DON'T SETTLE FOR SECOND BEST

If you have a creek that flows through your property that you absolutely appreciate and want to clean the water that runs through it, it would be wise to first clean the head waters that are not on your property.  If the water that comes in is clean, that means the water on your property will be cleaner.  If you care for that which is first, second things are cared for better.  

It’s a rough analogy, but that is kind of what Jesus was talking about when He said, very bluntly, “He who loves (mother, father, son, daughter . . . ) more than Me is not worthy of Me.”  (Matthew 10:37).  Very often someone will say that they find it difficult to love God more than a spouse or child as if by loving God first, their loved one is loved less.  This is not the case.  In fact, it is the opposite.

God is not a source of love.  God IS love itself.  He is the river and source of all love that flows into your life.  Although we say that there are different kinds of love, there is not.  There is only one love and it comes from God.  There are different appropriate expressions of it, but there is only one love.  If we love God first, second persons are not loved less but are loved more in keeping with their nature - they are loved better and more fully.

Placing all of one’s hopes of being loved, of being cared for, of being protected and appreciated on a human person is too much for any human to bear.  It is hanging a hat on a hook that cannot support the weight.  That weight is to be borne by God.  Placing it entirely on another human person leaves us extremely vulnerable to disappointment or devastation.  

Building first on the love of God takes an extreme pressure off of a relationship and leaves both far less vulnerable.  It helps give them the security of being loved while not taxing each other for a sense of self worth and dignity.  That all flows from upstream, purifying the waters of love and making it far easier to tend to.  

Our faith is not just about following a bunch of rules, it is about discovering how we thrive best.  As creatures we have certain conditions in which we flourish.  Loving God first is one of those ways in which human relationships grow to their potential.  Cutting God out of that process or making it secondary is placing true love on a back burner in favor of something less worthy and effective.  Unknowing, perhaps, they want less than God.

EASY COME EASY GO?

Do you every wish/pray that a particular temptation will be taken away so that you might be free to be a better Christian/spouse/parent/friend/sibling/child . . .

You know . . . if it wasn’t for this strong desire (maybe addiction) you could be such a better man or woman for others.  It is awful!  The temptation seems to sit there at the back of your mind, waiting for a moment of quiet or the right opportunity to flare up and demand your attention.  Your love would be purer if only God would grant this one wish - perhaps it is the wish that Paul had - take this thorn from my side.

Now maybe it would be a good thing for it to go away.  Maybe you would be happier.  Maybe life would be easier.  But it does not necessarily mean that you will love better or truer.

 

Think of it this way:  If the person you choose to love lives in the same, safe, middle class home with you and each morning you can wake up and kiss that person on the nose and say, “I love you.”  That is nice and loving and beautiful and doesn’t cost you much.  But if that person lives in the next city over of a war torn country and in order to see that person, you had to sneak out of your nice, safe, secure, comfortable house at night where you could be perfectly comfortable and overcome fear, trepidation, and a strong instinct toward self-preservation.  Then finding that person and kissing that person on the nose and saying, “I love you,” seems a bit more meaningful..

And so it is with these terrible desires.  It is one thing to love someone when it is easy.  It is another to defy these tuggings at your thoughts, the shouting in your ears and choose the good - to love another as best you can.  They may not always understand the battleground through which you pass in order to prove your love, how easy it would be to be sucked in to the hole of self interest but that you fight your way through to your love’s door in sometimes heroic battles because that person is worth it, deserves love, and is far more valuable than any earthly desire.  That too can seem more meaningful.

For it is one thing never to be tempted and never sin for love of God, it is quite another to be bitterly tempted and choose not to sin for love of God.

WELL, THAT WAS WIERD

It wasn’t a nightmare, but just the same it was a disturbing dream last night and its been difficult to shake.

The place of the dream was my sister’s house, the cast of characters was her cat and me.  I was working on some kind of project when it the thought came that what might solve the problem is a cat’s paw.  So I reached over to the cat, and remember, this was a dream, snapped off it’s front, right paw.  Being a dream, there was no blood, no mess, the cat didn’t even seem to mind that much.

Almost immediately it became clear that the problem with the project was not going to be solved by a cat’s paw.  It seemed so obvious that it would before hand but having done the deed, the futility of it became apparent.

Then the reality of what I had done became clear.  My sister would be home soon and she would see the cat.  There was no way to re-attach the leg even in such a wacky dream.  The cat seemed to be doing well on it’s three remaining legs and I knew that many four legged animals had lived happy lives on just three legs.  But none of the would help when my sister came home.  This was a gross act of selfishness and her disappointment was already palpable in my imagination.

The cat problem couldn’t be solved or covered up.  There was only one course of action.  I would have to confess to my selfishness.  But the thought of doing so was unbearable - that I had done something so horrible to my sister who does so much for me.  I was ashamed and desperate to find a way out but it seemed so hopeless.  I would have to face her.

Then the happy thought came that I could simply wake up.  What a relief!  And then I did much to my great joy.

It bothered me for some time after: Why would I have this dream in the first place?  The thing that clicked in my mind is that this is what facing our sins before God is like.  If we sinned and then were to see God as He is, He Who is Love, Life, Compassion, Mercy and Joy, the weight of our own sins would crush us.  They would be too much to bear.  Thanks be to God that He gave us the wonderful sacrament of confession to rid us of these terrible weights.  When we realize the gravity of our sins, we have a way to wake from them - shake them off with the morning dreams, and start anew.  

THE TEST THAT TAKES YEARS TO COMPLETE

Who do you call father?

For many people it is not that easy of a question.  Simply donating part of himself in order for you to be created does not necessarily earn a man the title father other than on some governmental and ecclesial forms.  The coach that treats you well and teaches you how to be a man or woman might earn the title over the guy who gave five minutes of his time to see that you were conceived and then never had much of a positive role in your life again.

Calling someone your father or “father figure” implies a good and healthy relationship.  It means that there is a certain amount of trust and security between the two in order for one to call the other father.  It means that the title has been earned.

In today’s Gospel we are given permission to call God, “Our Father.”  We are called His children, brothers and sisters in Christ.  The ramifications are mind blowing.  In all of mythology, what other god asked to be called father?  In fact, most Muslims would find referring to God as Our Father as bordering if not downright blasphemy.  Yet we are instructed to do this by Jesus.

Jesus’ entire mission was to restore the rifts between each of us and between us and our Heavenly Father.  Original sin began the rift and His mission was to restore the relationship.  At the Mass, the highpoint of this unity with God is when we are present for the offering of Christ when the priest intones, “Through Him, with Him, in Him . . . all glory and honor is Yours Almighty Father for ever and ever” and the congregations cries out, “Amen!  Amen! Amen!”  At this point, assuming that we are in a state of grace, we are as closely untied to Our Father as we can be in this life.  And what are the first words out of our mouth after this moment?  We dare to say, “Our Father, Who are in heaven, hollowed be Thy Name . . .”

This Sunday is Father’s Day.  When you pray that prayer this Sunday at Mass realize the full import of that moment and that word and say it with awe, reverence, humility, gratitude, and love.

WHEN LESS IS MORE

In the most recent Sherlock Holmes movie ("Mr. Holmes" starring Ian McKellen) we see Holmes retired in a remote country home with a servant. Holmes is distant and the housekeeper somewhat frustrated.  Clearly she has more skin in the game and therefore Holmes, as her employer and almost sole source of humanity (poor girl!) is in control of the relationship.

Later, the tables are turned, and when the housekeeper no longer needs Holmes, having had enough of him and finding a new job, it is Holmes who now has much more skin in the game and she becomes the more powerful of the two in the relationship.

In any given relationship (family, friends, lovers) one person is always more in love than the other.  And it is the one less in love who is in control.  Because it takes two to Tango, it is the one who loves less who's veto or disinterest determines just how far any relationship will go.  The satiated one forces the other to diet.  

There are two important things with this (maybe more, but we'll stick with two today.  I want to get my breakfast.)  One is, if you find a person who will continue to love you when that person has had enough, that is the person to marry.  That is true love.  To be chosen even when the other person no longer receives any further consolation.  Wow.  That is love in it's rarest form.

The other is to remember that God is crazy about you though He receives no consolation from it.  God is complete.  He IS love.  Yet, He made you.  He redeemed you.  He was made humble for you and was born into this world.  He lived for you, taught for you, and performed miracles so that you would believe.  He was arrested for you, tortured for you, and died for you.  He came back for you.  He makes available to you His dignity, His power, and His inheritance.  It would seem there was nothing left to give and then He made His Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity available to you as the Eucharist.  I can't even imagine anything left that He could give except for His infinite patience and mercy. 

And as those who love less than our Lover, we are in control.  He will not force anything on us (another sign of His love and respect.)  The Bridegroom will love the Bride as fully as she we allow.  How deeply it goes is entirely up to us.  And no matter how deeply you allow Him to love you, you will never probe the depths.  

WIN FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE

St. John of the Cross said that when God the Father didn’t find love in the human race, He put love in the human race, in the Incarnation of His Son.  Then He found love, in His Son Jesus and on all who had become a part of His Body.  But what if the story had been different?  What if from the Cross Jesus had muttered obscenities, cursed those who crucified Him, (May my Father wreak vengeance on you and on all of your decedents!) and spit at the soldier that offered the wine on the reed?  Would we be inspired?  Would the world have changed?  We could then readily write off this Jesus as just another one of us who in the end died no better and gave no greater way to live and die.  Rather than being invited into the mystery, we would have walked away from the Cross disappointed.

 

But that is not what happened.  He readily stretched out His arms.  He forgave His persecutors and the Good Thief.  He took care of His Mother and St. John as He suffered.  Despite pain, humiliation, and ridicule, despite this was the very spot where there was the least amount of love in the world, He become the Love in the situation and now we see this moment as the greatest moment of Love in history and billions have been attracted to walk in His steps ever since.

 

We are to follow in those steps.  Where we don’t see love, we are to be love.  If we are not love, then we will inspire no one and our invitation to be like us and follow Christ will fall on deaf ears.

 

On Monday there were a couple of interesting exchanges in the comment section of Monday Diary.  Stephen said some silly things as he is want to do.  Two anonymous writers took great offense adding credence to the adage that, “More offence is brought into the world by people taking it than by it actually being offered.”  Was what Stephen wrote the best thing to post in these religiously tense times?  Maybe not.  But how much more progress could be made by the ones who were offended by those comments to love and invite all to something higher?  The placing of labels and naming of intentions heightens the tension and the stakes.  I wouldn’t blame Stephen for not wanting to embrace those who wrote about him, the Anonymi did not win as many people to their good cause as they could, and anyone else reading was forced to take sides; are you for Stephen or the Anonymi?  (I made that term up.)  There was no neutral, higher ground to which we were all invited.

 

So return to St. John of the Cross.  Where you fail to see love, don’t add to the dysfunction, be the love that you see missing.  Even if you don’t win your adversary over, you may win over others who otherwise might see the cure as worse than the sickness.

 

Thanks for writing comments!  I hope that you continue to do so.

FRIDAY POTPOURRI: JUMP IN, THE WATER'S FINE

On a retreat once a man was speaking about swimming in a pool with his very young son.  The son stood at the edge of the pool where the water would be over his head as it came up to chest level of his father who stood in the pool.  The man coaxed his son to jump in.  “Don’t worry.  I will catch you.”  It took quite a bit of encouragement because the boy’s fear needed to be overcome by his faith, trust, and hope in his father.  Finally he takes the risk and jumps in.  His father does catch him and after the initial shot of fear, he laughed, held securely and safely in his father’s arms.

 

In large part, this is what this whole next chapter is about in Pope Francis’ “Lumen Fidei.”  If you remember, last week we diagnosed a problem: our society needs the light of faith once again.  In this section the pope is reminding us through evidence of past events why our Father is one in whom to place our trust and our hope.  Remember Abraham and how God guided and cared for the people of Israel through all the ages.  The coming of Jesus shows proof of God’s love for us when Jesus even dies for our sake.  To see His mangled body might cause one to lose one’s faith, “How could God let this happen?”  But it is in precisely that He was willing to submit to the cruelty of man in order to give to men the means of salvation that we have our faith strengthened.  But it is in His resurrection that we understand that this is a reliable love.

 

But it is not enough simply to be saved by His great action.  It is also about relationship.  If good business is about location, location, location, salvation is about relationship, relationship, relationship.  We are called to be in relationship with God and only in this way do we gain from Him a way of seeing the world, understanding it, and living in it.  Through this we are transformed.

 

This faith is necessarily lived out in the Church, in the faith community.  It is never “God and me.”  It is the Church and God.  Faith, since it saves all, is not a private matter but one to be lived within the Body of Christ and the Church is the Body of Christ.

 

Francis wrote much more and much more beautifully in this chapter, but this gives you a taste.  We have only to look to see that God has always been with us and guided us.  Today, we take the jump of faith into the pool of Christ’s body which is expressed in this world by the Church.

DO NOTHING WITH ME

One way to know if you are in love is if you waste time with the person.  Nothing is accomplished, no project finished, no true destination reached, maybe even no meaningful information exchanged, but just the same there is joy for having spent time together.  Lovers and friends can sit in a field and watch the clouds pass or the sun go down and just enjoy being in each other’s company.

 

It may just be a personal hang up, but this idea is why I become annoyed (very much so) when I am with someone and they spend their time checking and sending texts with invisible people whether or not we are in the depths of a meaningful conversation.  A ten hour car ride is one thing, the period of time while awaiting your turn at a board game is another.  Perhaps I am greedy, but I am here to spend time with you, not with a board game, and I want you to waste it with me.  If I am not enough, then let’s quit the pretense if the game and either do something else, or I’ll grab my book while you decide to engage others.  I do not want to be “fit in.”

 

The idea of wasting time is also a great definition of the prayer of contemplation or adoration; “Wasting time with God” Who deigns to waste time with us.  Our entire relationship with God is not one of attacking and subduing the world, or carrying on a conversation while we are also power walking or driving, but having, in this world’s eyes, completely unproductive time just to sit and be with the other.  “Be still, and know that I am God,” is so beautiful when we think that we have a God Who will be still and know us. 

TOO GREEN GRAVES

If you want to be able to lift heavy objects the wrong way to prepare for it is to wait until you know that you will need the muscle (such as helping a pal move) and then, a day in advance, start working out hard in order to have the muscle to lift couches and refrigerators – silly – right?

I used to play the trumpet for the University of Akron. I haven’t picked up my trumpet in any serious way since the seminary where we had a brass quartet. The alumni game is coming up and I was toying with the idea of joining a few parishioners and marching. If I were at all serious about this I would have picked up the trumpet about three months ago to build up my lips. But I didn’t – and it would be ridiculous to think that I could play for longer than a few measures and certainly below D before my lips said, “Well, that was enough for the next 20 years.”

Faith is not much different. Faith is not a thing, it is a relationship. It is a relationship like any relationship save this one is with a Divine Person. So we work on faith – on that relationship - when we don’t necessarily need it so that when we do need it – it is there.

Today we will have a funeral service for an infant here at Saint Sebastian. It is a day for faith. It will be difficult, of course, for everyone. But, for those with strong faith, that sadness is tempered by hope and an understanding that while we do not necessarily understand, God can take even the most stupid and seemingly pointless things that happen in this life and fill them with meaning and light. We may not see it now – or ever in this life. But having faith – if you have this relationship – you have come to trust the Father you have come to know, to trust, to love, and Whose love has enveloped you.

DOGGONE IT!

“The poor dog, in life the firmest friend, The first to welcome, foremost to defend, Whose honest heart is still the master's own, Who labours, fights, lives, breathes for him alone, Unhonour'd falls, unnoticed all his worth, Denied in heaven the soul he held on earth, While man, vain insect hopes to be forgiven, And claims himself a sole exclusive heaven.” Lord Byron It is an amazing thing that the worst of men can have the most loyal, loving, and beautiful dogs as companions. I think of my dog (spoken of too often here I know) and his great devotion to me. He sits now looking at me just waiting. Later I shall breakfast with a friend and as I walk out the door his ears will droop as if losing his best friend. I will return and it will be as the Prodigal Son, greeted with a joy and enthusiasm all out of proportion.

Sometimes I think of evil men and their dogs. They too are greeted with great enthusiasm, they too are protected to the death, they too are afforded all the signs and symbols of love by their canine companions. Even if they abuse their charges, the dog will come back cringing and lick the hand that had earlier landed blows. I’ve often thought if life were more artistic these men would have mangy dogs with temperaments as bad as their own. You would be able to look at their dog and say, “That is a bad man. Just look at his dog!”

But such is not the case. Oh sure, there are people who form their dog to do aggressive things, but they do it because that is their training. That too is a fierce loyalty. But good men’s dogs and bad men’s dogs are devoted to their owners in a way that is all out of proportion to our ability to love. They wait hoping to be afforded a moment of attention and seem even grateful to be able to return that simple sign with an abundance of attention in return.

It seems ridiculous. Who deserves that kind of fidelity? I dare say not even the good man. But there it is. And we can take advantage of it or no. Even if forgotten and neglected, one need only turn and it is there waiting to pounce on you once again.

As wonderful as it may seem, this is only a pale symbol of the Love God has for you. The meanest, roughest, most sinful soul in the world has not lost the love of God. He waits, straining to pour out His love and forgiveness on the one who neglects His call to a deeper relationship. God never, ever stops loving us, even the most sinful and hateful of us. It is rather that we turn away from Him. We close the door. Hence the God of the most saintly one among us and the most horrid among us has a Beautiful, True, Holy, Loyal God Whose ardent desire is to overwhelm us with His love.

It seems ridiculous. Who deserves that kind of fidelity? I dare say not even the good man. But there is. And we can take advantage of it or no. Even if forgotten and neglected, one need only turn and it is there waiting to be poured out over your head and into your lap once again.

MONDAY DIARY: I FEEL POORLY. REALLY. I DO. YOU SHOULD SEE THE LOOK OF SINCERITY ON MY FACE.

It is winter in Akron.

It is Arcticly cold in Akron.

There's a ton of snow in Akron.

I, however, am not in Akron.

Wait a moment, let me get the water out of my ear. Ah. There.

Every once in a while it is good for the pastor to take the difficult jobs to give the parochial vicar an example of dedication, hard work, and that can-do attitude that makes for a good priest. So I left the comfort of home - and the love of my dog - to go say Mass for a bunch of our parishioners who find themselves eslewhere this time of year.

Not having a lot of time to come up with a post today (I must needs get ready to depart and return to the delights and peacefulness of hearth and home) here is the homily that I gave this weekend.

God bless.


There are a lot of erroneous ideas about what prayer is. Some use words like obligation, a chore – a Godly one but a chore none-the-less, or work. People “get it in,” or “over with,” or “out of the way.” But this idea of prayer will work against the purpose of prayer. It is in the end about building a relationship.

Father Benedict Groeschel, in trying to get this idea across, asks the question, “does your prayer life lead you to more fully call God “Abba?” Abba is a term that is as intimate as daddy but as respectful and full of awe as the more formal father. It is this relationship to which prayer is calling us – it was Jesus’ mission to us.

Both Isaiah and Peter today got a deep taste of that relationship. Isaiah comes before the throne of God and Peter realizes the awesomeness of the God man before him. Their reaction is of shame and embarrassment. “I am a man of unclean lips living amongst a people of unclean lips,” cries Isaiah, while Peter declares, “Leave me Lord for I am a sinful man.”

It sounds a bit like Genesis and Adam and Eve. At first they walked in the garden in the presence of God and after they have disobeyed him they hide in the bushes for shame of being seen by Him because of their sin.

So what exactly is sin? Many people have a vague idea that it means something is wrong. It is like the time I went into a teacher’s room and used the world “Yeah” instead of “Yes.” The teacher had been training the kids not to use that word and they got in trouble if they did. So here I was, the priest, using the word and their eyes got big and they all said, “Awwwwwwwwwwww.” I knew I had done something wrong but what or why was lost on me but I knew something was amiss. So I then learned the rule and played along with the rules of the room. That is not what sin is.

Sin is simply this: It is anything that brings harm into the world. It is something that hurts you personally physically (like overeating) or mentally (like cyberporn) or spiritually (like ignorance of Scripture.) It is something that one does that brings harm to others spiritually, mentally, or physically. Or it is something that harms the relationship with the One that we are to call Abba/Father.

And the thing that this Father wants for us more than anything else is health – virtue, peace, life, “that my joy might be in you and your joy complete.”

Notice in neither of the readings today is God angry. In Isaiah God did not say anything like, “How dare you!” nor with Peter was there any condemnation of his sinfulness by Christ. Rather, I think they saw the great love of God – pure – generous – powerful – complete – extravagant – and like Adam and Eve in the garden they are suddenly aware of their illness – of their lack of love – of their sin.

A relationship with God through prayer is supposed to help to bring a remedy to this – to help us grow in understanding of God and of His love and mercy – to lead us into that relationship that helps us call Him Abba/Father, to begin to weed out that sin which is harmful to us and to others, so that when we stand before Him we are able to understand, withstand, and accept His love. If your prayer is leading you to this then you are praying well.

REHABILITATING THE MOSQUITO

Oh, for some reason I cannot upload pictures today. Sorry.

Mitchner once wrote, “[God] added the mosquito to remind man that no paradise comes free – there are always mosquitoes.”

Thus us this poor little creature much maligned. They are often considered the scourge of the earth save for those birds and frogs that take much delight on dining on them. If there is no God, I would much agree with this lowly assessment of this creature. Except that they have a solid place in the food chain they could be considered horrid little freaks of nature whose sole purpose is to ruin late night romantic starings at the moon and hiking trips. Why should they be? So many more pleasant things could and do exist. Why should uncaring, unthinking nature evolve them? As Michner wrote they exist only to destroy any Shangri-La that we cannot soak in deet. They are a mistake.

But if there is a God, what a wonderful thing a mosquito is! They are proof that we have a generous, loving, and intelligent God who loves life lavishly! Imagine if you were God for a moment – loving life and creation and trying to create as much life in the world as you possibly could. Might you not develop a creature that can live on some of the life of another creature that already had life in abundance? The mosquito lives off of that life we have that fills our cup and runs over into our laps.

But it could not be allowed to run unchecked. What if we felt nothing of the mosquito’s lust for our sanguine elixir? We might be sucked dry and wake up in the bossom of Abraham instead of our sleeping bag. Or worse yet! What if it felt good? There would be mosquito bars! Drivers would have to take a blood level test before driving for fear that they would pass out while driving from lack of blood in their veins! We would have cultivated larger and more hungry super mosquitoes and sell them to miscreants on the streets who would have back alley mosquito parlors where flashy men with more money than taste would send customers into a room with the vampirish beasts occasionally having a body to dispose of in the river from a john that had a little too much of his life taken from him.

But that is not the case! The little beasts sting and leave welts. And they are not cute and furry like a puppy so that we coax them to come around and train them to bring our slippers. Rather, like Fagan they pass through our town trying to steal a little hear and a little there until SWAT! their little marauding escapades are over.

Thus are we kept in balance – one creature benefitting from our wealth of life and they kept in check by the swatter and anti-bug spray. Now, I am not saying that knowing this we should like them any more than we do – or that we should let them have what they want – WWJD? I believe Jesus would swat mosquitoes – but we can come to appreciate them a little more as signs of God’s great love of life. And if paradise does have mosquitoes – fortunately we will have glorified bodies – and so will they and the as the lamb lies by the lion, the mosquito will by the human.

TRUTH? WHAT IS TRUTH?

“I just calls ‘em as I sees ‘em.”

This is a phrase used by persons who report facts or strong opinions but without concern about the effects of the statements. On the one hand you know exactly where you stand with such a person. There is no doubt. If you want to know what they think of the color you painted your living room they will be most forthcoming. “That is the ugliest color I could imagine in here. Hey, I just calls ‘em as I sees ‘em and if you can’t handle it you shouldn’t ask.”

On the other hand can a statement be considered truth without the component of love? Are not truth and love two faces of the same coin? You can try to love someone without truth, but is it then love? It may look, feel, and act like love but in the end it is deceit and therefore not love. You might also speak something factual but if it is not done in love and therefore not with a heart toward bringing another more deeply into truth (perhaps even using it as a battering ram) is it not a bit deceptive and therefore not truth?

For example, a man was walking down a bus aisle on the Metro telling people that unless they were saved they were going to hell. Offended at his assumptions people began to tune him out. Suppose that for a moment that he was correct and that those not saved in the manner in which he believed they should be saved were going to hell. Yet he spoke of it in such a way that nobody wanted to listen to him. Could he be truly said to be speaking in the fullness of truth?

This is not to say that at times subjects must be spoken directly and bluntly. But behind the bluntness must be the intention of love and concern for the other person, this being seen as the best way to reach them. That is when fact becomes truth.

NO PAIN - NO GAIN - RO GAIN

So Father B and I were traveling about and needed to take a room somewhere in Pennsylvania. I went to work out in the hotel exercise room and when I returned B was watching a televangelist. I think a lot of these people preaching for such a long period of time week after week. It must be difficult. But five minutes into it we found ourselves saying, “Please say something of substance – please say something of substance.” It was like a long drawn out joke in which a person gives too many details before the punch line. Perhaps an hour sermon (for some – others are really quite good) say as much of substance as priests (are supposed to) do in an eight minute homily.

This particular man (and I would like to emphasize that I am talking about one preacher who was unassociated with a denomination) was going through great lengths to tell people that God wants them to be successful, rich, and happy. His prayer was that this is exactly where his congregation would find itself so that others would look at them and now that God is blessing them because of their wealth and happiness show that they must have truth.

Apparently the crucifixion was lost on him.

He is far from alone in the idea that if we are good enough, if we pray enough, if we are well practicing Christians then God will give us the high life. I would want to believe this! If I were a bit more naive and thought this message possible, I would gobble it up. Why not? What would I have to lose? Why not go with the guy who promises wealth and happiness from God?

Because it is a false promise.

There are not many non-Catholic Christians out there they see the merit in redemptive suffering. It is precisely when we suffer and remain true to God that we are refined like silver in the furnace, becoming more pure, more holy, even closer to God. Love of another human being is exactly the same. A couple that never has difficulties never truly grows in love for neither must sacrifice for the other. It is exactly when sacrifice is necessary, practiced and given freely that love, which is at first tried, becomes a deeper, more mature love.

Why do we purposefully practice acts of denial, charity, and penance in this season? Exactly to train ourselves to love and focus on God. This helps us prepare for those times when trial will hit us involuntarily. This will enable to trust God to see us through difficult times – to love Him just the same and not blame Him for our woes. It is redemptive because love will be tested and found then stronger than ever.

If you need proof, contemplate His Son’s Cross, or Job, or the Virgin Mary, or the violent life and death of those closest to Jesus such as the apostles, of Saint Paul, of the Martyrs, of the missionaries, of those who stand alone in their faith, of those persecuted for believing in Him – there is a reason they are now called saints – it was not because God made them wealthy and happy in an earthly sense – but wealthy in love and full of joy even when there were tears and trials.

PLAYING HARD TO GET

When I was much younger, had much more hair but a lot less self-esteem, God was kind enough to send me a friend named Jim. Jim was somewhat popular and talented, kind of a wild hair that marched to the beat of his own drum. I was well liked but a bit of nerd I suppose and Jim was exactly the type of friend that I needed at the time.

Jim was constantly popping up wanting to go out and carouse. I worked for a movie theater and would occasionally have to lock up afterwards, the last person walking out into a dark and deserted street. Often Jim would be there sitting on top of his Volkswagen Beetle smoking a cigarette and informing that we were going to hang out.

If I were working too hard, he would come a drag me away from my projects forcing me to take a break. I’d fight it but was always grateful that he made me get away.

It was quite a thing having a friend like that, especially at that point in my life. Jim was not just a friend but also a friend who pursued my company. It seemed wholly undeserved but I had it anyway and that meant an incredible amount to a young man without an over abundance of self-esteem.

Can you imagine what I mean? I wish a friend like that for you. But even more importantly, I hope you realize that you have God that pursues you like that. A God! The God! When we wandered from Him He did not let us go our way but came down to earth to pursue us and united us again with our Father. He spared nothing. Thought you even worth dying for. The only challenge is, we need to realize it.

Sometimes it is hard. His life, death, and resurrection as a gift is believable for humanity in general, but for me personally? Yes. “Before you were knit together in your mother’s womb, I knew you.” His birth was for you. His life was for you. His teaching was for you. His death was for you. His ascension was the pattern He established for you. And since that was not enough, He touches you personally in the sacraments. He makes Himself vulnerable to you by making bread His Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity for you, and not just as something to see and worship from afar, but to take on your tongue or into your hands and be consumed by you. Is there anything else He could possibly give? Everything He can give He gives to you. Waits patiently for you day after day, year after year if need be. Always ready to welcome home a prodigal son with ring and robe and calf.

Our part is to become aware of His love and allowing Him to love us. He loves you no less than He loves the one who seems His most beloved on earth. The only difference is that some have the gift of acknowledging and accepting that love, cooperating with that love, and allowing that love into their lives.

Risk it. Risk being so radically loved. Risk knowing it. Risk knowing that even though you have not earned it, He gives it to you anyway. That’s just the way it is.

A PROPOSAL FOR A CATHOLIC MISSION STATEMENT - PART 3 OF 4

This is a continuation of the series on the four issues of concern for Catholics as denoted by the USCCB and the Bishop of the Diocese of Cleveland. For more information see Monday’s post.

3) RESPECT OF LIFE

Looking out from the window of his room at the cathedral in the heart of the city the bishop reports seeing the poor trying to find a warm place to sleep on the steam grates that dot the pavement. Seeing such people as persons of dignity deserving our respect and concern is at the core of respecting life.

Respect and dignity are not afforded to persons because they can afford it, or that they earn it, or that they can directly add to the conversation, or fight for it, or even care to live it. It comes from only one source and that is that each person is made in the image and likeness of God.

It is said that the Church can only be truly renewed when the people of God first renew themselves. The same can be said here. It is only when we realize our own true dignity and worth that we can come to understand another’s.

We were lost in sin. In fact, it is still impossible for us to live without sin for any extended period of time. God’s forgiveness, love, and salvation are pure gift and the strongest, richest man in the world is just as (if not more so) in need of God’s mercy than the poorest and most defenseless. There is only one thing going to heaven with you, your choice to love God with all your heart, all your mind, and all your soul and your neighbor as yourself. We will stand naked before the judgment seat of God with only this in our hands.

Yet, even though we rejected Him, He chooses us. And He not only chooses us, but He pursues us despite our wanderings. That is what drives up the worth of earthy goods: demand! And that is exactly what gives us worth in heaven: the Almighty’s high demand, desire, and untiring pursuit of us! It’s like Christmas time in the 1980’s and we are a bunch of Cabbage Patch Kids and God is a Yuletide shopper. He’ll take whomever He can get at any price and give us good homes.

And God is so great and so encompassing that for Him to love someone else as overly abundantly as He does you does not in anyway lessen His love. He is too great and too greedy for us. He is greedy for the guy sleeping on the street, for the woman addicted to crack and in jail, to those other oriented, to those in the womb, to our enemies, to those who can no longer directly add to our benefit. And whereas some may need to be deprived of certain liberties for their safety and/or the safety of those around them, they are of no less dignity than anyone else.
Every time anyone is thought “less than” and are treated as such, all of humanity suffers in some way. Every time there is a sanctioned killing everyone moves one place closer to being included in that number. The further away you are from the cutoff line, the harder that is to see. The closer you are, the scarier that it is.

Of course, the exact opposite is true also. Every time we uphold the dignity of another human being we all benefit from that lifting up. Every time we see a spark of the divine in another and attempt to build up that spark, the world becomes a safer, holier place. That is what the call to witnessing to the quality of life is all about. To even love in the teeth of hatred, that’s heroics, that’s going a lot further to fixing society’s problems than, except in the most extreme cases, eliminating enemies or those who inconvenience us from the face of the earth.

We as Catholics are called to find some way to engender a general respect and sense of dignity for others. It will not always be met with gratitude or cooperation, but that is not why we do it. We do it because we are undeserving of that love from God yet receive it none-the-less, and so as persons unworthy to withhold it from others, love even the difficult to love.