Receiving and Giving

As Christians, we are called to live under a very simple principle; for all that we have been given, we must give not expecting repayment. And then ironically, the repayment we receive is far more abundant that what we might expect under the world’s rules.

All three readings today bear out the truth of this basic principle. In our first reading from the Book of Genesis, Abraham and Sarah give of themselves by offering hospitality to strangers. They do not expect repayment but they receive from God something more important than the food they have offered to strangers; they receive the gift of life as one of the strangers foretells the birth of their son in the future.

All three readings today bear out the truth of this basic principle. In our first reading from the Book of Genesis, Abraham and Sarah give of themselves by offering hospitality to strangers. They do not expect repayment but they receive from God something more important than the food they have offered to strangers; they receive the gift of life as one of the strangers foretells the birth of their son in the future.

In our second reading from St. Paul to the Colossians, Paul regards service to others as a part of a loving God’s stewardship to all human beings. Paul understands that the mystery of God’s love is service. We receive in turn the abundant life of God, a life in which we receive in fuller measure we have provided. We come to understand that the joys of this life are not our possessions but we have done for others.

And finally in our Gospel, Jesus chides Martha for focusing on the parts of service that can be drudgery. He tells her the better part is dwelling on all that God has done for us. For everything we have comes from God; the air that we breathe, the material possessions we think we own. What we really do possess, and the only thing we ultimately possess is the love of a God who loves so much God shared humanity with us and offers to share divinity with God.

Unlike the economy of our country or any country, the economy of salvation is not run by the economic principles invented by human beings. In Christian terms, the greatness of any country is not measured by how much material wealth is generated or how callous a country can be to its poor, marginalized or unemployed or how many countries that country can invade. Greatness comes from the joy of giving; it comes from the joy of faith that whatever we give we will be repaid far more handsomely in the currency of grace that brings us peace in this life, and salvation in the next. Our country, whose birthday we celebrated a few weeks ago, was born and has been sustained by the individual sacrifice for the many.

Now these words all sound good. But how do give in order to receive? The answer can come to us at times from some very surprising sources. One day a young boy told his mother that he was going out to play for the day. His mother told him to be back before dark.

The little boy had not told his mother the whole truth about his intentions that day. For it was a Monday in summer and on Sunday the family had gone to church. The homily at Mass was about how God lived among us. The little boy had taken the homily just a bit too literally. So he decided he was going to travel to meet God.

The little boy had also heard that God lived in heaven, so he figured it would be a long journey. He packed his small suitcase with Twinkies and a six-pack of root beer. He slipped out the back door without his mother noticing what he was carrying.

When he had gone about three blocks, he met an elderly man. The man was sitting in the park just feeding some pidgeons. The boy sat down next to him and opened his suitcase. He was about to take a drink from his root beer when he noticed that the man looked hungry, so he offered him a Twinkie.

The man gratefully accepted it and smiled at the boy. His smile was so pleasant that the boy wanted to see it again, so he offered him a root beer. Again the man smiled at him. The boy was delighted! They sat there all afternoon eating and smiling, but they never said a word.

As it grew dark, the boy realized how tired he was and he got up to leave. But before he had gone more than a few steps, he turned around, ran back to the man, and gave him a hug. The man gave him the biggest smile ever.

When the boy opened the door to his own house a short time later, his mother was surprised by the look of joy on his face. She was curious about the suitcase and asked him, “What did you do today that made you so happy?

He replied, “I had lunch with God.” But before his mother could respond, he added, “You know what? God’s got the most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen!

Meanwhile the elderly man, also radiant with joy, returned to his son’s home where he now lived. The elderly man had many of the ailments of old age that had taken their toll on the old man’s outlook on life. So his son was stunned by the look of peace on his face and he asked, “Dad, what did you do today that made you so happy?”

He replied, “I ate Twinkies in the park with God.” However, before his son responded, he added, “You know, he’s much younger than I expected.”

Brothers and sisters, we can sometimes forget that God walks and speaks to our world through each one of us. When we realize the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, we realize that God really does live among us. He lives in us and others.

So give in order to receive. And if it gets tough, think of the little boy and the old man.  Ask the Lord for help.  After all, He gave more than anyone.  And look what we can receive if we follow Him.

Some friends went deer hunting separated into pairs for the day. And that night one hunter returned alone, staggering under the weight of an 8 point buck. “Where’s Harry?” asked another hunter. “Oh, he fainted a couple of miles up the trail” Harry’s friend answered. “And you left him lying there all alone and carried the deer  back?” A tough call, said the hunter. “But I figure no one is going to steel  Harry!”

This short story illustrates the problem we have in making a commitment to another person and off making excuses. W can find it hard to commit ourselves to following Jesus, and we come up with many excuses for not doing so.

Today’s readings challenge us to analyze and take a real hard look at our priorities and to examine the excuses we make not to answer God’s call to be his disciple.

In today’s gospel you almost can see an advertisement that doesn’t want to sell what is offered. The advertisement is “Come join our faith and suffer”. You see, Jesus was in a determined mind set to go to Jerusalem. We all know what that meant. It wasn’t like taking a day trip into Seattle to see the sights. Jesus was heading to his passion and death. And after seeing the movie “The Passion of the Christ”, it was nothing to be so determined about.

Jesus decided to go on the most direct route through Samaria.

And Samaritans and Jews were not the best of friends. Samaritans constantly hindered and even injured bands of Jewish pilgrims who attempted to pass through their territory. Jesus was most likely hoping to reach out a hand in friendship but the Samaritans blatantly refused. So rejection and hostility is often the price of discipleship.

Just imagine what all our good priests went through and in some cases are still going through, just because a handful of priests lost their way. All of us, in some way or another, have been touched in a negative way by this scandal in our Church, the hurt, the looks, the comments, the hostility, the rejection, however, we became stronger as a church.

Three would-be followers find out just how demanding discipleship is in today’s gospel. It can be a lonely journey. “The Son of Man has no where to rest his head”. We cannot let sentiment get in the way of the work that has to be done. We have to prioritize. We cannot be making excuses even if it means “let the dead bury their dead.”

One of the would be followers of Jesus requests that he be allowed to take care of one of the most sacred duties under the law, the burial of a parent. The urgency of the gospel supercedes this claim. Jesus’ saying means that those who do not respond to the gospel call will be spiritually dead; They will have time to bury the physically dead.

Elijah, in our first reading gave permission to his disciple Elisha to say good-bye to his family, but the call of the reign of God is more urgent than that. Even family ties have to be sacrificed for the sake of the kingdom.

A plowman never plowed straight furrows (rows) by looking backwards. Discipleship calls for a complete commitment, no looking back.

Now, all this sounds O.K. but what can cause us today in looking back, losing our focus on what is right? One point in Father Rick’s homily last week really stuck in this hard head of mine. As he put it “the things we own, the things that own us”. The things that can own us if we let them are greed, materialism, hatred, dishonesty, bigotry, unfaithfulness, not holding deep in our hearts the dignity of every human being from the womb to the tomb, and many more.

When we take action with these ideologies they become our owner we become the owned. This gets in our way and blocks us from discipleship, from hearing God’s call for us to love. And that is at the heart of discipleship, isn’t it? If we truly love then God gives us strength and by the power of his Spirit, we gain the wisdom, and by Jesus’  example of sacrifice through his love, we have what we need to be disciples.

You see, discipleship is hard, following Jesus is tough. The way to Jerusalem is tough. It is the road to crucifixion. Anyone wanting to follow Jesus must be ready for that. The journey is no joke. However, the rewards are greater than anything of this earth and it is in not expecting reward that you are given great things from God.

The point of today’s scripture is this: If you want to be a follower of Jesus, you have to be able to make a total commitment. No excuses! In fact, there is much common sense in what Jesus is saying.

When going after something we want, we usually put everything into getting it whether it is a new house, a new car, a new career. We seem to stop at nothing in achieving our goals. The same is for discipleship. For an example, there is no point in praying for change in the world without putting ourselves out to do something, as great or small as it is, to help make the change. As Jesus once said,  what is it if you say feed the hungry and you give them no food! Or say clothe the naked and you give no clothing.

In order to be a disciple, we will be inconvenienced, We must not be afraid to stand up for what we believe in and be counted. Through all this, Jesus will be at our sides guiding our way. We find strength through the body and blood of Christ to walk the talk. Join with me today in making a total commitment to follow the will of God. AS the old saying goes; “the pay is small but the rewards are great.”

This phrase I have always held in the back of my mind and every so often it pops up to the front. I leave you with this: Depending on the choice one makes determines what will be in the stage that’s soon to follow, for all ETERNITY”.

School may be out but that doesn’t mean we are done with learning. The gospel today poses a question that matters on the final exam of life. “Who do you say that I am?” Imagine Jesus standing here and asking you that question.  What answer would you give? Like the crowd, might you say, “John the Baptist,” because he constantly calls us to repentance? Might you say, “Elijah,” since he brings liberation to the poor and the oppressed? Or might your answer be more contemporary, calling him a bad cop who is out to get you; or a wimp who is out of touch with reality, or a fire extinguisher that you turn to in case of an emergency, or a good luck charm that wards off evil by means of magic. Peter was quick to reply, “The Christ of God,” but amongst the ancient Jews, there was no clear understanding of what that meant.  Like many of his peers, Peter was hoping for a military leader who would raise an army, conquer the enemies of the Jews, and gain control of their native land. He believed God would use the Messiah to establish a kingdom where there would be no more war, injustice, or suffering. He gave the right answer but he was not on the same wavelength with Jesus.

Jesus did not reject the title, but his notion of Messiah was not what Peter had in mind.  Predicting his passion, Jesus instead paints a picture of a Messiah who would be rejected, suffer and die that does not appear to be so triumphant. Nor does Jesus stop there. “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” Of course, Jesus isn’t speaking literally. He would never expect us to carry a hefty beam of wood like he did, but how willing are we to suffer for the sake of the kingdom?

Paul’s letter speaks of baptism. When baptism is celebrated, the celebrant prays, “My dear child, the Christian community welcomes you with great joy. In its name I claim you for Christ our savior by the sign of his cross.” Following the baptism, the child is then clothed with a white garment while the celebrant prays, “You have become a new creation, and have clothed yourself in Christ. See in this white garment the outward sign of our Christian dignity. With family and friends to help you by word and example, bring that dignity unstained into the everlasting life of heaven.” His prayer echoes the passage we heard from Paul: “…all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourself with Christ.”

So, like Peter, we could say that Jesus is the Christ of God, the Messiah, the Second Person of the Trinity, the Son of God, but Jesus is looking for more than an academic response from us. What matters more is, “Have we clothed ourselves in him?”

That was a question a wealthy father in Madrid, Spain, found himself wrestling with after he and his teenage son had a falling out that prompted his son to leave home. The father searched in vain for five months. In a last desperate attempt to find his son, he placed an ad in the local paper that read, “Paco, meet me in front of the newspaper office at noon on Saturday. All is forgiven. I love you. Signed, Papa.”

The following Saturday, the father went downtown to the newspaper office and found over 800 boys standing there, looking for love and forgiveness from their fathers.

Until he found his son, I wonder what this wealthy father must have thought about. Do you suppose he sat at home admiring his many treasures? I think not. His heart was broken, so most likely he spent much time soul searching and praying.

The experience was a wake up call for him, and hopefully for every father present as we celebrate Father’s Day, that their true treasures are their wives and children. They are worth more than any money, property, or power a father can obtain. Over the years as a priest, I have met fathers who have lost their children, some through death; others through drug or alcohol abuse, divorce, or bad decisions which ruined their relationships. Nearly every father said in looking back that they wished they had spent more time with their children when they were younger.

For those of us who are not fathers, I trust you get the idea. There are many treasures of much more value than the things we own and the things that own us. Jesus is calling on us to deny ourselves, that is, to not be so self-centered, and focus instead on the important relationships in our lives, including our relationship with God, which some of us take for granted.

Jesus knows first hand that life is difficult, but he also knows we can meet its many challenges with him at our side. We are most aware of his presence when we approach him not as a dead entity from the distant past whose memory lives on but as a living being who we can encounter through prayer. It was in the setting of prayer that Jesus posed the question of his identity, and it is in the setting of prayer that we can come to truly understand who he is, just as the apostles did.

Jesus urges us to deny ourselves and pick up our crosses with love each day. With Christ as our garment, we will grow in holiness. With Christ as our garment, we will reveal his presence in our lives to others by what we say and do. With Christ as our garment, we can do our share to bring about God’s kingdom by confronting the injustices and sufferings in our midst. Our task is not easy, but by changing our ways to be more like the ways of Christ, we can change our world into the kind of place God had in mind all along when he sent his son to be our Messiah.

Greater Intimacy with God

We celebrate Trinity Sunday tonight (today). There is an old joke among Catholic clergy we wind up preaching more heresy about the Trinity than just about any other concept.

Part of the reason is the idea of three persons in one being seems odd to us. But if we think about it, there are actually many examples in the universe of multiple organisms attached to a single body. There is a legend after all; that St. Patrick taught the Irish about the Trinity by showing them the three leaves on a single stem of clover. There are many branches, but only one tree. Cells by the billions divide with one body. So maybe when we preach about the Trinity we just try too hard. Instead of seeing the Trinity or things like it in the universe, we focus too much on the literal. It reminds me a little of that old commercial for Contadina tomato paste. The commercial claimed that there were eight great tomatoes in that little bitty can. But only theologians I guess when confronted with this would actually try to stuff the eight tomatoes into the can literally.

So why is the Trinity important? Well from the dawn of human life, why we are here, what and who is God, and what is the relationship between God and ourselves are three of the oldest questions with which human beings have had to grapple. We have often been taught that the divine world and the world of humans were distinctly different. Humans could not share the life of the divine in this life, only in the next.

But despite the fact that Christians may believe this to be true, it is a distinctly un-Christian point of view. For Christians believe there is but one God, and God is a God of love. God created the earth as a gift of all gifts, a gift of love by God the Father for God the Son. The Holy Spirit proceeded from that incredible love, an incredible love that spread  throughout universe, throughout the earth. The Holy Spirit is a spirit of truth and love as noted in our Gospel from John tonight. As our first reading from the Book of Proverbs reminds us, we come to know God as a God of truth and love through the Holy Spirit. Three persons in one God, the Trinity, was present from the beginning of time.

But for the Trinity to matter to us, we must go deeper into this idea because there is much at stake. Because God is an all-loving God, God beckons us to share the life of the Trinity. God wants us to live God’s life, the life of Jesus, the Gospel life.

So God shares divinity with us. Think about it. The Trinity at its very basis is relational love. And how is life preserved among humans? Through relational love. When we think about it, this relational love of humans and the relational love of the Trinity are directly and intimately linked, much as God and humans are directly and intimately linked.

This means that unlike pagan theology, secular humanism, and many other belief systems, all of which have perhaps captured a piece of the mystery of God and humans, the Christian belief in God captures the relationship between God and humans in a most effective way. We are one with God. God is a Trinity, and the means for the continuation of the human race is also a trinity. God is very close to us and we can be very close to God if we so choose. We experience God not as object, not as a faraway distant god separated from us. Rather, God is in our midst. As St. Paul says in our second reading God has poured out his loved for us through our hearts. So how do we experience God’s Trinitarian love?

First, because of the loving nature of God, who desires the closest of intimacy with us, God is closer to you and me that we are to ourselves. God is one with us. God dwells in us, as part of our being that can be filled, if we choose, by prayer, sacraments, Scripture and service with the Trinity of God who brings us into union with God. This unity is a union of wills, something comparable to the experience of sexual oneness, but it is a  union of divine and human bodies that is even more intimate than sexual oneness among humans.

Second, we should always keep clear in our minds and hearts that God loves us. His love is unconditional. God cares for us at all times and in all circumstances. God loves me and you as God loves God. For we are indeed one in self with God. Does this mean evil things will not happen to us or to others? No it doesn’t mean that. We have seen enough natural and man-made disasters lately to know better. Here the mystery of God takes over.

The ultimate knowledge of good and evil belongs to God in the Trinity, not to us. What we can understand however, is what we humans should be DOING about suffering and evil. In the face of many evils, we should use the gifts of God poured out to us in the Trinity to do things like using science and technology to predict earthquakes, to build houses that do not collapse, to construct dikes to prevent flooding, to save water to mitigate against drought. Our own social justice efforts here at St. Hubert are actively seeking the best means to help in respecting the dignity of the human person and our physical environment, to make poverty history, to help dismantle structures of oppression, to promote cooperation between business and government so man-made disasters don’t occur in the first place, to share with all in the common good created with God in the Trinity.

Third, because God’s interrelational love is personal, God is a subject not an object. God is the universal subject. In trying too hard, sometimes theologians over the centuries have indeed done damage to ideas about the Trinity, far more damage than stuffing tomatoes in a can. For the Trinitarian God is not a God for who torture, killing, and oppression is justified. The Trinitarian God is not a  punishing judge. The Trinitarian God is not the great egoist who imposes the will of God on everyone. Nor is the Trinitarian God an all-powerful manipulator who sends us earthquakes, floods, and other disasters. God in three persons is rather a loving universal subject and we are born in God’s image and likeness. We are therefore part of the same subject, and share in the same Trinity.

And because God loves human beings so intimately, God wants us to love each other in the same manner. It should come naturally out of a joyous sense of the love God gives us.  Sadly, it often does not. To love others requires first that we love ourselves for if we do, then loving others is much easier. If we see ourselves as subjects who are loved by God with all our faults, then it reduces the chance we will see others as objects to be manipulated, punished, tortured, and killed. Putting oneself in another’s shoes is critical here. For it enables us to establish subject to subject relationships. It is enables us to develop the kind of intimacy with others that God has in the Trinity of persons, and with us. When we see everyone as a subject, not an object, it is possible to bring Trinitarian-level intimate love given to us to the whole world. We are all one flesh. Whatever we do to anyone, we do to God. And what is best for everyone is best for us.

Taken in its entirety, the message of the Trinity in Christian faith is both challenging and ultimately joyful and liberating. It is also the ultimate meaning of God’s love poured out for all through the Trinity.

Last week I received a note from a long time friend informing me that she would no longer be worshipping here. Simply put, after many years of soul searching, she could no longer support the institution of Roman Catholicism. She and her husband had decided to find a different community to worship in. Reading between the lines, I had to wonder if the latest news media blitz on Pope Benedict’s handling of the clergy scandal in Europe was the final straw that prompted her to leave the Church. She closed her note wishing me the best in living my chosen spiritual path. Likewise, I wish her well as she explores other spiritual paths.

What is happening in Europe is a painful reminder of just how human the institutional Church can be. Throughout its history, the Church has seen its share of upheavals, heresies, critics and enemies. The story is told of Napoleon Bonaparte boasting once to a cardinal that he would destroy the Church. The cardinal replied, “Good luck, your majesty. We priests have been attempting to do just that for centuries.”

The cardinal was essentially doffing his scarlet biretta to the Holy Spirit. Try as anyone might, and many have tried, the Church will not go away precisely because the Third Person of the Holy Trinity is on the job 24/7, serving as the glue that has held the Church together for twenty centuries.  Napoleon thought the cardinal was jesting. He took on the Church and was ultimately dethroned. The Church survived and the former emperor found himself living his final days in exile on a remote island.

Those of you who are sports fans would agree that how well any team performs depends on its star athletes. Without them, teams rarely contend for first place, but with them, a team generates a sprit amongst its members and fans that produces a winning season. Likewise, without the Holy Spirit, the Church at best would be a third rate operation, but with the Spirit, the Church is able to survive its many challenges and thrive.

Pentecost, coming fifty days after Easter, celebrates the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church from the very beginning. Following the resurrection, the disciples prayed in the upper room, pondering what their mission would be. The earthly kingdom they might have envisioned when Jesus rode into Jerusalem to cheers of “hosanna!” wasn’t meant to be.

We celebrate Pentecost as the birthday of the Church. On that day a strong driving wind filled the place where the disciples had gathered. Tongues of fire came to rest on everyone of them. They were filled with the Holy Spirit. The promise Jesus had made to them on that first Easter evening had been fulfilled. The final piece of the puzzle had been put in place and at last the disciples understood their mission. Empowered by the Holy Spirit, they ventured forth to renew the face of the earth.

What they started that day was not an institution but a faith community, out of which the institutional church gradually grew. Early Christians viewed themselves not as an institution but as a community of believers carrying out the mission of proclaiming and living the good news of Jesus Christ.  As the Body of Christ, they regarded the Holy Spirit as the essential power that kept them together.

We aren’t reading Christian scriptures carefully if we think that the Holy Spirit came just that one time and landed upon the disciples for the sake of creating an institution that would continue unchanged to the end of time. Pope John XXIII once said, “We are not on earth to guard a museum, but to cultivate a flourishing garden of life.”  Undoubtedly, he surprised many when he called the bishops together in what became known as Vatican II.  He saw the need for the Church to experience fresh air and with the grace of the Holy Spirit, the bishops reviewed and transformed in many ways what the Church stood for. Yes, the Church is still an institution, but the Church is more than that.

Cardinal Avery Dulles, a prolific Jesuit theologian, wrote many books, but the one I remember best is entitled, Models of the Church. He spoke of the Church as being more than an institution.  The Church is also a mystical communion, a sacrament, a herald, and a servant.

I vividly remember learning about the notion that together we make up the body of Christ as a child. Each baptized person here is a part of that body. As with our bodies, some parts may not seem as important as others.  I could lose a toe and still walk. That toe, however, will not survive without the rest of me!

Some Catholics may feel as insignificant in the parish as a little toe may be to one’s body, or they may feel that the parish isn’t all that important for keeping their faith alive. I feel otherwise.  Not only do we need the church to nurture our faith in Christ through the sacraments, but Christ also needs all of us as his team to herald the gospel, enabling others to see its true value through our actions, that is, in how we serve others in our community.

Those of us who witness Vatican II know well that the Holy Spirit is a disruptive force, constantly challenging the status quo and prodding us to do more toward making the kingdom of God a reality. But disruptive does not mean destructive for the Spirit is also a creative force, constantly remaking things anew. Lest anyone here still thinks that their presence and participation in the life of this Catholic community does not matter, I invite you to reflect on what Amado Nervo, a Mexican poet, has to say:

Alone we are only a spark, but in the Spirit we are a fire.

Alone we are only string, but in the Spirit, we are a lyre.

Alone we are only an anthill, but in the Spirit, we are a mountain.

Alone we are only a drop, but in the Spirit, we are a fountain.

Alone we are only a feather, but in the Spirit, we are a wing.

Alone we are only a beggar, but in the Spirit, we are a king.