Mt 14:1-12 You Can't Always Have What You Want!

Memorial of Saint Alphonsus Liguori, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
 

By JENNIFER BURGIN

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Now Herod had arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, for John had said to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.”

One Saturday morning I stopped by Costco to buy mega rolls of paper products.  As I wheeled my bulky cart toward the exit, I came across a boy throwing a fit in the food court.  He sat on the concrete floor stomping his feet as tears streamed down his red face.  He whined and cried out: "Mom, I want cheese sticks!  Why can't I have them?  Waaaah!"  Not surprising, his mom just stood with her eyes glued to her cell phone, ignoring her son. Perhaps she was Google searching "How to stop my child from throwing a fit" or texting a friend for advice. Highly unlikely....

 Did the other Costco customers find this kid as disturbing as I did? Maybe similar thoughts entered their minds: What is wrong with you, Lady? Put down your silly cell phone, pick up your kid, and get out of here now! Your little boy needs a spanking, time out, or something! We'd like to enjoy our dining and shopping experience here in Costco-land without kiddie drama, thank you very much!

Is it just me or does today's society produce record numbers of clueless people?  Everywhere I go I see children, and adults alike, acting inconsiderate, ignorant, or just plain indifferent....

I'd like to kindly throw out this reminder:  You can't always have what you want! Keep living your head up in the clouds. Keep acting like a jerk.  Keep pitching that fit.  Keep demanding things your way. The results you want may never meet your expectations.

By now, most Americans are aware of the Planned Parenthood Exposed videos released by The Center for Medical Progress.  I've watched each video in utter repulsion.  I won't go into the gory details, but selling aborted fetal parts in a black market scheme is way beyond safe reproductive healthcare.  Clearly, PP thinks they can continue to have what they want -- tax payer funds under the shadows of secrecy and controversy; a powerful lobbying force that kills for profit without a care. God willing, Planned Parenthood will go down as the Truth of their shady operations becomes more visible.

In today's gospel reading, John the Baptist is arrested for saying quite matter-of-factly that King Herod has no right to his brother's wife.  Yet, Herod doesn't want to hear the word No. How dare this "wild man" of a prophet who eats honey and locusts tell him what he cannot have.  In the ultimate plot of revenge, John's head is cut off and delivered on a platter.  Problem solved.... However, an unwelcome side effect looms; King Herodwill always have the blood of a martyr stained on his conscience.

Is getting what you want going to make you any happier?  What if you turned away from your selfish desires and asked God what He desires best for you?

Saint Alphonsus Liguori, whose feast day we celebrate today, wrote the following: 

"Our Savior says, if you have not received the graces that you desire, do not complain to me, but blame yourself, because you have neglected to seek them from me." 

Wow, such powerful morsels of wisdom!  The next time we draw out the selfish card and think that we can have whatever I want, think again.  If it's something unhealthy for us or will put us into a state of mortal sin, it's probably best that it doesn't happen.  Those times when something meaningful to us falls flat, remember that the Lord has something else better planned.  

I'll conclude with another quote from Saint Alphonsus worthy of reflection:

"If you wish to strengthen your confidence in God still more, often recall the loving way in which He has acted toward you, and how mercifully He has tried to bring you out of your sinful life, to break your attachment to the things of earth and draw you to His love."

Saint Alphonsus Liguori, Pray for Us!

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

Exodus 40; 16-21 Start Making that List

Thursday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

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By SOPHIE DRUFFNER

Moses did exactly as the LORD had commanded him.
On the first day of the first month of the second year
the Dwelling was erected.
It was Moses who erected the Dwelling.
He placed its pedestals, set up its boards, put in its bars,
and set up its columns.
He spread the tent over the Dwelling
and put the covering on top of the tent,
as the LORD had commanded him.
He took the commandments and put them in the ark;
he placed poles alongside the ark and set the propitiatory upon it.
He brought the ark into the Dwelling and hung the curtain veil,
thus screening off the ark of the commandments,
as the LORD had commanded him.

Gosh, I need to go to confession.

I haven’t murdered anyone recently, stolen anyone’s beloved pearls, or done anything especially terrible, but goodness gracious, I need to go to confession.

Recently I read a piece about envisioning our souls as glass, and any sin that we have committed is a smudge on that glass. I’ve also heard the comparison of our souls to a wedding dress.When  I get to the altar one day (hopefully! although I’m sure my mum will tell me to just get through college first), I’m going to have the most gorgeous wedding dress ever. And I certainly wouldn’t want any stain upon it.

So when we receive the Eucharist, we should envision ourselves in a wedding dress, approaching the altar. If you’re a guy, envision yourself in a gorgeous white tuxedo. But rewind the mental tape to about fifteen minutes before, when you’re standing in the bride or groom’s room, looking at yourself in the mirror one more time. “I,” you tell yourself, “look simply fantastic. This is the best day of my life.” And then imagine your bridesmaids or groomsmen enter the room and start throwing rotten tomatoes, moldy fruit, containers of old soup and yogurt, and all sorts of rotten and disgusting things at you. Your beautiful dress! Your gorgeous tux! The stains are accumulating and you duck but you can’t get rid of them. Suddenly, after five minutes of the onslaught, they suddenly drop the disgusting things and escort you out. You’re shell-shocked, but you walk down the aisle anyway. You cannot believe you’re going to enter a new life in this awful outfit.

That’s how most of us approach the altar to receive Jesus. We’re covered in weeks, months, or years of white lies, bits of stray gossip, and last month’s scandal, and yet we still receive Jesus, who is pure love.

Moses had it right when he enshrined the rules in the Ark of the Covenant. He held the rules sacred, even though he broke them. We should hold the rules sacred, too. We should remember “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s goods” when we begin to be jealous of how someone has the latest version of the iPhone or the latest and greatest new car. We should remember “Thou Shalt not take the name of the Lord Thy God in vain” when we say “Jesus!” or “God, I can’t believe he’d do that,” where the sacred name of Jesus takes the place of a curse word. Of course, we should not say curse words either. But perhaps using the name of God in the place of a curse word is worse.

Before confession, I always like to take fifteen minutes and write down a list. Rather than going into the confessional, citing three or four commandments, and then mumbling “and all the rest,” at the end, I like to examine each and every time that I can remember that I’ve talked bad about someone, cursed, or failed to honor my parents. Then I say a quick prayer to the Holy Spirit to help me remember each and every time I’ve failed to do right. And then, empowered with my list, I go to the chapel and stand in line.

I’ll be going to confession this week before Sunday mass. I want to be able to receive the Eucharist cleanly, with as few smudges or stains as possible. Because don’t we all want to try as hard as we can to be pure before our God?

Jn 11:19-27 Martha My Dear

Wednesday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

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By Benedict Augustine

“When Martha heard that Jesus was coming,

she went to meet him;

but Mary sat at home.

Martha said to Jesus,

‘Lord, if you had been here,

my brother would not have died.

But even now I know that whatever you ask of God,

God will give you.’”

Although Jesus seems to show preference for her sister Mary, most people tend to identify and sympathize more with Martha. Mary had “chosen the better part” by sitting at Jesus’s feet and later anointed Him in an inspired moment of adoration; Martha presumably chooses the worse part by doing chores and endures Jesus’ scolding twice in the gospels, first for doing chores and complaining about it and second for misunderstanding the meaning of the resurrection.

The only other disciple whom Jesus corrects even more than Martha is Peter who misunderstands Jesus’ Passion and later denies Him three times. Curiously, Martha and Peter have similar personalities that lead to such blunders: they both love Jesus in a very human (and thus relatable) fashion, and this causes them to presume that they know Jesus more than they do. Peter naturally assumes that Jesus would want to avoid torture and crucifixion. Martha naturally assumes that Jesus would want a woman to tend to the house and raise His dead friends sometime in the distant future. Jesus must remind them both that He is no ordinary man, but God’s Son, which makes their all-too-human love somewhat misguided.

Human though their love might be, as opposed to the transcendent selfless love of God, “fileis-se” and not necessarily “agapo-se,” Peter and Martha have tge privilege of witnessing Jesus’ greatest triumphs as well. After all, even though they know Who Jesus is, Jesus must show them what that means. In Peter’s case, Jesus’ lesson on what He means fills whole gospels (see Matthew and Mark); in Martha’s case, this lesson makes up the greatest, most significant miracle in the gospel of John.

The circumstances of this miracle help to bring out its meaning. In Jesus’absence, Martha’s brother Lazarus grows fatally ill. Jesus learned about Lazarus’s illness, but does not stop His preaching to see him, noting rathercryptically that the illness will “not lead to death, but is for the glory of God.” Two days elapse and He learns that Lazarus as died. Only at this news does He desire to go and visit Lazarus – not to pay His condolences as a friend, nor make the most of a crisis as a political leader, but, as the true messiah, to resurrect a dead man already corrupting in the tomb and inform humanity of its ultimate destiny.

When Jesus arrives, Martha cannot contain herself. Thinking in characteristic human terms, she accuses Jesus of being a bad friend, greeting him with the words, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Nevertheless, she holds out hope, a small hope, that He might still do something since He is the Messiah. Like most people wanting something of God, they hope for the best but expect the worst, trying to avoid disappointment.Jesus rewards Martha’s gumption, and tolerates her qualified faith, by raising her brother from the dead right there and then.

In all likelihood, this huge feat confirms the meaning of Jesus for Martha—and the many, many disciples like her. He is much more than a mere friend who can comfort one in pain but not really remove that pain. He is much more than an abstract hope, some divine afterlife venture in which to invest one’s soul. He is the Resurrection and Life Incarnate. He acts in all times, past, present, and future, and His love gives life and perfection to those who accept it.

In hindsight, Martha shows enormous pluck in confronting Jesus like this. The fact the Jesus does what He does afterward suggests that He does not mind this at all. Considering that many prophets, not least Moses, had done the same with God in the Old Testament with complaints and accusations far worse than Martha’s, Jesus probably appreciates her honesty.

Martha’s example teaches that one should not only approach God in high spirits—God does not really care that a person is polite, or positive, or hardheaded—but in low spirits and anger as well. Through His Son, God heals and gives life; He wants to take those low spirits and raise them like He raised Lazarus. Like Martha, and unlike her mystic sister Mary, most disciples might learn this only after so many lessons and mistakes. Even so, Martha is a saint like her siblings, and this should give hope to any disciple who might not understand everythingright away but has the courage to continue to strive to know Jesus.

Mt 13:36-43 Oh My!

Tuesday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time
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By FR ALFONSE NAZZARO

Jesus dismissed the crowds and went into the house.  His disciples approached him and said, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field."  He said in reply, "He who sows good seed is the Son of Man...The weeds are the children of the Evil One...  The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his Kingdom all who cause others to sin and all evildoers.  They will throw them into the fiery furnace..."

It's not everyday we hear the Lord speak so, well, "Medieval."  But we have it in us to be very "Medieval," or, better yet, so "20th century."

The Lord is reminding us that we have a tremendous responsibility towards Him and our neighbor.  So what exactly does this mean?

1.  Keep your priorities straight.  I continue to be amazed at how so many people, including old people, perpetuate century old lies.  For example, a few days ago I had someone come up to me and ask me to pray that their grandson pick and choose the right college.  I couldn't believe my ears.  Really?  Com' on! Let me tell you what is far more important:  that college is for learning, not liberating.  And what is even more important than that is how they need to keep their heads on straight when they are in college. 

Do you remember how everyone was talking about Breaking Bad? I can't tell you how many times people said to me: Oh my gosh!  You have to watch this show!  It's amazing! 

Really?  It's a TV show.  Give me a break! 

Believe it or not I have reflected on this phenomenon.  I find it amazing how we (I include myself) can talk up a storm about a TV show or a sports game or something similar to it and encourage others to watch it, participate in it and be thrilled by it...and yet I don't even mention a word about my faith, or my religion, or my God.

Amazing!

2.  Get out of your shell.  Early this morning I read in the news that the Church of the Snows, a Catholic Church - the only one on this particular continent- was closing.  That's right.  The only Catholic Church in Antarctica is closing after some fifty-plus years. 

I couldn't believe it!  At first I thought, "We have a church down there?"  And then I said to myself, "Big deal. I'm sure the priest is relieved."  But once I was fully awake, I felt quite a bit of sadness.  I was truly disturbed by this fact and was curious to know why. 

In its heydays, there were over 2000 people working in the vicinity of the Church.  Today, with budget cuts and other constraints, the number has dwindled.  But the real reason for its closure was "a lack of interest."   The people are no longer coming to Church.

HEY FOLKS:  Wake up!  Do you still believe that people come to Church?  Give me a break!  People don't come to Church.  They are brought to Church. 

How are we supposed to bring people to Church?  This is what I do.  I invite HS students, college students, young people, anyone!!! to breakfast, lunch or dinner.  I invite people to Church.  I tell them what God has done for me.  I take my life and theirs seriously.  I take my responsibility seriously. 

Very few times did Christ ever speak in a medieval (or modern) tone.  We should take Him seriously, for the salvation of souls depends on Him and on us as well.

We have our part in the history of salvation.

Mt 13:31-35 Seeds and Costa Rica

Monday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time
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By KATIE GROSS

Jesus proposed a parable to the crowds.

“The Kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed

that a person took and sowed in a field.

It is the smallest of all the seeds,

yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants.

It becomes a large bush,

and the birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.”

​As perhaps some readers may have noticed, I have not written a post for Father’s blog in three weeks. This is because I just returned back from a two-week study abroad in Costa Rica. My time in Costa Rica was more incredible than anything I could have ever imagined. Sure, I knew that I was going to get better at Spanish, and that I would probably get a nice tan, and that I would see a beautiful part of the world. But I think my greatest takeaway from my time in Costa Rica is this; Costa Rica doesn’t mess around. Costa Rica really teaches you how weak you are.

 

​One afternoon, we went out to a mountain in a region of Monserrat de Coronado called “Las Nubes,” or “the clouds” in English. As one could assume, the region got its name for its average altitude, which puts it smack-dab in the middle of some of the lower stratus clouds. We were planning to go on a fifteen-kilometer hike up and down the mountain on an intermediate trail, covering a total altitude change of about 200 meters. Some students at my school had done the same hike the week prior, and they had vehemently warned me not to participate. “Don’t do it,” they told me, “every single one of us was on the ground after that thing.” But of course, I didn’t listen. I was about ten years younger than most of them. I was in Costa Rica, the land of adventure!!! Plus, I run cross country, and I had been training for months at that point for the fitness test for the military academies. How bad could it have been?

 

​I quickly answered that question—VERY BAD. The second the incline broke twenty degrees or so, I found myself out of breath. At that altitude, there was not nearly as much oxygen in the air as I was accustomed to in Dallas. Then came the countless flights of crazy-steep stairs (if you could even call them stairs) that I could barely clear in a single step. Cue the rain. Cue three separate stings from a particularly vicious species of Costa Rican horsefly that was attracted to the smell of my soap, and the resulting paranoia from hearing them buzz around my head. And did I mention that we were in a federally-protected tropical rainforest? This was the real deal—our guide cleared the path with a machete. Needless to say, it was an adventure I will never forget. And I did fall on the ground afterwards from pure exhaustion—I have pictures to prove it.

 

​What does this have to do with today’s Gospel reading, you may ask? Well, when I got to the top of that mountain, I had experienced a whole new variety of humility.  I had only covered fifteen kilometers of a preserve that composed a whole county of Costa Rica. I had only scaled one tiny mountain, and I was beat. I compare my feelings that day to that cliché experience of awe and powerlessness that some people have described upon viewing the Grand Canyon. You suddenly realize how weak you are in comparison with nature, and thus with God. But if any of you have ever experienced a similar sentiment, you know that it’s not a negative or discouraging feeling of weakness. Instead, you know in those moments that your weakness is just reality.

 

​“The Kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a person took and sowed in a field. It is the smallest of all the seeds…” In a way, we are the mustard seeds. Alone, we can do very little. We’re weak, small, and frankly, even the brightest among us have moments where we are not all that bright. Weakness is in our human nature. It is only when we accept our smallness and weakness that we can entrust ourselves to God, who knows where we should be scattered to grow into the fullest version of ourselves. If we are mustard seeds, unless we are planted, we are basically worthless. But if we allow ourselves to be planted, we, though weak, can live in a way that we could never have imagined.
 

​“…yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants. It becomes a large bush, and the birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.” Hopefully most people reading this have had their lives enriched and deepened by their faith in some aspect. With faith and with trust in God, our understanding of the world around us becomes so much broader and richer—in other words, it grows into the largest of plants. While others may say that Christianity creates narrow-minded thinkers, Christians know that the exact opposite is true. Just think of the low level of dignity that my generation attributes to marriage, the family, and the unborn. To far too many members of my generation, marriage is a contract between any two people about what property belongs to whom, founded on a sentiment that might be here today and easily erased tomorrow. The unborn are “choices,” mere consequences—although the word consequence implies responsibility, which many would like to believe no longer exists. These definitions are the mustard seeds not yet entrusted to the right grower. But to Catholics, who have placed their mustard seeds in the hands of God, the family is an icon of the Trinity. To Catholics, the unborn are reflections of the vulnerability of the Son of God himself. To Catholics, love is a choice that endures hardship and comes out stronger after having been tested in fire.

 

​When we allow God to plant us, our understanding of the world around us only becomes deeper and richer. True-- alone, we can do very little. But with the help of God to sow us in the right ground, we can open our eyes to see things that are otherwise hidden.

Eph 4:1-6 Bear With One Another

Seventeenth Sunday in ordinary Time
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By FR ALFONSE NAZZARO

Brothers and sisters:  I, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love, striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace: one body and one Spirit.

A prisoner for the Lord.  How often do I consider myself a "prisoner for the Lord"?  Not very often, I must say. How unfortunate for me! 

Far too often I see myself as a "prisoner" to my own passions or sensuality, or to my pride and vanity.  Oh how I wish I could embrace being a prisoner for the Lord, which is so much more liberating and exciting!

And what exactly does it mean to be "a prisoner for the Lord"?

To live in a manner worthy of the call.  A prisoner of the Lord sees people and things as the Lord sees them: with great humility. 

God continues to be amazed at His very own creation.  So much so that His only begotten Son was created in the image and likeness of man!  This is remarkable.  God so loved us that He became one of us!  He understands that the word "power" is entirely, wholeheartedly, and unconditionally associated with another word:  HUMILITY. 

If you want others to adore you, then you must adore them. 
If you want people to worship you, then you must worship them.
If you want people to love you, then you must love them.
If you want people to appreciate you, then you must appreciate them.
If you want people to bend their knees and bow down to you and serve you, then you must bend your knees, bow down to them and serve them.

It's that simple...and scary...yet exciting.

LIVE IN A MANNER WORTHY OF THE CALL.

Bearing with one another through love.  It seems like the political race is beginning to heat up.  Some candidates are beginning to throw insult upon insult, thinking that it will get them to the Presidency - thinking it is the perfect strategy.  But we humans are fickle creatures.  We enjoy a good spectacle for a short while. Not for long periods of time.  There's a lot we can learn from those who lived in the years B.C., who slowly but surely grew weary of spectacles and scandals on and off the arena.  We don't have to be prisoners to those who grow in power through insult or arrogance or insecurity.

A calling from God is a calling from former ways to new ways.  It is the divine call to share in God's love and truth, which brings people together (unity) and results in peace. 

We can be prisoners to those who grow in power through love.  And that is a blessing!

To the Top of a Mountain; Exodus 19:20

Thursday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

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By SOPHIE DRUFFNER

“When the LORD came down to the top of Mount Sinai,

he summoned Moses to the top of the mountain.”

[Please note: I’m going to go just a little further in the reading today, beyond the confusion of the Israelites at seeing “Mount Sinai wrapped in smoke,” and the fear they must have felt at hearing Moses speak to the thunder, the Voice of the Lord. I’m going to take the part where Moses starts to go up the mountain, totally stressed at the thoughts of leaving his people, knowing that, like children, they’ll probably be up to some mischief without him.]

As we looked at the mountains surrounding Mount LeConte, a huge gray cloud began descending, wrapping around the top of the mountain. Parts of it separated and traveled even lower; the mountain looked as if it was being enveloped in smoke.

Recently, my family and I went on vacation in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. As we were hiking the 5.5 miles up to the tip of Mount LeConte, the sky gradually grew darker and darker. Portions of ground under the canopy of pine trees began to grow nearly black. And as we climbed, I began to think of how prophets used to go to mountains to pray. It seems as if we believe God is somewhere “in the clouds,” we have to go up to the highest point that we can imagine to hear him. We have to climb with our hiking boots sinking into the mud, our hands occasionally brushing the rough leaves of enormous trees, and sit down on a bed of lichen. Paradoxically, as we climb closer to God on the mountain, we sink a little further into the dirt, which he created, and as we reach the top of the mountain, the dirt is on our ankles, our face, our hands.

Muslims believe that all creation is “muslim,” or “in submission to God,” because He created it. In yoga, participants are encouraged to feel as if they are part of nature, as is the case in most meditations. Most Native American religions integrate nature to a great extent. And of course, in Genesis, humankind names the animals and rejoices in the plentiful fruit and nourishment in the Garden of Eden. In many religions, understanding nature can bring us closer to God.

It was amazing how removed from the modern world we were on that mountain. Of course, you could always point out that a little beyond those trees were telephone lines, chain restaurants, and electricity. But as we hiked in groves of dead, white trees which had sunk to an upside-down V-formation, I felt as if I could be there among the dinosaurs, the only person in the world. I wondered if this was how Moses felt, climbing up on that mountain. A little beyond him were the camps of the confused Israelites, looking for someone to take comfort in, perhaps distrusting Moses and looking to idols. But as he climbed up on that mountain, although thoughts of his people may have troubled his head, the further he climbed, the more he became involved in the nature, the more he became closer to God.

So this week, I encourage you to go climb a mountain, if you are near one. Or, if you aren’t, just take a walk in suburbia, or wherever you are. Enjoy how the water drips off of a live oak tree, how the sun shines on a cluster of hydrangeas, how the colors of the flowers are so bright and alive. While you are walking, completely involve yourself in the sights of the nature. Think of the complexity of each leaf, the amazing nature of photosynthesis, how God created each green thing that you see. And at the end of your walk, having just a little closer to God, say “Thank you,” to Him.