“You’ve Got to Tell Somebody” by Wayne Miller

“You’ve Got to Tell Somebody” by Wayne Miller

Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

You duped me, O LORD, and I let myself be duped; / you were too strong for me, and you triumphed. / All the day I am an object of laughter; / everyone mocks me. Whenever I speak, I must cry out, / violence and outrage are my message; / the word of the Lord has brought me / derision and reproach all the day. I say to myself; I will not mention him, / I will speak in his name no more. / But then it becomes like fire burning in my heart, / imprisoned in my bones; / I grow weary holding it in, I cannot endure it. The word of the Lord. (Jeremiah 20:7-9)

I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship. Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect. (Romans 12:1-2)

May the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ enlighten the eyes of our hearts, that we may know what is the hope that belongs to our call. (Ephesians 1:17-18)

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. Then Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him, “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.” He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? Or what can one give in exchange for his life? For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory, and then he will repay all according to his conduct.” (Matthew 16:21-27)

Piety

“Gotta Tell Somebody,” by Don Francisco

Then He called His three disciples

That were with Him on the way

He led them and my wife and me

To where our daughter lay

 

He took her by the hand

He told her, child arise

And the words were barely spoken

When she opened up her eyes

 

She rose and walked across the room

And stood there at our sides

My wife knelt down and held her close

And at last she really cried

 

Then Jesus told us both to see

Our daughter had some food

And as to how her life was saved

Not to speak a word, not to speak a word

 

I got to tell Somebody

I got to tell Somebody

I got to tell Somebody

What Jesus did, What Jesus did for me

 

Ya know He gave me life

When my hope was dead

When there was grief

He brought joy instead

 

I’ve got to tell Somebody

What Jesus did

I got to tell Somebody

What Jesus did

I got to tell Somebody

What Jesus did for me!

(Shamelessly borrowed from Christian troubadour Don Francisco, his album: “He’s Alive!” I first heard this song 50 years ago and prayed ever since.)

Study

The voices I hear today: 

Jeremiah: Knows that prayer is complete, honest, open (and not always sunshine-and-roses) conversation with God. He feels cheated & suckered into his Prophet’s Role, but he can’t stop yammering for God to His people. He’s got to TELL SOMEBODY!

Paul (yesterday): Not many of us are wise or powerful or of noble birth. Our God chooses the foolish, the weak, the lowly, to reduce to nothing (evangelize!) those who are something. God gave us Christ Jesus, His wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Whoever boasts, should boast in the Lord!” We’ve got to TELL SOMEBODY! 

Paul (today): See the greater picture. Do everything – Give everything – for the greater glory of God and your eternal salvation. Be foolish, weak, and lowly and GO TELL SOMEBODY!

Jesus: Following Me will not be “fun.” You must give your life as you know it now to be My Messenger and Bringer of LOVE. I promise you will have eyes to see and ears to hear and voice to express My Love to all my Children. And I will come back, and then all will be resolved. (The Bad Guys DON’T WIN in the end! – Thank you, St. Matthew!) Now, Go Tell Somebody How Much I Love Them! 

St. Maximillian Kolbe: “Love unto the sacrifice of your life!”

A wonderful meditation from Give Us This Day, August 8th, challenged me to consider “What is my real intent in becoming Christian/Catholic/Cursillista?”  

Part is shared here:

We do not so much need a new curriculum, new translations, new rituals for worship, or new myths and oracles as we need deeper, more radical appropriation of what we have already received. We need to penetrate the deceit and evil in our hearts and institutions, peel away corruption and illusion, and hold ourselves open before the searing light of Christ.

A problem with spiritual pursuits is that we bring to the forms our addictions. We pray to become better addicts. We seek power, prestige, health, wholeness. Here our prayer is a function of our disease, our attachment to creation. Then spirituality becomes akin to aerobics, jogging, healthy food—something to do that will make us more attractive and successful. We approach spirituality for what it will do for us, not for what it will do for God. (Loretta Ross, Letters from the Holy Ground)

So, what do I do with all this wisdom, encouragement, and scolding?

Action

I’ve Got to Tell Somebody.

Today I texted the Love of Jesus to a gay business associate who claims to be an atheist, to my wife in North Carolina, and my sister in Austin. I can’t believe the flood of Love and Blessing that God has showered on me amid a killer Pandemic, with our beloved son enduring a vicious divorce and nearly dying, spending hours on cross-country flights to Oregon.  

Enforced teleworking has allowed me to maintain steady income support for our family. And yet, here I am celebrating the beauty of God’s Creation out here in “Goonies Country.”

The miracle of ZOOM has blessed me with an ongoing relationship with my Franciscan and Parish communities, my brothers in Group Reunion, and our Marriage Encounter Share Group. I have not had time to worry over what I’m missing because God keeps opening new doors to a relationship with Him through my beloved Catholic/Franciscan/Cursillo/Marriage Encounter family.

I get to Tell Somebody – and Listen to Somebody Tell Me – almost daily about how God’s Love is working in their lives – and that gives me new insight about how to tell others how God’s Love is working in my life. 

As a famous DMV televangelist used to say: “So, what!?!”

Here’s the “secret” we’ve had all along: 

Make a Friend! Be a Friend! Bring Christ to your Friend! And celebrate the miracle of salvation, redemption, and foolish empowerment that will occur when we let go of our addictions and egos.

De Colores!