Lk 9:1-6 Comfortable Christianity

Wednesday of the Twenty-Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

(Click here for readings)

By Benedict Augustine

“Whatever house you enter, stay there and leave from there.
And as for those who do not welcome you,
when you leave that town,
shake the dust from your feet in testimony against them.”

Joel Osteen and his wife upset some Christians when they blithely declared that worship was not for God's sake, but for the people's sake. Some Christians rightly declared that this flew in the face of Christianity in which believers offer themselves as living sacrifices to God. Jesus Christ gave up His life for God and His fellow men; His disciples did the same; the saints afterward did the same; Christians now strive to do the same. However, the Osteens, who speak for a large number of people who profess to be Christian, finally broke the facade and admitted that worship served their interests. Jesus bore the cross for them so that they do not have to; God intervenes for their material and emotional well-being because He likes winner and hates losers; and the Holy Spirit is really another way of saying “positive energy.” Somehow, the selfless loving doctrine of Christ completely reversed itself into a selfish cynical doctrine of the ego.

These days, many Christians, including many Catholics, never really use the word, “penitential,” in regards to their daily life. Penitential describes the sinner who has remorse over his sins, desires to rectify his sinful state through penance, and come away a stronger and more spiritual person. We take on challenges, unpleasant tasks, and other people's problems because it is penitential. Mass is penitential: we confess our sins, ponder God's word, give ourselves as Jesus gives Himself in Holy Communion, and give thanks to God for loving us in spite of our sinfulness. We feel joy at Mass, not for our sakes, but for God's sake. All this helps us to become holier, saintlier people.

Unfortunately, people have jettisoned “penitential” for “uplifting.” People want better music, better homilies, shorter services, more social activities, and a nice nonthreatening blank cross, not a somber bloody crucifix. They want validation for their apparent moral uprightness, not a reminder of their actual sinfulness. They want God to send them good vibes, not send them His Son. As children of today's world, they relegate those penitential Christians to the proverbial wilderness while they work to make the Church more open, popular, and seductively comfortable.

In other words, most modern Christians, and their frequently non-Christian children, do not welcome Christ's apostles. These men have nothing to offer, whereas Joel Osteen and Oprah offer some great motivational advice and all sorts of warm fuzzies to delight their audiences. Jesus tells his apostles to “take nothing for the journey, neither walking stick, nor sack, nor food, nor money” or even another set of clothes. All they have, and all they need, is Jesus and His gospel. No one could mistake their strategy. They would not cajole, or bribe, or guilt any villager; they would simply “proclaim the Kingdom of God” and “heal the sick.”

The healing could have intrigued some of the physically ill, but the healing would also have to reach their souls as well to truly work. Even Jesus struggled healing those who had no faith. Faith and healing obviously depend on one another. One could only heal when one accepted the Kingdom of God, not because this was the condition for healing, but because this was the cause for healing. If people denied the source of the cure, then they denied cure as well.

Instead the Word must suffice. Christ does not promise guaranteed spiritual salvation nor does he promise material prosperity. He promises to heal sinners and give them Heaven—if they can accept it. We accept this gift by allowing His apostles into our dwellings, knowing well that they only have Christ's blessing with them. If we send them away by keeping away from Mass, keeping away from the penitential kooks praying their rosaries and confessing their sins, and instead adopt the materialist self-centered gospel of the world, Christ and his apostles will gently let us be. And as we pay our entertainers to “lift our spirits,” the true lifters of spirit will “shake the dust from [their] feet in testimony against [us],” who chose to momentarily forget our sickness instead of finally having our sickness permanently cured.  

Lk 8:19-21 The War On Sacredness

Tuesday of the Twenty-Fifth Week in Ordinary Time 
(Click here for readings)

The mother of Jesus and his brothers came to him but were unable to join him because of the crowd.  He was told, "Your mother and your brothers are standing outside and they wish to see you."  He said to them in reply, "My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it."

We are losing the war.  We are losing the war on the belief of the sanctity of human life and on the supreme dignity of every human person.  

Not too long ago, when James Foley was beheaded, I read a tweet from an individual who said, "It should have been Hilary Clinton."  This comment struck me as being typical of the mind frame of so many young adults in the West.  They have little to no regard for the dignity of human life and human death.  

The Internet if full of sarcasm and vile, reprehensible, and mean-spirited comments.  

We are losing the fight for our children's souls, and we are losing it either because we are not doing enough to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ (love) or because we don't really care.

A sea of verbal, physical and psychological violence has spread throughout the world, and it has gained traction because there is a thrill in profaning everything and leaving no soul unturned.   

Some time ago I gave a talk to some boys and girls with regards to bullying.  It took a while for me to calm down once I found out what some of them were calling their peers:  fat and/or ugly.  I was even more appalled when I found out that a few of them were telling others to harm themselves.

Years and years of Catholic education and you'd think these kids would know better.  They do!  But like so many of us, they are succumbing to our "care-free" or "care-less" culture. So either they don't realize how harmful their words can be or they simply don't care.  

I found this cartoon to be illuminating.

Don't write anything or anyone off.  The Lord knows perfectly well who His mother and brothers and sisters are, and where they are.  But He goes beyond the physical; that is, the direct, measurable and quantifiable.  He takes it to the next level:  the spiritual; that is, the indirect, meditative, reflective and contemplative.  The superficial does not settle well with the Lord.  After all, God is God and He is not settled at the superficial level, but only through profound and continual dialogue, and with all of reality in play.    We are all one family.  We have all been created in the image and likeness of God.  We are all created equal. 

The Lord knows we are all related.  But what about you?  Have you forgotten this?  If so, then you may very well be a bully. 

Jesus replied, "My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it.

Bullies are part of the human family, but they are not necessarily our "brothers" and "sisters."  Rather, they are, as the Lord would put it, "my neighbor" ...who needs to be loved, educated and instructed.

We speak a lot about wars:  the war on terror, the war on women, the war on reproduction rights, the war on bullies.  But what we are truly fighting for (and losing big time) is the dignity and sacredness of every human person. 

We need to make more brothers and sisters and mothers.  We need to hear the word of God, act on it and share it with our neighbors.  Otherwise, our neighbor may very well strike first...and it won't be pretty.

Lk 8:16-18 Trying To Be Irrelevant

Monday of the Twenty-Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
(Click here for readings)

By KATIE GROSS

Jesus said to the crowd:
“No one who lights a lamp conceals it with a vessel
or sets it under a bed;
rather, he places it on a lampstand
so that those who enter may see the light.
For there is nothing hidden that will not become visible,
and nothing secret that will not be known and come to light.”

As a high-school student, I have heard many a homily about this Gospel reading.  Sometimes, this reading is picked for school Masses or special occasion Masses even when it is not the reading for the day! On the surface, the Gospel does seem to contain a wonderful sentiment—we should make the most out of our gifts, right? We should shine the light that God has given us as bright as we possibly can by going into the world and doing incredible things. I would agree with that. However, while I do agree with the popular interpretation of this Gospel, it also raises an important question—what is the light Jesus is talking about?
 

The popular interpretation of human beings being the light of the world is correct. After all, the parallel of this reading in Matthew chapter 5 says, “You are the light of the world… neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick.” However, notice that in this passage from Luke, Jesus does not once say the word ‘you.’ He simply mentions ‘the light.’ What does that mean?  We may be the light, but the light is not created by us. The light shines through us through no act of our own power.
 

That is the temptation that we have to resist—making ‘the light’ about ‘you’! I remember being a little freshmen and getting so hyped up about how I was going to go out after school and change the world. I was going to eliminate poverty, fix corruption—all by myself! It wasn’t really until I started getting into some service projects and mission work that I saw I couldn’t really do that. My own will and my own power are like little grains of sand compared with all the suffering, injustice, and pain in the world.

We recently read a reflection in theology class by a priest named Henri Nouwen who abandoned a very scholarly position at Harvard to work in a South American community for the handicapped. His words speak better than mine ever could:

 

“Since nobody could read my books, the books could not impress anyone, and since most of them never went to school, my twenty years at Notre Dame, Yale, and Harvard did not provide a significant introduction… In a way, it seemed as though I was starting my life all over again… These broken, wounded and completely unpretentious people forced me to let go of my relevant self—the self that can do things, show things, prove things, build things—and forced me to reclaim that unadorned self in which I am completely vulnerable, open to receive and give love regardless of any accomplishments…. the [Christian] of the future will be those who dare to claim their irrelevance in the contemporary world as a divine vocation that allows them to enter into a deep solidarity with the anguish underlying all the glitter and success, and to bring the light of Jesus there.”

What?? A vocation to be irrelevant? That is countercultural. But it is the truth. We are only the “light of the world” inasmuch as we bring the light of Christ to others. We are instruments. We are like the moon—we may give light, but only because light is given to us by the Son (I love that pun!). Acting on our own volition, we are entirely irrelevant.

At our baptism, we receive a candle—we receive the light of Christ. Don’t hide it. But at the same time, always acknowledge who gave that light to you—acknowledge Him who set you apart to be His light in the world!

Mt 20:1-16a Taking a Chance

Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
(Click here for readings)

Jesus told his disciples this parable:  "The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard.  After agreeing with them for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard.  Going out about nine o'clock, the landowner saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and he said to them, 'You too go into my vineyard, and I will give you what is just.' ...And he went out again around noon, and around three o'clock, and did likewise.

Never write anyone off.  In today's first reading, we are reminded at how different we are from the Lord.  "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways" (Is 55:8).  So what exactly are God's ways and thoughts?  Let's not forget we can know God through His Son, Jesus Christ.  Therefore, we can understand God-Almighty in the humble life of His Word made flesh. 

So what exactly is God so great at?  Forgiving.  God forgives like no other and in ways that we cannot even fathom.  His mercy and forgiveness are deeper than the oceans and as "high as the heavens above the earth" (Is 55:9).  God loves to forgive.  He loves to give people a second chance, third chance, fourth chance, etc. 

We must never write anyone off.  This is the great lesson from today's first reading. 

Do you give people a second, third, even fourth chance?

Never write anything off.  From today's second reading, we are reminded at how every gesture of ours, every decision of ours, every thought, word and deed of ours and every moment in our lives - including our death -  can be significant.  In the eyes of God, nothing is insignificant or too small to go unnoticed, not even our death.  For "all things work together for good for those who love God" (Rom 8:28) and everything can move the human heart, mind and body closer to Him.

As St. Paul states:  "For to me life is Christ, and death is gain" (Phil 1:21).

We must never write anything off as being inconsequential.  This is the great lesson from today's second reading. 

Am I prepared to teach others how to live and how to die?

The Lord went out at 9:00, noon, 3:00 and 5:00 pm.  The Lord is constantly calling out to us to come join Him and His amazing work of salvation.  He goes out at all (random) hours of the day looking for all types of (random) people.  It doesn't matter the hour of the day or even the fact that it is close to the end of the day (the End Times?).  It doesn't matter who He finds:  wealthy, poor, healthy or unhealthy.  The Lord is on a mission from His Father to get as many people to work for Him, to change into Him, to live through Him.  That's the mission. 

Never write anyone off.  Never write anything off. 

Are you envious because I am generous?  What's the obstacle to our success?  Jealousy.  Jealousy is a terrible thing.  It kills the heart, mind and soul.  It cripples the body.  It enslaves the human heart.  It kills the soul.  The definition of jealousy is really sad.  In fact, it is sadness at someone else's happiness.  Ugh!  How awful!!!

We all like to compare ourselves to others.  But some of us live and feed off of it, and just like any drug, it can feed not only our addictions, like vanity, but also give us the greatest highs and/or the lowest lows.  In other words, it can make us feel like we are the greatest or make us feel like we are the lousiest.

It's not worth it!

A few days ago, I was walking around the track in our parish hall.  I was on my 5th lap when this elderly woman, who was walking at a slow pace, blurted out to me "I wish I could keep up with you."  I told her, "You don't have to.  You should never compare yourself to others, including me?"  I would never have said this to her if it were not for the fact that I had been meditating on today's Gospel passage. 

Good for me; bad for her!  Oh well...

Today's parable is a reminder - a warning - to never to compare ourselves to others.  Never!  But if we must, then let's be honest and compare ourselves to Jesus Christ. Now that's healthy.  That's being honest.  Comparing yourself to your neighbor is not honest or healthy.  It is superficial.  But comparing yourself to God is beneficial.  It is profound, refreshing, rejuvenating and rewarding.

God never writes anyone off.  And just like in today's Gospel passage, even the slightest effort on our part will be rewarded richly, fairly and justly. 

Are you envious because God is generous?  Don't be, for He is being very generous to you right now.

Never write anyone off and never write anything off is the same as saying take a chance and take someone back.

It's what we have been called to do. 

"The Church acts like Jesus.  She does not give lectures on love, on mercy.  She does not spread a philosophy, a path of wisdom throughout the world. ...Of course, Christianity is all this, but as a consequence, in reflection.  The Mother Church, like Jesus, teaches by example, and uses words to illuminate the meaning of her gestures." - Pope Francis

Lk 8:4-15 Holy Randomness!

Saturday of the Twenty-Fourth Week in Ordinary Time
(Click here for readings)

When a large crowd gathered, with people from one town after another journeying to Jesus, he spoke in a parable.  "A sower went out to sow his seed.  And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path and was trampled, and the birds of the sky ate it up.  Some seed fell on rocky ground, and when it grew, it withered for lack of moisture.  Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew with it and choked it.  And some seed fell on good soil, and when it grew, it produced fruit a hundredfold...Whoever has ears to hear ought to hear."

The seed is the word of God.  Since the dawn of man, God has thrown His Word out there to all sorts of people, even when His Word became flesh. 

Jesus interacted with all kinds of people: the rich and the poor, the important and the unimportant, the influential and the insignificant, the powerful and the vulnerable, the strong and the weak, the healthy and the unhealthy, the religious and non-religious, the Jews and the pagans, the believers and unbelievers, the intelligent and the ignorant, the sinful and the saintly, the good and the bad.

In some of His interactions, the Lord spoke; while in others, He remained silent.  But in all instances, He left His mark, His footprint, His forgiveness, His compassion, His mercy - His seed! - where you would least expect it.  And for the most part...they grew.

People changed, and changed for good.

The beauty of Christianity lies in its challenging creed, specifically in the "forgiveness of sins."   

This is gigantic!  It is earthshattering.  It is so novel, dangerous and exploratory!  Talk about boldly going where very few have gone before.   

To the untrained and unstrained eye, this business of "salvation" and the "throwing of seeds" may seem all so random.  But to God it is not. 

It is all holy randomness.

Lk 36-50 On God's Radar

Thursday of the Twenty-Fourth Week in Ordinary Time

(Click here for readings)

By JENNIFER BURGIN

He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” 

The others at table said to themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” But he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

About ten years ago, on my way to work, I got stuck in traffic on a feeder road toward the interstate.  Two stop lights emerged one after the other. Not realizing, I ran through the first red light because my eyes focused on the second green light.  As I waited to cross the intersection, I heard a tap, tap, tap on my driver's side window. Two bicycle cops stood next to my car while a third officer carried a radar gun. I rolled down the window.  "Is there a problem, officers?"  I asked calmly. One of the officers replied:  "Ma'am, you just ran that stop light back there.  We need for you to pull over out of traffic."  I was like, "What the....? Are you kidding me?"   I fumed in anger.  Here I could hardly move my vehicle in this traffic mess, and I get pulled over by bicycle patrol.  How ridiculous!  I'm embarrassed to admit this, but I blasted my horn (repeatedly) while shouting out profanities (not very lady-like!) Two of the cops laughed at my spectacle while the other one remained serious.   "Ma'am, if you don't calm down we'll take you over to the jail.  It's only on the other side of this street."  Uh oh.....Let's just say I reversed the bad attitude, apologized, and accepted the ticket with a "Have a nice day."  I was late to work carrying in my wallet a hefty $200 traffic citation. 

Shortly after the incident with the cops, I went to confession. I humbly asked for the Lord's forgiveness.  My mother always warned me that if I ever ended up in jail she would never bail me out.  This run-in with the bicycle cops forever stamped mom's warning into my stubborn brain.  

Police vs. God's Radar We are all sinners, like it or not.  We make errors, blunders, and mistakes.  God's radar detector is aimed at us 24/7.  It's not the same as a police officer's radar gun ready to pull us over and slap us with a fine for speeding.  God's radar is like a heavenly telescope watching our every move, ready to assist us at any moment. He knows when we've done things wrong , giving us the opportunity to seek forgiveness.  We should realize His presence and pray, pray, pray.  When a situation occurs out of our control, we know that God is in control.  Bad circumstances do not last forever.

Pharisee vs. Sinful Woman  In today's gospel reading, the Pharisee is critical of the sinful woman washing Jesus' feet with her hair.  What a disgraceful act.  Does Our Lord not know what kind of woman she is?  Jesus knows precisely who she is!  In fact, Jesus appreciates her great humility.  The feet can be a smelly, and dirty part of the body, especially after walking around in the desert; yet, the sinful woman bathes them with her tears.  The odor doesn't bother her.  She doesn't mind the dirt.  All she wants is to show how much she loves Jesus.  A simple, loving touch from a sinner is all Our Lord needs to pour out his graces. 

Have you been to the Sacrament of Reconciliation in a while?  Maybe it's time to make an appointment with a priest.  Remember that God's radar is always keeping an eye on us - the good, the bad, and the ugly.  Take the opportunity to seek out forgiveness.  It will strengthen and encourage you!

"Oh Lord, you search me and you know me, you know my resting and my rising you discern my purpose from afar.  You mark when I walk or lie down, all my ways lie open to you...."  - Psalm 139

This meditation was written by Jennifer Burgin.  Please visit her blog:  Jennifer's Spectrum of Spirituality

Lk 7:36-50 Are You An Effective Team?

Thursday of the Twenty-Fourth Week in Ordinary Time
(Click here for readings)

Now there was a sinful woman in the city who learned that [Jesus] was at table in the house of the Pharisee.  Bringing an alabaster flask of ointment, she stood behind him at his feet weeping and began to bathe his feet with her tears.  Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them, and anointed them with the ointment.  When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would know who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him..."

Friend of sinners.  Not only is Christ an expert at taking our worst day and turning it into an amazing blessing, but taking the worst of sinners and turning them into the greatest among saints!  This is what He did to this woman.  This is what He did to St. Paul

"[Jesus] appeared to James, then to all the Apostles.  Last of all, as to one born abnormally, he appeared to me.  For I am the least of the Apostles, not fit to be called an Apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God.  But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me has not been ineffective" (1Cor 15:1-11).

Changing hearts, minds and souls - lives - and turning them right-side-up is what Christ does best.  This is what the Church does best.  May we never fall into the temptation of the world and stop forgiving others. 

We, Americans, do a lot of things well.  Forgiving others is not one of them.  We are hesitant in forgiving people.  In fact, I would even dare to say we dare others to not be forgiving.  I would even go so far in saying we threaten others who forgive others.  If you don't believe what I am saying, then take a look at the recent spat of news and you will know what I mean. 

What does it mean to forgive someone?  It means to give people a second chance.

"Simon, I have something to say to you...Do you see this woman?  When I entered your house, you did not give me water for my feet, but she has bathed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair.  You did not give me a kiss, but she has not ceased kissing my feet since the time I entered.  You did not anoint my head with oil, but she anointed my feet with ointment.  So I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven...But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little."

Openness.  What can we say about the woman who came to Jesus?  We can say she was courageous.  Absolutely brave!  It took a lot of courage for her to come out from hiding and into the open.  It took a lot of faith for her to approach the Son of God.  What will He do to me?  What will He say to me?   It took a lot of humility on her part to walk into the home of a Pharisee and admit her guilt. 

Today, I had the wonderful experience of sharing the Good News with the freshman at John Paul II High School.  What a great group of kids.  But I must admit...our graduates from All Saints simply shined above and beyond the rest!  They greeted the retreat team with smiles and hugs.  Their enthusiasm and joy helped fellow classmates to get into the spirit of the retreat and break down their interior "barriers" and artificial "masks."  They led from the beginning till the very end of the retreat. 

I am so proud of them!  We were a highly effective team.  God bless you!

Are you an effective team player?  Are you helping others to regain their relationship with the Lord?  Are you giving people a second chance? 

Simon didn't get it.  None of the Pharisees got it.  Holiness is not something to boast about but a solemn duty to get down and dirty with those who are looking for a second chance. 

Changing hearts and minds and souls is what Christ did best.  It is something we need to get better at.