1 Samuel 18:6-9; 19:1-7
Psalm 56:2-3, 9-13
Mark 3:7-12
How far Saul has come from the days when he used to chase after runaway donkeys! When Saul was named king, it was like winning the lottery, a completely unexpected windfall, but now that he has been king for a few years, he is ready to kill David at the mere suggestion of a threat to his dynasty. It is so easy to go from humble gratitude to presumptuous expectation.
Jonathan, meanwhile, grew up in the lap of luxury, such as it was 3000 years ago, yet he is not afraid. By all rights, he should be the next king. He grew up expecting to be king, and then David appears out of nowhere. But Jonathan did not hate David. In fact, he loved him. Because Jonathan did not have his father’s attachment to the royal throne, he was free to see David not as a threat but as a friend.
Consider us here today. We live like kings. We live better than kings. Who would give up central heating, indoor plumbing, cars, and cell phones for a stone castle? If somehow all of these disappeared, we would complain that we have been treated unfairly. How can a person live without these basic necessities? Yet people did live without them for millennia. Now that we have them, we cannot imagine giving them up. This is how Saul felt at the prospect of returning to the life of a simple farmer.
The things of this world can be tools or chains. If we use them as our servants, they will be tools. If we let our attachment to them cause us to be afraid at the thought of losing them, they will be chains. Whatever you are attached to: technology, position, getting ‘A’s, a television show, having a certain standard of wealth, a relationship with a person, whatever, do not let the attachment bind you.
Every sin is just an attachment that we refused to break. Be stronger than these attachments. Be free, radically free. There is no feeling of power like letting go. Every attachment screams: “You cannot live without me. You will never be happy if you leave me behind.” We know this is a lie. Our happiness does not exist in any of these things. Our happiness is in God. Be ready at all times to cut off an attachment that is preventing you from doing what you ought to do. Sacrifice everything, and be free to follow God.
Daily Homilies
Showing posts with label Freedom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Freedom. Show all posts
August 28, 2012 - Tuesday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time
2 Thessalonians 2:1-3, 14-17
Psalm 96:10-13
Matthew 23:23-26
I do not know whether the first reading was cut just to make it short, or if there was some concern about people misunderstanding its contents, but the whole middle of the reading is missing, and we cannot understand the rest without the middle. St. Paul is talking about the Antichrist. He says that the Thessalonians should not be disturbed by rumors about the coming of Christ because the Antichrist has not shown up yet, and he has to come first. St. Paul says that the Antichrist will come, and then Jesus Christ will come and defeat him. There is no question about who will win in the end, but it has to look first like the Antichrist is winning.
Why? Because, St. Paul says, the Antichrist will come and lie to the world and all the people who do not love the truth will believe the lies. These people do not love the truth because the truth says that what they do with their lives is wrong, and they would rather keep approving of what is wrong that admit to what is true. So they choose lies that permit them to do what they want rather than be limited to the truth. We know what that is all about. People would rather approve of homosexuality than admit the obvious truth that a man and a woman are meant for each other in a way that a man and a man are not. People would rather approve of greed than admit the obvious truth that poor people are not just another thing to use in the pursuit of money.
But the Thessalonians have believed the truth so they will be made holy by the Holy Spirit so that they can be saved. To this end, God has called them through the preaching of the Gospel to possess the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. What about you then? Has God called you through the preaching of the Gospel to possess the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ? If so, then you have to drop the lies, believe the truth, change your life, and be saved. This is the reasonable response. On the one hand, we have the glory of Jesus Christ. On the other hand, we have whatever sin it is that is holding us down. We have to pick. If we pick the truth, the Holy Spirit will give us the power to live it.
Psalm 96:10-13
Matthew 23:23-26
I do not know whether the first reading was cut just to make it short, or if there was some concern about people misunderstanding its contents, but the whole middle of the reading is missing, and we cannot understand the rest without the middle. St. Paul is talking about the Antichrist. He says that the Thessalonians should not be disturbed by rumors about the coming of Christ because the Antichrist has not shown up yet, and he has to come first. St. Paul says that the Antichrist will come, and then Jesus Christ will come and defeat him. There is no question about who will win in the end, but it has to look first like the Antichrist is winning.
Why? Because, St. Paul says, the Antichrist will come and lie to the world and all the people who do not love the truth will believe the lies. These people do not love the truth because the truth says that what they do with their lives is wrong, and they would rather keep approving of what is wrong that admit to what is true. So they choose lies that permit them to do what they want rather than be limited to the truth. We know what that is all about. People would rather approve of homosexuality than admit the obvious truth that a man and a woman are meant for each other in a way that a man and a man are not. People would rather approve of greed than admit the obvious truth that poor people are not just another thing to use in the pursuit of money.
But the Thessalonians have believed the truth so they will be made holy by the Holy Spirit so that they can be saved. To this end, God has called them through the preaching of the Gospel to possess the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. What about you then? Has God called you through the preaching of the Gospel to possess the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ? If so, then you have to drop the lies, believe the truth, change your life, and be saved. This is the reasonable response. On the one hand, we have the glory of Jesus Christ. On the other hand, we have whatever sin it is that is holding us down. We have to pick. If we pick the truth, the Holy Spirit will give us the power to live it.
May 30, 2012 - Wednesday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time
1 Peter 1:18-25
Psalm 147:12-15, 19-20
Mark 10:32-45
I love St. Peter's casual example of perishable things here: silver and gold. We were not ransomed by silly, useless, passing away garbage like silver and gold. These shiny metals that people have killed for, that armies have conquered for, are like nothing in comparison to what we have found. A huge ransom in the ancient world would be a talent of gold, a pile of gold as big as your fist, but St. Peter assures us that we were not ransomed with something as worthless as that. We were ransomed with the precious blood of Jesus Christ.
And so we were. When people ask me if I have been saved, I answer, “Yes I have”, and when they ask me where and when, I say that it was on a hill just outside Jerusalem about 2000 years ago. I was ransomed by Jesus Christ, who spilled his blood willingly so that I could be free of the chains around my heart.
And so we are free, but free for what? Free to sin? Free to rewrap those chains that lie broken? St. Peter suggests that, given this enormous ransom that has been paid to free us, we are now free to love one another.
We were born into this slavery, so when we were ransomed, we did not even know how to be free. Jesus is the example for us of a truly free man. He is walking toward Jerusalem when he announces that upon his arrival there, he will be mocked, spit on, tortured, and killed. Then he keeps walking to Jerusalem. He is free. He does what he wants, and what he wanted was to give his life as a ransom for many.
We are not free so long as there are conditions that restrict our ability to live, to love, to serve. If our time is limited because we have shows to watch every night, we are not free. If our generosity is limited because we are afraid of not having enough tomorrow, we are not free. If our time is wasted in obsessive addiction and entertainments, we are not free.
Jesus Christ willingly went to death so that we could be free. The potential exists for us to love freely and give ourselves in return. Yes there is prudence. Yes there are different vocations. But if I am not free right now to give everything to God if he asked, I hold cheap the priceless price that Jesus paid for my freedom.
Psalm 147:12-15, 19-20
Mark 10:32-45
I love St. Peter's casual example of perishable things here: silver and gold. We were not ransomed by silly, useless, passing away garbage like silver and gold. These shiny metals that people have killed for, that armies have conquered for, are like nothing in comparison to what we have found. A huge ransom in the ancient world would be a talent of gold, a pile of gold as big as your fist, but St. Peter assures us that we were not ransomed with something as worthless as that. We were ransomed with the precious blood of Jesus Christ.
And so we were. When people ask me if I have been saved, I answer, “Yes I have”, and when they ask me where and when, I say that it was on a hill just outside Jerusalem about 2000 years ago. I was ransomed by Jesus Christ, who spilled his blood willingly so that I could be free of the chains around my heart.
And so we are free, but free for what? Free to sin? Free to rewrap those chains that lie broken? St. Peter suggests that, given this enormous ransom that has been paid to free us, we are now free to love one another.
We were born into this slavery, so when we were ransomed, we did not even know how to be free. Jesus is the example for us of a truly free man. He is walking toward Jerusalem when he announces that upon his arrival there, he will be mocked, spit on, tortured, and killed. Then he keeps walking to Jerusalem. He is free. He does what he wants, and what he wanted was to give his life as a ransom for many.
We are not free so long as there are conditions that restrict our ability to live, to love, to serve. If our time is limited because we have shows to watch every night, we are not free. If our generosity is limited because we are afraid of not having enough tomorrow, we are not free. If our time is wasted in obsessive addiction and entertainments, we are not free.
Jesus Christ willingly went to death so that we could be free. The potential exists for us to love freely and give ourselves in return. Yes there is prudence. Yes there are different vocations. But if I am not free right now to give everything to God if he asked, I hold cheap the priceless price that Jesus paid for my freedom.
January 29, 2012 - Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today's Readings
Jesus taught in a way that astonished people. The people of the synagogue were amazed before Jesus cast out the unclean spirit. Jesus simply went into the synagogue and taught. I wonder what that must have sounded like, what it must have felt like, to have been sitting in the pews while Jesus gave a homily. I know what is like to hear a great preacher, to listen to someone who seems to be speaking directly to my soul, to my situation, to my desires, to my hopes, but Jesus is more than a great preacher. Every word he speaks carries with it an authority that no mere human person could ever speak with. When Jesus talked about the Scripture, it was like an author commenting on their own book. When he talked about the world or nature, it was like an artist commenting on their own work.
Jesus is the fulfillment of God's promise to Moses to send a prophet like us who would speak the words of God. Every prophet who was a true prophet spoke God's word, but the people of Israel had come to understand this teaching of Moses to refer not to all the prophets who had come to Israel but to one great prophet. Jesus fulfills that role perfectly. The prophet was supposed to come and teach the people the will of God, finishing what Moses had started. This is what Jesus did. After 1500 years, humans were finally ready to hear the rest.
What surprised the scribes and Pharisees was that Jesus did not come with new laws, as if the only thing lacking was specificity. Instead, Jesus came with something greater than a law; he came with the Holy Spirit. So now we Christians, rather than following a law, are disciples of a person. By the power of the Holy Spirit we declare ourselves devoted to Jesus Christ and to his Father. The law was a sort of middleman that Jesus eliminated. By following the law, the Jews were obedient. We Christians, instead, declare our obedience first and act in accord with that obedience. In this way, we Christians follow a stricter law then the Jews, but we follow it in freedom.
An example of this is found in our second reading today. There is no law in this reading; St. Paul merely suggests that it is easier to follow God if a person does not get married. Some people are afraid of what St. Paul says, because he seems to suggest that unmarried people are holier than married people, or at least that is how some people interpret it after reading it the first time. What St. Paul actually says in this reading is simply an undeniable fact: married people, especially married people with children, do not have time to spend their whole day in prayer. If a married person did spend all day in prayer, as if they were a contemplative nun or a Carthusian monk, they would be shirking their responsibilities to their spouse and their children. It would be wrong for a married person to abandon their family in some misguided attempt to be a more faithful servant of God.
However, I want to clarify one thing that St. Paul says. He says that an unmarried man is concerned about the things of the Lord, but this is not necessarily true. St. Paul is talking about a good unmarried man and a good married man. If we compare the lives of St. Bruno the monk and St. Louis the king, we would find that, although they were both Saints, St. Bruno spent far more time in prayer. This does not mean that St. Bruno was a better man than St. Louis, only that his life was simpler.
St. Paul is not speaking of an absolute fact but a possibility. Clearly not every unmarried person takes advantage of their opportunity to follow God. When I read this passage as a celibate man, I do not see St. Paul congratulating me or suggesting that I had better than married people. What I see is a serious challenge. I have given up the possibility of a wife and children so that I could more completely dedicate my life to God, but this does not mean that I necessarily will. I have so much free time without a wife or children, but what do I use that free time for? If I use my freedom as a single person to watch television or to collect figurines, then I am a fool. In giving up the possibility of family, I have given up a great good. If I fill this space left behind with self-indulgence, with anything less than a greater good, I am a fool.
So St. Paul is speaking of possibilities. A person could give up marriage and use the time and energy they save for prayer and serving others. If someone can do this, then their life will be simpler than the life of a married person who serves God. As St. Paul says, “I am telling you this for your own benefit, not to impose a restraint upon you.” Just because he recommends the one does not mean that he disdains the other. If a person can live the undivided life of service to God and neighbor, then they should not get married, but it is far better to get married and start a family and serve God and neighbor as you are able then to live a life of selfish indulgence.
There is no Christian vocation to be a carefree bachelor. Your life has been given to you by God not for you to do with it whatever you wish, but for you to use for good purpose. A life of meaning, a life with purpose, whether that purpose is raising a family or caring for the poor, is a life well lived. St. Paul followed his own advice. He never married, and had no children. He used his freedom to travel the world and preach the Gospel. He often lived in poverty. He sometimes lived in jail. He could never have done this as effectively with a family to care for.
How could God give this teaching in the form of the law? He could not. He is inviting us to exercise our freedom in favor of serving him. By definition, this cannot be mandated by law. Nothing is commanded. The vocation of celibacy is merely proposed. There would be no way for this to happen in the old law.
The second reading is a framework for the whole Christian life: no Commandments, just suggestions. St. Paul’s teaching is for people who are asking one question: “How can I serve God better?” In this way, a Christian is beyond the law. A disciple of Jesus Christ does not need to be told not to commit adultery or murder or theft. Would any of that serve God? Of course not. God does not want to control our lives with a lot of “do this” and “do not do that”. God wants us to be his coworkers, to share with him a vision of the universe, a mission, a purpose. Once we share that mission with God, we will be free.
Jesus taught in a way that astonished people. The people of the synagogue were amazed before Jesus cast out the unclean spirit. Jesus simply went into the synagogue and taught. I wonder what that must have sounded like, what it must have felt like, to have been sitting in the pews while Jesus gave a homily. I know what is like to hear a great preacher, to listen to someone who seems to be speaking directly to my soul, to my situation, to my desires, to my hopes, but Jesus is more than a great preacher. Every word he speaks carries with it an authority that no mere human person could ever speak with. When Jesus talked about the Scripture, it was like an author commenting on their own book. When he talked about the world or nature, it was like an artist commenting on their own work.
Jesus is the fulfillment of God's promise to Moses to send a prophet like us who would speak the words of God. Every prophet who was a true prophet spoke God's word, but the people of Israel had come to understand this teaching of Moses to refer not to all the prophets who had come to Israel but to one great prophet. Jesus fulfills that role perfectly. The prophet was supposed to come and teach the people the will of God, finishing what Moses had started. This is what Jesus did. After 1500 years, humans were finally ready to hear the rest.
What surprised the scribes and Pharisees was that Jesus did not come with new laws, as if the only thing lacking was specificity. Instead, Jesus came with something greater than a law; he came with the Holy Spirit. So now we Christians, rather than following a law, are disciples of a person. By the power of the Holy Spirit we declare ourselves devoted to Jesus Christ and to his Father. The law was a sort of middleman that Jesus eliminated. By following the law, the Jews were obedient. We Christians, instead, declare our obedience first and act in accord with that obedience. In this way, we Christians follow a stricter law then the Jews, but we follow it in freedom.
An example of this is found in our second reading today. There is no law in this reading; St. Paul merely suggests that it is easier to follow God if a person does not get married. Some people are afraid of what St. Paul says, because he seems to suggest that unmarried people are holier than married people, or at least that is how some people interpret it after reading it the first time. What St. Paul actually says in this reading is simply an undeniable fact: married people, especially married people with children, do not have time to spend their whole day in prayer. If a married person did spend all day in prayer, as if they were a contemplative nun or a Carthusian monk, they would be shirking their responsibilities to their spouse and their children. It would be wrong for a married person to abandon their family in some misguided attempt to be a more faithful servant of God.
However, I want to clarify one thing that St. Paul says. He says that an unmarried man is concerned about the things of the Lord, but this is not necessarily true. St. Paul is talking about a good unmarried man and a good married man. If we compare the lives of St. Bruno the monk and St. Louis the king, we would find that, although they were both Saints, St. Bruno spent far more time in prayer. This does not mean that St. Bruno was a better man than St. Louis, only that his life was simpler.
St. Paul is not speaking of an absolute fact but a possibility. Clearly not every unmarried person takes advantage of their opportunity to follow God. When I read this passage as a celibate man, I do not see St. Paul congratulating me or suggesting that I had better than married people. What I see is a serious challenge. I have given up the possibility of a wife and children so that I could more completely dedicate my life to God, but this does not mean that I necessarily will. I have so much free time without a wife or children, but what do I use that free time for? If I use my freedom as a single person to watch television or to collect figurines, then I am a fool. In giving up the possibility of family, I have given up a great good. If I fill this space left behind with self-indulgence, with anything less than a greater good, I am a fool.
So St. Paul is speaking of possibilities. A person could give up marriage and use the time and energy they save for prayer and serving others. If someone can do this, then their life will be simpler than the life of a married person who serves God. As St. Paul says, “I am telling you this for your own benefit, not to impose a restraint upon you.” Just because he recommends the one does not mean that he disdains the other. If a person can live the undivided life of service to God and neighbor, then they should not get married, but it is far better to get married and start a family and serve God and neighbor as you are able then to live a life of selfish indulgence.
There is no Christian vocation to be a carefree bachelor. Your life has been given to you by God not for you to do with it whatever you wish, but for you to use for good purpose. A life of meaning, a life with purpose, whether that purpose is raising a family or caring for the poor, is a life well lived. St. Paul followed his own advice. He never married, and had no children. He used his freedom to travel the world and preach the Gospel. He often lived in poverty. He sometimes lived in jail. He could never have done this as effectively with a family to care for.
How could God give this teaching in the form of the law? He could not. He is inviting us to exercise our freedom in favor of serving him. By definition, this cannot be mandated by law. Nothing is commanded. The vocation of celibacy is merely proposed. There would be no way for this to happen in the old law.
The second reading is a framework for the whole Christian life: no Commandments, just suggestions. St. Paul’s teaching is for people who are asking one question: “How can I serve God better?” In this way, a Christian is beyond the law. A disciple of Jesus Christ does not need to be told not to commit adultery or murder or theft. Would any of that serve God? Of course not. God does not want to control our lives with a lot of “do this” and “do not do that”. God wants us to be his coworkers, to share with him a vision of the universe, a mission, a purpose. Once we share that mission with God, we will be free.
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 19, 2012 - Thursday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time
Today's Readings
How far Saul has come from the days when he used to chase after runaway donkeys! When Saul was named king, it was like winning the lottery, a completely unexpected windfall, but now that he has been king for a few years, he is ready to kill David at the mere suggestion of a threat to his dynasty. It is so easy to go from humble gratitude to expectation.
Jonathan, meanwhile, who grew up in the lap of luxury, such as it was 3000 years ago, yet he is not afraid. By all rights, he should be the next king. He grew up expecting to be king, and then David appears out of nowhere. But Jonathan did not hate David. In fact, he loved him. Because Jonathan did not have his father’s attachment to the royal throne, he was free to see David not as a threat but as a friend.
Consider us here today. We live like kings. We live better than kings. Who would give up central heating, indoor plumbing, cars, and cell phones for a stone castle? If somehow all of these disappeared, we would complain that we have been treated unfairly. How can a person live without these basic necessities? Yet people did live without them for millennia. Now that we have them, we cannot imagine giving them up. This is how Saul felt at the prospect of returning to the life of a simple farmer.
The things of this world can be tools or chains. If we use them as our servants, they will be tools. If we let our attachment to them cause us to be afraid at the thought of losing them, they will be chains. Whatever you are attached to: technology, position, getting ‘A’s, a television show, having a certain standard of wealth, a relationship with a person, whatever, do not let the attachment bind you.
What motive lies behind every sin? An attachment that we refused to break. Be stronger than these attachments. Be free, radically free. There is no feeling of power like letting go. Every attachment screams: “You cannot live without me. You will never be happy if you leave me behind.” We know this is a lie. Our happiness does not exist in any of these things. Our happiness is in God. Be ready at all times to cut off an attachment that is preventing you from doing what you ought to do. Sacrifice everything, but be free to follow God.
How far Saul has come from the days when he used to chase after runaway donkeys! When Saul was named king, it was like winning the lottery, a completely unexpected windfall, but now that he has been king for a few years, he is ready to kill David at the mere suggestion of a threat to his dynasty. It is so easy to go from humble gratitude to expectation.
Jonathan, meanwhile, who grew up in the lap of luxury, such as it was 3000 years ago, yet he is not afraid. By all rights, he should be the next king. He grew up expecting to be king, and then David appears out of nowhere. But Jonathan did not hate David. In fact, he loved him. Because Jonathan did not have his father’s attachment to the royal throne, he was free to see David not as a threat but as a friend.
Consider us here today. We live like kings. We live better than kings. Who would give up central heating, indoor plumbing, cars, and cell phones for a stone castle? If somehow all of these disappeared, we would complain that we have been treated unfairly. How can a person live without these basic necessities? Yet people did live without them for millennia. Now that we have them, we cannot imagine giving them up. This is how Saul felt at the prospect of returning to the life of a simple farmer.
The things of this world can be tools or chains. If we use them as our servants, they will be tools. If we let our attachment to them cause us to be afraid at the thought of losing them, they will be chains. Whatever you are attached to: technology, position, getting ‘A’s, a television show, having a certain standard of wealth, a relationship with a person, whatever, do not let the attachment bind you.
What motive lies behind every sin? An attachment that we refused to break. Be stronger than these attachments. Be free, radically free. There is no feeling of power like letting go. Every attachment screams: “You cannot live without me. You will never be happy if you leave me behind.” We know this is a lie. Our happiness does not exist in any of these things. Our happiness is in God. Be ready at all times to cut off an attachment that is preventing you from doing what you ought to do. Sacrifice everything, but be free to follow God.
September 18, 2011 - Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today's Readings
I empathize with these workers. I know why they are upset. To pay everyone the same disrespects the work put in by those who labored all day. “You have made these last ones equal to us” is a valid complaint. Is human labor worth nothing? The landowner claims that he is simply being generous. They are not angry because the landowner was generous but because he stopped being generous when it came to them. They were not upset to see the last workers get paid extra. They were glad, since “they thought that they would receive more.” It was only when they realized that they would not be getting any bonus themselves that they became angry.
What should we think about this parable as an economic system? I am reminded of nurses. When a hospital needs to hire temporary nurses, they pay several times what the permanent nurses get. I am reminded of the mercenaries that the United States government hired in Iraq. They were often paid as much for a month as the average soldier received in a year. This is often true in other professions as well. And what about the landowner? He seems kind of stupid. He will have difficulty getting anyone to do a full day’s work anymore. All the workers are going to show up an hour before sunset the next day and expect the same generosity. The economics of this gospel are unfair and, in the long-term, bad business.
But all this presupposes one point: that work is an unpleasant activity that we would avoid if we could. The first workers speak of bearing the burden and the heat; they clearly would rather have not worked all twelve hours. If we turn this on its head and think of work as good, these first workers should have said, “Not only did we get the same amount as you, but we also got to work for eleven more hours than you did.”
The ancient Greeks made a distinction between two kinds of work: slavery and the liberal arts. A slave is someone who works because they have to. A free person works because they want to. A slave is anyone who works for a paycheck, waiting for the weekend to arrive. A free person would do their job even if they did not need the money. A slave is glad when they do not have to work. A free person is glad when they are able to work.
A great example of a free person is given to us in our second reading today. St. Paul is debating whether it would be better to be alive or dead. On the one hand, it would be nice to die and go to heaven, but, on the other hand, there is still a lot of work to be done here on earth. This is not the attitude of someone who hates his job. He wants to preach the Gospel from one end of the earth to the other. St. Paul did not preach in hope of getting a reward. If he could have gotten the reward with less work this would not have interested him.
There are some people who live in remote parts of the world where a priest can only visit once a year, so they only have Mass once a year. When you hear that, do you think “Lucky them”? If we are slave who only love God as much as we have to in order to get to heaven, we will not be happy. Prayer and morality will always seem like an imposition on our lives. If we are free men and women who choose to love God out of our freedom, than we will be happy. If prayer is considered to be an interruption of our TV time, we will resent having to pray. If TV is considered to be an unnecessary distraction from prayer, we are free.
If we are free people, we will not be upset if someone does not have to work as hard as us to get their reward. It will not be considered a bad thing to have loved more than someone else. Ultimately it comes down to who we want to be: free workers or lazy slaves. The free worker looks at what they have accomplished with pride and joy.
True freedom is not freedom to do whatever we feel like doing. True freedom is the freedom to do what we want to have done. With true freedom, we become participants in the destiny of the world. If you want peace, work for peace. If you wish that there were more beauty in the world, make something beautiful. If you want parents to take better care of their children, take good care of your children. True freedom is the freedom to be the change you want to see in the world.
We should not be like those workers who spent their whole day harvesting the field, only to discover that they could have shown up at the eleventh hour and been paid the same. The ultimate purpose of our lives should be something which we will never be disappointed in, never wish we had done less of.
Would you do your job if money were no object? What would you do with your life? I know that many of you are working jobs that you hate. It is good to be free, but even if you hate your job, even if you are only working to support your family and you would quit in a second if you no longer needed the money, you can be free with respect to serving the Lord. We serve the Lord by doing what he commanded us to do: love: love of God and love of neighbor. We love God, so we pray and go to Church and obey his commandments. We love our neighbors, so we give food to the hungry and drink to the thirsty, visit the sick and those in prison.
Many people today do not know why they exist; they have no reason to get out of bed in the morning. They kill time with television and games and other entertainments. Love is the reason. Instead of wasting time with a lot of nonsense, we can love. If we are free with respect to love, we will not avoid love, we will not shirk our duty. Instead, we will look for opportunities to love. The question will not be how little love we must do to get into heaven but how much can we love.
I empathize with these workers. I know why they are upset. To pay everyone the same disrespects the work put in by those who labored all day. “You have made these last ones equal to us” is a valid complaint. Is human labor worth nothing? The landowner claims that he is simply being generous. They are not angry because the landowner was generous but because he stopped being generous when it came to them. They were not upset to see the last workers get paid extra. They were glad, since “they thought that they would receive more.” It was only when they realized that they would not be getting any bonus themselves that they became angry.
What should we think about this parable as an economic system? I am reminded of nurses. When a hospital needs to hire temporary nurses, they pay several times what the permanent nurses get. I am reminded of the mercenaries that the United States government hired in Iraq. They were often paid as much for a month as the average soldier received in a year. This is often true in other professions as well. And what about the landowner? He seems kind of stupid. He will have difficulty getting anyone to do a full day’s work anymore. All the workers are going to show up an hour before sunset the next day and expect the same generosity. The economics of this gospel are unfair and, in the long-term, bad business.
But all this presupposes one point: that work is an unpleasant activity that we would avoid if we could. The first workers speak of bearing the burden and the heat; they clearly would rather have not worked all twelve hours. If we turn this on its head and think of work as good, these first workers should have said, “Not only did we get the same amount as you, but we also got to work for eleven more hours than you did.”
The ancient Greeks made a distinction between two kinds of work: slavery and the liberal arts. A slave is someone who works because they have to. A free person works because they want to. A slave is anyone who works for a paycheck, waiting for the weekend to arrive. A free person would do their job even if they did not need the money. A slave is glad when they do not have to work. A free person is glad when they are able to work.
A great example of a free person is given to us in our second reading today. St. Paul is debating whether it would be better to be alive or dead. On the one hand, it would be nice to die and go to heaven, but, on the other hand, there is still a lot of work to be done here on earth. This is not the attitude of someone who hates his job. He wants to preach the Gospel from one end of the earth to the other. St. Paul did not preach in hope of getting a reward. If he could have gotten the reward with less work this would not have interested him.
There are some people who live in remote parts of the world where a priest can only visit once a year, so they only have Mass once a year. When you hear that, do you think “Lucky them”? If we are slave who only love God as much as we have to in order to get to heaven, we will not be happy. Prayer and morality will always seem like an imposition on our lives. If we are free men and women who choose to love God out of our freedom, than we will be happy. If prayer is considered to be an interruption of our TV time, we will resent having to pray. If TV is considered to be an unnecessary distraction from prayer, we are free.
If we are free people, we will not be upset if someone does not have to work as hard as us to get their reward. It will not be considered a bad thing to have loved more than someone else. Ultimately it comes down to who we want to be: free workers or lazy slaves. The free worker looks at what they have accomplished with pride and joy.
True freedom is not freedom to do whatever we feel like doing. True freedom is the freedom to do what we want to have done. With true freedom, we become participants in the destiny of the world. If you want peace, work for peace. If you wish that there were more beauty in the world, make something beautiful. If you want parents to take better care of their children, take good care of your children. True freedom is the freedom to be the change you want to see in the world.
We should not be like those workers who spent their whole day harvesting the field, only to discover that they could have shown up at the eleventh hour and been paid the same. The ultimate purpose of our lives should be something which we will never be disappointed in, never wish we had done less of.
Would you do your job if money were no object? What would you do with your life? I know that many of you are working jobs that you hate. It is good to be free, but even if you hate your job, even if you are only working to support your family and you would quit in a second if you no longer needed the money, you can be free with respect to serving the Lord. We serve the Lord by doing what he commanded us to do: love: love of God and love of neighbor. We love God, so we pray and go to Church and obey his commandments. We love our neighbors, so we give food to the hungry and drink to the thirsty, visit the sick and those in prison.
Many people today do not know why they exist; they have no reason to get out of bed in the morning. They kill time with television and games and other entertainments. Love is the reason. Instead of wasting time with a lot of nonsense, we can love. If we are free with respect to love, we will not avoid love, we will not shirk our duty. Instead, we will look for opportunities to love. The question will not be how little love we must do to get into heaven but how much can we love.
August 3, 2011 - Wednesday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Today's Readings
About a year after the plagues of Egypt and the splitting of the Red Sea, the Israelites thought that God would be unable to take over the land to which he brought them. These people had walked with the water like a wall to their right and to their left, but they thought that the Amalekites looked pretty scary, too tough for God. Did they think that he was only a god of running away and not a god of conquering? Did they think that he was just lucky the first time around?
The Israelites were promised a land flowing with milk and honey, and the scouts found that the land was exactly what they had been promised, but they were too afraid to enter the promised land. I myself, when I think of it, have often failed to conquer a land I have scouted out. Perhaps you also have had this experience. I have several times in my life reconnoitered the Kingdom of Heaven: on a retreat, in a dream, in prayer, I have caught a glimpse of what is possible. The Kingdom is beautiful, and wonderful, and everything we have been promised, more than words can describe, yet I continue to stand in the desert, afraid to conquer, afraid of all the Amorites and Hittites that stand in my way.
God’s solution is perfect. The Israelites will wander in the desert for 40 years, until all those who remember Egypt have died. It was the memory of slavery that prevented them from marching in bravely. The entire people will be renewed when a generation is brought up in the desert. We too, before we can enter into the land we have glimpsed, must be renewed. We were slaves to this world, and that slavery has ruined us. We have been freed, but we can never be a free people until there is a renewal, until the old generation, our old self, has dropped dead in the desert.
The next generation will grow up in the desert with no memory of how “great” we had it in Egypt. The new generation would never return to slavery; they are free from their birth. Unlike the Israelites, this renewal will not take place through physical birth but by spiritual rebirth. We have to be born again so that we can be raised again in the desert. By this renewal of our minds, we will have the faith to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
About a year after the plagues of Egypt and the splitting of the Red Sea, the Israelites thought that God would be unable to take over the land to which he brought them. These people had walked with the water like a wall to their right and to their left, but they thought that the Amalekites looked pretty scary, too tough for God. Did they think that he was only a god of running away and not a god of conquering? Did they think that he was just lucky the first time around?
The Israelites were promised a land flowing with milk and honey, and the scouts found that the land was exactly what they had been promised, but they were too afraid to enter the promised land. I myself, when I think of it, have often failed to conquer a land I have scouted out. Perhaps you also have had this experience. I have several times in my life reconnoitered the Kingdom of Heaven: on a retreat, in a dream, in prayer, I have caught a glimpse of what is possible. The Kingdom is beautiful, and wonderful, and everything we have been promised, more than words can describe, yet I continue to stand in the desert, afraid to conquer, afraid of all the Amorites and Hittites that stand in my way.
God’s solution is perfect. The Israelites will wander in the desert for 40 years, until all those who remember Egypt have died. It was the memory of slavery that prevented them from marching in bravely. The entire people will be renewed when a generation is brought up in the desert. We too, before we can enter into the land we have glimpsed, must be renewed. We were slaves to this world, and that slavery has ruined us. We have been freed, but we can never be a free people until there is a renewal, until the old generation, our old self, has dropped dead in the desert.
The next generation will grow up in the desert with no memory of how “great” we had it in Egypt. The new generation would never return to slavery; they are free from their birth. Unlike the Israelites, this renewal will not take place through physical birth but by spiritual rebirth. We have to be born again so that we can be raised again in the desert. By this renewal of our minds, we will have the faith to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
July 19, 2011 - Tuesday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Today's Readings
There is a long tradition in Christian interpretation, going back to the Apostles, which considers the Red Sea to be a type of Baptism. As the Israelites passed through the waters of the Red Sea and came out the other side while the Egyptians drowned, so too we passed through the waters of Baptism and come out the other side while Sin is drowned.
Yet in one aspect, which you may have already noticed, this analogy breaks down: once the Israelites had passed through the Red Sea, the Egyptians no longer pursued them; the Egyptians were dead, but after we are baptized, we are still pursued by sin. I was baptized a month after I was born, why then am I not perfect now? An adult who is baptized steps out of the water completely sinless, yet all of them will soon return to their sins. Why do we need constant Confession as a renewal of our Baptism? Why does Baptism not free us as completely from the grasp of Satan as the Red Sea freed the Israelites from the grasp of Pharaoh?
But the Israelites were not free of Pharaoh after the Red Sea. They often spoke about returning to Egypt. Not until they had wandered in the desert for forty years were they ready to enter the Promised Land. Even after death, Pharaoh retained power over their minds. So too, even after we are free of Original Sin, its power over our minds remains. After Baptism, we have to wander in the world for 70 or 80 years before we can enter the Promised Land. God has freed us from the Pharaoh who pursues us; no one can compel us to return to Egypt, but now we need to be free from the Pharaoh who still lives in our minds trying to convince us to return to Egypt on our own.
How can we be free? The Israelites were not free until the whole generation died and new generation grew up who had never known Pharaoh. It is the same for us. When we recognize a part of ourself that wants to sin we should turn to it and say, “You have to die.” Eventually, if we are consistent and firm, that old generation will die off and the new humanity, Christ himself, will takes its place. Then we will say, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” Then we will be perfectly free.
There is a long tradition in Christian interpretation, going back to the Apostles, which considers the Red Sea to be a type of Baptism. As the Israelites passed through the waters of the Red Sea and came out the other side while the Egyptians drowned, so too we passed through the waters of Baptism and come out the other side while Sin is drowned.
Yet in one aspect, which you may have already noticed, this analogy breaks down: once the Israelites had passed through the Red Sea, the Egyptians no longer pursued them; the Egyptians were dead, but after we are baptized, we are still pursued by sin. I was baptized a month after I was born, why then am I not perfect now? An adult who is baptized steps out of the water completely sinless, yet all of them will soon return to their sins. Why do we need constant Confession as a renewal of our Baptism? Why does Baptism not free us as completely from the grasp of Satan as the Red Sea freed the Israelites from the grasp of Pharaoh?
But the Israelites were not free of Pharaoh after the Red Sea. They often spoke about returning to Egypt. Not until they had wandered in the desert for forty years were they ready to enter the Promised Land. Even after death, Pharaoh retained power over their minds. So too, even after we are free of Original Sin, its power over our minds remains. After Baptism, we have to wander in the world for 70 or 80 years before we can enter the Promised Land. God has freed us from the Pharaoh who pursues us; no one can compel us to return to Egypt, but now we need to be free from the Pharaoh who still lives in our minds trying to convince us to return to Egypt on our own.
How can we be free? The Israelites were not free until the whole generation died and new generation grew up who had never known Pharaoh. It is the same for us. When we recognize a part of ourself that wants to sin we should turn to it and say, “You have to die.” Eventually, if we are consistent and firm, that old generation will die off and the new humanity, Christ himself, will takes its place. Then we will say, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” Then we will be perfectly free.
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