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Facing the Truth- the Last Judgment

Sunday, November 25th, 2012

Christ The King

Dan 7: 13-14; Rev 1: 5-8; John 18: 33b-37

By Deacon Larry Brockman

 

Do you belong to the truth?  Because Jesus says this morning that the reason he was born into the world was to bear witness to the truth, and that those who belong to the truth listen to His voice.

The people of this world are pre-occupied with power, not truth.  And so, Jesus’ own people did not accept Him.  They were looking for a leader, a King who would liberate them from the Romans, and make their lives easier.  They didn’t like the taxes; and they didn’t like being under pagan control.  They weren’t looking for a message of truth; they were looking for power and comfort.

Now because of His triumphant entrance into Jerusalem, the Romans were afraid Jesus would somehow work one of His miracles and fulfill the Messianic role in the way the people wanted: that Jesus would establish himself as King.  And so, we have the drama of this morning’s Gospel; a cat and mouse game where Pilate tries to get Jesus to say that He is a king so He has an excuse to execute Him.  But even to the very last, as He is standing before Pilate, Jesus emphasis is on His mission to bear witness to the truth, not to defend Himself or His life.

The dialog goes on beyond this morning’s Gospel, as Pilate asks the question:  “What is truth”?  Ah yes, what is truth.  The truth is what Jesus came to bear witness to!  So the truth is the Gospel, and the teachings of the Church.  The truth is not might makes right; and it is not what money buys; the truth is not taxes or a guaranteed life of comfort; it is not having control of the situation; truth is not relative; the truth is not a whole list of excuses for why we couldn’t or didn’t do something.  And the truth is not usually having our way.  Rather, the truth is what Christ bore witness to during His life; a life in which Jesus did the will of the Father, sacrificing His wants and needs for what God wanted of Him.

And what was that?  The Father wanted Jesus to tell us about Faith in God; keeping the commandments; and bearing our own crosses.  The Father wanted Jesus to show us that finding and doing His will was the essence of living a life pleasing to God.  Then, Jesus talked about a Kingdom not of this world where there would be eternal happiness, real happiness- not the happiness that power and money and the world bring, a happiness that passes away in a flash either because of age or sickness or circumstances.  Rather, it is a happiness in which we share in the Glory of God.

We hear about such glory in the first two readings.  We can share in that glory if we show by the lives that we lead that we are also witnesses for Christ, living a life worthy of our roles as sons and daughters of God.  In that way, we can assure that we will be part of the Kingdom.

Today is the end of the Church Year.  The second coming of Christ and the final judgment are the main themes in the first two readings.  The imagery is strong-  One like the Son of Man, a title that Jesus uses to describe himself, will come amongst the clouds.  People will be judged- separated into the sheep and the goats, and everything except the heavenly Kingdom will pass away.

That happens to each of us, doesn’t it, when we die.  Everything that we know of on earth passes away and we will be judged by Christ the King.  It’s a somber theme, and a sobering thought.  But it will happen to each of us.  Christ will be looking for the truth and we will not be able to hide from it.  What did we do for the least of our brethren?  Did we stand up for Christ when the going got rough?  Or did we run away, do what was convenient, do what was comfortable for each of us.

Now we are all very fortunate because today has come, and will soon be gone, and the end that Jesus warns us about this morning will not have come for almost all of us.  We are fortunate, because we have more time.  That is what Advent is all about- the next six weeks.  And while most of us will focus on the coming of the Baby Jesus. the second coming of Christ is heralded in Advent as well.  So let’s all take some time to reflect on the second coming.  What are the priorities in your life?  Are you ready if God takes you today?  Do you belong to the truth, and listen to the Word?

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Healing Blindness in Today’s World

Sunday, October 28th, 2012

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jer 31: 7-9, Heb 5: 1-6, Mark 10: 46-52

By Deacon Larry Brockman

 

How strong is your faith?  Are you willing to give up everything to cure your blindness?  That’s what the blind man did in today’s Gospel- he gave up everything because he believed that Jesus could cure him of his blindness.

   

Now you might say, “We’ll, what did he really have to lose;  After all, he was desperate”?  But you see, he stood to lose his cloak; and a cloak, in first century Jerusalem, was a critical possession.  It was protection against the elements- like wide swings in temperature and winds; and it doubled as a blanket at night.  Because he was homeless, that cloak was Bartimaeus primary protection.  It may have even been his only possession.  It was unthinkable for him to drop it, and walk away because he might never be able to recover it.  Indeed, Bartimaeus stood to lose whatever stability he did have in the world if he lost that cloak.  He stood to lose everything.  But Bartimeaus did just that- dropped it and walked away from it!  That’s how deep his Faith was in the power of a man he couldn’t even see- all on faith, a promise of something literally and figuratively unseen.

   

Now the faith Bartimaeus had in Jesus was all word of mouth from others as well.  So, something they told Bartimaeus must have really moved him.  Perhaps it was because he could see with his heart what others did not see with their senses- that Jesus’ message was different, not like that of the Pharisees.  It was compelling; revolutionary; and gave real and lasting meaning to life; and so Bartimaeus decided to take the risk, stepping out of what little comfort zone he had.  Because of the Faith he had in Jesus, he was cured of his physical blindness, and then he followed after Jesus.

   

Now most of you don’t consider yourselves blind.  So what does this have to do with you?  Well, you know something; there are all kinds of blindnesses.  And I suspect that all of us could benefit by recognizing our blindnesses, and doing something about them.  Let me just talk about blindnesses that we might have.  

 

Some of us are blind to how our society is becoming more and more secular; how our values are slowly eroding away.  Maybe it’s because we are too busy working or caring for our families, or just trying to deal with life’s trials, like illnesses, our children’s events, sports, and social activities.  And so, we hear about things, but we really don’t see them in the proper context; and we don’t step out of our comfort zone to cure them.  Bans on school prayer, holiday trees rather than Christmas trees; the push for gay marriage rights; public funding of abortion; the HHS mandate forcing Churches and their institutions to cover immoral procedures and drugs- these are all evidence of eroding public morality.  Our Church teaches that acts like abortion and gay marriage are intrinsically evil, and must always be opposed by Catholics in good standing.   But some of us are passive, inactive, yes even blind to these things and their consequences.   

When we are blind to what God’s natural law is.  Then we are blind to the disastrous affects that changes in our values on marriage and life have on our society.  But they are leading society to acceptance of Euthanasia and alternate family styles that are contrary to God’s plan.  That kind of blindness does harm to the body of Christ.  To correct it, we need to realize our blindness and step out of our comfort zone to act.

   

Secondly, consider our situation compared to the third world.  We consume at an ever faster rate and dump unspeakable amounts of garbage and waste- like plastic bags that virtually never degrade which clog our oceans and water ways, killing birds and animals along the way.  Meanwhile a very large percentage of the World’s population lives in poverty.  Millions are starving; millions can’t read or write; millions have inadequate shelter.  And while we pride ourselves that slavery is gone; many human beings are tricked by unprincipled people into the slavery of human trafficking.  Yet these offshore poor and the victims of human trafficking are ought of sight; out of mind.  Yes, it’s another form of blindness. 

  

The blindnesses that I just mentioned have a common theme- they are all characterized by a form of self-centeredness  A sort of tunnel vision which keeps us from seeing the reality of the larger world- a larger world that we are all called to see and to respond to.  Most of us are in some kind of comfort zone, and don’t really want to step away from it to do something.   

Today, Jesus is calling all of us to do what Bartimaeus did- to throw off the protective cloak that keeps us in a safe haven; that protects us from things we would rather not see or deal with; and through Faith, resolve to open our hearts and minds to see these things as they really are so we can do something about them. 

  

It’s a tall order, and it is hard to see what we can do that would really make a difference or even how we can get started.  But, the very first step is actually very easy- it is prayer.  Ask Jesus the very same thing that Bartimaeus asked Him: “Master, I want to see”.  Because when you do that, Jesus will respond, as in the Gospel: “Go your way, your faith has saved you”.  And you have only to follow the urgings of the Lord in good faith, he can and will do the rest through you. 

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Doing Great Things Through Faith

Sunday, August 26th, 2012

21st Sunday in Ordinary Time

Joshua 24: 1-2a, 15-17, 18b; Eph 5: 21-32; Jn 6: 60-69

By Deacon Larry Brockman

 

We can do great things together!  If we believe, do God’s will, and stick together, than we really can.  But first, we have to have faith.  And faith means believing in things that we cannot prove.  It means accepting the mysteries of our faith like the Incarnation, the Eucharist, and God’s natural law.

   

Today’s Gospel is all about believing and faith.  Jesus has been telling His followers that He will give them his flesh and blood, the bread of life; and that all who eat His flesh and drink His blood will have eternal life.  Today we hear that many of His followers found that too hard to believe.  So, they turned their backs on Jesus, and left. 

  

Contrast that with the Joshua story.  After a long period of time as the successor to Moses, Joshua had led the people into the promised land; had defeated their enemies; and established the Israeli people on the land.  Joshua knew that they needed the Lord to survive, even if they were about to be prosperous.  Joshua was challenging them to renew their belief in the Lord and to follow His commandments.  The people of Joshua’s time might have regarded Joshua’s success as their own.  After all, they had defeated the Philistines and Amorites and all the rest.  It might have just been considered a human success story.  But Joshua and the Israeli people knew otherwise.  All the tribes were gathered together and asked to make a commitment to the Lord at Shechem.  They did; they reaffirmed their commitment to believe in the Lord; his power as the one and only God; and to follow His Commandments.   Even though they had not seen the miracles of the Exodus for themselves, they experienced it in their hearts, because their parents had handed the story on, and the faith.  They had not personally seen the plagues; the parting of the Red Sea; the manna in the desert and it’s power to save them; but they believed; they had real Faith; because the Exodus experience was made close to them by their parents, close enough that trust in their God was written into their hearts.  It was the Faith of their fathers.   

 

Why did so many of the followers of Jesus leave and not believe?  Notice that Jesus called his close disciples together and asked them if they were going to leave as well.  But they said they did believe.  They accepted Jesus on His word.  You see, these close disciples knew Jesus very intimately, and that was the difference.  They experienced Jesus and his personal piety daily; they saw all his miracles, and they heard all of His teaching; and so even though His teaching was hard, they trusted in the person, Jesus, who had written His law into their hearts.

 

The Eucharist is, and always will be, a mystery.  We believe it because we believe in Jesus, just like the Apostles believed in the person of Jesus.  Likewise, we must accept other mysteries of our faith.  It will be easier to do if our experience of God’s love is written on our hearts, like it was on the people of Joshua’s time and on Jesus close disciples.  That is the key to believing- knowing the Lord Jesus in our hearts.  

 

In today’s world, we find it very hard to accept things on faith that we cannot prove.  Secular society tells us to question everything- and that includes church authority, church teachings, and church traditions.  But God wants us to believe in His authority, His Gospel, and the Natural law that He gave us.  And believing in it means believing in mysteries of faith. 

  

One of the primary mysteries of our faith, in my opinion, is the family.  God created us in His image and likeness- and He created the family in His image and likeness as well.  Paul tells us what that means.  Wives need to defer to their husbands; husbands need to love their wives; the two become one; and the result is children, the primary purpose of marriage.  Paul is not talking about blind submissiveness and the world’s kind of love.  Rather, he is referring to a partnership that joins two people together in Christian love, with the Father leading the family.  And that model of marriage is important so that the Children learn what a Christian family is all about..They need to take that into their hearts and pass it on to their children.    Nowadays, the sanctity of this central mystery of our faith, Christian marriage, is under attack.  Easy divorce; alternate family life styles; gay marriage; abortion, contraception and sterilization for convenience- all of these are contrary to one of the mysteries of our faith.  The traditional Christian marriage; and they are contrary to God’s natural law.  And yet they are all fast becoming accepted as accepted norms in our secular society.  Our challenge today is to know the Lord in our hearts, so that we can preserve the most important values in our Christian society- belief in God, the value of life, and our primary role in society; and to enter into Christian marriages and bring up our children with our values.  Together, we can do it.  And we have an opportunity to do it together.   

 

In the last election 54% of all Catholics voted for the present administration.  For the last 4 years that administration has fought against religious liberty, the definition of marriage between a man and a woman, and the sanctity of life.  In this election, Catholics must preserve Christian values at all costs.  Or else we betray our faith.  The choice is yours. 

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Prophets in Our Time

Sunday, July 8th, 2012

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Ez 2: 2-5; 2 Cor 12: 7-10; Mk 6: 1-6

By Deacon Larry Brockman

 

Have you ever thought of Jesus as a prophet?  According to Webster’s Dictionary, a prophet is “One who utters divinely inspired revelations”.  Jesus certainly fulfilled that role.  He told everyone about the coming of the Kingdom of God, but people didn’t want to hear about Jesus’ Kingdom.  They wanted to hear about an earthly Kingdom.  People wanted the Kingdom of Israel restored.  They wanted the occupation of the Romans to end with its stifling taxation and government control their lives.  They wanted a Jewish King and an Israeli State that would restore good times. They wanted prosperity on earth; a land full of milk and honey; and lots of money too!   

 

But Jesus didn’t talk about their kind of kingdom.  He had a different concern, and that was his saving message.  Jesus talked about a conversion of the heart- one that started with repentance for one’s sins and Faith in God’s providence and will for them.  Jesus talked about living their faith so that they could become part of an eternal kingdom.  And so, the people remarked: “Where did he get all this from?”  You see, they had lived right alongside of Jesus; he was known to them; and they didn’t see him following the path of a Rabbi.  Far from it, Jesus was self-taught, and was not a disciple of one of their rabbis as their customs required. 

 

And yet, there was something about Jesus’ teaching that rang true.  Indeed, a call for conversion of the heart wakes our consciences out of a slumber.  And Jesus also spoke with authority and with confidence.  His teaching came from a deep seated conviction that they could all sense.  But they didn’t accept it as authentic, because their culture didn’t condone Jesus as a teacher.  He didn’t have a rabbi’s training or credentials.  He didn’t talk about their kind of Kingdom.  And so, they kept on their own course, and were not open- they were of little faith that God had sent someone special to them.  And so, Jesus could not do great things for them because they rejected him and his message.   

 

You know, real prophets have never been very popular.  They shake people up, because they tell the truth- the message that God wants them to proclaim.  Most of the time, that message doesn’t match the people’s concerns; but it may be the core of what’s wrong with society because God sees differently.  God sees the core of the problem. 

 

In the first reading, God tells Ezekiel to hold firm and to speak with resolve in God’s name, whatever God inspires him to say; so that even if the people reject the message, they will know that a prophet has been amongst them.  Prophets over all time have had to follow this advice.   

 

We live in a world that rejects prophets just like the Israelis did.  We are concerned with jobs and taxes and inflation and health insurance; and rightly so, because these are problems in our society.  But what is the root cause of these problems?  What is it that God wants us to know about his plan forward?  That’s what the modern prophets of God will speak to.  And what is the message that we are hearing from our modern day prophets- led by the Church and the Pope and the Bishops?  It is one of love and compassion and holding to the teachings of the Church.  These prophets speak of the importance of the right to life; the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman; and the rights of all people, even illegal immigrants, victims of human trafficking, and the poor.  And many of the spokesmen for the Church- prophets if you will, are right amongst us.  They are our own. 

 

Some people wonder where “they get all this from”.  The answer is simple.  They get the substance of their message from the Catechism because the Catechism summarizes the Scripture and traditional teachings of the Church; but they get the inspiration to speak up from God because it burns within them until they speak out, just like it burned within Ezekiel.   

 

Nowadays, the Church’s message seems to be more and more passionate as the problems gets worse.   First, the US Bishops have spoken as a group on all the major moral issues.  Second, as the attacks on our conscience rights by our Government have intensified; and as the pro-choice and gay rights movements have gotten more aggressive, prophets have risen from amongst us, people like Cardinal Dolan and Father Frank Pavone of Priests for Life.  And they are relentlessly bombarding us with the truth, and appealing to us to mend our ways and repent.  They are calling us to action as well.  But, are we listening? Are we responding?   

 

During our recent Fortnight for Freedom the parish held all kinds of events to give us the opportunity to pray as a group; to sacrifice our time and desires in order to listen and respond to God.  These events also provided educational opportunities, ways in which we could find out what the Church teaches and why.  Lastly, we were taught how we could respond; how we could help change things.  There were several hundred people involved, and that is great.  But what about the thousands of others in our parish?  Where were they?  Did they ignore the message because it was just more of the same?  After all, aren’t these people just part of our own community; and “where did they get all this from” and “who gives them this authority”?   

 

Perhaps people feel that they are powerless to do anything.  In which case, we need only to listen to Paul’s words this morning.  Paul was given “a thorn in the flesh” that burdened him.  And ultimately, he came to the conclusion that God would give him sufficient grace to overcome his weakness.  Indeed, God gives all of us sufficient grace to overcome our weaknesses.  All of us can do great things, especially together.  We can all pray, and we can all sacrifice some of our time to listen to God’s call and give Him the opportunity to lead us.   

 

The jury is out on us American Catholics.  Are we listening to the modern day prophets?  Our current Government has decided not to enforce the Marriage Act; is mandating that our Catholic Institutions pay for and provide insurance that violates our moral principles; has cut off funding to Catholic Charities to care for Human Trafficking victims because we won’t offer victims to birth control and other services; and has changed the law to publicly fund abortion.  But we all have an opportunity to do something about it this year.  Will we be like the Israelis in Ezekiel’s times, who hardened their hearts; or the people in Jesus home town who rejected one of their own?.  Or will we listen to our modern day prophets?  The choice is yours.

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Be a Courageous Man!

Sunday, June 17th, 2012

11th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Ez 17: 22-24; 2 Cor 5: 6-10; Mk 4: 26-34

By Deacon Larry Brockman

 

Courageous!  Paul advises all of us to be courageous while we are away from our heavenly home, the Kingdom of God, meaning while we are in our earthly bodies.  And so, that’s what Fathers are called to be today, especially in the secular world we live in today- courageous.  We need that courage every day to live out our role as Fathers. 

  

Do you remember Father Larry Richards?  He seemed to energize this Parish during his recent mission here like nobody else in recent years.  We had record attendance; and we saw such enthusiasm for his message, especially among the men.  Many of you bought his tapes and books, like the “Be A Man” Book.  And how appropriate was his message in “Be a Man” for the Fathers out there today.  Because the “Man” that Father Larry told us we were all called to is a courageous men.  Father Larry told us that we men need to stay focused on the ultimate goal, the Kingdom of God.  Because all else, everything of the world, is left behind when we die.  Rather, we need to live as a beloved son of God, and teach our children to live as beloved sons and daughters; we need to repent of our sins and frailties, to live in the Spirit of God, and to be strong yet loving.  We need to be wise in the ways of the Lord, and to do what we were created to do- God’s will for us.  We need to be holy men;  And we need to be men who change the world.  If we can be such men, then we will be men who are courageous.

   

As I look out at all the fathers today, I suspect that most of you are wondering right now how you can meet such a tall order.  And yet God the Father, the ultimate Father, did something to help us.  He sent us His son, Jesus Christ, 2000 years ago to show us the way.  That’s what Ezekiel means by the shoot from the uppermost branches.  The Father is the uppermost branches, and He planted His Son, Jesus amongst us so that we could all learn how to be like Him.  His Gospel and the scriptures and the Church serve to transmit how we should do that.  And just like His son, God the Father will care for us and nurture us who believe in Him and follow Him by sending His spirit to live amongst us, and by giving us the graces to be courageous.  Jesus promised all that before he left us.  The spirit and graces of God are what gives us the courage to walk by faith, not by sight.

   

You know, those of us who are Fathers are truly gifted.  God has given us loving spouses who bear our children; and children are Gods greatest gifts entrusted to us so we can be an example of God’s fatherhood and love.  That, after all, should be our major focus as Fathers.  And God has also given us a challenge- the challenge to be our own persons, yet at the same time provide for our families and take responsibility for the spiritual welfare of our families.  Yes, that’s why we need to be courageous, because it takes courage to follow Jesus and do all of that.  But when we appear before the judgment seat of Christ those of us who have been courageous and met that challenge will receive our heavenly reward- everlasting life with God.

   

Now the things I have just talked about, the qualities of a man who is courageous, are not the same as the qualities that our society teaches about being a man.  In our society, it is success in the world that gets rewarded- money and power and physical strength and good looks and education.  These are the hallmarks of a successful man.  But these things are all centered on self; and that is not the message of the Gospel.  Rather, being a courageous man means that we center our attention on God first, our family second, and everything else comes after that.   

What I want for all of us men here today to realize is the essential difference between the successful man as Father Richards has defined him, and the successful man of the world, because today we are in drastic need of real men.  As Father Larry said, these are men who change the world, and the world needs changing right here in America.

   

We are living in a country where the divorce rate is phenomenally high; where the family unit and where the father as the spiritual leader of the family are under constant attack from our secular society, a society that pushes same-sex marriages and other alternate life styles that are contrary to God’s natural Law; and a Government that is trying to force our Church to sanction things that our Church and our hearts tell us are wrong.  Gentlemen, our roles as Fathers are under attack.  What God needs now are courageous men to turn this society around. 

  

How do we do that?  We start with our own families by the example we set; because our children are watching and become what we teach them.  Are we putting our wives and our families first, rather than our own self interests?  What are you doing to reflect the family values and the Church’s teaching in your own families?  And then there is the larger problem of erosion of family values in our society.  Are you involved?  There are plenty of ways to be involved- Respect Life, St. Vincent de Paul, and volunteering your talents in some other way, just to name a few.  Now some people will say, “What can I do that will make a difference”?  Those folks miss the point of today’s Gospel on the Kingdom of God.  Because the fruit of few good men, the smallest of seeds, can result in great things, just like the mustard bush in the Gospel.  That’s what the Kingdom of God is like, and all of you men can help make it happen together. 

  

Earlier, I mentioned the attack on the Church.  One way to get involved right now is to lead your family in support of the Bishop’s call to action in the Fortnight for Freedom that will be held from Thursday, June 21 through Wednesday, July 4.  This parish plans to conduct an evening prayer service each and every day with education sessions that address what is wrong and how you can help. 

 

All of us are busy with the things of the world.  But, our Religious Freedom is important, very important.  I challenge each and every Dad to be courageous and lead your family by example.  Get involved in the Fortnight for Freedom.  Find the time, lead your family, and be a men who together change the World! 

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A Mother’s Kind of Love

Sunday, May 13th, 2012

Sixth Sunday of Easter

Acts 10: 25-26, 34-35, 44-48; 1 John 4: 7-10; John 15: 9-17

By Deacon Larry Brockman

 

How many of you would lay down your life for your friends?  And yet, that is what we are being called to do by Jesus.  That’s the kind of love we are being asked to show.

   

Several years ago, I presided at a funeral for a lady.  She had come over here from England and was running her own business with her husband when she came down with cancer.  Her husband told me a very interesting story about her.  He told me about the special relationship she had with her one and only son.  It seems that when they first got married, she really wanted to have children.  But the doctors told her that because of a medical condition she had, she could not carry a baby to birth without severe risk of death.  A couple of years later, she became pregnant, and the same doctors told her that she had to abort her child or die.  She just couldn’t do that.  She had always wanted a baby with all her heart, and she had fallen in love with the unborn child.  And so, she carried that baby through till birth and suffered through a very, very difficult pregnancy.  The doctors were constantly advising her to abort her child or die.  But she was willing to sacrifice her own life for her child.  That, brothers and sisters, is the kind of love that Jesus is talking about.  It’s the kind of love that is unselfish; love that is a commitment to a higher purpose.  And it is no secret, it is the kind of love that Mothers have for their children.   

Today, we celebrate Mother’s Day, and rightfully recognize the love that our Mother’s have for us.  It is the kind of love that gets Mom’s up at all hours to feed and change their babies; the kind of love that sacrifices career and personal goals so that a child is taken care of; and it is the kind of love that sacrifices our own wants and needs so that our children will have the very best.  And so, we honor all our mothers today for the unselfish love they have given us.

   

But let me go back for a moment and ask this question:  How can we love God all the time like Moms love their children?  We can understand a Mom’s love for her child, and we can understand how God loves us like that- giving up His own son Jesus for us.  But how can we love God like that? 

  

First, we have to listen to God.  We have to hear what he wants of us.  A mother knows how to listen to her child.  She is in tune with the words, the body language, and the overall status of her child at all times.  We need to do the same thing with God.  God wants the very best for us but we must listen to him.  He talks to us through the ordinary events of life: our prayers, the pangs of our conscience, and the opportunities that present themselves in the events of our lives.  Because of the Christ that is in all the people around us, God is relating to us all the time.  Yes, the people around us are calling out to us as Christ for our love and help.  And so, when we show kindness to others, we are loving God.

   

And finally we need to lay down our life for God  We do that whenever we make sacrifices for others- like a mother that puts her day out with the friends on the back burner when her child needs help.

   

Now even though the love of God is unconditional, and we are being asked to love the same way, there is another side to love that we should talk about.  Because as much as God loves us; and as much as we love our children; there is always the possibility that this love will be rejected.  Sometimes our children reject our love.  And sometimes we reject God’s love for us.  There is something we need to learn from that.  First, that we have to keep right on loving whether the love is returned or not.  That’s what God does for us.  Now there are many Moms out there who feel a great sense of loss because the love they have for their children has been rejected or forgotten.  But they continue to love their children.  So secondly, we need to forgive those who love us, and return that love.  That is the real love of God at work.  God loves all of us that way. 

  

Now, when it comes to the Church, we often use the term Holy Mother the Church.  Why? Because the Church acts in our interest like a mother.   The Church has a responsibility to always tell us the truth- God’s truth, just like we tell our children the truth.  As children, sometimes we listen; and sometimes we don’t.  But no matter what we have done, no matter how we may have rejected her in the past, the Church is always there to welcome us back; and she is constantly nurturing our needs.  She does that with the Sacraments and with Church Teachings.  She teaches us how to live like Jesus and love.

   

For some time now, the Church in this country has been caring for the people of God in a free and open environment.  So, the Church operates schools and hospitals and adoption agencies and services for the poor.  She provides those services to one and all; but only in so far as they are provided consistent with Church teachings.  This is what we would expect from a good mother- that everything she does be done with the best of intentions. 

  

As it turns out, Holy Mother the Church needs us now because She is being attacked.  Secular society and the Government are telling Holy Mother the Church what She must do through the HHS Mandate.  They are telling the church that she has no right to help others outside our faith unless she is willing to compromise Her own beliefs.  This is something the Church cannot, and will not do.  The Church will close up all her services before that happens. 

  

Jesus says that the way you will know if He remains in you is if you keep His commandments.  The Church knows that, and for that reason will not compromise on the commandments.  All of us need to keep God’s commandment as well, to love God, and our neighbor as ourselves and to follow what the Church teaches.  We also need to support our mothers.  Those who have loved us unconditionally, loved us as they love life itself.

   

In this time of need, we need to be there for Holy Mother the Church as well.  We need to love the Church, the body of Christ with our actions and words and hearts; loving Her as we love our own lives.   

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Becoming All That We Can Be

Sunday, April 29th, 2012

4th Sunday of Easter

Acts 4: 8-12; 1John 3: 1-2; John 10: 11-18

By Deacon Larry Brockman

 

We are children of God now!  Isn’t that exciting!  Children of God, wow.  But what exactly does that mean?  

  

Well, let’s look at our relationship with God for a moment.  God gives us life- and in fact, unless God wills that we breathe, we would perish.  And He has given us our talents and personalities, and the opportunities and significant incidences that we have experienced in our lives.  These have not been random or self-made. Rather, they have been gifts from God-  gifts that have been given out of the infinite goodness of God in love.  But do we appreciate these gifts?  Have we thanked God for all these gifts- our spouses, our children, our families, our careers, our vacations, our hobbies; our talents; our leisure, our life-  all of the things that we have liked about life?  They are truly gifts from God.  But have we thanked God for them?

Now some of you may be thinking:  “Yes, but if God loves me so much, why would he give me something and then take it away”?  Indeed, many of God’s gifts have not lasted- our children grow up and leave us; our spouses die and leave us in loneliness; our vacations last such a short time; our health fails, either mentally or physically or both; and  even our talents and interests fade with the passage of time.

   

And yet, most of the gifts we give our children don’t always last either.  For example, often we give our children things, and then take them away later.  Why do we do that?  Because it’s for their own good.  A baby needs a pacifier- but there comes a time…  A child needs training wheels on his bike- but there comes a time…  And a child lives at home, but there comes a time…  There are many things we did for our children out of love and things we gave them but then took them away later.  But, we did all that out of love.  And yet, our children didn’t always see these things done out of love.  And so often times, as parents we have not been appreciated for what we have done for our children out of love.  That’s one of the reasons that I asked if you have thanked God.  Because just as we would like to be thanked by our children, God wants to be appreciated and thanked for what He has done for us.  Unfortunately, just as our children balk over some of our actions, we bulk at some of God’s actions in our lives.   

You see, it’s all about love, the love that God has for us.  That’s why he gives us our gifts- because He loves us.  And yes, this also means that he knows when to take our gifts away from us.

 

Now the parallel I drew between God’s love for us and our love for our children is not always accurate.  Sometimes our parents did not always act out of love and as parents, we have not always act out of love either.  Because, we are not perfect; we are all sinners.  But I use this parallel between ourselves as parents and God to make a point.  Namely, that many of the things God does do out of love are not always understood.  Just as many of the things we did for our children out of love were not understood either.

   

The Good Shepherd analogy helps us to understand what is unique about our relationship with God.  Jesus is suggesting that we need to be like the sheep- we need to trust in him always; trust is the answer.  We must first of all recognize the true shepherd, and then we must follow him, and ignore the influence of others.  We need to appreciate the goodness of God, and His love for us, just as the sheep recognize the concern and love that the Shepherd has for them.  Sheep follow blindly out of trust for their shepherd, and that’s what we need to do- follow Jesus blindly.  In other words, like sheep, we need to love God like it is second nature to us.  Why? Because Jesus has proven His love for us:  He died for us, and there is no greater proof of loyalty than that.

   

In our second reading, St. John goes on to talk about what we will be in the future.  Now, we are children of God.  But in the future, after we trust in God and follow Him, we shall be something more than sons of God.  We will be “like him, for we shall see Him as He is.”  Like our children, we will grow up.  And when we are mature, we will be adults in the sight of God. 

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Making 40 days Count

Sunday, February 26th, 2012

First Sunday in Lent

Gen 9: 8-15; 1 Pet 3: 18-22; Mark 1: 12-15

 

You have absolutely no excuse, because God has given you 40 days.  Yes, you have 40 days- and that’s a long time- to prepare for Easter and the Resurrected Christ.   

Why do you need to prepare, you might ask?  Because just like the man Jesus, your human nature is seeking the real meaning of your life and what God’s will is for you.  It’s called the process of conversion, and conversion is an ongoing activity, a continual need.  Yes, you and I all need to be converted from our normal, everyday way of life, which is based on our needs, our goals, and our desires; to a life that is primarily centered on God’s will for us.   

Many of you remember Fr. Larry Richard’s recent Mission with us.  Well, that was his basic message to us too- we have got to have Jesus so ingrained in our being that everything we say and do is part of God’s plan for us.   

And so, just like Jesus, you too need to get away from it all, and enter into the wilderness so that you can listen to God and find out what God’s will is for you.  And if you seek after that, then just like Jesus, the Spirit will drive you to a time and place and a means where you can commune with God.  But just like Jesus, you will be tempted along the way by the devil, who is hell bent on having you do anything except commune with God.  You won’t have the time; you will have other commitments; you will be distracted; and you will have interruptions; and there will be plenty of other reasons to avoid a truly Lenten renewal.  But the fact is, 40 days is a long time, and ultimately you will not have any excuse.   

“Lent”, as St. John of the Cross proclaimed, “is a time when men and women collaborate with God in creating something divine”.  That’s how sacred and special these 40 days are.  Because if you live according to God’s true plan for you then you will be doing something really sacred; you will be led to sacrifice something of yourself, whether it be your agenda. your selfishness, or your comfort, for the purpose that God intends for you, whatever that is.  And that is a piece of the divine plan; it is God in action.   

Now it doesn’t need to take all 40 days to commune with God because God can hit you over the head with His truth in just a moment.  But, you do have to give God your undivided attention to hear what He wants from you.  And unfortunately, for most of us, that can take some time.  Why? Because of the influence of the devil- those temptations, those distractions, and those interruptions that occur when even the best intentioned of us are seeking the Lord.  They will keep you from hearing the Lord.  So, you need to be persistent, and stick to your guns.   

Secondly, you need to be in the right frame of mind, a frame of mind that gives you the time and the energy to listen to God..  And that’s why the Church recommends Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving- so that you can be in the right frame of mind.  I want to share some thoughts with you now on these three- prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.    Let’s talk about fasting first.

Why fast?  Well first of all, fasting isn’t really effective if it is just giving something up that meets the letter, but not the spirit, of fasting.  Classically, we all fast from food or drink.  And if you are really dedicated, you might fast from something you really like, such as beer or chocolate.  Ugh!  But according to St. Leo the Great, fasting needs to be a form of great hearted abstinence- abstinence with a goal, abstinence that transcends our wants, but rather, gets to the heart of our sinfulness.  For example, you could fast from idle chatter and gossip.  Or you could fast from addictive watching of sports on TV.  Certainly you can see how this type of fasting gets you closer to the right frame of mind to talk to God.   

Second, let’s talk about almsgiving.  Almsgiving is not just dropping a few extra bucks in the basket, or taking a load of your excess to St. Vincent de Paul.  Almsgiving needs to be from your heart.  St Augustine says that almsgiving means:  “Expelling from the heart that which is more difficult on us to keep than to give away.”  Now at first, that doesn’t seem to make sense.  But when you really think about it, it makes perfect sense.  Augustine means that almsgiving should include those things that bind us up, keep us occupied, and so, they make it more difficult for us to do God’s will than if we gave them away.  That’s why some classic saints like St. Anthony of the Desert and St. Francis of Assisi, gave away their wealth, so they would not be distracted by that wealth in living God’s will.  And so, what is it that you have that has value that you need to give away so that you are not distracted from God’s plan?   

Lastly, let’s talk about prayer; because that’s how we communicate with God.  And it is not just any form of prayer.  Rather, we need to have an authentic union with God through prayer that is selfless.  What does that mean?  Well, a lot of our prayer is asking for something from God.  But selfless prayer is different- it is opening our hearts and minds to what God wants to say to us, not what we want to say to Him.  It is the kind of prayer where we hear God’s tiny whisper that answers our heart’s pain, the things that trouble us, that we feel guilty over, or that we don’t know what to do about.  It is that tiny urge that moves us in a direction we might not like, but if we are honest, that God is pointing us towards when we hear Him. 

Yes, these are the three tools that we need to get in the right frame of mind for a Lenten conversion.     

You know, it seems like just yesterday when we were all sitting around the Christmas tree celebrating the joy of Christmas.  But in reality, 40 or so days have passed since Christmas.  And you know what, 40 days from now we will be celebrating Easter.  You have a choice.  Those 40 days can pass by like a flash as you go through the blur of everyday life.  Or they can be 40 days that change your life.  The choice is yours.  How will you use those 40 days?

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Hearing God’s Call.

Sunday, January 15th, 2012

   

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

1     Sam 3: 3b-10, 19; 1 Cor 6: 13c-15a, 17-20; John 1: 35-42

Deacon Larry Brockman

Noise, noise, and more noise!  Busy, busy, all the day long!  Our lives are cluttered with noise and lots of activity.  Cell phones with ear buds; boom boxes; TV and radio; Pandora; U-tube; Facebook; twitter- you name it.  After school activities, club meetings, social groups, sports, and all kinds of go, go, go.  We are a generation of fast and furious; noise and activity.  And sometimes we don’t even have to get up and move around to find it.  But where is it all leading?  Do we really know; and do we even care?  And yet deep down we know- we know that we need meaning and purpose in our lives.  Not only that, we sense that the meaning and purpose must be deeper than just going through the motions of life.  But what is it? What is our meaning and purpose?     

The first thing we have to do to understand the meaning and purpose of our lives  Is to recognize that God is trying to communicate with us about just that.  In the first reading, we see young Samuel learning this lesson.  Samuel is dreaming about someone calling to him- but he doesn’t recognize who it is.  Not once, not twice, but three times he has the same dream.   And only with the help of Eli does Samuel recognize it for what it truly is- God calling him and asking him to listen to him in a dream.   

Now let’s hold on to that thought for a moment and talk about it because some of you are probably thinking- “Is God trying to talk to me in my dreams”?  Maybe, and maybe not, but you see, that isn’t the point.  The point is that whether it is a dream; a funny feeling or fleeting impression when we are awake; something we read; something we see; or something we experience; whatever it might be- God is trying to talk to us all the time.  But we need to be open to it; we need to listen to him.   

The other day, my wife and I watched the film “About Schmidt”.  The main character in the film, Warren Schmidt, was ably played  by Jack Nicholson.  Warren saw a TV add called “Child Reach”, calling for folks to sponsor a poor child in the third World for $22 a month.  Moved by compassion, Warren sponsors a child named Ndugu.  Now Warren is a man who holds it all in,  and doesn’t have anyone to share his anger or frustration with.  He retires after having devoted his life to his job at the expense of spending time with his family.  Then he discovers he wasn’t appreciated by his company; loses his wife; and finds himself frustrated by his daughter’s choice of a mate.   And so, throughout the film, we hear Warren venting his anger in letters to his foster-child Ndugu.  At the end of the film, Warren is feeling very, very discouraged and despondent.  He doesn’t see the value in his life.  And then, all of a sudden, he gets a letter from Ndugu’s teacher who talks about how much Warren’s sponsorship has meant and how much Ndugu loves him.  Ndugu has also sent a crayon drawing.  It shows a smiling Ndugu linked hand in hand with Warren, and a great big bright sun shining in the background.  And Warren cries, because he can see that he has made a difference after all.

It is just a story, yes; but the point is clear.  God nudges, cajoles, and whispers to us all the time.  And some of the time, we are not even conscious that we have responded.  But the little voice inside has made its mark, and we do things responding to our call by God.  These things are part of God’s plan, and they can make a big difference.  How much more dramatic it would be if we actually listened to God all the time and made that our focus because God is talking to us like that all the time.  How, you say; I don’t hear anything?   

Well, it happens when you are watching a key football game and someone calls and asks you for help; it happens when you plan a getaway weekend, but your 3 year comes down with the flu and it also happens when you face a decision, and feel that little voice inside tell you to do the right thing rather than the easy thing or the popular thing.  Then again, it can be when you are in the Adoration Chapel quietly praying and reflecting; or when you are here at Mass.  And yes, it can even happen when you analyze one of your dreams.  But the point is that it is happening all the time.  God is calling you to do his thing for you.   

Second, the message God has for you is personal, much more personal than you might think.  Samuel’s message was certainly in that category; and so was the message to the Apostles in the Gospel.  When we read how God called people in the Bible, or when we hear stories about great saints who have responded to God’s call like St. Paul or Mother Theresa or Saint Francis, it was personal; it was directed to them, and the specifics of that call weren’t for us.   Our calls are personal as well.  And likely they are right there unfolding for us- right in front of us- like helping the friend in the middle of the key football game; or tending to our sick child instead of the weekend getaway, or not going along with the crowd when we know it’s wrong.

The fact that God is calling us to something right in front of us is both a relief and a challenge.  It is a relief because more often than not, we are not being asked to make a drastic change in our lives.  Rather, we are just being asked to be a little more sensitive; a little more giving in our own situations.  But it is a challenge, because it means making a sacrifice, the kind of sacrifice that involves putting our personal goals on the back burner.   

 

Our gospel today demonstrates this so well.  These men that became Apostles were called quietly one by one.  And they left to follow Jesus.  It all started out slowly, but ended up changing their lives forever in the long run.   

 

As you begin your new year, now is the perfect time for you to listen carefully for God’s voice in your lives.  If you can stop the train you are on, and go to the Chapel to reflect- that would be great.  But God is still calling you in the noise and clutter of life.  So, listen for it; be ready for it.  Put aside the cell phone or TV or other forms of self-absorption when the call comes.  Make a sacrifice; say “Speak your servant is listening”.  And God will say to you:  “Come and see”. 

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The World Will Never Be The Same

Sunday, January 1st, 2012

Solemnity of Mary

Num 6: 22-27; Gal 4: 4-7; Luke 2: 16-21

Deacon Larry Brockman

 

 

The World will never be the same.  And the World can never be the same because the birth of Jesus changed things forever.   

 

Once, we were a people of darkness.  We knew about God; He even communicated through the prophets with us.  But, for almost all of His people, God was a distant and vague, yet overpowering and foreboding presence.  And God even seemed angry and unapproachable to His chosen people.  He was even more distant and tentative to the Gentiles.  Yes, we were a people in the dark.  But the birth of the Christ Child changed all of that.   

 

Mary saw that- and that is why she pondered all these things in her heart.  First, there was the message the angel Gabriel gave her; and then came the similar message her husband Joseph had received from the same angel.  Mary had found favor by God and was to bear the Son of God.  And now this- the birth of her son, Jesus- in less than favorable circumstances, yet attended by choirs of angels.  Just imagine a throng of Angels singing!  What an awesome sight that must have been.  Yes, Mary saw that she was part of something that would change the World forever.  And so, she took her son after 8 days and did exactly what the angel had asked her to do- dedicate Him in the temple and give Him his name, Jesus, which means “God’s savior”, because she knew and believed that the prophecy was coming true!   

 

The shepherds saw the significance of Jesus birth also.  And that is simply amazing.  You might ask- why was it so amazing?  Well, these shepherds, were relatively simple people very much of the World.  They had to be practical, pragmatic, hard working men. They weren’t students of the scripture or theology, but rather, folks who were just regular people,  And so, what happened?  First, they saw a large number of angels that told them about the birth of the Christ, the Messiah; and so they went in haste to see what happened.  Once they had seen that everything that was predicted by the angels had happened, they “returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them”.  Because they were convinced, excited, and joyful over the coming of the Messiah.  Do you suppose they would have returned glorifying God if they hadn’t been visited by the angels?  Something significant happened to them- this visit from a large group of angels who predicted an unlikely event and yet, it happened just as the angels predicted.   

 

Now if that kind of thing happened to you or I today, just imagine how you would feel.  You would be blown away!  You would think to yourself:  “Nothing will ever be the same!”  You might at first have doubts “was this real or not”.  So that is why a group was visited, not just one shepherd.  Because it would all have seemed so unreal- a hallucination if it happened to you alone.  But it wasn’t a hallucination; it was real, and the whole group experienced it.  And so, this long awaited arrival of the Christ, the Messiah, that all of the rabbi teachers and scribes and people of stature talked about, had actually come about.  And not only that, it came about on your watch.  Wow! How you would be blown away.   

 

And so, we can see how the shepherds were caught up in the true meaning, the real truth about Christmas- that God had sent His only son to dwell amongst us to live as one of us and to save us.  God was no longer a distant, vague, overpowering, foreboding presence, but was manifest as one of us.  And yet, God was manifest as a tiny, helpless baby.  He was destined to become a shining example to all of humanity about how to behave as a human being, and yet be in total harmony with God.  And not only that, Jesus would reconcile us with God.  Just so that we wouldn’t forget about Him, he instituted the Church, and entrusted to the Church the ability to bring Him back: He gave us the Eucharist, his own body and blood, which all of us are privileged to share together as part of the Mass.   

 

Indeed, our God is close to us, not distant; He is loving and kind like His son Jesus; not foreboding and overpowering.  Yes, he is still so far above us in intelligence and power that we cannot conceive of the mind and power of God.  But we have been privileged to experience his love for us.  The love of His only begotten son, and not only that, Jesus is available to us always in the Eucharist.  What a contrast with other religions.  They haven’t recognized the significance and reality of the fullness of God’s gift to man- the Son of God become man and the spirit of God that dwells in each of us who believe.   

 

Today, as we look forward to the New Year is a good time for us to count our blessings.  And one of the blessings that all of us share is our faith as Christians.  Even though the Hebrews didn’t recognize it, that’s what God’s famous blessing for Aaron in our first reading was all about.  Listen to it again:  “The LORD bless you and keep you!”  That is God the Father; “The LORD let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you!”  That is the Son of God, Jesus, whose face we see.  And then finally: “The LORD look upon you kindly and give you peace!”  The peace is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. 

 

And so, let us all rejoice today  Because we have all been truly blessed.  For with the birth of Jesus, God has shed his face upon us, and will send his Spirit upon us.

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