Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 99

As they were proceeding on their journey someone said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." 

Jesus answered him, "Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head."

Saint Francis of Assisi, born in wealth but schooled with little discipline, enjoyed a life of indolence until he was shocked into maturity by military service. Actually, it wasn't much service. He had little training and not much familiarity with weapons. He was captured in battle by soldiers from the neighboring city of Perugia and spent a year of his youth in a dungeon.

Returning home when his father ransomed him, sick and not much the wiser, he attempted to return to his idle, bachelor ways. But life was moving on without him as he stood on the sidelines.

And then one day -- we're not too sure how it happened -- he had a vision of Jesus as a poor man. According to one legend, he actually saw a beautiful young woman dressed in rags. Astonished by her beauty he knew she was the Bride of Christ. He called her Lady Poverty and believed she had been widowed since the day Jesus died. Older, traditional images of Jesus always depicted his divinity. The Lord enjoyed infinite power, honor, and majesty. He was King of kings and Lord of lords. Like any emperor, king or pope, Jesus could do anything he wanted to do and go where he wanted to go, accompanied by servile saints and angels.

But Francis discovered a different Jesus, one who has nowhere to rest his head.

Francis had grown up in dysfunctional, violent family. His father, Pietro Bernadone, was greedy, ambitious, unhappy, and absent. His mother was kinder than his father but ineffectual. Breaking free of his past, Francis met a Lord who was free, happy and very near. Driven by the Holy Spirit into solitude, Francis began to study in the school of poverty. He could miss meals, wander the country, and talk with strangers above and below his own class. At one point he went to Rome where, for a few days and just for the fun of it, he begged for food. He didn't die of hunger! He actually felt more free with owning less!

Eventually the young man committed himself to Jesus and to an unheard-of way of life, the life of poverty. He believed the evangelical lifestyle was an imitation of Christ -- homeless, poor, insecure, with no provision for tomorrow. God would provide. If he had food he thanked God for satisfaction; if he starved he thanked God for hunger. If he suffered the heat of the summer sun or the chill of winter nights, he did it with the birds of the air and the flowers of the field. When beset by robbers and stripped of his rags, he laughed to find he was still alive!

Francis recognized how often we bind ourselves to possessions, positions, opinions, and policies, at the cost of happiness and freedom. Trusting Jesus's reassurance -- "Your Father knows what you need!" -- he threw himself on God's mercy. He wasn't testing God or trying to prove anything. He didn't believe in impersonal forces like karma, fate, or luck. There were no machines in the medieval world; nothing happened automatically. Everything that happened was personal and intentional.

Francis saw the superabundant generosity of God the Father in all creation even as he set out to imitate Christ. Like Jesus, he would trust the Spirit of God to tell him hour by hour what to do and how to do it.

Not many are called to imitate Jesus in Francis's manner. He was given an extraordinary grace which proved, if nothing else, that some people are given extraordinary graces. It's pointless to compare oneself with them. But we learn from the Saint to trust the Spirit who would direct our interests, desires, and passions, who would set us free to follow in the footsteps of Jesus.

Solemnity of Saint Peter and Paul

Lectionary: 591​

And so I say to you, you are Peter,

and upon this rock I will build my Church,

and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

On this solemn feast of the two most important Apostles, we hear in Saint Matthew's Gospel of the authority Jesus bestowed on Peter alone. With "the keys of the kingdom" he may bind and loose in heaven and on earth. Our Catholic tradition sees in these words the singular authority of the Pope, the successor of Saint Peter. If the early church thought that Jesus would return very soon, and that Peter might be the first, last, and only "pope," they soon realized they must elect a successor. His authority over the whole Church was too important to die with the man.

Twenty centuries later, after many trials and adventures, with stories that would be implausible if they weren't true, the authority of the keys survive. If the office was considered desirable by wealthy medieval families, it is only a heavy burden for the most unfortunate of men today. Anyone who wants the job should not have it; only the most humble of men should be forced into it.

After five centuries of experimentation, not many people would argue a church without a pope is better. I have known several Protestant ministers who admired the unifying authority of the papacy in the Catholic Church.

In our time we have seen the prophetic power of the papacy demonstrated. Because he is elected by cardinals and not by a popular vote, and because he is elected for life, a pope can take an unpopular stand against abortion, artificial means of birth control and nuclear weapons. He can speak in support of "illegal" immigrants and refugees, reminding Christians of our history as a displaced people in Egypt. He can defy current experiments like gay marriage. He can speak to the entire planet about the health of our planet.

Even those who disagree with a pope on this or that issue might agree that someone should have the freedom to speak prophetically, in persona Christi (in the person of Christ). He does not answer to any vested powers in any government, corporation or church. If papal authority has sometimes been misused, like every other authority in human history, that does not mean no one should have it. 

But we must pray for our Church and for our pope. If a democratic nation gets the leadership it deserves, we can thank God we are a theocratic church. 

Solemnity of Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

Lectionary: 172

The love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. For Christ, while we were still helpless, died at the appointed time for the ungodly. Romans 5:5

I knew a woman several years ago who had heart surgery. She was blessed with acute hearing and the continual click of her metallic heart valve worried her. She feared her grandchildren might not want to rest against her chest when they heard that weird sound. I suggested she tell the children it was the sound of her love for them. She liked that.

Despite its outdated images -- maudlin, at best and often ghastly -- the Sacred Heart celebrates a most sacred and beautiful mystery, the personal care of God for every person. After suffering the trauma of our Savior's Good Friday passion and death, after celebrating his Easter Resurrection with a billion fellow Christians and all the saints and angels, the devout soul, on this mid-summer Friday after Corpus Christi, may rest her head against the bosom of Jesus and, like the Beloved Disciple, listen to his sacred heart.

In that divine place we hear today's first reading,

I myself will look after and tend my sheep.

As a shepherd tends his flock

when he finds himself among his scattered sheep,

so will I tend my sheep.

I will rescue them from every place where they were scattered

when it was cloudy and dark.

Some tormented souls, perhaps remembering the parents who neglected them and the teachers who ignored them, think that God is too busy to notice them. "He has other, more important things to do!" they say.

I reply, "Your God is too small. Our God has a heart which engulfs the Universe; but his eye is on the sparrow."

There is, of course, a challenge with the invitation of the Sacred Heart. Am I willing to be comforted in my disappointments, traumas and suffering? Or do I cling to a stoic approach, rising above human emotion, disdaining the company of huddled masses and wretched refuse. Stoicism looks good from a distance. His uniform is clean and crisp; his bearing upright and martial. Up close we find addictions to cigarettes, alcohol, anger and hate. If the image of the Sacred Heart is maudlin, at least it's not sneering.

As hard as it may be, each of us must admit we need comfort. We may not deserve it; we might not earn it, but we may receive it from the One who pours the Holy Spirit into our hearts.

Saint Paul pondered this mystery of comfort at the beginning of 2 Corinthians, which followed his "letter of tears."

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and God of all encouragement, who encourages us in our every affliction, so that we may be able to encourage those who are in any affliction with the encouragement with which we ourselves are encouraged by God. For as Christ’s sufferings overflow to us, so through Christ does our encouragement also overflow.

Saint Paul was able to comfort because he had been comforted. Jesus, also, encourages us in every affliction because the Blessed Mother consoled him on the road to Calvary, and the Father gladdened him in the Resurrection.

Turning to the Sacred Heart on this mid-summer Friday, we thank God for the traumas we have survived, the assurances we have received, and our gentle ministry to one another.

Thursday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 374

So Sarai said to Abram: "You are responsible for this outrage against me. I myself gave my maid to your embrace; but ever since she became aware of her pregnancy, she has been looking on me with disdain. May the LORD decide between you and me!"

I have been reading FDR at War, a trilogy by Nigel Hamilton about President Roosevelt and his leadership during World War II. Professor Hamilton intends with this enormous project to tell FDR's side of the story, which is quite different from that of his British partner, Sir Winston Churchill. Roosevelt did not live to write his own account, or to respond to Churchill's six-volume version of the war. The Prime Minister's tragic meddling in military adventures during the First and Second World Wars, his foot-dragging during preparation for D-Day, and his suppression of liberty in British colonies did not appear in his epic Second World War. He did not say how he pressed ahead with his effort to capture the symbolic city of Rome as Roosevelt succumbed to congestive heart failure. He did not notice that Hitler and his people wisely followed Napoleon's advice, "Don't interfere with your enemy when he is making a mistake."

Hamilton, who seems to struggle and lose the effort to write history dispassionately, finally concludes: "The sheer amateurishness of the Prime Minister's concept of modern war would, in retrospect, be mind-boggling -- even criminal in its folly. But Churchill was Churchill: a force of nature." He would have his way and Americans would die on the beach at Anzio for no strategic or military advantage.

The Genesis story of Abram, Sarai, Hagar and the baby Ishmael reminds me of Hamilton's account. Although wise leadership and common sense dictate otherwise, people are driven by deeper, darker forces and others are made to suffer for no good reason. If Sarai changed her mind about Hagar, Abraham could not argue with her. He might have tried to pull rank on her, being the "head of the family," but it would have done him no good.

Some commentators believe Genesis is the story of God learning how to deal with human beings. The God who appears in Genesis is not exactly all-knowing and all-wise. His sage advice to Adam and Cain were ignored. His attempt to squelch wickedness with a world-wide flood failed catastrophically. He had to back down when Abraham prepared to obey his insane demand concerning Isaac. God had much to learn about managing his own creation.

I find a confirmation of this notion in the writing of Saint Irenaeus, "...when the Son of God became the Son of Man, the Spirit also descended upon him, becoming accustomed in this way to dwelling with the human race, to living in men and to inhabiting God's creation." Why would God become human if not to learn how difficult human life can be? 

The forces of righteousness often see things in black and white. But inevitably their white becomes grey -- and more grey -- and eventually black. They cannot see color. So God and his faithful learn to negotiate in a political world where the wicked have rights and even the humblest, most marginalized have influence. Where "good" armies commit diabolical deeds and "evil" enemies play show compassion.

The story of Abram, Sarai, Hagar and Ishmael introduces another people into salvation history. Ishmael is said to be the ancestor of Arabs and Muslims. To this day they retain the promise: "I will make your descendants so numerous," added the LORD's messenger, "that they will be too many to count." Some might argue Sarai's impulse was irrational and Abraham was foolish and there shouldn't be any Ishmaelites! But with God's compassionate, ever generous and joyful Spirit, we deal with it.

Wednesday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 373

The word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision:
"Fear not, Abram!
I am your shield;
I will make your reward very great."
But Abram said,
"O Lord GOD, what good will your gifts be,
if I keep on being childless
and have as my heir the steward of my house, Eliezer?"


I have heard, and I am inclined to believe, that Jews are often despised because they ask questions. Authorities don't like people who ask questions. Dishonest politicians manage publicity by refusing to allow certain journalists in the press conferences. They field the "soft balls" tossed to them by admiring writers. 
But Jews ask questions. Their children learn to query their elders during the Seder about their customs, their rituals, and existential questions about freedom of thought, faith and worship. 

"Why does a Jew answer a question with a question?" "And why shouldn't a Jew answer a question with a question?"

So the father of all Jews, Abraham, asked God, "What good will your gifts be if I have no children?" Zechariah asked the haughty Angel Gabriel, "How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” -- for which he was given a sign of muteness for nine months! 
Mary asked a similar question, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” and was given a respectful answer. (Perhaps the Messenger had been told to go easier on the future Queen of Angels.) 
"Ask and you shall receive!" Jesus encouraged his disciples. We should ask our tradition -- and the teachers of our tradition -- the hard questions that arise among us today. What is wrong with premarital sex? With abortion? With suicide? Do we have to do everything the priest or bishop says? Is it possible that some religious leaders are wolves in sheep's clothing? Is it really a sin to vote for a Democratic candidate? ...for a Republican candidate? 
May we share Eucharist with Christians of other denominations if they recognize the sacredness of the sacrament? If a person is baptized Catholic but receives no instruction and never receives First Communion or Confirmation, are they really Catholic? Is their marriage not valid? Why are some Uniate priests married and Roman Catholic priests are not permitted to marry?
I work in a very public place, the VA hospital in Louisville, but few people ask me questions. Where is the curiosity? Where is the spiritual hunger I hear about?  Where is God in your life? 

Tuesday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 372

Do not give what is holy to dogs, or throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them underfoot, and turn and tear you to pieces.


Jesus' exhortation to honor what is holy evokes  a dolorous passage from Jeremiah's Book of Lamentations, 

The foe stretched out his hands
to all her precious things;
She has seen the nations
enter her sanctuary,
Those you forbade to come
into your assembly.
All her people groan,
searching for bread;
They give their precious things for food,
to retain the breath of life.
Look, O LORD, and pay attention
to how I have been demeaned!

Feminist scripture scholars tell us the phrase "precious things" which were stolen by the foe or sold for food refers to the sexual vulnerability of women and girls. The rape of Jerusalem is not just a metaphor for the Babylonian capture of the Holy City. Rape is a weapon commonly used to humiliate and subjugate captive nations. 

How ironic, then, that "the secular city" which is not assailed by foreign invaders, has so little reverence for the sexual integrity of its women or men, girls or boys! It believes with a misguided piety that "consenting adults" is a sufficient guideline for maintaining personal integrity. "Adults"  may surrender their "precious things" to whoever asks, without regard to consequences: physical, psychological, social, economic, or spiritual. If they "consented" there is no further discussion, entanglement or commitment. The transaction means nothing beyond the immediate moment. The relationship is not holy, nor is the body.

This new age principle is so deeply entrenched that nursing homes wonder what to do with their demented patients, strangers to one another until they meet in the facility, who are sexually drawn to each other. They seem to be consenting but are they competent? 

Collegians ponder how long consent lasts; can it be terminated at the critical moment? Or is there a point of no return? What happens when they disagree about "what just happened;" as they sort through new, unfamiliar feelings of post-coital sadness? 

Individuals may insist that "My standards are higher. I don't throw my pearls to just any swine," but they have little legal protection or social assurance to guarantee these personal standards. 

A generation is being torn to pieces by adultery, fornication and serial divorce with their consequent issues of mental illness, drug dependence and suicide. 

The secular city would do well to ponder Jesus' exhortation, 

"Do not give what is holy to dogs, or throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them underfoot, and turn and tear you to pieces." 

Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist - Mass during the Day

Lectionary: 587

All who heard these things took them to heart, saying, "What, then, will this child be?" For surely the hand of the Lord was with him. The child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the desert until the day of his manifestation to Israel.

Is it just me, or do we all wonder what will this child see? I was amused recently to learn that a star in a new blockbuster movie was born in this century. Her movie is the latest in a series which began before she was born. I thought the premise was silly twenty years ago, and still do, and they are initiating a third generation into its implausible silliness.
What will these children see?
The birth of Saint John the Baptist signaled a new age to the gossips and nags of Jerusalem. Their only clue was his name, which was not unusual but it broke with family tradition. By way of the Guardian Angel, the Lord himself had dictated the name of this infant. That worried them no end. Of course, they were also astonished that an old woman should have a child. That too was unsettling.
And they wondered, "What will this child be?" What will he see that we will not live to see?
Saint Luke's gospel will reveal Saint John and the Lord in their maturity. John would preach repentance to pilgrims in the Jordan Valley; Jesus would announced the kingdom of God from Galilee to Jerusalem. John would be decapitated and Jesus, crucified. Rumors of John's resurrection (unfounded) would trouble Herod; the Good News of Jesus' resurrection (true!) would renew the face of the earth.
In mid-summer, six months before Christmas, we celebrate the Birth of John the Baptist, as we remember Saint Gabriel had explained to Mary, that Elizabeth was in her sixth month. The feast day reminds us of the passage of time, and that the Lord who revealed himself in the past sees and governs the future. What today's children will see might be more frightening than this present moment, or less. In either case, God will be with them and they will hear his word to Zechariah and Mary, "Do not be afraid."

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

Lectionary: 169

He said to them, "Give them some food yourselves."

... and (Jesus) gave (the loaves and fish) to the disciples to set before the crowd.

They all ate and were satisfied.

And when the leftover fragments were picked up,

they filled twelve wicker baskets.

When Jesus commanded the disciples to feed the crowd -- "Give them some food yourselves!" -- they hadn't a clue what he might mean. They had no more provisions than the hungry mob before them.

But, a moment later, they obeyed. All the people ate and were satisfied.

As we ponder the mystery of the Mass we have to notice our participation. How did we come to be here? What do we do now that we are here?

If Easter celebrates the Resurrection of the Lord, the entire ninety-day season from Ash Wednesday to Pentecost celebrates our participation in the life, death and resurrection of God.

And we have seen the "death of God."

It began innocuously, as we discovered that the machines we had built -- from watches to automobiles to computers and beyond -- work quite well without prayer. We don't turn on motors with an incantation but with the flip of a switch. Eventually we discovered the predictability of physics and chemistry. Even fluids became predictable, including rivers, magma and the weather. Finally, perhaps with less assurance, scientists study human behavior including economics, sociology and politics. (Although they're regarded as soft science.")

In any case, we have seen God "withdraw" -- or pushed out -- of human life by our confident belief in Science. Now we think of war as unfortunate but necessary, and not as God's punishment for our sins, The other horsemen of Apocalypse, famine and pestilence can be managed with better political and economic policies. And death might yet be subdued by our sciences!

In some ways, Jesus' command is doable! We can "give them food yourselves." In the last quarter century the food sciences have improved even as the "population explosion" is becoming an "implosion." We can feed them! And provide clothing, health care, education, cultural enrichment and opportunity -- as we are directed and driven by the Spirit of God.

If God is hidden from us, it's not because he has withdrawn or been pushed out; it is because we are reluctant to fulfill his command.

The Mass -- "Corpus Christi" -- celebrates our willingness to be fed by Jesus and our willingness to feed others. Drawn to our fascinating Savior by his enthusiastic Spirit, we come before Our Father to praise the Name of God. When we pray we can almost hear the tramp of marching saints and the flutter of angel wings. The End is in sight.

Maranatha, Come Lord Jesus.

Saturday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 370

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life,

what you will eat or drink,

or about your body, what you will wear.

Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?

Look at the birds in the sky;

they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns,

yet your heavenly Father feeds them.

Are not you more important than they?

If we heard nothing more from this gospel than, "Look at the birds in the sky!" we would have heard wonderful advice. And we might well arrive at the same conclusion, "Do not worry about your life!" and, "Your father knows that you need them all!"

Don't just glance up at the sky and see a bird flick by. Stop, sit down, and watch for a while. It's Saturday in mid-summer! Can you think of anything better to do than take Jesus' advice. Watch that hawk, buzzard, or flycatcher! If its evening watch the chimney swifts circle their nests or the nighthawks. Or the bats! They're amazing too! Look!

While you're at it, breathe and think how wonderful it is to breathe, and that the birds are also breathing. As are the trees and grasses, and the flowers of the field, more splendid in their garments than King Solomon. While we consume oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide; the plants consume carbon dioxide and exhale oxygen. How wonderful is that?

Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span?

We've made it this far. We'll probably get through this day, and tomorrow, and the next.

God is good.

Memorial of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, Religious

Lectionary: 369

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth,

where moth and decay destroy, and thieves break in and steal.

But store up treasures in heaven,

where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal.

For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.

Ironically, those who despise the company of other human beings and think, "They're all dishonest and selfish!" often put great store by money. Which is to say, they rely on that institution which is entirely based on honesty. If you put a pile of money in the bank you count on it's being there next month or next year! If you work for a certain wage you believe your employer will pay you that wage, and it will be worth something once it's yours.

But we often hear of collapsed economies where money is worthless. Venezuela, being a case in point. Dishonest autocrats -- Hugo Chavez and Nicolas Maduro -- ran the government deep into debt and wealthy people are left penniless.

Those who store up honest, reliable relations will fare much better in hard times than the obsessively greedy, frightened, and dishonest. In a rational world that would be common sense.

Today's gospel is taken from Saint Matthew's "Sermon on the Mount," which will conclude with Jesus' teaching about infrastructure. "Those who build their houses on rock... and those who build on sand..."

Obviously he knew something about architecture and construction, which is to say, "human nature." No one builds a house alone; it takes a raft of specialists. If they're honest the house will stand; if they cut corners, pay kickbacks, accept kickbacks, bribe inspectors, underpay their employees, or leave jobs unfinished the house will collapse.

People often think religion is all about spirituality. I have no idea what that is. Our Christian religion is about life in the real world where moths destroy and thieves break in and steal. Our faith urges us to live honorably, as in daylight:

The valiant one whose steps are guided by the LORD,

who will delight in his way,

May stumble, but he will never fall,

for the LORD holds his hand.

Neither in my youth, nor now in old age

have I seen the righteous one abandoned

or his offspring begging for bread.

All day long he is gracious and lends,

and his offspring become a blessing.  Psalm 37 

Thursday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 368

Did I make a mistake when I humbled myself so that you might be exalted,

because I preached the Gospel of God to you without charge?

I plundered other churches by accepting from them

in order to minister to you.

And when I was with you and in need, I did not burden anyone,

for the brothers who came from Macedonia

supplied my needs.

Scripture scholars have discussed into the wee hours of the night the "letter of tears," which Saint Paul mentions in 2 Corinthians 2:

For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears, not that you might be pained but that you might know the abundant love I have for you.

Neither the First nor Second letter to the Corinthians entirely fits that description. Was the letter lost? That would be no surprise. But the best theory suggest that 2 Corinthians is a compilation of several letters; and that parts of the "letter of tears" is here.

Today's first reading is surely from that unhappy epistle. The Apostle probably wrote from jail, as he often did, with time on his hands. He had heard sad news about his beloved congregation in Corinth and wrote to them in a fever of distress. There were factions and quarrels among them! He sometimes imagined himself as a father or mother of the churches he founded, and he didn't hesitate to take a parental, pleading tone of shaming and guilt with his people. If this is not his best moment, it may be his most human, in the sense that he is overcome with anguish. Words, unrestrained and unedited, poured out of his tormented heart.

I am not a parent but I often listen to anguished parents, and I occasionally read of parental anxiety. Since the onset of the Freudian Age, adult children have blamed their parents for what happened twenty, thirty and fifty years ago. This angry expression of ancient grief sometimes helps adults come to terms with their own shortcomings; it might even help them forgive and be reconciled with the past.

But, in the meanwhile, young parents agonize over the possibility their children might be traumatized by something they said or did or failed to do. Worse, they find themselves in that most intensely intimate place -- the family -- unable to constrain and control all of their human impulses. Regrettable words are spoken; unfortunate actions happen, unconstrained passions overcome good intentions. Children who should be granted the privilege of emotional meltdowns, witness their parents spiral out of control.

In fact, the young parents are still growing up; still learning how to make sense of adult life with its unexpected demands and exhausting complexity. And children remember everything. Or seem to. Including things they will understand only a half-century later.

It's good to read passages like today's from Second Corinthians and realize the Church received Saint Paul's letter of tears and treasured it. Perhaps not as well as we would wish, but it wasn't entirely lost.

We don't wish he had never written these awful passages. We understand that the best people and holiest saints suffer the same anguish as the rest of us. Family life and church life often resemble politics, which is said to resemble sausage-making. It ain't pretty but the results are divine.

Wednesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 367

Take care not to perform righteous deeds

in order that people may see them;

otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father.

We're all familiar with the children (of all ages) who attend church to see and be seen. As sins go, it's forgivable if a bit obnoxious. Nowadays there are better places, like the shopping mall and the football game, for that.

As familiar is the supporter of charitable causes who wants his name emblazoned on the donors list. But professional fund raisers say that is not the most important reason people give; it is well behind 1) who asks, 2) how well they ask, and 3) the attraction of the cause itself. Most donors, in fact, believe in the charities they support. They usually have a personal investment in the effort, like former flood victims who rally to assist recent flood victims.

Nevertheless, we hear Jesus' warning and ponder it. Am I doing this good work for a good reason?

A volunteer at the blood donation center recently asked why I gave blood. "Because I can!" seemed like a weak reason. "To give back, I suppose." I was given two pints of blood a quarter century ago. I usually feel extra zip on the day after I give. Medieval doctors noticed that and over-prescribed bleeding for many illnesses. My uncle gave many gallons of blood over the course of his life, beginning during his Korean War service. It's a family thing? "I don't know." may have been the best answer. Perhaps it's the Holy Spirit.

With his admonition Jesus reminds us of the three traditional ways of practicing our faith: prayer, fasting and almsgiving. If we do them for show we'll soon find better reasons not to do them.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church summarizes reasons for prayer in paragraph 2644

The Holy Spirit who teaches the Church and recalls to her all that Jesus said also instructs her in the life of prayer, inspiring new expressions of the same basic forms of prayer: blessing, petition, intercession, thanksgiving, and praise.

Of fasting, the Catechism says little, " Addressed to the every nation and culture on Earth, it does not recommend any particular form. Paragraph 1438 suggests fasting as one way to observe the penitential seasons of Advent and Lent, along with prayer and almsgiving. We should notice, however, that every religion practices some kind of dietary restriction. It's hard to imagine a full-bodied religion that would ignore our need for healthy disciplines of the body.

Finally, Jesus urges us to give alms. Giving to the needy sometimes feels like trying to fill a bottomless pit. There is no end of it. They always want more. But neither is there an end of God's mercy. We should do what we can.

If I do not practice my religion that people may see them, I hope the Lord notices. God knows I do nothing perfectly, least of all my prayer, fasting and charitable works; but I believe our merciful God, who is nothing if not humble, accepts my effort.

Tuesday of the Eleventh Week of Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 366

For according to their means, I can testify,

and beyond their means, spontaneously,

they begged us insistently for the favor of taking part

in the service to the holy ones,

and this, not as we expected,

but they gave themselves first to the Lord

and to us through the will of God,

Saint Paul, as he raised funds from the Corinthians to alleviate the suffering in Jerusalem, shamelessly announced the result of Macedonian charity. He challenged the Corinthians to do at least as well.

But his story of Christian sacrifice is not unusual. Having survived a brush with a hurricane, my parishioners in Jennings La readily donated to support those who had not been so fortunate. One fellow remarked, "I just thought of how much it would have cost me had my business been struck."

Saint Paul tapped into an ancient Jewish tradition of supporting the needy, especially among their own coreligionists. However, he brought a new and deeper insight to the mission. Christians were bound together as the Body of Christ. Their almsgiving was not simply a pious act of religious obedience; nor was it atonement for sin. All the various congregations of the one universal church should support one other as the neck supports the head; and the lungs, the heart.

Money in the church is more than a personal treasure; it is like grace, a support and reassurance for every Christian in need. As it flows like blood from Corinth to Jerusalem, or Jerusalem to Rome money sustains the whole body.

To feed a fellow Christian is to feed the Lord himself. It made perfect sense that they should care for Christians in some faraway part of the Empire; and, if the need arose, they could expect support from those same distant churches.

This is the privilege of all Christians, and the enthusiasm of Macedonia set a standard for all time.

Monday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 365

You have heard that it was said,

"An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth."

But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil.

When someone strikes you on your right cheek,

turn the other one to him as well.

If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic,

hand him your cloak as well.

The Latin word gracia is translated as freedom; it is the root word for grace, graceful and gracious. One who dances gracefully moves with ease and freedom, without the appearance of lumbering effort. One who gives graciously does not count the cost and never expects repayment.

A Christian, animated by grace, is free of cultural and social expectations like vendettas, reprisals, and retaliation. She dismisses the very notion. Suffering insult or abuse, the Christian recognizes the suffering, sadness, and deeper hurt of the offending party.

This may sound idealistic to some, (meaning unattainable); but scripture and hagiography assure us that ordinary human beings have demonstrated such freedom. If Jesus suffered a soul-shattering reluctance in the Garden of Gethsemane it passed. By the time the temple guards arrived to arrest him he had regained his composure and willingly surrendered to their violence. His disciples, cowardly in the same Garden, hiding in the Upper Room throughout the weekend, found their freedom as the Holy Spirit fell on them. Fifty days later they went out to tell the whole world about the resurrection of Jesus and their own cowardice.

Can I attain such freedom?

Clearly, I don't have it today!

Like anything else, it begins with the imagination. If I can't imagine it I certainly cannot do it. And so we study the scriptures and the lives of the saints and we admire their courage and serenity in the face of opposition. That admiration is already a kind of conversion because many people -- those who worship only an all-powerful god -- despise weakness. They cannot imagine a messiah born in Bethlehem or a god who carries a cross to Calvary.

Secondly, we practice ordinary works of charity. Saint Ignatius described the process of conversion as beginning with the resolution never to commit a mortal sin. And then, venial sin. And then to avoid the occasion of sin while practicing virtue, which also begins with small acts of generosity, patience, and sacrifice. Saint Theresa of Avila, always practical, said you don't start a fire with logs but with kindling. Neither can you expect to make great sacrifices when you've never made small ones.

So we learn to practice patience with our immediate family, friends, and colleagues; overlooking misunderstandings and occasional rebuffs. We don't take things personally, least of all when they're not personal. Turning the other cheek when no offence was intended. And then, when they are!

We just can't be bothered with that sort of nonsense.

The remarkable Etty Hillesum determined with a friend that they would not let the Nazis, who had invaded their homeland and arrested all the Jews, force them to hate. She spent many hours in prayer and meditation during the ensuing months. As she and her family were transported to the death camp she slipped out a postcard to her friends, "We have left the camp singing!"