Mass Prep August 5

Sunday August 5, 2018  18^th Sunday Ordinary Time (Cycle B)

God under contract

The tie in between today’s readings: God wants a personal relationship with you.

Psalm 78: 3-4/ 23-25/ 54, Exodus 16: 1-15, Ephesians 4: 17-24, John 6: 24-35

     

      In today’s Exodus reading, the Hebrews can’t grasp that there’s more going on than meets the eye. After 400 years of praying to be released from slavery, God responds. He plagues Egypt, parts the Red Sea, and makes polluted water drinkable in the middle of the desert. Now hungry, they’re whining about the “good old days” when they were slaves…Seriously? Instead of praying to their Redeemer God, who brought them this far, and trusting Him for help, they complain: “C’mon God, you’re slacking. You’re not meeting expectations.  Maybe we should just leave you and go back to Pharaoh.”  Complaining to God is never good; it shows contempt for the Almighty, is self-centered, and blinds you from the bigger picture. Despite the insult, God in His mercy gives quail and manna to sustain them. He sets up the Ten Commandments and the Law, whose foundational underpinning is love of God and neighbor.

     God is reaching out for a relationship, but they don’t get it. They know that they’re going to the Promised Land, but don’t know that it is a mere representation of what God really wants for them: eternal life with Him in heaven. They never understand the personal connections: grace for failure, obedience in love, forgiveness for sin, and trust in trial. All they see is a God as a boss, just another master with an agenda and rules to follow. You can tell because they are exactly like us: if we don’t like something at work, we complain to management, if we dare, and certainly murmur amongst ourselves.  So, what do you do if you don’t like what the boss is doing? Well, you try to get a better deal somewhere else. When your stomach is empty, it’s easier to go back to the devil you know than to trustingly march forward into the unknown. God had an intimate relationship with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Now, after 400 years of slavery, all that the Hebrews see is a God under contract.

     Fast forward to our gospel, which places us at the morning after Jesus feeds the 5000. Jesus and the apostles had crossed the Sea of Galilee during the night, but the crowd tracked Him down, determined to make Him their Caterer- King. Jesus’ statement sets the stage for their conversation, “You look for me not because of the sign I gave you (pointing to Him as the Messiah), but because your bellies are full. Don’t work for food that perishes. I’ll give you food which endures to eternal life.”  

      “There’s a good deal,” they’re thinking, “Food for eternal life that doesn’t spoil. What do we have to do for it, Jesus?” 

     “Nothing, it’s a gift. Just believe in Me.”

     “Well, Jesus, we don’t know…That was a good start yesterday with the fishes and loaves, but Moses fed the whole nation with manna in the desert for forty years.  We’ll give you the job if you can top that.”

     “My Father, not Moses, gave you the manna. I come from Him and He’ll give you the true bread out of heaven that will give life not just to you but the whole world.”

     “OK! You got the job, Jesus. How are you on supply?”

     “Guys, I’m talking about ME! I AM the bread of life. Come to me and hunger no more. Believe in me and never thirst.”  (Check out a similar conversation Jesus had with the woman at the well in John Chapter 4)

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    They are still stuck on God under contract, while Jesus is trying to take it up a notch and reveal a personal relationship with God that the physical bread only points to. There’s a greater need that He is trying to address: the need to be reconciled back to Him.  Just like their ancestors, Jesus’ teachings fall on deaf ears because they see with their bellies, not their souls.

     Does our situation mirror the Hebrews? Do we see God as another boss with rules that we must follow? Do we gladly and whole-heartedly participate in the worship service or do we simply endure it for an hour every Sunday (or maybe just Christmas and Easter) to keep “the boss” happy? Are we searching for a better deal?

     Be careful! You may be on the way, as Paul says in Ephesians, “being excluded from the life of God because of personal ignorance and hardness of heart.” Paul encourages you to be renewed and put on a new self in the likeness of God, a personal relationship born-again in Jesus Christ, the Bread of Life. The thing of it is this:  if God under contract thing isn’t working for you, then maybe it’s time to date the boss.

The WC

     My mother-in-law, Marianne Finnegan, passed away last July. She was a fun loving-person, who enjoyed a good joke, but could never tell one. While we were going through her belongings, we came upon this: 

A 'WC' is an English or German bathroom or Water Closet.

Some time ago, an English Lady was looking for rooms in Switzerland and asked a schoolmaster if he would recommend any. He took her to several places and, everything being arranged, she decided to take one of the rooms. 

On her way home, however, it occurred to her that she had not noticed a WATER CLOSET. She immediately wrote the schoolmaster to ask if there was a W.C. in or near the house. The Schoolmaster, upon receiving the letter, was baffled, for he did not understand the abbreviation W.C. 

Finally he asked the parish priest to help him. Together they tried to find out what the lady meant and concluded that she meant a "Wayside Chapel". So they wrote her the following letter. 

Dear Madam: 

I have the pleasure to inform you that the W.C. is situated only nine miles away from the house in the center of a beautiful grove of trees and surrounded by beautiful and magnificent scenery. It is capable of holding 25 people. 

It is open Tuesday, Thursday, and Sundays of each week. There are a good number who go during the summer months. I would advise you to go there early if you want a good seat, although there is plenty of standing room. This is an unfortunate position, especially if you are in the habit of going regularly. 

No doubt you will be glad to know that a number of people take their lunch with them and make a day of it, while others who cannot spare the time travel by car and arrive there just in time. I would advise your ladyship to go on Thursday because there is an organ accompaniment on that day. The surroundings are really excellent and even the most delicate sounds are audible. 

It may interest you to know that our daughter was married in the W.C. and as a matter of fact, that is where she first met her husband. I remember well the rush for seats on that particular day. There were exactly 10 people on the seat I usually occupy. 

It was wonderful to watch the changing expressions on their faces. A wealthy resident of the district recently donated a bell for the W.C., which rings each time you enter it.

My wife is rather delicate and cannot go regularly. It's been more than six months since she last went. Naturally, it pains her very much not to be able to go more often. 

I shall be glad to save a seat for you. 

Yours Truly. 

     I remember when my wife read this out loud to us and we couldn't stop laughing. We live on in the hearts of the people we touch. Mom you will always be with us; laughter and tears.

Mass Prep July 29

Sunday July 29, 2018  17^th Sunday Ordinary Time (Cycle B)

The God of creation…in creation…and re-creation

The tie in between today’s readings:  Praise is forever.

Psalm 145: 10-18, 2 Kings 4:42-44, Ephesians 4:1-6, John 6:1-15

                

     Praise: The act of expressing approval or the offering of grateful homage in word or song as an act of worship. Psalm 145 is electrical with the excitement of praising God. There is plenty of material to work with. Throughout creation, from the smallest atom to the biggest star, we find out the more you know, the more there is to know. The most brilliant among us often end their seminars with: “we’ve just scratched the surface,” but there is jaw-dropping wonder even in that scratch. If you take time to contemplate the Amazing Creator behind the world that you see, then your praise of God’s handiwork will never end. Yet that’s only His fingerprint…there’s more!

     

     Today, in our readings, we see an impossible task in 2 Kings and the Gospel of John; that can only be solved by a miracle. Remember this:  the Almighty doesn’t do tricks. Along with the physical events, miracles in the Bible have a potent message. God presents the apostle and us with a “crisis of lack”. We all know it: not enough time, not enough talent, not enough money. We’d like to have more faith, but we’re afraid we’d be consumed in the process. We know that a sparrow doesn’t hit the ground without our heavenly Father knowing it…but it still hits the ground.  Jesus, there’s not enough fish, not enough bread…send them away. We fail. In feeding the 5000, God shows that He is aware of our needs and is not bound by limits. We must learn to stop compromising the right thing to do for the sake of the safe thing to do and step out in faith…well baby steps, anyway.  Scripture, miracles, and crisis are used to grow our faith. We give God all that we have as we ask Him to fill in what’s lacking in our lives to shape our personalities, our family, and society, to the praise and glory of His name.

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     The biggest miracle of all is God in re-creation. God made the universe with just a few words. Multiply some bread…no sweat. But to redeem mankind took an incarnation, a crucifixion and a resurrection. The greatest act of God is the born again person. By the transforming power of the cross God shares His intimate Self with us. Grace, mercy, forgiveness beckons us to a new life with the God who loves us. People who before would be at each other’s throats are now brothers! In Ephesians 4: 1-6 we see the fruits of the Holy Spirit: love, humility, and tolerance as evidence of a new personal relationship with the Divine. He offers this salvation to you even now. Take Him up on it. Leave your sins at the cross. Give your life to Jesus. He’ll make you a new person.

     God makes Himself known in creation, socially and intimately. We get lost in the wonder of Him with only the little glimpse that we have. So get excited!  In heaven we will see Him face to face! He will reveal more about Himself to us than we can handle. The explosion of thanksgiving, worship and praise will blow our minds, as we try to take it all in! What we’re headed for is greater than all the rock concerts, sporting events or political rallies ever! The beatific vision awaits…buckle up.

Mass Prep July 22

Sunday July 22, 2018  16^th Sunday Ordinary Time  (Cycle B)

The sheep can’t make it on their own; they need their shepherd.

The tie in between today’s readings:  The shepherd is everything to the sheep.

Psalm 23: 1-6, Jeremiah 23: 1-6, Ephesians 2: 13-18, Mark 6: 30-34

Being called sheep is not a compliment. Sheep are dumb, helpless animals at the mercy of carnivores and aimless in life’s journey. God, in His love, has not left us on our own, but has Himself taken on the role of shepherd. Even people who don’t know the Bible receive comfort from the words of the 23^rd Psalm: The Lord is my Shepherd. These six verses sum up the quintessential provisions of God’s care for us.  He provides goodness and mercy as we contend with the difficulties, hardships and tragedies in this life. Then, He takes us through the valley of the shadow of death into the next life, to dwell in the house of the Lord forever…ahhh, good stuff. But, as we see in Jeremiah 23: 1-6 and also in Ezekiel 34, not all the shepherds do their duty. 

God set up the social and religious leaders in the nation to shepherd the population, but they used their position to fleece the flock. Both the nobles and the priests hold God in contempt.  The people follow their lead and stray socially and morally.  After many years of warnings by the prophets, God has to act.  Verse 3 is interesting because God scatters the flock along with the shepherds. There is a compelling dynamic here. It’s not only failure in leadership that God addresses, but also the flock wants to go its’ own way. All we, like sheep, have gone (always want to go) astray, so if the higher ups aren’t harping on our sin, then we’re not complaining. In the ministry, the sheep have teeth and will bite if you touch them in a sore spot. A pastor that doesn’t rock the boat is often loved. Meanwhile, sin permeates unnoticed as the church degrades from the body of Christ to a Faux-Jesus club. God must judge. The pastor that loves his flock, unlike the nobles and priests in our text, will risk using his rod and staff to keep the sheep on the right path. That is why shepherding leadership is difficult, rare, and always to be respected.

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It is hard to imagine that a people drenched in religion would need a shepherd, but in our gospel today, that’s exactly what Jesus sees. Like a couple trapped in a loveless marriage, they went through the motions of sacrifice and keeping the Sabbath, but they yearned for that missing something.  Maybe that is why so many people say that they get nothing out of church and drop out. Jesus shows that there is a relationship between the shepherd and his sheep. They hear His voice and follow. After the Resurrection, religion is gone. It’s been replaced by a relationship with the Lamb of God who took away their sin.  No more impossible rules and feckless rituals. No more Jew or Greek, male or female, slave or freeman.  United under Christ all identity politics are over. To summarize today’s epistle: Old Testament prophesies are fulfilled as the Jewish and Gentile world united to form a new flock under the Good Shepherd, who laid down His life for His sheep. How about you? Are you a part of His flock? If not, He is looking for you. Call out to Jesus for forgiveness. Give your life to Him. He’ll take you for His own. There is room for you in Jesus’ sheepfold and if you ask the rest of us sheep; it’s really not so baaaad.

A Sacramental Illustration of Saving Faith

You are standing before the judgment seat of God and He asks you the question” Why should I let you into My heaven?”  What are you going to say? Take a minute and think about your answer. Got it? OK, just keep it in the back of your mind. In looking at the judgment Jesus doesn’t say “You didn’t do enough of this or too little of that.” But, He will say to some, “Depart from Me.  I never knew you”. This reveals an all important point: that salvation is extremely personal. So how do you get to heaven: pray the right prayers? Do more good things than bad? Be sincere? The Bible is pretty clear that it involves faith in Jesus Christ. I hope that was at least part of your answer. Faith is a tricky thing, however.

First, saving faith is not only an agreement with church teachings. You need orthodoxy to lay a firm foundation for faith. It is absolutely essential, but just agreeing with a creed or catechism isn’t enough. You can tell by the people who come to church every Sunday and drone through the Mass, while others seem to have an extra dimension. We can assume that everyone there has faith. There is head faith but no heart faith. How do you become a Catholic that “gets it”? Let’s look at the sacraments to start.

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There are three things needed for a sacrament to be valid:  elements, word and faith. When we baptize an infant there is the element: water; the words: “I baptize you” and faith? Since the baby has no faith at this point the faith of the Church stands in for the infant until some future time when the child will come to faith in Jesus. So, after learning the teachings of the Church; this person must apply the truths learned to have a “Come to Jesus” moment or Second Conversion (CCC 1427-1430).  I think this occurs in the spiritual part of ourselves and can be demonstrated by our response to the sacraments.

The first sacrament of faith in our spiritual selves is Matrimony not Baptism. Jesus comes to us and asks “Will you marry me? I offer you suffering, sacrifice, a cross and death, but also eternal life and glory.  Will you marry me”? You say, “Yes. Yes, Jesus, I will marry you”. Then you two come before the Father and become one in eternal marriage. Since you are now bound to Christ, all that is His is yours and all that is yours becomes His; including your sin. 

Now the Eucharist comes into play when Jesus takes all of your sins upon Himself physically upon the cross, but you also in a spiritual sense die with Him. The two have become one. What happens to Him happens to you. You both die because the penalty of sin is death. Since Jesus was successful in His mission to pay for our sins, a just God can now offer you reconciliation and forgiveness: the third sacrament. 

The evidence that Jesus was successful in paying for our sins is His resurrection to new life on Easter Sunday. We too then rise with Him to new life by the washing of regeneration and the power of the Spirit. God, Himself, baptizes us. The Holy Spirit indwells us also at this time to give us the ability to live this life in Christ. We are born again of water and of Spirit in our spiritual selves. Baptism and Confirmation take place here in the spiritual realm and our heart faith becomes complete, without which there can be no salvation. Baptism and Confirmation are the last sacraments in the spiritual dimension, but the first in the physical dimension.   

All the sacraments in the physical world have validity because they have already occurred in the spiritual world of faith. Our infant baptism now becomes personal at our Second Conversion and is the sacrament of testimony of our new birth, which allows initiation into the Mystical Church. Confirmation is also personal and active as the Holy Spirit moves in our lives here on earth to change us into the image of Jesus. As we grow in our Christian life we have the sacrament of Reconciliation to keep us on the road of grace and the Eucharist to renew our souls in the journey. There is a new life of joy and peace.  All of our sacrifices and works are done out of love of God not to get to heaven. But because our heart faith is real, we are on our way to heaven. When this world ends the marriage is completed in every sense at the marriage supper of the Lamb and we will live forever with the One Whom we love.

Salvation is extremely personal. So where are you? Do you have the heart faith or just head faith? Do the things of God excite you: prayer, worship, meditation, Bible study or are they boring? Do you want to go to heaven and be with this God or do you just want to avoid hell? Not sure? Then pray.  Seek God like a lover and you will find Him; any that come to Him He will in no way cast aside.      

 

Mass Prep July 15th

Sunday July 15, 2018  15^th Sunday Ordinary Time (Cycle B)

Helpless in ourselves…but God

The tie in between today’s readings: God is involved in every aspect of our salvation

Psalm 85:8-13, Amos 7:12-15, Ephesians 1:3-14, Mark 6:7-13

     Psalm 85:10 tells a very important story. Truth and Righteousness are walking together down this road discussing how we as sinners deserve the condemnation of God in Hell forever.  Coming the other way Loving-kindness, and Peace are agonizing over how we may escape our fate.  They all meet at an intersection. They clash. One side won’t give in because God’s holiness cannot abide man’s transgressions. The other side won’t give up pleading the love of God for forgiveness.  No one can find a solution until a Man bearing a cross comes to the intersection and stands between the two sides. Jesus Christ, He who knew no sin became sin for us; that we may become the Righteousness of God in Him. Loving-kindness is revealed that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. He who is the Truth has brought us Peace. The attributes of God are satisfied. Man is saved. All he has to do is come to Jesus by faith for forgiveness. Problem solved. Roll credits.  

     In Ephesians 1, God lifts the veil a bit to show us a hidden aspect of salvation: predestination.  From this vantage point is all the work of God, even from before the world began.  Today’s reading is riddled with God action verbs:  blessed us, chose us, predestined us, and adopted us.  His purpose, His will, His sealing, His pledge, and the whole trinity is involved.  Belief then is not just a person’s agreement with church doctrine; there is an active God element to it to reach a saving faith.  Our “Come to Jesus” moment is more than just our recognizing a good deal when we see one.  It’s a mystery: Man’s choice and God’s choice working together somehow. Let that cook your noodle.

     Mark shows us Jesus starting His evangelism training program for the disciples.  Certain elements appear here that resonate throughout the rest of the New Testament.  We see total dependence on God for physical provisions: take what you need and no more. The authority over demons and healing the sick by anointing demonstrate the power and authority of God to back up their message.  Finally, they will either be believed and abide with those that do or they will declare a testimony against those who don’t; showing the rudiments of the principle of the binding and loosing authority of the church.

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    Amos, in our Old Testament reading, tells his detractors about his calling that he was not a seminary boy, but a shepherd and orchard tender.  God calls whom He will to fulfill every aspect of evangelizing the world.  Amos was called from the flocks.  Peter was called from the boats.  God calls each and every one of His children also to take part in the Great Commission to spread the gospel worldwide.  While he doesn’t specifically call all of us to the mission field or to pastor a church, we are all to think of ourselves as witnesses for Jesus in our area of influence and our job is just there to pay the expenses.  From salvation, to belief, to evangelism, God’s purpose will be accomplished on earth as it is in heaven.  Grace and Mercy are magnified by our privilege to participate in it.  Let’s play our part.

What I’ve Learned from the "Amazing Race"

     Of all the shows on TV, my wife and I like the Amazing Race the best. If you’ve never seen it, the “Race” usually starts off with about 14 teams. These teams are made up of a cross section of American demographics: spouses, gay and straight couples, ethnic groups, co-workers, family members…any two people who want to go through the contest together. To make it more exciting, my wife and I each pick a team by the third leg and root for them until the end. The contestants travel the world completing challenges along each leg of the race as quickly as possible or face elimination.  Each of them will stretch themselves to their limits as they vie for the grand prize…ONE MILLION DOLLARS.

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     Now a million dollars seems like a lot of money, but split it with your team mate and then take out the taxes, you’re still talking real money, but not so much. There can only be one “million dollar” team. The others are gone…gone…gone, with perhaps a small prize for coming in first on one of the legs along the way. So why do it? If you can stop obsessing about the prize for a second, this is a great way to see the world and experience its cultures. The real importance of the Amazing Race is how each teams’ character is revealed under pressure. 

     Racers that appear to be so “lovey-dovey” when things are going well, eat each other up when elimination looms ahead. As you go through the “Race” the intensity mounts. The true winners are the teams that treat each other with love and respect when the going gets tough. It’s the only realistic prize you can walk away with in the end, since the odds are stacked against you for the million. The take away lesson from the Amazing Race is: how would I treat the other person on my team as we were going through a rough patch? Would I be supportive or corrosive? 

     Life is an “Amazing Race.” The teams on the show are the real representations of our relationships and we compete along with them every day. Let’s enjoy them as we travel on each leg of our day-to-day race, whether you achieve the success that you’ve carved out for yourself or not.  Run the race to win it! Keep your eye on the real prize…each other.       

Just Coffee, Joseph

     Dynasty! In the 1980’s my wife and I watched it religiously. It was a series about an oil tycoon and his family, fashioned in the Dallas genre and modeled in the soap opera formula where smart people make dumb choices. They had a butler named Joseph. Every morning he would set up a grand buffet with: bacon, eggs, Danish and pancakes. Without fail, each person would find their way down to breakfast, see the banquet all set up and say, “Just coffee, Joseph.” It was so regular that I used to mouth the lines along with the actors. “You poor people,” I thought, “You have all this and you can’t even sit down for an omelet.”

     I guess it’s all a matter of what you’re into…priorities, I mean. They were already into their day even before they showered. Breakfast, the most important meal of the day according to an Iowa study, was not on the docket. Coffee and off we go to plow through the morning, busy making dumb choices probably due to hypoglycemia. I’m not harping on breakfast. It’s the idea of having so much, yet choosing so little.

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      I think that for many of us, Church is the uneaten banquet. It’s something you do for an hour each week. We go in, sit down, stand up, sing a hymn, listen to the pastor and participate in communion.   Nothing touches us deeply, no changes, no confession… just a wafer, Jesus. We do it week after week, year after year, if we go at all, and treat it with so little regard because it’s always there. Just as the Hebrews whined in the desert, “All we have to eat is this…this…manna.” This manna that shows the loving provisions of a personal God, which miraculously appears on time daily in the morning without fail. They didn’t have a relationship with the Giver so His provision was held in contempt. Our religion is predictably redundant, which renders the God of the Universe…irrelevant and boring. The key is that religion IS boring. God is all about the relationship.

     All relationships take effort. Bible and prayer are no exception. The payoff is phenomenal for the person willing to cultivate a connection with the Almighty. Faith becomes an adventure, worship a celebration and the wisdom of God helps us deal with life. Communion reaches a higher level when you seek God as a lover. I often thought one day instead of setting up the breakfast buffet Joseph should just stack a couple of cups on a table, plug in a Keurig, and leave a note, “This is all you’ll get because this is all you ever want.” Let’s be done with lesser things. No more excuses. Come to breakfast.

Mass Prep for July 8th, 2018

Sunday, July 8, 2018 14^th Sunday Ordinary Time (Cycle B)

Grace to face the world and grace to face myself.

The tie in between today’s readings is: Those that Don’t and Those that Won’t Believe

Psalm 123, Ezekiel 2:2-5, 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, Mark 6:1-6

The first point in Psalm 123 is you are God and we are your servants.  The second point is prayer for God’s grace in enduring the scoffing contempt of unbelievers.  It is a great privilege to be in God’s family with the promises of heaven and spiritual blessings on earth. We, however have a duty as servants to become more like our Master obeying God, loving our neighbor and spreading the gospel.  In a broken world that does not know Jesus, there are insults if not outright hostility toward the Church.  Yet, these are the ones we are sent to reach.  It can only be done by the grace and power of God in us through the Holy Spirit. In 2 Corinthians, God takes the apostle Paul on a trip to heaven and blows his mind.  In order to keep Paul from being too proud about it, a torment from Satan is sent as a counterweight to keep Paul’s feet on the ground.  When Paul asks God to take it away, God answers, “My grace is enough for you,” which circles back to Psalm 123.  Paul is then content with his inability in the situation and trusts God through the insults, persecutions, the difficulties and distresses he receives during his mission.  We can contend with an unbelieving world today because we have an unimaginable destination tomorrow.  Blessed are you WHEN people insult you and persecute you and say all manner of evil falsely against you FOR MY SAKE.  Great is your reward in heaven for in the same way they persecuted the prophets. Matt 5:11-12   

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Our prophet in today’s reading is Ezekiel, one of the many prophets that was not sent out into the unbelieving world, but instead to a rebellious church:  the nation of Israel. Ezekiel is commissioned to warn God’s stubborn and obstinate children, showing once again that God loves them, but they need to turn back before it’s too late and He must judge them. Ezekiel’s problem is, unlike the unbelievers who don’t know God, inside the Church are the people who won’t know God.  They just refuse.  They have God all straight jacketed in their head and they won’t let Him out. This is picked up in today’s gospel (Mark 6) when Jesus comes back to his neighborhood and despite His undeniable wisdom and word of his great miracles they only see him as the guy that made their dinette set.  Jesus’ reaction is “You gotta be kidding me!”  This theme is played out all through the gospels with the Pharisees. He came unto His own and they did not receive Him. He doesn’t say what they want to hear, so they won’t listen.

So in spreading the gospel to the unbelieving world, let’s speak the truth in love and accept the blowback with God’s grace.  We in the Church need to foster an ever expanding understanding of God through Bible study and prayer, bend to it, and repent of sin revealed through it, so that in the end, we may become good and faithful servants…and better spread the word to an unbelieving world.