Here today we see the homecoming of Tobiah to Nineveh in which he brings not only the cure for Tobit’s blindness but also his new wife. Tobit has been in darkness, blinded (click the link to read more)

Friday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 357

TB 11:5-17
PS 146:1B-2, 6C-7, 8-9A, 9BC-10
MK 12:35-37

Here today we see the homecoming of Tobiah to Nineveh in which he brings not only the cure for Tobit’s blindness but also his new wife.   Tobit has been in darkness, blinded by the unfortunate event of sleeping under a wall where birds were nesting.    While Tobiah has been gone people have had to lead him around and even now we find Tobit sitting blindly at the gate waiting for the return of his son.  His wife, Anna, serves as his guide and watches the road for him and likely for herself.   As their son returns Tobit is healed, Anna feels completed, and a daughter is added to the family.   An event that could easily have been a sour one now brings joy to Tobit and glory to God.   His blindness was not God’s desire, but God has taken something unpleasant and made it into something powerful.

The message here to me is not that God will heal every pain or deficiency.   Life is full of suffering that God doesn’t intend for us.   Many of those circumstances we bring on ourselves.  Sometimes we get diseases that we don’t know why we have them, or conditions that leave us unable to work, or even like Tobit, leaving us in physical blindness.   I still believe God can and does heal some of that.  I also think that true healing can occur without removing those physical ailments at all.  Attitude.  Gratitude.   How do we respond to life?   Do we bring glory to God?  Joy to those around us?  Do we have gratitude for the mystery of life and the mystery of who God is?

Jesus tries to awaken those around Him in Mark’s Gospel this morning as He tries to broaden their understanding of who the Messiah is.    They are looking for a Son of David, and Jesus fits that bill.  He’s not the only one though.  The line of David isn’t exhausted and He has many cousins that we hear about in other parts of the Gospels.   What Jesus wants people to realize is they are in darkness.  They have limited their vision of who the Messiah is and God wants them to understand the entirety of the message, suffering and all.  That the Messiah will be not a warrior king who comes to free Jerusalem from physical oppression, but a Spiritual King who will die for their sins and free them from the Spiritual bondage they are in regardless of where they live.  True freedom is being joyful to God regardless of where we live, how much we have, or the conditions we find ourselves in.  Notice those around Jesus respond with joy.  “The great crowd heard this with delight.”  How do you respond to the Gospel?  The presence of God in your lives?  The mystery of suffering and redemption?  That’s the true mystery of the Messiah, giving us freedom from sin that we might find joy even in the midst of the storm.

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

How much is a pearl worth anyway?

A Reflection on the readings for Tuesday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time (June 21, 2016)

2Kings 19:9b-11, 14-21, 31-35a, 36
Psalm 48
Holy Gospel According to Matthew 7:6, 12-14


When I was fourteen years old my grandfather gave me my first bible.  Not that we didn't already have bibles in our home, but this one was 'mine.'   I began to study it and go to bible studies on Wednesday nights.  A friend of mine invited me to a 'lock in' service at a Christian school in Wise, Virginia.   My mom and dad said I could go and I was excited.   Not just because I had a thirst for all things to do with God, but because here I was going to spend an entire night locked in a gym with kids my own age.  I did not realize that it was going to be a night that changed my life forever.

Halfway through the night they had an altar call.  I had no intention of going up but I found myself led to the steps.   I knelt down at the base of the platform and began to cry and gave my life to Christ to serve Him with all that I was.  I am still learning what that means, and I've made mistakes on the way, but I have never lost that passion that I felt that night, that yearning to be one with God.   I spent many years arguing, fighting, defending the faith in anyway I could.   I felt I had to make people believe, time was short and they just didn't see.   So I wanted to grab their heads, turn their eyes to Christ and demand that they open them and realize the beauty of what I had found.  It wasn't until many years of this struggle of trying to proselytize that I even began to realize there was a difference in what I was doing, and what I was called to do.   Evangelization.  An offer, not a threat.   An invitation given in peace and love, not forced in fear and hate.

The first reading reminds us of how the world behaves towards our God, our faith.  Hezekiah has just received a letter from an opposing King.  The letter mocks and taunts the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob.   What does Hezekiah do?  He doesn't try to force Sennacherib to see the light, he doesn't even try to speak to him, but rather he goes to his knees in prayer and asks God to deal with it.  Why?  Because Sennacherib isn't going to listen.   He doesn't care what Hezekiah has to say.   All the fighting, arguing, and shouting in the world will never bring about conversion.   That's because it isn't our job to convert, it is not our job to convict either.   It's only our job to offer to those who are open to listening.

God reminds Hezekiah that He is the one in control.   He will protect His children and not a single one will be lost.   Then through a miracle in the night the army of Sennacherib suffers a massive loss and retreats to where they came from, without ever a blow from mortal hands.  He promises this in the name of David his servant, for He has promised that the Kingdom and throne of David will last for eternity.   That's the promise that we true, the Church, trust in.  Jesus is the fulfillment of that, the eternal and everlasting King from the line of David that will sit on the throne of judgement for all of eternity.

CCC 303 The witness of Scripture is unanimous that the solicitude of divine providence is concrete and immediate; God cares for all, from the least things to the great events of the world and its history. The sacred books powerfully affirm God's absolute sovereignty over the course of events: "Our God is in the heavens; he does whatever he pleases." And so it is with Christ, "who opens and no one shall shut, who shuts and no one opens". As the book of Proverbs states: "Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will be established."

Jesus reminds us that He is the one in charge.   This is not our fight to win, not our argument to battle.  Rather, we are to be fruitful and loving.  We are to offer relationship with God to those who seek it, and to those who don't?  Peace and service. Oh how often we fail at this.   Arguing fruitlessly with those who were shut off to the message before we even began to speak it.   What we have been given is a glimpse of Heaven.  What we have is a relationship with Him who transcends time and space itself.  Something more treasured than anything else we could ever receive.   To offer that to someone who doesn't respect it, who has no interest in even attempting to understand it, well it's dangerous.   It hurts.   It saddens.  To watch someone take that which we hold dear and demean it, to make fun of it... Jesus compares that to casting your pearls before swine. A pig will taste a pearl, maybe even sniff it, but then realize it's not food and just mash it into the ground.

Why do we do this?  Are we afraid that Satan will win?  Jesus has promised that the gates of Hell will never prevail against the Church.  God is in charge of conversion.  It is He who speaks to the heart.   We just share in faith when someone is open to it, and tell them of the great love and peace we find in Christ.   Then we give an example of that life through our actions.   We love.   We serve.  We feed, clothe, and give drink to those in need.  We have the unique and blessed opportunity to live in the Kingdom of God now, not just at the end of time, but right now!  God has given us the ability to do that by showering us with His grace through the Sacraments of the Holy Church, the New Zion.  Are you living in the place now?   That's where Mass takes you.  The book of Revelation gives you a glimpse of that eternity, that's why we in the Church follow that rubric of worship here and now... joining with the Angels and Saints around the altar of God with the Son of Man offering himself in Sacrifice at Calvary for our sins.   We then offer ourselves on that altar, joined with Christ, because we alone are not enough to appease the debt of our sin.. but He is.   This is the narrow gate through which we must enter.. through Christ himself.  Do you wish to know more about this "road that leads to life?" I am there to talk when you wish to hear.

Remember as well that parable about the pearl of great price?

Matthew 13:45-46
45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, 46 who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

Jesus is the merchant who sold all that he had.  He gave his life entirely for you.  He sacrificed all hnor, power, pleasure, and wealth to purchase you.   You are the pearl of great price.  Christian, do not allow the world to convince you to drag yourself through the mud of sin.  Rather hold yourself away from the world as a living Saint, whose dignity is that of a member of the Royal Family.  That we too might stand a chance to walk through that narrow gate into the Kingdom that is prepared for us, eternal in the Heavens.



His servant and yours,
Brian

"He must increase, I must decrease." 

I stand with Orlando.

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

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

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

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

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

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

His servant and yours,
Brian

"I must decrease, He must increase."

Musical Chairs

In today's first reading we see that King David had it all.   He was rich.  Powerful.  Handsome.   He had an entire kingdom at his beck and call. Not just that, but God was on his side.  If we were to put it in terms of today's society, David's kingdom would be one where every home had a swimming pool, every person was able to eat organic food, and every child had an Iphone 6 at least.  It was a time of prosperity, the golden age of the Israelite kingdom.  Still, he wanted more.   He wanted a beautiful woman that he had been watching from his towering castle walls.  Only one problem, she was married.   So he had her husband killed in order to obtain her for himself.

It's easy for us to stand back and cast condemnation on David isn't it?  Yet, we are in a relationship with God.  A covenant relationship where God has called us to fidelity.  I will be your God and you will be my people.   Every time we choose something over God we are in essence killing Uriah and stealing his wife.   We are going outside of our 'marriage' to sleep with some other god, some other desire in the place of God himself.   St. Augustine said that "Our hearts are restless until they rest in thee."   Yet, 2000 years later we are still trying to put things into that God shaped hole in our heart.. things that don't quite fit.  They might make us feel better for a time.. but eventually.. eventually they chafe and hurt.  Eventually, what once brought us pleasure simply strikes our conscience like Nathan, reminding us of our sin.   Then we either add more of the same thing.. seek something new... or we can turn back to God as David did.

Fast forward to the scene of Jesus in the house of Simon the Pharisee.   This woman comes into the house and anoints Jesus with oil, washing his feet with her tears, and drying them with her hair.  Simon is indignant.   How could this man claiming to be a prophet let her touch him.   Simon thought that he was the righteous one, he was better than her!  He observed all the law and lived a righteous life.   She had a key to the relationship though, she was seeking God first.  She didn't let rules and norms get in the way of loving God, she just loved Him!  Nothing would stand between them.  She wasn't seeking love somewhere else, she was only after God's mercy and forgiveness, and loving Him the best she could.. with everything she had, even her tears.

Again, it's easy for us to look back and condemn Simon isn't it?  We always want to be the woman in the story, Mary of Bethany.   We want to be the one pouring out our tears on Christ's feet, and being forgiven.  Sometimes that is us indeed.   Other times we are Simon aren't we?  Looking down on others who do things differently than we.  Condemning them for the fact they aren't good enough, aren't dressed right, aren't as good as we are.  "How does she keep her job acting that way?"  "Why did she get a better review than me?"  "Did you see her kids misbehaving at the store?  She should control them better!"  We worry about others at Mass when we should be crying at the feet of Christ.   We let our own desires, our wants to be first and foremost, instead of being content with exactly what he has given us.  We kill Uriah over and over.

Remember, being Catholic is about being in a relationship with God.  It's about spousal fidelity.   My wife and I have been married for ten years.  It seems lately like she's inside my head.  We think a like.  We even say the exact same thing at the exact same time.  I'm not talking a word here or there, but entire sentences.  I'll often laugh and say "Get out of my head woman!"  The more time we spend together, the more alike we become.  I've found that to be true of every couple that have been married for generations.   Not only do they think alike, they begin to act alike, even to take on the same mannerisms.

That brings me to my final point.  Sometimes we are Mary of Bethany, sometimes we are Simon the Pharisee, but we are called to be at all times sitting in the chair of Jesus.  How do we do that?  Well just like with my wife, the more time I spend with her?   The more I think like her, act like her, and even begin to look and sound  a bit more like her.   It begins by spending time with her.  Crying at his feet in Confession, seeking his love in the Eucharist, and allowing His sacramental grace to transform us and lead us to be Him in the world.  This is what it means to be in a relationship with God, to live a Sacramental life.  What does that look like?  It's a life of joy.   It's a life where yes, sometimes we have to rebuke those who are being like Simon and to remind them of the true joy of sitting at Jesus feet.   It means seeking our relationship with God first and foremost, and allowing that relationship to effect every other aspect of our lives.

It also means realizing that every single person out there is made in the image of God.  Regardless of how they are living, what choices they have made, or who they seem to be.  With this tragedy of another mass shooting in the United States of America that's even more important than ever.  We can never forget the dignity and love that people deserve, because when we try to relegate them to not worthy.. when we try to put them as the other... that leads to tragedies.  Instead, it's time for us to stand up and be Jesus to the world.  If every Catholic lived their life in a way that made the love, joy and peace that comes from sitting at the feet of Christ evident, the world would be changed.  Are you with me?  Are you ready to show that love? As I said before... sometimes we are Simon.. sometimes we are Mary.. and sometimes we are Christ... which one do you think we need to be more often?


His servant and yours,
Brian

"He must increase, I must decrease."

Have you lost focus?

Several years ago my wife found some discounted tickets from Rockford to Arizona for a price we could not pass up.  So our family packed our things and flew the miles to the warm desert state to visit family and experience the world.  It was one thing to see the desert, the cacti, and the grand canyon in pictures.  It was another to experience the true majesty of God's creation in person.   To walk in the sand and heat, to see the sites and even to rest in the shade.   One day during the trip we went swimming at a pool.  Laying there in the shade I watched as the kids laughed and giggled.  Moira was almost two years old.   Her sister was watching her by the steps in the shallow end and her mother had gone to the bathroom.  At some point I dozed off.  I woke to a strange sound.  I don't know if it was Julie yelling or the bubbles in the pool, but when I jerked up I saw that Moira was no where to be seen and her sisters were over by the deep end.

It turned out Moira was under the water.  We got to her before she could drown, but to this day she still has a fear of getting water in her eyes.  I'll never forget those few moments of panic though.  Those moments when I thought my daughter was gone.  The fear of thinking my center, the person we were living for, the child we had been so intimately connected with for two years was possibly gone from our lives.  I can't imagine what that must be like for a parent.   To lose their child first.   It shouldn't be that way, right?  We all expect our kids to out live us, to be there until after we ourselves have passed.  Too many parents experience that right now in their lives, and my heart goes out to them.

In the readings for today, it is even more poignant that these widows had lost not just their child, but their only sons.  In a world where women have no rights, where they must be cared for by their husbands and their children in their old age, this was her center... her focus.. her only hope.   This child would be the one who would make an income for the family, provide them a home, give his mother a life.  Instead her hope was gone.  Her husband was already gone, any other sons as well, and here the last of the lineage was dead before her.  How angry these things make us, don't they?   So much so we blame God for them.  Why God?  Why do good things happen to good people?  Why pain? Why suffering?   Why death?  The widow of Zarephath had the same response.  "Have you come to me to call attention to my guilt and to kill my son?"

It's easy to do that isn't it.  Elijah in response did what we are all called to do.  He got on his knees and he prayed for the boy.  He gave his heart into it, groaning and begging God to make a change.   To restore hope, joy, peace.   He stood in the gap for the widow, bringing back her life to her.   Her focus was restored with the life of her son.   She knew then that Elijah was indeed a man of God because he spoke the "Word of the Lord."   That's a key to remember as well.  Our "yes must be yes and our no, no."   Our word must be truth, we must speak the Gospel as it is, not deviating or trying to make it our own.. it's not ours to change.  God has given it to us in His plan, His way.   We hand it on in the same manner.

Then comes the scene in the Gospel where Jesus performs a similar, but more astounding, miracle.  Unlike Elijah, He does not ask for permission to take the son into His arms, but rather puts His hand on the son of His own desire.   He informs them not to weep and then instead of needing to pray for God's intercession, He simply speaks "I tell you arise!" and it comes about.  The people realize at that moment that history has just changed.  This man is more than just a prophet, this is a man who speaks with authority.  "God has visited his people!"  This widow has been restored, given back her hope, her focus, the thing that makes life worth living.  

I imagine that is similar to what I felt when I saw Moira's head surface, spitting out water and gasping for air.  Relief, concern, but above all hope.   Peace.  That is what Jesus is offering to us today.  Every day we lose focus.   We lose some hope.   The world tears at us and Satan prowls around seeking to destroy us.  The news is depressing, kids reject their parents and their faith, and even the music is filled with drugs, violence, and degrading imagery.   We can encounter Him the same way the widow did, in person, directly, through the Sacraments.   In Reconciliation and in the Eucharist, we come face to face with Jesus who declares to us "Do not weep."   He then can restore to us that which was our focus, that which was lost.   He places himself in our hearts that we might be complete again, that we might have hope for eternal life, that we can know we are cared for and taken care of.   We are no longer on our own, He is with us.

Then He challenges us to go out into the world with Him.   To reach out to all of those others who have been widowed by their existence.   All of those who have lost hope, who have no one to care for them, who need food, drink, friendship.   To take that Sacramental presence we receive and become life givers, hope bringers, messengers of peace and joy.   It's only when we become little 'Christ's'  that we can even hope to manage that.   Not to go alone, but to bring Him into every interaction, every thought, every deed.  Mathew 25 tells us exactly how to do that.

Then the King will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,  I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’  Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see thee hungry and feed thee, or thirsty and give thee drink?  And when did we see thee a stranger and welcome thee, or naked and clothe thee?  And when did we see thee sick or in prison and visit thee?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.’

So are you ready for that?  To feed the hungry, cloth the naked, welcome the refugee among you, give water to the thirsty, visit the sick and prisoner?    The world is filled with people who are imprisoned by their own vices, their own sinful natures.   It's our job as Church to go out and give them a reason for our hope.  To meet them where they are, and love them so much we never leave them there.   Instead we journey with them toward eternity, seeking to eat the wedding feast of the lamb with them by our side.   Make a friend, be a friend, and bring that friend to Christ.  We have work to do Church!

His servant and yours,
Brian

"He must increase, I must decrease."

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."

Are yall ready for this?

As a man who is discerning a call to diaconate tomorrow’s first reading really speaks to me about that call.    The most amazing part to me is how skillfully Luke has worded the death of the first Christian Martyr, Saint Stephen, to show how it mirrored the very death of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  

They both spoke with Wisdom and no one could resist their arguments - (Acts 6:10, Matt 13:54)
Both had false witnesses testify against them - (Acts 6:11, Matt 26:59)
The Pharisees stirred up the crowd to turn against them (Acts 6:12, Matt 27:20)
Both were brought in before the council for trial - (Acts 6:12, Matt 26:59)
Both were falsely accused of Blasphemy (Acts 6:13, Matt 26:65)
Both were accused of breaking the Law of Moses (Acts 6:13, Matt 12:2)
Both were associated with high priests - (Acts 7:1, Matt 26:3)
Stephen was dealing with the same people - (Acts 7:1, Matt 26:57)
Both prayed for forgiveness of their executioners - (Acts 7:60, Luke 23:34)
Their bodies were both buried by devout men - (Acts 8:2, Matt 27:59)

That is the ultimate goal of Christianity isn’t it?   To have our lives so configured to Christ that when people look at us they see not us, but the image of our Lord and Savior lived out in our actions and words.  Stephen managed this in a way that led to martyrdom.  Martyrdom is the supreme witness given to the truth of the faith: it means bearing witness even unto death. The martyr bears witness to Christ who died and rose, to whom he is united by charity. He bears witness to the truth of the faith and of Christian doctrine. (CCC 2473) Not all of us are called to Martyrdom.  Many of us may live a long, productive life that ends in a quiet and peaceful death.  That doesn’t free us from not only needing to be more like Christ, but it should be our desire!  We should want to be more like Him!  To live in a way that not only honors his memory, but makes him present to those around us.  It reminds me of Philip, who we do not see being martyred but still presenting himself much like the story of Stephen.  

When we look at these two men we see clear examples of what we are being called to do.  We are being called to live our lives in a way that images the life of Christ.  A life of faith and obedience to God the Father.  One in which we go forth regardless of the danger or consequences that might be involved with preaching the Gospel of Christ, even if it means going to our own death.   Why?  What is in it for us?  What is worth all of this hubbub?  That’s where the Gospel begins to point us.  

Jesus has just performed some major miracles in the presence of these men and women on the shores of the Sea of Galilee.  The people have all the evidence in their presence to say that he not only multiplied the bread, but also somehow miraculously crossed the sea in the night without a boat.   This man has done something which is not natural, something that only God should be able to do, he has command over the elements!  He forms reality around him, changing the storm into calmness, water into something which can be walked on, bread into something which multiplies and feeds beyond it’s capacity.  

Yet when they come to him, they aren’t looking for the right thing.  Their stomachs are empty again… they just want more food.  I can imagine the people seeing a new way of life in which they just follow this man around for free food and entertainment.  Jesus goes on to give them the bread of life discourse, in which we Catholics see the Eucharist.  The Old Testament is filled with examples of God providing for his people:  Thus the flood and Noah's ark prefigured salvation by Baptism, as did the cloud and the crossing of the Red Sea. Water from the rock was the figure of the spiritual gifts of Christ, and manna in the desert prefigured the Eucharist, "the true bread from heaven.”  (CCC 1094)  Unlike the manna which their fathers had eaten in the desert, which only fed them for a day, Jesus was offering them something more powerful, something more filling, something greater than that bread which must be gathered every day.  He was offering them his very self.. Body, soul and divinity… in the Eucharist.    He offers you the same today.  He is offering you eternal life.

Are you ready for that?  Each of us is called to specific vocation, to a specific way of life.  You are the only you there is.  Pope Francis reminded us of that in his simple, yet eloquent way:

You are called to journey this life in a way that leads to eternity in the presence of God.  You are called to be the best you, you can be.   That doesn’t mean you have to be like me… your calling is unique.. The way you do things is unique.. God made you to be you, but to be the real you requires living a life in conformity to the image in which you have been made.. In the image of Christ.. Are you ready for that?  It begins anew every time we step forward and receive him, responding Amen…” All that you have said, we will do.” (Exodus 24:3)

His servant and yours,

Brian

“He must increase, I must decrease.”

Hot Sands

Around ten years ago I had an experience that completely changed my life.  It began though around nine months before that.  My wife and I embarked on a journey of learning, though she had quite a bit more knowledge than I at that time.  The three other ladies in the house had to learn how to prepare for this as well.  Things had to be cleaned, locks had to be installed (or reinstalled.)  Various damaging things that could harm the imminent birth of our child had to be moved, secured or disposed of.  Life was changing and we had to work hard and discipline ourselves to prepare for those changes.

My wife had to change her diet, so we changed with her.  Things we normally might have eaten would have to be given up so that the child would be nourished with the proper vitamins and nutrients.  We worked hard on making sure that things didn't happen that would injure her, including avoiding high stress activities and anything that might jossle or jar her stomach in a negative way.  For nine months we prepared for that birth, for nine months we had to think and ponder what it might be like.  I was supposed to be infertile.  The doctors had told me this for years.  My wife and I had resigned ourselves to God's will in this matter.  We had not given up hope, but we didn't have a great deal of confidence that anything would come of it.

Then one day she took a pregnancy test and our world was changed.  It was filled with worry and yet joy.  Would she be healthy?  Would she have special needs?  Would she make it?  Would it be a he or she?  All things we waited till birth to discover.  Then that November I got to experience second hand what childbirth is like.  I've heard it said that a kidney stone is worse than childbirth.  If my wife's ability to give birth to children is the norm?  Then I'd say a kidney stone is a LOT worse than childbirth.  She gives birth like most people walk across hot sand.  If you move your feet fast enough it doesn't hurt too much.  The doctor came in and said "Ok, it's time."  And then? It was over.  There was this child of mine staring at me with my own face in miniature.  I watched as the nurses cleaned her and gave her some shot to boost her immune system and as the drop of blood dripped from her thigh she began to cry in pain.  I wanted to protect her but I knew it was best for her, so I stood and waited for them to hand her to us.  I knew right then I would do anything for this child, anything, even if it meant my own death.

There it is for all of you who wonder why we bother with Lent as Catholics.  Lent is the pregnancy.  It is that time when you prepare, when you discipline yourself, for that life changing event.  You get rid of those things that are harmful in preparation to nourish your new life.  As the reading for this morning says, "For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God."  In Baptism we die with Christ and rise again a new person, filled with the Holy Spirit and the grace of God to go forth and change our lives.  Easter is a chance to renew that, to rekindle that romance, to draw closer to God and be more like Him.  Lent prepares us for that.  Just like with the new baby coming, anything that can hinder the growth of our new life, anything that might 'kill' or harm that new life, must be removed.

The thing is, it can't end with Lent.  Lent is not about giving up something meaningless in order to go right back to it afterward.  Lent is about preparing for that delivery of New Life that we receive in the Eucharist!  Just like you don't just ignore the baby after it's born, you can't ignore your new self either.  You have to feed it the right things, discipline it so that it can know right from wrong, nourish it, cherish it, and help it to grow into something beautiful.  That's what Easter reminds us to do.  We still have to keep those things out of our lives that we learned to remove during Lent, and continue to do those things that make us grow spiritually.  First and foremost of those is the Sacraments, but second and like to them are the corporeal works of Mercy.   Feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, comforting the sick and mourning, visiting those who cannot get out or are imprisoned... yes these things make our new life grow.  They nourish us and enhance us.

It's not something we can forget.   That's why we in the Catholic church consider Sunday a mini-Easter... it's a reminder every week that we have to continue to feed our spirit with the nourishment of Christ in the Eucharist, in Confession, in prayer and in works.  Here you are with this new life cradled in your arms, and for those of you who are parents?  You have other lives to nourish and guide that they too might grow in their faith.  It's our responsibility to guide, nourish and cherish those lives.  When you gaze at them, when you gaze at your own spiritual walk, when you gaze at the Eucharist.... ask yourself, "Would I do anything for them?"  That's what Christ asks of us.  The walk of a Christian is not an easy one, not a thing that we simply do at Church and forget about later.. it's about looking at the people we like the least, the ones we have the most hatred for.. and trying to see Christ in them... because once we do.. the world changes.. our lives change.. and with God's grace and help?  Hatred can become love.  Injury? Pardon.  Doubt? Faith.  Despair? Hope. Anything is possible.

His servant and yours,
Brian

"He must increase, I must decrease."

And when you see what you need to see

I've just been reading Evangelii Nuntiandi for an upcoming class on the subject of evangelization.  There is such beauty, such depth to the words that Pope Paul the VI promulgated for the Church in this encyclical.  The overarching theme seems to be though that evangelization is not just something we preach, not just a word we offer, but something we become.  It constantly reaffirms the notion that our work is incomplete, the liberation of those suffering from temporal oppression is not extant, until we also proclaim the Gospel, until we also introduce them to Jesus Christ himself.  It is not enough to just feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the imprisoned, if we stop there without also giving voice to the message that we ourselves received that brought us to this way of life.

It is not superfluous to recall the following points: to evangelize is first of all to bear witness, in a simple and direct way, to God revealed by Jesus Christ, in the Holy Spirit, to bear witness that in His Son God has loved the world - that in His Incarnate Word He has given being to all things and has called men to eternal life.     

Evangelii Nuntiandi  §26

In the Gospel for tomorrow one of the Scribes comes to Jesus to ask him questions.  We don't know the reason for this man's question.   Could he have been trying to test Jesus to trip him up?  Mayhaps he was simply trying to learn more about this carpenter's son from Nazareth.  No matter what the reason for his questioning what we have to look at is Jesus response.  Jesus is the premier example for us of what it means to be an evangelizer.  It is not just about preaching the Good News as it has been given to us, but also about living it.  Jesus responds that to love God and your neighbor is the summation of all the Law and the Prophets, the two greatest commandments.  The thing is, he backs it up with his life.  He lives out the Gospel, he doesn't just proclaim it.  That is why people flock to him.  They see fruit of his life, they see healings and miracles, they see kindness, they experience God's love.

I think that is why the next interaction is so telling.  The Scribe responds in agreement that Jesus has answered correctly according to his own beliefs.  We do that a lot don't we?  We ask someone a question about their faith then are excited with our own confirmation bias when it agrees with what we already know to be true.  Then Jesus says something that astonishes, something that challenges, something unexpected: “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.”  He cuts to the heart of the matter.  He offers the most essential component of Christian evangelization, he bears witness in a 'simple and direct way, to God revealed by Jesus Christ."  Christ is the Kingdom of God.   He offers them himself.  Again as he said to the woman at the well: “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”  

They dared not speak to him and ask more questions.  They were confronted with something that spoke of a higher power, a higher knowledge.  A metaphysics beyond their limited understanding.  This expert of the Law was confronted with the written tablets in flesh, with God himself and he was thrust into silence.  We do not know the outcome of this encounter, but we see a model for us ourselves.  It begins with discussion, with relationship.   Evangelization does not begin with preaching or condemning, but with bringing your uniqueness to that person.  After a relationship is built, after friendship has begun, then comes witness.  Personal testimony.  Paul the VI's encyclical states it in such a beautiful way:

It must not happen that the pressing need to proclaim the Good News to the multitudes should cause us to forget this form of proclamation whereby an individual's personal conscience is reached and touched by an entirely unique word that he receives from someone else.

Evangelii Nuntiandi §46

You have been created with unique gifts, talents, and ways of doing things. It is through you that other people become aware of who Christ is.  You who have been evangelized have been called to do the same, it is not a mission for a select few but for the entire Church, for every single person. We must follow our Master's example and point to the true foundation of reality, that which exists beyond the mere temporal realm that we currently experience, to the essence of being itself.  To the Great Soul that exists beyond our human limits, to God himself.  Personal witness is where all of it must begin.  Evangelization must become for us what it was for Christ, not a technique, not a tool to be used to an end, but something that suffuses our very being so much so that it begins to spread out into the environment we have been sent into.  God has planted seeds.  Sometimes that seed is in your heart, to be nourished, cherished and grown.  Sometimes it's in someone else's heart and we need to water, feed and protect it as it grows.   Then again, there are times that the seed is you.

Lent is a time for us to grow in this.  Through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving we can begin to draw closer to God.  Just as Hosea encourages the Israelites as they go through their own desert of testing, from the division and fall of the kingdom on through to the Babylonian Captivity.   He encourages them to draw back to God.  To not trust in the armies of the Assyrians to protect them, rather to trust in the Lord to provide for them.  God promises to nourish us and protect us, to make us grow like the greatest of all of the trees.  He wants to take this small seed that we are and turn us into Saints.  Are you ready for that?  Ready to become a missionary in your daily life, pointing to Christ in everything that you do?  Are you ready to make evangelization a part of your very being itself?  Take comfort in these words:

Ephraim! What more has he to do with idols?

I have humbled him, but I will prosper him.

“I am like a verdant cypress tree”– 

Because of me you bear fruit!

Let him who is wise understand these things;

let him who is prudent know them.

Straight are the paths of the LORD,

in them the just walk

Let Lent be a time in which we allow God to humble us, to take us with Jonah into the belly of the whale, that he might spit us out on the shore of our own lives at the exact place he has been trying to send us all along.  God is calling you to be tall like the cypress tree and to bear much fruit.  It's time for us to stop trying to run in the other direction and to realize that just like those scribes, we "are not far from the Kingdom of God."  All we have to do is open our eyes to the Eucharist, to the Sacraments, to the Church.  Then to join her (the Church) in her mission to evangelize the world.

His servant and yours,
Brian

"He must increase, I must decrease."

Isn't that the way they say it goes?

As we continue the narrative in Daily Mass in the second book of the Prophet Samuel, we begin to see King David desiring to do something magnificent and mighty for the Lord.  In the process God begins to ask him, did I ask you to do this?   Have I ever complained?  During all this time have I ever said "Why have you not built me a house of cedar?" (2 Samuel 7:7)   It's not that David's idea was a bad one, in fact God promises him that his son Solomon would do just that.  The thing is, David's idea was the thinking of man, not the thinking of God.  David wanted to do something good... God wanted to give him something awesome, something more, something eternal.  God then goes on to promise that not only will Solomon build him a house of worship, but makes one of the most important promises in all of the history of Israel, declaring: "Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever before me; your throne shall stand firm forever." (2 Samuel 7:16)

Isn't that the way it always goes?  God has something planned for us, and we think we know better?  The thing is that God wants us to learn a simple and profound truth, that he is truly our Father.  We are a part of the most important family, the most influential, a royal kingdom that lasts forever.  The word became flesh, so that we might partake of his very own divine nature. (CCC 460)  The thing is though that we see from all of Sacred Scripture that God wants us to remember that everyone is part of this family, especially the widow and the orphan.  We as Catholics believe in a preferential option for the poor.   That is, God himself is their protector, their Father. 

Father of orphans and protector of widows

    is God in his holy habitation.

God gives the desolate a home to live in;

    he leads out the prisoners to prosperity,

    but the rebellious live in a parched land.

(Psalm 68:5-6)

We as Catholics are called to remember that at all times.  To realize that this Kingdom is made up first and foremost by those who have nothing to give in return.  That unless we are like little children, we will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven.   We see that truth proclaimed in the triumphant entry of Christ into Jerusalem on an ass.   Who greets the King of the Universe?   The children and the poor, those are the subjects of His royal kingdom.   It isn't the King and Queen, the wealthy aristocrat who comes to scatter palms and sing Hosanna, but rather the poorest members of society who rejoice at his arrival. (CCC 559) Jesus entry into Jerusalem itself mad manifest that Kingdom which David was promised, the eternal Kingdom, completely revealed to us in his death, resurrection and ascension into Heaven.

Our Gospel reading then goes on to give us a parable to help us understand this Kingdom that he has come to bring about.  Jesus does a great deal of teaching in parables.  He doesn't explain it to everyone, rather he spends time explaining it to his disciples.  The Church has long held that the reasoning for this is because of the nature of their teaching office and mission.   How could they teach what Jesus taught, without understanding it?  Then he promised to send the Holy Spirit to remind them of his words, and to help them further spread this kingdom to the ends of the earth.  (John 14:16-17,  John 14:26)   That's one of the things about our faith.  It's difficult to understand Christianity without being an 'insider.'  For those who stay outside of the mystery, those who never experience Christ, everything remains enigmatic.   When I first began to study the Catholic church, that word Mystery... infuriated me.   It was only as I drew closer, began to ask God to teach me, began to truly listen to His guidance and approach it with an honest heart and open mind... that I began to see that it is truly a mystery.. because God is more than any human mind can comprehend.  

This parable of his reminds us that we are all called to discipleship.  We have been given the gift of the Word.  It has been planted into our hearts.  Our souls call out to be filled with Him.  St Augustine said, "our heart is restless until it rests in you."  (CCC 30)   We must realize though, that call demands a response.  It demands a choice.  We can be like the person who simply lets it be snatched from our grasp.  We don't want to know.  We don't want to choose.  We just walk away.  We can be the person who is on fire for a time, but then some trial comes along.. some suffering... and we want nothing to do with God.   We can be a true disciple, we can nourish that seed through prayer, through meditation, through the Sacraments... until it begins to grow and overflow... changing not just ourselves but the world around us. 

We often forget how beautiful and glorious a gift the Eucharist is to us.  The Catechism says that "This Sacramental celebration is a meeting of God's children with their Father, through Christ and the Holy Spirit. (CCC 1153).    Mass is a family reunion.  It is a moment where God himself is made present.  It has been said that at Mass, heaven kisses earth.  Think about that for a moment.  Heaven does not become part of the earth, but you and I are lifted up to be a part of heaven.  We receive Jesus that just as he became man, that we might become more like God... he becomes bread, that we might consume him and be transformed... to be drawn into that divine life... that eternal life.   The Catechism goes on to say that these "liturgical actions signify what the Word of God expresses: both his free initiative and his people's response of faith." 

Faith demands a response.  Mass is the start of the response.  Our actions, our words, our communion... they are a sign that we are soil ready to be prepared.   Even if we have rocks and briars, we are opening ourselves to the greatest Farmer in the universe... through His Sacramental presence he will prepare us.  Do you think of that when Jesus said I go to prepare a place?  Well he does indeed do that.  I also believe, that through receiving Him here and now... we can begin to prepare a place in our hearts.. a dwelling place... a temple for God himself to live inside us.  Heaven is not just then.. it is through all of time and space... and it can be right now. 

This parable shows Jesus coming as the final prophet, the prophet par excellence.  He comes to give us a message that just like his predecessors.. some will reject, some will follow for a time and then fall away, some will never water or take care of, never encourage, and some will be fertile soil.  Isaiah declared:

so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;

    it shall not return to me empty,

but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,

    and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

(Isaiah 55:11)

Jesus is the Word of God, the Word that was spoken to create all of the universe.  Not a thing was made that was not made for him, and through him.  (John 1:3) That Word is being spoken to you, right now.   There is only one thing that can stand in it's way.. you.  A light never casts a shadow, unless something is in it's way...  So what kind of soil are you?  Are you a mirror reflecting the light of Christ for the whole world to see?  Or a bushel basket trying to hide it through your words and actions?   He is there, waiting for you in the Sacraments.. he doesn't expect you to be perfect, he doesn't ask you to wait until your life is put back together.. no, he wants you to come now.  Come to see him in Confession, then go forth and sin no more.  Let him turn you into a fertile soil, that His Word might bloom in your heart.. and together we (The Body of Christ) can change the world.

We have work to do!   Let's begin by being more like God and reaching out to those he chose as the first in his Kingdom.  The poor, the widow, the orphan, the alien.   They need us, and guess what... we need them.  If we start there, God himself will build an eternal dwelling, a house not made with hands, eternal inside you.

His servant and yours,
Brian

How About Another Round?

In today's Gospel reading we have a very familiar event, one that every Christian should have heard of at one time or another.   John portrays it as the first event in Jesus public ministry.  The wedding of Cana.  It's interesting that the Bible too starts out with a wedding, then ends with a wedding.   From Adam to the banquet at the end of time, God shows us just how important his relationship is to us.  He shows it as a thing of joy, as a wedding, as an event that blesses the couple and all those around with joy and happiness.  

At this wedding though something sad happens.  The couple runs out of wine.  The party isn't over and they have run out of drink.  Oh how embarrassing!  In this culture it's a loss of face, a loss of honor!  Mary quickly runs to Jesus and informs him of the need.  Then in complete faith of her son she turns to those present and says, "Do whatever he tells you."   That's our first lesson.  The first disciple, the one who said a complete yes to God, always points to her Son.  We should listen to him, do what he tells us!  We too, then, as disciples of Christ should always point to Christ!   How powerful a lesson we receive from some of the few words recorded from our Blessed Mother in Sacred Scripture.

Then another thing happens, Jesus tells them to fill the jars with water. Jesus was more than capable of doing it himself.  He's about to change the very nature of the substance, how much more difficult would it have been to fill up the jars with it?  God can do anything he chooses.  That brings us to a truth about God though, a truth about our relationship to him.  The truth is that God can do everything, but he gives us the honor of being a part of it.  He allows us to be his hands and his feet.  He allows us to fill up our jars with things, with works.  He is going to make the wine, but he expects us to bring him the water.

That's one of the things about us as Catholics.  We know that no matter how much we work, no matter how many times we do prayers, they mean nothing without Christ's help.  We don't believe that we can ever provide the wine... but we work to provide the water.  Not because God hasn't already done the work of the Cross, but because he takes our offering and unites it with the work of His Son, to make an acceptable sacrifice.   He takes our lives... our water... and he transforms it into a beautiful, fragrant, vintage wine.    Oh how wonderful and glorious this truth is.   That no matter how imperfect my work, how imperfect my faith, imperfect my efforts... God will transform them into something worth seeing. 

That's love isn't it?  It's kind of like a child coming to their mother with a gift for their father and saying mom.. I have this little apple and I want to give it to dad.  The mother gets out the best plate, the fine gold china, and she puts the apple on it.   Then she places decorative paper around it and turns it into the gift fit for the King.  The father then sees this gift, perfected in it's beauty, and he is happy.  He would have been happy enough with the gift of the apple, right?  But both the child and the mother feel he deserves better. 

That's what this whole thing is about.   That's what Mass is about.  That's what the vestments, the gold vessels, the incense, the music... all of it is about dressing up our meager offerings.  Not because God doesn't cherish them just the way they are... but because God deserves better.  Then in the Eucharist we offer the one thing, the one gift that is worthy of God... that is the most precious gift he gave to us, the gift of His son.  We offer the Son back to the father, starting with bread and wine... something not worthy.. something plain.. the fruit of the vine and the work of human hands.  Then the Holy Spirit dresses them up, transforms them.. changes them into the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Oh happy day!   Oh divine mercy! 

That brings me to one more point.  It doesn't matter how hard you try.. the inside of this vessel of ours is going to be filled with an imperfect person if you only do it on your own.  You can 'fill the jars with water'  but if you don't bring Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit, into the picture.. it's just gonna be water.   If your jar is like mine.. that water isn't perfect.  It's not pure.  It's murky and muddy, and filled with the grime of this world.. but praise be to God that through the Sacraments, he can take even the yucky water that I offer and transform it into the finest of wines!  Are you ready?  Is there anything standing in your way?  Get to those Sacraments! Come to Him, the King of Kings, and offer yourself to Him.. and let Him transform you into the person that he created you to be... Free to worship him without fear, Holy and Righteous in His sight, all the days of your life!

His servant and yours,
Brian

"He must increase, I must decrease."

First things First

A few of my friends shared a video by Steve Harvey, a very successful comedian.   He seems to have several different versions of it, but they all point to the same message.  That at some point, you have got to jump to be successful.  I think it's a good message, but it is missing something.  In the version on Facebook he quotes the Bible and makes the message sound like a good, strong Biblical principle.  It almost though becomes that sort of prosperity Gospel that we hear from various Protestant ministers out in the world, it misses something, it misses discernment.  Steve goes on to say that when you jump, sometimes the Parachute (which he attributes to God) is not going to open and you're going to crash into the rocks.  Then he tells you to keep jumping until it does open.  That makes God out to be this entity that acts like a lottery.

The problem to me with this message is that God is always faithful.  It is us who are unfaithful.  Yes, we should jump if it is God's will.  That's when we will have a parachute.  God never hurts us on purpose.  He does however, permit us to hurt ourselves.  If we are jumping off a cliff over and over and bashing into the rocks?  It's because God didn't ask us to do it.  It's because we are after our own goals, our own wants and needs... and God has something better for us.  How do we know? How do we find out what he has in store for us?  By listening to Him.  I'll talk more about that in a minute.

Today's scripture readings for daily Mass give two prime examples of what I am talking about.  In the first reading we have Phinehas and Hophni.  These are the sons of Eli who we have been hearing about the last few days.  They aren't the best example of holiness.   In the book of Samuel it says that they slept with the women who served in the temple and cheated God and the people out of choice portions of the sacrifice.  They took more than they should have, and even took the beast pieces before the sacrifice was even offered up.   These were men who had become complacent, they were doing things for themselves instead of the Lord. 

The Philistines gathered to attack Israel.  The forces of Israel gathered and marched out on the battlefield only to suffer a great defeat.  Over four thousand men died in this first assault.  The Elders gathered togethered and began to question, why did God allow this to happen?  Then instead of going to the temple and asking for God's guidance, they simply decided to take it into their own hands.   They went to the temple and grabbed the Ark.  Phinehas and Hophni jumped!  They came with the Ark to the battlefield with no protests.  After all, the Ark was the presence of God!  As long as the Ark was there no one could lose.  Yet, not only did they lose... but Phinehas and Hophni were killed and the Ark was captured by the Philistines. 

One could say this is one of those examples of your parachute not opening, sure.   I think that would denigrate the severity of this loss to the Israelite people.  They had lost the Ark!   The Ark was the presence of God for the Jewish people.   This was his throne!  This was where He lived!  God was gone from them, his presence was stripped from them.  They did not ask him for advice.  They did not discern his will.   They simply assumed that he would do whatever they wanted. 

Then we see in the New Testament reading a man with great faith.  Being a leper he was an outcast.   A man of social stigma who was not allowed to join in worship, come to town, or eat with others.  He comes to Jesus and speaks words that all of us should consider a priveledge to recite: “If you wish, you can make me clean.”  This is a man who understands God's will, right?  He knows that God doesn't heal everyone.  He also knows that Jesus is the source, the Word, the place to go for healing.  He asks God to heal him, trusting, but not assuming.  If you wish.  Jesus does indeed.  He charges him then to tell no one, but to fulfill the law by going to the temple and offering up the sacrifice prescribed by Moses.

This man then goes on about his way telling everyone!  One minute he was conceding to God's plan, then the next he goes off on his own.  What happens next is what happens so often in our own lives, because of his own plan, God's plan is hindered.   God has already revealed to Him what he wants him to do.  Instead of doing it, he does his own thing.   Jesus became so popular, so famous, that it was impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly.  I imagine whoever won the Power Ball last night is going to know what this felt like.  Everywhere Jesus went, someone needed something.  Anyone who needed healing came out of the woodwork.  People pressed in on every side just trying to get a moment in with him.  It took his mission of proclaiming salvation to the people and turned it into a 'miracle show.' 

I think that is where our lesson from today's readings comes into play.  Discernment.  We must get to know God's will.  What does He wish.  We are already blessed so abundantly with life itself.  Everything on top of that is just icing on the cake.  So often that's all we are after.  More luxury.  More adventure.  More wealth.  But what does God want from us?  What is his plan?  Phinehas and Hophni paid the ultimate price for not following God's will.  While many of us will never be called to that sort of punishment, we must realize that the wages of sin are death.  If we drift too far from God's path we can too end up in a spiritual death.  Or we can be like the Leper, realizing God is the means to get out of our disease, our discomfort, our sorrow.  All too often that is when we turn to God isn't it?  At a funeral.  During a natural disaster.  A time of personal stress and sorrow.   Then afterwards, we forget God's plan for us.  We take matters into our own hands during time of prosperity.  We run off and do whatever we can.  Sometimes going directly against what God has asked us to do.

How do we know God's will?  That's where the Sacramental life comes into play.  We turn to Jesus Himself.  We receive the Holy Eucharist at Mass (daily when possible!) and allow it to slowly consume us, to change us.  We go to confession regularly to keep our hearts and minds focused on God's will in our lives and on living a life of true piety and faith.  We come to the Sacraments of Healing.  Then we spend time with the Scriptures.   We pray them.  We listen to God's Word speak through them.  We turn to the Church Fathers for understanding and interpretation.  What did the Apsotles teach them?  What did the first Christians believe?  Then we spend time in silence.  We listen for God's voice.  That's something many of us fail to do. We must make time for Sacred Silence.  A time when we aren't doing all the talking.  When we are doing the listening.

Then when you are certain this is where God wants you to go, this is the direction he wants you head in, this is the cliff he wants you to jump off of... then by all means, you can and should do so!  Discernment first, jumping second.   Otherwise you're doing exactly what Jesus warned against in his temptation in the desert.  Satan told him to jump off a cliff... don't worry God isn't going to let you dash your foot against a stone.  Jesus responded, "It is written, though shalt not tempt the Lord your God."  Jesus understand that God isn't sending us here to get beat up.  He is sending us here to be faithful yes, but obedient as well.    Following His will.  Not our own.   It's not about vacations, trips, and sports cars.  Those can be nice things.  It's about making the world a better place.  It's about living a life of obedience to Christ and service to others.  It's in living the beatitudes that we see true happiness.  And it's in discernment that we find God's will for us in our lives.

His servant and yours,

Brian

"He must increase, I must decrease."