JESUS IS WATCHING YOU!

[1]Late one night, a burglar broke into a house he thought was empty. He tiptoed through the living room but suddenly he froze in his tracks when he heard a loud voice say; “Jesus is watching you.”  Silence returned to the house, so the burglar crept forward again. “Jesus is watching you.” the voice boomed again.  The burglar stopped dead in his tracks. Frightened, he frantically looked all around the room. There in a dark corner, he spotted a bird cage and, in the cage, was a parrot. He asked the parrot: “Was that you who said, Jesus is watching me?”  “Yes,” said the parrot.  The burglar breathed a sigh of relief.  Then asked the parrot: “What’s your name?”  “Clarence,” said the bird.  “That’s a dumb name for a parrot.  What idiot named you Clarence?”  The parrot said, “The same idiot who named the Pit-bull Jesus.”

An old joke that rings of the strong words Amos used to address and chide those who obey the law by doing only what is necessary, rather than taking on the mind and heart of God.  These merchants just can’t wait for the feast day to pass, so they can get back to selling, manipulating the scales, and cheating the poor.  God is watching and “never will [he] forget a thing they have done!” (Am 4:7) They obey only to serve themselves, not God.
  

“Jesus is watching you” is occasionally used as a motivating statement to keep young people on the right path.  We may even use it on ourselves, in times of temptation, as a motivator for our own choices.  Unfortunately, this is usually a short-term motivator, as the world presses on us with images and slogans perpetuating values of wealth, success, beauty, popularity, and anything else we feel we deserve.  After all the world wants us to believe it’s all about me.  Or… in an effort to protect our own interests, reputation, or standard of living, we act without prudence, like the Steward in today’s Gospel, whose focus is on the short-term gains versus long-term growth.  It’s only once he is dismissed, that he realizes his error in trusting his own talents for short-term gain that it can’t bring him true and lasting rewards.  In a life course correction, he rewrites the debtor’s notes, essentially giving up his commission, that he is commended by the Master and gains the opportunity to be welcomed the other debtors. 

To help us explore the path to long-term growth let’s start with the question, “Who or What is our master?”  Who or What dominates our mind, our heart?  What are my most important values?  The things we are willing to live and die for?  In my many years of facilitating groups, when it comes to naming values, the top two are very consistent.  What do you think they are? … (God & Family).  When asked in a church environment, 99% of the time God tops the list, yet in the world, we seem to struggle to find this value lived because other people and things become our masters.

Consider our electronic devices, they were invented to help us master our lives; instead these devices have mastered our attention.  iPhone, iPad, laptops, gaming counsels, Blueray, Bluetooth… it’s to the point I don’t know if the person next to me is talking to me or on the phone?!  We claim to be more connected, yet seem to be increasingly disconnected, distracted from to the important things in life?  Satan uses worldly things to divide; divide friends, family, even nations.  This separatist approach destroys the “unity of life” God desires and creates a modern madness leaving us feeling distant, detached and often very alone.  There are disciplines and practices we must abide by if we are to walk faithfully along the path to salvation, fulfill our destiny, and experience the lasting joy God desires for us.

How do we do this when worldly allurements and distractions are so powerful?  Scripture tells us we can’t serve both God and worldly gain (mammon).  Choose one master, God!  Infuse God into every aspect of your life.  Turn everything we do into a prayer, an offering to God.  Like athletes who discipline themselves to develop positive habits, make right choices to keep them eligible to play, and practice consistently training their mind and body to perform at its peak. 

This is why we gather here each week at this Eucharistic celebration—to be nourished and to nourish others.  It was the Jesuit theologian Robert Taft who said that the purpose of Eucharist is not to only change bread and wine, but to change you and me—for through Eucharist it is we who are to become Christ for others. We must be wise to the way of the world in our daily lives, and let God be our only Master.  “Jesus is watching you” and challenging us to be good stewards of the gifts we have received, not sprinting for a short-term gain, but running a marathon, on the long road of our spiritual journey to an eternal reward.

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[1] New American Bible, Saint Joseph Edition © 1986.  Scriptures: Am 8:4-7; 8-10; 1Tm 2:1-8; Lk 16:1-13.

BECOME WHO YOU WORSHIP

John Chrysostom was ascetic, unimposing but dignified, and troubled by stomach ailments from his desert days as a monk. He became a bishop under the cloud of imperial politics.  Yet, if his body was weak, his tongue was powerful. The content of his sermons, his exegesis of Scripture, were never without a point. Sometimes the point stung the high and mighty.

St. John Chrysostom’s preaching, by word and example, exemplifies the role of the prophet to comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comfortable. For his honesty and courage, he paid the price of a turbulent ministry as bishop, personal vilification, and exile.  

St. Paul too, in today’s reading, is sharing a turbulent journey in ministry. After being knocked of his horse and years of being formed by the Christian community and in a special Jesus himself, he came to realize who he became in his original zeal to uphold and defend the Law, and how it blurred his vision of his true identity in God’s eyes and plan.

I’ve often emphasized entering into the paschal mystery we approach, on a weekly or daily basis. What I mean is, it’s more than just approaching the altar and receiving, we must become who we worship.  This means making a daily inward trek to discover our authentic self, the identity God created us to be.  It’s about recognizing and reflecting upon “the wooden beam in our own eye.”  To know this beam, its texture, size, and weight so well so that when we approach our brother or sister, we can set our self aside to be fully present to them.  Over the years as a human relations trainer one of the common road block to self-knowledge (freedom) is complacency.  We become comfortable with who we’ve become, without reflecting on the external forces that shape our identity: our parents who were our first teachers of the faith and appropriate community engagement.  Our race, ethnicity, national origin, and geographical location, how others see and respond to us forms our identity.  The schools, jobs, and military service influence our conforming to social and organizational norms impact the formation of our identity.  Our political affiliation, religion and even our ministerial duties influence who we believe we are and how we view and sometimes judge others.

From the beginning of his papacy, Pope Francis has urged priests, bishops, and seminarians to imitate what they celebrate, to follow the example of the Good Shepherd, to become Christ for others. He puts it bluntly: “Words without example are empty words.” Such hypocrisy would be a perfect example of the blind leading the blind.  

How do we become who we worship?  Those influenced by Ignatian spirituality are often called “contemplatives in action.”  They cultivate a habit of regular reflection in order to detect the presence of God in their lives. They employ the tools of Ignatian discernment to make sound decisions. The fruit of this contemplative effort is action.  Take some regular time to reflect on who you really are in God’s eyes, knowing he created us in His image and likeness to be full of compassion, hopeful, and joyful.  Then become like Jesus, whom we worship, throughout the day, even in your most ordinary tasks.