Imagine

Take a guess.

In World War II, what percent of soldiers in battle actually aimed and fired at an enemy soldier?

According to an interview I once read, it was an astoundingly low number—20%!

If that’s accurate, 80% of the soldiers couldn’t bring themselves to shoot another human being.

Even while under fire in battle.

That shows that the vast majority of people are naturally non-violent.

And it takes a lot of intense conditioning to make them killers.

The interview was with a peace activist named Paul Chappell.

He seemed different from many other peace activists.

First of all, his background is different.

He’s a West Point graduate, and spent two years serving in Iraq as an Army Captain.

Besides that, he had thoughtful answers, rather than mere criticisms.

He quotes Gandhi and Martin Luther King.

But he also quotes Generals Eisenhower, McArthur, Bradley and McCrystal.

A striking aspect of his answers was his clear optimism that mankind is moving away from war.

He believes that people who support war and even those who promote war,

Can be convinced to change their position.

And people who oppose war, but do nothing about it, can be moved to action.

And all that can be achieved through discussion of the facts.

He believes in the basic goodness of human beings.

And in the power of Truth.

Violence is the extreme antithesis of the action we’re called to in today’s readings.

Abram sets an excellent example in our passage from Exodus.

Strain is growing in the relationship between him and his nephew, Lot.

Or at least among their people.

So, Abram comes up with a generous solution to avoid conflict—divide the land.

And he gives Lot first choice in selecting which area to take.

Our Psalm proclaims:

He who does justice will live in the presence of the Lord.
The psalm offers some examples of a just person, and one is the person:

Who harms not his fellow man.

Those messages of Exodus and the Psalm fit well with the message of the Gospel.

Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.

A corollary to what Jesus presented as the second great commandment.

Love your neighbor as yourself.

When things are looking pretty grim,

Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria.

It’s encouraging to hear from the optimists,

Who believe we’re making real progress.

Imagine what our world would be like if everyone did follow that great commandment.

We would have—almost—heaven on earth.

And that’s precisely what Jesus is working with us to bring about.

He’s asking us to spread the word.

To set the example.

To draw more people to that narrow gate.

To finish his work of building the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth.

Tuesday of the 12th Week in Ordinary Time

Mt 7:6,12-14                                 Read this Scripture @usccb.org 

Deep and Durable

Last month we celebrated Mother’s Day.

And today we celebrate Father’s Day.

So, happy Father’s Day to those who are fathers.

With St Joseph as our patron we have a special place in our hearts for all kinds of fathers.
Foster fathers, step fathers, spiritual fathers, grandfathers--all who serve in the fatherly role.

Of course, many of us are not parents.

But we’ve all been children.

And we all have parents to visit or call or remember on these days.

Our parents may rank as great, or just so-so, or as not very good at all.

But with the benefit of maturity and hindsight, 

We might see that we didn’t always make their job easier.

So, if our own parents rank less than perfect, or even far from perfect, 

We can cut them some slack.

Those of us who are parents get a little advantage in seeing how hard a job it can be.

We get to experience the joys and the pains of the parent-child relationship from both sides.

If we’re grandparents we get yet another perspective.

We see our children dealing with raising our grandchildren.

And we can take satisfaction in watching them all grow through that process.

We might even contribute our sage advice—if asked.

It’s hard for parents to know when to be unyieldingly strict and when to give in.

When to step in and when to hold back.

When to be protective and when to encourage independence.

Some parents keep a tight reign on their kids—some too tight.

Some parents let their kids run wild; let them get away with murder.

How can we figure out this parent-child relationship—from either side?

God help us.

Indeed, God does help us.

He gives us an example we can follow; a model we can examine.

As Jesus once said: Call no one on earth your father; you have but one Father, in heaven.

God made us, God provides for us, God is in charge, God is truly our ultimate parent.

We can learn by looking at His relationship with His children.

What we see there can help us better understand our human relationships.

In turn, what we see in our human relationships helps us appreciate our relationship with God.

King David was one of God’s kids.

It seems that he was one of those kids who was given everything.

One of those kids who was allowed to get away with murder.

David had everything.

But he wanted more.

He wanted Bathsheba.

But she was already married to Uriah.

So he had Uriah killed.

And today we hear Nathan the prophet speaking for God and admonishing David.

But the bottom line, after the admonishment, is: You’re forgiven.

Another one of God’s kids is that woman we meet in today’s Gospel.

She didn’t literally get away with murder.

But she did get away with acts that made her notorious throughout the city as a sinful woman. 

The Pharisee knew of her reputation; Jesus knew her guilt.

And yet the bottom line from Jesus was:

Your sins are forgiven.

So what’s the lesson here?

What can we apply to our relationships with our children and our parents?

What can we apply to our understanding of our parent-child relationship with God?

God’s total forgiveness of the notoriously sinful woman was very generous, 
But not too surprising.

His total forgiveness of David was a bit more surprising.

David was guilty of one of the most serious sins imaginable.

The premeditated, wanton, unnecessary murder of a loyal, innocent servant.

Did God really let David just get away with that?

In the most important sense, yes, he did.

David’s act did not cost him his own eternal life, God forgave his sin.

But God did not shield David from the natural consequences of his sin.
From the evil and violence his murderous act brought into the world.

He still had to suffer those consequences in this life.

As God said through Nathan:

The sword shall never depart from your house.

And indeed, David and his house did suffer greatly.

His first son with Bathsheba died a few days after birth.

His son Amnon raped his sister Tamar.

His son, Absalom, later killed his brother Amnon.

And years later, Absalom led a revolt that sought to kill David.

Yet, when Absalom was finally killed by David’s men, David mourned inconsolably.

How could a parent be so loving and forgiving and committed to a child like Absalom?

It’s just one example,
Of the extreme depth and durability of human parental love and forgiveness.

An example that helps us understand how God can love His children so much.
So much that He's willing to forgive everything.

All four of our scripture readings today focus on forgiveness.

The Good News message is that there is no sin so great that God won’t forgive us.

He’s our Father, and His divine love and forgiveness for each of us is unbounded.

There’s also a corollary to that message.

And a way for us to show God our gratitude and love for Him.

We may not be able to match God’s divine love and forgiveness.

But we know there’s also a great human capacity for love and forgiveness.

We’ve seen it, and hopefully experienced it, in human parent-child relationships.

And now we’re called to extend that love and forgiveness to all of God’s children.
Just as He does.

To all of our brothers and sisters.

On this Father’s Day, let’s give special thought and commitment

To the prayer we’ll be saying together in a few minutes.

Our Father who art in Heaven …

Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.

11th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Mt 7:36-50                                    Read this Scripture @usccb.org  

A Thousand Points of Light

A few decades ago, President George Bush, Sr. popularized the image of

a Thousand Points of Light.

That was his call to Americans to keep up their good works of service and volunteerism.

He recognized that it was not a new image; he said it was old.

Old but not stale—timeless.

That image is a distant reflection of the image Jesus raised two thousand years earlier.

You are the light of the world.

Your light must shine before others,

That they may see your good deeds,

And glorify your heavenly father.

Those are the words he spoke to his disciples as he sent them out into the world.

Out like the prophets of old.

Out to spread the Good News.

Words like those were probably repeated to St Barnabas, whose feast we celebrate today.

As he was sent out on his missionary journeys.

Now those words are repeated to us.

We’re told that we too should go and spread the word.

When we were baptized we were anointed for that mission.

Anointed as priest, prophet and king.

And we were given grace to help us fill those roles.

Now, Jesus sends us out to be that light of the world.

We should be aware that there are people who are watching.

And that our example can actually draw them closer to God.

We shouldn’t become overly self-conscious about it.

And we shouldn’t let it stress us out.

We should just continue to try to be ourselves.

But also work to become the best selves we can be.

Frequently attending Mass is one way to go about that improvement.

But fewer than 4% of U.S. Catholics go to Mass more that once a week.

Only 30% go once a week.

Those of us who attend frequently are blessed to have the opportunity and the motivation.

Of course, just being at Mass doesn’t necessarily make us better people.

But it does show that we’re working at it.

The word Mass comes from the Latin missa—to send.

And we’re sent from each Mass with a reminder of our true mission in life:

Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life.

What do people see when they look at us closely?

If they see a good example, good acts, good deeds—

Then we are “in-deed” being what Jesus calls us to be.

Thousands of thousands points of light.

The light of the world.

Tuesday of 10th Week in Ordinary Time

Mt 5:13-16                                    Read this Scripture @usccb.org  

Easy Paymet Plan

Should we pay, or should we not pay?

They were sure they had Jesus trapped with their clever question.
If he says pay the tax, he’ll lose the support of many followers.

If he says don’t pay, he’ll be subject to punishment, maybe death, from the Romans.

But Jesus had the perfect answer to silence those who were trying to ensnare him.

Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.

What do we have that belongs to Caesar?

Jesus says that which is stamped with the image of Caesar belongs to Caesar.

That coin.

Look at our coins and bills today.

Still stamped and imprinted with the image of our worldly leaders.

Those coins and bills and all the material things they can buy are part of this world.

And this world only.

What do we have that belongs to God?

Jesus showed us the test to use.

That which is stamped and impressed with the image of God belongs to God.

And what is that?

We might say all of nature or all of creation.

But we each have one unique, special piece of creation.

One thing that is specifically made in the image and likeness of God.

Something that's part of this world and the other world.

… Ourselves.

So that's what we need to repay to God, give back to God.

Ourselves.

That's the task of our lifetime.

The purpose of our lifetime.

But how can we give ourselves back to God?

That's the question of our lifetime.

Our old Baltimore Catechism gives a simple, plain answer—service.

God made us to know, love and serve Him in this world.

And to be happy with him forever in Heaven.

So how can we serve Him?

We can't all just kneel around praying all day.

There are time consuming real-world activities that we need to attend to.

Finding food and shelter, for example.

For many of us, that can be a full time job.

On another occasion, Jesus gave us the perfect answer on how we can serve God.

We serve God by following His commandments; by doing His will.

And Jesus boiled all the rules down to the Two Great Commandments.

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

Jesus' answer is perfect in its simplicity.

Commandments that are easy to remember and to understand.

Even if not always easy to follow.

Our own will might get in the way.

Or the best path may sometimes be unclear.

But whatever the circumstances,

The perfect answer for us will always be to go back to those two Great Commandments.

And make our best sincere effort to follow them.

Every time we do, we're repaying to God what belongs to God.

Tuesday of 9th Week in Ordinary Time

Mk 12:13-17                                    Read this Scripture @usccb.org  

Gratification

It's often said that, today, patience is a lost virtue.

Everyone wants immediate gratification.

Surely that's an overstatement, but there's some truth to it.

We have fast food, movies on demand, instant communication and even speed dating.

We live in a highly material, consumer oriented culture.

When we see something we want—we get it then and there.

Rapid advances in science and technology make the possibilities seem limitless.

We come to expect quick satisfaction in broader areas of our lives.

We're annoyed that security delays can make a trip across the country take seven hours.

We're tired of waiting for the economy to improve.

We can't believe it's taking this long to perfect an artificial heart and a cure for cancer.

We really do have great expectations, and great eagerness in many areas of life.

And that's not necessarily a bad thing.

So long as we avoid greed and a presumption of entitlement.

And maintain our ability to step back and take a realistic look.

There are other areas where we fully expect to wait for gratification.

And maybe wait for a very long time.

Many expect to wait a long time to be rewarded for obedience, sacrifice and service.

So often, when we hear of the importance of doing the right thing,

There's an emphasis on rewards in the next life.

But, as we hear in today's Scripture, this is not an area where we have to wait.

We actually can get immediate, and lasting, gratification.

The passage from Sirach describes what it means to do the right thing—to be upright.

Keep the Commandments, they promote peace.

Perform acts of charity.

Avoid acts of evil and injustice.

Give generously and cheerfully.

We're told that these acts will never be forgotten.

And that we'll be repaid many times over.

Hasn't this been confirmed for us in our own first-hand experience?

We've felt the immediate joy that proves it truly is better to give than to receive.

We've felt the immediate satisfaction of helping someone in need.

We've seen that the Commandments are not mere tests for entry into the next life.

But solid guidance for happiness and peace in this life.

In our Gospel, Jesus makes the reward for the upright, and its timing, even more explicit.

We will receive a hundred times more, now, in this present age.

And eternal life in the age to come.

With the right attitude and priorities we can have it all.

Immediate gratification and ultimate, eternal gratification.

Tuesday of 8th Week in Ordinary Time

Mk 10:28-31                                    Read this Scripture @usccb.org   

Graduation

This is graduation season.

And this past Sunday I attended my grandson's graduation in Worcester, Massachusetts.

He was graduating from a Catholic high school, so the program included Sunday Mass.

And it was Pentecost Sunday.

The day the Spirit descended on Jesus' disciples

and gave them the power and the courage and the ability to spread the Good News.

The priest gave the homily and the headmaster gave an address after the Mass.

Both noted how appropriate it was to have a graduation ceremony, a commencement,

on the Feast of Pentecost.

The headmaster said the school had helped these students prepare.

They'd spent four years getting ready to go out into the world.

Four years of growing in knowledge and character and confidence.

And in the Spirit.

The headmaster urged them to carry the Good News with them wherever they go.

We all know the quote from St Francis of Assisi:

Preach always, and if necessary use words.

And the old saying: Actions speak louder than words.

The priest, in his homily, added a new dimension to that—at least new for me.

He noted the disciples speaking in tongues on Pentecost.

They were understood by all the visitors in Jerusalem despite their different languages.

The priest urged the new graduates to use all their languages to spread the Good News.

And he listed some specific examples.

Actions and accomplishments that are metaphorically “languages”.

The language of service, the language of friendship.

The language of science, the language of sports.

We interact and communicate in so many ways.

And we can convey our message in any of those languages.

Today's Scripture readings tell us to serve the Lord.

To commit our lives to the Lord.

To trust God.

To reach out to the child—the uninformed, the weak and the powerless.

That's our purpose in being.

That's what God created us to do.

Growth in the Spirit is a life-long process.

Every year is another year of preparation for us.

And this time, this graduation season, is a good time to give ourselves a little exam.

A time to see if we're ready to commence service at a new graduated level.

Tuesday of 7th Week in Ordinary Time

Mk 9:30-37                                    Read this Scripture @usccb.org   

Pick Your Friends

My mother has some old sayings.

And I know where she got them

Directly from Gramma Curtis; her grandmother, my great-grandmother.

Gramma Curtis died a long time ago, when I was about seven years old.

She was full of sound old rural Kentucky folk wisdom.

She probably picked up her sayings back in the post-Civil War days.

But I’m sure they were already wise old sayings when she first heard them.

Probably passed down from her parents and their parents before that.

One that I heard a few times was:

Pick your friends, don’t let them pick you.

I’m not exactly sure what that means.

If everyone followed that literally and strictly, people could never become friends.

Whenever one person made the first move, the other would have to decline.

So the old saying can’t mean that.

The best I can make of it is:

Be careful that you don’t join up with the wrong person or the wrong crowd.

Think about who you should be friends with, and how they influence the way you live your life.

Either person can make the first move.

But there’s no friendship until you have mutual commitment from both.

In our Scripture readings today, people are being picked.

Peter and the other remaining apostles are looking to fill Judas’ slot.

They have two good men to choose between, but only one slot available.

It’s a pretty prestigious group to join; at least from our perspective today.

But at the time, Matthias’ mother might have warned him that they were a pretty shaky crowd.

In the end, they did pick Matthias, and he let them choose him.

Actually, they asked God to do the picking.

They prayed for guidance and prayed that God would show them the best choice.

And then they decided by drawing lots.

So, in a real sense, God chose Matthias.

Pretty impressive—chosen by God.

Impressive; but not unusual.

In our Gospel, Jesus says to each of us:

I have called you friends.

It was not you who chose me but I who chose you.

It wouldn’t surprise me if that’s the root of the old saying Gramma Curtis passed along.

Jesus, Son of God, King of the Universe—God Himself—has chosen us to be his friends.

Even more than that; he first chose to create us; brought our spirits into being from nothingness.

And now he’s calling us his friends.

He’s made his picks; he’s made the first couple moves.

There’s no question that this is a good friendship for us.

He’s always going to be a good influence on us.

He’ll always encourage us and draw out the best in us.

All he’s looking for now is for us to make that wise choice.
To make that mutual commitment to the friendship.

Tuesday of 7th Week of Easter

Jn 15:9-17                                    Read this Scripture @usccb.org   

Inside Job

Our liturgy is building up toward Pentecost—the coming of the Holy Spirit.

Today’s Gospel passage tunes into a scene two thousand years ago.

The Spirit hasn’t come yet.

Jesus is about to ascend into heaven.

And he’s reassuring his disciples that his departure is a good thing.

They should be happy that he's leaving.

Because he'll then send the Advocate, the Spirit, to take his place.

That’s old news for us today.

But those frightened disciples need reassurance.

They feel they're being abandoned, they don’t know what to expect.

So Jesus tells them what will happen.

He gives an explanation that is both a job description,

And a foretelling of the Holy Spirit’s ultimate accomplishments.

When he comes he will convict the world
in regard to sin and righteousness and condemnation:
sin, because they do not believe in me;
righteousness, because I am going to the Father …
condemnation, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.

There’s some debate about the best translation of that word convict.

Different bible translations use different words: convict, convince, expose and prove.

But all those words convey the idea that the Spirit would enlighten people.

Give them new understanding of Jesus’ life and death.

New understanding of God and the world.

It’s easy for us to take Christianity for granted.

But two thousand years ago, only a relative handful of people had ever heard of Jesus.

Among those who had, most didn’t believe that he was the Messiah.

They held no strong conviction that his execution was a result of their sin.

They weren’t convinced that he was righteous and returning to the Father.

Or even that he had come from the Father.

They hadn’t yet made the connection between his resurrection

And the overthrow of the ruler of this world.

The news that Satan had been defeated, condemned, had not yet been exposed.

All that convicting, convincing, exposing and proving was to be a major job for years to come.

Certainly too much for the disciples on their own.

Even a lot for Jesus himself—in his human nature, limited by time and place.

This was a job for the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of God.

The Spirit could be everywhere at once, with no limitations.

Other than refused acceptance.

Unlike the physical Jesus, the Spirit could actually dwell within each old and new disciple.

And inform them from within.

Over these past two thousand years, the Spirit has clearly been hard at work.

Today, most of the world’s seven billion people have at least heard of Jesus.

And a third of the world’s people identify themselves as his followers.

That’s a lot of people, a lot of growth—but also a lot of years.

Is that reasonably good progress toward building the Kingdom of Heaven on earth? 

Who knows the answer to that?

Could each of us do more to cooperate with the Spirit within us?

Who doesn’t know the answer to that?

Tuesday of 6th Week of Easter

Jn 16:5-11                                    Read this Scripture @usccb.org   

Peace

A number of years ago they added a new feature to our email system at work.

You could specify some standard text.

And the system would automatically add that text at the end of each message.

We all take that for granted now, but it was new back then.

So we all added our name, phone number, maybe our address.

To save even a few more keystrokes we could also include a standard complimentary close.

(If formal letter writing wasn’t part of your elementary school curriculum,

The complimentary close is that message, those few closing words, we put before our name.

Like: Sincerely, or Yours Truly.)

We all tried to find a standard close that would be appropriate for most all messages.

Messages to bosses and staff, friends, colleagues and strangers.

Messages of good news and bad, agreement and disagreement.

I started using Peace.

Over the years, I got quite a few responses that closed with words like:

Yeah Man, Peace!  Or a more sedate Peace to You Too.

Only a few people ever asked what I really meant by closing my message that way.

But if they asked, I told them.

In our Gospel today, Jesus gives his Last Supper farewell.

And he says: Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.
Not as the world gives do I give it to you.

He indicates that he’s giving not just any peace, but a special peace.

Something more than just a temporary worldly peace—His peace.

What’s special about his peace?

It’s not just an absence of war or conflict.

It’s not a fragile condition that will last only temporarily.

It’s a comfort that grows from a deep-seated, abiding, confidence and trust in God.

It’s a knowledge that even when all is not well in this world,

We can count on God to make it well in the end.

Jesus left that peace to his disciples—to us.

How can we claim it?

St Paul gives us some guidance in his letter to the Phillipians.
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything.

Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.

If you do this, you will experience God’s peace,

which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand.

His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus (Phil 4:6-7 (NLT)).

Paul makes it sound pretty simple.

But we know that kind of peace can be elusive; for many of us, it comes and goes.

Some people may never experience that peace in this life.

But that’s the peace we hear about here at Mass.

The peace we offer each other after the Lord’s Prayer.

The peace we might wish for all our email recipients.

And not only for them.

But for ourselves.

And for everyone.

Tuesday of 5th Week of Easter

Jn 14:27-31                                    Read this Scripture @usccb.org   

In His Hands

Little Laurie London had a hit record in 1958.

It went to #1 on the national charts.

I remember it clearly.

And I can remember being impressed that he was just a few years older than I was.

I remember that he had a very distinctive voice.

But it never occurred to me what I found so unique about it.

Actually, I didn’t remember his name.

It’s been over 50 years!

But I googled the song and found that he was Laurie London.

And that he was actually from London.

Maybe that's what I found so distinctive about his voice; a British accent.

As a 10-year old growing up in Kentucky, I guess I wasn’t very cosmopolitan.

As we hear in today’s Gospel,

Jesus too has a distinctive voice.

And as members of his flock we're able to recognize that voice.

But now it’s a silent voice, an internal voice.

What we recognize is not the sound of his voice

But the deep internal source and the message of his voice.

And following that message keeps us in the protective grip of his hand.

As Jesus said, No one can take them out of my hand.

That voice, the voice of the Good Shepherd, guides us.

And calls us back to the right path if we should stray.

Like those early disciples in our reading from the Acts of the Apostles.

There’s good news and bad news in that opening line.

Those who had been scattered by the persecution …

[Traveled far] preaching the word.

They didn’t have the courage to face the persecution.

They fled, they were scattered.

They were weak.

Yet God brought good out of that weakness.

Like the seed scattered by the sower,

The scattered disciples bore fruit.

They preached the word far and wide, and turned a great number to the Lord.

As the passage says,

The hand of the Lord was with them.

Despite the fact that they fled, they didn’t go too far astray.

They were guided by his voice and protected by his hand.

Today, we continue to be guided by his voice.

That distinctive voice that speaks to us from where he dwells—deep within.

And we continue to be protected by his hand.

Just as Little Laurie London’s big hit record assured us ...

He’s Got the Whole World In His Hands.

Hear Laurie London  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bbYFgf_pQc

Tuesday of 4th Week of Easter

Jn 10:22-30                                    Read this Scripture @usccb.org   

Be That Voice

Noise

Friday I walked over to the Union Station food court for lunch.

It’s school-trip season, so there were bus loads of junior high kids—thousands.

The noise level was intense.

An unbroken, chaotic, high-decibel din.

A sea of sound—no street noise, no equipment or machinery noise; just voices.

It was nearly impossible to hear any one voice.

The guy at Burger King was shouting out numbers as orders were ready for pickup.

The crowd of customers waiting for their food could hardly hear him.

After spending a half-hour or so there, it was good to get out.

Walking along the outside arcade, heading back to my office,

I passed a steady stream of people heading toward the station.

And I noticed that more than half of them had wires dangling from their ears.

There was a lot of private hearing going on.

But I wonder if there was much real listening.

Or whether there was even much worth listening to.

Back at my office I kept checking the Internet to see what was happening in Boston.

Earlier, I had heard about the situation in Watertown on Mt Auburn Street.

I used to live just off Mt Auburn and have a friend who lives there now.

I wanted to find out just where the commotion was, and hoped it wasn’t too near her house.

(It turned out to be a half mile further up the street.)

There was a lot of chatter from Boston on the Internet TV news sites.

Reporters and commentators filling the time with repetition and speculation.

An occasional new fact, but mostly a lot of noise.

When I got home, I spent the whole evening listening to that noise.

Such is life today in America, and in much of the world.

We’re bombarded with noise.

So accustomed to constant noise that when it's absent we seek it out.

When faced with the threat of quiet, many of us stuff mind-numbing speakers into our ears.

Music is good.

Books on tape are good.

But so is observing and thinking.

And being fully present and conscious of our current time and place.

Yes, we can multi-task.

And a little personalized background theme music might add flavor to our daily activities.

But in moderation; in balance.

We miss a big part of life when we let our ear buds block it out.

Despite all the artificial noise, we can still manage to hear.

And even to listen.

But with environmental and self-inflicted noise at such high volumes in quantity and decibels,

It becomes harder to focus on what’s important in what we hear.

The noise can actually drown out our hearing, or at least distract our listening.

Jesus says today, in the Gospel:

My sheep hear my voice.

When Jesus came to the temple area in Jerusalem, it was probably a noisy place too.

Especially at the feast times, when people would flock there from the countryside.

When the markets would be crowded and busy.

But in those days there was a lot more quiet time.

More quiet places and more time to spend in them.

It was easier to escape the chatter.

And there was less opportunity and less temptation to tap into the noise channels.

But Jesus was talking to all of us.

Those of us living today as well as those two thousand years before the iPod.

And still today, if we make it a priority, we can find the quiet and the time.

Voice has a number of meanings.

It can refer to the physical sound that comes from a person’s throat and mouth.

Or to expression in words by means other than speaking, such as writing.

Or voice can refer to a point of view or to actions.

The dictionary even includes voice as an utterance of a guiding spirit.

And indeed, still today, the Spirit—the Trinity—dwells within us and speaks within us.

We still hear his voice from within, and we still know who’s speaking to us.

We hear his voice when we listen in prayer.

We hear his voice perhaps most audibly when we come to Mass.

His words spoken in a physical voice; his point of view expressed.

We hear his voice when we read the Scriptures.

We hear his voice in daily life.

When we receive advice or comfort or guidance.

We hear his voice in the song and laughter and even in the sorrow around us.

We hear his voice in nature.

His voice fills the world.

With practice we might even hear his voice in the noise itself.

But, we owe it to ourselves to make that quiet time.

To give ourselves a chance to absorb and understand what we've heard.

To really appreciate what we've heard.

Perhaps to hear his voice more clearly.

We'll know when we've been hearing well enough and listening well enough.

We'll know when we've become true disciples—faithful members of his flock.

That will be when we can not only clearly hear his voice, but faithfully be his voice.

4th Sunday of Easter

Jn 10:27-30                                    Read this Scripture @usccb.org   

Show Me

I’m from Missouri.

Not really, I’m from Kentucky (and Connecticut and Massachusetts and Virginia and DC.)

But I share a human trait that those folks from Missouri are proud to claim.

Their state is known as the “Show Me” state.

They’re realistic, practical, skeptical folks.

They’re not going to be easily taken in by some scam or ruse.

This past Sunday we had our parish Confirmations.

Bishop Gonzalez confirmed eight young teenagers.

Young, but mature enough to make their own informed commitment to their faith.

I held the Sacred Chrism for the bishop as they knelt, one by one, at his chair.

It was my privilege to be right there, nearly touching them.

To see their faces and feel the power as the bishop called the Holy Spirit down on them.

They wore ribbons with their Confirmation names.

Joan of Arc, Elizabeth, Michael, and others.

Years ago, when I was confirmed, I chose the name Thomas.

Partly because I just liked the name.

But also because I admired, and felt an affinity with, two great saints with that name.

More admiration for St Thomas Aquinas—who seemed to have everything figured out.

More affinity with St Thomas the Apostle.

The doubter and skeptic—but ultimately a convinced skeptic.

So, I can’t feel too critical of the crowd in today’s Gospel.

They say they need a sign before they can believe in Jesus.

But he had already performed many signs or miracles.

And this crowd had heard about them.

Just a day earlier, many in this crowd had been with Jesus across the Sea of Galilee.

They were among the 5,000 people he’d fed with only five loaves and two fish.

They also knew he didn’t have a boat, but here he was now, somehow across the sea.

How many signs should it take to convince a skeptic?

Is this guy a magician or the real thing?

But wouldn't we all be skeptical?

Jesus is making the most outlandish, radical claims imaginable.

Is there any more questionable, earth-shaking claim that could be made?

He’s claiming to be God.

The creator of all things—our creator.

The master of the universe.

The one who holds our eternal fate in his hands.

But, here he is; standing right in front of us.

Seemingly just a man, like us.

And yet, his story adds up, it makes sense.

A story of love and forgiveness and redemption and eternal life.

A story that’s believable, but for some, too good to be true.

We have the faith to accept that story—we've embraced it.

What responsibility do we have regarding those who are too stuck in Missouri?

3^rd Tuesday of Easter

Jn 6:30-35                                    Read this Scripture @usccb.org   

Nick at Nite

Nicodemus is a ruler of the Jews, a highly influential member of the Sanhedrin.

The very group of leaders who are looking for a way to have Jesus killed.

And yet he comes seeking Jesus, at night, hoping to learn from him.

He says he knows that Jesus is from God and has God with him.

The signs have convinced him of that.

He's not ready to take the risk of being seen with Jesus.

But he's hungry for greater understanding.

Jesus tells him that to see the kingdom of God he must be born from above.

Born of water and the Spirit.

Nicodemus takes that most literally, and says that once born, one cannot be born again.

And then Jesus goes into the somewhat critical response we hear in today’s Gospel verses.

Nicodemus may deserve credit for coining that now-popular Christian description
—Born again.

He may also have been one of the first Christian theologians.

Theology has been defined as faith seeking understanding.

That seems to describe precisely what Nicodemus was doing that night.

He already had faith—at least some faith; he believed that Jesus was from God.

But he wanted to learn more.

He was driven to seek a greater understanding.

All of us who have been baptized have already been born again
—born of water and the Spirit.

For most of us, that was quite some time ago.

And we probably had little or nothing to say about it.

But then most of us have also made our Confirmation.

And that did involve some studying and demonstration of some understanding and desire.

Beyond that, we've racked-up many years of life experiences.

We've had joys and sorrows, ups and downs.

We've been hot and cold in our faith and our service.

We've also experienced some moments of conversion and insight and understanding.

And hopefully there are more of those to come.

We have the gift of faith.

Faith is not belief based on concrete incontrovertible proof; it is not knowledge.

Faith is belief based on testimony; the testimony of Scripture and Tradition.

Belief based upon evidence and logic: the test of time;

The examples of our companions and of the hundreds of millions who have gone before us;

The teachings of the great scholars;

The voice of our own reason and the voice of the Spirit within us.

We have at least the seed of faith, and we're called to nurture it.

We're all called to be lifelong theologians; seeking out Jesus like Nicodemus. did

Asking the hard questions, listening for answers that help us grow in understanding.

The reward for our effort is increased faith.

Which brings with it a greater sense of peace and serenity.

Peace be with you is the repeated greeting we hear from Jesus throughout this Easter season. 
Faith in our benevolent God gives us great comfort in the most trying times of this life.  
It assures us that there is something far better yet to come—for ourselves and for our loved ones.  

Tuesday, 2nd Week of Easter

Jn 3:7b-15                                 Read this Scripture @usccb.org 
 Jn 3:1-7a                                 Read this Scripture @usccb.org  

Only Want to Know

Why'd you choose such a backward time

And such a strange land?

If you'd come today

You could have reached the whole nation

But Israel in 4 BC had no mass communication.

—Tim Rice’s 1970 lyrics for Jesus Christ Superstar.

And communication technology has come even further since 1970.

If Jesus had waited until today to come, we’d all be able to see him and listen to him.

Follow him on eye-witness news, read his blog.

Attend one of his world-tour appearances.

Get his constant Facebook and Twitter messages on our smart phones.

Considering the claims he made, the authorities would be sure to get scientific proof of his death.

His tomb would be monitored with surveillance devices.

Probably round-the-clock live TV coverage.

His Resurrection would be almost indisputable.

So why did he come to backwater Judea 2,000 years ago?

I don't know—evidently God saw that as the opportune time in His plan.

People were just as intelligent and questioning and skeptical and clever as we are today.

Communications and travel were certainly much more limited than today.

But they were sufficient to record the Gospels and spread them throughout the world.

In the long history of mankind, Jesus was to be present in the flesh for only one brief period.

And as it turned out, it was not during our time.

To our great fortune, he came before our time rather than after.

So we have the benefit of knowing all about him and his teachings and his Good News.

If Jesus' Resurrection happened today, would the whole world be forever convinced?

Even with the TV coverage and the DVDs and YouTubes,

There would still be doubters and conspiracy theorists.

And not just a few cynical super-skeptics.

Like those who still disbelieve the moon landing videos and Obama's birth records.

But many, who've learned that we can no longer believe everything we see.

Thanks to Hollywood and Photoshop and all kinds of electronic wizardry.

We've learned to temper our trust and faith in visual evidence with a reasonable skepticism.

As it is, we don't have to deal with that high-tech evidence—we don't have any.

What we do have today is the testimony of those who were eye-witnesses.

Those who knew Jesus when he was here in the flesh.

Like Mary Magdalene and Peter and John and the other disciples who went to the tomb.

They were expecting to finish his burial, not to learn of his Resurrection.

But they, and many others, were transformed by seeing and speaking with the risen Christ.

They were convinced; they radically changed; they acted differently.

Peter went from fearfully denying that he even knew Jesus,

To boldly admonishing the crowds for crucifying their Lord and Christ.

We have the words of Sacred Scripture, recorded and passed down to us by those first disciples.

We have the attraction to the truth and wisdom and comfort of the message Jesus brought.

And most of all, we have the power to accept and nurture the gift of faith that is offered to us.

Tuesday, Octave of Easter

Jn 20:11-18                                 Read this Scripture @usccb.org