Praying for the Sorrowful

Readings for Tuesday, September 28/Memorial of St. Wenceslaus:

Job 3:1-3,11-17, 20-23

Psalm 88:2-8

Luke 9:51-56

In the Liturgy of the Hours, the daily prayer of the Church, different days and times of the day are often characterized by a certain ‘flavor’ if you will. Saturdays are typically more Marian in their prayer, whereas Fridays are more penitential.  Morning prayer is more anticipatory and intercessory and Evening Prayer is more a prayer of thanksgiving. On Fridays at night prayer, we always pray Psalm 85 – a psalm full of sorrow and darkness; a psalm truly intended for those in despair. And yet we pray it each Friday. But sometimes you really aren’t sad when you go to pray that night prayer. On many occasions, I have come to that time of day rather joyful and excited. So how do we reconcile that sorrowful psalm with our joyful state? I once heard this question posed to a priest and he said that often approaches those psalms of sorrow or desolation and finds himself in a joyful mood, and so he remembers that while he is joyful there are many in the world who are feeling sorrow, darkness, and desolation in that very moment. He remembers those who are persecuted for their faith, those who are in prison, those who are plagued by spiritual or emotional darkness; and for each of those people he offers that prayer, knowing that many were unable to pray it themselves. He speaks it for them.

As I stand here at this ambo today I look outside and I see clear blue skies, a nice change in the weather, and am rather joyful at all of this. And yet we hear this reading from Job where he says ‘cursed be the day I was born’ and he laments his being brought into the world. And then we have the psalm which speaks of being brought into the dark abyss and being dragged down into sorrow. And as we hear these readings we are again struck by the disconnect between our experience and the prayers selected for us. So, though we may not be sorrowful ourselves, we remember that today there are thousands upon thousands of people throughout the world who are in great darkness and are in need of God’s grace to sustain them. Let us remember them in this Mass, as we lift up our prayers to the Lord, that he might console them and give them strength.

The Little Irritation

Readings for Sunday, September 26:

Amos 6:1,4-7

Psalm 146:7-10

1 Timothy 6:11-16

Luke 16:19-31

The challenge of every homily is to take what the scriptures speak about or what the Church is trying to show us about the faith and to make that apply to the life of those who hear it, the one preaching included. So when we hear the story of the rich man and Lazarus, the question must be asked ‘How does this apply to me? What does this have to do with my life today?’ Looking briefly at the gospel we find the rich man is faced daily with the presence of Lazarus, who lay at his doorstep, and had to choose whether to help Lazarus or not to help Lazarus. Can you think of a time when we are faced with a similar situation?

The situation that comes to my mind is when I get off the interstate and there is a homeless man with the sign asking for help. As he walks back and forth asking for money, I am faced with a decision – help him or ignore him. When this happens, I find that I usually have one of three reactions. Sometimes I will acknowledge them and give them a couple of bucks and a prayer card or religious medal. Other times I act like I’m busy looking for something or turn the other way so I won’t feel so bad for ignoring them. Then there are other times that I hope that the light turns green before he gets to my car, because then I can make myself feel better by saying ‘I would have helped him, but I didn’t want to stop traffic.’ Another example is the telephone. With caller-id on most of our phones, how often do we look at the phone and see that so-and-so is calling and we really just don’t want to talk to them because they bother us? Again, that decision to ignore them or to respond to them.

No matter which option I choose in either of those situations, there is usually some sort of uneasiness that I experience either because I don’t respond to them or because I do respond but not because I actually want to interact with them. There’s always an uneasiness, an irritation if you will. That irritation, though, is actually a point for grace to come into the scene. Think about an oyster; when a foreign substance like a piece of sand gets into the shell, it reacts to it and what results is a beautiful pearl. An irritant at first becomes a great treasure to the world, all because the oyster reacted to its presence.

If we look again at the gospel reading, we will find that the rich man wore fine purple garments and fine linens, often a sign of royalty, and that he dined sumptuously everyday. Simply put, he was living a pretty good life. Was this his sin though? Was the sin that earned him condemnation the fact that he had money and lived well? No! Money is a good thing and those who have it are certainly blessed. The problem comes in when money and riches are too highly valued, as we heard last week. The prophet Amos spoke in our first reading about how the people had become complacent because they were eating the finest foods and living the high life; but his focus was not truly their riches but their complacency that resulted from it. This is what we have in the case of the rich man from the gospel. His problem was that he has focused so much on all of his comfortable things that he began to isolate himself both from those around him and from the Lord himself. In a real sense, he became wholly self-absorbed and so was unable to respond to those in need. And this is where his sin is found - not in having riches, nor in any grave sins, but in simply ignoring Lazarus, in being unable to care for anyone other than himself. By failing to respond to the ‘irritant’ that Lazarus was in his daily life, the rich man missed out on the possibility of having that great treasure grow within him.

And what is that great treasure? Salvation. Lazarus was there as an opportunity for the rich man to reach out to others rather than simply serve himself and by failing to respond time and again to Lazarus’ presence, the rich man effectively walked past his salvation and said ‘no thanks’.

So the next time you see that guy at the red light asking for change, or someone you don’t want to talk to is calling you, or any other situation that demands that we make a decision to either ignore or respond, consider what great treasure might be gained by being willing to respond or what treasure might be lost by failing to do so.

Our Needs

Some of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal

Readings for Wednesday, September 22:

Proverbs 30:5-9

Psalm 119:29, 72, 89, 101, 104, 163

Luke 9:1-6

When we look at the gospel for today and hear all the things that the apostles couldn’t bring with them when they went on a journey – a walking stick, money, food, clothing - you have to ask: what could they bring? In response to such a question, I am sure that the Lord would respond ‘Everything they need.’

In December of 2006 I went to visit the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal in New York City to discern a possible call to their community. At one point in the week we were all sitting inside the house and one of the brothers drove up and everyone started to unload food. I asked what it was for and they explained that stores in the area would donate food to them and so they ate whatever was given. I thought it was neat to see them really living out the call to poverty. Then when I was about to leave I realized I needed exact change for the transit bus and I only had cash, so I asked one of the brothers if he had change for a dollar; he said no. Then I asked another; he said no. Then another; the same answer. Eventually I worked my way to the superior of the house, the leader of a group of 25 guys, and he was able to find 75 cents in his office, a rare thing, he explained. When I realized that even the superior of the house had only a few quarters I realized just how much they lived the spirit of the gospel passage. 

In a very real way, they made the words of Proverbs, our first reading today, their own: “Give me neither poverty nor riches; provide me only with the food I need.” From my point of view it was crazy that nobody had three quarters, and yet they truly had everything they needed. As we go throughout the rest of our day, may we have the grace to make those words our own and trust that the Lord, who looks after all of our needs, will indeed provide for us.

Hasten to follow

The Calling of St. Matthew

Readings for Tuesday, September 21/Feast of St. Matthew:

Ephesians 4:1-7,11-13

Psalm 19:2-5

Matthew 9:9-13

When I was in college seminary doing my philosophy studies, we had to take a few other classes to meet the requirements for our liberal arts degree, one of which was Art History. At the beginning of the course she showed a slideshow of paintings and asked us to comment on each one. Afterward, we were told that we’d be assigned a presentation on one of the pieces. Well, I think she wanted to have some fun with me because the piece I was assigned was not appealing to me in the least little bit at first. In fact, my comment I turned in was something to the effect of “It’s way too dark. I can’t tell what anything is. Probably one of the worst ones in the whole show.” And tada! That’s the one I got. What I soon found was that it was a painting by Michaelangelo Caravaggio entitled “The Calling of St. Matthew”.

This painting, which depicts the story from the gospel tonight, is really striking once it is properly understood. On the left are five figures around a table. On the right are two men standing. The two men are St. Peter and the Lord Jesus, who is pointing at one of the men at the table. The interesting this is the body language of the five men at the table. One is seeming to reach for his sword – a sign of violence opposition. One is staring in the direction of Christ but apparently unconcerned about what is happening. A third appears to be unaware of Christ’s presence in the room; he is simply concerned with the money on the table. The fourth is one who seems to be intentionally ignoring the Lord, his heard down so as to be unable to see Him. But the fifth, he is pointing to himself, with a shocked look on his face. This fifth figure is the person of St. Matthew at the moment he is called by Christ to follow. And if you look carefully in the picture, it seems as though his legs are already in motion to get up. This really struck me because it gets at the point of the gospel passage. Let us look at it again. It says “Jesus pass by, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post. He said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed Him.” Just that quickly – he got up and followed Christ. He wasn’t violently opposed, he wasn’t unconcerned, he wasn’t unaware, he wasn’t intentionally oblivious. He was open to the call, and with haste he moved.

As we honor St. Matthew today, pray for the grace always to have hearts like his, open to the call of the Lord and willing to act with haste in following.

We are all Frauds

Readings for Sunday, September 19:
Amos 8:4-7
Psalm 113:1-2,4-8
1 Timothy 2:1-8
Luke 16:1-13

Have you ever looked up what your name meant? When I was in high school we had to do a writing assignment that included finding the meaning of our first and middle names and writing how they might describe us in some way. I found that my first name, Patrick, meant “nobleman”. I thought that was a good start. But then I found out that my middle name, Brent, meant “steep hill”.  I was less than excited. I mean, when I think of steep hill, I think of something difficult that you don’t want to deal with; the first sounded much better.

Why do I mention this little story? Because I think it’s something we’ve gotten away from – understanding the meaning of our names. In the days of the Old Testament, a name typically prophesied the type of life one would live. Think of Abram and Sarai, whose names were changed to Abraham and Sarah when God chose them for a new mission. A name meant a lot. And so when the people of Israel heard that the prophet Amos was coming, they all got an uneasy feeling in their gut. The name Amos means ‘burden’ and so by his prophesying he was a burden to the people of Israel; he said the things they didn’t want to hear, things that would call them out for their sinful actions. This is what we hear in our first reading. The Israelite people would celebrate the feasts, such as that of the new moon and the Sabbath, and yet they were not really concerned with these things but were concerned only about their wealth and power. Rather than being people of integrity, they were frauds and Amos came among them and called them out on it.

I’m gonna step out on a limb here and say that I believe each one of you is a fraud, a fake, just like the Israelites were. But before you get upset, I must add that I am a fraud and a fake as well, and maybe more so than any of you. You see, our hearts are divided just like the Israelites and so often what is on the outside is not what is on the inside. We are not always people of integrity.  Simply put, we are sinners.

A couple of Fridays ago I was asked to join Bishop Muench and our two vocation directors for the diocese at Saint Jean Vianney school. We met with each of the classes and spoke about vocations and allowed them to ask questions about religious life. At one point the three of them went off to visit another group of children and had me stay and talk with the 7^th and 8^th grade boys. I spoke about my vocation and the greatness of the priestly vocation and opened it up for questions. After ten minutes or so the questions moved from vocation-focused questions to random questions in the line “what kind of music do you listen to?” and such. One young man raised his hand and said, “If you had a million dollars, what would you do with it?” I can’t remember my exact answer, but it was something along the lines of “I’d donate some to good charities, use some to buy things for a few parishes, and put a bunch toward buying books and stuff to evangelize.” I reflected on it afterward and asked myself whether that was entirely true and I had to wonder. I mean, when I get a good chunk of money now, what do I do with it? Buy some new books for my library, buy a nice new vestment, or spend it on something that I don’t really need but really want. Sure, I do my tithing and charitable donations, but my heart is still somewhat divided. There is something in my heart that wants to get more and more things and have more and more control. And that thing that is in me is in each one of us, that concupiscence that compels each of us to act for our own self-benefit.

Our gospel speaks to this division of the heart and Christ says to each of us ‘you cannot serve two masters…you cannot serve both God and mammon,’ that is, wealth. We must choose one or the other. The one that gets most of our attention is undoubtedly the one that we choose. So where do we put our emphasis?

The unjust steward obviously put his emphasis on the physical things. He was so prideful that he wouldn’t let himself become a beggar and he was so self-concerned that rather than repent and turn toward good, he continued in his evil ways in an even greater way. And yet, oddly, we hear the Lord commend him for his prudence, despite his wrongdoing. The steward knew that he was about to be in a bad spot and that he would have to rely on others to help him out until he could get back on steady ground again. He got creative, he started to think real hard about the future and made all sorts of plans to prepare for the inevitable and then put all of his energy into it to ensure that it would work out as he planned.

The challenge the Lord wants to speak to us today is to be more like the unjust steward, not in doing wrong and self-seeking materialism, but in the zeal with which we pursue the things that are to come in  eternity. As Christians, we believe that death is not the end of life, but the beginning. Our earthly life is the time when we determine where we will spend our eternal life. Here we must stop and ask ourselves some questions. Are we willing to put forth the effort to ensure we live well in the future? Are we willing to pour ourselves out in prayer everyday? Are we willing to boldly preach the gospel to others? Are we willing to give what is ours to serve and aid others? Are we willing to live a life of radical holiness – not simply being a good person or nice person but one who strives to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect, as St. Paul says?

All of those questions really done down to one question: Are we ready to no longer be frauds or fakes, but true sons and daughters of God, no longer living with divided hearts but wholly focused on Jesus Christ and His glory?

The Holy Eucharist has the power to change hearts in a single instance if we are truly ready and we are about to receive it into our very bodies. Let us pray that each of us would be transformed today in this Mass and that we would have hearts that are not divided but wholly devoted to the Lord and his people. 

Face-Melting Quote of the Day

I was watching Pope Benedict's homily given at the prayer service at Hyde Park and when I heard this quote I almost fell out of my chair...

“No one who looks realistically at our world today could think that Christians can afford to go on with business as usual, ignoring the profound crisis of faith which has overtaken our society, or simply trusting that the patrimony of values handed down by the Christian centuries will continue to inspire and shape the future of our society. We know that in times of crisis and upheaval God has raised up great saints and prophets for the renewal of the Church and Christian society; we trust in his providence and we pray for his continued guidance. But each of us, in accordance with his or her state of life, is called to work for the advancement of God’s Kingdom by imbuing temporal life with the values of the Gospel. Each of us has a mission, each of us is called to change the world, to work for a culture of life, a culture forged by love and respect for the dignity of each human person.” (emphasis mine)

Nothing New Under the Sun...

Readings for Friday, September 17/

St. Robert Bellarmine:

1 Corinthians 15:12-20

Psalm 17:1,6-8,15

Luke 8:1-3

The scriptures were right – there is nothing new under the sun. In the course of the past two months that I’ve been leading the Bible study here on Thursday nights, it has been shown how again and again the Israelites made the same mistakes. Being the spiritual descendents of the Jewish people, the Catholic faithful follow in a very similar path as the Jews. Over and over again, we encounter the same problems. And over and over again, we respond in the same fashion.

In the first reading we encounter Saint Paul writing to the Corinthians on account of some who had begun to reject the teaching of the resurrection of the body. They thought that they could simply take the teachings they wanted and reject the other teachings with no consequences. Saint Paul, however, responds to this first generation of what we call today cafeteria Catholics not by saying ‘you have to believe it!’ but rather by showing them that if they reject the reality of our resurrection, then it follows that they must reject Christ’s resurrection, and if they reject that then they and everyone else are still in sin and are the most foolish people for thinking otherwise. He shows them that beliefs are not to be taken or left without consequence but are deeply connected and intertwined. To reject one belief is to weaken the whole system.

St. Robert Bellarmine, whose memorial we celebrate today, encounter the same problem 1500 years later as he fought on countless fronts to defend the Catholic faith from dissidents, those who wanted like the Corinthians to take only parts of the faith. He too knew the interconnectedness of the Catholic faith and was such a great defender of it that he was named the patron of catechists.

As I said at the beginning though – there is nothing new under the sun. Even today we experience these same situations, people accepting some teaching but rejecting others without casting a second thought on it. Thankfully we have in Pope Benedict another great name in the list of many who have seen the interconnected nature of the Catholic faith and who seek to show the world that one cannot simply accept only bits and pieces but must embrace the whole of the deposit of faith. Some of you may know that Pope Benedict is in England right now on a state visit and that there is much conflict because of it. Because he stands up for the Catholic faith and encourages everyone else to cling to the Truth that is Jesus Christ, he experiences a lot of persecution from the secular realm. And yet, he goes there boldly to once again preach this message that has been preached for 2000 years – the Catholic faith is a single deposit of faith and that all of the pieces come together as a body and so each part much be honored. As we continue through this day, take a moment to pray for Pope Benedict, that he will continue to be a light of Christ to the world by his words and witness and pray that those to whom he is speaking will have open hearts and that his words and presence will bear much fruit for the Church in England.