Perfect in Weakness

July 5, 2009

Fourteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time

By Rev. Joseph McCloskey, S.J.

Hard of face and obstinate of heart are they to whom I am sending you. But you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord GOD! And whether they heed or resist--for they are a rebellious house--they shall know that a prophet has been among them. Ezekiel 2:4-5

“My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me. 2 Corinthians 12:9

Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house." So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there, apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them. He was amazed at their lack of faith. Mark 6:4-6

Piety

“A prophet is not without honor except in his native place.” A saying that goes all the way back to the scriptures and Mark 6:1-5 when Christ taught in the synagogue of his native place is still true today. We all form snap judgments on people we do not really know and leave them caught in the first impressions we had of them. How hard it is to let people go on growing if we are not open to growth ourselves? We have all the encouragement in the world to go on growing in our knowledge of the good things of each other. Goodness generates more of the same. We might not be the most competitive people in the world, but love always generates the need of a reply in more of the same kind. Good example generates goodness in all who see with their hearts what is going on with another. Respect flows out of knowing the good each other does. If we are honest with ourselves we can be honest with each other. When I see how often a compliment makes me do better, I realize there can never really be a good reason for not acknowledging the good another does. When I realize that to call a prophet a prophet is to earn the reward of a prophet; to call a good person a good person, the reward of a good person, I can see the benefits that come from the genuine admiration of another.

Study

It is all too true that negatives damage the world we live in. How long afterwards the memory of a listened to negative about another lives on! How hard it is to clean the memory of the negatives that live on with the smell of the rotten eggs of corruption in our world. The goodness of piety is its own reward. It makes possible so much more goodness in each other that we scarcely ever realize the influence we can have by good example lived in our lives with others. We can taste and see the goodness of the Lord. And it is true of the good people of our lives. Study of the goodness that surrounds us in life makes it so much easier to be a good person. Thorns in our flesh are hard to live with and we need to invite the strength of the Lord to replace our evil and our negativity. The hard of face and the obstinate of heart are hard people to work with if we do not bring to our everyday an apostolic plan to do something positive about the negatives of life around us.

Action

A prophet is one that runs ahead of the crowd and is seen by others. The grace of Christ needs to be in our plan to do good and avoid evil. The power of Christ is made perfect in our weakness. Christ dwells with us when we put up with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and constraints for the sake of Christ. When we face our weaknesses for the sake of Christ, we are truly strong. In the strength of Christ we will never be mere carpenters of Nazareth. It is Christ who sends us when we try to do good in his name. He is our Way, our Truth and our Life. Those who accept us when we are working for Christ, accept Christ and the one who sent him. It is our relationship to Christ in what we do in his name that makes out of our work prayer and makes us into Contemplatives in Action. Thus the Spirit of the Lord is truly upon us.

Fresh Wineskins

July 4, 2009

Saturday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time

“May God give to you of the dew of the heavens and of the fertility of the earth abundance of grain and wine. Let peoples serve you, and nations pay you homage; be master of your brothers, and may your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be those who curse you, and blessed be those who bless you.” Genesis 27:27-29

“No one patches an old cloak with a piece of unshrunken cloth, for its fullness pulls away from the cloak and the tear gets worse. People do not put new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined. Rather, they pour new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.” Matthew 9:16-17

Piety

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. I also saw the holy city, a new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, God’s dwelling is with the human race. He will dwell with them and they will be his people and God himself will always be with them (as their God). He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain, (for) the old order has passed away.” The one who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” Revelation 21:1-5a

Study

The notes to the New American Bible for this passage from Matthew point out that this and other parables in the Good News address “the unsuitability of attempting to combine the old and the new.” In so many ways, Jesus’ teaching did not patch up Judaism, nor can the Good News be contained within the limits of Mosaic Law. Jesus goes beyond Mosaic Law and crafts something entirely new out of the old.

In the same way, there is nothing suitable about Jacob’s behavior in the reading from Genesis. He tried to disguise himself as his brother in order to curry favor with his blind father. Obtaining a blessing under such false pretenses is dishonest and does not build a proper relationship with the Abba who knows everything. Jacob’s behavior does not even show respect for Mosaic law – the law which will be replaced by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. However, Esau also gave up his birthright as firstborn in exchange for a meal to fulfill his daily desires. So, his behavior also is nothing exemplary. Despite the behavior of the sons, the generous loving father shines through.

Instead of recounting the story of Jacob and Esau, Jesus retold the story of Israel with the parable of the prodigal son. Jesus makes all things new. In the new wineskin, the back story of jealousy and sibling rivalry is still seen in the older brother’s anger at the Father who forgave the younger son for running away. However, the Father overcomes the sibling rivalry and rival for inheritance by dividing his wealth (his love) among both sons. Instead of only one son getting a blessing, the son who stays has constant access to the Father’s love and the son who returns is restored to the Father’s love.

Jesus was the new wineskin of salvation history. He constantly looked for new ways to open the eyes of his followers with symbolism as well as in parables so that people would reflect the newness in the ways that they behaved.

Action

How do we find new ways to look at our past, present and future? One way I like to open my eyes is to constantly look for new perspectives from people around us. I find that Washington, DC Catholic poet-activist-writer Rose Berger, is someone whose writing constantly challenges me to open my eyes to new ways to look at our surroundings.

Just like Jesus’ stories intended to have his audiences revisit the way they looked at things old and new, Rose Berger’s perspective also has that affect on me. Check out her view of the scene at her local gas station in this column from last fall.

http://rosemarieberger.com/2008/09/09/keeping-an-eye-on-things/

Open your eyes today to a new way of viewing the ordinary and obvious on this the 233rd anniversary of replacing an old form of government with a new wineskin. Happy Independence Day.

Being Built Together into a Dwelling Place of God

July 3, 2009

Feast of St. Thomas, Apostle

By Melanie Rigney

You are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone. Through him the whole structure is held together and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord; in him you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:19-22)

Praise the Lord, all you nations! Give glory, all you peoples! The Lord’s love for us is strong; the Lord is faithful forever. Hallelujah! (Psalms 117:1-2)

Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples said to him, "We have seen the Lord.” But Thomas said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe." (John 20:24-25)

Piety

O God, with whom every good thing has its beginning, and through whom it is improved and increased: grant, we beseech Thee to us who cry to Thee, that this work, which we are beginning for the praise of Thy name, may be happily brought to completion through the neverfailing gift of Thy fatherly wisdom. Through Christ our Lord Amen. (Blessing of the Cornerstone of a New Building, translated by the Most Reverend J. H. Schlarman, Bishop of Peoria, Illinois, 1930-1951)

Study

Poor Thomas. He just didn’t get it. It was beyond his comprehension or that of the other apostles that God was there with them all the time, whether they could see Christ or not, whether they could touch him or not. God was there in them as well, though it took the coming of the Holy Spirit for Thomas and the others to understand that God could act in them as well as in Christ. They were part of what Paul calls the household of God.

Poor us. We just don’t get it either. We see God’s presence in the ones we admire and love, in their sacrifices and gifts large and small. Maybe it’s our parents or spiritual director or Cursillo sponsor or group reunion members. But being a Christian isn’t about standing on the edge of the property and admiring the temple’s framing and craftsmanship; it’s about letting God and His incredibly strong love turn each of us into His dwelling place.

We are continually under construction. Sometimes it seems to us the mortar is a little runny, the beams a little rough. Still, we are by our baptism made part of a place with the strongest of foundations. Use the Cursillo principles of piety, action, and study to open yourself to the Master Builder’s honing and planing.

Action

What part of your construction project is most in need of some special attention? Discuss your plans with a trusted friend.

To The Test

July 2, 2009

Thursday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Some time after these events, God put Abraham to the test. He called to him, “Abraham!” “Ready!” he replied. Then God said: “Take your son Isaac, your only one, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. There you shall offer him up as a holocaust on a height that I will point out to you.” Genesis 22:1-2

Jesus knew what they were thinking, and said, “Why do you harbor evil thoughts? Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” -- he then said to the paralytic, “Rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home.” Matthew 9:4-6

Piety

Father in heaven, we pray that you will not put us to the test that you had for Abraham, Sarah and Isaac. Instead test us in how we treat our children lovingly, how we raise them supportively, and in how we allow them to follow their hearts out into the world freely. Holy Spirit, give us the fortitude to allow them the freedom to choose their own path in life wherever it leads, even if it is into places that may try our nerves. Allow us to support them and set them free from wherever they are so that they will return to us like the prodigal, with your spirit alive and arisen in them. We pray this in the name of your Son our Lord, Jesus Christ who gives us everything that is good. Amen.

Study

Yesterday, we saw how Abraham turned his back on his illegitimate son Ishmael and the slave Hagar. Today, we see the same man ready to give up his other son Isaac.

After waiting for so long in order to have his sons, Abraham now shows that he is willing to give up both. After Abraham turned his back on Hagar and Ishmael out of selfish reasons, (or maybe because of that action), God puts him to the test with the life of Isaac.

What thoughts were going through Abraham’s head as he walked Isaac up to the sacrificial altar? Was he thinking about Ishmael and Hagar? Did he feel any guilt for banishing them from his camp? Did he feel guilt because he was about to commit murder in the name of the Lord? Did Abraham feel a double sense of loss and perhaps an extra obligation to follow God’s command because of how he treated the slave and her son?

In today’s Gospel from Matthew, Jesus knows what the scribes were thinking and was able to confront their thoughts. With these two lessons juxtaposed, I am left with a question: Didn’t God know what Abraham was thinking, too? Didn’t God know that Abraham would carry out the instructions? But with Abraham’s free will, the Lord wanted to see how Abraham would act.

God put Abraham to the test not to test his thoughts but to test his actions. However, the scribes tried to put Jesus to the test, NOT to test his actions but to test his motivations and power.

Action

Every day is a test for us…a test about our desires and passions. What makes us get out of bed? What drives us to do the things we do? Hopefully, we can be more like Abraham who obeys God not only in his thoughts but also in his actions.

The recent coup in Honduras has a special group of people nervous. A group of volunteers are soon to embark on a mission to work at the Amigos de Jesus orphanage in the rural Santa Barbara district of this Central American nation. Yet the current political upheaval may have made these young adults as nervous as some of their parents (What? Me Worry?).

Some may choose to stay home because of this event. However, think also of the people in Honduras who have no choice but to stay and live in poverty through this crisis. Keep in your prayers the people of Honduras that God will arise in their lives through the outreach of these missionaries who have accepted the test to pick up their cross and follow Him to Macuelizo, the town where the orphanage is located. Pray also for the return of peace and the restoration of democracy in Honduras, Haiti and everywhere around the world.

The Lord Hears the Cry

July 1, 2009

Wednesday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time

God heard the boy’s cry, and God’s messenger called to Hagar from heaven: “What is the matter, Hagar? Don’t be afraid; God has heard the boy’s cry in this plight of his. Arise, lift up the boy and hold him by the hand; for I will make of him a great nation.” Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. She went and filled the skin with water, and then let the boy drink. Genesis 21:17-19

They cried out, “What have you to do with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the appointed time?” Matthew 8:29

Piety

In my misfortune I called, the LORD heard and saved me from all distress. The angel of the LORD, who encamps with them, delivers all who fear God. Learn to savor how good the LORD is; happy are those who take refuge in him. Fear the LORD, you holy ones; nothing is lacking to those who fear him. The powerful grow poor and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing. Come, children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD. Who among you loves life, takes delight in prosperous days? Keep your tongue from evil, your lips from speaking lies. Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. Psalm 34:7-15

Study

Sometimes it is amazing how cruel even good people can be to the ones they love. Before Isaac was born, Sarah and Abraham went to all lengths to have descendants – even to the point where they used Sarah’s slave Hagar to impregnate her and bear a son.

Now we see Sarah and Abraham blessed with a child in their advancing years. Once Isaac is born, they turn their back on the slave who did everything she was asked to do. They expel her and she continues in humble obedience even though it appears that the two will die of hunger and thirst in the desert. However, God hears their cry in the desert and comes to their rescue…something Abraham did not do.

God takes care of some things even when we overlook our responsibility to our sisters and brothers. God acted in the common interest even when we did not.

The opposite comes through in the Good News. The demons have no common interest with Jesus. They think they are free to torment people until the end of time. Jesus, however, has other plans for these demons.

Action

What do we do to act in the common interest of the poor and outcast in society?

Today, we live in an era where the term globalization is bandied about freely. In the global village of a shrinking world, we have a tendency to remain aloof and detached from the people who make our food, sew our clothes, build our cars and other machines, and tend to our services. We may pay them for their service. However, sometimes we (or their employer) do not pay them a fair wage because we want to enjoy the goods and services produced at the lowest possible Wal*Mart price rollback.

The Associated Press reported on Monday that Pope Benedict XVI has just signed his latest encyclical on ways to make globalization more attentive to meeting the needs of the poor amid the worldwide financial crisis. The document, entitled “Charity in Truth,” is expected to be published soon.

In the AP story, the pope said his third encyclical outlines the goals and values that the faithful must defend to ensure solidarity among all peoples. Benedict has frequently spoken out on the financial crisis, urging leaders to ensure the world’s poor don’t end up bearing the brunt of the downturn even though they are not responsible for it. He has said the downturn shows the need to rethink the whole global financial system.

One way we can begin to act this out is through supporting the fair trade movement. Commonly one of the first steps is to buy coffee and chocolate where the farmers get a fair price for their crops from the coffee or cocoa cooperative. You can always start with little things liker buying fair trade coffee instead of name brand or niche brands (www.larrysbeans.com is one source). Through sales we do at St. Mary of Sorrows, fair trade coffee even costs less than its counterpart in the grocery store. Plus, it has the added benefit of still being packages in full one-pound containers. (Often, commercial coffee products are being offered in smaller and smaller packages for the same high price). Plus, the fair trade coffee often tastes better than commercial coffee.

For the price of two Café Mochas at Starbucks, I can buy a whole pound of Larry’s Secret Espresso Blend #17. Is this what they mean by “taste and see the goodness?” Sometimes the “sacrifice” is just the change.

Because we remain so detached from the people who produce our goods, it is hard for us to hear the cries of the poor in countries like Honduras where a military dictator just ousted the government which was duly elected by the people of that small nation.

Yet the Lord hears the cry of the poor. Let us work together on more ways we can open our ears and hear the Word of the Lord as it comes to us through the voices of the poor.

Calm Our Storms

June 30, 2009

Tuesday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time

By Beth DeCristofaro

As dawn was breaking, the angels urged Lot on, saying, "On your way! Take with you your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the punishment of Sodom." … “Oh, no, my lord!” Lot replied, … Look, this town ahead is near enough to escape to. It's only a small place. Let me flee there – it’s a small place, is it not? — that my life may be saved." (Genesis 19:15, 18-20)

…a violent storm came up on the sea… (Jesus) said to them, "Why are you terrified, O you of little faith?" Then he got up, rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was great calm. (Matthew 8:24-26)

Piety

Shelter under Thy protection, O Thou Spirit of purity, Thou Whom art the All-Bountiful Provider, this enthralled, enkindled servant of Thine. Aid him in this world of being
to remain steadfast and firm in Thy love and grant that this broken-winged bird attain a refuge and shelter in Thy divine nest that abideth upon the celestial tree. (Baha'i prayers - `abdu'l-bahá)

Study

Jesus did not call up this storm; storms happen at sea. Jesus calmed the storm and amazed the hearts of his friends. They didn’t earn it – they had only “little faith”. But he loved his friends and acted upon that love as he did – and does - always. Storms happen in our lives, too, often changing our perspective. The loss of a spouse can bring a family back together. An attack causes a society to appreciate freedom in new ways. A disastrous accident raises heroes.

But we must be careful even as we learn from storms. Replacing one priority with another is not necessarily the lesson to be learned. Clinging to family too tightly can sour relationships. Grasping onto freedom as the greatest good can make societies insular and paranoid. Holding up heroes can cause us to look for villains or be disillusioned when the hero falters.

Storms can bring us to know God in new ways – a God who stills the storms within and about us, because we are loved. We can meet a God who listens and responds to our prayers because God loves us so much. Perhaps the disciples and Lot were saved not in spite of their “little faith” and grudging negotiations but because they turned to God in the storm. Was Lot’s wife’s action a turning away from God? Was she petrified by clinging to priorities which she could not leave behind? Lot bargained but he also trusted in God’s intention. Seeing storms as a way to know and love God better calls for surrendering our priorities and accepting Jesus’ invitation to follow him.

Action

A violent, deadly storm for many people is hunger. How do we use food? Do we eat to assuage personal, internal storms such as loneliness, frustration, imperfections, or worries? Do we buy foods to impress and taste the most exotic? Do we waste food? Surrendering to God fills us as only God can fill us and allows us to share and give to others. How do we help others caught in the storm of hunger?

As reported in Zenit, Pope Benedict XVI’s June 14th appeal during the Corpus Christi Angelus address included, “[Hunger] is an absolutely unacceptable situation that even after the efforts of recent decades is proving difficult to reduce,” the Pope lamented. “I therefore hope that … strategic decisions will be made, sometimes far from easy to accept but which are necessary in order to assure basic foodstuffs and a dignified life to one and all, in the present and in the future.”

The Food and Agriculture Organization has reported that this year, global hunger will reach an all time high, with one-sixth (1.02 billion people) of the planet's population going hungry. The FAO affirmed that the increase in hunger is not due to poor harvest, but rather to the economic downturn that has brought about lower incomes, coupled with food prices being higher.

Hunger was being reined in during the 1980s and the first part of the '90s, but for a decade, it has again been on the rise, FAO reported. This year, the number is projected to rise 11%.

Though the majority of the world’s undernourished live in developing countries -- the most in Asia and the Pacific (642 million) -- there are some 15 million in developed countries as well. http://www.zenit.org/article-26259?l=english

But Who Do You Say That I Am

June 29, 2009

Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles - Mass During the Day

On the very night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter, secured by double chains, was sleeping between two soldiers, while outside the door guards kept watch on the prison. Suddenly the angel of the Lord stood by him and a light shone in the cell. He tapped Peter on the side and awakened him, saying, "Get up quickly." The chains fell from his wrists. Acts 12:6-7

He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Matthew 16:15

Piety

Lord, I try to bless you at all times but then I get distracted or someone sets me off and I slip away into my old habits. They do die hard if they die at all. Count me among your poor and open my ears and my mind so I will no longer be a poor listener. Magnify your work on earth through me and magnify my awareness of your presence in my life and the lives around me. As I seek you, I trust that you will answer my call and deliver me from the evils surrounding me. Help me to always look to God and reflect your goodness in my eyes, my smile, my mind and my heart. Send me companions who will free me from the prison of my personal passions and lead me to being close to you. Consume me so that I will know how good it is to live in your presence. Amen.

Study

Today’s encounter between Peter and Christ defines “awe of the Lord” for me as it reveals a critical milestone and turning point in the narrative of the Gospel of Matthew.

We learn just a few verses that after this reading that Jesus strictly ordered them not to reveal the fact that he was the Messiah to anyone. In addition, now that the disciples know Jesus is the Messiah, Jesus has to prepare them for what was going to happen. From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised. (Matthew 16:21) So let’s get back to what happened when this little boat was pulled to shore.

Imagine Jesus climbing out of that boat, getting his footing on the sand and gazing into Peter’s eyes. When he got the answer he desired from Peter, the Lord knew he was no longer rooted in shifting sand. Instead, he had solid ground upon which to proceed with his mission…a rock upon which he can build his church.

After talking with Peter, I’ll bet that the Lord checked in with the other passengers in the boat and those gathered at the beach. Turning to me, he asks the same questions with his penetrating brown eyes and engaging smile.

Sunday during Mass, our Joyful Noise choir sang, Pescador Des Hombres by Cesareo Gabarain a song which fits so nicely with this reading.

Lord, when you came to the seashore
You weren't seeking the wise or the wealthy,
But only asking that I might follow.
O Lord, in my eyes you were gazing,
Kindly smiling, my name you were saying;
All I treasured, I have left on the sand there;
Close to you, I will find other seas.

Jesus asks me (and you) the same questions he has for Peter and Paul because he still needs people to build his church.

What imprisons you?

What lion is intent on swallowing you?

What angel is waxing her wings to save you?

But who do you say that I am?

Is not our entire faith journey pivotal on the answer to this last question? If Jesus was just another priest, prophet, thief or king, nothing that occurred in Jerusalem would have mattered much to history and to us. It is only when we know the Lord, that the Lord knows us.

He knows what our boat carries. He doesn’t care what baggage is stowed there because he has need of our love and our labor. It is our hands that Jesus needs for service, our hearts for loving, and our arms for lifting the poor and broken.

Our journey is all about attaining the faith that Peter expresses in today’s Good News. That faith allows us to get close to the Lord, keep him with us and remain with Him. That faith is what we celebrate at the beginning and end of every Mass and every day between our celebrations.

At the start of every Mass, the celebrant proclaims, “The Lord be with.” His words and our answer to this question makes it so. At the end of Mass, the celebrant dismisses us with the message to keep the Lord with us until we return to the table again. “Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.” Thanks be to God.

Action

I am. Jesus’ question today echoes God’s proclamation in the Hebrew Bible. Instead of delivering that identity to us, God seeks us. God wants to know what our faith tells us about our relationship with him.

Sunday’s Good News revealed the faith of the centurion Jarius and the woman with the hemorrhages. In both cases, their faith far exceeded the faith expressed by those closest to Jesus. However, Jesus was and is a magnet.

What is drawing out your faith?

How does your faith compare to theirs?

How would you answer the questions put to Peter on the beach in today’s reading?

Don’t be afraid to admit what I am thinking. I have a long way to go. Please be a companion on my journey.