The Sin of Pride and Satan

September 29th, 2011

Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael

Rev 12: 7-12ab; Jn 1: 47-51

Dc. Larry Brockman

 

The accuser of our brothers was cast out!  Have you ever really thought about that- about the accuser being the Devil, and being cast out?  And according to this account, it was because of the accusations that he was cast out.  Now to be sure, all of us humans can be accused of sin.  And Satan, a creature of God at the beginning, was highly regarded until this incident, when the accuser of man was cast out along with his minions of angels.  Why?

 

Imagine for a moment that you are an angel created as a much more sophisticated being than mankind.  Then God creates these human creatures so much below you in intelligence and understanding and power and capability.  Not only that, they are limited in their existence to a single planet in a primitive physical world in a small galaxy in a huge universe.  And yet, even after their fall from the Garden of Eden, God plans to grant them access to heaven- the same as you.  So Satan, endowed with such superior powers, maybe only second to God before his fall, sees all man’s shortcomings, reports them to God and accuses them of these shortcomings.  You are Satan the great accuser.  Now the name Satan means adversary.  So Satan not only accuses, but becomes our adversary.   

 

And that is what was wrong with Satan.  Satan was proud- he committed the sin of pride.  His pride made him an adversary of God’s creation rather than an honest reporter.  That’s why Satan was cast out of heaven.  Simply put, Satan had a holier than thou attitude; he resented the imperfections of others; and it led him to a consuming attitude of superiority mixed with despise for mankind.  But God in His goodness had other “sheep” in his flock besides angels; sheep that were not as capable as angels.  And God chose to love these other, less capable creatures too.  It was, and is, after all, God’s business who He loves.   

 

The question for us is this.  Does Satan’s sin sound familiar?  Have you ever felt the way Satan feels about others.  Surely, there are people out there less capable, less fortunate, and less devoted to God than you; but we cannot have Satan’s attitude about such people- an attitude of self-righteousness and despise for others.  Rather, we need to put on Christ’s attitude- an attitude of acceptance of His fellow man no matter their station in life, color, intelligence, or looks; and for that matter, no matter their pattern of behavior.  Jesus, who is God, did not choose to be self-righteous and to despise mankind, but rather, to love us.  Certainly, we do not copy or support behavior that our conscience tells us is wrong.  When Jesus encountered sinners, he certainly did not support their sinful behavior, but He did not condemn them either.  Rather, he converted their hearts to repent and to follow His pattern of behavior.   

 

The Gospel story is all about Jesus choosing an ordinary man, Nathanael, from amongst a host of possible people.  Nathanael was chosen because Jesus saw his heart, not his appearance.  Jesus saw his heart, not his talents.  And Jesus saw his heart, not his weaknesses.  That’s why He said of Nathanael- “There is no duplicity in him.”   

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God Wants a Conversion of Our Hearts

September 25th, 2011

26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Ez 18: 25-28; Phil 2: 1-5; Mt 21: 28-32

Dc. Larry Brockman

 

God is looking for a conversion of the heart!  That’s what it is all about to God- what is really in our hearts.  And one thing about a conversion of the heart that is so important is this: it needs to be constant; it needs to go on as long as we live.

   

First, we have Ezekiel’s example.  The Lord justifies one who, late in life, turns from his sins and begins to do what is right and just.  Why-  because he had a conversion of heart.  On the other hand, imagine someone who walks through life mostly doing good, but then, late in life, he wanders off in the wrong direction. Can it be that such a person was not committed all along?  He might be someone who goes through the motions in the ordinary things of life, but then, when the going gets tough, when the real test of his or her faith comes, this person abandons his faith, and falls into sin.  Now you might say, Does that really happen?  Are righteous people who make one final mistake abandoned by God?  But I think that it is the opposite that is the case.  There are those who associate with, but don’t really embrace righteousness.  And when they are tested, really tested about their commitment to the right thing, they walk away from it.  Let’s face it, we are tested all the time- it is a constant test that God gives us.  

 

Jesus gives an excellent example in the Gospel parable.  One son said no to his Father, but then had a change of heart.  Deep down, he knew what the right thing was to do- to obey the father.  His own desires were those of the flesh- laziness, his own agenda, pre-occupation with other things, and so he originally said no.  But his heart won the day, what God had written in his heart as the right thing to do, his conscience.  And so he did as the father bid.  Indeed, he spent that one day working in the father’s vineyard- but you know, I am sure that it was actually one of many.  The other son knew all the right things to say and do.  He had knowledge; he had opportunity; and he projected well.  But when the chips were down, he followed his own agenda and not what was written in his heart.  And you can be sure that it was not the only time he did not do what he said he would do.   

 

In today’s world, there are a lot of folks who fall victim to this second son’s way of thinking.  They make a commitment to do something, something that is the right thing to do that involves a sacrifice of their own time or agenda.  They might make that commitment to get off the hook, to relieve the pressure, because someone is pressuring them or some circumstance is nagging them; whatever.  It is a convenient at the moment to say yes.  But then, when the time actually comes to deliver, they don’t follow through.  These are the folks who have not had a conversion of the heart.  They are working their own agenda deep inside.  Oh, they have excuses for their behavior.  I forgot; something came up; I didn’t think you really needed me; and the like.  But deep down, it is a lack of commitment of the heart that holds them back.   

 

What is the solution?  Paul’s advice today seems right on the money.  We should all be of one mind- “with the same love, united in heart, thinking the one thing”.  And what is that one thing?  Doing the will of the Father.  Now the will of the Father takes some discernment.  But that discernment is not just what we think with our heads, but what we feel is in our hearts.

 

You know, as I get older, I tend to get just a little lazy.  My body tells me that I am too tired to do this or that, or too busy to interrupt my routine.  I might tell myself that my days for taking on the world have passed, it is time to take it easy.  I kind of felt that way yesterday when I was working in the yard.  I had all kinds of good things planned, but I got tired after four hours and had to quit. But really, I’m not talking about that kind of tired.  Rather, I am talking about things of the Spirit- something we feel deep down we need to do for someone else, or for us to grow spiritually.  And you know, we are never too old to grow spiritually.  So, sometimes my heart is nagging me when my body tells me that I would rather not- like the men’s Bible group I belong to that meets at 7 AM on Thursday.  It means I have to get up by 5:30 AM to get there in time and that’s in the middle of the night for me!  But this small group of men depends on each other to build their spirituality- to be of one mind and heart.  And so, they depend on me to be there.  And so, it is important to listen to my heart, and not my body,  because God is looking for a lasting conversion of the heart   

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The Evils of Procrastination

September 22nd, 2011

Thursday of the 25th Week in Ordinary Time

Hag 1: 1-8; Lk 9: 7-9

Dc. Larry Brockman

 

There are lots of Procrastinators out there!  People that put off doing things.  They may even mean well; but even with the best of intentions, they just never seem to get around to it.  And so, they procrastinate.   

 

The people of Haggai’s time were procrastinators.  They had promised to build the Lord a House; but they kept saying that the time was not quite right.  Haggai is trying to rouse them- to get them off of their duff and into action.  He plays on their guilt, tries to shame them into action.  And what makes it worse- it is a collective effort that is being held up.  Building the temple requires cooperation from many of them.  But all of them were procrastinating.   

 

You know, it is easy for us to get into such a rut too.  We tell ourselves we need to plan properly; or we need just a few more assets; or we need a better time when other things are not pressing.  And so, we do not act as individuals.  And before you know it, days, weeks, months, and sometimes even years go by, and whatever it is that we had the best intentions of doing, remains undone.  Maybe it is reconciling with a loved one; or making a basic change in our lives to get out of a rut; or even going on a diet.   

 

Today, let us reflect on our spiritual life in particular.  Are we putting something off there, something we know we should do, but just haven’t gotten around to?  Maybe it’s a nagging feeling that we should join a ministry; or sign up for adoration; or a discussion group; maybe even join a group that is involved in social action.  Maybe it’s a retreat, like Emmaus or Cursillo, that we feel called to do, but keep putting off.  And maybe it’s something really basic, like just making the effort to do morning and evening prayer consistently.  But whatever it is, this first reading really calls us to reflect on our tendency to procrastinate- and get beyond it.

 

And there is something more, too.  Because collectively, if we were all individually motivated and involved just a bit more, what a difference we could make.  Like the people of Haggai’s time, we could build a temple for the Lord,  Maybe not a physical temple, but we could do something that makes a difference in society that would give glory to God.  Let me give you an example:   

 

Last year, Holy Family’s Respect Life Organization made a collective effort to sponsor Pro-Life billboards in the Orlando Area.  It took the efforts of a group of people just like you and I- an organizer, someone to do research, a fundraiser, and some people who generously responded.  But it was a handful of people who just decided they were going to make it happen.  As a result, six pro-life billboards were sponsored around the Orlando Area.  Lots of people noticed- our Bishop was one of them.  So, we really can do something that makes a difference if we do not procrastinate.   

 

I can’t help thinking of what a difference it would have made, if Herod in today’s Gospel story  really had made an effort to see and listen to Jesus. 

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Obedience Through Suffering

September 15th, 2011

Our Lady of Sorrows

Heb 5: 7-9; Lk 2: 33-35

Dc. Larry Brockman

 

Suppose that at the Baptism of your Child or Grandchild, the priest or deacon had said:  “Your child is destined for the rise and fall of many in this country.  He will stand for a cause that will be contradicted, and you will feel like a sword has pierced your heart.”.  Wow! That would be a pretty heavy prophecy; and pretty hard on you.  Well, that’s what Mary and Joseph heard when Jesus was presented to the temple.  Both of them had been visited by the angel Gabriel and told how Mary would have a child and then Gabriel had promised great things- the birth of the Son of God- the savior, the anointed one, the Christ.  But now this- a prophecy that had to make Jesus’ parents very sad. 

 

And then there is our first reading.  We hear how Jesus, the Son of God, prayed to His Father, and although He was heard, even so Jesus had to suffer.  Paul says that it was through that suffering that Jesus learned obedience. 

 

Now we know that Mary, and certainly Jesus, led ideal lives in the eyes of God the Father.  And yet, these most perfect of humans suffered- both of them.  And that suffering was a combination of both mental and physical suffering.  In both cases, they learned to be obedient even in the face of suffering.  It was not a self-inflicted suffering; but rather, it was the suffering that results from being obedient to the will of God.

 

It seems to me that all of us need to learn the same lesson.  All of us are born with a cross to bear- something that it is an integral part of our journey to salvation, something that we suffer with through no fault of our own.  Some of us have limitations- handicaps of some kind;  some of us are not gifted athletes; some of us are not the best looking; some of us are as not brilliant; and the list goes on and on.  But each of us is unique and that means that along with whatever limitations we have that are uncomfortable to us, and indeed, cause us suffering,  we have some kind of special gift or gifts- a talent, a feature, maybe even just a gift of time, that others may not have, because God loves each of us equally, and has chosen those gifts for us.  

 

This summer I met a man who was an avid skydiver.  He also didn’t believe in God.  He told me that 8 years ago, he had a dreadful motorcycle accident and broke his back in multiple places.  He was in the hospital for a year.  He had devoted his life since to physical rehabilitation so that he could ride that motorcycle again and go skydiving.  He was quite proud of himself because he succeeded and is now doing both.  But I wonder.  God gave him another chance- a wake-up call, if you will, a chance to learn from his suffering to be aware of God’s presence in his life so he could be obedient to the will of God.  And yet, this man has devoted his life to things of this world, determined to “beat the rap” and do what he wanted in this world.  And he is even blind to the role God plays in his life. 

 

Today, on the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, let us resolve not to be blind to our suffering;  but rather, to learn from it to be obedient to the will of God. 

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God is With Us

September 8th, 2011

Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Romans 8: 28-30; Mt 1: 18-23

Dc. Larry Brockman

 

Yes, indeed- God is with us!  And what should be so very special to us is what that means.  You see, the incarnation- the fact that Jesus, consubstantial with the Father for all time, was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and became man, is unique to Christianity, and offers us all tremendous hope.  God literally sent Himself, through His son, to be with us- that’s what Jesus’ name means, God is with us.  And so, we have the first hand example of how we should behave so that we are pleasing to God- we need just behave as Jesus did.  Because we can be sure that Jesus, true God and true man, is the ideal role model.

   

Now we also know that it is possible to be righteous in God’s eyes because Jesus’ mother Mary did not sin.  That is why God chose her to bear His son Jesus.  So, if Mary can live a virtuous life, then theoretically, so could all of us.

 

You know, I have 4 children and 9 Grandchildren.  And I think sometimes about how much influence I have had as a parent, and continue to have as a Grandparent on my Children and Grandchildren.  It is a very sobering thought.  Because when we become Parents and Grandparents, we are directly responsible for the way our innocent Children and Grandchildren first learn about life.  They absorb everything we say and do; and they emulate what we say and do.  Our presence is essential for their well-being and their learning. 

 

Jesus’ mother, whose birth we celebrate today, had that kind of influence on Jesus.  She taught Him everything about how to live as a human- all the same things that we have to teach our children.  Clearly, Mary’s role in the life of Jesus was critical in that sense.  But even more to the point, think of the awesome responsibility that was.  Well, it is the same way for all of us- an awesome responsibility.  

 

And yet the life of Jesus and the Gospel that tells His story should give us all hope.  And that hope is summarized in today’s first reading.  If we can, as St. Paul puts it, love God as Jesus shows us in the Gospel and do His will, that is, live according to His purpose as Jesus did; then we are foreknown and predestined to be in the image of His son.  Our hope is that we have heard His call and responded to it.  We are called to a career, to a relationship; and to use certain talents; but in addition, for many of us- indeed most of us, we are called to raise a family.   Our hope is that by living our calls to do God’s will according to the Gospel, we can know that we have been justified by Jesus.  So that when we die, we will be Glorified in the Kingdom of God. 

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The Soft Sell

July 10th, 2011

15th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Is 55: 10-11; Rom 8: 18-23; Mt 13: 1-23

Dc. Larry Brockman

It’s a soft sell.  That’s what today’s Gospel is.  Rather than tell everybody what it takes to get into the Kingdom of God in the most direct way, Jesus uses a soft sell.

Consider the Sermon on the Mount by contrast.  In John’s account of the Sermon, Jesus speaks directly.  He tells everyone He is the bread of life, and to gain everlasting life we must eat His body and drink His blood.  He meant that literally- the Eucharist; and he meant it figuratively as well- by taking on his very way of life as our own.  This direct approach turned off a lot of people in His time, and it is something that people still have a hard time with in today’s world.

But the parable of the sower- well it’s a soft sell.  First of all, Jesus is really just addressing those who are truly interested in following Him.  Most of the crowd, including the Pharisees and Scribes, are not really interested in following Him.  They are looking for conventional wisdom.  Some of these people were looking for the easy fix- the easy way into the Kingdom of God, and when you are of that frame of mind, you are like the person who is hoping to make a quick fortune or lose weight through miracle pills.  Such folks are impatient unless they hear the magic in the words that is both specific and clear, and right now.

Others were looking for Jesus to trip up so they could “get him”.  But Jesus made His pitch with parables in such a way that anything that might be considered confrontational would roll off the listener’s backs as vague and indirect.  They probably regarded the parables- speaking obliquely- as an irritant because whatever was said was too vague to distill any real evidence against Jesus.

Indeed, just a very few were willing to dig deep into Jesus message so that they could make a change in their lives.  It’s like that in our society, too.  “Say what you mean, and mean what you say”; that’s the way we Americans like it rather than all this double talk in the parables.  Not only that, we are a gullible society that is looking to hear that there is a quick and easy way to make a million and to
lose weight with some magic pill; or even to get a job without working to acquire a skill.

So, only the people who were motivated to learn, the people who were motivated to look deeper; only the people who were willing to make a change in their lives- like the Apostles, were able to hear and see beyond the surface of the parable.  These were the folks that Jesus was trying to reach; and these were the folks that He would reach with this parable.  And so, Jesus message is a soft sell.  If you really want to get something out of it, you will.  But if the parable message doesn’t resonate with you, at least it didn’t alienate you either.

Now most of the time that I have heard this parable, I have been pre-occupied with the thorns and the hard ground and the good ground; and what those metaphors mean as obstacles or inducements to growth of the seed so that I could see my own perspective as just one of the three.  But there is another perspective to the parable that I would like to suggest to you.

Perhaps Jesus is also taking about a journey along a path- a path that is leading to the Kingdom of God.  All of us are on such a journey, and we encounter seed which falls on hard ground or thorns or good soil along the way.  Yes, as we progress along the path of life, we are like seed exposed to all three of these environments at one time or another.

Sometimes we don’t understand, or don’t attempt to understand, the word of God.  And so, the devil comes along and steals our attention away.  That happens all the time whenever folks sleep through one of Holy Family’s excellent homilies!  At other times, we do have an understanding heart, and really mean well, but the roots are shallow.  And so, we don’t have the willpower to change our ways.  That’s what seems to happen to me every January first when I make a New Year’s Resolution!

But sometimes, and hopefully more often than not, we react to the word of God like it was seed sewn on good ground, and we do something in our life that bears fruit that we can see- like the feeling we get when we do something really nice for somebody else- helping a friend move, or being there for them when they lose a dear one, or pitching in and help with the kids.

And so, what can we do to maximize the times that we fall on good ground?  Have you ever asked yourself this question: what does it mean for you to fall on good soil?  Well, first of all, like any good seed, you need the right kind of nutrition.  Fertile ground and water are essential.  For us the food and water that we need are spiritual foods- like the Eucharist that is available to us, and like the educational opportunities to learn about our faith and our God offered by our Church.

Secondly, you have got to grow.  And growing involves extending yourself, moving out, changing.  You have to emerge from the seed pod and move off in the direction of your talents.  It does no good to stay confined in the seed pod; you have got to grow into an apple tree if you started as an apple seed, for example.  In other words, you have got to grow and bloom in order to bear fruit.  Sometimes that can be very hard- growing and blooming.  It is safer to stay in a comfortable rut in our lives.

In the second reading we hear about suffering.  Indeed, the lives that we live, as we encounter these three environments described in the Gospel, are full of sufferings of one kind or another.  Growing
pains will be there for sure.  And there is one sure fire way to detect lack of growth, and that is when our lives are stuck in a rut- a routine that doesn’t ever change;  one that is designed to minimize suffering.  Believe it or not, God’s word is alive for us all the time.  We just need to be looking for the fertile ground so that we can become fruitful.

There is good news about seeking growth in this way, even though it involves suffering.  Because as Paul maintains, these sufferings are nothing as compared to the rewards available to us in the  Kingdom of God- everlasting life.

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God is Always There for You

July 7th, 2011

Thursday of 13th Week of Ordinary Time

Gen 44: 18-21, 23b-29: 45: 1-5; Mt 10: 7-15

Dc. Larry Brockman

 

It sounds like a clear condemnation from Jesus, that those who don’t listen to his Evangelists, are doomed to be condemned and condemned harshly.  He even says it will go worse for them than the people of Sodom and Gomorrah.  And those people were violently destroyed!  

 

And yet, look at the mercy God the Father through Joseph bestowed on Jacob’s other errant sons.  These men definitely did not follow the will of God when they sold their brother Joseph into slavery.  But Joseph says at the end of this reading:  “It was really for the sake of saving lives that God sent me here ahead of you”, making It almost sound like God willed that Joseph be sold into slavery!   

Indeed, there is such a contrast between these two readings and it’s kind of in reverse compared to the norm we are used to where the God of the Old Testament seems harsher,   and the God of the New Testament seems more merciful.  So, what gives? 

  

Well, I think that people are challenged to live the life that God intends for them- God’s will for them, alright.  But let’s face it- things happen.  Fortunately for us, when we sin, life is not like what happens if you fall off a tall building.  God does cut us some slack.  Each moment of our life God is there offering us a new plan to repent and harmonize ourselves with His plan, even as we go wrong.  It is kind of like these new GPS devices in our cars.  When you make a mistake, the device right away calculates a correction.  Oh, we have to face the consequences of the mistakes, alright, just like the consequences of missing our turn or exit on the road.  But the correction is offered to us by God immediately, relentlessly merciful in His approach, just like these GPS devices offer us an alternative right away.

   

Jacob’s sons made a big mistake, and they had to face the consequences.  One of those consequences was the famine that they experienced as a family.  Fortunately for them, it was in God’s plan to bless Joseph as he was offered his alternate path to God’s plan for him once he was sold into slavery. 

  

What God teaches us in the New Testament is that He hates to be ignored, not listened to, put on the back burner, and rejected.  It is then that His attitude is severe.  The Evangelists in the Gospel are commissioned to spread the Good News.  But when folks ignore it and reject the Good News, they are turning their back on the constant reform that is offered to them.  Jesus is advising His Evangelists to be harsh under these circumstances.  But to those who listen, who are in tune with God’s ever present urges to respond to Him even as we fail, God will be merciful and kind to us.

 

And that’s the Good News.  No matter what you’ve done; God is always there for you, even in the midst of your sin, urging you to repent and make a correction.  And just like Jacob’s family in the Old Testament story, you will be blessed when you get back on track. 

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Passing on Authority

June 30th, 2011

Thursday of 13th Week of Ordinary Time

Gen 22: 1b-19; Mt 9: 1-8

Dc. Larry Brockman

Authority, Jesus spoke with authority; and Jesus acted with authority.  The dictionary says “authority” means: “the power or right to control, judge, or prohibit the actions of others”.  The Father gave Jesus “authority” here on earth to forgive sins, heal people, and work miracles.

Now many of the protestant sponsored translations use the word “power” instead of authority in this Gospel.  But there is a difference between power and authority, as you can see from the definition. Jesus had the power alright- but the sense of the word was that Jesus also had the right to the power hence he had authority. The civil “authorities” had authority given by the emperor or some other civil leader.  But Jesus had authority by virtue of the God the Father.

Now the civil authorities couldn’t do what Jesus did- they couldn’t heal the paralytic; and they certainly couldn’t forgive sins.  That much the people realized- that’s why they accused Jesus of Blasphemy-  because they recognized that only God could forgive sins.   Jesus validates his authority to forgive sins, with all the unseen effects of such a power, by working a physical miracle, the effects of which could be seen by all.

Let me ask you a hypothetical question:  Put yourself into the shoes of the paralytic for a moment.  You have been paralyzed and unable to cope in a primitive society for as long as you can remember.  Which would make you feel more at ease, more exuberant, more joyful; and more thankful: if Jesus had told you your sins were forgiven, or if Jesus healed your paralysis?  Being the humans that we are, most of us would probably say the physical healing.  We can only visualize vaguely what a truly wonderful thing it would be to know for sure that our sins were forgiven.  But to get up and walk and to be independent of a crippled life style- ah, that is something we could all easily appreciate.  And yet, it is clear that, literal as the paralysis might have been for the person in the Gospel story, the Gospel uses paralysis as a metaphor for an even more crippling condition-  The condition that all of us wish to avoid where we would be paralyzed to reconcile our sinfulness with God.  And if we die without first reconciling with God, we would be in that sorry state.

As Catholics, we are taught over and over again that life in this world is not what life is all about. Rather, the Resurrection of the body and life everlasting in Kingdom of God are.  But life in this world, well, it’s almost as if it paralyzes us!  It occupies most of our thinking and doing and being to the extent that we are paralyzed from moving into the Kingdom of God.

Later in the Gospel, Jesus passes on his authority to forgive sins to His Apostles, and through them, to our priests of today.  The Priests exercise that authority, and it’s called the Sacrament of Penance, Reconciliation, and Confession; and it’s a sure-fire way for you and I to achieve harmony with God. It is more powerful than being cured of our earthly physical woe because it frees us from our spiritual paralysis.

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What Kind of Food Are You Looking For?

June 26th, 2011

 

Corpus Christi

Dt 8: 2-3, 14b-16a; 1 Cor 10: 16-17; Jn 6: 51-58

Dc. Larry Brockman

 

What kind of food are you looking for?  Are you looking for food that gives physical nourishment?  Or are you looking for spiritual food that will guarantee you everlasting life?  Today, Jesus establishes the fact that we can have it both ways!   

In the first reading we see that the Israeli’s were just looking for a way to survive physically as they travelled for 40 years through a parched desert land devoid of grain and livestock and water.  They prayed for deliverance.  What they got was manna- a food unknown beforehand.  But this manna was an interesting food.  It was nourishing and satisfying if consumed right away.   But, if it was collected and hoarded out of fear of starving, it would spoil and was useless.  It was in God’s plan for the giving of the manna that He be trusted and believed in- He wanted the Israelis to trust that He would fulfill their need for survival, even if it was always just in time.  And in that sense, this real food was spiritual food as much as physical food.  The Israelis could not live without it- for it nourished them; but they could not live without believing in it either, because only by believing in it did they fulfill the hope for the future, sustenance long enough for their entry into the real promised land of Israel.   

In  today’s Gospel, Jesus describes spiritual food for the New Covenant-  early in His public ministry, Jesus foretells what He would do at the last Supper, which was to institute the Eucharist, the real body and blood of Christ in the form of bread and wine.  Just as with manna, this food provides hope for the future, but in this case, it is a guarantee of everlasting life, not just a longer life in this World.   

Now, as the Gospel this morning testifies, Jesus made a very strong statement: He said that only those who ate His body and drank His blood would experience everlasting life!  This was a stumbling block then; it has been a stumbling block all throughout Christianity; and it is a stumbling block today.  The Jews in Jesus time were forbidden to drink the blood of an animal.  So, this would have been strictly taboo for them. But consuming the Body and Blood of Christ also sounded like cannibalism when taken literally, and turned them off.  And so, it turned many people away because of their Jewish laws and traditions.  As the Gospel says, they quarreled about the teaching, and many walked away.   

As Catholics, we recognize the ritual consecration of bread and wine at Mass as the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist because the events of the Last Super fulfilled the promise we read in this morning’s Gospel.  In Christianity, most of the 16th century reformers rejected the idea of the Real Presence as hocus-pocus and unreal.  They did so because they didn’t really believe- believe the truth of what Jesus said in this reading.  They say one cannot take this scripture literally.     

We Catholics have come to know, of course, that Jesus was serious.  The Real Presence and the claim that it nourishes those who believe has been validated for us.  Over the centuries two kinds of Eucharistic miracles have occurred that validate the Real Presence and its power.  First, the bread and the wine has changed into real flesh and blood in some isolated cases.  There are display cases in Southern Italy and videos of activities in Argentina in the last century that give examples of this.  Second, every century or so, someone lives on the nourishment provided by daily Eucharist alone.  St. Catherine of Sienna, St. Nicholas of Flue, and Blessed Alejandrina Maria da Costa are all examples. Skeptics are quick to discount these miracles as isolated incidents.  But, for those who believe, they are proof of the power of the Eucharist. 

This power can be experienced by all of us who believe in Jesus words and deeds without having to see the transformation, or to live out the fact of the exclusive nourishment.  This is precisely because Faith is believing in things unseen.  And that is what we are called to do- to have Faith. Life in this world is not what Life is all about.  Life in this world is about recognizing the existence of God, and the fact of everlasting life in the Kingdom of God for those who believe in Him.  We need food, we need nourishment, for that Heavenly kingdom.  When we believe in and consume the Eucharist with this mindset, then it nourishes us for the Kingdom of God just as literally as it provided bodily nourishment in the lives of the saints we mentioned. 

In just a few minutes, all of you will receive the Body of Christ.  I pray that all of you will recognize its power.  Because what we truly need in this life  Is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-control-  the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit.  These are what sustain us in our quest for the Kingdom of God.  These are part of the nourishment, the spiritual food, all of us need to succeed in this life so we can live in joy in the next.

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Taking Matters Into Your Own Hands!

June 23rd, 2011

Thursday of 12th Week of Ordinary Time

Gen 16: 1-12, 15-16; Mt 7: 21-29

Dc. Larry Brockman

 

Sarah took things into her own hands rather than trust in God.  And what a mess it made of things, too.  She reasoned that the Lord made her barren- it was His fault, and so, feeling sorry for herself and her husband, she takes matters into her own hands.  She does what almost all of us would think as unthinkable-  she sets her husband up with another woman so he would have an heir!  And that resulted in a sad chain of events characterized by pride and arrogance; and jealousy and abusiveness, to name just a few.   

In the Gospel, we hear about what it means to really know God.  As Jesus explains it, the real test about how well we know God is not how much we know about Him; neither is it how much we do in His name; rather, the real test is whether we are in tune to what the will of God is for us.  The story about Sarah teaches us the practical side of that. Because no matter how hard it is to understand, and no matter how difficult it may seem to be to do, the will of God is the best that can possibly be for us- always.  You see, the flip side of the matter; that is, taking matters into our own hands and trying to control life ourselves, will always result in a disaster because there are consequences that always happen when we run counter to God’s will.  In Sarah and Haggar and Abraham’s case, the near term consequences were described for us and they were painful.  But, if you are familiar with history, then you know that the long term consequences of this incident plague us even today in the form of relations between Judeo-Christian and Moslem peoples.   

The sin here is not the relations between Hagar and Abraham.  That was actually an allowed custom in Abraham’s time.  Rather, it was a lack of patience and a lack of trust in God’s will.  Ironically, shortly after the Haggar incident in Genesis, the Lord appears to Abraham and guarantees that Sarah will bear him a Son.  So, patience and trust would have prevailed.

Still, this incident raises a question about discernment.  When, for example do we accept that God does not will something for us-  like having children or getting a job or having some special possession- so we can move on to something else versus continuing to wait for what we pray for in the joyful expectation that our prayer will still be answered?  Well, the advice Jesus gives us is this: build your foundation on solid rock.  In other words, focus on something that centers you and keeps you always on firm ground.  Having the right two way relationship with God means listening and waiting for His input back to you no matter how long it takes.  So being patient and trusting in God’s will is just such a foundation.   If you find yourself moving off in some other direction out of impatience or anger or frustration or any other such negative reaction, then it is probably not God’s will for you. 

You can avoid the turmoil that happened in the story about Sarah and Hagar because when the rains come and the wind blows around you in your life, the events that set the consequences in your life, so to speak, you will be safe on your foundation- trust in God’s will for you.   

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