Gospel text for Sunday 17 February 2019

Luke 6:17-26        Jesus came down with the twelve apostles and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon. They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. And all in the crowd were trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them.

Then he looked up at his disciples and said:

“Blessed are you who are poor,

for yours is the kingdom of God.

“Blessed are you who are hungry now, 

for you will be filled.

“Blessed are you who weep now, 

for you will laugh.

“Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets."

"But woe to you who are rich,

for you have received your consolation.

"Woe to you who are full now,

for you will be hungry.

"Woe to you who are laughing now,

for you will mourn and weep.

"Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.”

Reflection       Jesus has just come down from the mountain where he had been praying and chose the twelve whom he named apostles, ones who are sent forth. Then Jesus looks at his disciples and says, “Blessed are you when you are poor, or hungry or weep or people hate and exclude you.” 

What does he mean, to be blessed? To be blessed is to be made holy. To be holy is to be sanctified or set apart, purified, redeemed and made happy. For those of us who commit to love Jesus more dearly and follow Jesus more nearly (and be sent out to continue his work) the promise is, even while in the  midst of suffering the holy abides with us, thus we are blessed, no matter what.

Then Jesus reverses course and declares, woe to you who are rich, full, laughing and when people speak well of you. Woe is an interjection of grief, “Oh no…!” When we are on top of our game and the world seems to be in our pocket, we cannot cling to things of this world therefore, woe will inevitably befall us. Oh no, inevitably our good fortune will fade. 

In his sermon on the plain Jesus directs us to break out of our dualistic categories of right and wrong, good and bad, woe and blessing.  When seemingly bad things happen we have reason to hope and be holy. When seemingly good things happen we have reason to grieve.  Could this be Jesus foreshadowing St. Ignatius of Loyola’s insight that in the midst of desolation is hidden the seed of consolation, the promise that all will be redeemed and restored to holiness when we choose “with God life?” Likewise, tucked away in the heart of good fortune (consolation) is the seed of desolation because we cannot cling to fortune, inevitably it will pass?

The beatitudes poetically acknowledge our ever changing human condition. No matter who we are, we endure suffering, injustice and loss as well as fulfillment, joy and gain. Although we prefer to gloss over it, we are all subject to adversity as well as to advantage, we all are vulnerable to change. What makes the difference in how we navigate the good times and the bad is whether or not we set our hearts to love Jesus more dearly and our feet to follow Jesus more nearly. Navigating the vicissitudes of life with Jesus, we are blessed no matter what. 

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Gospel text for Sunday 28 October 2018

Mark 10:46-52        Jesus and his disciples came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” Jesus stood still and said, “Call him here.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart; get up, he is calling you.” So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. Then Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man said to him, “My teacher, let me see again.” Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well.” Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way. 

Reflection        When Jesus asks Bartimaeus, “What do you want me to do for you?” I want to ask Jesus, “Why are you asking a blind man what he wants? Isn’t it obvious?” In “The Jesuit Guide to Almost Everything,” the theologian James Martin, S.J. suggests, “Jesus was helping the blind man identify his desire and to be clear about it.” (p 58) You see, it is when we notice and name the deepest desire of our hearts that we discover God’s desire for us. 

Martin explains, desire gets a bad rap in many Christian circles, mostly because we think of it only in terms of sex and consumerism. But, sex is clearly one of our greatest gifts because “without it, where would we be?” The desire to consume food, shelter and clothing is our natural desire to survive.  Desire is a primary way in which God speaks to us. Of course we are not talking about superficial or inordinate desires for a perfect home, a showier car, more power, more privilege, another cruise…  you fill in the blank.  

When Jesus asks Bartimaeus, “What do you want me to do for you?” he is asking, “What is the deepest desire of your heart?” Sitting by the roadside, Bartimaeus has had plenty of time to think about it, and when someone sitting near him nudges him, “Jesus is calling you,” he does not hesitate to declare his desire, “I want to see again.” When Jesus says to him, “Go; your faith has made you well,” he is inviting Bartimaeus “out of his distress into a broad place with no constraint.”  Accepting the invitation, Bartimaeus throws off the cloak of his past, leaps up, and changes the course of his life, no longer sitting on the sideline of life but immediately  following Jesus on the way. 

A key to discerning God’s desire for us is noticing and naming our desires. Our deepest desires help us to admit God’s desire for us.

A pivotal moment in my life occurred following a week long intensive, training future spiritual directors, when my colleague and dear friend looked me straight in the eye and asked, “What is your deepest desire, what do you want to do with your life?” I can still feel the sinking sense in my stomach knowing I would have to speak aloud the words I had denied for decades. “I want to be a priest.” My friend’s  response, “Well, it is about time you said it.” 

After nine years sitting in darkness, the voice of my friend broke through the whirlwind of my self-absorbed suffering, inviting me to notice and name the deepest desire of my heart. In so doing I  joined Bartimaeus in noticing and naming our desires. Finally I could say out loud, “Although there is no way I can do this thing called priesthood (frankly it terrifies me), I know that God can do all things, and that no purpose of God’s can be thwarted.” Within the month I left my home to begin the journey toward priesthood.

Now, let me ask you, what is the deepest desire of your heart?  

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Gospel text for Sunday 21 January 2018

Mark 1:14-20        After John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”

As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.

Reflection      Paul warns the new church in Corinth, “For the present form of this world is passing away.” (I Cor 7.31)  But no one warned Simon and Andrew, James and John when they put down their nets and followed Jesus of the apocalyptic change they would face. Paul is spot one, when we choose to follow the Way of Jesus, life as we have known it passes away. It is apocalyptic and no wonder that two thousand years later so few of us have been able to respond “immediately” as did the four famous fishermen who quit their jobs by the Sea of Galilee when Jesus called to them.

Most of us are more like Jonah. When the Word of the Lord came to Jonah, he tried to run away from “the presence of the Lord.” He found a ship, got on board and before long the ship was ravaged by a great storm. The seamen figured out that the storm was likely the result of Jonah trying to “flee the presence of the Lord,” so they decided to toss him overboard, which indeed quelled the storm for them but Jonah’s trial was not over. Jonah was swallowed by a large fish where he lived for three days and “as his life was ebbing away (he) remembered the Lord, and (his) prayer came to (God), into (God’s) holy temple.” (Paraphrase Jonah 1 & 2) 

It took a shipwreck and three more days for Jonah to figure out that by turning away from the presence of the Lord he set himself up for disaster. Finally he turned around, Jonah called out to the Lord in his distress, and he was saved. What does it take for us to turn around and set down the nets of life as we have known it to follow the Way of the Lord? How much must we suffer before we say, “Uncle” and admit our dependence on the presence of God with us? 

The lives that we cling to are like a fisherman’s net, full of holes and more than enough string to get ourselves all tangled up. What will it take for us to set our old lives down and believe “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near?” How much suffering must we endure before we decide to turn around, to change our minds and our lives?

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Gospel text for Sunday 22 February 2015

Mark 1:9-15        In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."

And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”

Reflection    Baptism is the beginning,  the beginning of a new covenant relationship between God and us.  Baptism is the beginning of a new way of being and participating in life. Baptism is all about we, the living body of Christ on earth, the community of beloveds recognized by the way we live for the good of one another.

Being a Christian does not necessarily mean we believe certain things; Jesus‘ birth from a virgin, every word of the Nicene Creed. Being a Christian does not necessarily mean we do certain things; go to church on Sunday, give money to charities, read the Bible every day. 

Being a Christian means following Jesus,  walking the way of the cross, the way of giving our lives to suffer with and for all of humanity. For some of us that means listening when a friend describes their pain for the seven hundredth time. For others it means bringing meals to the homebound, or speaking out against customs, rules or laws that marginalize or oppress groups of people identified as “other;” the disabled, the aged or infirm, people of lesser or more education, resource or intellect, people of a different race or religion or no religion at all. 

For as long as we submit to labeling anyone as ‘other’ we are forgetting our commission and Jesus’ poignant prayer; “Not my will, but your will be done.”

Jesus dove full into life, revealing God’s love for lepers, maniacs reprobates, and “others.” He built no walls. He stretched no fences. By our baptism we are commissioned to likewise, to live and die for one another.

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