Sunday Readings

Homecoming

I was asked to say a prayer at a reunion of a top-notch and very expensive private school. Amid the opulence of the gathered graduates, one was honored for his work among the people of Appalachia and his efforts at securing adequate medical care. He gave a rousing and slightly inspiring speech which most in the room acknowledged with polite applause. But it was clear that this intrusion, while seemingly noble, was not exactly welcomed into the conversations of hedge funds, market trends and the latest automobiles. It was uncomfortable to say the least. The speaker was there to aggravate his classmates and they responded accordingly. It was neither the time nor the place and the person was too angry to be effective.

But this little story should resound with the Gospel today. It was about a homecoming. Jesus declares the beginning of His ministry to the people that knew Him best. And they were not amused.

Some objected to His miracles in other towns but all they got were His words. Others thought He should have gone into His father’s carpentry shop instead of bouncing around the countryside. Still others had problems with what He was claiming and preaching. But what got them all really teed-off was that He pointed out the truth. They were rejecting Him and He told them they were.

There are two dynamics at work here.

The first is the easy targeting of the messenger in order to shoot down the message. Consider the speaker’s past and the present policy becomes invalid. If they ever had a bad thought, they can never do any good work in the future. And who do they think they are anyway? I mean if they came from that, who are they to lead us there? And closer to home, we can dismiss anything because we “remember when” - even if the speaker is in the mirror.

The second thing is truly abrasive. Pointing out the obvious is always the greatest insult. It violates the rules of manners and good behavior. It gets a little too real for decent society. And the objection which led this crowd to the brink of the hill, leads us to that same precipice.

To sum it up, you can reject anything on the basis of who the speaker is and how insulting their message can be. I’m sure some of you are doing that now. I know I have. This is fallen human nature’s anti-truth defense system. It shoots first and asks questions later. It refuses the content based on the packaging. Whether in politics, relationships, religion, or economics it is standard operating procedure. Disguised as caution, it permits a dangerous self-created reality.

And isn’t the Christian faith supposed to be different? Isn’t there a courage from God that gives a power to choose the truth? Look at all the martyrs fed to the lions or the missionaries preaching in remote corners of the earth.

Yes, the truth is that powerful as it always has been. But we live in a world where it is rejected. We live in a nation that has convinced itself that it is free from the laws of natural selection and asserts its right to terminate itself. Those who defend life itself have been used by those who have given mere lip service to achieve power. Calls for greater opportunity have ensconced those who deny it in the seats of authority they craved in the first place. The promise of better was the reward of more. The appearance of truth is demonstrated for the good of only some.

But my little cynical tirade cannot be limited to outside of us. We all hold up the ‘truth deflector’ to any personal advance. We bristle at the implication of imperfection. It was our parents or teachers or clergy who held us back. It is our neighbor or boss who is keeping us from living virtuously. If only the world was different, we would be different. Don’t tell me how to live when your life is better. Don’t speak to me of virtue when you have even the slightest inclination to vice.

Well, how’s that working out for us?

I fear it is not. I think we call agree that love is not always patient or kind or enduring all things. Despite our best efforts, things are not always better nor are we. Life is made miserable or even ended and yet we stand there cutting down the warnings to love. We deny ourselves the better for the more exciting. And still Jesus passes through the midst of us and the Gospel is still preached.

The danger of what I do is to focus so much on what is wrong that we miss what is right. This too is a tool of the ‘truth deflector.’ The witness of that graduate is the insidious message that there is hope. Change is possible and, therefore, is revolutionary. Better can be chosen and is contrary. That is proven in today’s Gospel but where it is proven is not as clear. It was not Jesus or His message that was refined or whittled down; it was in the human hart that the paradigm shifted. It was the grace of an ever-maturing faith that allowed the seed of hope to grow.

And this is our grace as well. This is our hope that a message of a difficult love can take root in a people who find love difficult. Sure we object and we raise the defensive deflector almost as a reflex. But if we can see that it, if we can notice how easily we spurn the truth, we can start to rely on the authority of the Truth Himself.

Stay with that. Become aware and even critical of your reaction to the Gospel especially when you object to it. Take heed of how strongly you are offended by some one else because you can see the contrast of what you know they did and what they are saying now. Have courage to consider the message and ignore the messenger.

This is a faith revealed by God. It is carried in the weak vessels of flawed people. So whether the diamond is in ‘little blue box’ or a brown-paper bag, it is still a diamond.

Sorry folks......
I am up in the mountains doing nothing
while recovering from Christmas.

See you next week!

Sunday Readings

Thank Goodness

Generous people are often described as the types that can never give too much. Whether to impress some one or really change their lives for the better, generous folks seemingly have no reservations about lavishing their bounty. And we like it, don’t we? We are naturally attracted to relatives and neighbors who so easily give to others even at a loss to themselves. We are interested in the stories at the end of the news about them. We equate generosity with heroism. And in these stories, we see our better selves. Even with our dark moments of stinginess and selfishness, we look to these lights.

Sorry about that little trip to the stratosphere; let me rephrase. We like the types who open their cooler to us when ours are empty. We are okay with those who buy us a round. Yes, it’s that basic. The party today ran out and Jesus made gallons of the stuff – and it was the really good stuff. This is a revelation of the highest order in the most ordinary of human activities. It was sheer goodness.

Even with the Christmas event over, we may remember the prophets of doom who chide us for being too materialistic. We expect the more ‘spiritual’ among us to decry the consumerism of the season. But right after the season we are presented with a reading of unabashed generosity. This was as material as it gets and it was exceptionally good. As we begin the ‘green season’ of Ordinary Time before Lent, it’s a nice place to start in the goodness of God.

Too often, religion does not consider, even if it does admit, that we worship a good God. We take a super-abundant miracle of a massive vintage and separate it from our very human appreciation of the good things of this life. For example, I once heard a sermon on this Gospel and the preacher was screaming about temperance. Jesus Himself would have blushed at the thunder from that pulpit. There is a false guilt and unhealthy self-loathing that says we do not deserve anything wonderful. We seem to know our sins and demand that we go without because of them. Enjoyment of these fleeting pleasures seems a rejection of things more lasting.

Nothing could be further from the truth. We have a God who knows us better than ourselves and who, nonetheless, delights in us. It is an act of worship to thank God for the good things of this life. It is a matter of justice to be grateful and a grace to be more so. To call a vice what God has said is good is nothing less than a sin. It is heresy to reject the bounty of God and to exalt impoverished deprivation. It is the very good and very material things that are, as one of our funeral rites proclaims, the signs of God’s own goodness.

So is off-kilter to say that the evidence of God’s existence can be found in a near-perfect plate of linguini carbonara? Not at all. Can we prove the Divine Providence in a milk-shake? You bet. God, who is goodness Itself, is seen in reflection in these very things. We spy glimmers of His delight in our own. We praise the bounty of God only when we partake in it.

It may seem strange to hear that God is to be found even in middle of a great dinner. And it is true that most images of revelation are not associated with things like ice cream and fun toys. And perhaps that is our problem, not God’s. The first public miracle of the New Testament was at a party. If this grace of the Child of Bethlehem is really new, than Cana should not surprise us. We welcome the familiarity of God even as we are having fun. We proclaim the Gospel of God’s goodness and back it up with the goods of creation. We share that goodness because we have known it. We delight in generosity having been the recipients ourselves.

So there is no message today of condemnation and warning. There is no vice lurking at the foundations of society. There is only a call to see the goodness of God and see those material things reflecting a pure faith. We are still basking in the light of the incarnation when things heavenly were joined to things earthly. The blessings of the good life are sanctified as the benedictions of heaven. Human luxuries and necessities – like water and wine, gold and incense – become the icons of divine favor.

Appreciate them, enjoy them but above all understand them. If we can give glory and praise to God for a chocolate chip cookie, we are well on our way to becoming saints.

Let me conclude with an image of holiness. I was on a Church roof in lower Manhattan watching the astounding fireworks celebrating the anniversary of the Statue of Liberty. We could see several barges of Grucci pyrotechnics illuminating the heavens as we stood there in awe. As the finale was exploding in a thunderous shimmer of red, white and blue, a Franciscan brother nearby got caught up in it and said loudly, “Praise the Lord.” When things quieted down, I looked at him and he said, “that was a religious moment.”

He was right. Whether spectacular or ordinary, delicious or delightful, the good things around us are signs of grace. They can be of our making or the things of this world. They are all images of providence and carry the presence of their Maker. And when we take them with thanksgiving, so do we.

“Give thanks to the Lord for He is good – for His mercy endures for ever!” Yes, God is good and wants to make sure that we never forget it. And it will not take long for many of us to come up with a way we can prove that to ourselves. And nor should it.

Sunday Readings

Light Glow

I remember the day a friend and I were talking on the phone and he said that I really needed to get on the internet. I asked him what that was. Well, I did get this internet thing and everything changed. Soon, I started noticing an advertisement here and there that had that strange triple-w thing in small print. And now, well it’s all pretty obvious that the internet is a part of life. And folks, I’m not talking ancient history. That phone conversation happened eleven years ago.

A small comment, a blip of an idea and nothing is the same. Blink, and you miss it. Flash, and it’s gone. It’s a paradox, isn’t it? The most significant things are fast and furious while the boring seems to linger around. Welcome to the nature of Revelation. Perhaps the Mystery is so tremendous we can’t take more than a burst of glory. Maybe a little baby and a far-off star is more than enough to do the trick. Epiphany is a feast of light wrapped in the dark of a starlit night. It is a revelation in silence, a Mystery displayed in public. And like the important things of life, it is something we can’t put in a box or store in the closet. And like that passing idea of the Internet, it also changes everything.

Epiphany is the feast that brings the Christmas Event to a close. It sees what happened and figures out what it means. The unique birth of a single Child will change every single life. A Boy born in the land of Judah will influence every nation on earth. Shepherds and kings adore in the name of every social rank and situation of humanity. And in flash of angel’s wings, the truth of hope beams across time and space. God is with us as never before so nothing can be the same.

The trees are coming down, the twinkling lights are burning out and the wrapping paper is long gone. Christmas is over and the world is pretty much the same. Even the after-Christmas sales are shutting down. Where did the message of peace and joy go? Did it work? Did the meaning of Christmas actually make life better?

Without Epiphany, Christmas is a waste of time and money. If we comforted ourselves only with the happiness of the holiday, it is nothing more than a celebration. It’s fun, it’s a good time but, in the end, it really doesn’t mean all that much. After all, didn’t the Da Vinci Code say it was all a sham? The birth of any child brings hope even if this one was just a little more special.

No, Epiphany rounds out what we did and why did it. We sang our “Silent Nights” because we heard the “Gloria” of the heavenly hosts. Something really big happened in that “Little Town of Bethlehem.” We have come to Emmanuel because unto us a Child is given. This is more than Christmas morning comfort; this is revelation. God has consecrated human life and what was blessed has now become holy. The joys and hopes, pains and sorrows of every human being has become a sacrament as it has been transformed by grace. God has revealed a commandment that is irrevocable. He has made it absolutely clear that we are in His favor. He has decreed that hopeless is illegal and despair is now a crime. The Incarnation is about the goodness of God as much as it is about the holiness of humanity. God has raised our fallen nature by lowering Himself to our level. Nothing, save sin, is foreign to the Kingdome of God. And all the best and most noble in us has now been absorbed into the very Person of God.

And you though that Christmas was for kids? No, Christmas is not about children but it is about the Child. Like all good things, what happens early on in life is bound to change everything that follows. The child-like wonder of the season needs to grow up and mature. We need not loose that wonder but we do need to capitalize on it. Visions of dancing sugar-plums should become flashes of inspiration. And the light of Epiphany does precisely that.

Maybe the one thing we need to take from this feast is something we modern people do not like all that much. Like the Internet, we enjoy instance access and total control. When it comes to faith, we often have little or none of both. Revelation is not about us – it is not about how we feel or think or even believe. It is a truth that is. It does not invite a conference on whether or not it exists. It does not require a majority or certain percentage point in a pole. And how we appreciate it has nothing to do with its meaning.

Christianity is a religion of revelation. God acted and we are the response. The bowl does not say to the potter how things should be. The statue does not say to the sculptor that he is wrong to hammer away. We are the recipients of revelation, not its creator. And because we are, we are truly blessed. A holy God has said ‘be holy’ because He is holy and we are made and remade in His image. A Child has been born on a dark night so we can be born again in the midst of the darkness of our sin.

So many misunderstand revelation as a big booming voice from heaven telling us not to have any fun. Others mistakenly think of it as a secret revealed for the privileged few. It is neither. Epiphany reveals that in the Incarnation life is more than good because it is now holy. So, in the words of the First Reading from Isaiah, rise and shine to the new day of eternity. Your reason for hope is found in every breath you take. Your proof of God’s love is discovered in every second that you live. Because of this one moment, this one little Child, everything is not as it was because we are like Him.

Look around and you’ll see it in every resolution to do better. We’ll find it in the beauty we try to bring to this life. It glimmers in the mercy we show each other and echoes in our words of encouragement. The light of Christmas and Epiphany shines on long after its winter festival. And the Source of that light told us that we are its reflection to the world.

So shine on because you have become the mirror of God on earth. And in so far as you are, nothing can ever be the same.

Sunday Readings

Happy New What?

When I saw Cinema Paradiso, a wonderful Italian movie from the 80’s, one scene stood out in my mind. As the love-struck character waits outside his beloved’s home on New Year’s Eve, people started throwing things out their windows at midnight. It was slightly dangerous as clothing, books and sinks came crashing down on the streets of this little town. It was also very, very funny. It was a tradition that in order to start the new year off in the right way, you had to get rid of the old. In a secular way, we do this as we bring the records and receipts of the year past to a closing point. We flip the page and start a new calendar. But from a religious perspective, how do we approach this event?

If you can keep I secret, I can trust you with this: we don’t have one! By the time Jan 1st roles around, we’ve hit three ‘new year’s already. In September the fiscal year ended and the academic began. After Thanksgiving, we started a new liturgical cycle with the first Sunday of Advent. For us, Jan 1st is a mere formality. Even so, it is an opportunity for grace. An arbitrary shift in numbers is relatively meaningless for those dealing with eternity. Some go to strange areas bordering on superstition about the number of this calendar year. For instance, I was told that displaying a calendar of the coming year before today is bad luck. I guess those are the folks whose retirement planning strategy is compose entirely of lottery tickets!

We mark this new year with a feast placing this temporal designation in the presence of God. We see the possible in Mary and magnify with her the Holy Name of Jesus. We pray for peace in a war-weary world even as we ask for the blessings of earthly comforts. We make resolutions because I guess we have a lasting hope that we can do better. All of these are good, but why limit this to the first day of January? If we are so focused on how we begin a new year, why not make that focus our way of life? Instead of beginng a race of improbable success, perhaps we could start that race more than once?

Imagine a year like that? Imagine each day being one in the presence of God, modeled on the fidelity of Mary, as we ask for grace and work for a better world. Imagine that hope of a better way of living pulsating each morning and motivating us throughout each day? New Year’s, then, is really about a new life. And if religion is about anything, it is about this.

Folks, we’ve had a lot of Church over these past days and to be honest, I’m even getting a bit Churched out. It’s kind of like ‘boot camp for the soul’ as we turn the page. As they say in real boot camp, remember your training. We’ve prepared for and sat silently with the Incarnation of the Son of God. We have seen this Mystery in the heart of the family and have placed it in the loving arms of His mother. It’s a good beginning. For your New Year’s resolution, how about this one: treat every morning as one. Start in prayer, work for good and rejoice that you can do both.

Live like that, and you’ll have happy time in the new year. Live like that this year, and eternity is going to look really bright.

So that’s it and Happy New Year. Have fun on this next trip around the sun!