I Am A Listening!

Some have asked me to picture Fr. Basil. This was the largest picture I could manage with my own computer skills since I never took his picture when we were together.

Recently I was listening to someone tell me the official Catholic position on voting for someone who favors abortion. I found it rather astounding because I have on my desk at the present time then Cardinal Ratzinger's letter to the American Bishops, through Cardinal McCarrick, expressing his opinion in this matter. Surely was not the same thing that the person telling me the Church position. Likewise someone told me of an accident that happened recently. Later in the day, I heard a story from a relative about the same accident. I felt like asking if it is true that both were at the same accident!

As Fr. Basil notes (p. 21), often stories told by two or three people are usually the same in essence but they are somewhat different. How does that come about? So often we filter what we hear! Let me repeat: so often we filter what we hear. How we listen, "the listening that we are," is no simple reality. How you and I become the listening that we are today is the product of a lifetime of experience.

Fr. Basil also points out that be "a listening" is much more than hearing. It is more than how we hear: how we see, how we smell, how we taste. In addition to the externals, our inner voices listen for feelings, emotions, memories, ideas, and concepts ... as the Trappist points out.

Good St. Thomas Aquinas is known for the following sentence and thought: "Quidquid recipiture per modum recipientis recipitur." What Thomas was teaching is this: Whatever is received is received according to the mode of the receiver." Let me offer one way of understanding what Thomas' thought is.

What meets up with the way we are a listen will be accepted. What does not fit, well, most likely it will be discarded very quickly.

If I am a rigid person, very little will ever get through the gates that lock out anything I don't believe. And, unfortunately, I become a person with some serious prejudices. Have you ever tried to get a relative to change a strongly held position about one of the "in-laws" that became a part of the family? Good luck!

Fr. Pennington taught that those who tend to be "more open," willing to listen to and consider another point of view, have the opportunity to expand the parameters of their way of listening.

What is important for understanding our true and our false selves, is that we are not afraid of, first of all, trying to understand how we are a certain listening (p. 25). A la Pennington, when we actually become aware of my listening, we have taken "the first step on our journey toward embracing my true self. Like a baby who takes those that first step, we, too, know that I can leave behind me any fears about what I can not do.

Likewise, even though I recognize the listening that I am, I have to also realize that it is "partial." A conversation at my brother's home recently: "Mom, I am going over to Sue's house." (Mom) "Let's get your Dad here and talk about this. You know there are some concerns we have. But we want to hear fully your desires. When we have talked about it, perhaps we can come to a resolution that is good for all of us."

So, before getting into a good session of prayer, it is so important to understand who I am. Learning to know "how I am 'a listening' will great open our hearts to God's speaking to me, to the Holy Spirit endeavoring to let us see more deeply who we are.
Today both principal candidates for the November election were speaking publicly about what each was planning to do in order to save the economy. Do you think that the person who is a dyed in the wool Republican is going to give Senator Obama any credence in what he says and proposes? Likewise the Obamaite will have heard Senator McQuain's proposals and found very little if any items of credibility.

Riches in Needs

Good afternoon. While the king’s son’s wedding might seem more interesting for a homily today, what St. Paul writes to the Philippians is much more pertinent the our current situation in the United States and in the world. I speak not about politics and the upcoming Presidential election.
When Father Harry Cronin, a Holy Cross Father – sorry Notre Dame fans about yesterday’s disappointing loss – wrote the following words in a reflection on part of the Pauline reading we have in today's Eucharistic liturgy, I was stopped. His words are these: "When we allow ourselves to be poor as Jesus was poor, there will be a change in our hearts. For the first time in our lives, we will be truly able to embrace."
In the letter to the Philippians Paul wrote these words that brought Fr. Cronin to make the previous statement: "My God will fully supply whatever you need, in accord with his glorious riches in Christ Jesus" (Ch 4, v 19).
There isn’t a tv station, a radio station or a newspaper that is not reporting that we are frightened, we are pained, we are somewhat confused by the current financial realities enveloping not only ourselves in the USA but our sisters and brothers throughout the world.
So what is it about the "riches in Jesus Christ" that we are to share? We know that Jesus was not a wealthy man. Quite the contrary. Remember his words while out preaching: I don’t have a place to sleep. And we know that he was also a man who had contempt for riches. And, ultimately, he died naked and poor. He was a man without any hope.
Today many are forced to abandon their homes, many have lost jobs and health care is a major problem for our elderly — and this is not a political speech, rather it is a reality of the new kind of being poor.
I have noticed that when people are in trouble, yes, they turn to their bibles and God. But I also notice that when they greet their friends with a hug, a warm embrace, it is so much more meaningful than when all seems to be just fine. Why the difference? Why is an embrace so much more meaningful when there are challenges out of the ordinary invading our existence? I suspect it happens because those in need have come upon a kind of freedom they may not have known before.
The freedom of the embrace comes from an awareness that another person is truly needed and appreciated ... not to provide financial solutions but, rather, to be a rock in the midst of a storm, to be a promise that all is not loss, that friendship and love are worth so much more than the "things" of this world.
When we embrace God, which happens when challenges are painful, we have to be free. We cannot be held back by "things of the world." This is the freedom that St. Paul refers to as the riches of Jesus Christ. Perhaps when struggling we find ourselves "wealthy" in a way that we may have forgotten ... wealthy in the love and support of Jesus Christ. And this is truly God’s gift of freedom.

Continuing with reflections from Fr. Basil's True Self, False Self.

Fr. Basil uses two concepts to present his help to those seeking to let the calming waters of prayer pour over their being (had to have a reason for the picture!): (1) the transformation of consciousness and (2) the evolution of human consciousness in the human family as a whole and in each of us as individuals.

Fr. Basil noted that one of his confreres, Fr. Louis (aka Fr. Thomas Merton) often spoke of an "easy route" to God: get into the center of one's being. Once there do not stop: pass through one's center into the center of God. Sounds somewhat challenging but truly it is not. How many times have you sat alone watching waves roll onto the shore? How many times have you sat alone watching suns run the last course of their day for us? The invitation to go beyond ourselves, beyond our being, comes to each person perhaps in a way different for each person.

In the early Church the following was much more popular than in our own times: lex orandi, lex credendi. What this means is the way that we pray is the way that we believe. Think of that for a moment: the way I pray is a reflection of the way that I believe. And, a reversal of the phrase is equally true: as I believe, so I pray.

What does this mean practically? As one's theology develops, so too does one's prayer. Consider the prayer of a person whose faith, whose level of belief is limited to, let us say, the Baltimore Catechism kind of faith. The prayer of that person, while effective as any prayer is, will be somewhat limited in its satisfaction to the person. Whereas the person who ventures beyond the fewer 100 Q & A format of the old catechism to learn more about the theologies of creation and redemption, that person will begin to pray with a deeper awareness of the gifts of redemption and a Holy Spirit.

This more opened, more aware of God's goodness, kind of prayer will lead us to a deeper awareness of our own selves, our own being. St. Augustine in his writing, The Confessions, made these words at the outset of his times of prayer: Noverim me ut moverim Te. My God, it is my prayer, my hope, to know myself so that in that discovery I might come to know you.

No matter how we stand in relation to God, no matter the history we bring to accepting the invitation to draw closer to our Creator, we have to realize that there could be no better a way to begin than to consider ourselves because we have been made in the image and likeness of God. So to know ourselves we are following a pathway that leads to knowing our God in unique ways. If I consider the crazy ways I have lived my life, the times I may have walked a different path than that which God wanted of me, is there a better way to get to know how God's mercy, God's love works in my life? Probably not! The stronger our understanding of ourselves, the better will be our getting in touch with who we really are and what our aspirations are. Doing this, coming to this understanding of ourselves and the natural result of coming to God through what Fr. Basil calls a "union of love," we find ourselves wanting "to love ourselves for God's sake and to see our lives grow in the fruits of the Holy Spirit." It is in this experience that we actually grow into the fullness of our "God-given and God-like humanity."

On Monday the reflection will be directed toward how we build who we are by being a listening. (That is a purposeful use of a gerund.)

Prayer and Listening

Today I am beginning a sharing of the insights of Fr. Basil Pennington, OCSO (Trapppist) regarding prayer. This diversion from the daily readings rises from the daily Eucharistic Liturgy readings of the last several days. One of the themes has been the matter of prayer. Remember the words of the apostles to Jesus: "Teach us how to pray." Fr. Basil, fulfilling a promise, published in the year 2000 True Self, False Self.

As mentioned the liturgy's readings have brought us face-to-face, once again, with the reality of prayer. What has become a model in learning how to make our prayer meaningful since the apostles asked to learn how prayer could be meaningful is the journey of self-discovery. For prayer to become the joy and goodness so often described by many saints, there is at some point in time the realization that I have to come to know who I am to be truly happy and at peace with myself.

It is in coming to God in prayer that I come to know myself and it is in coming to know myself through prayer that I come to know my God.

Through the regular practice of prayer, I peel away the many protective shields I have constructed since the days of my youth. Through the patient practice of prayer, I am able to discover a genuine and fulfilling relationship with God because I have come to understand my true self. With that discovery I can become aware of the truly awesome gift of being who I truly am. It is this gifted awareness that brings me to understand and buy into the sentiments of St. Augustine who said "The glory of God is the person fully alive." Isn't this remark so similar to our own sentiments today when we might say, "The glory of every parent is a child fully alive, living out all that was hoped for, being a person of goodness and love"?

And, to be honest, are there not many of us who have at different times in our lives wondered if we ourselves were truly living a life that is fully alive? This is why we need to know the meaning of prayer.

Our Father's Forgiveness

The words Jesus uses to teach praying -- what we call the Lord's Prayer --- are much more for us than learning to recite words. Jesus links his hearers to what seems critically important to prayer's beginnings --- forgiveness of those who have need of our forgiveness.

A priest who once provided spiritual direction for me remarked that he wondered if we are truly aware of what our words mean when we pray "...and forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us"? Do we really mean "just as we pardon others"? To pray these words and to mean them is probably one of the most challenging moments of the day. If I pray for God's pardon, just as we do at the outset of each eucharistic liturgy, and continue to harbor genuine unforgiveness toward another person, I am creating petitions at odds with each other. Maybe it can be likened to our placing the same poles of two magnets near each other. There comes about a force that repels one from the other.

Who of us is free of this unfortunate resistance? So often prejudices prevail in most of us from our youngest days. Unfortunately prejudices are handed down to us from our families, communities, churches and races. No doubt it is one of the results of Original Sin.

Forgiveness is no easy practice because it requires of us the recognition that we have been damaged by someone else. Who of us is comfortable admitting others have hurt us? Do I find reaching out to someone who offended me and my life easy? My spiritual guide used to say "In love, we respond to what is good; in mercy we respond to what is not good and seek to make it good." The challenge God puts before us each time I pray as Jesus taught -- again the Lord's Prayer -- requires great strength because I have to remove resentment, anger, even unfriendliness toward another or others. We have to be strong enough to say, "Father, as best as I can, I forgive everyone" when we start to pray.

Sunday, October 5, 2008: Hope for all.

Today's Pauline reading brings us to a virtue that has become a part of so many lives in the last five years: Afghanistan, 9/11, Iraq, financial disasters. In his words to the Philippians from his prison cell, Paul writes not so much about the torture he has endured. Rather it is about his hope and trust in Jesus Christ that is the driving force in his life.

Have no anxiety at all, but in everything,

by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,

make your requests known to God."

This is genuine hope. There is not the slightest hint in Paul's words that there is only emptiness. There is no inkling of despair. In his second encyclical, titled "Saved in Hope," Pope Benedict was very direct: "a distinguishing mark of Christians " is that we believe that our lives "will not end in emptiness."

The other readings today are stories about hopes that have not been realized and walls that have been broken down. However, we should note that the same stones became the foundation for the cornerstone of a new building. These are words of a realized future. Indeed, all of us can live with the hope that we always will have a new future when our worlds collapse around us.

What we witness in the death of the vineyard owner's son is not immediate retribution. No! What we have experienced is the death of God's son as the foundation for the the beginning of a new life, a new future. God the Father has used the seeming failure of Jesus' mission as the beginning of a new Church.

The challenge before us is simple: do you truly believe God brings about new life for us when our hopes are dashed, when our expectations fail? When you experience failure or failed visions, do you believe God takes your weaknesses and renews your strength through his strength?

I know we live in very difficult financial times. I know many feel there might not be a tomorrow. Some know there definitely will not be work. Some know there will be no new car for a while. Some know the long-planned vacation will not happen. Despite all of this, I believe what Pope Benedict wrote in the hope encyclical: "God is the hope that surpasses everything else." And I know this is the time when many Americans are turning to their God. Any priest or counselor will tell you this: when the going gets tough, tough believers take their bible, their prayer books, not their guns, in hand and seek to renew their hope based on the promises of a loving and giving God. With the psalmist, King David, we, too, can pray:

Once again, O Lord of hosts,

look down from heaven, and see;

take care of this vine,

and protect what your right had has planted

the son of man who you yourself made strong.

Man of Prayer: Francis of Assisi

On this day in the year 1226 Giovanni Francesco Bernardone died. Yes, that was the name of today's saint before his father started calling him Francisco.

Perhaps Francis could be a model for young men considering his way of living during his later teens and early twenties. He was quite the young man in many ways.

In his early twenties he joined in the battle against the Perugians. He ended up in a Perugian prison for a year. Illness took over for a while. During his hospitalization his life began to change. His story at this point is very much like Ignatius Loyola's. For Francis it would require another venture in chivalry. One night he had a dream in which he was told to return to Assisi ... which he did immediately. It was then that he began his serious journey that led him to become the saint he is today.

Although a man from a relatively wealthy family, Francis became a devotee of poverty and lover of the poor.

Perhaps we might take some time today to consider his example. We do not need to give away everything we have. We don't have to adopt a new lifestyle although the current financial realities might make it seem that way. Rather, like Francis we might consider excess. Do we live in excess? Is our happiness found only in having anything we want?

Consider this saint in light of these questions. Consider these questions in light of this saint.

God's Greatness

Today's www.usccb.org/nab reading is worth marking for days when you feel you have been abandoned, when the world is overwhelming, when darkness is thrown over your day.

Job shares his recollection of God's words to him. Our Creator reminds Job of the marvels of creation. In taking a moment to consider these gifts to us, there is for us the opportunity to enter a genuine intimacy with God.

There are several items on my bookshelves that have been gifted to me by friends. Every now and again I stop and look at the gift for a few minutes. It brings me back to wonderful moments with the friend who gave the gift. Yes, it is a de ja vu experience but the moments are a refresher to my spirits because I am reminded of the love and care someone has for me.

In particular I have a small Goebel figurine of the Good Shepherd that was given by the parishioners at Mother Seton parish to my Mom when I celebrated my 25th ordination anniversary. When Mom had to move to Carroll Manor, she made it clear that the statuette should be on my shelves. So, as I hold it in my hands, I think not just of an image of the Good Shepherd but of many realities: first and foremost, I recall the way Mom shepherded my Dad, my siblings and me; then I think of her and how much I miss her moments with me in the later years of her life; then I think about the incredible gift of priesthood and my role in shepherding the people of God; and, finally, I am brought to God with so many thoughts I just don't know where to begin ... I just sit and imagine "how good is the good God", as Julie Billiard, foundress of the Sisters of Notre Dame du Namur, used to say.

The same can happen to anyone who takes time to think of the greatness of the Lord in all that he has created for humankind. Just looking at the picture above, the "Grand Canyon of Hawaii," reminds me of God's power and care for the earth and the gift of enjoying the beauty of his creation. Looking at it for a time, I find myself in conversation with God. There is that intimacy that can happen with my Creator.

I invite you, again, to mark the Job selection for future reading. I promise you this: if you begin to use these words for your prayer, you will not feel that God is far removed from your heart and your life.

Minister of His Will: Guardian Angels

For to his angels he has given command about you,

that they guard you in all your ways.

Psalm 91:11

Just a few days ago, we celebrated the feast of three archangels. Today the Church call to our attention the Guardian Angels. Why feast so similar, so close to one another? Is there a message? Give attention to the last verse of the responsorial psalm.

As I mentioned on the archangels day, perhaps we have allowed this extraordinary gift of God to slip beyond our attention more often than not. Today we live in a world that is hardened by so many almost inhuman challenges. Is it a wonder that so many people feel that religion has so little to offer them? The hearts of these probably wonderful people have become so hardened.

As the gospel reminds us there is a singular gift in being somewhat like a child. In Jesus' times children ranked lower than animals. They were little more than a nuisance. But their ranking in the society did not stop them from being trusting, hoping and loving. They may have been put down by society but they continued to be what God made them to be.

I believe when Jesus said "whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me," he must have been sharing the experience of the openness and trust of a child when he or she meets someone who accepts the child with love and care.

Look at most of our children today. Very few have had the unfortunate experiences of a hardened heart in their early years. This is the gift that they offer you and me today.

And it might just be that these little ones are expressions of the guardian angels to whom God has entrusted our care.

Spirituality Tensions

Today, together with the universal Church, we commemorate the young woman of Lisieux whose life was a model of humility, determination and trust. Known for her holiness, Theresa of Lisieux is a model of trust in God regardless of the circumstances. She with other saints is a teacher of a "saintly reality" we believe is only for us regular mortals, namely that God even seems absent at times to those we believe are always in God's presence. Even Job came to experience the dryness God's seeming absence brings.

The lives of Theresa and Job are classic examples of the fact that we, all who seek to believe , live a faith life that brings tension into our daily lives at times. Isn't there a genuine irony in our struggle to believe?

Most of us are ready to acknowledge that God is beyond our understanding as Creator and Redeemer. Nevertheless, we take time to find experiences of intimacy with God. Through our prayers and our service to others we hope to draw ourselves ever closer to that distant God.

A reading of the lives of different saints affords the opportunity to come to recognize that sanctity is a gift to all of us. A part of that sanctity, however, is the time when God just does not seem to hear our prayers.

I believe those moments are like the picture above. We are in a desert at those moments. However, I also believe that if we take the time to discern what is happening in our lives when that dryness occurs, we might more easily see where God is trying to lead us. Again, one of the ironies of the spiritual life is before us. And the wonderful reality about walking through these moments of dryness is that we won't get wet!!!

Can You Recommend Me?

Monday's readings for the feast day honor Michael, Gabriel and Raphael -- angels also called Saints!!!--remind me of the many times I have been asked to write a letter of recommendation or make a telephone call on behalf of someone seeking college admission or a position in a firm. No doubt many of you here for this liturgy this morning have found yourself making such request or being asked to make similar intercessions where you can.

We learn from our earliest years on this earth in most instances of life there is a simple sentence that sums up so much of human experience and achieving goals. The sentence: "It’s just a matter of who you know!"

We become so caught up in the storms and challenges of life that we often fail to look beyond the friend, the boss, the Pastor, the counselor, and, perhaps, the government representative from Mayor to President. Who can best help me achieve the desire that I have, the need the is so important, or the goal that would make my life so different?

Today’s feast honor the three angels named in sacred scripture is a reminder, at least to me and my giving little more attention to angels than their place on Christmas cards or suspended mid-air over a Bethlehem manger, that I may have been letting special aides go unused in my life. A good hour on the Internet last night chasing down these invisible yet present creations was truly rewarding and a good refresher course. I did read one attempt at understanding angels that was interesting. One writer holds the position that "the spirit world is more real than the material and visible world." He wrote that our experience of that world might be likened to our experience of electricity: most of us do not understand what electricity it but we know its there.

Angels, we learn from several places in scripture, are God’s messengers. In the Bible there are some 300 references to angels. Artists render them more in the feminine whereas scripture writers name them in the masculine.
Angels we learn from the Book of Job were worshiping God as he was creating the world. We know that one of the evil angels, Lucifer, was in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve were there.

So, if we stop to think about it, perhaps the spirits we might indulge in when we feel the need for support and care would best be the angels God has created for us. Remember the following words?

Angel of God,my guardian dear,

to whom God's love commits me here,

ever this day,be at my side

to light and guard,

to rule and guide. Amen.

The Name of Jesus

A name is a powerful reality. A name so often embodies who a person is. At the same time a name is used by others to define who a person is. From the moment a child is conceived the naming process begins ... the future Mom and Dad begin considering what name shall be given to their child. Twice we know that God intervened in the naming of a yet to be born child: John the Baptist and Jesus.

In today second reading, St Paul reflects on the power of the name of Jesus: "... and bestowed on him the name which is above every name." It is a name that was given to the young preacher because he would sacrifice his life in obedience to the Father’s will.

"Jesus." This is the name that has been used to cast out demons. "Jesus." This is the name invoked to bring about miracles. The name "Jesus" possessed such power that Paul would write "that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on the earth and under the earth.

Two questions arise: First, how often do we recognize the power in Jesus’ name? Second, how often do we afford Jesus’ name the respect such a powerful name should receive? These two questions might express whether or not we bend the knee of our hearts and minds in respect, admiration and gratitude.

Let me share with you a reflective moment from a young lady who is currently studying theology at a mid-western Jesuit university:

When we hold something sacred and close to our heart, we do not want it belittled or tarnished by everyday use or by using it in offensiveness. If we truly hold what our Savior did for us as something valued and divine, then we should do everything in our power to honor that gift. We should not be afraid to change our ways or to even ask others around us to change theirs. If we undeniably believe in our Jesus and His life, then every moment of our lives should be a testimony to that, especially in the words we use and the way in which we react to the words around us.

This junior in college challenges all to consider whether or not we afford due respect to the name of Jesus in our own lives. Hers is a call for respect for a name that has championed a love and care. "Jesus" is a name that has touched the lives of men and women through the centuries. "Jesus" is a name for which crusading men went to battle. When truly understood for all the mystery it contains, it is a name to which humankind not only bends a knee but willingly bows in adoration because this name is the name given to the Son of God, the savior of humankind.

The Not-Forever Bubble

Buried within the Responsorial Psalm for today's Eucharistic liturgy is a petition that may have taken up residence in the hearts of many Americans in recent weeks.

Teach us to number our days aright,

that we might gain wisdom of heart.

(Psalm 90:12)

The Psalmist is reminding us that, regardless of our wealth or our successes, we exist within limits. Our days on this earth are limited. As well, I know there are many who are suddenly experiencing the limits placed upon them by econnomic trials. Two years ago the word "sacrifice" was far from the top ten most spoken words in America.

When we live in the bubble of "limitless," often times we provide for very little time or space for the God who created our world. When I feel limitless, I take on a role of superiority, a mindset of betterness than many others. When I am living in the limitless bubble, I tend to feel that I am completely self-sufficient. When I profess that creed, why would I need think about God?

However, do not give up. We have in Jesus a model of a man who greatly sacrificed in accepting the limits of his humanity. Yet, as a man, Jesus brought about so much good for humanity. He brought the people who listened to him to experience a genuine change: his change that has transformed the world for the last two centuries.

He worked within the human limitations he accepted. He worked within the obedience of a son to his Father. And, before he died, he entrusted to us the way of life to us even in our limited state of existence as a human being. He passed on to us a spirit that we should entrust to the next generation.

One generation passes and another comes,

but the world forever stays.

(Ecclesiastes 1:4)

The challenge for us today is to know our faith and to pass it forward --- because, as we learn from the gospels and St. Paul, in Jesus Christ there is not death.

More from the Book of Proverbs

Give me neither poverty nor riches;

provide me only with the food I need.

[from today's reading]

Perhaps the words of other spiritual writers might come to mind after reading these Proverb words: moderation in all things. Whatever, the author of Proverbs is clear: don't give me too little nor too much. He does not want to be full. Having too much, he believes, might easily bring the very real human experience of forgetting about God. At the same time he does not want to be living in poverty and want lest he feel driven to cheat, to steal, and "to profane the name" of his God.

Today's gospel reading offers another well-used spiritual gem: "In medias res stat virtus." All you Latin scholars know that this sentence translates literally as "In the middle stands virtue." You will not find these words in the gospel reading but it is the message from Jesus to his disciples.

He sends them out on their mission, just as he sends each of us each day: go without a lot of extra "things." He tells his representatives that they don't need food, money or even extra clothing. But they are to understand that he is not sending them without something. He provides all that they might need: power and authority over all demons and the sickness.

Imagine for a moment what Jesus would say to most of us when we travel whether on "mission" or "vacation" were he to scan our baggage at the airport or train station or what we carry in the trunks of our autos.

Jesus sends us, like the disciples, each day in the spirit of our baptism and the creed we profess at the beginning of each week. Surely we do need food and clothing and tools for our work and most likely a means of transportation. Likewise, we do NOT need the excess that can bring us to construct our own idols that separate us from our God.

Ah, discernment!

Photo: Amanda Dennis

Trifling with the Truth

In today's reading from Proverbs there are appropriate words for so many in our world today: "Whoever makes a fortune by a lying tongue is chasing a bubble over deadly snares."

We live in such a challenging society, many are overwhelmed. So burdensome is the need to prove oneself in almost ever conversation that we easily and quickly provide protection by "trifling with the truth," as my grandmother was want to say when she did not believe us.

It is interesting that the word "bubble" is used in the proverb. Haven't we heard that frequently: "the high tech bubble," "the real estate bubble." And we know that these phrases and their context today refer to financial troubles and most recently in people and institutions "trifling with the truth."

What we have experienced is seeing firsthand in many instances the results of greed: lying for our own benefit. It is easy for us to point fingers and parts of the federal government, government representatives, financial institutions and on and on. However, it is important to stop and ask ourselves a very simple question: "Have I allowed myself to "trifle with the truth?"

Today's gospel reading reminds us what it means to be a good person, a brother (or sister) of Jesus: to be a person who hears the word of God and acts on it. And Luke presents Mary as a good person in his gospel because she was open to God, open to hearing the word of God, willing to change her life to follow what God was asking of her.

To deal with the truth is to deal with the Ten Commandments. To lie is to deceive one's neighbor. To live in the truth is a challenge not just for those in government or banking or the real estate market: living in the truth is a challenge for all of us whether it be dealing with members of our family, our colleagues in an office, our circle of friends. Eventually lying will bring us, like water pictured above, over the falls.

Every Grateful

Homily of Deacon Gary Bockweg

Deacon at St. Joseph's on Capitol Hill

I wish I’d made the right moves in the stock market last week.
Some people made a fortune.
I wish I’d bought a new house back when prices were really low.
My neighbor did.
I wish I’d gotten recognition for that work I did last year.
My partner got most the credit.
I wish I’d gotten two of those choice seats at the concert.
I paid just as much, but somebody else got the best seats.

Those wishes are all signs of envy.
One of the Seven Deadly Sins.
If I harbor ill-will toward those others who received more than I,
Who were no more worthy but just luckier than I,
If I’d like to see them get their just deserts,
Then that’s envy for sure.

If I don’t harbor ill will toward those others,
But just really wish I’d been the lucky one,
Then I probably don’t have to call it envy.
What a relief!
I’ve avoided that deadly sin.

But if I dwell on that wish, let it really occupy my time and thoughts,
Then I’m just dodging one deadly sin to fall into another.
Then I’m suffering from greed.
I should be thankful I have money to invest.
Thankful I have a place to live.
Thankful I have a job.
Thankful I have the health and time and companionship for a concert.

If I can’t be happy and thankful for what I have
Because I’m too busy longing for more, something’s wrong.
Whether it’s envy or greed it’s wrong.
In today’s super-materialistic world,
Envy and greed may be two of our greatest dangers.
Envy directly violates the 10th Commandment –
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s goods.
Greed directly violates the 1st Commandment –
Thou shalt not have strange God’s before me.
With greed, material things edge out God as the center of our attention and focus.

Jesus was once asked "What is the greatest commandment?"
And he answered with not just one, but two.
Love God with all your mind, heart and strength –
And love your neighbor as yourself.
Envy and greed also violate those two greatest commandments.

It’s important to realize that God’s Commandments aren’t for God’s benefit,
They’re for ours.
And they’re not only for getting us through those pearly gates.
They’re for giving us a happier, more satisfying life right here and now.
It’s very accurate to say we suffer from envy or we suffer from greed.
They prevent us from experiencing the joy we should feel.
They bring us unhappiness and dissatisfaction right now.

Of course, they’re also obstacles to our eternal happiness.
To our enjoyment of the Kingdom of Heaven.
In our Gospel today, Jesus gives an example of what the Kingdom of Heaven is like.
It’s free from that envy and greed.
The last are first and the first are last.
All are treated equally.

This story of the vineyard is one of those clear Good News gospel passages.
It’s good news for every one of us.
Even if we think we’ve done our share.
Even if we think we’ve worked harder than others.
How can we really be sure we’ve done enough?

So it’s reassuring to see how extravagantly generous the Master is.
If we actually have done a lot, then maybe we have a nice cushion.
Some of us began early and have worked steadily.
Some of us began early, slacked off, and got back on track.
Some of us have come late.
Some other folks haven’t even started yet.

But should we care who comes when?
Our own reward is not diminished in the least by the reward of others.
Let’s rejoice if they come at all.
Like the finding of the lost sheep,
Like the return of the prodigal son,
Let’s rejoice that all can be united with the fold,
Even to the very end.
An old Jesuit once told me that some theologians believe that
At the instant of death, Jesus meets us and gives us one last chance to follow him.
I’ve always hoped that’s true.

If we came early, we have the added joy of the satisfaction of our labors.
Let’s rejoice at our own good fortune.
And let’s be always ready to rejoice
At the good fortune of those who maybe didn’t work as hard.
Or who maybe didn’t work as long.
When the Master lines us up to receive our rewards,
We may see that we’re in the group that doesn’t quite measure up.
The group that really needs the Master’s great generosity.
Actually, we can be pretty sure that will be the case.
None of us can really earn our way into heaven.
All of us have to rely on God’s generosity.
For every one of us, the reward is all gift.

Eternal Rest Be Hers, O Lord

Sister Gerald Hartney, CSC
1910-2008

One of the "great ladies" of religious life died two weeks ago. Sister Gerald surely was one of the leaders in health care, financial management, university administration and, most of all, absolute and complete dedication and fidelity to the Roman Catholic Church. She finished her mission where she initiated it: Sisters of the Holy Cross motherhouse, St. Mary's, Indiana.

There will be many stories about Sister Gerald (Maura Josephine back on the old sod). Limerick was her place of birth and the first few years of her life. As a young woman, Maura learned how to work the columns of a ledger sheet with extraordinary acumen. That skilled took her around the world. Finishing her financial prep, she set sail from the port at Cobh for her "new home." She often shared with me how emotional that moment was as she looked back at the magnificent cathedral in the port town. She was leaving home. "Father, I was frightened. I don't tell many that but I 'twas."

Gerald was known in priests' circles for her Irish wit, her non-stop talking, her fears that Vatican II had made too many changes in the Church, especially impacting womens' religious life. She was also known for her love of travel. "You know, Father, I cannot violate the vow of poverty ... so I have to ask those who need my help to take the ticket! The lady saw the world, my friends!!!

On occasion she would share some of the Gerald "R&R" (Research & Rescue) operations that she undertook. There are many church-related operations that owe their existence today to her dedicated service to any organization in financial trouble and the farther away the better!!!. Whenever I would tell her of an idea that was over the top, she would reply, "Father, most would not believe you but I will." I knew with that remark it was time to put the idea in the trash.

In her later years, she became a missionary to Zimbabwe where her beloved nephew lived. On that "vow of poverty" she was able to visit her nephew because he was trying to set up a farm that would give work to the poor, unemployed! Oh, she knew how to work her way around the roadblocks. Once there, she fell in love with the country and the work that her nephew provided her missionary spirit. For the next several years she returned there for the summer to catechize the young and the older Zimbabwians (say that three times, real fast!!!). At one time she recounted that she had prepared more than 8000 people for the Sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist.

Her humor was rarely missing. Returning to America from Zimbabwe, Sister Gerald collapsed in Heathrow Airport. Very quickly a doctor came to her. It was her heart. After several light "slaps" on the face, Gerald came around. "Oh, thank God, we saved you" were the words of the physician. Her words of thanks? "I guess I should thank you, Doctor, but now you have kept me from my heavenly home a little longer. I saw the bright light. I knew that Jesus was coming. I guess I have to do some more work." Often have I wondered, when Sister told that story, what the doctor must have thought!

One last story. Sister Gerald asked me to drive her to Ocean City. The CFO was there on his vacation but she had to have his signature on an important document. She had made arrangements for us to stay with the CFO overnight!!! My colleagues teased me about the ride and how my ears would hurt by the time we returned. I was wearing a running watch at the time. On the way to OC from DC I would push the start botton the the time watch each time I spoke (or, literally could get a word in edge-wise). When I arrived at OC, I had amassed 16 seconds!!!! But she was so lovable, really she was.

In many ways the Church has been blessed by women who have dedicated their lives in service to Christians and non-Christians alike just like the women mentioned in today's gospel reading. Many have given up so much of themselves to bring others to know the love and care of their God. Each Sister, I suspect, stands out in her own way. But for me, Gerald was truly unique. Our offices were across from each other. Each day there and the days I drove her to work (she lived in the convent of the parish where I was a resident priest) I knew that I would be learning more about finances, better management, how wonderful it was to be working with Archbishop Hickey, and how important prayer was.

Now she is home and enjoys that light that she glimpsed on the Heathrow Airport floor. Thank you, God, for giving us another powerful woman in our Church who never tired of service to anyone in need.

Eternal rest grant to her, Lord.

May perpetual Light be upon her

and we are praying for you, Lord,

as you hear the stories and stories and stories! Amen

Jesus Christ's Business Card

Were Jesus to need a business card, perhaps it might look like this:

Jesus Christ

I Have Risen

Jesus would be no different, some might say, than the two criminals who hung from a cross on Good Friday with Jesus were it not for the event of Easter Sunday morning. Certainly today's gospel reminds us that Jesus was a man of greatest simplicity. There were no significant people accompanying him. He had nothing. Others provided what he needed. Clearly what he had was sufficient: he had his relationship to the Father.

Surely we are different. We have needs, serious needs. Like Jesus, we need the time to build our relationship with the Father, as he did in those hidden away moments of prayer and reflection. Yes, we need prayer every day of our lives. In A Taste of Silence, p21, Fr. Carl Arico offers a description of prayer written by a Fr. Armand Nigro which might stir your heart a little this Friday morning.

Prayer is principally God's work, God's gift. He is present as our Father, loving life into us, sustaining and working in us. He is in every heartbeat, every breath, every expanse of physical, sexual and psychic energy, every thought, hope and desire, every decision. When we are conscious of God's presence, of God being and around us, we are in prayer. When we are aware that we move and love in God's loving gaze, we are in prayer. When God makes us conscious of God's nearness and touch, we are in prayer. In prayer, we are not called to support or enrich God but to be fed and strengthened by God.

This is the classroom of prayer.

Stirring Up the Liturgical Pot

A Vatican official publicly spoke out against the strict traditionalist who now are demanding that the Holy Father require a Latin Mass of the old form be celebrated in every Church every day. Maybe a case of "too much candy for a penny."

Learning from the Past

Today's first reading is a reminder to us that we are very much like the man we call, "Paul, the Apostle." He is a powerhouse in the early days of the Church's growth. He has been a powerhouse throughout the history of the Church. The story of Paul's life is indeed remarkable but what is truly noteworthy is the fact that Paul was not one of the Twelve, the Apostles, and that he had never met Jesus in the flesh. Yet Paul had come to know the Son of God like very few.

How did this come about? He teaches us that his knowledge of Jesus came to his heart and his own firebrand spirit from the testimony of those who preceded him. Some of those who came before him had been in Jesus' presence. It was their their shared experience and recollection of what Jesus was that captured Paul's heart and his determination.

Paul also learned from actually hearing Jesus speak to him. His conversion was primary among the times that Jesus seems to have spoken to him in the post Resurrection years.

Paul heard the voice and witnessed as well God's saving power in the lives of other people. What he learned first and foremost from those who came before him was the truth that Jesus Christ came, died for our sins, was raised from the dead and was then seen by the Apostles and then others, presumably even by Paul, himself.

This is the same truth entrusted to us, to our Church. It is the truth of the mission that each of us is to pass on to those who come after us. Our lives, like Paul, founded on this one truth, can become the pathway to a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ for others.