The Tremendous Love of God

December 1st, 2011

Advent Reflection Service

  Dc. Larry Brockman

  

Love  That’s what Christmas is all about-  the boundless love that God has for us.   

   Last week, my wife and I were privileged to take care of two of our Grandchildren.  One evening, my wife was trying to get our 4 year old grandson Jonah down for the evening.  After reading him some stories, a few Children’s Bible stories in fact, she asked him if he had Jesus in his heart.  He looked up at her, and with a tear in his eye, he said:  “Granny, I think I have Jesus in my heart, but I wish you would ask Him to speak a little louder, because I can’t hear him!”!     

  I wonder how many of us feel the same way.  We think we have Jesus in our hearts, but we are not certain.  How do we get Him to speak a little louder to us?  How do know Jesus is really in our hearts?  Well, this is the time of year that the Church sets aside for all of us to work on that- Advent, the season to prepare for the coming of Jesus.  Now, we can be sidetracked from this important task.  There are Christmas Cards, Christmas Trees, baking to be done, gifts to buy, people to visit and to be hosted, and all kinds of parties and rituals that we will participate in.  Most of them are good in and of themselves because they show that we care, and they show that we can give as well as receive.  But sometimes they take away from our ability to prepare for the coming of Jesus.  And that should be our priority.   

  Today, we have just heard the story of God’s coming among us.  We call that the Incarnation- where God sends Jesus, consubstantial with the Father, into the world to live as a human being.  Wow!  If you really think about that, that the all-powerful, infinite, ever-present God   Sent Himself to live as we do right alongside of us, then it can only bring us immense joy.  And Christmas is the expression of that.  But it implies so much more than that.  The Incarnation is the story of how God loves us, loves us so completely that he would send His Son among us.  So how can we get a feel for just how much God loves us?  Well consider the readings we just heard.   

  First, even though God saved His chosen people from Pharaoh and the Egyptians; and brought them to the promised land; and gave them special prophets and kings; the people were still looking for a sign that God was with them.  And just like a parent who constantly needs to reassure their children, God loved them enough that he did give them a sign- the promised coming of Immanuel, the Messiah.  That is love.   

  And God went on to promise that the savior would come in the town of Bethlehem, just a small insignificant shepherd town.  And so, the Messiah would be born of humble roots.  He would not be famous by birth; he would not be well to do.  He would not be one of the privileged folk of the time.  He would be like one of us, someone we could identify with.  That is love.   

  Not only that, the Messiah would come to save all people, not just the Israeli people.  All of us were to share in the inheritance, Gentile and Jew- God loves all His people.  That is love.

  Then, God chose Mary, a human being like us in absolutely every way to be His mother- the God-bearer.  An ordinary person was entrusted with the responsibility to bring Jesus into the world and bring him up to be an adult.  God, through His angel Gabriel, accepted Mary’s word that she would do God’s will for her, sacrificing whatever goals she had, just to be Jesus’ mother.  And so, the almighty God trusted in our humanity, and that is love.   

  And then it happened- it really happened.  The promise of many generations was fulfilled.  Jesus was born of humble parents in a very ordinary way in the town of Bethlehem,  just like God promised.  That is love.   

  Finally, knowing that all of us needed to know more about our God, John reveals the Trinity to us in the last reading.  The Trinity is a mystery, something we cannot totally grasp.  But nevertheless, God has revealed the Trinity to us.  He has revealed that Jesus is the son of God, fully human and fully divine.  And that Jesus brings the light of God into the world to enlighten us and to show us the way, a way which has been recorded for all time in the Gospels- the Good News of Jesus Christ.  God has done that for all of us Christians.  The Incarnation is unique among the world’s religions.  And the fact is that the Incarnation is so important because it makes God imminent, that is, present to us at a close and personal level.  Now it is also  true that our God is high above us, or what is called transcendent, so much more intelligent and capable and powerful than anything human beings can conceive.  That’s what other religions teach- that God is transcendent.  And yet, because of the Incarnation, God is both Transcendent and Imminent to us Christians.  And being immanent means that we have can have a personal relationship with Jesus, and that is so important.  That is another mystery- but we know that it is true.  It is the essence of what we believe on faith.  That, too, is surely love.   

  And so we know that God really loves us.  He has stuck with us over thousands of years of doubt.  He has sent His only son to live as one of us  He trusted in the word of His mother to do His will,  And after all that, He promised us who believe eternal life- all of us, each and every one of us.  He is a God who is not just high above us and remote, but one who is present to us through His son- always.  That is tremendous love, or as Father Ennis would say, awesome love.  And so we have reason to celebrate Christmas with great joy.  That joy is our way of expressing our appreciation for God’s love.   

  When we acknowledge just how much God loves us; when the reality of that love becomes so very real and present to us that we want to please God in all things, then, we will know that we have Jesus in our hearts.  That is why it is so important to reflect during the season of Advent on Jesus’ coming.  Because, first, we need to understand how much God loves us.  When we discover the boundless, unconditional, love God has for us through Jesus’ coming,  then, we will come to love God.  For what child among us doesn’t love a parent or Grandparent for exactly the same reason-  that they are loved unconditionally?   

  This is the time of year that Santa Claus is featured in the stores and decorations and stories of the Season.  Santa symbolizes the love of Christ because he gives and gives and gives without limit.  True, they are earthly gifts.  But they symbolize the gift of the Christ Child, which is the great gift of Love by God to all of us.  And so when your child asks you about Santa Claus, you would certainly say something like:  “Yes Virginia, there really is a Santa Claus.” 

  But we have a mission here this year and every year to understand the love of God and to accept Jesus in our hearts.  And it is one demonstrated by my grandson Jonah’s concern about hearing Jesus.  And so, shouldn’t we say instead:  “Yes Jonah, there really is a Jesus.” 

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Building a House on Rock

December 1st, 2011

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.  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.  So, these are beliefs that are challenged by secular society using today’s sophisticated learning and reasoning.   

 

Consider some examples of areas where human “thinking” tries to second guess the aggregate teaching of the Church in today’s society.  Usually the sophisticated arguments are used to embrace 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 still 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 and the catechism of the Catholic Church. 

 

Otherwise, when we think that human beings can discern by the circumstances,  we are building our house on sand. 

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Loving With Our Hearts

November 20th, 2011

Christ The King

Ez 34: 11-12, 15-17; 1 Cor 15: 20-26, 28; Mt 25: 31-46

Dc. Larry Brockman

The other day, while I was at Health Central Hospital helping the Chaplain in the emergency room, I stopped by the fountain for a drink of water.  .A little girl was there right after me, and try as she could, she couldn’t get a drink, she was just too short.  So, without giving it a thought, I lifted her up and turned the fountain on for her.  .She smiled, scurried away, and I heard her Mom thank me from across the waiting room.  I didn’t really think about it again until I started to prepare this homily.  But, after hearing the Gospel, I truly believe the incident spoke much to me about the Last Judgment. 

 For the last couple of weeks, Jesus talked in parables about being ready for the Last Judgment.  The emphasis was on preparation.  Last week, we were told that we all need to be servants who exercise good stewardship of the gifts, or talents, that God has given us.   Now, we have been given a lifetime to accomplish this task,  So, the message is, that whether our lifetime is short or long, we need to take the steps needed to use our talents prudently in the service of God while we have the time. 

The week before, we were told that we need to be ready to shine the light of Christ constantly in our lives because there is no predicting when we will die and be called to the Last Judgment.  To do that, we need oil for our lamps to light the way.  And we get the oil by being ready and prepared- no procrastinating, no hiding our sins, no negativity is permissible.  We have to be proactive and ready at all times.

 For several weeks before these two Gospels, we heard about the Kingdom of God itself- what it was; and what it was not.  Jesus’ descriptions of it are summed up by his metaphor of the lightning flash.  We see flashes, or glimpses of the Kingdom once and a while in the beauty of nature, a child’s words, or a conversation with another.  It is described as a feeling of great joy in all the parables.  That after all, is our hope- a joyful life ever after in the Kingdom of God.  All of us want that.  So, what is missing in our lives?

Well today, on the Feast of Christ the King, we are told in no uncertain terms, that unless we follow the golden rule, that is, “Love our neighbor as ourselves”, we will not enter the Kingdom of God.. The Old Testament Reading and Gospel both bring up the image of a shepherd separating the sheep from the goats.  The separation is permanent- not just temporary.  The sheep go to heaven; the goats to hell.  So, what are we to make of this severe language?  Well, if we have done what we can to always shine the light of Christ; and if we have recognized and used the talents that God gave us to serve God, then the last thing that he demands of us is simplicity of heart in loving one another.  That, after all is what he is talking about here.  We do that by sharing our food and water; sharing our wealth, whatever it is; visiting the sick and imprisoned, and in general, by being present for various folks in need as if it was second nature to us. 

 This idea of simplicity of heart in loving one another in this way leaped out at me when I read the Gospel because it was then that I remembered the little girl and the fountain.  .God had given me that experience to help me understand this Gospel lesson.  We will not be judged on how much we know; how famous we are; how much money we gave away; how well we are regarded; or any of a number of other areas of greatness by man’s standards.  We will be judged on how we learned the lesson of being kind and loving and present to everyone and anyone that God puts into our lives- even the ones we see by accident or happenstance.  And not only that, this attitude of kindness needs to be second nature to us, not contrived. 

 This, it seems to me, is why Ezekiel talks so severely about the sheep that are “sleek and strong”.  Because if you are independent, strong, and totally in control at all times, then you are not listening to the shepherd and so, you won’t follow him- you are bent on doing your own thing.  We need to recognize our shepherd, Jesus, and move towards him like it is second nature to us. 

 What is interesting about this is how amazingly simple it is.  It is something all of us can do, to love, as well as we can, everyone we meet out of simplicity of the heart.  They are all God’s children; and Jesus is in all of them. 

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Would Jesus Weep Today?

November 17th, 2011

Thursday of the 32nd Week in Ordinary Time

(St. Elizabeth of Hungary)

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

Dc. Larry Brockman

 

Suppose Jesus flew into Washington DC this morning, and looked down onto our Capital City.    Do you suppose He would weep?     

 

Scholars tell us that as Jesus went down from the Mount of Olives, on His way to Jerusalem, He would have had a bird’s eye view of the whole city and area.   Just imagine- Jesus taking in the hustle and bustle of the whole area, like the view from an airplane in today’s world.   And what did Jesus see?   He saw folks going about their daily business as they had for millennia-   buying, selling, teaching, working, soldiering, praying, cursing, politicking, romancing, touring, tax collecting, and yes, even prostituting and robbing,  as if nothing special was about to happen or had been happening.   They were oblivious to the spiritual events leading to the salvation of the world- the incarnation of the Christ  and his Gospel, that is, His good news message of Salvation.   And, after 3 years of trying to get their attention, Jesus is now about to enter into Jerusalem for the last time for what would be His trial, death, and Resurrection.       

 

And, so what does He do?   He weeps, overcome by the emotion of the moment, that here, in this bird’s eye view, He catches a glimpse of the collective soul of man.   A collective soul that doesn’t see Him and has not responded to Him even after 3 years of direct contact- individually and collectively they are oblivious.     

 

And as a result, what does He say?   “If this day you only knew what makes for peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes.”   Indeed, they were so busy with the things of this world, that they had missed the message, and so they had missed the day of the visitation, that is, the arrival of the Messiah.   And because they missed that, they missed what it takes to make peace, the kind of peace that every single one of them longed for.   They are just carrying on in the world as usual.     

 

It is no different in our world, is it?   If Jesus were to fly into Washington DC this morning,   He would catch a catch a glimpse of our collective souls arguing and bickering over the horrendous public debt and taxes; terrible unemployment and economic times; legal hassling over the constitutionality of a three thousand page hastily written law that nobody understands; people demonstrating in the streets who can’t explain why they are there or what they want; and terrible poverty amidst tremendous affluence.  

 

What Jesus would not see is what he did not see in His own time-  people who had heard His message over their lifetimes, and were working together to make the peace of Christ happen.   The lifetime of opportunity that they all had to put into practice their faith collectively has been as lost for us as for the Jews.   Not only that, Jesus second coming could come at any time for any of us,  just like it would come soon after Jesus arrival in Jerusalem.   And yet, it would seem we are far from ready.     

 

Yes, Jesus would weep.  

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Using Your Talents

November 13th, 2011

33rd  Sunday in Ordinary Time

Prv 31: 10-13, 19-20, 30-31; 1 Thes 5: 1-6; Mt 25: 14-30

Dc. Larry Brockman

 

Suppose I handed you a bag with 80 pounds of silver in it, and told you to take care of it for me while I was gone?   Well, that’s what a single “Talent” was in Jesus day- 80 pounds of silver- 80 pounds of it.   That’s about 17 years-worth of daily wages for the average worker at the time.   So, one single Greek “Talent” was a very large sum of money.   And yet the least of the three servants was entrusted with this much by the Master.   Other servants were given twice as much or five times as much.  

 

This really sheds a different light for me on this parable, because the reality is that all three servants were entrusted with significant responsibility, protecting a large sum of money.      Now, the Master is said to be gone for a long time.   Our Bible scholars tell us that “the long time” referred to here is the length of time between Jesus Resurrection and the second coming of Christ; and that all of us are the servants, each gifted by God with a generous, yet unequal share of talents.   We will be asked to give an accounting of ourselves at the Last Judgment, just like the three servants in the parable.   Although we are each given varying and different talents, we are all expected to use them- make them work in the service of the Lord- equally.   And those who don’t do something with their talents will be thrown out of the Kingdom of God.     

 

Let’s consider a few things about the details in this parable.   First, the talents were given to “servants”; not to sons, friends, or other relationships.   Second, a single talent was quite valuable, as I’ve already pointed out.   Third, the talents were entrusted, not given outright to the servants.   So, they always belonged to the Master, not to the servants.   And lastly, the task that the servants had  was to do something with the talents for the Master.   The Master intended for his wealth to be handled prudently, but not locked up in isolation.     

 

Each of us is entrusted with one or more gifts by God.   We don’t own them- they are not ours to do with as we wish.   And they are gifts, not something we have earned.   Rather, we are loaned the talent or talents so that we will do something with them for God.   We are his servants when it comes to stewardship of these talents   We cannot lock them up.     

 

Now, some of us seem more fortunate than others.   Some are gifted with good looks, brains, athleticism, and money- in fact some seem to have everything.   I see that these gifted people are seated to your left and right.   Others seem to have nothing, at least by this World’s standards.   Most of us are somewhere in between.   But God has given each of us a valuable talent- that’s part of the message.   Yes, each of us has been given at least 80 pounds of silver, as it were.   We just have to recognize what our gifts are.     

 

These gifts may be disguised as something else, for example- caring for children, caring for an elderly relative, or learning to live with a disability.   These can all be viewed as gifts rather than a problem.   In God’s eyes, children and the elderly are as valuable as any other life.   So, being a custodian for such lives is like caring for precious gold or silver.   It is, after all, the Lord who decides what is valuable and needs to be cared for, not us.     

 

It is different for people who recognize their gift, but bury it.   For example, some people continuously hear a call by the Lord.   We know a priest from another Diocese who was ordained later in life- in his 50’s.   He told us that he had run away from God’s call for 20 years!   And, even though he had been successful in the business world, smething wasn’t quite right.   So, in the end, he went into the seminary.   Likewise, some of you are being called by God and know it- that is your gift.   Are you hiding it?  Suppressing it?   It doesn’t have to be a religious call, although sometimes it will be.   It could be a nagging feeling about something that you perceive is not quite right; something you feel you need to do something about but, you just haven’t acted on it.   It could be getting involved with politics; helping by volunteering your time or talent; learning more about your faith.   All of these are ways to follow through on a call to use your talent.     

 

And then there are those who have and recognize a talent but; they really don’t use it much.   They may have a beautiful voice- but don’t join the choir.   They are a great teacher- but are deaf to the call for helping with CCD or Prep.   Or any of a number of artistic capabilities that remain dormant.   Did you know that burying a large sum of money was a perfectly acceptable practice to keep it secure in Jesus day and age?   Likewise, there are many legitimate excuses for burying our talents today, such as a sense of false humility or fear or just the turmoil of life.   Every one of us can understand such roadblocks.   The question is, how will God view them?     

 

Notice that the servants in the parable have been given plenty of time- the “long while” that Jesus speaks of, to use their talents while the Master is gone.   Two of them do, basically doubling their Master’s wealth; only one of the servants does not.   Likewise, all of us have been given a lifetime.   Things happen in life, and that’s OK.   That’s why God is patient with us, and for most of us, gives us 50 to 90 years.   But the point is that God has given us adequate opportunities because he has given us a lifetime.     

 

Now St. Paul tells us about the second coming of Christ in the second reading:   He says “It will come like a thief in the night”.   So, it could be at any time.   That‘s the catch- we have been given a lifetime, but we just don’t know when it will end.     

 

Over this weekend, the Parish is conducting seven funerals- an uncharacteristically large number.   And they are being held for 3 year olds all the way up to folks in their 80’s.  This points to the truth of Paul’s epistle.   Because God could call any one of us to our Judgment at any time, just like these seven people have been called.   But are you ready?     

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Are You Ready?

November 6th, 2011

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Westminster Towers

Mt 25: 1-13

Dc. Larry Brockman

 

Are you ready!  That’s the main question posed by the parable of the 10 virgins.  I hope and I pray that all of you are watching and are ready.   

 

Now this parable, like all of Jesus’ parables has both a surface and a deeper hidden meaning.  Before we get into the meanings, it is helpful to have a little appreciation for Jewish culture.  You see, the story of the watchful virgins attending the bride at the reception was, and still is, a very common practice in Palestinian culture.  It wasn’t just some story pulled out of the air. A wedding is a big deal there, and the custom goes like this: 

 

The bride awaits the arrival of the bridegroom at the couple’s new home.  She is attended by her bridesmaids, who, at the first sign of the groom go out to meet him, day or night, and they light the way for his entry.  In the meantime, the bridegroom and rest of the wedding party parade through the streets of the town heralding the wedding event.  They take the longest possible route, and often this is done on the fly.  So, the bridegroom often tarries as he randomly parades around expressing his joy and announcing the event.  Even today, this process can take from hours to a day, in reality.  So, there is no fixed time for the wedding itself!  When the bridegroom does arrive, the throng enters the home, the wedding begins, and then the celebration.  The doors are locked, and latecomers are not let in.  So, rather than begin what our culture calls a honeymoon by themselves; the couple shows hospitality and shares their joy right after the wedding.   They get married, and then celebrate their marriage with family and friends over what might be days.  Very different than our customs, that’s for sure.  And so this picture painted by Jesus was very familiar to the crowd at the time.   

 

Now, the most immediate meaning of the parable was a warning to the Pharisees and the Jewish hierarchy.  They had been telling the people that the Christ was coming for thousands of years.  But, the Jews had waited so long, that they had all but fallen asleep.   They simply were totally unprepared for the great moment that they had been waiting centuries for.  Jesus was trying to tell them that they were about to miss the greatest event in their salvation history.   

 

You see, the arrival of Jesus was the arrival of the Christ, the anointed.  And Christ is the Bridegroom in the parable.  The Bride, who symbolizes the body of believers, or the Church in today’s terms, waits inside.  But the attending virgins, the Pharisees, were caught asleep with the lights out.  Indeed, most of them did not make their way out to welcome the Bridegroom, Christ.  They didn’t recognize him, they didn’t understand him; and they didn’t embrace him.  They certainly didn’t light his way.  As Pharisees, they may have the most pure and holy of the body of Jewish believers, but they had no oil- no fuel for the lights that should have been turned on to herald the Christ.  Not only that, Christ’s salvation parade would pass them by, and they would find themselves locked out, almost before they knew it.    From a historical perspective, that’s what the immediate meaning was. 

 

But, this parable was intended to speak to all the people at a deeper level, and indeed, still speaks to us today.  Only now, the coming of the bridegroom refers to the second coming of Christ..  Every year, the Church calendar includes several weeks of gloom and doom end time prophecies in the Gospel just before we get to the season of Advent, where we prepare for Christmas.  These Gospels predict the second coming of Christ with the Last Judgment.  This Gospel, proclaimed in most of our Churches this weekend, marks the first such gloom and doom Gospel in the series.   

 

Now both the King James version of the Bible, and the New American version, the Catholic version, specifically call the ten attendants “virgins”, whereas other paraphrased versions use the term “bridesmaids”.  I think the term “virgin” fits better- for while they are all bridesmaids attending to the bride, Jesus intended for them to be described as virgins as well.  First, notice that we really hear nothing of the bride.  Now church people- that’s people like me-  like to call the Church the “Bride of Christ”.  And so, we have the Bridegroom, Jesus Christ, on his way to the wedding of Jesus with his Church.  The salvation history of the Jews spanned a couple of thousand years.  And it has been 2,000 years since Jesus came amongst us.  It is any wonder that everyone has fallen asleep waiting!  

 

Now, the ten virgins collectively symbolize the bride, or Church.  So we can look at this as if all of us are represented by these ten virgins.  We are all still sleeping, waiting for the last judgment.  And the Bridegroom will come as a surprise.  But when the wedding occurs,  It will be after the last Judgment in the Kingdom of God.  That means that when the wedding party enters that house, the collective bride must be pure and holy for the wedding.  So these bridesmaids need to be virgins in that sense.   

 

Next, notice half of the ten virgin are described as wise; the rest foolish.  The wise virgins have oil for their lamps, the foolish do not.  Now, think about that for a moment.  Think about a young virgin excited about her friend’s wedding.  She prepares herself to be an attendant at the wedding.  All ten are wise enough to bring a lamp because, as the custom goes, the arrival of the bridegroom is indefinite.  It could be day or night.  So, they all thought about what kind of preparation was needed.  And yett half of them don’t bring any oil.   

 

Having or not having oil is really what it’s all about.  Most of us feel called to the wedding.  And, most of us think we are prepared, and would respond to the call to be a bridesmaid.  But do we have our oil?  Suppose oil symbolizes our readiness for the Kingdom of God.  Let’s look at it this way:  Do you remember when you were in school, and you would wait till the last day to study for an exam?  Or do you remember times that you needed to buy food for a special occasion, but you just kept putting it off?  Or do you remember when you needed to practice a dance or a sport, or prepare for a speech, and you kept putting it off till tomorrow?  Well, suppose the test was all of a sudden right now; the dinner is an hour from now; and you are going to have to come up to give your speech right after I get done here.  That would be like bringing your lamp, but forgetting your oil.  And in a spiritual sense, all of us have the same problem as well.  We can hear the call to the Kingdom, and we can feel that we are ready, but when it comes right down to it, we really are not ready- there is something missing- the oil.  Maybe there are people that you should reconcile with;  Sins that weigh you down that need to be offered up and confessed to God; and other tasks that have gone undone that weigh on your consciences.  But whatever it is- you may not be ready.  Because you see, Jesus could come at any time, maybe even this afternoon.  And there won’t be any time left to go get your oil then.  You either have it now, or you don’t.   

 

Now the parable also talks about how some of the foolish virgins tried to borrow some oil.  When I first read this parable, my first impression was that the wise virgins seemed a little harsh.  Because there are always folks out there who plan to be generous- bring something extra for someone else.  So why don’t we see that here?  Jesus is making the point that the oil is a personal thing.  You really have to have your own oil.  You have to be ready for the test, not your neighbor; and you have to give the speech, not your neighbor.  Likewise, you have to reconcile with those who you have offended; and you have to confess your own sins.

 

When the foolish virgins finally return to the house with their oil, they find that the procession has passed them by and the wedding and celebration have begun.   In fact, they find themselves locked out.  Not only that, the Bridegroom is behind the locked door and he denies even knowing these foolish virgins.   Well, this is the gloom and doom part.  Each of us has a lifetime to be ready, and that should be sufficient.  If you build a relationship with God in that lifetime, he will know you.  If you wait for the last minute; well it just may not all happen for you.  And I think the real issue here is what’s in the heart. 

 

Going back for a moment, it would seem that if all the virgins brought lamps, then they recognized the need for these lamps to have fuel.  Could it be that some of the virgins were just cutting corners.  Perhaps they were people who really didn’t know the couple that well; they had heard about the celebration and just wanted to party.  They thought they could show up at the last minute, find the Bridegroom arriving, light their lamps for a few minutes, and then join the party- their real motivation.  They were going through the expected motions just to get into the party.  They were not really rejoicing for the wedding party, but they were in it for themselves.  They are the lukewarm, follow the crowd, self-serving types who don’t really take things to heart.  But Christ does not want party crashers in His Kingdom.  He wants people who know Him and who are committed to him.  He really doesn’t know people who just know him when it is convenient because these are people who deny him in times of trial.

 

All of us here have been blessed with a long lifetime.  We’ve had careers and hobbies and interests.  We all have been through relationships with Moms and Dads and Grandparents   and kids and grandkids and maybe even great grandkids.  And we’ve had battles with our bodies- some we’ve won, and some we’ve lost or are losing.   There have been lessons and blessings, joy and sadness through it all.  But in the course of those lives, we have had the opportunity to know Jesus Christ.  And in parallel with all that life has dealt us in this world, we have had the opportunity to ready ourselves for our God. 

 

Are we ready?   

 

Alfred Lord Tennyson one wrote a poem that was included in one of his books.  A novice nun recited this poem to Queen Guinevere.  The poem addressed the cost of sin, and was based on this parable.  The first verse goes like this:  “Late, late so late the dark and chill!  Late, late so late! But can we enter still.  Too late, too late! Ye cannot enter now”   

 

Is it too late for you? 

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Learning to Recognize Our Own Faults

November 3rd, 2011

Thursday of the 31st Week in Ordinary Time

Rom 14: 7-12; Lk 15: 1-10

Dc. Larry Brockman

 

It is so easy.  It is so easy to see the sins of the other guy, and yet be blind to our own weaknesses.  We see other people gossiping; other people cheating; other people misbehaving; but we can be blind to our gossiping or cutting corners or acting up; or else we quickly and conveniently forget what we have done.  And it is both the little things in life and the big things.

 

You see, all those habits and patterns of life that we settle into can sometimes be so obviously imperfect to another person, and yet, we just don’t see them.  We learn to live with them- even grow into them.  For example, all of us know that we should eat the proper foods to be healthy and keep our proper weight.  And yet which of us is above commenting that so and so is fat; or so and so is skinny, when we should take a good hard look at ourselves.

 

Why do we dwell on other people’s faults?  Is it because it makes us feel better about ourselves?  Is it because it distracts attention away from our own faults?  And yet, it is a good image of ourselves that we all need.  Paul hits the nail on the head this morning when he says- “All of us will need to give an accounting of our own behavior before God when we meet him”.  We won’t have an opportunity to say:  “Well what about John, isn’t he a lot worse”.  No, the attention will be on your own sins.   

 

You know, today’s Gospel makes an important point about all this- that there is more rejoicing in heaven about a repentant sinner than about a righteous person.  It is not so much that God and his angels and saints won’t rejoice over a truly righteous person.  But more that “righteous” is in the eye of the beholder.  You and I, the average beholders, do a pretty good job at recognizing sinners; and maybe not so good a job in detecting the righteous.  How so?  Well, a repentant sinner in today’s society can be persecuted beyond belief.  Let me give some examples:  “He was an alcoholic”; “She had an affair”; “He lied on his application”.  And yet, how righteous is the person who hides, yet holds onto, his or her addition to alcohol or drugs; or keeps up an illicit affair; or conceals the lies he tells?  It is our own lives that we need concern ourselves with- not others. 

 

Paul says “Whether we are alive or dead, we must live our lives for the Lord if we are to enter the Kingdom of God.”  And that task is worthy of 100% of our time.  We really don’t have the time for being our neighbor’s conscience.  Soon we will enter the season of Advent to prepare for the coming of Christ.  That includes the coming of the Christ Child-  but it also includes the second coming of Christ.  That could be any time for any of us.  So, let’s get real about our own sinfulness.  Turn and look at yourself in the mirror.  What is it that you are hiding?  What is it that you are missing about yourself?  What is it that you are kidding yourself about?  Because when you stand before God, what will you say about all of that. 

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A Tale of Two Peoples!

October 30th, 2011

31st Sunday in Ordinary Time

Mal 1: 14b- 2: 2b, 8-10; 1 Thes 2: 7b-9, 13; Mt 23: 1-12

by  Dc. Larry Brockman

A tale of two peoples!

The first people, the Israeli Nation in Malachi’s time, was blessed as the chosen people and had prophets who brought the Word of the Lord to them over many centuries.  They were the people of the first covenant.  The Lord had saved them from slavery, and had blessed them with priests and prophets and kings.  The Lord had given them commandments, laying down boundaries for them on what they should do and should not do in order to give them a roadmap to living righteous lives.  But, the leaders and priests in Malachi’s time were not stepping up to their duty.  They were preoccupied with divisions amongst themselves. They were not faithfully serving the Lord’s message to the people.  And so, the Israeli people ignored the prophets, priests and commandments.  They broke faith with one another, violating the covenant of their Lord.  It’s almost like they became oblivious to their blessing-  putting it on the back burner in times of prosperity, calling on the Lord only when they were in trouble.   

The second people, the Thessalonians, had none of the advantages of the first people.  No history, no prophets, no commandments, and no covenant.  They were, however, blessed with the presence of St. Paul.  Paul worked right alongside of them, and through his zeal for the Lord Jesus, he passed on the Gospel- the good news of the New Covenant.  Paul did this with affection, and treated the Thessalonians with respect.  Paul was a servant preacher that people could relate to.  The Thessalonians responded well to his message.  And as Paul said, thanks were given to the Lord for the generous and heart felt acceptance of the Christian message by these Gentiles.  Because the Thessalonians not only accepted the message, but they acted on it with their hearts and put the message into practice in the way they lived their lives.  These Thessalonians thus became the chosen people of the New Covenant, along with all the Gentiles who accepted Christianity.   

The tale of these two peoples is one that occurs over and over again throughout history.  Right now, it is you and I who are the chosen people.  We are the people of the Covenant.  We have the Bible, the Sacraments, the Church, the Traditions, Priests, and the example of all the saints to help us.  We have a choice between embracing our faith with our hearts, as the Thessalonians did, or putting our faith into reserve, on the shelf, and out of the way,  using it as a crutch when we get in trouble, rather than living our faith in our everyday lives.  We, too, can become oblivious to the blessings we have through the traditions our parents handed down to us- our Christian faith and heritage and teachings and values.  You see, the secular world keeps right on tempting us.  It does that by claiming our time, our interest, and our attraction to things other than God.  We can feel too comfortable knowing that we have “faith” if we need it.  But are we really people of faith, acting on it?  It is our challenge to focus on what is really important ion life, our faith.   

One of the reasons that living our faith can become a problem in today’s world is the poison of hypocrisy.  I think this is what the Gospel story is all about.  Because our Churches- whether Catholic, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist, or whatever, are human institutions which have sinners in them.  The fact that there is more than one Christian denomination is a sad testimony to the divisions among us, just like the divisions observed among the Israelis.  And so, we can become cynical about the imperfections of our Church hierarchies.  There are proud and haughty leaders, child abuse scandals, sex scandals, rules heaped upon rules, high handedness, and other forms of hypocrisy that are plain to see,   just like Jesus reported in the Gospel story.  And there is reluctance of the Church to take a stand sometimes when it is needed.  These signs of human weakness all point to selfishness.  And yet, the true calling of our Church is to serve us- to help us in our salvation journey.   

And so, what transcends the imperfections of our Church institutions is Jesus teaching itself.  As Jesus says in today’s Gospel, “The greatest among you must be your servant”.  That is the true test for all of us.  I cannot help but notice that Paul won over the Thessalonians in exactly that way.  Paul worked hard right alongside of them; he was their servant as well as an example to them of the Lord’s message and how to apply it.  And so, we need to embrace our Church and it’s teachings and forgive the frailties of human weakness in our Churches.  We cannot afford to throw the baby out with the bathwater.  But it is a servant mentality that we must all have- one that embraces what we can do for others, rather than what we can do for ourselves.   

In the tale of two peoples, which people do you identify with?   

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Feeling Down on Your Luck?

October 27th, 2011

Thursday of the 30th Week in Ordinary Time

Rom 8: 31b-39; Lk 13: 31-35

by Dc. Larry Brockman

It doesn’t matter how the deck is stacked against you in today’s secular world.  It just doesn’t matter. You might have dropped the winning touchdown pass; burned the pot roast; forgotten to do your homework; or a whole host of other little things that make you feel sad.  All of us, at some time or another, feel down on our luck, and depressed that things are not going our way.  We might even say to ourselves- why me?  But, the fact is that none of these things really matters as long as you recognize that God loves you and is there for you in whatever your distress might be.

Today’s Gospel story is something all of us who might think we are down on our luck, should take to heart.  Some Pharisees come to Jesus to tell him that Herod is after Him.  “You better leave”, they say.  Jesus had travelled through Palestine preaching and teaching the people.  He talked about a new Kingdom- the Kingdom of God.   People like Herod wanted it to stop;  Palestine was his Kingdom- there wasn’t going to be another Kingdom if he had anything to say about it.  Jesus talked about sins and the need for asking forgiveness of sins.  He talked about believing with your heart, and not just following the Mosaic Law.  This threatened the Pharisees and the Jewish establishment.  For weeks now we have seen how the establishment was trying to trick Jesus in the Gospel stories so they could bring charges against him.  Jesus felt the pressure, felt the heat.  Jesus, whose message was one of love and hope for the future, was being rejected by the establishment despite His best efforts.  Jesus was feeling down on his luck, and unsuccessful in His mission.  And the establishment was right there with worldly advice- “if you know what’s good for you, get out while the getting is good- Escape!”  But Jesus resolved to do the will of His Father.  He knew He was there for Him.

Doesn’t this whole scenario sound familiar?  Because one of the most frequent responses we have to being down on our luck is escape.  But life is not about escape.  Living life is about facing our dragons, whatever they are, not running away from them.  We ought not to escape when the going gets tough, but rather embrace the problem- try harder.  Cook another pot roast; try harder in the next football game; renew your efforts to do your homework because you know that God is there for you.  The love of God is something that no power on earth can stop.  And you know what?  If we learn this lesson in little things, then when the big problems come along, when you lose your job; or find you have some terrible illness; or you lose a loved one; then even when these things happen, you won’t try to escape, to run away.  Rather, you will trust in the Lord.

Why?  Because “neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor present things nor future things, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus”. 

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Appearances Can Be Deceiving

October 6th, 2011

Thursday of the 27th Week in Ordinary Time

Mal 3: 13-20b; Lk 11: 5-13

Dc. Larry Brockman

 

Appearances can be deceiving.   

 

Take, for example our first reading.  People who are Godless; lie and cheat; and even appear to be proud of their evil ways seem to be prospering in Malachi’s time; whereas the God fearing, law abiding, prayerful disciples of the Lord, who are victimized by these evil doers,  just seem to suffer more and more because they are not following the ways of the world.  But all of this is just appearances.  Malachi goes on to give voice to God’s intent.  He says those who trust in the Lord will be vindicated  “On the day the Lord takes action”.  And the key here is trust- trust that the Lord will respond to our prayers and honest attempts to be righteous in His sight   

 

The Gospel is telling us the same thing.  One can read the Gospel parable too literally, and miss the main point.  The parable of the persistent neighbor can be viewed as a lesson by comparison.  We can draw that conclusion by comparing the response of the home owner to persistent attempts by his neighbor versus a less persistent approach by the neighbor.  And certainly that message applies.  The home owner will respond better to the persistent neighbor by comparison.  The squeaky wheel gets the grease!   

 

But the main message of the parable is one of contrast, not comparison- the contrast between a human person who hears an appeal and an all loving God who hears an appeal.  You see, we can relate to the role of the home owner.  We don’t want to be bothered; we don’t want our families disturbed during the middle of the night; and we are sleepy and want to go back to sleep.  But God is not sleepy, and He loves all of His children equally.  He hears our appeals and acts on them- persistence helps, but God really only has to hear our prayers once.  We can be certain of that if we believe in God.  So, there is a tremendous contrast between us, as humans, and God.  How silly it is for us to think of God hearing our appeals for help in the same way we view a neighbor hearing our appeal.   

 

So then, why doesn’t God seem to respond to us when we ask Him for something?  Well, because appearances can be deceiving.  Let me turn Jesus’ words around a bit.  Could it be that we are asking for a snake rather than a fish?  Ask yourselves this.  Have you ever asked for something from God, not received it, and then found out later that it was better that you did not get what you asked for.  Maybe you didn’t get one job offer, but then the next one was even better.  Or has something happened that seemed like a disaster at the time; and then later you found out that it was actually a stroke of luck- like the passenger that missed an airplane, only to discover that the plane crashed.  These are easy to see, but God always sees the whole picture, even in the subtle little things we cannot ever hope to see.   

 

God loves all of us, but, yes, indeed, appearances can be deceiving.    

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