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.