First Sunday of Lent - C

The First Sunday of Lent 2007

Sometimes when we read or hear this Gospel passage, we automatically discount its intensity. Jesus is God – so how could he really be tempted in the way that I am tempted. Yet we forget that it is an age-old teaching that Jesus possessed two wills – a human will and a divine will. The divine will was from all eternity saying YES to the Father. But the human will had to also assent. Jesus had a true struggle with the devil in the desert. He was sorely tried and tempted and yet he remained steadfast to the end. We can learn much and gain much from his struggles and victories.

First – what really are the temptations? “If you are hungry command this stone to become bread.” - “To you I will give all this authority and their glory; for it has been delivered to me”
- “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here; for it is written ‘He will give his angels charge of you to guard you.”

What is being offered is a compromise with Jesus that will allow him to accomplish his goal in some way, and yet still avoid suffering.

The first: Turn stones to Bread. Here is an offering – If you can turn stones to bread what can you do? You can feed the world. Imagine if you could go out and turn stones to bread – you could end world hunger, you could give everybody everything they need materially speaking. Just think Jesus, people would flock to you – here is the one who will give you everything you want – you want food he can make it food – you want a bigger house – certainly if he has the power to turn rocks into bread, he has the power to turn rocks into bigger homes, and boats, and businesses. Just think of how many people would follow you Jesus? And..you..would..never..have..to..go..to..the..Cross. Never have to suffer. Come on Jesus.

Jesus responds with the word of God: “Man shall not live by bread alone.” For Jesus knows that although he could avoid suffering and many people would still follow Him, they would follow Him not for who He is –God Himself-the only one who can fill their hearts’ desire – but would follow Him for material goods – something that can never fill the longings in one’s heart – for “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” The health and wealth Gospel is not the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

So the devil moves on: He shows him all the kingdoms of the world – here are the people Jesus has come to save – here is being held in front of Him the prize for which He has come – the goal of His whole life is offered to Him in this moment. Here it is Jesus. Let’s call it a truce. You abort these foolish plans of yours to take my kingdom by force (and it is my kingdom-remember we play fair – You gave them a choice and every one of them has entered my kingdom through sin) But listen here. I will renounce my claim, I will send them all back to you and your Father….only….“bow down and worship me and it will be yours.” We can even imagine the devil taunting him – “You fool, you prideful fool – they are all yours if you would just humble yourself before me! Your pride will be their damnation if you don’t bow before me” Think of it, they would all be yours…and..you..would..never..have..to..go..to..the..Cross. Never have to suffer.

And Jesus answers once again with the eternal words of God –“You shall worship the LORD your God, and serve Him ALONE.” For Jesus doesn’t take the bait – He has not come to compromise, to make truces with evil – He will not share his bride with another. For how should his bride, His people, look at Him when they would owe their allegiance to one who’s own allegiance went to Satan. Certainly they would be freed from the devil’s grasp, from the Hell that without a compromise or an all-out victory awaits them, but they would be freed not for the Heaven of total Love, but for one that would have the mark of the devil, his fingerprint upon the Son of God.

So the devil tries one last temptation: He takes him to the pinnacle of the temple, “If you are the Son of God throw yourself down, for Scripture says that your Father will protect you, that the angels will catch you.” ‘Oh what a display this would be – right in front of them all-all your Father’s believers-how they would flock around you, dazzled at your supernatural powers – power over nature, over gravity, what wonders you could display to them!’ Think of it Jesus, you could draw them all by your wonders and powers…and..you..would..never..have..to..go..to..the..Cross!

And Jesus finishes his discourse with Satan “It is said. You shall not tempt the Lord your God.” It is a temptation because certainly many, many would follow Him, if he simply unveiled his power. If he began flying through the air among the people, striking dead the Pharisees who opposed Him, speaking in a loud, clear voice to every person in every generation – showing up in our churches and displaying wondrous powers. But again, Jesus sees the flaw in this compromise. Certainly many would follow Him, but what would they be following Him for – because they’ve finally discovered True Love, they’ve finally discovered that for which their hearts were created for? No, because they had found even greater power than they had known, because they had seen wonders that were beyond them, because they would want a share in that power – that they too might have dominion over others – it would be the undoing of what Jesus came to do. He didn’t come merely to gather us together – but to lead us Home – to lead us back to the people we were created to be – People made in the image and the likeness of a God who is self-emptying love.

As the Catechism puts it “Jesus’ temptation reveals the way in which the Son of God is Messiah, contrary to the way Satan proposes to him and the way men wish to attribute to him.” (CCC540)

Satan proposes he be Messiah through his power over material goods, his ability to avoid a spiritual war by the mixing of good and evil, his wonders and signs – these are the temptations that were very real because they would gather people around Jesus…but they could never accomplish what He came to accomplish. The Salvation this Messiah brings consists in forming us in Love and in His rejection of these temptations He makes it unmistakably clear:
There can be NO compromise in the battle between good and evil. One cannot become content to sin even only a little. We must battle sin until our last dying breath. There can be no compromise with evil.

He also reveals the most effective tactics: Prayer, Fasting, Watchfulness – these are things he is doing to fortify himself before and in the midst of the temptations.

But even more directly when the temptation reveal itself, He does two very important things. 1) He does not enter into a dialogue with the Tempter. His responses are one sentence and leave no room to suggest that he might compromise. We begin to lose the battle when we begin to dialogue with our tempter. This as we remember is how the first sin occurred. Eve doesn’t answer the devil with a firm no. She enters into a conversation with him, in which he soon confuses her, and is able to lead her and Adam into sin. We do the same when we try to make little compromises with ourselves. I know I shouldn’t look at this but I won’t spend more than two minutes on it. I know I shouldn’t talk about her, but I’ll just say this one thing and then I’ll be quiet. I know I’m not suppose to lie, but I’ll just tell this one little one and that will be it. Once the door is open, we’re in trouble – we are no match for the wit of satan. If we try to take him on our own we’re going to lose every time.

2) Jesus’ responses are always the Word of God. We need to learn some phrases of Scripture, particularly in whatever sins we are tempted to most. The Word of God is powerful, and it enlists the help of God in our struggle – which is necessary. For example if we struggle with lust we might memorize: Ps51v10 “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.”

If it is gossip we struggle with, we might memorize and have ready: Ephesians 4:29 “Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for edifying...”

Jesus’ love for us is so intense that he would rather suffer the pains of His passion and death rather than compromise the purity of our relationship. He loves us for who we are and He created us to love Him for who He is, not for what He can do for us.

The martyrs are the most eloquent witnesses to this truth as time and time again throughout the history of the Church – they chose death rather than compromise the truth about their relationship with Jesus Christ. We pray in this Mass that as we begin the season of Lent, we might learn from Christ’s example and experience the strength that comes from Him alone, that we too might suffer for love and truth rather than compromise for our own comfort.

Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time - C

Forgive and you will be forgiven. One of the most impressing memories of Pope John Paul II’s life, which had many impressing memories, is the image of him sitting across from Ali-Agca offering his forgiveness. Ali-Agca, as you will remember, is the man who nearly assassinated the Pope in May of 1981. The Pope was touring St. Peter’s square in the popemobile as shots rang out and the pope fell severely wounded. After hours of surgery, and weeks of recovery, the pope regained strength.

We can only imagine how many plans that ruined for the pope. Events he had had planned, work that had to be postponed. Not to mention the excruciating pain, and the effects that would last him for the rest of his life. What evil he had to suffer and yet, within him he found the ability to forgive. To love as the Father loves. To seek out his assailant on his own and to extend his forgiveness and to give all of us a lesson on being merciful as our heavenly Father is merciful.

How much pain this man had caused the Pope and yet the Pope desired to forgive.

I remember a woman from Columbus, a friend of a good friend of mine, teaching an amazing lesson on forgiveness. Her son was a student at Franciscan University of Steubenville, a great Catholic college in the eastern part of our state. One night in May of 1999, the home he and another student were staying in was broken into by three drugged up young men. They assaulted her son and his friend and then stole their car and drove the two students into Pennsylvania, brought them into the woods, and brutally killed both students.

The mother’s life was shattered in an instant. Her son was dead and it was all an act of senseless violence. The killers confessed that they had just wanted to see what it felt like to kill a person. They were non-repentant. One was acquitted, one was sentenced to life in prison, and one was condemned to die.

The mother, rather than rejoice that the murderer of her son would be taken from this life, argued on his behalf not to be executed. The murdered student’s brother addressed the killer in these words: “Terrell, I offer my forgiveness to you. I forgive you, not because you had a rough childhood, for that is not an excuse. I forgive you, not because you were depressed, because that is not an excuse. I forgive you because I have been forgiven. And I want so much to believe that you are truly sorry for what you have done.”

I hear those words and the words of the Gospel today, and I think to myself who out there can’t I forgive? Why can’t I forgive the person who embarrassed me in public, or the one who spoke behind my back, or the ones who hurt me deeply? Why can’t I love for the sake of loving as God does. Why I only do I do good to those who do good to me?

How can I call myself a Christian when I look at this mother and brother of the murdered student, and look at the grace and love that flow from them despite the incredible pain they have suffered. Why am I a Christian if I’m not going to let it transform my life? Why am I a Christian if I’m going to live more like the pagans than like my Heavenly Father? “For He Himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.” He makes no distinction.

Stop judging and you will not be judged
Stop condemning and you will not be condemned
Forgive and you will be forgiven.

How did Pope John Paul II forgive his assailant and that mother forgive the murderer of her son, and that brother forgive the murderer of his brother?

The Catechism of the Catholic Church gives us the answer when it refers to this very passage of the Gospel “Be merciful as your Father is Merciful” and tells us: It is impossible to keep the Lord’s commandment by imitating the divine model from outside; there has to be a vital participation, coming from the depths of the heart, in the holiness and the mercy and the love of our God. Only the Spirit by whom we live can make “ours” the same mind that was in Christ Jesus.

We can’t keep this command on our own – but only by a vital participation in the holiness and the love of God – How did the Pope forgive? The mother? The brother? – they knew Jesus Christ – intimately – they had a deep relationship with Him and thus could draw on his power and strength. As that brother stated: “I forgive..because I have been forgiven.”

To know our sinfulness, to know that Jesus hangs on the Cross because of what I did. Until we each know this personally, we can’t ever hope to enter into that life and power of his. Lent is the time for each of us to examine ourselves, to ask the Lord for the gift of self knowledge, that we might know our need for forgiveness, that we might receive that forgiveness in the Sacrament of Confession, and that we might live that forgiveness in our own lives.

I sometimes fear that one day I will be standing at the judgement seat, and God will say “you did not forgive so and so” and I will say “because So and so hurt me” and I’ll look behind me and there will be the mother of the murdered son and I will fall silent. We would all fall silent and we’ll look to the Cross and there will be another Son who was murdered – and we will realize the pain of our sins – and we’ll realize that His Father, despite the pain, is offering us forgiveness, if but only we would forgive those who Trespass against us.

Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time - C

In America alone, the insurance industry is a multi-trillion dollar industry. We have life, medical, dental, car, homeowner, unemployment, malpractice, fraud, and insurance available for practically anything we buy. Why? Because we are very risk adverse – we don’t like risk. I know how often I recognize this when preparing couples for marriage – so often the desire is to put kids off until they are well settled and have enough money to pay for the child’s college education and post-graduate education. We don’t want to leave anything to risk. Every thing must be accounted for.

Yet, on the flip side, we often have a yearning for adventure, for risk. Who honestly hasn’t ever desired to just pack up and move away to some exotic place – to Egypt or Alaska or the South Sea, or to climb a great mountain or take a boat across the ocean. We want adventure, we want excitement – and the more our world becomes dominated and controlled technologically, the more our desire for adventure, for something uncontrollable increases. I was so happy that school was closed Friday, because it reminds me that there are still things that we haven’t found a way to control, such as the weather. There’s still a part of creation that remains untamed.

We want adventure but we fear the risk that is a necessary part of the adventure. It’s like a child who has just learned to swim, and wanting to be brave and venture into the deep end of the swimming pool, but they can just never seem to let go of the side of the pool. The water is there, it’s desired, but fear prevents them from letting go and pursuing it.

Christianity is the Great Adventure. Christ is foretold in the Scriptures as the Lion of Judah. He is wild and untamed. He is Good, but He is not tame. [as C.S. Lewis wrote of Christ-figure Aslan in the Chronicles]. The Scriptures today remind us that if we are to follow Christ fully, if we are to let go of the side of the pool and enter the adventure of the True Life we were created for, it begins with listening to His Word. For in His Word, we hear his call – not addressed to a faceless, nameless, mass of people, but to you and to me personally – a call to follow Him into the deep.

Today we hear the stories of three men receiving their call from God. All receive them according to a similar pattern so that we might learn from them:
a) On hearing His Word, His Call, they are struck with a sense of unworthiness, which they confess.
b) They are affirmed by God and emboldened
c) They follow Him by letting go of the pool wall and venturing out into the deep, following His call

1. Isaiah
a) At his first glimpse of God’s glory – “Woe to me, I am doomed” “I am a man of unclean lips” – the confession of his unworthiness
b) Seraphim takes the burning coal and touches his lips – now your wickedness is removed – affirmation from God
c) “Whom shall I send?” “Here I am, send me.” – the letting go of the fears and following.

2) St. Paul
a) “Last of all, as one born abnormally, he appeared to me.” “I am the least of the Apostles, I persecuted the Church” – the confession of his unworthiness
b) “But by the Grace of God, I am what I am” – the affirmation and gift from God
c) “I have toiled harder than all of them,[through] the grace of God that is in me…” – the letting go and following him wholeheartedly

3) Saint Peter
-first listens to Him, and responds by putting out into the deep. Even though it would not have made sense to a fishermen who knows that the best time to catch is at night – yet he still does it because Christ commands it.
a) With the catch of fish, he recognizes the Glory of Jesus, and says “Depart from me Lord, for I am a sinful man.” –sense of unworthiness and confession
b) Jesus responds “Do not Be Afraid, [here is your mission]” – the affirmation
c) “They left everything and followed him.” – the letting go of the wall and venturing out with Him.

If we never get to step 3 “following in Faith”– our life will continually feel like we’re still clutching to the pool wall – afraid to venture out – desiring it but afraid. At the same time, we can’t get to an authentic step 3 until we go through steps 1 and 2 – admitting our unworthiness and receiving the affirmation of the Lord who tells us in Scripture “Be Not Afraid” approx. 365 times.

Now there’s a difference between throwing caution to the wind, selling my home and moving to the Bahamas, and actually listening for what the Lord wants me to do. Maybe it is the Bahamas, but I need to hear from Him, in prayer.

How do we do that? He gave us some guidance, some standards to apply to make sure we are hearing Him and not simply our own fallen desires. For to risk and follow those will get us nowhere except emptiness and confusion. To follow Him, will bring us to Life and peace. The first thing we measure our desires against is His Teachings in the Scriptures and in the Church He founded. If they contrast with either of these, then they are not from Him.

Secondly, we live a life of sacramental grace – Confession at least every month or two, Mass at least weekly and holy days, daily prayer. If we keep these open we can more easily trust the desires of our hearts as being from Him. Asking ourselves would I choose to follow this desire because I think it is what he wants or because of some selfish motive – we must try to purify the desire.

At different points of life, this call to go deeper, to take the risk and adventure of following Him will manifest itself in different ways. For most right now it is probably not something like changing your job or moving, but for some it might be – it might be the Lord inviting you to welcome another child into your family, or to volunteer time serving the Church or the poor. It could be the Lord asking you to bring the moral guidance of His Church to bear more upon your work or career. It might be the Lord asking someone to follow the call to look more closely at the vocation of priesthood or religious life, or any number of things. All of these involve risk, all are things that the devil will try to fill one’s minds with fears of danger to following it. This is why steps 1 and 2 are so important – we must continually be recognizing our unworthiness and confessing it, and spending time in prayer listening to the Lord who invites us into the adventure of following Him, telling us to “Put out into the deep and lower your nets for a catch” and “Do not Be Afraid.”

Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time - C

“The Second Vatican Council was not called to turn Catholics into Protestants.” – these are the words of Francis Cardinal George, Archbishop of Chicago, writing for his diocesan newspaper this week. In his newspaper column he recounts that last year the Chicago diocesan Pastoral Council, made up chiefly of lay people, asked the priests of the diocese to preach on some of the contested mysteries of the faith. The group formed a list of six topics: the Eucharist, ordained priesthood, confession, marriage, the Blessed Virgin Mary and immigration.

The Cardinal on reading the list, said “the first impression this list, minus the concern about immigration, leaves with me is that we’re back to the Protestant Reformation.” The Cardinal continued “There are many good people whose path to holiness is shaped by religious individualism and private interpretation of what God has revealed. They are, however, called Protestants. When an informed and committed group of Catholics, comes up with an agenda for discussion that is, historically, Protestant, an important point is being made. Catholics assimilated to American culture, which is historically Protestant, are now living with great tension between how their culture shapes them and what their Catholic faith tells them to hold.”
Of course, holding to the fullness of the Church’s teachings in a culture that is so radically individualistic, is not an easy task. The reading of the prophet Jeremiah reminds us of the prophet of God needing to be made into a pillar of iron and a wall of brass. To be a prophet often means to confront a people with a hard truth. The Church is often in this position today, particularly in the areas of morality. Proclaiming the dignity of every human life, when many would like to allow abortion, embryonic stem-cell research, euthanasia, and unnecessary capital punishment, It proclaims the immorality and danger to marriages caused by contraception in a time and place that has wholeheartedly accepted that fertility is not a gift from God but a danger to one’s enjoyment of life. It proclaims a life lived in service to God, His Church, one’s family, and the poor, in a culture that rewards radical individualism.

God has made the Church a brass wall. It lost the whole nation of England over the question of one divorce in the time of King Henry VIII rather than change its unchangeable teachings. The Church will not, cannot, compromise the Truth.

St. Paul reminds us three things remain – and the greatest is love. The Church does not change her teachings with the times, because the Church loves. St. Paul didn’t say three things remain – and the greatest is tolerance. If your child is about to run in front of a car and you tell them “No” –you are not being intolerant, you are acting in love. Should you simply say “I love you – do whatever you feel is right for you – if it involves running in front of a speeding car, who am I to impose my view?” – that would be gross neglect not love. “Love rejoices with the Truth”
Truth isn’t easy – and Jesus gives us a warning today – particularly to those of us who are cradle Catholics – born and raised in the Church. The people of Nazareth won’t accept Jesus because “they know him” They’ve known him since they were little – “isn’t this the son of Joseph?” They’ve always know him, sure we’ll listen to you Prophet Jesus, wink, wink, nod, nod.
Jesus points them back to Elijah and Elisha. There were many widows in the time of Elijah, but God had to send Elijah to a widow in Zarephath because Israel would not listen. And there were many lepers in Israel in Elisha’s time, but it was Naaman the Foreigner who had the faith to be cured.

Many of us have grown up Catholic and maybe even unconsciously tuned out parts of the Church – became Protestant – by that I mean looked at the Faith not as a given whole – a unity that transcends time and space – something objective –beyond my own feelings – but as something from which I pick and choose my own version of truth. Accept this teaching, reject that one, and yet never experience the irrationality of this, or worse never ask the important questions – the questions upon which our eternal destiny depend- what is the meaning of my life? Who is God? How can I know and follow him? Is the Church right – and thus deserves my absolute obedience, or is it wrong and thus should be avoided at all costs because of its arrogance.

With the Catholic Church there is no in-between. It makes absolute claims. We must sort out those claims and decide whether it is what it says it is, or is it a lie, a farce.

But we must give it a full listen. Many have a kindergarten level understanding of the Faith. Part of this is the Church’s fault, as Cardinal George admits, but as adults we have the means and responsibility to study for ourselves.

The call this Sunday is to seek the truth – to realize that for all of the blessings of being raised Catholic, there is also great peril – that we might in our smugness reject the prophet – reject Jesus.

As this is Catholic Schools week it also reminds us that there is much to learn about our Faith, and quite often, Catholic Schools can greatly assist parents in handing on the faith – it cannot substitute for your own continued adult study of the Faith and the teaching of your children, but it can greatly aid this by giving your children an environment where God and the Faith can be freely discussed and the sacraments celebrated regularly.

The Truth is what we were created for, and the more we enter into it the more free we become. To live among the shadows of lies and false-truths, is to be bound and restricted, to live in the light of Truth, is to experience freedom. “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” We pray that we might seek, find, and rejoice always in the Truth.