POWER & IMMIGRATION

Voltaire penned, “Faith consists in believing when it is beyond the power of reason to believe.”

Mother Cabrini, whom the Church honors today, lived by faith. She and her sisters intended to be missionaries in China. Yet, Pope Leo XIII told her, “not to go to the East, but to the West.”  She was sent to serve thousands of Italian immigrants in the United States. Mother Cabrini arrived in a New York City filled with chaos and poverty.  When things started off so bad the Archbishop of New York urged the ailing nun to return to Italy.  By faith she stayed and over time her community established 67 institutions throughout the United States (schools, orphanages, and hospitals). In 1909, Frances became a naturalized citizen and was named patroness of immigrants in 1950.

No doubt, American policies on immigration have shifted based on those in power.  Whether Italians, Irish, Germans, Polish, Asians, or those coming by way of the Southern border, the motto of, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free” has often shifted to, “Give me those who we feel can contribute to the greatness of America, all others need not apply and will be stopped.” I wonder if sometimes we forget that America was made great by the efforts of a sickly nun and the backs of laborers who worked mines, mills, factories, and railroads.

Our first reading tells us that Wisdom must be sought, especially by kings and judges. Israelite kings were to uphold justice as a primary duty, but they often brought injustice through abuse of power and trampling on the poor.

We must recognize that the current immigration situation globally is a very complex issue that needs Wisdom. The Wisdom reading warns against “dominion” reduced to domination and control. The author reminds the audience that the human family is blessed in stewardship and kinship with all creation as a subject; the world is not an object for human exploitation.

Truly wise rulers are humble and motivated by service. Such insight from Wisdom remains timeless and speaks to leadership in every age and circumstance. The lowly may be pardoned, and the Lord stands in awe of no one. The Lord “provides for all alike” (Wis 6:6–7). 

Max Lucado, Christian author and San Antonio pastor, writes: “Faith is not the belief that God will do what you want. It is the belief that God will do what is right.” Striving to do what is right keeps us on the path of faith. The one Samaritan who returned to Jesus was not acknowledged for his thanks but for his faith.  Indeed, faith at times takes us to that place beyond which reason fails. That’s what can make being led by the Lord’s hand an attractive adventure.

THE LIVING GOD

We recently returned from a Pilgrimage of Mercy to Poland following the steps of St. Maximillian Kolbe, St. Faustina & St. Pope John Paul II.  One of the sites we visited was St. Maximillian’s monastery. His story struck me deeply on how Fr. Kolbe was arrested by the German Gestapo and taken to prison.  Three months later, he was transferred to Auschwitz and became the victim to severe violence and harassment. Toward the end of his second month in Auschwitz, men were chosen to face death by starvation to warn against escapes.  Fr. Kolbe was not chosen but volunteered to take the place of a man with a family.  It is said during the last days of his life Kolbe led prayers to Our Lady with the prisoners and remained calm. He was the last of the group to remain alive, after two weeks of dehydration and starvation. The guards gave him a lethal injection of carbolic acid. The stories tell that he raised his left arm and calmly awaited death.[1]

Where does one find the courage to lay down their life and receive death so calmly?  Much like the Maccabean brothers and their mother, in the first reading, who chose to be faithful to God rather than transgress God’s laws. They endured the cruel sport of their tormentors offered their lives, not out of lust for suffering or a rejection of the world, but in trust of the living God.[2] Faith in the promise of resurrection.

As we ponder Jesus’ confrontation with the Sadducees, regarding life in the world to come, compels us to ask, “Do we believe in resurrection?”  How one answers this question orients how we live today. It is a question that is not so much answered intellectually as it is in the ordering of our loves. Who or what is our true love?  Do we find our loves fulfilled in the living God or in the promises of this world?

In his response to the Sadducees, Jesus states that God, is a God of the living, speaking in the present tense of the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. All people are alive to God.  So, the Resurrection is not just about a future life.  It’s also about our current life, which will be transformed in life beyond the world as we know it. The Gospel is revealing that the real life is both now and then, and how we live now is how it will be forever.

It’s really very simple, our choice in how we live our life right now is telling God what you want.  If you are living a life of negativity, separation, judgments, and hatred, that’s Hell and it begins right now.  Sadly, some people, I’m afraid, choose hatred and are living in their own Hell.  They’re not going to be surprised when their earthly journey ends. 

Yet, if we choose love, then we’re choosing the eternal element that exists forever.  Choosing to love and serve this world and our neighbor, we’re already having a foretaste of Heaven.  Maybe it doesn’t always feel like it but the fact remains, it’s a foretaste of the promise.  Jesus wasn’t putting down marriage in this reading.  He’s simply saying marriage is a school of eternity because at least we’re learning how to be united to one other person.  The reason he says Heaven will not be about marriage is because Heaven is a universal connection, not just with one other person, but with everything and everybody.[3]

God journeys with us and will help us negotiate life here and hereafter, if we allow God to give us direction and hope.  Everything we have loved will be with you in eternity.  Many of us will be happy to know this includes our dog or our cat.

As Catholics, we express our trust in God during the Catholic funeral rites when we profess our belief that at death “life is changed, not taken away.”  This Eucharist is an expression of our belief in the good news that Christ is risen and has won for us a life stronger than death.

There was a picture in the museum at the monastery that captured my contemplative gaze.  It was a picture of the gray concentration camp with Fr. Kolbe, in his stripes, being taken up heavenward and behind him a great multitude of others, literally rising from the ashes.  We just received a card this week in our office from a widow who lost her husband unexpectedly.  She wrote, “We are all blessed by David, his love for…”  Do you hear and see how she communicates about her husband, “we are blessed” she speaks as someone who believe her husband is alive with Christ and interceding for us.  This is a person who believes all we profess in the Creed.

“I believe in God” a living God, I believe in Jesus Christ, the first fruits of the life to come, I believe in the Holy Spirit, who is active in our daily lives, and the Communion of Saints including all those we’ve loved and have proceeded us.

“I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.”

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[1] St. Maximilian Kolbe, Catholic Online / Saints & Angels, https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=370

[2] The Word on the Street, by John W. Martens, “The Living God” © 2018

[3] Hungry, and You Fed Me © 2012 Edited by Jim Knipper. “The LORD is not God of the dead, but of the living.” Fr. Richard Rohr, O.F.M.

SECRET RECIPES

I had a flashback this morning when I drove onto the parish campus.  All the preparations for the annual Fall Festival was going on, it reminded me of the years I worked for Habitat for Humanity of South Brevard.  Habitat’s largest annual fundraiser the Strawberry Festival.  We had everything strawberry, with the main attraction was the strawberry shortcakes.  Planning for the festival was a challenge early on because all the individual food booths had “secret recipes”.  Recipes that were very reluctant to share.  It took me three years to develop the relationships to gain the volunteers trust so they were willing to share their secret recipes so we could better plan for future events.  Pondering today’s Gospel made me think about the benefits of sharing and the consequences of not sharing.

The Gospel starts out with a rich man (aka God) is preparing to fire his steward for what appears to be a just cause.  By the end of Jesus’ parable, however, the steward is actually commended for “acting prudently.”  In fact, the steward redeems himself by giving away goods that are rightfully his owner’s.  That makes no sense!  Giving away more of your owner’s stuff is all the more reason to be fired!

Millard Fuller, founding president of Habitat for Humanity International, in his book, “Love in the Mortar Joints” speaks of the Economy of Jesus.  He refers to the scripture that basically states, to whom much is given, much is expected.

In God’s gift economy, the steward’s prudent action makes perfect sense.  God is the eternal giver: the perpetual, indiscriminate sharer. “He makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous” (Mt 5:45).  Giving and outpouring reflect the fundamental nature of God.  From this perspective, what is given has been given in order to be given.  In other words, everything we receive is a gift from God that is meant to be regifted to others.  That is why the dishonest steward is commended for acting prudently (wisely).  He is actually acting in a godly manner by forgiving debt and extending generosity to others.

To often in business and church have I experienced people hanging onto “secret recipes” or knowledge for fear of losing their identity that is rooting in the secret or the perceived loss of power/control if they shared their knowledge/gifts.

We would do well to emulate the redeeming qualities of the steward by giving away God’s stuff.  We were never meant to be share-holders; we are meant to be share-givers. God challenges us every day to outdo His divine generosity, compassion, forgiveness, and mercy.  Be a good steward and let’s step up to God’s challenge.