September 6, 2009 - 23rd Sunday in OT. B.

There are two topics I want to chat with you about this evening. The first is the healing power we see in the Gospel reading. A healing power is always present in the Christ. The love of God is a healing thing. It finds ways to pull together the shattered pieces of our hearts, it finds ways to bind up the fragmented lives we lead. God's love brings healing to the body, the mind and the soul.

 

This is the ancient power called Raphael...like the Archangel. The Archangel Raphael is God's healing instrument. Rapha-el means "God heals." And that healing, strengthening, stabilizing power is available to you. This is the power that calmed the winds and stilled the waves on the sea of Galilee. It is a power that can calm the storms of your own life. It is right here. That is what this Eucharist is all about in one sense. We are here to be healed. Our souls are weary and scarred by sin and the devices and desires of our hearts that have led us in down paths that looked good to us, but turned out to have been painful paths. And not only our souls, but our minds have been scarred. And our bodies, too. They have suffered as we experimented with paths of dubious merit. And, now, we need healing. We need strength. We need the calming, holy wholeness that God's touch brings. That is why you are here, truth told. You've wended your way to this sanctuary, this refuge to experience God's forgiving, healing, cleansing, strengthening power.

 

You know, the early Church knew how to talk about life and say what they meant. When they felt torn apart, and pulled in a thousand directions–when they felt overwhelmed, not knowing if their boat would be swamped, they said they were "scattered," literally "ripped apart and strewn about." The most evocative verb for "to strew" in Greek and there are several: is diaballein. Did you hear the "ball" in diaBALLein? Ballein is the verb for "to throw." We get ball, base ball, basketball, and all the balls from ballein...something thrown. Ballistics comes from that verb, for you CSI fans. Dia is a preposition that can mean a dozen things depending on its context, but it CAN mean "around." So, diaballein is to "throw around," or to strew. We get the word "diabolic" from this root. The Devil was the Great Scatterer who ripped lives apart and people couldn't heal. But in Christ and the sacraments they met the Great Physician, and found a source of healing. Do you feel the power of the diabolic in your life? Oh, I don't mean the Devil is out to get you, but do you sense your energy so dissipated that you have no clear vision for your future? Do you feel more and more overwhelmed and overtaken by events? You are in the right place. Here is the Power of Health for body, mind and soul.

 

When you receive the Body of Christ, you touch the power of the living God, and the Living God touches you. God's energy is given you...an energy that begins its transforming work, bringing health and wholeness.

 

Which brings me to the second thing I wanted to chat with you about. The health in tonight's Gospel reading...remember? Christ healed a deaf man. He opened ears to hear...such a wonderful act of healing. Do you sense, though, that if Christ were to come to you with that same healing power that it might be to "close" your ears rather than to open them? People, so much of what we listen to is not helpful to health. There are things we need to hear: encouragement for the good, appreciation for our kindnesses, affirmations of love. But most of what we hear is actually destructive to us and to any effort for peace...either inner peace or world peace. So much of what we hear brings anxiety, leads to rage, causes sadness and hurt. These things will ALWAYS tear us apart. So...no matter how many Eucharists we attend, or how many Confessions we make, if we continue to listen to what will explode inside us and fragment us, we will continue to experience pain. Part of today's healing offered you is a meditation on "ears." Listen to what is beneficial to you and good for all, and move away from conversations, TV or Radio stations, or books that destroy your peace, your wholeness. Let's face it, most of what passes for "News" today ISN'T! It's just raw gossip that hurts someone. A high White House source, indeed! Probably the janitor with a beef! I'm serious about this. We have air pollution, and it isn't just chemicals...it's all the stuff we listen to that is harmful to good judgement.

 

So, today, as you leave this sanctuary, take with you the memory of God's healing touch. But also take with you a discerning ear. And therein will be a source of blessing for you and for all you touch. And may God bless you all. +

 

-Father Bill Axe, O.SS.T.

21st Sunday in OT. B. - August 23, 2009

I left home two weeks after graduating from High School. I started summer school at the university immediately. And, when I left home for college, my father and mother paid my summer school tuition and dorm fees and gave me a portable typewriter. In addition to this, my father gave me the book, Ethan Frome, a novel by Edith Wharton, which I read during the orientation stuff. Now, I don't know if you've read that novel–I think it was made into a movie about 10 or 15 years ago–but it is a pretty boring novel. Nothing much happens. Ethan marries a hypochondriac, who gets her assurance of Ethan's love for her as he cares for her in increasing intensity, until finally, he has to hire a sitter to be wirh her...and of course, the inevitable happens, and he and the sitter fall in love, but this was VERY PROPER NEW ENGLAND of the 1700's and people didn't have affairs, so they decided to do the only thing they knew how to do, they decided to kill themselves.....so they get on a snow sled, on a mountain side, and careen into a tree–but they aren't killed, after all, and Ethan's "hypochondriac wife" has to get out of her sick bed and tend them. So, why, you ask, did my father give me that book? That's what I asked him when I went home for vacation on the 4th of July weekend. I said, "Dad, why did you give me that book?"

 

His response–he always knew how to push my buttons–was to ask, "Well, did you read it?" I retorted sharply, "Of course I read it!"

 

Then, he asked me, when in that novel did any of the characters make what you would call a real "moral decision?" And I had to say, "I don't know." They weren't "thinkers," and they didn't really decide anything...even their suicide attempt had been a last minute whim on a snowy evening.

 

And Dad almost jumped at me, and barked, "That's exactly right! They didn't make decisions. They just allowed themselves to be carried along by a sort of inertia, as they drifted toward the precipice." And then, he said that most of life is like that. Very rarely do we actually make big moral decisions. Most of life is just plodding along, laughing and griping our way toward tomorrow. "And, then, one day, we see how cut off and lonely we have become, and we know we have sinned."

 

"Sinned?" I asked? My father rarely talked of religion, and never about sin. "Yes, sinned! he said. "Sin is when we allow ourselves to dissipate, and we end up being so much less than we know we can be. Life is such a wonderful gift, and to fritter it away meaninglessly is sinful."

 

So, as we talked about that novel I learned something about my father. He didn't think Old Ethan and his girlfriend, the sitter, were sinful for falling in love, moreover, he thought their suicide plan more stupid than sinful. He saw "sinfulness" in the hypochondriac wife who refused to live to her potential and created the circumstances of the whole mess, and in the refusal of Ethan and the sitter to choose a life together....all sins of "omission."

 

Now this isn't a literature class or a philosophy class. I'm not asking you to agree or disagree with my father's literary analysis of Wharton's characters. Rather, I'm asking you to think about your own life. I think you'll see how uncomfortably true my father's analysis is. Most of us don't make large moral decisions most of the time. Most of our days drift–we sit with friends who are bigots, and smile at them. We listen to alcoholic ramblings of relatives, and we smile at them. We deal with bosses who are so out of touch with the real world, but we smile at them. Generally, we just try to live without causing a lot of pain and anxiety in others. And, in the process, the days slip away, and we are defined not by our decisions but by our lassitude.

 

The readings, today, are about moments when moral decisions are necessary, and where just smiling and nodding won't work. Joshua says to the Israelites, "You can do what you want, but as for me and my house—WE WILL SERVE THE LORD!" That is a deciding moment put into conscious words. Jesus, sensing that the crowds have left him, including many of those who had been very close–he turns to the 12 and says, "Will you leave me, too?" And Peter says, "No, we won't." And that was a defining moment. It defined the Church and its nature. We are not a church of the pulpit, seeking correct definitions for everything, nor are we Torah scholars, combing the Bible for forgotten truths. Rather, we are a "Table People," whose destiny is to face each other in covenant, and humbly receive into ourselves the Body and Blood of Christ with the hope that we will be, thereby, transformed into His likeness, so that we, too, can find a way to love everyone! At this table the bright student and the dullard eat the same food and hope for the same transformation. It isn't about getting deeper insights into the Text of the Bible, or getting a warm fuzzy feeling in the chest....the transformation we seek is something that opens our minds to a greater love for all humanity.

 

"You shall love your neighbor as yourself," was set as a goal for us by the One Who gives Himself to us in Eucharist, at this table, and we take it seriously. We sense that we live in a world of 6 billion strangers. And strangers tend to fear each other, and fear causes all sorts of ugly defensive and offensive behavior, and before you know it, violence and war and mutual destruction are the result. And who will make of these 6 billion strangers "family?" Who will bring them to the family table? Who will sit with them and break bread? Who will make strangers into family? THAT is the question. And John's gospel and all the gospels answer that question with: "THE FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST can do that!" We have been given the Grace of "making family from strangers." That is what Eucharist demands......you bring the world to your family table!

 

Today's readings hope we will not "sin" in my father's sense of that word. They hope we will not cower before our goal, but rather that we will allow ourselves to be transformed by the POWER we receive here, into that force of goodness and love that can create family out of potential enemies, and friendship out of foes. May God be with us all this week as we seek to make our lives benedictions of goodness in our world. And may God bless you all. +

 

-Father Bill Axe, O.SS.T.

August 16, 2009 - 20th Sunday in OT. B.

The 1st and 2nd readings this weekend beg us to attain wisdom, which is not just "knowing something," but rather, allowing our lives to be completely reformed and redirected by what we've come to know and experience. That's what a truly "wise" person is. Not a genius, necessarily, but one who has the sense to live a good and worthy life.

 

We all instinctively KNOW that high school diplomas and college degrees don't make a person wise. We've all seen people with doctorates who are total airheads when it comes to practical day to day living, haven't we?

 

The first and second readings, today, are not asking us to get a Masters Degree. They are asking us to attain a wisdom of life. They want us to let our lives be formed and reformed by what we've come to know and experience. And what is that, exactly?

 

The Gospel tells us. It is the experience of the living God in the Eucharist. Christ told his disciples–and anyone else who would listen–that his flesh was true food and his blood true drink, a heavenly food come down from God to give life.

 

Think about that. In this Eucharist, you receive God in all His fullness: God's energy, God's healing power, God's creative strength, God's enduring presence that empowers us to survive life's worst difficulties. You are entering into Mystery with a capital "M" in this Rite of Holy Communion with your God.

 

In the Eastern Church, the churches closest to the Holy Land, the sacraments are referred to as the "Energies of God." And that's what they are: God's Energy given to you to transform you, strengthen you, empower you, giving you insight to create new possibilities and thus participate in God's creativity.

 

Seven years ago, I was pastor of a country congregation in rural Maryland about the size of Pius X, and we were rehearsing our First Communion Class for their big day. At the end of the rehearsal, I asked the kids if they had any questions, and they did..hundreds of them!  And one little girl finally asked me, "what does it feel like to receive Jesus?" And I was honest in my reply. I said that sometimes we feel very close to God, and that sometimes we feel nothing...we are too preoccupied or distracted. But, even then, I told her, God's Grace is at work in us, transforming us and empowering us, and one day, it will show itself, when we will be fair when it would have been easier to be foul; or kind when it would have been easier to be rude, or helpful when it would have been easier to pass by.

 

I don't know what, if anything, you will "feel" today as you touch the Living God and are touched by Him, but I do know that His transforming, sustaining, and strengthening creative power will be unleashed in you....so, expect miracles down the road! And may God bless you all. +

 

-Father Bill Axe, O.SS.T.

August 9, 2009 ' 19th Sunday in OT. B.

It's hard to believe it, at first sight, but the readings today are all about "discouragement." Life is full of disappointments and trials that knock us all off our center, now and then. Sometimes, it seems simply too heavy to go on. And when that happens, it's easy to give up or get cynical. Elijah wants to "give up": that will be his way of dealing with God when he is at the end of his rope. And the people in the Gospel reading get cynical...when Jesus of Nazareth wants them to move to a deeper level of spirituality, when he wants this crowd to look more deeply into the biblical text of the book of Exodus and more deeply into their own lives, they resist: WHO'S HE? WHO DOES HE THINK HE IS? WE WATCHED HIM GROW UP! WE KNOW HIS MOTHER AND ALL HIS CRAZY RELATIVES! NONE OF THEM CAN THINK THEIR WAY OUT OF NAZARETH, WHY SHOULD WE LISTEN TO HIM? Cynicism and despair: two hooks that can reach out and grab us when we aren't paying attention.

 

Lets look at this issue through the eyes of the characters in the stories: Elijah was quite a character! He stomped around Israel about 800 BCE, condemning idolatry, and publically attacking King Ahab & his wife Queen Jezebel the royalty of the day, for their role in leading people into idolatry....and what had he gotten for his trouble? Jezebel had put a price on his head, and he was running for his life, hiding in the desert, and making his way to Mt. Sinai, where Moses had met God, for he wanted justice for himself. He had given his life for what he thought was "the right thing," and he was being persecuted for it. He wanted to speak with God!!! But, on the way, he gives up. What's the use?  He says to himself that God can hear him from the plains of Israel as well as at Sinai, so he's heard, and doesn't care! Why not just die?

 

Often life's most bitter discouragement comes because we want "a good reward" for what we do. Now, on the surface, this is reasonable...but, life doesn't deal with reasonable people! If life consisted of reasonable people, there wouldn't be any wars, and we would have found a way to end world hunger, AND we wouldn't have the viciousness we have in politics, today, as I speak! So, often, the good we do will be taken and twisted and turned against us...and those who easily give into evil, and whose "good deeds" were a fluke to begin with, perhaps only done with the hope of getting acclaim, will immediately plot revenge and do lots of evil to get even; those who, like Elijah, today, despair, will give up. But, those who have more self-possession will do more good anyway...for it will be their nature to do good. Do you see the point?

 

The people in the crowd who have come out to hear Jesus, are people who are a viciously persecuted minority in the Roman Empire. They are wonderful people, but they are hurting. And they just want the Rabbi to talk to tell them it's OK to use their numbers to attack back...ultimately that's what this "crowd" is about...it's Passover: a season of LIBERATION, and this crowd is saying to themselves, "in Moses' day, God freed us," and our day, "God will free us only if we use His strength to free ourselves!" But at this nod to "war as an answer" Jesus says, "Look at the Text more deeply. Freedom isn't just about chains of oppressors, it's about the chains that you yourselves have put on your minds...thinking that only ONE thing will free you. Be taught by God....come to me....I will "feed" you with the message of peace. BUT, good people that they are, they just don't want to TAKE ANYMORE, and rather than "go spiritually deep" into the Text of Exodus with Jesus, they cast aspersions on his character: "Who does he think he is? We know him and all his relatives! None of them will set the world on fire!"

 

Cynicism doesn't address issues. It clouds the waters, so that the real issues remain hidden. We use it on ourselves when we are confused, and it's easier to go the "cynicism" route than it is to think things through without emotion and prejudicial language. You see it in politics all the time: instead of looking at issues in depth, together, we call each other socialists, communists, Nazis, racists, exploiters....and no growth is necessary, then, for no new awareness will come in the midst of the chaos.

 

So, today we are presented with portraits of OURSELVES in Elijah and the crowd. There isn't a one of us who hasn't been in the shoes of all these people.........and we may be in those shoes right now! St. Paul calls both despair and cynicism 'grieving the Spirit of God!" And he tells us to put all bitterness, fury, anger and malice behind us.

 

Now, I ask you: Where do we get the strength to do that? Where do we attain the spiritual depth not only to put the bitterness, fury, anger and malice out of our lives, but continue doing good, even when it's twisted by people and used against us? Where do we get the spiritual strength to do the "next right thing," simply because it's the "right thing, and the good thing to do?" The Gospel tells us we get it in the Eucharist. Christ says, as the Son of God, "I am the living Bread come down from Heaven! And whoever eats this bread will live forever..."

 

There, eternal life is opposed to the actions of death.........the actions of death are giving up, like Elijah under his broom tree, and waiting for death; or cynicism, like the crowds, to "kill" the reputation if not the person of those they don't agree with. It's the Eucharist–Christ coming to us–that softens us, and humbles us, and mellows us, and forms us–rather CRUCIFORMS us–into blessings of goodness for our world.

 

Come to the Table of the Prince of Peace, today, and feed on Him in your heart with faith and thanksgiving. It will preserve you among the LIVING, both now and forever. And may God bless you all. +

August 2, 2009 - 18th Sunday in OT. B.

Last week, we saw that the crowds had come out to hear Jesus at Passover–a very busy time of preparation–because they wanted something. He had been doing healings, and they had come, hoping to have their sick healed and well for Passover. What they received, instead, was the multiplication of the loaves and fish...an abundance of nourishment. How did it happen? What did the priest say who gave the sermon at the Mass you attended?

 

Over the centuries since, two basic approaches have been pursued:

1) That Jesus worked a miracle and fed so many from so little.

2) That the miracle was that people shared what they had, and it was more than enough.

 

A couple of the Fathers suggest that both are true. FIRST, God is amazing, and provides us with more than we could imagine. And, that, SECOND, when we experience God's generosity, it's catching! And we, ourselves, are transformed. WE become generous, too. And so, I wish I could remember which of the Fathers said this, but I can't...I can still see the classroom where we were studying them, and I can see the professor writing notes on the board, but I can't remember the Fathers we were studying, or the works we were reading from:...but whoever they were, those two Fathers sensed that the REAL MYSTERY of Eucharistic Grace...the bounty of God, is that it IS abundant. We are OVER-STUFFED with God's goodness. And, We ARE TRANSFORMED. As a result, we really do become better people.

 

Now, today, it's sort of cute.........the crowds who had first come to Jesus seeking healing, were amazed at what they DID receive, and are back for more! And Jesus—I can see him with a wry smile—wagging His finger and saying... "You didn't come to me because you've "seen the light," you've come because you got enough to EAT, and you're lazy and want me to feed you every day!!!" And I imagine they smiled back and applauded at His humor. It is in this context of good camaraderie that Jesus then says something that has been the "hallmark" of His ministry:

 "You should not be working for perishable food/goods/goals/stuff...you fill in the blank...

 But for "what" is eternal. Eternal service of God requires "eternal works"... an eternal

 attitude... you need to approach your life with seriousness....not make it ugly and hard,

 but with "attention" you need to begin to pay attention to serving God...truly serving

 God with your life........make it mean something....your life is eternal, so live lives of

 depth...put "eternity" into your actions..............

 

That's why they respond: "What are the 'works of God,' or the 'eternal works', the things of

 depth? And Jesus replied, "Well, you could start by taking ME seriously!"

 

It's then that they say, "So what is YOUR "work", was it the bread you gave us, like Moses gave the manna?

 

Which is why Jesus responds: That wasn't MOSES giving anyone anything! Listen to the text again! It was GOD who gave the manna....but what God will give you NOW, is something holier even than that!

 

That's when they say, "Give us this bread always!" And that has been our prayer ever since: "Give us this day our daily bread." And by it we do mean Eucharist, and Eucharistic grace–i.e., the Generosity of God...the BOUNTY that always leaves us stupefied. It's not just the bread and the wine (the Body of Christ and His Blood) we beg, but we beg ALL God has to give us...each gift–whether it's health, or employment, or family peace–each gift a participation in and a reflection of the Body Broken, the Blood Spilled for us....EUCHARIST.

 

And Christ assures them that as often as they ask for this Bread, that He, Himself will come, and fill us with His Grace...for He is the Bread, the Bounty, the Generosity of God.

 

And He will make us generous, bountiful people in His stead. That's why the author of Ephesians begs the people NOT to live like they used to, when they were Gentiles–selfish lives, all bound up and concerned with security, and what we can "get." There's a new way of living that the God of Israel gives: a Generosity of heart and mind...a freedom in the universe that says, God is Good, the Universe is Kind...Bounty is everywhere...blessings, like Manna, are all around us, all we have to do is stoop over and pick them up! Selfishness and worry are futile actions and attitudes that do not grace the world with goodness. The truth is in looking at Jesus–who walked the earth with nothing and gave so much! THAT'S the secret of life..........GIVING!

 

So....here we are, you and me! What have we come here for? Each of us, probably, with something different we want from God...........no matter that He filled us yesterday, or last week, or last year....that's already "old stuff," like the Manna was for the Israelites under Moses in the first reading.......NOW, it's a NEW DAY, with NEW NEEDS, NEW Black Holes in our souls, and we want Something ELSE.................................and just like with the Israelites of old...God smiles............and says........ "SEND IN THE QUAIL!" Let quail rain down on them...let them know the blessing of birds, the blessing of wings, the blessing of being full....................and let them be TRANSFORMED.........Let me see a desert of poverty stricken philanthropists, millions wandering for 40 years in sand with nothing...absolutely NOTHING, but let them GIVE what they have and what they don't have....................make them as light as the breeze on the wings of a tiny bird, and as open as the desert horizon....may MY PEOPLE be a PEOPLE OF GENEROSITY.

 

That's what these readings are about today..........Eucharist is the GENEROSITY of God. God comes to you in ABUNDANCE. You pray, "give us this day," and HE GIVES IN ETERNITY.

 

So.........what do we take with us? You and I? We struggle like Israel did in the Sinai. We won't be perfect overnight. We won't be close! We simply struggle to be broad, open, generous, loving people who bless the earth and make it a garden. We'll each find our way, and make a 'garden path' through the desert of life, and we'll each find our stumbling stones in the coming week. Let's just pray that the paving stones of the path are more plentiful than the stumbling stones...and always we pray..."make us into Your image, make us an Icon of Your love in the world so that the world may feel hopeful and filled because we were here."  And may God bless you all. +

 

-Father Bill Axe, O.SS.T.

July 19, 2009, 16th Sunday in OT. B.

Now, I suppose we could delve deeply into the role of prophets in ancient Israel, and their function in holding political leadership to accountability, and we could probably begin to identify the people and the situations the prophet Ezekiel was referring to. But why? It's summer; it's hot, and it's the picnic weekend, here at St. Agatha!

 

So, let's enjoy ourselves, and take a quick look at the Gospel reading–a reading that always gives me a chuckle.

 

The context for the Gospel reading is the return of the 12, after having been "sent out" on their first mission. They are tired, but full of stories of what people have been living with, and what their needs are, and how the teaching of Jesus was able to re-connect them with meaning. But, after a bit, the energy is winding down, and Jesus can see that they are exhausted. He, too, needs to rest. So He says, "Come away to a deserted place and rest."

 

BUT, THERE IS NO REST!!! They no sooner get there to what they think is a place of rest and refreshment, when they find that people had discovered where they'd be going, and there they are!—sort of like paparazzi forever seeking out stars! But, while there's some of that, there's more. It's just a fact that once you learn to "pay attention" to other people..........and that's what Jesus wanted of his disciples................then you see needs everywhere you go!

 

Do you remember how Christ had sent out his disciples on mission? They had a walking stick and not much more....no food, no drink, no money....they had a pair of sandals and a tunic. Nothing else. They had to learn that the real problems of life aren't solved by "throwing money" at them........they are solved by friendship. And discipleship is NOT about having "stuff to give away," rather, the disciple had to depend on those he ministered to to feed HIM! It's allowing people to share what little they have that restores their dignity. It's NOT about giving everyone everything they need.........it's about letting people "re-find their strength and goodness" by sharing what they, themselves, have to share. This is the basis of friendship. This is the energy that will transform the world.

 

BUT, it demands that the minister PAY DILIGENT ATTENTION to the people to whom

 he is sent. WHAT does this person need? What do they have to offer the world that will start the energy flowing for them? How have they lost connection with the Source of all energy, and how can we begin to restore that connection? How can this person who looks so frail and vulnerable be encouraged to again reach out in trust in frienship? It is "heavy work," and it demands a deep listening, a constant attention...............

 

But, here's the kicker! When you learn how to do it..........you no longer have rest, for you see the needs EVERYWHERE......

 Then the world is like a parent with a passel of little ones........you can't even get peace in the bathroom! SOMEONE is banging on the door, needing something!!!!

 

That's why I say the Gospel makes me chuckle. I see 13 men–Christ and the 12–not even able to use the bathroom without someone in need presenting themselves for something.

 

This is our world.........it is a very needy world. We are well over 6 billion souls and growing every day. The needs of 6 billion people can be like a "black hole" that swallows us all in a mad scramble to obtain relief......................OR......................we can also look at our world as 6 billion potential friends....with energy and smiles and even goods to share. Then the world is translated into a cornucopia of possibility for enrichment.

 We are sent by the Prince of Peace into the highways and byways of our world to pay

  attention to what it is that bothers people so that we can call forth from them the GIFT that only they can give....and when they've learned to give it, all our world will be so  much richer.

But, of course, the nature of "paying attention," is that we are always "on patrol!" Our eyes are always looking for what is making people hurt, and opening our ears to their tale, and our minds to their problem..............

  SO.........there won't be much rest for us either!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

   So, what do I advise? I suggest you hurry to the picnic before you get

   weighted down under a billion cares......because there, you'll meet good

   Friends who want to share with you their hearts and their ears, and who

   Are waiting for you to share, too.

 

Today, the Gospel reminds us that life isn't easy...........there's always suffering and pain....but there is ALSO always friendship which halves pain and doubles joy. So, hit that picnic and make lots of friends.

 

And may God bless you all. +

 

-Father Bill Axe, O.SS.T.

July 12, 2009, 15th Sunday in OT. B.

The first reading is the account of the rejection of the Prophet, Amos, by the priest of the temple in Samaria. Amos, today, would be called a "bleeding heart liberal." If "liberal" is a bad word for you, don't read the prophet Amos. In fact, there is much of the Bible you can't read. On the other hand, for those for whom "conservative" is a bad word, much of the Bible is a closed text to you, too. Ideology is not the point of the Bible, and those who want to read their own politics into the text, always have to pick and choose.

 

Anyway, Amos had been condemning the king of Israel for having been extremely successful in getting a booming economy going, but for having neglected the poor. As the GNP rose, they cut the safety net from under the poor to try to preserve profits. They called it efficiency. Amos called it a crime that cried out to heaven, and he reminded the king that "the cry of the poor will pierce the clouds!" Well, the ruling elite were no happier with that message, then, than our congress would be today if it were given to them today! So, the priest threw Amos out of the temple and told him to get out of town if he valued his life!

 

The point the collector of this prophet's words wanted to make is this: God cares deeply about those who are struggling to survive...whether that be economic poverty, or spiritual poverty, or psychological poverty, or emotional poverty...God is always met on the edge of poverty...in the deserts of our lives, and if the temple (meaning the official religion) wont be there to act on God's behalf, then God will find other ways to make His love and support apparent.

 

That is quite a challenge to the Church in every age!

 

Then, in the Gospel reading, Jesus sent his most religious followers, The Twelve, to those most marginalized in their society. In Jesus' day, most people were poor. The entire peasant class, of which many historians believe Jesus to have been a member, lived on the ragged edge of nothing. They were always hungry, they were always poor, and there was no way out of that. BUT, among those, there were some who were worse off than the rest because they were considered to be evil and possessed by evil.

 

Jesus sent his religious followers--in total poverty--with nothing to eat, nothing to drink, nothing to buy anything in an emergency. He sent his followers out as poverty-stricken beggars to minister to those thought to be evil...letting them know that everyone else may hate them, but God loved them. To these outcasts they were to bring some sort of healing peace through their acceptance of them and their love. Love casts out evil. Love invites reconciliation. The disciples learned the miracle...it's not money, power, status, etc. that transform ugly situations. It is simple love. The Twelve had no money to throw at any problem. They had no status. They had no "papers" showing who they were. Rather, they came with nothing but their walking stick...they didn't even have FOOD! Only through their inner gift...the gift of acceptance that had already been given to them, did they have to share. And when they shared it, miracles happened. Evil ceased to evil. 

 

These are powerful spiritual lessons. They remind you that God is desperately concerned about your poverty...and we each have ours. And God seeks to meet you there with his bounty of love. And, too, we learn that if we want to be people who help to transform our world and make it a gentler place, and that IS what religion ought to do--then we need to be loving, accepting people. Love enables people to change. Other strategies ossify people, and leave them unchanged, and often worse for the encounter.

 

And may God bless you all. +

-Father Bill Axe, O.SS.T.

February 15, 2009 - 6th Sunday in OT. B.

When you hear that someone has lung cancer, isn't your first question, "How much did they smoke?" Now, we know that ANYONE can get lung cancer, but we see a connection between smoking and that disease, for so often they ARE connected in some way.

 

In Jesus' day, the disease of leprosy was believed to be the direct result of ONE particular sin, and ONLY one particular sin. That sin was "The Evil Tongue." Now, there are a range of possible categories of that sin: lying, swearing, vicious talk including gossip–whether or not it's true–negativity, fault-finding, blaming, criticizing, destroying other's hope. There are lots of ways to commit the ONE sin of "the evil tongue," but it was THIS SIN, in one of its incarnations that was thought to be the direct cause of leprosy.

 

How did they deduce that? Actually, it was not deduced, or induced, it was considered Divinely Revealed. In Numbers 12, Miriam and Aaron "speak against" Moses, about something to do with his wife. God, Himself hears of it, and calls Aaron, Moses and Miriam to the tent of meeting, and in punishment, Miriam comes away a leper..........and Aaron should have had the same punishment, but he was the High Priest, and had he been leprous, his office would have been vacated, and he was creating the cult...so...God spared him, but he lived the rest of his life knowing that Miriam, his sister, had born his share of the punishment for his own sins. And, Miriam, the leprous lady, had to "remain outside the camp" for 7 days...i.e., she had to learn to appreciate the goodness of belonging to the group so that she wouldn't again "diss" it in her speech.

 

So.........fast forward to Jesus' time. A leper comes, obviously a person who can't control his tongue. Jesus cleanses him of the disease, then asks him, politely, not to say anything to anyone. But, the man may have had the skin cured, but the disease is still very much with him. ... He STILL can't keep his mouth shut!!! This time, his words impair the ministry of Jesus.

 

And people: THAT MAN IS US! We are here, cleansed in Baptism, but our words often hinder the ministry of Jesus. We can put spite, anger, hateful speech out there, we can put slander and lies and all sorts of gossip out there....stuff that destroys other people....each one of them "a Christ" in the world..........and we hurt them, and HIM.

 

The readings ask us to PLEASE, PLEASE get control of our speech. We need to be a holy priesthood, and that begins within! We watch what come out of us....for it is what comes out of us—our words—that render us evil and unclean, and which most hurt the Christ and the work of the Church. So, today, as we look at all we can do for the poorer parishes in our midst with the Together in Mission Appeal, let's also think of what we can do for the larger Church by being holier in our speech. And may God bless you all. +

Homily for Feb. 1, 2009, 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

Today's readings are a mishmash of things: Ancient prophecies of prophets to come, unclean spirits shrieking and convulsing their hosts as they take leave at a command, and advice that the easiest–which is not to say the best, only the 'easiest'–way to live the Christian life is remaining unmarried. By the way, WHY, in heaven's name would St. Paul suggest Christians remain unmarried? Why would he think it easier? Well, think about it…love is always easier in theory than in practice, right? When you have to love ONE PERSON day in and day out, 24/7, you KNOW you're working out your salvation!!! Love is always easier for those who have less personal investment. That's one reason why celibacy works for our Church. It's easier for me to love each one of you, if I can send you home after an hour or two. Now, religious life is a different story: being a Trinitarian is no basket of warm puppies, let me assure you! Anyway,  what I want you to see is that it would take a Midrashic scholar to begin to follow a literary thread through the mine fields of the readings for this weekend..

So, when things are complex, the best advice is always to 'simplify.' So, let's just take a few minutes and look at the confrontation between the power of God and whatever is meant by the unclean spirit in the Gospel, and then go to supper/brunch, OK?

First of all, what is an "unclean spirit?" Is it evil? Frankly, we don't know. The general assumption by most N.T. commentators is that anything 'unclean' is evil, but that's not true. In its most basic level, unclean refers to something that is 'out of place.' The world was divided into the sacred and the profane. The sacred was anything that had to do contact with God in ritual. The profane was that which dealt with contact with others in everyday life. That's simple enough.

But...what happens when the two get mixed up? Ah, as Shakespeare would say: "There's the rub!" And "UNCLEAN" things resulted: sometimes they were holy things in profane space, and sometimes profane things in holy space. For instance, daily living—doing the dishes, making toast, going to work, are NOT unclean; they are opportunities for holiness IN THE PROFANE WORLD, but, if you move into a sanctuary without properly taking leave of the profane world, and putting on a mind for worship, you MIX UP the two worlds, and create uncleanness…i.e., a person in the presence of God who hasn't prepared to be there.  Or, a scroll of a book in the Bible, for example, is sacred, and mediates an understanding of God and God's expectations of us. So, to come into its presence and touch it demands a ritual cleansing–a letting go of the "outside world" to fully appreciate the "inner world" of God and prayer–to go to the Torah "unprepared ritually," would be to be unclean.

 What might happen to him? Well, he might get strange, ridiculous ideas from reading the holy texts, and think they are from God, when they would just be the products of his neurosis. He could be SPIRITUALLY HARMED because of lack of proper attitude and preparation.  By the same token, when leaving the place of the study of the holy scrolls, one had just touched the sacred object that mediated the will of Almighty God, in other words, you had a lot of "power" surrounding you, so you needed a ritual in order to move back into the world and not bring a 'curse' on it. You had to find a way to neutralize that power.

What happens when someone comes from sacred study into the "every day world" unprepared? Well, chances are, he'll be insufferably judgmental, holier than thou, and drive people away from religion and God rather than attracting them. He would be SPIRITUALLY DANGEROUS! Each dimension has its own aura, its own rules, its own attitudes. So, as I said, if someone entered the Torah room without the ritual, he was "out of place," or unclean. The same was true if he moved back into the everyday world from the Torah house without the ritual. He was 'out of place,' he had 'too much potential power' to his person...he was dangerous.

Do you begin to see some of the complexity of "clean vs. unclean" and why it's hard for 21st century folk to comprehend it? We have some of the same ideas, as Catholics, which is why we put holy water stoups at the doors of our churches. We need to re-focus our minds and hearts toward God as we enter here to give Him worship and homage, and again when we leave so that we aren't insufferable to non-church goers, but rather make the Christian path attractive to them.

Corpses, for example, were always dangerous, and to have contact with them was to render oneself unclean. Not because people were afraid of ghosts, but because from God's side, the power of God was hovering there–the power that had just reclaimed the 'breath of life' that had once animated that body. And, from our side, death always brings questions of God's goodness, justice, providence, etc., so they put one's mind in danger of being swamped with questions one doesn't have the depth to handle, yet. Rituals were needed to bring one's mind and heart to a place of peace with God's will at moments of death and tragedy.

Now, clean and unclean, kosher and non-kosher is far broader than what I've just told you, but I concentrate on this narrower approach simply because most Christians don't begin to understand what clean and unclean are about and end up thinking "sinful vs. not sinful," which is wrong. So, let's, for this weekend, think of things that are 'out of place' as being unclean.

Now an "unclean" spirit that is afraid of him confronts Jesus. You notice, the text does NOT call this an evil spirit, but an unclean spirit. There are places in the New Testament that DO speak of evil spirits, but this isn't one of them, so paying attention to this detail will be helpful. It's a spirit "out of place." Not evil, but 'out of place.' It shouldn't have been where it was: in that man. Maybe in another man, maybe floating in the air, but NOT in THAT man! That man wasn't ready for it, or couldn't appreciate it, or didn't deserve it...whatever. The spirit was 'out of place.'

And because it was 'out of place,' IT didn't have a proper perspective. It feared Jesus. But throughout the N.T. we learn that Jesus is the one person that no one should fear! But, because of an improper perspective because of being out of place, the spirit that encounters Jesus is afraid–afraid Jesus is out to destroy it–Jesus—Jesus???–the one who came only to give Life that they may have it more abundantly–out to 'destroy?'??? So, the unclean spirit, the 'out of place' spirit makes a scene, and Jesus simply says, "Oh, Pipe down! Be calm! Be still!" "Come out!" And it did. And peace was restored–to the man, AND to the spirit!

Christ, apparently has a way of helping things to find their right place; he has a way of finding the holy trapped in the profane and releasing it so that it can be what it is: holy, and not dangerous.

Now, I want you to think about your own life. Today's gospel assures you that through the power of the Christ God can restore order and tranquility to your whole being. The Christ has the power to "put things in their proper place without destroying anything." Christ has the power to bring balance and peace to troubled lives. He is not here to destroy you. He is not here to destroy your interests and make you into a 20th century Puritan! He is here with God's Ordering Power to bring all your interests and energies to wholeness, so that you can become all that you are intended to be. And, He can do that for you. And, he will do that for you. I have no idea what "confusions of worlds" you've brought here, today. Your family life may not 'jive' with your religious beliefs, your work may not give you time for your family. Who knows all the difficulties we've all brought here? But, there is power in the Eucharistic Lord, power in this sacrament that will begin to heal your inner brokenness. That is what Christ does. That is what our gospel reading is telling us.

And, look at our world. There is so much wonderful energy coming to the fore, but so often it is energy "out of place" and brings destruction where it should bring help. Look at the creative power of our youth; it is so wonderful. And when we channel it to goodness, it builds homes for the poor in Habitat for Humanity, it builds churches and missions in Saltillo, Monterrey or Tijuana. BUT, when it just "wanders," unchanneled, it often groups up in gangs that terrorize neighborhoods and kill each other. Think what could happen if that wonderful energy were "in the right place," channeled toward wholeness and healing! Through us and our lives, that can happen. How can we, a small inner city congregation affect young people? God will work through us. That, also, is the promise and the power of this sacrament. You are receiving God in this banquet we call "the Mass." And with the Body of Christ comes Divine Power, Divine Energy, growing wisdom and insight.

Just as God will, through this reception of Christ's body and blood, heal us, so He will, through US, heal our world. His energy will put things where they belong to bring wholeness and peace, for as the prophet said of God: "My plans for you are plans of peace."

My prayer for us, today, is that as we come to the Table of the Prince of Peace, and receive His Body and Blood, that His divine Power, His insight and strength and wisdom will work through us, bringing healing to us, our families, and our society. And may God bless you all. +

January 18, 2009, 2nd Sunday in OT. B.

Have you heard the joke, "When a person talks to God, it's prayer; when he hears the Voice of God telling him to do things, it's schizophrenia!" I remember our psychology professor telling us that joke, eons ago. But, it brings up interesting religious questions. On the one hand, we all know how goofy people who hear God telling them things can be. They wander our city streets, apparently harmless enough, but deeply disturbed as they rant their messages to those with no time to listen. We had one in New Orleans, who would walk around the French Quarter with a tin foil bishops mitre on her head, telling anyone in her path that they were damned. No one really wanted her locked up; she was sort of an institution. But, I don't know that we could have taken too many of her. Luckily, she was the only regular.
 
But the religious question remains:  How do we know when God is "speaking to us?" For one of the points of prayer is to make contact with the Living God. We offer God our worship; we seek God's gracious healing and forgiveness; we seek the strength to live lives of goodness and sacrifice. AND, we seek to open our ears to listen for the Inner Voice to guide us toward those paths of goodness and sacrifice....to nudge us in a direction that will lead us to greater wholeness, and to finer living. Tammy Faye Baker used to ask God to lead her to good sales on everything from washing machines to automobiles. And, before we laugh, is there anyone here who hasn't at some time or other, been tooling along at 60 miles per hour, sun on your face and wind in your hair, radio playing your favorite songs, ONLY to look down and see that your below E on the gas gage, and a toll bridge is coming up, with no where to get off or turn around....WHO HASN'T PRAYED, "GOD, GET ME ACROSS THIS BRIDGE AND TO A FILLING STATION?"
 
We so hope to sense a response of SOME sort to our prayer. Sometimes, it's enough to get to the other side of the bridge and get gas, other times, though, we truly seek answers to something that is troubling us, and we want to "hear" something....oh, not necessarily a "Voice," but we want to somehow have that "answer" come to us...
 
So, back to the question of the First Reading: "How do we know it's God talking?" Samuel got up three times that night. That sounds like my life at 62! But, I don't interpret my awakening as God. Neither did Samuel. Nor Eli....at first. There was a "holy insistence" that finally got through to both of them. When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, he said: "Be persistent! Think of your friend...he may not get up and feed you and your guests a midnight out of friendship, but he will if you get a rock and bang long enough....and if that doesn't work...something stronger!" He asks us to keep a "holy insistence" before God...the same "holy insistence" God will place in our lives to let us know that this is, indeed, HE who speaks!
 
Now, that doesn't get us off the hook. For, there is always the obsessive personality–the one who gets an idea, and can't let it go...who obsesses on it, and worries it to death. For this situation, the first reading is no real help. For them, or for US when we get like that...perhaps the words of the Gospel will be helpful. Simply, "Come, and see." I remember I was chaplain of a hospice for pilgrims in Jerusalem one summer, and a woman whose husband had recently died, who was from Atlanta, Georgia, showed up at the hospice, and spent some time there. She seemed OK, and I didn't pay too much attention to her, thinking she was a typical pilgrim/tourist getting to see the city. One morning I came down to breakfast, and she was in tears...sobbing away not far, fortunately, from the coffee pot. So, I went up and asked if I could help.
 
She told me her story–a story of deep personal loss–and how bereft she had felt. And, then, one day, she felt she just "had to come to Jerusalem," so she sold up and bought a ticket, and here she was, but the grief remained. Now, she felt silly. I remembered the verse from today's Gospel. The nameless disciple and Andrew, Peter's brother, too, are in some sort of need or pain. And they are searching. And they want healing or peace, or wisdom or SOMETHING! And Jesus says to them, "Come and see." They simply had to go, to experience whatever was to be had! I told the Atlanta lady, "You were seeking direction in your suffering, you thought of the place of Christ's suffering, and you felt you needed to be near it...like Andrew. So learn what this place has to teach you...go to the hill of Calvary and the Holy Sepulcher, sit with His Suffering and place in it your own. When you're ready, when you've absorbed what you need to absorb, then you can go home...like Andrew and the other disciple did...they went home and told Peter. Remember?" "So," she asked, "do you think I should go home?" I said, "Do you believe God can ever speak through priests?" She kindly replied, "I suppose..." I smiled and said, "Go home. But, before you go, learn from this place. OK?" I heard from her for years...back in Atlanta. She must be dead, herself, now, for the cards have stopped. But, I think of her frequently.
 
So, the long and the short: there is NO sure fire way to be sure it's God speaking, and not a self-induced idea, wish or longing. All we are offered are the two general guides:
1) Is the thought persistent?
2) If you decide to "go and see," experience it, then evaluate.
 
Now, if you came here today with no burning issue of wondering if God was, indeed, speaking to you, what do YOU take away from the readings? There is another hint, lurking in the background. Did you catch the words: "They stayed with Him..."? The question put to all who would know the Christ of God is, "Can you wait with me an hour?" (Do you remember the words from Gethsemane?) 
 
Everyone of you in this Church, today, wants to "know" God. Otherwise, you wouldn't have come. You would have found something else to do. But, you came. You came here to experience something of God...to know something of His Love, His forgiveness, His power, His wisdom. You want to "know" the Lord. The words echo forth: "They stayed with Him that day."...They STAYED with Him.
 
If we would know our God, we have to stay for a while. What does it mean? It means, among other things, to DO WHAT HE TAUGHT...we just "stay at it," even if it doesn't quite make sense. We keep at it. We turn the other cheek. We find ways to make peace, and to foster peace without condemning either side of a situation. We find ways to help each side see the good in themselves and the good in the other. They need to see the deep goodness in themselves...a goodness that will enable them to rise above their anger and violence and be bigger, AND they need to see the inherent goodness in those they are so dissatisfied with...who, too, have hopes and dreams, and need a space of understanding. And when it isn't working...we don't stop. We simply keep at it. We do the work of peacemaking, the work of building justice in an unjust world. We break the bread, and pray that it give us the courage to be, ourselves, "broken" for others. We read the ancient texts, and draw strength for the gentle life we are called to live, as we learn to walk gently on the earth in the footsteps of the Prince of Peace. It's in simply STAYING, just DOING it, that we come to know the God of our stillness.
 
The readings are about discipleship, aren't they? How to listen to the Master's Voice, and how to come to know the Master. It's my prayer for each of us–disciples in our own way–that we will be touched with Divine Power in the Breaking of the Bread, today–a Power that will enable us to STAY with Him, and Listen for His Voice, and ultimately make of our lives benedictions of goodness and peace in our world. And may God bless you all. +