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ…’ Did you not hear my homily on how Jesus alone saves?” She spoke up. “Catholics do not believe in that.” Again, I had to control myself and I think I did a pretty good job up to this point. I reminded her that the Lord made it very clear that we should never judge, nor condemn. I replied, “I do not know what all Protestants think. I do not know what all Catholics think. I would never assume to know. But I can tell you what is written in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Have you ever read the Catechism?” She looked at me and said, “Yes.”

She lied!

I repeated myself again, “You read all one thousand pages of the Catechism?” She nodded her head in agreement. Again, she lied.

Let me tell all my readers something. If I had asked my entire congregation and that of St. Ann’s if they had read the entire Catechism, I do not think that a single individual would have raised their hands. I haven’t read the Catechism through and through!!! Parts, yes, of course but unless you’re a professor or a student, I would find it hard to believe. How could someone have read the entire Catechism of the Church and then falsely accuse us of not accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior???

She knew I had caught her in her lie and so abruptly ended the conversation by telling me that she only reads the Bible. I told her, “Oh, the Bible, that’s the first book we wrote!”

Today’s Gospel is a reminder to all Catholics and Christians of good will (our separated brothers and sisters) not to judge the Bride of Christ or the teaching authority of the Church of Christ. For, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; by the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes.”

Let us respect the Son of God by respecting his Bride.

Mt 7:21-27 Be One With Me

Mt 7:21-27 Be One With Me

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It is an all too common sight: Before a teacher asks a question, a young student already has their hand up to answer it! In today's Gospel we have a similar situation. Will we stand before the Lord and tell him all the great things we have done without ever having asked him what he wanted us to do?

Lord, Lord, what must I do? This is a good question. But before I can do something, I need to be someone. So the first question ought to be, “Lord, Who must I be?” Once answered, then I will know “what I must do.”

“I am the vine, you are the branches, says the Lord; whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit.”

How simple it sounds: Remain in me, says the Lord, because the Lord wishes to remain in me. This is the land I must inhabit. This is the Promised Land: Remain in me and I will remain in you. To be one with the Lord or not to be is the ultimate question!

After forty long years, the Promised Land was no longer a promise but a reality. They had arrived. The Lord had been faithful to His people. It is all true: I will be your God and you will be my people. What more could they want. What more did they need?

They needed the Commandments, and they needed them greatly because they were living them badly. What I never realized before is that without the Commandments, the Promised Land would quickly turn into another Egypt. The Jews would become slaves again; slaves to their own passions, emotions and disorders. Slaves in their own sins! No land is a Promised Land unless it is rich in love, and there is no love without justice! There is no love without Christ.

The Lord has revealed to all the nations that the true Promised Land has little to do with a physical location and everything to do with a spiritual reality. To be happy, I do not have to be in the Perfect Home – beach front property! Nor do I have to seek the Perfect School. Or be in the Perfect Family. It is an illusion in the desert to think I must have the Perfect Friendship or Courtship or Marriage. Nor should I seek the Perfect Grades, Perfect Figure, or Perfect Car.

There is one thing I should seek: Seek first the Kingdom of Heaven and all its righteousness. The problem is…it sounds boring!

But God is not boring. I may be boring but God is definitely not boring! Christ’s life was far from boring. It was enriching! It was full of adventure. Living, sharing the love of God and neighbor will bring you to the greatest surprises EVER! We do not give God a chance to be God. We shout back when angered. We punch back when attacked. We fall apart when offended. We do not allow the Lord to take custody of his property and allow it to bear fruit! We do not allow others to see or to discover what God can do through us. For this reason, it took the Jews forty years to discover who they were and who God is. Way too long. We should know better. We should not think that we know ourselves at ten, or eighteen, or even thirty. I am not the man I used to be, not at all! It took me some time to figure it all out.

The only short-cut to the Promised Land is the immediate acceptance of God as God and I am His. He is the Vine; I am a branch. I have life through Him. Before the storms come and the trees fall, I must bear in mind Jalisa Granger, the 21 year old woman from Louisiana who died yesterday when a tornado tore apart her little home and a tree fell upon her as she lay upon her child. She knew the Master well. She died and the child lived. It is the perfect image and reflection of God’s love for us. That is, how a tree quickly became a Cross that killed and saved at the same time.

This is all the Lord asks from us: Be one with me.

It still has the same affect it did two thousand years ago: It makes us cry with joy.

Mk 11:27-33 Getting It!

Mk 11:27-33 Getting It!

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Honor held. Victory assured. Death be gain.

I am convinced that the early Christians must have developed an honor code from the very beginning of their existence. After all, they were persecuted right from the beginning, before the third day even dawned. Once upon a time they were locked inside their isolation room and held behind the bars of their fears with the entire world looking for them. They knew not what to do. When all hope appeared lost, the Lord of all Hope reminded them of who they must be, what they must say and what they must do. It was their God moment. They finally got it: He is the Lord. His faithful few never turned back. His presence lead them to break free, take the lead, and begin to serve. The world would never be the same again.

“When I was young and innocent.” (Sirach 51:13)

Twenty years ago I had my God moment. After having been far away from the Church for almost ten years I returned with a fury! Spurned for my Catholic belief, I began to devour all the books I could on The Faith. I did not buckle when I was accused of trying to defend the undefendable. Rather, I defended it because it was more than defendable. I was not about to throw away my family’s honor, dignity over some twenty-year-old girlfriend and her fifteen-year-old Bible Church. I fought back the urge to not fight. I fought like a dog and was appalled at what I had seen. The Church that I had never really known made more sense than I; it loved more than I, but at the same time was persecuted more than I. I would never be the same again.

The Lord surrounded me and I surrendered. The little bulb of reason had burned out and my life took on a completely new light. I saw things as I had never seen them before: clear, simple, and radiant. Everything changed because I saw them with new eyes. I can see why so many wars have been fought over religion. If there is any war worth fighting for, the one for Christ is worth fighting for. It is much more justifiable than the reasonable war of ideology. The war for Christ is the only war that will end all wars.

Jesus does not answer the Pharisees questions. Why should he? They still didn’t get it. The Lord knew that they were not interested in the truth. Rather, they were interested in a trap, a motive, a hunt and a killing. How will we trap him? How will we capture God; put him in a box, seal him and lower him into the depths of the earth forever? Out of sight and out of mind! How will we do it? Will it be through science and Hollywood? Will it be through teen idols and revolutions? Will it be through secular education and social “reforms”? Or will it be through counterfeit ideas of equality, justice and tolerance?

I have only one question for them: By what authority do you do these things?

We do not know. They will not tell us. Not because they fear the Lord but because they know him not! They don't get it! Their fate, not the Lord's, is sealed with their decision, their sins. Even the Apostles, without Christ, were trapped (in the upper room). But with Him they are set free! We know him and by his passion, death and resurrection, we are obliged to tell the world who He is and by whose authority he speaks.

Christians do the world a lot of good and there is still much to do. If we remain faithful, there will be growth in wisdom and strength, honor and glory till death be gain!

Mk 11:11-26 Coming Home

Mk 11:11-26 Coming Home

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What is the purpose of God’s creation and of all his creatures? To know, to love and to serve Him is what we all learned many years ago in our Catechism classes – at least for those who had the opportunity to study the catechism as a child.

All creatures, great and small, are here to serve man, and man is to serve the Lord and one another. The plan, the design is flawless; however, the execution went terribly wrong. Sin distorts, twists, disfigures the beautiful world we never knew but could easily imagine. Literary giants throughout the years have managed to capture a glimpse of this pristine world, its collapse and our attempts to rediscover it. Like good old Robinson Crusoe we too have been bored at life; taken it for granted and have sought adventure and a new beginning in some far away land. Why not just get away? Why not just run away from our life and troubles?

My quest for gusto; my longing for independence and of thrill seeking takes me on a voyage (a pilgrimage) I could never have imagined. I find myself where I never imagined myself to be, tossed at sea, shipwrecked and washed ashore on a virgin island. Sounds too good to be true and it is! I must start over and soon enough I begin to duplicate the land I once knew and sought to avoid. I begin to experience, once again, loneliness, isolation and despair. When I come in contact with evil I can recognize it immediately. But how I react will be based upon either my past experiences or my Christian duty. I have a choice as to how I wish to live my life. I can produce. I can commit. I can engage. Or I can wither, run away and distance myself from it all.

The Lord curses a fig tree. What is it doing here if it is not serving God or man? What purpose does it have if it is not faithful to its very nature? Why allow it to continue to soak up nutrients and minerals that could be better utilized? Of course, it is an example. None of us wish to admit it. It is definitely too scary. To be cursed by God means to have no hope. Dante’s Inferno brings this concept to mind and drives it home away from home, “Abandon all hope.”

Today, the Lord reminds us that when my life seems to be withering, bearing no fruit; when I have forgotten who I am and what I am here for, I need not run away but turn back! I need to seek the advice and counsel of a good spiritual director, mentor or friend. I have no need to re-invent myself but to re-discover who I am and who I was meant to be. I should not have to throw away my luggage, my past or my traditions when I am thrown overboard or off my horse. Instead, I should embrace them and carry them for they are a reminder of the Lord’s amazing grace and call for holiness, for higher ground, for sacred ground.

When I am lost and can no longer find my way home, I need to use my compass, I need to pray.

Through prayer, I will never forget that the Lord chose me from the world, to go and bear fruit that will last forever. Only then, will I be ready for the greatest adventure ever: my journey back home.

The blessing of children helps us to re-discover the way back home. They are a reminder of where I have been and what I should look like.

Mk 10:46-52 Recalling God’s Work

Mk 10:46-52 Recalling God’s Work

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Why did Jesus heal the blind man? Why, in front of a sizable crowd, did the Lord stop speaking and call this man over to him? Of course, the most practical answer would be so that he would stop shouting, disrupting the Lord’s speech. But, there is a more profound reason: The Lord knows that one cure will open the eyes of many. In the eyes of the Lord, all the people are blind to the knowledge and the truth of who they are and who He is. Jesus heals the physically ill so as to communicate, by means of his words and miracles, the amazing spiritual healing he wishes to give to all.

“I am the light of the World; whoever follows me will have the light of life”

The blind man begins to see more than any other. He doesn’t just regain his sight. He doesn’t just go back to 20/20 vision. He uses his sight and begins to discover all that is, penetrating deeper than any other, into the marvelous beauty of the mysteries of God. He experiences the Lord’s presence, living it through and through, focusing sharper than any creature on His continence. He does not see as we see, he sees much deeper.

I am a firm believer that the poorest of the poor experience God’s love more than any of us; they live by it on a daily basis, it is their daily bread. Whereas, the vast majority of us, who are living under a man-made atmosphere of artificial lights, sounds, heating and cooling, etc. soon forget the sun and the moon, the cool waves and breeze; the sounds and sights of God’s amazing creation.

We may be blinded by our past, our sins or by disordered desires. God's grace means to regain our sight and never take anything for granted.As soon as the blind man could see, he took it all in, everything as if it were for the first time. He was homeward bound.

“Now I will recall God’s works; what I have seen, I will describe.”

Working with teenagers is tough, very tough. It is exhausting. Moms and dads are all too familiar with this. Their children have eyes and do not see; ears and do not hear. You just want to grab them by the shoulders and help them to see. The worst are the rich ones. Of course our pride rushes to associate wealth with intelligence. That is not true at all. The wealthy young do not see God or the reason to believe in God because they have not lived, and they have not lived because they have not sacrificed. It would appear to be a no win situation: I do not want them to go out and stumble. And yet, I want them to grow and mature! Parents must act like the Lord. Seek the opportunities to open your children’s eyes. Seek the means to help them penetrate deeper their thoughts, their words and their actions. Help them to recall God’s works. What you have seen, describe it to them. Turn their world upside down and right-side up. Help them to see the ingratitude that plagues our world and the lack of love that surrounds our ever smaller planet!

Kindergarten children get it! They instinctively live it! They are filled with a sense of wonder! They have made the connection. They have eyes and see everything; ears and hear everything! But the greatest connection they have made is Christ and Light; the Son of God and the Sun. As soon as a man or a woman dedicated to serving God and neighbor walks in, he or she is inundated with a massive flood of love, hugs and smiles. This is a glimpse of what God’s children should look like, regardless of age. This is how we should all greet each other: arms wide open, imitating the Son and quickly working their way inward, encircling the other and imitating the sun; giving warmth to all who are around. The child-like recall in a simple and beautiful way God’s amazing work of Creation and Redemption.

Mk 10:32-45 God’s Humility

Mk 10:32-45 God’s Humility

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Being humble means much more than bowing down to the truth. It means reaching out to those who have yet to find or understand the truth. It means being a servant to all. This is God’s humility. He, who knew no sin, touched the sinner; he went out of his way to love those who could not love themselves. He got himself involved.

“You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them.”

The person of Christ, his rich humanity and poor divinity, his presence among his people is a striking departure of what ancient man had envisioned before the birth of the Son of God. Legends and myths had all too common an image of God, a bottom line, a common denominator: the desire for a Great God, powerful, almighty, destructive, consuming and ferocious. They got none of it with the meek and humble Christ. His power is his humility which bends the toughest of minds, souls and hearts to his Will, his Father’s Will.

“Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.”

This sounds like some of our prayers during Mass! Instead of asking we are demanding the Lord to, “Take our gifts...” or “Guide our course…” or “Help us to…” Those who translated the Mass into English some forty years ago must have thought that we were too grown up and no longer needed to beg or implore or to humbly ask. Our old translation of the Liturgy is a good reflection of our spoiled children today. Thank God it will soon be revised and maybe with that, our culture of how we ask will change a little too, and for the better. It is amazing how Liturgy and culture are connected and can influence, for better and for worse, our ideas of paternity and eternity.

“Whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant. For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

One year ago, I helped at a Raider Awakening retreat out in Lubbock. It was an amazing experience to be with so many college students that were not only seeking a deeper relationship with God but also serving him faithfully on a tough secular campus. It was an eye opening experience for me, how the kids were praying, reflecting and maintaining silence throughout the night. Many would be in adoration for hours, anonymously praying for another. Only at the end of the retreat would the retreatants be aware that across the street there was an entire group of students praying for them twenty-four hours, non-stop by name throughout the entire retreat. They were shocked. It was an image of the angels and Saints and the faithfully departed praying for us, without us ever really thinking about it. This is the humility of the Saints: working hard, getting little credit. They imitate the Master well. “Whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all.” God’s humility is nothing more than His Son’s infinite love that radiates through his human heart and dispels the darkness of our loneliness.

We know what it takes and we know how it ends. Let's get too it! As we approach the great and powerful season of Lent, let us strip ourselves of all earthy titles, positions of authority and pretenses of power. Let us go out and meet the sinner more than half-way. Let us humbly ask this through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Mk 10:28-31 What Must I Do? Part II

Mk 10:28-31 What Must I Do? Part II

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Peter replied, “We have given up everything and followed you.”

The above verse is generally known on earth as the “Scandal of the Cross”. The Lord has asked us to follow him in whatever he wants and wherever he goes. It is a scandal, especially since our ancient forefathers’ declaration to God of theirs and our independence! We value our independence. We hold it up high! We worked darn hard for it and we treasure it, even at the expense of lives. We all have this inclination, this predisposition - this original sin - to cut off all strings that may attach us to others, especially from the One from above, and it is very apparent for all to feel. Conformity of my will to His Will requires obedience and sacrifice. So when things don’t go my way or when I get frustrated with others and with God, it can most definitely be that my will does not conform to His Will. This is the likely cause of my frustration, resentment, and even anger.

In the heated dialogue between the Lord and Peter, it would appear as though Peter is fed up, ready to get up and to turn back. He is about to explode and in a fit of anger he shouts out, “We have given up everything and followed you.” What will we get in return?

Of course we know the history of the Church; we have the lives of the Saints. We have those who suffered tremendous persecution, hatred and war for the sake of Christ and the Gospel. Are we not impressed with their lives? How a tree once crooked grew straight and tall? How the meek and humble of heart conquered the foreign lands and people they were sent to serve and save? As for me, I am impressed beyond reason how a rag tag group of fishermen and lowlifes could turn the world right side up and change the course of history!

“Lord, guide the course of world events and give your Church the joy and peace of serving you in true freedom.” (Opening Prayer, 8^th Wk Ordinary time)

This should be our prayer. This should be meditated upon. The world has changed forever and is now marked by the sign of the Lord’s Cross. We must continue to carry His Cross. It is remarkable how my destiny ties in directly with the Lord’s work. His work will never fail and we have been called to participate in the history of salvation. Is it clear what I am saying? We have been called by Christ to join him in his plan of salvation. And here is his invitation, the Lord’s motivational speech: The greater the role, the greater the honor; the greater the honor the greater the joy. (cf. Mk 10:30-31)

“To refrain from evil pleases the Lord, and to avoid injustice is an atonement. Appear not before the Lord empty-handed.” (Sir 35:1-12)

This is no longer good enough. It is only part of the formula for success. The book of Sirach is in the Old Testament. The Lord fulfills that Law but He lives beyond the letter of this Law! It is no longer good enough to just refrain from evil and avoid injustice. My hands must appear full before the Lord. But there is much more. They must be marked by the sign of the Cross. A nail must pierce them.

Not too long ago someone told me of the shame they felt for having had sex before marriage. When this person told her family, they shamed here by calling her every name in the book. This young person asked me if what they had said was right. I asked her if that would have been the Lord’s response. We all know the answer to that question. And now it all makes sense. The Lord speaks, “The first shall be last, and the last shall be first.” In other words, the one who tells the truth and seeks forgiveness will be forgiven, but the one who does not forgive shall be shamed. That is why tax collectors and other sinners were entering the Kingdom of God first.

The Lord calls us to true freedom through true conversion. “Sin no more” is good, just and necessary. This is true freedom. This is true service. This is what I must do for this is what brings joy and peace: Serving the Lord.