PATIENCE AND PERSEVERANCE

Science has discovered a seed has a shell (the seed coat), an embryo (a tiny baby plant) and endosperm (plant food), and we still marvel at the shell’s ability to sense and respond to the right environment to begin germination. The growth of the seed remains mysterious. A seed may lie dormant for a time, but it is still alive and has the potential to grow into something beneficial and great for the world.

Earlier in Mark’s Gospel, Jesus compared God’s Word to seed. Today, he compares the seed to God’s kingdom. These parables explore the mysterious nature of the kingdom’s growth. Perhaps Mark added these two parables to encourage the early Church. Jews who chose to follow the new way of Christ’s Gospel were asked to make changes in their understanding and application of Torah and its many traditions. They have been asked to embrace Jesus as the new high priest, to accept that the traditional series of sacrificial offerings have been replaced by Jesus’ once-for-all sacrifice, and to put Christian gatherings ahead of temple worship.

It’s not surprising when these early converts questioned their initial zeal and decision to become Christian, because of the rejection, abuse, and persecution that were common experiences for them. The author of Hebrews letter is reminding the reader of their original enthusiasm and joy and urging them to have patience and perseverance, so not lose the reward their newfound faith offers them.[1]

At least on occasion, todays Christians question whether this life of faith we practice will really grow into God’s kingdom and embrace the whole world. Patience and perseverance do not come easily for most of us. Patience means the willingness to suffer; perseverance means the willingness to endure. Neither is a popular remedy in the face of opposition. And yet the pre-Christian Roman playwright Plautus suggested, “Patience is the best remedy for every trouble.” Our own Thomas Jefferson advised a friend, “To every obstacle oppose patience, perseverance, and soothing language.”[2]

Hebrews starts by asking us to “remember the days past when…” (Heb 10:32) remember when we first received the good seed of God’s Word, our initial enthusiasm and joy. Take time today to contemplate your faith journey, how a small seed, settled itself into the soil of your heart. Maybe it laid dormant for a time, all the while, without our knowing, the Kingdom was growing within, until one day an epiphany came to our consciousness, with new life and new challenges.

 

As so often happens, we more easily advocate patience or perseverance than put either into practice. Yet, as the psalmist tells us, “Trust in the Lord… Take delight in… and commit to the Lord your way.” (Ps 37:3-5) For God indeed never seems to be in a hurry. Maybe that’s why he asks patience and perseverance of us! May we have sense and respond to seed of His kingdom present in our heart, that we might, in our own smallness, produce something beneficial and great for the world.

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[1] Weekday HomilyHelps, Exegesis by Norman Langenbrunner

[2] Ibid. Homily Suggestion by Norman Langenbrunner

HERE’S TO OUR HEALTH

Research shows that good relationships help people live longer, deal with stress better, have healthier habits, and a stronger resistance to colds. People in healthy long-term relationships are 50% less likely to die prematurely than people without them. In terms of life expectancy, living without these healthy relationships is as unhealthy as smoking! 

We are social beings – and the quality of our relationships affects our mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual health. Author Brené Brown explains, “A deep sense of love and belonging is an irreducible need of all men, women, and children. We are biologically, cognitively, physically, and spiritually wired to love, to be loved, and to belong.”[1]

St. Paul had a special relationship with Timothy, whom he described as a brother, fellow worker, and “my son.” Paul is clearly his mentor. Paul further hints at the depth of their relationship, in the letters to Timothy. He begins with an expression of his relationship with and gratitude to God, the foundational relationship. Paul is providing advice to his “dearly beloved son” and acknowledges that seeing Timothy would bring him great joy. Paul speaks of Timothy’s “sincere faith” first formed by his Jewish grandmother and his mother, who is described in Acts 16:1 as “a believer” (meaning a Christian). These are all signs of their long-term relationship, their trusting relationship. 

Speaking of important relationships, in the Gospel, we hear, Jesus’ mother and brothers are outside, asking to see him. His response, on first hearing, is surprising if not offensive, “Who are my mother and brothers?” (Mk 3:33) Jesus obviously was not denigrating affection for relatives, but he did use a common expectation to emphasize the even greater relationship, our relationship with God. The criterion for being a member of his family is obedience to the Father of that family. It was not so much Mary’s womb that made her his mother, but her consent to God’s will.[2]

Timothy and Titus are Paul’s trusted companions to lead the believers through the many tensions of the early Church. More importantly, they remind us that following Christ requires carrying the cross of developing and maintaining community relationships that obediently fulfill the Father’s will for us. (Love & Unity) 

In Church relationships today, the tensions and divisions still exist. We can become discouraged by the scandals, the political discord, and the seemingly countless failures of its members and officials—while still asking God, at every Mass, not to forget the Church’s faith. Timothy and Titus, serve as examples of coping with the contentious debates, false teachers, and persistent abuse the Church has known from its infancy. They are models of perseverance, patience, and diplomacy. When we are tempted to give in to disappointment, we need to remind ourselves that we, too, are members of a community often capable but sometimes weak.[3] Yet, are called to be engaged in a long-term relationship with God, and with each other, for our mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual health.

[1] Psychalive.org, “Healthy Relationships Matter More Than We Think” by Robyn E. Brickel, M.A., LMFT.
[2] Weekday HomilyHelps. Exegesis by Norman Langenbrunner.
[3] Ibid. Homily Suggestion by Norman Langenbrunner.

ENTRUSTED WITH THE MESSAGE OF RECONCILIATION

Today is the: 

• Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children 
• Anniversary of the Supreme Court decision, Roe vs Wade 1973 
• Day 2 of the 9 Days for Life Novena 

The story I’m about to share is true and shared with permission. It was the week before her senior year of high school, and only a few sips into her favorite treat - a Peach Lemonade. But that day - for the first time - it turned her stomach and right away she was afraid. She & her boyfriend had been dating for four months and she could only think of one reason why the lemonade made her so sick. She was pregnant. 

When she got home, she immediately I took a pregnancy test. Then another one, hoping the first one was wrong. Both were positive and collapsing to the floor, sobbed, thinking: “I was the cheerleading captain, a solid A/B student, I have big plans for my future.” Now, she felt like her life was over. Thrown it all away with one mistake. 

Most of all, she didn't want to disappoint her mother. She was ashamed of herself, but even worse, she was ashamed of the innocent baby inside her. So, they decided this "mistake" wouldn't ruin the rest of their lives and made the decision to "terminate." 

She made an appointment at the abortion clinic. Then she called her mother. Her mother’s words stopped her in her tracks. "You really don't want an abortion. You just want to run away from the consequences of your actions.” She wasn't angry. She didn't yell. But she was right. We feared what people would say. We didn't want to mess up our own plans for college and our future. Her mom asked her to go to a pro-life pregnancy center in the next town over. To make a long story short, she kept both appointments, and most importantly, chose life for her baby girl, Brooklyn. WHY? 

For me it was the language in which she experienced in every step after her decision, starting with her mother. She wasn’t angry, nor yelled, she spoke truth in love. Her experience as both clinics, the language at one spoke of the child, the other of taking care of the “mistake”. 

For us, our take away, comes is in our Gospel Acclamation, “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.” In today’s Gospel we hear that Jesus summoned and selected the twelve, on the mountain, where he taught them and empowered them to preach and drive away demons. We are now the disciples; our mountain is prayer, where we learn to speak the Good News and through our words drive away demons. We have been “entrusted with the message of reconciliation.” 

As we work to build God’s kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven, the Gospels frequent message includes, that a fundamental part of God’s kingdom is the way all people are protected. Most especially, the most vulnerable and voiceless among us: the unborn and bullied; those persecuted because of their race, gender, religion, national origin and sexual orientation; the poor, imprisoned, infirmed, and the elderly. Our words and behaviors have the power to condemn or reconcile. As Christians we’ve received “this … message … from the beginning: We should love one another.” (1 Jn 3:11) and “This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love one another.” (Jn 13:35)

THE INVITATION

[1]Can you look back over the years and pick out one day that touched you in a defining way and set you on a course for the rest of your life? Mine was in the Spring of 2004. After a couple of years away from the Church, on this particular day, I accepted Judy’s invitation to attend Sunday Mass.  After Mass, I found myself alone in the atrium area of the church in front of a table where they were signing up men to attend a Christ Renews His Parish retreat. I can’t say for sure what I was looking for, as I approached the table, but they invited me to “Come and you will see.” (Jn 1:39) This invitation would change the course of my life.

In the Gospel of John there is no nativity story, no background about Jesus or his ancestry. Instead, there is, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” (Jn 1:36) This is John the Baptist’s Annunciation. Here God’s entrance to human history isn’t heralded by an angel. It’s proclaimed, instead by a prophet on the banks of the Jordan river. One solitary man sees another, and cannot help but bear witness—to testify—and cry out for the world to look and to believe. So, I’m pretty sure, without the benefit of a back story and the beautiful history we relive through the Gospels of Matthew & Luke each year, the two disciples followed Jesus out of curiosity to discover who he was and the meaning of John’s testimony.[2]

Jesus, turns to find them following him and asks the most fundamental question in life: “What are you looking for?” (Jn 1:38) The disciples didn’t know how to answer. They didn’t know how to put into words their questions, their deepest desires, so they instead asked, “Where are you staying?” and Jesus invites them to “come, and you will see.”

At that moment in time, the disciples had no idea that before the sun set, a new relationship would develop and the whole direction of their lives would be changed.[3] How do relationships begin? Some relationships begin in childhood, their origins hazy with time, while others start late in life; but some factors, it seems, are essential to every relationship. 

There must be some ATTENTIVENESS to one’s setting to even start a relationship. In our first reading we hear of a boy, Samuel, who was dedicated to the temple, entrusted to the priest Eli, a mother’s thanksgiving to God for her son.  Samuel heard the voice of God, but he could not identify it.  Why did Samuel make the mistake of thinking it was Eli’s voice calling him? Attentive listening is essential to start a relationship, but an INTRODUCTION is often necessary, an introduction by someone who already has an established relationship, especially with God, whose voice can be mistaken, ignored, or overlooked in a world that values distractions and disharmony over patient listening. While attentive listening and an introduction are important, they are not enough without an OPENNESS to begin and maintain a relationship. We are told that “as Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground.” (1Sm 3:19) We see this same openness to build a relationship with the two disciples of John the Baptist.[4] They were so excited in finding Jesus that they went and got their brother to introduce him to Jesus.

This kind of remarkable life changing relationships still happens. Every day, we meet Jesus Christ, and the opportunity to enter into a deeper relationship with Him. If we are attentive, we can come in touch with the living God who transforms us by grace and opens horizons never dreamed of. How are we being introduced to Jesus, by poor people and rich people, by struggling people and successful people, scholars and illiterates, and everyone in between. They are women and men, old and young, of every race and nationality. If we would just attentively listen, accept their introduction, and be open to beginning and maintaining a relationship.  All we need is to be open to spending a little time together…to be willing to go wherever the Holy Spirit leads. Jesus is asking us, “What are you looking for?” How do we answer? Where do we start?

John’s testimony, his introduction into the mystery of Jesus, “Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world. Blessed are those [invited] to the supper of the Lamb”[5] is a bold challenge. Do we see what John saw? How many of us act as heralds for Christ, to be the invitation—not so much with the words we speak, but with the lives we live? We need to remember: Belief is more than the creed we profess and faith is much more than the prayers we recite every Sunday at Mass.

Faith is a testimony, lived every day.

It is a testimony of missionary disciples, who offer their lives to people in broken and grieving places.

It is the testimony of the unnamed saints we encounter every day, in offices and schools, at the bus stop, on the train, or on street corners, in supermarkets, and on social media sites.

It is the testimony of all who seek somehow to bring Christ to others and heal a wounded world.

All these examples and more testify to the Christian life.  They speak of hope and belief in a world too often overcome by despair and doubt. This beautiful fact remains: The work of John the Baptist didn’t end at the banks of the Jordan.  It goes on today.  All of us are called to proclaim and witness, to be a testimony of God’s presence in the world.

What are you looking for? Chances are good, that if we could develop a new relationship when we are attentive to our environment, our ordinary surroundings (the people and creation), if we attentively listen for the invitation (an invitation to know and love God in all things and people), and are open to a defining Holy Spirit moment that can change the whole direction of our lives. This is Eucharistic meal is our invitation to “Come and you will see.”

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[1] New American Bible Revised.  1 Samuel 3:3-10, 19; 1 Corinthians 6:13-15, 17-20; John 1:35-42

[2] A Stranger and You Welcomed Me Edited by Deacon Jim Knipper. Story by Deacon Greg Kendra © by contributors.

[3] Sundays with Jesus by James DiGiacomo, SJ © 2008.

[4] The Word on the Street, by John W. Martins © 2017.

[5] The Roman Missal, Third Edition, Communion Rite, para. 132.

A WELL-EARNED REST

Mrs. Calvin Coolidge is supposed to have said: “It is good to work hard because it feels so good to rest.” Judy was as happy as I was to get back to volunteering on a Habitat for Humanity job site. No, not just to get me out of the house, but for the fellowship and the hard work for a good cause that has done wonders for my ability to enjoy well-earned “rest” after working hard all day.

The author of Hebrews is continuing his interpretation of Psalms 95, saying that the promise of entering God’s “rest”, denied to the wilderness generation of Israel, remains open to those whom he is addressing. Interpreting the psalm to tell us about a well-earned rest. For God’s chosen people, the place of rest was the promised land, described as a share in God’s eternal sabbath rest from the work of creation. For us, this place of rest means heaven.

Today’s Gospel features four hardworking friends of a paralyzed man. They had to do roof demolition, heavy lifting and lowering, to get their friend in front of Jesus. Their hard work paid off. “When Jesus saw their faith,” (Mk 2:5) he reacted. This Gospel does not mention the paralytic’s faith. In fact, it seems he needed more than just a physical cure: but the forgiveness of his sins. The four friends’ concern brought about a total cure (body and soul) for their companion. The faith of the hardworking friends was all Jesus needed to see.

Now, I’m sure there are a whole lot of people here and in other churches, mosques, and temples working really hard to get themselves into heaven to enjoy God’s rest. Yet, entering into God’s rest may not depend so much on what we do for ourselves but rather on what we do for others and what they do for us when we are open to hear or see.

St. Mother Teresa has said: “At the moment of death we will not be judged according to the number of good deeds we have done or the diplomas we have received in our lifetime. We will be judged according to the love we have put into our work.” 

The strength of the Christian community can supply for our weakness—and vice versa. Maybe, we should be concentrating, not so much on getting ourselves to heaven, as, helping others to get there by our prayer, our example of faith, by our charity, and our willingness to let others lean on us for support. This kind of hard work can lead us to an eternal, satisfying rest.[1]

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[1] Weekday HomilyHelps, Exegesis by Terrance Callan, PhD; Homily Suggestion by Rev Paul J. Schmidt.

TRADING PLACES

In the 1983 movie, “Trading Places” an upper-crust executive Louis Winthorpe III (Dan Aykroyd) and down-and-out hustler Billy Ray Valentine (Eddie Murphy) are the subjects of a bet by successful brokers Mortimer and Randolph Duke. The bet was a social experiment on how, through a moment of misfortune, framing Winthorpe for a crime he didn't commit, would turn him into a violent social outcast and by installing the street-smart Valentine in Winthorpe’s former position, would lift the street-smart Valentine into a polished business socialite.

Jesus stretched out his hand, touched [the leper], and said, “I do will it.  Be made clean.” (Lk 5:13) The Torah taught that a leper was to be excluded from the community’s worship (Lv 22:4). Leprosy made a person ritually impure and so it was for anyone who made physical contact with them. Jesus effectively traded places with this man. He tells the leper to “Go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them.” (Lk 5:14) restoring him to the community and Jesus would be considered ritually impure and outside the community. 

Our passage from the first letter of John speaks eloquently and passionately about God’s love without sentimentalizing or romanticizing it. The writer talks of it in terms of water, spirit, and blood. Because in the end, God’s love is revealed through a great miscarriage of justice resulting in a death, accompanied by terrible physical and psychological pain, that reveals the depth of His love made manifest in Jesus Christ.[1]

Unlike the Duke brother’s social experiment bet, Jesus demands that we reach out to people who were regarded as unworthy participants in the community’s worship: public sinners, nonobservant people, and all the lepers of our time. To find ways to reach out to those on the margins of the community, because this is the mission of the Church, this is what makes visible the incarnation of God’s love. Jesus, who possesses us, is the means by which God touches the lives of people excluded from the community, enabling them to experience the love of God.

Do you believe Jesus is able and willing to reach out his hand to touch you, to heal you, to possess you and you to possess Him? (1 Jn 5:12) How would we know someone possesses the Son?  Mass attendance may be an indication. Maybe an active and visible prayer life is a good indication. Pope Francis offers this suggestion in Frutelli Tutti, “Each day offers us a new opportunity, a new possibility … to take an active part in renewing and supporting our troubled societies. A great opportunity to express our innate sense of fraternity, to be Good Samaritans who bear the pain of other people’s troubles rather than fomenting greater hatred and resentment. We need only to have a pure and simple desire to be a people, a community, constant and tireless in the effort to include, integrate and lift up the fallen.” (FT 77) Let us foster what is good and empathetically place ourselves at the service of God’s love

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[1] Weekday HomilyHelps, Exegesis by Leslie J. Hoppe, OFM.

LOVE THEM

The two questions I most often get from a parent/grandparent concerned for the salvation of their children/grandchildren are: “How can I help them back from the abyss of the many forms of additive behavior?” and “They don’t go to church any more, how can I get them to return?” My short answer is you must love them back to wholeness. Not of over simplify the magnitude of each situation, yet the reality is the child (who now may be an adult) needs to see and know the parent’s love, even in their deepest disagreement and disappointment. The child needs the kind of love that listens without judgement, a love that listens for what is not being said, that seeks to understand their deepest need, and a love that selflessly offers themselves in service to their need.

John Neumann was looking forward to being ordained in 1835 when the bishop decided there would be no more ordinations. As difficult as it might be for us to imagine now, but all over Europe there were so many priests, no bishop wanted any more. John, disappointed, yet certain he was called to be a priest, wrote to the bishops in America. Finally, the bishop in New York agreed to ordain him in 1836.[1]

His many priestly assignments found him on horseback, heading off miles away from his home parish. Staying in the open air, taverns, inns, or parishioners’ barns, bringing Christ to the people at Mass, through teaching and through his gift of language hearing confessions in 7 different languages. He was rugged and didn’t mind “roughing it” in order to help his people come to know Christ. In today’s phrasing we would say, “He was a man’s man!” In Catholic phrasing, we can say, “He was a good shepherd.” John saw his parishioners’ needs and loved them, by serving them.[2]

“When Jesus saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd;” (Mk 6:34) and he challenged His disciples to trust in God to love, and serve God’s children. Telling them to, “Give them some food yourselves.” (Mk 6:37)

This and today’s passage, from the first letter of John, underscores the priority of God’s love as shown in sending His Son “as expiation for our sins.” (1Jn 4:10). In other words, the times we fail to love as He has loves us. God’s love as revealed in Jesus, requires mutual love on the part of the disciples. Suggesting, we do not demonstrate our love of God directly, but only indirectly, through our love for each other. The love of God impels us to reciprocate His love, by our genuine love for one another.[3]

John Neumann was a great shepherd in his life because he knew Jesus loved him, pitied him when necessary, taught him life lessons, and fed him with the Bread of Life. Through the example of St. John Neumann, we are likewise invited, as shepherds of our families, to trust in God; for what Jesus’ coming reveals is God’s love for us; our response to that love, is through our love and service to all our sisters and brothers, who are the beloved children of God.

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[1] Catholic Online, St. John Neumann.

[2] Weekday HomilyHelps. Homily suggestion by Rev. Steven R. Thoma, CR.

[3] Ibid. Exegesis by Leslie J. Hoppe, OFM.

GRANDPARENTS DO MATTER

Call me skeptical, but I couldn’t imagine what all the hype was about having grandchildren. I love my daughter and I assumed I’d also love my grandchildren, but there had to be more to it than that. Why else would normal, rational, level-headed adult turn into absolute fool at the mere mention of their grandchildren? Author Lois Wyse once said, “If I had known how wonderful it would be to have grandchildren, I’d have had them first.”

Now that I have two grandsons of my own, I get it. I’ve never been so thoroughly loved by any human beings than I have by my grandchildren. They fight over who gets to sit on my lap, share a popsicle, or read the next story. They ask to Facetime when they can’t visit, fling themselves into my arms with joyous abandon, and cry when they have to leave me. Who else in my world adores me like this?[1]  Grandparents, and grandparent figures, do matter.

Today’s Gospel highlights two grandparent figures—Simeon and Anna—they are two wisdom figures, almost like Temple lights, yet seemingly out of place and forgotten in the midst of the Temple. These two elders, whose lives are spent in waiting and wondering, remind us that life does not always unfold in the way we may want. But, enter Jesus into the mix, and we experience a new way to develop, age, and love. 

It is Simeon and Anna who, in their grandparent wisdom, as they welcome, speak of, and prophesy to the Holy Family, tell us to look beyond great empires and find God among the lowliest and downtrodden. How similar is the message of Pope Francis, who challenges powerful nations and wants our great Church to be poor for the poor and to look to the fringes for the poor and forgotten children and families. Simeon’s song that Jesus is a “light to reveal God to the nations” reminds us that the revelation of God in Jesus is the source of true light for our world.[2]

As disciples of Jesus, we are challenged to speak and act in ways that place others on the path to salvation. However, while many will say they are in the light, yet their words and behaviors suggest a hate for their brother/sister, thus are, in reality, still in the darkness. (1 Jn 2:9)

John emphasizes to his readers, and us, that as long as we love one another as the Lord loves us, then we can be assured we are walking in this light, instead of stumbling about in the darkness of pride and self-interest. This light opens our eyes to see beyond the realm of this world with all its limitations. With this light we walk as Jesus walked. We then become the wise grandparent figures, the Temple light, spending our days in waiting, loving, and shining our grandparent wisdom on the grandchildren of our time. Grandparents do matter.

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[1] Crosswalk.com, 10 Ways Grandchildren are a Blessing by Lori Hatcher. July 24, 2019.

[2] Sick, and You Cared For Me, © 2014 And the child grew…and the grace of God was on him, by Fr. James J. Greenfield, OSFS.