Familiarity Breeds Contempt

Readings for Friday, July 30/Memorial of St. Peter Chrysologus:
Jeremiah 26:1-9
Psalm 69:5,8-10,14
Matthew 13:54-58

I’m sure you’ve all heard the phrase ‘familiarity breeds contempt.’ That little cliché phrase would be a great title for the gospel reading we hear today. Jesus returns to His hometown and goes to preach the message that elsewhere had been accepted by many. But He comes and the listeners are shocked by what He says, according to the scriptures. They start to think ‘Who does he think he is? Isn’t he the same one we’ve known for years? Where is he coming up with this?’ Because of the familiarity with Christ and His past, his relatives and daily life, they find it hard to listen to Him with open hearts. Their familiarity with Him prevents them from having faith and receiving the truth of His words.

In the course of recent years I have come to relate more with this gospel. As a young teen I was a bit rebellious, to put it nicely, and I often gave my parents and many of the people at CCD classes and youth group functions a bit of added ‘excitement’ in dealing with me and my friends. Sometimes when I go back home these things are recalled and people say “remember when you…” and it becomes clear that sometimes when people look at me they may well see in me the same Brent that a dozen years ago was finding his way into trouble frequently. I can hear echoes of the people in the gospel ‘Isn’t that Marian’s son? Aren’t his brother and sisters here…’ I can’t be sure, but I’d be willing to bet that there have been times when the Lord desired to speak through me but because of their familiarity with my past, they were prevented from hearing it.

And as I reflect on this fact, I realize that I have done this with myself sometimes. There have been times in my own life when I hear the Lord speaking to me, calling me to do things that seem too big for me. And I said to the Lord “Do you know who you’re dealing with? Do you realize where I’ve been and what I’ve done?” And I’m sure I’m not alone in this. Many of you have probably had a similar experience because we’re all sinners and yet are called by the Lord to participate in the work of spreading the good news. As we gather here today, the Lord invites us to set aside our own familiarity with ourselves and to be open to see ourselves as He sees us. Can we accept the invitation and allow Him to work in us that His truth might be brought to ourselves and through us that it might be brought to others?

Face-Melting Quote of the Day

"...we must by a deliberate effort exert our faith, to see his hand and His love in all that befalls us; we must exert our hope, to trust in Him for everything we need for His glory and our own sanctification; we must exert our love, to cleave to Him in that union of will and humble emptiness of self, which is the true abiding in Christ, and one union with God that matters here below. Note that we say exert, because these circumstances call for a very definite and determined decision. We must decide to believe in God; we must decide to hope in Him; we must decide to love Him; we must decide to trust Him; we must decide that Christ is our life, and God is our all." (Italics are from the author)
-Fr. Eugene Boylan in "This Tremendous Lover"

Are you ready?

Readings for Wednesday, July 28:
Jeremiah 15:10,16-21
Psalm 59:3,4,10,11,17,18
Matthew 13:44-46

In the summer of 2006 I was working as a camp counselor at a boys wilderness camp in North Carolina. One day I got a package from one of my best friends back here in Louisiana. I opened it up and found a short note and a picture. As I pulled the picture out of the envelope, I was stunned at what I saw, more because of what it meant. It was an 8x11 picture of the feet of Christ nailed to the cross and at the bottom three small words: Are you ready?

The second chapter in the book of Sirach tells us: “When you come to serve the Lord, prepare yourself for trials.” These inspired words point to this fact that the Christian life necessarily involves the cross; the two are inseparable. Our gospel today shows the lengths to which we ought to in efforts to attain the Kingdom – we should be willing to sell everything, to risk everything, and to do so with joy because of the great treasure we have found.

Jeremiah stands as a reluctant witness to this. We hear him today frustrated that his mother even gave him birth. Everyone was upset with him because he prophesied that bad things were in store for the people of Judah. Despite the many curses that were cast at him, and the many struggles he had with that, he stayed faithful to the call of the Lord because he knew that the Lord would be faithful to him.

As we go through our day today and throughout the rest of this week, there will likely be some sort of cross for each of us to bear. The question for each of you is can you accept it joyfully for the kingdom? Are you ready

Mary and the Way

Readings for Tuesday, July 27/Peace Mass:
Jeremiah14:17-22
Psalm 79:8,9,11,13
Matthew 13:36-43

There is a little-known text called the Didache that was written and spread throughout the early Christian Church around the end of the first century. This little document was like a mini-catechism in its description of the Christian life and sacramental life of the Church. The author is unknown, but the message it presents is very clear. It begins “There are two ways, one of life and one of death, but a great difference between the two ways.”

In our gospel today we encounter a parable about these two ways. The way of life bears good fruit that is brought to storage. The way of death bears only weeds that try to choke out the good seed; because it tries to choke out what is bad and because there is no good in it, the weeds are cast into the fiery furnace. This vivid image hits home for us was we realize that each of us will be judged on that last day and set to one side or the other. With that end in mind, we can now see the importance of choosing the right way and staying on that path.

One sure way to stay safely on that path is to stay close to the Blessed Mother. Whether it be by praying the rosary or the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin or any number of pious prayers to her under one of her many titles, the point is that we must stay close to her. As Queen of Heaven and Earth, she is the most powerful intercessor we can have and to ask for her help is to be sure that we will receive the grace that we need. So today, as we come once again to celebrate this Peace Mass, let us call on Our Lady, Our Mother, that she might always lead us closer to Christ, who is the Way, Truth, and Life, that on the last day we might be welcomed into the Kingdom where we will reign with Him forever.

Face-Melting Quote of the Day

"Sanctify yourself and you will sanctify society."
-St. Francis of Assisi

The Gradual Unveiling

Readings for Friday, July 23/Memorial of St. Bridget of Sweden:
Jeremiah 3:14-17
Jeremiah 31:10-13
Matthew 13:18-23

When I first entered college at LSU I wanted to be an engineering major. So, at orientation I went and signed up for the classes that they suggested. When the first day of class rolled around and I got to my calculus class, I was overwhelmed. The teacher started off using symbols, terms, and equations that I had never seen before and I was totally lost from the start. After a few weeks of struggling to understand the content, I realized that it was too much for me and I eventually dropped the class. The next semester I enrolled in a pre-calculus class and began to understand those symbols and equations, and was later able to go to calculus and get through the class. The thing was that I had to have it shown to me gradually. And the Lord does the same with us.

If He were to show us the Kingdom of Heaven, we wouldn’t be able to understand it and we’d probably have a similar reaction to me in calculus that first semester. Think about the sixth chapter of John’s gospel – Jesus tells them about the Eucharist and many, finding it hard to understand, leave Him and return home.

In the reading from Jeremiah, the Lord tells about the age to come – about a Church in Zion, shepherds leading the people, the Ark of the Covenant, and a great celebratory feast. To the people of Jeremiah’s day, this was hard to understand. They were a hard-hearted people and had begun to worship idols. To conceive of a God that would give such great blessings to them was crazy in their minds. But for us who live today, we recognize that the prophecy spoke by Jeremiah so many years ago has indeed come true for us today – we are a people united in the Church, led by our shepherds, the priests and bishops, and we come today to celebrate this great feast of the Eucharist.

But the prophecy does not just stop there. Remember the Lord shows us things gradually because we cannot fully understand, even now. The Lord foretold all of these things and they are manifested in a way today, but in the life to come, we are able to experience these things in their fullness as we behold the face of God. Grant today, Lord, that we might have the eyes to see as you unveil yourself and your will for us.

Face-Melting Quote of the Day

"Hold your eyes on God and leave the doing to Him.
That is all the doing you have to worry about."
-Saint Jane Frances de Chantal