You don't know anything!?

A Reflection on the readings for Daily Mass for Thursday of the Fourteenth Week of Ordinary Time, July 7, 2016.

Hosea 11:1-4, 8e-9
Psalm 80:2ac, 3b, 15-16
The Holy Gospel According to Saint Matthew 10:7-15

I was haggard and disheveled.   I hadn't slept a wink.   My wife was even more tired than I was.  Our daughter was refusing to sleep.   She had decided that night time was day time, and day time was night time.  It was turning our life into a topsy turvy mess.  Here it was two A.M. and she was bouncing off the walls.  My wife was asleep in a chair where she had finally succumbed to her fatigue, having to work again in a just a few hours.   My eyes were blood shot and cracked and I kept saying go to bed!   A few hours later I called my dad and mom and I apologized to them for all the times I had kept them awake as a child.  I knew I had been hyper active and all those years I got upset when they asked me not to eat candy or drink soda... how many nights had I done just this to them?

“When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.”― Mark Twain

Kids always seem to know better than their parents.   There is something about the aging process that makes a child who hits pubescence seem to think that anyone older than them must simply just not understand life.  All of a sudden no one else is right, everyone else is either stupid or crazy, and only I can ever figure out the truth.  It makes it hard for parents, but the much more difficult cross to bear is that it hurts.  It makes our hearts ache for that child.  Knowing what we had to go through to learn, knowing that they are making mistakes that will lead them to pain and sorrow.... that is the silent sword that pierces the heart of one who loves their child.   We've been there, even if they don't believe.. even if they don't think we can ever understand.... we've had our hearts broken, we've had our lives riddled with sin, we've been down those roads.. some of us to places we won't even talk about.

The first response is often anger, isn't it? "Why won't you listen!"  "I'm trying to help!"  "Won't you just learn from my mistakes and not make the same ones?!"  Growing up that's how I heard that verse from Saint Matthew.   "Shake the dust off your feet" and move on.   They weren't worth getting worked up over, just find someone else to proselytize was the message I received.   It's not the one I hear today when I read those words... it's rather a reminder of what we see at the end of the reading from Hosea... "My heart is overwhelmed and my pity is stirred.  I will not give vent to my blazing anger...[] For I am God, not man."  God isn't calling us to reject those people, to shake the dust off and leave them to lose their way.  He's rather saying, do not let fear cling to you.   It's as if He is saying "I've got this."  Don't let the dust of the situation cling to you, drag you down.. take away your joy and peace.   Rather trust in the Lord, you're God.   Lift them up in prayer and leave it to Him.

That's a hard lesson to learn isn't it?  Offer them at the foot of the cross.  Like the Blessed Virgin Mary we are challenged with standing and watching as a 'sword pierces our own soul.'  She is our example, the ultimate of discipleship.  Even when she did not understand she kept all of it in her heart and thought about it.  She did not discourage Him from this path, but rather, she asked Him to perform the first miracle of his ministry.  That's our other thought... to lift them up, to say Jesus.. we are asking you to turn the water of their life.. no matter how dingy or used it may become... into something exquisite... a wine fit for a king.  That's the interesting thing about that miracle isn't it?   These were the ceremonial cleansing jars.. where people washed their hands and feet from the trip.  Water was precious (is precious) in those lands.   They wouldn't waste it and did not know about germs or such.. so they just washed and put it back.  Yet it became the most beautiful of wines did it not?   Their life, our lives... are in His hands.  Are we ready to be transformed into wine?

My Dad When I Was...
4 years old:
My daddy can do anything!
5 years old:
My daddy knows a lot!
6 years old:
My dad is smarter than your dad!
8 years old:
My dad doesn't know exactly everything.
10 years old:
In the olden days when my dad grew up,
things were sure different!
12 years old:
Oh, well, naturally,
Dad doesn't know anything about that.
He is too old to remember his childhood.
14 years old:
Don't pay any attention to my dad.
He is so old-fashioned!
21 years old:
Him? My Lord, he's hopelessly out of date!
25 years old:
Dad knows a little bit about it,
but then he should because he has been around so long.
30 years old:
Maybe we should ask Dad what he thinks.
After all, he's had a lot of experience.
35 years old:
I'm not doing a single thing until I talk to Dad.
40 years old:
I wonder how Dad would have handled it.
He was so wise and had a world of experience.
50 years old:
I'd give anything if Dad were here now
so I could talk this over with him.
Too bad I didn't appreciate how smart he was.
I could have learned a lot from him.
I sure do miss him.
from Ann Landers

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."

Are you ready to give an account?

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

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

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

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

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

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

In Christ,
His servant and yours,
Brian

Listening...

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger

The book of James is quick to remind us that part of our Christian duty is to listen to another.  It's strange though to think that the average thought of what it means to listen, is not to hear what they have to say.. but to quickly find out their problem, and fix it.

We so often sit hearing another person without actually listening to them. Our mind is often filled with our own preoccupation of what it is that they are speaking about and we wait with some sort of anticipation to interject what we agree with or what we disagree with, or even to say 'here is the answer' to their dilemma.  I was reading a very interesting book and in it there was this astounding thought to me, when my listening becomes a point where I am going to interject something of my own experience, to tell them here is what I agree with of what you said.. or here is what I disagree with.. we have made it no longer about them, but about me.

How much more powerful and resulting would a conversation be if we spent that time actually listening, putting ourselves in their shoes, and attempting to understand fully what they are conveying?  Not simply looking for where they are wrong, or where we are right, or trying to scientifically categorize an answer to their problem;  but simply listening and making sure they know we are listening.  Not systematically dissecting the situation with questions, but simply commenting on their feelings "You were feeling quite betrayed by their actions.  That makes it very hard to trust them again."   Is much more about them than "I'd never talk to them again!" which as become about you.

So do we have it in us? To listen? Not just to hear, but to listen.. unconditionally?  Or are we stuck as a society that is about the I, and not the you?