On Wakeup Calls

September 5th, 2013

Thursday of the 22nd Week in Ordinary Time

Blessed Theresa of Calcutta

Col 1: 9-14; Luke 5: 1-11

Dc. Larry Brockman

 

An “aha” experience!  That’s what happened to the Apostles in this morning’s Gospel.

Picture the scene again in your mind.  You wake up early in the morning to go to work, just like any other day.  You work hard as a Fisherman most of the early morning hours,but catch absolutely nothing.  And then, this stranger asks you to pull your boat out again.  You are weary- but decide to be nice and comply.  So out you go.  This stranger uses your boat to preach to a crowd.  You listen, but you are a fisherman; you’re not looking for something new.  When he finishes, he asks you to lower your nets.  Now you are cynical, thinking- “Like yeah, I’ve fished all night and nothing; and now this preacher wants me to try again.”  Only before you know it, the nets are heavy with fish.  This is something special; this is extraordinary!  This man must be special and maybe I should listen to him.  You have had an “aha” experience.  And your life will never be the same.

You see, God called these simple fishermen to a different life.  Granted, it was a loud, unmistakable call rather than a quiet, soft nudge.  But they left everything right there, and followed Jesus.  They didn’t have to, you know.  They could have reveled in the wealth of fish they had just caught, and said, “Thank you sir, but we’ve got to get these fish to market.”  That would have meant they were into doing their own.   They didn’t do that though; they dropped everything and followed Jesus.

Fast forward 2000 years now to another incident.  It is another kind of calling, but an “aha” experience none the less.  A nun is travelling on a train in India in 1946.  More than a decade earlier she had devoted her life to teaching as a nun.  But a quiet little voice inside tells her that she should drop everything and go out into the streets and minister to the poor.  She could have gone on with life as well.  After all, she was already living a life of service.  But, she regarded the message of the little voice as an order, not a request.  We know her as Mother Theresa.  And Blessed Mother Theresa’s feast day is today.

During the course of our lives, we will hear loud voices and soft voices and everything in between calling us, begging for our attention.  They could be the voice of God.  They could be our “aha” experience.

The darnedest thing about these aha experiences is that they will come at the most inconvenient times.   They come when we are busy and just can’t afford to listen; they come when we have finally just gotten the opportunity to relax; and they even come via people we would rather not have anything to do with.  That’s the way God works because he wants us to stretch for him, to drop everything and follow.  They come at various stages of life because we are always being called to grow, no matter how much growth we have already had!

And so, be on the lookout for these calls.  They aren’t necessarily life changing experiences like they were for the Apostles and Mother Theresa.  Most of them are less dramatic than that.  They are nudges toward God’s will for us- an inclination to help a stranger in need; a sudden impulse to do something special- like attend an Emmaus retreat or visit the Perpetual Adoration Chapel.  But they are rich opportunities to get to know the Lord.  And they are sources of pure joy for those who respond to them.

If today you hear His voice, harden not your hearts.

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Speaking Up in Truth

August 29th, 2013

Things just haven’t changed in 2000 years have they!  Because if you speak up boldly in the name of truth, then you can expect to suffer the consequences even today.

John the Baptist is a perfect example.  It wasn’t his message that the Messiah was coming; it wasn’t his message of repentance; it wasn’t his message that we need to be Baptized; it wasn’t any of these messages that did him in.  Rather, it was a simple truth- that it is unlawful to marry your brother’s wife.  That’s what did John the Baptist in.  Marrying your brother’s wife was wrong according to Jewish Law.  John the Baptist was bold enough to tell that directly to Herod’s face.  Now Herod was like the President in our country today- the king.  Imagine how Herod and his wife would react to such a direct public denunciation of them.  Indeed Herodias, the lady Herod married, was so enraged at this simple truth; that she connived with her daughter to have John the Baptist beheaded.  It was human nature, albeit human nature at its worst.  Because evil people react with evil when they are caught in their evil.

Let’s fast forward to today.  The same thing is happening in this country, isn’t it?  Our bishops through the NCCB, are speaking out boldly about a whole host of issues.  They are speaking the truth:  Abortion is murder, so a woman really doesn’t have the right to choose that; Marriage is between a man and a woman; so unions between two same sex people may be something else, but they are not marriage; and contraception is against the natural Law of God.  And what has the Government done in reaction?  They are forcing the Catholic Church, Catholic institutions, and Catholic owned businesses to accept and pay for these evils, or else.  “Wait a minute”, you say, “this hasn’t happened yet.”  Well, the waiting time for the HHS mandate is over in just a short month.  But the offending provisions of the mandate are still there and the Supreme Court has already set the stage for legalizing gay marriage.  It’s like our Bishops have had their heads cut off.

Did you know that before the first draft of the HHS mandate came out the leading Bishops were called to Washington, and they were told to get the radicals in the Church under control?  Yes, the Government tried to intimidate our Bishops.  But they stood strong, and so the Government reacted with impunity.  They opted to just go ahead and force our compliance.  The Government is determined to cripple the Church by figuratively cutting off the head; because their mandate could close our institutions and wreak financial havoc in our Churches.

We must not allow ourselves to be intimidated by it.  We have to speak up, just like John the Baptist did and just like our Bishops have.  We have to confront evil with the truth.  And it is especially important that we do it now when we are under attack.  We need to do it in any way we can- letters to our Congress; letters to HHS, letters to the President; in the next election; and with our pocketbooks; however.  It is time for us to stand up for truth now.

And there is hope.  Because truth is on our side, and God with it.  For as Jeremiah says in today’s reading:  “They will fight against you but not prevail over you, for I am with you to deliver you says the Lord”.

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On Knowing God

August 25th, 2013

21st Sunday in Ordinary Time

Is 66: 18-21; Heb 12: 5-7, 11-13; Luke 13: 22-30

Dc. Larry Brockman

 

Picture that scene in the Gospel again.  Someone has passed on to the next world, and they are knocking at the doors of heaven.  “Let me in”, they say.  And what does Jesus say happens in the parable?  The Lord says “Go away, I don’t know you”!    That’s a very disturbing story, isn’t it?  Because we get the impression that the person knocking on the door is a believer and they really want in.

Now, we are all here, gathered in this celebration, because we believe Jesus Christ is Lord, that he is God’s Son, that he came down from heaven, became one of us; suffered death, rose from the dead, and brought us salvation.  We believe in all of that.  So, why didn’t the Lord let this person in?  And what does it mean that the Lord didn’t know him?

And then there is the Isaiah reading, where the Lord says.  “I know their works and their thoughts”.  So, how can He know about our thoughts and all of our works and at the same time tell us He doesn’t know us?

Well, God is all knowing, isn’t He?  So no matter who we are, God knows about us.  He knows about what we think and what we do.  He knows about the deepest secrets of our hearts.  But knowing about us is not the same thing as knowing us.  Knowing us is a two way knowing.  Think about it this way.  We might say, “I know you; and you know me”; but what we really mean is that we know about each other.  We really don’t know each other very well, do we?  If we really knew each other, we would be very close friends.  We would not only know about each other, but we would have a certain knowing of each other at a deeper level.  We would be able to see and feel things like each other.  So, I think Jesus is saying that God lets us into the Kingdom when we both believe in him and we know him as a friend.

In our second reading, Paul talks about how we are sons of God.  He tells us that it is those God loves that He disciplines.  And he tells us that God’s discipline isn’t a source of joy; but rather, it can even be painful.  Then, he goes on to say that discipline “Brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who are trained by it.”  The peaceful fruit of righteousness!  And how are we trained by discipline?  Two things:  First, we need to accept our discipline and to learn from it.  That means whatever our trials; we have got to be willing to face them, not try to run away from them.  And second, we need something to help us through the process.  Specifically, we need someone there to lead us through the pain to the righteousness- someone like a trainer.  And it is God that wants to be right there with us,   Helping us as a trainer every bit of the way.

You see, God is not asking us to do anything that He didn’t ask His son to do.  Jesus suffered greatly and was put to death.  And yet, he bore that suffering and the trials that were his Father’s will for him.  Elsewhere Jesus says that his burden is light, and his yoke easy.  That may sound like a contradiction, but we need to understand the context.  Whatever our burdens in this world, they are easy and light compared to the burden of sin in everlasting life- that is hell.

Jesus makes a great companion in our suffering, because he can empathize with us, he knows what it is like and so, whatever your trials, invite Jesus to be there with you.  Invite him through prayer; invite him to walk with you as you experience your difficulties in life.

I heard an interesting story recently.  It seems a pastor began noticing a man in his Church each day.  The man was not well dressed, and appeared frazzled.  He would walk up to the altar, kneel, pray for a minute, and then leave.  This happened for weeks, and so one day the pastor asked him what he was doing.  The man said he worked in a factory, but took each lunch hour to walk 25 minutes to the Church and then 25 minutes back, giving him just a moment to pray.  This was his prayer:

“I just came by to tell you, Lord, how happy I have been,

Since we found each other’s friendship and you took away my sin.

Don’t know much of how to pray, but I think about you every day.

So, Jesus, this is Ben,  Just checking in today.”

Then, all of a sudden, Ben came no more to the Church.  The Pastor found out at the Factory that Ben was in the hospital.  The nurses at the hospital told him that Ben was all alone and had no visitors.  The Pastor visited Ben, and asked him about what the nurse said.  Ben told the Pastor the nurse was all wrong.  Because each day Jesus visited him and said:

“I just came by to tell you, Ben, how happy I have been,

Since we found this friendship, and I took away your sin.

I think about you always and I love to hear you pray,

And so Ben, this is Jesus,  Just checking in today”.

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Don’t Bargain Foolishly With God

August 22nd, 2013

Thursday of the 21st Week in Ordinary Time

Judges 11: 29-39a; Mt 22: 1-14

Dc. Larry Brockman

Harsh!  That’s what the first reading sounds like to me- very harsh.  I just couldn’t get by the literal meaning of sacrificing a daughter, no matter how I looked at it.  And so, I decided a little study was in order.

Scholars tell us that Jephthah got somewhat bold in his zeal.  So much so that he tries to bargain with the Lord; and rather than offer a sacrifice to the Lord; he tries to bargain with God by going to an extreme- human sacrifice.  But he bargains by offering to perform the sacrifice only if he gets what he wants first.  Not only that, his bargaining was tainted.   He was being shrewd by not making a commitment ahead of time on the sacrificial victim.  Only all of that backfired on him because God saw through him and made him face the worst of all possibilities, the sacrifice of his only daughter.

As I read through the commentaries, it was clear that there was much controversy about this incident.  Some of the Church fathers believe that his daughter was sacrificed only to perpetual virginity, and not death.  Others believe the daughter was ransomed, a common practice.  Some say he actually performed the sacrifice because God wanted his obedience.  And the more modern scholars say it is all symbolic.  One thing is really clear no matter which of the meanings you accept.  It was a foolish thing for Jephthah to do, to make such a foolish vow.  But you know what, many people try to bargain with God this way.

How many times do we hear about such bargaining with God?  Sometimes we hear things like this:  “I promised God that if He just gives me this one favor, I will come to Mass on Sunday”.  But God wants a full commitment; he does not bargain with us.

In the Gospel parable, people are making foolish decisions as well.  Jesus is using the King to represent God.  Those who are invited, in this case Jesus is referring to the Jews and the Pharisees, reject the invitation for no good reason.  How foolish, and they suffer the consequences for it.  And lastly, the street person who didn’t prepare properly for the wedding suffers a similar fate.  He represents the Gentiles who are now invited to the Kingdom, but don’t respond.

I suspect that many of us are guilty of such foolishness.  We are invited to God’s Kingdom now; when we die, it may be too late.  Are we postponing our invitation till it is convenient for us by always having something more important to do?  Are we here at the Church, but not really participating in spirit?  Because these are foolish responses to the invitations by the Lord.

All of us would be well advised to learn a lesson about God from these stories.  We should not try to make foolish pledges or bargains with God and we should not treat our invitation to the Kingdom of God lightly.  God always deserves our utmost respect and our full attention.

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The Two Rocks

August 8th, 2013

Thursday of the 18th Week in Ordinary Time

Num 20: 1-13; Mt 16: 13-23

Dc. Larry Brockman

Two Rocks- that’s what today’s scriptures are about.

Now I am certain that most of you have heard the first reading many times and wondered at its meaning.  Just how did the Moses and the Israelis test the Lord and His sanctity?  Well, first notice that the Isaraelis grumbled to themselves over lack of water, not trusting in the Lord.  So they went to Moses and Aaron to complain.  Moses and Aaron, feeling faint of heart themselves, appeal to the Lord for help.  All of that demonstrates lack of faith and trust.  But the Lord tells Moses to take his famous staff out of the Ark where it was kept.  He was then to assemble the people and in their presence, order water to flow out of the rock.  Now the staff symbolized the power and sanctity of the Lord.  When Moses just held the staff, great things happened- like the parting of the Red Sea and victory in battle.  So, Moses was supposed to just hold it, not strike the rock.  That should have brought it all back to the Israelis- that this staff symbolized the power of an invincible God; it should have renewed their faith.  But as you can see, Moses spoke tentatively and impatiently in the presence of the people at the rock- not with faith, and so not with authority he was given.  And yet, despite their lack of faith and mistrust, God in his goodness caused water to gush from the rock.  Because Moses did not handle the situation properly, he and Aaron were punished.

In the Gospel, Jesus is asking a central question of faith.  Have his disciples, by this time in his ministry to them, been moved in their hearts to know who he really is?   Do they believe, do they have faith in him?  Some dance around the issue, saying he is a prophet.  But Simon Peter comes up with the answer Jesus is looking for- that Jesus is the Messiah.  And so Jesus renames Simon to Peter, which means Rock and says that on that Rock he will build his Church.  Indeed, Peter went out and Baptized and spread the Gospel.  Peter had faith and acted on it despite many trials and tribulations and that’s how the Church was built.

Every day of our lives, we are confronted with challenges that test our faith.  Sometimes we feel like we are in the desert, and don’t know where to turn.  So we cry out to God like the Israelis did.  And in the midst of that challenge, it is like God is asking us first if we know who He is.  Do we act tentatively and without trust as Moses and some of the Apostles did, or do we speak out with confidence as Peter did?

Real Faith is a strong conviction that we know that Jesus is real; He did save us; He is in that Eucharist.  There is no doubt in real faith.  We need only hold the staff- we don’t have to strike the rock with it, let alone strike the rock twice.  Rather if we really believe in our hearts, we know that our prayer will be answered.  It may be that it is like water gushing from a rock, rather than a green fertile valley along a wide stream.  In other words, our answer may not be the vision we had in mind, but one way or another, our prayer will be answered.

It’s time we tried it, don’t you think?  So, if today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

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Vanity and Joy

August 4th, 2013

18th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Eccl 1: 2; 2: 21-23; Col 3: 1-5, 9-11; Lk 12: 13-21

Dc. Larry Brockman

“Vanity of Vanities; all things are Vanity!”  It’s a hard lesson to learn, but at some point in our lives, we will all learn it, whether we like it or not.

Life in this world can be so precious and good, can’t it: a newborn baby; the joy that children and grandchildren bring; experiencing the beauty and diversity of God’s creation; discovering and using our talents; our first love; friendships and marriage; great food and music and the arts.  All the things the world has to offer are so good and attractive, especially when we are young and vigorous.  In fact, when we are young and vigorous, anything beyond our goals and joys and activities in this world seems remote and unimportant to us.

And so, all this talk about vanity sounds so depressing doesn’t it.  But if we are honest about it, the reality of worldly life comes into focus in our first reading, because all things that we experience in this world are vanity- all of them can be taken away from us; or all of them can pass away as we know them.  Some of us suddenly and for no apparent reason lose a child; a spouse, or a parent.  Others lose their talents and agility through illness- a heart attack, a stroke, dementia, arthritis and many others.  Still others suffer greatly from poverty, lack of work, prejudice, or failed or wounded relationships.  If none of this has happened to you yet; just wait- chances are something will.  And when these things happen, either we grieve the losses; or we endure the suffering, or we suffer our own limitations or all of these things combined.  Sometimes we ask the question- Why me?  And yet something traumatic happens to all of us in life.  Even the person in perfect health who seems to have it all dies some day; and they can’t take it all with them.  Jesus’ story in the Gospel makes that very clear.  Yes, all of us experience a wake-up call that shouts loudly to us “All things are Vanity”.

That brings up a very interesting question.  How do we reconcile this seemingly depressing message with the joy that we are supposed to feel as Christians?  Well, Paul and Jesus both give us some great insights.  First, Paul says to focus on things that are above, things that last.  He is referring to the Kingdom of God.  For weeks now we have been hearing about the Kingdom of God.  But the message of these several weeks may have eluded us.

So, a reminder is in order.  The Kingdom of God is already among us; the joy of the Kingdom of God can be experienced now and will remain with us; it will not pass away; and following God’s will is what brings us that joy both now and in the next life in Heaven.

In the gospel, Jesus says something very pointed:  He says: “One’s life does not consist of possessions”.  Then he tells the parable about the rich man storing up earthly treasures, but whose life will be lost that very night.  He goes on to say:  “Thus will it be for all who store up treasure for themselves but are not rich in what matters to God”.

The joys that come to us in our lives, like the joy of having a new baby, our marriages, our relationships and using our talents, these things do remain with us when they are all part of God’s plan for us, because no matter what happens to us in this world we bring them with us into the next.  We are storing up treasures in areas that matter to God when we are loving, sharing, and responsive to the urges that God gives us to follow after Jesus.

But when we focus only on our own pleasure and comfort here; when we become absorbed and consumed with that, then the reality of the world will eventually catch up to us like it did for the rich man in the parable.  Storing up treasures of this world only leads us to disaster.

God loves us and has given us this world with all the great things it has to offer.  And yet, all things of the world, even our gifts, are loaned to us- they don’t really belong to us because when we die, we can’t take them with us, and all such things are perishable anyway.  Hence, all things are truly vanity.  We need to put that into perspective.

And pain and suffering are part of life- they are part of life for all of us.  They were certainly part of life for Jesus and his disciples.  Some things that happen to us, the loss of a child for example, will just never seem right to us- they are a mystery.  Their meaning will be revealed to us some day, but not necessarily when we experience them.  But if we focus on living life to the fullest, always in tune with the Lord, trusting in His goodness, then the Kingdom of God will be there for us even in the midst of the suffering.

Think back on the moments of your life that brought you the most joy.  I’m not talking about pleasure, but joy.  Chances are they are moments when you listened to God or when you saw God in others or His creation.  They are tender moments, memories, and legacies.  And they are times when you did something for someone else.  And some of these moments even come in the midst of tragedy.

It’s not that God is calling us to reject the world, but that God is calling us to be good stewards of His creation.  God is always calling us to something new; to follow him on the journey He has in mind for us.  He wants us to grow always- not to settle into a rut.  So, it is what is ahead of us that counts, not what is behind us.  And so, when God speaks to us, we are called to let go of both our riches and our sorrows and listen for what is ahead of us.

Our responsorial psalm points us in the right direction:  “If today you hear His voice, harden not your hearts”.

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Surviving the Dragnet

August 1st, 2013

Thursday of the 17th Week in Ordinary Time

Ex 40: 16-21, 34-38; Mt 13: 47-53

Dc. Larry Brockman

Why are you all here this Morning?  I suppose if I told you that you were all here because you were all believers, you could all identify with that.  So, all of us here this morning have something in common.  We believe and are seeking the Kingdom of God.

Now, Jesus is talking about all of the fish caught in a dragnet.  Notice, He is not talking about all of the fish in the Lake- but only the fish gathered in the dragnet- which he likens to the Kingdom of God.  So, all of the fish in the dragnet are those who claim to believe and are seeking the Kingdom of God.  There are a whole lot more fish in the lake than that!  But guess what- not even all of the fish in the dragnet are going to be saved, are they?  The fisherman, who are acting in the role of angels, are tasked with separating the bad from the good.  And that’s a very sobering thought.  Because, you see, it takes more than believing and wanting the Kingdom of God to actually get there.

Then Jesus addresses his disciples, the fisherman, with the story about the head of household with the old and new treasures in his storeroom.  I don’t know about you, but that hit me cold.  Just what does that have to do with the parable of the net?

Well, you see, the disciples are being admonished in terminology they could understand that they are the intended scribes of the new way.  Jesus wants them to draw from all of the good teachings of Moses and the Prophets as well as the good news of the Gospel that he is teaching them as they go out into the world and preach the Kingdom of God.  And our first reading is a perfect example of some of the good things in the Old Testament.

The upshot of the first reading is this:  Moses is above all obedient to the Lord.  He builds the Lord’s dwelling place exactly as he has been told; he moves the ark with the commandments into that dwelling; and the Israeli nation proceeds on faith exactly the way the Lord told them to proceed- only when the cloud lifts from the tent during the day.

Can it be that simple for us?  The commandments of the Lord are inscribed for us in the Catechism- the accumulated learning by the Church of all that the God of Moses, Jesus, and the experiences of the Church over the last 2000 years have taught us.  We have only to be obedient to what the Catechism teaches before we move out on the pathway of life.

You know, for the last two years, I have participated with a number of men from the Parish in some Catholic Scripture Study International Bible Studies on Wednesday nights.  These studies involve Scripture, yes.  But there is also a module on the Catechism each week.  That module shows which paragraphs in the Catechism draw from the Scriptures we are studying; and defines various concepts that the Scripture is unfolding by referring to what Popes and Doctors of the Church have taught about them over centuries.  It is has been both fascinating and awe inspiring to see how the Church’s teaching evolved.  And so, I am convinced that it can be that simple- to be obedient to what the Church teaches.

Notice I said simple- not easy.  Indeed, obedience can be hard; and one of the hardest parts is having sufficient knowledge to put the teachings in context.

All of us are here today because we are believers and seek the kingdom of God.  But to make the cut, we also need to be obedient to God.  It’s simple, but not easy.  Yet, as our Responsorial Psalm says:  “How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord Almighty”.

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Praying as a Friend of the Lord

July 28th, 2013

17th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Gen 18: 20-32; Col 2: 12-14; Luke 11: 1-13

Dc. Larry Brockman

Prayer, today’s scriptures are all about prayer.  We heard the Our Father and how it is a blueprint to prayer to the Lord.  That is, it tells us how to pray and what to pray for.  But there is much more to learn from the scriptures today than that.  To begin with, prayer is when we join our minds and hearts with the Lord.

Well, let me pose this question about prayer-  How well do you know the Lord?  Do you know the Lord well enough to join your minds and hearts with Him?  It is pretty clear from both the Old Testament story about Abraham’s petition for Sodom and Gomorrah and the Gospel where the Apostles asked Jesus to teach them to pray, that both Abraham and Jesus knew the Lord pretty well.  Abraham is “walking” with the Lord.  The conversation is casual and friendly.  And Jesus addresses the Father as “Abba”, which means “Daddy”.  So, the first thing we should notice about praying to God, is that those who are familiar with God are good at it.  Think of it this way, can you imagine having an intimate conversation with someone you don’t really know?  It doesn’t sound like it would be very comfortable for either party.

And then there is the matter of mutual trust.  That may seem like a no brainer- trusting God.  But do you really trust God?  Our trust should be the same as that exhibited by little children a kind of unlimited, comfortable trust like the kind that comes with the relationship between a young child and a familiar parent.  So being familiar with the Lord would really help when we pray.

How do we achieve that familiarity?  Well, knowing about the Lord would help.  That means, for example, reading the Bible and knowing what the Catechism says.  But it also means having frequent contact.  The more often we pray, the more likely we will be familiar with the Lord, just like the more often we come in contact with any other friend, the more familiar and comfortable we become with them.

And then there is the matter of persistence.  Abraham was certainly persistent, carefully talking the Lord down from finding 50 good people in Sodom to just 10.  Jesus uses a parable about waking a sleeping friend after midnight to ask for three loaves of bread as a way to address persistence.  Now I have asked myself, why is persistence so important?  After all, God knows what we want even before we ask for it.  Why not just ask once; why burden the Lord.  Well, I think it’s because we should take the Lord at His word.  He wants it that way.  Ironically, the persistence in the Gospel story implies that the friend will open his door and give the three loaves of bread to the requester because he is irritated and just wants to get rid of the problem.  But, as the story of Sodom and Gomorrah shows, God always listens no matter how many times we ask him.  He is receptive when we do pester Him, our persistence doesn’t put him off because it shows our commitment to Him; it shows our recognition of our limitations and need for God.

Now in the story about Sodom and Gomorrah, we see a loving Lord who is willing to accommodate Abraham’s petition, that is, his prayer.  Abraham has confidence in the Lord, and is well aware of His power and might.   So very respectfully, Abraham pushes the situation to the limit confident that the Lord will do what is best.  Now, we all know what happened.  Sodom and Gomorrah were totally destroyed by the Lord.  This happens right after the story we just heard.  So our loving, Lord, who was so willing to accommodate Abraham went ahead and destroyed Sodom because He couldn’t find even 10 good souls in Sodom.  Was Abraham’s prayer answered?  Yes, it was, because God kept his bargain.  However, it seems like a “no” because saving Sodom was Abraham’s objective and yet, that is not what was best.  And we can all identify with that.  Because we all can see that Sodom was a disaster.

Sometimes when we pray, we ask for something but the answer is “no” by the Lord, only we don’t see the other side of the story like Abraham did.  We don’t see what’s best for us.  In the Gospel, Jesus tells us that our heavenly Father knows what is best for us, and uses an example of a Father giving his son a fish rather than a snake.  As a parent, I can identify with that.  How many times do our children ask for snakes rather than fish?  And as a parent, we have to tell them, “no” rather than “yes”, or “not right now” for one of their requests  Those are God’s three answers too- yes, no, and not right now.  But we need to trust God and be confident that he has answered our prayer, even when it seems like the silence is deafening because He gives us the Holy Spirit always to work through the situation when the answer is no or not now.

In the clutter and humdrum of today’s world where both parties work in a marriage, sometimes 60-70 hours a week; with cell phones and radios and TVs blaring constantly; we all need a friend- a real friend.  Take some time to get to know the Lord.  Pray; pray often to your friend and confidant, the Lord.  Pray with confidence and persistence.

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Letting Go of Control

July 18th, 2013

Thursday of the 15th Week in Ordinary Time

Ex 3: 13-20; Mt 11: 28-30

Dc. Larry Brockman

 

“Come to me all who labor and are burdened…for my yoke is easy and my burden is light”.  We hear that so many times, but do we believe it?  It seems so hard, doesn’t it?

Maybe it’s because all of us humans are wired a certain way.  We all want to be in control- to be in control of our lives; to be in control of our destinies.  And we want control personally.   Turning over everything to the Lord just doesn’t feel right.  We would lose control, wouldn’t we?  And so, people work all life-long providing for themselves and their families- the job, the house, the car- because the stability of our lives is so very important to us and our independence during our earthly lives is a measure of success.  As long as we have stability, we feel that we can control our lives and our destinies here.

But, we are deceiving ourselves because we are never really in control, are we?  All it takes is an accident, an illness, a death, a job loss, or a natural disaster to wipe out our stability and our sense of being in control.  It has happened already to most of us, and it will happen eventually to all of us.  And it is then we will come to realize that only God is in control.

In the Exodus story, the Hebrew people were in dire straits.  They were slaves, bogged down and beaten, and without hope.  And then one day a man called Moses tells them that God has talked to him and told him that He the one and only Almighty God, and that if they just listen to Him and do as He says, they will be delivered from their slavery and inherit a land flowing in milk and honey!  Just imagine how people would react in today’s world if someone said that to us.  But we know that the Exodus liberation was real.  The people listened to Moses, albeit after many trials and tribulations, and pulled up stake in Egypt to follow Moses and Aaron into Canaan.  That took a lot of trust.

Jesus’ message today is the New Testament version of the offer by God to Moses and the Hebrew People.  And while it may seem just as outlandish, it is the answer to our prayers in times of tribulation, just as the Exodus was the answer to the Hebrew People’s prayer.  Why?  Because the rest that Jesus offers, the land flowing with milk and honey is the Kingdom of God.  Jesus is offering us the “easy” path to the kingdom and no matter what our earthly burden may be- illness, death, job loss, whatever- these things are a light burden if we are focused on our ultimate destiny to the Kingdom of God.

Now, I am not trying to diminish the reality of the pain and suffering associated with the things of this world.  Rather, I am just trying to put them in context.  The path to the Kingdom of God, our ultimate destiny, can be made so much easier if we just let go and accept God’s will for us because every time we try to control that path, there are consequences.  And those consequences are what can cause us the most pain and suffering in this world.  If you are honest with yourself, you realize how true that is.  Think of the way some people treat their own bodies; how they have relationships with the wrong people; and how the wrong job or activity gets them in real trouble  We all make a host of choices as we go through life that  carry consequences which can be very painful.

You know, often times we suppress nudges from our consciences when we made some of those decisions.  Those are like the call from God to Moses at the burning bush or like Jesus’ message to us this morning.  Perhaps God’s way really would be easier in this life as well.  So, let’s give it a try.

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Homing in on the One Thing

July 17th, 2013

Westminster Tower Ecumenical Service

From Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Luke 10: 38-42

Dc. Larry Brockman

 

So, “There is need of only one thing”, eh!

That reminds me of the comedy movie, “City Slickers” in which a couple of city folk go out West In order to sort things out in their lives.  They try to get away from the humdrum of daily life and return to nature so they can focus on what’s really important in life.  They mount horses, ride out into the wild, and participate in a real Cattle drive.  Their hope is that they can figure out what life is all about.  Now all throughout the cattle drive, the trail boss keeps saying that just “one thing” is important in life.  And so, the city slickers keep asking themselves the question- “what is that “one thing?””  But the “one thing” keeps eluding them; it is like a mystery to them because they are immersed in a flood of competing distractions.  You see, these City folk are used to a comfortable and modern way of living; but they find themselves out in the middle of nowhere preoccupied with just trying to cope with multiple aspects of primitive camping in the wilderness.  Getting away from it all was supposed to help them reflect and come to grips with life.  But they were still so occupied with coping with the world that they didn’t know where to look for that “one thing”.

Now I think it is helpful to recognize at this point that our Gospel story today is part of a sequence of events.  Earlier in Luke Chapter 10, Jesus identifies the greatest Commandment:  to love God with all of one’s heart, being, strength, and mind; and to love one’s neighbor as himself.  Then, Jesus tells the story of the Good Samaritan to identify who one’s neighbor is.  A Priest and a Levite just pass by a poor victim on the highway; but a foreigner, an unbeliever, a hated Samaritan, moved with pity, stops and takes care of the poor guy.  Who acted as the neighbor?  Not the holy priest or Levite, but rather, the unbeliever, the Samaritan.

Then, after focusing on who our neighbor is, Luke moves on to the story we just read.  Now the story opens as Martha welcomes Jesus, and presumably a number of others, to her home.  You see, the crowds sought Jesus because He had something important to say about God and salvation.  We know from the Gospel of John that Martha and Mary were Lazarus’ sisters and that Jesus loved Lazarus.  So, Martha, Mary, and Lazarus must have had some sort of standing relationship with Jesus.  When the story of Lazarus being raised from the tomb is told in John’s Gospel, Martha and Mary acknowledged Jesus as the Messiah there.  So, it would seem that they knew Jesus as the Messiah and the source of salvation.

So why exactly did Martha welcome Jesus into her home?  Maybe Martha wanted others to hear about Jesus the Messiah.  Maybe she just wanted to be the one who had the privilege of welcoming this special person who she thought was the Messiah, into her home; or maybe she wanted to hear more of what he had to say.  Maybe it was all of those things.  In any event, having Jesus in her home was the perfect way to assure that God and his word would be available to her.  The environment was right, just like the “get away from it all” environment in City Slickers.

Now Martha is described as the very picture of a good neighbor to Jesus and his party.  In fact, the words in the Gospel emphasize the term “service”.  Martha is dedicated to serving her guests, as a hostess should.  So much so that she was “burdened” by this service.  We don’t know what that means exactly, whether it means overwhelmed, consumed, preoccupied, or what.  But it’s easy to speculate that she was preparing a meal for the whole group, and not just a simple meal either, but a big celebration- a feast.   And that meant that she was unable to take advantage of the whole reason Jesus was welcomed into her home.  And so, just like the city slickers in the movie, she was so preoccupied with the things of the world that she was not able to focus on Jesus or his message even though the environment was right

In contrast, we hear about Mary.  Mary is pictured as sitting at Jesus feet.  She is “down for the count” so to speak.  She is in position to take full advantage of what the guest has to say, and she clearly doesn’t plan to move.  Remember, she and her sister acknowledge that Jesus is the Messiah- the Son of God.  Mary is giving full and undivided attention to Jesus as the guest and as the bearer of the Word of God.  She is taking full advantage of the opportunity.

Now in the Jewish culture of the time, when a guest came to your home, all the women were supposed to tend to the guest’s needs.  So, quite understandably, Martha is upset that Mary is not helping.  Martha basically interrupts Jesus and asks him to tell Mary to help him.  She is asking Jesus to take sides.

Now, let me pause here for a moment.  Recall that the Greatest Commandment is to Love God with your whole self, and then to love one’s neighbor as one’s self.  Clearly, the priority of this commandment is to love God first, and then our neighbor.  So, what was the priority of the two sisters in our story?  Isn’t Martha’s priority love of neighbor?  Martha is concerned with Jesus as a guest, yes; but also as a hostess to a larger group of which Jesus is just one member.  She is not so much focused on welcoming Jesus or hearing what he has to say as she is on throwing the party.  She is concerned with things of this life and on fulfilling the expectations for hospitality by the world’s standards.

On the other hand, Mary is concerned with welcoming Jesus personally, and being attentive to him.  In fact, she is hungry for the message that Jesus is bringing to the people.  Mary’s priority is on loving Jesus as God.

And so, one way of looking at this story is this:  Martha is focused on loving her neighbor first within the context of living in the world; whereas Mary is focused on loving God first and on life in the Kingdom of God.

The Bible scholars tell us that Jesus response to Martha is affectionate because he responds to her by name, and repeats her name.  So, even though he sides with Mary, he is attempting to do so lovingly.  Jesus says that there is need of only “one thing” rather than being burdened by the many things of the world.  He then says that Mary has chosen the better part, and it will not be taken from her.

Ah, yes- Mary has chosen to hear God and love God first, and to focus on the one thing that cannot be taken from her when she does hear and heed the Word of God- the Kingdom of God.

What does this mean for all of us today as we sit here and ponder this story?  It seems to me that we are all challenged to achieve a sense of balance between Loving God first, and also loving our neighbor as ourselves.  Sometimes we get in a rut as Christians.  We think we are on the right track.  In fact, we think we understand the message and are honestly trying to apply it.  But we can become “Marthas” in the process.  In our enthusiasm, we move out and do something.  We are committed to being an honest, loving, neighbor to all we meet.  We honestly try to be “engaged” as a committed Christian.  And being engaged means being involved.  Even though we may be encumbered and burdened by life’s cares- aches and pains, limitations of mind and body- we participate in this group; attend these services; do acts of kindness for this or that person.  And all of that is all well and good.  But the fact is, we may not be focused on “the one thing”, because of the many things that we are involved in deflect our focus.

Unlike the Jesus in the story of Martha and Mary, God is not sitting in our homes in real flesh and blood, so that we can talk to him directly and listen to his Word as Mary was able to do.  Rather, he is only available to us if we turn our direct attention to him in prayer; getting away, even for just a little bit, from the combination of our worldly aches and pains, our worldly interests; and our commitment to service.  But we need to constantly reflect on what God is saying to us.  We need to do that regularly, or we may become distracted and lose touch with His voice.   And yet, all the while, we still need to be engaged in the world with love and kindness.  It is a sense of balance that we need- a lot of Mary; and a healthy dose of Martha as well.

And so, let us all resolve to seek “the one thing” that really matters.  And that is to recognize God as the highest priority.  Then we will be grounded in the message of Jesus and the kingdom of God, the “better part”.  It involves quiet time and prayer- prayer in which we listen to God no matter how soft his voice in the clamor of our everyday life, in the intensity of the world’s distractions, and in even our efforts to be good, loving Christians.

 

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