Quality Time with Daddy

Our Father ...  Abba, Daddy.

Why do we ever pray any prayer other than the Lord’s Prayer?

Jesus tells us – This is how you are to pray.

We’re not going to come up with a better prayer than he did.

We could learn hundreds of prayers by rote memorization,

And none would be better than the Lord’s Prayer.

Now that we’re a few days into Lent we’ve probably heard a number of times –

That Lent is a time for Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving (or good works.)

What kind of prayer should that be?

Jesus wasn’t teaching us that there should be only one prayer.

He was giving us an example of a sincere, straight forward prayer.

One that didn’t babble on at great length,

As though the number of words was more important than the meaning.

Jesus himself prayed many different prayers.

He recited the rote prayers that were part of Jewish custom and daily life.

We’re often told that Jesus went off to pray.

But we’re seldom told what he said.

We know that he prayed by talking to God, talking to and listening to his Father.

We do have some vivid examples.

For instance, we know at least some of his prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Father, if it is possible let this cup pass from me.

Yet not my will, but thy will be done.

And his special prayer for us:

[Father,] I pray not only for [these apostles],

But also for those who will believe in me through their word,

So that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you,

That they also may be in us ...

As we try to strengthen our prayer life during Lent,

All types of prayer are appropriate.

We can join in the prayers of the Mass, the Rosary, Stations, Divine Office and Benediction.

We can meditate, contemplate, sing, talk and listen.

We can offer praise, penance or petition.

But we should keep up whatever we feel is drawing us closer to God.

Because that’s the real goal of our prayer.

As Jesus told us, our Father already knows what we need before we ask Him.

So, what matters most is not the number of words, or even their eloquence.

What matters most is our intent.

And the fact that we want to spend some “quality time” talking to and listening to our Father.

1st Tuesday of Lent

Mt 6:7-15      Read this Scripture @usccb.org

Who Do You Trust?

A few weeks ago I got a call from my mortgage company.

They said they'd like to lower my interest rate by one-eighth of a point.

We'd have to go through the refinancing process.

But they'd pay all the closing costs.

It wouldn't cost me anything.

And it would save me about $15,000 over the life of the loan.

That's not a whole lot of money spread over twenty or thirty years.

But the offer still sounded like pretty good news.

We're all conditioned to be wary when someone comes to us with good news.

Cautious, skeptical, even cynical.

If it sounds too good to be true—it probably is.

We get so many good news calls and letters and emails.

Congratulations! You're a winner! Claim your free trip to Hawaii!

And if we even bother to check it out anymore, we find there's a catch.

I've been watching the Cosmos series on DVD.

And Neil deGrasse Tyson keeps stressing the rules of the scientific method.

He warns: don't believe something just because you want to believe it.

So, why would the mortgage company want to lower my rate when I wasn't even asking?

What's in it for them?

More importantly, is there some danger or risk for me?

So I ran to Google to see if I could find any reports of a scam.

I ran all the numbers in a spread sheet to see what I'd really be saving.

Everything seems to check out.

And this is a company that I've done business with for a couple decades.

They've refinanced my mortgage twice before—at my request.

I guess they've earned some trust, I guess I should believe their good news.

And when you put it in perspective.

Those ads and offers are all pretty unimportant.

Even if they're true, they're pretty minor good news.

So, how should we deal with the big stuff—the really major, important Good News?

The Good News Jesus brings us.

Today we hear him say:

The Kingdom of God is at hand.

Repent and believe the Good News.

We've all heard that message hundreds of times.

But do we fully believe it?

Do we fully understand it?

Those familiar words may no longer be news for us.

But a deeper realization, a deeper appreciation of them can still be news—and Good News.

Jesus doesn't say that the Kingdom of God is coming some day.

He doesn't say that it's almost here.

That it will soon be within reach.

He says that it's at hand.

It's here—Now.

According to the Cambridge Dictionary at hand means:

Happening or present at this time.

Within easy reach.

Of course, Jesus didn't speak English.

But most theologians agree, the words he used meant here and now.

And Jesus' announcement—the Kingdom of God is here—is just an introduction.

Just the very beginning of the Good News he reveals to us.

He goes on to expand and elaborate on that Good News throughout his ministry.

He tells us that we have a God who loves us so much that He forgives our wrongs.

A God we can call Father, even Daddy.

A God who was willing to suffer for us.

A God who sends his Spirit to dwell within us.

A God who will raise us from the dead to share eternal life with Him.

Does this sound too good to be true?

Should we be cautious, skeptical, or even cynical about believing this?

The Pharisees and Scribes and Herodians were.

Many others still are.

But Jesus has earned our trust.

Through his healings and miracles, through the obvious goodness of his message,

Through his teaching and his faithfulness to his message,

Through his sacrifice, and through the testimony of millions and the test of time.

The Kingdom of God is at hand, here and now, easily reached, open for our entry.

Jesus instituted it two thousand years ago.

It's not yet Heaven on Earth.

It won't be until we help spread the Kingdom, and until Jesus comes again.

But this Lent is a very acceptable time to enter the Kingdom more deeply.

Jesus has said that not everyone who calls to him, Lord, Lord, will enter.

That it's easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for rich people like us to enter.

He doesn't say they're barred from entry.

He warns that they might not choose to enter.

They might pass up their opportunity to enter.

So to the extent that warning applies to us, let's repent, let's change our minds.

Let's enter the Kingdom more fully.

This Lent, today, now—with our prayer and our fasting and our good works—

Let's fully embrace, appreciate, believe, and share the Good News.

1st Sunday of Lent

Mk 1:12-15      Read this Scripture @usccb.org

Odds Against Goin' To Heaven

One day of prayin', and six nights of fun.

Odds against goin' to Heaven, six to one.

A rather depressing thought,

From the title song of the old movie Walk on the Wild Side.

So, Happy Mardi Gras!

Fat Tuesday, a last fling before Ash Wednesday,

And forty days of Lenten prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.

Then, maybe tomorrow we can start doing more to improve those six to one odds.

Our Scripture readings today start off with another depressing hope-crushing story.

The story of the Great Flood.

God sees the wickedness of man and decides to start over again.

Wipe out all the multitudes.

Start over with the one tiny group of good people available.

Just Noah and his household.

And so he does.

But before many years have passed, man has again alienated himself from God.

Wickedness and evil rule again.

Then, a few thousand years later, things start looking up.

Jesus comes with his Good News.

In today's Gospel installment the disciples are worried about not having enough bread.

Even though they just saw Jesus miraculously feed thousands with a few loaves.

And it was the second time they'd seen him do it!

Jesus points them to the things they really should worry about.

Their lack of faith and understanding.

Avoiding the mistakes and corruption of the Pharisees.

Not falling into the evil and wickedness of Herod.

They should understand that Jesus has come to execute a better plan for starting over.

To rescue God's people—to save us.

To reconcile us with the Father.

To teach us, show us by example, how to love God and neighbor.

To turn those Heavenly odds around.

To stack them heavily in our favor.

And so he does.

What shall we offer in return?

That's something we can reassess today with one more day of prayin'.

And we can start delivering our greater return tomorrow.

Not that elusive Tomorrow, Tomorrow, that's always a day away.

But that definite tomorrow that begins at midnight tonight.

This Ash Wednesday, this Lent.

6th Tuesday Ordinary Time

Mk 8:14-21      Read this Scripture @usccb.org

Still Evolving

Such is the story of the heavens and earth at their creation.

The closing line of our reading from Genesis.

There's been, and still is, a lot of disagreement over that story.

Is it literal?
Is it figurative—poetic?

When it speaks of a day, does it mean a day as we know it now?

Is it at odds with the scientific concept of evolution?

I've been watching National Geographic's Cosmos series with my six-year-old grandson.

I'm learning as much as he is with glimpses of the limitless wonders of the Universe.

And how far science has brought us toward understanding it more and more.

It's well settled that our Church finds the Creation Story and evolution to be compatible.

But over the centuries, our Church has sometimes been wrong on matters of science.

Galileo was punished for teaching that the Earth revolved around the Sun.

Although our Church has Christ as its head.

And the Holy Spirit to guide it infallibly on matters of faith and morals.

Ours is a Church made up of humans.

We are the Church.

And, whether or not we're evolving in the Darwinian sense,

We are called to keep evolving in our spiritual lives.

Individually and collectively.

And as we evolve the Church evolves.

All growing together in human knowledge, understanding and holiness.

Working, as Jesus charged us, to build the Kingdom of God on Earth.

In our Gospel, Jesus criticizes a religion that was getting it wrong.

The Jews are obsessed with their human traditions.

They're treating human precepts as religious doctrines.

They're setting aside God's Commandments in favor of human traditions.

He gives an example: 

God's Commandment says Honor your father and your mother.

But Jewish law, through human interpretation, provided a loophole to get around that.

And, he adds, You do many such things.

We still do.

There was quite a flap when our own leader said that religions can get it wrong.

Terrible acts can be committed in the name of religion.

Even Christianity, even Catholicism.

A religion can suffer guilt by association from terrible acts committed by its wayward members.

The religion isn't really responsible, except perhaps for inability to form that member.
Hitler was a baptized Catholic—it's said he even considered becoming a priest.

But it's quite a stretch to say his terrible acts were in the name of religion.

A religion is responsible for the sanctioned, official acts of its representatives.

There were certainly strong provocations for the Inquisitions and the Crusades.

But were they fully justified?

Were they conducted in accordance with God's Commandments?

Or were they tainted by human interpretations, precepts and traditions?

Jesus said God's greatest commandments are just two.

Love God with all your heart, soul and mind.

And love your neighbor as yourself.

How are we doing with that?
Are we fully reconciled with God and neighbor?
It seems that on occasion, through human interpretation, our Church has found loopholes.

So should we admit that?

Should we even apologize for that?

Our leader did.

And he did it more than once and with determined forethought.

He shocked and offended many, and faced some strong criticism for saying what he said.

But we see that he was pushing us and our Church to evolve further.

And we and our Church now hold him in the highest regard.

We now call him Saint John Paul II.

Such is the story of heaven on earth at its current state of evolution.

5th Tuesday Ordinary Time

Mk 7:1-13      Read this Scripture @usccb.org

Turn Your Radio On

Turn your radio on.

That’s the title of an old song written 80 years ago.

Back when a lot of people were just getting their first radio.

But it’s been a popular hit record many times over the years.

For people like Roy Acuff, Skeeter Davis, Ray Stevens,

The Statler Brothers, BJ Thomas, Randy Travis and others.

Mostly country singers.

The refrain says:

Turn your radio on, turn your radio on.

Get in touch with God, turn your radio on.

Today’s Gospel brought that old song to mind.

Sunday we heard how the people were amazed at Jesus’ teaching.

Because he spoke with authority.

And they were further amazed when he healed a man possessed by a demon.

His healing power made it clear that he was indeed entitled to speak with authority.

Today, we hear other examples of Jesus’ healing.

And he healed just as he spoke – with authority.

He didn’t have to call on God, or recite special words.

For both the woman with the hemorrhage, and for Jairus’s dead daughter,

As with everyone else he healed,

All he had to do was will that they be healed.

In the case of the woman,

He merely willed that his healing power be available and have effect.

Like a radio system with transmitter and receiver.

He was transmitting out those healing waves.

And all she had to do was receive them.

She did.

And she quite literally put herself in touch with God.

And she was healed.

By his power, and through her faith.

Without a word being spoken.

No one but God has that healing authority and power.

Many of the saints are recognized for their role in healings.

But what they did, they did in Jesus’ name – not their own.

We can still ask those saints for help.

Through the communion of saints.

As saints, they’re already with God in heaven.

The Church Triumphant.

So they have better access, a better channel to him.

And they’re willing to intercede for us.

Carry our request to God.

St. Blaise, whose memorial we celebrate today, was recognized for his role in healings.

Especially for healing a child who was choking on a fish bone.

And by tradition, today we ask St Blaise for his help.

Our ministers pray:

Through the intercession of St Blaise, bishop and martyr,

May God deliver you from every disease of the throat,

And every other illness.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Help from the saints is a great thing.

But we needn’t put all our reliance on intercessors.

Jesus Himself is still transmitting today.

With enough mega-watts of power to break through the static of our everyday lives.

He may not be offering a cure for all our worldly problems.

But we can be sure that, ultimately, he wills what is best for us.

And that he wills our spiritual healing.

If we turn on our receivers and listen,

We’ll be in a position to gain a deeper understanding and acceptance of his will.

Because—we’ll have put ourselves in touch with God.

Turn your radio on.

Hear the Statler Brothers

4th Tuesday Ordinary Time

Mk 5:21-43      Read this Scripture @usccb.org

We Are Family

There was a formal ball one evening,

And Lynda Johnson decided on short notice that she wanted to go.

But there was little time to get ready, and she didn’t have anyone to take her.

So her daddy, Lyndon, called in the Marines.

He asked the General to pick a good young Marine

And send him over to the White House to serve as Lynda Bird's escort.

The General considered his choices there at the 8^th & I Barracks.

And he sent a young officer—Lt. Chuck Robb.

That’s one of the stories the old General liked to tell.

He’d known President Johnson before that.

But this chance role as matchmaker brought him closer into the Johnson family.

I first began chatting with the long-retired General at my daughter’s soccer games.

My daughter and his only grandchild, Danielle, were eight-year-olds and best friends.

He was a very devoted and involved grandfather.

Trying to fill in for his son, Danielle’s father, who had died shortly before she was born.

Danielle and her mother lived just down the street from us.

And I’d see him there a few times a week, doing handyman jobs or just visiting.

Every summer he and his wife would pick up Danielle and her mother.

And drive down to the small farm in Tennessee where he’d grown up.

They’d stay there a couple months, visiting with a few locals,

Swimming in the river that ran through the yard,

Doing a few chores, but not too much work.

And enjoying a peaceful country rest.

As the girls grew older, we started letting our daughter make the trip with them.

And then we’d go down a couple weeks later, stay a few days, and bring her home.

The farmhouse was a few miles down a shady dirt road from the nearest little town.

The main house was fairly large for a farmhouse, and surrounded by dense woods.

In the early 1800s it had been an inn for travelers who came by that route to ford the river.

There was a smaller cottage behind the house.

An old couple, James and Ella, lived in the cottage.

They took care of the whole property most of the year while the General was away.

As they had done for decades while his career kept him too busy for long visits.

James’ father had worked the farm for the General's father.

James had been born in that cottage and never moved away.

He had been like an older brother to the General when they were boys.

And now the old farmer enjoyed calling his important world-traveled friend Little Brother.

And so, each summer they all lived on the farm, like one happy family.

Old James calling the General Little Brother.

And my daughter calling him Pappa.

Though neither title was technically correct.

And when we came to visit and retrieve our daughter, we were treated like family too.

It’s a real honor to have someone tell us that they consider us family.

And deeply touching when they treat us in a way that shows that they really do.

So this morning we should be exceedingly honored and exceedingly touched.

Because we just heard the words of Jesus, telling us that he considers us family.

No mere General.

No mere President.

But Jesus himself.

3rd Tuesday Ordinary Time

Mk 3:31-35      Read this Scripture @usccb.org

Sunday, Sunday

One Sunday night we were driving home from a weekend trip.

My young grandson hadn’t eaten much at dinner and now, at 9:00, he was hungry.

We were all eager to get home, and still had another hour to drive.

But we decided we’d grab something for him at the next fast food place.

There was a McDonald’s at the next exit just a few miles up the road.

But as we approached, it looked kind of dark and empty.

When we pulled up by the door we could read the sign.

Closed 8:PM on Sunday’s.

We found the same thing with the Wendy’s at the next exit.

How inconvenient!

We’ve come to expect that just about anything we want will be available 24/7.

But it wasn’t all that long ago when almost every business was closed on Sunday.

Hospitals, police and fire departments, utility companies, public transportation, hotels,

And other essential services operated at reduced levels.

But they were the few exceptions.

Today, things have shifted in the other direction.

Most non-service businesses still close.

But now, most service-industry businesses are open.

And the service sector has grown to employ a much larger portion of the workforce.

Sunday’s a big day at the Shopping Mall.

A workday for many, and a diversion for the rest.

Except in those few states that still enforce laws restricting Sunday business activity.

Years ago when I lived in New England, most of the states there had strict “Blue Laws”.

A holdover from their early Puritan days when they tried to enforce religious rules by civil law.

But those laws have been generally repealed, or relaxed, or left unenforced.

Jewish law was very strict regarding work and other activities on the Sabbath.

And interpretation of that law became a key point of dispute between Jesus and the Pharisees.

They disagreed on many of the finer points.

But they actually agreed on the larger point that Jesus reminds them of in today’s Gospel.

The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.

God gives us the Sabbath as a day of rest.

His third commandment tells us Remember to keep holy the Lord’s Day.

That keeping holy does involve devoting time to worshiping God.

But it's all for our benefit, not God’s.

And that keeping holy also involves resting and devoting time to ourselves and our families.

For many people, caught in the struggle to survive, it’s hard to make that time.

And for those with the luxury of leisure time, the distractions make it hard.

So God gives us the added incentive of commanding that we do it at least once a week.

He tells us that it’s not only okay, but required.

During our country’s era of slavery

Jesuits and other missionaries tried to baptize as many slaves as they could.

There are stories of mass baptisms, spraying the slaves with hoses, at the ports and slave pens.

Those missionaries weren’t just trying to crank up the number of Christians in the New World.

They were trying to ensure that those poor slaves would be entitled to at least one day of rest.

Christian slave holders, of which there were regrettably many,

Would have to grant that Sabbath rest to their Christian slaves.

Some people still maintain very strict rules regarding their Sunday activities.

They avoid work of any kind – except for true emergencies.

They avoid shopping or riding a bus or any activity that might require someone else to work.

Some won’t even watch football players work on TV.

We can all differ on our interpretations of just what it means to keep holy the Lord’s Day.

But we should make sure that our own interpretation honors the gift that God is giving us.

2nd Tuesday Ordinary Time

Mk 2:23-28      Read this Scripture @usccb.org

Theologians

My fellow theologians ...

As St Anselm defined theology, it is faith seeking understanding.

And that fairly well describes us.

We have faith in God—week or strong or imperfect as it may be.

Some of our beliefs we simply accept, even though we don't fully understand.

So we'd like to understand more.

How can we increase our understanding?

There are some things we'll never fully understand in this life.

But certainly prayer and study can lead us to greater understanding of our God and our faith.

Scripture—The Word of God—is one major source of increased understanding.

We hear the Scripture proclaimed here at Mass.

On Sundays we have four readings.

Typically, one each from the Old Testament, Psalms, Epistles, and Gospels.

The book that contains the Scripture readings for each Mass is the Lectionary.

It was organized by a group of liturgists and Scripture scholars.

And often, they selected readings that complement each other.

They might present a Book of the Gospels in day-to-day serial installments.

And then select Old Testament and Epistle excerpts related to each daily Gospel passage.

For example, one day's Gospel passage quotes Jesus reading from the scroll of Isaiah.

And saying that, as Isaiah foretold, he has come to set the captives free.

The Old Testament selection for that day is that very portion of Isaiah that Jesus read.

And there's a Psalm selection that speaks of setting captives free.

Other times, especially on weekdays, the readings are not so complementary.

The Gospel might be serially progressing through Matthew.

And the First Reading might be serially progressing through the Book of Samuel.

And dealing with a totally different theme from the Gospel.

These Scripture passages can greatly aid our theological quest.

They can increase our understanding of God and of our own faith.

And like so many things, the more we put in the more we get out.

Hearing them, reading them, contemplating and praying with them.

We can make a practice of re-reading them after Mass, or pre-reading them before Mass.

We can use them as a study tool.

Or as a jumping off point for meditative or contemplative prayer.

We might ask ourselves, Why is this set of readings grouped together today?

Does the grouping itself emphasize some complementary lesson or theme?

Or do the individual readings each offer an independent message?

Scripture passages usually have multiple explicit and implicit messages.

The readings can all be found in the Bible, using the citations listed in our Sunday Bulletin.

They're more conveniently found in a book, a Missal, that is like the Lectionary.

It groups all the the Scripture readings for each daily and Sunday Mass.

Or you might subscribe to Magnificat, a monthly paperback that has all the readings.

If you prefer using your computer, there's a great, free, online site.

It's provided by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops at usccb.org.

The home page shows a calendar, and you click on any date to see the readings.

As for today's readings, they do complement each other to give us a more complete message.

The linkage isn't quite so obvious as in the Isaiah-captives example.

But I don't think I'm stretching too far to find one.

Maybe it's what the Lectionary organizers had in mind, or maybe it's not.

But it's what I saw when I contemplated on today's readings.

You've just heard the readings too, maybe you already have your own impressions.

If you re-read and ponder them, maybe you'll have even greater insights and understanding.

Today's Gospel describes how St Peter, one of our greatest Saints, first found Jesus.

Our First Reading (from the Book of Samuel) tells us that God himself calls us to himself.

But, like Samuel we need help in recognizing the call.

How did Peter find Jesus?

Someone led him—his brother Andrew.

How did Andrew find Jesus?

Someone led him—John the Baptist.

How did John find Jesus?

Someone led him—The Holy Spirit.

John was very special, the Holy Spirit alone was enough for him.

Unless we're already in pretty intense direct contact with God,

And receive some special revelation,

We're not going to find Jesus without some sort of human guidance.

How did you find Jesus?

Probably for most of us—it was, at least initially, through parents and family.

But maybe instead or in addition it was friends, teachers, writers.

In this generation, this age, we're the ones called to be those guides.

It's up to us to answer the call like Samuel did, and as our Psalm proclaims.

Your Servant is listening. Here I am Lord, I've come to do your will.

Like John the Baptist and Andrew and Peter before us, we've all been led to the Messiah.

Now, like them, God is calling us to bring others to Jesus.

And, as we hear in our Second Reading (1 Corinthians), God is here to help us.

He didn't leave us alone without assistance.

The Helper, the Holy Spirit, dwells right here—within each of us.

We see that we have a God who calls us and reveals himself to each of us individually.

But also a God of community, who relies on us to help each other hear and understand his call.

Today's Scripture adds to or reinforces the information we have for our theological quest.

It gives us a greater understanding of our God.

And hopefully that added understanding brings a little additional strengthening of our faith.

2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time

Jn 1:35-42      Read this Scripture @usccb.org