The party don't start till I walk in...

In many movies we see the youth getting away with throwing a party while the parents are gone.  The party gets out of control and the house is trashed.  The parents, who were supposed to be gone a set number of days or hours, for some reason come home early.  Somehow the kids get everything cleaned up as if by magic before they arrive.   In the movies this seems to work so well that the parents are none the wiser to what has happened in their home while they are away.  In real life?   Well, it doesn't ever seem to work out that way.   

In this day and age our lives are highly scheduled and our lives filled with digital communication.  Not only do our kids know when we are supposed to be home, but they often receive a text on the way or a phone call from the car.   With all of this information we humans tend to be less ready for the arrival, not more.  We get distracted by all the things that are bombarding us and instead of doing that which we know to do?  We end up 'shinied'.   Distracted.  Unable to focus on what needs to be finished.  The parents arrive and not only aren't the kids finished?  They haven't started.  In this case it's not just the kids, but the parents too.   We know someone is coming over and we meant to clean, but the show was on... or we should have gone to confession... but the game was on... We schedule to do things, but then we find other things to do and forget the schedule. 

The thing we lose about this Gospel parable in today's modern age is exactly how hard it is to be ready for the Master when he returns.   Jesus talks of a man coming back from a wedding to find his servant up and waiting.  The servant's just doing what he should be doing right?  It's what he is for.   He's not doing something extraordinary on the surface, he's just serving his Master by being ready for his return.   When will the master be back?   Now that's the hard part.   Weddings in first century Palestine were not like they are today.  They were an involved affair!   Taking several days, a week or more!   The servant couldn't possibly stay up the entire time, could he?  How diligent would he have to be to be ready and waiting for the Master's return?  Unlike us He wasn't going to receive a text or phone call during the week to say "I'll be back on Friday!" 

I believe that the readings for today are a call to Stewardship and preparedness.   They remind us of what Pope Francis was trying to teach us in Ladauto Si.  We have been given charge of a home, a place to keep up and take care of.   We aren't doing a very good job of that.  Not just creation, which I am a big proponent of, but also our selves and each other.  The Master has given us signs of his return, but informed us that no one, not even Jesus himself, knows the day of His return.. only the Father.   So we must be diligent.  We must be ready for Him at any time.   Like the servant in the parable, are we awake?  Do we take care of the world we are given?  Our own bodies that are temples of the Holy Spirit?   Others that we encounter during the day?  As my friend always says, "Get ready, be ready, stay ready."  

His servant and yours, 

Brian 

"He must increase, I must decrease." 

A reflection on the readings for the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time: August 7th, 2016.  Wisdom 18:6-9; Psalm 33; Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19; The Holy Gospel According to Saint Luke 12:32-48

All The Kings Men

The Saint for Today was Saint Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury.  Father Don Ahles recommended that we watch the movie Becket(1964) if we had never seen it.  That seemed like something fun to do, so I spent a few hours this afternoon downstairs laying in a comfortable warm bed watching a movie off Hulu.  It's a very interesting story indeed.  One with intrigue, suicide, murder, love, hate, politics, religion... all put together into a true tale that speaks of the problem with mixing Church and State.

The story of Becket is very interesting.  You have the English King, Henry the Second, who has invaded and taken over the Saxon lands.  He has appointed Thomas Becket, a Saxon, as his regent, the man with all the power behind the throne.  They went around carousing and painting the town red together.  King Henry was not satisfied with the power he had and craved more.  The one institution standing in his way?  The Catholic church. 

Eventually the Archbishop of Canterbury, being an elderly man, passes on to the next life.   King Henry thinks he has a brilliant plan, so he appoints his best friend and confidant (who just happens to be an Arch Deacon) to the post.   Thomas begs him not to, but the King is adamant.  So here this man who has been living for self pleasure is now appointed one of the most important figures in the Catholic church of England.  At first things go well until Thomas experiences a true conversion... and begins to actually work for Christ.   That brings things to a head.  Eventually thorugh much political leaning and such they become enemies, and some of the Kings men decide to kill Archbishop Becket.  They march into the sanctuary during vespers and run him through.

I could not help but be reminded of Simeon's words from Night Prayer in the divine office, which happens to be the Gospel reading for today:

“Lord, now let your servant go in peace;
your word has been fulfilled:
my own eyes have seen the salvation
which you prepared in the sight of every people,
a light to reveal you to the nations
and the glory of your people Israel.”

Who would have thought that someone like Thomas Becket would have not only committed his life to God, but also have become a Martyr of the faith?  This man who spent his time drinking, sexing, and partying with the King, would eventually stand up to him and die for his flock.  What can we learn from this?  What lesson is there for us to learn? I think there are many indeed.  The one though that stands out is the need for a good examine, a proper look at the end of the day, to determine if we too are living the life that we need to be living.   Are we working to bring about God's will?  Or living for our own pleasures?   As a man who has lived a sordid past, I find myself sometimes reminiscing about the past.  Are we ready to let it go?  Is there anything standing in the way of Christ being born into our lives?  Are we ready to go in peace?

There is that word... it's been coming up so often lately.  Peace.  We, like Simeon, have seen Christ lifted up before our hearts.  Simeon yearned for Christ so much that at the sight of him, he felt his life was full, he had seen all he needed to see... he was ready to die.   Do we realize how great a gift the Eucharist is?  To receive Christ?  To see Him lifted up before our eyes?  Are you at peace? I pray that like Elisha's servant my eyes might be opened, that I might see the host of heaven gathered around us.  Lord I belive, help my unbelief.

His servant and yours,
Brian