Growing up I was taught that “tradition” was a bad thing. In fact, one of the Churches I went too prided itself on the fact it never did the worship service in the same way. (click the link hear more)

June 21, 2017
Memorial of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, Religious
Lectionary: 367
2 COR 9:6-11
PS 112:1BC-2, 3-4, 9
MT 6:1-6, 16-18

Growing up I was taught that “tradition” was a bad thing.   In fact, one of the Churches I went too prided itself on the fact it never did the worship service in the same way.   One day they’d preach first, sing some music, then have an altar call.   The next day they’d altar call first, sing some music, preach, and then maybe even sing again!  At the time I didn’t realize that in and of itself was a tradition.  Tradition can be beautiful!   We humans seem to thrive on structure even though we often don’t realize it.   Having habits can be both good and bad.   Good habits increase our lives, bad ones send us spiraling down.

In both the readings today we are reminded that what we do not only has an effect on what comes back to us in this life and the next, but it also affects those around us.   Jesus in His message today isn’t condemning public prayer or worship.   He isn’t telling us that there isn’t a proper place to have the tradition or that we should just get rid of ‘religion’ altogether.   In another place, He tells us “Those on the seat of Moses are hypocrites, but do what they teach you not following their example.”  Clearly, He didn’t mean for us to stop having a relationship with God that showed the world we were different, holy and set apart.   What He did mean is that hollow religion, actions done for the wrong reason, are worthless.

That’s why it is so important that we actually believe what the Church teaches and understand why.   So many homes are broken and divorce has become something of a standard practice these days.   Don’t get me wrong, there are times when it’s necessary for sanity and health.   I myself am a divorced man who received an annulment and am remarried in the Catholic church.  I don’t expect anyone to stay in an abusive relationship, neither physical, emotional or spiritual.   What I do realize, especially as a stepdad, is that those broken relationships don’t just hurt the couple who split up…  They harm society itself.   The children are in direct line of the shrapnel from the explosion, and all their friends are impacted as well.  Our faith shouldn’t be hidden for the sake of hiding it.   It should impact every part of our lives and show a lasting change.   It’s not enough to say I believe all of these things and then be an impatient curmudgeon when the world encounters me... And believe me, I can be just that.

That’s what we can learn from Saints like the one from today.   This man knew his faults and would continue to stand with his eyes on the ground anytime a woman would be around him.  Not because he was shy, but because he didn’t even want to take a chance at having a lustful or improper thought.   He went on to die in the service of others, contracting the plague in a hospital while trying to help the sick and infirm.  His actions were all the public prayer he needed.   When we pray the rosary or the divine office in public, we must make sure we are doing it for the right reasons… not to be noticed, but to show our love for God.   In all instances though, we are to be at service to those around us.   Some think they should build a prayer space or a hidden closet in their home, and that’s commendable.  I have a few spaces set up in my own home for that purpose.   That shouldn’t be our only prayer.   Rather we should have a space set up in our own hearts, building a hidden room where all of our actions are lifted up to God with contrition and love.   That way our life can become a pleasing sacrifice, united with the Work of Christ on the Cross, and Our Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.

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

So soft and cute...

There is this overwhelmingly powerful scene in the Fellowship of the Rings in which Galadriel is tempted.  Galadriel is already a powerful figure with great magic and power.   The ring though would make her even stronger, so powerful in fact she could control the entire realm.  She has this amazing line in which she says "I will be great and terrible as the dawn!"  We have lost the meaning of that word.  We see terrible as something horrendous, horrible, ugly, or bad.  

terrible

[ter-uh-buh l]  exciting terror, awe, or great fear; dreadful

In Abraham's time this was the image of who God was.   He was the all powerful Lord, the creator, the judge and the king.   For Abraham to stand up for those people in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah would have taken a great deal of courage.   We lose that sometimes when reading the old testament.  Here Abraham is facing God and saying, Hey can I change your mind?  What if only... over and over.  Not only asking God for a boon but also thinking he might be testing God's patience.  How scary should that be?

Christ on the cross stood in the gap for us as well.   Knowing that not a single righteous man could be found, Christ went in our place to suffer the punishment.   All of us deserve what Sodom and Gomorrah got.  "The wages of sin is death."   None of us can say we haven't sinned either.  So here we have Christ, fully God but also fully human... going to the cross in complete trust of God but still aware of His great power and the terrible visage, but also seeing the Father.   That was something most of that age were unable to bear, to think of God as Father, and even today there are religions in the world that will find it blasphemous to do so.  Christ gave us that gift while nailed and tortured in our place.

I think that's part of the message that God has given us in the Scriptures and through the words of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.   To trust in God.  To see Him as Father.   To know He will only give us what is good.   Yet, to remind us that what we do is make a bold claim.  That we are approaching the all powerful, omniscient God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.   That it is an audacious thing to step forward in His presence and say "God give me..."   We should never forget though, that we aren't just praying for 'bread', but also for the will of God.   So we are saying "God give me... but if you know something better... your will be done."   Never forget that last part.  Never forget who it is we approach, and what is at stake.  Abraham knew what was at stake as He prayed for the people, and his prayer was unanswered... Christ knew death was the cost and He suffered it to save us.... Do you realize what is at stake?  Are you ready to pick up your own cross? To stand in the gap for others in prayer?   It's a privilege that we should never take for granted.

His servant and yours,
Brian

"He must increase, I must decrease."

A reflection the readings for Mass on the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time: July 24, 2016.  Genesis 18:20-32; Psalm 138; Colossians 2:12-14; The Holy Gospel According to Saint Luke 11:1-13

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."

Setting the World on Fire

A reflection on the readings for June 16, 2016.

Sirach 48:1-14
Psalm 97
Gospel of Matthew 6:7-15

In this mornings first reading we see a list of all the amazing things that Elijah and Elisha did in their earthly lifetimes.  From raising to dead to controlling the elements, we see these men of God were truly endowed with the Spirit of the Most High.  Elijah was of course taken up in the fiery chariots into Heaven and Elisha even continued to perform miracles after his death.  We as Catholics believe that to be a sign that the person has gone on into Heaven with God.   That's why we name those who have been shown with much evidence to have miracles attributed to their names as Saints.

The thing is Christ said that not only would we do the works that he did, but that if we truly believe we will do even greater things. (John 14:12-14)   That whatever we ask, no matter what the task, it will be done.  Of course we know that it requires us to be asking in the right Spirit, to be asking for something which is God's will.  How though can we expect to be transformed into living Saints?  Men and women capable of things beyond ourselves?  Images of Christ himself walking among the population of the world, changing our own environments.

In the Lord's prayer, which we pray at every Mass, we ask for our daily bread.  This of course has the connotation of being cared for, right?  Just as the scriptures remind us that we are more valuable than a flower or a bird, they also remind us that God will provide us for our needs.   So, yes, we ask for food to get us through the day.   The word there, though, in the original language does not say exactly daily, as much as 'super substantial bread.'   Give us this day the bread that is beyond bread, the bread of which it's substance is more than just bread.  The bread that feeds us, that makes us grow.  The bread that does not get consumed by our body to make it part of us, but rather consumes us and makes us part of it!  That's right, the Eucharist.

Christ calls us to be more.  He himself comes to us in the form of our most basic of needs, food and drink.   He then begins to transform us through Communion, through the Eucharist, into himself.   He gives us the power to become living Saints.  We have to be ready though, we have to accept that grace and allow it to transform us.  What does that look like?   What examples do we have of those who have been transformed?  That's why the Church gives us a Canon of Saints.  These are the men and women who it is clear from examining their lives and the miracles around them, are already in Heaven.  Just like Elijah and Elisha, the Saints are those who have lived lives that shout out to God's Spirit living in them, and even after death have been shown to have miracles associated with them.

One of those men was Saint Padre Pio, who was canonized on this day in the year 2002.  Padre Pio was known to do many miraculous things.  From bi-location (being in two places at once) to seemingly being able to see into another persons heart and soul.  He would often tell people in the confessional that they forget "this" sin and then proceed to tell them what it was.  Can you imagine that?  Being reminded of something that the other person has no earthly way of knowing?   Yeah, that would be a powerful moment.  He also received the stigmata, the wounds of Christ in his physical body.  From levitation to clairvoyance, Padre Pio shows us what being filled with Christ's Spirit can look like here on earth.

Now, of course each of us is called to a different station in life.  Some of us might not be Capuchin Friar's like Padre Pio, nor able to hear confessions.  The thing is, Jesus also reminds us that miracles were not His primary mission.  Rather He was sent to bring forgiveness.   Padre Pio offered this in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  It should not surprise us at all that miracles happen in that sacred, Sacramental encounter with Christ.  What is more miraculous than the Prodigal Son returning or the one lost sheep being found?   The angels rejoice when we enter that Sacrament and confess before God himself and ask for forgiveness.  How often do we fail to see the beauty and need of that?  The most powerful part of it is though, that when we leave there we are challenged to take that into the world.

One of my local confessors always has the same penance for me.  "Pray for those you have hurt."  That's a powerful moment.  Even though someone else might be completely unaware of the thoughts or anger I've had toward them, Christ asks me in the confessional to pray for them.  Prayer is a moment that doesn't just change or effect things, but also changes and effects me.  It is a moment for me to bring about that other part of the Lord's prayer, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."  Yes, prayer is a moment for me to bring God's will into my life and to open myself to the grace that can change me into a Saint.  It's not something we aim for just after this life, but something we should be aiming for right now... Where to start?  By going into the world and offering them forgiveness.  The same forgiveness we receive in the Sacraments.  What miracle could be more powerful than that?   Can you imagine if the entire world were 'infected' with the forgiveness and love of the Father?  What can I do? I'm just one person?  Remember, it only takes a pebble to start an avalanche.   Are you ready to be God's whirlwind of flame to set fire to the world?

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."

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."

The Desire Built Into Our Hearts

I know what the Athenians felt like in the first reading for today as Paul began to explain to them the truth of what God expected from us in worship.  For the first 13 years of my Christian walk I was a protestant.  I didn't even know what that meant to be honest.  What was I protesting?  All I knew about Catholicism was that they were different and according to the pastor at the church I was attending "weren't even real Christians."  As far as I was concerned, everyone else had it wrong.. we had it right.

Paul though came into that situation speaking the truth.  He met them where they were, not where he felt they should be.  He didn't attack their faith and condemn it.  He simply pointed it towards the truth those men and women were trying to find.  Not everyone was open to that truth of course, some simply scoffed and ignored him.   Others though were converted and joined him.   We can learn a lot from that can't we?  Apologetics doesn't need to be a heated argument, it doesn't need to be an attack to expose the flaws of another's beliefs... what it needs to be is a gentle lamp that illuminates the path to truth.  That's why the Catechism says: The Catholic Church recognizes in other religions that search, among shadows and images, for the God who is unknown yet near since he gives life and breath and all things and wants all men to be saved. Thus, the Church considers all goodness and truth found in these religions as "a preparation for the Gospel and given by him who enlightens all men that they may at length have life."   (CCC 843)

We meet others at points of trust, where they agree with us.  First and foremost we must establish a relationship.   Relationships are built on that trust right?  Every religion is out of the same desire, even if the answers and methods are flawed.  That desire is to fill that hole in our soul, that yearning for God.  Even atheism I would contest is more a protestation that is out of that emptiness felt inside.   So we begin there.  Not at the differences which simply create even more friction, even more division. Then we build on that, slowly, logically, reasonably.   Not everyone is going to convert, not everyone is going to agree, but as Blessed Mother Teresa said, “God does not require that we be successful only that we be faithful.”  In my case though, that's how God reached me.  Slowly, logically, reasonably.. not through attacks, but by shedding more and more light into my mind about who He truly is.

The thing is though, the Gospel reminds us of something paramount to all of this.   None of this is possible, none of this should be attempted, without first bringing it to prayer.  The Holy Spirit must be involved in everything we do.  It does not matter how eloquent you are in your speech, how logical you are in your arguments, how well respected or liked you are;  if God is not the primary mover.. then nothing can be moved.  He will remind us of the words to use, and he will plant seeds in their heart.  This Gospel is not our own to be used for our own means... but rather it is something which belongs to Him.  "He will take from what is mine, to declare it to you."  It is this third person of the trinity who does the greater work in our evangelization, it is he who prepares not only the soil but the farmer.

So are you letting him give you the tools to till the soil?   Are you letting him choose the spot to plant his garden?  In Cursillo we have this concept, pray first.. then ask.   Are you doing that when it comes to spreading the Gospel?  In our society we have this notion that we should leave other people alone, let them do whatever they want whenever they want, as long as it's in the privacy of their own lives and doesn't affect me.  There are certain issues though that I think we should not... cannot remain silent on.. because even behind closed doors they harm the fabric of souls, ripping society apart from the inside.  The thing is, are we speaking out with God at our backs? Or trying to go it alone?  The greatest gift we have been given to strengthen us in this battle is the Eucharist... by the power of that same Holy Spirit that Jesus said would be sent, the bread and wine are transformed into the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ... what more powerful way can he indeed take what belongs to Christ and declare it to us, than to present Christ to us.. and is there any way to be more powerfully equipped than to receive Christ himself?  Run to the altar in prayer first, then go out into the world bringing about the change which God wills.

His servant and yours,
Brian

"He must increase, I must decrease."

Mission Impossible.

In tomorrow's readings we see Paul trying to follow the will of God.  He has recruited Timothy, a man who is both Jew and Greek to accompany him.  The message of the Gospel would be that much easier to spread to a new culture when you have "one of their own" with you.  Yet, he seems to be confounded at every turn.  They try to go into Asia but are prevented, into Bithynia and it is not God's will.   I imagine that is frustrating.  Here he is doing exactly what he has been called to do, and yet the Holy Spirit prevents them from going into these areas.  Imagine the frustration.   The doubt.  Then that night he has a vision of a Macedonian speaking to him and asking him to come into their country to help.  As soon as the vision was revealed they set out to seek passage into Macedonia to do God's will.

How often do we do the same thing in our lives?   Many of us are 100% sure of our calling, of what God wants us to do.. and that's a noble and good thing.  However, our calling is to do the will of God and that requires discernment.  It requires taking time to ask God exactly what he wants from us.  To follow his lead.  How can we ever know what his lead is if we don't spend time listening?  That's something our culture doesn't like, isn't it?  We have portable phones, music players, streaming devices... ear pieces that allow us to stand in a room with others and listen to some event thousands of miles away.   If we just look around at a restaurant instead of staring down at our cell phones people think we are weird or odd.  We are even encouraged to have music playing in the background of our homes so that when we arrive it isn't silent.. but rather welcoming and warm.

Somehow we got this notion that silence is bad.  That being alone with our own thoughts.. that sitting in meditation waiting for God to speak to us is old fashioned and a waste of time.  Yet, that's when God speaks to us the most.. in the silence.. when we stop using him as some sort of heavenly ATM and instead realize that He is a loving father with whom we have a relationship to maintain.   That means not just talking to Him, but spending time listening.  How then can we prepare for our mission if we never listen for that mission?  The Eucharist is the key.  It is the entire foundation of our Catholic faith.  Receiving Him, adoring Him, spending time with Him, listening to Him... that's what it takes to find out exactly what he wants from us.

The world wants us instead to blare our music, listen to our television shows, and constantly be bombarded with external information.  It's almost as if we are scared to take a moment to find out who we are.. and who He is.   Jesus warned us of this though.  In tomorrow's Gospel he talks about how the world hates him.. and as such, will hate us.   If people watched your day, would they see Him?   Or would they see just another person?  If they looked at your browser list would it look like everyone else's?  If they looked at your Netflix history would they be impressed?  He talks of persecution and he says the reason for it is "because they did not know the one who sent me."

Do you know Him?  Are you listening?   Each day is an opportunity for that, and opportunity to be more like Christ and less like the world.  That's what Church is all about.. it's about unity, growing together in faith, being the Body of Christ... the Sacraments draw us closer, and allow us to receive Him.. to be filled with His grace and His love.   Don't shun them... and take a moment today, and every day, to sit in silence and listen for His voice to find out what His plan is for you.  The fullness of God has been revealed in the person of Jesus Christ.  He gave us the Holy Spirit, a Church, and the Sacraments to lead us to an informed conscience and a holy formation.... It is time for us to avail ourselves of that tremendous grace and follow where he leads.

His servant and yours,
Brian

"He must increase, I must decrease."

Studying about that good ol' way

Isn’t it interesting how difficult we make our relationship with God to be?  For 2000 years we’ve constantly tried to change the teachings of the Apostles.  The Catholic church has held consistently to those teachings, so much so that if you read Justin Martyr and his apology on the Mass written in the mid second century you see almost exactly the same Mass described as you would see in a Catholic church today.  We always want something more though don’t we?  It needs to be more traditional or more progressive.  It needs to be more reverent or more folksie.  It needs to be ad orientem or ad populum.  We never seem content to hear the simplicity of the Gospel, the simplicity of what the Church truly asks of us.

I kind of see us in the man Naaman who in tomorrow's daily reading is coming to Jerusalem to be healed.  He has gotten this dread disease, leprosy.  Someone has informed him that the God of the Jews is able to heal, and so he ventures to their kingdom.  He finally is sent to the Prophet Elijah.  Elijah doesn’t even bother coming out of his abode.  Instead he sends a message to Naaman, “Go and wash seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will heal, and you will be clean.”  Naaman is furious!  This man didn’t even come out and perform a ritual over him!  He didn’t even bother to speak to him or do anything flashy.  He didn’t send him on a quest to find some long lost item, or to slay a mythical beast… all he said was, “Go wash in the water.”   He begins to list off all the reasons he shouldn’t… first and foremost, his preconceived notion that he and the land he comes from is better than this land.  He lists the rivers that he would rather wash in, the ones he thinks are more beautiful, more worthy.  

Aren’t we a great deal like Naaman?  Jesus gave his Apostles the authority to forgive sin.  Then he gave the chair of Peter the authority to bind and loosen all things.   The Church hands us the Sacrament, instituted by Christ, of reconciliation.  All you have to do is come and confess your sins, say a penance, and your sins will be forgiven.  Do we trust in that though?  How many have walked away over this very thing?  How many times have we come out of confession and said, “All he gave me was a short prayer, I need more.”   We don’t trust in the simple words of the Church when it prophesies to us this is all it takes to be healed.  We instead try to make it more difficult, I need to go to this place or that place, have this special holy priest do my confession instead.. we shop.. we shop for priests.. we shop for churches.. and eventually, some of us shop for denominations.

Notice that in the Gospel the people again reject Jesus because of where he is from.  They reject him as a Prophet, and in the process again reject his condemnation.  “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”  “What? Wash in the the Jordan? There are thousands of better rivers back where I am from.”  Jesus offers us a simple message.  Love God.  Love your neighbor.  Then we say, that can’t be enough.. The message we have received from the Church doesn’t have enough of me in it.. it’s too much to believe in the simplicity of the message.. to believe that someone so ordinary, so familiar.. just a carpenter from Nazareth could dare to have a message that required us to forgive, and move on.  Jesus tells them it was those with faith, regardless of their background, regardless of their ties with the Jewish people.. who were healed, who were saved.

How about us?  Do we see it as only us?  Only those coming from our part of Christianity as being saved?  Only the Catholics?  Only the Protestants? Only the ones who wash in this river, but not the other?  I say to you that a stream came from Nazareth of clear, living water.  A stream that all we have to do is wash in, and believe in, and follow… and our sins are forgiven.  We need to trust in his waters, in this simple message, that God’s mercy transcends all of our human notions.  We must evangelize.  I am not saying that we shouldn’t talk about our faith.. but it’s not so much about book learning, memorization or rote prayers.. as it is about a relationship.  That’s what Christ is offering.. that’s what Naaman was learning.... when we do what we need to do be in this right relationship.. then we will be healed… Regardless of who we were, or who we are being at the moment… God’s mercy will wash over us and cleanse us.  Then we must take that knowledge out into the world and say with those who believe, “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth, except in Adonai!”  Are you ready to wash in the water?  Are you ready to give your life over to God?  

To be in a relationship means to spend time with someone.  To love them. To care for them.  To do the things that makes them happy.  If I do things my wife doesn’t like me doing, then our relationship is injured.  If however, I learn what makes her happy.. and sacrifice some of those things which I might think I enjoy, to make sure she’s happy.. then our relationship will flourish. It is only when both parties are sacrificing for the other, that everyone's needs are met. The thing is, in our relationship with God, everything that makes him happy.. will make us happy too.. Cause that’s what he wants.. happiness.. not robot movements, or automatons who do things without emotion or thought.. but genuine love.  God lived this principle in the person of Christ to show us the ultimate sacrifice, the true genuine love, of giving of oneself completely. Our faith is the response, our sacrifice the response. So let’s use what time we have left in Lent to grow in that love.. to fast from those things which are harmful to us, and to add in those prayers and activities which help us to grow in covenantal fidelity to the Lord.

His servant and yours,

Brian

“He must increase, I must decrease.”

Why don't your eyes see me?

Illustration of Lazarus at the rich man's gate by Fyodor Bronnikov, 1886.

In tomorrow’s Gospel we see the familiar passage in which Jesus speaks a parable about Lazarus and the rich man.  He tells the Pharisees in his presence about these two men and how they lived their earthly life.  One was a poor beggar who sat at the rich man's doorstep begging for scraps.  The other an extremely wealth man.   A man not just presented as well to do, but extremely wealthy.  Dressed in purple and fine linen, he dined sumptuously. 

sumptuous[suhmp-choo-uh s]
adjective
1.entailing great expense, as from choice materials, fine work, etc.;costly:a sumptuous residence.
2.luxuriously fine or large; lavish; splendid:a sumptuous feast.

Here is this man who has these magnificently lavish feasts daily, not just on special occasions.  His life is full of excess, full of carnal pleasures.   How great a contrast we have with Lazarus, the beggar.   This man has no fine clothing.  He sits begging at the door of the rich man's abode desiring to even eat the crumbs that fall from his table.  Alas, they are consumed by the very dogs that lick the poor ragamuffins’ wounds.  He has no one to support him, no one to bandage and dress him that he might get better, but is tormented by the very animals that eat the food he so ardently needs to survive.  

Oh how this speaks to my heart during Lent as we try to raise money to build a well to bring clean water to those in distant countries who do not have any, or have very little access to them.  We who sit lavishly in our homes with an unlimited supply to be had.  They who just wish to drink of the drops that we so dishonorably waste in our excess. How can we not recognize Lazarus, the hungry beggar in the parable (cf. Lk 17:19-31), in the multitude of human beings without bread, a roof or a place to stay? How can we fail to hear Jesus: "As you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me" (Mt 25:45)? (CCC 2463)  During the super bowl this year, the only football game I actually chose to watch, there was this amazing commercial about water conservation.   Colgate took a moment to highlight how much water we truly do waste, how much we take for granted, how much we let fall to the wayside to be consumed by the dogs of our sewers, instead of protecting for those who have none.  They sit at the gate of our hearts and beg to partake of just our scraps, and are we aware?

When the disciples begged Jesus for their own crumbs, he fed them exorbitantly from the masters table.   They said Master teach us how to pray and he so obliged, not holding back but opening up the floodgates of heaven with the prayer that is familiar to Christians of all backgrounds. In the Our Father we ask specifically for our daily bread.    This speaks of trusting in God for God’s provision, not that we should become lax in our duty to try and earn our bread, nor that we should just stop providing and protecting our families, but that we should be aware of the blessings we receive.  

But the presence of those who hunger because they lack bread opens up another profound meaning of this petition. The drama of hunger in the world calls Christians who pray sincerely to exercise responsibility toward their brethren, both in their personal behavior and in their solidarity with the human family. This petition of the Lord's Prayer cannot be isolated from the parables of the poor man Lazarus and of the Last Judgment. (2831)

How felicitous it is that the Church has been guided by the Holy Spirit to share this pericope of scripture with us at this point during Lent.   To remind us of our duty to the poor as we are reminded of one of the three pillars of the journey through the desert, almsgiving. What are we doing to help those in need?  How are we using our prayer, fasting, and almsgiving to bring that change into the world and into our own hearts?  It’s not enough to simply conserve water, we need to be sharing it.  God does not give us these wonderful blessings in our lives to be hoarded in our cabinets for future meals of our own.  He intends them to be given out to those who have none.  That is why the goal of Lent should not just be to reduce our consumption through fasting, but to then take that money that we have saved and use it to feed another.  

It’s an opportunity for us to go out to the gate of our own hearts, lift up Lazarus as he sits watching our comfort, bring him into our home and bandage him, clean him up, care for him and nourish him to health.  Lent is supposed to change us.  It’s supposed to draw us closer to who Christ is.  Christ heals.  Christ cures.  Christ feeds.  Christ loves.  As I sit here in my heated home, typing on my chromebook, surrounded by loved ones, books, comforts.. blessings, I realize I am not doing enough. How about you?  Remember too that there are two responses to Jesus message today.  Lazarus was downtrodden, a broken man who sat at the mercy of the world.  Yet, we see from his presence in Abraham’s bosom that he never blamed God for it.   He never turned his back on his faith.   The rich man had every material comfort needed, but when he died he went to eternal torment.  It’s apparent that in his faith he knew he needed to repent, he knew he needed to serve, he knew what he was doing was wrong.  He kept it all for himself.

Which are we today? Are we Lazarus? Do we put our faith in God no matter what comes? Are we the rich man?  Do we ignore God’s prompting to do good and simply lavish ourselves with comfort in a grand hedonism?  Today if you hear the voice of the Lord, harden not your heart.  Trust in God.  Find comfort in his promise. Find a way to reach out to those in need materially, physically, and spiritually.  You have been called to the greatest feast of all time, the wedding feast of the Lamb. You receive the most extravagant meal in the entire universe in the Eucharist... are you sharing those crumbs? Or keeping them for yourself? We are the hands and feet of Christ, we have work to do Church!

His servant and yours,

Brian

“He must increase, I must decrease.”

My Testimony From the Desert

Every time I read about Queen Esther I am struck by a particular scene from the movie One Night with the King.  It's the pivotal moment of the movie and of the history of the Jewish people.  Here this young woman is faced with a difficult and terrible dilemma.  She can remain silent and watch as her people are exiled and murdered, or she can go before the King of Persia and beg for his mercy.  Either way she is in danger of death.  To go before the king unannounced in this country was to be murdered, unless the King extended his scepter to you to forgive your intrusion.

As we read that first reading we see how she prepared for this moment.  She went down prostrate upon the ground, not just her but also all those with her, and they prayed for God's guidance and protection.  She gives us an example of prayer that I think is often over looked.  She asks God to guide her speech and her actions.  She realizes that she could very well die, but even in her fear she declares that God is her only help, her only recourse.  Let me share with you that dramatic moment from the movie that always sticks in my mind:

Esther trusts the King.   She walks up the steps even with all her fear, with her anxiousness.  She takes one step at a time never doubting that God will protect her.  That even if the earthly King doesn't extend his scepter to her the great and all powerful King will.  Often times in our lives we don't understand what God has in store for us.  While we can try to guess, the truth is that we see through a veil.   God is and always will be at the core mysterious, beyond our mortal comprehension.  Abraham had to take the steps up the mountain with Isaac at his side, trusting in the King.  Noah had to load his family in an ark and watch the world be destroyed by water, trusting in the King.  Moses had to lead his people through the towering walls of water to the other side, trusting in the King. You and I, no matter what life brings, must take one step at a time... knowing that even if we don't understand, we can trust in the King.

Jesus reminds us though in the Gospel that Esther's first step was the most important one, she consulted God.  She prayed! Jesus tells us that what we ask we will be given.  He reminds us that God is our Father.  Our relationship with him is an intimate, a personal one.  He isn't just some transcendent deity who is not involved in our mortal affairs, but rather he's our daddy, our Abba.   Which one of you would hand his son a stone when he asked for a loaf of bread, or a snake when he asked for a fish? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask him. How often we think that way though don't we?  Our faith in God is often marred with our own fears, our own doubts.  We worry that God won't give things to us in a way that is good for us, or that he won't give it to us in a way that we will enjoy.  Yet, God always gives us that which love requires to make us grow. 

Esther was a prototype for us.  She was a glimpse of things to come.  Of another woman who stood before the King giving complete and utter trust to his plan, to his protection.  The blessed Virgin Mary.  She walked each step regardless of her fears.   She took on a role in salvation history that no other human has done, with the danger of losing her own life.  As she stood at the foot of the cross watching her only son suffer and die a horrible death, she trusted that God was giving her bread from Heaven, not a stone or snake.  Oh how we should wish to be like that!

Are you ready for this?  To march up to the doors of those doubts, those fears, those temptations and thrust them open.  To storm the castle of your life and march up the steps to the King, not in arrogance but in quiet confidence of his provision?   That's what Lent is about.  Today's readings remind us of the first pillar of Lent, prayer.  As we journey through this desert together let us pray for strength, for confidence, for trust, and maybe even more importantly: obedience.  May we through the discipline of lent grow to be more like Esther and Mary, to trust in the mysterious ways of God so fully that even threats of mortal danger will not dampen our unconditional yes to his plan.


His servant and yours, Brian

"He must increase, I must decrease."

I've heard the tender whisper of love in the dead of night

The other day I read an article about how that the current generation of children are being raised to believe that not recycling a soda can is just as bad or worse than looking at pornography.  I thought that must be complete bunk.  How could that even be possible?  So I asked a few teens myself.  Guess what?  It's true.  So much so that even in one of our classes we started to see that notion of environmental responsibility being the utmost of responsibility for a holy life.  We were discussing what the world would be like if God's kingdom was a reality here on earth.  What would it be like if people really didn't take more than they needed?  If they shared what they had?  if they loved instead of hated?  What would God's reign look like?

We got some of the answers I expected: peaceful, no war, less worries, etc.   Then came other words I would never have expected.  "We'd all be robots."  "No one would have any fun."  "Life would be boring."  After talking with them a few minutes they began to open up and say things like, "I couldn't use my cell phone because it would create pollution."   That's not what God's reign is about.  It's not about taking away fun, but people are convinced it is.  They are bound by the rules they have in their head, not the rules that we have in our faith.  They associate holiness and piety with dryness and boredom.  How do we get past this?  How do we find our way beyond a superficial understanding of what God has to offer and realize that what he is offering is pure happiness, joy and freedom?

In tomorrow's Gospel we see Matthew's version of the Our Father, this is the one we as Catholics use in our liturgies.   In that prayer I believe lies the truth of the happiness that God has to offer.  The first line itself speaks volumes, but we more often than not take it for granted.   Our Father.  God is not a distant deity that transcends everything and never interacts with us.  Rather, we are in a personal and intimate relationship with the trinity.  We have been given the honor and blessing of calling God Father, Abba, Papa, Daddy.  That's closeness... that's tenderness... that's family.   God is offering us a family of peace.  A family of love.  A family of understanding.

He's not asking us to give up pleasure, no, pleasure can be good.  Rather he is asking us to use those good things, those good feelings, those enjoyable devices and technologies responsibly and reasonably.  We don't have to give up our cell phones, our gaming devices, our televisions, or our hobbies to be Catholic.  What we do have to do though is to do those things with not just ourselves in mind, but with the entire world.  Yes, technology can create pollution.  More over, it can create a moment in which our lives are consumed with our self, with our ego.  Those are bad things.  The cardinal virtues though remind us to be detached from that.  That doesn't mean destroying these things and living a bland, meager existence.  It rather means that we take steps to make them enjoyable and responsible.  Solar chargers, limiting our time, sharing our experience, making sure to watch things that bring joy but also avoid temptations, etc. 

We pray in that same prayer "thy kingdom come, thy will be done."  That isn't just speaking of Jesus return at the end of time, but also of the present moment.  God's kingdom is going to be fulfilled in a completeness at the end of time that may not be possible in the here and now, but it is also present and tangible imminently.   You and I as members of the body of Christ have a responsibility to bring about the Kingdom.  Through temperance, through fortitude, through prudence, and justice.  It does not mean that we cannot enjoy ourselves.  It does not mean that life should become dry and void of entertainment.  It does mean that we should consider God and our fellow man in everything we do.  If we are enjoying an expensive meal while our brother starves?  There is something wrong with that. If rather, we are enjoying a similar meal for less money and inviting our brother to dine with us?  That's justice.  That's peace. That's the Kingdom.

Here it is Lent and many of us are trying to grow closer to Christ.  We are giving up things.  We are trying to participate in the three methods the church encourages us to use: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.  Let's not forget those people who are still struggling in a land of limbo... the persecuted Christians being chased and murdered by ISIS.   The refugees fleeing their countries trying to find a life for their family and children.   The men, women, and children being murdered by the drug cartels just across our border.   The homeless, underemployed, sick and homebound in our very own neighborhoods.   That's what Lent is about.  We aren't supposed to fast alone, but to give as well.  So take the extra money you might save by eating smaller meals and buy something for someone who is struggling.  Shovel a driveway.  Take up someone's garbage cans at the end of the day when you bring up your own.  Smile. Hug.  Remember, one of the most important things to do at this time and throughout the whole year, is to work on those corporeal works of mercy:

Feed the Hungry

Give Drink to the Thirsty

Shelter the Homeless

Visit the Sick

Visit the Prisoners

Bury the Dead

Give alms to the Poor

I think that's our lesson today as we examine the words of Christ when he teaches us to pray "give us this day our daily bread."   This speaks of a super substantial bread, a bread that is Eucharistic in nature.  It's our duty as Catholics to take that bread into the world both physically and spiritually to provide the needs of others.  Us.  Not give me.  We are praying for us.  You are receiving something powerful in the Eucharist, something that should be given to others.. in your thoughts, in your words, and in your deeds...

His servant and yours,

Brian

"He must increase, I must decrease."

Honey, You're a Shipwreck

Ash Wednesday.  Such a powerful service to attend.  To receive ashes on our forehead to remind us that form dust we come, to dust we shall return.   The Church is packed.  Isn't that intriguing?  On a normal weekend you don't find the pews that full.  At most Holy Days of obligation you find them sparse and rarely attended.  Then comes the day that reminds us that we are going to die.. and everyone comes.  There is something about that unity.   That bond.  That common ground.  A service in which everyone gets the ashes, regardless of faith or background, regardless of standing or sin.  We all march forward, we are one.  Human.  Dying.  Hoping for resurrection, but painfully aware of the need to pass through the span of a heartbeat to the gate of eternity.

Jesus reminds us in the Gospel for today that we must be authentic.  It's really about the heart isn't it?  God isn't interested in empty show or perfect rote.  He isn't interested in how much you've memorized, can quote word for word, or if you know the name of every object in the Sacristy.  He doesn't care if you're speaking Latin, Hebrew, or Arabic.  No, what he cares about is what is on the inside.  He wants to get rid of your heart of stone and replace it with one of flesh.   He loves you, and he desires that love back.  Everything you do then, he wants to be done with authentic love.  Not because you have to do this way, but because you are in a relationship and want to make the other person happy.

God says to the people in the book of the Prophet Joel, return to me with all your heart.  You know that really is an important thing about relationships, isn't it?  How important is it to have your entire heart into it?  I'm not talking about those ooey gooey feelings that sometimes come, though those are nice.   I'm talking about being 100% committed to the person you love.  I knew a guy once whose wife left him.  She came back.  During that time she was there only physically.  Sure they slept together.  They ate together.  They talked and did things with each other.  Yet, her heart was not there at all.  It was a hollow and empty relationship, her heart was always with the other man she had grown to love instead.  Their relationship never got better and eventually they divorced.  You see, the relationship was only one sided.  He was putting 100% into it, but she was giving less than all.  She was giving the actions... she just wasn't giving the heart.

No matter how we try, a relationship requires that heart felt commitment.  That choosing to love even when you don't want to.  That giving of yourself completely, even if you're angry.  Not just on the surface, but with every part of your being.  God wants us to know how much he loves us.  He talks about us as his spouse, his love, his very body.  All he asks for in return is the heart, all of it. Oh how sometimes we botch that up.  We go through the motions. 

That's what Lent is about.  It's about prayer, fasting, and almsgiving... but from the heart.  It's about giving up things that help you draw closer.  The Jewish people saw the heart as the core of what makes us human... to be fully human then is to be like God, to be like Christ.  So like Christ we go away in silence and prayer, we pray with others, we teach them to pray, we draw close to God every moment.  Like Christ we prepare ourselves for difficult times and decisions by fasting.  Like Christ we give everything we have, everything we are, both physically and spiritually for those in need.  That's what we need to do for Lent.  To give up things that are standing in the way of us having a heart of flesh.  To remove those things in the way and add those things that will mold us towards Christ. 

Yes, Ash Wednesday is just the beginning.. and Lent just a journey on the way... because we are heading to Easter.. and one of these days, all of us are going to die.  Every one of us has that in common.  Easter for us is coming.  It could be today.  It could be tomorrow.  It could be fifty years from now... it's up to us to be prepared.  40 days in the desert ahead of us, let's set our feet firmly on the right path.

His servant and yours,
Brian

"He must increase, I must decrease."

Take Heart, I AM.

Oh how rich and beautiful are the readings for tomorrow's daily Mass, the Wednesday after Epiphany of the Christmas season. We see John in his Epistle continue to speak of the love that is God, and of our necessity of having it in our hearts.  Then we see this amazing and familiar scene of Jesus Christ walking across the water toward his Disciples as they are buffeted by the wind of an angry sea.  Mark, of the three evangelists, is the hardest on the apostles.  He is quick to point out their humanity, their failure.. their doubt.   There is so much more to the story though, so many gems that it would take many blogs to even begin to dissect them.   I want to touch on a few that really call out to me.

The first I'd like to talk about is the fact that Jesus went up on the mountain.  After he had performed a great miracle, one that revealed him to the people as a great prophet, he then went up on a mountain to pray.   For the most part the mention of going up on a mountain meant an encounter with God.   Here Jesus is going to be with his Father, to speak to him in communion.   He reminds us that at all times we must take a moment to be with God in solitude, in silence, one on one.  That's an important reminder.  We must make time for our relationship with God.  Scripture often records Jesus as going off alone to pray.  He never stays there though, he immediately comes back to be with others in response.  The Catechism says "His words and his works were the visible manifestation of his prayer in secret." (CCC 2602)  That is so important for us to remember.  Prayer is not just about petitioning, or asking.. it's about changing.   Changing the world, and changing us.  Our words and our works should flow from our prayer.  If we pray for peace?  We should speak and work for peace.  If we pray for justice? We should speak and work for justice.

Then Mark tells us that Jesus saw they were in trouble.   They were fighting against the wind.  The waves were buffeting them about and they were having trouble rowing.  Jesus gives us a strong example here.  His response to prayer is to look to see what the problem is.  He prays for God's will at all times, this we know.  Then in response, he goes out to find those in need of help.  He doesn't sit idly by when he notices they are in trouble, instead he does whatever it takes to get out to them.  That's our example.  That's our Christ.  We are not called to simply pray and then watch as the world falls apart.  We are called to pray, and then to work for the will of God in the world. We look for the winds, and we look for those buffeted by them.   We look for those who need God's loving hand.  We then do whatever it takes to serve them and to serve God.   Sometimes it seems like it's impossible.  Sometimes it is going to take a miracle.  Sometimes it is going to take walking on water.  We still have to get out there and in faith, try.

Then when they see him they are terrified.  Oh how like the Apostles we truly are.  We want to go to Heaven, all of us would freely admit that.  How it scares us that God might ask the difficult of us, the suspension of doubt... ask us to believe fully and truly.   We often say we do.  We often claim that we would do whatever God asks, and that we truly believe with 100% what our faith proclaims.  Do we though?  If we did the world would be changed.  If we believed that Christ was coming to us in the Eucharist, with the power of the universe in the palm of our hands... .would we ever miss Church?  Would we ever miss daily mass?  Would we ever complain about having to do this or that?  There is an old song that says "Oh lord, I want to go to heaven... but I don't wanna go tonight."  So many of us are trying to prop ourselves up against the Juke Box, to have one more bit of fun. 

Jesus says to them, "Take heart, it is I; have no fear."   Have courage son!  Literally "I AM."  Have no fear.  Oh how that we would take that to our own hearts this day.  Jesus, as he stands on the water itself, Master of the whole universe, showing that even creation itself is subject to Him.... says have no fear.  John was so clear in our need to reach that level of love, that perfected love, the love that allows us to cry out Abba Father, thy will be done!  "There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment, and so one who fears is not yet perfect in love."  Only then, only when we truly let go and let God, only when we realize how great and perfect his love is for us.. that's when we start to truly even grasp how wide and deep his mercy flows. 

Here you and I are, floating on this great sea of the world.  We are buffeted by the storm clouds of sin.   We are tempted by the waves of seduction.  Our hearts are constantly abused by the whims of the flesh.  When we try to row by ourselves, we don't make any headway against those winds.  The chaotic ocean of sin is only calmed when the Master of Creation gets into the boat with you.  That's our challenge.   To invite Jesus into our hearts, into our lives.. then we can't stop there... We must go out into the world, and make a difference.  That's what Mass is all about.   Joining together in prayer to receive Christ fully, body, soul and divinity, into our bodies.. that he can begin to change us.. then turning and bringing that visible manifestation of His prayer into the world through our words and actions.

His servant and yours,
Brian

"He must increase, I must decrease."