Author: Msgr. Charles Pope

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The Word of the Lord Remains Forever! A Homily for the 33rd Sunday of the Year

As winter approaches and the end of the liturgical year draws near, we ponder the passing quality of this world and the fading of its glories. Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel reading must surely have shocked, even horrified, His apostles. Let’s look at His stunning words and seek to apply them in our own life.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus is at the top of the Mount of Olives with His apostles. From this vantage point, they look across the Kidron Valley to the magnificent Temple and all of Jerusalem spread out before them. The apostles marvel at the glorious beauty of the Temple. Its large, perfectly-carved, white, gilded, ashlar stones gleam like the sun. Indeed, it was one of the wonders of the ancient world, so beautiful and majestic.

Jesus challenges their admiration. He shocks them with the admonition that all the glory they see is soon to be destroyed, that not one stone will be left on another, that it will all be thrown down (Mk 13:2). Shocked, the apostles ask Him when this will happen and what signs will precede this awful event.

Jesus teaches them that all the glory they see is about to be taken away. The Temple, with all its rituals, its liturgical cycles, and its endless slaughter of animals in sacrifice for sin, is about to be replaced. These ancient rituals merely pointed to Jesus and all that He would do. Jesus is now the Temple; He is also the Lamb Sacrifice. All that the Temple pointed to is fulfilled in Jesus. Thus, the Temple is at an end. Jesus is ushering in a New Covenant. Sure enough, 40 years later (in A.D. 70), the Roman Army, after having surrounded Jerusalem for a period of 3 ½ months, breached the walls, poured into the city, and destroyed the Temple and all of Jerusalem. In this epic battle, according to Josephus, 1.2 million Jewish people lost their lives. As Jesus prophesied, not one stone was left on another. According to Josephus, so complete was the destruction of Jerusalem, that when the Romans had finished their work it was not clear that the city had ever existed.

In 2000 years, despite several attempts, the Jewish Temple has never been rebuilt. Everything Jesus predicted came to pass. This is the historical place and context of today’s Gospel.

What does this mean for us, some 2000 years later? Let’s consider three basic themes.

1. The Perspective of Passing – Toward the end of the Gospel passage, the Lord says, Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. Note the definitiveness of this statement: this world will pass away. All of the things that impress us: the might of the powerful, the influence of the popular, the glory of all the glitterati—all of this will pass away.

Indeed, even now it is passing away, its destruction is at hand. Scripture says,

        • The world in its present form is passing away (1 Cor 7:31).
        • We have here, no lasting city (Heb 13:14).
        • Put not your trust in princes, in mortal men in whom there is no hope. Take their breath, they return to clay, and their plans that day come to nothing (Psalm 146:3-4).

Yes, all of the glory, even what seems beautiful and fair, is passing away. Don’t be so impressed by this world’s offerings. All of it—no matter how powerful, influential, or sturdy it may seem—is slated for destruction. It is already passing away.

Painful though this perspective may be, it is important and healing. It brings with it a strong kind of serenity. Like every truth, the truth that all things are passing sets us free.  We are reminded not to set down too many roots here so that we are not resentful when this world passes away.

2. The Permanence Proclaimed – The Lord tells us that His words will not pass away. Although the world will pass away, the truth and the Word of God will remain forever.

Too many people root their lives in passing things. The challenge for us is to root our lives in the Word of God, which remains forever. Worldly glories, power, access, and wealth—all these things fade and disappear, but God’s wisdom and His plan remain forever.

Consider, for a moment, the Church. The Lord has said that the forces of Hell would strive to prevail, overpower, and destroy the Church, but He promised that such attempts would never be successful (Matt 16:18). The Church is indefectible, by God’s Word, by His promise. No weapons, no war waged against the Church, will prevail.

In all of this the Lord has been proven correct. The Church has seen the Roman Empire, the Carolingian Empire, the British Empire, the Soviet Socialist Republic, and many others rise to power only to fade and disappear. Heresies and all sorts of foolishness have come and gone, and here we still are proclaiming the eternal Gospel, the Word of the Lord. Though the world will pass away, the Word of the Lord will remain forever!

3. The Priority Prescribed – If this world as we know it is passing away, and the Lord, His Kingdom, His Church, and His Word will remain forever, what should be our priority? The Lord says, in effect, that we know very well what our priority should be, but we willfully ignore it.

Learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves, you know that summer is near. In the same way, when you see these things happening, know that he is near, at the gates (Matt 24:32-33).

Yes, we know very well that the Day of Judgment is coming. Too easily, though, we dream on and do not follow the prescribed priority. Wealth, fame, and glory are all uncertain and  passing, but death, judgment, Heaven, and Hell are certain and remain forever. We too easy fiddle on with things that are uncertain and passing while neglecting what is certain and eternal. Ridiculous!

It would be foolish to book passage on a sinking ship. Similarly, it is imprudent to make this world and its demands our fundamental priority. It is wise to set our sights on, and lay hold of, the Kingdom that lasts forever. It is sad that so many spend people their time “rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic” of this world. 

What are our priorities? Frankly, most of our priorities are not things that matter to God. Even if we attain the passing things for which we strive, they will all ultimately slip through our fingers. We obsess over passing things like our physical health while neglecting enduring things like our spiritual health. We should care for our bodies, but even more should we care for our souls. If we would expend as much effort looking for a time and place to pray as we do searching for a restaurant for dinner, we would be spiritual heavyweights rather than physically overweight.

In today’s Gospel the Lord stands before the Temple: an impressive building, a symbol of power and of worldly glories. Impressed by it though the Apostles are, the Lord is not impressed with passing things. He counsels us to get our priorities straight and to focus on things that last: His Word, which never passes away, and our ultimate destiny, where we will spend eternity.

We find time for everything else, why not for prayer, Scripture, fellowship in the Church, and the sacraments?

What are your priorities? Be honest, now, be honest.

 

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The Tower of Babel

In the story of the great flood, we saw how evil and sin had grown so fast and become so serious that God saw it necessary to cleanse the whole world and dramatically prune the human family. While the flood was a severe measure, that tells us how bad the problem had become! The flood was like a giant “bath” that cleansed the world, making an end of sin and new beginning for goodness to grow.

But the world after the flood was far from sin-free. Even in Noah’s family there are struggles with drinking too much and the indiscretion and divisions that often follow such matters.

In the decades and centuries that followed, humanity grew once again and began to spread toward the lands east of where Eden had once been. The land was called “Shinar”, but it would be called “Babylon” later in the Scriptures. It is a region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers (aka Mesopotamia). Today the region encompasses Iran and Iraq.

At this moment we encounter a story about the sin of pride wherein we forget the glory of God and esteem ourselves too highly. Let’s consider this story and seek to learn from it.

The Story of the Tower of Babel

Now the whole world had one language and a common form of speech. And as people journeyed eastward, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” So, they used brick instead of stone, and tar instead of mortar. “Come,” they said, “let us build for ourselves a city with a tower that reaches to the heavens, that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of all the earth.” Then the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the sons of men were building. And the LORD said, “If they have begun to do this as one people speaking the same language, then nothing they devise will be beyond them. Come, let Us go down and confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” So the LORD scattered them from there over the face of all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it is called Babel, for there the LORD confused the language of the whole world, and from that place the LORD scattered them over the face of all the earth. (Gen 11:1-9)

What Do We Learn?

Fundamentally this story is about the sinful drive of pride. Pride is the most serious of sins we commit. It is a very deep drive, so deep we often aren’t even aware that we are doing it. It is also at the root of every other sin we commit. Pride is the sinful tendency of esteeming oneself more than is proper and at the same time denigrating the goodness of others. Pride also stirs us to reject the lawful authority of others, including God, and through it we often refuse appropriate submission. The proud man is under pressure since he seeks to live the lie that he is more

than he really is. St. Gregory lists four kinds of pride:

    • Thinking that my gifts are from myself, rather than from God or others who taught me.
    • Thinking that, even if my gifts are from God or others, it is because I deserve them.
    • Claiming an excellence I do not have.
    • Despising others and their gifts or thinking or that I am the only one who can do things.

Pride makes us think we know better than God and that we can disregard what he teaches in his Scriptures and the Church. Pride is extremely dangerous because it distances us from God and makes him seem irrelevant to us. It even makes him seem to be a competitor or rival too our control or power.

As we saw earlier, the sin of Adam and Eve was, at its heart, a sin of pride. Satan told them that if they ate the forbidden fruit they would become like gods, deciding for themselves what is good or evil (see Gen 3:5). They distrusted and disregarded what God had told them, insisted on eating the fruit and knowing evil personally.

In this story of the Tower of Babel, pride is evident in their intentions to build a massive city and a tower that reaches to the heavens, that we may make a name for ourselves. Reaching to heaven is not possible for man. Even getting back to the earthly Garden of Eden is beyond our powers (see Gen 3:24).  Only by the wonderful grace and mercy of God can we ever hope to see heaven.

Large cities were a sign of collective human power. Like today, they were considered the economic and political powerhouses of their day. They were surrounded also by high walls and military embattlements. All of this exuded power, security, hubris, and self-reliance.

Further, “making a name for ourselves” is prideful. To God alone be the glory! And, if there is any human achievement it is only on account of our God-given intellects and gifts working with what God has made that make human endeavors successful. Scripture says, Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. (Ps 127:1)

Note however, God is not opposed to human development or ingenuity. In fact, he placed us here and gave us a mission. He told us to be fruitful, multiply, to fill the earth and subdue it (see Gen 1:28; 2:15) In effect, we are to take the raw materials of this universe and build beautiful and useful things, help creation reach its potential, and unlock its secret powers, all by the grace of God. But thinking we can soar to heaven or make a name for ourselves apart from God is laughable and prideful.

What a Joke!

The laughable quality of the pride inherent in the builders of Babel is made clear when their mighty city and tower are so puny that God must come down to earth to see it! The text says of the completed tower and metropolis: Then the LORD came down to see the city and the tower.  Yes, it is implied that the Lord must stoop and squint to even see what this mighty city and tower is! Our greatest works are barely visible from heaven.

We do well to recall that we are tiny specks, standing on a slightly larger speck (the earth) which circles a slightly larger and fiery speck (the sun), circling the center of a slightly larger dust cloud of specks called the Milky Way galaxy. It has tens of billions of similar stars, and the Milky Way is just one of billions of other galaxies in the vastness of space. So, you might say that the mighty city and Tower of Babel, and our own larger and modern versions of these aren’t so big and mighty after all.  Humility everyone! Let’s have some humility.

God must Act

Because pride is so dangerous, God once again acted to prune our pride and limit our stupidity. He did this by confusing our speech and confounding our grandiose notions of one-world government and collectivist power. He spread forth the human family throughout the world and thereby decentralized our prideful power. Both language and distance are used to assist humanity to live in families, God’s preferred social network, rather than in large collectivist systems or city-states that are depersonalizing and often dehumanizing. God also brings diversity by introducing new languages and giving wider experiences by locating us everywhere in the world.

In the modern world there has been a tendency to return to large cities with tall buildings. This has once again contributed to a lot of pride and depersonalization. There are globalist notions of one-world government and centralized control that seek to create progress and a kind of utopia that replaces God and undermines families. These modern attempts have usually ended in dystopian disasters and wars, leading to grave human suffering and a loss of freedom. The Catechism of the Catholic Church warns especially of godless schemes that seek to build a “city of man” without God:

The Church has rejected the totalitarian and atheistic ideologies associated in modern times with “communism” or “socialism.” [and the] individualism and the absolute primacy of the law of the marketplace over human labor in capitalism. Regulating the economy solely by centralized planning perverts the basis of social bonds; and regulating it solely by the law of the marketplace fails social justice, for “there are many human needs which cannot be satisfied by the market.” Reasonable regulation of the marketplace and economic initiatives, in keeping with a just hierarchy of values and a view to the common good, is to be commended. (CCC #2425)

The story of Babel warns us to curb our tendency to think too highly of ourselves or over-estimate our knowledge and abilities apart from God, who gave them to us. We must humble ourselves before God, listen carefully to what he says, and heed what we hear. Anything else is colossal and towering pride.

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The Whole Law, Standing on One Foot – A Homily for the 31st Sunday of the Year

Pharisees Question Jesus, by J. Tissot (1886-94)

Hillel the Elder, sometimes referred to as Rabbi Hillel, was a Jewish religious leader who lived shortly before Jesus’ time. There is a famous story told of him in which he was challenged by a potential convert to teach him the entire Torah while “standing on one foot.” In other words, can you distill the essence and present it succinctly?

That same theme may be behind the question that is raised today by the scholar of law, who asks, “Which is the first of all the commandments?”

In answering while “standing on foot,” Jesus recites the traditional Jewish Shema:

שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָד.
Šĕmaʿ Yisĕrāʾel Ădōnāy Ĕlōhênû Ădōnāy eḥād.
Hear, O Israel, The Lord our God is Lord alone!

The fuller text Jesus cites is from Deuteronomy:

Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. Take to heart these words which I enjoin on you today (Deut 6:4-6).

Jesus then adds, also in common Rabbinic tradition, The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.

Do not miss the point that the discussion of the greatest “law” centers on the word “love.” Most of us miss this connection between the law and love.

Particularly in Western culture, we tend to put love and law just about as far apart from each other as any two things can be. For us, the law is about police officers and courtrooms, about forcing people to do things under threat of some penalty. Love, on the other hand, is about doing things willingly, because we want to rather than because we have to.

Note too, this is no mere sentimental love. It involves the heart but also the mind and will. In the verses that follow the Shema we read:

And you shall teach them diligently to your children and speak of them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as reminders on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates. (Deut 6:7-9)

In other words, these teachings and precepts of the Lord are to be taken seriously and insisted upon. Parents are to drill them into their children. There is to be no forgetful moment when it comes to the Lord’s teachings. We are to observe them sleeping, walking, standing still; all the time! Love is like this. It thinks constantly of the beloved and what will please!

St Augustine is sometimes misquoted as saying “Love God and then do what you will.” This is inaccurate. A better translation says, “Love God and, what you will, do.” In other words, when we love our will is conformed to the beloved. We love what they love and who they love.

Consider that a man who really loves his wife does not need a law to tell him that he may not physically or verbally abuse her but rather must support, protect, and encourage her. Nevertheless, though he may not need the existence of the law in writing, he is in fact following the law of love when he observes these and other norms. There is a language of love, a law of love, an outworking of love’s works and fruits. In the end, love does what love is, and love is supportive, enthusiastic, even extravagant in keeping its own norms and laws. Love does what love is.

Thus, when asked about the law the Lord just says that we should love. Yes, love God passionately, with your whole heart, soul, and strength. As you do this, you will love what and whom He loves, for this is the natural fruit of love. The more one loves God, the more one begins to love His laws, His vision, what He values. Yes, all the commandments flow from loving God. Real love has its roots; it has its laws, methods, and modes.

Here, then, is the whole law, standing on one foot: love God. Let His love permeate you completely and every other commandment will implicitly flow from this love.

When we love God, we stop asking unloving questions like these:

Do I have to pray? For how long?
Do I have to go to confession? How often?
Do I have to go to Mass? How often? Where can I find the shortest and most convenient one?
Do I have to read God’s Word?
Do I have to make God’s teachings the priority of my life, overruling all else?
Do I need to honor and care for my parents?
Do I need to respect lawful authority and contribute to the common good?
Do I need to respect life from conception to natural death?
Do I need to work to cherish and safeguard the lives of others?
Do I need to live chastely, reverencing the gift of sexuality that is at the heart of human life and family?

Love does not ask whether we must respect each other enough to speak the truth in love, to be men and women of our word. It does not wonder whether it is acceptable to steal from others or to fail to give them what is justly due. It does not wonder whether we should be generous to the poor rather than greedy, or whether to be appreciative and satisfied rather than covetous.

No, love does not ask questions like these, for it already knows the answer; it lives the answer.

Love is the law, standing on one foot, and all the rest is commentary.

God is merciful and does supply the commentary: in His Scriptures and in the vast Tradition of the Church. Praise God for it all.

The saints say, “If God wants it then I want it. If God doesn’t want it then I don’t want it.” Is that the way most of us talk? Is that the way most of us talk? Many of us are heard to say, “How come I can’t have it? It’s not so bad; everyone else has it.” That doesn’t really sound like lovers talking does it? Somehow the saints knew the law of God and could say it standing on one foot. How about us?

All the commentary is nice, and surely needed, but don’t miss the point: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength, and your neighbor as yourself.

Love is the law, and the law is to love.

 

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The Great Flood And What We learn From It

In the Story of Cain and Abel, we saw how easily sin causes more sin. Adam and Eve’s sin wounded our nature and made us strongly inclined to sin. While God teaches that we can master sin, the Scriptures tell the sad legacy that we are now inclined to indulge our sins, more than master them. Cain yielded to his envious anger and killed his brother. The poison of sin is multiplying! We have much to learn in what God does in response.

The Wages of Sin is Death

By the sixth chapter of Genesis, we are told that sin had so multiplied among the children of men that God found it necessary to take severe actions. Before the great flood, people lived to be very old. It is said that Adam lived to be 930 years old. Most of the other patriarchs and people before the flood lived well into their 900s as well. Methuselah lived 969 years and Noah 950. While many scoff at these ages as unlikely, we need not doubt that Scriptures record their ages accurately just because it is not our current experience. Indeed, the Scriptures also record that God put an end to such lengthy lives due to sin. We read: So the LORD said, “My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days shall be 120 years.” (Gen 6:3).  Recall that God had warned Adam and Eve that if they ate the forbidden fruit, suffering and death would be their lot. Prior to this they were immortal. Hence, we see that as sin multiplies, age spans decrease. St. Paul says, The wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23). Hence, while the first generations of humanity lived long lives, life spans soon grow dramatically shorter, and God links this to our contentious sinfulness. 120 years eventually shortens even more. While Moses lived to be 120, King David records that, by his generation, Our years are seventy, or eighty for those who are strong. And most of these are emptiness and pain. They pass swiftly and we are gone. (Ps 90:10)

Yes, the wage of sin is death. Sin weakens us, multiplies our sorrows and we grow quickly old in our sins. Many of the Saints and theologians of the Church have remarked that shortening our lifespans is actually a mercy of God given the pain and sorrows of this life and our wearying expose to sin and Satan. God limits our sorrows and grief in this vale of tears.

The Great Flood.

But limiting lifespans is not alone sufficient. God decides that He must wash away the increasingly horrifying effects of sin. We read the following description of God’s observations and resolve: Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great upon the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was altogether evil all the time. And the LORD regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. So the LORD said, “I will blot out man, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—every man and beast and crawling creature and bird of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them.” (Gen 6:5-7)

To speak of God as “grieved” and regretful is said by a form of analogy called “anthropomorphism” wherein we ascribe human qualities to God. God does not have regret and grief like we do. Rather, He sees the need to intervene given our stubbornness. His “regret” is His will to restart things and set them right. He will use a great flood to accomplish His purposes: And behold, I will bring floodwaters upon the earth to destroy every creature under the heavens that has the breath of life. Everything on the earth will perish. (Gen 6:17)

However, despite this wording, God qualifies His plans and will save a small remnant of mankind and living things. In this way He will establish a new covenant and restore the earth.

But Noah…

Despite almost complete human wickedness, God does know of one righteous family. Scripture says, Noah, however, found favor in the eyes of the LORD…. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation; Noah walked with God. And Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Gen 6:8-10). Add to these Noah’s wife and the wives of his three sons and there are eight righteous in all the earth.

The Lord therefore says to Noah: The earth is full of violence. Now behold, I will destroy both them and the earth. Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; make rooms in the ark and coat it with pitch inside and out. And this is how you are to build it: The ark is to be 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high. You are to make a roof for the ark, finish its walls a cubit from the top, place a door in the side of the ark, and build lower, middle, and upper decks. (Gen 6:13-16)

The “ark” was not really a ship. It was a large box, indeed a very large box! A cubit is the length of an average man’s elbow to the tip of his middle finger, about 18 inches (1.5 feet). Hence the ark was approximately 450 feet long (1.5 football fields), 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high.

And the ark needed to be big since God also said: You are to take with you seven pairs of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate; a pair of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate; and seven pairs of every kind of bird of the air, male and female, to preserve their offspring on the face of all the earth. (Gen 7:2-3)

 And Noah did all that the LORD commanded him.

It is unclear in the account how long it took to build such a massive ark. One might be safe to conclude that it took decades! One can see by this the great obedience and fortitude of Noah and his family. As for the gathering of such a multitude of animals, the biblical text says that the animals came to Noah at the designated time. (see Gen 7:8,15) Hence, the gathering of all the animals and human beings was a work of God alone.

When the ark was completed, and seven days before the flooding rains began, The LORD said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your family…  Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living thing I have made.” (Gen 7:1ff)

And the Lord Shut Them In.

An interesting detail that many miss is when Noah, his family, and all the animals were aboard the text says, Then the LORD shut him in (Gen 7:16). This is God’s work in which Noah has cooperated. The ship has been made according to God’s design, but it is not the ship that will save and protect them. It is God and God alone.

For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth, and the waters rose and lifted the ark high above the earth. So the waters continued to surge and rise greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the waters. Finally, the waters completely inundated the earth, so that all the high mountains under all the heavens were covered… to a depth of fifteen cubits. And every living thing that moved upon the earth perished…and only Noah and those with him in the ark remained. And the waters prevailed upon the earth for 150 days.

There are some who dismiss the flood story as a mere legend. However, most ancient cultures have similar stories and, while much debated, there does seem to be geological and anthropological evidence as well. This all points to some historical event commonly remembered as a great flood by all humanity.  You decide if every detail is literal but do not miss what God is teaching.

What do we learn?

Sin had taken a devastating toll on the earth. Since the restoration needed is not only for humankind but included all life on the face of the earth, it would seem that man’s wickedness included ecological harm and ruin as well. Thus, note first the devastating toll of sin.

But the keynote in the Greatest Story Ever Told, is God’s abiding love. God does a deep cleansing, to be sure, but he takes a remnant and with that remnant renews the face of the Earth. The human family will continue, along with all the living creatures he has made. God renews, he purifies and prunes, but he does not utterly destroy what he has made. God never fails to offer mercy and renewal.

And thus, we see:  But God remembered Noah and all the animals and livestock that were with him in the ark. And God sent a wind over the earth, and the waters began to subside. The springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens were closed, and the rain from the sky was restrained. The waters receded steadily from the earth, and after 150 days the waters had gone down. (Gen 8:1-3)

God Put a Rainbow in the Sky

And God established a new covenant with Noah and the human family: And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. (Gen 9:1). There is an end of sin and a new beginning for righteousness. This is a symbol for Baptism. God puts a rainbow in the sky as a sign of his covenant and of his enduring love. And while God says he will not use a flood again, mankind will still stand in need of ongoing purifications. St Peter teaches that God gave Noah the rainbow sign, no more water, but the fire next time! (see 2 Peter 3:10) Yes, having purified us in the waters of baptism, we who are now in Christ Jesus will experience the fiery but thrilling purification of God the Holy Spirit. These old stories point forward in the Greatest Story Ever Told. God will not leave us in sin’s grasp. Call to him now, He awaits your “Yes!”

 

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A Man Who Saw by Hearing – A Meditation on the Gospel of the 30th Sunday of the Year

In today’s gospel there is a very familiar story of the healing of the blind man Bartimaeus. As with any familiar story, the danger is that we, upon hearing its opening lines say, “Oh that story,” and we just sort of tune out. But there are many things in the details of the story that we can easily miss. Ultimately the story of Bartimaeus is also our story, for we too must let the Lord heal our blindness and give us sight. One paradox of this gospel that we shall note, is that the man receives his sight as the result of hearing.

Let’s look at this gospel in 6 stages.

Stage I–Perception of the Problem–the text says, As Jesus was leaving Jericho with his disciples, and a sizable crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind man sat by the roadside begging.

Bartimaeus has many troubles, he is blind, and he is poor. But although he is physically blind, he is not spiritually blind. For he knows he has troubles, he knows he is blind. And to know our troubles, to be in touch with our neediness, is an important spiritual insight that many lack.

It is possible for some to feel self-satisfied and to be unaware of how blind, pitiable, poor and naked they really are before God (cf Rev 3:17). Indeed, so poor and so needy that we depend on God for every beat of our heart. But some who are spiritually blind, lose this insight in becoming proud. They fail to ask for help from the Lord,  they fail to ask for grace. Jesus once said to the Pharisees Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but since you claim you can see, your guilt remains.” (John 9:41)  In other words, physical blindness is not their problem, spiritual blindness is. And because they think themselves righteous on their own power, they do not need God nor do they truly seek him. Only humility and a true “vision” and experience of one’s poverty can help us to call out as we should.

But our blind man knows that he is blind and so he calls for help. As we shall see, however, his cries for help need some direction, a need to be properly specified and directed.

So we begin by simply noting this man is blind, but still, he has spiritual insight.

Do we have this? Do we really understand how blind we are? We struggle to see God, we struggle to see and understand ourselves, we struggle to see others with compassion and understanding. Indeed, God is more present to us than anything in this world. Yet, we see all the things of this world, and still struggle to see God. Neither do we see our own dignity, or the dignity and the gift of others,  yes, even the dignity of our enemies. We do not see or understand how things work together, and we struggle to see and find meaning in the events of our day. We are also blind to our sin, and we seldom understand what harm our sin actually does.

Yes, we have a great deal of blindness, we do struggle to see. But perhaps our worst blindness is it we do not even consider how blind we are. But too easily, like the Pharisees we go on thinking that we know a few things, and that therefore we know many things.

Consider the humility of the blind man, who knows he is blind who knows he needs help, and grace, and mercy. It is a humility that opens the door. Stage one in our journey must be the perception of the problem.

Stage II–the Proclamation that is Prescribed. – The text says  On being told it was Jesus of Nazareth who was passing by, he began to cry out and say “Jesus son of David have pity on me.”

Note the subtle but important transition here. Up until this point he was calling upon anyone, who happened to pass by, for help. But no mere passerby, nor anyone in this world, can ultimately help him with his real problem.

It is the same with us. Though we may turn to science, or medicine, philosophy, economics or politics, none of these can really help us. At best they can specify what is wrong, give us temporary medicines, passing comforts, etc. But all their solutions will be rooted in this world, which is passing away.

True vision can only be granted by the Lord, who opens for us a vision of glory, and who alone can draw safely to that place where joys will never end and visions never cease.

The blind man is told of the presence of Jesus. And hearing this, he directs his cry away from any mere passerby to the Lord who alone can heal him: Jesus, son of David, have pity on me! The world, and passersby can get him money, perhaps a meal, but only Jesus can give him meaning, the true vision that he really needs to see.

And do not miss this point that’s seeing comes paradoxically through hearing. For faith comes by hearing, and hearing from the word of God (cf Rom 10:17). It is a truth that faith is about hearing, not seeing. For most frequently, we doubt what we see. Even if our eyes see marvels, we think, “They have a way of doing that.” No, the eye is never satisfied with seeing (cf Eccl. 1:8). Faith comes by hearing, and faith is obedience to what is heard. We walk by faith, by an inner seeing, not by physical sight.

Thus, it is by hearing that the blind man will come to see Jesus who can help them to see. He hears from others that Jesus is passing by, and he takes up the proclamation that is prescribed, “Jesus, son of David, have pity on me!”

Stage III–the Perseverance that Produces–the text says, And they rebuked him, telling him to be silent. Yet he kept calling all the more, “Son of David, have pity on me!” Jesus stopped and said, “call him.” So they called the blind man saying to him, “Take courage; get up. Jesus is calling you.”

Is it true fact, that those of us who seek to put our trust in the Lord, and call on him, will often experience rebuke, hostility, and ridicule from the world. Note that the blind man ignores all of this. And so should we. He has heard the Name above all names, who alone in heaven and earth can save, and he calls upon him.

Yes, Jesus does delay, he does not answer him right away. But the blind man persevered, calling out all the more, and eventually, Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”

Why does God delay? This is a very deep mystery, but it is clear that one of the effects of his delay would seem to be to test our faith and strengthen it. In the end, it is not an incantation that saves us, but faith. Simply shouting, “In the name of Jesus!” Is not enough. The Name of Jesus is not some incantation like, “Open sesame.” Rather, it is an announcement of faith, and faith is more than words. Ultimately, it is not words alone that save us, but the faith that must underlie those words, “Jesus! Save me”

Stage IV–the Priority that is Presented–the text says, He threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus.

Do not miss this important detail. His cloak was probably the most valuable thing he owned. In that climate, a very arid climate, it gets cool in the evening after sunset. The temperature drops rapidly. So critical was the cloak, that Scripture forbade the taking of a cloak as collateral for a loan:  If a man is poor, do not go to sleep with his pledge in your possession. Return his cloak to him by sunset so that he may sleep in it. (Deut 24:12-13)

But note, this man cast aside his cloak, and leaving it behind, he went to Jesus. Thus, he leaves behind perhaps the most valuable and necessary thing for his survival in this world. To miss a meal, might be inconvenient but it would not kill him. But to sleep one night, a cold night, without his cloak might well end his life through hypothermia. But leaving everything, he runs to the Lord.

What of us? What are we willing to leave behind to find Christ? An old gospel song says, I’d rather have Jesus than silver and gold. Another old hymn says, There’s nothing between my soul in the Savior. Is there? Are you willing to leave it behind?? Are you and I free enough to do so?

Stage V–The Permission that is Procured–the text says, Jesus said to him in reply, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man replied to him, Master, I want to see!”

Why does Jesus asked this question? Can he not see what a blind man needs? Perhaps.

But honestly, healing takes courage. The fact is, in life, most seek mere relief. True healing takes courage because it brings change, and new demands. If the blind man is healed, it would no longer be acceptable that he should sit and beg. Having been healed, more will be expected of him. His life will be irrevocably changed.

Yes, to be healed requires courage. Many of us wonder, of the Lord’s delay in answering our prayers. Perhaps a question from last week’s gospel is applicable as we cry to the Lord: Do you have any idea what you are asking?” Often we do not.

Truth be told, most of us want relief more than healing. There is a big difference. The Lord is in the healing business, but most of us just want relief. Do not miss what the Lord says here. In effect, he says to the blind man, and to us, “Are you really sure you want healing?” The Lord respects us, and our freedom. He wants our consent before he goes to work. And often, though many of us think we want healing, we don’t really know what we are asking.

The Lord waits, until a request makes real sense. He knows that most of us are not always ready for what he really offers. He asks, and when our yes becomes definitive, he goes to work.

Stage VI – The Path that is Pursued–the text says, Jesus told him, “Go your way; your faith has saved you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the way.

As we have already seen, true healing brings forth radical change. And now man who sat by the road begging, sees, but is also up and walking about. And what is he doing? He is  following Jesus. For faith has saved him, and faith not only gives sight, but summons us to obedience, an obedience that has us walk in the path of the Lord.

You see, (pardon the pun), faith is more than an offer of relief. True faith instills real change. A change in direction, a change in the way we walk.

And thus this gospel speaks to us of a man who was blind. And paradoxically he received his faith by hearing. For he heard of Jesus and called on him. Yes, his sight came from his hearing. And faith grants to vision by hearing. True vision, is to see Christ, and having seen him by hearing, to follow after him.

I have it on the best authority that as he followed Jesus up the road, he sang this song:

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No Cross, No Crown – A Homily for the the 29th Sunday of the Year

In the Sunday Gospel, the Lord Jesus speaks of crosses and crowns. The apostles have only crowns in mind, but Jesus knows the price of the crown. So, He must teach them and us that crowns—the things we value most—come only through the cross.

It may help to review the context of this Gospel. Jesus is making His final journey to Jerusalem. He is on his way to the cross and has already announced this to His disciples on two occasions. Throughout Jesus’ final journey, the apostles prove unwilling and/or incapable of grasping what He is trying to teach them.

This Sunday’s Gospel is a perfect illustration of a common biblical theme that I refer to as the inept response. It is a common situation in the Gospels wherein Jesus presents a profound teaching, yet within a matter of verses or sometimes even just a few words, the apostles demonstrate that they have absolutely no understanding of what He has just told them.

You may recall that in the Gospel readings for the previous two Sundays, the Lord gave critically important teachings. Two weeks ago, he stood a young child in their midst and spoke of the child as being truly great. He also warned that we must be able to receive the Kingdom of God like a little child. Last week, He warned of the pernicious effects of wealth and spoke about how hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

Despite these recent teachings, this Sunday’s Gospel opens with James and John (and later all the apostles) wishing honors upon themselves. They want seats at the head of the table, high offices in the Kingdom, which they still conceive of in worldly terms. Never mind that Jesus has taught them that the place of honor is not at the head or even the foot of the table; the honor is upon those who serve those at the table.

The apostles (and we) just don’t understand, no matter how clear Jesus is or how often He repeats Himself.

Let’s look at today’s Gospel in three stages.

Misplaced Priorities – The Gospel begins in this way: James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” He replied, “What do you wish me to do for you?” They answered him, “Grant that in your glory we may sit one at your right and the other at your left.”

James and John ask an inept question and even demand to sit in places of honor. This is a misplaced priority. Their understanding of the place of honor is worldly. Further, they want to move to the head of the table. They want the Lord to grant them this honor. Even in a worldly way of thinking, places of honor must usually be earned. Although some people are born into royalty, most attain leadership and honors only after years of effort. Thus, even from a worldly point of view, James and John are being overly bold, exhibiting little understanding that prior to honors comes labor, comes the earning of those honors. They want the crown without the cross.

Major Price – The Lord Jesus replies to them, “You do not know what you are asking! Can you drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?”

Was Jesus astonished, amused, or saddened? It is not easy to say, but clearly James and John had absolutely no idea what they were asking—and neither do we. Too often we want blessings, honors, or seats in high places, but give little thought to the crosses that are necessary to get there and to stay there.

Those who finally attain leadership often understand what a cross it is. It can be lonely. There are many pressures and long hours of toil. True leadership has its benefits, but it is hard. Most leaders know also the sting of criticism.

There is an old joke among bishops that goes something like this: “When a man becomes a bishop, two things are certain: he will never again have a bad meal, and he will never again hear the truth.” Leaders in many other walks of life can relate to this.

The Lord Jesus wonders whether James and John have any idea what they are really asking. His question is also poignant, for He has been trying to teach them of the passion, the pain, the crucifixion that awaits Him, and which even He, the Lord of glory, must endure before entering into His glory. No, they do not know what they are asking; they just don’t get it.

This must make the Lord very sad. Sometimes we underestimate the suffering Jesus endured long before the garden of Gethsemane that fateful night, when His passion began in earnest. Prior to that evening, the Lord endured a kind of death by a thousand cuts: enemies trying to trap Him, crowds wanting medical miracles but no true healing, strident and judgmental religious leaders, and disciples who walked away from Him as he taught about the Eucharist. Even the Twelve, to whom He looked for friendship, seemed completely disconnected from what He was trying to teach them. He also knew that one of them would betray Him, another would deny Him, and all but one would abandon Him, never making it to the foot of the cross. Oh, the grief that they gave the Lord!

Oh, the grief that we continue to offer up! How we continue to offend His external glory and be difficult cases for Him! How easy it is for us to be hardheaded and stubborn, to have necks of iron and foreheads of brass! No, we should not be so quick to scorn the apostles because we do the same things.

The Lord can only remind them and us of the monumental price, the true cost. No cross, no crown! Ultimately, Heaven costs everything, for we must leave this world behind to reach it. The Easter Sunday of glory, whether in this world or in the world to come, is accessed only by a journey through Good Friday.

It is a major price, but it is one that James and John seem to dismiss. They simply state, categorically, that they are able to drink the cup that the Lord drinks and to be baptized into His death. They have no idea what they’re talking about, however, and neither do most of us.

Medicinal Prescription – The text continues, They said to him, “We can.” Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink, you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; but to sit at my right or at my left is not mine to give but is for those for whom it has been prepared.” When the ten heard this, they became indignant at James and John. Jesus summoned them and said to them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all. For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Thus, the other apostles join in the inept response by becoming indignant that James and John are trying to get special dibs on the seats of honor. Their indignity simply shows that they also have no idea what the Lord is talking about.

The Lord tries to bring the big picture of the cross down to earth. He tries to make it plain, saying that the greatest in the kingdom is the servant of all, indeed the slave of all. It is not those who sit at the head of the table, the foot of the table, or any place at the table at all who are the greatest; the greatest are those who serve at the table.

Do they understand? Probably not, but neither do we. It takes most of us a lifetime before we finally get it through our thick skulls that the point in life is not to have the corner office with the view. We have everything upside down, backwards. We are not rich in what matters to God. We think of bank accounts, prestigious addresses, the square footage of our houses, high salaries, and impressive titles—not service.

We may be on our death beds before we finally realize that the greatest people in our lives are those with the ministry of care, those who feed us, those who change our bandages and give us basic care.

Like the apostles, we can be so foolish. At our final judgment, God will not care about the square footage of our house, our titles, or our worldly honors. What will capture His attention is the times when we served, when we gave a cup of cold water to the thirsty or food to the hungry, when we instructed the ignorant, when we prayed for the dying, when we cared for the needs of the poor. He will look for the calluses and the wounds of our service. He will listen for our proclamation of His Kingdom. He will tell us that what we did for the least of our brothers, we did for Him.

Don’t miss the point: there is no crown without the cross. In the Kingdom, honors and crowns are reserved for those who serve, who take up the cross of washing the feet of others, of going to the lowest of places.

In the Gospel this Sunday, the Lord speaks of crosses and crowns—in that specific order. We will not, we cannot, gain any crown in His Kingdom without being baptized into His death, into His cross, into the humble servitude of dying for others in loving service.

 

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What Does Heaven Cost? A Homily for the 28th Sunday of the Year

The Sunday Gospel invites us to wrestle with these fundamental, essential, focal questions: “What does Heaven cost?” and “Am I willing to pay it?”

I. Problematic Pondering – A rich man asks Jesus, Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?

Though his question is a good one, it is problematic because he couches it in terms of his own personal power and achievement. He wonders what he himself must do to attain eternal life.

The problem is that none of us has the holiness, the spiritual wealth, or the power to attain Heaven based merely on what we do. The kind of righteousness we need can come only from God. The misguided question of the rich man betrays two common misunderstandings that people bring to the question of salvation and the need for redemption.

The first misunderstanding comes about because we underestimate the seriousness of our condition. We tend to think that we’re basically in good shape. Perhaps we have a few flaws, but fundamentally we mean well and are decent. We suspect that a few sacraments, occasional prayers, and some spiritual “push-ups” will be sufficient. Any look to the crucifix should belie these notions. If it took the horrible death of the Son of God to rescue us, then our condition must be worse than we, with our darkened intellect, imagine.

Jesus related a parable of a man who owed a huge debt—10,000 talents (cf Mt 18:24). This was an amount so large as to be almost unimaginable. No one with such a debt is going to be able to repay it merely by working a little overtime or picking up an additional part-time job. The point is that we humans are in deep trouble and have absolutely no ability to rescue ourselves.

A second misunderstanding comes about because we tend to intellectualize and minimize what the law of God requires. We ask, “What must I do?” rather than “What must I become?” This bespeaks a law-based approach that seeks a manageable list of things to do in order to be saved rather than an open-ended relationship with God. “Okay, so I’m not supposed to kill anyone. No problem, I don’t like the sight of blood anyway. I’ve got this commandment down!” This thinking minimizes the commandment and what it asks of us.

These two misunderstandings seem to undergird the problematic nature of the rich man’s question. In order to engage the man further, Jesus in effect plays along with the premise; this leads us to the second point.

II. Playful Prescription – Jesus decides to follow up on the man’s premise, saying to him, You know the commandments: You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; you shall not defraud; honor your father and your mother.

Jesus is being playful here in that He continues with the flawed premise of the man: that he can attain to Heaven by something he does.

It is interesting to ponder why Jesus quotes only the Second Table of the Law, the part pertaining to love of neighbor, omitting reference to the First Table of the Law, the commandments pertaining to love of God. Perhaps it is because the Lord recognizes that the man does love Him, for he is seeking the Kingdom of Heaven and asking how to enter into it. Therefore, the Lord focuses on the Second Table of the Law, which is in evidence in this man’s life, at least in this interaction. Further, as Scripture says elsewhere, How can you say you love God whom you do not see, if you do not love your neighbor whom you do see? (1 John 4:20) Hence, the Second Table of the Law fleshes out the First Table of the Law.

The Lord is not affirming here that the keeping of the commandments can save us or justify us. Even if we consider ourselves blameless, Scripture says, the just man sins seven times a day (Prov 24:16). We can affirm with Isaiah that, I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips (Is 6:5), and we must say with St. Paul, I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died for no purpose (Gal 2:21).

While the law gives us a necessary and clear frame of reference for what pleases God, its summons Be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy (Lev 19:22) is not attainable through mere human effort unaided by grace. Jesus makes it clear that when God says, Be holy, He does not have in mind mere human holiness, for Jesus says, Be perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48).

Thus, Jesus is drawing out the man’s problematic premise, but as we next see, the rich man doesn’t take the hint.

III. Perceived Perfection – Strangely—and humorously to our mind—the man boldly says, Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth.

Notice that the man’s perfection is perceived; simply noting it in himself does not mean that he actually has it in himself. Having heard Jesus quote the Second Table of the Law, he announces that he has observed all of these from his youth.

To be fair, his self-analysis was not uncommon for a Jewish man of his time. The Jewish people had a great reverence for the law, a beautiful thing in itself, but they tended to understand it in a fairly legalistic and perfunctory way.

For example, in a conversation with Jesus, a scribe of the law asks Him, And who is my neighbor? (Luke 10:29) It’s as if he is saying, “If I have to love my neighbor—and I acknowledge my duty to do so—how can I define ‘neighbor’ in such a way that this is manageable?” In other words, I recognize that I have limits. If justice comes to the law, then the law must have limits, defined in such a way that the keeping of the law remains within my power.

Jesus sets aside such thinking in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5-7), in which He calls for the law to be observed not in a minimalistic sense but in a way that fills it to the fullest. Jesus says that it is not enough not to kill; we must also reject anything that ultimately leads to killing or to wishing people were dead. The commandment not to kill requires not only that we not take life, but also that we banish from our heart and mind, by God’s grace, hateful anger, retribution, and revenge. The commandment not to commit adultery requires not merely that we avoid breaking the marital vows, but also that we banish from our heart and mind, by God’s grace, any lustful, impure, and unrighteous sexual thoughts.

Hence, the commandments and precepts of the law cannot, and should not, be understood in a minimalistic way. Jesus sets aside the usual manner of the people of His day: reducing the law to something manageable and then declaring that they have kept it. God seeks more than perfunctory observance. His grace desires to accomplish within us wholehearted observance. We need grace in order to be saved, in order to qualify for anything that God calls holy.

So, Jesus sets aside the rich man’s claims of righteousness and is now is ready to address the question, “What does Heaven cost?”

IV.  Pricey Prescription – What does Heaven cost? Everything! Jesus, looking at the man with love, says to him, You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.

Ultimately, the cost of Heaven is leaving this world and everything in it to go and possess God and Heaven. To have Heaven we must set aside this world, not only its life but its pomp, ephemeral glories, and passing pleasures. If you want Heaven you’ve got to leave here!

Although we know this, we often live in a way that seeks to postpone the inevitable and to ignore the joke that this world is ultimately playing on us. The world says, “You can have it all!” Yes, you can, but then you die and lose everything. We like to postpone facing that fact, pretending that perhaps it ain’t necessarily so. We’re like the gambler who goes to the casino thinking he will be the exception to the general rule that the house always wins. You can’t cheat life; whatever we have when we die, whatever we claim to have won, we lose.

In the end, there is only one way to attain the things of lasting value. Only what you do for Christ will last. The Lord says, Store up for yourselves treasure in heaven, that neither rust nor moths can corrode, nor thieves break in and steal (Lk 12:33).

The Lord says that being generous to the needy and poor is a way of storing up treasure in Heaven. Sadly, most of us don’t believe that, thinking that clinging to our “treasure” here is a way of keeping it. It isn’t. Whatever we have here is slipping through our fingers like so much sand. The only way to keep it unto life eternal is to give it away to the needy and poor and to allow it to advance the Kingdom of Heaven and its values.

Otherwise, wealth is not only not helpful it is actually harmful. There are many texts in the Scriptures that speak of the danger and the harm of wealth, how it compromises our souls and endangers our salvation:

        • Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!” The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God” (Mk 10:23-25).
        • For we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world;  but if we have food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and hurtful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all evils; it is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced their hearts with many pangs (1 Tim 6:7ff).
        • No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money (Luke 16:13).
        • But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep (Luke 6:24-25).
        • But many that are first will be last, and the last first (Mat 19:30).
        • Listen, my beloved brethren. Has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which he has promised to those who love him? (James 2:5).

While the Lord’s claim that Heaven costs everything bewilders us, we cannot fail to see its truth and that the world’s claims on us are rooted in a lie, in false declarations that we can be secure in the passing glories of the world. You can have the passing glories of the world, but then you die—end of glory. Because we like the lie, we entertain it. In the end, though, we give everything back because it was never ours to begin with, it only seemed that way.

How foolish we are, how blind! Speaking of blindness, note that the Lord looked at the man with love, yet the man went away sad. That look of love from the Lord never reached his soul. If it had, the result would surely have been different.

V. Powerful Possibility – So shocking is this teaching that even the apostles, who had in fact left everything to follow the Lord, are shocked by it. They see and are in touch with the depth of this wound in the human heart, the depth of our delusion that the world and its goods can satisfy us. They see and know how strong and numerous are the hooks that this world has in us. Thus, they cry out, Then who can be saved? Jesus responds, For man it is impossible, but not for God. All things are possible for God.

In the end, salvation must be God’s work. He alone can take these tortured hearts of ours, so rooted in passing things, and make them willing to forsake all things for the Kingdom of Heaven.  Only God can take our disordered love and direct it to its proper end: the love rooted in God and the things awaiting us in Heaven. Only God can remove our obsession with the Titanic and place us squarely in the Noah’s Ark that is the Church, the Barque of Peter.

Yes, God can give us a new heart, a properly ordered heart, a heart that desires first and foremost God’s love, a heart that can say, “I gratefully receive what you give me, Lord, and I covet nothing more. Thank you, Lord. It is enough. You, O Lord, are enough.”

Don’t miss the look of love that Jesus gave the young man, the look that He gives you. In the end, only a greater love, God’s love received, can replace the disordered love we have for this world.

St. Augustine wrote,

Such, O my soul, are the miseries that attend on riches. They are gained with toil and kept with fear. They are enjoyed with danger and lost with grief. It is hard to be saved if we have them; and impossible if we love them; and scarcely can we have them, but that we shall love them inordinately. Teach us, O Lord, this difficult lesson: to manage conscientiously the goods we possess and not covetously desire more than you give to us (Letter 203).

I prayed, and prudence was given me;
I pleaded, and the spirit of wisdom came to me.
I preferred her to scepter and throne,
and deemed riches nothing in comparison with her,
nor did I liken any priceless gem to her;
because all gold, in view of her, is a little sand,
and before her, silver is to be accounted mire.
Beyond health and comeliness I loved her,
and I chose to have her rather than the light,
because the splendor of her never yields to sleep.
Yet all good things together came to me in her company,
and countless riches at her hands (Wisdom 7:7-1).

 

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Cain and Abel

I am compiling a “Back-to-Basics Catechesis” by focusing on Biblical Stories. Here is a reflection on the Fall of Man. A PDF of this reflection is here: HERE 

Earlier in Genesis, we saw how the beauty of creation was marred by the Sin of Adam and Eve. Not only was creation harmed, but Adam and Eve were also wounded in their very nature. They had been immortal, and their superior intellects had authority over their passions and emotions. But now, suffering, and ultimately death, have come to them. Passions and emotions like anger, love, sexual drives, hunger, fear and so forth now tend to dominate them and their descendants. It is hard for them to resist these drives with their minds and wills weakened. The strong inclination to sin we inherit is called by the Church, “concupiscence” and all of us know it well. For example, we know many things that are harmful for us, and we still want them, in abundance. We also know of things that are good for us and we don’t want them all that much. Something is desperately wrong with us and the Church teaches that this “concupiscence” is a lingering effect of Original Sin. It is only with effort and time that we gradually overcome these tendencies.

This weakened condition is illustrated very well in the sad story of Cain and Abel. It focuses on two deep drives of sin in us: envy and anger. Let’s read the story in full and learn some of its lessons.

The Story of Cain and Abel

And Adam had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. “With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man,” she said. Later she gave birth to Cain’s brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, while Cain was a tiller of the soil. So in the course of time, Cain brought some of the fruit of the soil as an offering to the LORD, while Abel brought the best portions of the firstborn of his flock. And the LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but He had no regard for Cain and his offering. So, Cain became very angry, and his countenance fell. “Why are you angry,” said the LORD to Cain, “and why has your countenance fallen? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you refuse to do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires you, but you must master it.”

Then Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. And the LORD said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” “I do not know!” he answered. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” “What have you done?” replied the LORD. “The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground. Now you are cursed and banished from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you till the ground, it will no longer yield its produce to you. You will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” But Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, this day You have driven me from the face of the earth, and from Your face I will be hidden; I will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” “Not so!” replied the LORD. “If anyone slays Cain, then Cain will be avenged sevenfold.” And the LORD placed a mark on Cain, so that no one who found him would kill him. So Cain went out from the presence of the LORD and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.(Gen 4:1-16)

At this very early stage we are told of the birth of Cain and Abel. While other children are not mentioned, the text mentions the existence of other siblings later.

Greed

Abel was a shepherd and Cain was a farmer. In their offerings to God, Abel’s sacrifice was favored by God since Abel offered the “firstfruits” of his labor while Cain brought some indefinite offering from among his harvest. This likely indicates some greed in Cain who prefers to keep the best for himself whereas Abel gave the best and first of his fruits to God.

Envy and Anger

God favored Abel’s offering over Cain, and this elicited in Cain a deep and sinful drive we call “envy.” Envy is sorrow and anger at the goodness or excellence of another person because I take it to lessen my own standing or excellence. In effect, Cain thinks that Abel’s excellence makes him look bad by comparison. The proper response to seeing excellence in another person is to seek to imitate it if possible. And we should be happy when others are recognized for their excellence or performance. But too often, like Cain, we seethe with indignation that someone was favored over me or that they are better at something. Envy is far worse than jealousy since, if I am jealous, at least I want the good thing that you have. But when I am envious, I seek to destroy the goodness in you, so I don’t look bad by comparison. That is why St. Augustine calls envy, “the diabolical sin.” Cain’s envy causes an anger in him that is so deep he plots to kill Abel and so eliminate this threat to Cain’s own standing. It is very ugly, and far too common in the human family. The envious do not always murder, but they often do discredit goodness and excellence and are more than willing to question or “murder” the reputations of those they perceive as competitors to their standing in the community.

A Warning and Teaching from God

Cain’s passions of envy and anger are rising. And God warns him:

“Why are you angry… If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you refuse to do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires you, but you must master it.”

Here then is God’s first instruction to us after Original Sin: “Sin is crouching at your door, but you can master it.” As we considered above, Adam and Eve had been weakened by their sin and handed on to us a human nature that was weak and prone to sin. Yes, sin and temptation are always crouching at the door, but God teaches us that he provides sufficient grace for us to take authority over our sinful drives and do what is right. Cain’s proper response is to accept correction, follow Abel’s example, and do what is right. Our passions like envy are simmering, and our anger is often loud, but we can and must master them. If not, things get only worse. In our life we must grow virtue (good habits) and starve vices (bad habits). If not, sin multiplies, and consequences grow such as addictions, compulsions, and many bad habits that further weaken us. Listen to what God is saying. We can and must master our passions and the strong inclinations that “crouch at our door!” God will help us if we call to him. But, like most “skills” in life, it is a long journey and involves much training. That is why we must make use of all the help and medicines available to us such as Scripture to instruct us, Sacraments to heal and nourish us, prayer to steady us, and holy fellowship to encourage and admonish us (See Acts 2:42). Stay close to God and follow his paths and instructions. Otherwise, all bets are off and further misery awaits us, crouching at the door.

Sadly, as the story recounts, Cain did not master his sinful drives, vented his anger and yielded to envy’s lie that his brother was a rival to his glory. But of course, none of this makes anything better for Cain. Sin is never a solution; it only complicates and worsens things.

Am I My Brother’s Keeper?

Sin almost never affects us alone. It boils over into the lives of others and spreads misery. Cain’s envious anger claims Abel’s life. The loss of Abel grieves his family and, as we shall see, spreads the infection of anger and vengeance. The loss of Abel also deprives the early human community of his gifts and good example.

Note also that God hears Abel’s blood crying out from the ground where it was shed. Human life is sacred to God, and we are not to take life, except in rare and regrettable moments of self-defense. We will answer to God one day for what we have done (see 2 Cor 5:10). And thus, God asks Cain of his brother: “Where is your brother?”  Cain’s cynical response shows how disordered his heart has become: “Am I my brother’s keeper.” The answer is yes. The well-being of our brothers and sisters should be very important to us and we should guard and keep them from harm and ruin. We are called to love our neighbor, and even our enemy. Yes, we are our brother’s keeper.

Consequences of Cain’s Sin

Cain’s sin also affects him. He laments that his sin has separated him from the human family: “I will be a fugitive and hidden from the land.” He also laments how his sin has further distanced him from God: “From Your face I will be hidden.”  His violence has begotten fear in him of more violence in the vengeance of other members of the human family: “Whoever finds me will kill me!” Sin sets evil loose. The punishment for sin is more sin.  But God does not utterly forsake Cain and says that despite his sin, Cain remains sacred to the Lord and that no one is to take his life. They will answer to God if they try and be punished severely. Sinners are still God’s children and are to be respected as such.

Cain is exiled to the east of Eden in a place called “Nod.” In Hebrew, “Nod” means to wander. Hence Cain becomes a vagabond, a fugitive, expelled from the Land. He is also exiled from the fruits of civilization: agriculture, and animal produce. Since he poisoned the land with Abel’s shed blood, the land will yield nothing to his farming. Now he must forage from whatever the wild uncultivated land gives.

Sin is a terrible reality and its consequences are real. But in the greatest story ever told, God does not forget Cain and places a mark of love upon him.