Why Does Jesus Act Like This?

Leave a reply

Dear Folks,

This Sunday’s Gospel reading is uncomfortable. In Matthew 15:21-28 it seems that he is being mean to a Gentile woman. “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs (Matthew 15:26).”  

There are some realities to keep in mind. 

Jesus’ ministry was first to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (see Matthew 10:5-6). But He found great faith in some Gentiles (See Matthew 8:5-11), and He responded to that faith.

The woman is being tested. Jesus was very good a reading people and knew what they needed. We notice that the centurion was treated very differently (Matthew 8:5-13) In Matthew 19:16-22, the rich young man gets a challenge that not many are given. See how He responded to the people of Nazareth (Luke 4:16-30). Remember, there is a lot that is not mentioned in the Gospel account, like the internal attitudes of the people involved. 

There is another factor. We see in Scripture : “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does? declares the Lord. Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand (See Jeremiah 18:1-10)” “Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use? (Romans 9:21).” God will do different things with different people because they will have different roles. 

When we go to God, we might find that what happens next is not easy. Does this mean He had abandoned us or is mad at us for something? No necessarily. It could mean that we just need an extra lesson, or that God is making us into something special. Or both. Have you heard the expression, “No good deed goes unpunished?”  Have you ever felt it? If you read the Scriptures and the lives of the saints, you shall see you are not the first. 

I think life is like running an obstacle course with a backpack. We can see others’ backpacks, and some look heavier than others, but we won’t find out until the end how heavy each one’s pack is. We feel how heavy ours is, but we don’t really know how it is compared with others. We might find that our pack was really lighter than a whole lot of people’s and we had it easy. Or we might find our pack with heavier than most peoples. We might find that some people were given extra challenges and beautiful things came from that. We thought some people weren’t doing very well and find out their response to God’s gifts was heroic.  In the meantime, we really don’t know and God seems content to let some things be a surprise.  Some people seem to get challenge after challenge and we don’t know why. In the meantime, God is doing wonderful things.

Blessings,

Fr. Jim

Am I Doing this Right?

Leave a reply

Dear Folks,

Today we see Jesus walking on water. Matthew, Mark, and John all mention the walking on water incident immediately after the feeding of the 5000. Luke does not include the walking on water. Ony Matthew will have Peter getting out of the boat, walking on the water, and then sinking, like a rock. Only Matthew will tell the story in 16:16-20 of Peter declaring that Jesus in the Son of God and being bless and called Peter (But see John 1:43 which shows Jesus calling him “Cephas” which means Rock). All four Gospels mention Peter worst story then he denied Jesus three times (Matthew 26:69-75; Mark 14:66-72; Luke 22:54-62; John 19:17-18 and 19:25-27). It appears the more important one is in the early church, the more one’s failings become known.

As we saw in the multiplication of the loaves, we see in the walking on water, there are no forces on earth that can stop Jesus. As long as we keep our eyes on Him.

Peter got out of the boat and walked. No one else did that. But he looked at the storm and failed. We will often be challenged to step out in faith, and we might look at the storm and fail. Then we tell Him we need help.

If we want to do God’s work, we will make mistakes.  I have explained to God that if he would keep me from messing up, I could get His work done more efficiently. (I also mentioned that it would be very beneficial if He would give me some advanced notice what His is planning so I could get ready, and it would be a really good thing for gravity to give senior citizen discounts). 

In Ken Burns’ “History of Jazz” there was a clip of Artie Shaw criticizing Glen Miller for never making mistakes. He said that if you don’t make mistakes, you are not pushing yourself as hard as you can but staying where it’s safe. I suggest that Peter knew they were being called to greatness, and he tried very hard to answer the call, and that sometimes meant getting in over his head (so to speak). He would grow in the process and wound up giving his life for the Kingdom of God. 

How is God calling you? Have you made mistakes? If so, you’re in good company. 

Blessings,

Fr. Jim

We do What we Can, but it is Jesus Who Feeds

Leave a reply

Dear Folks,

Our Gospel today is the multiplication of the loaves and fish, the feeding of five thousand with five loaves and two fish. This story is familiar. After all, it is the only miracle mentioned in all four Gospels (Matthew 14:13-21; Mark 6:35-44; Luke 9:10-17 and John 6), and Matthew and Mark also have the feeding of he four thousand with seven loaves and a few fish (Matthew 15-32-39 and Mark 8:1-10). If you only listen the Sunday readings, you would never know that. This year we get Matthew’s account. Next year, we will interrupt Mark to do the feeding and the bread of life discourse from the Gospel of John (July 25th to August 6th). If you read through the Gospels (which I highly recommend) we Clearly, this story is important to the early Church.

Consider the poor disciples. They watched Jesus propose that they feed all those families. They would have known the Hebrew scriptures and the story of Elijah feeding 100 men with twenty barley loaves and having some left over (2 Kings 4:2-44). This is much bigger.  I could imagine them saying, “No, boss, no! Look at this crowd. If we promise them food and don’t give them food they will tear us apart!”  All the tellings of the stories involve starting with what He is given. Surely it would be in His power to go Poof! Everyone has bread and fish. It would be in His power to go Poof! Everyone has filet mignon. However, He calls them to give what they have, even though it is horribly, laughably inadequate. Then he feeds everyone, and there is not just some left over.  The feeding of the five thousand families had twelve baskets left over, symbolizing the twelve tribes of Israel. The feeding of the four thousand took place in Gentile territory, and has seven baskets left over, symbolizing the seven tribes of Gentiles (see Joshua 3:10).

There is an echo of this in John 21, when Jesus tells the disciples to cast out their nets and they bring in a huge number of fish (which echoes Luke 5:3-7)   Jesus says to bring some of the fish they caught, while He already had some bread and fish being cooked for breakfast. More astute students of the Bible would be asking why He wanted them to bring some fish when He already was cooking the bread and fish for breakfast. I would suggest that He always asks us to bring what we have, while it is He who feeds. 

When we come to worship God, our worship is imperfect, so much short of what God deserves. We bring what we have, and Jesus works though us in the liturgy, and wonderful things happen. When we serve God in the world, our ability is horribly inadequate for the mess the world is in. We bring what we have, and it is Jesus who makes wonderful things happen. Sometimes (as in usually) it takes longer than we think it should. However, much patience I think I have learned, God seems to think I need to learn more. God is at work and doing things we do not yet understand. He calls us to participate. How will we respond?

Blessings,

Fr. Jim

Wheat and Weeds: No Escape

Leave a reply

Dear Folks,

We continue on Matthew 13 and have more parables. We have the parable of the wheat and the weeds, then a pair of parables (the mustard seed and the woman who mixes yeast with dough). 

The parable of the wheat and weeds warns us that the Church is going to be messy. The particular kind of weeds they are mentioned here are called “tares” and young tares can easily be mistaken for young wheat. We continue to be surprised that we see bad behavior in church, and some people leave because of it. But Jesus warned us in the beginning that it would happen. We keep being surprised that Jesus was right. We don’t get to say that this person is not worthy to be in the Church. This, by the way, includes us. We don’t get to say, “I am too bad a person; I’m not worthy to go to church.”  We might not be ready to receive communion, but if we are feeling weedy, we need God and Church more that ever. 

Unlike with literal weeds, in Church a weed can become a stalk of wheat, and a stalk of wheat can become a weed. I think one of God’s favorite things to do is take great sinners and make them great saints. You never know when this is going to happen, including to you.

Does this mean we should do nothing about all the bad in the Church? Just accept it and hold on to things getting fixed in the end?

No. Not at all. In fact, the parable of the mustard seed and the parable of the yeast take away our biggest excuse. We don’t get to say that we have no power so it’s someone else’s problem. The parable of the mustard seed and the parable of the yeast tell us that little things matter. The smallest act can make a huge difference in the Kingdom. The smallest act of kindness, the smallest act of faithfulness, the smallest act of respect might make all the difference in someone’s life, and we won’t know until the last day what all difference it made. We might get some feedback that will help keep us going, but we know that much more is happening than we can see. A tiny mustard seed can make a huge plant. A small amount of yeast can transform a great quantity of dough. (Those who know me know I don’t like mustard, so this is not one of my favorite parables. However, I understand why Jesus did not use ketchup seeds.)

Yeast is somethings in the Bible a negative image (Matthew 16:5-12; Mark 8:14-21; Luke 12:1-3; 1 Corinthians 5:6-8). This reminds us that the Bible is not a code book and will use different images in different ways. We will not, in this life, say that we have figured it all out. Our understanding is tiny compared to the truth that is. And yet, we can make a difference. 

How are you dealing with weeds in your life? How are you feeling weedy yourself?  

Don’t worry, God is at work. 

Blessings,

Fr. Jim

Saying No to God

Leave a reply

Dear Folks,

The Gospel reading is from Matthew 13, and we’ll be seeking Matthew 13 for the rest of this month. It is full of parables, and Jesus makes an important statement that a “scribe who is learned in the Kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house that brings from his storeroom both the new and the old (Matt 13:51-52).” There is also the sad description of Jesus not being accepted at Nazareth (Matthew 13:53-58; compare with Mark 6:1-6 and especially Luke 4:16-30 which is the fullest version).

When one says, “Nothing is impossible for God (Luke 1:37)” we must understand it correctly. God can do what is practically impossible (I cannot jump to the moon, but if God wanted me to, he could make it happen. I trust He would also do something about my habit of breathing). He cannot do what is logically impossible, that which contains a contradiction. He cannot make a four cornered circle, which would be a contradiction.  He cannot give us free will and keep us from misusing it. He cannot force us to love Him freely. That would contain a contradiction. 

We see in “The Screwtape Letters” “But you see that the Irresistible and the Indisputable are the two weapons which the very nature of His scheme forbids Him to use. Merely to over-ride a human will (as His felt presence in any but the faintest and most mitigated degree would certainly do) would be for Him useless. He cannot ravish. He can only woo (Letter #8).”

This week we see the parable of the sower, and people’s ability to reject God’s grace. The parable of the sower shows three different kinds or rejecting God. One is dismissing the truth out of hand. One is being taken intimidated by “trouble or persecution.” One is being lured away by the pleasures of the world. 

We remember that the human race was tested first in a garden (Genesis 3) and then a desert (Exodus) and failed both times. Jesus was tested in the desert (Matthew 4:1-7) and then a garden (Matthew 26:36-46) and passed both tests. Sometimes we are tested through hardship, and sometimes we are tested through abundance. In either case, we are asked do we trust the promises of God more that the promises of the world?

The enemy is good at making the promises of God seem arbitrary and impossible.  Of course they are arbitrary apart from God’s plan for us, and of course they are impossible without His grace, but that is not how He calls us to do His will. 

God is calling. How will we respond?

Blessings,

Fr. Jim

Yolk is Easy???

Leave a reply

Dear Folks,

Jesus teaches that “My yolk is easy and my burden is light (Matthew 11:30).” We think of the terrible burden that he carried on the cross and called us to do the same (Matthew 10:38). We think of the Christians through the centuries who did incredible things in following Jesus wonder how this matches.

I suggest we look at our second reading as it makes reference to the flesh and the spirit and calls us to live according to the spirit. To get this critical Biblical concept down it would be good to read Romans 8:1-13 and Galatians 5:13 through 6:10. We see that “according to the flesh” is a bad thing and “according to the spirit” is a good thing. This does not, of course mean our bodies are evil. God made our bodies and called them good (Genesis 1 and 2), and that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). St. Paul is talking about a way of thinking.

As he told the Colossians, “If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christis is seated at the right hand of God. Think of what is above, not of what is on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ your life appears, then you too will appear with him in glory. Put to death, then the parts of you that are earthly: immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and the greed that is idolatry (Colossians 3:1-5).”

“I say, then: live by the spirit and you will certainly not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh. For the flesh has desires against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; these are opposed to each other; so that you may not do what you want. But if you are guided by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are obvious: immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, rivalry jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness, dissensions, factions, occasions of envy, drinking bouts, orgies, and the like. I warn you as I warned you before, that those who do such things will net inherit the kingdom of God. In contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law (Galatians 6:16-23).”

If we stay in our sinful state and rules of morality get imposed upon us, they will be painful and incredibly difficult. The more we are transformed by our union with Christ, the more that living according to the Spirit follows from that relationship. We remember that Jesus calls us, not just to compliance with rules, but to be transformed by Him (“Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good, and pleasing and perfect (Romans 12:2).” The Christian Journey is gradually being transformed according by His presence in our lives. At any point we are imperfectly transformed but called to greater perfection. “So be perfect, just as you heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48).”

It is then we can begin to understand what Jesus meant by His teaching that “My yolk is easy and my burden is light (Matthew 11:30).”

Blessings,

Fr. Jim

Making Hard Choices

Leave a reply

Dear Folks,

Our Gospel this Sunday is, once again, from Matthew chapter 10, Jesus giving instructions to His disciples as he sends them forth to preach and heal (Mattew 10:37-42). He is giving some hard sayings about what it’s going to be like sometimes. This calls to mind Matthew 5:10, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (I suggest as one goes through the Gospel of Matthew, it is good to look for echoes of the Sermon on the Mount).”

There is a constant temptation to do religion as one thing among many, our work life, our social life, our hobbies, our Christianity, etc. and do it when it fits what we want to do. Jesus said that to be His followers we must be ready to lose everything for His sake. If we aren’t we are not really doing Christianity.  

C. S. Lewis famously said, “Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance, the only thing it cannot be is moderately important.” And  we see in the Scriptures “Since you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of my mouth (Rev 3:16).”

Jesus speaks of carrying one’s cross. We are used to that. The Apostles are not. The cross was the ultimate humiliation and agonizing death. They would learn how serious he was, and what it would cost them to be His followers. If we are truly rooted in Christ, there will be times the world will be opposed to us.

And yet, even as they went to horrible deaths, if you had asked them if it was worth it, I bet they all would have told you yes. I also think that the reasons why it was worth it would not have made sense to them when they started. 

We learn as we go what being Christian will cost us, and we will learn what benefits there are. In the early Church, people often had to choose between their faith and their family. In those days, family was also social contacts, business contacts, and safety net. Losing the family was losing everything in the world. What has our Christianity cost us?  

Not all Christians are called to die for the faith, but all Christians are called to be ready to die for the faith. If we are ready to lose everything, we are truly following Jesus. 

Blessings,

Fr. Jim

Being Sent: Be Warned

1 Reply

Dear Folks,

Our Gospel this Sunday is from Matthew chapter 10. In this chapter Jesus gives instruction to the apostles as He sends them forth to preach and heal. I challenge you that these instructions are for all us for we have all been sent, and it’s worth reading all of Matthew chapter 10 this week. 

We are warned that trying to do good will often be met we opposition, sometimes mean opposition, and we are going to have to face that. Clare Boothe Luce famously said, “No good deed goes unpunished.”  

I would especially point out: “Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves. (Matthew 10:16).” The Greek word for shrewd (phronimos) is used in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament that was popular at Jesus’ time) in Genesis 3:1 “The serpent was the most phronimos of the animals that the Lord God has made.” Matthew’s readers would have immediately made the connection. Being sent by Jesus will take everything we have, including our cleverness, but we must never allow ourselves to become mean and hateful. 

The first letter of Peter repeatedly hammers home the idea that we need to be careful that we are being persecuted for doing God’s work and not for being jerks. “For whenever anyone bears the pain of unjust suffering because of consciousness of God, that is a grace. But what credit is there if you are patient when beaten for doing wrong? But if you are patient when you suffer for doing what is good, this is a grace before God (1 Peter 2:19-20).” “For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that be the will of God, than for doing evil (1 Peter 3:17).” “Beloved, do not be surprised that a trial by fire in occurring among you, as if something strange were happening to you. But rejoice to the extent that you share in the suffering of Christ, so that when his glory is revealed you may also rejoice exultantly. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let on one among you be made to suffer as a murder, a thief, an evildoer, or as an intriguer. But whoever is made to suffer as a Christian should not be ashamed but glorify God because of the name (1 Peter 4:12-17).”

To be God’s witnesses, we will need to be well grounded in our relationship with Jesus (John 15:1-8).  Only in union with Him will we be able to face the reality of the world and not be made according to its image. Clever as serpents, clever as The Serpent, but remain innocent as doves. The world can get nasty; we are to remain faithful, not just for our sake, but for the sake of those people to whom God sends us.

Blessings,

Fr. Jim 

Being Called

Leave a reply

Dear Folks,

In our Gospel this week we see Jesus selecting and calling his apostles

God calls each one of us to play a role in His gigantic plan. We may figure that we are not important enough, not powerful enough, or not situated right to be major parts of His plan. This is missing the point. We see in Pope Leo’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas:

“212. At this point, however, a subtle temptation may emerge, namely the thought that the problems are too big and we are too small, and that our choices, therefore, cannot make a difference. This is a polite form of resignation, often disguised as realism. Certainly, not everyone has the same power to make a difference. There are those who govern, make investment decisions, lead institutions, conduct research, educate, produce or provide information, and then there are those who only seem to live their daily lives. Yet, no one is without responsibility. We all have our own areas for action, and it is precisely there — and nowhere else — that we must choose whether to fuel the mentality of force (even if only through indifference, cynicism, lies or hatred), or to preserve the mindset of peace (with truth, moderation, closeness and care).

213. The twentieth-century Catholic author J.R.R. Tolkien, in the words of a protagonist in one of his novels, described our responsibility in this way: “It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till.” The civilization of love will not arise from a single or spectacular gesture, but from the sum total of small and steadfast acts of fidelity that serve as a bulwark against dehumanization. For this reason, it is worthwhile pausing to reflect on some aspects of how we, each in our own way, can cooperate in building the civilization of love. Without presuming to exhaust this theme, I would like to propose five paths toward daily and public responsibility: the need to disarm words, building peace through justice, adopting the perspective of victims, cultivating a healthy realism and reviving dialogue and multilateralism.”

We only see a part of God’s work, so we cannot see all the ways we will fit in it. John 15:16a says “You did not choose me. Rather, I chose you. And I appointed you to go out and bear fruit that will remain…”

Looking through the Bible and the lives of the saints one can see that God is constantly calling people to be a part of His plan.  It is often the person you’d least suspect.  We don’t know much about the twelve before they were called. We know four were fishermen, that one was a tax collector and that one was from the zealot party, but that’s pretty much it. The New Testament is not very cooperative in getting us the answers we sometimes want. Very often, God called people when they are busy doing something else.  He often asks people to do something that makes no sense to them at the time. 

We sometimes ask why God allows there to be so much evil in the world. I suggest that part of the answer is that God gives us some responsibility for making the world better. Now if you consider all the people who were called to do good and didn’t do it, and then all all the evil that people have done since the beginning, that is a lot. I suggest that is the gap between the world that God wanted and the one we have.  If we have been paying attention, I bet that we’ve noticed how the actions of those who went before us have left us better or worse off.  As we respond to God’s call, I suggest we are will be affecting people in the future until the end of time.

How has God called you? How might he be calling you now? How would you respond if he calls you in the future? It matters.

Blessings,

Fr. Jim

Participating in the Ultimate Sacrifice

Leave a reply

Dear Folks,

The Bible is paradoxical about many things. A paradox is an apparent contradiction, but on closer inspection, we see how it fits together and shows a deeper truth than a simple statement would have made.

One paradox is about sacrifice. The sacrifices of the Old Testament lead up to the one sacrifice of Jesus, offered once for all (Romans 6:10; Hebrews 10:10, 1Peter 3:18, etc.).

But we find some interesting stuff in the New Testament. Romans 12:1 “Therefore, brethren, I implore you by the mercies of God to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice hat is holy and acceptable to God – a spiritual act of worship.” We see Colossians 1:24 “I find great joy at present in suffering for you, and in my own body I am completing the suffering that still must by undergone by Christ for the sake of his body, the Church.” 1 Peter 2:4-5.“Come to him, a living stone, rejected by men but chose by God and precious. You too, are like living stones, being built up into a spiritual temple and a holy priesthood to offer sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” I would also understand Ephesians 5:1-2 as a fulfillment of Ezekiel 20:41.

There is only one sacrifice now: the Jesus offering once in history Himself on the cross, and that sacrifice is always before the Father (see Revelation 5:6), while the Scriptures say that we are to offer sacrifice.  Therefore, the sacrifice we are to offer is that one.  It is already perfect and perfectly holy, but it makes us a part of that sacrifice. We don’t add anything to it, but once again it is gift from God to make us connected to Jesus. We are the body of Christ, (remember 1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4:11-13, and Romans 12) and this is a body that is offered to the Father (see 1 Corinthians 15:28). Jesus gave Himself sacramentally at the Last Supper, and then on the Cross. Without the cross, the Last Supper is just dinner and without the Last Supper, the Cross is just an execution. 

We look at Paul being fierce about the way people behave at Eucharist in 1Corinthians 11:17-34, especially “Therefore, anyone who eats the bread and drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner is guilty of an offense against the body and blood of the Lord. 

“Taking part in the Eucharistic sacrifice, which is the fount and apex of the whole Christian life, they offer the Divine Victim to God, and offer themselves along with It. (Lumen Gentium #11. See also Sacrosanctum Concilium 48).”

As a bride and groom give themselves to each other sacrimentally at their wedding, and then in practice living out their vows, so Jesus gives Himself to us sacramentally as Mass, and then gave Himself in practice on the cross. So we are called to give ourselves sacramentally at Mass and in practice as we go live the Christian life. “For all their works, prayers, and apostolic endeavors, their ordinary married and family life, their daily labor, their mental and physical relaxation, if carried out in the spirit, and ever the hardships of life, if patiently borne – all these become spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (c.f. 1 Peter 2:5) Lumen Gentium 34.” 

This explains why St. Paul is so fierce about really meaning it “Everyone should examine himself about eating the bread and drinking the cup. For a person who eats and drinks without discerning the body of the Lord is eating and drinking judgement on himself (vv. 27-29).”

The essence of the Gospel is the gift of self. The Lord gives Himself completely to us, not even withholding the last drop of His blood, and He calls us to give ourselves completely to him. 

Blessings,

Fr. Jim