July 14, 3013 - Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Do you like retreats? I don't. I hate them! I'm forced to go on one each year--it's probably the fact that I'm forced to go that irks me, but I'm always dragged, kicking and screaming to the 4 day experience where we have to sit and listen to someone who Someone Else thinks will be good for us! 

I think the best retreat I ever made was a workshop, more than a retreat, on social justice, given by Brian Hehir--a priest, and later Monsignor from the state of New York, who ended up in Washington DC working for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Archbishop Strecker, of Kansas City, Kansas, where I was working at the time, had demanded that we all go to this 3 day workshop--in fact, he had said that anyone who didn't show up, would be immediately transferred, and we wouldn't like where we were sent! Some had complained, "But what if someone dies?" He replied, drolly, "Let them call the Methodists!" So, we knew he meant business. Every last one of us showed up.

Now I don't remember a lot about that workshop--nothing at all of the content, except for what Hehir did with the parable of the Good Samaritan. He said, "Men, we all envision this gospel--Luke wrote it in such a way that it's easy to visualize. We can almost see the muggers beating and kicking and choking the victim, and leaving him for dead after stripping and robbing him. Then, we watch: and after seeing the holy people pass that poor half-dead Jew by, we see a stranger, a foreigner who binds up his wounds and gets him care, and we say, 'Yea! Samaritan! We need more like you!' But, let's say that that scenario happened on a Sunday, OK? Now, what if on the day following, Monday, the Samaritan passes that same place, and sees another half-dead Jew along the side of the road, beaten and close to death, what will he do? Well, he seems like a good soul, so let's say he'll bind him up and get him care. Then, let's say, that on Tuesday, he is going down that same road, and lo and behold, there's another! And of Wednesday another, and on Thursday another. How long will it be before his sensibilities are dulled? Before his commitment wanes? Or, simply before his funds run out?" Then , he said, "Don't you think that eventually it will dawn on him that MAYBE what we need to do is straighten out this stretch of the road so that bandits can't hide? Or, maybe hire a guard? Or, maybe put in a light? Or, maybe jobs should be created for young thugs so they won't have to kill to eat! Doing this, he is caring for 365 Jews a year, by making sure that they won't be left half-dead, stripped and robbed in that spot. This is what we call "social justice." It is "love" written LARGE, in capital letters. We are called to love in small letters, as in today's Gospel reading of the Good Samaritan when situations present themselves, but we are also called to use our God-given intelligence to make a more whole world--to mend its brokenness, so that wholeness and holiness can grow." 

I have NEVER FORGOTTEN that example or that definition of social justice. It has informed my living and my working as a priest for the past nearly 39 years.

What the Good Samaritan does in the Gospel is the result of good religion. Good religion makes nice people--kind people--people who care for half-dead Jews on their doorsteps, but who also care to make their society a healthier, more wholesome and holier place, so that tragedy is NOT the daily "normal."

Jesus, Himself,  probably was thinking of both individual and societal response when he gave the parable to illustrate what He saw as the essence of Torah, as the kernel of what God's will for humanity is all about. He, too, championed good religion.

But, I ask you, how long can a moral life be sustained simply because it is "commanded?" There's a commandment that says, "Love your neighbor," so you try, but how hard? And how long? Where does the spiritual energy come from to open us to living the religious life? 

The Book of Deuteronomy where our first reading comes from, is a series of "last words," or "last sermons" from Moses to the Israelites, whom he has lined up, in formation, ready to enter and claim the "Promised Land." This is the end of Moses' life--after a lifetime of wandering with this people, he is ready to die, and so he knows that he is giving his last words--his best, perhaps "holiest" wisdom to his people. He's had 40 years to think about that revelation on Mt. Sinai--when the mountain shook, and he heard the words he wrote in the book. Here, on the plains of Moab, there is no shaking mountain, no fire, no wind...but there is SOMETHING MORE--a wisdom born of struggle, and it is this that he wants to share--it's his own "last breath," that he is breathing onto his people as he addresses them.

And what he says is surprising...he tells them that the Torah is "not in Heaven"--don't expect Divine Revelation to come to you--it's already come! If you want to know what to do, read the book and study it. It isn't esoteric or far away--you don't need to travel at all, you only need to go INSIDE, for it's IN YOUR HEARTS. The elder Moses knows what the younger Moses couldn't know: he has learned, painfully, that the religious project has an "outward character," in that we SHOULD be nicer people, but at its heart, the religious project is really about the "inner path," the path inside--to encounter the God Who made you, and Who resides deep within. It is learning to listen to THAT Voice that is the essential part of being an authentic human being. If we are true to our truest self, we shall be a wonderful gift to the earth.

What Moses hopes for his people is that they will come to know the wonderfully caring God, a God Who is always there to the rescue, BY LEARNING TO GO INSIDE--in other words, to find their own loveableness, their own ability to come to other's rescue--for they are created in the Image of That God, and when they come to know themselves, and create a society that cares and rescues the fallen--they will come, also to a far deeper awareness of God-Himself--who "hides" His presence in the broken of the world, and at the same time, they will heal the brokenness of the world, the flaws that have been in it since its creation. 

Both Moses and Jesus want us to see that "attaining eternal life" is all about discovering the preciousness of all that is--the neighbor, the dog, the drapes, the mountains and the sea! We are not truly "ALIVE" if we harbor "smallness" toward anyone but ourselves. And the wider we learn to extend our hearts and souls, the more "alive" we become--eternally alive. Today's Gospel is the story of the discovery of the value of "the Other," the one who is SO NOT ME--the one thought to be an enemy, even--but when push comes to shove, one realizes that one MUST do for him for his very "humanity" demands it! At that point, the Samaritan stood on the very threshold of the heart of God, Himself. This is what Jesus wanted us to know. 

The second reading from St. Paul teaches that "Christ Jesus" (as a human being) was the "form of the invisible God," and was so brutally treated. Luke, who may well have been Paul's disciple, says of the half-dead Jew along the roadside, "Here, before you is another "form of the Invisible God," let's learn from experience. The Samaritan rises to the call of his heart--his truest self. His prejudice may have made him wish to pass by, but his "true self," said, "Help him!" The Crucifix is always before us, showing us what we do to each other when we fail to see "Infinity in the dust of a human being", the Good Samaritan parable shows us what kind of world we can make when we take the time to see it--to see that Infinity, that fingerprint of the Divine--in another. It is a kinder, richer world we make...let's pray for the grace of kindness, and the Grace to lift ourselves and all our world a little higher this week. Let us pray for eyes to see Infinity in the dust. And may God bless you all.+

June 30, 3013 - Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Eddie, our organist, called me earlier in the week and asked if he should do patriotic numbers this weekend or next weekend. I said, "Do both!" Some will be expecting it to lead up to the holiday, and others will want it during the long weekend, even though it's after the fact. Besides, with the world in the mess it's in, it doesn't hurt to pray for the nation twice, right? So, a Happy and Safe 4th of July to all of you, and expect similar wishes next weekend too!!!

Now, let's move to the readings for the weekend. What do we make of a Sunday meditation that occurs just before our national holiday of Independence that presents with not one, but TWO "death marches?" We could focus on how anything that is worthwhile demands sacrifice, I suppose...

But, what I'd like you to see is that each death march--that of Elija wtih Elisha in tow, who was to succeed him, and that of Jesus as He turned his face to Jerusalem and began the several month long journey that would end at Calvary's Hill--while both are, indeed, death marches.......neither really ends in death! Elijah, according to the Text was taken up to Heaven in a Chariot of Fire from where he would wait the Day of the Messiah and then return to announce it. And Jesus, while he died, and was buried, rose in the Resurrection of Easter Morning Wonder!

Both men truly suffered in their lifetime. Elijah was abandoned by his people, and crawled all the way to Mt. Sinai, where Moses had stood, and said, "I alone am left! Now, what?" Jesus cried out on the cross, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" And as if things were'nt dark enough for Him, an eclipse of the sun occured, as He was expiring--not even sunlight was given Him at the end. And, YET....both of those people, according to the Text were truly blessed with Heavenly and Eternal Life. Death was just something that "really wasn't there!" It looked so foreboding, but when the climax came, and they passed thorugh those portals, God's Chariot of Light and Life arrived, or His Resurrection Power that overcomes every kind of death--the death at the end of human life, as well as the many smaller deaths within it, deaths to things we think so important we don't know how to live without them, but they "go" and we move on, and learn that they were not so essential, after all. 

Death, then, in both readings is a chimera. It appears and is so frightening, but when one passes through it, one sees that it was nothing at all--and life goes on--a different life, but eternal life.

I think this is an essential teaching for all who hold the Gospel and wish to be imitators of the Christ, and walk in His gentle footsteps as His disciples. We need to hear it over and over again. For we are so often tried--not because God is testing us to see if we are worthy, but simply because LIFE is as annoying as it is wonderful. Crazy people live in this world, and they're ALL AROUND! Sometimes, they're EVEN US!  So whether it's the crazies annoying us, or us crazies annoying them, life is filled with moments of darkness and trial. We understand the story of the eclipse on Good Friday, whether it happened or not, because We have been there! We know that that's the way things often are! Darkness just seems to descend. 

So we also need to remember that it passes--sometimes quickly, sometimes terribly slowly, but these "death moments" do pass. All disciples need to know that. Otherwise every misfortune is seen as God's punishment. If we can look at life and see the trouble and the trial that simply livng in a finite world of free will, inhabited by 7 billion other people, can bring to anyone, instead of looking for God's punishment in everything that happens to us, we begin to look for God's saving Grace to take us beyond life's difficulties. 

This is what the disciple of the Prince of Peace has to know. God is here, and God is here not to hurt us but to help us. God is not trying to test us--though living does test us in many ways--rather, God is here to help us overcome, and truly LIVE. Moreover, the ENERGY FOR LIVING--the RESURRECTION POWER FOR TRUE LIFE--that is given to us, helps us to be healers and menders of the broken who have no hope. We are NOT here to RISE and OVERCOME in order to look at those poor slobs who don't know God, or who don't have our faith, and say, "Huh! Guess you see who is right NOW, don't ya?" Absolutely not. That desire to be better, to show up the lesser, is what got James and John Christ's rebuke in today's Gospel. They had wanted to make a parking lot out of an entire village becasue it had rejected them....and Christ says, "Good grief! I'm about to die, and you STILL DON'T get it!" We are here to be the leaven in the loaf. What does leaven do? It lifts. It raises. We are here to lift ourselves and all humanity a little higher, and we only do that as we make their cares our own, and help them to rise, too, NOT by destroying others, but learning to love them as family.

And as we do that, as we make a friend out of an enemy, as we help someone who is suffering to see that hope is possible, we LIFt the world Godward.

We need this lesson as individual disciples, and we need it as a nation--so maybe it's good that it falls where it does. Instead of destroying our enemies before they can destroy us, maybe we need to befriend them--make them family. I know it sounds so bizarre to think that one can make a friend out of a person who is ready to toss a grenade into your house, and it feels like opening the door wide to him is just giving him less resistence, and makes it easier to get the grenade into the house, but look at who our "Enemies" have been: England, at the time of the origin of this national holiday...now they are our staunchest allies. At one time or another, Canada, France, Mexico, Spain, Germany--all nations who we NOW know are simply wonderful people--people we want to know better. Why would we think those folk who, now, seem to be so threatening will not be the same one day? 

The message of the Christ is the Christmas message of Peace on Earth. Peace is made one friendship at a time, one good deed at a time, one offering of hope at a time. So, to celebrate our national holiday, let's get busy with peacemaking, shall we? And may the God of Peace bless you all. +

May 5, 2013 - Sixth Sunday of Easter

I remember when I was probably 12 or 13, I had been out playing, and I came into the house by the back door, and I guess my parents didn't know that I was there, for I heard my father say to my mother, "Well, there's no doubt about it, he should be taught a lesson, and I'm the one to do it!" I froze, then back up quietly, and ran to a neighbor's house, and shot hoops for an hour, wondering what it was that I had done. I saw my Dad's car drive by as we were shooting hoops, and he waved, and kept going. So, I said good-bye, and went back home, and Mom acted like she always did. So, after some small talk, I asked, "Is anything the matter?" "No, not that I know of," she replied.  I never found out who needed to be taught a lesson, but I knew it wasn't me! What had happened was that I had walked in on a conversation that wasn't about me at all, but with the guilt that EVERY teenager carries with him all the time, I SUPPOSED it was about me.

 

Today's Gospel is taken from a conversation. We are interlopers into a conversation between Jesus and a few of His disciples.

 

The entire Gospel reading, this morning, was a response to a question asked by one of the apostles--Judas--not Judas the Iscariot, but the other Judas--we call him, St. Jude, today. He had asked Jesus, "What happened that You are revealing Yourself to us, but not to the rest of the world?" And today's Gospel was Jesus' reply. But there doesn't seem, at least at first glance, to be an answer.

 

Like all half-heard conversations, we are baffled. Judas wants to know why Jesus doesn't reveal Himself as Messiah, and why He doesn't call on the Divine Armies of angels, and conquer the Romans and set Israel free. That way, ALL  THE WORLD will know that God is with Israel, and with Jesus, and with those who follow Him. So, Jesus answers with wisdom about what it means to actually "FOLLOW" the Messiah--and it has nothing to do with conquering anyone but oneself--the hardest battle any human being ever has. "Whoever loves me will keep my Word...my commandments:" the love of God and of others--especially one's enemies. Jesus' "way" isn't about conquering the enemy, it's about conquering the hate in our hearts that turns the "Other" into an enemy in the first place.

 

He goes on to say, that when a follower does that "The Father and Christ will come and dwell within him." Jesus is saying, "You want the world to know God is with you? Then, love the world, and the world will see the Divine in you!" The question of the Bible and of every human being is, "Is God with us?" That question is made up of several other questions--Is there a God? Does He care about the world? Does He love ME? Is He with me? And we are never satisfied. That, too, is the nature of the human heart. We are small in a vast uiverse, and we are uneasy. It's so easy to explain everything materially. Maybe, since science says we don't need God, there is no God? So we set up "tests" for God--sort of asking, "Are you out there?" But the only convincing answer comes from within when God says, "I'm in here!" But, the assurance doesn't last long--a day? a week? And then, we're second-guessing ourselves, wondering if we "tricked ourselves." And other "tests" of God follow. That's who we are. Judas asks Jesus to be less subtle. "Put it out there, man!"

But Jesus says, "No. You put it 'in here!" When it changes you, you'll know what you need to know, and the only way to let it change you is to live it--so go love that enemy! I could be wrong, but I've come to believe that the only proof of God's existence is our own transformation, and the transformation of those we love...

 

I think He would say the same thing to you or to me, here, this morning. We pray to be transformed into more loving people. We say, "Lord change me, make me kinder." But, the wisdom of today's Gospel is that it is in being kind that we grow kinder...so find someone you don't mind being kind to, and get busy! There is no law in the universe that says you have to start out by loving your worst enemy! You don't have to begin with Adolph Hitler! (Well, he's dead, but you get the point!) Start with what you can do, and do it well.

 

It is in the doing of charity that we become charitable. It is in the loving of the neighbor that we learn to love God--and feel that God deep within us, uniting us to all humanity.

 

When I was working in the Maryland House of Correction as a chaplain, I had an interesting Sunday crowd of worshippers. We had about 20 guys who would come. I said to them, "Maryland is a Catholic state, surely there are more than 20 Catholics here." "Well," they said, "they don't like Church much." I said, "I don't particularly like it either, but I do it because it's a commandment. Tell them I want to see them." Well, that went around like wildfire on a prairie in a wind storm! The Warden saw me one day and said, "You're the priest that hates goint to Church!" I tried to explain, "It's not that I hate it, but, but, but..." There was no way out of the mess. BUT, interestingly enough, more people were coming to Mass.

 

And we would get readings like we got today, so I'd do a discussion sermon with them. "What does being good to your neighbor look like in here?" And, if no one would respond, I would call on someone. One man said to me, "Father, there are mean "so and so's" in here, and you don't dare be nice to them. It's interpreted as weakness." I said, "Do you think it's any different anywhere else?" "What do you mean," he asked. I said, "Do you think that if a Republican tries to be open to a Democrat's point of view in Washington, that he isn't seen as 'soft?'" Same in business. I've been a teacher all my life, and when I try to be understanding with homework and class assignments, it's tricky. If I don't walk a fine line, my students will decide I don't care about assignments, and they won't do a thing!" EVERYplace is like this place. "So," he says, "is it impossible what Christ asks of us?" I said, "It is until you try it." I said, "I dare you...pick someone--not the meanest guy on the cellblock, but someone you know you could be better to, and work at it this week--we'll talk about it next week."

 

It was like teaching a Sunday School class of 10 year olds, but I watched the men begin to transform. I soon realized that they were changing in ways I wasn't. I, myself, was spurred to greater kindness, by watching what occurred with them.

 

Will you be perfect? No. Will you have failures? Yes. So what? The point of the spiritual life is to draw closer to God, and that only happens as we draw closer to each other.

My prayer for each of us this week, is that as we each try to put into practice the commandments of the Christ, that we will lift ourselves and all the earth a little higher. And may God bless you all. +

Sermon 13 January 2013

Christ's baptism is a MYSTERY, because we don't know why He did it! Neither did John the Baptist who asked, "Why are YOU coming to ME?" Think about it: baptism removes sin, but Christ was sinless--so He didn't need it! This feast is always a puzzle to theologians.

 

When I teach about Christ's Baptism to students, I always teach about rituals. Rituals are significant to human beings. Not many of us would feel very good about combining our lives, our future and our fortune with someone, but have NO ceremony--even if it's the signing of a pre-nuptial agreement in a lawyer's office, with brunch to follow! Some people can do it, but most of us don't "feel married" without something that says to the world: "She's mine, and I'm hers," or "He's mine, and I'm his."

 

Not many want to come home from the hospital with a new baby with NO rituals at all--even if it's a new crib and flowers and a cake--we want SOMETHING that says to the world: "Welcome, little one! You're with us, now, and we love you, and we'll be here for the long haul."

 

Some students say, "I don't need to go through the graduation ceremony--let them mail me the diploma...but MOST of us could hardly wait to walk across that stage and change the tassel from one side of the Mortar Board to the other, and have that diploma in hand, our proud parents and relatives in the audience taking pictures and silently calculating the cost of the next one!

 

Religious rituals, especially, are "defining." They tell us who we are in the world. And Baptism tells us we are Christians, and if done by a priest, a Catholic Christian on top of it. BUT, Baptism ALSO tells us that we are now officially part of a family that is so much larger than the one that gave us birth. And I think that's why Christ wanted this ceremony. He didn't NEED it; He WANTED it. He wanted to be made one with the wider family--How Wide--His life would only show.

 

Today, you and I come here--all of us baptized, just as Christ was--and we know that it has made us Christians and Catholics on top if it, BUT, it has also made us a part of a much larger "family of God," and THAT family is bigger than we could ever imagine. So, as we celebrate this feast, let us celebrate its message--and let us make of our lives benedictions of brotherhood and peace as we come to see ourselves as part of the larger family of God--the HUMAN FAMILY. And may each of us find a way to bring a bit of understanding and peace to that family. And may God bless you all. +

Sunday, July 8, 2012

The first reading comes from the words of the Prophet Ezekiel. Ezekiel describes himself as an exile from Jerusalem. He had been a prisoner of war, taken by the Babylonians in 587 BCE off to the land of Babylon (Iraq.)

 

His book is a combination of doom and hope...in fact, it can almost be divided right down the middle...the first half being composed of oracles of doom for Israel, and the last half being a collection of oracles and visions of hope for a better future.

 

He is most remembered for two visions: one of the chariot of God, with its mystifying wheels within wheels. This vision has led to an entire mystical framework within Judaism...a profound and humble attempt to live in the Presence of the Lord of Life in meditation, in prayer, and in ecstatic longing. The other vision for which he is known is that of the "Dry Bones" representing a defeated Israel, lying strewn about on the desert floor of the Middle East. "Can these bones live?" God asked Ezekiel. For all purposes it was a rhetorical question, since it was obvious they could not. And Ezekiel replied, "Only you, O God, know." And with that answer he put himself in touch with the creative power of the Lord of Possibilities. And as the vision continued, the bones were given life and knowledge of God and meaning and purpose. New life from death, that's his message.

 

So, Ezekiel tries to move the consciousness of the people from death to hope, and not through military might, but through a resurrection of the human spirit. They were to become all they were capable of becoming...a people strong and successful, well-trained and spiritually deep. They would be a gift to the earth. From their metaphorical resurrection from death, they would be a beacon for all peoples.

 

Was Jesus trying to do the same thing in Nazareth? Was he trying to move people from a deep resentment of Roman occupation and the feeling of defeat to a place of inspiration. Was he trying to suggest that they might become a "tutor" to the Romans, making them a better people by becoming all that they, themselves, could become: well-trained and spiritually profound? We will never know. The words of what he was "teaching" that day were not recorded. Only the reaction to those words found its way into the text, and that was "incredulity?" Where did he get THIS? Who does he think he is? From that reaction, I should imagine that his message was something they didn't want to hear...and the main thing they didn't want to hear was "love your enemy." No one ever does want to hear that.

 

But the message remains the same, whether Ezekiel says it or whether Jesus says it: If you would move from death to life, and be all that you can become, then work on two levels....prepare yourself to be successful at what it is you wish to do, and find your spiritual depth...which always involves a deep kindness and generosity. Your life will become a blessing and a beacon of peace.

 

So, today, you and I are asked to do work that is both inner and outer. The outer work is to advance in our training. Do you have your certificate to do electrical work? Cut hair? Do brain surgery? If you would seek the greatness of "new life," then you must press on. There is more to know, more to learn. Always be a learner. Always try to be better at what you do. AND, don't forget the source and the end of all knowledge. Deepen your soul as you move toward God. For you must also learn to be better at WHO you ARE. It is this union of intellect and soul, heart and mind, that is always at the heart of the Catholic tradition. It always has been and it always will be. It comes from the biblical text, from the prophets and from Jesus, and ultimately from the Voice of the Living God. We are called to make our lives benedictions of understanding and charity in a world that needs those graces so desperately. May you grow this week. And may God bless you all. +

June 17, 2012 - Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

Interpreting Ezekiel's visions is always "iffy," but I would guess that the "cedar" that will be planted in Israel refers to what today we call Lebanon. Lebanon was the commercial center of the central eastern Mediterranean area. It's harbors were deep and calm. Tyre and Sidon, its major centers were world famous ports. Israel had almost no coastal development at all. Israel, then, was always a "second-class" economy, and with that, came "second class status" in so many things--ports brought diversity: culture, merchandise, fashion. Israel saw itself (and was seen by others) as a backwater hick camel stop! So, God is saying that what constitutes "greatness" (and Lebanon was known for its wood--its forestry industry)-- from the outside, can be brought "inside," and He will provide the creativity to create that.  I don't think God meant that Israel would compete in forestry or in naval expertise, but that "greatness" and what constitutes it would come from within it. When we reflect, we see that two major world religions (Judaism and Christianity) did just that, and a two others (Islam and the Bahai) have holy places there, too. So, WHAT IS GREATNESS? Is it what is "currently popular?" Or, is it something deeper?  Paul defines "greatness" as courage. "We are courageous," he says. Jesus says that "greatness" (His "Kingdom talk") just grows silently inside one--almost unnoticed, and then, when it's needed, voilá, it's there! He goes on to say that true greatness is not what protects the "great" but how the "great" protect others. Something wise to think about...no?

- Fr. Bill 

Our readings today talk about the one who planted and began life, whether we speak of nature, humanity or the faith. God is the one who began all things and the one to whom we owe our life and existence. In Ezekiel it is stated so beautifully and poetically. God is the one who has the power and love to begin new things. We are the fruit of His creation, not the creator. Let us spend some time this week pondering this and thanking our God for creating all the beautiful things we have on our earth.

Over the next couple of weeks we have been asked to bring to people's consciousness the struggles throughout the world where faith is being attacked and religious freedom challenged. I would ask that we as a community pray for religious freedom, especially in those parts of the world where they are being persecuted and killed for believing in a God who is different from them. Let us also pray for ourselves, that we not become people who judge others who may be different from us, speak a different language, look different or believe in a God that is not ours. Let us strive to remember that God created this whole planet and everything on it, and He is the boss, not us.

Have a good week,

Sr. Karen

March 11, 2012 - Third Sunday of Lent

Do you remember what we do on Palm Sunday? We come into church with palms held high, or if we're at a more formal liturgy we march with Palm Branches all around the property, and sometimes around the block, and we sing "Hosannah!" Do you know why?  The reason is in today's Gospel. Jesus was the focus of some sort of "parade" or "procession" that the Church calls His "Entrance into Jerusalem," but if you listen closely this is how the Bible describes it: "People "ran along behind Him and along side Him," haild Him, saying, "Hosannah to the Son of David," and they threw lulavs and palm branches in His path." Now, take out the religious language, and what do you have? You have people shouting and throwing things as a part of a "political action." Why political? Because they are calling Him "Son of David," in other words, "King!" And the result is that the "parade or procession" whatever you want to call it--the Romans called it a "riot," an "uprising," reached the Temple precinct  and resulted in damaged property. The Gospel calls it "the cleansing of the Temple," the Romans called it vandalism. So people backing a new leader, running, shouting and throwing things, and destroying property! This was "the event" that convinced the Romans that He, or someone who was in charge of this "riot" had to die. And the crucifixion--Good Friday--follows closely on this event. That is the story of 3 of the Gospels--Matthew, Mark and Luke.

 

BUT, today, we are reading from JOHN'S Gospel. And John MOVES THE STORY! MOREOVER, he EDITS it! In the story we read just now, there is NO procession, no running, no shouting, no hailing a new leader, no throwing things--NO THREAT to ROME and the political order at all. Rather, Jesus just waltzes into the Temple area one day and upsets the tables of people who are selling animals for sacrifice, there, and accuses them of turning God's worship space into a market.

 

First I want you to see the difference in the stories--do you see that? NO hullabaloo, no riot--just something quiet, something profound, and people let it happen! One man does this, who could easily have been overpowered--but He wasn't.

 

Second, I want you see WHERE the story has been moved to. In John's Gospel it doesn't introduce the Passion Story of Jesus' death and resurrection, rather, IT INTRODUCES JESUS TO THE WORLD. It is in Chapter TWO of John's Gospel. At the very beginning! In chapter one of John's Gospel, we read: "In the beginning was the WORD (the plan, the blueprint of God for all creation), and the "WORD" was with GOD, in other words, in the Divine Mind, the Divine Nous, "and the WORD WAS GOD, and the world became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory...full of Grace and Truth." The witnesses line up: John the Baptist makes a confession of who Jesus is, and the Disciples choose to follow Jesus because they "see" in Him something strange--a Power that grabs them. THEN comes chapter 2, and we have the introduction of THE LOGOS--THE WORD--THE ETERNAL LOVING PLAN OF GOD--THE INCARNATION OF GOD to the world, in two episodes: the wedding at Cana, and the "cleansing of the Temple."

 

We are not asked to think about Cana, today, but rather about the "cleansing." What is there about this event that allows it to "SHOW the world" exactly Who and What God is? A lot of ink has been spilt talking about Jesus condemning the sacrificial system of Judaism--but He didn't. In fact all the Gospels report Him teaching there often, telling lepers to "give the sacrifice" demanded. He praises the widow who supports the Temple with her offering as a most worthy daughter of Israel. In fact, IF you are familiar with 2nd Temple Judaism, you know that today's Gospel did NOT take place "inside" the Temple building, itself. "In the Temple" means in Greek, "within the sacred precinct." No Jew EVER made a barn out of the Temple--an animal was taken inside only for sacrifice. What was happening with the selling of the animals was happening OUTSIDE--on the "placita" in California language! WHY??????

 

The Temple sold animals as a convenience. People came for sacrifice from all over the world, and from all over Judah and Israel. To try to bring an animal any distance in an era before "trucks" with shock absorbers, was a REAL task. They got bruised, they got cuts and then, they were not "worthy of sacrifice," for they were called "blemished." SO, as a CONVENIENCE--to make sacrifice possible for people--the Temple sold sacrificial animals. Jesus did NOT condemn that, either! He did NOT say, stop sacrificing! He did NOT say stop selling sacrificial animals as a help to people. He said, STOP MAKING THE FATHER'S HOUSE A MARKET. The "issue" (as we say today) was WHERE the selling was taking place. Why?

 

Because this was the area that in earlier ages had been known as the "Court of the Gentiles." This was where Gentiles--non-Jews--could come to worship the God of Israel. In the ancient world, people did that--they entered a city, and they made an offering to the god of the place--and so, this was the area they could use--they couldn't enter the Temple, itself, for only Jews could do that--but they couldn't stand outside, in this area reserved for them, and make an offering. About 150 years before Jesus was born, Syrians had defeated Jerusalem for 3 1/2 years, and put a statue of Zeus in the Temple, and offered pigs there! After the liberation war, that drove them out, and the reconsecration of the Temple, which Jews celebrate as Chanukkah, a law was passed that NO Gentile could go near the Temple area at all--it was their "TSA" laws--their national security in action. So.................this area, this open space was UNUSED. What do YOU do with unused space? Look in your garage!!!! You FILL it! So did they! They used it to sell the animals for sacrifice.

 

Jesus is "cleansing" this area. Do you see what that means? HE IS OPENING UP THE TEMPLE, AGAIN, TO BE A HOUSE OF PRAYER FOR ALL PEOPLES! The Logos, the WORD of God, the "blueprint" of God's mind is that ALL are brothers and sisters under the One God, and Jesus' message will be a message for ALL, to bring all to the God of Israel, the One, True God.

 

The first reading wants you to know that that ONE God Who authored you, Who brought you forth in love, and Who is with you every moment of your life--that God Who "danced your birth" has made a claim on you. We live a "commanded life." Our lives are NOT just our own to do with as we choose. They are to honor the One God (commandments 1 through 4) and they are to honor the image of God in every other human being (commandments 5-10). If our lives give honor to God and honor to others we will know peace. May we all find His peace this Lenten season. And may God bless you all.+

 

March 4, 2012 - II Sunday of Lent

We have readings that focus on sacrifice and seeing. Abraham goes to the mount of Vision (which is what Moriah means in Hebrew), with a sacrifice in mind--his son, Isaac--only to "SEE" that that is not what God wants. The disciples SEE something deeper, more profound about Jesus on the Mountain of Vision and they want to "make some sacrifice" or "build a booth." They want to understand what God is asking of them through what they see.

 

The readings suggest that there is a relationship between "seeing" and "sacrifice." We have to first see what God wants of us before we blindly rush in OR we'll end up destroying what is most precious to us, only to find that such is not what God had wanted at all. Catholics need to hear this! We are so often filled with guilt, and think that whatever is the most obnoxious, difficult path possible is the very thing God want of us, and we often waste a lot of energy trying to do the difficult thing, when maybe that is not what God wants at all.

 

I suggest to you that there are two words in that dominate the discourse in the Bible about what God wants of us--God wants us to "LISTEN" and to "LOOK". We are to see and hear. Moses had to "look" for a long time at that bush before he realized it just wasn't an ordinary fire, but God beckoning to him. Elijah had to listen to lots of noise before he could distinguish the "still small voice." The work of spirituality--SOUL WORK--if you will, is cultivating the ability to see and to listen for God.

 

And to cultivate these skills, one does NOT go to a desert. One goes to where the sound is! We listen for those who REALLY need something--over the whines we all make! Most of spend a lot of time Kvetching about life--complaining about this or that--but now and then, we instinctively KNOW--we "hear" or "see" something to which attention MUST be paid. A child whose "crying" is off, or a spouse whose "silence is not normal," or a parent whose fear seems different, a co-worker whose desperation is too real to be ignored. THIS is how God beckons us--and it responses to LIFE that God wants of us.

 

I know you've always given up chocolate for Lent, and you've lost weight every year--it's been a wonderful diet plan-------------------but have you learned a thing about God or you? God wants our hearts--our ATTENTION... Did Abraham finally "get it" in today's reading? I don't think so.

 

Abraham always "heard" God asking him to do something "exterior"--go away from your nation, your people and your father's house to a land I will show you." And, so "off Abraham went." But the Hebrew could also mean "Abraham, go INSIDE, beneath the values of your nation, beyond the prejudices of your people, beneath, beyond and besides the expectations of your parent's and family--to find the REAL YOU." (But, Abraham couldn't hear that--so he took off for Canaan, and the rest is religious history.)

 

Here, he knows God wants him to sacrifice that which is so precious to him--so he thinks of his son--but God didn't want that--God wanted ABRAHAM--but, again, instead of asking "What do you want of ME?" Abraham hears a  ram caught by its thorns, and says, "AHA! THAT must be it!" But was it? The text is silent. I feel he, again, missed the opportunity to sacrifice his own will--his own heart. Had he "listened" deeply and "SAW" clearly, what would he have seen? He'd have seen his own family divided--he and Sarah apart from Hagar and Ishmael. He would have seen jealousy, bitterness--and he would have known what God wanted him  to heal.....but he settled for a ram that couldn't get away! Sort of like us, each Lent, settling for giving up chocolate or coffee or Diet Coke!

 

This season of repentance--of a gentle turning of the soul to its God--we are asked to Listen and Look at what is happening in our lives to see what God truly wants of us. My prayer is that we will have insight and wisdom so that our lives may be benedictions of goodness in our world. And may God bless you all.+

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. +