|
2010 C ☼ 17th
Ordinary ● Father Kevin J Forsyth
“Ask, Seek, Knock … and Receive” ©
Prayer:
encounters with the Divine. In all
the Old Testament there is no encounter with God that is more delightful,
even humorous, than the one we heard today.
It is an encounter that conveys a serious yet consoling message
about the mercy of God, a.k.a. God’s “amazing grace!” Here, God is envisioned in human form,
unusual for Genesis. God walks with
Abraham – “our Father in faith” - and just like a human King, God takes his
servant Abraham into His confidence and shares with him His plan to destroy
the city of Sodom, a city whose sin is not only rape, but also the sin of
being inhospitable! That’s right –
inhospitable. These weren’t nice
people. Abraham seems concerned
about God’s justice towards the innocent residents of this city, so he
begins a bargaining session with God, not unlike some of our own bargaining
sessions with God – “Lord, if you let
me win the Powerball, I’ll… whatever!”
The
model here is a typical Middle Eastern market “haggling over prices” –
similar to what will happen at our Attic
Treasures tag sale in a few weeks.
Neither side will reveal the “bottom line.” Step by step the purchaser (Abraham)
tests the seller (God) to see how low the price will go. Push too far and you insult the seller
who might immediately end the negotiations; however, push too little and
you cheat yourself! So Abraham
haggles with God. The movement of
the story flows from this step-by-step process toward a final agreed-upon
number. The humor in the story
arises from the way Abraham conspires to get the number as low as he
can. Notice his move after God
agrees to 50. Abraham doesn’t argue
for 45, but suggests the folly of destroying a whole city just because of a
mere 5 more guilty sinners, making it difficult for God to settle on
50. So cleverly, the number is
reduced to 45. Do not think for a
moment that God is being out-witted: remember, the wisdom Abraham is using was
itself God’s gift to Abraham – and to all of us – in Confirmation. So, use that gift of wisdom!
Abraham
bargains God down to 40, then 30, then 20, and finally 10. “For
the sake of the ten, I will not destroy it.” Now, given the fact that the city of Sodom is destroyed
clearly points to the enormous level of sin and corruption present: not
even 10 innocent people could be found!
Can you imagine? And lest you
think harshly of God, the handful that were found, were told to escape the
city before the destruction. The
innocent lives will be spared – if they leave the past behind, they will
have a future. Don’t look back!
In
the second half of today’s Gospel, Jesus explains that there really is no
need to “bargain” with God in our prayer life. The first of the two images Jesus uses to
highlight His points is that of a man who will grant his friend’s request
(despite any inconvenience) because of his persistence. We should likewise not hesitate to
petition God for what we need because God will respond, sooner or later. We should never give up, always be
persistent in prayer. For if our
prayer is something we truly need, and that is the key – need – then God
will see to our need. And our
persistence in prayer is not with the intent to wear God down, like
a nagging child hopes to wear down his parents in a toy store by repeating
over and over, “Buy me, buy me.” (Smile) Celibacy can be a blessing!
No, we are
persistent in prayer because persistence is a sign of hope. We only quit praying if we lose hope in
the power of prayer. We quit praying
when we give up on God. Jesus
teaches to never give up, never lose hope.
Lost hope brings death to our prayer-life and to our relationship
with God. “Keep hope alive!” Give over
to God, never give up on God!
To assist our
prayer, the Lord gives us a three-step prayer process: “Ask and you shall receive.
Seek and you shall find.
Knock and it shall be opened to you.” Each successive step involves a deeper
commitment on our part.
“Ask and you shall receive,”
involves placing ourselves in God’s good hands and simply telling God
what’s on our mind, something Jesus says God is already keenly aware of.
So why tell God? Putting
our desires into words doesn’t help God but helps us clarify things (“what do I really need?) and
hopefully gives us a canvas upon which God can paint His generous response. In our persistence, if asking doesn’t
seem to bring about the desired results, then we need to move to a more
involved level:
“Seek and you shall find.” Get up; get moving: do something! The Lord helps those who help themselves,
right? Seek! Maybe God has answered our
prayers; maybe we’re just not looking in the right places! Remember the old song, “Looking for love
in all the wrong places?” Well, start
looking in some right places! We
shouldn’t expect God to move mountains while we sit idly by unwilling to
get involved in our own lives! And
if our spiritual blindness prevents us from finding that which we seek,
then,
“Knock and it shall be opened to you.” Knock down some of the walls we’ve built
between ourselves and God; and the walls we’ve built between ourselves and others. Knock down some of the obstacles we - or
others - have placed in our path to God.
Knock! (Knock on
podium). Make a little noise! Let God hear you! Is it true that the squeaky wheel gets
the grease? Squeak a little!
One
sentence from Paul’s Letter stood out loud and clear for me today: “You were raised with Him through faith
in the power of God.” We have
heard today from three of God’s greatest spiritual teachers: Abraham, Paul,
and Jesus. They are all telling us
the same thing: Believe in the power of God. Believe in the power of prayer. The teachers are teaching. Are the students learning?
In a few moments we will pray together what
the Church calls the “Prayers of the Faithful.” We will pray for some very real concerns
for our world and our leaders. Too many
people are hurt, confused, sad or angry.
We need to pray. But,
before we do pray, we should ask ourselves: “Do I believe in the power of God and in the power of prayer? Do I believe that my prayer can and will
have a powerful impact on my life, our nation, and our future? Do I believe what Jesus said? “If you, who are wicked, (Jesus is not
passing out compliments today, is He?) know
how to give good gifts to your (own) children, how much more will the Father in heaven give to those who
ask Him?” So ask,
seek, and knock … and be prepared to receive that which we truly need!
2010 C ☼ 16th
Ordinary ● Father Kevin J
Forsyth
“Martha, Martha, Martha!” ©
The
Gospel story of Martha and Mary; it’s about one sister named Mary
preferring to talk to the house-guest instead of helping the other more compulsive
sister Martha (Stewart) prepare refreshments for the guest. Conflict
emerges between the two sisters and Jesus seems to side with the one engaging Him in conversation, but
there’s more going on here than meets the eye. Jesus arrives at the house where Martha,
Mary and their brother Lazarus live.
Martha welcomes Jesus. This
meant that Lazarus was not home.
If Lazarus were home, he -
as the man of the house - would
have welcomed Jesus. Only if
no man was home, could a woman welcome a male guest, but she
could not engage him in conversation and no man would expect her to
do so.
Martha’s
hospitality is commendable and appreciated.
However, she is upset that Mary is engaging Jesus in conversation – assuming the role of the man of the
house. Martha has a right to
expect Jesus – a man – to support her reprimand of her sister
Mary. The Lord’s response is every
bit as shocking as Mary’s actions.
Jesus takes the occasion to point out to Martha that, in her zeal to be the perfect hostess,
she may have momentarily
forgotten why hospitality is
important, as she appears to be more concerned with the serving than with the one being served. In her
complaint against Mary, Martha is saying there are things that need to be
done and if Mary doesn’t help, the guest – Jesus – will go without. Jesus is more concerned that Mary not go
without – go without hearing His Word.
Imagine
a similar situation: you are privileged to have a famous writer in your
home to discuss her latest book over dinner. As host, you are so concerned that
everything be done right that you end up spending most of the night in the
kitchen. You’ve missed the author’s
words of wisdom, which were, after
all, the purpose of the gathering in the first place. The meal was only the scenery; it wasn’t
the script.
Don’t
miss the fact that this whole action was a huge boost for women’s
rights as Mary was clearly breaking a taboo of the times. She, a woman, was assuming the role of a man in engaging her male guest in
conversation. That was a role
of the man of the house; the women were supposed to be in the kitchen
preparing the meal. Jesus, in not
only allowing Mary to remain
in conversation with Him, but actually insisting upon it,
raises the role of women to a new and unprecedented height.
Jesus
was supposed to be scandalized by what Mary was doing, but He
actually sanctions it. Can you
imagine the shocked expression on Martha’s face? In the back of her mind, she might have
been recalling God’s Word: “For my
thoughts are not your thoughts, my ways are not your ways.” Then
Martha asks a question that could have been enough to break Jesus’
Sacred Heart: “LORD,
do you not care?” (Who
hasn’t asked that?) Of course He
cares Martha, but not about protocol or even the food. * He cares that Mary - and you - and every other woman for that
matter, should have the same opportunity as the men to sit at the Master’s
feet and ponder the Word of God.
That’s what matters to Jesus; that’s what He cares most about right
now.
Notice
too, that Jesus in no way puts
Martha down. He doesn’t say that
what she’s doing is menial or insignificant; just that Mary has chosen “the better part.” It isn’t a choice between something good
and something bad, but a choice between two good things … service and
hospitality or prayer and contemplation. In fact, Martha and Mary are the epitome
of the religious contemplative life.
In any convent or monastery, you will see a balance each day
between Martha and Mary: of time spent in prayer and contemplation and in
hospitality and service – a real balance.
Remember,
Jesus knows well these two sisters and their brother Lazarus; they were His friends. So Jesus’ answer to Martha – as her
friend - cuts right to the quick: “Martha,
you are anxious and upset about many
things.” The fact that Mary
isn’t helping her with the details of hospitality might not be anything
new, but it might be the final straw!
Martha has reached her breaking point and Jesus clearly sees
that. There are “many things”
bothering Martha that she may have been stewing
about for some time. She’s been
holding it in - perhaps like the good
girl she was raised to be. Women
simply don’t complain – especially to the men! Jesus opens the floodgates by recognizing
that Martha has many issues. He
admits it before she does
… or even before she can! And
since He has opened that Pandora’s Box, He in essence gives Martha permission to unburden herself – to
free herself from carrying this great weight upon her shoulders: “Take my yoke upon your shoulders, for my yoke is easy and my burden
light.” Come on, Martha. Sit down and rest a spell; take a load
off your feet – and your mind.
Listen to the Master. Jesus
is the pause that refreshes.
I’ve
often wondered if the LORD got through to Martha.
Luke doesn’t say. Does the LORD get through to
us? Busy, busy, busy. It’s
the American way of life. If
we’re going to get ahead, we’ve got to work hard, even at the expense of family,
friends, and faith. We
work 50 weeks a year, 7 days a week – forgetting that even God rested on
the seventh - and commanded us to do the same! Rest, refresh, renew. It’s
God’s way of life! ♦ Let’s face it, most of us lack real balance in our
life – a balance between work, recreation, and prayer – as well as a balanced
diet! Like men and women
religious, we diocesan (or secular) priests are strongly advised to take a
balanced approach to our lives: to spend a few hours each day in prayer and
in recreation, as well as the hours we spend “working.” It’s sound advice we would all benefit to
follow. Are we spending enough time
each day refreshing ourselves in wholesome, healthy, even fun activities? Or is life all about work, work, and more
work? Martha, Martha, Martha!
The
bottom line point Jesus is making is: He desired Mary be granted the
time to spend with Him; He also wanted Martha to freely choose to
spend time with Him, too. Jesus
wants all of us – each and every one of His disciples – the Martha’s and
Mary’s of today – you who have freely chosen to be here, and those who have
freely chosen not to be here – to spend quality time with Him, both
in private prayer at home and in public worship in Church, every Sunday – the day of rest and
re-creation. It’s quality time we all
need to take for the good of our souls.
It is time well spent – with God.
It is time Martha clearly needed.
I sure hope she took it.
2010 C ☼ 15th
Ordinary ● Father Kevin J Forsyth
“Do This … and You Will Live!” ©
“If only you would heed the
voice of the Lord, your God, and keep His commandments.” If
only. Deuteronomy means second
law. The Book of Deuteronomy is
not a new law replacing the
original First Law. It is a fresh
look and practical application of
the First Law for people living long
after the time of Moses, who as you might recall was the one who received
the First Law from God on Mount Sinai: the 10 Commandments.
The
times had changed and what had made sense in the past now seemed irrelevant. This led many people to disregard the whole
Law, to consider it passé: “that was
then, this is now. Get with the
times, God!” Does this sound
familiar?
The
author of Deuteronomy (the Second Law)
simply tried to update it, to make it timely and practical. He tried to convey that the Law was not
some relic of a far distant past inscribed on cold, stone tablets stored in
an Ark. “No,”
he says, “it is something very near
to you, already in your mouths and in your hearts.”
It
sounds to me like the people didn’t have far to go to find God’s
truth! If God’s truth is that close, then there should be no difficulty in
uncovering God’s will. We already know
right from wrong: it is written in our heart. “You
only have to carry it out.” We
only have to do it!
The
parable of the Samaritan neighbor
is among the best known passages from the Gospels, even though only Luke
(the physician) writes about it – probably because Luke was impressed with
the Samaritan’s knowledge of first aid.
People know this parable so well we can recite it from memory;
from heart. But do we understand the heart of the parable?
It is one of the Lord’s simple
masterpieces.
The
parable begs the question “who is my
neighbor?” It is a question
posed to Jesus by a scholar of the
Law - someone schooled in Biblical Law, not necessarily civil law. If there is one thing I have learned from
watching TV shows like Perry Mason
or The Practice, it’s that
lawyers usually don’t ask questions they don’t already know the answers
to! They already know the answers,
and they know where they are going in their line of questioning. Ah, but so does Jesus!
Well,
before the lawyer asks Jesus
about the “neighbor,” he earnestly asks, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Notice he does not ask what he must believe, or what he must accept. He asks what he must do. That little word is key! Suspecting that he already knows the
correct answer – again recall Deuteronomy: “it is already in your hearts,” - Jesus asks the lawyer, “What is written in the Law” (of
Moses)? “How do you read it?” - meaning ‘How do you interpret it?’ All laws need to be interpreted; that’s
what lawyers and judges do: they interpret laws. Fulfilling the words of Deuteronomy, “it is already in your hearts”, the
lawyer answers flawlessly: “You
shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind;
and your neighbor as yourself.”
Jesus concurs then echoes the words of Moses exactly: “Do this and you will live!” Ouch!
Why “ouch”? Stay with me and
I’ll tell you why!
The
lawyer then asks a ‘follow-up’ question; they normally ‘reserve the right’
to do so. “And who is my neighbor?”
Again, he already knows the answer: the Law had clearly defined
‘neighbor’ as a fellow Jew. Would Jesus agree with the Law or would
He stretch the boundaries? Jesus answers by not answering! What else is new? Instead Jesus tells a classic story of a
man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. Actually Jesus said the man was going
“down” to Jericho
- and He meant it, literally! Jericho is about 18 miles from Jerusalem and it’s all downhill: from a
height of 2,500 feet above sea level to a depth of 800 feet below sea
level. It was not an easy 18
miles by any stretch of the
imagination. It was a difficult and
dangerous trek, with many nooks and crannies perfect for robbers and thugs
to hide in and attack from. The
story of a man beaten on this journey would be a familiar one to the Lord’s
listeners: it was yesterday’s news, and it would be tomorrow’s news as
well.
The
characters would be familiar too: the Temple
Priest; a Levite (the priest’s Temple assistant), and a Samaritan, a resident of the
town of Samaria,
a people who shared many of the same beliefs as Jews but were considered
heretics because they intermarried freely with pagans. The Jews hated the Samaritans. In the parable, Jesus makes a Samaritan
the hero of the story, which is remarkable in itself given that Jesus was
just rejected from visiting Samaria! We
don’t want your kind here!
We
often judge the priest and the Levite harshly
because they failed to help the beaten man - but they were only following
the Law of Moses! If the injured
man, whose identity is never revealed, was indeed dead and they touched
him, they would be ritually unclean and would be unable to perform their Temple duties for 30
days! (No priest for 30 days! Some might see that as a good
thing!) The Jews listening to Jesus
tell this story would have sympathized
with both priest and Levite. No one
would have condemned them for their decision to “walk on by.”
As
the story unfolds, it is the Lord’s intention to demonstrate that sometimes
following the Law prevents us doing the right thing. A Samaritan spots the injured man and not
being bound by the Law of Moses, he is free to assist him. He can and does – do the right
thing. Jesus then asks the lawyer, “in your opinion;” not his
professional interpretation of the
Law as Jesus asked earlier; now Jesus wants his personal opinion - what is your gut feeling: who was the true neighbor to the injured
man? Again, the lawyer knows deep
down in his heart the right
answer: “The one who treated him
with mercy.” Notice the lawyer
does not say, “The Samaritan.” He can’t quite admit it, but he does say “the one who treated him with mercy.” Still, it took courage to say what he
did! Why? Because this is not what Moses
taught! Pleased with the lawyer’s
answer, Jesus says, “Then go and do
the same.” Do the right
thing. Compassionate love trumps the Law!
My friends, this
has tremendous implications for us and how we treat others. What Jesus did for the lawyer He does
for us: He changes the definition of the word neighbor. The Law
defined neighbor as a fellow Jew.
Compassion defines neighbor by what we do; not who we are or
where we live, or whether or not we like someone. There are no limits to love or love’s
forbearance.
In
this Gospel passage, Jesus gives us a lesson in true charity. Charity is defined as compassionate love
(mercy). In fact, Paul tells us that
the three greatest gifts are faith, hope, and love. Some translations say faith, hope and charity. Love and charity are the same. Charity then is an act of love. Charity
is something we do when we don’t have to do it - that which
is above and beyond what God asks
of us. The priest and Levite did not
have to stop and help the man, and they didn’t. The Samaritan did not have to stop and
help the man, but he did. He did
what he did not have to do: he practiced charity - compassionate love!
Jesus,
not someone to ever waste a teaching moment, nor a good example, continues
the story: there is more to learn.
Not only does the Samaritan do something that is not required of
him, he offers to do more. How much
more? Well, how much is enough? The Samaritan stopped and dressed the man’s
wounds, but was that enough? He took
him to safety to an Inn, but was that
enough? He paid for the man’s stay,
but was that enough? He even
volunteered to come back and do more! He did all this out of charity -
compassionate love – beyond what the Law of God required of him.
Come
on! This must sound
familiar. All of us act out of
compassionate love for the people we love: our parents, siblings,
children, close friends – even our pets!
If the rectory were on fire, I wouldn’t think twice about rushing in
to save Dakota and Gracie. Of
course, that’s not the sensible thing to do – but love trumps common
sense. We never put limits on what
we do for our loved ones because love doesn’t let us place limits. What grandparent says to their grandchild,
who is looking for another hug, “Sorry,
I’ve hugged you ten times today; that’s the limit. See me tomorrow.” Love doesn’t allow limits. We routinely practice compassionate love
for the people we love; we just need to learn to do it for the
people we don’t love – or like – or even know. And the more compassionate love we give, the more we receive.
Deuteronomy
teaches us that our real
understanding of the right thing to do is already in our hearts. The priest, the Levite, and even the Lord’s
audience all knew in their hearts
that the beaten man needed help, that someone
ought to help him. But they felt
caught between a rock and a hard place: between the Law written on stone
tablets, and the hardness of their stony
hearts. Yet they all knew the right thing to do:
they only needed to do it!
“Lord, what must I do to inherit
eternal life?” “Love the Lord your
God will all your heart, being, strength, and mind; and your neighbor as
yourself. Do this and … you …
will … live!”
2010 C ☼ 14th Ordinary – July 4th
● Father Kevin J Forsyth
“A Sacred and Undeniable Right to Life” ©
“Rejoice with Jerusalem
and be glad because of her, all you who love her.” In today’s passage from Isaiah, the
prophet sings of the end of exile and of Jerusalem’s children returning to their
cherished land; their time of trial and sorrow is ended, the nation is
returning to life! When I
read this Scripture passage as I prepared for today’s homily - on the 4th
of July - I couldn’t help but think of … us! Listen again as I change the original
location of Jerusalem: “Rejoice with America
and be glad because of her, all you who love her.”
While we commemorate our
independence today, there really wasn’t much celebrating back in 1776 – 234
years ago – when the Representatives of the original 13 colonies signed
their names to the Declaration of Independence. At the time, most of them thought they
were signing it with their blood!
Drafted by Thomas Jefferson
between June 11th and June 28th, 1776, the
Declaration of Independence is at once the nation's most cherished symbol
of liberty and Jefferson's most enduring
monument. Here, in exalted and treasured words, Jefferson
expressed the convictions in the minds and hearts of colonial Americans.
The political philosophy of the
Declaration was not new; its ideals of individual liberty had already been
expressed by John Locke and the Continental philosophers. What Jefferson
did was to summarize this philosophy in “sacred and undeniable truths” – a phrase he was asked to
rewrite as “self-evident truths”
- and set forth a list of grievances against the King of England, George
III, in order to justify before the world the breaking of ties between the
colonies and the mother country.
Just as when Isaiah proclaimed
that a new day had dawned, when “prosperity
would flow like a river,” the signers of our Declaration were filled
with hope for a new America. That hope preceded the signing -
as the American Revolutionary War had already begun on April 19, 1775 and
would last eight years until September 3, 1783. It would be almost six more years before our George – Washington - would take the oath of
office as our first President.
With courage and unanimity,
it was “in Congress, on July 4, 1776, the unanimous Declaration of the thirteen
united States of America, (proclaimed) when in the course of human events, it becomes necessary
for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them
with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and
equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect
to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes
which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be
“self-evident” (originally “sacred and undeniable”), that all men are created equal, that they are endowed “by their
Creator” (originally “from that equal creation”) with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are (originally
included “the preservation of”)
Life, Liberty
and the pursuit of Happiness.
We, therefore,
the Representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress,
assembled, appealing to the Supreme
Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do … solemnly
publish and declare, that these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to
be, Free and Independent States; … And for the support of this Declaration,
(added - “with a firm reliance on
the protection of divine Providence,” we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and
our sacred Honor.”
Our forefathers most certainly did believe in God
and boldly declared so in Jefferson’s
masterpiece. Although the words
“sacred and undeniable” were changed to “self-evident”, the words “from
that equal creation” were changed to “by
their Creator” – a change that placed the focus on the Creator
and not on the creation.
Another interesting rewrite came
with the phrase “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” It had a brief preface; it originally was
written as “the preservation of life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness.” As I read it, the
original phrase highlighted the continuation of life that already
existed; the removal of those three words placed the focus on life
itself – all life – as created by the aforementioned Creator.
Isaiah rejoiced at God’s
restoration of the city of Jerusalem. Previously, armies had laid siege to the
city. Now foreigners would bring
gifts instead of destruction. Two
verses before our passage for today began, Isaiah asked, “Can a country be brought forth in one
day, or a nation be born in a single moment?” We might ask that same question as we
reflect on our American independence.
It might seem as if our nation were born on July 4, 1776, but
it would, in fact, be almost 13 years later – in 1789 - before a real nation were to
begin.
With the signing of the
Declaration, a revolutionary war begun 15 months earlier would escalate and
intensify; thousands of soldiers on both sides would die – their blood would
serve as the stimulant of a new indivisible nation - conceived in liberty (on July 4,
1776) - under God – with “justice for all” as its ideal.
On April 30, 1789, General George
Washington was sworn in as our first president. The inaugural
ceremony took place in the open gallery of the old City Hall (later called
Federal Hall) on Wall Street, in New
York City, in the presence of a vast
multitude. As the oath of office was
administered, the President laid his hand on an open Bible with his Vice President
John Adams standing nearby.
After
taking his oath of office, Washington
kissed the Bible reverently, closed his eyes and in an attitude of devotion
said: “So help me God.” The Chancellor exclaimed, “It is done” and
turning to the people he shouted, “Long live George Washington, the first
President of the United
States.”
Then the president and the others walked in procession to Saint Paul’s Chapel
where they invoked the blessing of God upon our new government. Oh yeah, I believe they believed
in God – what they clearly did not believe in was independence
from God. God bless America!
2010 C ☼ 13th Ordinary ● Father Kevin J Forsyth
“Love Is Surrender” ©
“I
will follow you wherever you go.”
Today we hear stories of “calls” from God, and the various responses
people gave Him. All of these people
will learn that their personal “yes” to God will require personal
sacrifice. Their responses are not
always immediate nor without stipulations.
The
cost of following Jesus is made clear to us as we hear of the Lord’s
encounter with three potential disciples.
Instead of welcoming them with open arms, “Sure, come on along!” Jesus warns them of the seriousness of
being His disciple. He wants to make
clear they know what they are getting themselves into.
To
the first potential disciple Jesus says that even though the foxes and the
birds have a place to rest, He – Jesus - has nowhere to call home. His warning: expect the same. If I don’t have a home, chances are you
won’t either! So don’t come
complaining to me later on.
To
the second potential disciple, who merely wants to bury his father (whom we
presume to be dead), Jesus responds with one of His most bizarre answers: “Let
the dead bury their dead.” What? Jesus is not saying that we should
cold-heartedly turn our backs on our dying or deceased parents, for that
would be contrary to … which Commandment?
The fourth: “honor your father and mother.” No, Jesus is simply doing what Jesus
always does, turning an ordinary moment into a teaching moment. He is teaching about the radical-ness of
the Kingdom
of God, a Kingdom of
eternal life, not death.
Leave the dead to the dead – here Jesus means those who do not
believe in eternal life, for they are already dead. Your life, as my disciple, must be
concerned with life, not death! Lakiem! To
life!
To
the third and final potential disciple, Jesus explains that he will have to
follow Him now. Jesus is
moving on; He can’t wait for indecisive people. If they want to follow Him, they must do
so now – in the present – not tomorrow, for we all know tomorrow never
comes: “I’ll start my new diet
tomorrow.” All we have –
all we ever have – is the
present! “Carpe diem” – seize the day.
The Jews of Jesus’ day had a saying, “If not now, when?”
Jesus said, “The Kingdom of God is at hand”; what on
earth are you waiting for - a divine invitation? We have it!
In
the first reading from the Book of Kings, we hear of another call and
response. As his service as a
prophet of God is coming to an end, Elijah is sent by God to commission his
own successor, Elisha, a very wealthy man as evidenced by his 12 yoke of
oxen! If you had 12 yoke of oxen
2,000 years ago, you were a very rich man!
Elijah “threw his cloak”
over the shoulders of Elisha (kind of reminiscent of our childhood game of
“Tag – you’re it” ●
signaling a transfer of power; Elisha clearly recognizes the symbolism of
this gesture – and he accepts!
However, as his immediate concern is for his loved ones and not for
himself, he begs permission to bid farewell to his parents. Elijah grants his request, “Go back!”
Elisha’s
“yes” to God seems to come easily, but this divine commission does not
obliterate his life; he must still tie up some loose ends and work out the
practicalities of his altered life.
And boy oh boy, does he make some profound changes! One of the most striking aspects about
Elisha’s response is the totality of his assent. He uses the tools of his trade as
firewood to prepare a farewell Bar-B-Q.
He makes a complete break with his past by slaughtering his oxen -
there goes his fortune! - and using his plowing equipment as fuel for the
fire to cook the meat to feed the people.
After the Bar-B-Q,
there will be nothing left. Elisha
leaves his past behind in smoke and destroys any ability to return to his
former life. This is an awesome
Biblical example of a complete and
unreserved response to God’s call.
Elisha destroys the tools of his trade and leaves absolutely nothing
to fall back on should this new calling not work out for him. God has called him and Elisha entrusts
his whole future to God. What an
incredible act of faith!
Few
of us would do such a thing, (even I have my own condo) but then again, few
would ever be asked to do such a thing. We each follow the Lord as best we can,
given our own life circumstances.
But there is one thing we all can learn from Elisha: if we want
lasting inner peace, the only way we will attain it is to surrender
completely to God’s Will, by following His teachings and allowing God to
make of us what He wants, not what we want.
With all due respect to the “Chairman of the Board” - Frank Sinatra
- at the end of our life, we should not be singing “I did it my way;” we should be singing “I did it God’s way.”
In
the 1970’s, Carroll O’Connor, a faithful
and generous Catholic gentleman very convincingly portrayed a grumpy, bigoted Protestant in the
person of Archie Bunker. I remember
a funny exchange between Archie and his neighbor George Jefferson. Archie firmly believed that he was number
one. George believed that he was
number one. “We both can’t be number
one,” exclaimed Archie. Right you
are, Arch! We can’t all be number
one. Maybe that’s why God wrote - as
His First Commandment, “I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other
gods besides me.” “I’m number one,” says God - end
of discussion! It is the wise and
learned person who does not argue this point with the Almighty!
Thankfully,
we do not have to burn our bridges as Elisha did, for we live in
families and with modern day responsibilities. But, if we surrender our will, if we
reorganize our priorities and make God first in our lives, then we will
achieve and enjoy Christ’s farewell gift to us: His peace. We will prosper, and not merely
survive. I’ll repeat that line, as
it is key to the Gospel: if we place God first in our lives, we will
prosper, not merely survive. ●
You know, the challenge in following Christ is rarely a choice between an
absolute good and an absolute evil.
More often than not, it is a choice between two potential goods: following God’s Will or following our own
will. The question is: do we trust
the Lord enough to surrender to His
Will? As the song says, “Love is
surrender.”
2010 ☼ 12th Ordinary C ● Father Kevin J Forsyth
“Who Do You Say That Jesus Is?” ©
“Who
do the crowds say that I am?” Jesus knew people were talking
about Him and He asks His disciples to ‘fess up’ with what they know. Let’s face it people talk about
people. We fascinate each
other. Priests know parishioners
talk about us. You want to know
something? We talk about you too –
except what we hear in the Confessional.
It has been said, “Great minds talk about issues; average minds
talk about events; small minds talk about people. What do you talk about?” Makes you think, doesn’t it? I’ll bet it doesn’t make us stop talking
though!
So,
people were talking about Jesus – that’s not a surprise. Depending on whom you talked with,
the things you heard varied. Most
people liked Him; some even worshipped
the ground he walked on! Some
people despised Him; they even wished Him dead. And they got their wish – for a few days
anyway. Then He came back … not
to haunt them, but to forgive them. What a guy!
In today’s Gospel,
His disciples tell Jesus only some of the good things the people had
been calling Him - they don’t tell Him any of the bad stuff. Some said Jesus was Elijah; some said He
was John the Baptist. Now, calling
Jesus the new Elijah was understandable, but calling Him John the Baptist -
come back from the dead? Come
on! Jesus and His cousin were
contemporaries; they grew up together; people saw them together. How on earth could Jesus suddenly become
His beheaded cousin? It just goes to
show you how wrong people can
be.
Was
Jesus the new Elijah? The original
Elijah had departed this earth many moons earlier, in a whirlwind
assumption into heaven. Did you
think Mary was the first one assumed into heaven? Nope - not the first, just maybe the most
famous! It was expected that Elijah
would return at the end of time to announce and usher in the promised Kingdom of God.
John the Baptist had been one of those who called Jesus the new
and promised Elijah. Jesus
begged to differ with His beloved cousin.
Jesus said John the Baptist was the new Elijah! Was John right or was Jesus right? My money is on Jesus! I believe Jesus was right! I always believe He’s right!
Jesus
doesn’t spend much time on the topic of what the people were saying
about Him; He cuts right to the quick: “Who do you say that I am?”
Jesus isn’t just saying that the opinions
of His disciples mean more to Him than the others; it’s important for His
disciples to know exactly who they are following - and why. It is Peter who speaks: you are “The
Christ of God!” I’ve said it
before that I just love Peter.
Normally, he says the wrong thing at the wrong time. Peter could be the patron saint of “open
mouth, insert foot!” Well, good
ol’ Peter must have tasted his foot more times than he’d care to
recall. I love Peter because I can
relate to him; we both have walked in the same shoes. Perhaps you’ve borrowed those shoes? But today, Peter says exactly the right
answer at the right moment. And what
is the Lord’s response? Jesus
rebuked him. What? Peter finally gets the right answer and
Jesus rebukes him – He rebukes them all!
What’s going on here?
This episode signals the beginning
of the Lord’s long journey to Jerusalem
– where He will die; from this point on, Jesus is on His way to His
Cross. Everything He says and does
is another step toward Golgotha, where He
will demonstrate perfect obedience, love and self-sacrifice. If this Lenten image seems too
grim for Ordinary Time, we need only thank God that we know more
than the Lord’s first disciples knew when they heard His dire
prediction. At least we know that
beyond the Cross lies the empty tomb and resurrection. They did not yet know that.
In
their answer to the question, “Who do you say that I am?” Jesus
rebukes His disciples because they need to grow in this knowledge before
getting all excited about being with the promised Messiah. They need to become fully aware of all
the implications of His true identity and their discipleship. In order that no false message is sent
out by any of the disciples, Jesus immediately rebukes them all and
orders them to keep silent. Until
they know who and what they’re talking about, keep quiet. This is sound advice for any of us! The Lord’s advice will prevent any
misunderstanding until such a time when the full meaning of the Lord’s
identity is completely understood.
That time will come only after
the resurrection.
It
doesn’t take Jesus the Teacher long to break open that full
meaning. He proceeds to spell out, in
what must have seemed very strange terms, the ramifications of being “the
Christ of God.” In their minds
“Christ” meant “anointed one” and “kingship” and “royalty”. Jesus explains that it means “blood,
suffering, death, and resurrection”.
In their minds, “Christ” meant “power and prestige”. Jesus tells them it means “servant-hood
and sacrifice”. It is only after
they (and we, for that matter) have arrived at a mature faith and a
deeper understanding and have adopted an attitude similar to
Jesus’ in our every thought, word,
and deed, that they (and we) can lead others on the right
path to Christ and His Kingdom, and until we can, button up! It’s that important; know who you’re
talking about! Jesus says, “Can the
blind lead the blind? Shall not both
fall into the ditch?”
“Who
do you say that I am?” Jesus asked His disciples of the first
century that question and Jesus asks His disciples of the 21st
century, too. Who do we say Jesus is? Is His Name sacred to us, or do we toss
it about like a baseball? Is His
Eucharist important to us – important enough to make it at least a
once-a-week event – like food shopping - or is it a once-a-year necessity like
going to the dentist? Does what Jesus
lived and died for have meaning to us?
Jesus
says, “If anyone wishes to come
after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”
We live in an age when people not only fail to deny themselves anything, we seek all we can
possibly attain. Experts agree this
is precisely the attitude which caused the financial collapse of the world
economy. Perhaps it’s time we listen
to the LORD
and do as He says – deny ourselves - even just a little to start – and
embrace our cross – whatever it may be – and truly follow Him. Doing that would surely tell the world
who Jesus is in our life. Actions do
speak louder than words. May our
actions speak honestly and proudly of who Jesus is in our life!
2010 C ☼ 11th Ordinary ● Father Kevin J Forsyth
“Sin,
Repentance and God’s Merciful Forgiveness” ©
“LORD, forgive the wrong I have done.” That was the refrain for the psalm today
and I thought it was a timely and appropriate sentiment as we conclude this
“Year for Priests.” “LORD,
forgive the wrong I have done.”
Nathan, God’s prophet, said to
David – King David – Jesus’ great, great (etc) grandfather, “Thus says the LORD God:
‘I anointed you King of Israel. Why have you spurned the LORD and
done evil in His sight?’” It’s
as if Nathan is saying to David, “How
could you?” Today we hear that
King David has done evil in God’s sight.
What exactly did David do?
You don’t want to know. Or do
you?
Well, long story short, David
lusted for Bathsheba while she bathed, wanted her and decided to make her
his own. The problem is, Bathsheba
is the wife of Uriah, a soldier with unimpeachable loyalty to King
David. David, allowing his passion
to get the best of him, quickly exchanges voyeurism for betrayal and
treachery. He writes a letter to Joab, Israel’s
field commander, in which he orders that Uriah be placed on the front lines
of the battle, where Uriah will surely be ‘killed in action.’ Ironically, it is Uriah who hand-delivers
King David’s sealed orders to Commander Joab.
In addition to committing the sins
of lust and homicide, David also suffers the sins of adultery and
hypocrisy. Yet, in spite of all
these sins, God does forgive a very repentant
David. When Nathan confronts David,
his repentance is immediate and sincere.
While this episode is not the proudest moment in the life of Jesus’
great, great (etc) grandfather, it does point to the love, mercy and
forgiveness of God our Father, who waits patiently for all His children to
come to Him with repentant hearts.
A crucial point in this Biblical
passage that gets overlooked – and shouldn’t is when Nathan says to David, “Now, therefore, the sword shall
never depart from your house.”
This is a prophecy from Nathan, not a capricious punishment
from God; it is an inevitable consequence resulting from David’s own sinful
acts. Even though David repents,
there are consequences put into motion which can not be reversed. Nathan’s prophecy was accurate –
generation after generation of David’s linage did, in fact, see the painful fulfillment of this prophecy –
including the Lord’s own mother Mary, whose heart - at His crucifixion - was “pierced
like a sword.”
To understand this fundamental and
essential point, I’ll use myself as an example. Over the last several years, I’ve gained
a few pounds (at least 50), a direct result of my having consumed too many
calories each day. If I’m to be
honest with myself and with you, I have a food addiction. My conditions of 1) being obese (and God, I hate that word!) and 2)
having diabetes are direct results of my eating too much food; they are not
punishments from God (“I’ll make you
fat and sick” – no!) They are
the results of my food addiction, not something God has done to punish me.
Another example: In the late
1980’s, some people - good people - rushed to judgment saying that the AIDS
epidemic was God’s judgment wrought against certain individuals or
groups. I can assure you, God is not
sitting on His Heavenly Throne dispensing viruses and diseases to people
who might be ticking Him off! If
that were the case, I think we’d all be in jeopardy, for who here has never offended God?
I
do not work for, nor do I believe in, such a vindictive God. The HIV virus is spread by promiscuous,
often anonymous, sex with someone who has the virus; or from drug addicts
who share the same needles; or most sadly, in Utero from an infected mother
to her baby. Now I hope we can all
agree God is not “out to get” the babies!
You may have heard by now of a
widely read book entitled The Shack. The book is about a father of a family
who has experienced a serious personal tragedy. As a result, the father is bitter toward
God, partially blaming God for the tragedy – a reaction many people feel in
the face of tragedy. One day, the
father finds an invitation in his mailbox from God to spend a weekend with
the three Persons of the Blessed Trinity – in a shack in the woods. In the course of the weekend, the father
has extensive talks about many religious topics.
As a result of the recent tragedy,
the first topic the father wants to deal with is God’s handing out
punishments for sin. The father
asks, “If you are God, aren’t you the one spilling out great bowls of wrath
and throwing people in a burning lake of fire? Isn’t that what the Bible tells us?” God the Father, given the name “Papa” in
the book responds, “I don’t need to punish people for sin. Sin is its own punishment, devouring you
from the inside. It’s not my purpose
to punish; it’s my joy to cure.”
Actually, it’s not surprising that
many people feel the way that the father of the family does. After all, our Catechism does define sin
as an “offense against God.”
Therefore, it stands to reason that God might want to retaliate in some way - that is our human
reaction; but God is not like us!
In addition, the Old Testament does relate many occasions when God
did indeed punish people for their sins.
But, “that was then, this is
now” - a now of almost 2,000 years when people are redeemed by the
blood of the Lamb! Why is it people
– why is it Christians - keep forgetting Christ and His Cross? God is no longer in the “I’m going to get you for that”
business! God sold the business -
and the purchase price was the Crucifixion of His Son!
We can – and do – still offend
God when we abuse what God has created – and abusing God’s creation leads
to suffering in some way. The crisis
of the Gulf coast is a prime and immediate example; not only are humans
suffering in many ways, animals are suffering too: wildlife, birds, fish,
shrimp, etc. They’re all affected.
We see this insight confirmed in
Nathan’s pronouncement of judgment against King David. David’s crimes – his sins – were crimes
of violence against Uriah and Uriah’s wife.
They could not be undone.
As is often the case, violence begets more violence and Nathan’s
curse is a witness to this usual sequence of events – none of which God
caused, but because of the unwillingness of people to accept responsibility
for their own actions, most often times God is the one who gets
blamed! It is the ultimate
“cop-out!” Will we ever stop
blaming God?
In The Shack at the end of the first day, Papa (God) tells the
father, “Your real flaw is that you don’t think I’m good. If you knew I was good and that
everything – the means, the ends, and all the events of human lives – is
all covered by my goodness, then while you might not always understand what
I’m doing, you would trust me. But
you don’t.” Our money says, “In God
We Trust,” but do we trust in God’s mercy and forgiveness - and if
not, why not? Hey, maybe that’s God’s fault,
too!
|
