CATALYST FOR TRUTH

[1] Peace means different things to different people and in different times.  To some, peace means that everything is quiet, there are no disturbances, no conflict, no war; law and order prevail.  These may be signs of real peace, but maybe not.  Our Gospel today Jesus starts, “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already ablaze.”

As kids, we learned you shouldn’t play with fire, it must be respected as it can get out of control in a hurry and has tremendous destructive power for the surrounding woodlands, it’s animals and other campers.  Fire has the ability to consume everything in its path.  Fire can also, when appropriately regulated and tended to can be used to purify and refine.

In the Jerusalem Bible Jesus’ statement is stated slightly different saying, “I have come to bring fire to the earth…” So, he’s not necessarily speaking of a fire that will consume the earth, rather he is speaking of bringing fire to the outdoor earthen oven, commonly called the “earth” that’s found near the house. Once again, Jesus is using the ordinary things of life to bring meaning to his teaching. 

The ideal householder, of Jesus’ time, had a house fronted by a walled courtyard that contained: an earthen oven with a double stove, a millstone for grinding, a dung heap, along with chickens and cattle.  The earthen oven used the dung as fuel.  The dung heap was salted, and salt plates were used as a catalyst to make the dung burn.  Jesus is identifying himself with these salt plates that are the catalyst to getting the earth’s blaze going.  He has come to get things cooking.

For the last few weeks scripture has been addressing the cost of following Jesus Christ, the cost of being his disciple, the catalyst in sharing His Truth.  The cost for Jeremiah is rejection and being lowered into a cistern.  For Jesus, the cost will be his pending persecution and death, the “baptism with which [he] must be baptized.” The catalyst that sets the earth on fire is often divisive; dividing nations, communities, churches, and even family members.

Many come to Church seeking to hear Jesus’ message of peace, to feel good about themselves and their lives, but Jesus’ message of peace also comes with a challenge to be a catalyst for living Gospel Truths in our everyday lives: respect for life, preferential option for the poor, acceptance of the alien among us, care for the widow & orphan and care for all of God’s creation.  Courageously speaking these Truths can cost. It divides Father & Son, Mother & Daughter, Brother & Sister.

This is why Paul is telling the Hebrews, and us, to “persevere in running the race” even when not all can understand or accept the message we need “to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus.” His passing from death to life is the catalyst that ignites the fire that purifies us, separates us from the things, even the people that distract or draws us from His Truth, and destroys our sin.  Jesus is warning us of the consequences of following him and challenging us to choose what kind of fire we will experience, the type of igniter we will be.  You know what happens when you pour gasoline on a flame?  There is an uncontrolled flare up, this is what happens Christians toss bible passages at irritated critics, when Christians preach fire and brimstone condemning who they believe to be sinners.

To be an appropriately regulated flame, that can purify, first, we must acknowledge that within each human being resides the spark of divinity freely given by God.  This ember may be buried within a dung heap of sin, leaving some feeling unworthy to approach the Sacraments. We are called to be the catalyst that ignites and stirs the ember into the flame of faith.  We can only do this if we keep our own flame of faith burning through prayer, study of scripture, reconciliation, and fed by the Body and Blood of our Savior in the Eucharist.  We are about to enter into the purifying fire that prepares us to engage the world with Truth, mercy, and love.

There are a couple of dismissal formulas for the Mass that remind us we are sent in peace to … “announce the Gospel of the Lord” and the other to “Glorify the Lord by our lives” (my favorite) meaning we need to speak, share, and live the Gospel Truths in our everyday lives.  In Pope Francis’ Angelus address on August 14, 2016, he said: “The Apostolic courage which the Holy Spirit ignites in us as a fire helps us overcome walls and barriers … [and explore] … unexplored or uncomfortable paths, offering hope to those we meet.”

Keep the flame of faith alive in yourself, and be the catalyst to bring fire to the earth, by living the gospel, no matter the cost.

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[1] New American Bible, Saint Joseph Edition © 1986.  Scriptures: Jer 38:4-6; 8-10; Heb 12:1-4; Lk 12:49-53.

A GRANDMOTHER’S FAVOR

(Ex 20:1-17; Mt 13:18-23)

I often find it hard to put into words what it’s like becoming a grandparent.  The indescribable feelings of love and the strong desire to explore with and teach our grandchildren all the world and our faith offers.  On this day, the Memorial of Saints Joachim and Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and grandparents to Jesus.  I stumbled onto the St. Anne Novena and decided to pray the novena knowing I would be serving this day.  She goes by many titles: Patroness of the Childless, Help of the Pregnant, Model of Married Women and Mothers, Protectress of Widows, Comfortress of the Sorrowing, Mother of the Poor, Patroness of Laborers, Health of the Sick, and Consoler of the Dying.

I believe what I most got out of the novena was an appreciation for the role of grandparents in the lives of our children and grandchildren, and maybe a desire to amend some of the areas I fell short of as I raised my children.  Sts. Joachim and Anne taught and shared the faith of their fathers and I’m sure today’s first reading was the baseline for their teachings.  Not only their teachings but their actions; how they engaged each other, neighbors, community, the poor and needy.  I shared a picture on facebook of a man and a small boy sitting on a bench watching the water of a creek go by with the caption, “Everything you do has the power to change the world.  You never know who will be touched by your words or inspired by your actions.”

From my grandparent perspective, I see in the Parable of the Sower containing some intentional roles I must fulfill to continue to nurture my children and inspire my grandchildren to an active faith life.  First, we must be a sower of seeds.  By our words and actions, we must profess and live the Gospel value of love.  Love of self, love of neighbor, love of the poor.  Next, we need to be in the rock removal business.  Growing up in NY I saw many a farmer removing the rocks from their fields to avoid damaging their planting equipment.  What rocks do we need to remove from our hearts that get in the way of effectively sowing the seeds of faith?  One more, we must be willing to maintain the fertile field of the impressionable heart and mind of our children and grandchildren, by maintaining an awareness of the thorns and thickets of this world that can and will choke off the growth of a healthy faith life.

Happy Feast Day of St. Anne! This glorious saint was one of the first to be a faithful echo of her Grandson.  Her uncompromising submission to God’s will is a testament of her faith.  I invite you to take a grandmother’s favors to a celestial level. Ask your Heavenly Grandmother on this day to restore to the One, True Church our loved ones who have sailed away from the harbor of Truth.  We ask her to ask her Daughter, Our Lady, and her Grandson, Our Lord, for an abundance of merits and graces on this special day!

THE LAW & MY IDENTITY

(Ex 11:10-12:14; Mt 12:1-8)

It seems I’ve spent my summer being schooled in the law, both religious and secular.  In June I spent two weeks at the School of Canon Law in Washington, DC learning how to apply the Law to the Marriage Tribunal procedures; and this week I was released from 3 days of jury duty, as the court worked the law to identifying 18 jurors for a first-degree murder case.  Now, while I found the application of the law very interesting in both systems, it did leave me wrestling interiorly between respect for the law and my identity.

This week’s Old Testament readings have been leading up to the actual exodus from Egypt.  God intervenes in ways that could not be imagined, and God’s final act of power is the springboard to Israel’s eventual freedom.  If that first Passover and God’s saving power are forgotten, the people will forget their identity.  Thus, it is memorialized in a detailed annual ritual.  The danger is that something done so often and far removed from the original event will lose its meaning in the rubrics of carrying it out.  God has made the Israelites a people all his own.  That identity is crucial to their existence.  They must enter into the memory so that it continues to save them and to form them.

In the Gospel, the Pharisees, quick to condemn the actions of the hungry disciples, they are very concerned about rubrics, rules, and order (“right practice”) on the sabbath.  Jesus must remind them again that the sabbath is for people, that he is greater than the sabbath, that He is Lord of the sabbath.

When we celebrate the memorial of the new covenant in Jesus’ blood, grounded in mercy and service, like Israel, we must not forget our origins, our identity in Christ, as the new people of God.  In the Eucharist, we remember Jesus’ paschal journey and make present our relationship with God in Christ.  The danger is that if our participation is done so often and far removed from the original event, we will lose its meaning in the rubrics and routine of participation.

I was reminded as we spoke the refrain of the Psalm today, “I will take the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord” of the book “Can You Drink This Cup?" by Henri Nouwen. Nouwen asks the question, “How do we drink the cup of salvation?”  He says we have to drink our cup slowly, tasting every mouthful, and by using three concrete disciplines we can connect this ritual with our identity, to find spiritual freedom.  The disciplines are silence, work, and action.  Silence is where we confront our true selves, word to share our faith walk with others, and action where we put into practice the intent of God’s law which is love and mercy for all his adopted children.

When we worship and approach the mystery of the Eucharist, we must enter into the memory of the event, be connected to its root, for our formation and our salvation.  This is our identity with God in Christ.  Let us go live it in our actions of mercy and service