I checked in with Douglas – and like last weekend – he has other commitments – so you’re stuck with me.
You probably know that the Gospel of John is a little different than the other three Gospels. Those three, Matthew, Mark, and Luke - we call the synoptic Gospels - synoptic being the Greek word for “one eye” because they all present a similar view or story about Jesus. John’s Gospel is in part structured around 7 “I AM” statements of Jesus - most of which we are familiar with: I am the Light of the World I am the Gate for the Sheep I am the Resurrection and the Life. I am the Way the Truth and the Life. This one we heard last week: I am the Good Shepherd. One we hear for three weeks in August: I am the Bread of Life. And one we hear today: I am the Vine - you are the branches. All of these are meant to bring Jesus’ listeners to a better understanding of who he is - by using examples they would understand and relate to. . . So let us try to get a better understanding of who Jesus is during our time together. . . So once there was a man from a remote village who had the opportunity to visit a large modern city for the first time. He had never been out of the hills before, and so had no experience with many modern conveniences - like running water or fancy kitchen appliances – and had seen few automobiles in his life. He of course wanted to bring something home with him to show off to his neighbors. Since he was most amazed at the lights he saw everywhere – he decided that’s what he wanted to take home. So he bought a sack full of light bulbs and sockets and switches. And back in the hills, he hung the light bulbs in front of his house and on the trees and shrubs. Everyone watched him with great curiosity and kept asking him what he was doing. He just smiled and said, “just wait until dark - then you will see.” Darkness came and he turned on the switches — but nothing happened. Because no one told him about electricity. And he did not know that light bulbs were useless unless they were connected to a source of power! Connection: it’s another gift Christ gives us during Easter: the ability to connect with him - and connect with one another in community. I think there are a lot of people today who want to call themselves Christian – and have no idea that means they have to stay connected to Jesus - as the source of spiritual power in their lives. I am the vine you are the branches – AND APART FROM ME: YOU CAN DO NOTHING! This disconnection happens, I think, for several reasons. . . 1st- staying connected to Jesus takes time and effort – and people are not willing to make this commitment. 2nd - staying connected to Jesus means that they have to DISCONNECT from other things: all the bells and whistles our culture and society throws at us telling us money, or power, or influence, or even the right cologne or shoes will bring us happiness or contentment. Little wonder that people have all kinds of time to pursue other things – but have NO time to devote to staying connected to Jesus. Allow me to state the obvious: If we want to truly call ourselves a Christian and to be a Christian: we have to stay connected to Jesus as the source of our spiritual power. Which is saying our values, our priorities, our expenditure of our time, talent, and treasure: need to flow from our commitment to stay connected to Christ. . . SO HOW DO WE STAY CONNECTED TO CHRIST? Through prayer: the lifting up of our minds and hearts to God. In prayer we commit ourselves to listening to the voice of the Good Shepherd so we can follow after him. We stay connected to Christ through our reading of Scripture – the great Biblical scholar St. Jerome (who translated the scriptures from Greek into Latin) once said: Ignorance of the scriptures is ignorance of God. . . We stay connected to Christ by walking with like-minded people as we do today. We must know that a truly Catholic journey with Christ is not just a Jesus and me experience – but a Jesus and WE experience. We draw comfort, and strength, are challenged and consoled in the midst of community. We stay connected to Christ through the use of sacramentals in our lives: the rosary, the use of holy water, the wearing of medals or a scapular, the use of icons or other sacred images: all to remind us of the ever-present love of God. We stay connected to Christ by our works of charity - ever mindful of the fact that whatever we do for the least of our brothers and sisters, we do for Christ. We stay connected to Christ through the celebration of the Eucharist and the other Sacraments. Again, recognizing that as individuals we are part of something much greater than ourselves – we are members of the Body of Christ. And we stay connected to Christ by keeping God’s commandments: by acting justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with our God. As St. John told us in the 2nd reading: those who keep God’s commandments remain in God, and God in them. All of these things take TIME AND EFFORT - which is why many people are Chrsitian in name only - for they want to put their time and effort into other “more useful” things. But, if we want to receive the gift of eternal life and enjoy the grace that frees us from our sins - two important gifts which Christ gives us not only during this Easter season but throughout our lives — then there are no “more useful things” to do. Jesus has called us to be members of his flock – to be good sheep – to have both courage and hope in our following of him. And to do this – we have to stay connected to Jesus – I am the vine, you are the branches– apart from me: you can do nothing.
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It’s a word Jesus used 3 times in the Gospel last Sunday – and once in the Gospel today.
It’s a word we use 6 times at every Mass between praying the Our Father and receiving Communion: the sign of our unity. It’s a word that’s easy to say - but hard to achieve – it’s the word for the 2nd gift of Easter that Christ gives us – and the word is PEACE: As in Jesus stood in their midst and said to them: Peace be with you. As in “Lord Jesus Christ, who said to your Apostles: peace I leave you, my peace I give you.” Peace, Saint John Paul II once said: “is not possible without justice. And justice is not possible without forgiveness. And forgiveness is not possible without mercy.” Here to talk more about peace - is our guest speaker from last week: Douglas. . . Hey guys, it’s me again, Douglas. And today I want to talk about one of Jesus’ favorite words: PEACE. Like when he says: blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Or when he just simply said: peace be with you. As he greeted his disciples after his resurrection. Now I don’t know why - but it seems as a kid - being called a kid is one of the worst insults. Like if someone says “move it kid” that’s like the worst. But I know as adults, you have your own ways of insulting people and putting them in their place. . . One time, I was on the school playground, and there was this big kid - he wasn’t that much older than me - but he was huge! And he just shoved me - and knocked me down. That wasn’t very fair: because I did not deserve to be shoved to the ground. And he said: move it kid, you’re in my way. And I just thought, o man, I’m on the ground and he shoved me and insulted me and I was just so mad — and all the other kids saw this and came swarming around us like kids will do – and they started chanting: fight, fight, fight. Because they wanted me to get up – and give that big kid what he deserved by shoving me – they wanted me to teach him a lesson by beating him up – Fight. Fight. Fight. Now even though I was a lot smaller - I was quicker - and I had a right to give that big kid what he deserved – so I think I could have taken him. I think if we did fight - I might have won. And that’s what everyone wanted – a fight. But is that what Jesus would want - a fight - I don’t think so. . . Blessed are the peacemakers, he said. Peace be with you, he said. Jesus wants us to look at conflict - and to ask ourselves how we handle it. . . Not just like a physical fight – but even just arguments or disagreements – how to we handle them – how do we resolve them?? Everybody loves a winner – so if I would have gotten in a fight with that kid and won – I would have been the hero of the playground. But do I - or you - want to be the hero of the playground – or the hero is God’s eyes? Yes, if we would have fought – the others would be cheering me on because I had beaten this kid and taught him a lesson. And there is something deep down inside of us, call it our human nature – that when we are challenged by someone – we want to beat them – everybody loves a winner! So if someone calls you a name – your human nature wants you to call them a worse name. If someone does something hurtful to you – deep down you want to do something back to make them cry. And our words and actions would impress a lot of people - because everyone would see that it was fair: an eye for an eye and a hurt for a hurt. But those words and actions would not impress God. . . Yes, it may get us an “atta boy” or an “atta girl” - maybe even a pat on the back. Others would say : good job - you really showed them - aren’t you a tough one. . . But would you rather have the admiration of other people – or the admiration of God? I hope you said God – because that’s the only good answer. Because Jesus came to set us free from acting just on our human nature – Jesus became human – so we can share in his divinity — that’s our calling through our Baptism: to become more and more like Christ!! Just remember in any kind of fight – you have a choice: You can escalate the fight – making it worse and worse - or bigger and bigger – OR you can choose to diffuse the situation and just walk away. Now there are of course times when you have to stand your ground – standing up for yourself or for someone else. But if you can avoid a fight or an argument – or negotiate a settlement — that’s the truly impressive thing. Anybody can get into a fight – but it takes real courage and internal strength to avoid one. So the challenge is to be peacemakers. Instead of trying to win fights we’re called to try to end fights. You know when that kid pushed me - we could have fought - and I might have been able to beat him. But instead, what I chose to do – was just walk away: to be a peacemaker. Do you think I got a cheer for doing that? NOPE. But in the kingdom of God - it’s not an eye for any eye and a tooth for tooth – which would be fair - an act of justice – but we are called to be unfair – not giving something someone deserves – but showing them mercy – which is why we can’t have peace without practicing mercy. . . Again, as St. John Paul II said: there is no peace without justice. No justice without forgiveness. No forgiveness without mercy. . . We will get a great model of justice, forgiveness, and mercy in next week’s Gospel – so be sure to come back. And remember: blessed are the peacemakers - for they will be called children of God! Not only does God give us the gift of freedom from sin and death through the death and resurrection of Jesus -- but God gives us a different gift every Sunday throughout the Easter season. Here to tell us about the first gift of Easter is a guest speaker, Douglas. [Douglas is a good Catholic puppet who tells stories about the faith.] Hey guys, it’s me, Douglas, and today I want to talk to you about being fair - because God wants us to be fair.
Being fair kind of means you do what you are supposed to do: you follow the rules. You give to others what they deserve. And you take for yourself only what you deserve. Like if you are in the check-out line at a store - it’s not fair for you to cut in front of other people waiting in line to be the first in line. That’s not what you deserve - and it’s not what the others waiting in line deserve. So cutting in line IS NOT FAIR. And if you are playing a game – it’s not fair to cheat: you have to follow the rules. It’s very important for us to be fair - that makes the world a more pleasant place. BUT, sometimes it IS okay not to be fair. . . Oh my gosh, you might be thinking – that’s awesome - I don’t always have to be fair - I don’t always have to follow the rules - I can get my way and everyone else can hit the highway! BUT, before you jump to conclusions, let me explain what I mean. My very favorite verse in the Bible is Micah 6:8, which says: “God has shown you what is good - and that is to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. Now the first part is to act justly - do what you are supposed to do: Follow the rules, give to others what they deserve, and take for yourself only what you deserve. Now sometimes we don’t always act justly - especially when we TAKE more than what we deserve - but that’s a whole other story. The 2nd Part of Micah’s teaching is to LOVE MERCY. Now mercy is interesting because it can sometimes seem like the opposite of justice. You know how I said you are supposed to give people what they deserve??? And take only what you deserve? Well, what if somebody pushes you – what do they deserve? It would only be fair to push them back, right?? But is that what God wants - an eye for an eye - and a push for a push? It isn’t. God wants you to be merciful. God doesn’t always want you to give people what they deserve. Now if it’s something good - then God absolutely wants you to give them what they deserve. But to NOT DO unto others what they have done to you – that’s mercy. And God wants us to love mercy. And I for one am very glad that God loves mercy. Maybe you don’t even realize that YOU love that God loves mercy. . . But the truth is - if you got what you deserved from God – you could never go to heaven. And that’s a pretty scary and sad thought. You know the Bible says that “God demonstrates his love for us in that while we were still sinners – Christ died for us.” We don’t deserve that – and some would say it’s not fair. Because it’s not justice – it’s mercy. Now I don’t know if you realize how big of a statement that is. Basically what it is saying is that God loves us so much, that God is willing to be unfair. None of us deserved to have Jesus die for our sins. Again, the Bible says that while we were still sinners – Unrepentant Maybe even rebellious Definitely walking in darkness – Christ died for us! While we were the most messed up that we could ever be – Christ died for us. The Bible says that the penalty for sin is death – that’s what we deserve if we sin even once. But Jesus, never ever sinned – not even once in his whole life. And so Jesus never deserved to die the way he did. We deserved that. Jessu did not. And Jesus took the penalty for our sins - mine and yours - unto himself. Jesus paid the price that should have only been paid by us. God showed us mercy. And so we should show mercy to other people. We should be fair in what we do – act with justice. We don’t want to do something that isn’t fair: we should follow the rules. We should show people the respect they deserve. BUT we should also be showing mercy. We should be unfair in that way. If you can be unfair in a good way – you should do it. Like forgiving others, even if they don’t deserve it. Loving others, even if they don’t deserve it. Being generous to others, even if they don’t deserve it. Being patient with others, even if they don’t deserve it. Giving others a second chance - even when they don’t deserve it. THAT’S MERCY! So the first part of Micah 6:8 is to act justly. The 2nd part is to love mercy. And then after that – to walk humbly with your God. To be humble means to know your place. So if you are walking humbly with God – you are recognizing that God is God – and you are not. You are just a tiny, teeny person. It doesn’t mean you hate yourself. It means that you recognize who is who. And if God, great as God is – can show mercy to people even like you and me – then we should absolutely show mercy to others. So that’s the challenge to all of you today – is that you would be fair – but also that you would not be fair. Be fair when it is good to be fair and unfair or merciful when it’s good to do that. It can really be a tricky path to walk down – but God wants us to. God wants us to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God - AND - with one another! What a great Easter gift God gives us! On Ash Wednesday, we started this season of Lent with a question and then a statement.
In case you have forgotten, the question was: do you want to change. And then the statement was: then be disturbed. Do you want to change? To properly answer this question we need to know that we do, indeed, need to change. That we have all strayed from the ways of God in some way. We need to remember who we are and who we are called to be. We have to have the courage and the grace to then ‘fess up to the fact that we have fallen short of who God calls us to be. OR - in our smugness and self-assurance - we can just stay the way we are. . . This question was followed by the statement: then be disturbed. As we considered in last week’s Gospel: when faced with his own death, Jesus was troubled – and the Greek meaning for the word troubled is: to experience inward turmoil, to be stirred up, disturbed, unsettled, thrown into confusion. To want to change. To want to want to turn from our sins. To want to be more like Jesus – then we have to be troubled or disturbed enough to admit that we NEED to change. That we need to shed some old ways in order to take up some new ways. To turn our hearts over to God – so that as we have sung many times during Lent: Come O God and take us – move and shake us. Come now, and make us anew, that we might live justly like you. Why bother? Why should we put in the effort to change? Because as the disciples answered those who questioned them about untying and leading the colt away in our first Gospel reading: the master has need of us. Jesus needs us - to be compassionate and forgiving. Jesus needs us - to be generous and giving. Jesus needs us - to be kind and gracious. Jesus needs us - to be merciful and accepting. Jesus needs us: so he can continue to build the Kingdom of God on this earth - through us. So if we haven’t dealt with the question or the statement yet: now is the time - it’s never too late. Do you want to change? Then be disturbed. Today’s Gospel is taken from the 12th Chapter of St. John, verses 20 to 30.
If we looked at verse 1 of this chapter, John tells us it was six days before Passover and Jesus had just arrived in Bethany, a little town located on the Mount of Olives just across the Kidron valley from Jerusalem. Jesus was going to the holy city to celebrate the Passover that year, just as thousands of other Jews were doing. That year, the Passover began on Friday evening, so six days before meant Jesus arrived in Bethany, sometime on Saturday. Some of his friends, including Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, prepared a dinner for him. It would have been a pretty big dinner - for remember Jesus had 12 apostles with him. Lazarus, some time before as you know - had been raised from the dead by Jesus, an event that led many Jews to believe in him as the Messiah. And led many of the Pharisees to want to kill Lazarus because on account of him, many Jews were now following after Jesus, and NOT them. While at this dinner, Mary anointed Jesus’ feet with expensive oil at which Judas lodged a complaint that the gesture was wasteful and the perfume should have been sold to help the poor. NOT because he had a real interest in the poor - but because Judas was in charge of the money bag - which he used for his own good as well as for that of the apostolic band. But Jesus says to Judas: “leave her alone. She is doing this in preparation for my burial.” And indeed, Jesus will be buried by the end of the week. John tells us that the next day, which would have been the first day of the week – news got around that Jesus was going to Jerusalem just across the valley. When a crowd heard he was going into the city – they met him with palm branches raising their Hosannas – at which the Pharisees say: “ The whole world has come out to see him.” Although we won’t commemorate Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem until next week on Palm or Passion Sunday – it’s important to keep all that’s going on in this chapter in mind – because the anointing in Bethany and Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem – BOTH – come right before today’s Gospel reading – and are connected to Jesus’ death. After the Pharisees say the whole world has turned out to see Jesus – we pick up today with the fact that it is true – even Greeks have shown up wanting to see Jesus. . . Another twist: most scripture scholars think that it was after Jesus entered Jerusalem that he drove the merchants and money-changers out of the Temple – because that’s where the Synoptic writers: Matthew, Mark, and Luke, place the cleansing of the Temple in their gospels. BUT John had already told us about that incident way earlier in his Gospel, in Chapter 2 – as we heard on the 3rd Sunday of Lent. So when the Greeks sought to see Jesus - Jesus sees this as a sign that his hour had come. HOUR is a key word in John’s Gospel. It described the time Jesus would complete his mission here on earth. It was the time when he would be put to death for faithfully fulfilling his work of teaching, healing, forgiving, and loving. It was the time when Jesus would be raised up - much like the serpent in the desert we heard about last week – Jesus will be raised up both on the cross and in the resurrection - a healing remedy for our sins which gains for us eternal life. Most of today’s Gospel is Jesus’ own reflection on his death. Being human - it’s not something he wants to go through: “I am troubled now,” he says. The Greek word for troubled means: to experience inward turmoil, to be stirred up, disturbed, unsettled, thrown into confusion. Jesus wonders aloud if he should say: “Father, save me from this hour.” If he escapes death or simply just runs away – he would abandon all that he had done and all he came to do and his good works would soon be forgotten. Jesus had to face this hour so that he could be glorified and God would be glorified in him - like a seed falling to the ground so it produces much fruit. Are we willing to join Jesus in being troubled? Are we willing to experience inward turmoil, be stirred up, disturbed, unsettled, thrown into confusion - so that we can produce much fruit in his name? In short, are we willing to lose our lives in this world so as to enjoy life eternal? For whoever serves Jesus must follow Jesus - and where Jesus is: in the garden, under guard, ridiculed, beaten, hanging on the cross – there his servants will be. . . Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess, we have lost our thirst for the waters of life; and having fallen in love with life, we have ceased to dream of eternity. Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly to venture on wilder seas where storms will show us your mastery; where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars. Disturb us Lord, to stand with you - as suffering and death on the cross draws ever closer. Change our hearts this time, your word says it can be.
Change our minds, this time, your life can be make us free. We are your people your call set a-part. Lord this time, change our hearts. Like Noah and his family after the waters of the flood – through the life-giving waters of Baptism God sets us apart through a call to be God’s people. God makes a covenant with us - God will always be there for us and God expects us to live our lives in gratitude for all the blessings showered down upon us. As St. Peter reminds those in Galatia, Cappadocia, and Asia as he sends them a letter - Baptism – is not a removal of dirt from the body – but an appeal to God for a clear conscience. However clean our conscience may be after Baptism, they usually don’t stay that way. We get so bombarded by contrasting values to the Gospel –which pull us in may different directions and so we easily get lost and confused. We get tempted to follow the ways of the world rather than remaining faithful to God and kingdom values. But God can change our hearts - long after the waters of Baptism have touched our heads. God can change our minds. The grace God gives us can make us free from all the things in the world that are trying to pull us down. This time – this Lent - can be a time of renewal, refocus, and readjustment – through prayer, fasting and almsgiving. A time to be healed – a time of fulfillment - assuming we want it to be. Because like that man we heard about on Ash Wednesday who was ill for 38 years – sitting by the pool of Bethesda, never getting into the water – we can grow so comfortable with our lives and our faith and want to just stay the way we are – and so we don’t see the need or have the desire to change. We can become so complacent, that we don’t even see our sins or our need for Jesus to heal us. So we need God to take us, move and shake us – we need to be disturbed - so God can make us anew. The desert is a great place to go to get disturbed – It’s quiet – which might scare a lot of us – because we’re not used to it. . . We’re used to our lives being constantly filled with noise - from the television, from our phones, from the street, from the dogs barking and sirens blaring. But we need the quiet of the desert to think and pray. The desert is also a place of solitude, a place where we are alone - which, again, scares many of us. We like being in the thick of things, constantly on the go, surrounded by people and things. But we need the solitude of the desert to think and to pray. But: think and pray about what?? About what is holding us back from God. About what distracts us from embracing Gospel values. About what needs to change in us in order for us to be more Christ-like. Pope Francis in his Lenten message for 2024, states that “through the desert, God leads us to freedom.” He continues, “the desert is a place where our freedom can mature in a personal decision NOT to fall back into all the things that enslave us and keep us from being the people God is calling us to be.” Today’s Gospel from St. Mark presents us with a short version of the Temptation of Jesus in the desert. Both St. Matthew and St. Luke in their Gospels give many more details about the temptations Jesus faced. But Mark simply states the fact that Jesus was driven into the desert by the Spirit, where he was tempted by satan. Jesus was driven into the desert by the Spirit — which meant God wanted him to be there. And after Jesus faced down his temptations - he was stronger in Spirit, more assured of who he was and what he stood for – and began his ministry by announcing the kingdom of God was at hand. The same thing can happen to us – God wants us to go to the desert from time to time - to b e strengthen and renewed. Which may mean we simply go to our room, close the door, and sit in quiet. It may mean that at the end of the day, before going to sleep, we review our day and thank God for the good things that happened, and ask God’s help for the things that did not go so well or still need to be resolved. It may mean that we retreat from the busyness of our daily lives and go out for a long walk in a park or in a woods – any place where we can clear our minds and open our hearts to listen to God speak to us. Ant there in the desert – can we allow God’s voice to disturb us enough to identify our temptations – to name them, claim them, deal with them and overcome them – so we can be stronger in Spirit, more assured of who we are and what we stand for – and then go out and proclaim the Good News of the Gospel?? We go to the desert to get disturbed – shaken from our complaceny - awakened to the awareness that the clear conscience we had after our Baptism needs to be renewed and refreshed by asking: What is the greatest temptation in our lives? Perhaps we struggle with a habit or sin that we fail at time and time again. Perhaps it’s a temptation of the flesh: eating, drinking, smoking, or viewing inappropriate materials – way too much. Perhaps we struggle with anger, self-righteousness, dishonesty, greed, lust, gossip, or negativity. Whatever our temptation may be, we need to name it, claim it, deal with it and over come it – knowing we have all we need to do this– because of the grace given to us through our Baptism, strengthened by our Confirmation, and fed on a regular basis by our participation in the Eucharist. God can change our hearts and minds. The grace God gives us can make us free from all the things in the world that are trying to pull us down and keeping us from being the best version of ourselves – the person God is calling us to be. If we spend time in the desert God can disturb us and lead us to freedom. SO Change our hearts this time, your word says it can be. Change our minds, this time, your life can make us free. We are your people your call set a-part. Lord this time, change our hearts. Every once in awhile, the pool of water near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem, known as the pool of Bethesda, would be disturbed. The waters would bubble and swirl and when that happened - the people thought an angel of God was troubling those waters - and the first person, and only the first person - into the pool as the water was swirling - would receive the touch of God and they would be healed.
In the shade of one of the porches surrounding those waters, laid a man who had been sick for 38 years - and from the details of the Gospel of John, we assume he was lame or paralyzed – because he was not able to get up and get to the waters before anyone else. And while we don’t know how long he had been lying in the courtyard, the sense we get is that he had been there for quite some time. So when Jesus comes along, he knows this man has been lying near the waters for awhile, but never getting in them – and asks the man what seems like an absurd question – do you want to be healed? I think it is strange to ask the man if he wants to get well – but maybe it’s not so strange – because if this man REALLY wanted to be healed - you think he would have found some way of getting into the waters first. . . He could have asked someone for help to get him to the waters as soon as they were stirred – he could have stayed right at the edge of the pool and just rolled himself in when the waters were troubled - he could have set up some type of numbering system where people didn’t push and shove others out of the way, but simply waited their turn. One would think there would have been some way, after all these years - to get in before anyone else did — assuming the man really wanted to be healed. Maybe he had grown comfortable with his situation. Maybe he had given up hope. Or may he just did not care anymore. Notice the man never gives Jesus an answer ot his question – but just complains about how he can never get to the water first. A friend in seminary, when we studied St. John’s Gospel, called this Jesus’ miracle of healing the whiner - because that’s what the man did. You would think he would shout out enthusiastically: yes! I want to be healed. But that’s not what he did – he just whined out his excuses. . . I am glad Jesus did heal the whiner – because at times, aren’t we all just a little bit of a whiner?? We make excuses as to why we can’t come to church more often, or how we don’t have the time to pray or read the Bible, or to be more involved in the life of the faith community. Or that money is so tight we can’t possibly help anyone but ourselves. . . But in the midst of our whining and in the midst of our complacency, the good news is that Jesus still comes along and asks: do you want to be healed? Let me ask Jesus’ question in other ways: do we want to grow in our faith? Do we want to get closer to God? Do we want to experience more of God’s power, more of God’s presence, more of God’s truth, more of God’s love? Then today is a day for us to shout enthusiastically: YES! I want to be healed! Because the season of Lent is all about growing in our faith. Lent is not just about giving up chocolate or coffee for 40 days. It’s not just about eating fish on Fridays or attending a pancake breakfast on Mardi Gras. These are meant to be only a means to an end: growing deeper in our faith. And it’s about being made well. It’s about – getting out of our paralysis and walking more faithfully with Christ. So I think today Jesus is right here asking each of us – as we ash distributors will say in a few minutes - do you want to be healed? And about us saying YES! Now there’s a difference between the man at the pool of Bethesda and us. Jesus just had to say to the man: rise, take up your mat, and walk. And it happened. For us, it will take a little more effort and a bigger commitment. For most of us, we are going to be healed and we are going to grow in our faith when we venture from the safety of the side of the pool into the stirred up waters of life. We will deepen our faith and trust when we are willing to get up out of our comfort and ease and allow our lives and our faith to be disturbed - with a little prayer, a little fasting, and a little almsgiving: to help stir the waters of our souls. Because I think way too many of us have become like the paralytic – we’ve grown so comfortable with our lives and our faith just the way they are – and we don’t even see the need or have the desire to change. I think sometimes we have become so complacent, that we don’t even see our sins– or our need for Jesus to heal us. And that’s why I am inviting you to pray as often as you can – ideally every day - the prayer that was in the bulletin this past Sunday – and is also available by the doors as you leave today. It’s a prayer attributed to Sir Francis Drake and was written in 1577. I think it is a powerful prayer – and that there is power in all of us praying this for ourselves and for the members of our faith community throughout Lent. This is the prayer: Disturb us, Lord, when we are too pleased with ourselves – when our dreams have come true because we dreamed too little - when we arrive safely because we sailed too close to the shore. Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess we have lost our thirst for the waters of life. And having fallen in love with life, we have ceased to dream of eternity. And in our efforts to build a new earth - we have allowed our vision of the new heaven to dim. Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly. To venture on wilder seas where storms will show us your mastery. Where long losing sight of land, we shall find the stars. We ask you to push back the horizons of our hopes; and to push back the future in strength, hope, and love. This we ask in the name of our Captain, who is Jesus Christ. Pray this prayer often during Lent for yourself and for this whole faith community AND THEN: Dare to be disturbed this Lent. “If someone has on their skin a scab or blotch which appears to be the sore of leprosy, they shall be brought to Aaron the priest and declared unclean.”
This is just one of many rules to be followed in the Jewish Law when it comes to the disease of leprosy. Why would the writer of Leviticus and others make such a big deal of leprosy? Because leprosy WAS a big deal in Old Testament times. Not just because it was thought to be a contagious disease, but because it was also thought to be make one unfit to worship God. Because those with leprosy had to live apart, had to isolate themselves because their disease could effect others – not just physically - but spiritually as well. Leprosy was a big deal because it was a sour apple — and one sour apple can effect the whole barrel. And for these reasons, one had to keep their garments torn, their heads bare, and their beards muffled – or covered. By their dress and by their cry – lepers declared themselves unclean - and so had to live on the outskirts, in order to avoid infecting other people. Lepers were forced to live in exile, forced to live alone outside the towns and cities, away from their family and friends. They joined all the other sour apples of the day – the possessed, the paralyzed, Gentiles, Samaritans, and all other unclean folks. All living far away from the warmth and love of the community of the physically fit and the spiritually strong. It is important to understand the severity of the isolation which came with leprosy to truly appreciate the miracle of today’s Gospel. For Jesus’ miracle is not just a cure of leprosy, but Jesus also heals the wound of EXILE. This leper approached Jesus with the request to be cured. And Jesus freed him from a disease which the leper had no control over. It was a disease that deprived him of his home, his family, his job, his neighbors – and his identity as a Jew – as a member of the chosen people of God. Jesus touch of healing was NOT just a physical cure - it was also an act of liberation: one which restored the leper’s identity and his membership in the chosen people of God. Jesus’ miracle removed the barriers that kept the leper apart from his community and support systems. In healing the leper – Jesus declares that in God’s kingdom there are no outcasts, there are no exiles, there are no sour apples: ALL ARE WELCOME. It was not until the 1940s when a cure for leprosy, or Hansen’s disease as it is properly known, was found. BUT DON’T THINK THAT WE NO LONGER HAVE LEPERS AMONG US: People who are forced to live apart, to isolate themselves because their problems may become our problems – they might effect us physically or spiritually - so we better stay away from them. It seems to me that today we have two types of lepers, two types of outcasts. We have the “untouchables” and we have the “forgotten.” The untouchables are seen to be socially inferior. They carry a stigma – something that makes them stand out in the crowd. The untouchables for some are those who belong to certain ethnic or racial groups, they are our LGBTQ brothers and sisters, they are convicts and ex-cons, alcoholics, unwed mothers, the divorced and remarried. The other group of lepers, the forgotten – includes the homeless, the poor, the elderly, the widowed, the institutionalized, the lonely, the grieving. As Jesus miracle removed the barriers that kept the leper apart from his community – our compassion and understanding, our gentleness and kindness – will remove the barriers that keep us apart from the untouchables and the forgotten. What does keep us, though, from showing our modern day lepers the compassion and understanding that they need? OUR FEAR. Not our fear of physical or spiritual disease so much as our fear that in reaching out to those exiled in our society – WE will become exiles – that we will suddenly lose our status with our family and friends – because they won’t understand what we are doing. . . Our fear of being different, our fear of being dropped out of the social circles we are used to being in – keeps us from reaching out to the untouchables and the forgotten. There is no more appropriate time for us to ask – but what would Jesus do?? Jesus would tell us to get over it. To start seeing people with His eyes – without the blinders of fear or distrust, without the names and labels that limit generosity and set up boundaries around those who are in – and those who are out of the kingdom of God. The Gospel writer’s language even suggests that we should have a healing of perception. This story comes at the end of a whole serie of healing miracles. Those who have previously been healed are identified by their diseases: There was a “man with an unclean spirit.” A mother-in-law “sick with fever.” Those who were “sick or possessed by demons.” And today “a leper.” Finally at the end of all of these stories, St. Mark uses the phrase, “people kept coming to Jesus from all sides.” NOT the diseased, not the outcasts, not lepers or the broken – but people, It may be a little thing – but I think it is a big distinction. For our task today is not just to recognize that we are all somehow diseased and in need of healing – but our being diseased or broken makes no difference to our identity! We are all people, God’s people, members of God’s kingdom here on earth. And just as there is no limit to the reach of God’s acceptance and mercy and love – there must be no limit to our embrace. God’s kingdom embraces all - -not just those who are physically fit, spiritually strong, who wear the right clothes or sit in the right place. . . No one is excluded. All are welcome at this altar – for all are equally healed by God – and hopefully by us – of whatever divides us. We have all been lepers, exiles, outcasts, sour apples. But we are no longer to the extent that we do not permit others or ourselves to be branded, labeled, categorized or put into a box. If we do not deny our freedom – if we accept God’s healing – if we do everything for the glory of God-- Then we will not be afraid to reach out and touch the u ntouchables and to remember the forgotten. For no matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey – all are welcome. I first came to this parish in 1994 - 30 years ago! When I came for an interview to teach in the school - I had to ask, like many others have to do - and where is St. Patrick? And was told, as we still say today - right across the street from St. Pius. . .
I was attending St. Anthony parish in the Northeast part of Kansas City, where I was living at the time - but once I started teaching, I joined St. Patrick – and worshiped in the gym like so many of you remember doing. I found St. Patrick a welcoming parish. A strong parish under the leadership of Fr. Mike Roach, and Deacon Mike Lewis – who have been friends ever since. I met some of you then who had kids in the school – the Guttermanns, the Jannings, the Gosoroskis, the Dunsings. [Sansone’s] I was fortunate to call Jim Flournoy and Mary Jo Fontana and Kay White my colleagues. St. Patrick was a real white shoe parish – where, no matter what happened, people kept walking along singing their song, because it’s all good. But, like any parish, St. Patrick encountered its rough spots. After Father Shawn Ratigan was your pastor – many people left – and did not return. But many of you stayed. Thank you for not judging all priests on the behavior of a few. Even though we may have stepped in some blueberries and our white shoes became blue – we kept on walking and singing our song – because it’s all good. After a pastor you just began to know and even love – Fr. Robert died – many people left - and did not return. But many of you stayed. Thank you for hoping in a time of darkness - when, by the way, hope is most important. And even though we may have stepped in a puddle of mud and our white shoes became brown - We kept on walking and singing our song - because it’s all good. And then covid hit and many people left – and have you noticed? Some have not returned yet. . . But many of you stayed. Thank you for believing that it is still very important that we gather together as the Body of Christ - that we see and interact and pray with each other face to face – week after week so as to support and encourage, to challenge and comfort one another. Even though we may have stepped in a pile of freshly mowed grass and our white shoes became green – we kept on walking and singing our song - because it’s all good. And as we kept walking and singing, and celebrating that all is good – we were able to achieve a remarkable thing – the reason for this story and for this homily – because we haven’t talked about — our red shoes yet. . . We stepped into a large pile of strawberries 17 years ago – and our shoes turned red – with debt. . . First a debt of $2.4 million on the remodeling of the school which included new windows and air conditioning for the first time. Second a debt of $120,000 on a house you bought for your pastors in the Green Hills neighborhood - a house, by the way, that I find very comfortable and more than adequate to live in. Look at the pillars that surround us – each of those red shamrocks equals $10,000 – so on this one pillar - that is what $120,000 looks like — And on these seven pillars – that is what $2.4 million looks like. I got tired just putting the shamrocks up – how tired you must have become using your debt envelopes every week! BUT today I am happy to announce that for the first time in 17 years – the parish of St. Patrick is free of debt — that’s the remarkable thing we have been able to achieve – throughout having our white shoes turned blue, and brown, and green. Thank you for believing that together, we can achieve so much more than we can as individuals – which is the only explanation for our ability to pay off these debts – that, and the grace of God!! Just one more thing to mention – and another pillar to talk about. When we stepped into a puddle of mud and our shoes turned brown after the death of Fr. Robert — weekly collections plummeted – probably because people were trying to figure out that if the Bishop was going to keep this parish open – why wasn’t he sending a pastor?? Because of those low collections – we were unable to keep up with our payments to the diocese which covers such things as benefits and insurance for our employees, and insurance on our buildings and property. As you can see on this pillar - that amounts to $300,000 that we still owe to the Diocese – but our finance council is not worried too much about it – because we pay no interest on it. We are obligated to pay back $25,000 a year – so we really don’t care how long it takes to pay it back. Unless we come into a windfall of money, we will just continue to chip away at that $25,000 at a time. Notice how those shamrocks are green - for the money will still owe the diocese – and they are smaller – because I don’t want us to be too worried about it. . . What does the future hold for us? Well only God knows that. . . But we are sitting in the newest building of our parish – which is approaching 30 years old. Our school is almost 70 years old. And the parish offices are over 40 years old -- And you know with your own house – that the older things get – the more problems you have – so maintenance of our facilities is certainly in our future. Which is why, if you noticed – you no longer have a debt reduction envelope every month – but a maintenance fund envelope - to help us build up a reserve to use when future problems arrive. We’ve got our white shoes back on! I still believe, as I did 30 years ago –that St. Patrick is a welcoming parish, one where no matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey – you are welcome. A place where, like with Simon Peter’s mother-in-law – Christ will grasp our hands and always lift us up to bigger and better things - sometimes things we never even imagined! And where no matter what happens – we will keep walking along and singing our song – because it is all good! –Invite Finance Council up for burning ceremony. . . There is a story about a few demons who were having a conversation about the Devil’s favorite day.
One demon said, I think the devils favorite day is Halloween - because the little kids dress up like monsters, and demons, and other scary things. It just has to be the devil’s favorite day. Another demon said, no, Halloween is just one day a year. I think the devil’s favorite day is MONDAY - because who likes Mondays?? Mondays a lot of people curse just because they have to get out of bed and go to work after a couple of days off. Mondays just have to be the devil’s favorite day. . . Another demon said, I don’t think the devil has just one favorite day - I think he has two: yesterday and tomorrow. With yesterday, the devil draws people into dwelling on their past. He gets people to think of those who hurt them, causes them to have deep regret and to harbor grudges – and makes them think they have strayed so far from God - that they can never make their way back to God. With tomorrow, the devil causes people to think that all the important changes they need to make, and all the things they need to do – can wait just one more day. All the wrongs that need to be righted, all the sins that need to be forgiven, all the people that need to be helped – it can all wait – until tomorrow. This demon concluded that if the devil can get people to focus on yesterday and tomorrow, it will keep them from following Jesus – today - which is exactly what the devil wants to achieve. An appropriate story, I think, because all of our readings today have something to do with TIME – and how we use it, or don’t use it, wisely. Jonah is sent by God to announce to the Ninevites that they have a short period of time in order to repent and convert from their wickedness. St. Paul writes the Corinthians that their time is running out - thinking that the world in its present form is soon to pass away. And Jesus, in the very first words he speaks in the Gospel of Mark is about time: “this is the time of fulfillment. . . repent and believe in the Gospel.” There is a since of urgency in all these readings today. It’s not a time to dilly-dally – but a time to get busy. During the season of Ordinary Time, which we are in now for another three weeks until the beginning of Lent – and then the longer stretch of Ordinary Time from June until the beginning of Advent – the Church reflects upon how we use the ordinary moments of our day – how we are at our best when we reflect the virtues and love of Jesus in the ordinary events and circumstances and times of our lives. Bur remember, the Devil likes to tell us lies about our relationship with time. Satan likes when we are stuck in the past, focussing on our past sins and failures, wounds and hurts. He likes to keep family members and church members focused on the actions of the past - because it then keeps us from loving God TODAY. The devil urges us to keep mental lists of the ways people have hurt us. But we need to get rid of the lists! If we think we have been wronged in some way in the past by someone – then we need to have a conversation about that so the wound can be healed – so we can let go of it – and move on. . . So the devil likes to tell us lies about the past - but he also likes to tell us lies about the future. Since satan especially hates the time we give to God, one very common lie is that “you are too busy to pray.” Satan does everything possible to prevent us from praying - of continuing to form our relationship with God - he gets us to think the groceries that need to be purchased or the lunches that need to be made, or the home-improvement projects that need to be done are much more important. One of the devil’s new victories against prayer is getting people overly attached to their mobile devices. Many people do have less and less time to pray because they are too busy with social media or video games. There certainly is less time in the day when you spend an hour checking your Facebook feed or an hour playing solitaire on your computer, or checking to see what the newest You-Tube may be about . . . Another lie the Devil tells us about the future is that we have plenty of time to read the scriptures, go to Mass, repent of our sins – TOMORROW. Just recall all the readings we had at the end of the liturgical year and into Advent about being watchful and alert – for we do not know the hour or the day when Christ will come. Another lie Satan tells us about time, and this is a big one, one that keeps us locked in very selfish modes of thinking and acting – is that all our time belongs to us. Satan makes us think that it is a grievous burden when people make demands on our time, or that I have to give any of my time or use any of my talents for the benefit of others. . . I can just keep them all to myself. . . We heard St. Paul tell the Romans last week that their bodies, through Baptism, become temples of the Holy Spirit. Our bodies as Christians do not belong to us - and by extension that means our time doesn’t belong to us either. We are given time by God as a gift – to become as holy as we possibly can – to fulfill God’s will to the best of our abilities – to order our lives according to the wisdom of God’s holy will. After announcing that the time of fulfillment is at hand, and that we are to repent of our sins, what does Jesus do in the Gospel today?? He puts the apostles to work! To be a member of the Body of Christ, whether we are 13 or 93 – a priest, widow, married person, child, or single – means to use the time, and talents, we have been given for the work of the Gospel – pointing others to Christ. So our time doesn’t belong to us – we’re on the clock – we’re on the job – we are to be building the kingdom of God in our midst. And we accomplish this primarily through our good example, our uplifting words, our kind and generous actions, and hopeful and joyful disposition. We are to leave everything and follow after Jesus – and he will make us fishers of men and women. |
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