Ready to Go?

A week ago we heard of an encounter Jesus had with the Pharisees.

They think they know who he is.

They think they know where he’s from.

And they think he can’t be the messiah 
because he’s not from Bethlehem.

Jesus tells them that they don’t know who he is.

He says that when he is lifted up then they will realize who he is.

He tells them that he is in fact God.

He calls himself – I AM.

They try to stone him for his blaspheme.

And he tells them he’s going away where they can’t follow him.

We’re not surprised to hear that many of the Pharisees didn’t realize who he was.

But today’s Gospel suggests that even the apostles didn’t fully realize who he was.

I’m stressing the word realize here,

And suggesting that it is something beyond a stated belief.

Yes, the apostles said they believed he was the messiah – the Son of God.

Jesus had praised Peter for that confession of faith.

But how deep was that faith?

Did it reach the level of realization?

Not absolute knowledge of course,

But that deeper level of firm conviction and understanding.

Judas seems to have lacked even a tentative faith.

How could he so callously betray Jesus if he believed that Jesus was God?

Peter surely had faith.

But even he must not have fully realized that Jesus was God.

If he had a deep, firm conviction and understanding that Jesus was God,

How would he be able to deny him?

How could anyone with a strong faith betray or deny the all-powerful God?

You would think that if love wouldn’t stop them, fear would.

But fear is at work on many levels.

And clearly fear played a big role in Peter’s denials.

Fear of certain, immediate and severe punishment by the Jews

Seems to have been enough to overcome Peter’s faith.

If he had that deep realization of who Jesus was,

His confidence and trust in God, or at least his fear of offending God,

Should have outweighed his fear of the Jews.

Jesus knew they didn’t fully realize who he was.

And he told them that, just as he had told the Pharisees,

He was about to go away where they couldn’t follow him.

But when Peter complained,

Jesus said you can’t join me now, but you can join me later.

Where was Jesus going?

He was going to his passion and death.

Somewhere the apostles couldn’t muster the courage to go.

He was going back to his Father in Heaven, somewhere that was not yet open to them.

He was going to be raised up so that all could realize who he was.

Raised up on the Cross and raised up in the Resurrection.

He was going to remain in Spirit for his Church.

They were needed to remain in the flesh to spread the Good News.

Indeed, none of the disciples were yet ready or able to go with him.

But as he said, they could join him later.

And they did.

Once he had opened the gates of Heaven.

And once they had the full realization of who he was.

Once they had the strength and courage and trust that flowed from that realization.

They followed.

We all have faith or we wouldn’t be reflecting on the Gospel.

Faith is a gift, and greater faith is a greater gift.

It's a gift that benefits us in this life, here and now.

As our faith in our all-powerful, all-merciful God increases,

Life's greatest pains and worries grow smaller and smaller.

So, like the apostles, each of us wants to grow to that full realization

That Jesus is indeed God, and that all he told us is true.

As we come closer and closer to that full realization,

We come closer and closer to joining him where he is.

Tuesday of Holy Week

Jn 13:21-38      Read this Scripture @usccb.org

Knock Knock

My magazine subscription was running out.

And I'd been getting repeated renewal offers for months.

They’d offered me road atlases, deluxe-bound appointment books,

And half-off for a gift subscription for a friend.

And finally, two years renewal for the price of one.

That two-for-one offer actually sounded pretty good.

So I put it on my stack of things to do.

Finally, I was ready to send it in, but then I saw that the offer had expired.

That was a fairly trivial loss.

But it’s a reminder that we do miss good opportunities.

We think we’ll always have time.

That the opportunities will wait until we’re ready.

But unfortunately, we all miss out on important opportunities.

And some of those are even tragic missed opportunities.

Death often plays a role.

Because death is the ultimate end of any opportunity to act.

It might be our own death,

Or the death of someone we wanted to get closer to.

Today, we hear Jesus warn the Pharisees and scribes,

I am going away and you will look for me,

but you will die in your sin.

They’re passing up the greatest of opportunities.

The opportunity to know God.

And they may not get another chance.

He tells them in no uncertain terms that he is God,

And that they will come to know that.

When you lift up the Son of Man,

then you will realize that I AM.

But then it may be too late for them to ever get closer to him.

Certainly too late to enjoy his earthly physical companionship.

And perhaps too late for them to accept even a spiritual relationship.

They refuse to recognize him now.

Despite his unprecedented wisdom and his many miracles.

That refusal, compounded with their coming role in his death,

May well harden them to even more-stubborn refusal later

May all of us recognize our truly important opportunities.

May we build and strengthen, and where necessary, repair,

The key relationships in our lives.

And especially, may none of us fail to recognize 
or act upon any opportunity to get closer to Jesus.

And may we act before time runs out.

Which means act now.

Because we never know when time will run out.

5th Tuesday of Lent

Jn 8:21-30      Read this Scripture @usccb.org

Want To Be Well

It seems an odd question from Jesus.

Do you want to be well?

Who wouldn’t want to be well?

Maybe those words were just the way Jesus happened to phrase his offer of a cure.

But on the other hand, the sick man didn’t say, Oh yes! Please do heal me!

Instead, he got immediately defensive about the question.

He started explaining why, for 38 years, he couldn’t get down to the pool quickly enough.

As though Jesus was accusing him of not trying hard enough.

Maybe there was a hint of that in Jesus’ tone.

Or maybe a touch of guilt—warranted or not—in the man’s heart.

We generally assume that everyone wants to be well.

But we do know of people who seem to embrace their illnesses.

Maybe for the attention it brings them.

Or maybe because it provides a convenient excuse.

A cover for faults and shortcomings that they’d rather not face.

Others may not say they want to be healed because they deny that they're ill.

Alcoholics and drug addicts, any addicts, are prime examples of that kind of denial.

(Today is St Patrick's Day.

If you feel like every day is St Patrick's Day every time you pass a pub—you may be in denial.)

And there are many other situations that lead to denial.

Some people avoid going to the doctor when they fear they may have a serious illness.

They’re more comfortable in their denial.

They don’t want to risk having their fears confirmed.

Even though they know, at some level, that early detection can increase their chance of a cure.

All of us need physical or mental or emotional healing at some points in our lives.

And hopefully we don’t get sidetracked by that trap of denial.

And hopefully some healing is available to us.

All of us also need spiritual healing.

Spiritually, none of us are fully “well”.

All of us are sinners.

We know that God is all-merciful and forgiving.

And yet we’re sometimes too fearful and too hard on ourselves.

We know that God is all-just.

And yet we’re sometimes too presumptuous and too easy on ourselves.

There are traps that we can fall into at either end of the spectrum.

And any step in between.

We can sometimes be tempted into denial of our problems.

We can sometimes hang onto guilt from past, long-ago-forgiven wrongs.

But there’s good news in the realm of spiritual healing.

Jesus is always there offering; Do you want to be well?

And when we tune in and actually hear him,

We don’t need to get defensive.

We just need to say, Oh yes! Please do heal me!

4th Tuesday of Lent

Jn 5:1-16      Read this Scripture @usccb.org

We've All Been There

Sometimes in the stands at a baseball game or other crowded event,

You'll see someone holding a banner that says simply: John 3:16

It refers to one of the most well known and most assuring verses of the Gospel.

Basically, it is the Gospel.

It's the Good News condensed down to one sentence.

A sentence we heard today.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,

So that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.

That's Good News! Great News!

But it does have that qualifier in there, that condition.

As it's phrased, the specifically stated assurance is only for those who believe in Jesus.

And it raises the question, How much faith is enough?

It would be even better news, even greater assurance, without that qualifier.

And, indeed, our Church interprets the Gospel to allow for a broader hope.

A hope that imperfect believers, and even non-believers, might attain to eternal life.

In prayer, in interpretation, in life—we're often faced with questions of faith.

How much faith is enough?

How strong a faith is sufficient?

Thomas put his finger in the nail wounds and believed.

But Jesus criticized his belief saying, You believe because you have seen.

Blessed are those who have not seen but yet believe.

Thomas' faith was not perfect, but it seems to have been sufficient.

If faith the size of a mustard seed would move mountains, our faith must be pretty puny.

How can we increase our faith?

By working at it and by simply asking for it.

By prayer, fasting and good works.

Prayer that builds our relationship with Jesus.

By frequently talking with him and listening to him.

We might pray as in the story of that father who asked Jesus to heal his deaf and mute son:

Lord, I do believe, help my unbelief.

Focusing on faith can be hard in our environment—in our materialistic, secular, cynical society.

There's a little story about letting faith carry us beyond our current knowledge and environment.

Its analogy isn't perfect, but with a little artistic license it makes its point.

     Two babies—twins—were together in a their mother's womb.

     The first said to the other: Do you believe in life after delivery?

     The other replied, Why, of course. There has to be something after delivery. 

     Maybe we're here now to prepare ourselves for what we'll become later.

     Nonsense said the first. There is no life after delivery. What kind of life could that be?

     The second said, I've actually seen it in my dreams.

     We'll live in light instead of darkness.

     We'll walk with our legs and eat with our mouths.

     Maybe we'll have other senses and abilities that we can’t even imagine now.

     The first replied, That's crazy-talk. Walking is impossible.

     Why would we eat with our mouths? The umbilical cord supplies everything we need.

     But see how short the cord is. There's no way it could sustain us after we go through delivery.

     The second insisted, Well I think there's a new life and it’s different from life here.

     Maybe we won’t even need this physical cord anymore.

     The first replied, If there's life after delivery, then why has no one ever come back from there?

     Delivery is the end of life, and in the after-delivery there is nothing but darkness and oblivion.

     I disagree, said the second, and certainly we'll meet Mother and she'll take care of us.

     The first replied, Mother! You actually believe in Mother? Maybe you really are crazy.

     If Mother exists then where is She?

     The second said, She's all around us. We're surrounded by her. We're of Her.

     It's in Her that we live. Without Her this world would not and could not exist.

     Said the first: There's no proof of that. We've never seen Her. Logic says She doesn’t exist.

     And the second replied,

     Sometimes, when you’re silent and you focus and you really listen, you can feel Her presence.

     You can actually hear Her loving voice, calling down from above.

God wants us to have the joy and live the life that comes with that kind of faith.

Many times in the Gospel we see Jesus heal someone and say, Your faith has saved you.

God wants us to have great faith, and if we ask, he'll increase that gift

So we should redouble our efforts and our prayer for greater faith.

And despite seeing that many people seem to not believe in Jesus or his message,

Despite our own imperfect faith and imperfect actions,

We can hold onto our trust in God's great mercy.

And our hope that he will somehow bring all of us to that eternal life.

Some imagine that Jesus might go so far as to come to us in that instant before death is final.

It's as if time is frozen for that instant and he talks with us.

And he gives us another chance to truly believe in him.

That's one nice way to imagine how God's mercy might overcome his just judgment.

But clearly it's only conjecture, no one really knows precisely what happens at death.

But we do know that God does not want even one of us to be lost.

We know that he sent his Word into the world and that his Word does not return empty.

We know that none of us can save ourselves, but everything is possible for God.

We know that God has gone to unimaginable extremes to prevent our being lost.

We know that God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,

So that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.

4th Sunday of Lent

Jn 3:14-21     Read this Scripture @usccb.org

But Who's Counting

How could someone sin against you 77 times?!

Peter must have been surprised by Jesus’ answer.

He’s wondering if forgiving someone 7 times might be more than enough.

And Jesus comes back with 77 times!

Seventy-seven times is a little hard to imagine.

But, I guess family and those who are closest to us do get that many opportunities.

And Jesus says we’re supposed to forgive them—from the heart no less—

All 77 times.

If that seems like a lot,

According to some translations, Jesus says “7 times 70 times.”

By my math that’s 490.

How can we possibly forgive someone who sins against us that often?

These seem like impossibly high numbers when we view ourselves as the forgiver.

But when we look at it from the other side—

How often we want God to forgive us,

Forgiving 490 times doesn’t seem too often at all.

At just one sin a week, we'd use up all 490 Forgivings in less than 10 years.

We’d have to hope that St. Luke was more accurate in quoting Jesus:

You must forgive your brother if he sins against you seven times a day!

Now we're getting closer to the number we need for ourselves.

This isn’t really a math exercise.

But it’s an idea worth thinking about in those terms.

The Jews often used the number seven in a more symbolic sense.

In this case, Peter meant many, many times.

And Jesus meant – take that number and multiply it many times over.

Basically he meant we must forgive “always”.

Or an infinite number of times.

As people who pray and who come to Mass,

We're constantly reminded of the critical importance of forgiveness.

Not only through Jesus' many repeated urgings in the Gospel,

But every time we pray:

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

As forgivers, the idea of infinite forgiveness seems hard to live with.

But as sinners, the idea of infinite forgiveness would be hard to live without.

3rd Tuesday of Lent

Mt 18:21-35      Read this Scripture @usccb.org

Always Watching

When my grandson was just a toddler he had to wear glasses--tiny little eyeglasses.

It took a few months before he finally accepted them and stopped yanking them off his face.

Then one night, we were sitting on the couch looking at one of his books.

And I noticed his lenses were really smudged up.

So I took them off him.

Huffed a little breath on them for some moisture,

Pulled my soft shirt from my waistband, and cleaned them up.

The next day my daughter said, 

I don’t know what happened with Dylan.

He was finally doing so well with keeping his glasses on.

But today he keeps taking them off and blowing on them.

Little children are the true masters of learning from example.

They’re always watching and copying.

Now they even give them tiny eyeglasses so they can watch more closely.

We’re all teachers and role models in some ways.

Even when we’re unaware that someone might be taking a lesson from us.

In some cases we’re consciously acting in a role where we should expect it –

Like: parent, teacher, boss, civic or religious leader, sports hero, rock star …

In other cases, we’re just ordinary people doing our thing.

And we might be surprised to find that someone else actually thinks we’re worth copying.

Or maybe they just view us a one more proof that “everybody else is doing it”.

Maybe we’re that person cutting up the breakdown lane to get ahead in a traffic jam.

Or not shoveling our sidewalk after the snowstorm.

Or dangerously jaywalking.

Or not bothering to vote on election day.

Or maybe we’re that person going to Mass every Sunday (maybe even every day.)

Or picking up litter on the street and tossing it into the trashcan.

Or helping someone in need.

Maybe each of us is both those people.

Sometimes setting good examples, other times setting bad examples.

In big and small matters alike.

And sometimes we’re that third person too.

The one who’s watching and following the example set by others.

We never lose that skill we honed when we were children.

Jesus warns us today to carefully consider and assess our examples.

Be careful not to follow a bad example.

Even if someone we think is reliable is doing it, or we think everybody else, is doing it.

And be careful not to set a bad example.

It’s easy to forget that, even when we’re just being ourselves, not trying to set an example,

Others still do watch us; others still are influenced by us.

2nd Tuesday of Lent

Mt 23:1-12      Read this Scripture @usccb.org

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