Give them some yourselves....

I once worked with a young man who had some serious sin in his life.  If I am honest with you, I was a part of those sins from time to time.  His life had turned into one great big party that truly stemmed from a depression at the state of what had become his daily existence.   I once asked him why he didn't try to do better, why he didn't give up the drinking and the drugs, and go back to church.  His answer was one I will never forget: because I am chosen as I am.  Someone had spoken a prophecy over him as a young boy.  They said he would grow to serve the Lord.  He was informed that God didn't expect him to change, but to keep being the person he was.  So he didn't.

The person who spoke this 'prophecy' over him did it for his own good.   It was to encourage him to grow, to become closer to God.   I spoke to someone about it years later and they said yeah, I just wanted him to feel good about himself.   We see the result of that in both this young mans life, which to this day continues to spiral downward, and in the first reading of today's Mass.  Hananiah tickled the ears of those around him.   Instead of giving them a true prophecy of God he comforted them with platitudes and encouragements to make them feel better.   As my grandfather would have said, "He tickled their ears."  He told them what he felt would encourage them, make them feel better.. but it wasn't the truth.  It cost Hananiah his life.   God is that serious about sin.  Lies are never to our good.

God is truth.  There is no duplicity in Him.  There are no lies in Him.  A man once told me that all relationships require lies, that at some point you have to lie to get along.   I disagree.  I prefer what Father Simon said the other day on the radio.   "Speak the truth in love, but you can't love without speaking the truth."  (paraphrased)   You see tickling someone's ears.. telling them what they want to hear, instead of the truth... it doesn't make things better.  It encourages them to continue on down that road.  One cannot repeat the same action, the same way, with the same people, in the same environment, over and over.. and expect a different outcome.   God wants us as members of Christ's body to go out into the world armed with the truth, and to pass it on to others, always in love.

He wants us to be emboldened to do this.  So much so that in the Gospel Jesus reminds us that we are to be like Him in all things.   He asks us to feed others.  The disciples where looking out for the others.  They were concerned that they had not food and it was late.  Jesus, instead of sending them away, said "give them something yourselves."   Here they were, with Christ, the living bread of life; yet they had no idea what to do.  Mary, at the wedding of Cana, gave us the premier example.   "Do whatever he tells you."   You see, Jesus was about to feed the people the Truth.  Truth itself, incarnated in His own flesh.. the bread from Heaven.  He expects us to do the same.   He takes what little we offer, the meager small amounts, and He turns it into something divine.. a feast for the world.   That's why we proceed to the altar with bread at Mass... we offer something so paltry, so meager.. and it becomes Christ himself, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity.   Then He gives it to us and if we allow it, transforms us into living Christ's... parts of His body.. to "go forth, glorifying the Lord by our lives."

Are you feeding others?  The answer is yes... but what are you feeding them?  Remember this from the Gospel... Jesus had just lost his friend, his cousin.  John had been killed and Jesus was just trying to take some time alone.   When he saw all the men, women and children gathering around He did not explode in anger and demand they be sent away.   The Apostle's likely had that in mind as well, that Jesus needed some time to grieve.. some time to recover.. but Jesus had pity on the crowds.   How do you respond when interrupted?   How do you respond to the presence of another in need when you yourself are in need?   Do you give them your bread?

His servant and yours,
Brian

"He must increase, I must decrease."

A reflection on the readings for daily Mass on Monday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary time: August 1st, 2016.   Jeremiah 28:1-17; Psalm 119; A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew 14:13-21

Why do good things happen to bad people?

A Reflection on the Readings for June 28, 2016.  The Memorial of St. Irenaeus.

Amos 3:1-8; 4:11-12
Psalm 5
The Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew 8:23-27

I used to hang out with this friend of mine after work.  We'd sit around having a few drinks.   He'd then bring out his drugs, consume them go on what he called a relaxing trip after work.  We'd then sit and talk about God.   Strange isn't it?  There we were doing things that He would find unpleasant, things which did not draw us closer to Him and yet our hearts still longed for Him.   My friend would talk about how rough his life was and ask why would God do that to him?  Why wasn't life a bed of roses?  Why did 'bad people' get good things, and good people get bad things>  Yet, there we were turning our backs on His grace and preventing Him from being a part of our life fully.   We were like a man drowning in the ocean, beating the hands and face of the Life Guard who tried to pull us out to safety.. and then complaining that no one was helping.

The readings today remind us that God has been sending the message of salvation since the beginning of time itself.   He has been showing us through Prophets, Judges, Kings, and Saints exactly the life we need to live to open those channels of grace.   The life we need to live to be restored to the image of God that we were created to be.  That doesn't mean a bed of roses.  In fact, Jesus gave us the ultimate example of living that life to it's fullest.. and it was far from comfort.   It was  a life filled with grace, a life that changed the world around it, healed the sick, fed the hungry, and sought God's will above all things.  We fall below that threshold so often don't we?   Too often we, like the Israelites, could be called a stiff necked people.  We continually do those things we know God has shown us to be bad for our spiritual health.

St. John Paul the II point out how this Psalm (Psalm 5) of supplication, like so may others in this book contrasts the person who prays with those who do evil.  Because of God's unwavering love and constant care and assistance, we can turn to him in confidence amid the turmoil, sin, and temptation that surround our daily lives.  United to God, the faithful are always secure; through prayer the people of God express their trust in his mercy.  It please God to shower his blessings upon his people and protect them with his unsurpassable goodness.  (Cf. St. John Paul II, General Audience, May 30, 2001) - Note from the Didache Bible (Pg 614, note 5)

When fear overwhelmed the disciples, they shouted out for Jesus to deliver them.   Jesus stood up and rebuked the waves and winds, and there was calm.   It's funny isn't it?   Jesus didn't take them out of the boat to dry land.   He didn't remove the water from the situation.   He didn't take them into the vacuum of space to where the wind itself could never move.   No, he instead brought calm to them.   They were still in the boat, still on the water, still at the mercy of the elements; their location had not changed.. but their peace was restored.  The storm was calmed around them, but everything that created the storm in the first place was still there.  Spiritually I think that's a powerful lesson for us... What God offers us is not necessarily a new location, or change of venue..... He offers to calm the storm... that doesn't mean that stress will miraculously disappear.. but if you let Him, His grace will give you the ability to be peaceful and filled with joy in the same location, the same situation.   That's what Jesus offers us every day.  Peace, joy and love with the grace of God.

The Israelites received an almost ominous threat.  That's because we read into it our human emotions, we anthropomorphize God to try and understand him further.   God said to them through Amos:

So now I will deal with you in my own way, O Israel!
and since I will deal thus with you,
prepare to meet your God, O Israel.

God was letting them know of His grace, to see His mercy and justice.  He did indeed deal with them in His own way... through the incarnation.  Just like the disciples we are coming face to face with God himself, in the person of Christ.  When we come to the altar for communion we again come face to face with Christ in the Eucharist and should be reminded that God is right there in front of us... and we should not be terrified... rather we should be bolstered by our faith.. because God has chosen to deal with us in His own way.. love and mercy itself!   Are you ready for Jesus to calm the storm around you?  To rest in His arms in communion?  To draw closer to Him in Reconciliation?  To find peace, joy, and happiness right where you are at this very moment?  He might not remove the bed of roses, but simply open your eyes to the beauty and grace present through the pleasure of their sight and smell.

We are members of the body of Christ, the Church is the boat that keeps us afloat.  As long as we keep Christ in the boat, it's smooth sailing.. we just need to have faith.  Again today the question is asked, "What manner of man is this?"  As you gaze upon the Eucharist, can you hear Him saying, "Who do you say that I AM?"


His servant and yours,
Brian

"He must increase, I must decrease."

Keep the Holy Holy to be holy.

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

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

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

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

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

His servant and yours,
In Christ,
Brian