Are We There, Yet?

Sunday November 18, 2018  33^rd Sunday Ordinary Time (Cycle B)

Are We There, Yet?

The tie in between today’s readings: Know what’s coming.

Psalm 16:5-11, Daniel 12:1-3, Hebrews 10:11-18, Mark 13:24-32

     When I was a kid growing up in the Philadelphia suburbs, my parents would take us on weekend trips to Wildwood, New Jersey. On the way, there were road signs to Zaberer’s restaurant “…Just Minutes Away!” it would say. In our own version of, Are We There, Yet, we would try to guess how long it would take to get to Zaberer’s. Winner got first choice on Boardwalk activities that night. We were often wrong. In our gospel today, the Mark 13 fig tree allegory gives us a road sign pointing to Jesus’ second coming.  Many Biblical scholars correlate the fig tree to Israel. They site Hosea 9:10 and other verses as proof. They believe that the establishment of Israel as a nation in 1948 connects with the fig tree putting out its’ leaves…and ushering in the last generation. Now, I don’t know what your thinking is on end of the world prognostications. Personally, I think that it’s a no win situation. In the most likely case, being wrong just makes you look stupid. When someone finally does get it right: who cares? The world is over. It’s time to move on, unless you’re going for heavenly bragging rights, like the kid in the “guess the number of jelly beans in the jar” contest. These road signs do have a purpose, however. They heighten your focus on what’s coming in order for you to put your life in order. Seriously, no matter when Jesus returns the most important thing to realize is that when a person dies, it’s the end of the world for them! God has a job for His people to do while there’s still time.

     We, the Church, should be living with eternity in mind. The unbelieving world will be surprised when Jesus returns like a thief in the night, because they have “bartered for another God” as it says in Psalm 16. Their focus is trained on this earth…the one that is passing away. We have an urgent gospel message to relay. It’s contained in our reading in Hebrews today: Jesus’ one time sacrifice for sin avails forgiveness for the world. He is now seated at the right hand of God, interceding for those people who come to Him for salvation. We are the ambassadors of Christ imploring everyone to be reconciled to God through Jesus. Those who respond will receive everlasting life in heaven. Those who refuse will face the “Great White Throne Judgment” for their sins and there will be no mercy, no grace, and no hope.

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     What will Jesus’ second coming look like? Pandemonium! The sky will fall! The earth will shake! People will futilely cry for the mountains to bury them so that they might be hidden from the all seeing eye of God. The angels, like the wind, will separate saint from sinner. Every knee shall bow and every tongue will confess Jesus as Lord (Romans 14:11). The books will be opened and destinies decided, as it says in our reading in Daniel today. Some will go to everlasting darkness and shame. Those that are in Christ, the children of God, however, will shine like the stars forever in heaven.

     Examine yourself. Where are you now and where do you want to be? The Bible illustrates the consequences of your decision. Are you building your life high and dry on Jesus the Rock or is your real estate down below on the sandy bank? When the levee breaks, mamma it’s too late to move! Have you put your trust in the God of Jacob’s ladder or are you buying a stairway to heaven with your good works? Are you on the broad easy road of the world that goes to destruction or have you picked the narrow path leading to life? The insidious lie is that in the long run, there’s still time to change the road you’re on. God says, “Today is the day of salvation.” Put your trust in the sacrifice of Jesus, the Son of God to take away your sin. Don’t wait! The fig tree is in leaf and the horizon is fast approaching. Whether the second coming is today or whether in death it becomes the end of the world for you. Your face to face with the living God could be…just minutes away!

Mass Prep Sunday November 11th 2018

Sunday  November 11, 2018    32^nd Sunday Ordinary Time (Cycle B)

A Tale of Two Widows

The tie in between today’s readings: Getting a happy ending

Psalm 146:6-10, 1 Kings 17:10-16, Hebrews 9:24-28,Mark 12:38-44

     Psalm 146 starts out singing heartfelt praises to the Almighty God for being an abundant helper. It recounts God’s resume of great works: the blind see, the hungry are fed, wrongs are made right, and much more.  Anyone who has prayed for and gotten a miracle shares a bond with the Psalmist for their happy ending. Many of us though, don’t get the answers to our prayers that we want. It seems God is not listening. Why can’t we be like the lucky ones? Is there a magic God formula that we need to follow? Does God play favorites? Let’s explore this question by comparing the two widows in our readings today.

     It hadn’t rained for a long time and everyone was suffering. The Lord had provided for his prophet, Elijah, up until now, but even the brook that was sustaining him dried up. Now, God tells him to go to, of all people: a poor Gentile widow in Zarephath! Here is a key. God tells Elijah that He has commanded her to provide for him. Apparently, she did not get the memo because when he finally gets there, he finds her preparing the last of her rations for her family’s final meal and he wasn’t on the guest list. Elijah has learned by now that God doesn’t send where He doesn’t provide. He confidently assures the widow that if she bakes him some bread first, then God will provide for her and won’t let the supply of flour and oil run out. With nothing to lose in her desperate situation, she complies, a happy ending ensues, and she comes to faith in the God of Israel. She writes a book “Psalm 146 and Me”, makes the rounds on the talk shows, has it turned into a movie, and lives comfortably off the royalties. Alleluia! This is the feel good kind of God story we crave, not only for the widow, but because it gives us hope that one day we too may be a winner in life’s lottery. Now, let’s take a look at widow number two in today’s reading in Mark’s gospel.

     Jesus finishes condemning the Pharisees for, among other things, devouring widow’s houses. Then, He sits down with his disciples and watches the rich Pharisees make an impressive display of their large contributions to the Temple treasury. They astound the people with their apparent generosity and holiness. Then a poor widow, who most likely had her final means of support taken away from her by those self same Pharisees, drops her last two mites into the chest.  Jesus applies God’s heavenly multiplier to her contribution and commends her for giving more than anyone else. What becomes of the destitute widow now that she has laid everything on the altar? We hope that something miraculous happens to her as a reward for her faith and dependence on the Almighty. Most likely though, nobody cares about her, she starves to death, and Psalm 146 seemingly mocks her by the lack of a happy ending.

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     So, why the disparity?  Psalm 146 has two levels of meaning: physical and spiritual. Yes, God does rescue the desperate out of their circumstances. We hear stories about people escaping perils by the help of strangers only to conclude afterwards that they were with angels. You most likely can recall an event in your life and wondered if God was in it.  Jesus was rescued from treacherous situations because His time had not yet come and that’s the point. Miracles aren’t done for miracle’s sake. God intervenes in the physical world in order to promote a heavenly agenda. The passages of Psalm 146 take on more significance in the spiritual sense.* We ought to view them more as salvation metaphors than mere physical deliverances. After all, what lasting good is in the physical? It all ends. Even those amazingly rescued in the Bible eventually died. Christ’s purpose was to die as a sacrifice that could satisfy man’s sin debt to God (Hebrews 9:24-28). So when He asked His Father in heaven to rescue Him from His fate in the Garden of Gethsemane, the answer was “NO!”

     We must have faith in God through the trials of life knowing that all things will work together for good. Even though He slay me, yet I will hope in Him (Job 13:15). Let us remember that for every Joseph released from prison, there is an executed John the Baptist. For every David that slays a Goliath, there is a martyred Stephen. For every Isaac spared from a sacrificial knife, there is a Christ with a spear in His side. (Praise God for that!) Jesus triumphed over our greatest adversaries: Sin and Death. In this world we will have tribulations, but we are more than conquerors in Christ (Romans 8:37). It’s the focus on the spiritual that gives us the confidence in this physical world to face the lions…singing. God did not rescue Jesus, so He can now rescue you. Come to Him for salvation and have a real happy ending.

*See Mass Prep for Sunday September 9, 2018

Mass Prep Sunday November 4th 2018

Sunday November 4^th, 2018      31^st Sunday Ordinary Time (Cycle B)

Greatest Commandment

The tie in between today’s readings: Do You Love Me?

Psalm 18:2-4, Psalm 18:47-51, Deuteronomy 6:2-6, Hebrews 7:23-28, Mark 12:28-34

     Listen, everyone! I am God, the only God, and I command you to totally love Me.  Wow! Who does God think He is? Run. Jump. Stop. Go. Love! Is love just another verb, an action word of duty, like kiss your smelly Aunt Roberta? Don’t I have a free will in this? Can God really order me to have affection for Him or direct it to someone else, like my adversarial neighbor?  If you examine today’s reading in Deuteronomy, which is also echoed in the gospel, the answer is yes. Since love is a command, love therefore, is a commitment, not an emotion to be expressed. It is a total act of my will to do all in my power for another’s benefit. Fickle sentiments ride in the backseat.  Love is purposeful, dependable, and real. But how can I love a God that I cannot see?

     It’s like dating. You can’t love God until you get to know Him. A lot of us have preconceived notions of who God is or what He’s like, with no more validity than a teenage girl dreaming of the perfect guy. This makes God in our image. Lose It! He’s written a book for you to see the kind of personal being that He really is. You’ll discover the genuine love of grace and mercy, of compassion and sacrifice that He’s committed to you; your knight in shining armor. You’ll find a God worth loving. Then, you give your heart. This is our emotional response to God first loving us. It’s the rush of the believer’s new converted life. It’s the willingness to please, to discover more, and to be with God in prayer and meditation because He is precious. Where your treasure is, so will your heart be.  The beautiful thing is the more you think of God, the more you will desire Him. When you give you heart to Jesus, God gives a new heart for Him to you. There is no end to the depth and richness of a life filled with a heartfelt love of God. Pursue it!

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     Dating God with your mind and heart leads to a commitment of your soul. Your eternal soul is your core being: your personality, inner self, and identity. Loving God with your soul involves personal choices in your lifestyle. It’s like being married: the two become one. You desire to live a life of faithfulness and devotion, forsaking all others (obstacles) that get in the way. You want to live obediently, pleasing to Him and under His guidance. Here you find out that instead of struggling to live a life that is sinless, your dedication to God nurtures you into a life where you sin less. No fake religious airs or pious triteness here: you’re the real deal. And that takes strength.

    Loving God with all your strength is transformative. It’s the tough love of God changing you into the image of Jesus. He answers your prayers, but not how you think. He gives: trials to produce patience, broken heartedness for understanding, calamity to cultivate trust, and humiliation to make you great. He breaks you down and gives spiritual gifts to build you up. He wants you to see what He sees, feel what he feels, and be His hands in this world. You can love you neighbor as yourself, from your very soul, because you have the strength of the Lord, the mind of Christ, and a heart for God.

     So why do I want to love God? Is it because if I don’t then He’ll get mad and zap me? Of course not, instead, its’ the fulfillment of life’s purpose. We were made to have a relationship with God.  God’s command for us to love Him drives us in that direction. In fact, if I reject the love of God and choose to live a hedonistic, self centered, transient lifestyle; I am really zapping myself.  What’s it like for you? Do you know about Jesus who loved you first, who bore your sins upon a cross, and constantly lives to make intercessions for you to the Father (Psalm 18, Hebrews 7)? Have you given your heart to God? Do you want to be in His word and in prayer more than binge watch Netflix? Can you commit to Him, become one with Him as if you were married.  Persevere when the going gets tough, for better or for worse. The real question is not “do you love God?”, but more like “are you in love with God?”  If not, then you have some soul searching to do. If so, then you know the relationship is not about you. Look around and pray beyond your nose. Let your light shine out to a world in need…for the love of God.