The person the world sees is often not the one that comes out in the silence of the home. Our society has taught us to put on a facade when we are in public. (click the link to read more)

July 2, 2017

Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 97

2 KGS 4:8-11, 14-16A

PS 89:2-3, 16-17, 18-19

ROM 6:3-4, 8-11

MT 10:37-42

The person the world sees is often not the one that comes out in the silence of the home.  Our society has taught us to put on a facade when we are in public.  Hillary Clinton infamously once said that she had a “public and a private position” when it came to politics.  The media went insane with this quote.  The problem is, it’s not something we aren’t already aware of.  Our politicians have been saying they believe one thing and acting differently in their voting for hundreds of years.  What is said on the campaign trail is often just a set of bullet points that are designed to resound with as many people as possible.   It’s often not as much about truth as it is about getting votes.

This has crept into our society so abundantly that the common consensus is that relationships are always built on lies.  Earlier today I stumbled across a list of ten of the most important things to remember about relationships.  I disagreed with nine of them.  The second one on the list?   “You have to lie to each other.”  Apparently, society believes it’s more important to lie to keep from arguing than, to tell the truth, and work on being a better person.   I was given that same advice when I first married.   Someone took me to the side and said that I couldn’t raise a family if I didn’t learn to lie.    This wasn’t someone that I expected that from.   It was someone I trusted and had always thought to be a pillar of truth and honesty.

In today’s first reading we see a generous family who has gone out of their way to do nice things for Elisha.   They not only make sure he has food to eat, but also a relationship with them as friends and even a room to stay in when he travels through.  Elisha knows she is a good woman, but he wants to know who she really is.  So he asks the person who sees the real her.   The servant.  The one who is there serving and picking up after.   The one who has no say in the matter.  The one who often has no voice. Those are the people who truly know us.   The person who depends on us and sees us at our most vulnerable.  

Mahatma Gandhi once said that the true measure of a society is found in how it treats it’s most vulnerable members.  How we treat those who can give us something back is often determined by the fact we get something out of it.   The way we treat those without a voice, those who can’t fight back, those who can give us nothing in return… that’s the measure of our true nature.  As a man who is very concerned with animal rights, I think this applies to pets and livestock as well.  Growing up there was the saying: “You know a man by how he treats his dog.”   I would agree with that, and that’s from a man who is not always as patient as he should be with our pup.

Jesus in the Gospel today reminds us of those simple truths.  It is those who give even a cup of water to the child who has none that are truly his disciples.   To the orphan who cannot repay a debt we must give freely.   The man who is down on his luck and is asking for help should receive it with no conditions. The animal that has no idea why it is being punished or kicked, should rather get kindness as a part of God’s creation.  Dominion, not domination.  Stewardship, not a free reign to destroy a vineyard that is not our own.  

A friend of mine was telling me how her father had told her once that you should only give money to those who give you something for it.  The street musicians, the actors, the guy cleaning your windshield… those who earn it, those to who you give handouts.  To the one who can’t give you anything?  Don’t give anything either.    I was astounded by this claim.   That a person must earn love before they can receive it.   We tend to think that way, don’t we?  “You choose your family.”   “A real friend is one who does this for you.”   When what true love is, is giving without expecting in return.   Sharing without waiting for reciprocation.   Pouring out our hearts in sacrifice for the other without worrying if they will thank us, love us, or even remember us.

I don’t do well with that.  I struggle with it daily.  I see my own family members struggle with it too.  Not just them, but so many on Facebook who is frustrated and throwing up their hands because someone they did something for did not return the love.   Love anyway.  Share anyway.  Give anyway.  Sacrifice anyway.  It is for Christ we do these things.  Mark Zuckerberg recently said that people who go to Church are often more likely to be generous and help in the community.   I agree with that.   What I don’t agree with is his assessment as to why.   He claimed that it was because they belonged to a group and that Facebook could be just as effective a group as Church, little league, etc.   In fact, he said the new mission of Facebook was to replace those sorts of groups in our lives and provide us with a new “sense of purpose.”  

The reason people go to Church is not just to be a part of a community.  I could do that with any fraternity and yes, even with Facebook to an extent.  We go to Church to worship a God who challenges us to go out of the way to be better people.  The reason many Churchgoers are more likely to give freely of their own is that they’ve received freely something Facebook can never give.  Love.  Agape.  Forgiveness.  Christ.   The One True God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  We don’t go to Church for the music, though it’s nice when it’s good.   We also don’t go for the friendship, though it’s important that we have those in that context as well.   We don’t give because we feel obligated to by being a member, we give because it is what Christ demands of us, and it is what makes us more like Him.  It is what makes us fully human.

When we give then we don’t let our right hand know what our left is doing.  I have been lectured so many times about handing money directly to people in need.  “You don’t know what they are going to do with it!”  You’re right.  “What if they buy liquor?” It’s their money.   We have a really bad habit of not realizing that.   Instead of letting this human, filled with the dignity of being made in the image of Christ, decide what they want to eat or drink;  we go and order them something without even asking if they like it.  We hand them a cheap burger or slice of leftover pizza and think they should appreciate it.   In most cases, many do.  Is that how we should treat them though?   I don’t expect anyone else to tell me what I have to order for lunch, nor do I expect you to tell me what I can and can’t buy with my own money.   There is a dignity that is lost when we say “Here this is your five dollars, but you can’t spend it on anything I don’t approve of.”  

As the Fourth of July approaches, let us celebrate the Freedom that our country won from an oppressor who tried to tell them how they had to live.   Then let us remember that Freedom extends, maybe even most of all, to the one who can’t do anything to earn it.   All rights come from God, not from the government.   It is because we are made in His image, because there is a source of Truth outside of mankind, that there are rights that cannot be taken away.  Let us not forget that as we celebrate our Freedom, our Independence, and our love for God and country. To recognize the dignity of others, that we can be better able to remove the mask we hide behind and be proud of who we truly are.. made in the image of a loving God.

His servant and yours,

Brian Mullins

"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my rock, and my redeemer. - Psalm 19:14  

What does a second grader know about love?

When I was in elementary school I had a crush on the prettiest girl in class.   One day she told me and another boy that she would be the girlfriend of the one who brought her the nicest gift.  The other guy got her a record or something.  Me?  I went home and took a necklace from my mom's jewelry box.  It was a gorgeous golden thing with lots of sparkles.  I knew for sure that I'd win the competition and get the girl! I gave her the necklace and of course she chose it over the record or whatever it was, and there I was.. with a girlfriend.  I didn't know what to do with her.   Now things were awkward and I had to try and figure out what to do with a girl.  My second grade brain hadn't quite caught up to the concept of dating.

Later that evening my mother was in a panic.  One of her favorite pieces of jewelry, worth several hundred dollars had disappeared.  I had never seen her so sad, so anxious.  I felt horrible.   I had taken something that wasn't mine to get something else I wanted.  I went back to school the next day to explain to the girl that it wasn't a cheap necklace and that my mom wanted it back.  The girl got angry with me, gave me the necklace back, and went with the other boys present.  I returned the necklace. My mother told me if I had just asked, she would have given me something to give the girl.  It took me years to learn the fullness of that lesson: gifts only mean something when they cost us something, a true gift is sacrifice, and secondly... relationships should not be based on how much the other gives me, but on how much we give each other. No one should have to buy friendship, it should be free.

Today is the feast of Corpus Christi.  That is the day we Catholics celebrate the thing that makes us uniquely different from all other Christians in the world.  The Eucharist.  We believe that at the words of consecration the body and blood are transformed (transubstantiation) into the body and blood of Jesus Christ himself. We believe in the real presence of God himself in the sacrament.   We don't think it is just a symbol, but rather a reality that Christ himself promised at the last supper.

the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over,
took bread, and, after he had given thanks,
broke it and said, "This is my body that is for you.
Do this in remembrance of me."
In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying,
"This cup is the new covenant in my blood.
Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me."
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup,
you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.

We believe that when we attend Mass we are transported outside of space and time, that Heaven for a moment kisses earth and that Christ is made present to us.  It is not a new sacrifice, not a re-sacrifice of Christ, but the very sacrifice of Calvary made present to us through the mystery of the Holy Spirit.  We receive then the body and blood of our God himself in the form of the Consecrated Host.  That Host then begins to transform us, if we allow it, into the body of Christ.  We are made one, as He and the Father are One.   We are being formed into the image that we were created to be, the person we were made to be, not the one we have become because of our fallen nature.

That's what it means to live a sacramental life.  It is not enough to only receive, but we must give.   Not enough to simply take this wonderful gift that Christ has given us through the Church, but rather we must become it!  We must become Eucharist for the world, our bodies broken and our blood poured out to the other.  No longer can we simply want our own desires drive our efforts but instead we must get our ego out of the way and allow Christ to shine through us.  "Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."  It only means something when sacrifice is involved.   Just like when I was a child I wanted to take my mother's necklace and receive the reward for myself, today I must instead give of my own gifts, of my own treasures, sacrificially.. only then does it mean something, only then am I walking in the footsteps of Christ himself.

In the Gospel today, Jesus tells them "Give them some food yourselves."  How often He still says that to us today.   Just like the disciples, instead of realizing who it is that is speaking, we begin to wonder if we have enough.  Despite all the times we have seen Him provide, despite the times we know He has multiplied what little we have to offer into a spiritual bouquet that above and beyond anything we ourselves could ever imagine.. we begin to count what little we have.  "I could give, but then how would I pay for this or that?"  "We should take care of us first."  "Why should we support those who don't work?  They should earn it too!"  "Refugees?  Take care of X person first, or Y person first."

Notice what Jesus does next?  He takes their offering, He blesses it, divides it, and gives it back to them.. and they give it to the world.   That's what the Eucharist is all about.   He takes the bread we offer Him, He transforms it into His very Body and Blood.. then He gives it back to us... to give to the world.  Our calling is to bring that Eucharist out into the world and to become it!   To be Him, His hands, His feet.  To be the Body of Christ in the world, broken for it.. poured out for it.. blood sweat and tears..  until the entire world has been transformed, until every person has encountered Christ and the offer of forgiveness of sins.  As we journey into Memorial Day we should be reminded of all of those who did just that.  All of those who poured themselves out on the battlefields, the ditches, the deserts and oceans.   They died that we could have this opportunity to be free, but we cannot forget.

As my wife and my kids and I sat around the campfire tonight, I began to pray evening prayer.  It struck me just how lucky we have it in this country.   I could hear the neighbors talking about their lives.  The kids were playing on their cell phones.   The other neighbors were cooking and discussing juice cleanses and such.  The sun was setting slowly through the trees and the clear blue sky simply watched as we were oblivious to the blessings that God has bestowed on us.  How many people were somewhere in this world starving to death as I ate my potatoes and onions?  How many were stuck in refugees camps at some border not allowed to pass into the safety of some other country?  How many would give anything to have the cold water bottle that was laying a few feet from me in the grass unfinished?  We have more than enough, way more than enough.  Why do we hesitate when God calls us to "give them something to eat?"   There will always be enough.. and if each of us simply gives a pebble... we can start an avalanche.  It's only when we start to make a difference that the widow, the orphan, the refugee, the broken and the less fortunate will begin to be healed and taken care of.

As a popular meme goes:

His servant and yours,
Brian

"He must increase, I must decrease."

Lex Orendi, Lex Credendi?

For tomorrow's daily mass the readings continue to examine the Epistle of Saint James.  He continues to encourage us to work for God's kingdom and to avoid things of the world, things of the ego and of the flesh. He uses some pretty strong words, indeed.   He compares worldly things to adultery!  Why would he do that?   Because this thing we live as Christians is a relationship.  We, the Church, are the Bride of Christ. Greed, pride, and disordered attachments to worldly things are the very cause of our conflicts, arguments, even wars.  When we do these sorts of things we are breaking our relationship with Christ, we are 'cheating' on Him with something worth much less, with something inanimate.  It's a rejection of the one we should love completely and instead replacing it with something that doesn't fit.

You know those kid games?  The ones where you have all these different shapes and you have to fit the correct game piece into the right hole?  Well, each of us is created with a God shaped hole in our heart.  We can force something into it, for a time.. and it might even kind of fit.. but eventually it rubs us and chafes us.. because it's not the right shape, not the right size.  Only when we take a God shaped object and put it in a God shaped hole does our life become complete.. anything less... is adultery.. it's cheating.. it's avoiding the rules of the game and jamming something that shouldn't fit in there to try and fill up that hallow, empty place.

“Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee.”

― Augustine of Hippo, Confessions

James reminds us of that saying: lex orendi, lex credendi.   That is: how we worship is how we believe.  If we worship as if God is the most important thing in our lives then that will help us form our belief, and vice versa.  If you worship like God is a thorn in your side, something that chafes and makes life harder?   So will you begin to believe.  I pray the liturgy of the hours every day.  I pray about an hour in the morning, fifteen minutes midday, and an hour a night.  Sometimes it's tedious and my mind wants me to think: I could be doing other things!  My favorite show is on!  The yard needs mowing!  I could be running or riding my bike!  So many excuses flow in that make me want to skip it.   If I continue to do that though, I am choosing the wrong shape to fit in my God shaped hole.   If I act like God is just something to fit in my schedule, well then I'm gonna start feeling that way.. treating him that way... Instead if I realize it's a gift to pray for the Church... a gift to spend time with the creator of the Universe praying the words He has revealed to us through the Holy Spirit.. If I instead treat it like the most precious thing in my life instead of something to just fit in, and I put God at the center of my day and then put everything else in my calendar, well that's when I am living out our relationship to it's fullest.

Jesus reminds us of that with a simple phrase: “Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me.”  A child is so trusting, aren't they?  Yesterday I got to see my twin nieces.  It doesn't matter how long it's been they run up to me, hug me and ask me to lift them up.  They play with me and of course want to see my phone.    They trust me.  There is joy in their eyes and hearts, a joy at seeing one that they love.  It reminds me of that poster in our lobby at the Church, the one for Food for the Poor, which reminds us of Matthew 25.   When did I see you thirsty?  Whatever you did for the least of these.   When did I see you hungry?  Whatever you did for the least of these.  When did I see naked?  Whatever you did for the least of these.  We are all made in the image of God... every person out there; especially the downtrodden, the widow, the orphan, the refugee, the immigrant, the poor; are not only God's children but to be seen as Christ in the world.  We are challenged to not only receive Christ in the Eucharist, but to go forth and look into the world with his eyes... we should look on those in need of our help with that same joy that my nieces exude when they see someone they love.

When we leave Mass it's not enough to just go home and wait for tomorrow, it's not enough to simply go about our day not thinking about Christ.   We are challenged instead to go forth and live our faith.  That Latin phrase has another part: Lex credendi, lex orendi, lex vivendi.  As we worship, so we believe, so we live.  The way we act in our worship, leads us to believe certain things, and believing certain things leads us to live a certain way.  If we worship in the Mass in a way that shows we believe Jesus is present in the Eucharist, our belief will grow to reflect that.  As our belief grows our lives will change.  We will go forth into the world attempting to feed the poor, give drink to the thirsty, comfort the widow and the orphan, find home and safety for all in peril, house and protect the refugee, and share Christ with every person we meet.   Both readings reflect a simple truth.. all of this requires humility.   It is in being a servant that we emulate Christ the most.  Are you ready to be a servant?  What better heart can Christ fill than the one that reflects His own?

His servant and yours,
Brian

"He must increase, I must decrease."

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."

And now you're so surprised to see me

In tomorrow’s reading we see the parable of the fig tree.  This sort of tree is a source of fruit, a source of nourishment for the world.  In the desert lands in which Jesus taught and journeyed it would have been seen as sustenance, life. The owner of the vineyard, the farmer, came along after three years of time and saw that the fig was still not bearing fruit.  He then turns to the vinedresser and says, “For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none. So cut it down. Why should it exhaust the soil?”(Luke 13:7)  The vinedresser in turn begs for another year.  He wants to spend more time cultivating.  More time giving the tree a chance to produce fruit.  Then, though, he will have to cut it down.

I find it extremely telling that the Owner speaks of three years of time.  Jesus himself had only three years of preaching to convince the Jewish people that he was the Messiah that they had been seeking.  Here the owner must indeed represent the Father.  It’s almost as if Jesus is giving us a glimpse of a conversation that was to come, one after his crucifixion.  God the Father has tired of the people who he has been sending messages to.  He tried to send them through Abraham.  He tried to send it through the prophets.  Then the judges.  Then during the time of the Kings.  Then he sent his only Son.  As in the Parable a few days ago, the tenants did not bother to give over that fruit they were supposed to be growing.  They abused the servants, and then killed the Son.  

 In the Eucharist he gives us everything we need to produce that sumptuous and elegant fruit that the Father seeks in our lives.  God is calling out to us in love, asking us to love in return.  To love God and our fellow man.   

I think this parable is much the same.  The owner of the vineyard has returned to collect that fruit.  Yet, here he finds the barren tree.  This person has borne no fruit though he has heard the word of God preached for a fullness of time.  Three is considered a perfect number.  Complete.  This person has heard the word long enough!  Yet he still rejects the message.  Then steps in the vinedresser.  He stands between  God and man, he intercedes on our behalf.   This man must be Jesus himself.  Though he has been toiling in the vineyard for three years, there are still these trees that bear no fruit.  Even though they have rejected him, even though they have sent him to a bloody, and thankless death, he still begs for them.

Jesus declared to his disciples that he was the vine, the thing from which sustenance flows.  That God is the gardener, the husbandman, the owner of the vineyard.  Jesus wants to give them more time.. he wants to nourish them… he wants to water the seeds that he has planted.  We as Catholics acknowledge that  “Jesus Christ is true God and true man, in the unity of his divine person; for this reason he is the one and only mediator between God and men.” (CCC 480)  He is the one who steps in to cultivate the dirt of our soul, to create a truly beautiful soil ready for growth, rich with virtue and grace.

How then can we apply this to our lives?   To our own situations?   We are the fig tree.  We are either producing fruit or not.  God has sent his message into our hearts.  He has given us all the tools we need to learn more. That’s the Son still calling out to us.  Through the Church, through the Scriptures, through nature itself, he continually digs around our roots and places nourishment there for us to consume.  In the Eucharist he gives us everything we need to produce that sumptuous and elegant fruit that the Father seeks in our lives.  God is calling out to us in love, asking us to love in return.  To love God and our fellow man.   He has sent his Holy Spirit into the world, into our hearts, to help us even further.. to fertilize our hearts.. to take away that dry weary land, that heart of stone, and give us a heart of flesh that will reach out to bring about God’s kingdom.

The Catechism says that “the fruits of charity are joy, peace, and mercy; charity demands beneficence and fraternal correction; it is benevolence; it fosters reciprocity and remains disinterested and generous; it is friendship and communion: Love is itself the fulfillment of all our works. There is the goal; that is why we run: we run toward it, and once we reach it, in it we shall find rest.” (CCC 1829) God is giving us just a bit more time, Christ is seeking to open our hearts to love.   We don’t have forever though.. it is appointed unto man once to die, and after the judgement. (Hebrews 9:27)  We don’t know when that will be.  The Parable says that the vinedresser asked for another year… another span of time, just another season.  Then comes the judgement though.. then if there is no fruit, it will be cut down.  The truth of the matter is this:  all of us have that one thing in common.  We are all going to die one day.  God has given us the fullness of time, he has given us every opportunity to produce fruit.. and how often we fail.  The son wanted us to have another chance, so much was his love for us that he came down as a man himself, and died in our place.  He has made the downpayment.. it’s up to us to do something about it.  We are planted in God’s vineyard through baptism, the Church.  The Church, the body of Christ, is continually tilling around us, feeding us with every spiritual food available through the Holy Spirit, the liturgy, the Scriptures, and the Sacraments.  Our roots are being nourished, but it’s up to us to drink.

The Samaritan woman at the well represents us.  We are going to the well.  If we only knew the gift of God, if we only knew who stands before us, if we only took a drink of the water he offers… our fruit would blossom so much that the whole world would see it!  Are you drinking of that well?  Or like the rich young man are you letting some attachment stand in your way?  It’s time for us to get in line behind Christ, to point our face toward the cross and say, “Here I am lord, speak your servant is listening.” (1 Samuel 3:10)

Once again, I must reiterate, Christ is coming to us daily.  He is seeking to pick that fruit.  He comes in the face of the stranger, the refugee, the orphan.  The homeless man down the street.  The angry fellow in traffic.  The tired, overworked nurse who just wants to complain on her lunch break.  The young couple in the pew who struggles with their child. That neighbor who just wants a little conversation, a little human interaction at the end of a long day. All of these people are looking for some fruit.  They just want to experience a little love.  Are you offering that fruit? Are you responding with joy, peace, and mercy? Are you running toward them with the open arms of the Father, with love?  Oh imagine the world in which we did such things, Church!  That line from Augustine quoted in the Catechism is so beautiful isn’t it? “There is the goal(love); that is why we run:  we run toward it, and once we reach it, in it we shall find rest.”  Are you running toward Christ in the least of these? There, there in the arms of the dying, the poor, the outcasts.. that’s where you’ll find the love of Christ reflected, that’s where you will find rest.

The Samaritan woman at the well represents us.  We are going to the well.  If we only knew the gift of God, if we only knew who stands before us, if we only took a drink of the water he offers… our fruit would blossom so much that the whole world would see it!

When God came down on the burning bush before Moses, the bush was not consumed.  It was rather transformed into something amazing, something beautiful, something that reflected the glory of God to the world.  It became a symbol, a beacon.  The place became so Holy because of the presence of the Holy Spirit that God said to Moses, “Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.”  Think about that symbolism for a minute.   As you walk up that Aisle today toward the Eucharist.. not only are you on Holy Ground.. but you are about to become Holy Ground. You are about to receive God himself into your body.  You are about to be filled with that same glorious power that Moses saw radiating from the burning bush.  It does not destroy you.. it transforms you.. Are you allowing it do just that?  Are you allowing God’s light to shine into the world in such a way that people want to remove their baggage, their spiritual shoes, and walk in the presence of God?  Are you offering them that fruit?  Only you can offer the unique fruit that you are designed to give.  No one else can give it the same way, the same kind, the same you.  Are you ready to be a fig tree in God’s garden?  Are you ready to be Holy Ground?  

His servant and yours,

Brian

“He must increase, I must decrease.”

The Heavens Proclaim the Glory of God

My wife and I have made it a habit lately to jog in the late evenings after all of our obligations and such begin to wind down.  Tonight as I meditate on the readings for tomorrow's Mass, it reminds me of the jog/walk we just completed.   I was in just too much pain to run tonight, so I ended up walking most of the time we were out there. It helped me though to think quite a bit about many of the things I've been mulling over, and more especially to spend some time just walking along talking to my sacramental partner.

Tomorrow's readings are some of my favorites in scripture.  As we walked along tonight, a strong wind kept blowing through the trees.  The sky was cloudy and dark, almost ominous.  Occasionally we would hear the breaking of twig or rustling of a leaf as some woodland creature ran off in fright to our presence.   The river under the bridge reflected back the street lights in the distance, it's ripples creating a movement in time where there really was none.  The changing colors of the autumn in their many shades of monochrome night created a blanket of waving patterns, all shifting away anytime the eye tried to focus on them. The tall, uncut grass of the gentle sloping hill flowed back and forth like an ocean of it's own accord.

All of it called out to one simple truth, one fact that my mind has never been able to understand why others do not come to this conclusion as well, to the existence of God.  The first reading tells us that "Ever since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes of eternal power and divinity have been able to be understood and perceived in what he has made."  God created us in his image.  He gave us the gift of our senses, combined with our faculties, that give us such a powerful bond with all of creation.  We can see the beauty of all it's many faceted creatures.  Smell the scents and odors of our vastly complex universe.  Reason and grapple with concepts and words to try and express all of this in some way that is beyond a mere simple thought.

Just walking with my wife, though filled with pain and limping, I am still struck by just how fortunate I am to be gifted with someone as beautiful, intelligent, and caring as her.  Just looking at our lives, the circumstances that led us to become the people we are, the events that brought me to

move 600 miles away from the town where I had always been, and to have my life filled with these 5 ladies.... all of it tells me that there are no coincidences.  There is something more than us, something greater than us, a designer, a creator.

When I was in my teens I attended Magnet school at a local college to study some advanced mathematics and computer science skills.  While we were there we studied Chaos theory.  Many of you will remember Malcom from Jurassic Park, the slightly nerdy and awkward genius who talked about a 'butterfly' flapping it's wings in one part of the world, creates a monsoon in another.  That was the kind of math we were studying.   The one thing I learnt that summer was that even in things that seemed to be completely random, there were found mathematical patterns.  That everything in the universe was ordered, even 'random' chance itself.   The heavens themselves proclaim the glory of God! 

That brings us to the Gospel.   Here we see Jesus being condemned again by a Pharisee for not washing himself ritually before sitting down to a meal.  They felt there was an order that must be done before he could eat. Jesus reminded them that God made everything!  There was no need for ritual cleansing because he was already pure.  Then challenged them to clean themselves, spiritually.  Both inside and out.  We have many people out there today who teach a prosperity gospel, a gospel of health, a bed of roses so to speak.  They claim that if you 'speak it,' God must do it!  As if God were some ATM that you could control.  Then when suffering comes that way, they proclaim that you didn't do it right.  Your faith must be weak, or you must not really believe.  It can be shattering to those who believe this way to actually see someone they love suffering from some disease, or they themselves begin to go through a Dark Night of the Soul. 

Jesus reminded us that ritual is meaningless unless the inside of the soul is cleansed.  He challenges them to give alms to reverse the condition of their heart.  He told them already of their problem, they were filled with plunder and evil.   They were greedy, they wanted more.  He told them to give away to those who need, and it would fix them.   I think that's the message he has for us, all of us today.  Suffering is hard to see, especially if the inside of our heart is attached to things of this world.  It's only through detachment that we can begin to be free, to cling to the only attachment that matters, that is God himself.  Once we place him first and foremost things begin to fall into place.  It doesn't mean a bed of roses.  It doesn't mean that we'll be rich.  It doesn't mean that our relationships will not require a lot of work or effort.  It doesn't mean that some people aren't going to pass away from a disease or suffer a long time with one.  What it does mean is that we can look to God for our comfort during those times, and look out into creation itself when we struggle with doubt to find glimpses of Him shining back towards us.

In Christ,
Brian

The dishes, again.

I looked into the kitchen this morning, after spending the day in bed in pain.  I lifted too much yesterday and was just unable to get up this A.M.  The dishes weren't done.  I for some reason expected to magically get up at noon and find them washed.  There they were though.  Still waiting for me.

I've put them off a good portion of the day.  Waiting for someone to decide that's their cleaning for today.  Then I made the mistake.   I went to the bathroom and decided to read the Pope's homily.  Doesn't that always kick your butt into gear?  I was reading about the wedding of Cana and how that Mary wasn't concerned with herself whatsoever.  She didn't go gossip to her friends about the poor organization.  She didn't run and say did you see that?  They ran out of wine!  How shameful!   No, rather she was concerned for the other.  Mother Mary instead went to Jesus.  She prayed.  Then she went to deliver a message.  She said "Do what he tells you."  Then the Pope used those words that convicted my heart, "after all Jesus came to serve, not to be served."

My mind began to meditate on so many things.  First and foremost on the life of Father Solanus Casey, whose example often convicts me to shame and repentance.   Father Solanus took the hardest chores, took the tasks he was given with obedience and joy.  He, even in his pain, often ran up and down the stairs to get where he was going.  Never complaining.  Even when in confined to a bed in the hospital, he would hear people's problems with compassion and joy.

Father Solanus Casey

Then my mind wandered to Mother Theresa and her example of taking the hardest job for herself.  My mind reels at how often I want someone else to do the dishes.  I think of my friends, one of whom hates the dishes and another who loves them.  What makes that difference?  Why do we hate it?  Why do we love it?  Isn't it really just perspective?

Then I go back to Thich Nhaht Hahn and his writing that doing the dishes can be a moment with God, a moment of interconnection and love.  If we think and ponder on the reality that is a plate.  How it got there?  How many things it touched on the way.  How many lives were involved to get these pieces of sand to my hands.   How that God created it all and it belongs to Him.  Ah, so much to think about, and what better way than to place your hands in the warm sudsy water and begin to contemplate the mysteries of the universe.

So here I am.. off to do the dishes.

Mother Teresa

The Eyes of a Child

The other day I was attacked by a ninja in my own home. I'm pretty sure that Dustin Gurntz had something to do with it, because I've  been told he's definitely the ninja. I had left the house to get our youngest off the bus and in the interim our other daughter devised an ambush. She gathered a large sloppy snow ball, and hid inside the house with it. As we walked in I began to take off my coat and smoosh.. upside the head with a big, cold wetness. I glared... I laughed... I giggled... then I warned.  "When you least expect it, I'll get you back."

For a few days she flinched when I'd walk past her waiting for the snow ball, or the tickled attack. I never gave it to her, I simply waited. Then tonight, she fell asleep on the couch.  You all know where this is going right? I did what my father would have done, what all of us men for generations do, I got a big bucket, filled it with snow and dumped it on her in her sleep.

It was priceless! For about 20 seconds.. till I heard a earthshaking, crying scream. It was coming from to her left, it wasn't even her crying. She was shaken of course, but she wasn't as torn and demolished as the young 6 year old girl standing next to her who informed me it wasn't funny for me to make Sarah cry. My daughter, my youngest child, stared at me tears streaming down her face.. looking at me as if I were a stranger.  My world was shattered. I had scared her. She trusted me to always do good, and here I was... being probably the worst example my children could have.

Later I apologized to Sarah for dumping the snow on her and made her a promise. I would never, ever do it again. Haley laughed and said but he didn't promise either of us!  I agreed, and we all went towards the car to go get some food. Moira asked me to stay inside with her while she switched to her boots and that's when it happened. That's when God spoke through my little girl to me, with eyes looking at me with wisdom beyond their years, she informed me of my error.

"Daddy, you know you promised Sarah you would never do it again. That means you promised all of us. God is inside each of us, and you promised God that you would never, ever do it again." How many times have I sat in a room with a prayer group and reminded them to try and see God in each person they meet? Yet until this morning it had never dawned on me that when I promise someone.. I'm not just making a promise to them, but to God.. and thereby to every person made in God's image as well. Goodness doesn't just stop with the individual.. it's a communion... a community.  Did Jesus have this in mind when he said make your yes, yes and your no, no?

She looked at me with those piercing eyes for what seemed like an eternity. Then she looked down at her shoes, and when she looked back up it was happy go lucky Moira, as she danced out there in her snow boots informing me, "And I'm glad that God made feet!"

In that small moment, that instance I was taught something that Jesus told us 2000 years ago, but a lesson we learn again and again.

At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"  And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them,  and said, "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  Whoever humbles himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.  "Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me;  but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin,  it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened round his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. 

Mathew 18:1-6

..

How often we allow our studies to make us feel important and powerful.   We study theology, we study the bible, we study psychology and sociology.   We then think we have figured out God... but simple truths, they are seen by 6 year old's when a bucket of snow is dropped on their sister... a 6 year old who reminds us that it's not funny... In a society where our television shows ask us to tease one another and play jokes on each other... she reminds me that I am to be good always.   That when I sin against one of these... I am sinning against God himself.

It brings a whole new meaning to that simple phrase that David penned in his anguish, many years before the birth of Jesus, doesn't it?

Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy steadfast love; according to thy abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.  Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!  For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done that which is evil in thy sight, so that thou art justified in thy sentence and blameless in thy judgment. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.  Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.  Fill me with joy and gladness; let the bones which thou hast broken rejoice.  Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right* spirit within me.  Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy holy Spirit from me.  Restore to me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.  Then I will teach transgressors thy ways, and sinners will return to thee.  Deliver me from bloodguiltiness,  O God, thou God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of thy deliverance.  O Lord, open thou my lips, and my mouth shall show forth thy praise. 

Psalm 51:1-15

Ever Wash Your Sandals?

Every summer, my sandals begin to start looking pretty filthy. That's when I get out the trusty scrub brush, dish soap and a water hose. As I was sitting outside scrubbing the inside of my shoe, I began to have several thoughts go through my head. First I began to think about how disposable our society has become. So much so that often times when shoes get this grimy, they throw them away. My children usually have worn them out by that time anyway. They seem to think that we are supposed to buy new ones when they are dirty, the same with socks!

Then my mind began to drift on how that God cleans our souls, just like I'm cleaning these sandals. I do it carefully so I don't damage them. I do it thoroughly so that I don't have to come back and wash them again, I make sure they are clean! Another thing I notice... even though they are dirty, they are scuffed, dinged up... they are pretty good sandals. All too often we Christians see ourselves as bad things, and yes our flesh can do some bad things... but we are also made in the image of God! We are pretty good things! We just have to get the dirt out and keep it out, and God can do that for us, and he has poured his grace out immeasurably through the sacraments of His Church.

Then my mind stumbles upon a very profound truth. We live in a very clean society as far as things go. We have running water, showers, and deodorant. We have paved streets, concrete sidewalks, and homes with floors. Our feet don't get that dirty in the grand scheme of things.. but look at the inside of my sandals and you'll see that dirt builds up fast! Those little bits of dirt don't seem like much on their own, but over time they build up and up, until you find your shoes filthy and nearly unusable. That's how the church sees venial sin. All sin is bad! Too many see venial as not bad, it's still bad! It adds up! It's the pebble that starts the avalanche, it's that little bit of dirt that on it's own isn't much.. but when you keep doing it... it begins to be visible.. eventually leading to the sin that leads unto death. (Mortal).

So keep your sandals clean. Frequently make available to yourself those sacraments that pour out daily in our church. Go to Reconciliation. Go to daily Mass when you can. Go to Church every Sunday reverently for that mere hour(sometimes less sometimes more) that it takes. Spend time frequently in Adoration when you can, find a chapel near your job or your home and go there when you have a free moment. Make use of sacramentals! Pray often! Repent often! Examine your conscience daily, so that you can see how dirty your sandals are getting.. and clean them before it's too late!

His servant and yours;
Brian

How important are your things?

We've all heard the "you are on a desert Island and can only take" stories, but I want to really think about that for a few minutes. Let's try a different scenario that is much more likely to happen in our world. But first let's address the real problem, we in our society live with our 'needs' and 'wants' all mixed up. We think we need so much, when they are really wants.. and those things we really need, we often don't even notice. We have homes stuffed with many things. Multiple pairs of this or that, four and five televisions, computers in many of our rooms etc.

How much do those mean to us? Are we really living the gospel? Now there is room in our life for nice things, but at the same time... if we have more than we ever use... then someone out there is going without. What do I mean by that? Well if I have a television sitting in my garage... doing nothing... then someone out there who has no television, can't afford one, and wants one... is doing without one.. or better yet, someone out there who needs food.. is going without the food that they could have had, if I never bought it in the first place, and instead bought food and donated it.

So, what would you save in a fire? If you could only take 4 things out of your house (besides your children and animals), what would they be? Then, while standing outside watching what you own burn to the ground... what would you miss? If you had no insurance at all, what would you mourn having lost in your home?

His servant and yours;
Brian