Author: Msgr. Charles Pope

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Love Lightens Every Load – A Homily on the Gospel for the 15th Sunday of the Year

071313If we are not careful, the Gospel today could easily be reduced to a kind of moralism which says, in effect, “Help people in trouble….be kind to strangers…etc.” While these are certainly good thoughts, this gospel, I would argue, is about far deeper things than mere human kindness or ethics. This is a gospel about the transformative power of God’s love and of our need to receive it.It is not a gospel that can be understood as a demand of the flesh, it is a Gospel that describes the transformative power of God’s love.

Lets look at the Gospel in three stages.

I. The Radical Requirements of Love – As the Gospel opens there is a discussion between Jesus and a scholar of the Law as to a basic summation of the Law. The text says, There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test him and said, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?” He said in reply, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.

The Shema, a summary of the Law, known to every Jew is quoted by the lawyer here. And it will be noted how often the word “all” occurs. There is a radicality to the call of love that cannot be avoided. When it comes to love there is no mere call to give what is reasonable, to give, a little, perhaps even a tithe. No, the call is to give God ALL our heart, mind, being and strength. And we are to love our neighbor as though thy were our very self.

Now as we shall see in a minute, our flesh recoils at this sort of open demand and wants immediately to qualify and quantify it somehow.The flesh seeks refuge in law and says, “What is the minimum, what is the bottom line, what is the least I can do to meet the requirements and qualify?”

But love is, by its nature open-ended and generous. Love is extravagant and wants to do more. Love seeks the beloved and wants to please, wants to care. A young man who loves his fiance does not say, “What is the cheapest gift I can get you for your birthday?” Rather no, he will see an opportunity to show his love and may even spend too much. Love does not think, “What is the least I can do?” Love says, “What more can I do?” Love is expansive and extravagant.

And thus the great Shema speaks to the open-ended and extravagant quality of love.

But as we have already noted, the flesh, that fallen and sin soaked part of our nature recoils at such expansive talk and, as we shall now see, brings the stingy lawyer out in us that negotiates for lesser terms.

II. The Reductionism that Resists Love – Having given the beautiful answer of love our lawyer (and there is a lawyer in all of us) now reverts to form and speaks out of his flesh. The text says, But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

In other words, “Look, if I have to love my neighbor, lets get this category as small and manageable as possible.”

Note how quickly he has retreated into a kind of fearful reaction to the broad expanse of love. His fear is likely rooted in the fact that he has reduced the Shema into a moralism, as if he, out of his own flesh power had to pull the whole thing off. And thus he recoils and demands terms of surrender. Since he thinks he has to do, he need to get its scope into the range of something HE can do. And thus perhaps he is willing to consider the people on his block to be his neighbor. But two or three blocks away, well that is just too much.

So the fearful lawyer in him has started negotiating a kind of “debt relief” where he seeks to “define down” the category “neighbor.” As we shall see, the Lord is not buying it, and will expand it even farther than the Jewish notions of his day.

Now, to be fair to the lawyer in this passage, there is a lawyer in all of us suing for terms of settlement. And while it is not wrong for us to ask for guidance in specifying the law a bit, we all know that “the lawyer ” in all of us is really seeking more to evade the demands, than fulfill them.

In a way we are all like the typical teenager. Every teenager, without having gone to law school is a natural lawyer. Give a teenager a rule, and they will parse every nuance of it to seek to avoid its demands, or to water it down in some sense.

Some years ago I was teaching 7th grade religion in our Catholic school. I told the kids, “Do your work, and no talking.” Within moments a young lady started singing. Interestingly her name was “Carmen” (which means “song” in Latin). When I rebuked her for breaking the no-talking rule she replied, “I wasn’t talking, I was singing…and you didn’t say anything about singing.”  Yes, a natural born lawyer.

I remember too my thoughts in high school that I couldn’t break the 6th commandment (forbidding adultery) since I wasn’t married and certainly wouldn’t be intimate with a married woman since they were all “old.” Yes, the lawyer at work in me, but answered by Jesus in Matt 5:27-30.

And this is how we are in our rebellious, fearful and resentful flesh. Hearing a law, we go to work at once and seek to hyper-specify it, parse every word, seek every nuance and try to evade its vision in every way possible. If we are going to follow it at all, we seek the minimum possible outlay of effort.

So often Catholics and other Christians talk more like lawyers than lovers: “Do I have to go to confession? How often? Do I have to pray, how long!? Do I have to give to the poor? How much? How come I can’t do something? It’s not so bad…everyone else is doing it…..”

Sometimes too we seek to reduce holiness to perfunctory religious observance. Look, I go to Mass, I put something in the collection, I said my prayers….what more do you want? Perhaps we think, in a way, that if we do certain ritual observances which are good in themselves and required, that we have bought God off and do not need to look at other matters in our life. And thus the thinking is that since I go to Mass and say a few prayers, I have checked off the “God-box” and don’t really need to look at my lack of forgiveness, my harsh tongue, or lack of generosity.

This is reductionism. It is the lawyer at work in all of us seeking to evade the extravagance of love by hiding behind some legal minimalism. It emerges from a kind of fear generated by the notion that I, by my own unaided flesh power, am supposed to pull this whole thing off. No, actually you can’t. But God can, and this is why he commands it of us.

Our fleshly notions have to die, and our spirit must come alive with the virtue of hope that relies trustingly on God’s grace to bring a vigorous and loving response alive in us. Law and the flesh say, “What are the minimum requirements?” Love says, “What more can I do?”

Here is the gift of a loving heart that we must seek. And of this gift, the lord now paints a picture.

III. The Response that Reflects Love –  The Lord then paints a picture of what his love and grace can do in someone. The text says, Jesus replied,”A man fell victim to robbers as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. They stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead. A priest happened to be going down that road, but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. Likewise a Levite came to the place, and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him was moved with compassion at the sight. He approached the victim, poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them. Then he lifted him up on his own animal, took him to an inn, and cared for him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction, ‘Take care of him. If you spend more than what I have given you, I shall repay you on my way back.’ Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to the robbers’ victim?” He answered, “The one who treated him with mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.

Now, there is a very important phrase that must not be missed, for it gives the key to the Samaritan man’s actions. The phrase is “was moved.” Note that the verb “was moved” is in the passive voice, he WAS moved. That is to say it was not so much he who acted, but that he was acted upon.

More specifically, Love and grace have moved within him and are moving him. The Greek verb here is ἐσπλαγχνίσθη (esplagchnisthe), a third person singular passive verb, meaning “to be deeply moved,” or “to be moved to compassion.” The verb is also in the aorist tense signifying something that has happened but also has a  kind of on-going action.

Why is this phrase “was moved” so important? Because it indicates for us the gift of grace. So many of our fears about what God asks, and love demands, are rooted in a notion that we must do them out of our own flesh. No, that is not the gospel. In the New Covenant the keeping of the Law is received, not achieved. The keeping of the Commandments is a work of God in us to which we yield. To keep the commandments and fulfill the Law is the result of love, not the cause of it.

We do not know the Samaritan’s history, the Lord does not supply it, and since this is only a story, the Samaritan is only a literary figure.

But for us, the teaching must be clear: Our receiving and experiencing of Love is and must be the basis of our keeping of the Law. Having experienced and received God’s love for us equips, empowers and enables us to respond extravagantly as joyful lovers, rather than fearful lawyers.

Love lightens every load. When we love God, and when we love people, we want to do what love requires. And even if there are difficulties involved, love makes us eager to respond anyway.

Many years ago in the 7th grade I found myself quite taken by a pretty girl named Shelly. Yes, I was quite “in-love.” One day she was in the hall trying to carry a lot of books to the library and I saw my chance! I offered to carry those books at once. Now I was skinny as a rail, no muscles at all in those days, and those books were heavy! But I was glad to do it despite the effort. Love does that, it lightens every load and makes us eager to help, even at great cost.

A silly story perhaps of a dorky teenager (me), but in far more significant ways, love does this! It “moves” us to be generous, kind, merciful, patient and even extravagant. AND, we don’t do what we do because we have to, but because we want to.

The Samaritan in this story, was “moved” with and by love to overcome race and nation, fear and danger. He generously gave his time and money to save a brother and fellow traveler.

And so too for us,  Let love lift you. Let it empower you, equip you and enable you! Go to the Lord and pray for a deeper experience of His love. Open the door of your heart and let the Love of God in. Go to the foot of the cross and remember what the Lord has done for you. Let what he has done be so present in your mind and heart that you are grateful and different. Let God’s love come alive in you.

And I promise you, as a witness, that love lightens every load and makes us eager to keep the commandments, to help others, to forgive, to show mercy, to be patient, and kind, and to courageously speak the truth in love to others. Yes, I am a witness that love can and does change us. I’m not what I want to be, but I am not what I used to me. Love has lifted me and lightened every load.

Today’s gospel is not a moralism, as if to say: be kind to strangers, and help the down and out. Fine though such thoughts are, that is not the main point here. The main point here is, let the Lord’s love in your heart and you will do what love does; and you will do it extravagantly, not because you have to, but because you want to.

The grace of Love lightens every load and equips for every good work.

This song says, More of his saving fulness see, more of his love who died for me.

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On the Preventative Medicine of The Church’s Wisdom and Experience (As seen on T.V.)

071213As a teenager I remember resenting how adults would try and prevent me from doing what I pleased. They would often warn me not to “learn the hard way” that something was wrong. I would often be told that I should learn from them and their experiences not to make the same mistakes they did. The rebel in me thought that it might be fun and pleasurable to “make a few mistakes of my own.” Of course I pridefully thought that I would escape the consequences.

In the end of course they were right, and one the most valuable gifts I have received from others to have learned from their experience. As a pastor too I must say that my staff has preserved me from innumerable errors through their expertise and long experience with the parish.

The word “experience” comes from the Latin experientia, meaning the act of trying or testing. More deeply it comes from two Latin words, ex (out of) + periri (which is akin to periculum, meaning peril or danger). Hence “experience” refers to those have endured trials, perils, testing, and dangers, and speak out of these to us so we don’t have to endure such things. It is a very great gift!

The Church too offers us the great gift of long experience. Indeed, one of the great advantages of making our home in the Catholic Church is that we are at the feet of a wise and experienced teacher who has “seen it all.” The Scriptures, the Catechism, the lives of the Saints, all the Church’s teaching, is a wealth of knowledge and collected experience for us. Through this vast treasury The Church, as a good mother and teacher, helps us to learn from the experiences of others.

At this point I would like for G.K. Chesterton to do the talking:

The other day a well-known writer, otherwise quite well-informed, said that the Catholic Church is always the enemy of new ideas. It probably did not occur to him that his own remark was not exactly in the nature of a new idea. …Nevertheless, the man who made that remark about Catholics meant something….What he meant was that, in the modern world, the Catholic Church is in fact the enemy of many influential fashions; most of which … claim to be new. [But] nine out of ten of what we call new ideas, are simply old mistakes.

The Catholic Church has for one of her chief duties that of preventing people from making those old mistakes; from making them over and over again forever, as people always do if they are left to themselves….There is no other case of one continuous intelligent institution that has been thinking about thinking for two thousand years. Its experience naturally covers nearly all experiences; and nearly all errors.

The result is a map in which all the blind alleys and bad roads are clearly marked, all the ways that have been shown to be worthless by the best of all evidence: the evidence of those who have gone down them. On this map of the mind the errors are marked…[but] the greater part of it consists of playgrounds and happy hunting-fields, where the mind may have as much liberty as it likes. But [the Church] does definitely take the responsibility of marking certain roads as leading nowhere or leading to destruction…
By this means, it does prevent men from wasting their time or losing their lives upon paths that have been found futile or disastrous again and again in the past, but which might otherwise entrap travelers again and again in the future.

The Church does make herself responsible for warning her people against these; she does dogmatically defend humanity from its worst foes… Now all false issues have a way of looking quite fresh, especially to a fresh generation. ..[But] we must have something that will hold the four corners of the world still, while we make our social experiments or build our Utopias. (From Twelve Modern Apostles and Their Creeds (1926). Reprinted in The Collected Works of G.K. Chesterton, Vol. 3 Ignatius Press 1990)

Yes, what a gift. Many may take of the role of a pouting  teenager and be resentful at any warning from the Church. But in the end, It’s a mighty fine gift to be able to learn from others and benefit from their experience.

Here’s a funny commercial that shows the value of learning from others experiences.

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Jesus never hesitated to preach the fear of punishment, and neither should modern preachers.

071113Some years ago I was stationed with a priest who, while he often liked my homilies, would often critique my use of what he called “fear based preaching.” Perhaps I had warned the congregation of punishment for sin, or even let slip that certain things were mortal sins that would exclude one from heaven and land them in hell. I would often playfully remind the congregation that missing Sunday Mass was a mortal sin by saying, “Go to Mass or go to hell.” I would also warn that fornicators would not inherit the Kingdom nor idolaters nor adulterers nor those who practice homosexuality, nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God (cf 1 Cor 6:9).

Of course I was quoting Scripture and preaching out of a voluminous biblical tradition of warning texts. Nevertheless, the older priest would often wag his finger and say, “Ah that’s fear-based preaching…fear based!”

Perhaps it was, but so what? And yet many (not all) priests of his generation were of the mind that to warn at all or to incite any fear in the people of God was some “abusive” and bad pastoral practice. They seem to have been a generation in reaction to something before them. Perhaps they had grown up with what they thought was too much fire and brimstone preaching and not enough of a summons to higher motives rooted in love and mature spiritual reflection.

It is true, that the First Letter of John does set for a kind of goal for us that we be free of the mere fear of punishment and root our moral life in love:

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. (1 John 4:18)

And yet, if this goal, good and important that it is, is meant to eliminate any appeal to ordinary fear of punishment, apparently Jesus never got the memo. Neither did St. Paul, St Peter, St. James, St Jude, the Author of the Letter to the Hebrews, and even John himself seems to have forgotten the “rule” from time to time.

For the fact is, the quote from First John sets for a goal for the spiritually mature. But that does mean that we are all there. In fact, people are at many different stages of spiritual growth. Surely the Lord, and the gospel and epistle writers knew this, as does every experienced pastor.

Frankly, many are still at a spiritual stage where the fear of punishment is both necessary and salutary.

Jesus certainly saw fit to appeal to the fear of punishment, loss, and hell. In fact, it is arguable that this was his main approach and that one would struggle to find very many texts where Jesus appeals more to a perfect contrition and a purely holy fear rooted in love alone as a motive to avoid sin. But over and over in dozens of passages and parables Jesus warns of punishment and exclusion from the Kingdom for unrepented sin and for the refusal to be ready. Here are just a few:

  1. Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. (Matt 7:13-14)
  2. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. (Mat 13:41-42)
  3. “Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping.What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’ ” (Mk 13:35-37)
  4. And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with carousing, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come on you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch you therefore, and pray always, that you may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man. (Luke 21:34-36)
  5. “But about that day or hour no one knows…For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark;and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away…“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into.So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. (Matt 24:36-44)
  6. The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looks not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matt 24:51)
  7. Then the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.“Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’“But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour. (Matt 25:10-13)
  8. “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat…“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” (Matt 24:41-42, 46)
  9. Whoever looks on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart. And if your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out, and cast it from you: for it is profitable for you that one of your members should perish, and not that your whole body should be cast into hell. (Matt 5:28-29)
  10. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell. (Matt 5:22)
  11. And if your foot offend you, cut it off: it is better for you to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dies not, and the fire is not quenched. (Mk 9:45-46)
  12. Friend, how came you in here not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen. (Matt 22:12-14)
  13. Then said Jesus again to them, I go my way, and you shall seek me, but you shall die in your sins: where I go, you cannot come….I have told you that you will die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins (John 8:21, 24).
  14. by their fruits you shall know them. Not every one that said to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? and in your name have cast out devils? and in your name done many wonderful works? Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ (Matt 7:20-23)
  15. He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. (Mark 16:15-16)
  16. He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day. (John 12:48)
  17. “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give youthis testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.” (Rev 22:14-16)

Dozens of other texts, parables and warnings could be added unto this list. But let these Suffice. The bottom line is that Jesus warned and appealed to the fear of punishment a LOT.

No one loves you more than Jesus and yet no one warned of judgment and Hell more than Jesus. He knows how stubborn and hard we are, and thus he is plain and warns with clarity and charity.

St. Paul and all the other Epistle writers have many warning texts as well that proclaim a salutary fear of punishment. A common example of the Pauline warning texts is this:

Or do you not know that the unrighteous  will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Cor 6:9-10)

Translation: if one stays in serious and unrepented sin, they go to Hell. And thus, St Paul too, as well as the other Epistle writers all appeal to the fear of punishment.

Now why should we, who are summoned to preach and teach in Jesus’ name, reject a key strategy that he and his chosen apostles employed? And yet, it has been a consistent modern practice to all but ignore the substantial warning texts that occur throughout the preaching of Jesus and the Apostles.

Part of the reason for our rejection would seem rooted in the fact that we live in rather dainty times wherein people easily take offense. Further the “self-esteem” culture and its premises are inimical to speaking of people as sinners or in anyway rejected. Thirdly, many today have cast God in the role of doting Father, and Jesus as a harmless hippie. No matter how unbiblical the images of the Lord are, they are pervasive and people do not easily let go of them, even when confronted with biblical texts.

But, at the end of the day, those of us who preach are without excuse if we neglect or refuse a pastoral practice used extensively by Jesus himself. By our silence in this regard we mislead God’s people and become, in effect, deceivers who do not preach the “whole counsel of God” (cf Acts 20:27).

While it is true that we can help to lead God’s people from an imperfect contrition (rooted in fear of punishment) to a more perfect contrition (rooted in love for God), it remains a rather clear fact that many of the faithful are at different stages and are not yet at the perfect contrition stage.

For this reason the Church has always allowed that imperfect contrition was sufficient to receive absolution. The traditional act of contrition (which is to be preferred) says,

…I detest all my sins, not only because I fear the loss of heaven and the pains of hell, but most of all because they offend you my God who are all good, and deserving of all my love….

This act of contrition is to be preferred because it distinguishes perfect and imperfect contrition and properly notes that most of us have by sorts of contrition admixed. But this act of contrition also helps the penitent recall the journey we ought to make out of the fear of punishment to the deeper and more perfect motive of love of God and neighbor to avoid sin.

But for most of us, this is a journey that is underway, and some have made more progress than others. Meanwhile, the preachers of the Church do well to appeal to the fear of punishment among other motives to avoid sin.

Jesus and the Apostles never hesitated to recall the fearful results of sinful obstinance. And neither should we who Preach today. Fear of punishment is needed after all.

Here is an excerpt from one of my funeral sermons that uses warning and incites fear of judgement and hell.

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On the Relationship Between Light, Time and the Mystery of God

"Sun poster" by Kelvinsong - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
“Sun poster” by Kelvinsong – Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

I was meditating on time today, perhaps because it is my 52nd birthday. But also on account of some new mysteries I have learned about the light of the Sun that reaches this earth.

I have long known that to look up in the night sky is to look far into the past. Looking up at the star Sirius I am looking nine years into the past. Looking over to the star Antares I am seeing 250 years into the past. Looking over at the star Rigel I am looking 600 years into the past. Looking further still at the Andromeda galaxy, I am seeing one million years into the past. That is how long it takes the light of these stars and galaxies to reach us. We are not seeing them as they are now, but as they were then. The past, even the distant past, is very present to us.

Even in the daylight, the light of the sun takes 8.25 minutes to reach us. Thus we see the surface of the sun not as it is now, but as it was 8 minutes ago.

But I learned yesterday that the light of the sun is even older than I ever thought. A little research on my part revealed this astonishing fact. The photons of light that reach the surface of the sun and head out to us in eight minutes were actually generated 100,00 years ago, in the sun’s core.

Emerging from the sun’s core as the result of nuclear fusion, a photon of light enters the radiative zone (see diagram above). The plasma in that radiative zone is quite a maze for the photon to get through, such a maze that it takes the better part of 100,000 years to make the journey to the convective zone and the photosphere where it finally begins a rapid journey out into the vacuum of space.

Why does it take this long? Consider an image of you, at one side of a large room filled with people, and you want to get to the door on the other side. But on the way many, many people want your attention and strike up conversations and thus delay your journey across the room.

The diagram above shows the meandering, zigzag motion of a photon as it makes it way through a maze of plasma that detains the photon for up to 100,000 years!

Thus, the light we currently bask is much more than 8.25 minutes old! It is 100,000 years old! The light we currently enjoy was made in the sun’s core back during the beginning of the last ice age.

There is a great mystery of time on display for us at every moment. The past is present in many ways. And our past is “out there” on display and still present as well. If there is any one on a planet near Rigel and they look back through a telescope to earth, say to France, they do not see us now, they see Joan of Arc and other events of the 14th Century taking place. The light of our “today” will not reach Rigel for 600 years.

What is the present? That is mysterious is the sum total space of the universe and it depends on where you are. God, who is just as present as Rigel as here, has the same access to the images of France in 1450, as he does to 2013. Indeed, being present at Andromeda just as much as here on earth, 1 million years ago is just as present to him as now.

The future is even more mysterious, but that is just as present to God as the past and distant past is.

Do not miss the irony of the fact that the light of the Sun and the reflected light of the moon, by which we set our clocks and calendars to measure the present, to tell time what time it is now, is 100,000 years old.

Does anybody really know what time it is? Only God, only God. Time is very mysterious, and the more we think we know the less we really do.

All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.How precious to me are your thoughts, God How vast is the sum of them!Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand—when I awake, I am still with you. Psalm 139:16-18

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King David – A Great King, but with a critical flaw that is all too common today.

070913Today in the Divine Office we read of the tragic loss of Absalom, the Son of King David. And yet it remains true that too many of our own children today are lost, if not in death, surely in many other social ills and a lack of faith. What went wrong with Absalom and How was David to blame? What can we learn from this tragic tale?

First some back ground.

Of all the great Patriarchs of the Old Testament, David is among the greatest. Warrior and King, composer and conqueror, unifier and organizer, a man after God’s own heart. He united not only the 12 often fractured Tribes of Israel, but, as a kind if priest-king, stitched together the religious faith of Israel with its governance. King among them, he also collected and disseminated the great prayer-book of Israel, the Book of Psalms, composing many of them himself. So great was David, that among the most well known titles of Jesus would be, “Son of David.”

And yet, like almost all the great figures of the Bible, David was a man who struggled and was flawed. His demons would lead him even to murder as he amassed power and wives. And though he brought unity and governance to 12 contentious tribes, his own family was in a ruinous condition: afflicted by a murderous internecine conflict which had David for its much of its sinful source, and which he seemed powerless to stop.

In the end his family intrigues would cause the delicate union of the Israel he had woven, to come unraveled. And in David’s flaws are important lessons for our times as well.

Let’s recall a few details of King David’s life and domestic difficulties and see where things unravel.

David was the youngest son of Jesse, of whom God said, I have provided a king for myself among [Jesse’s] sons (1 Sam 16:1). Of David it is clear that he was chosen especially by God, for the Lord instructed Samuel to look for him saying, Do not consider his appearance or his height, ….The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart ( 1 Sam 16:7).

Yes, there was something about David’s heart that God loved. Whatever his later flaws, David had a heart for God, and God a heart for David. Upon Samuel’s anointing of David, the Scripture says: And from that day on the Spirit of the LORD came upon David in power. ( 1 Sam 16:13)

Unifier – Upon the death of Saul, Ten Tribes from Israel in the north divided against Judah in the South, and war ensued. But through military action, and other more diplomatic efforts, David was successful in reuniting the Kingdom in 1000 BC. He drove out the Hittites to establish Jerusalem as the Capital. He also wove the kingship together with Israel’s faith in order to establish deeper ties among the Israelites. Thus Jerusalem also became the place of the Temple of God, and the Ark. It was during this time that David both collected, and probably wrote, a good number of the Psalms.

Yes here was the great man of whom God said I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will (Acts 13:22; 1 Sam 13:14). But God only seldom (such as with Mary) uses sinless humanity. We carry the treasure of God’s love in earthen vessels (cf 2 Cor 4:7). David’s strength was admixed with weakness and flaws, flaws which cascaded down through the lives of others, and gravely affected the Kingdom he was privileged to set forth.

Trouble begins with the fact that David had eight wives whose names we know: Ahinoam, Abigail, Maacah, Haggith, Abital, and Eglah; later Michal and Bathsheba. The Biblical text suggests he had other wives as well, upon settling in Jerusalem. From these David had 19 sons. Let the internecine intrigue and blood-letting begin.

Disclaimer – It is true that, as many will hasten to point out, that polygamy was common among the ancient patriarchs. Yes, it was. But that it was common does not shield from the fact that, as the Scriptures consistently show, Polygamy always brings terrible results: infighting, rivalries, and often murderous intrigue. I have written more in this problem here: Don’t Do Polygamy.

God in setting forth marriage in Genesis 1 & 2 prescribed one man for one woman in a stable and fruitful relationship. God created for Adam, only Eve, and not also Jane and Sue and Mary and Ellen and Samantha. And God said that a man (singular) shall leaven his father and mother (singular) and cling to his wife (singular) the TWO (not three or more) of the them shall become one (Gen 2:24).

Diversions from this God-given model bring only sadness and even death. David’s many marriages and sons by different mothers, is no exception, and the flawed family structure will bring real devastation not only to David’s family, but to all Israel.

First Degree Murder – David, already with many wives and competing sons, deepens the trouble when he has Uriah the Hittite killed, and takes his wife Bathsheba. The remarkably wicked act of murder rooted in lust and fear, shows a deep flaw in King David for which he is repentant, writing Psalm 51, the Miserere. But Bathsheba’s inclusion into the royal family only adds to the intrigue in the family, and the royal court. For she later advances the cause of her son, Solomon, against David’s older sons.

Rape – Even prior to that pot boiling over, tragedy had struck elsewhere in David’s family, among his sons. His eldest Son and likely heir, Amnon grew desirous of, and eventually raped his half sister Tamar daughter of David by his wife Maacah. “Blended families” have a higher degree of sexual abuse for the rather obvious reason that step-relations include less sexual reserve than full-blooded ones.

Weak Father – After the rape, according to Scripture, And when king David heard of these things he was exceedingly grieved: but he would not afflict the spirit of his son Amnon, for he loved him, because he was his firstborn (2 Sam 13:21). This was a mistaken understanding of love. For the love of a Father for his son must include discipline, and insistence on what is right. Amnon had seriously sinned and owed restitution. David remained quiet when he should have spoke and acted.

Resentful Son – Hence, due to David’s inaction, one of David’s other sons (and full brother of Tamar), Absalom, grew furious at what was done to his sister. He thus plotted, and eventually killed Amnon, and then fled to the Land of Geshur. David now had lost two sons and had a daughter who had been raped.

For indeed, though eventually pardoned by his father, King David, Absalom had grown bitter against David and raised an effective rebellion against him. In the war that ensued, Absalom and his rebellion were put down, and Absalom killed.

David seemed well aware of his role in Abasolom’s rebellion and demise. He had said earlier, when one of Absolom’s followers came cursing him: If he is cursing because the Lord said to him, ‘Curse David,’ who can ask, ‘Why do you do this?’” David then said to Abishai and all his officials, “My son, who is of my own flesh, is trying to take my life. How much more, then, this Benjamite! Leave him alone; let him curse, for the Lord has told him to. It may be that the Lord will see my distress and repay me with good for the cursing I am receiving today.” (2 Sam 16:10-12) Upon Absalom’s death David cried: O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you–O Absalom, my son, my son!” (2 Sam 18:33).

Court and family intrigue continues right up to David’s death. The now oldest, and likely successor and son of David, Adonijah, was ousted from succession by David’s wife Bathsheba who, working with Nathan, promoted her son Solomon, while David lay feeble and largely forgetful. Claiming she had earlier secured a private vow from David regarding Solomon’s succession, she set loose a power struggle between Adonijah and Solomon. In the end Solomon prevailed over Adonijah, and, after David’s death Solomon had his half-brother (Adonijah) killed.

Like Father Like Son – Solomon, though a great king in his own right, inherited some of his father’s foibles. He ended with having 1000 wives and as Scripture says of him: King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women…As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been. He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites. So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done. (1 Kings 11:4-6).

The End of the Kingdom – So unraveled did Solomon become, and so disconcerting were his family and foreign intrigues, that shortly after his death, during the reign of his polygamous and expansionist son, Rehoboam. Israel again broke apart into the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah. They would never reunite.

How remarkable that King David, so highly regarded, not only by humanity, but by God himself, would have such deep flaws. And how remarkable too that, being as gifted as he was, David also brought such pain and sorrow to his family and, by extension to Israel.

What are the lessons for us? Let’s begin with the negative.

The first lesson is that allowing the family to decay and drift from God’s intended structure and form brings great harm. David’s polygamy, his unlawful and sinful acquisition of Bathsheba, his playing of favorites, and his refusal to correct and punish Amnon for the rape of Tamar, all contributed to serious and deadly consequences. And these deadly consequences expanded far beyond David’s own family, and rippled through all Israel leading ultimately to its break down and demise.

Some may argue that norms for marriage and family were less clear at this early stage of Israelite history, and that we ought not project later norms back on these times. I beg to differ. For Genesis 1 and 2 clearly set for the norms of Marriage as God intends: one man for one woman in a stable fruit-bearing relationship till death do them part. One man clinging to one woman, being fruitful and multiplying through their children. This is God’s plan as set forth in Genesis 2.

The first lesson for us is that our family struggles and modern departure from biblical norms regarding the family also have grave effects that extend beyond merely our own families. As divorce and remarriage, single parenthood, homosexual unions, and (coming soon) polygamy, proliferate in our culture, increasingly grave effects befall us as our children. There is often lack of proper discipline and supervision, and a lack of proper role models, and often gravely dysfunctional settings. As a result, our whole society grows weaker and more dysfunctional.

As the soil of the family grows ever thinner, we cannot expect to find the taller growths. And when the family is not strong, neither is the community, Church or nation. Birthrates fall and test scores fall, abortion, teenage pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, single motherhood and divorce all rise.

Our children are in the balance, and we like David, seem to have little will or ability to change our ways. And though we see destruction, even death all around us, there seems little collective will to repent, live chastely and exemplify biblical marriage. In so doing we act not only sinfully, but also unjustly to our children, our community, our Church and nation.

And, as with ancient Israel, our future is tied to our decisions regarding our families. As our families go, so will the nation go. The Church will ultimately remain, but she is sorely weakened by our collective lack of resolve to restore our families.

This is lesson one.

Lesson two – Despite David’s committing of some pretty serious sins, to include premeditated murder; despite also his flaws and weakness, Scripture clearly attests God’s love for David. God’s himself says of that he is a man after My own heart (Acts 13:22; 1 Sam 13:14). Yes, God had a heart for David, a special place in His heart.

And to be fair, David also had a great heart for God. It is true David was a sinner, and in several ways a very serious sinner. But he knew that, and was repentant (cf: 2 Sam 16:10-12; Psalm 51; 2 Samuel 12:11ff, inter al). He was a great King, to be sure, but also a humble man. In his final words near the end of his life, he advised: He that ruleth over men, must be just, ruling in the fear of God (2 Samuel 23:3). And though David sinned, he had a reverential fear for God rooted in love. He was a man after God’s own heart.

And herein lies the crux of this second lesson: God loves sinners, God uses sinners and flawed men and women. God can write straight with crooked lines, and make a way out of no way. Perhaps God should not have to, but he seems more than willing to use us, even in our brokenness.

Are there consequences to sin? Yes. But does God withdraw his love? Never. Even for those who finally refuse his Kingdom and it values, somehow his love reaches even into Hell. For how else could the souls there live without his sustaining love.

We should never doubt God’s love for us, no matter how deep our flaws or serious our sins. God will never forsake us. He may allow us to experience the consequences of our sins, as he did with David, and seems to be doing with us now, but God never withdraws his love or fails to shepherd us rightly. Whatever our sins, we have but to seek his mercy, like David, and accept his love. We are men and women after God’s own heart.

We ought to learn the terrible lessons of the family of David and repent of any of the ways we in the modern setting too often repeat these sins. But in the end we must never forget God’s love for us, and acting out of the power of that Love, we must strive to bring healing to our often broken and dysfunctional families.

Painting above: David Repents from Wiki Commons

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Lord, Keep your arm around my shoulder and your hand over my mouth: A Reflection on Common Sins of Speech

070813One of the greatest gifts of the Human person is the capacity to speak. It is also one of our greatest weaknesses. The Book of James says,

We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect!, able to keep their whole body in check. When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, and thus we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts.

Consider how a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. (James 3:2-18)

Perhaps the most common sins we commit are related to speech: gossip, idle chatter, lies, exaggerations, harsh attacks, uncharitable observations and remarks. With our tongue we can spread hatred, incite fear and maliciousness, spread mis-information, cause temptation, discourage, teach error, and ruin reputations. We can surely cause great harm with a gift capable of such good!

Note how James says in the quote above that we have learned to tame just about every wild animal, but the tongue, such a small part of us physically is barely able to be tamed. One may conquer many sins by God’s grace, but speech is usually the last. It almost seems that a different and lower part of our brain has a life of its own when it comes to speech. We can be halfway through saying something before we even realize how stupid and sinful we are being. Every now and then we even forget who we’re talking to or that what we say might get repeated.

Scriptures speak very artistically of the sinful tongue. Here is a list i found from James Melton [1]. The List is his, but the commentary is mine. Beware the

  1. The Lying Tongue – Speaking false things with the intention to mislead. Proverbs 12:22 says,  The LORD detests lying lips, but he delights in people who are trustworthy.
  2. The Flattering Tongue – a lying or exaggerating about the good qualities of others to ingratiate ourselves to them. This is a form of lying. Psalm 12:3 says, May the Lord silence all flattering lips and every boastful tongue
  3. The Proud Tongue – There is a saying that a proud tongue comes with two closed ears. The proud tongue is boastful and over certain of what it says. Neither will those of proud tongue be easily corrected or reasonably qualify or distinguish their remarks.  Psalm 12 :4 condemns , those who say, “By our tongues we will prevail; our own lips will defend us—who is lord over us?”
  4. The Overused Tongue – Those who say far too much, especially about that which they know little. Ecclesiastes 5:3 says a fool’s voice is known by multitude of words.
  5. The Swift Tongue – Those who speak before they should, before they even have all the information. Ecclesiastes 5:2 says, “Be not rash with your mouth, and let not your heart be hasty to utter any thing before God…. And James 1:19 says, Everyone should be swift to hear and slow to speak
  6. The Backbiting Tongue – Those who talk of others behind their back. Here is the secret and quiet injuring of a person’s good name to others. Calumny is to outright lie about another. Detraction is to call unnecessary attention to the known faults of others so as to harm their reputation. Proverbs 25:23 says, As surely as a north wind brings rain, so a gossiping tongue causes anger! Leviticus 19:16 says, You shall not go about as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not jeopardize the  life of your neighbor; I am the LORD.
  7. The Tale Bearing Tongue – Those who spread all sort of unnecessary and usually hurtful information. Much personal information that ought not be shared is spread by talebearers.  Proverbs 20:19 says, He that goes about as a tale-bearer reveals secrets, therefore keep no company with one who opens his lips. Leviticus 19:16 says, Thou shalt not go up and down as a tale-bearer among thy people.
  8. The Cursing Tongue – Those who wish harm on others, usually that they be damned. Psalm 109:17 warns, He loved to pronounce a curse– may it come back on him. He found no pleasure in blessing– may it be far from him.
  9. The Piercing Tongue – Those who speak with unnecessary harshness and severity. 2 Timothy 4:2 says, Proclaim the message; persist in it in season and out of season; rebuke, correct, and encourage with great patience and teaching. 1 Tim 5:1-2 says, Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.
  10. The Silent Tongue – Those who do not speak when they should to warn of sin, call to the kingdom, and announce the Truth of Jesus Christ. Isaiah 56:10 says, Israel’s  watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark. In our age the triumph of evil and bad behavior has been assisted by our silence as a Christian people. Prophets are to speak God’s word.

So our speech is riddled with what it should not have, and devoid of what it should have. How wretched indeed our condition. Well did James say: Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect!

There are many cautions to learn when it comes to speech. Here is another list of Scriptures on speech, mostly from the Wisdom Tradition. Read and Heed:

  1. Be swift to hear, but slow to answer. If you have the knowledge, answer your neighbor; if not, put your hand over your mouth. Honor and dishonor through talking! A man’s tongue can be his downfall. Be not called a detractor; use not your tongue for calumny (Sirach 5:13-16)
  2. He who repeats an evil report has no sense. Never repeat gossip, and you will not be reviled….Let anything you hear die within you; be assured it will not make you burst. But when a fool hears something, he is in labor, like a woman giving birth to a child….Like an arrow lodged in a man’s thigh is gossip in the breast of a fool…..every story you must not believe…..who has not sinned with his tongue? (Sirach 19:5-14 varia)
  3. Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few….Do not let your mouth lead you into sin…..Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore fear God (Eccles 5:1-6)
  4. In the end, people appreciate honest criticism far more than flattery (Proverbs 28:23 NLT)
  5. Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses (Prov 27:6)
  6. He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity (Prov 21:23)
  7. He who guards his lips guards his life, but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin. (Prov 13:3)
  8. A gossip betrays a confidence; so avoid a man who talks too much. (Prov 20:19)
  9. A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who pours out lies will perish (Prov 19:9)
  10. A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who pours out lies will not go free (Prov 19:5)
  11. A man of knowledge uses words with restraint, and a man of understanding is even-tempered. Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent, and discerning if he holds his tongue. (Prov 17:27-28)
  12. When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise (Prov 10:19)
  13. Fools’ words get them into constant quarrels; they are asking for a beating. (Prov 18:6)
  14. Drive out the mocker, and out goes strife; quarrels and insults are ended (Prov 22:10)
  15. The LORD detests lying lips, but he delights in men who are truthful. A prudent man keeps his knowledge to himself, but the heart of fools blurts out folly. (Prov 12:22-23)
  16. The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouth of the fool gushes folly. (Prov 15:2)
  17. The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life, but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit (Prov 15:4)
  18. A fool finds no pleasure in understanding but delights in airing his own opinions. (Prov 18:2)
  19. Some people make cutting remarks, but the words of the wise bring healing. (Prov 12:18)
  20. A man who lacks judgment derides his neighbor, but a man of understanding holds his tongue. A gossip betrays a confidence, but a trustworthy man keeps a secret. (Prov 11:12-13)
  21. The lips of the righteous know what is fitting, but the mouth of the wicked only what is perverse (Prov 10:32).
  22. The heart of the righteous weighs its answers, but the mouth of the wicked gushes evil (Prov 15:28)
  23. The prudent man does not make a show of his knowledge, but fools broadcast their foolishness. (Prov 12:23)
  24. Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips. (Psalm 141:3)
  25. Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies. (Psalm 34:13)

Help Lord! keep Your arm around my shoulder and Your hand over my mouth! Put your word in my heart, so that when I do speak, it’s really you.

This video features the ladies, but men gossip too. This is an excerpt from Music Man:

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Are We "Down with the People" or Up with the Cross? A Call to Courage in Preaching the Cross

070713Some forty years ago the Venerable Bishop Fulton J Sheen admonished the priests of his day in these words:

We become real priests when we empty ourselves, and no longer seek our [own] identity, and where we are lifted up to the cross, not going “down to people.” Too many of us today feel we have to be loved…[thinking] the young will not love us unless we talk like them, eat like them, drink like them, clothe ourselves like them. No! They will not love us simply because we go down, they will love us when we lift them up. Else, the world will drag them down…. (Retreat for priests, “The Meaning of Being a Priest)

I remember those days of the seventies when priests, religious sisters and adult parish leaders wore jeans, sandals, and flashy sweaters. The men grew their hair longish, and the parish leaders recast “Sunday school” as a “rap session.” (Rap in those days did not mean anything related to music, it meant “to talk” but in a way that was “real” and “down with the struggle”).

The goal, it would seem,  was not for the clergy religious or adult leaders to teach, but rather to “relate” and to “facilitate a discussion.” I remember it was considered “hip” (i.e. cool, popular etc) to have the class sit on the floor in a circle. The “teacher” was “one of us” and would often start by saying something like “I do not have the answers, but together we can explore the questions.”

Even those of us in our rebellious teens knew there was something amiss here. I wonder if the “hip” priest, nun or youth leader knew that we laughed at them behind their back. Frankly, they DID look strange trying to dress and act like us. And though we humored them, we knew we had them in our back pocket. They were not to be taken seriously, and we didn’t.

I will not excuse our violations of the 4th commandment, but it was hard not to laugh and even mock them behind their back. We used to particularly laugh at one cleric who showed up with a guitar strapped to his back. And thought he did a pretty swift “Peter, Paul and Mary” gig, he did not. And when he left the room, convinced that he had “reached us,” we would “imitate” him derisively (I am sad to say) playing our air guitars and changing the lyrics to the silly songs he sang.

Of course, one might argue we would still have done so had they taken the traditional role of standing before us, commanding respect, and being in the role of teacher, rather than “fellow searcher.” Perhaps, but at least in the second scenario something would actually have been taught that we might later remember when we got over our “too cool for school” schtick.

Ah the Seventies, a sad and “dorky” time that endured well into the 90s and is still operative in some places today.

I think most younger priests today, who had to endure a lot of that silliness are clear that, as Sheen says, going “down to the people” is not an ultimately effective pastoral approach. Most younger clergy are clear enough that people, young and old, are appreciative when we dress and act as clergy. Religious Sisters too, are far more respected and appreciated when they wear the full habit and exhibit the qualities of dignity and grace that go with their honored state. It is no mistake that the traditional orders attract vocations, while the secular-clad, aging “hippie” orders are all but dead.

But, while the externals may be more intact today than in the dorky 70s and 80s, the desire to be loved is still a deep wound with which many clergy, religious, parents and lay leaders struggle. At the end of the day we must always ask, do I fear and serve the Lord or do I fear and please man?

We serve a Lord who, while popular at times, made a journey to the cross that few, even among his 12 were willing to follow or found pleasing. They were looking for a Messiah who was “down with the struggle” on their terms and who would usher in a new worldly kingdom of power and prosperity. Yes, this is what it meant for them that Jesus be “down with the struggle.” But Jesus went up to the cross and few would follow him there. Only St. John, Mother Mary and several other women made it there.

Those of us who lead, Clergy, Religious, parents, and lay leaders must point to the Cross and be willing to lead others there. As for pointing to what is popular and “hip” and what will make us seemingly “loved” and accepted, any newscaster or Hollywood star can do that.

It is true that we ought not engage in all or nothing thinking, or set up a false dichotomy. To be up with the cross and not merely “down with the folks” is not an absolute conflict. Pope Francis has surely reminded the whole Church that we need to be out among the flock, and out in the public square.

But here is the key, we must be there are Christians, as Catholics, as followers of Jesus, who, who charity but also with clarity announce the Gospel. And key to the Gospel to to point the Cross as the way to glory and healing.

And we preach the cross not as an abstraction, but as focused on some very real and sometimes difficult choices. We preach a cross that includes turning away from the pleasures of sin and the flesh, to embrace, chastity, self-control, openness to life, even in difficult circumstances. The cross means there is to be no abortion, even in rape and incest, we are to work out our marital difficulties instead of splitting. We hold up the cross in calling the unmarried to perfect chastity, to homosexuals there is the call of perpetual continence. We preach the cross of enduring persecution, forgiving our enemies, humbling ourselves through confession, of atoning for our sins and obedience to the Commandments. We hold up the cross when we insist on generosity to the poor, and the forsaking of greed and the accumulation of so many unnecessary things. We hold up the cross when we remind others of their duties to family, community, the Church and the nation.

The Cross is not an abstraction and we who would lead must be up with Jesus and the Cross if we are ever to be “down with the people” and “down with the struggle” in any effective way.

We who are the leaders of the Church, have the mission to reflect the teachings, wisdom and way of our founder Jesus Christ. Many today mistakenly think our job is to find out what the majority of people think, and reflect that. No, this is not our job. We are to be Christ and his voice, his wisdom and his teaching in this world. This goes not only for clergy but also for parents. We are to preach his gospel, the whole counsel of Christ in season and out of season, popular or unpopular. We point the way of Christ.

And Christ had this “crazy” way of the Cross. The cross is like a tuning fork for us. It is the “A 440” that helps us to know if we are in tune with Jesus or just reflecting the world, if we are just “down with the people” or up with Christ on the cross.

Many that Good Friday told Christ they would be believe if he came down from his Cross. But he he would not come down from that cross just to save himself, he decided to stay, to save you and me. Had he been down with the people where they wanted him, he could not have saved them, or lifted them up.

A few quotes from scripture to finish:

  1. Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it….If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.” (Mk 8:34-38)
  2. Jesus said, “I do not accept glory from human beings” (John 5:41)
  3. Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. (1 Cor 1:20-25)
  4. You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. (Gal 3:1)
  5. If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse! Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ. (Gal 1:9-10)
  6. We speak as those approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please people but God, who tests our hearts. You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed—God is our witness. We were not looking for praise from people, not from you or anyone else… (1 Thess 2:4-6)

Are we with Christ, or just “down with the people?” If we are with others, as we should be, are we there with Christ? Do we preach his way of the cross, or do we seek merely to please men?

Are we up with Christ and the Cross, or merely down with the people and the pillow of popularity and the esteem of men?

Here is a favorite video of mine that both illustrates the silly 70s, but also shows the dark side of “tolerance.” Meet Prof “Stanford Nutting” (i.e. stand for nothing):

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Practical Principles for Proclaiming the Kingdom – A Homily for the 14th Sunday of the Year

"STP-ELP19" by Lyricmac at en.wikipedia. Licensed under CC BY 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons
“STP-ELP19” by Lyricmac at en.wikipedia. Licensed under CC BY 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons

In the Gospel today, Jesus gives a number of practical principles for those who would proclaim the Kingdom. Lets look at them each in turn.

I. Serious – The text says, At that time the Lord appointed seventy-two others whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit. He said to them, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.

The Lord describes here a very serious situation. There is an abundant harvest, but there are so few willing to work at it. Consider first the harvest in our own day. Look at the whole human race and how many don’t yet know the Lord. There are over 6 billion people on the planet. 1.1 billion Catholics (many of them lukewarm) about 750 Million other Christians. This means that more than 2/3rds of people on this planet don’t know and worship the Lord Jesus. Here in our own country 75% of Catholics don’t go to Mass.

There are many today who shrug and presume all of this is no big deal and that probably everyone will be saved. Never mind that Jesus says explicitly the opposite, namely that many if not most are heading down the road of loss and damnation (e.g. Matt 7:13; Luke 13:24, etc). Our myopic presumption and false optimism is unBiblical and frankly, slothful.

The Second Vatican Council has this to say,

Those can attain to salvation who through no fault of their own do not know the Gospel of Christ or His Church, yet sincerely seek God and moved by grace strive by their deeds to do His will as it is known to them through the dictates of conscience. Nor does Divine Providence deny the helps necessary for salvation to those who, without blame on their part, have not yet arrived at an explicit knowledge of God and with His grace strive to live a good life. Whatever good or truth is found amongst them is looked upon by the Church as a preparation for the Gospel. She knows that it is given by Him who enlightens all men so that they may finally have life. But very often men, deceived by the Evil One, have become vain in their reasoning and have exchanged the truth of God for a lie, serving the creature rather than the Creator. Wherefore to promote the glory of God and procure the salvation of all of these, and mindful of the command of the Lord, “Preach the Gospel to every creature”, the Church fosters the missions with care and attention. (Lumen Gentium 16)

Note that the council Fathers say that “very often” people are deceived by the Evil One. Do you see that? VERY OFTEN. In other words the notion that the great mass of “ignorant” humanity is not walking into heaven. Rather they are deceived and have let themselves be deceived.

Jesus himself said, This is the judgement: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. (John 3:19)

Yes, the need is urgent. We need to be serious about this. There are many today from our own families and among our friends who have left the practice of the faith and exist on a continuum from indifference to the faith to outright hostility and ridicule of the Holy Faith. We must work to restore them to the Church and the Lord. Otherwise they may likely be lost.

Scripture also speaks of many who walk, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed. (Eph 4:17-19)

There is work to do! And we must be serious. Sadly too many have not. The decline of the West has happened on our watch. Too many have thought that evangelization for somebody else. Welcome to what the silence of the saints has produced.

Note too that while this translation says, “ask the Lord of the Harvest” the Greek is more emphatic and personal. The Greek word is δεήθητε (deethete, from deomai) which means to beg as if binding oneself. In other words we are so urgent in this request that we are willing to involve our very self in the solution. This is not a problem merely for the Lord or for others. It is so serious that I am willing to go myself! Do you feel this way about evangelization.

Time to get serious! Many are being lost.

II. Sobriety – The text says, Go on your way; behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves.

We must be sober that we are being sent into a word that is inimical, hostile, to the faith.  Of this hostility we ought be neither despairing, nor dismissive of it,  but sober, clear about it.

Yes,  there is an enemy, he is organized, influential and powerful. Nevertheless we are not counseled to fear, but to sobriety, which means means to be aware but unafraid. Scripture says,

  1. And this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.  Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. (1 John 4:3 -4)
  2. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.  Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. (Ps 23:4-5)
  3. But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake. This will be a time for you to bear testimony. Settle it therefore in your minds, not to meditate beforehand how to answer; for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. (Luke 21:12-15)
  4. For the accuser (Satan) of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night (Rev 12:10)

Therefore we must be sober but fear not and be not discouraged. There is an enemy and the conflict is real, but the victory is already ours.

And old song says,

Harder yet may be the fight,
Right may often yield to might,
Wickedness awhile may reign,
Satan’s cause may seem to gain;
There is a God that rules above,
With hand of power and heart of love,
If I am right He’ll fight my battle,
I shall have peace some day.

III. Serenity – The Text says, Into whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this household.’ If a peaceful person lives there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. …Whatever town you enter and they do not receive you, go out into the streets and say, ‘The dust of your town that clings to our feet, even that we shake off against you.’ Yet know this: the kingdom of God is at hand. I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom on that day than for that town.“

Note well then how the Lord counsels us to shake off the dust in the face of rejection. We ought not take it personally. We ought to remember that it is Jesus they are rejecting, not us. Further we ought to be serene in the knowledge that just because someone is angry at us, does not mean we have done anything wrong.

Yes, we are to be serene and secure in the truth of the message and not consumed with how people react. We need not be strident and argumentative, we don’t have to raise our voices or fearful, angry or resentful. All we need to do is serenely preach the truth and leave the judgment up to God.

IV. Simplicity –  The text says, Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals; and greet no one along the way.

One of the things that keeps many of us from fully preaching the kingdom is that we are encumbered and hindered by so many things and activities. The Lord here tells us to travel light, then we shall be unencumbered, available and free. Too often today, spiritual truths are neglected and crowded out by worldly concerns. They’ll get their kids to soccer or basketball but Sunday school and Mass goes neglected. Likewise, many of us are too wealthy, too invested in this world. As a result we are not free to preach, we have too much to lose.

Note that the Lord calls us to simplicity in three areas:

  1. Purse – The Lord says, carry no money bag. For riches root us in this world and make us a slave of its ways. Riches are bondage, poverty (free from greed) is a kind of freedom, since those who are poorer, have less to loose. Scripture says, 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 Timothy 6:9-10).
  2. Possessions – The Lord says carry, no sack, no extra sandals. And in this regard we are encouraged to resist the tendency to accumulate possessions. These things too weigh us down. On account of them we are forever caught up in the latest fashions, upgrades, and deluxe models. For our stuff there is also insurance, maintenance, upgrades, etc. Too much stuff roots us in the world and distracts us from more essential things. Too much stuff, it’ll wear you ought, carrying around too much stuff. The Lord advises: travel light, simplify. Scripture says elsewhere, Better is a little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble with it. (Proverbs 15:16)
  3. People – The text says, greet no one along the way. Here too we have to admit that some folks in life do not help us in our Christian walk or duty. Instead they hinder us, tempt us or simply get us to focus on foolish and passing things. The Lord has something for these 72 to do and he wants them to get there and do it. This is not a time to stop along the way and chat with every passerby. The same is true for us. We ought to be careful of the company we keep and ponder if our friends and acquaintances help or hinder us in our task of proclaiming the Kingdom. Scripture warns: Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” (1 Cor 15:33) And again,  I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with immoral men…I wrote to you not to associate with any one who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or robber — not even to eat with such a one. (1 Cor 5:9)

Thus, the Lord counsels, travel light, simplify. Our many possessions weigh us down and make life difficult. Look at the opulence of today, yet look at the stress. Simplify, travel light. Also, avoid complicating and compromising relationships.

V. Stability – The Lord says, Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you, for the laborer deserves his payment. Do not move about from one house to another.

In other words find out where home is, where the Lord wants you, and stay there. Stop all this modern running about.  Develop in-depth relationships and stability. In the old days, long term relationships served as the basis for the communication of the truths of faith, not just between individuals, but across generations and in close-knit neighborhoods and communities.  Today with all the moving around things are more shallow.

But Lord counsels that we stay close to home, frequent holy places. We ought to do everything we can to find stability and roots. It is in stable contexts and deep roots, deep relationships that the Gospel is best preached. Many parents today seldom have dinner with their children, indeed, with all the running around there is little time at all to teach or preach the faith!

Scripture warns,

  1. She is loud and wayward, for her feet do not stay at home; now in the street, now in the market (Proverbs 7:11-12)
  2. Like a bird that strays from its nest, is a man who strays from his home. (Proverbs 27:8).

VI. Sensitivity – Jesus says, Whatever town you enter and they welcome you, eat what is set before you, cure the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God is at hand for you.‘

In other words, be gracious and kind. Simple human kindness and a gracious demeanor goes a long way in opening doors for the gospel. Eat what is put before you. In other words, wherever possible reverence the local culture, build on common ground, find and affirm what is right. Don’t just be the critic. Even a broken clock is right twice a day. Sure there are ways we can be gracious. Little kindnesses are long remembered and pave the way for trust and openness.

That the sick should be cured is clear in itself. But in a more extended sense, we see how kindness, patience and understanding are also healing. We must speak the truth, but we must learn to speak it in love, not merely in confrontation or harsh criticism.

Simple kindness and sensitivity are counseled here: eat what is set before you.

VII. Soul Saving Joy the text says, The seventy-two returned rejoicing, and said, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us because of your name.” Jesus said, “I have observed Satan fall like lightning from the sky. Behold, I have given you the power to ‘tread upon serpents’ and scorpions and upon the full force of the enemy and nothing will harm you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice because your names are written in heaven.“

They have the joy of success that day. There will be other days of rejection and even martyrdom. That’s why Jesus counsels to have a deeper source of joy: merely that they have been called and have their names written in heaven.

There is no greater evidence to the truth of our faith than joyful and transformed Christians. Mother Theresa said, Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls.

Thus the Lord counsels that we cultivate joy at what he is doing for us, how he is delivering us and giving us power over the demons in our life. There is no greater joy than to remember what the Lord has done for us, that he has saved us and written our names in heaven. Yes remember! Have so present in your mind and heart what the Lord has done for you so that you are grateful, joyful and different! This is soul-saving joy. A joy that will save your soul and others too.

Here then are seven principles for proclaiming the Kingdom. Now lets get serious. There is work to do. Many are being lost. Time to cast our nets!