In our Gospel this weekend, Jesus sends His disciples out on their first mission with very specific instructions. These instructions seem weird: first, two by two. No one goes alone. Then no food, no sack, no money, no extra clothing. Doesn’t seem very practical, does it? Finally, if not accepted, they are simply to leave and “shake the dust” off their feet. What is going on?
I think Jesus is making sure that they know it is God’s mission, not theirs. If they had all the provisions they needed to survive, they could think they were in control. With nothing, they knew that it was not about them and they were not in control. It is the same with going two by two. Alone, a person could get off track, allow their ego to get in the way. When two are together, they can keep each other focused on the mission. Finally, I think “shake the dust” is simply saying, “don’t let your ego get in the way, don’t take rejection personally.” It is not about you: do your best and then move on. Positive results are because of God’s grace, not your efforts. All of that comes down to being an effective but dispassionate instrument in God’s hand: rely on Divine Providence for what is needed, listen to your companion, and move on once you have done your work. Keep yourself and your ego out of the way. This is good advice for us. We also are sent into the world to bring God’s love to others. It will not be done with money or things. Success does not depend on us or our skills. We simply have to do our best to live the Gospel of love and let the rest up to the Lord. Our participation in community and the Mass will help us keep our egos out of the way, as we struggle to be good disciples. Let us thank God for including us in the plan of salvation and ask for the grace to be growing in our ability to live the Gospel of love. God bless. Church sign: Don't feel totally, personally, responsible for everything. That's my job. Signed, God
0 Comments
I was struck by these words in our reading this weekend from Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians: My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.
Power is made perfect in weakness? That seems ridiculous to us: our human way of thinking says that being the strongest makes you the most powerful. If we want power, we have to overcome weakness. St. Paul’s point is this: when we feel strong, when we feel on top of our game, we can be very much into ourselves. We can feel that we are powerful and in control. But that is an illusion. Death can come at any time. Forces beyond our control, like a tornado or fire, can turn our world upside down. We are NEVER really in control and we are delusional, when we think we are. But when we are weak, when we know we are vulnerable, we are more likely to be aware of God’s presence and our dependence on God. We will not be so focused on ourselves as being the powerful one. We will realize that we are weak, we are vulnerable, we need help: as a result, we are more open and receptive to God’s help. In other words; strength leads us to focus on ourselves; weakness opens us more to God’s presence and our dependence on God. My personal life experience tells me that is true. When things are going fairly smoothly, I can become more reliant on myself and my abilities and less reflective on God’s presence and support as I go through the day. But when difficulties arise, I become more aware of my need for God’s help. Maybe it is like the need to exercise a muscle to make it strong: the difficulties and problems of life challenge me, causing me to use my faith and reliance on God more, making them stronger. God is always with us, especially in the challenges of life. May we be able to say along with St. Paul: when I am weak, then I am strong. Church sign: We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are. In our Gospel this weekend, two people in dire straits come to Jesus, hoping that he can fix their problem. Jairus, the synagogue official, has a daughter who is dying and the woman had had a hemorrhage for 12 years, thus being cut off from her family and community because she was unclean. Jesus cured the woman and brought the daughter back to life (she had died while they were on the way to see her).
Reading these kind of miracle stories in the Gospels, we might fall into the trap of seeing Jesus as a “Mr. Fix-it.” When things are going well and all is calm, we might not pay much attention to Jesus: we seem to be in control. But when things get rough and a problem comes up, we turn to Mr. Fix-it. It is good to turn to God when we have a need. God is always walking with us and wants to help us. It is good for us to realize that we need God’s help. But God wants more than that. God loves us and is ALWAYS walking with us. God wants us to love him in return and to speak with Him daily. God doesn’t want to be Mr. Fix-it when we have a problem; He wants to be a loving companion with us as we go through each day. The way we allow Him to do that is by spending a little time each day talking with God and listening. When we do that, we keep ourselves tuned in to God’s presence in our lives. I invite us to spend some time reflecting on how we communicate with God. Is it only or mostly when we have a need? Or is it a part of my daily life? Hopefully, God is a friend with whom we chat each day. God bless. Church sign of the week: Two sets of footprints: God walked with you. One set of footprints: God carried you. In our Gospel reading this weekend, Jesus is asleep in a boat when a storm comes up, scaring the disciples. They wake Jesus up, saying to Him: do you not care that we are perishing? Jesus replies, why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?
A first thought that came to me when I read this was how lucky the disciples were that they had Jesus in the boat with them. I was a little envious that they were so blessed! But, as I reflected on the Gospel, I came to realize that I don’t need to be envious: Jesus is in the boat with me! Didn’t He say to His disciples, including us, “I am with you until the end of the age”? When the winds of life come up and the waves go wild around us, it is easy to forget that Jesus is with us. Our feelings of fear and insecurity overwhelm our reason and our faith. But when we stop and breathe, when we remember the promise of Jesus, we can be assured that Jesus is in the boat with us: all we have to do is cry out to Him and He will comfort us. Many years ago, my mother modeled for me exactly how faith and trust in Jesus can calm the storm. From her diagnosis of pancreatic cancer on December 31st until her death on June 19th, she allowed her faith and trust in Jesus to calm her. She told me that, when feelings of anxiety and fear started to take over, she would remember that Jesus was in the boat with her and that would calm her down; her death was very peaceful. My friends, Jesus is in the boat of life with us. When winds come up and the waves go wild, He wants us to cry out to Him and He will answer. Our difficulties will not magically disappear, but we will be able to pray the mantra of St. Julian of Norwich with confidence: All will be well. All will be well. All manner of things shall be well. We are truly blessed! Church sign of the week: As long as you remember that God is for you, it doesn’t matter who is against you. Our Gospel today reminds us that small things matter. Jesus used the analogy of a mustard seed, the smallest of seeds that grew to be one of the largest bushes in their desert area, to instruct his disciples about the Kingdom of God and how it is breaking into our world.
As human beings, we tend to think that bigger is better, that bigger things are more important and consequential. Thus, we can look at the world around us with all its problems and say, “What can I do? I’m just this little person here in southeastern Wisconsin.” My friends, that is just giving ourselves a “get out of jail free” card that God will not recognize. The Kingdom of God is the Kingdom of love, mercy, unity, and peace. It is a Kingdom where all are recognized as God’s children and live in peace together. Our baptismal commitment is to live in such a way that we are helping the Kingdom to grow, whatever our capacity may be. Every action or word brings about or undermines love and peace. For example, affirming someone who does something good; spending a few moments talking with a beggar, helping them feel human; calling someone who lives alone and chatting with them for a few minutes; visiting the homebound; smiling at a cashier and thanking them for their service; being patient in traffic or waiting in line; helping the elderly; forgiving someone who hurt us, and so on and so on. All of these are small, little mustard seeds. But they add up. When we fail at doing these “small” things, we either are missing the opportunity to bring joy or love to someone (e.g. thanking a cashier for good service) or we are bringing unhappiness and disunity into the world (e.g. when we react with road rage). God doesn’t expect us to accomplish things above our pay grade: God just expects us to do the best we can to bring peace, joy, and harmony as we move through our day. The more we can manage to do that, the more we are enabling the Kingdom of God to break into our world. God bless. Church sign of the week: Positive thinking must be followed by positive doing. In our Gospel today, the religious leaders accuse Jesus of being possessed by the prince of demons and performing His miracles through the power of Beelzebul.
The Greek word for devil means “the one who divides or scatters.” In other words, the work of the devil is to divide or cause disunity, to bring discord or strife into the world. He wants one person to rage against the other. He pulls things apart and tears things down. It makes sense: when we say something bad about another, we harbor division. War, violence, anger, jealousy, inability to forgive, etc. all bring division. All of this is the basic work of the devil. But Jesus did exactly the opposite in His ministry. He reached out to people who were excluded from the community and invited them in. Think of the woman at the well, Mary Magdelene, the tax collectors Matthew and Zacchaeus, the lepers, the children, and the list goes on. He did not concentrate on people’s faults and failures, but loved them and invited them to grow. My friends, by calling ourselves Christians, we are committing ourselves to live as Jesus did. We need to bring unity and peace to the world around us in two major ways: first, by not being a cause of disunity. It is avoiding the sins listed above: violence, anger, jealousy, inability to forgive, etc. This is what we must NOT DO. That is basic: it is following the commandments. Then we need to move to the next step and be an agent of unity and peace. That means overlooking the faults of others, reaching out to invite those who are alone and isolated into the community, being the one who helps others to get along, etc. This is what we must DO. It is going out of ourselves to bring unity, love, and peace. Jesus came to call everyone to be one in and with His Father. Our commitment is to continue that mission. I invite us this week to spend some time reflecting on these words from the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi: Make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me bring your love. Where there is injury, your pardon, Lord…where there is despair, hope…where there is darkness, light…where there is sadness, joy. The more we can do those things, the more we are truly living up to the name “Christian.” God bless. Church sign of the week: The measure of God’s love is love without measure. One of the most bonding activities we do as human beings is come together to share a meal. During the 7 years I was in Rome on the international leadership team of the Salvatorian Fathers and Brothers, I spent time in many countries, on every continent, eating meals with community members or their friends. I can honestly say eating together is special in every single culture that I have experienced. And what birthday, wedding, funeral, or other special event does not involve eating together!
That eating together is a sign of being accepted is very clear in the New Testament. In Acts of the Apostles, Lydia, the seller of fine cloth, invites Paul and others to come to her house “if you consider me a believer.” That they would come to her house and eat would prove they accepted her. When Jesus said to Zaccheus, the tax collector, that He wanted to eat at his house, the religious authorities went crazy: Jesus was identifying with and accepting a tax collector! My friends, this weekend we are celebrating the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ. Think of what we are celebrating: first, Jesus invites us to eat together, as a community, with Him. That means we are accepted, loved, and cherished. Second, He provides the food, His own Body and Blood, to give us the strength and nourishment we need in life. He helps us to form a community that is truly the Body of Christ. Receiving the Eucharist can become a routine, something we do without much reflection. I invite us this week to reflect on and marvel at the wonderful gift that has been given us in the Eucharist. We are truly loved, accepted, and supported by our Lord. What more could we ask for? God bless. Church sign of the week: Jesus, you bring out the blest in me. This weekend we are celebrating the feast of the Most Holy Trinity, our belief in one God with 3 divine Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
When I was a child, our parish was named “Holy Trinity” and I remember my mother explaining the Holy Trinity to me. She said,” I am one human being, right? Well, I am a daughter to my parents, I am a wife to my husband, and I am a mother to you and your brothers. I am three (daughter, wife, and mother), but only one human being. That is the Holy Trinity: a creator, a redeemer, and a sanctifier, but only one God.” That made a lot of sense to me, more than other analogies, maybe because it involves activities. God the Father created me in His image, His love outpouring as creative energy; God the Son came to save me from my sins and failures, a redeeming outpouring of love; and it is not over: the Holy Spirit accompanies me, sanctifying and guiding me as I go through life, an outpouring of love that continues today. What all of this comes down to is love: God is love and that love pours out to us from a God who is the creator, the redeemer, and the sanctifier. This feast calls me to two actions: the first is to be thankful for the love of God that created, redeemed, and sanctifies me. The second is to allow love to flow out of me to others in varied ways, as the need arises, imitating the three Persons of our loving God. As we contemplate on our triune God, I invite us to thank God for the gift of His love, renewing our commitment to bring His love to others, the best we can. May God bless us: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. Church sign of the week: What’s your sign? Mine’s Father-Son-Holy Spirit. This weekend we celebrate the feast of Pentecost, remembering the descent of the Holy Spirit on the disciples 10 days after the Ascension of Jesus. As the scriptures make clear, this event changed the disciples from people cowering in fear in the upper room to unintimidated missionaries spreading the Good News.
We receive the same gift of the Holy Spirit, first in baptism, when we are anointed with chrism, and then its fullness when we are anointed again at confirmation. For many centuries, the sacraments of initiation (baptism, first communion, and confirmation) were celebrated all at once, as we still do at the Easter Vigil when an adult is brought into the Church. What does the gift of the Holy Spirit mean for us? For me, personally, it means three related things: first, I am not alone. As I move through life with all of its twists and turns, I believe I am always accompanied and protected by the Holy Spirit. Second, I believe that the Holy Spirit will give me the guidance and direction I need to make the right choices in life. Finally, I believe that the Holy Spirit gives me the strength to live the commitments I made and to do what is right. Accompaniment, direction, and strength. Yet, while the Holy Spirit is always there to guide me and give me strength, it only works if I am paying attention, if I am giving the Holy Spirit the time and space needed to help me. I need to be reflective on how the Spirit could be talking to me through the people I interact with and the events of my life. I need to spend quiet time each day, speaking with the Spirit and being quiet to listen. The Spirit is there to help us: accompaniment, direction, and strength. How blessed we are! Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful! God bless. This weekend we celebrate the feast of the Ascension of the Lord. Jesus had done his part: He became one of us through the Incarnation and His birth; He lived and spoke the Good News, so that we would know how to be His followers; He suffered, died and rose from the dead. Now, with His work completed, He needed to get out of the way so that His followers, including us, could continue His work. He articulated that work clearly in the statement we heard in the Gospel: go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature.
Our second reading, from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians (4:1-7, 11-13), gives us some good tips on how to do that, telling us to live the following in our lives:
The more we can live with love, the more peace and unity we bring to the world around us – and to ourselves. That is how we “proclaim the gospel to every creature” and continue the work that Christ began of building up the Kingdom of God. Let us make sure we are living Christ’s command to love one another through a life of humility, gentleness, and patience. God bless. Church sign of the week: Love is the only thing that can be divided without being diminished. |
Archives
November 2024
|