The Noble Heading to Another Country

In today's Gospel there is this interesting parable.  Last night when reflecting on the Gospel, I was drawn to the gold coins and what they represent.  Today though it struck me, that this was a very important key to that whole exchange.

While people were listening to Jesus speak, he proceeded to tell a parable because he was near Jerusalem and they thought that the Kingdom of God would appear there immediately. So he said, “A nobleman went off to a distant country to obtain the kingship for himself and then to return.

Why is this important to understanding the truth of the parable? I think it is in the key of who Jesus is, and not who they thought he was going to be.  As in the first reading, the Jewish people were well aware of the fact they were still under oppression from Roman rule.  They had been beaten down for many, many years.  Here they were expecting deliverance.  They wanted to see God fulfill that promise he made to David when he said, "And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure for ever before me; your throne shall be established for ever." 

How confusing it must have been for the people who thought that Israel would have a king forever.  Then not only did they lose their king, but they also lost Jerusalem itself.  It was destroyed completely and they were carted off into captivity.  Trying to make sense of that they began to develop the theology of the Messiah.  It was he they were waiting for.  It was he they thought Jesus to be, and they were right in thinking so.  The problem was they expected him to be a military leader.  Just like David of old, like the judges, someone to rise up against their enemies, and rebuild the kingdom.  King David's kingdom was a time of unrivaled prosperity.  Everyone had everything they needed, food, wealth, etc.   It was what they longed to be returned to. 

Here was Jesus approaching Jerusalem and the people around him thought the Kingdom of God was about to be manifest.  Even though Jesus had been telling them over and over that he would have to go into Jerusalem and die, they thought he was going to rise up as King and overthrow Israel's political enemies.  So Jesus tells us this parable.  What does it mean though?  Well, Jesus is the nobleman in the story.  Jesus is warning them that what they think is going to happen, is not exactly what is going to occur.  He has to go to another country, he has to journey back to where he came from, that is to Heaven, in order to become King.  

This parable is all about his crucifixion.   He is also telling us what we must do while he is gone.  That's where the gold coins come in, and that's where my blog from last night starts off.  (Are you ready to give an account?)   Are we ready to show Him when he returns as king what we have done with his gifts?   As we approach the end of the liturgical season we are reminded through our readings that one day will come the end of time.  That at that end of time we will be called forward to give an account of what we have done with the things God has given us.  As we approach this weekends Mass, let us prepare ourselves for an encounter with Christ the King. 

He has gone to prepare a place for us.  Are you ready?  Get ready.   Be ready.  Stay ready.

His servant and yours,

In Christ,

Brian

Are you ready to give an account?

In tomorrow's Gospel we see the king giving to each of his servants a gold coin.  Each of them receives one coin and is expected to do his best with it.  One gains ten coins in interest, and he is rewarded with being put in charge of ten cities.  Another gains five coins, and he is put in charge of five cities. Then comes along another servant who hid the coin in a place where no one could take it, and brought it back later.   He didn't even invest it in the bank.  The king was furious with him and took the one talent and gave it to the one who already had ten. 

What are we to make of this?  In Mathew's Gospel the gold coin is called a talent.  We can see that a little better when we think about talent's and abilities.  To some are given few talents, to some many.  Some of us are teachers.  Some of us are administrators.   Some of us are musicians.  Some can sing.  Some are good with numbers.  Some good with cleaning.  God gives to each person many abilities and 'talents.'  He reminds us that all of them are to be used for His glory, for His kingdom.  We will be asked to give an account of how we used those talents. 

We aren't asked to provide the same amount of fruit, or even the same kind of fruit.. but we are asked to bear fruit.  God has given each of us gifts.  Through our baptism we are given the Holy Spirit.  The fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  We are challenged to go out with these talents, with these fruits and to spread them into the world.  We are called to be joyful.  How do we increase that talent?  By bringing joy to others.  We are called to be kind.   We increase that by being kind to others and teaching them to be kind in return.  Each of the fruits requires us to go out, using the natural talents we have been given, to spread the fruits of the spirit into our world. 

For each of us that looks different.  For parents it means educating your children, loving them, being patient with them, teaching them what Catholic life really looks like.   For grand parents, it means being there for your grand children and helping them to learn how to live out their baptismal calling.  For teachers, it means being patient and kind in your classroom and fostering an environment where the fruits begin to flourish.  No matter what we do; farmer, electrician, doctor, lawyer, homemaker, dentist, accountant, etc... we are to use those skills that God has endowed us with to help bring about His kingdom right here.

As we approach the end of the liturgical season and head into the season of Advent, we are reminded by the readings that we should be ready.   These readings talk about the great event at the end of time where God will ask us to give an accounting for what we have been given.  To those who much has given, much is required.  "With great power, comes great responsibility."  Such simple words from a comic book character, but they ring true to us as Christians.  Do you think of the power you've been given?  God himself has come to reside in you.  Are you sharing him with others?  Or hiding him in a handkerchief?  Don't be afraid of losing your joy.  Don't be afraid that someone might steal it.  Rather, realize that with the gifts of the spirit, the only way to keep them... is to continually give them away. 

So let's go for it.  Find someone today to share one of these fruits with.  Use your natural, God given talents to do so.   Share some love.  Some joy.  Some kindness.  Watch that fruit blossom and grow, that at the end of our temporal lives we can hear him say "You have been faithful in this very small matter, well done my good and faithful servant."

In Christ,
His servant and yours,
Brian

Taking a Stand

Tomorrow's readings are quite interesting.  The reading from the book of Maccabees shows us the story of an elderly man who is being forced to go against his religion.  During this time Antiochus Epiphanes was persecuting the Jews and trying to force them to join a state sanctioned religion.  Antiochus wanted to unite his kingdom by creating a common religion, getting rid of anything foreign or different.  Eleazar was a Jew, and they were forcing him to eat pork.  This was abhorrent to him.  He spit it out and was condemned to death for doing so.  His friends tried to convince him that he should hide some kosher meat in his pocket and when they wanted to see him eat the pork, slip some of the kosher stuff in and pretend.

Eleazer realized that by doing something like that, those who saw him might think he actually ate the pork.  He did not want to become a stumbling block to others causing them to fall as well, so he refused.  Then his friends turned angry.  They not only felt he was crazy for dying for his faith, but they probably felt inside the conviction that they had failed to do the same.  We often see that with many things in life.  One of the sayings in Wisdom we studied the other day is that a good man is often seen as obnoxious to those around him.  Just his presence can cause those who are living wrong to feel convicted.

Have you seen that before?  You are standing talking to someone who knows you are religious and they drop the F-bomb, and then they apologize to you for doing it in front of you?  Or they send you an email, an email they'd have no problem to send that email to anyone else, then you get another email blushingly declaring their sorrow for having offended you.  People see those who are doing what they believe to be right, and they begin to feel convicted, even if you never say a word. 

I think that is part of the message we see in the Gospel reading too.  Zaccheus has just done something most others aren't willing to do.  He took a stand, literally up in a tree!  He went up to where he needed to be to encounter Christ.  In the process Christ comes to his house and declares that Zaccheus has received salvation this day!  Before he hears this though, Zaccheus does something that shows he has had a change of heart.   He declares “Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone I shall repay it four times over.” 

Many people later condemned Jesus for this sort of behavior.  For going into the homes of tax collectors and sinners.   I think for some of them they probably were a bit jealous too.  Not just of Jesus going to those homes instead of to theirs... but also of Zaccheus who did what they should have been doing.  I think that his actions caused conviction in their hearts.  Here was the 'other'.  Their they.  The sinner.  They were supposed to be holy.  Yet, they held on to their money with a tight fist.  Here was the one who they wanted to condemn and convict.. and he was giving up half of everything he owned!  How that must have stung their hearts? 

It struck me too that tomorrow is the feast day of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary.  Here is another person who took a stand.  She took her wealth and used it to help others.  Much like Zaccheus she had an open hand, often to the chagrin of those around her, giving away food and money.  When her husband died she renounced the world and went into serving Jesus full time. 

What can we learn from these two men and one holy woman?  I think we can learn a very important lesson.  First that we must take a stand, and second that sometimes the stand is not where we expect it to be.   All of Eleazer's friends expected him to take the easy way out.  They were willing to help him fool others so that his conscious was still clear, but that he would not have to die.  He took a stand.  He died for his faith, for his God.  Society expected one thing, he went with God instead.

Zaccheus was a tax collector.  He had money, wealth, comfort.   Everyone who was like him probably expected him to just stay wealthy, they thought him crazy for giving it all up.  Those who were 'religious' saw him as the sinner.  The last thing they expected from a man like him, the chief of the tax collectors, was conversion and generosity.  He took a stand. Society expected one thing, he went with God instead.

Saint Elizabeth was a princess, rich and wealthy.  She was queen by the age of 14.  Everyone would have expected her to have others do her bidding.  Even in her generosity, they might have expected her to hand the money out or to send a servant to deliver it.  Instead we hear legends of her running out of the palace towards the commons with her apron full of loaves of bread!  Society expected one thing, she went with God instead.

We have a unique opportunity today.  With everything going on in the world, from France to Africa, we see people in need.  There is a great level of fear towards those refugees.  Some of them could very well be plants, people who wish harm to others.  Others though are just mothers, fathers, daughters, sons.  People in need.  Starving and simply trying to get away from persecution.  Society wants us to turn our backs on all of them.  They want us to simply desire our comfort, stay where we are, and protect ourselves.  Part of me wants to fear too.   Part of me wants to say, you know?  I want to protect my family, my country, my friends.  I do.  At the same time, there are other people out there who need food. Who need shelter.  Who need love.   Society wants us to do one thing.. but what does God want us to do? 

I don't have an answer for you.. but I do know this.  Sometimes, like Zaccheus, we need to get a change of perspective.  If we truly want to see Jesus, we need to climb a tree.  We need to change our vantage point because down here on earth, we simply cannot see him for all the other things in our way.  We need to spend time opening our hearts to Jesus.  During this time of thanksgiving, as we approach a holiday in which we are to give thanks for all that we have... recall that the very word Eucharist means 'thanksgiving.'  Spend more time in prayer, receive the sacraments as frequently as possible, and seek out some time alone with Christ in adoration.  Ask him to come to your house today, and try to see this situation from a different view point.  We have so much to give thanks for... how would we feel if our world was taken out from under our feet?  If our children were starving?  If we feared for our lives and all of the countries that might offer us a glimmer of hope had closed their borders, leaving us with no where to turn? 

His servant and yours,
In Christ,
Brian

Know That He is Near

A reflection on the readings for the 33rd Sunday of Ordinary time. 

Many years ago when I was a young man in college, the power had gone out in the entire neighborhood.  I decided to walk to my mothers house for dinner.  I knew that no matter what, she and my father would be prepared for the dark.  They'd have a fire or something going and be cooking somehow.  I don't remember why I chose to walk instead of drive, maybe I didn't have a car at the time.  That was often the case back then with only one car and two people working. 

I remember stepping out into the moonless night, with no lights on anywhere.  At first it was so dark I could see nothing.  I even recall putting my hands out in front of me as I walked, as if I were recently blinded and trying to find my way along with my fingers.  Stumbling through the dark I was completely unable to see.  Oh how dark things seemed.  I remember jumping at sounds in the woods, flinching at what I thought might be a snack or animal in the road.  I eventually began to adjust to the dim light of the stars and began to make out the true details of my surroundings.  By the time I actually got to my parents home my eyes had adjusted, and I could see decently in the dark.  How bright the candles seemed when they opened the door to me, even enough to be painful to my eyes. It was warm though, welcoming, even wanted!

To me, this is what Apocalyptic literature is like.  It seems dark at first.  Even a bit scary.  The end goal of it is not to scare you though.  It is not to place you in darkness, but to help you find a warm, welcoming light at the end. When I was a protestant years ago these readings made me a bit scared, even enough that I often scanned the news and the radio looking for 'signs', constantly worrying about the second coming and the 'rapture.'  I no longer worry about these things.  Why?  Because the second coming is not something to be scared of.  It's something to long for.  It's something to pray for, and be ready for every day.

I think that like the dark night I stepped out into, we too are walking in a dark night now.  Our eyes in this world are used to the amount of light that is here.  The sun, the moon, the stars... all of these are the light we have become accustomed to.  In my mind and heart, that is what Jesus is talking about when he says "the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give it's light."  That at the second coming, when the brilliance of the Son of God is revealed, the rest of the light we are used to will be so dim that it will not even be of relevance.  Like that candle in my mom and dad's house, his light will be so bright that if I were to even think of stepping back into the star lit world it would be so dark my eyes would not longer even pick out the details.  I'd be stumbling in the dark again, holding my hands out before me for fear of falling.

The thing is though, we do not have to be fearful of that day, nor even to wait for that day to have our world illuminated.  While, yes, Jesus Christ will be coming again at the end of time, he's already here among us now.  We can draw closer to God daily, through the Sacraments, through His Church, and through each other.  This is a beautiful thing, but also like the scene above, has a truth that should be cautioned.  The closer you get to the light, the darker 'darkness' is.  The closer you draw to Jesus Christ in this life, the more your sin will seem.  Things that seem small now will stand out much, much more as you draw nearer to the source of all holiness.

When I was working in the construction field one of the first things I liked to do was hang the lights.  I'd even hang them before a ceiling was anywhere near in place.  Using temporary wiring I would try to have the entire building lit up brightly before even the floor was poured.  This was great for people working, giving them plenty of light to work with.  It also brought out every imperfection, even speck of dust, and every 'mess' that someone left.   A counter that might seem clean in a dimly lit room can turn out to have quite a bit of crud when you truly light it up.  So too our souls. 

The devil will try to use that against you.  The closer you get to God, the more Satan will try to convince you that you do not deserve it.  He will try to convince you that God would never forgive you.  That little speck of dust will look so immense when compared to the brightness of God himself.  Don't let him draw you away from God and His mercy.  God will forgive you!  Draw closer to the light.   Seek the Sacraments.  Seek His face.  So that you may be among those who "shall live forever" and not those who "shall be an everlasting horror and disgrace."  Keep walking in the darkness of this light, searching for the light of Christ.  This is our hope as Christians!  That we might find our Father's house, and the place He has prepared for us.  That when the end of our time comes, we might be welcomed into His abode and be prepared for the light that will wash over us.  A light so bright that everything behind us will seem dim and dark, as the Sacred Scriptures affirm:

And there will be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. Revelation 22:5

His servant and yours,
In Christ,
Brian

Seeing with New Eyes

I can only imagine what it must have been like for Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini to board that boat and sail the ocean to a foreign land. Having grown up in the country of Italy, coming to the America's must have been daunting and unusual, but perhaps a bit exciting as well?  I remember when I first moved to Chicago-land myself.  I packed up all my belongings, at least the ones that would fit in a Geo Tracker and hit the road.  What I was looking for?  Love.  A new start.  A better life, maybe?  That I found and much more. I do remember driving through the city for the first time.  Seeing the massive buildings, the sheer number of people, the construction... and then again the construction... and then there was construction...

I was struck by the sheer enormousness of the country.  I imagine Saint Frances too must have been struck by how large the world really was.  To travel the ocean, and across the country before planes... to see it from wagon or train, or however she travelled.  To see the mountains, the plains, the oceans, the lakes.  How great it all must have seemed, and how small us mere, mortal men.  Our first reading for tomorrow reminds us that all of these things call out to us, they remind us of God and of His enormity. 

The Psalmist reminds us that the very beauty and vastness of the sky itself reminds us of the glory of God.. it calls out to testify to the creator without a voice, without saying a word.  We as Catholics should take time to smell the roses, to admire the beauty of this world.  Travelling to see it, walking with nature, even spending time with other creatures can be a beautiful way of finding the depth and width and breadth of the love of God for us. 

There is a danger though.  We can get so caught up in the natural that we forget to seek that which is supernatural.  The author of Wisdom reminds us that often people never get past the beauty of nature, and instead of worshiping God himself, they get stuck on worshiping the created.  I think that is kind of what we have Jesus talking about in the Gospel.  He reminds us that in the time of Noah and of Lot people were not caught unaware.  The signs were all there.  People were so caught up with their lives, with the pleasures of living, with their own 'self' that they did not hear the voice of God.  They did not hear the warning or listen for God's instruction. 

That is the danger for us today.  We often put life first.  We fill it with the things that make us feel better.   Even our religious life can become so consuming that we don't actually have God in there, but a series of things that make us 'feel' better about ourselves.  We must keep our eyes, our minds and our hearts open to Jesus Christ himself.   How often do you find people these days 'church shopping'?   I didn't like what Father said to me in the confessional, so I found a new priest.  I don't like the way Father preaches, so I went form church to church so I could find one I could stand.  That Priest challenged me, I don't like that.  Father told me I couldn't go through RCIA till I stopped living with my boyfriend or got married to him, so I went to another church and didn't tell that priest.. etc.

Rather, we should be getting ready.  That's what Jesus warns us.  There will come a day, a time that no one can know, no one but the Father.  When that day comes Christ will return and the end of time will be upon us.  Do you realize that is what we are praying for when we say "they kingdom come?"  We are praying that the end of time comes NOW.  Not tomorrow.  Not next week.  Not soon.  Right now!  Come Lord Jesus, come!   Are you ready for that?  Get ready.  Be ready.  Stay ready.   Saint Frances, despite her poor health, gave up her life and even her own will to holy obedience.  She left her birth land and travelled to another land.  She gave up her life.  In the process, she founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart  who served in many schools, homes and hospitals.  She gave it all up, and obtained the ultimate reward; life with Jesus for eternity.  As Jesus said in the gospel,

Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it,
but whoever loses it will save it.

Are you ready?  I have work to do.  Are you with me?

His servant and yours,
In Christ,
Brian

She is Fairer Than the Sun, suprassing every constellation in the stars.

I watched a friend of mine one time as he interacted with a girl that he was clearly in love with.  Every day he would hang out with her, listen to her intently, and help her in every way he could.  Eventually she asked him to help her go out on a date with his friend.  The hurt in his eyes was evident to all of us around.  We all knew he was in love with her.  Everyone knew, but her.  How did he respond though?  He helped her to be happy.  Talking to his friend, he set up the date.  He suffered in silence as she dated, had her heart broken, and eventually broke up with this man.  All the while he was there for her. A shoulder to cry on, an ear to listen, a true friend.  I don't know if she ever knew he loved her.  It's really a story that belongs best in a romantic comedy, but of course those always have happy endings, right?

I see tomorrow's Gospel reading in much the same way as what I described before.  The Pharisees wanted to know when the Kingdom of God would be among them.   Jesus warned them that it was already there.  God had already condescended among men, becoming a man himself.  Here stood the Kingdom of God right in front of them.  Jesus Christ.  His heart was bulging with love for them.  He came to die for them.  He emptied himself of everything in order that he might live among them, and redeem them to himself.  Then they came to him and asked, where can we find that which makes us happy?  Don't you see?  He's right there in front of you!  How easy for us 2000 years later to judge them. 

Yet, do we truly see him each day?  Isn't he calling out to use daily?  In the face of a friend?  In the eyes of a stranger?  In the brilliant rays of a morning sunrise?   Do you see him?  Or do you keep looking over him trying to find him somewhere else?  We don't need to be going to and fro, asking for signs and wonders.  No rather, he's already here.  All we have to do is open our eyes, our hearts, our minds.   He calls out to us from the tabernacle, in the Eucharist and he says, "I love you.  I will do anything to make you happy.  I have died for you, and offer you eternal life." 

Why do we fail?  Why is it so hard to see him?  One thing I think is something that the first reading mentions.  We lack true Wisdom.  Wisdom it says is the aura of the might of God, and a pure effusion of the glory of the Almighty.   She is the refulgence of eternal light.  The spotless mirror of the power of God.  Aren't those beautiful descriptions?  It is through Wisdom that we begin to actually notice God in our daily life.  Not necessarily in explosions and miracles, though those can happen too.  Rather though, also seeing him in the ordinary.  In the simple and the plain.  Saint Josaphat was one of those who had Wisdom.

We have many today who make the same error that men were making back in his day.  They only see God in this rite or that rite of the Catholic church.  In their ardor and zeal they reject anything that does not fit their box.  Going as far as to reject the Pope, or the Orthodox, or to form their own society rejecting the Novus Ordo.  Josaphat, unlike some of the schismatics of today, clung to his unity with Rome.  He did not want to change from his orthodox faith, and he did not want his people 'Latinized'.   Yet, he fought to bring understand and unity to his people.   Saint Josaphat died seeking to reunite the two, not to create more division.

That is true Wisdom isn't it? What do we take away from all of this?  I think that we learn that like Saint Josaphat we need to work for unity.  We need to pray for and seek Wisdom that we might see God in our brothers and sisters.   That we need to look for Jesus calling out to us saying, "behold, the Kingdom of God is among you."   We need to look inside, examine ourselves, and ask.. are we working for unity or division?  We need to let God's Wisdom and love flow through us until we too become an aura of the might of God, a pure effusions of the glory of the Almighty.  Until we are so close to Jesus Christ that when others look at us, they see not us, but rather Him shining through us.  Let us cling to the Sacraments, seek His face, and continually knock on the door of our own hearts asking it to open to the influence of the Holy Spirit. 

His servant and yours,
In Christ,
Brian

Keep the Holy Holy to be holy.

My wife and I were just discussing this amazing sentence in the first reading for tomorrow.  "For those who keep the holy precepts hallowed shall be found holy[..]"  I just love the way that reads in my mind.  If you keep the holy.. holy... you shall be holy.  That's such an easy reminder of how important it is to hold what God has given us as the center of our day.  Too often we let other things get in our way and take the place that he rightly deserves.  Only when we put him up first, following in holy obedience the revealed truth, can we even hope to be holy. 

We see that a little in the parable in the Gospel reading.  Jesus has just healed ten men of the dreaded disease, leprosy.   Only one of them returned to Him, the source of His healing, and praised and glorified Him.  All of them received the grace.   All of them came to him in their need.  Only one of them realized the beauty and grace of being healed.  Only one came to conversion.

How often we are like this in our own lives?  Tomorrow is Veterans day.  As we remember those who have served us, fighting to keep us free, we should also ask ourselves what lesson is to be learned by this parable in light of what is going on in our lives.  Have you ever noticed that during a war the church is full?  Just after 9-11 people flocked into the sanctuary to ask for prayers, to seek answers, to find comfort.  All too often we don't even remember the veterans who fought for us, giving up their lives, their comforts, even coming back to a hostile, unwelcoming country and being mistreated for decades.  We too can be like the lepers.   We pray when we need.  Then when things are going smooth we forget to. We only seem to come to God when suffering rears it's ugly head, and then when things start going smooth again we go on our way happy and never think to stop back and thank Him.

Scripture tells us in this parable that Jesus said to the one who returned, "Stand up and go; your faith has saved you."   This one foreigner returned to Jesus, while the others did not.  He kept the holy hallowed... He returned to Jesus because he realized the need to be near the true Kingdom of God.. that is Christ himself.  This is what we should strive for.  Faith.  True faith.  Tomorrow is also the Memorial for Saint Martin of Tours.  Very apropos on Veteran's day.  Saint Martin knew what it was like to be a soldier.   Saint Martin spent several years in the Roman Army.  He was converted at an early age, and then spent time in the Army.  Afterwards he returned to the Church and served as a Priest and Bishop.  Martin stood up for his faith.  So much so that he was thrown in prison, publicly scourged, out cast... he experienced conversion. He didn't just come to Christ when he needed something... he didn't turn away when things got better... he stayed with Him all the time.  That's what we can learn from this... Our faith is not just for Sunday.  It is not something we only live in the Sanctuary of the Church, and then abandon it when we go back to our environment.

No.  Our faith is something we live every moment of every day.  "[..]one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him."  I want to do that.  I want to glorify God in a loud voice.  Not a quiet, hidden one.  I want to fall at the feet of Jesus giving him thanks.  Let us pray today for those who have served.  Let us thank them for our freedom, and for their courage. Let us also ask Saint Martin to pray for us, that we too might have the courage to face whatever challenges we must face with the same courage and dedication that he did.  Then let us fall to our knees in prayer and thanksgiving to Christ, for all he has done for us. 

His servant and yours,
In Christ,
Brian

We are unprofitable servants

In tomorrow's readings for the Memorial of Saint Leo the Great, we see an interesting statement from Jesus.  How different things are today in our society, or at least they appear to be.  In the early times of humanity slavery was prevalent and a part of life.  How difficult a life it must have been for the slave to come in from the field and instead of getting to sit down after a long day at work, he must first prepare a meal for his master.  The servant of course did his job, and the parable asks the question "Is he grateful to that servant because he did what was commanded?"  An interesting thought isn't it.

Two things I think that I take from this interesting and challenging parable.  First and foremost, I think that we take for granted those around us.  How often we blow up when things don't go the way they should be.  The kitchen sink is full of dishes and we are quick to remind those around us that it should have been done.  The toilet paper is on the counter, just a mere 15 inches from the spool, and someone didn't go ahead and put it on? Someone unloaded the groceries into the cabinet but put the crackers in the wrong cabinet.  Oh, how we will let them know too, won't we? 

Do we though take time to notice when they do the things they are by nature supposed to do?  It's often only when they haven't done their job that we mention anything.  Why didn't you take out the trash?  Why haven't you picked up your room?  Why weren't you outside when I got here to pick you up?  Do we then also thank them when they do those things?  I think most of the time we forget to say a word, and I think that also causes strains on our relationships.   It seems like it's always negative.. never positive.  We need to make sure we say "Thank you for taking out the trash."  "I really appreciate it that you were on time today."  "Wow you're room looks nice, thanks for picking it up."  Are we treating our family like family? Or like we are their master and they our slaves?

The other thing though, in a more spiritual sense, is that the parable teaches us something very powerful about our relationship with God.  Saint Paul calls himself "a slave for Christ Jesus."  Often times we don't like that word.  The thing is though as Catholics we do indeed belong to our God.  We have obligations to Him, not to earn anything.. not to merit heaven, not to 'rack up' points.. but rather, because we are in a relationship.  God has come to be with us and he has said, "Look if you want to be in a relationship with me, this is how you need to act.. and this is how I will act."  "I will be your God and you will be my people." 

Too many think we Catholics think we are earning our way to heaven.  I think some Catholics even think that way.  The thing is salvation is by grace, and grace alone.  We don't earn it. We don't have to get more good points than bad points.  No, we believe that Jesus did everything necessary for us to get to Heaven on the cross.  It doesn't end there though.  It's up to us to continue and apply that to our lives.  We are His people now.  We do what we do because it's how we are supposed to act. We are His people, and as the Scripture proclaims, "They will know you are my disciples if you love one another."  Grace is free. We must take it though, and use it.. apply it.. spread it into the world. Not because we will be rewarded for doing what we should be doing.. .no, much like the slave, we shouldn't expect thanks for doing it.. it's just what we should be doing by our nature...

I think though that this parable also challenges us to go beyond just that "which we ought to do."  Too many think of our faith in simple terms of "what is the least I can do to get to Heaven."  Rather, we don't want to be unprofitable servants who have just done what "we are obliged to do."  No, we want to go above and beyond.  We want to do not just the bare minimum, but to do the most we can.  It's not about the part we have to give, it's about giving it all.  It's about giving your very life, every ounce of energy, every thought, every word, every penny, every single second of your time for the Kingdom of God.  It's about getting to the point where we aren't looking for a reward at the end, but we are just giving it all because we love God, and we love our neighbor.  It's about running that race, one day at a time.. in hopes that we can cross the finish line..   It's not a bar to hit, not a minimum to achieve.. it's a relationship.. with a person named Jesus.

How do you want to cross the line into Heaven?  Do you want to come across the line and Jesus look at you and say "You are an unprofitable servant.  You have only done what you were obliged to do."  Or do you want him to say, "Well done my good and faithful servant," and again, "Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me. "


I don't know about you... but I've got some work to do. Are you with me?

His servant and yours,
Brian

Why I Have an Intense Distaste for Halloween

Original Photo WallPaper from VisualParadox.com

Halloween.  All Hallow's Eve.  The Night before a beautiful feast in the Catholic Church.  As I sit here reading the readings for All Saint's Day I am struck by how much I just do not enjoy this day at all.  I could go on and on about all the problems with Halloween.  From the commercialism, to the consumerism, to the gluttony; to the problems with how it has been taken over by the secular world to become a 'gore' and 'blood' fest where the major event is to be scary and gross.  There are so many reasons to dislike Halloween.  Yet none of those are the reason.  I have even been known to enjoy putting on a scary mask and scaring people, or to watch a horror movie (though I find a good horror movie is hard to find without some sort of pornographic content or simply a gore fest these days.)

No the reason I dislike Halloween so much is today is the day my father was electrocuted.   My father died.  Through some intense CPR they managed to get his heart beating.  He survived.  For a time longer than most can recover without brain damage, my father was clinically dead.  I was very, very young at the time.  I do remember Dad didn't want to go to work that night.  He had an off feeling.  Like the man that I have always known, though, his work ethic would not allow him to stay home.  Not over a mere feeling.  So he went into work.  A transformer had mal-functioned causing main line voltage to cross into the low voltage disconnect on a mineshaft fan.  So when my father went to work on it, not a simple 120, or 240, or even 480 went through his hand.  No, several thousands of volts went into his hand.  Then they went out his arm.  Then out the back of his neck, into the roof of the mine shaft.

My father by all means should be dead.  Praise God he is not.  We kids didn't understand what was going on to be sure.  My brother and I were shielded from the brunt of the horror.  All we knew was that dad wasn't around for a while.  I remember brief glimpses of the hospital.  Then I remember times when we went to Rita's house instead of moms.   I am sure so she could visit him.  Eventually dad came home.  I can remember glimpses of playing chess with him.  Of helping change his bandages.  Of smelling the flesh and stuff.  I am sure most of that is in my head.  What I remember the most though was the intense joy of having my father home. 

Today in the gospel Jesus says in his great beatitudes, "Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted."  I understand that on it's literal level.  When we mourn, it seems like life has ended.  Our hearts feel as if they will never be healed.  Things come back though.  Laughter.   A smile.  A father.  They restore us to the joy we sometimes think we'll never see again.  Our darkness eventually gives way to light.  I think though, as with all of Jesus' words we must go deeper. In fact, Pope emeritus Benedict the XVI used too very solid examples of mourning to express a simple truth about this.  There were two people who mourned in the New Testament writings, but both of them responded in completely different ways.

Judas Iscariot, the traitor, mourned.  When he saw that Jesus had been turned over to be crucified he repented of what he had done.  He ran back to the temple and threw the silver at the feet of the chief priests and elders, crying out that he had betrayed innocent blood.  They did not care.  Judas gave up hope.  His response was to end his life.   How many over the centuries have done just this?   We've seen it more and more often with our children, our veterans, our loved ones.   They lose hope.  They give up.  They take their own life.  It hurts all of us.  We mourn for them. 

Peter on the other hand, too betrayed Jesus.  For all his bravado when push came to shove, Peter denied him three times.   He ran form the courtyard mourning, crying, broken.... Peter too repented of his deed.  Peter though, allowed God's hope to permeate him.  He allowed grace to draw him through his mourning.  Until one day, still in sorrow, he heard the voice of the Shepherd calling from the shore.  Peter dove out of the boat and swam with all his might to the shore, to be told three times (once for each denial) Feed my sheep.

You see mourning can destroy us.  It can take us down a road where there is no hope.  We can allow it to eat at us bringing a turning of our back to God, to the world, even to ourselves.  As Benedict said, there is a mourning that "no longer dares to hope."  Then there is the other response we can have to mourning.  A mourning that "bursts into healing tears" through which ourselves can be renewed. We can allow those events to ruin our lives all together.  We can forget to allow God's mercy to flow through us.  Sometimes we even do that with his forgiveness.  We let the devil convince us that he won't forgive us, that we have done something too bad.. or too often... or too willingly.  We avoid confession and avoid running back to God.  We hear him calling from the shore.. waiting to forgive us and challenge us to love Him and His body.  Are you going to jump out of the boat?  Or are you going to huddle and wallow, no longer daring to hope? 

In Christ,
His servant and yours,
Brian

True Sickness in the House

Tomorrow's Gospel brings to light another event that happened in the life of Jesus Christ.  This amazing healing of the man with dropsy, in and of itself, is so miraculous it should bring us to faith.  What, though, is Saint Luke trying to tell us about the Pharisee and the people sitting around bearing witness to this phenomenon?  For me the clue lies in the talk that occurs after the healing.

There isn't much there about the man with dropsy for instance.  We don't know if he was a believer, standing in quiet faith waiting for Christ to heal him.   We also don't know if he was planted there by the Pharisee to try and trick Jesus into breaking the Sabbath.  Those details aren't there.  We do know this man did not ask for healing, he just stood in Jesus presence. Jesus heals him after questioning those gathered around if it were lawful.  I think by now they were wise enough not to answer at this point, knowing how Jesus had always showed them their hypocrisy.  I imagine they were scared to answer.. both in fear that they would have to face their own hypocrisy and that they might lose face in front of those gathered around.

After Jesus heals him, he sends him away.  It doesn't say if he praised God.  It doesn't say if the healed man even had faith.   Just that Jesus sent him away.  Then he addresses the real sickness in the room.  “Who among you, if your son or ox falls into a cistern, would not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?”   This was common practice, that if an animal fell into a well they would be free to help it out.  They were fine with this.  They understood it.  Because both their son and oxen were important to them.  It benefited them.  It was personal.  When it came to another one of God's children though, one that was not directly tied to them.. they were unwilling to reach out and give a helping hand.

The true sickness in the room was not the dropsy, though dropsy indeed is a horrible physical ailment.  The healing was to bring about an awakening.  A moment in which each person in the room would come face to face with both God, in Christ, and with their own hypocrisy.  The real sickness was their own inability to show love.  We don't know if they came to conversion.  In fact, Scripture records that they were dumbfounded, unable to answer his question.   He then continues to share some very beautiful parables about the need for both humility and reaching out that helping hand to those who cannot pay you back.

Saint Paul reminds us in the first reading that our conscience should be joined with the Holy Spirit to bear witness to the truth.  That is why it is so important for us to form our conscience properly, with God's help, and by studying the scriptures.  So what should this event above teach us?  That when avarice guides our actions, we can justify many things that we know to be wrong.   The men listening to Jesus would have justified not helping a stranger be well, because it did not help them materially or personally.  We ourselves often do the same.  How often have we seen a beggar and not helped them, because we were worried where the money was going to go?  We saw someone on the side of the road who needed help... but we were in a hurry, so we didn't stop.... Or something as simple as, we know someone needs something done... we could have done it.. but you know, there was a game on and we didn't want to miss part of it?  

That is what Jesus means for us to learn... to work on our conscience, to form it in light of the Church and it's teachings, to prayerfully seek Wisdom and guidance from the Holy Spirit... so that we never allow our own wants, our own needs to guide us to do or not do something that we know we should be doing, or know we should not be doing.   I know I fail at this.  Lord help me to grow.  Help me to get my own ego out of the way, and allow your Spirit to guide me in all things. 

In Christ,
His Servant and yours,
Brian

Why were the Pharisees being so good?

A short reflection on the readings for Thursday of the Thirtieth Week of Ordinary time:

It is an interesting event, to see the Pharisees running to Jesus and warning Him.  Some Pharisees came to Jesus and said, “Go away, leave this area because Herod wants to kill you.”  Doesn't it seem almost as if they were being his friend, his ally?  Rather, the early Church Fathers taught us that the Pharisees were not looking to help Jesus, but rather to get Him to flee that area.   So they threatened Him, whether ordered by Herod to do so, or creating a fictional threat to scare him is unimportant.  What is important is the context in which this seems to have occurred. 

We see in the previous verses that Jesus is teaching.   He is warning that many who think they will be at the Lord's Supper will not, and many you won't expect will.  "The last shall be first and the first shall be last."  His warning seems to implicate that there are those who are claiming to be Holy, but are not going to make it.  The Pharisees, who were fond of their power and wealth, likely perceived this preaching as a threat to their status.  The Scriptures then go on to say "At that time some Pharisees came to him[....]"  At that time is an important clue.  Jesus has just humiliated the leader of the synagogue.  He has just challenged the people to think deeply about their status before God, and in a way, to follow Him and His example.  He has just threatened the hold the Pharisees had on them. At the very moment this happened, they came to him to try to scare him off.. to try to get him to leave before he could cause any more trouble.

Jesus doesn't fall for it.  He sends a message back to Herod and in it let's them know with no uncertain terms that he is not leaving.. but intends to continue performing miracles and preaching all the way to Jerusalem.  What does that have to do with me and you?  I think in this day and age a lot.  We are in a time where Catholics are being persecuted in the world.  People are being martyred.  Faith is being relegated to behind closed doors.  Abortion is being touted as a 'basic human right'.  Everything that we stand for is being condemned, and we are being ridiculed back into our sanctuaries and informed that is the only place for the Gospel.  But they are wrong.  They are trying to scare us like the Pharisees.  Our response should be the same as Jesus'.  We should be heading towards our own Jersualem and our own Easter.  We pick up our cross and we stand tall, we continue to preach at all times, when necessary (and yes, it is often necessary) using words. 

When we fall, when we stumble.. when we are scared; we turn to the First Reading that the Church in her infinite wisdom has paired with this one.  A reading in which we are shown the truth of the communion of Saints.  The truth of the mercy and love that God has shown to us through the sacrifice of his only Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.  Nothing.. NOTHING... no one, no thing, not angels, not demons, not people, can separate us from the Love of Christ.   Not even death itself.  We will always be a part of the body, even if we were to die for our faith.  Are you ready?  Lord I believe.  Help my unbelief. 

Feast of Saint's Simon and Jude

What does it mean to be chosen by God?  Tomorrow we celebrate the feast of two people who not only where chosen by Christ but also suffered martyrdom for their faith.  What can we learn from these readings?  How do they apply to us as Catholics today, 2000 years after they were recorded?

While looking at the first reading I wanted to ask myself, how does that apply to me?  The reading talks about the Apostles being the foundation of our faith.  That the church Jesus left us with was built on them as the base.  That's an important thing to us as Catholics.  We are an apostolic faith.  That is we believe in the teachings of the Apostles, as handed down through their successors, and recorded in the Scriptures.  So we hold to those teachings, we trust in them and we try to live as the Apostles did.  We listen to their testimony about who Jesus is and what that revelation means to us as humans.   We learn from them more about our relationship in this covenant of love that unites us with God as his people.

There is an important thing though to notice in that reading.  The Apostles are indeed the base, the foundation of our faith.. but Jesus is the Capstone.  It is Jesus himself that holds us together in our faith.  Without a capstone an arch, a building, a pyramid.. they all fall.    The capstone holds all the weight. It is the 'key' to the entire structure.  That shows us a very important thing.  We are not a people of the book, we are a people of God.  The book is part of the foundation, it was given to us by the Church, by the apostles.. but the key, the key to the Church, to understanding the book, to our faith in it's entirety is a person.   The person of Christ.  It is through him, through his support, through his guidance and his spirit that we are lead to not only understand our faith (and our book) but also to be able to follow it.  When we try to do things on our own, our flesh gets in the way.  That is why we keep falling into the same sin over and over.  We don't turn it over to God and let him take it away, we try to fight it on our own.  "I got this" we say.  It's only when we humble ourselves, humble our own egos, that we begin to say "I don't have this Lord. I am struggling.  I need you to help me."  We have to make him the Capstone of our lives, so that he holds us together.  Without him, we ourselves fall apart.

Just as the Gospel reading reminds us that Jesus personally called each and every one of his 12 Apostles, even Judas who would betray Him, he also calls each of us into a relationship.  He wants us to step out of our world, out of our comfort, and to build a temple for Him.  A temple of living stones,  all support and held together by Jesus Christ himself.  He has been calling us since the moment of our birth, are we ready to listen?  Are we ready to turn it all over to him? Or will we just sit where we are, afraid to respond?  It's ok.  You don't even have to move.  All you have to do is make Him the Capstone, and he will lead you out. 

The LORD will fight for you; you have only to keep still. - Exodus 14:14 NAB

"Be still and know that I am God," the Psalmist reminds us.    Elijah stayed still in the cave.  He listened for God and found him in the silence.  God has been reminding me over and over to be still, to listen for Him, and then do what He guides me to do.  So my challenge to you today, is to get in some quite time.. some 'still' time with God.  Find a quiet place, away from the sounds and influences of the world, and spend some time just listening for God's voice.   Find an adoration chapel, a Sanctuary to sit in with the reposed Christ, or even just a quiet corner in your home and say "Speak Lord, your servant is listening."  Then be Still.   Listen for His call.  Realize he has already called out to you, he has already chosen you, he is just waiting for you to realize how much you mean to him.

In Christ, His Servant and Yours,
Brian

Stooped Shoulders

Today in the Gospel Reading from the Gospel of Saint Luke we see this beautiful healing take place.  This elderly woman with some condition that made it to where she could not even stand up straight, who had been crippled for eighteen long years, was chosen by God to be healed not just spiritually but physically as well.   What happens though when Jesus releases this poor woman from her suffering?   You would think every person would be cheering and shouting praises to God... but there are even then naysayers (thank God we don't have those anymore right? ;) ) 

Jesus, you know you're not supposed to be working on the Sabbath.. and here you have healed this woman.  They weren't just upset.. they were indignant!  The dictionary says that indignant means anger or annoyance at what was perceived as unfair treatment, offensive, or insulting. They were upset, not that he cured her, but that he cured her on the Lord's Day!  Think about that for a minute!  The rules say not to work.. but he just went ahead and did it.  He rebukes them and 'humiliates' them, because he calls out their hard hearts.  Here this woman is for almost two decades unable to even stand up, and they are upset not because she is cured, but because he went outside their 'box' of what they felt he should do.

What does that mean to me?  As a man who spent a few years unable to stand up straight, unable to walk for days at a time, and still lives in constant pain;  it speaks very much to my heart.   It reminds me though that there is a truth to something here that cannot be overlooked.   We as Christians do not just take a fundamentalist approach to the scripture, we look deeper.   We look for a spiritual truth inside there.  The thing I find when I address it spiritually is that it is often not the person who needs the physical healing, that is the one stooped over in bondage to the devil. 

I think the message here from Jesus is that the people who were really "crippled" were the ones who were indignant at the healing.  She was physically bound, sure.  Jesus never just addressed the physical though.  All of his healings were to call out to the spiritual needs of those who witnessed them.  What was her response to being healed?  She immediately glorified God!  Her spirit was standing upright and erect long before her body ever did!   The leader of the synagogue though?  He began to grumble, you didn't follow the discipline, you didn't stick to the law.. he never praised God, he never talked about how good it was she was healed, he just got angry!  He was still stooped over in bondage.  Bondage to the law, bondage to sin. 

I think that speaks to us in many ways.   How often are we in bondage to sin?  How often do we let our own ego, our own pride, get in the way of God's plan?  In what ways am I stooped down, letting my own 'plans' get in the way of me seeing what God wants for me?  Am I standing up and glorifying God when someone else gets a blessing or am I grumbling and indignant in the background? As I watch my friend Paul Ortman confined to bed, with one leg broken, and his body already in worse condition than I have ever been from Polio, I see a man who is standing up straight before God.  His joy and his gratefulness has not diminished.  His good attitude shows that he still trusts, even if he's not happy with his current situation.  Are we there?  Would we be standing up spiritual praising God from a hospital bed or wheelchair?  Or would we be stooped over, grumbling?

As from the first reading, we are reminded.. our natural state is not to be stooped, but to be standing tall glorifying God.  As Saint Paul said, "For those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption,
through which we cry, “Abba, Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him."

Call out to Abba today, call out to your spiritual Dad and say God, my dad, my father... lift me up.. Help me to remove whatever is keeping me stooped over, so that I might stand with joy and glorify you with my words and actions today!

In Christ,
His Servant, and yours,

Brian