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Praying as an Adult

Thursday, February 18th, 2016

Thursday of First Week in Lent

Esth C12, 14-16, 23-25; Mt 7: 7-12

Dc. Larry Brockman

Prayer! It’s one of the three pillars of our Lenten observance, along with Almsgiving and Fasting.  And Prayer is the topic of both of today’s readings.

Jesus is quite explicit about prayer in the Gospel.  “Ask and it will be given to you.”  He says whether you ask, seek, or knock on the door, God will give to you; will help you find; or will open the door.  And then he makes sure we know that not only will God answer our prayer, but it will always be with His best for you.

Yet sometimes we feel that our prayers go unanswered.  So, how do we reconcile that?

Two thoughts come to mind.  The first is that we are children of God now; and His relationship with us is truly like a Father’s relation to his children.  We can relate to a father fielding the requests of his children, can’t we?  Their requests are kind of like prayer, you know.  When they are young, they hold their father in great esteem.  There is nothing a father can’t do; he is the ultimate authority figure; he is the giver of good things; and he loves through and through.  He is always the person who disciplines; and to that extent, we respect and fear him.  Sound familiar?

Now, the things you asked your father for were not always the best for you-  particularly at the time you asked for them.  So, sometimes you were told “no”; sometimes you were told “maybe”; and sometimes you were told “later”.  But most of the time, as a good Christian father, he always did what was best for you.  And if you didn’t get what you asked for explicitly, chances are you got something more suited to your real needs.  So it is with God.

The other thing that comes to mind is that we need to make our prayer requests in a mature manner.  So, instead of praying to God the Father as a child makes requests to his father, we need to make our requests at a higher level.  We need to learn how to pray at an adult level.  That’s where Esther’s prayer to the Lord in the Old Testament can help us.

First, let me say a little about Esther’s plight.  Esther was a Jew who was selected for her beauty to marry the Persian King, but, the Persians were unaware that Esther was a Jew.  Her foster father, Mordecai, was a leader of the Jews in exile.  Mordecai had irritated the King’s number one man, Haman, because he refused, as did his Jewish followers, to kneel before the pagan gods.  So, Haman manipulated the king into issuing a decree that would have exterminated the Jews.  This decree was seemingly irreversible, else the king’s written word would appear to be compromised.  Esther knows that she has influence with the king, and so, we come to our scripture for today.

Notice these things about Esther’s Prayer.  First, she opens by praising God and approaching Him with humility.  That is established in some of the missing text, where she takes off her Queenly garments, and dresses in plain clothing for mourning.  Next, she admits that the Lord alone can help her, and even recognizes that approaching the King might put her own life at risk.  Yet, she asks not that God work some miracle; rather, that God will give her the wisdom she needs by asking that God;  “Put in my mouth persuasive words in the presence of the lion, and turn his heart to hatred for our enemy, so that he and his co-conspirators may perish.”   And this prayer takes hours and hours and hours.  Esther shows great patience.

Esther is asking God to enable her to do God’s will; she is offering to take the risk and do whatever is required herself.  And she defers to the saving power of the Lord, a sign of submission.

So should we pray to the Lord our God.  Our prayers should openly praise God; and we should approach Him with humility and patience;  but most of all, we should ask him to enable us to do his will in the situation we find ourselves in.  And so, to have faith that He has already done it, and accept His providence.

Indeed, be confident to “Ask and it will be given to you.”

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Where is Your Heart?

Thursday, February 11th, 2016

Thursday After Ash Wednesday

Dt 30: 15-20; Luke 9: 22-25

Dc. Larry Brockman

Where is your heart?

When you break down Moses speech to the Israelite people, that was the essence of His speech to them.  Moses laid out a set of laws and precepts to live by that would assure the people would remain in God’s favor.  Then he tells them that each of them has a choice; and their society has a collective choice.  Either the people would listen to God’s plan for choosing life everlasting that Moses had set before them; in which case they would be blessed by God.    Or they would turn their hearts from God’s way allowing themselves to be led astray by the world, and by choosing other gods to worship; in which case, disaster would strike their nation.

The Old Testament is filled with cycles of obedience and disobedience; prosperity and disaster; and belief and disbelief as the Israelites wandered back and forth in their allegiance to the Lord.  In each of these cycles, we can see where the heart of the people was; and we can see whether their nation was blessed or not.

It comes down to that, you know.  It isn’t just your heart, or my heart that matters, but it is the collective allegiance of all of the people that determines prosperity or disaster for society.

And yet, Moses was talking to each person in that crowd.  And the Church uses Moses to talk to each of us this morning because Moses message applies to us as well.  We have the same choice as individuals today that each of the Israelites had in Moses time.  We are being asked where are hearts are this morning.

And Moses message was repeated in Luke’s Gospel in one of Jesus parables.  Remember the line “Where your treasure is, there is your heart”?  Jesus was talking about the same thing.  Wherever each individual’s priority is, that is where their heart is.  And if the hearts of the people collectively are focused on something other than God’s way, then that is a recipe for disaster for society as a whole.

The world has seen many cycles of faithfulness followed by lack of faith since Jesus birth, death, and resurrection; and so, whole nations have experienced rises and falls in their prosperity.  And it can all be traced to where the hearts of the people were.  Our nation seems to be wandering from a collective heart that favors the way of the Lord.  Woe to us for that.

But you know what?  The good news is that it doesn’t really matter to the individual.  Each of us has a choice; and our salvation doesn’t depend on what the rest of the people in our society do.  The health of our society depends on it, but not our individual salvation.  All that matters for you is where your heart is.

That’s where our Gospel comes in today.  Jesus boldly proclaims that he must suffer and die at the hands of evil men, men who have made another choice with their hearts; people whose society sanctions other gods and lack of faith and trust in God.  It was a shocker to his disciples that Jesus would have to suffer; it was inconceivable to them.  But he was showing them the way to salvation, as he is showing it to us this morning.

Each of us needs to follow Jesus example and live according to God’s law regardless of how the rest of society tries to undermine us.  We have to stand up for what we believe in our individual lives- to support respect life; to support real marriage and family values; to be generous and kind to the poor and disadvantaged; and a whole host of other ways of living the faith that is written in our hearts.   In the extreme, we may even have to suffer the backlash of the establishment as Jesus did, that’s what it means for us to take up our crosses and follow him.

Lent is a great time for all of us to ask the question.  Where is your heart?  Because where your heart is, that is where your future lies.

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Who Speaks With Authority?

Thursday, February 4th, 2016

Thursday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time

1 Kings 2: 1-4, 10-12; Mark 6: 7-13

Dc. Larry Brockman

I couldn’t help but notice some common threads between our Old Testament reading and the Gospel.  In both cases, authority was delegated by the principal.  David delegated his authority to Solomon; and Jesus delegated his authority to the Apostles.  In both cases, Kings delegated their authority- the righteous King of Israel, David; and Christ the King.

The delegations carry with them some important advice.  David tells his son to always, always, obey the law of God.  Jesus tells his disciples to preach repentance; meaning that the folks in the towns they visited needed to mend their lives in accordance with the law of God.

However, there are some differences as well.  David’s delegation of authority carried the full weight of the government.  After all, he was the earthly King of Israel.  Jesus delegation of authority was totally outside either the political or religious governing bodies.  Jesus was heralding a “new way of living”.  Jesus was asking folks, through the “Church” he was forming to convert the minds and hearts of the people to repent , without the legal weight of the government.

Just who should we listen to these days?  The Government?  The media?  Charismatic  self-proclaimed experts?  Information and pundits are prolific in our society.  All of us have access to hundreds of TV and Radio Stations;  an infinite resource of information sources over the Internet; and more books, periodicals, and other written sources than one can imagine.  And lots of the information we hear conflicts.  Political commentators conflict on root causes of problems and there are many views on moral standards because of the acceptance of pluralistic views on religion, all of which vie for our time and claim to have the truth, the answer to what life is all about.  Just who should we listen to?

The answer rests in what real authority is.  The root meaning of authority in this sense of the word is simply this:  They were given power by the legitimate source of power.  David was the King of God’s chosen people, the people of God in the Old Testament.  Jesus is Christ the King, the King of all mankind in the New Covenant.  Jesus has the legitimate power to delegate, and his message is pure and unencumbered by earthly corruption.  The Apostles didn’t assume this power; they were given this power by Jesus.  So, the message was not their message; it was God’s message.

Now, the Apostles were told not to take anything extra.  In other words, they weren’t bringing their own message forward; and they weren’t asking for anything of material value in return for it.  They were neutral; they had nothing personal to gain.  They were messengers who were simply following God’s will for them.  They had the simplest and most pure motivation, their enthusiasm for the message of Jesus.  Lastly, they had faith, great faith- the kind of faith that David speaks about in his parting words on his deathbed.  David told Solomon to always, always obey the Lord in all things, never questioning the law.  That takes tremendous faith.    And because they had these simple characteristics- faith, authority, and purity of purpose; they were able to work wonders as they moved through the people, driving away unclean spirits, curing the lame, and healing the sick.

In the politically correct, pluralistic , secular society in which we live  Who should we listen to?  Our government? Wikipedia? The latest silver tongued “feel-good” preacher?   Or do we listen to people who are like the Apostles that Jesus sent out.  The choice is yours.  As for me, I’ll stay with the Church.

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Them That Has Gits!

Thursday, January 28th, 2016

Thursday of 3rd Week in Ordinary Time

2 Sam 7: 18-19, 24-29; Mark 4: 21-25

Dc. Larry Brockman

So, “To the one who has, more will be given; from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”  Wow!  That sounds so harsh, doesn’t it?

In today’s gospel, Jesus also talks about lamps hidden under the bed or being covered up.  He says these lamps were intended to be out in the open to shed light.  We are the lamps.  We cannot afford to hide under a bed or run for cover in the stream of life.  We are being told to shine the light of Christ for all of our brothers and sisters to see.  And what is it we are to illuminate?  The things hidden in the darkness- those things that are shrouded in secret.  Because light has not shone on them, they need to be exposed for what they are.  Yes, those who are people of the light need to expose evil for what it is- no covering your lamp when you hear of corruption and dishonesty; no hiding under the bed when someone speaks against the law of God; and no turning the other way when Christian values are being compromised.

There are a lot of folks today who do that, you know.  They hide or cover their lights in the name of “freedom”.  They say “After all, who am I to judge”; and “Everyone should have the freedom to live according to their own standard; isn’t that what freedom is all about?”

No, it is not.  Rather, it is our responsibility to save those who are on the wrong track.  It’s part of our responsibility as Christians to evangelize; to shine our light in the darkness.  And what is more, there are consequences if we don’t.

Now I suspect the people of the time didn’t understand this parable either.  So Jesus tells them that those who have ears need to listen.  Jesus probably sensed a Deer in the Headlights response from the people after he said that.  So he made the situation crystal clear.  “To the one who has, more will be given; from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

Just what does that have to do with the whole matter?  Well, grace is a free gift from God.  All of us who were Baptized received the graces of Baptism.  All of us who pray receive graces from God.  All of us who do God’s will, receive graces from God.  There is a relationship between the presence of the Holy Spirit within us, and the graces that we receive.  And to those who do these things, more graces are given, while to those who don’t do these things, fewer graces are given.

It’s all up to us, isn’t it?  It depends on our Faith, our spirituality, our initial and follow-on response to God how much favor, or grace, we receive from God.  And ultimately, if we don’t act on our graces, what graces we have will be dissipated.  We will lose favor with God.

If I said to you  “Things will go smoothly for those who exercise good judgment; whereas things will go poorly for those who don’t.”  All of us could certainly see the logic and fairness to that.    Likewise, to those who make an effort in response to graces, more graces will be received. and to those who don’t make an effort, little will be given, and in fact, they may lose the faith and graces they do have.  And that is definitely fair.

The great challenge in life is not just to believe in God and his work of salvation that saved all of us who believe but to act on that Faith by shining our light as Christians no matter what the world tries to do to us.    And in very clear unmistakable terms, for those who do that  “Them that has, gits”.  And that is as fair as fair can be.

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A Jealous King Learns a Lesson!

Thursday, January 21st, 2016

Thursday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time (U)

1 Sam 18: 6-9, 19: 1-7; Mk 3: 7-12

Dc. Larry Brockman

Jealousy!  It is one of the seven deadly sins.  This morning we hear how Saul had become jealous of David, so much so that he considered killing him.  And all because people sang and danced over “10 thousand” enemies that David allegedly slew whereas they gave King Saul credit for only “one thousand”.  For a while, David had been an answer to a prayer for Saul because he was so successful, but Saul’s ego got in the way and so he plotted against David.  Some of the text has been left out of this selection.  If you read it, you find Saul trying to use David’s attraction for his daughter Michol as a way to get at David.  Indeed, Saul’s anger runs deep.

Jealousy over someone else’s success is a human reaction that we all share, isn’t it?  It seems particularly hard for people to accept someone else’s success after they been successful themselves.  I am sure that all of us can think of a time when someone stole the spotlight from us.  And rather than rejoice in the other person’s success, we became envious or jealous.  I think about a first-born children, for example.  Perhaps a little boy is basking in the attention and the joy that went with undivided attention from his parents.  Along comes a baby sister and what a shock that little fellow has.  It seems as if the baby stole all the attention right out from under him.  I have seen that over and over in my innocent grandchildren as they came along.

But, when folks get older, this natural, innocent bewilderment can turn ugly.  Perhaps you feel you did a really great job on a work project, and all of a sudden someone else steals the show.  They did something themselves that for one reason or another, the boss raves about, but he seems to just gloss over your achievement.

What should we do when we feel that emotion of jealousy and envy, and even anger in situations like that?  First of all, recognize that life is just like that.  God’s gifts are given to everyone; everyone has a share of the limelight.  And, we should be happy when someone else succeeds.  After all, we all want them to be happy for us when we succeed.

But more than that, gifts are not balanced.  Whenever my wife baked a pie, she always used to have one of our kids cut the pie.  And whoever cut the pie was the person who received the last piece.  Everybody learned a key lesson from that.  No matter how hard you would try, it was just very hard to cut that pie so that everyone gets the same size piece.  And it is that way in life as well.  You might get the larger piece of the pie today, but someone else is going to get the larger piece of pie tomorrow.  That’s life.

Second, these deadly sins, like jealousy and envy, are the devil’s best chance to derail you from your real goals in life.  They draw attention to ourselves and our wants rather than God’s will for us.  And if we become consumed with jealousy and envy, we lose sight of what our lives are really all about-  the mission and goals that God has in mind for us.  That’s exactly where the devil wants us- consumed in ourselves.   On the other hand, sharing the limelight is a lesson in humility that all of us need to learn.  Because when you come right down to it, we are all really the same in God’s eyes even though we are as different as night and day in gifts, talents, and limitations.  It is God’s attention and praise we should be seeking; not the world’s.

Today’s Gospel echoes the same lesson.  All those people closing in on Jesus were doing it not because they loved God or Jesus; but because they wanted something from him- something worldly.  They were into themselves.  And so Jesus arranged for an escape from the pressure.

The next time you start to feel jealous or envious of someone else.  Think about how the devil is working on you.  Let it go, and seek after God’s praise first.

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The Church as a Symbol (U)

Thursday, January 14th, 2016

Thursday of the First Week In Ordinary Time

1 Sam 4: 1-11; Mk 1: 40-45

Dc. Larry Brockman

You see it quite frequently, someone riding around with a Rosary hanging from their rear view mirror.  Sometimes even cabbies have rosaries dangling from their rear view mirrors.  I asked a cabbie with such a rosary once if he was Catholic, pointing to his rosary.  He told me “no”, but said he believed that “it couldn’t hurt” and it might protect him against an accident!  This poor cabbie was just putting his trust in symbols, but not having any real sense of belief in what the symbol represented.

And so it was in the story about the Israelites defeat in battle against the Philistines this morning.  The words very clearly show that the Israelites summoned the Ark itself-  they wanted the physical presence of the Ark there.  There wasn’t any semblance of faith in what the Ark symbolized- the presence and power of Almighty God.  In fact, the Philistines seem to have a better understanding of the power behind the Ark than the Israelites did.  For they said “Gods have come to their camp”.  This motivated the Philistines to redouble their preparation, and to make sure they were as ready as possible.  Meanwhile, the Israelites whooped it up in a party, trusting that the symbol itself would carry the day.  Such a dreadful mistake.  Where was their respect for the God the Ark represented?  How did they prepare in God’s name for the battle?  By whooping it up?

Contrast all of this with the story of Faith presented in the Gospel.  Lepers were isolated from society, and if they approached people, they could be severely dealt with by the authorities.  But this leper violates all these taboos and takes a big risk because the leper’s faith is strong; and his attitude is very humble.  He has a plan, and he boldly approaches Jesus directly.  Kneeling before the Lord he says “If you wish, you can make me clean.”

Notice that his faith is strong, and he takes direct action.  By contrast the Israelites faith is lukewarm, and they are content to let the symbol do all the work for them.  There’s a lesson for all of us in this contrast.  It isn’t enough for us to just go through the motions that our Faith demands.  We need to embrace the Faith itself and take action.

Now don’t get me wrong.  I am all for proudly displaying religious symbols in our homes and even on our persons.  But, the symbols are there to give witness to our Faith and to remind us of our Faith. They are there to call forth our Faith, whether we are in need or not.  But the Symbols themselves are powerless without the faith behind them.

One such symbol that we must carefully consider in today’s world is the Church itself.  People come to Church for a variety of reasons.  Do they come just to be associated with what the Church symbolizes- a religion.  For example- coming to be seen; to provide a social context;  to validate a life style; to fulfil an obligation or to find a safe haven.

Or do they come to worship God and to get to know him?  For example, to give special time and praise to God; to seek direction in one’s life; to know more about God; to teach and foster faith to our youth; to help spread our Faith to others outside the parish and to serve others as an example of Christ’s love.

I say all this because as numerous as Christians are in this country today, we are losing ground in battle against the forces of secularism each and every day.  Why?  Perhaps we are lukewarm in our Faith and hoping the Church will do the work for us?  But you see, the Church is us.

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God Loves Everyone (U)

Thursday, January 7th, 2016

Thursday After Epiphany

1 Jn 4: 19- 5:4; Lk 4: 14-33

Dc. Larry Brockman

So, “Whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.”  Wow! That’s a very significant insight from St. John.  And he is not just talking about our blood brothers either.  Because we are all the brotherhood of man.

Look at it this way; God made all of us.  And God doesn’t make junk.  So all of us are God’s people, and all of those he made are loved.  Why would God consciously make someone he didn’t love?  And God has shown us that his creation is varied- black, brown, yellow, white;  unborn; Children; Men; Women; Homosexuals; rich; poor; talented; handicapped;  athletic; and crippled.  Whoever has been conceived by natural processes to be born into this world; God loves  We are all God’s children and so each of us is fashioned by God with our own unique talents, gifts, and limitations with the same love.  It’s just that our perspectives don’t necessarily see it that way.

We can’t really love God if we don’t love all the people that God loves because our rationale for following God’s command to love has to match God’s own concept of love.  We can’t reject anyone that God loves; that’s not the love of God.

In the Gospel, Jesus tells us what God’s plan is for him.  First, he reads the prophecy of Isaiah on the Messiah’s coming:  “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.”  Then, he declares boldly that this prophecy has been fulfilled today by him; making it clear that he is the Messiah, the one who will accomplish all that was promised in the prophecy.

God loves the poor, the captives, the blind, and the oppressed, just as much as the well off, those already free, the physically able, and those with the upper hand; and it is clear from this Gospel that his first priority is those the world considers as disadvantaged!

We have just embarked on the year of Mercy as announced by Pope Francis.  What does that mean for you and I?  Well, these readings should awaken a sense of duty within  us to internalize what mercy means in our own lives, t live the love of Christ for all of his creation.  It doesn’t just mean dropping a few extra bucks in the collection basket for the poor.  It doesn’t just mean adding an extra intention to our daily prayers.  It should mean something more than that.  It should mean that we have mercy on the poor, captive, and suffering in our own lives.

Who are the poor and captive and suffering in our lives?  They are those in our families with imperfections and limitations;  those who are captive to their own blindness and who resist God’s love. And it includes those who take advantage of our better nature in society- the homeless, those in disastrous relationships, those who are bullies and those who have turned their backs on God.

Why?  Because that’s what we hope God will do for each and every one of us when we recognize our own weaknesses; and because we are the only window that these people may have to the love of God.  Our limitations should teach each of us to be humble in the face of our God; but our talents are to be shared for the good of all our brothers; and a talent all of us can develop is true Christian love whereby we continue to love even those who give us the worst time.

Our first reading ends with this quote:  “For whoever is begotten by God conquers the world.”  We don’t conquer the world by rising above the worldly in a worldly way.  Rather, we conquer the world by echoing God’s love through our faith in God and by loving with our own loving spirit, no matter how difficult the people in our lives are and what they throw at us.

So, think of someone in your life who needs mercy; and with the love of Christ, be merciful to them.

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You Are Greater Than the Greatest Born of a Woman

Thursday, December 10th, 2015

Thursday of the Second Week of Advent

Is 41: 13-20; Mt 11: 11-15

Dc. Larry Brockman

So, the least in the Kingdom of God is greater than John the Baptist, who is the greatest of those born of a woman!  Is there any hope for us then, who certainly don’t have the insight or the zeal or the discipline of John the Baptist?

Contrast that thought with response in our Psalm today:  “The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow in anger, and great in kindness.”  How can both of these be true?  How can the least in the kingdom be greater than John the Baptist, and the Lord be kind and merciful to us who don’t measure up to John?  What does it all mean?

It means we all certainly do have cause to rejoice.  You see, the coming of Jesus, our savior, changed everything.  Up until then, the Kingdom of God was not open, and great as any human born of a woman might be, they could not enter the everlasting Kingdom of God.  Jesus’ coming put into action God’s plan to save all of us who believe and follow Jesus.  Yes, the Lord is gracious.

And to help us on our journey of life, we have been given great gifts- the Church and the Sacraments-  Baptism, the Eucharist, Confirmation in particular,  These initiate and confirm us in our faith.  And then the sacrament of Reconciliation gives us a second, and third, and fourth, and on and on, chance to make things right with God as we fall on the way.  Yes indeed, the Lord is merciful and slow to anger.

Now most of us can’t really appreciate the literal meanings of the first reading.  We are not shepherds and farmers, and we don’t live in ancient times.  We have huge diesel driven bulldozers and earthmoving equipment that can literally move mountains.  We have cell phones and electric lights and running water and air conditioning, even in the middle of the desert.  But try for a moment to visualize the promise that the Lord is delivering through Isaiah.

Imagine threshing a mountain with a hand tool with ease, and water bubbling free in the desert with rivers flowing on bare land.   For nomadic ancient peoples, these things symbolized a capability they just couldn’t imagine.  And so they show that the Lord’s coming will happen with such certainty and ease, that it is a sure thing beyond any doubt, and that with His coming, prosperity will follow- a land rich in fertility and flowing with life.

Well, they symbolize the same thing for us- a certainty that the Lord will come, and bring with him prosperity.  Yes indeed, the Lord shows us great kindness.

So, rejoice, because the coming of Jesus does for us what the exiled people that Isaiah spoke to were hoping for-  Jesus’ coming guarantees us who believe everlasting life in the Kingdom of God, where we will also be greater than the greatest born of a woman.

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A Little Knowledge is a Dangerous Thing

Thursday, December 3rd, 2015

Thursday of the 1st Week of Advent

Is 26: 1-6; Mt 7: 21, 24-27

Dc. Larry Brockman

“Yes, but”.  Is our allegiance to the word of God characterized by “Yes, but” or a resounding “Amen”?  Because that’s the difference between building our foundation on rock or sand.

You know, there is a fallout associated with all the education we get these days.  In very blunt terms:  “A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing”.  And in the American society we live in, our level of education is so much more sophisticated than it used to be.  We are taught to question everything; we are taught to be critical thinkers.

And that is a good thing, unless…  Unless we try to second guess God’s law.  We can become so arrogant about our little bit of knowledge that we don’t listen to God.  You see, God thinks at a level that we cannot begin to approach.  His ways are totally beyond our comprehension.  And so, God has revealed His law to us through the prophets, Jesus and the Apostles, and the great doctors of the Church.  God’s revelation is slow, and doesn’t always seem to be provable or understandable according to man’s level of intelligence.  The Incarnation, the Trinity, the Resurrection of the body, the Eucharist; and some of our moral standards, like the right-to-life, and the dignity of a human person, are examples of that.  These are just a few of our beliefs that are challenged by secular society using sophisticated learning and reasoning today.

Consider some examples of areas where human “thinking” tries to second guess the aggregate teaching of the Church in today’s society.  Usually sophisticated arguments are used to consider the exception.  We say- marriage is the union of a man and a woman;  Society’s elite say- yes, but what about two people of the same sex who truly love each other.  We say- an embryo is a human being just like the parents.  But society’s elite say- yes, but what about the fact that the embryo cannot exist without the mother’s body;  And if that support can in any way danger the mother, than shouldn’t there be an exception  So the mother can make a choice.  We say- thou shalt not steal; but society’s elite say- yes but  those who have should be forced to pay for those who have not  because all are entitled to basic needs- it’s only fair.

It is important for all of us to remember that the truth is not relative- It is absolute.  There is black; and there is white.  It is possible to cross the line between one and the other.  In other words- there is sin.  Abortion is either right or wrong; marriage is between a man and a woman; and we cannot just steal from people who have, to give to the poor- the rich have to give of their hearts.  Right is right, and wrong is wrong.  And we must build our foundation on rock- that which is right.

That means we must take a position that some things are absolute, not relative.  The things that God has revealed to us as our foundation are things like the ten commandments and the beatitudes.  Otherwise, when we think that human beings can discern by the circumstances,  we are building our house on sand.

 

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Hanging In There When the Going Get’s Tough

Thursday, November 19th, 2015

Thursday of the 33rd Week in Ordinary Time

1 Mac 2: 15-29; Lk 19: 41-44

Dc. Larry Brockman

So, if things get tough will you hang in there? I mean, will you keep your faith if things get really tough? Or will you cave in like the “certain Jew” in today’s first reading. This man came forward and offered sacrifices to the pagan Greek gods, abandoning his faith and the faith of his ancestors, and desecrating the one true God’s house. Why? Because the Greeks overran the country and imposed the law we just heard described. Most of the people caved in- giving up their faith and joining the King’s followers to save their lives. While we might disapprove of Mattathias methods, his anger and the killings, you have to admire him for his zeal and for defending his faith.

Now, you might say, that would never happen to any of us. We would never have our faith challenged like that here in the good old USA. But it’s not so crazy that it would ever happen here, Because we are becoming a pluralistic secular country, one that tolerates all religions; and one that “respects” all kinds of moral codes; even those that run counter to our Church teaching. For example, we tolerate indecency and all forms of deviant life styles that are directly counter to our Faith in just about every public venue.

Not only that, our toleration of the minorities and these deviant moral codes has already translated to a persecution of the majority. And so our public officials have already told us we can’t pray in the schools anymore; we can’t pray before or after sporting events, we can’t put up Nativity scenes in public places; the ten commandments have to be removed from public places; and we shouldn’t say Merry Christmas because it might be offensive.

Not only that, pressure exists to recognize gay marriages and the “right” to choose abortion. The day will come, when a gay couple will come to this Church, demand to be married here; and then use the force of compliance with the “law of the land” and secular authority to pressure our Church. That will be just the beginning of explicit persecution that we will all feel.

Will we be strong and keep our faith in the face of these secular pressures, not just our pastor and clergy, but all of us?

Today’s Gospel tells us what happens if we don’t stand strong. Jesus says this in the Gospel: “For the days are coming upon you when your enemies will raise a palisade against you; they will encircle you and hem you in on all sides.” Isn’t that what is happening to Christians in this country right now? Maybe not a physical palisade, but a wall none the less, a barrier that keeps us from expressing our faith and evangelizing others, just by living our faith and being ourselves in public places.

The fact is that all of us must recognize our day of visitation and act on it. Else we can expect the same prediction for our Church as Christ predicted for Jerusalem: “They will smash you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another within you because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”

Indeed, we all have been blessed with a “time of visitation”. Jesus has been preached to each and every one of us. That is why we are all here. But what have we done with that. Have we done our part to evangelize those around us, and are we standing strong in the faith when it is attacked all around us?   I don’t know about you, but I intend to do my part. It may be just a little early. But please pass it on. Merry Christmas!

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