1 Kings 12:26-32; 13:33-34
Psalm 106:6-7, 19-22
Mark 8:1-10
This is the second story we have where Jesus feeds a lot of people with just a little food. In the other story, there are 5000 families, five loaves, and two fish. This time there are only 4000 families, and Jesus starts with more food: seven loaves and a few fish. Also, more food is left over the first time, twelve baskets full versus seven baskets full.
Some scholars think that Jesus only did it one time and the Apostles remembered the numbers differently and made it into two stories, but St. Mark considered the difference between the two stories so important that out of only about 11,000 words in his Gospel, he devotes 160 to tell the story the first time and another 140 to tell it this second time. This would be sort of wasteful just to get both sets of numbers down. No, Mark either wrote both down to let us know that it all happened at least twice or, and this is more likely yet, because he wants us to compare the two events and learn something.
If we are going to learn something, we should begin with the disciples. Did they learn anything? Last time, they told Jesus to dismiss the crowd. This time, they trust Jesus. He calls them, not at the end of one day, but after three days of teaching. Last time, the disciples went to Jesus as it was getting late in the day, because they were afraid that he did not know that the people are hungry; this time, they trust him. Jesus knows that the people need to eat, and he cares that the people need to eat. After two days someone could have accused Jesus of letting the people starve to death, of being uncaring, but Jesus knew that he could provide for the people when the people needed providing for.
Sometimes it seems as if we are not being provided for because we see a need in the future and do not have the solution right now. We do not know how we are going to get over the next mountain which we see looming on the road ahead. Jesus wants us to stop worrying about the next mountain and focus on the road under our feet. We have everything we need for right now. The concerns of each day are sufficient; do not be anxious about tomorrow.
Daily Homilies
Showing posts with label Control. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Control. Show all posts
January 16, 2014 - Thursday of the First Week in Ordinary Time
1 Samuel 4:1-11
Psalm 44:10-11, 14-15, 24-25
Mark 1:40-45
Whose side is God on in a war? Neither side. God is greater than humans, so he cannot be on our side. We can be on his side, in the sense that we can do what is right. Whenever we do what is right, we are on his side. Indeed, two men on opposite sides of the battle, each one fighting for his country, trying to do what is right, could both be on God’s side. Such are the unfortunate circumstances of this fallen world.
The Israelites were losing their war with the Philistines, but then they had an idea. They thought that they could not possibly fail once they had brought the Ark of the Covenant into their camp. Then they lost the war worse than ever before. They had faith in the power of God to win the battle for them. The Philistines were frightened at the thought of fighting against the powerful God of the Israelites. So what went wrong? The Israelites forgot to account for one thing: God is not our slave who does whatever we tell him to do.
God is powerful, but his power is not at our beck and call. If God had let the Israelites win that battle, what sort of lesson would it have been for them? They would have thought of the Ark as a magical device. They would have thought of God as a power that they could control. We are constantly tempted to see God as our servant and to be upset with God when he does not do as he is told.
Either God is our servant, or he is our equal, or we are his servants. Which is the truth? The truth requires us to submit in service to God. This means that I must view my life as that of a servant. This is a completely different mindset that affects my whole life. The purpose of my life is not to seek pleasure or to amass wealth or to win the esteem of my fellow humans. The purpose of my life is to serve, and that is the purpose of your life too. It does not matter – deacon, priest, husband, wife, whatever – we are called to serve. To live as a servant is to grow up, to be an adult. This world is full of the spectacle of fully grown people wanting to be served like children. We Christians are called to put away childish things, to be grown ups, which means being servants.
Psalm 44:10-11, 14-15, 24-25
Mark 1:40-45
Whose side is God on in a war? Neither side. God is greater than humans, so he cannot be on our side. We can be on his side, in the sense that we can do what is right. Whenever we do what is right, we are on his side. Indeed, two men on opposite sides of the battle, each one fighting for his country, trying to do what is right, could both be on God’s side. Such are the unfortunate circumstances of this fallen world.
The Israelites were losing their war with the Philistines, but then they had an idea. They thought that they could not possibly fail once they had brought the Ark of the Covenant into their camp. Then they lost the war worse than ever before. They had faith in the power of God to win the battle for them. The Philistines were frightened at the thought of fighting against the powerful God of the Israelites. So what went wrong? The Israelites forgot to account for one thing: God is not our slave who does whatever we tell him to do.
God is powerful, but his power is not at our beck and call. If God had let the Israelites win that battle, what sort of lesson would it have been for them? They would have thought of the Ark as a magical device. They would have thought of God as a power that they could control. We are constantly tempted to see God as our servant and to be upset with God when he does not do as he is told.
Either God is our servant, or he is our equal, or we are his servants. Which is the truth? The truth requires us to submit in service to God. This means that I must view my life as that of a servant. This is a completely different mindset that affects my whole life. The purpose of my life is not to seek pleasure or to amass wealth or to win the esteem of my fellow humans. The purpose of my life is to serve, and that is the purpose of your life too. It does not matter – deacon, priest, husband, wife, whatever – we are called to serve. To live as a servant is to grow up, to be an adult. This world is full of the spectacle of fully grown people wanting to be served like children. We Christians are called to put away childish things, to be grown ups, which means being servants.
December 11, 2012 - Tuesday of the Second Week of Advent
Isaiah 40:1-11
Psalm 96:1-3, 10-13
Matthew 18:12-14
The people of Israel were anxious for the Lord to come and make right all that was wrong in the world. As Isaiah the prophet prophesied, “Here comes with power the Lord God, who rules by his strong arm. Here is his reward with him, his recompense before him.” The strongest argument against the Gospel, against the idea that Jesus is the Messiah, is that the world is still more or less damaged. But Jesus says that he is going to accomplish his task gently, like a shepherd with a lost lamb. The Kingdom of Heaven will grow in the world like yeast in dough. And it is happening. The past two thousand years have seen more progress than the rest of human history combined. Not only progress in technology, but in every area of human life: politics, agriculture, medicine, economics, sciences of every kind.
It is without dispute that there still are failures of our political system, but that does not deny the advances. Sickness still exists, but so do many cures. Poverty still exists, but not like 2000 years ago. Certainly there are still problems in the world, but solutions seem possible in a way that they did not before Christ came. Consider agriculture: for thousands of years, humans farmed and grew very little. In the past 2000 years, slowly methods were developed so that a hamburger is available at McDonalds for 99 cents. And in ethics too: the end of racism and other forms of prejudice, if not achieved, are at least generally agreed upon as goals.
And where did this progress come from? It came from places where the Gospel had gone. Certainly other people had invented and developed great ideas, but it went nowhere in general. In every other part of the world, as had happened for thousands of years, new developments came and faded away. Real progress was only made where the Gospel was. Why? Partly because most religions said that progress was impossible, that the material world was something to be hated or at least ignored, while others said that nature was to be worshiped and not changed. It is certainly not because of any lack of intelligence or ingenuity in other countries. Judaism contained the idea that the world could be better some day. Christianity told us that we were the ones, guided by the Holy Spirit, who were going to make it that way. We wait for Jesus to return, but in the meantime we have a responsibility to make this world better. Not only with the power that comes from technology, but also better ethics and better politics and better ways for humans to live together.
Psalm 96:1-3, 10-13
Matthew 18:12-14
The people of Israel were anxious for the Lord to come and make right all that was wrong in the world. As Isaiah the prophet prophesied, “Here comes with power the Lord God, who rules by his strong arm. Here is his reward with him, his recompense before him.” The strongest argument against the Gospel, against the idea that Jesus is the Messiah, is that the world is still more or less damaged. But Jesus says that he is going to accomplish his task gently, like a shepherd with a lost lamb. The Kingdom of Heaven will grow in the world like yeast in dough. And it is happening. The past two thousand years have seen more progress than the rest of human history combined. Not only progress in technology, but in every area of human life: politics, agriculture, medicine, economics, sciences of every kind.
It is without dispute that there still are failures of our political system, but that does not deny the advances. Sickness still exists, but so do many cures. Poverty still exists, but not like 2000 years ago. Certainly there are still problems in the world, but solutions seem possible in a way that they did not before Christ came. Consider agriculture: for thousands of years, humans farmed and grew very little. In the past 2000 years, slowly methods were developed so that a hamburger is available at McDonalds for 99 cents. And in ethics too: the end of racism and other forms of prejudice, if not achieved, are at least generally agreed upon as goals.
And where did this progress come from? It came from places where the Gospel had gone. Certainly other people had invented and developed great ideas, but it went nowhere in general. In every other part of the world, as had happened for thousands of years, new developments came and faded away. Real progress was only made where the Gospel was. Why? Partly because most religions said that progress was impossible, that the material world was something to be hated or at least ignored, while others said that nature was to be worshiped and not changed. It is certainly not because of any lack of intelligence or ingenuity in other countries. Judaism contained the idea that the world could be better some day. Christianity told us that we were the ones, guided by the Holy Spirit, who were going to make it that way. We wait for Jesus to return, but in the meantime we have a responsibility to make this world better. Not only with the power that comes from technology, but also better ethics and better politics and better ways for humans to live together.
May 23, 2012 - Wednesday of the Seventh Week of Easter.
Acts 20:28-38
Psalm 68:29-30, 33-36
John 17:11-19
Eventually we all have to turn over the fruits of our hard work to someone else. Whether you have spent forty years building up a company, sixty years maintaining a home, or eighteen years guiding and protecting a child, when the inevitable moment arrives that you have to let someone else take over, it is not possible to simply let go in an instant.
We see this emotion in St. Paul, in the first reading, and Jesus, in the Gospel; they are both saying goodbye. They have both been preparing people for years and the end of the preparation is near. God’s will called each of them to something else. They are ready to do the will of the Father, but they each take one last moment to say goodbye.
Jesus offers his goodbye in the form of a prayer to the Father. He is praying to the Father, but he knows that the disciples are listening. He prays that the Father will consecrate his disciples in the truth. He contrasts being consecrated in the truth to being from the world. His disciples will have to live in the world in order to convert the world, but he does not want them to be from the world. Instead, he wants them to be in the truth.
Jesus knows that he is leaving us in a dangerous place. The world is a dangerous place for a Christian. More dangerous for what it does to our soul than what it might do to our bodies. He knows that he has prepared his disciples. He has given them the greatest possible weapon against the world: truth. He has told his disciples the truth, but he knows that that will not be enough. He has prepared them as well as possible, but they need more. He asks the Father to wash them in the truth, until every lie is gone. Every false promise of happiness that the world tells us is destroyed by the truth that our happiness is in God alone.
If Jesus was willing to leave the Church in the hands of his eleven Apostles, we can surely give up control over anything we have taken care of. We do not need to fear. Not because the world is not dangerous (it is dangerous), nor because our preparation has been perfect (it has not been perfect), but because we have a Father in heaven who is guiding all of history to his good purpose.
Psalm 68:29-30, 33-36
John 17:11-19
Eventually we all have to turn over the fruits of our hard work to someone else. Whether you have spent forty years building up a company, sixty years maintaining a home, or eighteen years guiding and protecting a child, when the inevitable moment arrives that you have to let someone else take over, it is not possible to simply let go in an instant.
We see this emotion in St. Paul, in the first reading, and Jesus, in the Gospel; they are both saying goodbye. They have both been preparing people for years and the end of the preparation is near. God’s will called each of them to something else. They are ready to do the will of the Father, but they each take one last moment to say goodbye.
Jesus offers his goodbye in the form of a prayer to the Father. He is praying to the Father, but he knows that the disciples are listening. He prays that the Father will consecrate his disciples in the truth. He contrasts being consecrated in the truth to being from the world. His disciples will have to live in the world in order to convert the world, but he does not want them to be from the world. Instead, he wants them to be in the truth.
Jesus knows that he is leaving us in a dangerous place. The world is a dangerous place for a Christian. More dangerous for what it does to our soul than what it might do to our bodies. He knows that he has prepared his disciples. He has given them the greatest possible weapon against the world: truth. He has told his disciples the truth, but he knows that that will not be enough. He has prepared them as well as possible, but they need more. He asks the Father to wash them in the truth, until every lie is gone. Every false promise of happiness that the world tells us is destroyed by the truth that our happiness is in God alone.
If Jesus was willing to leave the Church in the hands of his eleven Apostles, we can surely give up control over anything we have taken care of. We do not need to fear. Not because the world is not dangerous (it is dangerous), nor because our preparation has been perfect (it has not been perfect), but because we have a Father in heaven who is guiding all of history to his good purpose.
March 30, 2012 - Friday of the Fifth Week of Lent
Today's Readings
We see in the Gospel today how carefully St. John emphasizes that Jesus was always in complete control of his situation. Even when he was surrounded by Jews with rocks in their hands, ready to arrest him, he escaped. It was not yet the right time. Jesus’ hour was near but had not yet come. Even though there were plots against Jesus from all sides, even from one of the Apostles, no attempt against Jesus could have succeeded unless he chose to hand himself over to them. Each person, from Judas to Pontius Pilate, acted of his own free will, yet each played a role in God’s plan. This does not remove their guilt. God used their evil intentions to accomplish our salvation. Nevertheless, they would never have been able to arrest Jesus and kill him without his permission.
God will use us for his good purposes. Our choice is not whether we will help God or hurt him. We will be part of his plan for the world; this is not our choice. Our choice is whether we will cooperate with God and be rewarded by him or fight against God and do his will in spite of ourselves. We can follow Jesus, or we can pick up stones. We can stand with Jesus at the foot of the Cross, or we can hammer in the nails. We can ask Jesus to remember us, or we can insult him. Jesus is going to die on the cross, the play is written; we must choose which part we will take.
Jesus is suffering and dying right now, when any member of the Body of Christ is suffering and dying. Members of his Body are starving right now. Members of his Body are thirsty right now. Members of his Body are lonely right now. Members of his Body are homeless right now. Members of his Body are sick right now. Members of his Body are naked right now. The poor will always be with us, that is certain, but will we be the ones who ignore the poor or the ones who serve them? Will we be like St. Francis and serve the poor with our whole lives or like the rich man who ignored Lazarus at his front door? Both roles are available. There will be heroes; there will be villains. Which role will you take? Who do you want to be?
We see in the Gospel today how carefully St. John emphasizes that Jesus was always in complete control of his situation. Even when he was surrounded by Jews with rocks in their hands, ready to arrest him, he escaped. It was not yet the right time. Jesus’ hour was near but had not yet come. Even though there were plots against Jesus from all sides, even from one of the Apostles, no attempt against Jesus could have succeeded unless he chose to hand himself over to them. Each person, from Judas to Pontius Pilate, acted of his own free will, yet each played a role in God’s plan. This does not remove their guilt. God used their evil intentions to accomplish our salvation. Nevertheless, they would never have been able to arrest Jesus and kill him without his permission.
God will use us for his good purposes. Our choice is not whether we will help God or hurt him. We will be part of his plan for the world; this is not our choice. Our choice is whether we will cooperate with God and be rewarded by him or fight against God and do his will in spite of ourselves. We can follow Jesus, or we can pick up stones. We can stand with Jesus at the foot of the Cross, or we can hammer in the nails. We can ask Jesus to remember us, or we can insult him. Jesus is going to die on the cross, the play is written; we must choose which part we will take.
Jesus is suffering and dying right now, when any member of the Body of Christ is suffering and dying. Members of his Body are starving right now. Members of his Body are thirsty right now. Members of his Body are lonely right now. Members of his Body are homeless right now. Members of his Body are sick right now. Members of his Body are naked right now. The poor will always be with us, that is certain, but will we be the ones who ignore the poor or the ones who serve them? Will we be like St. Francis and serve the poor with our whole lives or like the rich man who ignored Lazarus at his front door? Both roles are available. There will be heroes; there will be villains. Which role will you take? Who do you want to be?
February 11, 2012 - Saturday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
Today's Readings
This is the second story we have where Jesus feeds a lot of people with just a little food. In the other story, there are 5000 families, five loaves, and two fish. This time there are only 4000 families, and Jesus starts with more food: seven loaves and a few fish. Also, more food is left over the first time, twelve baskets full versus seven baskets full.
Some scholars think that Jesus only did it one time and the Apostles remembered the numbers differently and made it into two stories, but St. Mark considered the difference between the two stories so important that out of only about 11,000 words in his Gospel, he devotes 160 to tell the story the first time and another 140 to tell it this second time. This would be sort of wasteful just to get both sets of numbers down. No, Mark either wrote both down to let us know that it all happened twice or, and this is more likely yet, because he wants us to compare the two events and learn something.
If we are going to learn something, we should begin with the disciples. Did they learn anything? Last time, they told Jesus to dismiss the crowd. This time, they trust Jesus. He calls them, not at the end of one day, but after three days of teaching. Last time, the disciples went to Jesus as it was getting late in the day, because they were afraid that he did not know that the people are hungry; this time, they trust him. Jesus knows that the people need to eat, and he cares that the people need to eat. After two days someone could have accused Jesus of letting the people starve to death, of being uncaring, but Jesus knew that he could provide for the people when the people needed providing for.
Sometimes it seems as if we are not being provided for because we see a need in the future and do not have the solution right now. We do not know how we are going to get over the next mountain which we see looming on the road ahead. Jesus wants us to stop worrying about the next mountain and focus on the road under our feet. Right now, we are still afloat. We have everything we need for right now. The concerns of each day are sufficient; do not be anxious about tomorrow.
This is the second story we have where Jesus feeds a lot of people with just a little food. In the other story, there are 5000 families, five loaves, and two fish. This time there are only 4000 families, and Jesus starts with more food: seven loaves and a few fish. Also, more food is left over the first time, twelve baskets full versus seven baskets full.
Some scholars think that Jesus only did it one time and the Apostles remembered the numbers differently and made it into two stories, but St. Mark considered the difference between the two stories so important that out of only about 11,000 words in his Gospel, he devotes 160 to tell the story the first time and another 140 to tell it this second time. This would be sort of wasteful just to get both sets of numbers down. No, Mark either wrote both down to let us know that it all happened twice or, and this is more likely yet, because he wants us to compare the two events and learn something.
If we are going to learn something, we should begin with the disciples. Did they learn anything? Last time, they told Jesus to dismiss the crowd. This time, they trust Jesus. He calls them, not at the end of one day, but after three days of teaching. Last time, the disciples went to Jesus as it was getting late in the day, because they were afraid that he did not know that the people are hungry; this time, they trust him. Jesus knows that the people need to eat, and he cares that the people need to eat. After two days someone could have accused Jesus of letting the people starve to death, of being uncaring, but Jesus knew that he could provide for the people when the people needed providing for.
Sometimes it seems as if we are not being provided for because we see a need in the future and do not have the solution right now. We do not know how we are going to get over the next mountain which we see looming on the road ahead. Jesus wants us to stop worrying about the next mountain and focus on the road under our feet. Right now, we are still afloat. We have everything we need for right now. The concerns of each day are sufficient; do not be anxious about tomorrow.
January 21, 2012 - Memorial of Saint Agnes, Virgin and Martyr
Today's Readings
David’s eulogy of Saul, the king of Israel who preceded him, is rather different than Samuel’s description of a king. It was just last Friday that we heard Samuel warn the people of Israel how bad it would be to have a king, that a king would enslave the people and take what is rightfully theirs through oppressive taxes. Today, David tells the women of Israel to weep over Saul, “who clothed you in scarlet and put golden ornaments on you.” As if before the days of Saul, women had never owned nice clothing or jewelry!
We see here the transformation that Samuel warned about. It is not that the people of Israel are better off, but they are told to pretend that what portion they have, what is left to them after the king has taken what he wants, is a gift from the king. We should not be fooled by David’s sentimental attitude. King Saul did not provide anything for the people. At best, he gave them back a portion of what he had taken from them.
It is like the government in our country. People want the government to provide things for them, but the government cannot provide anything which it did not first take away. Our president would like us to be grateful that he is going to give us all health care for free. Really, he is going to take our money and then spend it on the health care he thinks we should have. We should be grateful for this? Saying that the government is providing something is just a convoluted way of saying that the government is controlling another aspect of our lives. It is as if someone offers to take you out to dinner, orders your dinner for you, then takes the check and pays with your credit card.
The government plays an important role in make sure that the wealthy provide for the poor. This is the responsibility of the wealthy, and we cannot deny that many wealthy people fail in their responsibility. But when the government offers free education, so long as it is their education, and free healthcare, so long as it is on their terms, with abortion and birth control, and free food, so long as we eat what they tell us to eat, this is not an act of charity.
If we want to be free, we must fight against two kinds of people: politicians who offer to pay for things and rich people who think that since they earned their money they can spend it however they want.
David’s eulogy of Saul, the king of Israel who preceded him, is rather different than Samuel’s description of a king. It was just last Friday that we heard Samuel warn the people of Israel how bad it would be to have a king, that a king would enslave the people and take what is rightfully theirs through oppressive taxes. Today, David tells the women of Israel to weep over Saul, “who clothed you in scarlet and put golden ornaments on you.” As if before the days of Saul, women had never owned nice clothing or jewelry!
We see here the transformation that Samuel warned about. It is not that the people of Israel are better off, but they are told to pretend that what portion they have, what is left to them after the king has taken what he wants, is a gift from the king. We should not be fooled by David’s sentimental attitude. King Saul did not provide anything for the people. At best, he gave them back a portion of what he had taken from them.
It is like the government in our country. People want the government to provide things for them, but the government cannot provide anything which it did not first take away. Our president would like us to be grateful that he is going to give us all health care for free. Really, he is going to take our money and then spend it on the health care he thinks we should have. We should be grateful for this? Saying that the government is providing something is just a convoluted way of saying that the government is controlling another aspect of our lives. It is as if someone offers to take you out to dinner, orders your dinner for you, then takes the check and pays with your credit card.
The government plays an important role in make sure that the wealthy provide for the poor. This is the responsibility of the wealthy, and we cannot deny that many wealthy people fail in their responsibility. But when the government offers free education, so long as it is their education, and free healthcare, so long as it is on their terms, with abortion and birth control, and free food, so long as we eat what they tell us to eat, this is not an act of charity.
If we want to be free, we must fight against two kinds of people: politicians who offer to pay for things and rich people who think that since they earned their money they can spend it however they want.
January 12, 2012 - Thursday of the First Week in Ordinary Time
Today's Readings
Whose side is God on in a war? Neither side. God is greater than humans, so he cannot be on our side. We can be on his side, in the sense that we can do what is right. Whenever we do what is right, we are on his side. Indeed, two men on opposite sides of the battle, each one fighting for his country, trying to do what is right, could both be on God’s side. Such are the unfortunate circumstances of this fallen world.
The Israelites were losing their war with the Philistines, but then they had an idea. They thought that they could not possibly fail once they had brought the Ark of the Covenant into their camp. Then they lost the war worse than ever before. They had faith in the power of God to win the battle for them. The Philistines were frightened at the thought of fighting against the powerful God of the Israelites. So what went wrong? The Israelites forgot to account for one thing: God is not our slave who does whatever we tell him to do.
God is powerful, but his power is not at our beck and call. If God had let the Israelites win that battle, what sort of lesson would it have been for them? They would have thought of the Ark as a magical device. They would have thought of God as a power that they could control. We are constantly tempted to see God as our servant and to be upset with God when he does not do as he is told.
We cannot be entirely independent of God, so we must either see ourselves as his servants or see him as ours. The only solution is to submit in service to God. I must view my life as that of a servant. This is a completely different mindset that affects my whole life. The purpose of my life is not to seek pleasure or to amass wealth or to win the esteem of my fellow humans. The purpose of my life is to serve, and that is the purpose of your life too. It does not matter – deacon, priest, husband, wife, whatever – we are called to serve. To live as a servant is to grow up, to be an adult. This world is full of the spectacle of fully grown people wanting to be served like children. We Christians are called to put away childish things.
Whose side is God on in a war? Neither side. God is greater than humans, so he cannot be on our side. We can be on his side, in the sense that we can do what is right. Whenever we do what is right, we are on his side. Indeed, two men on opposite sides of the battle, each one fighting for his country, trying to do what is right, could both be on God’s side. Such are the unfortunate circumstances of this fallen world.
The Israelites were losing their war with the Philistines, but then they had an idea. They thought that they could not possibly fail once they had brought the Ark of the Covenant into their camp. Then they lost the war worse than ever before. They had faith in the power of God to win the battle for them. The Philistines were frightened at the thought of fighting against the powerful God of the Israelites. So what went wrong? The Israelites forgot to account for one thing: God is not our slave who does whatever we tell him to do.
God is powerful, but his power is not at our beck and call. If God had let the Israelites win that battle, what sort of lesson would it have been for them? They would have thought of the Ark as a magical device. They would have thought of God as a power that they could control. We are constantly tempted to see God as our servant and to be upset with God when he does not do as he is told.
We cannot be entirely independent of God, so we must either see ourselves as his servants or see him as ours. The only solution is to submit in service to God. I must view my life as that of a servant. This is a completely different mindset that affects my whole life. The purpose of my life is not to seek pleasure or to amass wealth or to win the esteem of my fellow humans. The purpose of my life is to serve, and that is the purpose of your life too. It does not matter – deacon, priest, husband, wife, whatever – we are called to serve. To live as a servant is to grow up, to be an adult. This world is full of the spectacle of fully grown people wanting to be served like children. We Christians are called to put away childish things.
October 23, 2011 - Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today's Readings
"You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment”; greatest because God is the greatest, first because this law was in our hearts from the first moment of creation.
“The second is like it: you shall love your neighbor as yourself”, which is to say that these two commandments do not pull us in two directions. When we love God, how could we fail to love his creation? Can you love a friend and hate their children? Can you love an artist and hate his art? Can you love your spouse and hate their reflection? Yet we are the children of God; we are the work of his hands; we are made in the image of God. We cannot love God completely, with all our heart, soul, and mind, unless we love those whom he loves, and he loves everyone.
Moreover, our ability to love is tested by other people because they are clearly other. We either love the God who is or we love some God whom we have created in our own minds. If I do not love the people who are not me, then I do not love the God who is not me. I can be fooled by thinking that my imaginary god is the real God, but not so with the people I see face to face.
Anyone can love the image of God they have made in their own mind. We create this idol and make him exactly how we think he ought to be. We do not make this idol out of silver or gold, but out of our imagination. This imaginary god does not challenge us in any way. Indeed, our own personal god probably tells us that we have been right all along and condemns anyone we disagree with.
This is how Satan suggested we live: completely independently, no need for other people and no need for God. We will make our own imaginary friends and our own imaginary god. We can love ourselves above all, and ourselves like ourselves. Satan tempted Eve by telling her she could be like God, which was a lie, but also a strange temptation. Why did we want to be like God, independent of the true God? How nice would it be now to go back to that garden and have God take care of us!
Every one of us has enthroned in our minds an idol of God to some extent. We should tear it down. When we are worshipping an idol of God, we say things like, “The God I believe in would never…” or “I cannot believe in a God who….” In reality, God is who he is, not who we want him to be, so, like the Thessalonians, we need to turn “from idols to serve the living and true God.”
It is true that God is not any of the idols. He is not my idol, but he also is not your idol. So perhaps, we are merely reacting against someone else’s imaginary god, which is fine, but we must be ready for the idea that the living and true God does not agree with everything we think. We should always be ready to destroy our own ideas about God when confronted by the truth.
What truth is that? Consider what Jesus says: “The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.” In other words, God has never said anything except that we should love. Everything he ever said was a way of saying “love”. Nice, huh? Well, at least until we read the law and the prophets:
And Samuel said to Saul, "The LORD sent me to anoint you king over his people Israel; now therefore listen to the words of the LORD. “Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘I have noted what Amalek did to Israel in opposing them on the way when they came up out of Egypt. Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”
That means love, right? It is a prophet, and Samuel is one of the greatest prophets of Israel. This is not some obscure text of the Old Testament, and similar things can be found with Moses and Joshua and David and Elijah and Elisha. If we imagine that Samuel the prophet was lying or that it was recorded incorrectly in Scripture, then what can we trust in the Old Testament? Is the Bible only true to the extent that we agree with it?
Even our first reading today, all about caring for the widows and the orphans and the immigrants and the poor, contains the threat: “If ever you wrong them and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry. My wrath will flare up, and I will kill you with the sword; then your own wives will be widows, and your children orphans.” Sort of “love your neighbor or else.”
What are we to say? If our image of God has no room for God as he has been revealed to us, then we are just inventing a god in our own minds, an idol made according to our specifications. Go out into the world and pick and choose among the religions created by wise men. Even the wisest, with the best gods or goddesses, will just be a creation of the human mind.
Our religion claims something more. We claim that, first to the Jews and then to the world, God has revealed himself, first through prophets and then in his Son, Jesus Christ. It is an extraordinary claim, and the question is not whether we like this image of God, not whether he fits us like a shoe we are trying on, but whether this extraordinary claim is true. If it isn’t, what is the point in believing it? If it is, what is the point in believing something else?
As for me, I trust what Jesus says: everything in the law and the prophets can be summarized in these two commandments: love God and love your neighbor. If I hear God say some of the things to me that I can read in the Old Testament, like about killing people, I will have myself committed to a mental health facility, but I can trust, without understanding, that God knows, and has always known, what he is doing and that God loves, and has always loved, each one of us.
I like the fact that I do not understand everything about God, that way I know that I did not invent him. My God is real, and he knows more than I do and sees more than I do. I did not create him; he created me, and I love him with all my heart, all my soul, and all my mind, and I love my neighbor as myself, or at least I want to.
"You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment”; greatest because God is the greatest, first because this law was in our hearts from the first moment of creation.
“The second is like it: you shall love your neighbor as yourself”, which is to say that these two commandments do not pull us in two directions. When we love God, how could we fail to love his creation? Can you love a friend and hate their children? Can you love an artist and hate his art? Can you love your spouse and hate their reflection? Yet we are the children of God; we are the work of his hands; we are made in the image of God. We cannot love God completely, with all our heart, soul, and mind, unless we love those whom he loves, and he loves everyone.
Moreover, our ability to love is tested by other people because they are clearly other. We either love the God who is or we love some God whom we have created in our own minds. If I do not love the people who are not me, then I do not love the God who is not me. I can be fooled by thinking that my imaginary god is the real God, but not so with the people I see face to face.
Anyone can love the image of God they have made in their own mind. We create this idol and make him exactly how we think he ought to be. We do not make this idol out of silver or gold, but out of our imagination. This imaginary god does not challenge us in any way. Indeed, our own personal god probably tells us that we have been right all along and condemns anyone we disagree with.
This is how Satan suggested we live: completely independently, no need for other people and no need for God. We will make our own imaginary friends and our own imaginary god. We can love ourselves above all, and ourselves like ourselves. Satan tempted Eve by telling her she could be like God, which was a lie, but also a strange temptation. Why did we want to be like God, independent of the true God? How nice would it be now to go back to that garden and have God take care of us!
Every one of us has enthroned in our minds an idol of God to some extent. We should tear it down. When we are worshipping an idol of God, we say things like, “The God I believe in would never…” or “I cannot believe in a God who….” In reality, God is who he is, not who we want him to be, so, like the Thessalonians, we need to turn “from idols to serve the living and true God.”
It is true that God is not any of the idols. He is not my idol, but he also is not your idol. So perhaps, we are merely reacting against someone else’s imaginary god, which is fine, but we must be ready for the idea that the living and true God does not agree with everything we think. We should always be ready to destroy our own ideas about God when confronted by the truth.
What truth is that? Consider what Jesus says: “The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.” In other words, God has never said anything except that we should love. Everything he ever said was a way of saying “love”. Nice, huh? Well, at least until we read the law and the prophets:
And Samuel said to Saul, "The LORD sent me to anoint you king over his people Israel; now therefore listen to the words of the LORD. “Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘I have noted what Amalek did to Israel in opposing them on the way when they came up out of Egypt. Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”
That means love, right? It is a prophet, and Samuel is one of the greatest prophets of Israel. This is not some obscure text of the Old Testament, and similar things can be found with Moses and Joshua and David and Elijah and Elisha. If we imagine that Samuel the prophet was lying or that it was recorded incorrectly in Scripture, then what can we trust in the Old Testament? Is the Bible only true to the extent that we agree with it?
Even our first reading today, all about caring for the widows and the orphans and the immigrants and the poor, contains the threat: “If ever you wrong them and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry. My wrath will flare up, and I will kill you with the sword; then your own wives will be widows, and your children orphans.” Sort of “love your neighbor or else.”
What are we to say? If our image of God has no room for God as he has been revealed to us, then we are just inventing a god in our own minds, an idol made according to our specifications. Go out into the world and pick and choose among the religions created by wise men. Even the wisest, with the best gods or goddesses, will just be a creation of the human mind.
Our religion claims something more. We claim that, first to the Jews and then to the world, God has revealed himself, first through prophets and then in his Son, Jesus Christ. It is an extraordinary claim, and the question is not whether we like this image of God, not whether he fits us like a shoe we are trying on, but whether this extraordinary claim is true. If it isn’t, what is the point in believing it? If it is, what is the point in believing something else?
As for me, I trust what Jesus says: everything in the law and the prophets can be summarized in these two commandments: love God and love your neighbor. If I hear God say some of the things to me that I can read in the Old Testament, like about killing people, I will have myself committed to a mental health facility, but I can trust, without understanding, that God knows, and has always known, what he is doing and that God loves, and has always loved, each one of us.
I like the fact that I do not understand everything about God, that way I know that I did not invent him. My God is real, and he knows more than I do and sees more than I do. I did not create him; he created me, and I love him with all my heart, all my soul, and all my mind, and I love my neighbor as myself, or at least I want to.
October 2, 2011 - Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today's Readings
No one, not even a priest, may add, remove, or change anything in the liturgy on his own authority. Nevertheless, some priests do, and of all the things which priests change at Mass on their own authority, one thing I have heard that particularly bothers me is when a priest changes the phrase “protect us from all anxiety” to “protect us from all unnecessary anxiety.” The strange implication being that there exists such a thing as “necessary anxiety.” There is no such thing. In our second reading, St. Paul tells us, “Brothers and sisters: have no anxiety at all.”
Anxiety is concern that things may not happen as we have planned. We make plans, and then we are anxious to see those plans through. To be protected from all anxiety does not mean that we stop making plans. It does not mean that we stop trying to succeed in our plans. It means that we are ready to see our plans fail.
Anxiety and control go together. If we try to control what we cannot in fact control, we become anxious. We cannot control this world, even though we want to. We cannot control much of our own lives; indeed, there is very little under our control. The whole world seems to be going to Hell in a handbasket, and there is so very little that we can do about it. Above all, this is because we cannot control other people. We can only live our own lives as well as we are able to.
The epitome of anxiety is a parent who is anxious about their child’s poor decisions. The parent can try to guide their child; they can teach and punish and reward their child, but they cannot become their child and make the right decisions for them. Every parent has plans for their child, but these best-laid plans go often awry. Sometimes this is for good. Sometimes the child has their own plans and their own success which the parent could not have imagined. Sometimes not. Sometimes it is just a disaster. Either way, there is no point to being anxious. Everything will work out or it will not. Who has ever changed anything by being anxious?
Consider the position that God is in. He had plans for his children, plans for every single one of us individually and plans for the whole world. He started us off in a garden, and we destroyed that plan. Every plan that he has had for the world has been foiled by our sinful disobedience. He loves us, and he watches us destroy ourselves, yet he has no anxiety. He has love without anxiety, because he knows that he cannot control us. Of course, he could, if he chose to, but he has chosen for us to have free will instead, and he cannot control us and give us free will at the same time.
So how does he deal with a world full of disobedient children? We see the answer in our readings today. The psalm today poses the question, “Why have you torn down the walls of this vineyard?” Israel is the vineyard. God planted them; he brought them out of Egypt and gave them a country to dwell in, but now he has allowed the Babylonians to conquer and completely destroy what he built. The psalm poses this question and the Old Testament answers it. God has destroyed the vineyard because it had not produced the fruit that he wanted. He looked for justice but saw bloodshed.
God is willing to destroy what he has built up. He does not hesitate to tear down the wall that he built and let wild animals trample the vines he loves. Since we are the vineyard of the Lord, we do not appreciate it: we do not want the wall torn down; we do not want to be trampled, but God does not want wild grapes. We were built for a purpose. God has plans for us to live with him forever in heaven. How can we expect God to continue caring for us if we are not fulfilling the purpose for which he made us?
There is good news. God destroyed Israel, but then he built them back up. From the perspective of 2500 years, we can see that the destruction was always part of the plan for building up. Israel went to Babylon in exile, weeping, but it was there that their faith matured; it was there that they were prepared for the coming of the Messiah. This is easy to see from the perspective of millennia, but it was surely not easy to see while it was happening.
God loves us so much that he will not give up on us. He will not leave us alone to pursue our own destruction. So long as the possibility of saving us remains, he will save us, even if saving us means destroying our lives, even if saving us means tearing down the wall and letting the wild animals trample our lives. This destruction is a common human experience: divorce, losing a job, being convicted of a crime. Many people have seen their lives and the lives of those they love crumble around them. If anyone has not, they nevertheless await the final destruction of everything we have planned in this life, which is death.
So what should we do? Many times God told the Israelites to go willingly to Babylon: we are supposed to accept the destruction as the will of God. When they got to Babylon, they had to resist the worship of pagan Gods: we are supposed to resist in the midst of acceptance. When we are confronted with destruction we need both acceptance and resistance.
What we need is indifference. Indifference is the opposite of anxiety. Not the worldly indifference of simply not caring. We need the indifference of love, where we willingly love God’s plan for our life. This does not mean indifference to anything that happens. It does not simply mean that we accept every injustice that comes our way. It means a constant attitude of abandonment: the readiness to accept what we do not want. Even while we fight injustice, we must be ready to accept the destruction.
Indifference is difficult. It requires that we trust God completely. He loves us, and he is all-powerful. His plan, his overall plan for the universe and his plan for us individually will be fulfilled. It may include destruction, but he will see us through it all. Indifference is difficult, but what is the alternative? Anxiety, which accomplishes nothing? Indifference just means admitting to ourselves that most everything is out of our control, and that is okay.
No one, not even a priest, may add, remove, or change anything in the liturgy on his own authority. Nevertheless, some priests do, and of all the things which priests change at Mass on their own authority, one thing I have heard that particularly bothers me is when a priest changes the phrase “protect us from all anxiety” to “protect us from all unnecessary anxiety.” The strange implication being that there exists such a thing as “necessary anxiety.” There is no such thing. In our second reading, St. Paul tells us, “Brothers and sisters: have no anxiety at all.”
Anxiety is concern that things may not happen as we have planned. We make plans, and then we are anxious to see those plans through. To be protected from all anxiety does not mean that we stop making plans. It does not mean that we stop trying to succeed in our plans. It means that we are ready to see our plans fail.
Anxiety and control go together. If we try to control what we cannot in fact control, we become anxious. We cannot control this world, even though we want to. We cannot control much of our own lives; indeed, there is very little under our control. The whole world seems to be going to Hell in a handbasket, and there is so very little that we can do about it. Above all, this is because we cannot control other people. We can only live our own lives as well as we are able to.
The epitome of anxiety is a parent who is anxious about their child’s poor decisions. The parent can try to guide their child; they can teach and punish and reward their child, but they cannot become their child and make the right decisions for them. Every parent has plans for their child, but these best-laid plans go often awry. Sometimes this is for good. Sometimes the child has their own plans and their own success which the parent could not have imagined. Sometimes not. Sometimes it is just a disaster. Either way, there is no point to being anxious. Everything will work out or it will not. Who has ever changed anything by being anxious?
Consider the position that God is in. He had plans for his children, plans for every single one of us individually and plans for the whole world. He started us off in a garden, and we destroyed that plan. Every plan that he has had for the world has been foiled by our sinful disobedience. He loves us, and he watches us destroy ourselves, yet he has no anxiety. He has love without anxiety, because he knows that he cannot control us. Of course, he could, if he chose to, but he has chosen for us to have free will instead, and he cannot control us and give us free will at the same time.
So how does he deal with a world full of disobedient children? We see the answer in our readings today. The psalm today poses the question, “Why have you torn down the walls of this vineyard?” Israel is the vineyard. God planted them; he brought them out of Egypt and gave them a country to dwell in, but now he has allowed the Babylonians to conquer and completely destroy what he built. The psalm poses this question and the Old Testament answers it. God has destroyed the vineyard because it had not produced the fruit that he wanted. He looked for justice but saw bloodshed.
God is willing to destroy what he has built up. He does not hesitate to tear down the wall that he built and let wild animals trample the vines he loves. Since we are the vineyard of the Lord, we do not appreciate it: we do not want the wall torn down; we do not want to be trampled, but God does not want wild grapes. We were built for a purpose. God has plans for us to live with him forever in heaven. How can we expect God to continue caring for us if we are not fulfilling the purpose for which he made us?
There is good news. God destroyed Israel, but then he built them back up. From the perspective of 2500 years, we can see that the destruction was always part of the plan for building up. Israel went to Babylon in exile, weeping, but it was there that their faith matured; it was there that they were prepared for the coming of the Messiah. This is easy to see from the perspective of millennia, but it was surely not easy to see while it was happening.
God loves us so much that he will not give up on us. He will not leave us alone to pursue our own destruction. So long as the possibility of saving us remains, he will save us, even if saving us means destroying our lives, even if saving us means tearing down the wall and letting the wild animals trample our lives. This destruction is a common human experience: divorce, losing a job, being convicted of a crime. Many people have seen their lives and the lives of those they love crumble around them. If anyone has not, they nevertheless await the final destruction of everything we have planned in this life, which is death.
So what should we do? Many times God told the Israelites to go willingly to Babylon: we are supposed to accept the destruction as the will of God. When they got to Babylon, they had to resist the worship of pagan Gods: we are supposed to resist in the midst of acceptance. When we are confronted with destruction we need both acceptance and resistance.
What we need is indifference. Indifference is the opposite of anxiety. Not the worldly indifference of simply not caring. We need the indifference of love, where we willingly love God’s plan for our life. This does not mean indifference to anything that happens. It does not simply mean that we accept every injustice that comes our way. It means a constant attitude of abandonment: the readiness to accept what we do not want. Even while we fight injustice, we must be ready to accept the destruction.
Indifference is difficult. It requires that we trust God completely. He loves us, and he is all-powerful. His plan, his overall plan for the universe and his plan for us individually will be fulfilled. It may include destruction, but he will see us through it all. Indifference is difficult, but what is the alternative? Anxiety, which accomplishes nothing? Indifference just means admitting to ourselves that most everything is out of our control, and that is okay.
August 16, 2011 - Tuesday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time
Today's Readings
“It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God.” Most of the speculation and consideration of this verse is given to the first half about camels and needles, but the key to understanding the verse properly is understanding the second half properly. Most people seem to think that Jesus is saying that rich people will have a hard time getting into heaven. This is not what Jesus says.
What is the Kingdom of God? It is the reign of God. It is the fact of God being in charge. To enter the Kingdom of God means to accept that God is in charge of your life. Of course, entering the Kingdom of God in this life is a prerequisite to participating in the Resurrection, but they are two separate facts. Jesus is not saying that God does not let rich people into heaven; he is saying that rich people have a lot of trouble submitting to God’s will. It is a corollary to “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.” Poor people have an easier time submitting to God’s will.
Why? Perhaps because poor people are used to submitting to the will of another. Poor people are always having to do what someone else says. Rich people are used to having their own way. I have seen this fact with my own eyes. I have known many rich people, dedicated to the Church, but always insisting on living according to their own rules, like the Hollywood actor who did not like any parish nearby so he built his own chapel and hired his own priest, and now he has abandoned any pretense of following God.
It is so hard for the rich to let God reign in their hearts. It is impossible, humanly speaking, but with God all things are possible. So it does not matter if you are rich or poor, so long as you are letting God be in charge of everything. If you are having trouble giving up control, then get rid of your money or whatever else is stopping you. Love does not insist on having its own way. Sometimes we Christians have to insist on God’s way or on the Church’s way, but we should never insist on having our own way.
“It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God.” Most of the speculation and consideration of this verse is given to the first half about camels and needles, but the key to understanding the verse properly is understanding the second half properly. Most people seem to think that Jesus is saying that rich people will have a hard time getting into heaven. This is not what Jesus says.
What is the Kingdom of God? It is the reign of God. It is the fact of God being in charge. To enter the Kingdom of God means to accept that God is in charge of your life. Of course, entering the Kingdom of God in this life is a prerequisite to participating in the Resurrection, but they are two separate facts. Jesus is not saying that God does not let rich people into heaven; he is saying that rich people have a lot of trouble submitting to God’s will. It is a corollary to “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.” Poor people have an easier time submitting to God’s will.
Why? Perhaps because poor people are used to submitting to the will of another. Poor people are always having to do what someone else says. Rich people are used to having their own way. I have seen this fact with my own eyes. I have known many rich people, dedicated to the Church, but always insisting on living according to their own rules, like the Hollywood actor who did not like any parish nearby so he built his own chapel and hired his own priest, and now he has abandoned any pretense of following God.
It is so hard for the rich to let God reign in their hearts. It is impossible, humanly speaking, but with God all things are possible. So it does not matter if you are rich or poor, so long as you are letting God be in charge of everything. If you are having trouble giving up control, then get rid of your money or whatever else is stopping you. Love does not insist on having its own way. Sometimes we Christians have to insist on God’s way or on the Church’s way, but we should never insist on having our own way.
February 18, 2011 - Friday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time
Today's Readings
The teaching of Jesus today is for those who have already decided to follow him. He is explaining the cost of discipleship. We have to deny ourselves and take up our cross. Jesus sets the denial as a prerequisite to discipleship. Of course, as we grow in our faith, we will have a deeper understanding of what this denial means; as we grow in grace, we will be better equipped to deny ourselves. At the beginning, however, we have to make a positive decision to deny ourselves.
Some people try to follow Jesus without denying themselves. They may be very enthusiastic; they often mean well. They are not trying to disobey Jesus; they merely never learned that denial was the cost of discipleship. They would not commit a sin if it involved hurting somebody, but they are confused by the other side of morality. How many times I have heard someone say, “What good does fasting do? I am going to do something useful instead.”! This is like saying, “What good does bathing do? I am going to eat something instead.” A Christian life that consisted only of doing useful things would be rather pointless. There would be no growth. A Christian should do good things, but they should deny themself also.
Jesus asks, “What profit is there for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” It is possible and popular to interpret this verse to say that no success in this world is worth sinning for. This is true, but this understanding does not fit in with the surrounding verses. Taken as a whole, Jesus is telling us what Socrates told the Athenians, what any good philosopher teaches: the remarkable man is not the one who commands 10,000 other men; the truly remarkable man commands himself. Jesus is not telling us that in pursuit of success we should use lawful means; he is questioning success as the world sees it. What do I want with the whole world? What would I do with it if I had it? My soul, however, I would like to be in control of. I would like to truly be master of myself. Death, which leads to new life, means the death of pride, the death of greed, the death of lust, the death of laziness, the death of envy, the death of gluttony, the death of wrath. Self-denial is the weapon. Employ it mercilessly.
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