An Evangelist to the End!

Fishers of Men by Kim Freitas

It's Advent!  How exciting! How beautiful!  Do you feel the change in the air?  We should.  This beautiful season is to remind us of what it felt like to be present for the promise of the Christ, the Messiah, Emmanuel!  The Jewish people still in captivity after such a long time, not only bound by the government of Rome but also still warring with sin in their flesh; were waiting for the promised deliverance, the prophet greater than Moses, for Jesus Christ himself.   Mary had been promised to deliver a child by the angel Gabriel and here we approach the date of his birth. 

We don't just celebrate a birthday on a birthday you know.   We don't just celebrate a past event, though that is part of it.  We celebrate the person!  We celebrate their past, their present, and their future.  We talk about what they were like as a child, maybe even pulling out some of those embarrassing baby photos to show the new members of our clan.  We tell jokes and stories.  We ask them how they are and spend time appreciating them!  We wish them many more happy years, and give them gifts.  Oh how wonderful a birthday is!  A day to remember a person, and a sad parting at the end when they must go back to their life and you to yours. 

That's the beauty of Christmas though, when we celebrate Christ's birthday it doesn't have to end there.  So here we are moving toward his birthday.  Some would say we should celebrate it every day of the year.. and you know they are right!  That's not what Christmas is about though.  It is not a day to stop and say ok, remember Christ today and forget him tomorrow.  No, it is a holiday to remind us to stop and say, have I been doing it!  Have I forgotten who Christ is?  Have I spent as much time with him as I should?  Let's tell those stories.  Let's talk to him, and listen to him, and appreciate him.  Then take him with us throughout the year.  We all need those reminders.  We need those days to remind us not to take things for granted. Not to forget.

Today is the feast of Saint Andrew the apostle.  There is a man who was a true evangelist.  A man who did not forget and took Christ with him.  The first reading from Saint Paul's letter to the Romans reminds us that faith comes from hearing.  How can they hear without someone to preach?  How can people preach unless they are sent?  The shepherd's in the field were one of the first to hear the good news.  They were told by the angels themselves!  The angel's were sent by God.  They announced who Jesus was, and pointed to him.  Jesus then sent Andrew.  Andrew announced the good news as well.  Andrew was so enamored with Christ, so filled with the Holy Spirit that it is said that when he was martyred in Patras they bound him to a cross.  They left him there for two days. For both days he preached to the crowds gathered.. using every last bit of his life to preach to them that Christ was the messiah, and the way, the truth and the life.

Then in today's Gospel according to Saint Matthew we hear the story of Andrew's calling.  Jesus called to Andrew and Peter and told them to stop casting their nets into the sea, that he would make them fishers of men.  Matthew tells us that immediately they left their boat and their father and followed him.   They didn't wait till later.  They didn't pack up and say their goodbyes.  Rather they left, right then and there to do the will of God.  Come after me.   That was Jesus first words to them in this encounter.  Follow me.  As we journey through Advent and the Christmas season I think that is our challenge.  Just like the Shepherd's who heard the message came to find Christ in the manger, just as the Wise Men from the East saw his star and came to worship, just as Mary, the disciple par excellence, heard the message and gave an eternal yes to the father to bring Christ into the world... so too must we.

You and I, brothers and sisters, are called by our baptism to be apostles to Christ.  An apostle is one who has been called by the Lord, sent by the Lord, and has seen the risen Lord.   If you are Catholic you fit the bill.  You have been called through your baptism into the life of the Church.  Jesus has called you to this.  It was not you alone though it was your choice.  Jesus said no one can come to me, unless the Father who sent me draws them.  You have been called. You have been sent.  Every time we go to Mass at the end of Mass we hear something to the effect of "The Mass is ended, go forth and glorify the Lord with your lives."  The Priest or Deacon is not just saying "Hey see you next Sunday."  No, it is a sending forth!  You are being sent into the world to deliver the Gospel!  The food you have just received from this table, you are going out into the world to share it with everyone else!  You have been sent.

Finally, the one that so many people miss, you have seen the risen Lord.  I said this to my confirmation class recently and all of them demanded to know when.  In the Eucharist!  We Catholics do not believe it is a mere symbol.  We believe that Jesus Christ is truly present, literally and entirely in the Eucharist.  He is not trapped there.  He is not only there... but he is very much there!  When the Priest lifts up the Eucharist in Mass we look upon the divine deity, Christ himself!  Wow!  Does that floor you?  It should.  You have been called!  You have been sent!  You have seen the risen Christ!  You are an apostle.  That means you too must go forth preaching to the world! Oh, indeed, how beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news!  Be those feet!

Are you ready for this?  If you were crucified today would you spend your last two days of life, starving and in pain, to preach the message of Christ to anyone who would listen?  Are you preaching Christ in your daily life?  Do people know you are a disciple of Christ?  Does your life exhibit the truth of the Gospel?  Are you following Him?  That's what Advent is about.  It's time my friends, to examine our hearts.. our lives.. our consciences and ask ourselves.. have we forgotten?  Let us use this Advent wisely as we approach Christmas.  Let us remember that our lives are ordered towards Easter, but they begin with Christmas.  So let's journey through our liturgical year to remind us of Jesus past present and future.. and as disciples of Christ let us remember that the means we want our lives to look like his.  Use this time to look at your own past, present and future... You have been born in Baptism.  It doesn't end there.  You are being reborn daily, with your choices, with your actions... with your thoughts.  Are you letting Christ be born in your heart now? Or is there something in the way..   You will be reborn after this life.  Where will you spend your eternity?  Now is the time.  Get ready.  Be ready.  Stay ready.

His servant and yours,
Brian

Wlil we ever learn?

The more I study scripture, the more I realize how we humans seem to repeat the same patterns over and over.  The Israelites of the old testament consistently came back to God.. but then as soon as they got comfortable... fell off again to do other things. An endless cycle of falling away, hearing God's call, coming back.. then falling away again.

It's easy to judge them harshly isn't it?  Looking back we see how stupid it is to do that.. but then when we look at our own lives, we find that same pattern.  After a disaster like 911, the pews are full.   People come looking for answers.  Looking for comfort.  Looking for hope.   They stay for a while, but eventually it begins to dwindle again.  They go back to their lives, their comforts, their 'joys.'   The same with all of us really.   Even those of us who continue go to church find ourselves in ruts.  We find ourselves in the pew becoming mechanical for a while.   Then we go on a retreat weekend, have some of those nice mountain top experiences, and then we are charged for a while.  Then that 'buzz' begins to fade and we go back to our old ways.

Saint Paul in the first reading for tomorrow talks about this.  He talks about how hard it is to not sin.  That though our will is so very ready to do the right thing, we find ourselves falling away to do the other.   How that our mind and desires are at war with each other.   We know the right thing to do, but our flesh wants us to do the thing that feels good.  We want to listen to those things that entice our ears, eat those things that entice our pallets, touch those things that tickle our senses.   Then we fight with that desire trying to do the 'good' thing, and avoid the bad.  Then he cries out at the end of this dissertation "Who will deliver me from this mortal body?" Thanks be the God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

That's really where I find myself having the most trouble.  It's not that I don't know the right thing to do, my conscience is well informed.   It's not even that I am not making a commitment to do the right thing either.   I do truly and firmly mean it when I say in confession that I intend to change.  The real problem is when my ego gets in the way.   When I say "You know, I think I've finally beat this habit."  When I start feeling like my own personal discipline and effort has somehow made me a better person.  Rather, I agree with Saint Paul the Apostle, when he says: "I know that good does not dwell in me, that is, in my flesh."

What I suggest though is a different way to overcome those sins.  (We all have them btw, that personal sin that we just can't seem to shake.  That thorn in our flesh that God does not take away.)  That sin that we constantly need to confess and repent of, and we keep trying to do better but failing... How do we overcome it?  We do resist it.  We do try to mentally and physically prepare ourselves to avoid it.  We avoid whatever occasion of sin that draws us to temptation.  Then we give it over to God, and ask him instead to 'get this.'   It's no longer me saying "I got this,"  but rather me saying "you got this." It's when I allow God's grace to flow through me via the sacraments, when I prayerfully look to God to cleanse me of my sin, and then work with him, not on my own.. but aligning my free will with His will that things begin to change. 

That to me is the meaning of Holiness.   To align our will with God.  To conform ourselves to Christ.  As the Psalm declares:

R. (68b) Lord, teach me your statutes.
Teach me wisdom and knowledge,
for in your commands I trust.
R. Lord, teach me your statutes.
You are good and bountiful;
teach me your statutes.
R. Lord, teach me your statutes.
Let your kindness comfort me
according to your promise to your servants.
R. Lord, teach me your statutes.
Let your compassion come to me that I may live,
for your law is my delight.
R. Lord, teach me your statutes.
Never will I forget your precepts,
for through them you give me life.
R. Lord, teach me your statutes.
I am yours; save me,
for I have sought your precepts.
R. Lord, teach me your statutes.

Jesus reminds us in the Gospel that we have been given reason, logic, and the faculties to understand and make use of both.  He reminds us that we know what is right, why do we keep doing wrong and having to go the magistrates to solve our issues?  Rather shouldn't we just give it over to God and lower our ego, settle our petty differences and avoid any sort of prison?  What does this mean spiritually?  Are you looking for the signs?  Do you look to see if you are ready?  Do you examine your conscience daily?  And when you find that you've done something wrong?  Instead of waiting for the day of Judgement do you throw yourself at the feet of God, asking for his mercy now while on the journey, before you get to the 'court'?   Do you receive the sacraments regularly?  Confession?  These are our ways of settling now, by casting our sins down at the foot of the cross and allowing God to forgive our debt now.. because if we wait till the last day... well, it'll be too late to settle.  Get ready, be ready, stay ready. 

In Christ, His servant, and yours;

Brian

The Problem With Sin

We hear it constantly.  People quote to us "judge not lest you be judged."   Their intention is that we should not judge anyone else's sin but rather let them live however they want, and they'll take it up with God later.  There are two flaws with this logic.  First and foremost, they stop quoting that passage where it is convenient.

“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.

Matthew 7:1-5

Notice that it begins with admonishing people not to look at anyone else's sins when they are living in sin themselves.  Someone who is looking at pornography at night in his room alone should not be judging someone who they find out has been drunk the next day.  It also reminds us to judge with mercy, and kindness.   The 'measure we give will be the measure we get.'  If we judge harshly?  So will we be judged.  If we judge with great mercy and understanding?  So will we be judged.  That's an important note....

But the most important thing is that at the end of this verse Jesus tells us "then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye."  What does that say?  It says that judging is something we must indeed do.  But as John reminds us, we are not to judge by appearance, but with righteous judgement.  Why?  Why would Jesus instruct us to judge others?  Isn't sin just a personal thing?  Isn't it between me and God alone?  After all David said "against you alone have I sinned."  

The thing to realize though is that we are Christians, and as such we have a theology of the Body of Christ.   We are one body.  Once we are baptized into Christ we are one living organism, one creation.   We are the Church.  St. Paul says it wonderfully when he compares us to body parts and

reflects that just because one body part says to the other "I don't have need of you" it doesn't remove the reality that it's still part of the body.

Think of sin as a cancer.  Cancers always start with one cell type.  They originate somewhere.  The lungs for instance.  Lung cancer is a horrible condition.  It tears the lungs apart first.   Yeah, if you are the lungs and I am the heart.. why do I care?  It's your cancer.  The problem with a cancer is it spreads.   It doesn't just remain in one spot.. but eventually if untreated, begins to eat away at the entire body.  In the south there is a saying for someone dying of cancer, "She's plumb eat up with it." It may have began with only one organ, one spot.. one member of the body.. but it hurts the entirety of it.  Eventually causing other parts of the body to be cancer riddled too until it tries to kill the body.

The second is that sin is never a private matter.  We may hide it.  We may do it behind closed doors.  We may only do it when no one else is around.   It still affects our lives.  It still changes us, and spreads.  Look at our society itself.  2000 years ago it was unheard of to be an adulterer.  Now we have entire reality shows dedicated to watching men and women cheat on each other.  The more sin we accept, the more it spreads, the more it draws society (and its members) toward death.  That's why Saint James tells us "confess your sins one to another."   I believe sincerely that is also why Jesus gave his apostles the power and authority to forgive sins.  Today we have confession, where that same authority is being used freely to forgive us when we fail; with the condition that we are trying to do better.  Lord, I believe.  Help my unbelief.

what do authority and botany have to do with each other?

This is my reflection from this morning about today's readings.  I was studying them for a few hours this morning in preparation for the communion service.  Father Don has told us several times that often, not always, but often the 1st Reading and the Gospel have a common theme.  As I read the readings for today I did some Lectio Divina.  I prayed, and I read again. I prayed, and I read again.  The first reading seemed to be about the authority being established in the early church, and the second about life in Christ (or more general, plant biology.)

So what did they have in common?  A lot.  I remember growing up in Virginia we had a lot of different vines.    Grape vines.   Poison oak.   Kudzu.  Many of these vines would creep right up the side of a building, and if you didn't do something about it... it would eventually work it's way into the cracks and break apart the siding.  How do you get rid of them?  Well some could say pull them off the wall a branch at a time.  That eventually works, but wow it's a lot of effort.   No, the best way to get rid of one of these pesky vines is to cut it off at the roots.   Find the vine, and you find the life support of the branches.  Without its connection to the root the plant doesn't get nourishment, the branches die off, and eventually you can pull them right off the side of the building with no damage to the building.  Then just like in the Gospel, you burn them or destroy them in some way.  (Don't go burning Poison Oak, that'll do a number on your lungs!)

So what does that have in common with the first reading?  Well we see in the first reading that there is an argument going on in the early church.  Some think we should be doing this, others think we should not.   So where do we go to solve that?  You see the disciples do not go to the temple, or the pharisees or even the scribes.   That is where you would think a devout Jew would go.. but this is the New Testament, the church.  Where do they go?  They go to the apostles..   “The Apostles and the presbyters met together to see about this matter.”   You see the first Christians had an apostolic view of the church, and the way to Jesus was through the church.  They didn't seek a decision from other experts, or from other congregations.. they went to the one and only church of Christ.  The apostles were the branches, and they were spreading the fruit of the labor.

That's what we are doing today gathered together at this communion service.  We are here to renew our connection with the vine.   Just like those pesky vines in Virginia, if we get cut off from the vine... we will wither and die spiritually.   Only by being filled with the grace of God, by being connected to the branches, can we hope to bear much fruit.  Through the Sacraments of the Catholic Church we receive Jesus himself, grace and mercy to go out into the world and bear fruit.   We together are more plentiful.  One branch alone can bear a lot of fruit, sure.   But together, the many, many branches that make up the body of Christ.. now when all of us support and help one another to bear fruit.. now there is a harvest worth talking about!