Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 114

There I shall store all my grain and other goods and I shall say to myself, “Now as for you, you have so many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, be merry!”’

Jesus clearly knew the Wisdom of Ecclesiastes  for the rich fool's remarks echoes several verses of Qoheleth's book: 

1. There is nothing better for mortals than to eat and drink and provide themselves with good things from their toil. Even this, I saw, is from the hand of God. For who can eat or drink apart from God? (Ecclesiastes 2:24)
   
   
2. Therefore I praised joy, because there is nothing better for mortals under the sun than to eat and to drink and to be joyful; this will accompany them in their toil through the limited days of life God gives them under the sun. (8:15)
   
   
3. Go, eat your bread with joy and drink your wine with a merry heart, because it is now that God favors your works. At all times let your garments be white, and spare not the perfume for your head. Enjoy life with the wife you love, all the days of the vain life granted you under the sun. (9:7-9)

The Lord's prediction of doom also echoes the wise man's unhappy conclusion: there will be "no wisdom in Hell where you are going."

For all the changes we have seen within our few years, little has changed. Qoheleth's words still haunt us:

Vanity of vanities, All things are vanity!

Here is one who has labored with wisdom and knowledge and skill,

and yet to another who has not labored over it,

he must leave property.

This also is vanity and a great misfortune.

It would be comical if it were not so destructive: the hoarding of Americans as they cram rented storage containers with stuff they'll never see again. What do the rental owners do with unclaimed goods as their owners disappear into the Great Beyond? Most of it means nothing to their heirs, whose homes are already overcrowded with stuff. 
          "This also is vanity and a great misfortune."

Finishing the parable, Jesus said nothing to the man who asked him to, "Tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.” He would not act as his judge or arbiter, nor even as his attorney. The One who would carry his last possession to Calvary and be stripped of his decency before dying, wanted nothing to do with this plaintiff's case. 

Every time a Catholic enters a church we see an image of the Crucified Lord. We're reminded to "keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith." (Hebrews 12:2) The crucifix describes a dying or dead man, and must also remind us of our impending death. Memento mori!  No matter how young we might be, we have little time left. As some European tombstones remind their visitors,

"As I once was, so are you now. As I am now, so shall you be." 

As Europe shook off the last vestiges of the Roman Empire and set out to rebuild a civilization built on capital, Saint Francis  of Assisi had a vision of perfect joy. While his family, friends, neighbors, as well as civil and ecclesiastical authorities struggled to accrue more wealth, influence, security, and comfort the rich man's son decided to imitate the Lord and live with nothing. Perhaps his experience as a prisoner of war in neighboring Perugia shocked his acquisitive instincts. Sick, depressed, disenchanted, he could find no reason to want more stuff.  

But the Lord gave to him -- and to the world -- a revelation that seemed at the time unprecedented and comically absurd. He would find peace of mind and perfect joy in the imitation of Christ. He would own nothing but the open road; he would invest nothing but his trust in God. He would test God's reputation for Providence and discover if life with nothing might be more free, satisfying, and joyful than rented storage containers crammed with stuff.  

He soon found thousands of disenchanted men and women who shared his vision. His life became a revelation and renewal of the Gospel for Europe and the world. As the world now faces multiple catastrophes of climate change, nuclear war, and social upheaval, we hear Jesus and Saint Francis, along with Mary and Saint Clare, inviting us again to step out of these discomfort zones and walk the road to Easter. 

Optional Memorial of Saint Peter Chrysologus, bishop and doctor of the Church

 Lectionary: 406

The priests and prophets said to the princes and to all the people,  “This man deserves death; he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your own ears.”
Jeremiah gave this answer to the princes and all the people: “It was the LORD who sent me to prophesy against this house and city all that you have heard. 

Now, therefore, reform your ways and your deeds; listen to the voice of the LORD your God, so that the LORD will repent of the evil with which he threatens you.

By Greek standards, the story of Jeremiah might be called a tragedy, but the tragic figure would be Jerusalem and its people, rather than the prophet. They brought the Babylonian conquest and their diaspora to Asia, Europe, and Africa upon themselves. It might also differ from the tragic tradition because they acted less out of hubris than out of fear. 

Fear makes people do stupid things. Recalling the popular responses to several epidemics -- I think especially of Covid and HIV-AIDS, I remember the superstitious fears that created panic, hoarding, unnecessary and pointless costs, and, sometimes death, the very thing they feared most. 

These absurd responses to that exaggerated fear were often met by imprudent defiance as many refused a proven vaccine against Covid. They insisted upon their freedom and their right to refuse. (Americans are good at creating fictitious rights when the need arises.) In neither case are they listening to the voice of the Lord their God.

Jesus said to Jairus as the official's daughter was dying, "Do not be afraid; just have faith.” Only minutes before that he had commended an ailing woman who dared to touch his clothing. She was cured by her bold faith. 

The scriptures often urge us to respond to fearful situations with faith and prayer. Fear is useless and leads to reckless and irrational responses, not to mention its rudeness! (Of course, fear is good for business as any gun merchant will tell you.) 

When we turn to the Lord we set fear aside. We let him take control of the situation since he alone sees the Big Picture; we let him direct our response. In his presence, courtesy prevails, along with patience. If there's little time, there is still time to respect the dignity and intelligence of others. 

No one can say what might have happened to Jerusalem had the populace listened to Jeremiah and set aside their fears. There may be a market for "alternate history"  but its no more reliable than speculations about intelligent life in an alternate universe. The Christian is called to live courageously in the real world with reasonable prudence, unflappable patience, and resolute respect for others. We can do that when we believe that God is still in charge. 

Memorial of Saints Martha, Mary, and Lazarus

Lectionary: 607

Jesus told her, 

"I am the resurrection and the life;
whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and anyone who lives and believes in me will never die.
Do you believe this?"
She said to him, "Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world."

Today we celebrate the second annual Memorial of Saints Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. The threesome represent a family who welcomed the Lord, making him a fourth member. I would not speculate on Pope Francis's reasons for establishing this new memorial, but people who work with symbols say that three is an unstable number; it wants a fourth for balance and completeness. 

Unfortunately, social psychology says, three more often resolves into two against one and one against two. An alliance is formed as two people agree on a topic and the third must disagree. If they're trying to be reasonable the alliance may shift around the room as they consider various opinions and experiment with different ideas. 

In my experience, three people meeting for lunch are most comfortable if two have a clearly established relationship -- like marriage -- and the third person is good with that. And it can be very uncomfortable if two ally against one spouse. There's trouble ahead. 

So this Memorial of three siblings -- two sisters and a brother -- is especially delightful as we imagine their friendship in and with the Lord. Two are rather familiar to us, as we have watched them interact with the Lord, and heard them speak to him. Lazarus is a silent brother. Except for his death, the grief of his sisters, and his resuscitation, we know nothing of him. His name, heard in Saint Luke's story of the rich banqueter and the poor wretch, seems more coincidental than significant; lots of people share the same name. A good preacher could make something of it but I'll leave it at that. 

Pope Francis's memorial also settles the question around Mary of Bethany. She is not the woman of Magdala who was delivered of seven demons and discovered Jesus's empty tomb. Nor is she the woman who anointed Jesus's feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. (And we should not speculate upon the nature of that woman's sin.) Mary of Bethany is the silent sister who welcomed the Lord, sat at his feet, and listened to him while Martha noisily prepared a meal for Jesus and his gang. 

Finally, this memorial reminds us that every family has its troubles and a history of sorrows. This trio of Bethany is not a Facebook family, all happy days and cutesy smiles. Their image glows more with the blessed favor of Jesus's friendship than with their personal excellence. They can fume and quarrel and have some misgivings about Jesus's reliability as a friend -- both sisters said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died! -- and still be beautiful in his sight. 

We do well to remember this family as we consider our own families. The science of genealogy has recently been boosted by genome research, and people are discovering connections they never knew they had. Many are surprised to discover relatives who disappeared or died suspiciously; and assorted, other skeletons in more than a few closets. There might be divorce, abortion, disappearances, and unresolved feuds. 

But if Jesus's ancestors can include some seedy characters why shouldn't yours or mine?

It's all blessed by God's incarnate presence among us, and we look forward to that Great Day when, by God's grace, all will be well, and all will be well, and all manner of things will be well. 

Thursday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 404

The Kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea,
which collects fish of every kind.

The Englishman who coined a fine kettle of fish might have been thinking of Saint Matthew's parable about the Church as he gazed upon the congregation. When the Lord commanded his disciples to announce the Gospel to every nation neither he nor they could imagine the marvelous variety of faces that might crowd together to hear the preacher's words. Nor were they prepared for the questions and suspicions that might arise as thousands of different cultures clashed over hundreds of years, each with their different foods, songs, clothes, expressions, and philosophies. 

Saint Luke described the first major dilemma as the Jewish disciples encountered gentile converts. Jesus had preached only to Jewish people, but the first missionaries saw the gentiles moving closer to the dais even as the Jews edged away. They soon found themselves eating food they'd never dreamed of eating, and speaking in languages they'd never heard. Now there's a fine kettle of fish! someone might have said. 

The story is told of the young missionary in a tropical climate, who was nonplussed by the bare-breasted women nursing their babies during the Mass. He came up with a brilliant solution and distributed identical t-shirts to everyone, men and women alike. However, on the following Sunday, he was again dismayed to discover the ingenious women had cut convenient holes in their new shirts, to nurse the babies. 

The Holy Spirit teaches us to welcome everyone into our churches, neighborhoods, homes, and hearts. The same Spirit teaches us the words, songs, gestures, and rituals of our faith; we share them enthusiastically with everyone. (from the Greek from enthousiazein ‘ to be inspired or possessed by a god.’) 

Occasionally we have to disinvite someone who seems possessed by a spirit of mischief, but we do so with great reluctance. When their morals or manners seem intentionally disruptive and their focus is on themselves rather than the all-consuming, awe-inspiring presence of God they don't belong. 

But ordinarily we let the little disturbances pass as the the choir harmonizes and the people congregate (Latin congregatus, past participle of congregare "to herd together, collect in a flock, swarm; assemble,")

It's a known fact that we learn more from what we don't know than from what we do. And we especially learn to delight in the LORD from enthusiastic strangers who join us as our hearts expand to welcome them. If a sorting has to occur, the Spirit will do it at the proper time; perhaps not till Judgment Day, when time has run out. 

Wednesday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

 Lectionary: 403

"The Kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

Today's reading from Jeremiah begins with a loud complaint: 

Woe to me, mother, that you gave me birth! 

a man of strife and contention to all the land!

I neither borrow nor lend,

yet all curse me.

But it's immediately followed by a song of joy: 

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.

This passage from Jeremiah finds a complement in today's Gospel; the Lord speaks of the merchant's joy upon finding a treasure buried in a field. And both passages remind us of that seed of joy we should discover, plant, cultivate, nurture, harvest, and broadcast to everyone around us. As many seeds flower, so should our joy flourish. 

This wonderful seed of Jeremiah and the Evangelists is the word of God. I personally come to this joy by way of my delight in literature. I was an English major. I love a well turned phrase and when its found in the Bible it brings me particular delight. I don't think anyone ever said it better than the King James Version: "Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." (Matthew 6:34)

Much of the Bible was recorded by scribes who had devoted their lives to words and took particular delight both in hearing wonderful expressions and in recording them for posterity. When they heard a good idea badly expressed they found a better way to say the same thing, a way that would be remembered, memorized, and taught to others. It should endure for generations. I am told that some passages in the Book of Proverbs appear in Egyptian manuscripts that predated Abraham. They might have arrived in the Bible by way of the scholars in Solomon's academy in Jerusalem; they heard and knew the God's voice in an African language.

If not everyone majors in literature and most people do not cultivate the aesthetics of poetry, the holy people should nonetheless cultivate their love of God's word. We are the sheep who hear the Lord's voice amid the babble of other voices and flock around him. When he leads us out of the sheepcote to flowing springs and green fields we trip over ourselves in our eagerness to follow. We might be as dead as Lazarus -- four days in tomb, moldering, and rank -- but hearing his familiar voice we come back to life. We enjoy the words as they form in our mouths, "Here I am, Lord. I come to do your will!" Honey itself is not sweeter. (Ps 119:103)  

By reading, memorizing, pondering, sharing, and discussing the Word of God with our companions and fellow sojourners we cultivate this pleasure in God's word. The day will come -- It's promised! -- when this pleasure will fade like a candle in the brilliant sunshine of God's Kingdom. In That Day we will not need to pick up a book or key a computer, for we will feel and be filled with the Divine Knowledge of God -- the Shekina of his Presence. 

But in the meanwhile we taste and see the Goodness of the Lord. In the immortal words of Jackie Gleason, "How sweet it is." 

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

Lectionary: 606

Now will I praise those godly ancestors, each in their time. Their virtues have not been forgotten. Their wealth remains in their families, their heritage with their descendants; through God's covenant with them their family endures, their posterity for their sake. And for all time their progeny will endure, their glory will never be blotted out; their bodies are peacefully laid away, but their name lives on and on. At gatherings their wisdom is retold, and the assembly proclaims their praise. (Ecclesiasticus 1:10-15)

Everyone remembers the fourth commandment, "Honor your father and mother!" It means, "Do what they tell you and don't tell lies!" Many people struggle with that divine injunction as they care for their aging parents. Is it better to leave them alone in their homes, respecting their preference when they need round-the-clock nursing care? Or should we place them where they'll be safe and cared for? 

But we often fail to understand the context of the Fourth Commandment within the Book of Deuteronomy. There are several injunctions to go with it: 

• Be on your guard and be very careful not to forget the things your own eyes have seen, nor let them slip from your heart as long as you live, but make them known to your children and to your children’s children... that they may learn to fear me as long as they live in the land and may so teach their children. (Deuteronomy 4:9-10)
  
  
• Take to heart these words which I command you today. Keep repeating them to your children. Recite them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up. (Deut 6:6-7)
  
  
• Teach (these commands) to your children, speaking of them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up, and write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates, so that, as long as the heavens are above the earth, you and your children may live on in the land which the LORD swore to your ancestors he would give them. (Deut 11:19-21)

If our children and their children don't remember the salvation we have received, Deuteronomy suggests, there is no point to our freedom. That whole business of deliverance from slavery and escape through the Red Sea was an exercise in futility. And the Christian might add, "Christ died for nothing!"

Today we honor the distaff grandparents of Jesus, Saints Joachim and Ann. We have never imagined Jesus as the Lone Ranger. The Evangelists Matthew and Luke give us extensive genealogies, and his family appears in their narratives. Although unmarried and childless, the Son of God was always deeply enmeshed in a human family, and we know many of their names. 

Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” (Mark 6:3)

Saint Mark tells us his family sometimes interfered with his ministry. But Saint Luke tells us some of them were among his disciples in the Upper Room at Pentecost. 

Joachim and Ann remind us that salvation comes with family and history, and the serious responsibility of  passing this heritage of grace along. If our children and grandchildren lose the faith, Christ died in vain. 

Feast of Saint James, Apostle

 Lectionary: 605

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. Since, then, we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, I believed, therefore I spoke, we too believe and therefore speak, knowing that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and place us with you in his presence.

How many times, we might wonder, did the rumor spread throughout the early Church that Saint Paul had been arrested and executed only to see him appear again, preaching in a synagogue, city square, or marketplace? He was constantly being given up to death for the sake of Jesus, and yet there he is again believing and speaking. 

In today's reading the Apostle's citation -- "I believed, therefore I spoke." -- refers to Psalm 116, vs 10: 

I kept faith, even when I said,
“I am greatly afflicted!”
(and vs 11) I said in my alarm,
“All men are liars!”

We might echo that alarm when fact checkers despair of correcting all of a politician's lies, while entire nations spew alternate truth through their state-controlled media. Frightened, we declare of government and the media, "They're all liars!" And the ground seems to shift under our feet.  

This is why you stand up every Sunday and declare to the entire Church, "I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church." You stand on your conviction that there is truth, it is reliable, and it is known by the Church. This truth is the faith we profess, and it is the same as that of Saint James the Apostle, and of the alarmed psalmist before him. 

The fact that no one can define or summarize the gospel only confirms our conviction. No single word, sentence, or creed encapsulates our faith because it is God's word and not anyone's. We live within the Word of God, and are defined and judged by it. We bear the name of Christian because we belong to Christ. 

And even when James, John, and Paul are finally arrested, executed, and buried the Apostles remain with us in the Word, as we remain for our descendants. That truth might be denied by liars but it will not go away. 

Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

High Mountain Desert
Colorado Springs

Lectionary: 111

I tell you, if he does not get up to give the visitor the loaves because of their friendship, he will get up to give him whatever he needs because of his persistence.
"And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks, receives;
and the one who seeks, finds;
and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

I didn't expect the bird box to be occupied one Spring day when I opened the lid and peeked down into it. For a moment I couldn't figure out what I was seeing, for there was nothing but four odd-looking red squares. I soon realized they were the open beaks of four baby birds. Somewhere under the desperately hungry throats were tiny feathered bodies, but I couldn't see them for their open mouths. 

That, I think, is how we should pray to the Lord. I'm not talking about winning the home game or closing the deal on a new home. I'm talking about praying with the desperate realization that no one might survive this ordeal; that help must arrive soon or there will be no one to beg for it. 

Citizens of the secular city think of prayer as what we do when all else fails. (Haven't I seen a bumper sticker to that effect?) Or it's a courtesy for the children's sake, to remind them they are not hungry chicks but small humans who should not eat until everyone is seated and dinner is served. A Hail Mary is a football stratagem, or the complement to baling wire when we're trying to make this tractor last one more planting season. Citizens of that city should pray --mind you -- but only after they have worked hard to find a technological, biological, or sociological solution. They don't deserve to ask until then, and should not bother the LORD with their silly affairs.

As I read the polls, I see I am not the only one who thinks the great American experiment is failing. Many people think we should invoke martial law and suppress the needs of minorities. Who cares what transsexuals want when the entire nation is arming for civil war? 

As I read the Bible in this moment of raw fear, I see that God's people are often in dire straits. In the historic experience of Church, we always seem to have our back to the wall. Our prayers often remind the Lord -- as if he's not paying attention -- that he is about to lose an enormous investment, and the nations will laugh at his failure. 

Psalm 83 -- which is not heard in the Liturgy of the Hours -- expresses this desperation in the form of a curse against the nations:

Deal with them as with Midian;
as with Sisera and Jabin at the wadi Kishon,
Those destroyed at Endor,
who became dung for the ground.
Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb,
all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,

Understandably, the psalm is not used during our liturgical prayers. But rather than fixating on the horrible curse, with it memory of Sisera's bloody demise, we should experience our ancestors' stark fear and pray: 

God, do not be silent;

God, do not be deaf or remain unmoved!

See how your enemies rage;

your foes proudly raise their heads.

They conspire against your people,

plot against those you protect.

They say, “Come, let us wipe them out as a nation;

let Israel’s name be remembered no more!”

They scheme with one mind,

they have entered into a covenant against you....

We pray with the desperate realization that we are approaching extinction. We follow with the confession that we have not been willing to see the situation in its entirety; that is, from God's point of view. 

And we finally address our enemies with love and compassion. For our prayer has aroused  something they might not have, faith in the Lord who hears prayers. 

If the LORD has given us his Name, and will help us as we pray in his Name, he is also concerned about our enemies, and about every creature under heaven. As he said to Jonah: 

"...should I not be concerned over the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot know their right hand from their left, not to mention all the animals?”

We pray that our faith, which is as desperate as the four baby birds, might find an echo among the foes as we come together to work out solutions. 

In fact, there have been worse times; but they don't have to get worse for us. We are ready to pray with persistent perseverance today. 

Father, hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come....

 

Optional Memorial of Saint Bridget of Sweden, religious

 Lectionary: 400

 'No, if you pull up the weeds you might uproot the wheat along with them. Let them grow together until harvest; then at harvest time I will say to the harvesters, 

"First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning; but gather the wheat into my barn."'"

As I understand, there was little difference between the weeds and wheat of the Palestinian farmer's field. They were essentially the same plant; but, perhaps by accident and over the course of centuries, harvesters had first preferred and then cultivated the fatter grain. Just as shepherds had learned to breed the healthier sheep and eat the weaker ones, farmers had discovered cultivation. 

In human affairs, it's often difficult to tell the wise from the foolish, and the honest from the criminal. Jesus advises us with a useful metaphor, a good tree bears good fruit. A bad tree bears bad fruit. If you're trying to decide how to deal with certain persons, look at their words and actions, and their consequences. Their stated intentions might be deceptive; their charm can be deceitful; but their fruit tells us how to deal with them.  

Ordinarily, we make judgments about people and their actions every day, as we are created to do. I might be open-minded and friendly toward everyone but if I see someone entering the shopping center with an AR-15, I immediately form a low opinion and act accordingly. That person is evil. Wise parents keep an eye on their children's companions and urge them to steer clear of shady, suspicious types. With frequent conversations, they encourage them to aspire to higher goals and better values; and choose worthy friends with the same aspirations. 

I suppose our instinct for judgment mirrors our Creator's prerogative to judge our thoughts, words, and deeds; and to prefer human wheat over human weeds. The only proviso being: God's judgement is final while ours is uncertain and subject to error. 

I knew a fellow who, taking to heart the Lord's command to be generous, welcomed several bad people into his home. In short order they trashed the place and might have destroyed it had his family not intervened. When the Lord commands us to perform works of charity he speaks to us as a Church, and we do it prudently with appropriate caution while maintaining a resilient infrastructure. No one should presume to be the Lord's Lone Ranger Messiah, sent to show the Church what charity really looks like. 

In the meanwhile, as we deal with the weeds amid the wheat, we beg the Lord to give us the Spirit of Wisdom. We see the image of God in every person, and their potential for salvation, joy, and gladness. We pray that they might see it also. 

Feast of Saint Mary Magdalene

 Lectionary: 603

On my bed at night I sought him
whom my heart loves–
I sought him but I did not find him.
I will rise then and go about the city; in the streets and crossings I will seek Him whom my heart loves. 
I sought him but I did not find him.

• "Who are you looking for?" Jesus asked the two disciples of the Baptist as they tailed him along the Jordan River. 
• Mary and Joseph "looked for him among their relatives and acquaintances, but not finding him, they returned to Jerusalem to look for him."
• The good shepherd "leaves the ninety-nine in the desert and goes after the lost one until he finds it.
• "...the man and his wife hid themselves from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. The LORD God then called to the man and asked him: Where are you?"
• She said to them, “They have taken my Lord, and I don’t know where they laid him.” 
• “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” 
• "Search the Scriptures!" 

If you think you will know the Lord without searching for him, you are sadly mistaken. If you think you have found the Lord and need no longer search for him, you're ignoring an imperative of the Old and New Testaments. 

I think our following of the Lord is like discovering that we have in our outstretched hands a beautiful crystal ball. Perhaps we were lost and bewildered; we went searching for guidance, mercy, and hope; and we found this astonishing reassurance in our hands. We had not climbed the highest mountain to find it, nor plunged to the depths of the sea. We had not traveled to faraway, exotic places. 

But right there, in our misery, we found peace of mind. "God is here!" We said, "I have found the Lord!" and we showed it to everyone.

We noticed there was a silver thread attached to the ball, a thread which extended to the heavens, and we knew that God owned the beautiful gift. When the ball moved we moved with it. It led us into green meadows, along sparkling brooks, and we followed willingly.

Then one day we looked up and said, "Ah! I see where this is going!" And we began to go that way. And we didn't notice the ball had floated elsewhere, for we had taken our eye off the ball. 

We were quite sure of ourselves. "I know the Lord!" we said. "He leadeth me!" we boasted. But we were not searching; we were so certain we'd been found. 

When the illusion collapsed and we realized we were lost and bewildered again, many of us turned back to the Lord, (though some didn't.) And we went in search again until the Beauty reappeared. 

Knowledge of the Lord is relationship with another person, and no one -- neither human nor angels -- can grasp a sure and certain knowledge of the Other. If the LORD knows me, he does not control me; he will never cancel my freedom for without freedom there is neither love nor a person to love. 

We're too familiar with tempestuous affairs in which lovers threaten to murder the beloved if they should flee. They are possessed by jealousy and have no love. They would own and control as if the other person is a tool or toy. 

When the Lord called Mary Magdalene and she clung to him for those several moments, they both knew they could not stay there forever. He had to return to the Father; she had to inform the disciples. Both had to resume the search. 

There is presence in absence; there is discovery in searching. In all humility, and with frequent confusion, we follow the Lord in a Cloud of Unknowing, confident that we are saved not by knowledge but by fidelity. 

Optional Memorial of Saint Lawrence of Brindisi, priest and doctor of the Church

Lectionary: 398

“But blessed are your eyes, because they see,
and your ears, because they hear.
Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”

"Life is unfair!" they say, and the equality of all human beings is simply untrue. Some are larger, some are wiser, some are richer, some are healthier. Anyone who supposes life should be fair and people should be equal must commit themselves to the endless chore of treating others equally and fairly. And to do so, they have to be unfair to themselves; they should consistently act like the least and last of all. 

The Church points to the Lord and his saints as those who have actually lived that way. Few saints started out with that attitude; their bios attest to many incidents of unkindness and downright wickedness. But at some point the Divine Inspiration which impelled Jesus from the moment of his conception fell upon our saints and they responded freely and generously. Franciscans, like the members of all religious communities, point to their founder as a sterling example of that humility. 

But it's easier and seems more reasonable to embrace the inequity, and to take care of oneself first. I have heard several preachers begin their interpretation of the Two Greatest Commandments with, "Love yourself!" They see a society founded upon the myth of women's inferiority in the home and workplace; they hear their cry for justice and urge them to "love yourself first."

The Lord's teaching is more subtle than that, as he explains with his golden rule, "Do to others as you would have them do to you." I should consider what I would want in that person's situation, and how I would be treated. And then I should ask that person about it, and treat them accordingly. (Not everyone wants Tabasco on their eggs as I might.) 

In today's gospel the Lord recognizes the apparent inequity of life. "...many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it." 

Some self-described Christians annul their baptism by refusing the gift. They choose not to see the wonderful works of God; they opt out of hearing God's prophetic word. They don't show up when we offer the Sacraments as signs of mercy; they decline to attend the preaching of the Word.  

Hearers of the Word, on His right hand, who are privileged with divine election, commit themselves to equal and just treatment for others. They see the obvious, that every society arbitrarily selects pariahs for unfair treatment. And they choose a preferential option for them. Nor is their love of homeland tainted with a myth of exceptionalism; they have studied its history. They know that every age is violent and every nation, barbaric; but we should nonetheless strive for that justice which conceives peace and gives birth to equality.

The Resurrection of the Lord guarantees our hope. The Father would not allow the mob-inspired, state-sponsored murder of God the Son to finish his Salvation History. Rather, he raised the Lord as a sign of victory and vindication. 

"I am still here!" he says to us. And we are still here, working, praying, expecting both justice and mercy. 

Wednesday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time

 Lectionary: 397

Jesus spoke to them at length in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and birds came and ate it up....

Today's parable, told in all three synoptic gospels, may be a weary observation, a deep theological truth, or a reassuring promise of fulfillment. 

Broadcasting seed on prepared soil is not hopelessly inefficient; it's still done where airplanes scatter seed, fertilizer, and pesticides over rice paddies. But ancient farmers could not imagine machinery which carefully places each kernel, nut, pip, and stone at its precise depth in soil which is neither too dry nor too moist. They did not foresee satellite technology which tells the farmer which square yard of land is more fertile than another. They just threw it about and hoped for the best. 

Which wasn't very good by our standards but, God willing, sometimes produced an astonishing harvest of a hundred fold. Like devout farmers of today, they prayed for good weather and a generous market; and that they would be spared of pestilence, disease, and invading armies. We would not be here today if it didn't usually work out that way. 

And they knew that much of the seed would fail. If they scattered the seed haphazardly on foot-trodden, rocky, dry, or shallow soil, it was certain to fail.  

Jewish historians remembered innumerable invasions and the dispersal of Jews from India to Spain. They knew that the seed of Abraham had been spread throughout the world but few returned to Jerusalem to honor the God of Abraham. Many had been called; the chosen were few. It was an ancient, familiar pattern. Such are the ways of God. 

As Jesus prepared his disciples to announce the Good News to all the nations, he knew the Word of God would often fall upon deaf ears. It would not penetrate hard hearts, nor survive amid distracting weeds. I think of the time I visited a patient in the hospital who was watching news on the two hospital televisions, his laptop computer, and his cell phone -- simultaneously. He could not be parted from these distractions by doctors, nurses, therapist, dietitians, or chaplains. Not even pain could penetrate his anxious worry about developments in faraway capitals of the world. "I'll come back another time, when you're ready to see me." I said. 

When Constantine decreed that the Roman Empire, henceforth and forever, should be Christian, some ecclesiastics thought their work was finished. Everyone will be baptized; everyone will be confirmed and receive the Eucharist; everyone will hear and receive the Word of God.

It never happened, of course; and, almost immediately, the Spirit began to drive individuals into the wilderness to live as hermits, nuns, and monks. And when the monasteries became storage sheds of spiritual dead wood, mendicant orders flooded the world with wandering preachers. Some of them were useless beggars in religious habits. And so forth, and so on. Even now we see ambitious new religious communities springing up. Some will prosper, most will fail. 

The Word of God endures; the Spirit never gives up; Emmanuel remains. We'll never enjoy success. God doesn't know the meaning of the word. 

As he prepared for his agony in the Garden, a trial with false accusations and lying testimony, torture, and death on a cross, Jesus regretted nothing. Abandoned by his disciples, he faced certain doom with nothing to show for all his work. He believed God is faithful. His mother Mary, standing by the cross, could no more imagine his resurrection than she could imagine continental drift or space travel, but she believed God is faithful. As Jesus said, 

...it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land and would sleep and rise night and day and the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how. Of its own accord the land yields fruit, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. And when the grain is ripe, he wields the sickle at once, for the harvest has come.”

Tuesday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 396

Who is there like you, the God who removes guilt and pardons sin for the remnant of his inheritance;
Who does not persist in anger forever, but delights rather in clemency,
And will again have compassion on us, treading underfoot our guilt?

The editor's introduction to the Book of Micah, found on the USCCB website, summarizes the book thus: 

"Through the prophetic voice, the Lord announces the impending punishment of God’s people by means of military defeat and exile because of their failure to establish justice. After that punishment God will bring the people back to their land and establish perpetual peace. The will of God for human beings is that they do justice, love goodness, and walk humbly with God (6:6–8)."

Today's reading is taken from the last chapter of The Book of Micah. The Prophet recalls a peaceful era in Egypt, after Jacob and his family had settled at Bashan and Gilead, long before the "new king came to Egypt who knew not Joseph." It was a good time to be alive. But that was a long time ago in a faraway land. 

The prophet considers the inevitable punishment that must follow their "wicked scales and bags of dishonest weight." God's holiness cannot abide cheating and corruption in God's holy city. The world should be admiring their hospitality to aliens and their just treatment of widows and orphans. But Jerusalem is not a city on a hill, or a light to the nations. It is corrupt, ruled by a wealthy few like any other city.  

But, having announced their inevitable doom, Micah also looks directly at his Prophetic Inspiration and considers God's goodness. 

You will cast into the depths of the sea
all our sins;
You will show faithfulness to Jacob,
and grace to Abraham,
As you have sworn to our fathers
from days of old.

From ancient time the Church ponders the Lord of Revelation who is the same Lord of Creation. Our Saving God created the universe out of chaos with wisdom and reason. It stands to reason that wicked scales and dishonest weights create a disorder which cannot make sense and must be harmonized. We have only to study our sciences to see beauty, wisdom, and sanity. If we discover a logic which is incomprehensible it is not illogical; it is simply beyond us. 

Cynical persons, perhaps tragically harmed by abuse and violence, might cling to the false promises of chaos. They live in darkness and say they see clearly the way things are. We might sympathize with their stories of victimization -- for we have all experienced betrayal in one form or another -- but we must invite them to come home to wisdom, reason, and sanity. Their posturing is illogical and if they cling to it they will perish with it. If they think their destruction is tragic or romantic, from our safe distance we see it's only nonsense.  

We know the Spirit of God because we gaze upon God's goodness, rather than upon our memories of hurt. We know the truth; it is trustworthy, good, and beautiful. 

Monday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time

 Lectionary: 395

An evil and unfaithful generation seeks a sign,
but no sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah the prophet.
Just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.

Ask Google, "Is trust given or earned?" and you'll be given "about 74,700,000 results." Suddenly, it's become a political question as Republicans contest the 2020 presidential election while murmuring not a word about the concurrent congressional elections. They were satisfied with the 2016 election also, despite their nominee's winning only the electoral college vote. Their Democratic opponents wonder if the Republican anxiety is sincere, or motivated by fear of Mr. Trump's cynicism. Even before November 2016 he said he would not accept the election results unless he won.  

Jesus's opponents want proof of his identity, and ask for a sign that he is truly the Messiah. Their question suggests they might believe in him if provides a persuasive sign. But what would that sign be? Walking on water? Feeding five thousand? Healing the sick, or raising the dead? 

But "no sign will be given." There is no point in proving oneself to intractable critics -- be they Pharisees or Republicans. They're fine where they are. They have their own agenda and its been set for a very long time. They will believe only what fits their agenda conveniently. The smallest need to adjust or the slightest discomfort to their way of thinking will disprove to them beyond any reasonable doubt, the Lord's claim upon his true identity. 

In the end, Jesus dismissed his critics to their own damnation. Resurrected, he appeared only to his chosen disciples, to those who had believed in him. When he ascended to God's right hand, they bestowed the Holy Spirit only upon believers. There were no further blessings for the skeptical. 

"Is trust given or earned?" Google goes on to explain that, 

"...trust is granted, not earned. Trust allows leaders, employees, relationships, and organizations to flourish and grow. It is fundamental to most everything in life. Lack of trust can lead to damaging relationships and a hostile environment."

That last sentence applies broadly: Lack of trust in Jesus leads to damaged relationships and a hostile environment." Faith in the Lord realigns all four relationships: with God the Father, with other people, with ourselves, and with the world in which we live. 

By trusting in his word, the faithful find themselves embraced by the Trinitarian God. Saint Francis described Mary's relationship to the Lord thus: 

Holy Virgin Mary... you are daughter and handmaid of the most high heavenly Father, mother of our most holy Lord Jesus Christ, and spouse of the Holy Spirit. 

Each of those red words describes a physical relationship with God. Through faith the Christian also has a physical relationship with God, instituted by Baptism in water and by eating and drinking the Eucharist. 

Our trust is more than imaginary; it is as real as that of the Crucified when he descended into hell. It has no agenda, no limits, and no hesitation. 

 

Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

 Lectionary: 108

They asked Abraham, "Where is your wife Sarah?"
He replied, "There in the tent."
One of them said, "I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah will then have a son."

Sarah, of course, laughed at the mysterious visitor who predicted she'd have a son by this time next year. She was long past child-bearing age and could only laugh at the stranger's apparent bad joke. Ordinarily, politeness dictates that we do not speak of an elderly couple's having no children. A considerate pastor, knowing the couple well and perhaps charmed by their lifelong fidelity, might ask how were they finally reconciled to their misfortune. If they ignore the question or change the subject, he does not pursue it. 

But the Lord had other business to attend -- namely the hell-raising in the cities on the plain -- and he intends to bless the couple with a child. When he abruptly predicts the birth of Isaac, whose name means laughter, they laugh out loud. 

Today's readings concerns the spirit of hospitality in its many facets. There is the welcome Abraham and Sarah offer to the three-personed God. Saint Luke's gospel describes that which the sisters Martha and Mary offered to Jesus. And Saint Paul describes his cheerful manner of receiving the afflictions of Christ in his own body. 

Hospitality welcomes more than the welcomed; it also receives the unexpected, rude, and unpleasant. If Sarah's laughter at  her three guests was discourteous; and Martha's entrance interrupted her Guest's teaching, Paul demonstrated that resilient spirit which receives discomfort with disarming pleasantness. 

Hospitality is an active passivity and a passive activity. It is not simply passive. Nor should it be a silent, impassive aggression. Rather, its receptivity welcomes the whole person, whatever difficulty that person presents, and the opportunity to be gracious. This intentional welcome often transforms the inconvenience to blessing, as when Saint Paul, transformed his jail cell into a chapel.  

We can assume that the Lord's host was mollified by the his gently calling her name. I think of his voice not as tsking, but as calling her from a faraway place back to herself. He loves Martha as dearly as he loves the quieter Mary. If she speaks her mind before she is placated, he loves her all the more for it. 

A nation of immigrants has a particular need to hear today's readings from Genesis, Colossians, and Saint Luke. The scriptures record how the prophets invoked the memory of Israel's escape from Egypt, 

You shall not oppress or afflict a resident alien, for you were once aliens residing in the land of Egypt. Exodus 22:20

Many large nations, both ancient and modern, have long histories of welcoming immigrants with their culture and languages; they are enriched by the transaction. I think of China, India, and Egypt. The United States, still recovering from the Civil War, experienced a rebirth as millions of immigrants -- many of them Catholic -- arrived from Europe. 

Others peoples, like the doomed Vikings in Greenland, despising the native Inuits and their diet, starved when there was food within reach of a fishing pole. 

Clearly, a polarized America needs fresh thinking; our arguments have become platitudes and our reasoning, cliches. Jesus urged his disciples to go and learn the meaning of, "I want mercy and not sacrifice." 

Today he commands us to learn, "Mi casa es su casa." 

Optional Memorial of Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Lectionary: 394

Woe to those who plan iniquity,
and work out evil on their couches;
In the morning light they accomplish it
when it lies within their power.
They covet fields, and seize them;
houses, and they take them....

Several weeks ago I attended Shakespeare's "King Richard III" in Louisville's Central Park. The protagonist makes no secret of his wickedness as he gleefully boasts of his intentions to the audience. Nor are most of his fellows in the play unaware of his malice. He openly plans iniquity and works out evil. He is despicable, if not despised, from the outset. 

But, at least for the nonce, the audience is amused and his fellows do not comprehend the full scope of Richard's wickedness. Though everyone knows something, no one knows everything until the end of the play. By then, they cannot deal with his continual lying, his conspiracies, and deceits. When he blames everyone and anyone for his troubles real and imagined, their reasonable replies and open contempt do not deter him. He just keeps going until even his allies desert him and he is mercilessly destroyed. His tragedy is that he thought nothing could ever contain his boundless ambition. 

I wish I could say I've never met anyone like him, but I have known one -- and known of several. Remembering my personal experience, hate is not too strong a word. If there is forgiveness it is sympathy for a tormented fellow creature, and not for a brother or friend. 

The scriptures and Church history are not unfamiliar with such persons. And in the counseling parlor I hear of others like Richard III. "They cheat an owner of his house, a man of his inheritance." More than once, in the VA hospital, I heard of relatives who pillaged the dying  patient's home, thus avoiding the complications of the court, their inheritance, and his will. "Possession is nine tenths of the law." they might reply, in Richard's spirit, to any objections. 

When the Day of Judgement comes, Micah's prediction might be said of them: 

On that day a satire shall be sung over you,

and there shall be a plaintive chant:

“Our ruin is complete,

our fields are portioned out among our captors,

The fields of my people are measured out,

and no one can get them back!”

Thus you shall have no one

to mark out boundaries by lot

in the assembly of the LORD.

Micah referred to the march of history and the restoration of justice. He expected the destruction of the nation with its government and economy, and the triumph of the Kingdom of God. If theologically accurate, it might have been too optimistic as the Assyrians did not impose a just or fair regime on the conquered Israel. Richard III concluded with the triumph of King Henry VII and the establishment of the ruling House of Tudor, and not the Kingdom of God.

So where is the Gospel in all this dreary human history? 

Behold, my servant whom I have chosen,

my beloved in whom I delight;

I shall place my Spirit upon him,

and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.

He will not contend or cry out,

nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets.

Our faith is religious; it is reasonable and hopeful but, unlike Communism, it does not expect human history to finally work itself out in a just and final solution. Nothing must happen unless God wills it, and when God wills it cannot be predicted. It will not be when the proletariat triumphs, or when democratic and capitalistic systems are embraced by every nation.  

Rather, we beg the Lord daily to guide us toward a peace that is both just and merciful. We might foresee better solutions, we cannot imagine a final one. And we pray for that gift which the Lord offers to everyone, the peace of God that surpasses all understanding (which) will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.