June 30, 2013 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time C

Bulletin: June 30, 2013 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time C

1 Kings 19:16, 19-21; Galatians 5:1, 13-18; Luke 9:51-62

Being a follower of Jesus is all about commitment. Am I committed to being a person of love and compassion; forgiveness and healing? It’s very easy to say that I am a Christian, but am I a Christian? I want to say ‘yes’ but am I? In the early Apostolic Church a remark was said, ‘Look at those Christians, how much love they have for each other.’ Do I have this kind of love?
A periodical from the Diocese of Lansing puts it this way in commenting on today’s readings: “It isn’t always easy being a Christian. Sometimes our beliefs are not very popular with the rest of society. Sometimes, it may seem easier to relax at home or go to a ball game, rather than go to church. It may be more fashionable to dress in the latest trend than to dress modestly. It may feel better to buy that more expensive home than to provide for the homeless. It may seem more polite to stay silent than to defend our faith, or it may be easier to vote the party line than to stand up for Catholic ideals.”
Today’s reading give real life examples of people who had to make decisions. God told Elijah to appoint Elisha as his successor to the office of prophet. But Elisha has to take care of his family; he does this and then follows the prophet. Paul tells the Galatians that they shouldn’t hide behind the Law of Moses. Anything can be found in the Law to support one’s point of view, but Paul says the gospel message of Jesus is point blank: suppress selfish desires of the flesh and live according to the Spirit. In all things “You must love your neighbor as yourself. But if you go on biting and devouring one another, beware that you are not consumed by one another.” Is it my way or God’s way? Is it God’s way when it is convenient or at all times? Do I try to rationalize by saying that Jesus’ Law was good then, but today, that’s a different problem?
Jesus is telling me and each person about three people who approached Him and wanted to become ‘Christians.’ The first one enthusiastically wants to join right away, ‘sign on the dotted line.’ The other two want to postpone joining until they have taken care of their immediate affairs. Is Jesus too harsh in telling them what the discipleship demands exact? He says His followers must be willing to relinquish all, total commitment is needed.
This gospel helps me to review again where I am at and to see how the Spirit is constantly helping me in my daily struggle to give up me and become Jesus. Jesus specifically said that the ‘comforts of home’ shouldn’t enslave me so that I don’t do His work; this coupled with a freedom from family ties that might provide an excuse from preaching the ‘kingdom of God.’ I have struggled in doing this; it is only the Spirit’s grace and gifts that have helped me.

This gospel might seem to be addressed only to priests and religious. Yet the bottom line question might be phrased today as ‘what enslaves me so that I can’t respond and live as a follower of Jesus, as a Christian? Even more of a bottom line is: God calls each one to holiness? Am I working on my holiness? Only ‘holy people’ are in heaven! There is no back door that’s left ajar for easy access. Each person is on a journey to heaven. Each and every day each one will encounter responsibilities at home, at work, at school, at ‘fun time’. Each will encounter pressures, problems and choices. At each person’s Baptism, we received a call to live lives of holiness as followers of Christ. There were no ‘wishy washy’ words; rather ‘be Christ’s light to your world.’ This means that each person must daily reflect on how blessed it is that God has given me another day to live. And the ‘living’ is what is important here; each person is to live the life of Christ by loving. This takes a whole new way of thinking and listening; it takes a new way of living. This requires me and each person to become well acquainted with the Gospels and know Jesus who wants to be known and lived. It means being faithfully committed to my prayer life and the life of the Church in receiving all the sacraments that help me love. Isn’t it so wonderful that God has provided me and each person the ‘necessary goods’ for the journey today?

So I reflect on:

• What kind of commitment have I made to be a disciple of the Lord? Do I realize that this has changed since I was baptized, confirmed, ordained a priest? Do I realize that each day Jesus is saying ‘Follow Me’ and He gives me the specific grace each day to do just that? Do I think about this and pray about this?
• How do I understand what it means to be free? Do some kinds of freedom end up enslaving me?
• I like to reflect on the old question, ‘By your words and actions, could you be convicted of being a Christian in a court of law?’
• Being a Christian necessarily means that I must object to some of the values of society and at the same time try to change those things that violate gospel-based values. Do I do this?
• How determined am I to follow Jesus all day today and all night tonight?
  

Sacred Space 2013 helps so much:

“It is easy for me to think of how I might be a better disciple if my situation were different. I take some time to consider how this is the road along which I walk with Jesus; He does not speak to me from a distance but knows where I am and sees where He wants to go with me.

Jesus asks me not to be distracted, not to have my attention dissipated by many concerns. I take some time today to let myself hear God calling me.”

Some Gospel suggestions for me:

• Concentrate this week on how well my actions correspond to the Christian values I profess.
• Evaluate what my most important material possessions are, and what my life would be like if I did not have them.
• Think of the people in missionary lands I have seen especially in Haiti and Bolivia. They live for today because it is all they have, am I the same way?
  

Pray Daily: “Lord, you came to call us to live life and give life to the full. Teach me to love as You love, wanting only to bring all of those You love to the fullness of response to You. For this is life. Amen.”

Bulletin June 23, 2013 12th Sun in Ordinary Time C

Bulletin June 23, 2013 12^th Sun in Ordinary Time C

Zechariah 12:10-11; 13:1; Galatians 3:26-29; Luke 9:18-24
“Who do the crowds say that I am?” Good question. Jesus is asking His disciples what is happening around Him. The people spent hours listening to Him, watching His healing miracles, and observing Him. What was going on inside of them? The disciples must have overheard a lot and I’m sure answered numerous questions from these people. No doubt, some of the questions were, ‘Who exactly is this Jesus? Where did He come from? Where did He receive His learning? Who were His teachers? How come He could do what others could not?’ So the apostles responded what they heard, ‘One of the prophets, or even John the Baptist come back to life or even Elijah.’ They were just reporting what they heard.
Then Jesus looked at them and directly asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Now Jesus had no problem with who He was. Luke had just said that “Jesus was praying in solitude and the disciples were with Him.” No doubt they were watching how He prayed, mesmerized by His rapt attention with His Father. So Jesus asks this question to those closest to Him, apparently wanting to know not what the people were saying, but if they are beginning to understand who He is and what He is about. He wants to know if any of His words and teaching has sunk in. ‘Do they get it?’ It would be nice to be in Jesus’ presence in today’s reading, but it would be very difficult. Why? Because His eyes would find me…and the question directed to each of His apostles would burn into me too. Being a teacher, I would ask questions in the classroom and no one could hide from me…nor could I hide from Jesus if I was present that day…nor can I hide from this question today. Jesus is asking me, “Who do you say that I am?” I can’t escape this question. Luke immediately states that Peter responded; that does not take me off the hook. Jesus is looking at me and waiting for me to reply.
I have to stand up on my own feet, reflect and respond. I take this very seriously. Like Jesus, I must ‘be in solitude…be in prayer…reflect…respond.’ I think this is a prime passage that I can take a pen in hand and write, with the Spirit, my response. And my reply is no doubt the deepest question I have to face. The response will make me face up to every facet of my life. My response will have a tremendous influence on how I live my life; what I think, how I see others, what I choose to do or not to do and how I go about doing it. There is no question in my mind that I don’t want to do this. This means change; and change for me is never easy. So I have to say at this point, I am stuck. What do I do; where do I go?
Jesus helps me so much in my response in the rest of this passage. He tells me what is going to happen in His life: “The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed an on the third day be raised.” These words are not very comforting; the apostles didn’t think so either. Who wants to be separated from the most important person who has ever stepped into my life?
Well Jesus continues and tells me what it means for me. I take this translation from the New Oxford Annotated Bible, The New Revised Standard Version, because I have to see that this question is directly asked of me today. “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for My sake will save it.” I need to hear this; I do not like the crosses in my life but they are there. I want everything to be nice and people to be happy and caring, but this is an imperfect world inhabited by imperfect people who want their own way and have no room for God. So Jesus is asking me how I view God in my world. Do I realize completely that God became just like me to show me what I need to do? He suffered, I suffer. He died, I will die. He promised heaven to me and each person, but I must follow His direction as explained in Scripture and through the Church and her teachings. I am called to imitate Him in all I say and do.

Fr. Anthony Kadavil in Teaching & Preaching Resources says this, ”Forgive those who have wronged us?...Love even the people we don’t like?...Give from our want and not our excess?...Think of others before ourselves?...Lay down our lives for our friends?---That’s fine for Jesus, but that’s unrealistic for me. He’s God. I’m not.”
‘But who do you say that I am?’

That’s the question Jesus poses to us this day. Is Jesus my Savior but not my Lord? Is He my Judge but not my friend? Is He my advisor but not my teacher? Is He my brother but not my guide? Is He my companion but not my Shepherd? Who exactly is this Jesus? And why do I choose to follow Him --- why do I choose to surrender my life to Him --- why do I want to proclaim His resurrection --- why do I choose to receive Him at this table --- why do I come here each week to pledge my life to Him, to place my life in His hands once again?

Peter gave his answer. What’s yours? And more importantly, how will our answers shape who we are and who we become.”
Jesus said that my crosses are my way to heaven. He also said that He would never give a cross too heavy for me to bear. And He said that He would help me carry each and every one of my crosses. Do I take Him at His word? Do I avoid looking at the pain and rejection and hurt and see that Jesus has glorified it? I don’t seek suffering, Jesus didn’t; I can see that in the Garden of Gethsemane. But suffering will inevitably be part of my life as it was part of Jesus’ life. As His disciple I suffer living His values. So I reflect on:

• “And they shall look on Him whom they have pierced.”
  
• How much am I willing to sacrifice for love’s sake?
  
• What keeps me from casting aside my deepest prejudices?
  
• What weights down my cross?
  
• How can I help others with their crosses?
  
• What do I hope for? What gives me joy? Do I look at heaven in this way?
  

Sacred Space 2013 puts it this way,

“I answer the question that Jesus asks in many ways. I show who Jesus is to me by attending church, by professing my faith, by acting as Jesus did.

Every time I deny myself I have an opportunity to express my faith in something greater than what I might enjoy here and now. I ask God’s help to take up the crosses that I find, realizing that following Jesus is to live as He lived.”

June 16, 2013 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time C

Bulletin June 16, 2013 11^th Sunday in Ordinary Time C

2 Samuel 12:7-10, 13; Galatians 2:16, 19-21; Luke 7:36-50
How does God feel about my sins? What does God expect of me when I sin? Do I realize that my sins always involve others and God? The three readings today are a wonderful and special reminder to me that God is always ready to forgive. Do I feel that I don’t want to be forgiven? Do I feel that what I did wasn’t that bad? Do I forgive myself? I must always go back to the Lord and how He is teaching me and leading me through His Word.
The second book of Samuel in chapters 10-2 gives the account of David’s war with the Ammonites. They show David’s masterful leadership which is evidence in his victory over Ammon; and David even claimed the king’s crown for himself (2 Samuel 12:30). Then ‘the rest of the story’: David committed adultery with Bathsheba and then was responsible for the deliberate murder of her husband Uriah. Today’s passage is so direct and yet beautiful in a sense since Nathan the prophet rebukes David while presenting him with a large list of all the gifts David has enjoyed from God. Is David grateful? No, he ignores God and pursues his own interests as if he was responsible for all the successes and because of this he was above the law since he was ‘king’. The good point is that when Nathan confronts him, David repents and turns back to God, and God shows His mercy and forgives David. What one of my sins can be so horrible that God won’t forgive me? The answer to this is none. Do I want God to forgive me or do I just follow the temptations of the devil and give up on me or on God?
Paul is writing to the Galatians about faith in today’s reading. He says that when I and each person recognize that we are helpless before God and can do nothing on our own, we are on the verge of faith. The verge of understanding that faith is a gift from God and is my surrendering myself entirely to God. I say this so often, because I have to: it is not about me, it is about God. My life is a gift from God to be used for God. My life has been filled with an overabundance of God’s gifts. Now what am I doing with them? Am I leading others to a discovery of God’s love and mercy? If not, why not?
It is good to take the Gospel and examine its message. This dinner was either a banquet or a Sabbath meal, because those eating were reclining. Now the host must provide the three essential gestures of hospitality: the kiss of peace, the washing of hands and feet and the anointing of the head with oil. Simon the Pharisee didn’t do this to Jesus. Why, maybe he felt that like David in the first reading he was ‘too important’ or above the law, a ‘god’ to himself. The woman appears on the scene which probably indicates that it was a banquet and not a private affair. She went right to Jesus, no hesitation. Simon concludes that Jesus didn’t know she was a sinner because He didn’t do anything to stop her. She shocks and embarrasses everyone by crying on Jesus’ feet and wiping them with her hair and then anointing and kissing his feet. Simon is disgusted and Jesus adds the clincher: her sins are forgiven. Jesus tries to ‘melt’ Simon’s ungrateful judgmental heart. Did it work, Luke never responds to this. Jesus’ message is so important, “Do you see this woman? When I entered your house, you did not give Me water for My feet, but she has bathed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give Me a kiss, but she has not ceased kissing My feet since the time I entered. You did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with ointment. So I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven because she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little. He said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’ The others at table said to themselves. ‘Who is this who even forgives sins?’ But He said to the woman, ’Your faith has saved you; go in peace.’”
These wonderful scripture passages bring to light grave sins, in fact any sin is a grave sin because it is rejecting the love and the gifts of God and making me as the ‘be all and end all’, the judge of right and wrong. God gave the determination of sin: it is a failure to love; it is ingratitude for His gifts; it is rejecting the role God needs me to be in His plan for redemption in my world. I have to be careful; I can so easily be a David or a Simon. Neither recognized his own sin. Simon looked down on the woman as a sinner and on Jesus for His loving acceptance of her. He didn’t feel he sinned so he didn’t ask for forgiveness and as a result is not able to receive forgiveness. He is busy pointing fingers at others and never realizes that when you point a finger ‘three point back at yourself.’ David realized his blindness and repented, Simon we don’t know about.
And look who God welcomes back…each person who asks for forgiveness. No sin is greater than God’s power to forgive. I have to say this over and over. No sin is greater than God’s power to forgive. God does not look at the magnitude of the sin. God’s love is unconditional and total. As a person grows in faith each day, “God’s grace gives us the ability to acknowledge our need for forgiveness that helps us to open our hearts to receive the love and the mercy of God and be in relationship with Him.” (St. Anthony Messenger Sunday Homily Helps)
Mary Lynne Rapien concludes it this way in the St. Anthony Messenger Sunday Homily Helps, “As we approach the altar today, may we pray for forgiveness of our apparent sins and those of which we are unaware. May we pray that nothing blocks us from the love that Christ offers. May we be free to love with abandon, as did the woman in the Gospel.”
So I reflect on:

• Do my ‘little’ sins lead me to be judgmental of others? Then it’s a big reflection telling me that they really aren’t ‘little sins’ because they are making me aware of more unaware sins.
  
• Why do I feel that my sin is unforgiveable? How often do I ask God for the grace to forgive myself?
  
• If I think ‘I’m perfect’ then I come away with the attitude that I’m not a sinner. What makes me do this?
  
• The sacrament of Reconciliation consistently reminds me that I am loved and forgiven. It makes me realize that I am constantly starting over…and that I need God every moment.
  
• Do I weep for my sins?
  
• How do I deal with the danger of self-justification?
  

June 9, 2013

Bulletin June 9, 2013 10^th Sun Ordin C

1 Kings 17:17-24; Galatians 1:11-19; Luke 7:11-17

The examples in the readings today really help me in my journey to the Lord in a different sense:  they tell me how important I am to the Lord and how it is important for me to ask the Lord for what I need to BE Him.   This might sound a little unusual in its interpretation but it is necessary for one wishing to advance in the spiritual life:  each person is important to the Lord.

The first reading from Kings and the Gospel from Luke both use the example of the plight of a widow; one son’s had just stopped breathing and the other’s son had died.  In their world, even more so than our world, a widow losing her only son would have almost seemed like a death sentence for them too. In their culture women had very little rights; they relied on men for nearly everything.  The man provided for all the needs of the household and also protected the family.  So if the husband died, the woman was alone in a male-dominated society.  She would have to totally support herself unless someone reached out to help her.  So often it was the son who would care for her and if the son had died she was ‘left out in the cold’; there were no jobs or positions open for her, she had to depend on ‘begging’ on the streets.   The Dictionary of the Bible describes this in more detail:  “In ancient society the independent woman did not exist; she was a member of a family and dependent either upon her father or upon her husband.  The position of a widow could therefore be difficult. She wore clothing to designate her condition.  She could not inherit from her husband, and in the early period she was a part of the inheritance of the eldest son…The woman who had no man to defend her rights was an obvious victim for the exactors of a creditor and for any type of oppression. The widow had no defender at law and was therefore at the mercy of dishonest judges.”  It’s no wonder that the Acts of the Apostles stresses how the early Church concentrated its efforts on helping the widow.

For each of these women their faith was at its limits; they were alone.  What did they feel like?  In the first reading there was a famine in the land and drought.  Ravens brought food twice a day to Elijah.  God sent him to a widow to care for him, and now sickness has claimed the life of the widow’s son.  The widow acknowledges her guilt, but still wonders why this would mean that her son should die too.  She associates sin with death; since the son died, she must have sinned.  In a beautiful intense prayer scene, Elijah knows that God has the power to nourish life, but also restore it; all that is required is trust and faith.  She gave her son to Elijah. 

For the widow of Naim facing the tragic ramifications of her son’s death, Jesus was “moved with pity”.  “Do not weep” means that Jesus is going to act. He touches the ‘casket’ and ‘commands’ that the man arise; an incredible act of love and generosity.

Now the important reflection is that the act of Elijah and the act of Jesus changed the life of the widows but also of the two sons.  And it changed the life of everyone whose life would interact with them:  everyone who loved them, everyone who depended on them, everyone with whom they would come in contact with in the future.  As John Dunne, “No man is an Island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the Continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friends or of thine own were; any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankind; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee.”   This tells me about the life of my faith in God and where I am in God’s plan:  He needs me to be Him.  So what do I need from God to be Him today and each day?  I need to ask; Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount (Mt 7:7), “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened for you.  For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks; finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened… [And the beautiful explanation]... Which one of you would hand his son a stone when he asks for a loaf of bread or a snake when he asks for a fish?  If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask Him.”

Fr. Anthony Kadavil in Teaching and Preaching Resources expresses the need to ask God well:  “You see when we sincerely and faithfully ask God for good things for ourselves, we are not the only ones to receive the benefits of God’s blessings.  Others receive them too.  For example, when we have a joyful and hopeful spirit, we can help lift the spirits of others.  And when we have a decent, steady job, we can be financially generous with others.  And when we have good health, we can do more for those who can’t do for themselves.  And when our relationships of every kind are strong and healthy, we can give real hope to those whose relationships are struggling.  And when we experience God’s forgiveness, we can more easily extend that same sort of radical forgiveness to others.  In other words, when we are able to live the transformed kind of life that Jesus died to make possible, the world around us becomes transformed too.  When we are at our best, we have the best to offer others---or more accurately, God can provide others with good things through us.”  So asking for things, attitudes, and dispositions etc. for me is not selfish, it is a faithful act.  This is what Paul is sharing in the second reading:  look what God can do through me and each person if we allow Him to enter, love and direct us.  Why else was I created at this time and in this place?  So I must be bold and ask God for all the good things not just for others but for myself too.  And I reflect on:

·       Compassion moved Jesus; am I a compassionate person each day?  Do I reflect on how I can be more aware and more compassionate?

·        When I look back at my life and reflect on the times when I felt all was lost, I received the help I needed despite the desperate circumstances.  Where did that help come from?  Was I grateful to God?  Were there added lessons from God to me?

·       What women of great faith do I know and how have they touched me and brought me to this point in my life?

·       What moves me to pity?

Sacred Space tells me, “Paul was transformed not by intellectual or moral thought but by his encounter with the risen Jesus.  How do I know the risen Lord in my life?  How do others know Him through me?”