December 11, 2011, Third Sunday of Advent

John the Baptist, again! Why two weekends in a row? Well, I'm not sure--I'd never try to out-guess a Vatican Official who is no doubt responsible for this choice of readings, but I'll bet that it has to do with the point being made. Last week we concentrated on what the Voice in the desert was crying out about--on making "straight the path," in other words "putting into practice each day" the message of peace at the heart of the Torah--at the heart of the Covenant. This week the emphasis shifts a bit. This week the emphasis is on the "Voice that cries in anguish", almost unheeded, begging the world to walk the path of peace. This is the frail Voice of the Suffering Servant, a "character" invented by Isaiah, to depict Israel--the "real" servant of God, the wandering Jew, if you will, the perpetual exile, running for shelter that never lasts, suffering in a world that hates Jews because they are Jews. Isaiah depicted this forlorn character, this world sufferer as the "healer" of humanity because in the way it modeled suffering for the earth, it would lead ALL humanity to the Mercy Seat of the One True God.

The Gospels show Jesus entering the desert, enchanted by John's meditation on this eerie Voice, where as He listens to John, He chooses to enter the peaceful waters of John's baptism--renouncing cruelty and violence--and then BECOMES, in a sense, the VOICE....and makes his message one of REPENT--repent of what? Of hatreds, of violence, of cruelty. In His life and ministry Jesus would never ever suggest rebellion against the persecutor--no mater how hideous the suffering--rather, in the shadow of Isaiah's Suffering Servant on whom he modeled His life, he urged the love of enemies, the turning of the other cheek, the going of the extra mile. He chose not to render evil for evil, instead He taught that evil and the pain it causes should be answered with kindness, and prayers for the persecutor.

When in Luke's Gospel Jesus introduces His Ministry to humanity in the synagogue in Nazareth, He quotes Isaiah's "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me" "the finest of the poems created by Isaiah in which he introduced this literary figure, this "character" of the Suffering Servant, which is how he understood Israel's life and meaning.

ALL the gospels, really, present Jesus as the "Suffering Servant" of God and of Humanity. They call him "Messiah," but they don't speak of Messianic theology--we never hear of the defeat of Israel's enemies--rather, Israel is asked by Jesus to suffer and pray for the persecutor--it's as the  "suffering servant" that Jesus is portrayed.

So, what does that say to us? And why is this used as the introduction to the Christmas story? The Christmas story is about a birth--a star-announced birth--a heaven sung birth. This is no ordinary birth, the text tells us, and so, it needs to be studied. And Luke "studies" the birth throughout his Gospel, as he looks at "pieces" of the later life of Jesus as it unfolded. And in those "pieces" he sees WHY the birth was heaven-sung by a chorus of angels singing of Peace On Earth. They sang of Peace on Earth because the Man Whose birth they are announcing would embrace a life and message of Peace. He would teach a Torah-path of inner peacefulness that would lead to a peaceful life in society, which would lead to a peaceful world.

The angels sang, remember, in Luke's Gospel to "shepherds." And the Dead Sea Scroll documents discovered in 1948 in the Judean wilderness, enlighten us regarding shepherds. Those ancient documents, coming from shortly before the time of Jesus of Nazareth, tell us of "prohibited professions"--jobs that NO self-respecting Jew would consider taking--and one of the is to be a professional shepherd. We are not speaking of farmers who have a flock of sheep--NOT THAT KIND OF SHEPHERD. We are speaking of "professional shepherds," people who drove vast herds of sheep between what is today, the southern steppes of Russia and Egypt--back and forth, each year. These folk lived under no sheriff. They knew no loyalty to any authority. They claimed no citizenship, no nationality. They were wayfarers on the earth, and they were trusted by no one. They tended to leave lots of crime in their wake, for they would come through an area with thousands of sheep or goats, with maybe 50 shepherds working, and they caused lots of trouble wherever they went. No one knew who they were, they were unrecognizable, they could disguise themselves and steal, and rob and kidnap and kill. And then, they were gone! They were the lowest of outlaws in the century before Jesus' birth. How far society had come from the "noble shepherd" of a small flock, like King David had been--to "corporate sheep markets" with vast holdings and anonymous thugs who ran the business, and ran dirty businesses of their own on the side. It was to THESE--the unredeemable outlaws of the age--that angels sang!

The angelic choirs sang songs of peace to the violent. They asked the unredeemable to go to the manger to find their salvation. The story of Jesus' entire life is in the birth story, and the birth story foreshadows every step of his life--right to the end, for in the end, the violent to whom He came would make an end of His life and ministry---or would they? Not if you and I can keep the message alive by living it, ourselves!

I think if St. Luke were here, today, he would tell us NOT to get all caught up in the story of angel choirs, and shepherds. I think he would say, "I know I wrote about angels and prophets of old, and shepherds...but THAT isn't what Christ is about! The Christ lives in the message of universal brotherhood and sisterhood. The Christ lives in the message of peace, and in the example He gave of how to treat other people. The Christ is bound up in the Divine Power that impelled Him and in His message to reach the ends of the gentile world with the truth of the God of Israel. The Christ lives in the hearts of those who have heard the call to holiness of life through the renunciation of hatred, and who seek to open their hearts to God and to all the brothers and sisters. I think St. Luke would say, with St. John: "No one can say they truly 'love God' while hating people," and  since we all have so much anger left inside, none of us can claim perfection, but all of us can stand at the foot of the Cross, and learn what real love is like--it submits to powers without becoming like them, and in doing so, it overcomes them! THAT is the victory of the Cross--there was no capitulation to returning violence for violence, there was no giving in to hate for those who sought only to harm. Instead there was forgiveness. And in returning good for evil, kindness for violence, care for hate, and forgiveness for persecutors NEW BIRTH--RESURRECTION was possible and real.

I think St. Luke would tell us to begin to convert the "unconverted" parts of ourselves, to root out the lingering hatreds and bitterness. I think St. Luke would say, "No one is perfect, but in the path of the Christ, Whose yoke is easy and Whose burden is light, there IS HEALING--for you and for all the earth. So, begin.

On Wednesday of this past week, the reading from Mark's Gospel where Jesus says, "Come to me, all you who labor and find life burdensome, and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls, for My yoke is easy, and My burden is light." I've thought about that. The yoke of Jesus really isn't "easy." There is nothing easy about loving an enemy, turning the other cheek, praying for the good of one who persecutes us. Those are truly hard things to do. BUT, think about it: They are, ultimately SO MUCH EASIER than the alternative! If we return evil for evil, violence for violence, we may feel a rush of adrenaline for a minute, but, then comes the aftermath of more violence and greater hatred. And life gets heavy and burdened, and dull. The path laid out for us as Christians is NOT EASY, but it IS EASIER than other paths, for it leads to fulfillment and peace. Nothing else does.

This is the Torah as taught by Jesus for those who had strayed so far from God that they had no idea what Torah was! This was the Torah as taught by Jesus' disciples to gentile converts who didn't know Hebrew and didn't understand covenant, and who didn't begin to understand what Torah meant. This is the path that has come to us in beatitudes and parables, sayings and prayers of Jesus. As we prepare to celebrate His birth, let us try to emulate His life, and live His teaching, so that the Power of the Living God can fill us and make of our lives benedictions of peace and goodness in our world. And may God bless you all. +

Sunday, December 4, 2011

There are really two separate emphases or points being made in the readings, this weekend. As you can see from the bulletin scripture blurb I do, the first reading is about "gathering" the broken and the alienated and bringing them home. "Ingathering" is a major biblical theme. So often the people of Israel found themselves enslaved somewhere—Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Syria, Rome, and since the Roman conquest shortly after the time of Christ until 1948, when the modern State of Israel was established by the UN, Jews had wandered the globe, running from one persecution after another—chased through Russia, through Poland and Eastern Europe, forced out of Spain by Ferdinand and Isabella, and on the run everywhere, finally to be nearly obliterated in the ovens of Auschwitz. There remain only 8 million people of what was once one-tenth of the Roman Empire. What I want to say is that "sca ttering, fleeing, and persecution" have always been a part of the "Jewish story." Jewish comedians make jokes about it as a way to survive it—Jokes like: There are all sorts of famous Jewish violinists, flautists, conductors, but why aren't there many famous Jewish pianists or organists? Answer: It's hard to carry a piano on your back!" There's a veiled sadness in the humor—a recognition that no place is really safe, for no place is "home." Home is where safety is, or it should be. And the Bible is, in many ways, a long song of longing for home. The first reading sees the INGATHERING of the exiled as God's OWN holy action in the world.

Now, we are not Jews. The history of Israel is not our own history. But, in a sense, it IS archetypical. In other words, in some way, it is EVERYONE'S history, too. Think about how much of our life's energy is spent on "finding safety," – a job that's "safe" –where we aren't underpaid while overworked, where we aren't under constant threat of being let go, a job that gives us a sense of security and provides for our needs. We spend so much time worrying about our money—and will it be enough to make all the payments I have and save some for my old age, and will I ever have enough for old age?!? And, think of how much time we spend trying to be in a place of safety and security regarding our health—I don't know about you, but after 55, all sorts of medical issues just seemed to worm their way into my life, and all of a sudden, I have 15 doctors and dentists names in my address book. I remember when in was one doctor and one dentist! And think about how much energy we expend in having a home—even if it's not a free-standing house, but an apartment! We want a place that's not too dangerous, that is friendly to our kids, that allows us to be among friends, so we don't have to worry we'll be robbed each night. And "safe schools" for our kids is always a major concern—a school that actually educates! A school that isn't drug-ridden! A school that has enough activities to protect kids from gang-influence! All of a sudden, we see how we, too, like Israel of old, are always "on the run" looking for safety in a precarious world.

Isaiah's message says that this "fleeing" and the "finding of safety" are holy tasks. That God is found in them. It is God Who guides us to safety, for only HE can secure a life. That's a wonderful Advent message, for the Advent focus is on the coming of God in the form of Christ into a violent, ugly world that only valued material things, and chose to see "safety" and "security" only in what could be put in the bank. God entered that world, endured its suffering, died under its weight, all to Give us "the path" to a security that is beyond what this world can really offer. AND, the "security," the "safety" of the Christ, when lived, often leads to greater safety in this world, too. Why? Because potential enemies are made into friends.

The Gospel reading is about how to live "after" the Ingathering—how to live in spiritual security—how to make the potential enemy into friends. It's message comes from the words used by the prophet in the first reading, but it shifts the focus from ingathering to  "make straight the path." In other words, "put this 'path' into practice every day!" John the Baptist, the odd fellow from the desert (the desert is "the quintessential symbol" for a LACK of safety) had a message for the "folk from Jerusalem," (Jerusalem is "the quintessential symbol" for safety and security). He's saying if you want "security" to really stay with you: Repent of your materialistic, avaricious, and vicious ways, and learn the path of Torah, the path of peace.

And, of course, Christ chose to inaugurate His mission to humanity in the peaceful waters of John's baptism—which is why the reading focuses on John's statement, "'one is coming after me", in other words,  He is the One you should heed! Thus, the reading is the perfect reading to focus us on the meaning of Christmas. Christmas will celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace into a violent world. The violence of the world is there because our human focus is so often on "stuff"—toys, the house, the car,  the dog, the drapes, the basement full of rifles! We so rarely focus on the intangibles of life—meaning, purpose, love, commitment. The first focus—the focus on material things—will always lead to violence; the other focus, the focus on inner meaning, purpose in life, love, connection, commitmen t will always lead us to God and to peace. The Christ came to show us what life's focus ought to be.

So, isn't it interesting that to celebrate the "focus on the spiritual," which His life taught, we celebrate His birth with the most "material-consumer-driven" holiday of the year! It just points out how hard it is to keep the focus Christ wants—even when we love Him and want to serve Him!

So, in this coming week, as we begin the inevitable gift purchases that accompany this season, let's let our focus be on what will be spiritually helpful for our world, including those we are buying our gifts for. There is a way to do gift giving that isn't about 'money' and isn't about 'making ourselves look good,' but about truly loving another person—instead of saying, "O Lord, we have to get something for Aunt Fanny, let's get her a bauble from Bon Marché, you can take a moment to think of the "person" Aunt Fanny has been all her life—interests she's had, goals she's achieved—and spend the time to pick something that will be meaningful for her—then, it doesn't have to be expensive to impress—your "consideration" will have taken care of that! Remember, as the followers of Christ, and focusers on "the healing spirit of God", we want to use our lives and o ur time to become benedictions of goodness and peace. May we all become benedictions of goodness for someone this week. And may God bless you all. +

July 3, 2011- 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time

On the 4th of July all Americans are aware of our national identity and our pride in it, and even the perpetual critics of our domestic and national policies feel like flag waving. It's a time of unity in identity. It's a time when all divisions--ethnic, linguistic, racial, religious or political--all seem smaller than that which unites us.

 

This year, I'm choosing to make our religious conversation on this very special weekend for all of us, a conversation about inner peace. I'm doing that because I firmly believe that what we, as a people, wish to share with the entire earth is peace--peace based in justice. And, as Catholic Christians, we have an entire faith-tradition behind us, urging us to, indeed, help to further that program.

 

Now, I could lecture us on the principles of Catholic Social Teaching, and I could outline the principles behind restorative justice, and I could quote to you poetry of some of the world's finest minds on the topic of peace.....and we could all just smile and leave and have a hotdog and light a firecracker. But, I really feel that IF we, as a people, wish to further the goal of our nation leading the world in steps of peace based in justice, then we, as Christians, need to be working harder on what it means to be peaceful people, ourselves. We are the majority of the nation. Not Catholics, we're only one fourth of the nation, but all Christians put together are close to 85% of our people. Now, I think IF we, the vast Christian majority, are doing our own inner work, the outer work of peace will take care of itself.

 

Instead of griping that a court has ruled that the 10 commandments can't be placed on the wall of a statehouse, we should be putting those commandments into practice in our own lives. Instead of complaining of a conspiracy to undermine religion in America, we should be concentrating on being religious, in the best sense of that word.

 

I want to share with you what I feel the greatest threat to religion is, today. It isn't secularism, it isn't communism, it isn't atheism. I think the greatest threat to religion, today, is rage---good old fashioned anger in all its incarnations in the human spirit. People are angry about everything. Our political discourse is a shambles of name calling, and our religious discourse isn't much better. I'm not telling you anything you don't know. We can all see it everywhere. We see it in our workplaces, in our schools, in our governments, our courts. We see it in sports, in modern art and music--so much of which is unseeable and unlistenable, simply because it's so full of rage.

 

I don't think we, as Catholic Americans, remember that we have alternatives to anger. We think it's our only response to life as it unfolds. We've forgotten that other responses are possible. I bought a book this week---ANOTHER BOOK--Fr. Frank is ready to throw me out of the rectory, and he threatens that for every new book I get, I have to give an old one away. He's ANGRY!!! What can I say? It's PROOF of my sermon!!! Anyway, I've been thinking about anger for about 6 months, as I recognized it growing inside of me. I was angry at my community, at the Church, at the Pope, at the government. I was losing my center, and I said to myself, "I need to get a grip!" That was my Mom's favorite phrase: "Get a GRIP," she'd say! So I saw a book on anger with an intriguing title. It's called "The Cow in the Parking Lot: A Zen Approach to Overcoming Anger."

 

This is the opening exercise: You are at the grand opening of a new shopping mall on the edge of town. You've been driving around looking for a parking space for ten minutes. At last, right in front of you, a car pulls out of a spot. You hit your turn signal and wait as the car backs out. Suddenly, from the other direction, comes a Jeep that pulls intot he space. Not only that, but when you honk, the driver gets out, and makes a face that you interpret as a smirk. Are you angry?...................................Now change the scene ever so slightly. Instead of a brash Jeep driver, a cow walks into the space from the other direction and settles down in the middle of it. When you honk, she looks up and moos but doesn't budge. Are you angry? Or, are you amused? The situation is the same...you didn't get the spot you were waiting for. You have to find a different spot. But, in one you drive off raging and swearing under your breath, in the other you drive off smiling. What the difference between the two situations is "Your Interpretation of Reality."

 

In the first, you interpreted reality to say that in a world of 6 billion people, #1) you are entitled to the first open parking spot, especially if you think you got there first, and 2) that strangers should be aware of your feelings and cater to them. When you look at those "implications" you see how silly they are. In the second instance, you find that a cow wandering in from a nearby field to be funny, even if it takes your parking spot. You can do this because you have NO EXPECTATIONS of a cow.

 

The question of import is, "why would you have expectations of 6 billion strangers to be aware of your inner feelings and give you a parking spot that both of you came upon?"

 

Anger is a response to unmet needs. Unmet needs translate into disappointment. Let's face it, we were all taught how to deal with disappointment when we were kids. At some time in our distant past, a picnic was planned or an outing to the shore, and at the last minute it had to be cancelled. We probably tried a temper-tantrum. (Which is sort of what "keying the car that took your parking place," is--it's a temper tantrum--something, not excusable, but understandable, in a two-year old. But we aren't two anymore!!! Are we?

 

If we tallied up all the deaths caused by road rage, barroom brawls, heart attacks and war, what Buddhist scholar Robert Thurman calls "organized anger," we would find that this "deadly sin" of anger causes more deaths, world-wide, than anything else.

 

So, if we wish to be a leader in the peace of nations, we need to learn to "study war no more" in our hearts. Today's first reading speaks of how the Messiah will usher in the Messianic Age--and it's by disarmament! Get rid of the horse and the chariot, and ban the warrior's bow. These are the items of "organized anger." That's what war is--organized anger. In the Gospel reading Christ asks us to deal with "disorganized anger," the small anger that is taking up room "rent free" in our heads. He begs us to learn from Him. And what are we to learn? Meekness. Meekness is the the ability to shut our mouth and open our ears, and listen to another human being. When we understand their reasoning and their actions, we will probably have less anger. When we know that the person driving that car that took our spot is desperately looking for a bathroom due to a disease she has, we feel compassion, not rage. Why make her say it? Why make him stop and explain his stress? Why not just give him the benefit of the doubt?

 

If we Americans would lead the world in peace, we simply need to learn to walk in the footsteps of the Prince of Peace. My prayer for each of us in this coming week is that we can listen more closely, and find reasons to give another the benefit of the doubt on at least one occasion each day. IF your entire family is planning to get together, if your family is anything like mine, you'll have numerous opportunities to "give another the benefit of the doubt," and to opt to just listen instead of react. It's like building muscles--we get better the more we do it. And it IS my prayer that we all share a safe holiday, and that we all have a holy holiday of peace. And may God bless you all.+

June 19, 2011 - Holy Trinity Sunday

Oh, my goodness! It's Fathers' Day, Trinity Sunday AND baptisms on top of it all! No one can speak intelligently about all of those things in one sane sermon. The most we can hope to do is remind ourselves of the God before Whom we stand, and see how that relates to everything else! I've chosen, this Trinity Sunday, to do something I haven't done before--simply to translate the Hebrew text of the first reading for  you...word for word...hoping you will see something of what I see hiding deep within it, revealing to us the beauty of the God we serve. The description God gives of Himself in this reading is "the" mystical understanding of God in the Bible. The Rabbis refer to this as "THE 13 ATTRIBUTES OF GOD. So let's pay attention to it for a few minutes, then go to breakfast. OK?

 

Adonai, Adonai, eil rachum, vchanun, erech appayim, rav chesed, v rav emet, notzer chesed laalafim, noseh avon, v'feshah, v'chatah, venakeh.

 

We begin with God's first two attributes: Adonai is the word for LORD. The text begins "adonai, adonai," The Lord, the Lord (why repeated twice? if we look at the rest of the text it speaks of a God who is forgiving, so repeating the name of God twice tells us that God is our God before we sin, and after we sin. Before we sin God is helping us to walk in beauty, and after we sin God is urging us to repentance and better living. So, the before and the after each have The Lord at the center. These two words then tell of us of the first two attributes of God--with us always, both before and after we fall--never giving up on us. These are the first two attributes of God--presence to us before we sin, helping us be all we can become, AND after we sin, helping us to heal and be whole. What these attributes tell you is that God knew you before you were here, and will be with you long after you've ceased to be here. He is the Alpha and Omega. He has always been with you, and will always be with you!

 

Next comes the phrase "Eil rachum"; the word "eil" in Hebrew can be translated two ways:  "El" can mean "god" and we'd have god of mercy, (mercy is the 4th word) but "eil" can also mean "mighty," so mightly merciful is also a good translation of these two words, and they form the 3rd and 4th attributes of God--a mightily and merciful God, or a merciful God. Sometimes we need God's "might, sometimes God's mercy. Which do you need today? (Probably both, if you're like me!) For the women in the congregation, today, on this feast of fathers, YOU will be pleased to learn that the description of God's mercy, comes from the word for "womb." Rechem, is womb, and rachum is merciful, God's mercy towards us is that "womb love," that has gestated this child  that is YOU, and will never give it up! It's the "mother tiger" love that is fierce and awesome. God's mercy comes from God's unclenching love that can't let us go! God's got your back, in might and in mercy!

Then we move to the 5th attribute of God, "v chanun" which means "gracious," and, to those in distress, God is always most gracious--trying not to humiliate, but to encourage. Then, comes attrbute #6, "erech appayim," Slow to anger. I think this is one of the qualities that really separates us from God....we can fly off the handle, and our mood can collapse under disappointment. God watches us with compassion as we struggle and often fail. Rarely can we affront God, for God understands us from the inside out...so knows how to deal with us graciously, and lift us out of our distress. God is SO slow to anger, that His merciful love is always visible--God's leniency. Such a love may make us uncomfortable, but it's there when we need it. Graciously merciful in his failure to be angry...such is the God of God's understanding.

 

Next, with attribute #7 comes the wonderful phrase "rav CHesed," GREAT or PLENTEOUS in MERCIFUL LOVE. Chesed is the love that is expansive, and gauche--the gift of diamonds on a first date kind of love--over the top...the love that doesn't give up...ever....the crucifix is an illustration of the length that Chesed will go to to show its depth. Attribute #9 is "rav emet," the adjective "great" modifies both "hesed," merciful love AND "emet," truth. God is extravagant in truth. That's why you can be completely honest in prayer...for that is what God wants. God is the soul of truth, and we approach God best when we are totally transparent--including when we state how angry we are with the way the universe is running! Shaking our fist at heaven, like St. Theresa of Avila, or questioning heaven, like Tevya in Fiddler on the Roof, "Would it disturb some divine plan IF I WERE A WEALTHY MAN?" If we can't be honest in prayer, there is no place in the universe in which we can be honest. Never feel afraid or ashamed to state your truth to God--for remember, God already knows it, and is waiting for YOU to recognize and own it!!!! But, truth is built into the universe, as well. That's why when we sin, we often have to suffer some consequences. It's a "truth-teaching" device, to help us be all that we can be! It's part of God's loving us.

 

Well, on to Attribute # 9 "notzer Chesd laalafim, "Keeping faithful love to thousands of generations! So much for thinking that God will give up on the world and destroy it! Long before fearful prophets threatened people with destruction, God promised to "the" prophet, Moses, "faithfulness to thousands of generations. On the one hand, it's probably hyperbole--like you use when you tell a kid, "If I've told you once I've told you a thousand times to stop that!" But, remember, God is also the essence of truth. So there's truth even in the hyperbole of divine speech. God will be faithful to YOU! If nothing else, I want us all to leave here, today, trusting in God's faithfulness to each of us.

Attributes #10, 11, and 12 all go together, Noseh is the verb for all of them, it means "lifting up": Noseh avon, vafesha, vachatah, translated, "forgiving iniquity (avon), willful sin or rebellion (fesha) and carelessness or error (Chatah)," but more than forgiving, God "lifts up" the acts of human iniquity, rebellion and stupidity. God lifts us out of the mire of our own neurosis. Some of the "lifting" comes with repentance, but some of it is the initial "lifting" that brings us to the point of repentance, and some of us have to be lifted higher than others to get to the point we can see what we've done, own it, and repent. And finally, the last attribute: "v nakei," God cleanses us or purifies us. Rabbis speak of the closeness of the repentant sinner to God--how the repentant one is actually closer to God than the one who never strayed, for the one who has fallen and been helped to rise, knows something deeper about God than the one who never needed such a lift. The Church fathers speak of this, but they also speak of baptism--the sacrament we will administer in a few minutes to our newest members....this is the "purification," the "cleansing," that places the broken human vessel on the path of Grace that leads to the Mercy Seat of God. This IS the LIFTING par excellence...echoes of which we've all experienced over the years of our lives.

 

Now think of the qualities of a parent...and since it's Fathers' Day, let's think of fathers. Are not these qualities or attributes of God the qualities a father wants to embody? I'll bet they are. While I can't speak from the personal experience of being a father, I'll bet that every father here wants to be mighty in compassion, merciful, truthful, bountifully extravagant in love, gracious and slow to anger, lifting their children up, and helping them to heal and find wholeness.

 

No father, or mother here, is perfect. We can all use this reading as a guilt trip, or we can use it as a prayer. Let's use it as a prayer. O God make us faithful, and merciful, truthful and compassionate, gracious and slow to anger, lifting up our children, and helping them to heal and be whole. In fact, let's invite all the fathers here to stand--all fathers, step-fathers, male guardians, fathers to be, men trying to become fathers--teachers and mentors, too--to stand for a blessing:

 

O Gracious God, these small human vessels stand before You seeking Your help in being the kind of father or to do the sort of "fathering" You have challenged them to be and do. Inspire them with Your wisdom, strengthen them with Your Grace, give them words to inspire and to heal. You Who are the author of all Truth, bless them. Wrap them in the light of Your Protection and lift them to Your Heart. Hold them always in Your care. In the Name of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. Amen.

 

You may be seated, and on this Trinity Sunday, as we meditate on the Nature of God as God revealed Himself to be, let us pray that each of our lives may in some small way mirror those qualities, and that our lives may be benedictions of kindness and peace in our world. And may God bless you all. +

June 12, 2011 Pentecost Sunday

The readings remind us that the Church was born preaching goodness—that's what "Good News" is, at its root---GOODNESS. And we did so by forgiving, the Gospel says.

 

For those of you who were here a couple of weeks ago,  you heard me speak of the Mystery of Moses on Mount Sinai when the Torah was given…for that is what Pentecost remembers—that 50 days after the Exodus, God gave the law at Sinai. And I hope you also remember that when God spoke, the legend says that all the earth stood still. Winds died down; the waves of the sea grew calm, birds ceased chirping, animals in the forest paused. And in the silence God spoke the silent letter ALEPH, the first letter of the word "Ani" Ani, I, I am the Lord your God. (Ani adonoi eloheka.) This is the first commandment. Now the legends say that all God spoke was the aleph, the silent first letter, and in that silence the first 3 commandments concerning God were given, and immediately the silence of God echoed, and the mountain quaked, the lightening flashed, the wind blew and in the noise of the echo, the next 7 commandments were heard—the ones that deal with how we treat each other. There is a deep theology in this—it tells us that "not to kill another" "not to steal," not to defraud," are merely echoes of the command, "I am the Lord you God, have no other gods before me, make no images of them, nor serve them, and worship me on the Sabbath." Morality is an echo of spirituality. Now why is it important to review all this as we read the lessons of Christian Pentecost?

 

Let's look, shall we?

 

We have 2 Pentecost stories today. Luke's from the Book of Acts, and John's from his Gospel. In Luke, the Spirit comes in wind and fire and the house shakes, and the disciples become apostles, go forth speaking good tidings for all to hear. In John's memory we are in that same, locked upper room, but it was quieter. The still small voice like a breath on the face from the risen Christ forgave them all betrayals and empowered them to be forgiving people.

 

Do you see the mirror of the Midrashim? John recalls the silence of God—Jesus walking through locked doors and whispering "Peace," and breathing softly and empowering them to forgive. Luke, writing in the Book of Acts, hears the echo of that silence—the shaking, the wind and the fire, and the apostles go forth to proclaim what "goodness" is truly about—how to treat others as Christ had treated them.

 

Today's feast, many say, marks the birth of the Church. (Others see it being born at the crucifixion with the flowing of the blood and the water from Christ's side—signifying Baptism and Eucharist. I, personally, like to think of it being born at the Last Supper, when Christ was on his hands and knees washing the feet of betraying humanity, and showing us, thereby, how to treat each other.) IF today IS the anniversary of the Church's birth, then I think we should all try to claim our birthright. I think we would do well to plan to come to the Family Forum we are planning for this afternoon at 2 PM. It isn't convenient for everyone—no time is—and to that Forum I think we should bring our energy for building Church—for treating the world as Christ has treated us, and by bringing our humility and our forgiveness. If we can do that, God's power will be as much at work as it was in Jerusa lem 2000 years ago.

 

Whether or not we can get to today's Family Forum, let us pray that in the coming week we will all be able to show God's forgiving kindness to folk we meet and that our lives will be benedictions of goodness in our world. And may God bless you all. +

June 5, 2011 - The Ascension of the Lord

If Jesus were still here, in his historical form, He would be "counting the omer," today. Counting Omer is a ritual that the pious did in His day, and still do, today. Each day of the 50 days between Passover and Shavuot, between the anniversary of the Exodus from Egyptian slavery (Passover) and the anniversary of the day when the Torah was revealed on Mt. Sinai--on the 50th day--(Shavuoth in Hebrew, Pentecost, in Greek)--was a day of bringing an offering of grain to be waved before the altar. And the person bringing the grain would pray, "Blessed are You, O Lord our God, Master of the Universe, for You have sanctified us by Your commandments, and commanded us to count the omer offering, of which today is the 30th or 32nd, or 49th day, as we prepare our hearts to Hear Your Voice and Your Will." Seven weeks, or seven days times seven of offering our harvest to God so that we might be worthy,,,or at least in a proper frame of mind...to receive His finest Gift to us: the revelation of His will in the laws He gave us to live by....the 613 commandments of the Law of Moses....given originally on Sinai, 50 days after the Exodus. A ritual of "counting" was done annually--and still is in Orthodox Jewish homes--to focus the mind on the beauty of the Gift that God's Will enshrined in commandments truly is. The Feast of Pentecost, two weeks away, is the anniversary of the Giving of the Torah on Mt. Sinai. These days between Passover (Easter) and it, are days of spiritual preparation. I suppose we could say that in a wry way, Jews in a sense, do their Lent AFTER Passover.

 

So, what happened on Sinai? Much of the New Testament is a commentary on a theology of Sinai, and we would do well to know what the writers were talking about before we begin to see other things in their writings. Of course, we are free to get ANY meaning for ourselves from a biblical text, but it makes more sense to start where they started, to try to see what they wanted us to see, before we try to see what maybe they, themselves, didn't even see, but which is included in their struggling to get their minds around God and His Will.

 

Back to Sinai! What happened there? An ancient Midrash that was current at the time of Jesus and the evangelists said that when God Almighty spoke at Sinai, all the earth became still. Not a bird flew or chirped. Frogs were strangely sitting in quiet anticipation. Waves and breezes stilled themselves. And in the total and all-encompassing silence God spoke, and what He spoke was the ALEPH, the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, for that is the first letter of the word, "I" in Hebrew, Ani. Ani begins with an Aleph. And as God said the initial letter of his name, all creation heard it in the silence. Isn't that a profoundly pious thought? But, what is the sound of an aleph? The aleph is a silent letter. It has no sound whatsoever. So, God's voice spoke silence into silence, but all the earth heard LOUDLY and CLEARLY that God is God and there is no other. The first three commandments which deal with who God is, were included in this speech--the aleph. Then, the thunder and lightening echoed this silent sound, repeating it and reverberating it, and from that "echo" came the next seven commands--on how we are to live with each other--how to treat each other--which makes morality a mirror of how we treat God--which is why when Christ gave his 2 Great commandments, he said "Love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and the second is "like" the first--in Aramaic, "the same as the first"...love your neighbor as yourself, for its merely an echo of the first commandment.

 

The silence revealed God to us, and to this day, God is found in silence, and silence is His language--all other language is a translation. This is what Elijah heard in his cave on Mt. Horeb. He erroneously thought he alone was left in worship of God, and he ran to the Mountain where it all began--Mt. Sinai, now known as Horeb. There he stood in the mouth of a cave, and heard the wind and the thunder and saw the lightening--the echoes of the Voice--but he sensed that God had not yet been revealed to him, and as he continued to stand in silence, he heard "the daughter of a whisper of a voice," which we translate into English, "a still, small voice." He heard the Aleph. The Voice. The silence of God.

 

This is what Jesus tells the disciples they will receive in the upper room on Pentecost. On the anniversary of Mt. Sinai, the day of silence and its echo, you will hear the still small voice, and after it, the thunder and the wind and shaking of the mountain...in your upper room--like Elijah's cave atop Horeb, you will, in your high room, hear the silence and then the echo...in fact, you yourselves will be a part of the echo...babbling it forth into the world. And you will feel so full!

 

BUT...I won't be there, physically, like I am now. The silence will be there, and the wind...the echo...but not I. Yet, I will be there, too, in the silence, for the Advocate--the spiritual presence, the wind of God, the soul of the universe will be there...the heart of your heart will recognize my Voice in your own. You will hear your own voice and know it is mine. For I will be in you and you in me, and as the Father is in me, and I'm in you, the Father will be in you through the Advocate's silence and presence, and His love for the earth will go forth from you in your echoing speech.

 

So, what does this reading tell you? It tells you how to read the story of Pentecost which we will hear two weeks from today. It says that like those first apostles who left the upper room to speak the will and love of God to the world, and whose message was welcomed by the people of every nation, for they heard in the words that came forth an echo of their OWN inner truth--for it was in their own voice and their own language, SO will the words you use be sent out onto the airwaves of the universe, and people will hear them. So.........PLEASE make those words that come forth from you words of welcome and words of blessing. Don't condemn the world, Jesus didn't come to do that. He came to bless it and save it.

 

We Christians have such potential for goodness. We have a mandate from the God of Love to assure the world that it is loved and blessed, and to call forth the best in it.

 

But, let's face it, the history of Christianity shows two tendencies: 1) the broken part of us (and who of us isn't spiritually broken in some way?) will twist that into words of condemnation...we will find everything that we think is wrong with the world, and threaten it with God's damnation. But those words come from brokenness, from a bruised place, they do not come from a place that is healed.

 

And, then, 2) there are those broken parts of us that we cannot recognize for what they are. Though they are broken and sinful, we seem to have to call them good. Then we are so afraid to ask for healing, for fear it will force us to change into something we don't want to be. So, we assure ourselves and the world that all is well, as we look onto a landscape of inner emptiness and out onto a landscape of corpses.

 

The truth is with neither, according to John's Gospel. The truth is that sin is real, and it kills. It killed Christ. It kills potential in each of us. But goodness is also real, and sometimes it has its day and knows its own quiet triumph. And we have all experienced that. BUT above both sin and grace is a Magnificent God who finds lost sheep and hoists them onto His shoulders and brings them home, and heals them. Above it all is a Father who sees through the guise of a non-repentant prodigal, and before the lad can add perjury to his list of crimes, the Father wraps him in loving arms and puts rings on his fingers and shoes on his feet. The God before whom we stand knows our sinfulness. He doesn't "mistake" sin for goodness, but He knows how to heal sins, and he would rather die than give us up. And, then a 3rd, and spiritually more wholesome path opens for us: we welcome in the sinner, the leper, the woman caught in adultery, the blind, the lame, the broken, those attempting to be good, those who've given up on goodness, and don't know how to find their way. We welcome one and all to the banquet of the King for His Healing Grace is here. Lives are remade and made new, here. This is the place of healing. We welcome those parts of US to the table, and we welcome those parts of others to the table, and we all stand at the foot of the Cross in need of redemption together, and we all sit at the Banquet Table hungry and waiting to be fed.

 

According to St. Hilary, the Church is never a museum for saints but a hospital for sinners. And such is the promise of the reading today. The Christ we enthrone in our hearts, as the letter of Peter puts it, is the Christ who heals the broken in the silence and the echo of the daughter of the whisper of the Voice. So, come, and listen with us. Dine with us. Heal with us. Let the Voice that all creation heard be heard in your heart, in your own voice. And may our lives, together, broken people that we are, become benedictions of goodness in our broken world. And may God bless you all. +

May 8, 2011 - Third Sunday of Easter

Do you see the very strange issue of distance in the gospel reading, today? The village of Emaus was a seven mile walk from Jerusalem, and it took the two unknown disciples and Jesus all day to make it--when they get to Emaus, it is just about supper time, so He eats with them. Then, after a lengthy meal, the two unknown disciples are able to make it back to Jerusalem before nightfall. How could that be? It's either an all day trip or it isn't. What is being taught?

 

I think we should see "nightfall" as a metaphor for death. The reading is saying that by the "nightfall" of our lives, God will have us where He wants us, in the safe company of all the disciples, with Peter as their head, in other words, "the Church." Where might we be in the meantime?

 

Ah, that's the question, isn't it?

 

Let's look more closely at the text. The journey to Emaus is SEVEN miles--seven is a symbolic number in the Bible that signifies "perfection" or "completion." The disciples are moving to a "PERFECT DISTANCE AWAY FROM JERUSALEM..." from the Church! Why? Well, they were disappointed by events. Jesus had been murdered, and they had hoped he would be the one to overcome the Romans. Now, crazy women are saying there was an empty tomb and a vision of angels.....it's just too much! These very sensible men who were one-time disciples, are now "getting out." They are quitting. It's getting too strange. Nothing makes sense.

 

Sometimes OUR lives are like that, too. We go along, being good disciples--we may even be a catechist or a minister, or a prayer group leader. We are involved, and we feel good about ourselves and God......and then...............things happen....terrible things--maybe a divorce or the death of a child, or a business fails, or a close relative comes down with a terrible disease and we have to help with care and expenses, and it gets to be TOO MUCH for us, and our faith weakens, and we want to walk AWAY....we may even go a "perfect distance" away....we may end up in the proverbial "pig sty" of the Prodigal Son!!!

 

But, none of that matters to God...for God doesn't give up on us! Jesus finds those disciples on their path, and by the "nightfall of their life", i.e., by the time they need to meet Him in eternity, He has them where He wants them.

 

So, this reading is truly GOOD NEWS! It tells us that God doesn't give up on us, that even when we've deserted and gone over to the other side, and lived horribly, God is patiently finding us, and leading us home. So, let's take a lesson from the Crucifix, today. For THAT is the meaning of the life and death of Christ. It tells us that God would rather "die," than "give us up," or "give up on us."

 

So, with the courage we draw from that faithfulness, let us try harder to make our lives blessings of goodness in our world. Let's try to find one of the "lost" ones, and bring them home. Maybe WE can be the hands and feet of the risen Christ, this week. And may God bless you all. +

April 10, 2011 - Fifth Sunday of Lent

This story of the "Raising of Lazarus" is one of my favorite Gospel stories. What I DON'T like is that it has been relegated to funeral readings, where it is awkward. In fact, I hate to have to preach on it at a funeral. I'll tell you why: Jesus chose to raise Lazarus, but not the other dead in his town that day. Why not? Come to that, then, "Why are we here at this funeral, burying this Christian? Why didn't Jesus raise him, too?" It's nice that He can do this "raising from the dead" thing, but it would be even nicer if He did it more often, like NOW!

 

But, that isn't the point of the story. The point of the story is about "awakening" from the dead to live. The scriptures know that we are, really, sleepwalkers in the world, if not the walking dead. We move through life with so little consciousness. Our words and our deeds are leaving corpses in their wake, and waking no one to life! We kill with our tongues, instead of bringing life to the world.

 

This Gospel reading is a plea to use your speech as a means of bringing life and hope to people, not shame and hurt. Shame and hurt and rage are all things that bring the death of possibility. If our kids hear from us constantly that they are useless and stupid, they believe it! Their hope for doing something great with their life slowly dies. Spouses are the same. We can kill love with a constant battering with words of anger and frustration. This Gospel begs us to use our words to call forth life.

 

 Now, I want you to consider the end of the Gospel story. Jesus went to the tomb, had the stone rolled away, and called, "Lazarus, come forth!" And, sure enough, this shrouded figure stumbled forth. Jesus said, "Untie him and let him go free." Those are perhaps the words that best describe the message of the entire Bible, both the Hebrew Scripture and the Christian texts included—isn't it the essential meaning of the Book of Exodus? Loose their chains of slavery and let them go free!

 

Life is the process of awakening, and seeing that we had been dead. And , it involves the process of being cut loose and freed for living--truly living. This Gospel calls to us. It says, "Don't be the walking dead in the world!" WAKE UP! You can be filled with life and hope and you can share that life and hope with those around you, too.

 

As we draw near to the altar of the Lord of Life, today, let us pray for the Grace to be "life-giving" people—positive people—and let us pray that our lives may be benedictions of peace and goodness in our world. And may God bless you all. +

February 27, 2011 - Eight Sunday in Ordinary Time

We have a very "busy" liturgy this morning because we are taking worship time to make pledges for the annual Archdiocesan "Together in Mission" program. If there were an easier way to do this, we would opt for it, but there doesn't seem to be any. But, that's all paperwork.

 

It would be a shame to concentrate on the paperwork, if in the process, no matter how successful our sign-up, we missed the message in today's readings. The readings are rich. They touch us "where we are," as the kids in New Orleans used to say.

 

Isaiah had the curse or the privilege, however one defines it, of living in a time of economic crisis. Right now, we are in one, too, and we can see the "curse" that fear of poverty and a constant worry about money brings to a life. Our parents and grandparents lived through the Great Depression and they, looking back on it, saw it as a privilege. People pulled together, and took care of each other. So, economic crises are merely opportunities for the soul. We can leave the world "blessed" and grateful for our behavior during them, or we can leave the world cursed, it's up to us and the choices we make. Isaiah just reminded people that it is that God is abandoning us when we are in crisis....GOD DOESN'T  ABANDON ANYONE! Rather, He'll be with us as we move through it, trying to call forth the best in us.

 

Jesus, also, lived in a time of economic crisis and hardship. People had next to nothing. And as we read what He said to the people of His time: "Don't worry about tomorrow, even though you are in dire straits! And, don't try to serve both God and money, you can't! So, just do the next right thing for others, and let God take care of you," we can be either cynical, saying, "What did HE know about real life?", or we can say, "Wow! He really DID know about life and suffering, and He's saying something important."

 

Let's presume the latter, shall we? It makes sense to choose to take an hour to take Him seriously, since we are here, trying to be His disciples! And when we really listen to what He is saying, He is saying that MONEY, WEALTH, and POWER are gifts given by God--sacred trusts, if you will--AND they are tests of our character. Will we use these gifts for the greater good of all the earth, or will we selfishly hoard, and think only of ourselves?

 

His words are GOD speaking to you. And they are God's words speaking to you IN OUR CURRENT SITUATION, OUR CURRENT CLIMATE OF ECONOMIC INSTABILITY. They are God's words coming to you in a Church that you sometimes wonder if you should trust. In the midst of all the complexities of life, God's Word still comes, and says, "Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all things will be given you besides."

 

So, it's in THIS context that we have our Together In Mission appeal. It isn't just the Cardinal or the new Archbishop asking your largesse for parishes and schools much less well off than most. It isn't just Fr. Bill and Sr. Karen asking you for more money for St. Agatha's, too. For we are---asking you for more money for St. Agatha's, too. We need you to be generous to Together in Mission because the poorer Catholics in our area deserve a chance to worship and have an education, too. AND, we need you to be more generous to our parish, for our contributions are falling a bit, as well, and we need to make up the short-fall.

 

This is not a sermon about money, this is a cry for help, that comes from God, Himself. The Church is struggling, right now. We've suffered through scandals of poor judgment that have cost us in credibility. In a week or two, we will have a major sign-up of those interested, to help us create an on-going email campaign for political persuasion, since our bishops no longer have the influence they once did. The toll that the mishandling of sexual abusers by bishops is taking is still being calculated. BUT, in the midst of it all, St. Agatha's needs to survive, and so do other parishes where innocent "little people" merely need places of worship and schools to educate their young.

 

God's Word tells us, today, that we need to do the next right thing for the least of our brothers and sisters. We need to do the next right thing for ourselves. The spiritual "test" of our time is how we will live with economic pressures and the spiritual depression that has hit all of us in the past nine or ten years of scandal. I, Bill Axe, can't tell you what to do. All I can do is present the Word of God to you, and along with it, the needs of the Church. The choice is yours, as it always is.

 

On behalf of the poor, I ask you to be generous to our Together in Mission campaign. On behalf of our entire parish family, for our common good and our common future, I ask your generosity in the weeks and months ahead. The patriot, Thomas Paine, once wrote, "These are the times that try men's souls." The Gospel reminds us that "SO ARE THESE!" Let's step up to the challenge, as we can. Some will have the resources to make a great difference, others will only be able to make a small difference, but God is faithful to all of us. The readings assure us that God never abandons us nor forsakes us. Can a mother forget her infant? No more can God forget us! So, let's do our best, and pray for the best, and God's will WILL be done! And may God bless you all.+

February 20, 2011 - Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

Tetelestai! Jesus says to us in the Gospel reading: Tetelestai! (At least that's the Greek translation of what were probably His Aramaic words that the evangelist gives us. Tetelestai is the plural command form of the verb, teleo, which means "to come to maturity," to "be finished," or "completed." Parents say this to kids, all the time: Grow up! In other words, "become the person you are destined to become!" (And in the case of parents, "We want you to be the person we know you are capable of becoming!") Such, too, is the wish of Jesus. He has confidence in us—all evidence to the contrary! And He asks us to "be ourselves," to "be that good person God has made us to be." The problem with translating the word as "perfect," (Be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect!) is that we, though we are not even a dust particle in the universe, have an idea of what a perfect God ought to be, so we also have an idea of what a "perfect human being" would be. So, if we were all "perfect" we'd all be alike—our lives would be carbon copies of each other, and probably NOT very interesting! But, that isn't what "tetelestai" means. It has to do with YOU becoming all YOU can be, and ME becoming all "I" can be, and we won't look at all alike when it's all said and done. We are each to "grow up," and "grow toward the hope God had for us when He designed us." We are to MATURE.

 

Tetelestai is related to the word telos which means "logical conclusion," or "obvious end." The "TELOS" of an acorn is the oak tree--it has grown to its potential. No two oak trees are alike--some are gnarled, some have been snapped by lightening. Some are tall and foreboding, with high branches out of reach, others have low hanging branches that touch the ground and invite children to be climbers. To "become our true selves" is to be satisfied with who and what we are, and to be the best we can at it. An oak can't be an apple tree. It shouldn't try! YOU can only be who and what you are....I can only be who and what I am...but we can raise that bit of humanity that each of us is to noble heights.

 

Such were St. Paul's hopes for the Corinthians. He didn't want to have to feed them pablum forever, but spiritual meat! And spiritual meat meant that they would have to understand that EACH one of them as an individual and ALL of them as a group were the Temple of the Unseen and Unseeable God. Each was an "icon" of the eternal. A walking image of Infinity resided in the flesh and bones of each one, and even more so in the gathered community of all of them. The Light of the Eternal God was shining out of them, individually, and collectively. To harm the "temple" or "icon" of God was to harm something of God and take it from the earth, leaving us ever poorer for the loss. When they trashed each other—as our study of the letter to the Corinthians shows us that they frequently did, their local congregation being broken up into numerous factions that didn't get along well—they trashed the Divine, the Holy. If WE understood this Truth, today, think of the difference it would make in our table conversations, in our Church meetings, and even in our national political discourse!

 

It's one thing to "be yourself" on a personal level. That's hard work. But, it's even harder to be "ourself" as a group of individuals. A parish church is called to be "its Self," realizing that just as the Light of God is in each of the members, so that Light of God is also in the congregation. A parish needs to let the Light of its "holiness", its "wholeness", its "completeness" shine--which is the nature of Light. It always shines....but, it CAN be covered up by bushel baskets of various designs--so that the energy for good for the world is limited. We need to be asking, "What bushel baskets are keeping our Light at St. Agatha's from shining more brightly?"

 

And it gets even murkier when we think of "being our Self" as a nation. Oh, my goodness! Congress fights over how to do this, constantly. We are a multi-cultural nation. It's a debatable point, but I'm not sure that "Christianity" was ever the basis on which we were founded. I think the founding fathers of the nation saw some good things in the Christianity of their youth, and they didn't want to lose those elements, and used Bible quotes effectively. But, basically, they distrusted Christian churches. They had seen too much hatred in the name of love. So we were founded on more basic secular principles of justice. "We find these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal and endowed by their creator (notice, no God is named) with inalienable rights"....etc. Yet, the bushel basket of their own limited vision allowed them to sign such a document while holding slaves!

 

The point I'm making is that the Light of the Creator, however we define God, is in each American (as it is in each citizen of the planet). And, as Americans, we live in a nation with lots of wealth and power--both of which we seem to be losing--but, nonetheless, we have a vast amount of influence which we can use for the good. Balancing how to "be all we can be" is at the heart of issues national and international. It's at the heart of economic issues, immigration issues, and international peace and justice issues.

Something we need to be doing, here, at St. Agatha, is to be involved in the study of issues national and international in light of our call and our commitment to "let the Light shine!"

 

The guiding principle for the first reading was God's admonition, "You shall be holy for I the Lord your God am holy." This is what Jesus is commenting on in the Gospel. What does the "holiness" (the wholeness, the unity, the totality, the completeness) of God mean for humans? And Jesus said, "Grow up!" The context for his teaching is how we treat others: when we are offended, instead of talking things out and finding peace, we often strike back and get revenge. Jesus saw that, and said, "That's NOT the way to holiness or to spiritual maturity and completion, or fulfillment." The way to spiritual growth is to be mediators and to work at reconciliation in the world. The world has enough bullies and thugs—it doesn't need more! So, when someone tries to bully you or force you to do something, take the time to "be with" the person as you do what he demands. Learn to know him. And then, we come to the next paragraph, and when you really know him, that "enemy" will have turned into a friend and brother. This is the path of peace, and this is the path of spiritual maturity. This is what holiness means in our world.

 

Let's pray for the Grace, today, to be mature, spiritually deep people whose lives reflect the infinite profundity of God, and let us pray that our words and actions will foster the brotherhood and sisterhood of all humanity, and bring some peace to our world. And may God bless you all. +

February 13, 2011 - Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Today, I'd like to speak to you not only as your parish priest, but also as your spiritual director. In doing that, I'm sort of imitating what Christ did in his sermon on the mount from which we read today.

 

The spiritual director inside me wants to remind us that all of us - you and I-- live a commanded life. God's commandments existed before us, and  we were born into them; they give us identity, and are capable of giving our lives meaning. When God planned the creation of the world and each of us, He was also creating the commandments which are designed to guide us to a life full of meaning as they lead us to Him. So, what will this mean for the average person?

 

What does it mean to say that Fr. Bill Axe is living a "commanded life"? Well, let's look: in my entire life, so far, at least I have not killed anyone, ever! I have not had enough anger against another person to be driven to take his or her life, and I have not been a soldier, so I have not had the experience of being placed in battle situation with the possibility of inflicting fatal injuries to another human being. So I have not committed any killings, do you think I kept the commandment not to kill?

 

The literalist would say "Yes; the commandment says, 'Thou shalt not kill,' and you, Bill, have not killed, so you have kept the commandment." BUT, Christ was not fundamentalist. In fact, in today's gospel reading, He is saying that we need to look much deeper into the meaning of the commandment and its ramifications for our lives. The surface meaning is important, but shallow. As God is eternal in God's depth, so are the commandments eternally deep. THEN the command to "not kill" when it is seen at a deeper level tells us that we should not be angry at anyone, because if we allow ourselves the luxury of having a scorching, sustained anger, eventually, it is likely that we will allow ourselves, too, the luxury of inflicting violence, which could result in the physical death of another human being, and which, even if it doesn't go that far, will certainly harm our souls. And, going a little deeper, if we must not allow ourselves to dwell in the emotion of anger, we must not allow ourselves to hold resentments, either. We all know that sometimes we do not react with anger against another person at the time of conflict, but later, when we think about what happened, we get angry, and carry grudges, and with all the emotion beneath the surface of our being, the next time we find ourselves with that person we may react stronger than the first time, and this is dangerous to us, spiritually, and to them physically. And, if we go a little deeper, the commandment, "Do not kill," would tell us that we should try to think of excuses, possible reasons to explain the behavior of the neighbor who offends us, as a mental exercise, in order for  us to understand them without anger. So, we might imagine all the possibilities that would excuse and explain his/her offenses. And were we to go deeper, the commandment not to kill, also commands us to make friends with those who trespass against us. DON'T KILL is another way of saying, LOVE THE ENEMY, and become brothers and sisters to all humanity.

 

With this we see that the commandments are not simple things that can be memorized and followed with little thought. The commandments are deep thoughts that come from the depths of the mind of God, and they are filled with endless levels of meaning.

 

Think for a moment about the commandment, "Do not commit adultery." What would you think of me if I were married (and if I was much younger, and not ordained?... We need a lot of imagination, right?), And say that I have been married for ten years or more, and never in my life have I slept with another woman. But, at the same time, my kids are afraid of me, and my wife can't stand my alcohol abuse and my temper. Can we say that I have kept the commandment? Again, Christ would say, "No, Bill, I want more!" Why? Because again, the surface is not sufficient to understand the depth of God's word. The commandment that instructs us that we should not commit adultery, means creating a home in which kids can grow up into healthy Christian adults.  And to have such a home, it is necessary for me to respect my wife, so that she understands me, and I her. If there is no tenderness and affection between the parents, how the kids grow up to be mature Christian men and women? This command also has its many, many levels of meaning. And Christ wants us to focus our attention on these depths of meaning in following it, so that we will be able to show the world the marks of discipleship in our daily lives.

 

Also, the commandment, "DO NOT TAKE THE NAME OF THE LORD YOUR GOD IN VAIN," has as its surface connotation, a prohibition of  the pronunciation of the holy name of God in ugly settings where it doesn't belong. But more than this, it also asks us to care for our language.  Most problems between husbands and wives, between parents and their children, between friends, and among neighbors, is due to sloppy language. The Bible tells us that God creates by word ... "let there be light and there was light" ... and we, made in His image, also create with words. We can create an atmosphere of trust and affection with the words we use, or we can create an atmosphere of hatred. It depends on what we say. God knows we cannot control the thoughts or negative emotions, but we CAN control what we say--and we DON'T have to say everything we think! (Especially negative things.) Each time we express negativity, we put poison in the atmosphere that everyone has to share. Christ wants us to have more discipline over our mouths and our actions so that our lives really become blessings of peace and goodness. And everyone knows that there are times when we cannot think of ANYTHING GOOD to say. We are so discouraged or so disappointed or so angry that we cannot say anything positive. In this case it would be better not say anything at all. We are to remain silent, and if we must speak, to say little. Look at the times when Christ decided to say nothing--two, off the top of my head are when He was in front of Pilate when He was on trial, and when He stooped and wrote on the ground as the crowd discussed the fate of the woman caught in adultery. These are times when He taught us that there are times when it is better to keep a golden silence rather than to say thoughtless words that cannot be recalled. SO,  on a deep level, the commandment "DO NOT TAKE THE NAME OF GOD IN VAIN" is a warning to observe a profound silence and simplicity in daily life, or as Christ put it, "Let your yes be yes, and your no, no."

 

As the "spiritual director" of the congregation, I want you to see that the word of God is deep, with endless levels of meaning, as God is endless and eternal. The teaching of Christ in the Gospel today presents the call given to each disciple - to deepen our understanding of scripture, so that our lives might become the reflection of this deeper understanding. My prayer for each of us, today, is that we may use the grace we receive in the Eucharist, today, to make of our lives benedictions of goodness in our world. And may God bless you all. +

February 6, 2011 - Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Have you been watching the situation in Egypt closely? If you've signed up to go on the trip to the Holy Land with us in November, do you wonder if we'll be going there? Certainly not, if it's dangerous, at the time of the trip. We can take more time in Israel, I suppose, or go to Jordan and see Petra and Jerash or to Greece and visit Corinth and the Delphic Oracle. But let's not think of US, right now. Let's think of a suffering world.

 

Cairo is in chaos. Angry people are screaming all the pain of their lives on international TV. I remember when our streets were filled with students demanding the resignation of a president--then it was Lyndon Johnson over the Viet Nam war. Next it was Richard Nixon over the war, the economy, dissatisfaction at life. Most of our lives, we just live with whatever is dealt us. We don't make a sound. We just move through our nights and our days, trying to laugh a bit, joke a bit, make it all liveable, but then, every once in a while, it's as if the planets have lined up and a VOICE is given us and there we are, in the streets, shouting and screaming out our pain. I don't have the answers for Egypt. You don't. But, I can empathize with the pain of living that they are expressing.

 

You know, I've been a priest for over 35 years--going on 40--that's older than many of you are. And one thing I've learned is that most of us are the walking wounded. We sense that there's something wrong with us, that we are in some sense damaged--it may be wounds that our parents inflicted, or teachers, or girlfriends we once had--but people have done a number on us, and we bear the scars. There's no one in this room that doesn't bear all sorts of scars from what others have done to us.

 

That was part of what Isaiah was speaking of in the first reading. He said, "when you share your bread with the hungry, shelter the oppressed and homeless,  clothe the naked and stop turning your back on your own, THEN YOUR WOUND SHALL QUICKLY BE HEALED. What wound? Did the nation, as a whole, have an open, bleeding wound? No. Nations don't have wounds,  people do.

 

The wounds of the nation in time of the first reading were the wounds of personal grief at the heavy losses they had suffered in a national defeat, much like many of the Iraqi people must be feeling, now. A war had come and gone, people were deported and suffered the humiliation of slavery, rape and murder. They had returned to find their homes destroyed or occupied by interlopers. They were living on the ragged edge of nothing, and they felt personal grief, and deep resentment at what had been taken from them. The task of rebuilding seemed too large.  They felt despair and bitterness. They couldn't see a reason for going on. Maybe life wasn't worth it. Maybe it would never get better. Maybe death was easier.

 

Not ever human being has gone through national defeat, exile, slavery and personal bodily threat, coupled with the total loss of family, wealth and property, but every human being has been in a dark enough place that we've wondered that life might never ever get better. Maybe it was the loss of our first girlfriend, maybe it was being cut from a team, maybe it was not being accepted by a group of friends or associates we thought was necessary for us. Maybe it was at the failure of a marriage, or the death of a child, or the loss of a livelihood. Maybe it was or is a life-threatening illness that could rob us of all we hold dear. There is no human being alive who hasn't suffered, and there is no human being alive who hasn't felt some form of hopelessness and despair. Those emotions go hand in hand with being a human being. We don't have the mind of God, we don't see far enough into the future to see how things will begin to turn for the good. And fear and hopelessness rush in to fill our every waking moment, robbing us of moments of peace and pleasure.

 

Isaiah knew this. He lived it, himself. And, he knew what to do about it. If you want to bring healing to yourself, and make your situation better, then help somebody else who is in difficulties like or worse than your own. Share your bread (at least you have that!) with someone who doesn't have a crumb! Give shelter (at least you have that!) to someone who doesn't have a welcoming home. Clothe the naked--and the naked don't have to be taken literally. There are so many people we all know who have been ripped apart publicly, and their lives made an open book--they are "naked" before everyone they care about, and everyone is talking about them. THEY need friends, too. Shelter them with your care. Isaiah said, "Do these things, and your own sense of helplessness and hopelessness will vanish like dew in the morning sun."

 

St. Paul tells his congregation that he did all that he did in the time he was with them NOT for himself, but for THEM. He had learned how to care for others to heal himself.

 

Jesus calls us "salt of the earth." Salt doesn't do anything at all for itself. It is only useful when used on something else. 

He calls us the "light of the world." Light is what makes activity possible. If you've ever been in a black out, you realize how quickly you don't remember your own living room...as you trip over the coffee table, and step on plate of food you just set down when the lights went out. Light isn't much good in and of itself....it just IS. BUT, it allows us the ability of movement and action.

 

We are BEGGED in today's readings to place our lives in the service of others. The needs of our world are almost infinite. The needs of our neighborhoods are a microcosm of our world. Today's readings hope that we, as His Wounded Broken Disciples, will be helping to heal both ourselves and the world. May we each use the Grace we receive in the Eucharist, today, to make of our lives a benediction of goodness for someone in distress, this week. And may God bless you all. +

acer de nuestra vida una bendición de Dios para una persona en peligro, esta semana. Y que Dios los bendiga a todos. +