One of the great questions that I will never really understand is why we human beings are so hard to convince. Time and again God has gone to extraordinary lengths to convince us of his love and yet we doubt.
Today we reach the moment in the Moses story where he strikes the rock and water gushes forth. But let's not forget that it is called the waters of meriba (contention, quarreling).
Every day the church has us start the Liturgy of the Hours with Psalm 95 which includes
Today, listen to the voice of the Lord: *
Do not grow stubborn, as your fathers did
in the wilderness, *
when at Meriba and Massah
they challenged me and provoked me, *
Although they had seen all of my works.
Even after he sacrificed his own Son and raised him from the dead. Day after day, we as Christians are marked by Meriba and Massah (quarreling and testing). Our modern American equivalent is a phrase involving "…and moaning" How many people have given up on church because when the go to their local church this is the behavior they see among supposed Christians.
To the woman at the well, Jesus promises living water, and indeed we have received that water. Today let us find a moment to mediate on that font of living water that was placed in us at the moment of baptism. Let us drink of the Spirit.
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Why the grumbling?
Toward the end of the first reading we hear
the whole community broke out with loud cries
But why?
Some of the men who went to reconnoiter the land decided it couldn't be done. So in their fear
they spread discouraging reports among the children of Israel about the land they had scouted, saying, “The land that we explored is a country that consumes its inhabitants. And all the people we saw there are huge, veritable giants (the Anakim were a race of giants); we felt like mere grasshoppers, and so we must have seemed to them.
This wasn't true but that didn't matter. Like today, a lie repeated can become fixed in the minds of "the people" as the truth. More than ever it is true that "A lie can run around the world before the truth can get its boots on."
We all remember the 40 years in the dessert but we forget that this was not God's plan. They only ended up wandering for 40 years because they allowed themselves to be taken in by the lies.
We should be very careful how quickly we accept as true. One website reports it, another news outlet reports that they said it, another repeats it, and suddenly it is in our minds fact. And the more negative the more ready we are to accept it.
Something like the good news of Jesus Christ is met with skepticism after 2000 years of constant teaching. Why are we so quick to accept the negative and so slow to embrace the positive? Shouldn't it be the other way round.
Our law says a person is innocent until proven guilty. But do we truly feel that way in our hearts? Do we presume the goodness of a person? These are the things that should set us apart as Christians.
the whole community broke out with loud cries
But why?
Some of the men who went to reconnoiter the land decided it couldn't be done. So in their fear
they spread discouraging reports among the children of Israel about the land they had scouted, saying, “The land that we explored is a country that consumes its inhabitants. And all the people we saw there are huge, veritable giants (the Anakim were a race of giants); we felt like mere grasshoppers, and so we must have seemed to them.
This wasn't true but that didn't matter. Like today, a lie repeated can become fixed in the minds of "the people" as the truth. More than ever it is true that "A lie can run around the world before the truth can get its boots on."
We all remember the 40 years in the dessert but we forget that this was not God's plan. They only ended up wandering for 40 years because they allowed themselves to be taken in by the lies.
We should be very careful how quickly we accept as true. One website reports it, another news outlet reports that they said it, another repeats it, and suddenly it is in our minds fact. And the more negative the more ready we are to accept it.
Something like the good news of Jesus Christ is met with skepticism after 2000 years of constant teaching. Why are we so quick to accept the negative and so slow to embrace the positive? Shouldn't it be the other way round.
Our law says a person is innocent until proven guilty. But do we truly feel that way in our hearts? Do we presume the goodness of a person? These are the things that should set us apart as Christians.
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Exodus
When we hear the word exodus, we think of exit, leaving, the end of something.
Today we celebrate the transfiguration, the moment when Jesus appears with Moses and Elijah (the Law and the Prophets), symbols of the original covenant with Abraham.
The topic of their conversation:
his exodus that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem
The verb πλερου can be translated accomplish, to make something full, to fulfill. What will look to the world like the end and death will be the fulfillment. The exodus is not simply leaving, but a beginning, the beginning of a journey to the promised land.
Will the pain, the suffering and the death be real? Oh yeah. There will be agonizing pain, but it is pain with a purpose, a purpose the human eye cannot see.
Today we celebrate the moment when God gives the apostles a glimpse of the glory to help prepare them for what is to come.
Jesus had to come down from the mountain and enter into the deepest valley, death. Only through death could he get to the ressurection.
We who have been baptized into Christ carry him within us. We have the power to endure. We know the goal, the prize. Like Jesus we may fall along the way but with faith we can make it.
Today we celebrate the transfiguration, the moment when Jesus appears with Moses and Elijah (the Law and the Prophets), symbols of the original covenant with Abraham.
The topic of their conversation:
his exodus that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem
The verb πλερου can be translated accomplish, to make something full, to fulfill. What will look to the world like the end and death will be the fulfillment. The exodus is not simply leaving, but a beginning, the beginning of a journey to the promised land.
Will the pain, the suffering and the death be real? Oh yeah. There will be agonizing pain, but it is pain with a purpose, a purpose the human eye cannot see.
Today we celebrate the moment when God gives the apostles a glimpse of the glory to help prepare them for what is to come.
Jesus had to come down from the mountain and enter into the deepest valley, death. Only through death could he get to the ressurection.
We who have been baptized into Christ carry him within us. We have the power to endure. We know the goal, the prize. Like Jesus we may fall along the way but with faith we can make it.
Sunday, August 4, 2013
Greed
Most of us would never think of ourselves as greedy. We thing of the people on Wall Street as greedy, or perhaps the people on Hoarders, but not us.
The problem is that we have narrowed the definition to keep ourselves safe, and we do it unconsciously. In Dante's purgatory, the greedy are bound face down on rock, facing the earth.
Today's reading divide the world simply: the things of earth, the things of heaven. All of the things of earth are ephemeral, they pass away. They are as the first reading calls them "vanity" or the Germans have a better word "windhauch"(a breath of air).
The things of heaven are eternal.
Greed here is any attachment of my heart to any earthly thing. Whenever I allow my heart to turn from the eternal to the temporal.
Daily we must turn our minds to the temporal. We work, we eat, we sleep, we are stewards of God's creation. But our hearts must be different.
This is why Jesus gives us simply two commandments: love God, and love your neighbor. These are the only two eternal realities. (And throw in angels)
We forget that humans are the only created thing made in the image and likeness of God and intended to for eternal life.
When we use the verb "love" in relation to an object, that is greed. As pastor of St. Patrick's I feel a responsibility to care for the building as an historic artifact, but should I have an emotional attachment to it?
When you get angry and scold your spouse or grandchild for accidentally damaging some thing. Is that not greed? Which of the two is eternal, the object or the person?
Before we accuse others of being greedy, perhaps we must begin with ourselves. When you say your family is the most important thing in your lives, look at your calendar for the last week. How did you spend your time? On God and people or on things?
How much of our upset is caused because of an emotional attachment to some passing thing. We should and must work. We need things in order to live but our hearts must never be attached to them. When we achieve that state then we will be greed free and we will know the peace of God.
The problem is that we have narrowed the definition to keep ourselves safe, and we do it unconsciously. In Dante's purgatory, the greedy are bound face down on rock, facing the earth.
Today's reading divide the world simply: the things of earth, the things of heaven. All of the things of earth are ephemeral, they pass away. They are as the first reading calls them "vanity" or the Germans have a better word "windhauch"(a breath of air).
The things of heaven are eternal.
Greed here is any attachment of my heart to any earthly thing. Whenever I allow my heart to turn from the eternal to the temporal.
Daily we must turn our minds to the temporal. We work, we eat, we sleep, we are stewards of God's creation. But our hearts must be different.
This is why Jesus gives us simply two commandments: love God, and love your neighbor. These are the only two eternal realities. (And throw in angels)
We forget that humans are the only created thing made in the image and likeness of God and intended to for eternal life.
When we use the verb "love" in relation to an object, that is greed. As pastor of St. Patrick's I feel a responsibility to care for the building as an historic artifact, but should I have an emotional attachment to it?
When you get angry and scold your spouse or grandchild for accidentally damaging some thing. Is that not greed? Which of the two is eternal, the object or the person?
Before we accuse others of being greedy, perhaps we must begin with ourselves. When you say your family is the most important thing in your lives, look at your calendar for the last week. How did you spend your time? On God and people or on things?
How much of our upset is caused because of an emotional attachment to some passing thing. We should and must work. We need things in order to live but our hearts must never be attached to them. When we achieve that state then we will be greed free and we will know the peace of God.
Saturday, August 3, 2013
Avoiding the truth
How far will we go to avoid the truth?
In today's gospel we have the story that ends with the beheading of John the Baptist. A very familiar story but we can often forget the starting point, John telling Herod a truth he doesn't want to hear. Not only does he not want to hear it, Herodias, his brother's wife, doesn't want to hear it. She so desperately wants to silence this truth that she plots to have John be headed.
While none of us would have someone beheaded, we do have the expression in English "to take someone's head off." Have we not all at some point in life gotten angry because someone spoke a truth to us that we did not want to hear? Usually the level of our angry is proportionate to the truth of the statement. And most of us have probably at some point taken someone's head off.
The saddest part is that this is most common in the one place we should be most dedicated to the truth. We,like Herod, find the problem is at home, and in the family. We have a number of expressions to describe the phenomenon "tiptoeing around it", "walking on eggshells", "the elephant in the room."
The next time someone says something that makes you immediately angry, ask yourself why? It may be that they are completely wrong, but it is far more likely that there is some bit of truth that you don't want to hear.
Rather than jumping to defense mode. Try just saying thank you, and walk away. Pray, take it to God. Ask God to reveal the truth, if there is any. Then we are Christian.
In today's gospel we have the story that ends with the beheading of John the Baptist. A very familiar story but we can often forget the starting point, John telling Herod a truth he doesn't want to hear. Not only does he not want to hear it, Herodias, his brother's wife, doesn't want to hear it. She so desperately wants to silence this truth that she plots to have John be headed.
While none of us would have someone beheaded, we do have the expression in English "to take someone's head off." Have we not all at some point in life gotten angry because someone spoke a truth to us that we did not want to hear? Usually the level of our angry is proportionate to the truth of the statement. And most of us have probably at some point taken someone's head off.
The saddest part is that this is most common in the one place we should be most dedicated to the truth. We,like Herod, find the problem is at home, and in the family. We have a number of expressions to describe the phenomenon "tiptoeing around it", "walking on eggshells", "the elephant in the room."
The next time someone says something that makes you immediately angry, ask yourself why? It may be that they are completely wrong, but it is far more likely that there is some bit of truth that you don't want to hear.
Rather than jumping to defense mode. Try just saying thank you, and walk away. Pray, take it to God. Ask God to reveal the truth, if there is any. Then we are Christian.
Friday, August 2, 2013
Sin, Crime, and Error
In today's gospel from St. Matthew we hear what I think of as one of the most tragic stories in the Bible. Jesus goes to is own hometown and we hear
A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and in his own house.” And he did not work many mighty deeds there because of their lack of faith.
To think that they had had in their midst for all that time God incarnate and missed out. Why?
Our faith tells us that Jesus was like us in all things but sin.
therefore, he had to become like his brothers in every way, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest before God to expiate the sins of the people. (Hb 2:17)
This means he was not perfect.
In our modern age we seem to have forgotten the basic distinctions and remedies.
Crime- the violation of human law
Sin - the violation of God's law
Error- a mistake in judgement
Hiding Jews in Nazi Germany was a crime, but certainly not a sin, or an error.
And not every error is a sin or a crime. As Jesus grew up he most certainly would have erred as all children do. That's how we learn we perform a task over and over, being corrected until we develop the skill.
Because the people of Jesus's hometown could not distinguish error, they remembered his human imperfection and lost sight of who he really was. Like so many of us, they let the sight of the imperfect eradicate the good.
It seems to me that Pope Francis and Anthony Wiener have shown us the correctness of our Catholic faith.
While it is true in the early Church there was public confession and public penance, it did not take long for us to realize that confession of sin is best left in private.
The four parts of the sacrament are: contrition, confession, penance, and absolution. Public humiliation of self, and worse yet family members, is not called for. And the notion that "he needs to make a full confession, if he wants the people to forgive him" is nothing short of idolatry where we turn "the people" into God.
Christianity, Judaism, and Isalm each have some form of Penance. We would do well to encourage every believer beginning with ourselves to deal with our sin accordingly.
Pope Francis during the press conference on the plane on the way back from Brazil gave us the words to live by. When he explained that we must distinguish between crime and sin. With sin as he explained that once the sinner confesses God not only forgives but forgets. And if God forgets we have no right not to forget.
If a person has committed a crime, let the courts judge that.
If a Christian sins, let him go to confession.
If a person commits error, let them learn from their mistake.
And "Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone ”
A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and in his own house.” And he did not work many mighty deeds there because of their lack of faith.
To think that they had had in their midst for all that time God incarnate and missed out. Why?
Our faith tells us that Jesus was like us in all things but sin.
therefore, he had to become like his brothers in every way, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest before God to expiate the sins of the people. (Hb 2:17)
This means he was not perfect.
In our modern age we seem to have forgotten the basic distinctions and remedies.
Crime- the violation of human law
Sin - the violation of God's law
Error- a mistake in judgement
Hiding Jews in Nazi Germany was a crime, but certainly not a sin, or an error.
And not every error is a sin or a crime. As Jesus grew up he most certainly would have erred as all children do. That's how we learn we perform a task over and over, being corrected until we develop the skill.
Because the people of Jesus's hometown could not distinguish error, they remembered his human imperfection and lost sight of who he really was. Like so many of us, they let the sight of the imperfect eradicate the good.
It seems to me that Pope Francis and Anthony Wiener have shown us the correctness of our Catholic faith.
While it is true in the early Church there was public confession and public penance, it did not take long for us to realize that confession of sin is best left in private.
The four parts of the sacrament are: contrition, confession, penance, and absolution. Public humiliation of self, and worse yet family members, is not called for. And the notion that "he needs to make a full confession, if he wants the people to forgive him" is nothing short of idolatry where we turn "the people" into God.
Christianity, Judaism, and Isalm each have some form of Penance. We would do well to encourage every believer beginning with ourselves to deal with our sin accordingly.
Pope Francis during the press conference on the plane on the way back from Brazil gave us the words to live by. When he explained that we must distinguish between crime and sin. With sin as he explained that once the sinner confesses God not only forgives but forgets. And if God forgets we have no right not to forget.
If a person has committed a crime, let the courts judge that.
If a Christian sins, let him go to confession.
If a person commits error, let them learn from their mistake.
And "Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone ”
Thursday, August 1, 2013
Hope for the middle aged
Today the church celebrates the founder of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (CSsR), known to most simply as the Redemptorists. St. Alfonsus began his life as a lawyer but found that the life of a lawyer was not for him. His true calling was to be a priest and to care for the most needy, the most marginalized.
I refer to him as hope for the middle aged because while he was ordained at 30, he did not begin to make his truest mark on the church until later. While he founded the Congregation at age 36, he was 49 when he wrote his first book, 66 when he became bishop, and was 83 when he published his last of over 60 books. It is no wonder that he is one of only 35 people to hold the title Doctor (that is Teacher) of the Church.
To all the 50+ crowd he reminds us that life is not winding down. Our mission in this world is not finished as long as we are alive. When we finished, God calls us home. Until then, even if infirmity should limit our activity, our life still has purpose, we still have a mission.
I refer to him as hope for the middle aged because while he was ordained at 30, he did not begin to make his truest mark on the church until later. While he founded the Congregation at age 36, he was 49 when he wrote his first book, 66 when he became bishop, and was 83 when he published his last of over 60 books. It is no wonder that he is one of only 35 people to hold the title Doctor (that is Teacher) of the Church.
To all the 50+ crowd he reminds us that life is not winding down. Our mission in this world is not finished as long as we are alive. When we finished, God calls us home. Until then, even if infirmity should limit our activity, our life still has purpose, we still have a mission.
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