Sunday, Nov. 1st, 2009
Matthew 5: 1-12
The Beatitudes
5When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:
3 ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 ‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5 ‘Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
6 ‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
7 ‘Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
8 ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
9 ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
10 ‘Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 ‘Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
When I read this Gospel, I felt immensely comforted for all the women I know. For each one of these beatitudes I could think of at least one woman I have been connected to in the past few years for whom the beatitude seemed especially written.
Blessed are the poor in spirit: I think of my sisters who don’t feel worthy to be loved by the Father and his Son, women who have somehow received an understanding over the years that they are not valuable and precious. Theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. I pray that they will come to know deep in their hearts that they are Royal Daughters of the King of the Universe, created in love and anointed with dignity - and woe to anyone who makes them feel low or inadequate.
Blessed are those who mourn: I mourn with all my sisters who have lost a loved one, especially those who have suffered the agonies of the death of a child, whether before birth or after. They will be comforted. All those who mourn must go through the natural passages of grieving and pain, but those who seek God through it all come to exude a spirit of grace and patience which is unique to the Kingdom Daughter who has suffered and has discovered the arms of her Father who weeps with her.
Blessed are the meek: the dictionary definition of ‘meek’ is “one who is quiet, soft and gentle; easily imposed upon.” Perhaps a more modern translation of this beatitude for women might be: Blessed is she who says Yes…yes to the needs of everyone around her. I can’t think of any woman I know who does not place herself last when it comes to the needs of her family and her community. No, we are not called to be doormats and we are not called to say, “Yes” to every single request that comes our way. We can be and must be discerning so that we don’t burn out. The “Yes” must come from the heart that walks close to the heart of God who is The Yes and Amen. Just because there is softness doesn’t mean there is no strength. When the Father says, “Yes!” everything changes. We are invited to stay close to and participate in his “Yes!” We will inherit the earth through his “Yes!”
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness: I cannot think of one woman I know who does not yearn for a right spirit or is not deeply disturbed when situations and people are not right. They long for peace when there is chaos, justice when unfairness prevails, health where there is illness and provision where there is lack. They are most disturbed when others suffer, especially members of their families. They have been filled – filled with the yearnings of Christ himself. They live close to his heart.
Blessed are the merciful: Being forgiving is difficult. No one, man or woman, has a corner on easy forgiveness but the women I know want to forgive. There is something within them that will look for reasons and excuses for the bad behavior of others. Sometimes there is no good reason and no justifiable excuse for another’s bad behavior but very few women will immediately cut off an offender without a second (or third or fourth or fifth…) chance of redemption. The merciful heart of God is open to these women. They will receive the mercy they have given.
Blessed are the pure in heart: Who on this earth has a totally pure heart? But I have a delightful image in my mind of all those babies that we grieve for, playing happily around the feet and in the arms of the Father and his Son Jesus. They see God clearly. They call him, “Papa” and would tell us, if they could, that we should do the same.
Blessed are the peacemakers: When we hear this one we normally think of someone who stops the fighting and warring but there are other ways to create peace. Women become master Peacekeepers by keeping everyone and everything on schedule, by creating pleasant spaces that are sanctuaries to their family and friends, by feeding bodies and hearts, by listening to the aching hearts of others and by offering appreciation and love to those around them. These women are the children of God and the resemblance is strong.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake: there are many angles to take on this one but what comes to my mind right now are women who are presently struggling with teenage children. As they strive to lead their children into righteousness, they can receive cold shoulders, sullenness, sharp and hurtful words and rejection. It’s a painful situation not many people think of when they think of persecution but it’s one many parents struggle with these days. Mothers – and fathers – should know that if they stand firm in love and not condemnation, the way our Father stands firm with us, the Kingdom will be theirs. When we endeavor to understand in truth how the Father loves us and then try to act like the Father when we deal with our own children, we come to know him better and better. The better we know the Father, the more we will possess the Kingdom.
Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account: I don’t think I’ve ever met any pro-life woman who has not experienced, subtly or blatantly, a sideways judgment, a questioning look, a sneer, an arrogant cold shoulder or an outright condemnation for having more than 2.5 children or for being a stay at home mom, for bearing a child or children later in life or for saying, “No. I don’t believe in abortion.” Women are prophets of Life. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Rejoice and be glad. The kingdom is yours, you will see God, you will be filled, you will be comforted, the earth is yours, you will receive mercy, you will be called God’s children and your reward will be immense.
We are so loved!
Monday, October 26, 2009
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Another Point of View
Sunday,October 25, 2009
Mark 10: 46-52
46 They came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. 47When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ 48Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’ 49Jesus stood still and said, ‘Call him here.’ And they called the blind man, saying to him, ‘Take heart; get up, he is calling you.’ 50So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. 51Then Jesus said to him, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ The blind man said to him, ‘My teacher, let me see again.’ 52Jesus said to him, ‘Go; your faith has made you well.’ Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.
When we read this Gospel, or others like it, where someone has a healing encounter with the Lord, it is a common and very good meditation to place ourselves in the scene as the one who is receiving the healing, whether it is an emotional healing like the woman at the well, or a physical healing such as in this story of Bartimaeus, the blind man.
But I’m going to shake up the common perspective and ask you if you have ever thought of putting yourself in Jesus’ place? Or how about imagining yourself as one of the disciples who were being taught and trained to follow in the footsteps of Jesus? Do you always consider yourself as one of the needy, one of the blind and deaf, one of the outcast or one of the leprous ones who encountered Jesus? This is where we begin in our journey with Christ. But we must not stay there.
I’d like to remind you of a passage of scripture from 1 Peter 2:9:
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
At some point, we all need to seriously face the fact that we are not called to remain poor and needy. That does not mean to say that we should become arrogant or self-important or have an over-inflated sense of our own importance. It doesn't mean that we never have problems or needs. It simply means that we have been called to the Priesthood of the Laity – the Royal Priesthood. It means that we have been called to walk with the same dignity and authority in which Jesus walked and in which the disciples grew and flourished as the Church had its beginnings. It means that we have been chosen to represent Christ to the world and to our brothers and sisters.
Just recently, we were all shocked by the Bishop in Antigonish who had child pornography on his computer. In the wake of that scandal, people are once again voicing opinions about how the church needs to deal with the priesthood. They say priests should be allowed to marry or there should be women priests etc. etc. I am not going to write about what the church should or should not do. What I do want to point out is how these scandals have deeply wounded those priests who are faithful to their calling and serve Christ and the Church with all their hearts. They are wounded because the scandals have tarnished the image of the priesthood, which creates enough difficulties but, as well, this tarnishing has had an impact on the number of young men seriously considering the priesthood. The sacramental or ministerial priesthood is not only wounded but also often overworked and discouraged and some priests and bishops struggle with depression and anxiety.
There is no simple solution but there is something the laity must begin to grasp: that we, too, have been called to priesthood and there is a huge need in the church for people to wake up to that call. We all have an image in our minds of an ideal priest and only a small part of this image is that they faithfully administer the sacraments to the people. The rest of our images are of men who are full of mercy and compassion, who listen, who have wisdom and balance, who don’t isolate themselves from the community, who have a sense of humor and can relate to the aged and the young and everyone in between. Our “wonder priest” supports community events and the people who organize them. He really listens to people, hears their wounds, allays their fears and assures them of Christ’s love. He teaches with authority. He blesses.
We as a lay priesthood are not called to administer the sacraments, but we are called to everything else in the above paragraph. Through baptism, we were anointed for this calling and we can no longer leave all these priestly attributes to the ministerial priests. It’s not easy for people to suddenly stop thinking of themselves as sheep and begin to start thinking of themselves as shepherds with responsibilities as grave and necessary as the responsibilities of the ministerial priesthood but that’s the journey through to maturity in the Spirit.
It’s a decision…and it’s a conversion. It’s a realization that at some point, being a follower of Jesus must grow into being a co-shepherd with Jesus the Chief Shepherd. We need to be willing to move from being the blind man or woman to being someone who has insight and who has received the graces and gifts necessary to be a priest and shepherd to others who are just beginning the journey or who have suffered deep wounds.
As I mentioned before, we were anointed at baptism. We were anointed with great dignity and authority. Authority to do what? If you recall last week’s gospel, it’s certainly not the authority to have power over other people and to “lord it over them’. It is the authority to love like Jesus loved, listen like he listened, to touch others with the very same love and concern as he did, to bless people, to offer sight and wisdom, to set the entangled free, to ease the guilt, to support others and help carry the burdens. Do we really believe these things are part of our vocation as a royal priesthood? Or are we content to leave it all to the parish priest – and then complain when he doesn’t meet our expectations?
This week, take the Sunday Gospel and find a few moments to sit quietly to meditate on the scene conveyed. Put yourself in Jesus’ place. Visualize yourself responding with love and compassion to the blind man. Listen to the blind man and listen to the wounds in his heart and the struggles he has endured because of his blindness. Feel your heart touched by the fact that he has called your name out loud even though he can’t see you. Talk to your Father about him and allow the Father to share with you his own deep love and compassion for the man. Then allow the Father to tell you what to do.
Jesus said, “I only do what I see my Father in heaven doing.” He healed when the Father showed himself healing. He listened when he saw the Father listening. He taught when he heard the Father teaching. Listen to the Father. See if you can hear him say to you, “The Spirit of the Lord is now upon you to bring good news to the poor, to heal the broken hearted, to set the prisoners free, to give sight to the blind and proclaim this a time of God’s favor…”
And then, to the next person you run across you may be inspired to say, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’
Mark 10: 46-52
46 They came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. 47When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ 48Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’ 49Jesus stood still and said, ‘Call him here.’ And they called the blind man, saying to him, ‘Take heart; get up, he is calling you.’ 50So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. 51Then Jesus said to him, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ The blind man said to him, ‘My teacher, let me see again.’ 52Jesus said to him, ‘Go; your faith has made you well.’ Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.
When we read this Gospel, or others like it, where someone has a healing encounter with the Lord, it is a common and very good meditation to place ourselves in the scene as the one who is receiving the healing, whether it is an emotional healing like the woman at the well, or a physical healing such as in this story of Bartimaeus, the blind man.
But I’m going to shake up the common perspective and ask you if you have ever thought of putting yourself in Jesus’ place? Or how about imagining yourself as one of the disciples who were being taught and trained to follow in the footsteps of Jesus? Do you always consider yourself as one of the needy, one of the blind and deaf, one of the outcast or one of the leprous ones who encountered Jesus? This is where we begin in our journey with Christ. But we must not stay there.
I’d like to remind you of a passage of scripture from 1 Peter 2:9:
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
At some point, we all need to seriously face the fact that we are not called to remain poor and needy. That does not mean to say that we should become arrogant or self-important or have an over-inflated sense of our own importance. It doesn't mean that we never have problems or needs. It simply means that we have been called to the Priesthood of the Laity – the Royal Priesthood. It means that we have been called to walk with the same dignity and authority in which Jesus walked and in which the disciples grew and flourished as the Church had its beginnings. It means that we have been chosen to represent Christ to the world and to our brothers and sisters.
Just recently, we were all shocked by the Bishop in Antigonish who had child pornography on his computer. In the wake of that scandal, people are once again voicing opinions about how the church needs to deal with the priesthood. They say priests should be allowed to marry or there should be women priests etc. etc. I am not going to write about what the church should or should not do. What I do want to point out is how these scandals have deeply wounded those priests who are faithful to their calling and serve Christ and the Church with all their hearts. They are wounded because the scandals have tarnished the image of the priesthood, which creates enough difficulties but, as well, this tarnishing has had an impact on the number of young men seriously considering the priesthood. The sacramental or ministerial priesthood is not only wounded but also often overworked and discouraged and some priests and bishops struggle with depression and anxiety.
There is no simple solution but there is something the laity must begin to grasp: that we, too, have been called to priesthood and there is a huge need in the church for people to wake up to that call. We all have an image in our minds of an ideal priest and only a small part of this image is that they faithfully administer the sacraments to the people. The rest of our images are of men who are full of mercy and compassion, who listen, who have wisdom and balance, who don’t isolate themselves from the community, who have a sense of humor and can relate to the aged and the young and everyone in between. Our “wonder priest” supports community events and the people who organize them. He really listens to people, hears their wounds, allays their fears and assures them of Christ’s love. He teaches with authority. He blesses.
We as a lay priesthood are not called to administer the sacraments, but we are called to everything else in the above paragraph. Through baptism, we were anointed for this calling and we can no longer leave all these priestly attributes to the ministerial priests. It’s not easy for people to suddenly stop thinking of themselves as sheep and begin to start thinking of themselves as shepherds with responsibilities as grave and necessary as the responsibilities of the ministerial priesthood but that’s the journey through to maturity in the Spirit.
It’s a decision…and it’s a conversion. It’s a realization that at some point, being a follower of Jesus must grow into being a co-shepherd with Jesus the Chief Shepherd. We need to be willing to move from being the blind man or woman to being someone who has insight and who has received the graces and gifts necessary to be a priest and shepherd to others who are just beginning the journey or who have suffered deep wounds.
As I mentioned before, we were anointed at baptism. We were anointed with great dignity and authority. Authority to do what? If you recall last week’s gospel, it’s certainly not the authority to have power over other people and to “lord it over them’. It is the authority to love like Jesus loved, listen like he listened, to touch others with the very same love and concern as he did, to bless people, to offer sight and wisdom, to set the entangled free, to ease the guilt, to support others and help carry the burdens. Do we really believe these things are part of our vocation as a royal priesthood? Or are we content to leave it all to the parish priest – and then complain when he doesn’t meet our expectations?
This week, take the Sunday Gospel and find a few moments to sit quietly to meditate on the scene conveyed. Put yourself in Jesus’ place. Visualize yourself responding with love and compassion to the blind man. Listen to the blind man and listen to the wounds in his heart and the struggles he has endured because of his blindness. Feel your heart touched by the fact that he has called your name out loud even though he can’t see you. Talk to your Father about him and allow the Father to share with you his own deep love and compassion for the man. Then allow the Father to tell you what to do.
Jesus said, “I only do what I see my Father in heaven doing.” He healed when the Father showed himself healing. He listened when he saw the Father listening. He taught when he heard the Father teaching. Listen to the Father. See if you can hear him say to you, “The Spirit of the Lord is now upon you to bring good news to the poor, to heal the broken hearted, to set the prisoners free, to give sight to the blind and proclaim this a time of God’s favor…”
And then, to the next person you run across you may be inspired to say, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Going On To Smaller and Better Things
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Mark 10: 35-45
James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, ‘Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.’ 36And he said to them, ‘What is it you want me to do for you?’ 37And they said to him, ‘Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.’ 38But Jesus said to them, ‘You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?’ 39They replied, ‘We are able.’ Then Jesus said to them, ‘The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; 40but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.’
41 When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John. 42So Jesus called them and said to them, ‘You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. 43But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, 44and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. 45For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.’
The great spiritual thinker, writer, and monk Charles de Foucauld (1889-1916) wrote, “Jesus has so diligently searched for the lowest place that it would be very difficult for anyone to tear it from Him…”
That made a deep impression on me when I read it many years ago. As a stay at home mother, it was quite a challenge to maintain any sense that what I was doing was valuable in the world’s eyes. Whenever someone with a professional career asked me what I did and I answered, “I’m a stay at home mom,” there would be varying reactions. The most common one was the person would change the subject quickly as if they weren’t quite sure what to do with that information. I may have gotten the same reaction if I had said, “I’m a stripper.” I don’t know. The other reaction was over reacting with kindness. I actually ran into this kind of response very recently when a female real estate agent asked me what I was retired from. I answered, “For about the first 20 years of my life I was a stay at home mom and then…” Way too loudly, as if she was talking to someone a little simple minded, she interrupted and said, “Well, THAT’S a career!” Her super patronizing tone of voice made me answer a bit more sharply than I normally would have. I said, “I know it’s a career. Did you notice I didn’t say ‘just a stay at home mom’?” Then she changed the subject quickly – as if I had said I had been a stripper.
You don’t have to be a stay at home mom to experience the humiliation of being subtly categorized as someone who isn’t of great value to society or to the workplace or to a community. Anyone who has had a slightly arrogant and insensitive boss or teacher has most likely felt the sting of a statement that inferred “ you are not as valuable, influential, highly paid, knowledgeable or powerful as me”. It hurts because it is human nature to long for recognition and approval. We have a deep longing to know we are valuable to and needed by others.
James and John had exactly this same human need. They probably felt the sting of being referred to as “just fishermen”. They were looking for positions of influence and power because, being human and not altogether on top of what Jesus was teaching them, they still thought that the way to ease that sting of being categorized was to find a higher place to situate themselves. What Jesus understood, and they didn’t, was that even if they did find higher and more respected positions, they would soon have to spend most of their time maintaining and defending those positions. Look at how the other disciples reacted to James and John asking for higher positions. They began to be angry and resentful. If Jesus hadn’t cut them all off at the pass the others would have asked why James and John should have such elevated positions and then demanded equality or at least the opportunity to apply for the same positions. Then James and John would have felt a necessity to prove that they were best suited for the positions which could have meant showing how others were not suited, perhaps subtly pointing out the inadequacies and faults of the others…you can see where this is going.
I guarantee there would have been no jostling for positions and no angry resentment if James and John had gone up to Jesus and said, “Jesus, we would like to be the ones who will always be responsible for digging the latrines when we’re on the road.” There was no glory, power or honor for latrine diggers but no one would have been resenting them either or trying to find ways to oust them from their positions and no one would have been ignoring them as pay back for being uppity.
However, the action of digging latrines - or washing dishes, changing poopy diapers, picking up garbage or any other way of serving the family or community - doesn’t necessarily make you a saint even though you won’t have a lot of competition for the job. What creates holiness within these lowest of the low positions is love, not recognition or even any particular result.
Many years ago, I observed a common experience in myself and other people who went on retreats or events such as World Youth Day, Cursillo or other spiritual conferences. We would go with excitement and high hopes for a life changing experience and would often have a wonderful encounter with the Spirit but coming back home would be very difficult. We would come home feeling joyfully changed and inspired but the reality of everyday life was like a cold shower and the euphoria would wear off very quickly. Those who had not been on the retreat couldn’t share in the experiences we’d had and nothing at home had changed. Children were still challenging, jobs were still boring and life was still what it was before the retreat.
I thought and pondered on how a person could enjoy something like a retreat and come home changed in a way that wouldn’t shrivel as soon as reality hit. I read the words I quoted above about Jesus choosing the lowest place and thought that perhaps this was where the key was. I was slated to help at a retreat and was one of the ones to give a talk. I decided that I wouldn’t spend any time looking for great spiritual experiences but would spend all my time looking for and volunteering to do the least desirable tasks. I cleaned a lot of toilets, cleared dishes, stayed behind to clean up rooms and kept a sharp eye out for the smallest needs of those on retreat.
It was the most blessed retreat I had ever been on and the most wonderful thing was that hitting the reality of home did not shatter the inner connectedness I felt with the Lord. My spiritual joy was based on service and it felt natural to continue in that mode when I got home. Instead of coming home and hitting a brick wall, I felt as though I had been deeply strengthened in the very quality that was needed in my role as a mother and a member of my parish community.
St. Theresa of the Child Jesus was 24 years old when she died. She never left the monastery but decided that whatever she did, no matter how trivial, even something as small as picking a pin up off the floor, she would do it with great love. She was eventually made a Doctor of the Catholic Church and was named Patroness of the Missions.
Do small ignominious things with Great Love. You’ll never have to defend your position, no one will try to usurp your power or resent you and when everybody is looking at someone or something much more flashy, God will change the world through you.
But you need to realize that it’s hard to develop a lifestyle of doing small things with great love unless you know you are a small one who is greatly loved…
Mark 10: 35-45
James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, ‘Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.’ 36And he said to them, ‘What is it you want me to do for you?’ 37And they said to him, ‘Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.’ 38But Jesus said to them, ‘You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?’ 39They replied, ‘We are able.’ Then Jesus said to them, ‘The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; 40but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.’
41 When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John. 42So Jesus called them and said to them, ‘You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. 43But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, 44and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. 45For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.’
The great spiritual thinker, writer, and monk Charles de Foucauld (1889-1916) wrote, “Jesus has so diligently searched for the lowest place that it would be very difficult for anyone to tear it from Him…”
That made a deep impression on me when I read it many years ago. As a stay at home mother, it was quite a challenge to maintain any sense that what I was doing was valuable in the world’s eyes. Whenever someone with a professional career asked me what I did and I answered, “I’m a stay at home mom,” there would be varying reactions. The most common one was the person would change the subject quickly as if they weren’t quite sure what to do with that information. I may have gotten the same reaction if I had said, “I’m a stripper.” I don’t know. The other reaction was over reacting with kindness. I actually ran into this kind of response very recently when a female real estate agent asked me what I was retired from. I answered, “For about the first 20 years of my life I was a stay at home mom and then…” Way too loudly, as if she was talking to someone a little simple minded, she interrupted and said, “Well, THAT’S a career!” Her super patronizing tone of voice made me answer a bit more sharply than I normally would have. I said, “I know it’s a career. Did you notice I didn’t say ‘just a stay at home mom’?” Then she changed the subject quickly – as if I had said I had been a stripper.
You don’t have to be a stay at home mom to experience the humiliation of being subtly categorized as someone who isn’t of great value to society or to the workplace or to a community. Anyone who has had a slightly arrogant and insensitive boss or teacher has most likely felt the sting of a statement that inferred “ you are not as valuable, influential, highly paid, knowledgeable or powerful as me”. It hurts because it is human nature to long for recognition and approval. We have a deep longing to know we are valuable to and needed by others.
James and John had exactly this same human need. They probably felt the sting of being referred to as “just fishermen”. They were looking for positions of influence and power because, being human and not altogether on top of what Jesus was teaching them, they still thought that the way to ease that sting of being categorized was to find a higher place to situate themselves. What Jesus understood, and they didn’t, was that even if they did find higher and more respected positions, they would soon have to spend most of their time maintaining and defending those positions. Look at how the other disciples reacted to James and John asking for higher positions. They began to be angry and resentful. If Jesus hadn’t cut them all off at the pass the others would have asked why James and John should have such elevated positions and then demanded equality or at least the opportunity to apply for the same positions. Then James and John would have felt a necessity to prove that they were best suited for the positions which could have meant showing how others were not suited, perhaps subtly pointing out the inadequacies and faults of the others…you can see where this is going.
I guarantee there would have been no jostling for positions and no angry resentment if James and John had gone up to Jesus and said, “Jesus, we would like to be the ones who will always be responsible for digging the latrines when we’re on the road.” There was no glory, power or honor for latrine diggers but no one would have been resenting them either or trying to find ways to oust them from their positions and no one would have been ignoring them as pay back for being uppity.
However, the action of digging latrines - or washing dishes, changing poopy diapers, picking up garbage or any other way of serving the family or community - doesn’t necessarily make you a saint even though you won’t have a lot of competition for the job. What creates holiness within these lowest of the low positions is love, not recognition or even any particular result.
Many years ago, I observed a common experience in myself and other people who went on retreats or events such as World Youth Day, Cursillo or other spiritual conferences. We would go with excitement and high hopes for a life changing experience and would often have a wonderful encounter with the Spirit but coming back home would be very difficult. We would come home feeling joyfully changed and inspired but the reality of everyday life was like a cold shower and the euphoria would wear off very quickly. Those who had not been on the retreat couldn’t share in the experiences we’d had and nothing at home had changed. Children were still challenging, jobs were still boring and life was still what it was before the retreat.
I thought and pondered on how a person could enjoy something like a retreat and come home changed in a way that wouldn’t shrivel as soon as reality hit. I read the words I quoted above about Jesus choosing the lowest place and thought that perhaps this was where the key was. I was slated to help at a retreat and was one of the ones to give a talk. I decided that I wouldn’t spend any time looking for great spiritual experiences but would spend all my time looking for and volunteering to do the least desirable tasks. I cleaned a lot of toilets, cleared dishes, stayed behind to clean up rooms and kept a sharp eye out for the smallest needs of those on retreat.
It was the most blessed retreat I had ever been on and the most wonderful thing was that hitting the reality of home did not shatter the inner connectedness I felt with the Lord. My spiritual joy was based on service and it felt natural to continue in that mode when I got home. Instead of coming home and hitting a brick wall, I felt as though I had been deeply strengthened in the very quality that was needed in my role as a mother and a member of my parish community.
St. Theresa of the Child Jesus was 24 years old when she died. She never left the monastery but decided that whatever she did, no matter how trivial, even something as small as picking a pin up off the floor, she would do it with great love. She was eventually made a Doctor of the Catholic Church and was named Patroness of the Missions.
Do small ignominious things with Great Love. You’ll never have to defend your position, no one will try to usurp your power or resent you and when everybody is looking at someone or something much more flashy, God will change the world through you.
But you need to realize that it’s hard to develop a lifestyle of doing small things with great love unless you know you are a small one who is greatly loved…
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Loved into Letting Go
Sunday, October 11th, 2009
Mark 10: 17-30
17 As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ 18Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. 19You know the commandments: “You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.” ’ 20He said to him, ‘Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.’ 21Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, ‘You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ 22When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.
23 Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, ‘How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!’ 24And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, ‘Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.’ 26They were greatly astounded and said to one another, ‘Then who can be saved?’ 27Jesus looked at them and said, ‘For mortals it is impossible but not for God; for God all things are possible.’
28 Peter began to say to him, ‘Look, we have left everything and followed you.’ 29Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, 30who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life.
This is a wonderful gospel passage, but the wonderful part of it is often overlooked because it immediately creates discomfort as we survey all of our material possessions and ask ourselves if Jesus really meant that we have to sell everything we have in order to follow him. We can certainly understand that it’s easy to get too caught up in our possessions and end up in a cycle of attainment and maintenance that can distract us from serving him and we wonder if we have become too attached and too focused on our material possessions. It’s definitely a good exercise to discern how attached we are to what material goods we do have and how focused we are on what we don’t have.
However, don’t let this very good exercise overshadow a deeply important and wonderful truth in this gospel. The first clue we have that Jesus is trying to get something planted in the hearts of his disciples is where, after the rich man explained that he had followed all the prescribed rules since he was a boy, scripture says, ‘Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, ‘You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’
I am struck by the fact that Jesus looked the man and loved him. Within that look and that love was an invitation much deeper than a simple invitation to sell all his material possessions. There was far more than material possessions hindering the man from following Jesus. Why would this man run up and ask Jesus what he should do to inherit eternal life if he already knew he had kept the Jewish commandments all his life and had been taught that this is what would save him? Was he really looking for the key to eternal life or was he actually looking for approval from Jesus for his faithfulness to the law? He definitely wasn’t trying to trap Jesus so maybe he just wanted recognition for being a fine upstanding Jew. Maybe he hoped Jesus would say something like, “Look at this man. Here is what you all should be striving for. Obviously, God loves him because he is quite rich, and not only is he wealthy but he is scrupulous about following the law. What a guy!”
Instead, Jesus told him he was lacking one thing. Was this ‘one thing’ the action of selling all the man owned? Perhaps not. Perhaps the one thing lacking was a relationship with Jesus himself. The man went away shocked. He failed to look at the love in Jesus’ eyes and he didn’t understand that love and desire for a relationship with Jesus was the one thing he lacked. All he could hear was “sell all”. He was jarred to the core of his being because all Jews assumed that wealth indicated God’s approval. If he was looking for approbation, recognition or a pat on the back, he didn’t get it. Jesus didn’t say to him, “You’re great. You’ve done everything you need to do. I wish everybody was like you.” The rich man completely missed what was in the eyes of Jesus, which was what he really needed: Jesus’ unconditional love. Had he looked into Jesus’ eyes and seen the love there, he would have done everything possible to follow and be with Jesus.
Jesus then comments to his disciples how difficult it is for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. Was Jesus really speaking about life after death or was he speaking about becoming intimately engaged with the Kingdom of God in the present moment? In Luke 17: vs. 20 and 21, Jesus was asked when the Kingdom of God was coming and in his reply he ended with, ‘...in fact, the kingdom of God is among you.’ An alternative word for ‘among’ is ‘within’. The kingdom of God is within you.
The disciples as well as the rich man were looking for information about the afterlife and how it was possible to earn eternal salvation; what Jesus was saying to them was, “I am the kingdom of God and I am here. When you look into my eyes, fall in love with me and allow me to love you, you will have the kingdom of God within you. It will be all you need. It will be all you want.”
The big question is, what is stopping all of us from falling in love with Christ, finding all we need in him and being fully engaged in the here and now Kingdom of God? Do we seek the eyes of Jesus in every moment or are we so concerned with keeping the proper rules and keeping a tally of everything we do for the Lord that we miss experiencing the Kingdom right now where we are?
To the rich man, wealth was a sign of God’s approval. What signs do we look for to indicate that we are acceptable to God? It could be that we are caught up in material possessions but we could also be caught up in a successful ministry or we could be placing an enormous amount of personal justification on the behavior of our children or we could be keeping a count of how often we attend daily Mass or engage in daily devotions. We could even be placing a lot of importance on how much we know about the church, our faith and scripture. There’s nothing wrong with any of these things – including wealth. Even voluntary poverty can become a mistaken source of self-justification. All these things become unhealthy when they become our possessions and, in maintaining our possession of them, they separate us from complete dependence on the love of Christ to justify us and take us home.
The spiritual journey is a life long process of having our fingers pried off false security. No one is exempt. The call to let go of all that we hold onto is not a call coming from the heart of a forbidding God. It is a call from the heart of the Beloved:
“Please…look into my eyes. Let me be your security, your validation and your only source of satisfaction. Let me be your love.”
Mark 10: 17-30
17 As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ 18Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. 19You know the commandments: “You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.” ’ 20He said to him, ‘Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.’ 21Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, ‘You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ 22When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.
23 Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, ‘How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!’ 24And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, ‘Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.’ 26They were greatly astounded and said to one another, ‘Then who can be saved?’ 27Jesus looked at them and said, ‘For mortals it is impossible but not for God; for God all things are possible.’
28 Peter began to say to him, ‘Look, we have left everything and followed you.’ 29Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, 30who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life.
This is a wonderful gospel passage, but the wonderful part of it is often overlooked because it immediately creates discomfort as we survey all of our material possessions and ask ourselves if Jesus really meant that we have to sell everything we have in order to follow him. We can certainly understand that it’s easy to get too caught up in our possessions and end up in a cycle of attainment and maintenance that can distract us from serving him and we wonder if we have become too attached and too focused on our material possessions. It’s definitely a good exercise to discern how attached we are to what material goods we do have and how focused we are on what we don’t have.
However, don’t let this very good exercise overshadow a deeply important and wonderful truth in this gospel. The first clue we have that Jesus is trying to get something planted in the hearts of his disciples is where, after the rich man explained that he had followed all the prescribed rules since he was a boy, scripture says, ‘Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, ‘You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’
I am struck by the fact that Jesus looked the man and loved him. Within that look and that love was an invitation much deeper than a simple invitation to sell all his material possessions. There was far more than material possessions hindering the man from following Jesus. Why would this man run up and ask Jesus what he should do to inherit eternal life if he already knew he had kept the Jewish commandments all his life and had been taught that this is what would save him? Was he really looking for the key to eternal life or was he actually looking for approval from Jesus for his faithfulness to the law? He definitely wasn’t trying to trap Jesus so maybe he just wanted recognition for being a fine upstanding Jew. Maybe he hoped Jesus would say something like, “Look at this man. Here is what you all should be striving for. Obviously, God loves him because he is quite rich, and not only is he wealthy but he is scrupulous about following the law. What a guy!”
Instead, Jesus told him he was lacking one thing. Was this ‘one thing’ the action of selling all the man owned? Perhaps not. Perhaps the one thing lacking was a relationship with Jesus himself. The man went away shocked. He failed to look at the love in Jesus’ eyes and he didn’t understand that love and desire for a relationship with Jesus was the one thing he lacked. All he could hear was “sell all”. He was jarred to the core of his being because all Jews assumed that wealth indicated God’s approval. If he was looking for approbation, recognition or a pat on the back, he didn’t get it. Jesus didn’t say to him, “You’re great. You’ve done everything you need to do. I wish everybody was like you.” The rich man completely missed what was in the eyes of Jesus, which was what he really needed: Jesus’ unconditional love. Had he looked into Jesus’ eyes and seen the love there, he would have done everything possible to follow and be with Jesus.
Jesus then comments to his disciples how difficult it is for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. Was Jesus really speaking about life after death or was he speaking about becoming intimately engaged with the Kingdom of God in the present moment? In Luke 17: vs. 20 and 21, Jesus was asked when the Kingdom of God was coming and in his reply he ended with, ‘...in fact, the kingdom of God is among you.’ An alternative word for ‘among’ is ‘within’. The kingdom of God is within you.
The disciples as well as the rich man were looking for information about the afterlife and how it was possible to earn eternal salvation; what Jesus was saying to them was, “I am the kingdom of God and I am here. When you look into my eyes, fall in love with me and allow me to love you, you will have the kingdom of God within you. It will be all you need. It will be all you want.”
The big question is, what is stopping all of us from falling in love with Christ, finding all we need in him and being fully engaged in the here and now Kingdom of God? Do we seek the eyes of Jesus in every moment or are we so concerned with keeping the proper rules and keeping a tally of everything we do for the Lord that we miss experiencing the Kingdom right now where we are?
To the rich man, wealth was a sign of God’s approval. What signs do we look for to indicate that we are acceptable to God? It could be that we are caught up in material possessions but we could also be caught up in a successful ministry or we could be placing an enormous amount of personal justification on the behavior of our children or we could be keeping a count of how often we attend daily Mass or engage in daily devotions. We could even be placing a lot of importance on how much we know about the church, our faith and scripture. There’s nothing wrong with any of these things – including wealth. Even voluntary poverty can become a mistaken source of self-justification. All these things become unhealthy when they become our possessions and, in maintaining our possession of them, they separate us from complete dependence on the love of Christ to justify us and take us home.
The spiritual journey is a life long process of having our fingers pried off false security. No one is exempt. The call to let go of all that we hold onto is not a call coming from the heart of a forbidding God. It is a call from the heart of the Beloved:
“Please…look into my eyes. Let me be your security, your validation and your only source of satisfaction. Let me be your love.”
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