Memorial of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Priest

Lectionary: 403

When I found your words, I devoured them;
they became my joy and the happiness of my heart,
Because I bore your name,
O LORD, God of hosts.
I did not sit celebrating
in the circle of merrymakers;

Perhaps there is nothing on earth or the heavens that charms every single human being. I know devout Catholic men who find no pleasure in reading the Word of God. The Bible may instruct them but it does not delight them. An English major, I am amazed at that; but I've always enjoyed words and I try to handle them with the reverence of musicians for their instruments or mechanics, their tools. 

Jeremiah found delight in the words which came from God. They were like treasures buried in a field for him, although he had found them in plain sight. Everybody watched him discover these amazing words but many took no interest. 

It seems to me we should cultivate a delight in God's word, and especially in the psalms. They have been called "The Prayer Book of the Church." The disciples of Jesus were familiar with the psalms; Peter and John were joining the Jews in the temple to sing the Evening Prayers when they stopped to heal a crippled man. The Church, born from the Jewish religion like Eve from Adam, never stopped singing the psalms in the praise of God. As we delight in his presence, we delight in his praise with the psalms and canticles of the Old and New Testaments. 

Husbands and wives often cultivate the same pleasures so that they might enjoy spending time together. They might enjoy the same hobbies like walking, travel, gardening, or dining. They might attend movies, concerts, or the theater. Many take endless, shared delight in their children and grandchildren. They like to eat together with no one else in the room. And they often attend the same church and offer the same prayers. Many young couples decide they should worship in the same way, so that their marriage and friendship might grow stronger. 

In the same way, it seems to me, we should expect, search for, and find pleasure in the Bible, and in the Church's teachings, doctrine, and traditions. We make ourselves interested in discussions and controversies, for religion is nothing if not controversial. We don't have to get passionate but we should know what's being discussed.  

And always, we should appreciate that others find certain religious images, prayers, persons, and spirits fascinating. I might not be interested in some obscure saint of the tenth century -- or might have found no reason to be interested in them -- but I can appreciate that others find them fascinating and delightful. 

I met a fellow in recovery whose wife had a particular devotion to Saint Dymphna. He loved her very much and after she died his grief forced him to seek help for his drinking. He mentioned his wife's devotion to me but I was not familiar with the 7th-century Irish martyr. Together, we discovered the reason for her fascination, Dymphna is the Patroness of Domestic Violence Victims. Had he known sooner, he might have sought help sooner. He had never realized how his alcoholism affected his moods and behavior, and caused her such suffering. 

"When I found your words, I devoured them."
"When a man finds a treasure in a field, he hides it again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field."

Let us cultivate pleasure in God's word, and take less interest in whatever the "circle of merrymakers" finds amusing. 

Tuesday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 402

The Son of Man will send his angels,
and they will collect out of his Kingdom
all who cause others to sin and all evildoers.
They will throw them into the fiery furnace,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.
Then the righteous will shine like the sun
in the Kingdom of their Father.
Whoever has ears ought to hear."

A religious theme park in Kentucky purports to be a replica of Noah's ark. I've not seen it but I understand it's interesting, entertaining, and expensive. They've built an enormous boat-that-never-sees-water so far from the parking lot that passers-by have to pay the fare, or rent an airplane, if they would see without paying. 

A predictable response appears in a nearby billboard lambasting Christians for their hope and expectation of eternal, everlasting, unquenchable fire for sinners. They are reminded that their God is responsible for the death of billions of people and untold suffering of all creatures. The mockers love scripture passages like today's gospel. And we have to admit that it strikes fear in us. That's what it's intended to do. 

And yet the same mockers don't hesitate to vilify known sinners. They routinely accuse politicians and entertainers of the most horrible motives when they are caught with their pants down. They love the sins -- especially fornication and adultery -- and hate sinners. And everyone agrees the Nazis were really bad people and should not enjoy any kind of eternal reward for their savagery. 

Preachers and catechists sometimes use passages like today's to persuade people they should go to church and should ante into the collection. When their exciting, entertaining religious performances fail to reap a generous harvest of souls and cash, they resort to threats of hellfire. But Catholic preachers are also vilified; James Joyce vividly describes the Jesuit rants of his highschool years in his autobiographical Portrait of a Young Man as an Artist. 

Several years ago, I ask one of our elderly friars about that. Father Mark had crisscrossed the country by train while preaching parish missions. He said fire and brimstone was not our Franciscan tradition, There were, however, maudlin and prolonged descriptions of Jesus's bloody sacrifice. They attempted to shame the sinner into remorse and, perhaps, repentance. 

So what do we make of these Gospel threats? Certainly, there is savage evil in this world which cries for reparation, atonement, and justice. As the Lord said when he discovered the death of Abel, "Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground!" Human cruelty is sometimes described as beastial, and then the same speaker will admit beasts don't behave like that. They kill but they don't usually torture their prey for entertainment or sexual satisfaction.  

That horror seems reserved for human beings, and is typical of us. It should be described as human rather than animal. Because we enjoy free will, only humans are capable of sin. We use our fabulous imagination to create ever more savage means of murder. The world's oldest profession is not prostitution but the manufacture and marketing of weapons to efficiently kill more and more people. Most cities in the United States -- if not all -- eagerly welcome gun shows every weekend of the year. The toll of innocent children, spurned lovers, and suicidal white men is not yet complete. And, your brother's blood still cries to heaven for revenge."

Our apocalyptic imagination also feeds on the promise of an atonement that is equally savage. It should be complete. It should "wipe away every tear." 

Despite the rants of the secular world, the Church does not eagerly await the punishment of sinners. They are our children. We must keep practicing the faith. We must keep our doors open and we must remember the sacrificial death of Jesus. We must "do this in memory of me," for if we fail, the world and all human life will descend into utter futility and ever-worsening horror. His death and resurrection will mean nothing. 

We cannot stop calling sinners and warning them of the consequences of their sin. We cannot stop atoning daily for our own sins; for anyone -- regardless of their real or reputed virtue  -- who denies their guilt betrays the truth about themselves. The Lord himself, though innocent as I am not, became guilty for me. He stood by me and would not deny his kinship with me, nor was he ashamed to call me his brother. And he suffered the consequences that should have come for me. 

And so we pray daily for ourselves and the world, that God might forgive us because his Son Jesus Christ has. And we pray that the mercy we did not show to him, will nonetheless be shown to us. In his name.

Memorial of Saints Martha, Mary, and Lazarus

Lectionary: 401/607

When Martha heard that Jesus was coming,
she went to meet him;
but Mary sat at home.
Martha said to Jesus,
"Lord, if you had been here,
my brother would not have died.

For many of us, summer offers the opportunity to relax and let be. We don't need excessive clothing to keep warm and dry. If the bugs and the noonday heat aren't too much, we might sit under a shade tree and visit with friends, read a book, listen to music or the sounds of nature. Families, too many and too noisy for a single room, come together outdoors to meet the recently married and newborn members. Summer is a good time to celebrate the New Testament's other holy family: Martha, Mary, and Lazarus.  

If Jesus ever took a break from being the Lord of Heaven and Earth, it was surely in their home. With them he could follow the tradition of Elijah and Elisha -- those fearsome prophets -- who stayed with holy families at Zarepath and Shunnem. We can suppose they offered him a room and privacy, with ample time to pray, relax, watch children play, listen to music or birdsong, kick his sandals off and just breathe like any human being. Hopefully, his disciples stopped questioning about every little thing. We can imagine the Lord listening to political discussions, recipes, complaints about aging and the cost of living without offering his own sage advice. Sometimes it's good to be quiet. 

The Scriptures Old and New presume that people customarily offered hospitality to family, friends, and strangers. Mi casa es su casa. That's what civilized people do. Make yourself at home! We say. We remember Abraham's eager welcome to the three strangers who bore a strong resemblance to our Trinitarian God. And, the next day, Lot's offer of a safe home to travellers in barbaric Sodom.  

The Lord's home at Nazareth was such a place. When two of the Baptist's disciples joined the Lord, he invited them to stay with him, perhaps at Nazareth where Mary lived, which is about 46 kilometers away. Cana is only 7 kilometers from there, an easy hike for young people. 

Today, we celebrate Martha, Mary, and Lazarus who opened their home to Jesus and his disciples. Apparently they could accomodate all of them. If it got a bit awkward at times, they worked it out. A little confusion here, a little uncertainty there, we make it work. 

Because they were devout and loyal, the Lord was faithful to them. It was not by chance that his greatest sign was there in Bethany. When they were hit by a sudden crisis, he attended Lazarus's funeral, and dramatically changed the program -- a gesture which cost him his life. Such is the Love of God, for...

...No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. John 15:13

Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

 Lectionary: 110

Live in a manner worthy of the call you have received,
with all humility and gentleness, with patience,
bearing with one another through love....

Back in the early 1980’s, as I settled into my calling and new identity as a priest, I hoped to attain a holiness that would be secure, reassured, and confident. I was reading mystic saints like Theresa of Avila, Catherine of Siena, and John of the Cross. I studied Francis de Sales and his "Introduction to the Devout life." 

It was great stuff but I was not impressed with my progress. I supplemented that reading with spiritual self help books of the time. I had quit drinking, was deeply involved with Twelve Steps; and attended meetings regularly. The effort gave me some insight into my reactions, and some ability to make choices about my attitudes. 

They helped but the popular spirituality of that time was largely self-centered and, for that reason, aimless. My personal goals of security and confidence retreated somewhere over the rainbow, because self-centered spirituality is not about God. It’s about my satisfaction, my happiness, my goals, my purpose; and therefore pointless, unsatisfying, and barren. As far as I can tell, today's so-called Spirituality, which is supported by the federal government, is still circling that comfortable, suburban sinkhole. 

When Saint Paul urged his disciples to "Live in a manner worthy of the call you have received," he addressed the entire congregation in Ephesus. He hoped the Church would take his message to heart and that their attitudes, words, and deeds would reflect the holiness which is proper to the People of God. The Church in Ephesus should be known for its generosity, willingness, and courtesy. There should be no strangers among them, nor any behaviors stranger than honestly, gentleness, and hospitality. 

Holiness entails separation from the sinful society in which we find ourselves. We come apart with the Lord into a wilderness where only those who help one another can survive. Loners die alone. No one should be so progressive as to get ahead of the group; nor should anyone lag behind with their conservative values. We must stay together and with the Lord to survive. 

We come apart into the wilderness where the Good Shepherd will feed us with his own body, where we will drink his blood and be sustained, and more than sustained. We will flourish. In the wilderness we will ingest his body and blood even as he ingests us into himself, into the holy communion of God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.

Holiness is what we are and what we do together. It is our unity and solidarity and communion; it is our dependability and integrity. We give our word to one another and that word is more valuable than money in the bank. If the banks should fail, as they often do, our friendship, caring, and assurances do not. 

Saint Paul never supposed there should be holy and holier members in the Church. He offered no blue ribbons for the holiest members with special recognition for the youngest, oldest, and most disadvantaged. His mission was to form and build communities – communions of the Body and Blood of Christ – and through them announce the Salvation to the world. It was not to save individual souls one by one. If some of them were called saints, it’s because they were all saints. 

What could that expression, personal salvation, possibly mean? Can someone be saved personally, without companionship and communion with others? Why would anyone want to spend eternity alone? 

Liturgy has many rules, but it’s not a game. Just as games serve a culture which rewards strength and ability, our worship helps us to "live in a manner worthy of the call we have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience. [It helps us] to bear with one another through love." Holiness is what we do together to honor the One who calls us ‘friends, because he tells us everything he has learned from the Father.” (John 15:15)  

The Second Vatican Council reminded the entire church that we are a priestly people. Although some of us are given the privilege and responsibility of ordination as priests, there can be no priests without a priestly church. God’s call to individuals to step up as priest is heard by the Church which selects the right men to lead. You can’t be a priest because you feel you should be! That’s for us to decide with God’s counsel. Nor can we have ordained priests without a holy, priestly people who worship God night and day.

Our practice of prayer should remind us of our call to holiness. When the priest says, “The Lord be with you!” you answer, “And with your spirit.” He does not answer himself because he is not praying alone. When he says, “...through Christ our Lord, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever!” you say, “Amen.” He doesn't answer himself. You have to be here; you have to be heard. When he announces “The Mystery of Faith,” you answer; he does not. That's your part. 

Your singing, your procession up the aisle, your standing, kneeling, and sitting; your attention, your prayer, and your presence: they all prove that you are a priestly people, and tomorrow's priests are your sons. 

As we participate in the worship of God we grow in integrity, patience, and maturity. Created  in the image of God from the mud of the earth, we become the likeness of God. That likeness does not happen automatically; we attain a likeness to God by our practice of faith, hope, and love. 

Our contemporaries, mired in the mud of this world, wanting to be individuals and afraid to belong to anything, can neither imagine nor attain that likeness. They sometimes speak nostalgically of the "best years of their life" as a long time ago, but we are becoming more like God every day.  

For those who "bear with one another through love, [and] strive to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace," every day is good and every day is better. Every day is a challenge and an invitation, and we thank God for each one. 

Saturday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time

 Lectionary: 400

Put not your trust in the deceitful words:"This is the temple of the LORD....!
Only if you thoroughly reform your ways and your deeds; if each of you deals justly with his neighbor...will I remain with you in this place, in the land I gave your fathers long ago and forever.

The Hebrew prophets relentlessly demanded repentance from their fellow Israelites. They often threatened terrible punishment; they sometimes promised blessings; but in either case they insisted that the People of God must be holy as God is holy. As a nation they should assess their attitudes, words, and deeds by the brilliant light of God's mercy. If they saw their corruption compared to the holiness of God; and if they saw how beautiful, fascinating, and compelling is God's goodness, they would see clearly how far short they had fallen. 

They would also realize how much more satisfied they would be in living by God's law. It's like comparing the beauty and ecstatic grace of a highwire walker to the misery of falling into the canyon below. They had only to trust in the LORD who promised to "remain with you in this place;" in good times and in bad. 

Given our knowledge of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and our memories of the saints and martyrs of every age and nation, we can recognize how the Lord suffers our losses and celebrates our gains. He is our blessed and delightful companion; and his company is worth far more than anything this world can offer. 

Despite the temptations to shortcuts, to Easy Street, to sin, we turn back to the narrow path and enter by his gate.

Memorial of Saints Joachim and Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Lectionary: 399

Return, rebellious children, says the LORD,
for I am your Master;
I will take you, one from a city, two from a clan,
and bring you to Zion.
...At that time they will call Jerusalem the LORD’s throne;
there all nations will be gathered together to honor the name of the LORD at Jerusalem,
and they will walk no longer in their hardhearted wickedness.

We honor Joachim and Ann as the parents of Mary and grandparents of Jesus. Today's reading from the Prophet Jeremiah recalls God's promise of peace and prosperity to his holy city Jerusalem. 

During Jeremiah's brief time, that unhappy city was besieged and taken by an invading army. It's walls and temple were razed, its princes murdered, and its king viciously blinded and taken as a royal prisoner to Babylon. 

Jeremiah had predicted all this as he saw the city's long history of greed, graft, and corruption. They cheated God with cheap sacrifices, and one another with impunity. Why should the city not share the same fate of every other city that some men build and others destroy? 

But Jerusalem is also a prefigured type of Mary, the Mother of God; and the LORD had promised eternal fidelity to the city. If its citizens would persistently ignore the Lord as they exploited his blessings, if their greed would erode their willing enthusiasm for devotion and holiness while it turned the community into a den of thieves, they could be punished and their infrastructure demolished. But the holy city would remain. It remains always in the mind of God In the person of Mary.  

Christians recognize her as the new Jerusalem, the holy one of God, who gathers the Lord's disciples. We are her children and she teaches us to pray and trust in God again. She is not punished when her children are, but she suffers with them even as she suffered with her Son. Unlike those who are angry with God because bad things happen to good people, Mary remembers the promises of God and recognizes in human suffering the consequences of sin. Even as she grieves with her children, and prays for mercy with them, she does not take their side against him. 

Joachim and Ann represent that faithful strain that remained always in Jerusalem because of the Lord's promise. We do not suppose they were utterly sinless like their daughter, but they were honored to raise, educate, and protect such a child in their home. They taught her the customs, prayers, and rituals of God's holy people which they had learned from their ancestors. Although the city and the nation sinned against God persistently throughout its long history, their sins could not persuade the Lord to divorce them.  His faithful Spirit remains with them forever. 

We pray for our Church today, and we remain faithful -- sinners though we are -- as we honor our ancestors. If we have sinned like all our fathers and mothers, we have also kept the faith because God never gives up on us. 

And for that we are grateful. 

Feast of Saint James, Apostle

Lectionary: 605

We hold this treasure in earthen vessels,
that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us.
We are afflicted in every way, but not constrained;

perplexed, but not driven to despair;
persecuted, but not abandoned;
struck down, but not destroyed;
always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus,
so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body.
For we who live are constantly being given up to death
for the sake of Jesus,
so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh.
So death is at work in us, but life in you.

Saint Paul's reflection on his ministry, which we might regard as enormously successful, helps today's zealous Christian to put their own experience in perspective. If, upon coming to the end of an assignment, a significant anniversary, or retirement, we feel successful, there's probably something wrong. Our service of the Lord is not assessed by accomplishments, accolades, or success. 

If my experience is common, we remember as much confusion, uncertainty, and struggle in the darkness of controversy and conflict -- what soldiers call the fog of war -- as we do success. I often think of Thomas Hardy's line from his poem, Channel Firing. Disturbed in their graveyard by the roar of naval guns practicing,

...many a skeleton shook his head.

“Instead of preaching forty year,”

My neighbour Parson Thirdly said,

“I wish I had stuck to pipes and beer.”

(His name, of course, suggests the futility of his dull sermons as he laboriously listed his paragraphs, "firstly,... secondly,...thirdly,..." I shudder to think of how many irrelevant asides and downright idiocy might have infested my preaching.)

Life in Christ, whether we preach or listen to preaching, teach or are taught, pray or are prayed over, is Christlike; meaning it must end with a cross. Or its conclusion might not be as spectacular as Easter Morning. If Christ's death was punctuated by an eclipse of the sun and an earthquake, only the Evangelist noticed the coincidence. The rest of the world may have noticed an omen -- in those days they looked for omens in natural events -- they gave it little thought after that. 

Faith surrenders the need for assessment of one's life to the Lord. The only opinion that matters is God's, and who has known the mind of God? I sometimes remind the Lord that it's better to praise God from heaven than from hell as the psalmist says -- although that judgement too is God's business.

It is better to reside within the fog of battle, let God be the judge, and offer one's uncertainty as an evening sacrifice. 

LORD, I call to you; hasten to me;
listen to my plea when I call.
Let my prayer be incense before you;
my uplifted hands an evening offering. Psalm 141

 

Wednesday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time

 Lectionary: 397

But the LORD answered me,
Say not, “I am too young.”
To whomever I send you, you shall go;
whatever I command you, you shall speak.
Have no fear before them,
because I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD.

The Church takes seriously the duty of preparing seminarians for ordination. No one should be ordained who simply presents himself and feels he should be a priest. The Church, in the person of the bishop, must be persuaded that this man has been called by God and prepared with adequate training for the mission and challenges of evangelization. 

On the other hand, those who are called to ordination must also obey the Spirit that guides them to it. They should not say, "I am unworthy and will not answer." The young Jeremiah believed he was too young to be a prophet but God insisted that he take it upon himself. It was the Lord who made him capable, and not his own maturity, virtue, or strength. 

Having recently attained 75.8 years, I can look back on a lifetime of priesthood and regret my many sins, slipups, and failures. Ordained at twenty-six, I could say I was too young, too inexperienced, and too confident to preach, teach, or preside over our sacramental rites. I might complain I have nothing to show for all the years. I built no churches or schools, nor did I found any organizations. I might doubt that the world is better off for my having been here. 

But that's all nonsense. It doesn't matter what I think of myself or my career. The only judge is God, as Saint Paul insisted. 

If we live by faith we ask the Lord for guidance every day and let the Lord judge its results. While we should be aware of consequences, no one can see all the consequences of their words and deeds. I have been generously thanked for things I don't remember doing, while my greatest sacrifices and most serious efforts went unnoticed. Who can really say, "I accomplished this?" 

As Job said, "Naked I came forth from my mother's womb, and naked I shall go back again. We accept good things from the Lord, and should we not accept evil. The Lord gives; the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord." 

Tuesday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 396

“Here are my mother and my brothers.
For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father
is my brother, and sister, and mother.”

You can choose your friends; you're stuck with your family. Or so they say. 

Ben Wilson, in his book, Metropolis: A History of the City, Humankind's Greatest Invention explains how large cities give individuals more choices about their coworkers, friends, and acquaintances. They can work for companies other than the family farm. They can explore different forms of entertainment, and develop artistic talents their families never imagined. Because the city comprises many nationalities, children can learn new languages and even develop their own codes, gestures, signs, and words their families cannot understand. 

Individuals can attend other churches, or no church; and their family is none the wiser. in the largest cities, some people might assume different identities with different names in different parts of the city; living with perfect respectability among family and kin, and wickedly among shadowy friends. The city offers companionship and solitude, respectable and bizarre entertainment, opportunity and reassurance. If the city is enormously complex and demands much cooperation and compromises from its citizens, individuals find it well worth the sacrifice. 

In the Roman Empire, the Lord's new religion was a phenomenon of the city. Individuals could be baptized and enter the Church without their family having much say in the matter. Eventually, when their numbers attained a critical mass, the empire was converted to Christ. Or it said it was anyway. 

But Christianity had a hard time spreading to the countryside. The word pagan originally meant villager or rustic, and became identified with the religious beliefs and practices of people who lived far from the city. Because these "pagans" had always resisted the fads and fashions of the cities and clung to their old ways, urban Christians suspected their unauthorized rites and unorthodox beliefs. 

Jesus's remark about baptized believers fits the milieu of the city. His "family" are those who believe in him. They might not be related by blood; in fact their families might be very suspicious of the freedom of the baptized, as Jesus's family was of him. They pray differently, make odd sacrifices, and spend time in strange company. Although they speak the same language, dress like everyone else, and eat the same food, they often renounce many of their family's attitudes and behaviors. 

Faith, the Gospels tell us, is a gift from God, and is acquired through a process of rebirth. And one's biological mother might have nothing to do with that mysterious event. Faith is not determined by one's family, race, language, or nationality. Although we're born into it, it's not the birth we received from mother and father. 

And newborn Christians often have much to learn from their new family. If their family of origin abused alcohol and other chemicals; if they routinely shamed, scolded, and berated one another; if their language and entertainment was crude or violent: these practices must be discarded and forgotten. They don't fit the new, reborn fellowship, as Saint Paul reminded the Ephesians 4:17-24, 

That is not how you learned Christ,
assuming that you have heard of him and were taught in him, as truth is in Jesus,
that you should put away the old self of your former way of life, corrupted through deceitful desires,
and be renewed in the spirit of your minds,
and put on the new self, created in God’s way in righteousness and holiness of truth.

Feast of Saint Mary Magdalene

Lectionary: 603

On the first day of the week,
Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early in the morning,
while it was still dark,
and saw the stone removed from the tomb.
So she ran and went to Simon Peter
and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them,
"They have taken the Lord from the tomb,
and we don't know where they put him."

Jesus responded to the Pharisees and scribes when they asked why he and his disciples did not fast, 

“Can you make the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come, and when the bridegroom is taken away from them, then they will fast in those days.”

Those days came unexpectedly, like masked thieves in the night, to Mary Magdalene and the Lord's disciples. Suddenly, the Lord was savagely taken from them. He was tried, scourged, mocked in his helplessness, and hanged on a cross for hours until he died. His shocked, horrified followers were left with nothing. They'd abandoned their homes, families, and careers to follow the Lord. 

They'd been convinced and they had believed with all their hearts that he was the One, the long-awaited and divinely promised Messiah. He had given every sign and proof of that, and his teachings were both prophetic and messianic. There could be no doubt, and they had no doubt for every doubter had long departed. He was the One! 

But he was dead. They'd been permitted to bury him. They had nothing left but a tomb and their grief. 

And now Mary Magdalene was crying hysterically that "they" -- someone -- had taken his body! Why? Where? When? Who would do such a thing? And what's the point of it? Could they not leave well enough alone? He was dead, for God's sake. What else can they want from his tortured, disfigured body? 

it made no sense but the tomb was empty. When Mary broke the news, Peter and John ran to the graveyard to find it was true. The unthinkable had happened. But why? 

Our grief has no bounds. They won't even let us visit his grave. He is like the millions who disappeared in Stalin's Russia, and Argentina's dirty war. They went to work and never came home. The police were no help, and the bereft dared not ask the police for their help. Every association with the missing was also suspect and might disappear. Don't ask. Don't grieve. They never existed. They never were. Their children should be silent. They're spanked until they learn not to ask. No funeral. No memorial. No memories; no mementos. No nothing. 

The feast of Saint Mary Magdalene is a very happy occasion, but it is good to pause for a moment and remember the depth of her sorrow, and the sorrow of all his disciples, both men and women. Their grief continues as our wars continue, as repression of truth-speakers deepens throughout the world. The truth becomes illegal in our schools, hospitals, and public discussion. It is ignored in the courtroom and flouted in political speeches. 

And so we fast and do penance. We cannot eat; we have no appetite. We will neither eat nor drink until...

        "...the day when I drink it with you new in the kingdom of my Father.” (Mt 26:29)

Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 107

Woe to the shepherds
who mislead and scatter the flock of my pasture,
says the LORD.
Therefore, thus says the LORD, the God of Israel,
against the shepherds who shepherd my people:
You have scattered my sheep and driven them away.
You have not cared for them,
but I will take care to punish your evil deeds.

People who hear our first reading today from the Prophet Jeremiah might assume he is talking about clergy who take advantage of vulnerable people in their congregations. Gullible children, lonely women, anxious men, disabled persons: to wicked men their needs look like invitations to use, abuse, overcome, and destroy. The innocent are often violated sexually, emotionally, or financially by powerful persons who avoid and deny all responsibility. When the stories come out the victims, rather than the perpetrators, suffer shame, blame, and guilt for what happened to them. 

But our just and merciful God stands with them. He sends the prophets to sound the alarm and warn everyone of the hellfires that await perpetrators. 

But Jeremiah's complaint includes more than the priests and Levites of ancient Israel. He condemned secular authorities; the kings, royal families, governors, and officials who used their authority to feather their own nests, and not to serve God’s people. Swindling merchants, unscrupulous tax collectors, and thieving slaves also twisted systems, and cheated honest men and women. Fraud, corruption, and shady deals don't belong only to the elite, sophisticated, and wealthy. There’s more than enough evil to be shared by rich and poor, healthy and sick alike. Any fool can think he's smart enough to cheat other people and get away with it.

In 2024 we can add to that list, political strategists who create propaganda for whichever party pays them more. They have no political agenda, but they can and will persuade voters to believe whatever they're hired to promote. These so-called “hired guns” use anxiety and fear like a musician uses a trumpet or a percussionist, a drum. If Tweedledee wins you should fear the loss of your privilege and entitlement; if Tweedledum wins he'll take your freedom, liberties, and rights. "Now you don't want that to happen, do you?"

And then there are the politicians who read the polls like Sacred Scripture as they surf the waves of popular opinion. Their ambition is power, and like Pontius Pilate, have never wanted or needed to know the truth. 

And so-called influencers hired to make cheap junk look like hot fashion, and modeling agencies with their unsexed men and women. Where an actor says with her face, “Love me!” a model says with her body, “Buy me!”  

Jeremiah's false shepherds include teachers who tell our children that the miracles of the Bible never happened and could not have happened, and therefore the Bible is nonsense. In fact, they say all religion is nonsense and will soon disappear from the Earth. Science is the new religion and the only truth is facts. 

Our children must learn STEM -- science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. They don't need civics, history, literature, or music; and nobody needs philosophy. We tell children what to think; we teach them how to think – which is precisely like everyone else. 

The same teachers give our college students comparative religion, and tell us that all religions are good and no religious doctrine is bad. They’re like blind men groping an elephant; and no religion can say anything reliable about God, least of all our Catholic Church. Buddhists are better; Hindus are holier; and Muslims make more sense because they don’t have all that mumbo jumbo about three persons in one God, incarnation, transubstantial and consubstantiation. It sounds insubstantial to us. If your priests can’t say it in plain english, it means nothing at all.  

But there is no point in blaming politicians, merchants, or teachers for the compromises of our culture. Rather than argue with them, I want to sound the alarm like John the Baptist in the desert. We must realize what their propaganda does to our families, neighborhoods, churches, and homes. Their hostile questions and insinuations cast doubt and uncertainty upon everything that must be certain. 

If you know what we believe and what we stand for, there are many among your loved ones who don’t. If you know who you are and to whom you have given your life, many around you are confused; and that may be by the confusing signals you send. 

If you believe in God, why are you investing in a state lottery? If you believe in marriage and the holiness of sexuality, why are you watching sexualized entertainment? If you mean no harm, are you sure you’re doing no harm? 

Have you asked your family about your gambling, your drinking, your smoking, your shopping, or your guns? What exactly do your tattoos mean, and who gave you the right to needle diabolical signs onto the temple of the Holy Spirit?

Saint John the Baptist reminds us that our faith begins with the practice of penance. Every time we recite the Our Father we admit we have sinned. We begin every mass by confessing that we have sinned. We have sinned; we and our fathers have sinned.

And now, more than ever, we must return to that practice of penance. If you don’t like the way your world is changing; if you don’t like what this world says about your faith in Jesus, your response is not protesting, or complaining, or whining about how awful it is. Our response is penance, atonement, and gratitude that the Lord has opened our eyes and turned us away from the idiocy and nonsense that is all around us. 

We do penance by prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. We have many forms of public and private prayer. We fast by eating carefully, buying only what we need,  by moderating our use of social media and entertainment, and by living simply. We give alms with time, talent, and treasure. 

We don’t know where the nation is going, or the world, but we do know where we’re going because we’re going with the Man who has died to save us from this world, and from our complicity with it. 

P.S. Kudos to Father Michael Schmitz who preached penance to the Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis on Friday! 

Saturday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 394

When Jesus realized this, he withdrew from that place.
Many people followed him, and he cured them all,
but he warned them not to make him known.

Perhaps there is no contradiction between that first sentence and the second because those who followed the Lord into hiding were also ignored by the hostile authorities who opposed Jesus. They didn't care where the needy went so long as they weren't bothering them. 

 

In any case, those who follow the Lord can expect, along with occasional hostility, an apathetic indifference from the world at large. Most of our life is properly lived quietly and privately, without social media. Most of God's great works go unremarked and uncelebrated except by those who recognize them. Spectacular escapes from slavery happened frequently in Egypt when the captives only had to disappear into the desert. Virgin conceptions happen all the time, according to some reports, when the child's father refuses to come forward and the young lady will not name him. An empty tomb may be peculiar but it's not earth-shattering.  

The eye of faith sees, recognizes and understands the work of God. The ear of faith knows God's voice and listens. The faithful sense God's presence and worship him night and day. And they offer their love like the garden's little flowers who are content that the Lord passed by -- and was pleased. 

Friday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 393 

"This will be the sign for you from the LORD
that he will do what he has promised:
See, I will make the shadow cast by the sun
on the stairway to the terrace of Ahaz
go back the ten steps it has advanced."
So the sun came back the ten steps it had advanced.

Since the advent of science and the belief that truth is known by proven facts rather than by divine revelation, skeptics routinely challenge many stories in the Bible. Besides the sun shadows going backwards in today's first reading, there is the sun's standing still, (Joshua 10:12-13); Jonah's being swallowed by a whale, and his composition of a song while he was in there; creation in seven days; Noah's flood which covered the mountains; and Jesus' walking on water; to name a few. 

These accounts were stoutly defended for many centuries by the Church when serious thinkers asked serious questions. Some bishops denounced all fiction writing like novels and short stories because they were fabricated and not historical truth. When Dante said Aeneas had taken him on a guided tour of Hell, he had to make it sound plausible by speaking of a cave somewhere amid the mountains of Italy. Even in modern times, creationists insist upon Eve's being formed from Adam's rib, and Youtube routinely discovers Noah's ark on another mountain. And, in the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy was struck on the head and found herself somewhere over the rainbow. So it was a dream after all! 

The pointless battle of science versus religion continues. 

Serious scientists understand their limits but many faux-scientists -- e.g. high school kids -- insist, "If it's not proven by science, it's not true." and "God's revelation must be verified by human science." Nevermind the other fact that scientists routinely disprove each other's facts and theories. Not long ago, phrenologists studied the shape of human skulls to determine the intelligence and morals of their occupants. Phrenology proved the superiority of the white race and the Nazi science of eugenics. 

I have met one scientist (with a real doctorate!) who insists a man might become a woman with surgery and chemicals; and women can become men! He points to some insects to prove it! It's called gynandromorphism, and it's right there on the Internet! I asked him if these bugs have their own surgeons and pharmacologists to help them make the transition. 

In the meanwhile, scripture scholars have assured us that we needn't take all the stories of the Bible literally. Every one of these texts were written long before scientists dared to challenge God's word, and long before facts could be used to demonstrate a hypothesis or prove a theory. Post-modern philosophy challenges scientists with their own contradictions, and points out that facts mean nothing without their contexts of theories and hypotheses. Circular reasoning assumes the truth of the very thing it is trying to prove. Facts ground their theories and theories are used to generate facts; and sometimes they prove nonsensical.  

We search for guidance, reassurance, and healing in God's word and we find them in ample measure. We don't need to prove the Bible by the secular sciences, for our learning is well respected in philosophical and theological circles. The divinely inspired and faithful Church wrote the Bible and, if anyone knows what it means, we do. 

The story of Hezekiah's serious illness and his miraculous recovery is credible. We see that sort of thing all the time. And we are grateful that God continues to heal broken bodies, troubled minds, and troubled spirits. 

Thursday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 392

"Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am meek and humble of heart;
and you will find rest for yourselves.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden light."

Today's gospel follows immediately after yesterday's revelation of two unexpected, almost unimaginable mysteries:

All things have been handed over to me by my Father. 

And, 

No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him. 

The Galilean's intimate familiarity with God is beyond human comprehension. We believe it because he has told us so; and we have seen his gracious sacrifice on the cross; and we have witnessed his resurrection. The Father whom he trusted even as he died in a hopeless agony, raised him up. His entire life among us was a conversation which concluded with a heavenly Amen. The world now hears: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” (Mark 1: 11)  

Because we believe the Lord we can hear today's reassurance, ""Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest." 

Humans are anxious creatures who need and appreciate reassurance. Family, companions, and civilized society should provide that for us; but even when they do we feel something missing in our lives. We're not satisfied and perhaps we are not satisfying God's expectations of us. As C.S. Lewis said, "God is easy to please but hard to satisfy." 

Saint Therese of Lisieux described the continual love and affection she received from her parents, sisters, relatives, and friends before she entered the convent; and yet she wanted more and suffered acutely that need. She found it only when she realized how pleased the Lord was with her little flower, one of the least noticed in the Lord's garden.

And so we obey the Lord again as he insists, "Take my yoke upon you." He must carry the cross of a singular life, an unexpected, unique revelation without precedent. And his disciples also discover by following him their own utter uniqueness. No one like me has ever appeared in the entire universe; nor will there be another precisely like me. No one else will know me as I must know myself. 

Each one of us stands before the Lord alone; we echo the words of Abraham, Samuel, Isaiah, and innumerable others: "Here I am." And in that moment we take his yoke upon ourselves, and discover the companionship of the faithful Church. 

Meek and humble of heart like him, the saints discover and demonstrate to the entire world, that his yoke is easy, and his burden is light. 

Wednesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time Lectionary: 391

Lectionary: 391

I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for although you have hidden these things
from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike.

Today's gospel comes in two parts with a transitional sentence connecting them. 

It begins with the Lord's praise of his Father for revealing wonderful mysteries to the childlike; that is, to those who are open and willing to see. Childlike Christians eagerly join Jesus in praise of God's wisdom, beauty, goodness, and authority. They revel in the knowledge of "the Lord of Heaven and Earth," finding that knowledge more satisfying than anything the world can offer. He is their rock.

I love you, LORD, my strength,

LORD, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer,

My God, my rock of refuge,

my shield, my saving horn, my stronghold!

Praised be the LORD, I exclaim!

I have been delivered from my enemies. Psalm 18:2

  Their simple patience before God's grace also allows them to wait on the revelation. 

For the vision is a witness for the appointed time,

a testimony to the end; it will not disappoint.

If it delays, wait for it,

it will surely come, it will not be late. Habakkuk 2:3

They faithful are not troubled by this world's fanciful opinions about God: "Maybe there is no God; maybe God doesn't care; maybe God makes mistakes....." They are not entertained by idiocy. They do not toy with such notions, allowing them to creep into their consciousness and trouble their faith. They have learned to "Keep it simple;" and faith in God is simple. 

Jesus's next remark, which concerns God's will, is the transition:  

All things have been handed over to me by my Father.

We must indeed be simple hearts to believe that God has handed over to a human being -- this man standing before us -- "all things." 

The Gospel according to Saint Matthew will conclude with the same teaching. But it will have been vindicated by the miracle of Easter, and doubt about this man's authority must evaporate like the morning dew. The Lord's resurrection leaves no doubt about his announcement, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me." 

And finally today, the Lord adds:

No one knows the Son except the Father,

and no one knows the Father except the Son

and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.”

Jesus comes to us as an Apostle, "one who is sent." He is the Father's apostle, the Ambassador of Truth. And the Trinity's intimate knowledge and love of one another is perfect. There are no secrets between them. If Jesus does not know when the final hour will come, he doesn't want to know until the Father reveals it to him. 

Like him, the childlike ignore this world's absurd questions, futile threats, and empty promises as we wait on the Lord to teach, reassure, heal, forgive, and guide us day by day. If there are many things we don't understand, we don't need to. 

But we know more than the Lord's opponents can imagine, for we know how to Be still before the LORD; and wait for him.

Optional Memorial of Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Lectionary: 390

Take care you remain tranquil and do not fear; let not your courage fail
before these two stumps of smoldering brands
the blazing anger of Rezin and the Arameans,
and of the son Remaliah,
because of the mischief that
Aram, Ephraim and the son of Remaliah,
plot against you, saying,
“Let us go up and tear Judah asunder, make it our own by force,
and appoint the son of Tabeel king there.”

Thus says the LORD:
This shall not stand, it shall not be!

When I studied at Saint Louis University in the late 1960's I sometimes visited people in the suburbs who would not visit the friary where we lived. They were afraid of the area. The friars routinely walked to and from school throughout the year. Nor did we keep to the daylight hours. In four years I remember only one skirmish and that was late one night, with some white boys from East Saint Louis who were cruising our impoverished neighborhood. It was scary for a few minutes but nothing came of it. 

I have noticed that, the farther people live from danger, the more they exaggerate its threats, and the more frightened they are. 

I have observed that same fear among people who arm themselves with guns, locks, and security. They are rightfully afraid, but of the wrong things. They should fear the visiting children who poke around the house looking for whatever they might find. Children are all the more curious when told, "That gun closet is locked; don't touch it!" 

They'll find the key, and open it. 

Fear often thinks badly and acts stupidly. 

The Lord saw that irrational fear in Jerusalem when Israel and Ephraim formed an alliance against Assyria. Because Ahaz, the king of Judah in Jerusalem, refused to join the alliance, they attempted to force him by attacking the holy city. They would not trust God to protect them, nor did they suppose God would protect Jerusalem against them. 

That is, they reckoned without God. which is never a good idea. As Isaiah had predicted, not only did their assault fail. They were soon overrun by Assyria, which also failed to capture Jerusalem.

God's faithful people act as if there is a God who cares about them. They spend time in prayer with him, enjoy his presence, ask for his guidance, and invoke his help in every situation. Although they can see no further ahead than anyone else, they know God sees far beyond the horizon. He knows the future and the past, and shepherds them continually. 

In this world there will always be trouble. We know that; we expect it; we have no argument with it. There's little point in saying, "It shouldn't be that way." 

We live in a nation founded on deistic principles of the Enlightenment; our founding fathers supposed that God does not and should not interfere in human affairs. We pray for that nation despite it's unstable foundation. And we ask for God's protection over it and our loved ones. Cities, states, and nations rise and fall; but we remain because the Word of God abides forever.

We can see farther than our fearful neighbors, and what we see is beautiful.   

Memorial of Saint Bonaventure, Franciscan Bishop and Doctor of the Church

Lectionary: 389

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth.
I have come to bring not peace but the sword.
For I have come to set
a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
and one’s enemies will be those of his household.

As I read the Gospels I often wonder how lay folks apply this teaching to themselves; it seems they are addressed principally to mendicants like myself. The Lord was a wandering preacher, and he sent his disciples to the far corners of the earth as wandering preachers. How does the Word of God speak to sedentary people? 

And yet it obviously does for millions of people study the Bible, Old and New Testaments, daily; and find reassurance, challenge, and guidance in their mysterious pages. Perhaps the wonder begins with the Lord's uncompromising demand, "For I have come to set a man against his father.... and one’s enemies will be those of his household."

Our obedience to God and our fascination with his word begins with the apartness we feel when we come before the Lord. It begins in that secret, holy place within my heart -- an apartment -- which I occupy alone, and only God can enter. 

Sometimes we try to invite others into that place. Or we think they should want to come in. Or we think they can although its impossible. Sometimes we feel invaded by others, by their opinions about us, or their resentments, demands, and expectations. They almost crowd us out of our apartness, that sacred, secret, inviolable apartment. 

And then the Lord enters and demands, Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me," or, as Saint Luke teaches the same thing, 

‘Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple."

Hearing and heeding that word we understand Saint Augustine's prophetic word, "Our hearts are restless until we rest in thee."