Demons

Years ago I lived in Boston but often traveled to work here in Rosslyn.

My room at the Marriott Key Bridge hotel had a small reading lamp.

At night I could sit reading in the otherwise dark room.

Looking out across the river.

Staring at the very scene where the story I was reading took place.

An old Georgetown house atop the steep hill and steps leading down to M Street.

The book was The Exorcist.

In that book, and the later movie, the demons were very real.

But in real life we don’t seem to give much thought to demons.

Many people don’t believe in demons anymore.

In Jesus’ day, the people had no doubt that there were demons.

Evil spirits.

Unclean spirits that could enter into a person.

The wild, the insane, those subject to violent, thrashing fits.

Those who had lost control of their minds or bodies.

Sometimes even those who couldn’t see or hear or speak.

Such people were seen as possessed by demons.

We don’t often hear demonic possession as a diagnosis or explanation today.

Although, we sometimes hear it associated with addictions or emotional problems.

People might say they’re trying to deal with their demons.

Maybe many who say that are just speaking figuratively.

Not really intending to delve into the spiritual realm.

But, even so, their statement shows that the idea is still familiar to us.

Familiar enough that it remains a common expression in our language.

How ever we might understand or characterize an affliction –

A disease, a disorder, a demon, a powerful evil spirit, or just a weak human spirit.

There’s Good News about it in our Gospel today.

We see we can turn to Jesus for help in dealing with any demon or affliction.
We know who he is---the Holy One of God---God Himself.
And we know we can call on his amazing power and authority .

Tuesday 22nd Week Ordinary Time

Lk 4:31-37     Read this Scripture @usccb.org

The Two Commandments

There were plenty of people doing heinous, atrocious, evil things in Jesus’ day.

Murderers, robbers, torturers, corrupt leaders.

And there were plenty of people who had no regard for God or their fellow man.

People who knew that what they were doing was evil, but didn’t care.

Yet, in our recent Gospel readings,

It’s the Pharisees and the Scribes who provoke Jesus’ ire.

He uses scathing words in a long and passionate criticism against them.

He calls them hypocrites and blind guides.

He says they focus on the inconsequential things and neglect the important things.

And yet, the Pharisees were convinced that they were good people.

Look at young St Paul for example.

Before his conversion he was a strict Pharisee.

He had no doubt that he was doing the right thing—persecuting the followers of Jesus.

Cleansing the community from those evil, heretical influences.

He was certain that was what God wanted him to do.

The Pharisees are a good example of how far off track people can go without realizing it.

How lost and misguided people can become.

Individuals, small groups, whole communities.

Even when they’re sincerely trying to follow God’s will.

We humans clearly needed Jesus to come and set us on the right course.

But even his coming didn’t put a final end to the confusion and misguided behavior.

Still today, people commit terrible acts in the name of God.

And blindly believe that they’re serving Him and earning their reward in heaven.

Muslim extremists brutally slaughter thousands of innocent people in the name of Allah.

Throughout the world, religious sects go to war against each other.

Pro-Life extremists kill doctors who perform abortions.

In far less extreme ways, many people still believe their religion calls on them to hurt others.

In non-extreme ways, in our ordinary daily lives, we all sometimes lose sight of our true goals.

The Jews had developed over 600 detailed laws.

So, the Pharisees and Scribes might have claimed some confusion over priorities.

But Jesus wasn’t buying any excuses for their neglecting  judgment and mercy and fidelity.

They should have known those were the fundamental principles.

Jesus—and other Rabbi’s—had already boiled the law down to two simple Commandments.

Love God with all your heart, soul and mind; and love your neighbor as yourself.

In our busy complex lives it’s easy to get bogged down in routine and in tedious detail.

But we can learn from the Pharisees’ mistakes.

We can step back, frequently, and ask ourselves how we’re doing with the big stuff.

Make sure that we’re not neglecting the important things because of obsession with the minutia.

Luckily, God does not demand absolute perfection from us. 
But he does expect us to do our sincere best to follow those two Great Commandments.

Tuesday 21st Week Ordinary Time

Mt 23:23-26      Read this Scripture @usccb.org

Drawing the Line

A recent news story told of refugees fleeing from Syria and Afghanistan.

Trying to make their way by land to the coast of Turkey.

From some beaches there, it’s less than three miles across the Aegean Sea to a Greek island.

And if they can make that short boat trip, they’re in the relative safety of Europe.

It’s a much safer trip than crossing the Mediterranean where so many thousands are drowning

Drowning because of the greed of the smugglers who charge exorbitant fees.

And then cram far too many refugees on unseaworthy ships that sink or are abandoned at sea.

Greed is also adding to the danger of the short Aegean crossing.

To further boost their huge profits, smugglers squeeze 16 refugees into a small inflatable boat.

A boat designed to hold only eight.

So many sink and many drown.

Other entrepreneurs are charging top dollar, selling life jackets to the refugees.

But many refugees have given all their money to the smugglers and can’t afford the life jackets.

Or even food.

The laws of supply and demand are creating a tremendous seller’s market.

It’s a great opportunity for the smugglers, and even the life jacket sellers.

They can join the coveted ranks of the rich.

If we’re blessed with the wherewithal to take care of ourselves, we should do that.

But there’s a point where using our resources only for ourselves is no longer defensible.

Beyond that point, we’re ignoring our call to share our resources to help those in need.

And not just our money and property, but also our time and talent.

Clearly, those smugglers who overload their boats have gone far, far beyond the defensible.

Are those life jacket sellers also crossing the line?

Drawing that line, balancing our own needs against the needs of others, is difficult.

It’s difficult for the fabulously wealthy, the merely rich, the middle income,

All the way down to the poor themselves.

For us who have so much, how grand a lifestyle should we allow ourselves?

At what point do we say, my needs are covered, let me give the excess to those still in need.

If we’re trying to be prudent and provide for our uncertain future,

It’s truly hard to know when enough is enough.

Deciding where to draw our line may be hard, but it’s a task we really need to tackle.

If the uncertainties of this life make it harder to draw, then the certainties should make it easier.

And the one, big, absolute certainty ahead is death.

Today, Jesus warns of the danger of being rich, but assures us that we can move beyond death.

He says it’s impossible for us to save ourselves, but everything is possible for God.

And that those who share what they’re given in this life, will receive back a hundred-fold.

And, even more, they’ll inherit eternal life.

I think he’s trying to help us decide where to draw our line.

Tuesday 20th Week Ordinary Time

Mt 19:23-30      Read this Scripture @usccb.org

Fundamentals

My daughter is in her last year of getting her degree to become a Nutritionist.

She does a lot of the cooking at home and she’s trying to reform my diet.

She says I eat too many snacks and sweets and junk.

And not enough fresh vegetables.

She makes icy smoothies in the blender, and they’re pretty good.

But I eventually get tired of the taste of all the kale she puts in them.

She tries to impress me with the biology and chemistry and science.

They show the impacts of different foods on our bodies.

Impacts at the basic cellular level.

Impacts on all the body systems including the brain.

They affect our health, our energy, our moods.

Even our intelligence and thinking.

They confirm the old slogan—You are what you eat.

Some studies say that most Americans eat too much.

And too much of the wrong stuff.

Including too much meat.

Sometimes I’m almost tempted to try vegetarianism.

When I see the videos of the little calves and pigs and chickens playing.

Even more when I see the abuses and health violations in the meat industry.

On top of all that we’re told that the meat industry pollutes the environment.

And that raising cattle misuses enormous quantities of water and land.

That’s when it’s almost enough to make me consider vegetarianism. 

But I tell myself there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with eating meat.

Jesus himself ate meat.

The Bible doesn’t give us many detailed descriptions of his meals.

But we know he joined in the Passover meals and that they included lamb.

We know he fed fish to the multitudes.

And ate fish himself to show that his glorified body was not a ghost.

The Jews had a lot of laws concerning food and eating.

And meat was part of their regular diet.

They didn’t have nice prepackaged meats like we have.

They had to take a hands-on role in slaughtering their animals.

They weren’t as squeamish as most of us would be.

With the killing and the blood and the butchering.

But they were shocked and appalled with what Jesus said in today’s Gospel.

The bread that I will give you is my flesh.

You must eat my flesh and drink my blood.

My flesh is true food and my blood is true drink.

Many of his disciples left him.

This disgusting, crazy talk was too much to bear.

But others stayed with him.

They didn’t fully understand what he was saying, but they trusted him.

They had faith in him.

Most of us have grown up with this idea of eating the body and blood of Jesus.

And we’re comfortable knowing it appears to be just bread and wine.

So, it doesn't strike us as so weird.

But doesn't it seem outrageous when we stop to think about it

Eat my body and drink my blood

With that invitation, how many of us would get in line for Communion.

If we didn’t know we’d receive what looks and tastes like bread and wine.

But it’s not just bread and wine.

It’s bread and wine that has maintained its appearance.

But bread and wine that has been changed in substance.

Our God who created all things from nothing can also change things at will.

This miraculous food is available to us every day.

In years past, it was viewed as a rare opportunity—maybe once a year.

But Pope Pius X, in 1905, encouraged frequent, even daily, Communion.

And Pope Francis has assured us that Communion is not a prize for the perfect

but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak.

At every Mass we join ourselves in the offering and in the sacrifice.

We bring forward our gifts of bread and wine and the priest prays:

Blessed are you Lord, God of all creation.

Through your goodness we have this bread to offer.

Which earth has given and human hands have made.

It will become for us the Bread of Life.

We add a few drops of water to the wine, saying:

By the mystery of this water and wine may we come to share

in the divinity of Christ, who humbled himself to share in our humanity.

And the priest prays:

Blessed are you Lord God of all creation.

Through your goodness we have this wine to offer.

Fruit of the vine and work of human hands.

It will become our spiritual drink.

And finally, the priest says the words of consecration, such as:

Make holy, therefore, these gifts, we pray,

by sending down your Spirit upon them like the dewfall,

so that they may become for us the Body and Blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

With the consecration, the bread and wine cease to be merely bread and wine.

They have become the bread from Heaven that gives us eternal life.

They have become the true food that can transform us at the most basic levels.

Because we are what we eat.

20th Sunday Ordinary Time
Jn 6:51-58      Read this Scripture @usccb.org

Gift Exchange

Favorino Sciffi's daughter, Clare, is definitely in Heaven.

The Catholic Church confirms that.

She was born in Assisi in 1194, and died 59 years later on this date, August 11, in 1253.

She was canonized a saint just three years after that—St Clare of Assisi.

She heard the preaching of her fellow townsman, St Francis, and was profoundly inspired.

At the age of 18, she ran off to become a Benedictine nun.

She eventually founded her own order, which later came to be called the Poor Clares.

Poor, because they took a vow of total poverty.

Not just the individual members—the community itself could own nothing.

Clare lived a life of poverty, service to others, and prayer.

Her dedication and holiness won the admiration of popes, countrymen, and St Francis himself.

She was an inspiration to all who knew her or knew of her.

No wonder the Church can be confident that she's in Heaven.

But how great a rank does she hold in Heaven?

That's the kind of question that was troubling the disciples in today's Gospel passage.

Who's the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?

Of course they knew God would be the greatest.

But I guess they figured they could edge each other out for the top human spot.

Rank and position in Heaven seems to me to be an all too worldly-human concern.

I just hope to get through the gate.

But even our Church seems to encourage the idea of heavenly rank.

We have greater and lesser commemorations for different saints.

St Lawrence, yesterday, rated a feast.

St Clare, today, rates an obligatory memorial.

And St Jane Frances de Chantal, tomorrow, rates only an optional memorial.

Maybe that classifying isn't meant to reflect rank in Heaven.

But rank in some worldly value, like greater likelihood to inspire us to action.

Some of Jesus's own words can be viewed as implying Heavenly rank.

He said the first shall be last and the last shall be first.

He said that places had been prepared for those who would sit at his right and at his left.

Maybe he was just using worldly images that we can grasp.

Or maybe there really is a ranking.

We do acknowledge Mary as Queen of Heaven.

But how far does the ranking go?

How many levels or spheres or rings does Heaven have?

Everyone in Heaven is completely happy, filled to capacity with joy.

Yet, it seems to make sense that those who serve better in this life deserve a greater reward.

Maybe those who serve better in this life build up a greater capacity for heavenly joy.

No one really knows how all this is structured.

We just know that Heaven is more wonderful than we can ever imagine.

And we know that we can never do enough to earn our way into Heaven.

Heaven is pure, total gift from our loving, merciful God.

And it's a gift that he wants every one of us to enjoy.

Like that found sheep in today's Gospel.

God doesn't want even one of us to miss out on receiving His gift.

So in this life, the big question for each one of us is:

What shall I give Him in return?

Tuesday 19th Week Ordinary Time

Mt 18:1-14      Read this Scripture @usccb.org