Deacon Larry

 

Third Sunday of Lent

Ex 3: 1-81, 13-15; Luke 13: 1-9

Dc. Larry Brockman

Are you ready to repent?  After all, Jesus is talking to you and I, not just the Jews of the first century, because we are all likely guilty of their sin- by concerning ourselves with our brother’s sins, and not our own sins.  And just like them, we need to repent.   

How so?  Well, which of us does not read the paper, or watch the TV news, or browse the internet each day to learn about, and then dwell on, everybody else’s sins- the public official who went to a prostitute or travelled to visit his mistress on public funds; the Caribbean people suffering from an earthquake whose leaders long ago allegedly made a pact with the devil; The army doctor who went berserk in a recruiting center; or the well respected rich man who runs a Ponzi scheme and bilks millions of folks out of their life savings.  Don’t some of these stories actually make us feel better about ourselves?  Because we compare ourselves to these people and come away with a certain comfort about our lack of guilt.  “Thank God I am not like these great sinners”.  We may even say that the dire consequences some of these sinners experienced served them right for what they did, and that God is punishing them for it.   

Somewhat closer to home, but still in the same vein, what about the people close to us in our lives who have wronged us, or whose sins are being exposed- the coworker who said something in gossip about us; the neighbor who allegedly is having an affair?  Are we so pre-occupied with these things that we don’t look at our own sins?   

All of that sounds so much like today’s Gospel story, doesn’t it-  people pointing fingers at others who suffered and asking Jesus if they were punished because of their sins.  But what does Jesus say?  He says no, they were not singled out for their sin, not just once but twice.  He says they are not greater sinners than the rest of the people.  Jesus tells his people to look at their own sins, and not to concern themselves with the sins of others.  And the reason that they should look at their own sins is that time is urgent.  Because you could experience a disaster at any time, just like the people in the two stories; and when you face judgment, the Lord will be concerned with your conduct, not the conduct of others.  And so, Jesus tells them to repent or they will perish just like those in the two notorious stories.   

That’s when he tells the parable of the fig tree.  You see, the fig tree is like the people that question Jesus.  The fig tree is passively biding time- three years in time, signifying an indefinite length of time- not too short, and not too long.  The fig tree has not taken in nourishment to grow and bear fruit in that time, it is just sitting there, watching the world go by.  Jesus wants each of us to bear fruit; not to be passive in the indefinite length of time we live.  He wants us to make an effort.  Like the fig tree, God will give us fertilizer and water, and give us yet more time, yet another chance, to repent and change our ways.  In other words, He gives us the grace we need to do something with our lives, no matter what we’ve done in the past.  But, we cannot be passive observers, and dwell on the sins of others.  We need to pay attention now to our own failings.   

This is a hard lesson for us all to learn,  To forget about our brothers sin, and just concentrate on ourselves.  Leonardo Da Vinci learned this lesson while he was painting his famous “Last Supper” in Milan.  While he was working on the painting, he had a bitter argument with another painter, an enemy who he had long despised.  To vent his anger at this other artist,   Da Vinci used the artist’s face as a model for the face of Judas Iscariot, the Apostle who betrayed the Lord.   Leonardo felt a sense of evil satisfaction in coming up with a humiliation that all his peers would recognize, and one that would last though the centuries.   As he worked on the faces of the other Apostles, he often tried to paint the face of Jesus, but couldn’t make any progress.   He advanced steadily in painting all the figures, except that of Jesus, the most important one.   He became more and more frustrated and confused.   In time he realized what was wrong.  His hatred for the other painter was holding him back from finishing the face of Jesus; it kept him from being able to see Jesus clearly.  Only after making peace with his fellow painter and repainting the face of Judas was he able to paint the face of Jesus and complete his masterpiece.  Da Vinci was so pre-occupied with others perceived failings, he was blind to his own failings, and to what Jesus intended for him.  When he recognized that this was the problem, he also recognized his need to repent, to change his way of thinking and reconcile with his enemy.  Only then was his mind and heart free to feel the inspiration that God had for him.   

Lent is a season of reflection.  All of us are asked to fast and abstain and give something up.  Why?  Not for others to see, or to keep score; but rather, because it makes us more sensitive, more in tune with our feelings.  By experiencing real sacrifice and some self mortification, we can look deeper in our own lives and get to the core of how we are not measuring up, and then reflect on how we can change our lives for the better.  In other words, we can discern how we need to repent.  

I will leave you now with some very sobering words- the parting words of St. Paul this morning:  “Whoever thinks that he is standing secure, should take care not to fall”.

 

Feast of Holy Family

Sir 3: 2-6, 12-14; 1John 3: 1-2, 21-24; Luke 2: 41-52

Dc. Larry Brockman

“I’ll be Home for Christmas”- a wartime song that’s become a Christmas favorite.  Everybody wants to be home for Christmas.  Everybody wants to belong; to share the joy.  But, just what is a home?   

Once there was a family of four in the Midwest, where the dad lost his job.  They moved to the city so the dad could look for work.  They were very poor, so, they ended up living in someone else’s house in the basement, paying exorbitant rent for a cramped musty space.  But, they did what they could to make it their home.  They kept it neat and clean, and arranged it as best they could.  They ate their meals together, and they prayed together as a family.  Whenever they could, they also tried to help those who were less fortunate than they were by sharing what they did have in hospitality.   

One day, one of the children’s teachers visited them.  She was shocked at the poverty and the cramped, moldy, basement they were living in.  The next day at school, the teacher took the child aside and said to her: “I am so sorry you don’t have a home to live in”.  The little girl was surprised, and replied innocently:  “Oh no, we have a wonderful home; we’re just still looking for a house to put it in”.^[1]    

Indeed, the most important thing about a home, is that it be a warm, loving place for the family that lives in it.  A large house with lots of rooms doesn’t necessarily mean a good home.  Values, family values, lived out in a spirit of love- that’s what makes a home.   

This morning, we hear about family values in all three of our scriptures.  First, Sirach emphasizes the necessity for us to honor each other.  And it’s a multi-generational type of honor that Sirach describes: Sirach speaks to children honoring their parents; parents respecting their children, and adults honoring and respecting their elderly family members.  Honor and respect can be hard in a fast paced society, where we become easily impatient and even intolerant of each other.  But honor and respect are essential to good relations in our families.  So take the time and make the effort to honor each other.   

And then, in the second reading, we hear about real love- the kind of love that God has for us.  It is likened to love of children.  In fact, we are called children of God.  At this time of year, we all have a great opportunity to observe the kind of love that God has for his children.  Because moms and dads, grandpas and grandmas alike love to lavish their children with gifts and affection.  It brings the children joy, but there’s an even deeper sense of joy in the gift giver.  It’s the same way with God and his children.  God lavishes us with gifts all the time- the gift of life; the gift of our talents; the gift of our loved ones, and yes, even the gift of our limitations.  And like our children and grandchildren, sometimes we are so busy playing with our gifts, that we don’t recognize the love that goes with them- an abiding sense of unconditional love from the heart of the gift giver.  Love of this kind is a key family value.   

And lastly, there’s the Gospel.   Jesus is found in the temple after his frantic parents saw that he was missing for three days.  Like many young people, Jesus was anxious to get on with his life, even if he was just 12, and although he was “wowing” the teachers with his insights, he responded to his Mom and Dad by going with them.  In very simple terms- he was obedient to them.  Another essential value in a good family is obedience.  Obedience makes the whole family function as a unit.  There is a time and a place for our independence.  But, within our families, we need to live our designated roles with obedience- obedience to God- because he placed you in your family, and obedience to your role within the family, whatever it is; the head of the family role; the nourishing role; the caretaker role; the role of the disciplinarian; the teaching role; and the learning role, like the one Jesus took in this morning’s Gospel.  Because children of God need to “advance in wisdom and age and favor before God and man”, just like Jesus did.   

Honor, Love, and Obedience- three essential values that the Holy Family exhibited; three essential values for our families as well.  What can you do to make them happen in your families?  Well, you can make the first move to bring these values to life.  Making the first move means not waiting for others to do something, but taking the initiative yourself.  In a family quarrel, don’t wait for the other person to apologize first.  Instead, make the first move.  Or when you notice that a sibling or other family member is having a bad day, or a bad week, don’t wait for them to come to you for support; make the first move.  If you know that something you do bothers someone else in the house, don’t wait for them to complain before you stop doing it; make the first move.  Choose to love your family members by sacrificing your preferences occasionally for their sake, just as Jesus sacrificed himself for us on the cross.  And then, watch your family prosper, growing in wisdom and favor and age before God and man. 

 1st Sunday of Advent

Jer 33: 14-16; 1 Thes: 3: 12- 4: 2; Luke 21: 25-28, 34-36

Dc. Larry Brockman

Do you feel it?  Do you feel as if the sun and the moon and the stars are in disarray?  Is that what your life seems like to you?  A racetrack full of obstacles and challenges to overcome, but somehow, not full of a deeper meaning and especially, not particularly filled with joy.  If so, welcome to Advent, because Advent is your wake up call.  That’s what the message of today’s readings is.  It’s time to wake up and get ready for the coming of Christ.  But what does that really mean, the coming of Christ?   

Let me start with an example:  Perhaps you have heard of Michelle Malkin.  Michelle is a journalist and popular commentator on Cable News.  Michelle was immersed in a busier and busier schedule a few years back,  A schedule filled with interviews and other events,  As well as her regular job.  As a result, she was not spending much time with her 2 children.  One day, as she was returning from a particularly busy day, she started up her steep driveway in her SUV and passed a few neighborhood children below her.  She was in a hurry to get dinner ready.  So she left the car at the entrance to the garage, and started toward her house.  But she forgot to set the parking brake, and so, the car started drifting down the steep driveway towards the children.  She watched in horror as the car gathered speed and headed downward right towards the children.  Suddenly, the car swerved slightly and struck a birch tree stopping it cold.  What a relief she thought.  But then, it dawned on her how lucky she really was because that incident woke her up.  She had been so much in a hurry, that she didn’t take the time to put safety first.  But, she had been given a second chance- no real harm was done- so, she used that second chance to reflect on what was really important in her life- to get her priorities straight, and to modify her routine so that she had the time to do things right,  And to experience the joy in life that her family brought her.  That’s what Jesus is asking us to do today, and that is the message of Advent.   

Every one of has a life that has settled into a pattern.  It may be a fast paced pattern like Michelle Malkin’s, or it may be a slow, almost boring pattern.  But whatever the pattern, now is the time to   Step back from the groove you are in over the next four weeks and reflect on that pattern, and how to change it for the good.   

Now there are two things that we need to reflect on and be ready for:  The first is the second coming of Christ, and that is the topic of the Gospel.  As Jesus says, that second coming can come at any time for any of us- it will most likely come when we least expect it.  It is about judgment for wayward ways, in particular, the wayward way of the pattern of our lives.  Ask yourself what is there about the pattern of your life that needs a change?  What is it that gnaws at you and says the track I am on is just not right.  It may be because you are too harried with job and responsibilities, always cutting corners to get as much into the agenda as possible; but never having enough time to do things the right way and to put things into the right priority, kind of like Michelle Malkin’s problem.  Or perhaps you spend too much time absorbed in your own world, immersed in video games or football or telephone marathons with your friends; and as a result, your work or family or household suffers.  Or perhaps you have settled into a pattern of withdrawal, of non-involvement, where days and weeks go by and all of your activity revolves around yourself.  You don’t extend yourself by getting out and relating to others.  These are all patterns that can harbor sin in a social context, because the life styles that foster them ignore the responsibility we have to participate fully in the world in the context that God has planned for us.   

The second thing we need to get ready for is the coming of the baby Jesus at Christmas.  This is the topic of our first reading- the prediction of the coming of the Messiah as promised,   the coming of God incarnate as a human being.  Because of that arrival, we have been given a great gift.  God’s gift, His son, shows us the way to perfection through Jesus’ example, because Jesus is not only human; He is divine.  That means that God, who transcends all of us, meaning that He is far above us and not easily grasped, nevertheless made His divine presence immanent to us- close to us, in a form which all of us can relate to, a person like us in all things except sin.     

And so, Jesus arrival is a time of great joy because it heralds the entry into the world of a person whose pattern of life is wholly perfect and acceptable to God.  We have been given the Gospels to tell us what Jesus did and said so we can follow that pattern, for as Jeremiah predicts,  “He shall do what is just and right in the land”.   

And so, Advent is that special time of year, when we are asked to step back and reflect.  Reflect on what is wrong with our lives as a pattern, so that we will be prepared for the second coming of Christ at any time.  And then we are called upon to reflect on how to fix it,  We can do that by reflecting on the coming of the Christ Child, and the pattern of life Jesus laid out for us in the Gospels, so that we may modify our lives accordingly.   

Why should we do all this reflecting?  Well, St. Paul said this:  “May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, so as to strengthen your hearts, to be blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of Our Lord Jesus with all His holy ones”.   

 

All Saints Day

Rev 7: 2-4, 9-14; 1 John 3: 1-3; Mt 5: 1-12a

Dc. Larry Brockman

What does it mean to be a saint?  I think we get some strong clues in today’s readings.

Saints are people who are humble in spirit; who suffer quietly through life’s trials; and who are meek and not arrogant.  Saints thirst and hunger for the right thing to do, rather than the expedient thing to do.  They are merciful, forgiving those who do them wrong.  They have pure and clean hearts, and stay within God’s moral law; they don’t cheat when nobody is looking.  They are peacemakers, and avoid confrontations to get even; they rejoice at the success of others, even when they, themselves, fail.  And yet, saints endure persecution when they are defending their faith- they hang in there in faith even when they are insulted and berated for what they do.  These are things that characterize the saints.  They live a life that is patterned after Jesus.  

Lot’s of times, we think the saints are just canonized saints-  the apostles, the martyrs, and great defenders of the faith from the past, people like Saints Peter and Paul and Augustine and Agatha and Catherine of Siena and Joan of Arc.  And indeed, the Church has recognized these people as saints.  But there is something we should all know about these saints.  They were not perfect.  Each of the classic saints I mentioned above had sinned.  Peter denied Christ three times; Paul persecuted the Christians before his conversion; and Augustine led a pleasure seeking life before his conversion.  But, they went on to practice one or more of the beatitudes with zeal.   

Now, there are many people who lived amongst us recently who were not perfect but who practiced one or more of the Beatitudes we mentioned above.  They lived them out of faith, and they lived them with a passion.  Some easily recognized modern day saints include war heroes who sacrificed their lives to save others; and people dedicated to relieving the suffering of the poor and lepers, and people who dedicated their lives to caring for unwed mothers who were considering abortion.  There are names we can think of that fit each of these three categories.  Yes, they may have been sinners as well.  But God’s mercy triumphs over justice.  And these people were surely saints for what they have done.   

Likewise, there are many living amongst us today who are destined to become saints.  They are people in our own families who have given up their own dreams of personal achievement  In order to follow some task they have been called to do.  Like raising children; caring for aging parents; providing for their families; teaching others; using God’s resources to make life better for us all, and defending our country against terror.  They, also, are not perfect- they are sinners as well.  The point is that saints live their faith as imperfect humans.  They work at it with zeal, and God’s mercy triumphs over justice.   

Today, we recognize all these latter day saints as well as the canonized ones.  They are amongst the great multitude which no one could count.  They survived the time of great distress.  The Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.   

Now, that calls to mind this question.  What does it mean to be a saint?  Yes, what is it that waits for those who become saints?  John answers that question for us.  He says that we are God’s children now.  So we are first of all, God’s children.  Now think about when you were a child.  We needed to learn to do what we were told just because our parents said so.  So also, we need to do what God wants us to do.  We need to do it even if we don’t understand it, just because God told us to do so.  Why?  Because God loves us, just like our parents loved us.  How does God love us?  God’s love was displayed visibly by the gift of his Son Jesus.  His son suffered and died for us.  But then, he was resurrected. 

We have been told that it will be the same for us.  We will suffer and die, and most importantly, we will be resurrected, thanks to the gift of Jesus becoming human, a gift we will soon celebrate as we enter the Advent and Christmas season.  John goes on to say that even though we be resurrected, we don’t know what that will be like.  But he says that we will be like him, like Jesus. 

Wow!  Think of that.  We will be like Jesus, and we will know the Father just like He does.  And knowing in this sense, is experiencing God.  So we will experience the love and the glory and the joy that is from God.  We will be part of the Kingdom of God.  

So rejoice everybody.  Rejoice that you are destined to become a saint,   Imperfect though you may be.  And rejoice over the everlasting joy that will be yours.  Because this is your feast day, the feast of All Saints. 

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Gen 2: 18-24; Heb 2: 9-11; Mk 10: 2-16

Dc. Larry Brockman

 

“Because of the hardness of your hearts, he wrote this command”.  Such was Jesus comment to the Pharisees about Moses as they tried to justify divorce.  Jesus then defined the Christian understanding of marriage, quoting from Genesis, the same part of Genesis as our First Reading.  The words are very clear.  One man and one woman marry and become one, and what God joins together, no man should separate.  And yet, even after his clear words to the Pharisees, the apostles called Jesus aside and questioned him.  And so Jesus adds that to divorce and marry another is adultery- pretty strong words.  They are a direct and explicit moral teaching on marriage. 

Indeed, this Gospel confirms for us that there are moral absolutes.  They are absolutes because God said so, and that God’s word is really not negotiable.  Let me elaborate.  

Recall that during the description of the fall of Adam and Eve in Genesis, just after the part we read today, Adam and Eve were told that “The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil” was off limits.  But they ate the fruit because they wanted to be like God, and know good and evil.  But man is not permitted to define good and evil.  That charter, defining good and evil, is God’s charter.  Rather, man must follow the natural law and the moral law that God has defined to us because we are not Gods, and do not have God’s wisdom. So, we cannot discern good and evil.  We live this life in an imperfect world until we learn to follow God’s will and keep his commandments accordingly.

 

Now God handed down the law to us in various ways:  It’s in the ten commandments, It’s in the Mosaic law, and it’s in the moral teachings in the Gospels and the Christian letters that form the New Testament.  God also defines His law in the workings of nature- that is called natural law.  In its wisdom, the Church has accumulated and made sense of God’s law for us.  That’s what the Catechism of the Church summarizes: a definition of what we believe and what God has defined as right and wrong.

 

Today is Right to Life Sunday.  It is essential that practicing Catholics understand the above principle on God’s role in matters of faith and morals as background to the Right to Life.  Otherwise, we will be confused by man’s wisdom, and man’s law that follows from it.  Because man’s wisdom sometimes attempts to define good and evil apart from God, and that is the sin of Adam and Eve.  And so, man’s law can be flawed. 

Now we Catholics have a solemn obligation to follow the Church’s teachings on Right to Life Issues rather than accept man made wisdom and laws.  The Right to Life is one of the most important areas covered by the Catechism, and so we should know what the Church teaches and follow it. 

Right to Life includes many hot button issues that are being discussed and debated in the public domain:  Abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicide, embryonic research, war, and capital punishment are a few of these areas.  But life itself is integrally connected with quality of life.  And so the Right to Life includes one’s access to food, water, and shelter as well.  Simply stated, the poor and the marginalized have a right to life, just like those who hold a more fortunate position in society.  And that is why the Right to Life is such an important issue.  Because it is pervasive; it touches everything that society and government struggle with to provide for people.

 

So, what are some of the teachings of the Church on Right to Life straight out of the Catechism?  Well, that life begins at Conception (Jer 1:5); that abortion is wrong and that it is wrong to kill infants (Did 2:2);  that it is wrong, by an act of omission or commission, to cause a sick and diminished person to die, that’s called Euthanasia; that it is wrong to take one’s own life; and that everyone is entitled to basic needs- food, clothing, housing, etc. 

It is not enough, however, to know these things, and believe them personally, and then be silent about them when these basic rights are violated in society around us.  We have an obligation to get involved, and to do what we can to assure that our government guarantees these rights.  We do that by voting for the right candidates, speaking out against government officials and policies when they infringe on the Right to Life, and by our own personal example in living our daily lives at work, in school and as a homemaker.

 

In the last couple of months, the Respect Life Organization has been extremely pleased with your response to all three of our recent appeals.   3,000 post cards were sent to our Senators and representatives opposing the Freedom of Choice Act.  Over $10,000 was collected in the baby bottle appeal.  On both counts, this is more than any other parish in the Diocese.  Over 1700 of you signed up for spiritual adoption of an unborn baby.  These were absolutely outstanding responses from our Parish.  Congratulations to all of you for your support and help.

   

But these are troubled times for Right to Life in America.  There was a change in government this year that brought a sweeping change in philosophy with it.  The philosophy confuses rights with wants.  Pro-choice, for example, confuses the wants of a mother, with the rights of an unborn child; and gay marriage confuses the wants of two gay people, with the right of a man and a woman to procreate. 

Not only that, we have become a victim to a mantra of “judge not, lest you be judged”  As an excuse for allowing and even sanctioning people’s so-called right to do what is morally wrong by Christian Standards.  But as we have shown earlier, there are moral absolutes:  Abortion and Euthanasia are wrong; marriage is for a man and a woman.  These are moral absolutes.  We are not judging people- that is up to God.  We are judging the morality of certain acts by the standards we are supposed to believe in, the standards in our Catechism; and we don’t want society to legislate morality that is counter to those standards. 

    

Now many of our current leaders, including so-called Catholics, are outspoken opponents of the Right to Life.  Several of them I can think of have publicly denied the teaching of the Church, claiming that they are following their consciences.  This is another argument one hears often-  that our consciences prevail over church laws and statutes.  After all, following God’s law is something that needs to come from the heart, and that’s what our consciences determine.  Indeed, the Catechism does advise us that we must be allowed to act in conformity with our conscience.  But there is an important catch, because the Catechism also says that our consciences must be informed and enlightened in moral judgment.  If one chooses to ignore or reject God’s law, than they have not properly formed their conscience.

What is most alarming about Catholic public officials opposing the Church’s teaching on Right to Life is the bad example it sets for other Catholics, and the impression it gives to greater society that the matter is open for debate in the Church.  In Church Canon Law, that is called causing scandal. That is why it is important for those of us who are committed Catholics to be heard, to make a correct moral judgment, and to speak out and validate the position of the Church. 

  

There are many ways that you can help.  Respect life is conducting a membership campaign- sign up and get involved.  They have access to many resources that can help you to get involved- for example, by writing your elected officials; by participating in programs that help people struggling with a decision on abortion; and by helping the marginalized and elderly.

Last but not least, there is a very easy way for you all to demonstrate your commitment to the Right to Life today.  Because from 1:30 PM to 3 PM today, we will be forming the Life Chain out on Apopka Vineland in front of the Church.  You are invited to be there.  Make it a memorable event, a massive demonstration for the Right to Life.  Fr. Ennis will be there, and so will I.  See you then. 

 

September 13, 2009

24th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Is 50:  4c-9a; James 2: 14-18; Mk 8: 27-35

Deacon Larry Brockman

Some churches make it sound easy because they talk about how Faith alone saves.  These folks believe that God loves everyone so much, that all they have to do is believe in him and they are saved!  But we believe that being a Christian is tougher than that.  Just consider what we heard today from James:  That “Faith without works is dead”!  That certainly sounds like it takes more than Faith to be a Christian.

In fact, the arguments about faith and works are at the center of theological debates between various Christian denominations about salvation.  We won’t go into the theology of the two sides.  Rather, we will look at the matter in practical ways.   

That last sentence of the second reading says it all in a very practical way:  “Demonstrate your faith to me without works, and I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works.”  Indeed, it is easier to see how genuine someone is by what they do, than it is from what they say.   

Now most of us find ourselves immersed in the sea of life, too busy with all the things that life demands to engage in a debate about faith and works.  Like it or not, our lives are filled with works.  We do things for our family; including feeding, educating, chauffeuring and a whole lot more; we do things at our jobs; sometimes for 10 to 12 hours a day; we do things for the government; like pay taxes, participate in civic projects, and voting; and we do things for our health; like working out, jogging, dieting, and more.  Indeed, our lives are full of activities- these are works.  And not a day goes by that we aren’t challenged to do more of them just to get by.  But are these things we do demonstrating our faith?  Or are they a way of life driven by circumstances?  In other words, is our Faith something that we devote to Sunday Mornings, with the rest of our lives being filled with works that just demonstrate that we are caught in the flow dictated by the secular world.   

Now in today’s Gospel, Jesus says:  “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me”.  And so, Jesus wants us to demonstrate that we are following him by our actions.  But they are not just any actions.  They are actions that display our faith in what Jesus did and taught.  They are actions that display some dying to self, and picking up some sort of cross.  These crosses don’t have to be some horrible painful ordeal.  God took that on himself.  That’s what the good news of the Gospel is about, that God loved us so much that he sent his only Son to die that horrible death for us to save us all.  Rather, our crosses include bearing with our busy lives with the right understanding.  And that understanding is this:  That no matter how demanding living in secular society is, you have an obligation to make a sacrifice by dying a little bit to yourself, by giving up some of your “time just for me”, and using that time in an effort to make a difference in the world. 

Today we are giving you two golden opportunities to re-evaluate your lives, and find a way to demonstrate your Faith through Christian works. First, we are conducting our yearly Ministry Faire after all the Masses today,  and so all of you can hear about the wonderful work that our many ministries are doing.  You can choose one or more to be involved in.  There are spiritual enrichment programs- Bible Studies, Emmaus Retreats, Devotion Groups, Prayer Groups, Perpetual Adoration, and more.  There are social service organizations, like the Men’s Club, KOC, the Ladies Association, St. Vincent de Paul, and others.  There are ways for you to participate more actively in our liturgies- by becoming an EMHC, a Reader, an Altar server, a member of the Music Ministry, or an Usher; ways to support our Sacramental Preparation programs through Prep, BHF, the Baptism Ministry, and RCIA; ways to help support our Youth and Young Adult Groups;  ways to get involved with the Right to Life by joining Respect Life; and ways to help the poor and sick through our Hospital Ministry, St Martin de Pours, Bereavement, and others.  Indeed, the Parish has a great many ways for all of you to perform Christian Works- something for everybody; a way to use your talents, whatever they may be.  I hope you will all consider a way to get involved.   

The second opportunity you have today is to participate in the Spiritual Adoption Program the Parish is launching today.  This program is a way of “making a difference” collectively as a whole parish.  So, what is Spiritual Adoption?  Picture a young woman who just discovered that she is 7 weeks pregnant.  For one reason or another- pressure from society or the father, her own goals in life, or her social status- she is considering an abortion.  We don’t know her name- but we know she is out there.  Why, because since Roe vs Wade, the number of abortions has increased to 1.4 million year.  That means there are 4,000 women in the USA who not only are considering an abortion this very day, but who will actually abort their child today.  4000 just today!  We are asking you to adopt today one of the children whose Mom is thinking of aborting them. 

Did you know, for example, that the 7 week old little one you adopt today, has a heart that has been beating for a month, and that he or she can already flex their toes and suck on their thumb.  But this little one is totally dependent on the Mom.  So we are asking you to help the Mom.  We know that prayer can and does make a difference.  Please pray for both the Mom and the Child over the next 8 months. we are confident that if the parish prays for them,  God will hear our prayers and save some of them by moving their Mom’s and Families to reconsider. 

By the way, we will keep you informed over the next 8 months how your child is developing using the banners posted out in the parking lot and notices in the bulletin. 

Look now at the end of each pew.  There are “pledge cards” for you to fill out.  Take one for your adopted child- you, your spouse, and each of your children can each participate, or you can adopt a child as a family project.  Fill in a name for your child.  Tear off the larger portion, the prayer card, and keep it.  We ask you to pray this ten second prayer each day over the next 8 months.  Then take the rest of the signup card forward to the altar and place it in the basket there.  If you need more time to think it over, or you want to discuss it as a family, you can bring the cards back later and put them in the basket next Sunday at the Respect Life Table in the Narthex.  After that, the basket will be in the Perpetual Adoration Chapel for the next 8 months.  At the end of the nine month period, we will ask each person who adopted a child to bring a “baby shower” gift on Mothers Day to the Church.  We will collect the gifts and get them to the JMJ Pregnancy Crisis Center.  These gifts are a tangible way for us to help mothers who have decided in favor of the beautiful gift of life.  We will wait a few moments now for you to bring the cards forward.     

As you make an effort today to die a little to your self, consider this.  Today we heard one of the most beautiful readings in the Old Testament.  The reading tells us that no matter how much we suffer, when we do God’s will, we will prevail.  Why?  Because “The Lord God is my help, who will prove me wrong”. 

12th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Job 38: 1, 8-11; 2 Cor 5: 14-17; Mark 4: 35-41

Dc. Larry Brockman

Why do you suppose that the Apostles were afraid?  After all, Jesus, the Lord, was quietly sleeping besides them.  Imagine that- the Lord, who was both God and man, was sleeping besides them while a violent storm raged, and the boat filled with water.  But surely, no harm could or would come to them as long as Jesus was there. 

Why then were they afraid?  Well, the Lord’s words tell us why.  Because he said to them “Do you not yet have faith”?  So it was a lack of Faith.   

Now it seems to me there are two kinds of Faith:  There’s a guarded kind of faith- a faith expressed and seemingly practiced until- until it is challenged.  And then, well, there’s got to be a back up path, a way out to take, just in case- a way for us to take control.  And then there’s real faith- a complete, trusting faith, a faith that accepts that whatever happens, we will trust in God’s providence.  So a backup path is not necessary, and we leave the control in God’s hands.  That’s the kind of Faith Jesus wants us to have in him.   

You know, I would like to say that mine is always the real kind of faith.  But I have to be honest.  I am certainly not as faithful as the apostles who, although they thought they had Faith in Jesus as Lord, nevertheless woke him to make sure everything would be OK- a backup personal appeal, if you will 

And consider the case of a man like Job in the first reading- Job, who was righteous in the eye of the Lord.  That’s a claim that is hard for any of us sinners to make, that we are righteous in the eyes of the Lord.  But Job’s faith was less than perfect too- because the trials and tribulations he went through weakened his resolve, and introduced doubt.   

And so, as a human, I have a problem with real faith.  And if I were in the boat with Jesus right next to me, even after all the teaching I’ve had in my Faith, I would probably do the same thing- wake Jesus up.  Indeed, it is only human to fear the consequences of the storms that come up in our lives, and to doubt that God is with us in the middle of them- storms like the loss of a loved one, a job loss, and the economic disasters that we are facing today.   We feel we must do something instead of putting our ultimate trust in the Lord.  I’ll bet that most of you, too, would be in the same boat as me.   

Now once and a while, someone comes along who has genuine, almost perfect Faith- people like Padre Pio, St. Francis of Assisi, and St. Francis of Paolo.  We can read about them; we can listen to their stories, and yet, their faith remains a mystery to us.  Because it involves a level of trust in God’s will, moment to moment, and a degree of self sacrifice that is very, very difficult for us to accept.  Consider this story about St Francis of Paolo.  Once a papal representative visited him in his monastery to talk about the rules St. Francis was proposing for his religious order.  The cardinal was explaining that the rules were unreasonably harsh, impossible to follow except for a weather-worn peasant like himself.  The saint walked over to the fireplace, picked up a handful of burning coals in his bare hands, held them out towards his visitor, and said:   “Yes, it is true your Monsignor: I am only an unlearned peasant, and if I were not, I would not be able to do this.”  The well-educated clergyman got the message.   

I think that St. Paul gives us the key to having the kind of faith that gives us such power when he says “The love of Christ impels us, once we have come to the conviction that one died for all”.  First, we have to come to the conviction that Jesus was both God and Man, and that He died for all of us, and that he rose from the dead and saved all of us.  Having that conviction is the beginning of Faith.  But the second part is just as important.   

Once we come to that conviction, and an understanding of what it means, namely, everlasting life and a relationship with the almighty God, our reaction should be to love God and show it by putting him first; so that the love of Christ, “Impels us” to live for Christ, not for ourselves.  If we can do that, allow ourselves to be impelled by the Love of Christ, then that love will cast out our fears, we will have genuine faith, and the peace that goes along with it. 

Certainly, because we are not perfect, we will sometimes fail, just as these apostles did.  But the important thing is that we return to our Faith and the Love of Christ each time we fail. 

This weekend we celebrate Fathers Day.  A day in which all of us thank our Fathers for the manifold gifts they have given us.  For many of us, it was our Fathers who passed on to us the gift of Faith.  Indeed, if we have a genuine faith, then our Fathers probably had a lot to do with it.  Because although we can learn from teachers and books and schools and all kinds of sources, what we should believe as part of our faith, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it is our conviction.  To have conviction in our Faith on our hearts takes the influence of a good parent- like a good Father because children observe the faith of their father, and can see whether it is genuine or not.  And they can see whether the actions of their fathers are impelled by the love of Christ. And so today, God bless all those who are Ftaher figures who pass on their faith to their children. 

5th Sunday of Easter

Acts 9:26-31; 1 John 3: 18-24; John 15: 1-8

Dc. Larry Brockman

Today’s Gospel says that you must be pruned to bear fruit.  Do you ever feel like you are being pruned?  I sure do- with a heart attack just 6 months ago, and now a back injury.  These things seem to be limiting me- and I end up being absorbed by the pain and these limitations.  I bet that most of you, too, are experiencing your share of pruning, and the self absorption that goes with it.  The pruning may be painful, physical sufferings, like sickness, disease, financial insecurity, or old-age.  Or it may be hidden, interior sufferings, like losing a loved one, having a moral dilemma at work, or watching a dear relative abandon their Catholic faith.  But whatever it is, it can challenge us because it is hard to focus on anything other than the suffering.   

And yet, I am reminded of a quote from St. Ignatius of Loyola:  “If God causes you to suffer much, it is a sign that he has great designs for you, and that he certainly intends to make you a saint.”  So, there is good news here for all of us who feel we suffer.  Because, if you can bear fruit in the face of suffering, then you have the inside track for becoming a saint.   

In the second reading, St. John speaks about what we need to do to bear fruit.  He says we need to love, not just in word or speech, but in deed or truth.  But what does that really mean?   

Our society preaches tolerance, and perhaps to an extreme.  It teaches that everyone should be given the freedom to “choose”, t To choose what’s right just for them.  And that even if they choose “wrong” in the eyes of a majority; that’s OK, as long as it doesn’t exceed some society defined standards.  Unfortunately, as we become a more secular society, that standard has changed and become more permissive.  Hence, gay marriage, abortion, and assisted suicide appear to be gaining in acceptance by our society; so do pornography, sex outside of marriage and drugs.  Yes, integral to this secular standard is the right to pick and choose; because right is relative- relative to one’s ability to discern or handle the situation,- that’s the picking part; and the choice relates to the situation itself- that is, what is good just for me in this situation; and that’s the choosing part.  So, for example, when someone is aged, disabled and suffering, a victim of the pruning I talked about earlier, society is beginning to think it’s OK for them to choose “ending it all” to relieve their suffering.  The state governments in Oregon and Washington believe it is, because assisted suicide is legal there.   

Now it seems to me that Catholics are beginning to apply this external secular set of standards, and the pick and choose philosophy that goes with it, to their attitudes about their Faith.  The head of Notre Dame is doing just that in awarding President Obama an honorary degree.  He has chosen to pick and choose the relative merits- favoring prestige over life.   

Are we guilty of similar behavior?  I’m not talking about choosing sin, because we choose to sin sometimes, and we know we are sinning.  Then we seek forgiveness for it.  The point being that we still recognize that sin is wrong.  Rather, I’m talking about choosing to accept or reject what our church teaches in certain areas in such a way that we delude ourselves into thinking that there is no sin where the Church teaches that there is.  This picking and choosing is exactly what constitutes the difference between loving in word and speech, and loving in deed and truth.  

It isn’t sufficient for us to just look like good Catholics – by praying, coming to Mass, and involving our children in Prep or CCD.   But we also must make a daily effort to live like good Catholics: by studying Church teachings until we understand and embrace them so that they becomes part of our own life; by speaking up for Christ’s truth to our congress and state legislators, even when it is unpopular; by going out of our way to help others; and by resisting temptation and carrying our crosses with elegance.  We must be faithful to both Catholic morality and to what we perceive is our life-mission, even if it means enduring discomforts like hardship, ridicule, and persecution.  That’s all part of the consequences of the pruning- a constriction of our options so we are able to bear fruit in the areas God wants for us to excel.   

That’s what loving in deed and truth means.  It means loving God and his will for us first,  instead of choosing what is the most comfortable or expedient response.  In other words, we love God by our obedience to God’s law as our first priority.   

Such love takes patience, courage, self sacrifice, and humility to be effective.  This weekend we celebrate Mother’s day.  I can think of no better example of what it means to be loving in deed and truth, than the example set forth by so many of our mothers.  Patience, yes- the kind of patience it takes to handle your children who constantly try to stretch the boundaries.  Courage, yes- the kind of courage it takes to be consistent with your children in your dealings with them.  Self sacrifice- absolutely, the kind of self sacrifice that puts your children’s education and care ahead of your own wants.  And last and most importantly, humility- also yes, the kind it takes to clean up after your children, whenever and wherever the needs arises.  And these wonderful mothers definitely bear fruit because their children are a living testimony to their efforts.     

Today, as we hear that we are the branches, and Christ is the vine, let us accept the fact that our sufferings are our opportunities, not just meaningless pain into which we become self absorbed, and then seek to act with a humble and loving heart to make the most of those opportunities to bear fruit.  For, as St Vincent de Paul put it:  “The most powerful weapon to conquer the Devil is humility.   For, as he does not know at all how to employ it, neither does he know how to defend himself from it.”   

  March 15, 2009

Third Sunday of Lent (Year A)

Ex 17: 3-7; Rom 5: 1-2, 5-8; Jn 4: 5-42

Dc. Larry Brockman

Thirst!  What are you thirsting for?  Are you like the Israelite people, concerned totally with living in the world?  Exodus describes the Israelites journey to escape slavery from the Egyptians and establish a new land flowing with milk and honey.  But once they had escaped from the Egyptians, the Israelites lost sight of what that really meant.  They were caught up in the details of the journey and everyday life.  Their concern was over food and water- their mere sustenance, not the dream that God had for his people- the covenant God had made with them to give them the promised land.  And so, they agitated for food- which God provided in the manna and the quail; and then the water, as we heard in the first reading

Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman starts out the same way.  She is there for sustenance- until Jesus shakes her from her apathy.  Here is a woman who was obviously not happy.  She had gone through 5 husbands, and was with a 6th man.  She had not found what she was looking for in any of the relationships that she had. 

Although those were different times and places, and different circumstances that don’t seem relevant in our day and age, the fact is that our society is just as restless and thirsty as the Israelites were.  We are looking for the quick fix- the infusion of government dollars, to quench the thirst of a runaway financial fire.  As a society, we are looking for quick gratification rather than the ultimate answers that treat the root problem. 

And we are restless as individuals too.  We are thirsting- thirsting for that which will satisfy us in this life.  But we mistakenly seek the momentary quenching of that thirst by the pleasures of life just like the Samaritan woman did, and so, we need the “living water” that Jesus spoke about. 

There’s a very interesting book I once read called “The Holy Longing” by Ronald Rolheiser.  The book talks about spirituality.  He says that “Spirituality concerns what we do with our desires”.  Isn’t that another way to say that Spirituality concerns what we do to satisfy our thirsts?  So maybe what the woman at the well really wanted, was to find herself spiritually.  And we are all in the same boat.  We are all seeking the real meaning of life, thirsting for an answer that will satisfy us over the long haul. 

It seems to me that there are a number of modern obstacles to developing our spirituality:  First, we put a wall between the living of life and our experience with the Church.  Once we leave mass on Sunday, we have a tendency to leave the spiritual part of our lives behind.  But the reality is that our spirits are longing for God to be right there along side of us in everything we do because that’s what it means to be a Christian and that is what brings us lasting joy and happiness.  Second, we have a tendency to reject our Christian heritage in favor of a wave of 21st century knowledge.  Yes- knowledge in science, technology, medicine, psychology, and all the modern fields has advanced at a rapid pace.  But, if we really believe that the Bible is the Word of God, and that God speaks through the tradition of his Church, then when it comes to living our lives in such a way that we can find meaning in our lives and grow closer to God,  we need to look to our Christian heritage for those answers.  God is spirit- and our spirits will be nurtured best by engaging the Church for nourishing our spirituality. 

What is it that our spirits are thirsting for?  In the book I mentioned, the author identifies four essential elements of a healthy spirituality.  These are basically derived from the things we are asked to do during Lent- Prayer, Almsgiving, and Fasting:  First, he identifies private prayer and proper personal morality.  Prayer should begin in our homes, with our families.  But, our parish abounds in opportunities to develop this element.  The adoration chapel, prayer groups, and adult education programs are constantly being advertised. 

Second is social justice.  Yes, that means all of us need to be involved helping others less fortunate than ourselves.  Again, social justice begins in the home, in the way we relate to our families.  But we need to do more, we need to extend ourselves, and hopefully as a family.  Again, there are opportunities in the Parish.  As examples, we have a fantastic St. Vincent de Paul program, a very active respect Life Program, and we participate in feeding the poor through Helping Hands. 

The third element is Mellowness of heart and soul.  This element is achieved by self sacrifice and community.  Fasting, or self sacrifice, helps to sensitize ourselves to what suffering means to others.  It helps foster a sense of compassion.  In addition, we tend to be bitter and angry about some of the things in our life; or we may tend to be self absorbed and weak.  In any event, community is a great way to treat these weaknesses.  That community begins in our own homes, with our family.  But we need a larger community.  We need community with a group of people that listens when we need a friend; and that we can enjoy life with as we share our common values.  Belonging to such a community softens our bitterness, and gets us away from self.  Again, the Church is the place to find that people to form that community. 

And the fourth element is belonging to a worshiping community which we are all doing already when we come together and witness to our faith. 

But all of these elements need to be in proper balance.  That is the key to a healthy spirituality.  You need to be involved in all of these elements, not predominantly one or another. 

We are in the middle of Lent, the perfect time to reflect on our lives, find the living water, and grow closer to God.  In our midst, there are catechumens who have chosen to make a significant commitment to our Church.  Unlike us cradle Catholics, they have chosen the faith that we profess.  They are a great example of people in the middle of the process I have outlined this morning.  For those of us who are already Catholic, and who thirst for the real meaning of life, like the woman at the well did, recall the words of the great St. Augustine.  “You have made us for yourself, Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you”