Get Thee to Your Spiritual Desert

 

The Gospel reading for this First Sunday of Lent presents two questions. The first is: “Why was Jesus tempted by the devil? He was the Son of God. Consubstantial with the Father. God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God. Why did Jesus have to struggle with Satan?

Jesus was tempted by the devil for the same reason that He was baptized by John: because, although He was God, He was also a human being. When Jesus came from Nazareth to be baptized in the Jordan by John, it was in order to be obedient to the Law, and to the will of His Heavenly Father. He obviously didn’t need the remission of sin--He was sinless. But, Jesus was human, and He wanted to be seen and known as sharing the human experiences of ordinary people. Insofar as it was possible for Him, Jesus wanted to be just like everybody else. After all, He was teaching us how to live; what better way than by example?   

Jesus being one like us, in all things but sin, is why He allowed Himself to be tempted by Satan. Every human being has experienced the lure of evil. Every human being has been invited by Satan to turn his or her back on God and walk the path of self-indulgence and arrogance--beginning with Adam and Eve in the garden. One would not really be human if he never had any contact whatsoever with the attractiveness of sin. That’s why Jesus went off to the desert: to give the devil his chance, to experience the appeal of evil that infects every human being.

The Gospels of Matthew and Luke tell us about Jesus’ temptations in greater detail than does the Gospel of Mark. Jesus is tempted three times; to turn stones into bread for food, to throw Himself down from the temple so that the angels will save Him from any harm, and finally, the devil offers Jesus all of the  kingdoms of the world if He will just bow down to him. And Jesus resists them all—even in His weakened state. Jesus was tempted by the devil because He was a human being…and because He allowed it. That’s the answer to our first question.

 

The second question is: why does the Church give us the narrative of the temptation of Jesus every year on the First Sunday of Lent? Because the Church is teaching us that, during Lent, we are supposed to do the same thing Jesus did; that is, we are supposed to go to meet the devil head-on, and face the evil that threatens us. We are supposed to acknowledge that the devil is real, and that he is indeed after us—after our immortal souls. And finally, and most importantly, we then need to respond, resist, and ultimately reject, the devil’s temptations. And there’s no better place to start than at the beginning.

For most of us sitting here, acknowledging that the devil is real isn’t an issue.  But, Satan has succeeded in convincing an ever-growing number of people that he doesn’t exist, which is his most devious and dangerous plan of attack.  What’s more, he has convinced them that neither does God—or at least that He’s not important or relevant, and that they themselves should decide what is acceptable and not acceptable, what is right and not right, what is good and not good.  They are the sole judges of how to live.  This is called moral relativism, but it could just as easily be called “Satan’s Law.”  It is just this sinister ploy that we must fend off at all costs.  And the season of Lent is meant to arm us with our shield and sword for this never-ending battle—truly of life and death.

                                        

By giving us the narrative of Jesus’ temptations at the beginning of each Lent, the Church is calling us to come to grips with the temptations that afflict each one of us. Lent is a spiritual desert that we enter each year, a place where we engage the evil that afflicts us from the outside as well as from the inside. Unlike Jesus, we…are sinners. We have given in, in great things or small, time and time again, to the self-destructive attractions that Satan lays at our feet. We need to first acknowledge that, and then we need to do something about it.

 

Dealing with our sinfulness is not something we take on gladly; it’s not something we do with enthusiasm. To admit that there is evil in our lives is distasteful enough. To try to eliminate it is harder still. Yet unless we are realistic about our condition, we will remain detached from the life that God wants us to live; we will remain weakened in our sharing in the life of Christ. It’s like when people are addicted to drugs or alcohol—the first step is to admit that there’s a problem.  We are all sinners…period.  Every single one of us, save one, was born with the stain of original sin. And that one human being, our loving, glorious mother Mary, is a shining example for each of us on how to live our lives.  Mary had total devotion to her son, and obedience to His will and the will of His Heavenly Father--even when it meant personal suffering on her part; from the very beginning, when it was revealed that she was with child out of wedlock, to the bitter, agonizing end, as she stood by her son during his scourging and horrible death on the cross. Hers is the life that each of us is called to imitate—a life of devotion to, and unconditional love for, Jesus. 

The first reading today, and psalm response, are about a covenant—one between God and His people.  Covenants are not contracts.  Contracts are about stuff.  Covenants are about people, about relationships.  God and his people.  A man and his wife.  Lent is also about relationships. It’s not about stuff.  It’s not about the chocolate or soda or even the meat that we give up—it’s about our relationship with Almighty God, and how, when we deny ourselves these creature comforts, we are spending time in our spiritual desert, along with Jesus, purifying ourselves, preparing ourselves, for our ultimate goal—everlasting life with God, and all the angels and saints.  If you haven’t entered your desert yet, please start today.  Deny yourself, reject Satan, strengthen your relationship with God.  Repent, and believe in the Gospel.  The ends will truly justify the means.

 

Si quiero: Sana!

Homilía, 15 de febrero, 2015.  Sexto domingo del Tiempo Ordinario.

 

“El que haya sido declarado enfermo de lepra, traerá la ropa descosida, la cabeza descubierta, se cubrirá la boca e irá gritando: ‘Estoy contaminado!  Soy impuro.’  Mientras le dure la lepra, seguirá impuro y vivirá solo, fuera del campamento.”

    En nuestra primera lectura del Levítico, oímos acerca de cómo eran tratados los leprosos hace miles de años, en el tiempo de Moisés y de Aaron.  La lepra era una enfermedad muy infecciosa e incurable.  En esa época no había otra enfermedad más temida.  Afectaba todo el cuerpo.  Usualmente comenzaba con fatiga y dolor en las articulaciones, seguida de llagas que se esparcían por todo el cuerpo.  Cuando se determinaba que un hombre tenía lepra, se le expulsaba del pueblo.  No se le permitía tener contacto con otra gente.  Tenía que dejar a su familia; tenía que dejar a sus amigos.  Era un delito que un leproso se acercara a unos cincuenta pies de una persona sana.  No podía tocar a su familia,  solamente podía verla desde lejos.  Siempre que él veía a la gente  aproximarse, él estaba supuesto a gritar “Sucio, impuro”.  Por un tiempo, muchas familias les traían comida y ropa, pero después de un tiempo, la mayoría de las familias tenían un funeral y consideraban al enfermo como un hombre muerto.  Después de mucho tiempo de sufrimiento, él leproso moría una muerte horrible-completamente solo.

  Uno de los aspectos peores de la lepra era el aislamiento social que traía.  La Ley Levítica era muy clara en lo que a los leprosos se refería.  Los leprosos eran impuros, y cualquier persona que tuviera contacto con ellos era también considerado impuro, y no podía participar en las liturgias o sacrificios en el templo.  En el tiempo de Jesús, los rabinos habían añadido muchas más restricciones a la ley acerca de los                                        leprosos.  Si un leproso nada más que metía su cabeza en una casa, la casa era considerada impura.  Saludar a un leproso era un delito en contra de la ley.  Un leproso era considerado la personificación de la impureza.  Los daños exteriors de esta enfermedad se consideraba que representaban la corrupción  interna del corazón.  En otras palabras, la apariencia exterior del leproso se consideraba que era prueba de que era un pecador, y su enfermedad era su penitencia.  Estaba sentenciado a vivir una vida llena de desesperación, vacía de amor o de contacto con otras personas.  ¡Qué desesperanza más absoluta debe de         haber sido eso!

  Es en este escenario que consideramos el Evangelio de hoy.  Este pasaje  nos trae uno de los más grandes y asombrosos milagros realizados por Jesús.  En realidad, es uno de los dos milagros de sanar a leprosos que encontramos en los Evangelios.  El otro milagro está en el Evangelio de Lucas.  En el Evangelio de Marcos, Jesús sana a un leproso y en el de Lucas, El sana a diez.  Segun las escrituras, la curación de leprosos fué una de las formas en que el Mesías era revelado a la gente.  En este maravilloso relato de la cura de un leproso, se nos ofrece una visión del corazón de nuestro Salvador.  Se nos permite  ver Su compassion, y  Su poder, en un despliegue  completo.  Recordemos lo que Marcos dijo, “Jesús se compadeció de él, y extendiendo la mano, lo tocó, y le dijo:  “¡Sí quiero…Sana!”  ¡Jesús tocó… a un leproso!  A un hombre con una enfermedad increíblemente contagiosa, que de acuerdo con la ley era impuro…a quien se suponía que nadie  se acercara a cincuenta pies.  ¡Jesús lo tocó!  ¡ Esta fué la primera vez que este hombre era tratado como un ser humano…en muchos años!  Jesús le mostró compasión… y amor.  No solamente Jesús curó su enfermedad física, El sanó su corazón… su alma.  Realmente, este es uno de los más asombrosos milagros que Jesús hizo en este mundo. 

    Gracias a Dios, ninguno de nosotros necesita el toque de Jesús para curar la lepra. Pero, todos nosotros somos pecadores, y necesitamos el toque curativo de Jesús, - y de su misericordia y su perdón- para sanar nuestras almas llenas de pecados.  El pecado se parece mucho a la lepra.  Va más profundamente que la piel.  Comienza  pequeño y se esparce.  Una mentira se convierte en diez; experimentar con alcohol y drogas se convierte en un vicio, coqueteo puede convertirse en adulterio.  Si los dejamos descontrolados, pequeños pecados pueden convertirse en grandes pecados que pueden consumirnos y completamente cambiar lo que somos.  El pecado puede envenenar toda la vida de una persona.  Puede envenenar la familia y también sus relaciones.  Como la lepra, el pecado puede aislarnos de lo bueno; de las personas que se preocupan  por nosotros; de Dios.  Como el leproso, uno puede sentirse indigno de  acercarse al altar del Señor, o de completamente participar en Su sacrificio.  Así es como Satanás trabaja; nos convence de que Dios no nos quiere, no nos ama, no nos perdona.  Pero eso es una mentira, dicha por el mentiroso más grande.  El leproso se las arregló para acercarse a donde estaba Jesús.  Fué necesario tener mucho valor para ese día acercarse al Salvador.  El se dió cuenta de que Jesús podía sanarlo.  Nosotros necesitamos  darnos cuenta de eso mismo.  Jesús nos espera para sanarnos.  Lo único que necesitamos  es pedir.      

       Mientras nos acercamos a la Cuaresma, vamos a hacernos el propósito de aprovechar  el precioso sacramento de la reconciliación  que se nos ofrece para sanarnos.  Usemos la Cuaresma para acercarnos más a Dios.  Busquemos el amoroso toque de Jesús en nuestras vidas. El está dispuesto  a tocar nuestros corazones.  No dejemos que nada interfiera con el don de recibir a Jesús en la Eucaristía.  Todos somos pecadores; pero como al leproso, Jesús nos ofrece otra oportunidad.   Esta cuaresma, debemos aprovecharnos de la misericordia y del perdón de Jesús yendo a confesarnos y recibiendo la absolución.  Fortalezcamos la relación que tenemos con nuestro Salvador.  Entonces en vez de tener que gritar “ Estoy sucio”, podemos  orgullosamente gritar: “He sido lavado  limpio en la sangre de la Oveja!” ! Aleluya!

 ¡ Que el Señor los bendiga a todos!

 

"I do will it: Be made clean!"

“The one who bears the sore of leprosy shall keep his garments rent and his head bare, and shall muffle his beard; he shall cry out, ‘Unclean!  Unclean!’ As long as the sore is on him he shall declare himself unclean, since he is in fact unclean.  He shall dwell apart, making his abode outside the camp.”

           In our first reading from Leviticus, we hear about how lepers were treated thousands of years ago, in the time of Moses and Aaron.  It was a highly infectious disease that was incurable.  In those times, no other disease was as feared as leprosy.  It affected the whole body.  It usually began with fatigue and pain in the joints, which was followed by sores that spread to the victim’s entire body.  When it was determined that a man had leprosy they would banish him from the village, he was no longer allowed to have communion with other people. He had to leave his family; he had to leave his friends.  It was unlawful for a leper to approach within 50 feet of a clean person.   He could not touch his family; he could only see them from a distance.  Every time he saw people coming near him, he was required to cry:  Unclean!  Unclean!  Many families brought food and clothing for a while, but after a time, most families had a funeral service and regarded the afflicted person as a dead man.  After many years of suffering, he would die a horrible death…totally alone. 

         One of the worst aspects of leprosy was the social isolation it brought. The Levitical Law was very clear concerning lepers.   They were unclean, and anyone who came in contact with them was also rendered unclean and could not participate in the liturgies and sacrifices at the temple.   By the time of Jesus, the rabbis had added many more restrictions to the law governing lepers. If a leper even stuck his head inside a home it was considered unclean. It was against the law to even greet a leper.  The leper was considered the embodiment of impurity. The external defilement of the disease was seen to represent the internal defilement of the heart.  In other words, the leper’s outward appearance was proof that he was a sinner, and his disease was his penance.  He was sentenced to live a life of total despair, devoid of love or human contact.  How utterly hopeless.

           It is against this backdrop that we consider today’s Gospel.  This passage records one of the most powerful and amazing miracles ever performed by Jesus. In fact, this is one of only two recorded healings of lepers in the Gospels. The other is in Luke. Here, Jesus heals one leper, and in Luke He heals ten. According to the scriptures, the healing of lepers was one of the ways in which the Messiah would be revealed to the people.      In this wonderful account of the healing of this leprous man, we are given a glimpse into the heart of the Savior. We are allowed to see both His compassion, and His Almighty power, on full display.  Recall what Mark said:  “Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched him, and said to him: ‘I do will it, be made clean!’”  Jesus touched him!  A leper!  A man with an incredibly contagious disease, who under the law was unclean…who no one was supposed to come within 50 feet of.  Jesus touched him!  This is the first time this man has been treated like a human being in…years!  Jesus showed him compassion…and love.  He not only healed his physical ailment, he healed his heart…his soul.  This truly is one of the most amazing miracles that Jesus performed on this Earth. 

         Thanks be to God, none of us here is in need of Jesus’ healing touch to cure leprosy, but we are all sinners, and need the healing touch of our Lord, and his mercy and forgiveness, to heal our sin-filled hearts.  Sin is a lot like leprosy.  It goes deeper than the skin.  It starts out small and then spreads.  One lie turns into ten; experimenting with alcohol or drugs turns into an addiction; “innocent” flirting can turn into adultery.  If left unchecked, small sins can become larger ones which can consume us, change who we are.  Sin has a way of poisoning a person’s entire life.  It can poison your family and your relationships. It can devastate and ruin everything it touches in your life. Just like leprosy, sin can isolate you from good; from the people who care about you; from God.  Just like the leper, you may feel unworthy to approach the altar of the Lord, or to participate fully in His sacrifice at Mass.  That is how Satan works; he convinces us that God does not want us, does not love us, will not forgive us.  But that is a lie, told by the ultimate liar. The leper made his way to where Jesus was. It took great courage for him to approach the Savior that day. He risked humiliation and death to get to the Lord.  He recognized that Jesus could heal him.  We need to recognize the same thing.  Jesus is waiting to heal us too.  All we need do is ask.  As we head into Lent, let’s all resolve to take advantage of the precious sacrament of reconciliation that is offered to us for our healing.  Let’s use this season of Lent to grow closer to our Lord.  Let’s seek out Jesus’ loving touch in our lives.  He is ready to reach out and touch our hearts.  Let’s not let anything interfere with us receiving the gift of the Eucharist. We are all sinners, but like the leper, Jesus offers us a second chance.  This Lent we should avail ourselves of the mercy and pardon of Jesus in the sacrament of Reconciliation.  We need to strengthen our relationship with our Savior.  Then, instead of having to shout “Unclean!” we can proudly proclaim “I have been washed clean in the blood of the Lamb!”  Alleluia!

Quien Es Su "Ellos?"

                                                                                                                                                                                En la primera lectura de hoy, escuchamos el relato de Jonás y los ninivitas.  Jonás fué llamado por Dios para que fuera a Nínive a persuadir a los ninivitas para que cambiaran,  se arrepintieran, y lo siguieran a El.  Esta no fué una tarea pequeña.  Para los Judíos del siglo primero, antes de Cristo, Nínive representaba la sede  del ateísmo, la inmoralidad y la corrupción.  Nínive era la capital del imperio Asirio que había conquistado y colonizado el reino de Judá, saqueado y destruído el Templo, y llevado a los judíos al exilio.  Para los judíos piadosos como Jonás, Nínive era la ciudad abandonada por Dios.  No en balde Jonás tenía tantas objeciones a ser enviado a Nínive.  Para él, la misión a Nínive era un ejercicio en inutilidad.  Pero, como escuchamos en la primera lectura, la gente que Jonás despreciaba--el enemigo nacional de los judíos--escucharon el mensaje de Dios como Jonás se los enseñaba, se arrepintieron, y fueron salvados por Dios.  Nadie, especialmente Jonás, esperaba que esto ocurriera.

  La primera lectura de hoy es en realidad la narración de dos llamadas: la llamada a la gente de Nínive a arrepentirse y seguir a Dios, y la llamada a Jonás a ir a la gente que él despreciaba a predicarles el mensaje de Dios a ellos.  Ellos.  Los Ninivites eran “ellos” para Jonás.  Enemigos. Paganos. Ciudadanos de la clase baja.  Gente que no merecían ni el amor ni el misericordio,  de Dios, y ni siquiera su atención – y muy ciertamente, no merecían ni el tiempo  ni la energía de Jonás.  ¿Por qué tenía él que ir a ellos?

  Hay dos grupos de gente en el mundo, ¿verdad? Nosotros…y Ellos.  Algunos de “ellos" son nuestros enemigos, otros la gente con las que no estamos de acuerdo; aquellos que no comprenden, gente que no lucen como nosotros, hablan como nosotros, piensan como nosotros, rezan como nosotros… esos son ellos.  Así es que mi pregunta para ustedes hoy es: ¿quiénes son sus “ellos?”  ¿Quiénes son?  ¿Un republican, si usted es un demócrata?  ¿Mejicanos, si usted es puertorriqueño?  ¿Gente que lo oprimen porque usted habla una lengua diferente, o no fué nacido aquí?.  ¿Gente que están mucho peor que usted?  ¿Gente que están mucho mejor que usted?  ¿Quiénes son sus “ellos”?

              Si queremos admitirlo o no, todos tenemos nuestros “ellos.”   Todos tenemos  gente que no podemos creer que Dios quiere que hablemos con ellos…que los ayudemos… que los… amemos.  Pero El quiere.  ¡El lo quiere absolutamente!  En realidad, nuestros “ellos” son exactamente aquellos que Dios más quiere que ayudemos.  ¿Quê dijo Jesús?... “Ama a tus enemigos.”  Eso es muy dificil.  ¿Cómo hacemos esto?   Desdichadamente, estoy seguro de que no tenemos que ir  muy lejos para encontrar a “ellos”.  Muchos están cerca de nosotros.  Apuesto que algunos de nuestros “ellos” están ahora mismo sentados en esta iglesia.  Entonces, vamos a empezar aqui.  Vamos a hacerlo..…como si ellos fueran nosotros mismos.  Vamos a enfocar nuestras similaridades en vez de nuestras diferencias.  Tratemos de comprender lo que los hace a ellos lo que son, y entonces  vamos a tratar de amarlos- si no por lo que son, a pesar de lo que son.  Nosotros somos seres humanos.  Podemos hacer cosas que irritan a otra gente—a veces intencionalmente, y a veces accidentalmente.  Pero porque somos seres humanos, tenemos que perdonarnos los unos a los otros.  Está bien tener nuestras propias opiniones y expresarlas  de una manera respetuosa.  Pero eso no quiere decir que no debemos amarnos y respetarnos los unos a los otros, aun en medio de nuestros desacuerdos.

  Dios nos está llamando a cada uno de nosotros para que seamos Jonás; para que extendamos nuestras manos a una persona o a un grupo de gente que no nos interesan, que es posible que  no comprendamos, o estemos de acuerdo, y a extender Sus Buenas Noticias- las Buenas Noticias de Su Reino. 

     En los dos últimos domingos, hemos oído  acerca de unas llamadas – la llamada a Samuel en la noche, cuando el decia:  “Aqui estoy yo Senor”; y la llamada de Jesús a los que pescaban cada día- para que lo siguieran. Estos hombres renunciaron a todo lo que tenían: el trabajo, el hogar, la familia, la seguridad- y respondieron “SI” –  no solamente con sus palabras sino con sus acciones.  Eso es lo que Dios quiere de cada uno de nosotros.  El quiere nuestro compromiso.  Un compromiso de amor.  Y nosotros podemos comenzar con la gente que vemos frecuentemente, o que conocemos mejor: la persona que pasamos en la calle y tratamos de ignorar ; la persona  con quien trabajamos y que preferimos evitar en vez de hablar con ella; el miembro de la familia con quien no hemos hablado en meses o tal vez en años.

Nuestros “ellos” no tienen que ser mala gente.  Pueden estar sentados al otro lado del pasillo- o inclusive sentados al lado nuestro.  Para la mayoría de nosotros, Dios no nos está pidiendo que cambiemos una ciudad entera como Ninive, ni siquiera una  escuela o un barrio. Entonces, tratemos, esta semana, de reducir nuestros “ellos” por una persona.  Tomemos a alguien de nuestra lista de “ellos” y pongámoslo en nuestra lista de “nosotros.”  Y entonces, uno mas la semana que viene.  Antes de que nos demos cuenta, nuestra lista de “ellos” habrá desaparecido. 

     Yo sé que es difícil- especialmente si usted no habla inglés muy bien.    Pero tenemos de tratar.  Empiecen con… una sonrisa.  Y después… un saludo, o una palabra amistosa.  Cuando estés haciendo la voluntad de Dios, El estará allí contigo, ayudándote a tener éxito.  Sal de tu zona de comodidad para hacer la voluntad de Dios.  Cuando lo haces, eso cambiará dos corazones- el de la persona con quien estás hablando…. y el tuyo.                                                                                          Que Dios los bendiga, hoy y siempre.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Who is your "Them?" Homily for the 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

In today’s first reading, we hear the story of Jonah and the Ninevites.  Jonah was called by God to go to Nineveh to persuade the Ninevites to repent, change their ways, and follow Him.  This was no small task.  For the Jew of the 1st century BC, Nineveh was the heart of godlessness, immorality, corruption, and crime.  Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian empire that had conquered and colonized the kingdom of Judah, looted and destroyed the Temple, and carried the Jews into exile.  It was a big metropolitan city where the social and economic law of the “survival of the fittest” reigned supreme.  Materialism was the order of the day in Nineveh.  For pious Jews like Jonah, Nineveh was the godforsaken city populated by lost souls without any hope of change, or of regaining God’s favor.  No wonder Jonah objected so strenuously to God for being sent there.  As far as he was concerned, the mission to Nineveh was nothing but an exercise in futility.  But, as we heard in the first reading, the people who Jonah despised--the sworn enemy of the Jews of that time--heard God’s message as delivered by Jonah, repented, and were saved by God.  No one, especially Jonah, expected that to happen. 

    The first reading is really the story of two calls:  the call of the people of Nineveh to repent and follow God, and the call of Jonah to go out to people he despised to preach God’s message to them.  Them.  The Ninevites were “them” to Jonah.  Enemies.  Heathens.  Low-class citizens.  A people undeserving of God’s love and forgiveness--or even His attention—and most certainly undeserving of Jonah’s time and energy.  Why should he go to…them?

       There are basically just two groups of people, right?  Us… and… Them.  Them.  Certainly our “them” includes our enemies, like with Jonah and the Ninevites.  But, what about the people who we don’t agree with; those we don’t understand; people who don’t look like us, or talk like us, or think like us, or pray like us…they’re them too.  So my question for you today is:  Who is your “them?”  Who is it? Or, who are they?  Republicans if you’re a Democrat?  Auburn fans? People who were born someplace else and who may or may not be documented, like our Spanish-speaking parishioners here at Holy Spirit?  We just celebrated Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day.  Sadly, there are still a lot of people whose “them” are those whose skin is a different color.  Or could your “them” be people who are much worse off than you?  The homeless.  The poor.  The mentally ill.  Or, could they be people who are better off than you?   The very rich.  Politicians.  Elected officials.   Just who is your “them?”

     Whether we want to admit it or not, we all have our “them.”  We all have our people we can’t believe that God wants us to talk to…to lend a helping hand to…to…love.  But He does.  He absolutely does!  In fact, our “them” is just who God wants us to help the most.  What did Jesus say?  “You have heard it said ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.  But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you … For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same?  And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same?’”  What Jesus calls us to do sounds really hard.  So, how do we do it?        

     First, unfortunately, I’ll bet we don’t have to travel very far to find “them.”  Many are right here.  I’ll bet some of our “them” are seated in this very church, right now.  Well then, let’s start here.  Let’s make them…us.  Let’s bury the hatchet.  Let’s let bygones be bygones.  Let’s focus on our similarities instead of our differences.  Let’s try to understand what makes them who they are, and then try to love them—if not because of it, then in spite of it.  When Kyle was being a rebellious teenager, her mom used to tell her:  I love you, but I sure don’t like you very much.  We are all human.  We can do things that get under people’s skin—sometimes intentionally (although I’m sure that was never the case with Kyle and her mom), and sometimes quite by accident.  But because we are all human, we must forgive each other.  If we don’t, and the hurt is left to fester, then someone who is an “us” could turn into a “them”—and that would be a shame.  It’s ok to disagree.  It’s ok to have our own opinions and to voice them in a respectable manner.  But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t love and respect one another, even in the midst of our disagreements.  From time to time, people are going to make mistakes, or say things without thinking, in the heat of the moment; things that they regret later and wish they’d never have said--I do, a lot more than I care to admit.  That doesn’t mean they’re bad people, and therefore a “them.”

God is calling each one of us to be Jonah; to reach out to a person or group of people who we may not particularly care for, or who we may not understand, or agree with, or know much about, and to spread His Good News to them—the Good News of His  Kingdom.  For the past two Sundays we have heard about “calls”—Samuel’s call in his sleep, to which he answered:  “Here I am Lord;” and Jesus’ call to everyday fishermen—to follow Him.  These men literally gave up everything—job, home, family, security—and answered “yes”—not merely by their words, but by their actions.  That is what God wants from each one of us.  He wants a commitment.  A commitment to love.  And we can start with the people we see the most or know the best:  the person we pass on the street every day and try to ignore; the person at work who we avoid rather than speak to; the family member we have not spoken to in months or even years.  Our “them” doesn’t have to be people shooting at us, or even shouting at us.  They don’t have to be “bad” people.  They could be sitting across the aisle from us—or even right next to us.  For most of us, God is not asking us to change an entire city like Nineveh, or even a school or a neighborhood--at least not all at once.  So… let’s try, say over the next week, to reduce our “them” by just one.  Let’s take someone from our “them” list and put them on our “us” list.  And then maybe a couple more the next week?  And the next?  Before we know it, our “them” list will have shrunk substantially.  It can happen--when we move from being self-centered to being God-centered; from being self-seeking to seeking the will of God, from doing things for our benefit to doing things for the glory of God, and the benefit of humanity.  God didn’t create our “them,” we did.  God hasn’t populated our “them” list, we have.  God says we are to love our neighbor as ourselves.  And, He also says that everyone is our neighbor.  Simple, but not easy.  But nothing worthwhile is.  And life in heaven, with God, and all the angels and saints, is certainly worthwhile…worth the effort. 

     The season of Lent is a little over 3 weeks away.  Let’s us get a jump on it, shall we? Let’s us start heading for our Nineveh, with open minds and open hearts; and trust me, if you’re like me, you won’t have to walk very far to get there.  Catholic means universal.  Well, you can’t be universal if you’re excluding someone.  So let’s begin our journey to Nineveh today…one step at a time; one smile at a time; one I’m sorry…or I forgive you at a time.  In a few minutes, when we offer each other the sign of peace…let’s mean it.  And at the end of Mass, when we ’re commissioned to: Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life… let’s actually do it.

 

 

My 3 most precious gifts. Homily on the feast of the Holy Family. 12/28/14

   Today is the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph.  But although they were the Holy Family, nothing about their family life was easy—especially in the beginning.  Recall how Joseph was trying to figure out a way to divorce Mary quietly so as not to expose her to the law—which meant stoning.  After having it all explained to him in a dream, Joseph agrees to take Mary as his wife.  Then they have to travel to Bethlehem for the census—on foot, with Mary being toward the end of her pregnancy.  Mary has to deliver the baby Jesus in a stable!  Then shortly after Jesus is born Joseph is told that they have to flee Israel, and they must go to Egypt until Herod dies.  Again, those early years were anything but easy for the Holy Family.  But they trusted in God and in His plan for them, even if it made life difficult.

   The seasons of Advent and Christmas are times for us to focus on the family.  The family, as we know it, is under attack, perhaps more today than any other time in history.  As much as they believe otherwise, Congress cannot legislate, nor can any court create, human laws that supersede God’s law.  Because God’s law is the truth; and we must support the truth, we must defend the truth, and most importantly, we must LIVE the truth.  It is not only by our words, but by our actions, that we share God’s truth with the world around us.  Just as family life was difficult for the holy family, living according to God’s law can be very difficult for our families today—but we must persist, we must persevere.  And we have a beautiful example to follow, to emulate, in the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.  By using them as our guide we can better approximate how God would like us to live our lives.  If we can trust in God’s plan for us, and follow it even in difficult times, then we will be living the truth and following God’s will.

Today especially, we focus on the family.  The Becher Bunch has spent many a Christmas day driving long hours to be with family hundreds of miles away.  Yes, we have eaten Christmas dinner in a smoke-filled Waffle House surrounded by truck-drivers.  And we have driven for miles until we’ve found a Subway, which are the only fast-food places that are open on Christmas—or at least so it seemed.  Was it all worth it?  Depends on who you ask I guess.  It was to me.  Family is the most important thing to me on this earth.  And as my kids grow up and move to various parts of the country I know it will be next-to impossible to be with them all each Christmas.  But we will do our best, because as I said, the gift of family is the most important Christmas gift we can give--and receive--here on earth.                                                                                                                                    Ok, so enough about that…let’s talk about the good stuff.  What did YOU get for Christmas?  Anything cool?  Extravagant?  Any complete surprises—or was it just the stuff you put in your letter to Santa?  If your house is like mine, I’m sure the present-opening was great; and some of the best moments are when you see the look of joy on a loved-one’s face when they open the present you gave them.

   As for me, generally I can divide the presents I receive into three categories:

1.      Things I would like to have, and appreciate receiving, that I wouldn’t necessarily buy for myself.  The stuff that’s needed to get through life:  Shirts, socks, shoes, underwear.  I think gift cards and money would fit into that category, too.

2.     Next is the stuff I get each year that I need and use to fix things that are broken, or to make repairs to things, or make things better.  Tools are a prime example.  Or a grooming kit for those times when I have facial hair.  Or paint to revitalize walls.  You know, the practical, “manly stuff.”

3.     Finally, there are the things each year that are really, really neat (which usually means really, really expensive).  You know, the things you say “oh, you really shouldn’t have” but secretly—or maybe even not so secretly—you’re glad that they did.  You think to yourself:  “man, you paid way too much for that…I’d never have spent that much for that…I could have settled for something less costly.”  This would be things like jewelry, electronics, a cruise, a car, etc.  They are things that demonstrate how much the giver cares about you, and they often require some sort of sacrifice on the giver’s part.

Well, this year I received something from each one of those categories! 

     From the “necessary to live” group…I got…God’s grace.  It’s something I have to have in order to survive in this world.  It’s something I need lots of, so I can get it when I need it.  But, it’s something that I rarely think about until I need it—right then!  And so it’s good to have it stored up for emergencies, or times of trouble, or sadness, or hopelessness.

     And from the next category of “things I need to fix things”…I got…God’s mercy and forgiveness—in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  I am a sinner.  I break often.  I need fixing often.  I need to make myself better—constantly.  Without God’s mercy and forgiveness I would remain broken, sinful, unworthy of a place in heaven.  Thanks to this special gift I can begin again—be “as good as new” so to speak.

     And finally, I received the most wonderful gift of all—the most expensive, most costly, and most cherished gift…God’s unconditional love; given to me—given to all of us—by a newborn babe in a manger.  This gift of God’s constant love for me came at so high a cost, at such an extreme sacrifice, by God’s only begotten Son, Jesus.  God, through his Son Jesus Christ, paid too much for me; sacrificed too much for me.  I could have settled for Moses, for Abraham, for Elijah.  I could have settled for his only Son coming to earth to save my soul as the most heralded King of all time who, from on His throne, defeated evil without shedding a drop of His precious blood.  No…no I couldn’t have—because that wasn’t God’s plan.  God knew just how I had to be redeemed, to be saved from sin and death.  I couldn’t have settled for any less.  I am humbled when I think about how much he loved me; that he would suffer such a horrible death so that I might live.  “Jesus, you shouldn’t have…but I am so very grateful that you did.”

     Yes, I received these three most precious gifts this year for Christmas—just as I have for each Christmas before it—and just as I will for each Christmas I am alive on this earth.  And you know what?  So have, and will, each one of you!  Whether you have stopped to think about it or not, you each were given these very special gifts every year at Christmas.  But wait—there’s more.  Each one of us can experience each one of these awesome gifts—God’s grace, God’s mercy and forgiveness, and God’s unconditional love—each time we approach His table at Mass and receive the Sacrament of Holy Eucharist!  Every time we receive His precious Body and Blood we experience all of these things.  The real presence of Our Lord, under the appearance of bread and wine, bestows on us His grace, His mercy and forgiveness, and His unconditional love.  How amazing!  We can all experience Christmas every day of the year if we want to—365 days!  God is offering us Himself;  He is inviting us to the sacrifice of the Lamb.  All we have to do is say “yes.”  All we have to do is come, and receive these three gifts—not wrapped in Christmas paper, but wrapped into one marvelous gift of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament.  It’s that easy—and that awesome!

    And so, as we continue to celebrate Christmas, I invite you to think about this most precious gift, and how it is constantly offered to each one of us by our loving Father in heaven.  And I urge you to take advantage of this gift as often as you can, because each time we do, we grow that much closer to Our Lord, that much closer to our ultimate goal—life everlasting in heaven with God, and all the angels and Saints. 

Humility, Perseverance, and Faith; Homily for 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Today’s Gospel is about humility, perseverance, and faith. 

In the Gospel, we see Jesus going up to the district of Tyre and Sidon, two cities that are outside the boundaries of Israel. This is Gentile territory that Jesus is entering. The people who lived there were not Jews; they did not follow the religion of Israel. They were “pagans” if you will.  Jesus and his disciples had been in Israel with the Jews who claimed to be the chosen ones, because they obeyed the law and all that it demanded of them, and thus they felt deserving of all of God’s blessings.  But Jesus became upset with them and their sense of entitlement, and so he decided to take his disciples out of Israel and into the land of the Gentiles.  And while he was there, a Canaanite woman came to see him. The Canaanites were Gentiles outside of the covenant the Lord had made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Yet they were in close enough contact, close enough proximity, to have some knowledge about the religion of Israel. And this woman apparently had knowledge of Jewish teaching, because she calls out to Jesus  “Have pity on me, O Lord, Son of David!”  Son of David is a messianic term. The Messiah sent by God would be a direct descendant of King David.  It was understood that when the Messiah came, his blessing would extend to the Gentiles as well as to Israel.  The Canaanite woman must have heard about what Jesus was doing--his healings, his miracles, his acts of mercy, and realized that he was the Messiah who was to come.  “Have pity on me, O Lord, Son of David.” She was suffering, because her daughter was tormented by a demon, and she came to Jesus to beg him to heal her.  Suffering can drive us to despair, but it can also drive us to our Lord. One of the benefits of suffering, strange as it may seem, is that it can lead us to seek the Lord and his mercy. When life is going smoothly, and all is well, we often forget about the Lord and take his blessings for granted—kind of like the Jews did.   But when suffering or hardship comes, and we have no one to turn to for help, and all seems lost--that’s when we often turn to God.     

     It’s like the story of the priest who was supposed to go to a St. Vincent de Paul meeting and then an altar server training.  As he was on his way to the first meeting, a couple of his friends pulled up and invited him to go fishing with them.  He knew he should be going to these meetings, but agreed to go with them. “Just let me change my clothes” he said.  “No time” they said, “we have extra gear for you, too.  Come on!”  So he jumped in the car and they took off.  While they were fishing off of a bank, a bear showed up and began to run toward the priest!  The priest ran for his life, but tripped on a vine and broke his ankle.  He couldn’t move, and the bear was fast-approaching!  And so he prayed:  “Oh God, I am humbly sorry for skipping those meetings today.  Please make that bear a Catholic!” (you know, because he was wearing his collar, so the bear could tell that he was a  priest).  The bear got closer, and the priest prayed all the louder:  “Oh God, PLEASE make that bear a Catholic!”  And just as the bear got to the priest, it stopped.  The priest breathed a sigh of relief.  Just then the bear clasped its paws together, bowed its head, and said:  “Bless us oh Lord, and these thy gifts which we are about to receive...”  Sometimes, even if we have humility, perseverance, and faith, things don’t turn out the way we’d planned...                      

  So back to the Gospel.  When the woman first approaches Jesus, he appears to ignore her. That’s kind of surprising, isn’t it? That’s not the response we would expect from Jesus.  Is Jesus being rude, cold-hearted?  How do we explain Jesus’ silence?  How do we explain the silence of God in our lives? Sometimes when we pray to God in our distress, we don’t get the answer we’re looking for. We’ve been praying for a family member to recover, but she dies.  Did God not hear our prayers?  Is he ignoring us and our pleas?  Like the Canaanite woman, God’s response to our prayers is silence.  This is hard for us humans to understand.  But we must remember:  God works in mysterious ways. The apparent silence of God is not his cold-heartedness, but rather our inability to see and hear what God is doing; to understand his plan for us.  So Jesus did not answer right away. Perhaps he wanted the woman to demonstrate her faith, to stretch it out a bit. And maybe he wanted to teach his disciples a lesson in humility and faith, too.  It seemed as though the disciples maybe had a little cold-heartedness in them, a little sense of entitlement, because they asked Jesus to send her away because she was annoying them.  And so Jesus tells her, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel,” which was the truth.  In his earthly ministry, Jesus was sent to minister to the house of Israel, that is, to the Jews, to gather them in first. It was not until after his resurrection that the mission would be expanded in a major way to include the Gentiles.  In spite of his seeming rebuke, the Canaanite woman persists. She perseveres. She kneels before Jesus and says, “Lord, help me.” But again, another obstacle is placed in her way. Jesus replies, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” That is to say, “It’s not right to take the blessings promised to the children of Israel and give them to the Gentiles.”  That seems harsh on Jesus’ part, doesn’t it?  It doesn’t sound like the Jesus we know at all.    It’s true that the Jews referred to the Gentiles as “dogs,” as a term of disrespect, a derogatory insult.  However, there’s something interesting in the word Jesus chose here.  In the Greek language, there are two words for dog-- The one the Jews used to insult Gentiles, and a second.  According to scripture scholars, Jesus used the word that can be translated as “little pet dogs,” or “doggies.” An affectionate term, used for dogs that lived in the house and were taken care of.  She seizes on his choice of words and immediately replies:  “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” (now I don’t know about you, but this is the only time I can think of where someone seems to get the best of Jesus.  HE is usually the one with the great come-backs; but here, we can see how this Gentile woman’s response perhaps even caused Jesus to smile and think:  “good answer.”)    The woman came, not self-righteously, with a sense of entitlement like the Jews, but humbly throwing herself on the Lord’s mercy. She was willing to be a dog that eats the scraps off the table, if it meant getting to be around the Lord’s table; because that’s where the blessings are.  And when it came to her daughter’s health, she would not take “no” for an answer.  The Canaanite woman did not give up when obstacles were placed in her way. She persevered. She exhibited great faith—the kind of faith that even impressed our Lord.  And, my friends, God wants us to have that same kind of faith—a persevering faith in a merciful Lord. God wants us to come to Jesus, time and time again, in spite of any obstacles we may face.  To come to him and humbly say:  Lord, help me.             

     Many times, it is just easier to give up.  People do it all the time.  When there is suffering in their life, they give up and think that God is uncaring. When something goes wrong, people give up and stop turning to Jesus. When something at church doesn’t go the way they like, people give up and stop coming to church. But God does not want us to give up. He wants us to persevere, in faith, like the Canaanite woman did, and to seek--and find--his mercy and blessings. When things go bad, that’s the time to turn TO Jesus, not away from him. 

     We need to be the woman in today’s Gospel.  We need to persevere in faith in the face of all of the obstacles placed in front of us by today’s society.  Rather than say:  “I give up” we need to say:  “I give IN”—to God’s will; to God’s plan for my life.  With humility, perseverance and faith, we need to approach Jesus in the sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist.  Then maybe one day we will hear those beautiful words of the Gospel:  “Great is your faith!  Be it done for you as you desire.”