I stand with Orlando.

Prayer, fasting, and alms giving.  These are sometimes referred to as the three pillars of Lent.  Jesus reminds us in the Gospel for today that these are not supposed to be relegated to one single season, but rather to be ways of life that we adopt throughout our days.  He wants us to remember that when we give, when we fast, when we pray; we don't do these things to be seen.  They aren't means by which we get recognition, but ways in which Christ is born into the world to change not only those who receive the results, but those who do the 'work.'  Prayer is an opportunity for us to bring ourselves into line with God, to begin to think the way He thinks, to transform ourselves as much as the world.  Fasting again is a way to put God first, to deny our desire for personal pleasure and comfort and instead to fill it with a spiritual food that goes beyond just what can be seen and felt.  Anyone who has ever given to the poor, served them, fed them... they can tell you right now it is as much a blessing for them as it was for the one being served.

I watched a documentary on Netflix yesterday about Mother Teresa called Mother Teresa: In the Name of God's Poor.   In that short film I was reminded of the call that I feel in my heart daily, a call to service.  A need to be a person who goes out of their comfort zone and into the world to feed, care for, and sacrifice for those less fortunate than myself.  Mother Teresa reminds us that Jesus is there present in the poor, the destitute the impoverished and the marginalized.  It is He whom we are cleaning, feeding, bandaging and lifting up.  "Whatever we do for the least of these."   Not for our own gain, not for personal glory or recognition, but simply because we love.  Mother Teresa loved.  She always pointed to Christ.  She did not consider it her work at all, but God's work.   Anytime someone wanted to interview her she would point to the poor, deflect from recognition, and simply say she wasn't the one who should be seen, but God.

I think of that when I think of the things going on in the world right now.  Especially, when I think of the people who were massacred in Orlando just recently.   Too many are trying to make this into an us or them situation.   Dividing with labels.   You either stand with the LGBT community, or you don't, they claim.  You either condemn all Muslims or approve, others decry!  I stand with every person who was hurt, and pray for all of them, regardless of their orientation or life style.  It's not an us or them moment, that's what terrorists want.  They want us to be divided.  They want there to be a line drawn in the sand that makes us not stand together.  I disagree with the beliefs of many people, from the Muslim to the person who thinks Marriage is not a Sacrament.. but I firmly disagree with violence being the answer to our problems.

Are we truly loving our neighbor?  When we go into our prayer area and pray in silence, are we loving with our thoughts and words?   Are we asking for God's will to be done? Or our own?  I believe with all my heart that the Catholic Church teaches the fullness of truth.  I also know that we don't always show it.   We have a long way to go.  Those who pretend that the Church has always been loving toward the LGBT community are living a fantasy.   There are still Catholics today who do not live this teaching as it is intended to be lived.  How do we grow from here?  How do we show love?   I think Chic-Fil-A has given us a glimpse with their gesture.  Feeding those who give blood, regardless of the orientation of the person who will receive it, regardless of sex, religion, faith, gender or perceived gender..  that's where the true love of Christ is shown.

When we feed the poor we don't need to ask if they are our faith, our race, our gender, hold our beliefs, or any of that.. we just look for the image of God in which they are created.  All of us are created in His image.  From the poor, the outcast, the widow, the orphan, the refugee, the Muslim, the Jew.  There is no room for thinking this person is less than that one, or that they need to be loved less.   Anytime we dehumanize another person we are walking the same line that Hitler and Stalin walked.. a line in which that person can be terminated for the betterment of the 'true people.'  No, we are all true people.  We are all loved by God.  We all sin and need His grace.  That doesn't mean we hide the truth or attempt to change it, but that we love in spite of any differences.  That's the teaching of the Church.   That you are made in the image of the one true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  That He loves you and wants to be in relationship with you, and that everything you need to know about that relationship begins with the Incarnation, with the person of Christ Jesus.

This is the truth.  We are not there to convert.   We are not there to convict.  The Holy Spirit is in charge of those things.  We are simply there to offer truth, to introduce people to the man who is the most important man in history, the man who has changed our lives and given us a glimmer of hope in a world of violence and darkness.   Do you want to meet Him?  Are you ready to receive the greatest gift ever offered?  Until you are I am here for you, to help you, feed you, serve you... and once you are?  Guess what, I still hope to be there to help you, feed, you serve you.  That's what it means to be a disciple of Christ.. that's what it means to be Catholic.  In the words of my favorite song, "Will you let me be your servant?"

His servant and yours,
Brian

"I must decrease, He must increase."

A seed planted

Yesterday evening I had the immense pleasure to attend the graduation ceremony where our oldest received her high school diploma.  While there they had several speakers from the class.  I was very impressed to see one of the kids from our own church get up and give one of those talks.  This young man is one of the smartest, most gifted men of their generation and I was very impressed with what he had to say.  While all of them had wonderful speeches, his showed a deep understanding of the human condition and the ills of the world.  He didn't throw out warm anecdotes and funny stories but rather challenged his fellow class mates to go against the mainstream currents of the world.  He challenged them to kindness.  A simple message, but one spoken from the heart of a man who had experienced it's life changing effects for himself and hoped to spread that same change into a world much in need of it.

In this mornings first reading we see St. James reminding us of the very same message!  He tells us that jealousy and selfish ambition are of the demonic and earthly realm, not of the heavenly one.  If you just take a look around at the world today you find those two qualities in almost all of our entertainment, politics, and even what seems to be the social norm.  I don't think every person out there is possessed by demons, though I do think demons are real.   What I do think is that we lack the other, the key, the answer to those problems.. kindness.   St. James goes on to say "the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peaceable, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, without inconstancy or insincerity. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace for those who cultivate peace."  Kindness.  Charity.  Love.   That is truly the answer.     Those are the fruits of the Holy Spirit.

Yesterday we celebrated that great feast where the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles, Mary and around a hundred other disciples in the upper room.   That spirit came to bear fruit in their lives and they marched out into the world to deliver both a message and a fruit.  They marched out to spread kindness, love.  In the Gospel today, as we return to ordinary time, we see Jesus casting out a demon from a young boy that his own disciples could not cast out.   Notice the demon did the things to the young boy that James described: For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every foul practice.  When the demon was active the boy lost control, he threw himself into the fire, foamed at the mouth and could not function.   It paralyzed him.   Just as those sorts of things paralyze our society.  It's only when both sides are loving, kind.. that anything happens.

You see we as Catholics are good about prayer, and that's a good thing.  Jesus even reminds us that only through prayer and fasting can this sort of possession be cast out.  So keep praying, keep fasting.   Some will tell you that it is through faith alone that things happen with God.   Others will tell you only works, keep doing good stuff.   We are Catholic.  It isn't either or.  It's both and.  Keep spreading love through acts of kindness, and keep spreading faith through your prayers, fasting, and a Sacramental life.  Our society is in need of kindness is a way that it has never been before.  Yesterday as this young man gave his speech I expected a standing ovation.  His message was a poignant one and one long over due.   After his speech I stood up and began clapping and watched as some others did the same.  He didn't get the ovation he deserved and I began to realize, that just as his speech began with a statement that many would ignore it or roll their eyes.. so it ended as well.   This young man is going to go on to great things, I just hope his classmates realize what a gift he offered to them in parting.   He's planting seeds all around.   Are you, like this young man, helping to water them?

Last night I was reminded that there is still hope for our younger generation.  Too often we see people only pointing out flaws, ignoring all the good.   This young man reminds me that there is a lot of good in their hearts and that with his efforts, and hopefully those of every person listening to him as he journeys through life, our world can grow to be a better place.  

His servant and yours,
Brian

"He must increase, I must decrease."

Studying about that good ol' way

Isn’t it interesting how difficult we make our relationship with God to be?  For 2000 years we’ve constantly tried to change the teachings of the Apostles.  The Catholic church has held consistently to those teachings, so much so that if you read Justin Martyr and his apology on the Mass written in the mid second century you see almost exactly the same Mass described as you would see in a Catholic church today.  We always want something more though don’t we?  It needs to be more traditional or more progressive.  It needs to be more reverent or more folksie.  It needs to be ad orientem or ad populum.  We never seem content to hear the simplicity of the Gospel, the simplicity of what the Church truly asks of us.

I kind of see us in the man Naaman who in tomorrow's daily reading is coming to Jerusalem to be healed.  He has gotten this dread disease, leprosy.  Someone has informed him that the God of the Jews is able to heal, and so he ventures to their kingdom.  He finally is sent to the Prophet Elijah.  Elijah doesn’t even bother coming out of his abode.  Instead he sends a message to Naaman, “Go and wash seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will heal, and you will be clean.”  Naaman is furious!  This man didn’t even come out and perform a ritual over him!  He didn’t even bother to speak to him or do anything flashy.  He didn’t send him on a quest to find some long lost item, or to slay a mythical beast… all he said was, “Go wash in the water.”   He begins to list off all the reasons he shouldn’t… first and foremost, his preconceived notion that he and the land he comes from is better than this land.  He lists the rivers that he would rather wash in, the ones he thinks are more beautiful, more worthy.  

Aren’t we a great deal like Naaman?  Jesus gave his Apostles the authority to forgive sin.  Then he gave the chair of Peter the authority to bind and loosen all things.   The Church hands us the Sacrament, instituted by Christ, of reconciliation.  All you have to do is come and confess your sins, say a penance, and your sins will be forgiven.  Do we trust in that though?  How many have walked away over this very thing?  How many times have we come out of confession and said, “All he gave me was a short prayer, I need more.”   We don’t trust in the simple words of the Church when it prophesies to us this is all it takes to be healed.  We instead try to make it more difficult, I need to go to this place or that place, have this special holy priest do my confession instead.. we shop.. we shop for priests.. we shop for churches.. and eventually, some of us shop for denominations.

Notice that in the Gospel the people again reject Jesus because of where he is from.  They reject him as a Prophet, and in the process again reject his condemnation.  “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”  “What? Wash in the the Jordan? There are thousands of better rivers back where I am from.”  Jesus offers us a simple message.  Love God.  Love your neighbor.  Then we say, that can’t be enough.. The message we have received from the Church doesn’t have enough of me in it.. it’s too much to believe in the simplicity of the message.. to believe that someone so ordinary, so familiar.. just a carpenter from Nazareth could dare to have a message that required us to forgive, and move on.  Jesus tells them it was those with faith, regardless of their background, regardless of their ties with the Jewish people.. who were healed, who were saved.

How about us?  Do we see it as only us?  Only those coming from our part of Christianity as being saved?  Only the Catholics?  Only the Protestants? Only the ones who wash in this river, but not the other?  I say to you that a stream came from Nazareth of clear, living water.  A stream that all we have to do is wash in, and believe in, and follow… and our sins are forgiven.  We need to trust in his waters, in this simple message, that God’s mercy transcends all of our human notions.  We must evangelize.  I am not saying that we shouldn’t talk about our faith.. but it’s not so much about book learning, memorization or rote prayers.. as it is about a relationship.  That’s what Christ is offering.. that’s what Naaman was learning.... when we do what we need to do be in this right relationship.. then we will be healed… Regardless of who we were, or who we are being at the moment… God’s mercy will wash over us and cleanse us.  Then we must take that knowledge out into the world and say with those who believe, “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth, except in Adonai!”  Are you ready to wash in the water?  Are you ready to give your life over to God?  

To be in a relationship means to spend time with someone.  To love them. To care for them.  To do the things that makes them happy.  If I do things my wife doesn’t like me doing, then our relationship is injured.  If however, I learn what makes her happy.. and sacrifice some of those things which I might think I enjoy, to make sure she’s happy.. then our relationship will flourish. It is only when both parties are sacrificing for the other, that everyone's needs are met. The thing is, in our relationship with God, everything that makes him happy.. will make us happy too.. Cause that’s what he wants.. happiness.. not robot movements, or automatons who do things without emotion or thought.. but genuine love.  God lived this principle in the person of Christ to show us the ultimate sacrifice, the true genuine love, of giving of oneself completely. Our faith is the response, our sacrifice the response. So let’s use what time we have left in Lent to grow in that love.. to fast from those things which are harmful to us, and to add in those prayers and activities which help us to grow in covenantal fidelity to the Lord.

His servant and yours,

Brian

“He must increase, I must decrease.”

Why don't your eyes see me?

Illustration of Lazarus at the rich man's gate by Fyodor Bronnikov, 1886.

In tomorrow’s Gospel we see the familiar passage in which Jesus speaks a parable about Lazarus and the rich man.  He tells the Pharisees in his presence about these two men and how they lived their earthly life.  One was a poor beggar who sat at the rich man's doorstep begging for scraps.  The other an extremely wealth man.   A man not just presented as well to do, but extremely wealthy.  Dressed in purple and fine linen, he dined sumptuously. 

sumptuous[suhmp-choo-uh s]
adjective
1.entailing great expense, as from choice materials, fine work, etc.;costly:a sumptuous residence.
2.luxuriously fine or large; lavish; splendid:a sumptuous feast.

Here is this man who has these magnificently lavish feasts daily, not just on special occasions.  His life is full of excess, full of carnal pleasures.   How great a contrast we have with Lazarus, the beggar.   This man has no fine clothing.  He sits begging at the door of the rich man's abode desiring to even eat the crumbs that fall from his table.  Alas, they are consumed by the very dogs that lick the poor ragamuffins’ wounds.  He has no one to support him, no one to bandage and dress him that he might get better, but is tormented by the very animals that eat the food he so ardently needs to survive.  

Oh how this speaks to my heart during Lent as we try to raise money to build a well to bring clean water to those in distant countries who do not have any, or have very little access to them.  We who sit lavishly in our homes with an unlimited supply to be had.  They who just wish to drink of the drops that we so dishonorably waste in our excess. How can we not recognize Lazarus, the hungry beggar in the parable (cf. Lk 17:19-31), in the multitude of human beings without bread, a roof or a place to stay? How can we fail to hear Jesus: "As you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me" (Mt 25:45)? (CCC 2463)  During the super bowl this year, the only football game I actually chose to watch, there was this amazing commercial about water conservation.   Colgate took a moment to highlight how much water we truly do waste, how much we take for granted, how much we let fall to the wayside to be consumed by the dogs of our sewers, instead of protecting for those who have none.  They sit at the gate of our hearts and beg to partake of just our scraps, and are we aware?

When the disciples begged Jesus for their own crumbs, he fed them exorbitantly from the masters table.   They said Master teach us how to pray and he so obliged, not holding back but opening up the floodgates of heaven with the prayer that is familiar to Christians of all backgrounds. In the Our Father we ask specifically for our daily bread.    This speaks of trusting in God for God’s provision, not that we should become lax in our duty to try and earn our bread, nor that we should just stop providing and protecting our families, but that we should be aware of the blessings we receive.  

But the presence of those who hunger because they lack bread opens up another profound meaning of this petition. The drama of hunger in the world calls Christians who pray sincerely to exercise responsibility toward their brethren, both in their personal behavior and in their solidarity with the human family. This petition of the Lord's Prayer cannot be isolated from the parables of the poor man Lazarus and of the Last Judgment. (2831)

How felicitous it is that the Church has been guided by the Holy Spirit to share this pericope of scripture with us at this point during Lent.   To remind us of our duty to the poor as we are reminded of one of the three pillars of the journey through the desert, almsgiving. What are we doing to help those in need?  How are we using our prayer, fasting, and almsgiving to bring that change into the world and into our own hearts?  It’s not enough to simply conserve water, we need to be sharing it.  God does not give us these wonderful blessings in our lives to be hoarded in our cabinets for future meals of our own.  He intends them to be given out to those who have none.  That is why the goal of Lent should not just be to reduce our consumption through fasting, but to then take that money that we have saved and use it to feed another.  

It’s an opportunity for us to go out to the gate of our own hearts, lift up Lazarus as he sits watching our comfort, bring him into our home and bandage him, clean him up, care for him and nourish him to health.  Lent is supposed to change us.  It’s supposed to draw us closer to who Christ is.  Christ heals.  Christ cures.  Christ feeds.  Christ loves.  As I sit here in my heated home, typing on my chromebook, surrounded by loved ones, books, comforts.. blessings, I realize I am not doing enough. How about you?  Remember too that there are two responses to Jesus message today.  Lazarus was downtrodden, a broken man who sat at the mercy of the world.  Yet, we see from his presence in Abraham’s bosom that he never blamed God for it.   He never turned his back on his faith.   The rich man had every material comfort needed, but when he died he went to eternal torment.  It’s apparent that in his faith he knew he needed to repent, he knew he needed to serve, he knew what he was doing was wrong.  He kept it all for himself.

Which are we today? Are we Lazarus? Do we put our faith in God no matter what comes? Are we the rich man?  Do we ignore God’s prompting to do good and simply lavish ourselves with comfort in a grand hedonism?  Today if you hear the voice of the Lord, harden not your heart.  Trust in God.  Find comfort in his promise. Find a way to reach out to those in need materially, physically, and spiritually.  You have been called to the greatest feast of all time, the wedding feast of the Lamb. You receive the most extravagant meal in the entire universe in the Eucharist... are you sharing those crumbs? Or keeping them for yourself? We are the hands and feet of Christ, we have work to do Church!

His servant and yours,

Brian

“He must increase, I must decrease.”

I've heard the tender whisper of love in the dead of night

The other day I read an article about how that the current generation of children are being raised to believe that not recycling a soda can is just as bad or worse than looking at pornography.  I thought that must be complete bunk.  How could that even be possible?  So I asked a few teens myself.  Guess what?  It's true.  So much so that even in one of our classes we started to see that notion of environmental responsibility being the utmost of responsibility for a holy life.  We were discussing what the world would be like if God's kingdom was a reality here on earth.  What would it be like if people really didn't take more than they needed?  If they shared what they had?  if they loved instead of hated?  What would God's reign look like?

We got some of the answers I expected: peaceful, no war, less worries, etc.   Then came other words I would never have expected.  "We'd all be robots."  "No one would have any fun."  "Life would be boring."  After talking with them a few minutes they began to open up and say things like, "I couldn't use my cell phone because it would create pollution."   That's not what God's reign is about.  It's not about taking away fun, but people are convinced it is.  They are bound by the rules they have in their head, not the rules that we have in our faith.  They associate holiness and piety with dryness and boredom.  How do we get past this?  How do we find our way beyond a superficial understanding of what God has to offer and realize that what he is offering is pure happiness, joy and freedom?

In tomorrow's Gospel we see Matthew's version of the Our Father, this is the one we as Catholics use in our liturgies.   In that prayer I believe lies the truth of the happiness that God has to offer.  The first line itself speaks volumes, but we more often than not take it for granted.   Our Father.  God is not a distant deity that transcends everything and never interacts with us.  Rather, we are in a personal and intimate relationship with the trinity.  We have been given the honor and blessing of calling God Father, Abba, Papa, Daddy.  That's closeness... that's tenderness... that's family.   God is offering us a family of peace.  A family of love.  A family of understanding.

He's not asking us to give up pleasure, no, pleasure can be good.  Rather he is asking us to use those good things, those good feelings, those enjoyable devices and technologies responsibly and reasonably.  We don't have to give up our cell phones, our gaming devices, our televisions, or our hobbies to be Catholic.  What we do have to do though is to do those things with not just ourselves in mind, but with the entire world.  Yes, technology can create pollution.  More over, it can create a moment in which our lives are consumed with our self, with our ego.  Those are bad things.  The cardinal virtues though remind us to be detached from that.  That doesn't mean destroying these things and living a bland, meager existence.  It rather means that we take steps to make them enjoyable and responsible.  Solar chargers, limiting our time, sharing our experience, making sure to watch things that bring joy but also avoid temptations, etc. 

We pray in that same prayer "thy kingdom come, thy will be done."  That isn't just speaking of Jesus return at the end of time, but also of the present moment.  God's kingdom is going to be fulfilled in a completeness at the end of time that may not be possible in the here and now, but it is also present and tangible imminently.   You and I as members of the body of Christ have a responsibility to bring about the Kingdom.  Through temperance, through fortitude, through prudence, and justice.  It does not mean that we cannot enjoy ourselves.  It does not mean that life should become dry and void of entertainment.  It does mean that we should consider God and our fellow man in everything we do.  If we are enjoying an expensive meal while our brother starves?  There is something wrong with that. If rather, we are enjoying a similar meal for less money and inviting our brother to dine with us?  That's justice.  That's peace. That's the Kingdom.

Here it is Lent and many of us are trying to grow closer to Christ.  We are giving up things.  We are trying to participate in the three methods the church encourages us to use: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.  Let's not forget those people who are still struggling in a land of limbo... the persecuted Christians being chased and murdered by ISIS.   The refugees fleeing their countries trying to find a life for their family and children.   The men, women, and children being murdered by the drug cartels just across our border.   The homeless, underemployed, sick and homebound in our very own neighborhoods.   That's what Lent is about.  We aren't supposed to fast alone, but to give as well.  So take the extra money you might save by eating smaller meals and buy something for someone who is struggling.  Shovel a driveway.  Take up someone's garbage cans at the end of the day when you bring up your own.  Smile. Hug.  Remember, one of the most important things to do at this time and throughout the whole year, is to work on those corporeal works of mercy:

Feed the Hungry

Give Drink to the Thirsty

Shelter the Homeless

Visit the Sick

Visit the Prisoners

Bury the Dead

Give alms to the Poor

I think that's our lesson today as we examine the words of Christ when he teaches us to pray "give us this day our daily bread."   This speaks of a super substantial bread, a bread that is Eucharistic in nature.  It's our duty as Catholics to take that bread into the world both physically and spiritually to provide the needs of others.  Us.  Not give me.  We are praying for us.  You are receiving something powerful in the Eucharist, something that should be given to others.. in your thoughts, in your words, and in your deeds...

His servant and yours,

Brian

"He must increase, I must decrease."