I Offer the Gospel Free of Charge

Friday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time

By Melanie Rigney

If I preach the Gospel, this is no reason for me to boast, for an obligation has been imposed on me, and woe to me if I do not preach it! If I do so willingly, I have a recompense, but if unwillingly, then I have been entrusted with a stewardship. What then is my recompense? That, when I preach, I offer the Gospel free of charge so as not to make full use of my right in the Gospel. (1 Corinthians 9:16-18)

How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God! (Psalms 84:2)

“Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit? No disciple is superior to the teacher; but when fully trained, every disciple will be like his teacher.” (Luke 6:39-40)

Piety

Lord, it is a challenge indeed, attempting to offer the Gospel in all I do and say. Please provide Your gentle correction in the times that I fall short.

Study

“I can do what I wanna do, be who I wanna be … I don’t have to be me ‘til Monday,” the old country song by Steve Azar says. Ah! We all know that glorious sense when the weekend comes or the kids go off to camp or something else happens that allows us a few precious hours to do and be whatever we want.

Do you ever long for a “break” in your spiritual life, for a few hours or moments of not having to be a model of the Gospel to your family, friends, and coworkers, when you can just be angry or mean or gossipy, when you can just be who you wanna be?

We all have those moments, and sometimes we give in to them. It feels great for a few fleeting seconds. Then the guilt and the sadness set in. We realize that while living the Gospel message of love and redemption is difficult and nigh onto impossible to do 24/7, the alternative to trying to do this hurts the Lord, those we have wronged, and ourselves. We realize the price of not preaching the Gospel by our words and actions and thoughts is too great to bear… and we start anew. And while it can be costly to us to do this, we know in our hearts and souls that the alternative may mean the loss of our salvation.

Action

Make amends with someone you have quarreled with—if possible, make it a situation where you are quite sure your position was correct. Listen. Preach the Gospel in your example of forgiveness.

The 13th Anniversary: September 11, 2014

Thursday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time

By Rev. Paul Berghout*

“To you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.  To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other one as well, and from the person who takes your cloak, do not withhold even your tunic.  Give to everyone who asks of you, and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back.  Do to others as you would have them do to you.”  Luke 6:27-31

Piety

Weep not for what you have lost, fight for what you have.
Weep not for what is dead, fight for what was born in you.
Weep not for the one who abandoned you, fight for who is with you.
Weep not for those who hate you, fight for those who want you.
Weep not for your past, fight for your present struggle.
Weep not for your suffering, fight for your happiness.
With things that are happening to us, we begin to learn that nothing is impossible to solve, just move forward.

Study

As we remember the 13th anniversary of the terror attacks of September 11, 2001 that took place in New York, the Pentagon and in Shanksville, PA, we reverently recall those who died, were injured or lost loved ones and are mourning today and maybe participating in a Memorial and Remembrance Service or an Annual Interfaith Memorial Service.

Some 9-11 thoughts I read addresses those who were injured and those who mourn, and what prayer can do.  For example, in James 5:16 we learn, “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”

Experiences that overwhelm our coping ability can be described as potentially traumatic. Some people may even develop Posttraumatic Stress disorder.

There is a book on stress that sold about 100,000 copies in print now in a third edition (Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers). However, many of the reviewers of the book commented that after reading through all the chapters on how stress can wreak havoc to our body, you don't actually get a lot of materials on how you can counter them. For example, where is the “Stress Reduction Kit?”  Bang Head Here. No.  Rather realize that Angels walk with those who grieve.

Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted. What is being mourned is ‘the loss’ and one’s own vulnerability.

Let us mourn for those who have perished and grieve with their loved ones who mourn their loss. Let us acknowledge the evil which has wounded our nation.

In our mourning, Our Lord, who is the great comforter, is truly present to us. But we do not grieve like those who have no hope. We grieve with the knowledge that neither death nor life can separate us from the love of God. His abundant love is our consolation. The grounds for this hope do not lie in the facts of harsh reality but rather in our faith—the meaning we ascribe to reality. 

Look at Mary:

The Blessed Virgin Mary is “origo mundi melioris”—the beginning of a better world. She was present at the trauma event of all time, and forgave like Christ and she wanted to even feel the pain to alleviate the pain of her Son. Forgiveness is a process that can’t be rushed but healing can’t happen without it.

Action

What can we do?

Group work is best—helping other victims. But one does so at risk of starting the uninvited intrusive thoughts to return and the tyranny of imagination. Developing awareness of specific and individual needs—welcome and unwelcome—is critical to empowering oneself. One needs to elicit loving memories and manage the stress of intrusive reminders.

Pray and help the dead.

For example, from the current Knights of Columbus magazine, “…the Cathedral-Basilica of Notre-Dame de Québec (St. André Bessette’s parish) recently got a massive bronze door commissioned for the 350th anniversary of the historic parish. Since Holy Doors are open only during a holy year or a jubilee, passing through one is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for many people. Authorized by the Vatican, there are only seven Holy Doors in the world. The others are at the four major basilicas in Rome; in Ars, France; and at the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Spain.

Pilgrims who pass through the Holy Door during a jubilee year may receive a plenary indulgence under the usual conditions, including confession, reception of Communion and detachment from sin.

In Quebec, in addition to visiting and gaining the indulgence for themselves, many pilgrims have carried others spiritually with them, helping souls in purgatory find their way to heaven. One prominent example occurred earlier this year after a devastating fire ravaged Résidence du Havre, an elderly housing complex in L’Isle Verte, on Jan. 23, claiming the lives of 32 senior citizens. In March, a group of pilgrims each held one of the victims in his or her heart while passing through the Holy Door — a moving tribute to those lost in the tragedy.

We can do the same for someone who died in the events of 9-11.

What’s a plenary indulgence? Look them up on the internet.

Plenary Indulgence: Devout meditation on the mysteries of the Rosary while piously reciting prayers at a Presidium meeting of the Legion of Mary (an association of the faithful). Or, pray a rosary in family, or any time the members of the faith gather to pray a rosary (Grant 17,1.1) 

*An earlier version of this was posted to Facebook by Fr. Paul. 

Jesus’ State of the Union Address

Wednesday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time

By Colleen O’Sullivan

“Blessed are you who are poor, for the Kingdom of God is yours.  Blessed are you who are now hungry, for you will be satisfied.  Blessed are you who are now weeping, for you will laugh.  Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude and insult you, and denounce your name as evil on account of the Son of Man…  But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.  But woe to you who are filled now, for you will be hungry.  Woe to you who laugh now, for you will grieve and weep.  Woe to you when all speak well of you, for their ancestors treated the false prophets in this way.”  

(Luke 6:20-22, 24-26)

Piety

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free…”

(Luke 4:18)

Study   

Jesus has been up on the mountain selecting the Twelve, whom he designates Apostles.  He comes down to the plain and begins to address the crowd.  We’re told that Jews and non-Jews alike make up the throng of people.  They’re from Judea, Jerusalem, Tyre, and Sidon.  This is truly a sermon for all the world to hear.

Jesus gives a sort of “state of the Union” address, the Union being the Kingdom of God.  Now that God, through his Son, has taken matters in hand, here’s what the Kingdom looks like, Jesus says.  If you’re poor or hungry, weeping or reviled because of your faith, take heart.  You are the blessed of God’s Kingdom.  That must be music to the ears of all the young, would-be immigrants on our southern border, the Christians in Iraq, Syria, Egypt, and countless other countries whose lives are threatened because they are believers, to the hungry here in the U.S. and the starving throughout the world.

 

Here we begin to see why the Nazareth folk didn’t exactly take to Jesus’ preaching.  It turns our most cherished notions upside down.  It makes us uncomfortable.  This is hardly the worldview we grow up with.  From kindergarten on we work to get into good colleges, so we can major in something that pays well, in order to then fill ourselves with all the good things we see in advertisements and mall windows.  And what’s wrong with having a good time, we ask?  Aren’t our self-esteems stroked from the moment we begin to toddle around so that we will feel good about ourselves, enjoy life, and have a good laugh now and then?  Who doesn’t want to have people think highly of us?  Much of what we do is driven by our desire to be popular and have friends.  Compared to many people in the rest of the world listening to Jesus’ words, we have so much.  Yet, we’re seldom satisfied.  We aren’t grateful for what’s been given to us.  We never feel like we have enough.  We’re always looking for more.  Our blindness to all that we have, our lack of compassion for those who are in need, and our overall ingratitude put us on the outs with relation to the Kingdom of God.

Jesus doesn’t mince words.  He is uncompromising in his assertion that this is the way it is in God’s Kingdom.  Everything is turned upside down.

Action

Spend some time today thanking God for the many gifts you have received.  Gratitude leads to compassion, which leads to sharing with others. Here are two opportunities for giving:  If you would like to aid in alleviating the human suffering in Iraq, Catholic Relief Services has joined with Caritas Iraq in offering humanitarian aid. Click on  http://crs.org/ to find out how you can help.  Here at home, SOME (So Others Might Eat) is an organization that feeds the hungry in Washington, DC.  See http://some.org/  to find out how you can help.  

He Heals Us All

Memorial of St. Peter Claver

By Beth DeCristofaro

Now indeed then it is, in any case, a failure on your part that you have lawsuits against one another.  Why not rather put up with injustice?  Why not rather let yourselves be cheated?  Instead, you inflict injustice and cheat, and this to brothers.  Do you not know that the unjust will not inherit the Kingdom of God? (1 Corinthians 6:7-9)

A great crowd of his disciples and a large number of the people … came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and even those who were tormented by unclean spirits were cured. Everyone in the crowd sought to touch him because power came forth from him and healed them all.  (Luke 6: 17-19)

Piety

Help me Lord Jesus, who loved those who sought your healing, to speak your Word each and every day with my hands, my eyes, my feet, my heart, my thoughts and my words.  Let me chose to build the Kingdom at every opportunity here and now.

Study

This Gospel passage from Luke opens the “Sermon on the Plains” which includes the Beatitudes like Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount.  Luke makes known to his non-Jewish audience that not only does Jesus open himself to healing many people but that He includes people not from the area, from outside the region and even those who are Gentiles.   Jesus embraced and welcomed strangers to become part of his community, touching them with his hands as well as his words.

Peter Claver served the most outcast of the castoffs – Africans arriving on slave ships to be sold in the Americas.  His approach to ministry is in the words attributed to him:  "We must speak to them with our hands before we try to speak to them with our lips."[i]  Clearly he had listened deeply to and embodied Christ’s words.  He saw evangelization as love in action which required “concrete service like the distributing of medicine, food or brandy to his black brothers and sisters.” 

Injustice and cheating even within the Christian community allowed the slave trade to flourish for centuries.  Paul’s message resonates even today as Christians seek to make the culture work for them rather than their faith rework the culture and grow the kingdom.  If I deserve a doctor’s care when I am ill then how can I refuse healthcare to others?  If food is my right should it be a right for anyone to not go hungry at night?  If I depend on my government to keep me safe and provide me rights such as libraries, parks and education, then why should my taxes not be used for others who are my neighbors?

Action

In what ways do I embody the healing, touching, welcoming power of Christ to others?   Perhaps this is the time, for example, to support our Muslim brothers and sisters who are fearful, frustrated and sad that their beliefs have been hijacked by an angry, violent minority.  What do I know of those beliefs and values?  The USCCB website has information on interfaith dialogues.  We can inform ourselves, get to know our neighbors and pray for them as well as all who are threatened by religious extremists.  http://usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/ecumenical-and-interreligious/interreligious/islam/dialogue-with-muslims-committee-statement.cfm

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[i] ."   http://www.ignatianspirituality.com/ignatian-voices/16th-and-17th-century-ignatian-voices/st-peter-claver-sj/  

Behold the Virgin

Feast of the Nativity ofthe Blessed Virgin Mary

We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.  For those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.  Romans 8:28-29

She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”  All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means “God is with us.”  Matthew 1:21-23

Piety

Father, through the mysteries of the birth and life of your servant Mary, may we imitate what her birth and life reveal and obtain what her life and coronation promise through closer friendship with your Son.

Study

The traditional date of the feast, September 8, falls exactly nine months after the feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. Some sources speculate that because of its close proximity on the calendar to the feast of the Assumption of Mary, the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary is not celebrated today with the same solemnity as the Immaculate Conception. It is, nonetheless, a very important feast, because it prepares the way for the birth of Christ. 

Without a willing, humble and obedient vessel, the Nativity of our Lord would not have been possible.  The Gospel today refers to the human lineage of Jesus – a sprout from the tree of Jesse, the father of David the king.  Such ancestry is connected on both the paternal side as well as the maternal side.  So although Matthew goes into great detail of the generations of ancestors for Joseph the carpenter, Mary’s blood lines were more important because they made possible the birth of the virgin who would give birth to the savior-carpenter-king.  

Without the virgin, the prophecy would not have been fulfilled. Christ needed a mother, and Mary's conception and birth, therefore, are events without which Christ's own birth would have been impossible.

Interestingly, we normally celebrate the day on which saints died, because that is when they entered into eternal life.  However, there are three major exceptions. We celebrate the births of Christ, the Virgin Mary, and Saint John the Baptist, because all three were born without Original Sin. 

Action

In Mary, we revere qualities which would be ideal to imitate such as humility and obedience.  By being more Mary-like, we can become more Christ-like and get closer to Jesus in our daily life. As the reading from Romans reminds us, God wants us to be conformed to the image of his Son.  We can take a step in that direction by starting with the example of Mary and her joys, her sorrows and her mission.

“Conform” is an interesting choice of words for St. Paul (and his translators).  It means to act in accordance or harmony.  If we are to be conformed to the image of God’s Son, we need people to mentor us and set an example for the prevailing attitude and standards.  Rather than look elsewhere, Mary is our first guiding light into the way we can conform ourselves and our lives to Christ. As with all things on this journey, it also requires change from what we are doing now and movement away from any behavior which is not in harmony with the life of Christ. 

Granted

Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time A

By Rev. Joe McCloskey, SJ

You, son of man, I have appointed watchman for the house of Israel; when you hear me say anything, you shall warn them for me.  If I tell the wicked, “O wicked one, you shall surely die,” and you do not speak out to dissuade the wicked from his way, the wicked shall die for his guilt, but I will hold you responsible for his death.  Ezekiel 33:7-8

“Again, amen, I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father.  For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”  Matthew 18:19-20

 

Piety

Piety reflects the truth of our relationship to Christ.  When two or three of us are united in the name of Christ, he is in the middle of us.  When one of the brothers sins, in the name of our union with Christ we have the responsibility to say something.  If we are not listened to by the sinner we are told to call one or two others to say what is wrong so that the matter might have the confirmation of two or three witnesses.  All of us together are the body of Christ and what the community decides is bound in heaven.  We are strengthened by the goodness of each other.  We are all hurt by the sinfulness of the other.  If one does not listen to the community, such a one should be considered a gentile or a publican.  The Father in heaven gives us what we ask for together in the name of Christ.

Study

Fraternal correction is a form of the examen.  We study our behavior in the light of the gospel of Christ and we learn better ways of doing what is right from each other.  The unexamined life is not worth living.  The challenge of our spiritual journey is the question of what is the best to do.  The challenge of the Ignatian ‘magis’ (more) is in our struggle to do what gives greater glory to God. Study allows us to find the better way to serve God.

Action

We all owe to one another love. Love of the neighbor completes the law.  The command of the law is to love our neighbor as ourselves.  It completes all the other commandments.  Whatever we do, we should do out of love.  Love makes our world go round. How can we say we love the God we do not see if we do not love the neighbor we do see?  Wherever there is love God is there.  If we try to correct a bad person and he changes we are credited with his change.  If we do not try to change the one who sins we are guilty of his crime because he might have listened to us.  We must do our part to make a better world.

Hungry

Saturday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time

We are fools on Christ’s account, but you are wise in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are held in honor, but we in disrepute.  To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are poorly clad and roughly treated, we wander about homeless. 1 Corinthians 4:10-11

Jesus said to them in reply, “Have you not read what David did when he and those who were with him were hungry?  How he went into the house of God, took the bread of offering, which only the priests could lawfully eat, ate of it, and shared it with his companions?”  Then he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”  Luke 6:3-5

Piety

From “What Is Your Life’s Blueprint?” speech by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at Barratt Junior High School speech in Philadelphia October 26, 1967:

And when you discover what you will be in your life, set out to do it as if God Almighty called you at this particular moment in history to do it. Don’t just set out to do a good job. Set out to do such a good job that the living, the dead or the unborn couldn’t do it any better.

If it falls your lot to be a street sweeper, sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures, sweep streets like Beethoven composed music, sweep streets like Leontyne Price sings before the Metropolitan Opera. Sweep streets like Shakespeare wrote poetry. Sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will have to pause and say: Here lived a great street sweeper who swept his job well. If you can’t be a pine at the top of the hill, be a shrub in the valley. But be the best little shrub on the side of the hill.

Be a bush if you can’t be a tree. If you can’t be a highway, just be a trail. If you can’t be a sun, be a star. For it isn’t by size that you win or fail. Be the best of whatever you are.

Study

As we conclude this week that began with Labor Day, Jesus gives the wise Pharisees a lesson in labor and the idea of a higher calling. 

The Pharisees think that all labor is prohibited on the Sabbath.  That may have been the view in sacred history up to this point.  But much of sacred history is changed when Jesus comes onto the scene.  Jesus re-interprets the old ways with a new view.  According to the notes in the New American Bible, in his defense of his disciples’ conduct and his own charitable deed, Jesus argues that satisfying human needs such as hunger and performing works of mercy take precedence even over the sacred Sabbath rest.

Jesus connects this with the Old Testament story about David – which was not about a violation of the Sabbath rest.  The incident is an example of a violation of the law being permissible because David’s men had no food.   Blessed are those who hunger and thirst. 

According to the notes in the parallel account in Matthew’s gospel, if certain kinds of work have a higher purpose that outweigh the Sabbath law, “how much more does the presence of Jesus, with his proclamation of the kingdom (something greater than the temple), justify the conduct of his disciples?”

Action

We are always busy but are we busy with the right items. 

Growing up in places like New Jersey and Massachusetts, there were blue laws that forbid certain businesses from opening on Sunday.  Back in 1979, working as a salesperson at a car dealership, my boss required us to show up on Sunday (without pay).  Even though Massachusetts laws forbid the business from opening Sunday, the owner wanted us to work. His rationale was that customers who wanted to shop for a new car without being bothered by salespeople would visit the lots of new cars on Sunday.  If they found something they liked, they could come back during the week to buy.  But, they may go somewhere else to buy.  The owner did not want to take the chance that these people would buy from someone else.  He wanted his workers to violate the letter and spirit of the law and troll the lot for customers who thought they would be shopping in peace.

Within weeks, pretty much all the sales force quit because of the behavior of the management which dictated that a sale was more important everything or anything else -- even more important than following local laws.  He did not see his workers as having a life outside the dealership.  While you could argue with the basis for blue laws (which have been overturned in most places in the U.S.) and maybe even work to have them changed, willfully violating them thumbed your nose at authority.  He mistakenly thought that selling stuff was more important. It cost him a lot.  All he invested in training a sales force had to be spent again as the sales force kept quitting.

Clearly there are higher callings than selling cars or banning the harvest on Sunday.

The word "call" comes from vocare. We get the word vocation (a "call" or "summons") from it. Biblically it is used primarily for our being "called" to live in Christ, in relationship with God through Jesus. We belong to Christ, and our work is to believe, to glorify and enjoy God. It is our "high calling," our highest calling. Our daily work, whatever that is, is also a high calling. It is to be directed toward fulfilling God's purposes. (From “Why Work Is Holy,” by Dave Williamson)

What is your higher calling?

The One Who Judges Me

Friday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time

By Melanie Rigney

It does not concern me in the least that I be judged by you or any human tribunal; I do not even pass judgment on myself; I am not conscious of anything against me, but I do not thereby stand acquitted; the one who judges me is the Lord. (1 Corinthians 4:3-4)

The salvation of the just comes from the Lord. (Psalms 37:39a)

“No one tears a piece from a new cloak to patch an old one. Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins.” (Luke 5:36-37)

Piety

Lord, You will find me lacking in so many, many ways when Your judgment comes. Help me to measure up in the ways that matter most—loving You, and loving my neighbors as myself.

Study

“I’m right, right, right, and you’re wrong, wrong, wrong.”

It was the litany of the Rigney household. My brilliant, narcissistic, schizophrenic father must have said it to Mom and the four of us kids at least daily. Some of us dealt with it by attempting to prove him right. Others dealt with it by exacting perfection, or as close as we could come to it, from ourselves and others.

“I’m right, right, right, and you’re wrong, wrong, wrong.”

Consider by contrast the words from today’s readings. In the first reading, Paul doesn’t worry about what others think of him. He doesn’t even worry about judging himself. Wisely, he puts that in the hands of God.

Similarly, Jesus challenges the scribes and the Pharisees when they criticize his disciples for eating and drinking, unlike theirs and John the Baptist’s followers. There’s no basis for comparison, he in essence says; I am the Way, and you can’t just graft what the Lord wants onto what you’ve always done. It’s time to start fresh…. no matter how right, right, right or wrong, wrong, wrong you’ve judged yourselves and others in the past.

And so we move forward, knowing the only one who’s right 24/7 is the Lord.

Action

Sexual abuse often involves a person in authority exploiting someone who is or who feels powerless. The Arlington Diocese on Saturday will hold a retreat for victims and survivors of sexual abuse at St. Agnes in Arlington. Are you or a loved one hurting? See the diocesan Web site or call the Office of Victim Assistance at (703) 841-2530 for more information.

They Left Everything

Thursday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time 2014

Brothers and sisters: Let no one deceive himself.  If anyone among you considers himself wise in this age, let him become a fool, so as to become wise.  1 Corinthians 3:18

For astonishment at the catch of fish they had made seized him and all those with him, and likewise James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners of Simon.  Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”  When they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed him.  Luke 5:9-11

Piety

Matthew was mindful of taking the tax
And pressing the people to pay
Hearing the call, he responded in faith
And followed the light and the way

And leaving the people so puzzled he found
The greed in his heart was no longer around and
And it's hard to imagine the freedom we find
From the things we leave behind

Every heart needs to be set free
From possessions that hold it so tight
'Cause freedom's not found in the things that we own
It's the power to do what is right

With Jesus, our only possession
And giving becomes our delight
And we can't imagine the freedom we find
From the things we leave behind
(From Michael Card, The Things We Leave Behind)

Study

What gets repeated, gets emphasized. 

The Synoptic Gospels all contain the scene of Jesus calling the fisherman.  While repeated, today in Luke’s account, we can put our finger on one critical difference.  When Mark and Matthew tell this episode, the fishermen who follow Jesus leave their nets and their father.  In Luke’s retelling of this story, they leave everything, an indication of Luke’s theme of complete detachment from material possessions.  This is a theme to which Luke returns time and time again.

When Jesus called Levi, the tax collector, he too, left everything behind.  “After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the customs post. He said to him, ‘Follow me.’  And leaving everything behind, he got up and followed him.” (Luke 5:27-28)

In commissioning the disciples to go out into the world and preach, Jesus instructed them to sell everything.  “Sell your belongings and give alms. Provide money bags for yourselves that do not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven that no thief can reach nor moth destroy.” (Luke 12:33)

As Jesus recounts the mark of a true disciple, detachments comes up again. “In the same way, everyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:33)

Finally, during the encounter with the rich young man who wants to inherit eternal life, the answer Jesus gives again is complete detachment.  When Jesus heard this he said to him, “There is still one thing left for you: sell all that you have and distribute it to the poor, and you will have a treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” (Luke 18:22)

Action

Talk about turning the tables.  Society tells us (falsely) that he who dies with the most toys wins. Everywhere we turn, the signs and ads are calling us to buy, Buy, BUY!  As kids, we were conditioned to collect baseball cards. Then we start stockpiling a wardrobe of work clothes, dress clothes, play clothes and clothes for whatever hobby you have – golf shoes, basketball shoes, biking shoes, baseball cleats, etc. We do exactly the opposite of what Luke indicates is required of us.  

In the opening page of the book “How Much is Enough,” Arthur Simon recounts a story about how we – aided and abetted by our own pastors and ministers – get around the hard answers.  We know the questions are out there. We know the answers, yet we avoid them.

A Christian from Germany visited the United States shortly after World War II.  “I noticed your churches have cushions,” he commented, suggesting churches of affluence.  The he added, “I notice your preaching has cushions, too.” 

The visitor had obviously gotten a sample of the feel-good sermons sprinkled with the joke-of-the-week, that deals slightly and lightly on messages like total detachment from material possessions we encounter above from Luke’s Gospel. There are no cushions on these pages and passages. 

The way forward may not be to go cold turkey like we are planning to enter a monastery and leaving everything behind.  Although, that was certainly the example set by St. Francis.  When we are lowered into that final pine box, there will not be room for much else in that space.

Start someplace…a room, a closet, a basement.  Target one category:  furniture or clothes or books or music or tools.  What can you part with?  Donate those items to A Wider Circle (http://awidercircle.org/) or another organization that will re-cycle useable items to families in need.

What is an anchor holding you back from following Jesus?  If your hands are already full of stuff, how in the world will you pick up your cross daily and follow him?

Don’t Get Distracted

Memorial of Saint Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church

By Colleen O’Sullivan

While there is jealousy and rivalry among you, are you not of the flesh, and walking according to the manner of man?  Whenever someone says, “I belong to Paul,” and another, “I belong to Apollos,” are you not merely men?  What is Apollos, after all, and what is Paul?  Ministers through whom you became believers, just as the Lord assigned each one.  I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused the growth.  Therefore, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who causes the growth.  (I Corinthians 3:3b-7)

At daybreak, Jesus left and went to a deserted place.   (Luke 4:42a)

Piety

O Lord, you are the center of my life; I will always praise you,

I will always serve you, I will always keep you in my sight.

(From “Center of My Life” by Paul Inwood)

Study   

Sometimes I think the old saying is true: the more things change, the more they remain the same.  The trappings of life are certainly different in 21^st century Northern Virginia from what they were in first century Corinth, but have we Christians actually changed that much over the years?

The apostle Paul was addressing a specific situation in today’s reading from his first letter to the Corinthians.  He was the one who founded the church in Corinth.  When he had to leave, Apollos was the one who remained to nurture and grow the faith there.   Now Paul sees that the Corinthians are embroiled in all kinds of rivalries, some claiming to follow him and some Apollos.  They haven’t grown in their faith because they’ve gone off on tangents and forgotten about the only one who can really help them to mature - God.   

If St. Paul were to write us a letter today, he wouldn’t have to start from scratch.  He could just use some of what he wrote to the Corinthians.  Oh, the circumstances would be different, but the bit about getting ourselves so entangled in non-essentials that we forget about God and why we’re the church in the first place still holds true.  

In the Gospel reading, Jesus heals Simon’s mother-in-law of a fever and then spends the entire night healing the sick of the town.  But lest he forget the most important thing, when the sun begins to rise, Jesus goes off to a deserted place to pray, to reconnect with his Father, to reaffirm the path his ministry should take, to make sure he isn’t going off on a tangent. So, when the crowds try to prevent him from leaving, he doesn’t let them pull him off track; he knows that going elsewhere to preach the Good News is exactly what he is supposed to do.

Action

The Corinthians bickered over which spiritual leader was theirs.  We nitpick over a whole host of other things - styles of worship, types of music, whether we should have bells during Mass, etc.  You can fill in the blank with whatever it is that gets you going.   But ask yourself, do I let these concerns so consume me that God and the reason for being the Church get left by the wayside?

When you feel like you’re losing your focus, pray, because there is really nothing like prayer to keep us centered in God.  

We, Your Works, Give You Thanks, Lord

Tuesday of the Twenty-Second Week in Ordinary Time 2014

By Beth DeCristofaro

For “who has known the mind of the Lord, so as to counsel him?”  But we have the mind of Christ.  (1 Corinthians 2:16)

Jesus went down to Capernaum, a town of Galilee. He taught them on the Sabbath, and they were astonished at his teaching because he spoke with authority. (Luke 4:31)

Piety

The LORD is gracious and merciful,

Slow to anger and abounding in mercy.

The LORD is good to all,

Compassionate toward all your works.

All your works give you thanks, LORD

And your faithful bless you.

They speak of the glory of your reign

And tell of your mighty works

        (Psalm 145:8-11)

Study

As we are works of God, mystics and great teachers from our sacred history tell us that a fruitful avenue of study can be the humble study of ourselves.  This psalm would be an effective text book.  In fact the psalms can teach us much about ourselves as well as our God.  There are psalms with which we can weep in devastating sorrow, psalms of hope and recovery, psalms of anger and smiting, psalms of praise and jubilation.  The psalmist wrote before “we have the mind of Christ” but knew well the minds of men of which our Divine Lord was also one.

In the Gospel today, we have the compassionate, prophetic teacher Jesus who with strength and power dispels a demon from a possessed man.  Later, we will see Jesus healing.  We, too, have these attributes within us, as works of God.  Sometimes it is hard to reconcile all our conflicting emotions and thoughts but emotions and thoughts are not us.  Rather we are made in God’s image and that image has been imagined, studied, prayed about, meditated on since humans recognized that there is something mightier than they were. 

Action

Give thanks to God!  Spend some time with this psalm and consider in what ways we show or do not show graciousness and mercy.  Is our anger slow and justified or quick and self-righteous?  Do we have compassion for all God’s works?  Are we good to all?  Do our lives speak of the glory of God’s reign and tell of God’s mighty works?  In all our imperfections know that we are works of God and ask to walk closer, enfolded in the mercy of God.