Hey, Pilgrims! Today we ventured into the occupied territories on the West Bank. First stop was Jacob’s Well in Nablus. As the noted biblical archeologist, Zeljko Gregor, once said, “The nice things about wells is that they don’t move.” So you can be rest assured that this was the real place.
Jacob’s Well – Jesus Meets the Samaritan Woman
Here’s a fun fact. In sacred scripture, wells were the places where lots of men met their wives. So it was with Jacob who met Rachel by a well. He was crazy for her, but because Laban her father switched her older sister for Rachel at the wedding, he had to wait fourteen years before he could marry her. Moses also met his first wife by a well. So it’s an interesting thing that Jesus would meet with the Samaritan woman by a well. (See John 4:4-42) Of course, he did not wish to marry her, but he did bring her into relationship with him as the Messiah. Note in John’s account how she goes through three stages of knowing Christ. First she sees him as a very special man, then as a prophet, and finally as the Messiah. Just like plumbing the depths of the well, Jesus takes her deeper and deeper in to the mystery of who he is. Pretty darn cool. I think he does something similar with all of us as we gradually get to know him for who he really is, and in the process get to know ourselves for who we really are.
We drew some water out of the well. The well itself is about 35 feet deep and the water has a depth of about 6 feet. It comes out crystal clear. This is some really good water. The Greek Orthodox monks there were most hospitable to us. They have been very busy making the church beautiful. It is the fifth or sixth church on the site since the fourth century. The well is in the crypt chapel below the sanctuary.
Facade of Jacob’s Well Orthodox Church. It’s based on the crusader church that preceded it. Nave of Jacob’s Well ChurchDome of Jacob’s Well ChurchJacob’s Well. I found it interesting that the gift shop was within five feet of it in the crypt chapel off to the right. Oh well…
The Jordan River – Most people have this image of the Jordan River as some mighty flowing waterway. The reality can be a bit underwhelming. It’s actually only about ten of fifteen meters across. One reason for this is that so much of it is syphoned off for irrigation. This far downstream, about a mile from it’s terminus in the Dead Sea it is slow and murky. Nevertheless, most scholars agree that this is the area nearest to where Christ was baptized. It is also the general area where the Israelites would have crossed into the promised land on their way to Jericho. The walls have never been rebuilt, by the way. We stopped and renewed our baptismal promises there.
The…uh…mighty Jordan River. Looking across the Jordan River into the Kingdom of Jordan. The river serves as the international border between the two countries. Note the Jordanian flags on the other side. Fr. Page gives us a good sprinkle after we renewed our baptismal promises, just like on Easter Sunday. Oblivious Canadian pilgrims are in the background.
Jericho – Guess who’s coming to dinner? Jericho was a surprisingly important town in Jesus’s day. Since there was only room for so many priests in Jerusalem, the rest of them hung out here. It was a center of learning and commerce. Thus, Zacchaeus would have made a good living as a tax collector. His conversion is a good lesson for us all. Jesus doesn’t need much of an opening to invite himself in. There is hope for us all.
A sycamore tree. Not THE sycamore tree, but you can see how easy it would have been for a little guy like Zacchaeus to climb one of these.
Howdy, pilgrims! Well, today was a slower day to go look at the old broken stuff. They need to take better care of their antiquities. I mean the place is in ruins!
The ruins today were at Caesarea Maritima and the Crusader Stronghold at Acre.
Caesarea Marittima – When the Roman Emperor Pompeii took over much of the middle east in in 63 BC, he set up Herod the Great as the puppet monarch of Palestine. Herod was completely insane and an incredible despot. Not only did he order the execution of all the boys under the age of three in Bethlehem, (see Matthew 2:16-18), he also killed his two eldest sons six days before his own death because he suspected they wanted to usurp his throne. But boy, could he build! There were public works projects going on all the time. Part of this was the port city of Caesarea Marittima, the first man-made port in history. They said he “folded nature” to make it happen. He build a huge palace for himself on the most prominent point. (“It’s good to be the king!”) It had an amphitheater that is still in use today as well as a hippodrome for chariot races and all the things a fellow needs to make himself comfortable. It later became the provincial capital.
Biblically, there are at least two significant events. You may recall in the Acts of the Apostles where the pious Roman centurion Cornelius had a vision of an angel who told him to seek out Simon, also known as Peter, to speak to him about the Way of Jesus. About the same time Peter had his famous “What God has declared clean, you cannot declare profane” vision. Peter came to Cornelius’s house Caesarea Marittima and baptizes Cornelius and his whole household – men, women, children, servants, neighbor kids, everybody! It was from this point forward that the Christians began to distinguish themselves from the Jews, since increasing numbers of Christians were Gentiles. You can read all about it in Acts 10.
This was also where St. Paul was held for two years once he appealed his case to the Emperor. He would have left from the port on his trip to Rome. Of course, he got shipwrecked off the coast of Malta.
A good look at Caesarea Marittima. Herod’s Palace is on the point, the Hippodrome just in front of that. The rest of the town stretches down the coast of the Mediterranean. Our faithful friar guides, Fr. Page and Fr. Anthony, read us the account from Acts 10. A pano shot of the port in Caesarea Marittima. They dredged it out and walled it in. It’s amazing what you can do with an endless supply of expendable labor.
The Crusader stronghold at Acre – After the crusaders were defeated in 1187, they held out for another 100 years at the port city of Acre. Here they built a most impressive fortress. While not biblical, it was really, really impressive what they were able to accomplish. They built glorious halls, churches, and fortifications. It was worth the trip. The sheer magnitude of the excavations to bring it to light is astounding.
The first snafu of the trip came when we tried to say Mass at St. John the Baptist Church on the bastion walls. The place was locked up like the fortress it sat upon. Turns out the friars were in the middle of a rotation and nobody told the incoming friars that we were coming. So, we improvised and had Mass at their school chapel. Fr. Gabriel was most accommodating.
Part of the Refectory (Dining Hall) at Acre. They were shooting a music video while we were there. Imagine that. The bastion walls on at the Acre Fortress. Kids were diving off the wall into the sea. Note the small staircase in the center. They used that to climb back up. St. John the Baptist Church on the bastion walls where we almost had Mass. Check out how thick the walls are that we walking across. It’s gotta be 30 feet (10m) or more. That’s a lot of stone.
Howdy, pilgrims! Lot of fun in the Galilee today. This is where Jesus did the bulk of his preaching, teaching and healing. There are lots of churches to commemorate events you read about in the gospels. Here’s a smattering of what we did.
Cana – First Miracle of our Lord was to make a party a success. That’s my kind of savior. Incidentally, the wine they sell there in the gift shops is terrible. Go figure.
The Church in Cana. Lots of our folks renewed their marriage vows here. Here is a group from India celebrating Mass in the Church.
Caesarea Philippi – “You are Peter and upon this rock I will build my church…” Caesarea Philippi is located in the farthest north part of Israel. From out of the rocky hill comes a spring which is the headwaters of the Jordan River. Alexander the Great built a temple here to the god Pan. There were other Hellenistic temples here too. Herod Agrippa made it his capitol. Our Lord certainly had a flair for the dramatic. Check out the backdrop for his famous commission to St. Peter as the first leader of the Church.
Big commission. Big rock. Go St. Peter! Remains of the pagan temples at Caesarea Philippi. Looks like the one lady had found her niche.
Happy trials to you! English can be confusing for Israeli sign makers. The headwaters of the Jordan River. Nice and clean now. Wait till we get further downstream later in the week!
Tagbho – Multiplication of the loaves and the fishes. Hey, our job is to bring the fish. Jesus does the rest. The floor of this church is from the 5th century.
Church nave in Tagbho. This is a four arrow site. We are in the place that has been venerated by Christians since the second century as the place where the miracle took place. The famous 5th century mosaic that commemorates the loaves and fishes.
The Sea of Galilee – Yep, this is where Jesus went for his morning walk and calmed the storm. I’m still not sure why Peter asked him to join him walking on the water. For me, the miracle is not that Jesus walked on water, nor that Peter walked on water, which is exceedingly cool. In my mind the miracle of the story is that Peter got out of the boat. That’s the kind of faith I want.
Sea of Galilee – Can’t say I wasn’t tempted to go for a walk myself.
Mount of the Beatitudes – Darn it. Forgot to get a picture of the exterior of the church commemorating where Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount. I made up my own beatitude: “Blessed are the flexible, for they will not be bent out of shape.”
Primacy of Peter Church – This church commemorates John 21, where Jesus appears to the disciples on the shore of the Sea of Galilee and cooks them breakfast. Peter denied him three times. Three times Jesus asks Peter loves him. His three-fold denial is forgiven by his three-fold declaration of love. At the end, Jesus says, “Follow me.” Sounds like a plan.
Primacy of Peter Church – the rock is where Jesus sat and cooked breakfast for the apostles on the shore of the Sea of Galilee.
Capernaum – So many miracles, so little time. Jesus lived here for a good while. It was here that he expelled the demon in the synagogue, where he cured Peter’s mother-in-law and then everybody else in the town who was ailing. The place buzzes with miraculous energy. Very cool. The Basilica is build right over Peter’s house. This is a a seven arrow site. It’s really Peter’s house.
We had Mass right over Peter’s house in Capernaum. The glass in the floor lets you see the house underneath. The ruins of the 4th century synagogue built over the one Jesus preached in and expelled the demon. The foundations of Peter’s house under the basilica.
That was a lot for one day. We are pooped. This was some extreme pilgriming!
Hey, Church fans! As many of you know, I am in the Holy Land on the parish pilgrimage. Stay tuned for the next couple of weeks as I will take you along to some of the holy sites. I believe every Christian should come to the Holy Land at least once in his or her lifetime. There are two reason, among many. One is spiritual. The other is practical. First, you will never read the Sacred Scriptures the same way again. Second, it is important to come here to understand the political situation and especially how it negatively affects the life of Christians in the Holy Land. Coming on pilgrimage helps to support the Christians who have managed to remain here, despite the economic and political challenges. It is important that we help them remain so that the holy sites can continue to have vibrant worshiping communities and not become museums.
Day 1 – Mt. Carmel and the Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel – Home of the Brown Scapular.
After 27 hours in transit, we arrived in Tel Aviv on Saturday morning. We met our hosts, Friar Page and Friar Anthony, both Franciscan priests. Once on the bus, we were whisked up to the port city of Haifa located at the top of the Carmel Mountains. You will recall that it was from here that the prophet Elijah had the showdown with the 450 prophets of the false god Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah and then ended the three and a half year drought (1Kings18:1-46). In the 4th century, Christian monks have been here in the spirit of Elijah. From this tradition, the Brown Scapular has grown. The Shrine of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel sit on a hill overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. We had Mass there in a side chapel. I picked up some scapulars in the gift shop.
Above the high altar at the Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel
Day 2 – Basilica of the Annunciation and Mt. Tabor
We arrived in Nazareth last night. The Friars have been here for over eight centuries and boy, can they pick real estate. Their guest house, the “Casa Nova”, is right across the street from the Basilica of the Annunciation. So why is it so called? Quite simply, because it is built over the site where the Incarnation actually took place. No kidding.
There are two types of sites in the Holy Land, those that are commemorative and those where the biblical events actually took place. There are seven criteria or seven “arrows” that point to a site to determine which type it is. These include the scriptures, various types of archeological evidence, and the historical documentation. A “seven arrow” site means that all seven criteria are pointing to a site as the authentic place where the biblical event actually happened. In this case we are talking about Luke 1:26-38 where the Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and announced to her that she would conceive through the Holy Spirit and bear the Messiah. The modern Basilica was completed in 1969. It is build around the house that Mary was raised in Nazareth. The description “Verbum caro hic factum est” translates “Here, the Word was made flesh.”
We had Mass in the friars’ chapel off to the side since the parish was having their regular Sunday morning Mass. Then I went back and said a rosary for you.
The Basilica of the Annunciation from my room at the Friars Guest House2100 years of history in one shot. Inside the present day basilica you can see the wall of the 11th century Crusader church in the background, the aps of the 4th century Byzantine Church in the foreground and the childhood home of Mary in the center. The Interior of Mary’s childhood home. Here the Word was made flesh. Parishioners of the Basilica of the Annunciation having coffee and donuts after Mass. One more thing that makes the Church truly universal.
Mt. Tabor – the place of the Transfiguration
Jesus took the Peter James and John up a high mountain and there he was transfigured before them. (Matthew 17:1-8; Mk 9:2–8; Lk 9:28–36. ) This is a four or five arrow site. It’s pretty certain that the Transfiguration happened here, but we don’t know exactly where on the mountain. Archeological evidence under the basilica indicates that sacrifices were offered on this spot long before even the Hebrews arrived. Present basilica was built in the early 20th century. “Lord, it is good that we are here.”
Facade of the Basilica of the TransfigurationInterior of the Basilica of the Transfiguration – Nice mosaic of Jesus, Moses and Elijah with Peter, James, and John below.
I am in the process of moving and realizing between my husband and myself we have many bibles. I want to dispose of them properly, but I am not sure how to go about that. Please educate me on the proper disposal of them. – C
Dear C,
If possible, it is best to give old Bibles away. I suggest donating them to a church or school or a religious Thrift Store. That way, it makes them available to others at reasonable price and the proceeds go a good cause. The same is true for sacramentals and other blessed objects such as crucifixes, rosaries, and holy cards, etc. If a Bible or sacramental is in such a deteriorated condition that it cannot be given away, it is proper to bury or burn it completely. For rosaries and whatnot, you may want to salvage the crucifix and the medallion and give it to someone who makes rosaries so that they can be recycled. The same is true for the corpus and sign on a wooden crucifix.
Many prayers during the move. It is always a bit exciting, but very stressful as well. Here is a suggestion for when you get to your destination and start to unpack. Go out to a thrift store and get yourself a small tabletop Christmas tree. Decorate it up. Next, stack all your boxes in the living room or garage or wherever. Then put the tree in the middle and start playing Christmas music. Wine is optional. This changes the whole dynamic of unpacking. Suddenly, you find yourself saying, “Ooooh look at this! Bathroom towels! Just what we needed!” It also helps one remember that everything we have is ultimately a gift from God and from others.
Dear Fr. Leo:
My husband and I are having our 25th wedding anniversary soon. We wanted to renew our wedding vows, but the priest said that we don’t do that in the Catholic Church. So how do we celebrate our twenty-five years of marriage? – F
Dear F,
First of all, let me thank and congratulate you both for your faithful witness in the vocation of Holy Matrimony. The world has changed. Sadly, your steadfast fidelity to Christ and to each other is not well understood in the present day. It needs to be celebrated from the rooftops. We have a great way of doing that in the Church, but it does not involve renewing your vows. Here’s why.
Because the Church holds married life is such high regard, it’s important to remember what happens when a man and a woman profess their vows according to the laws of the Church in the sight of God, each other, and the gathered community. In doing so, they are making a total gift of themselves, body and soul, without reservation and without condition. This exchange of consent is what creates the marriage. To do so, you have to know yourself inside out and backwards – you can’t give yourself away if you are not your own person. Also, you have to know the one you are giving yourself to -one should never give oneself away without profound and prayerful discernment. Finally, you have the know the nature of the relationship into which you are both entering, namely a permanent, indissoluble union that is life-giving in so many ways.
As the saying goes, “The wedding is a day. The marriage is a lifetime.” Recognizing this, marital consent is given only once at the exchange of vows. This is true for Catholics and non-Catholics alike. Unlike a Netflix subscription, or temporary religious vows, your marriage vows do not expire. Thus, it is unnecessary to renew them. The Church presumes the couple meant what they said and will continue to grow into those vows as life goes on.
So how do we celebrate such a profound vocation? Ask your priest or deacon for the Blessing of a Married Couple found in the Book of Blessings. It is very lovely and involves the reading of scripture, the blessing of your rings, some intercessions, and several options of prayers for blessing of the couple. In our parish, we like to do this during Sunday Mass. That way everyone can join in the blessing and celebrate the couple.
We do this because a good marriage does not just benefit the couple and their family. Its faithfulness and fruitfulness radiate out to include all the rest of us. The Irish, being a great and noble race of people, have a wonderful saying, “May the love of God warm your heart like a great fire so that a friend may come and warm himself there.” A good marriage does the same thing.
Thank you so much for being married! May God bless you in your next twenty-five years.
[Do you really have to hate your mother and father to follow Jesus?}
This week marks something of a milestone in space exploration as NASA is continuing to ramp up for a return to the moon.
I find this of great interest. One of my earliest childhood memories was crowding around the television in our basement watching the first lunar landing and seeing Neil Armstrong exit the landing craft and become the first human being to walk on the moon.
Space and things astronomical have always fascinated me. So it was with great anticipation that I awaited the first images from the Hubble space telescope as it was launched into low earth orbit in 1990. With great precision, the engineers pointed this amazing contraption into the heavens. Then they hit the button and awaited the first images to be beamed back to earth…
…The images were blurry. The telescope would not focus properly.
After no small amount of analysis, it was found that the problem was due to a simple error in math. One engineering team had been designing using the metric system and another had been using the imperial system. Fortunately, the problem was corrected three years later by a crew from the Space Shuttle and now even thirty years later, we can enjoy vivid, high-resolution images of galaxies and nebulae and all kinds of cool things that are out there in the great expanse of space.
I think of this embarrassing, and very expensive episode with the Hubble Telescope where the greatest minds of our time got it wrong, and I am reminded of a plaque that hung in the office of the Superintendent at the jobsite on Adak in the Aleutian Islands where I worked construction in the summers during college. It read:
In short, if you want to do the job right, you better know what you are getting yourself into beforehand.
That is essentially what Jesus is doing as he speaks with his disciples in this week’s gospel from Luke 14. If you are going be his disciple, you’ve got to know what you are getting yourself into.
Our Holy Father said this morning that these are very difficult words. Jesus is going up to Jerusalem. A great crowd is following him, many simply because he is a superstar. Jesus stops and tells them in no uncertain terms that discipleship is not for the faint of heart.
First, your relationship with Christ, must come before your family. This is not to say that you have to disown your family. But it does make sense. They say that “blood is thicker than water.” The question here could be WHOSE blood? When it comes to a case of facts, we have to admit that the blood of our family heritage that brought us to life in this passing world always gives way to the blood of Christ who has given us eternal life. The primary relationship HAS to be Christ for even our relationships with our family to be rightly ordered.
Second, being a follower of Christ will involves SACRIFICE. For Jesus to say, “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” would have made absolutely no sense to his listeners. Crucifixion was a brutal Roman means of execution. In our own day, it is as if he had said, “Whoever does not sit in his own electric chair cannot be my disciple.” Or “whoever does not lie on his own lethal injection table cannot be my disciple.”
What are we to make of this? If we listen to what he says elsewhere, we cannot escape the conclusion that if Christ is truly the center of our lives; if we try to be his disciples; even if we do this poorly, there are those who will find it very annoying. And finding it annoying they would like to see us removed from the public square.
This can happen on many levels.
In its most benign sense, it may mean that we will be snubbed and ignored in matters of public discourse. And this is certainly true. In the wake of the Enlightenment, truth is in the eye of the beholder.
It was Descartes who famously said, “I think, therefore I am.” In so doing he made himself the center of the universe around which everything else revolved.
How small is the intellectual leap from seeing truth as an objective reality to a subjective one. Unthinkable a few generations ago, now the airwaves and screens are full of those who hold sincerely that my truth is as real as your truth. This bodes ill for those of us Christians for whom the truth is not a something, but a someone – Jesus the Christ, who is the way, the truth, and the life.
Furthermore, it is a sad testimony that in the secular West, a person is free to embrace just about any religion…except Christianity. Among Christians, we Catholics are the most suspect.
In its most extreme sense, this desire to remove us from society takes on the form of brutal, repressive persecution of the Church, even to the point of death. Earlier this month, President Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua, forcibly closed seven Catholic radio stations and placed the Cardinal Archbishop of Managua under house arrest on charges of sedition and treason. Cardinal Alvarez’s alleged crime was that he supported student protesters who had demonstrated against the policies and practices of the regime. Namely, that all opposition candidates in the recent election had all been arrested and incarcerated before the last election.
We say to ourselves, “Oh that could never happen here!” Personally, given the momentum of history, I am not so optimistic. But neither am I worried if it does. Persecution is part of discipleship. The seeds of faith have always been watered by the blood of martyrs. Why should we think it will be any different in our own time?
In light of this, Jesus’ comment that “Anyone who does not renounce all of his possessions cannot be my disciple” is almost an afterthought. Still it bears reflection. They say that you spend the first third of your life wanting stuff, the second third of your life accumulating stuff and the last third of your life trying to get rid of stuff. Nevertheless, at some point each one of us must ask the question: “Do I own my possessions? Or do my possessions own me? The answer to that question will tell us much about ourselves and where we are on the spectrum of discipleship. In the end we know that we are stewards, not owners. We leave everything behind in this world. In the meantime, we are each given gifts of time, talent and treasure. The key is to use these gifts in a way that is pleasing to the Giver, and to return them to the Lord with increase.
The words of Jesus today are very hard in one sense, but they are very liberating in another. When we stop to think about it, Jesus is not asking us to do anything he has not already done himself. Furthermore, through the gift of the Holy Spirit, the power of God’s love alive in the world; the same Spirit that animated the life of Christ, descended upon Mary and the Apostles at Pentecost; the same Spirit that animates the life of every Christian; through this Holy Spirit, Our Lord has given us the means to live our Catholic faith in the midst of the world courageously and joyfully.
We stand in the truth in love in the world and for the world. In so doing, we transform the world and help it to become what God has created it to be.
Having lived in a foreign country for some time, moving in their culture and speaking their language, I have a great admiration for anyone who emigrates to the United States. English is not an easy language to learn! Other languages have rules. We have rules, but break them with impunity. Here is a poem I found about that very thing. Sadly, I do not know who to credit it to. Please help me out if you can. Whoever wrote it deserves credit.
English is a Funny Language
We’ll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes,
But the plural of ox becomes oxen, not oxes.
One fowl is a goose, but two are called geese,
Yet the plural of moose should never be meese.
You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice,
Yet the plural of house is houses, not hice.
If the plural of man is always called men,
Why shouldn’t the plural of pan be called pen?
If I speak of my foot and show you my feet,
And I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet?
If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth,
Why shouldn’t the plural of booth be called beeth?
Then one may be that, and three would be those,
Yet hat in the plural would never be hose,
And the plural of cat is cats, not cose.
We speak of a brother and also of brethren,
But though we say mother, we never say methren.
Then the masculine pronouns are he, his and him,
But imagine the feminine: she, shis and shim!
Yes, English is a strange language. Once in high school in my AP English course, the teacher, a very kind man who was always looking for ways to expand our vocabularies noticed that one of our classmates was very expansive in her preferences. “Goodness, Laurie,” he said to her. “You certainly have very catholic tastes!” At this, the class broke out in laughter. “What have I said?” he asked innocently.
She laughed and said, “Dr. Jenkins…I’m Jewish!” He blushed a bit and explained that ‘catholic’ in the sense that he had used it simply meant “universal” or “all encompassing.”
As I mentioned last week, it is this sense of universality and expansiveness that led J.K. Chesterton to once describe the Church as “Here comes everybody!”
This is a very different from the early days in salvation history. As we read in the Old Testament, when things started out, it was a very exclusive relationship between God and his Chosen People.
However, as time passed we see the prophets proclaiming, as Isaiah does in today’s first reading, how starting with Israel, the Lord will eventually gather all the nations to himself. Again, it’s all about relationship.
Jesus is very clear, however, that there is no preference for seniority in the Kingdom of God. Thus, “some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.” It doesn’t matter when you arrive at the reunion. Once you walk through the door, we are all family.
That being said, it’s helpful to assess from time to time how ‘catholic’ we really are in how we live our lives. Namely, does our Catholic Faith inform every part of our lives or just certain parts of it?
At home do we stop what we are doing everyday and gather for prayer, besides just before meals?
At work, do our coworkers know that we are Catholic by the values that we bring to the workplace.
In society, This is an election year. How much does Catholic Social Teaching inform how we vote on the candidates and the issues?
May our faith and our lives always be truly “Catholic”, not just in name, but in fact, and in action.
There are eight of us kids in the Walsh family. Two boys and six girls. We are all very different, and we all get along very well these days. But as a kid, I remember some very…uh, heated discussions. Usually, it was about trivial things that siblings fight about. Sometimes it was about important things. I’m reminded of Katherine Hepburn’s famous line in the classic film The Lion in Winter, “But what family doesn’t have its ups and downs?” I think this could apply to the Church as well.
One of the most apt descriptions of the Catholic Church is “the worldwide family of God.” This makes a lot of sense. The Kingdom of God is built of relationships. The relationship that all members of the Church share is to be in communion with Christ and each other. Even Canon Law states that the first duty of the Christian faithful is to “maintain communion with the Church.” (Can. 209 §1).
In its most basic sense, this means that we are united in faith in Jesus Christ as Son of God, our Savior and Redeemer. In its most profound sense, it means we are united at the very level of our being. Remember, faith is first and foremost a relationship of communion with Christ and with each other. Therefore, the description of the Church as family is very apt.
Look at any family and it becomes obvious they are a pretty diverse bunch. Each member has a variety of strengths and each has different areas where he or she needs the other members to be strong for them. It’s the same in our parish family and the same in the Church universal. The Church is marvelously diverse in its unity. So much so that G.K. Chesterton once described the Catholic Church as, “Here comes everybody!”
We all have different likes and dislikes. Different musical tastes and senses of humor. Different cultural backgrounds and pious practices. All of this is what helps make the Church truly “catholic.” In light of this, a problem arises when one or more members of the family begins to see themselves as the “real” members of the family and the others as less so. Granted, some members of the family may not stay in touch as well as others. Sometimes they do things that are against the way they were raised and may even do hurtful things to bring scandal to the family. That does not make them any less a member of the family.
It’s the same in the worldwide family of God, the Church. Some members remain very close to home. Others may drift away. Others might even say and do things that are diametrically opposed to how we are called to live our faith. But we never give up on them. They are always part of the family. Our task in such circumstances to continually invite all members of the Church to continual conversion of mind and heart; to deepen that relationship of communion with Christ and each other. Reflecting the mercy of Christ, we “admonish the sinner” not to cast them out and show how good and pious we are, but rather to invite him or her in love to a renewed and deeper communion.
Each member of the family is unique and is in diverse circumstances. Therefore, the approach to each will be equally diverse. There is no one-size-fits-all remedy, whether it is a fellow parishioner or a public official. We may be sorely disappointed by another’s behavior. We may be saddened by their absence. But we are never allowed to cease caring about them. They are always part of the family.
Hey, Church fans! Had a great time last week flying a couple of kids around to see the local glaciers. This week, we hear Jesus say, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” What’s he getting at? Check it out.
Are You Involved or Committed? XIX Sunday in Ordinary Time
Yesterday, I had had breakfast with a friend at a local iconic establishment.
We both ordered bacon and eggs.
As our food arrived, he looked at me and said, “You know, that’s the difference between being involved and being committed.
“How do you figure?” I asked.
“Well,” he said, “Look at your breakfast.”
“Yeah,” I said, “Bacon and eggs.”
“Yep, bacon and eggs,” he said. “Think about it. The chicken is involved…the pig is committed!”
He’s right, you know.
It raises a good question for each of us in light of Jesus’ words in the gospel today.
When it comes to being a disciple of Jesus in St. Patrick’s
Are you involved
Or are you committed?
One thing I like about St. Patrick’s is that we never do anything halfway.
We go all in. We sing every verse and we don’t leave Mass early, even when the donuts are right outside the door!
We do this for a reason. First know hat one should never be in a hurry to leave the House of God.
Second, we remember with sadness that Judas was the first one to leave Mass early…
We are here to praise God, to share our stories, to share communion and fellowship with God and one another, and to be sent back into the world to proclaim the Good News of the Resurrection and the forgiveness of sins.
But at certain point each one of us has to decided, “I am merely involved, or am I committed?”
How you answer that question will make all the difference.
This is what Jesus is getting at when he says, “Where your treasure is, there also will be your heart.”
If our “treasure”, i.e., that which is most valuable to us is our relationship with God and others, those relationships will take priority over everything else. That is when we become committed. That’s when we organize our time and our resources to building up those relationships.
I’ve said it before, “Show me your calendar and your bank statement and I will tell you what your priorities are.”
But such a commitment isn’t easy and it doesn’t come overnight. Such stewardship of our time and resources takes time, practice, vigilance.
There are lots of things that compete for our attention. Very few of these are bad in and of themselves. Indeed, if I was the evil one, I would fill your life with so many good things that you would not have time for the essential relationships that give life joy and meaning.
It we are not careful our lives can become like our garages, filled with so much cool stuff that we can no longer use it for the reason it was built.
We need to pay attention. We need to be vigilant. We need to be like “servants who await our master’s return.” We need to examine our priorities every day to make sure we are focused on who and what really matters.
As individuals and as a parish family, we have all been given so much. Thus, much will be demanded of us. At the end of the age, when we stand together as a parish before the Lord, he will ask us what we did to build up the Kingdom here in 99504.
Now is a good time to examine where our heart is. Now is a good time to look at our calendar and our bank statement. Is our relationship with Christ, with our parish family, with the Church our first priority? If not, where do we need to make adjustments? There is no guarantee of tomorrow. The Master could return at any moment. Now is the time to decide if we are involved or committed.
[Hello, Church fans! Wow! Did Deacon Mick hit it out of the park this weekend. Probably one of his top five homilies of all time and certainly worth sharing with the blogosphere. Here it is. My musings on the same readings are below. ]
Deacon Mick Fornelli – “Your money or your life?!”
Way back when, as I was filling out the application to be a seminarian for the Archdiocese, I came across the last question which read: “If you were not applying to become a priest, what do you see yourself doing in five years?” I have a business degree from a big, fancy university. So I paused for a moment and then wrote down: “Working on my third million!”
The way I would do it is simple. I would open up a Self Storage facility. These things are essentially a license to print money. There is a very good reason for this—People have too much stuff!
They say that we spend the first third of our live wanting stuff, the second third accumulating stuff, and the last third trying to get rid of stuff. Coming to the end of what is likely the second third of my life, I can relate. If you have a storage unit, or have ever had a storage unit, you know what I am talking about.
When I was in college and up through the time I was ordained at 29, I had a simple rule. “If it didn’t fit in the pickup, it didn’t go.” But eventually, stuff started to fill up the corners of the garage, and then the center, and well…. All I can say is thank the Lord for Craigslist and Marketplace. Now I can get rid of stuff.
The point of the parable about the foolish rich man with the big barns is pretty clear to us. Stuff is nice. Stuff is useful. But in the long run, stuff doesn’t matter in the Kingdom.
The Kingdom of Heaven is built on relationships. Thus, the only stuff we take with us from this life are the relationships that we build up in this life with Christ, and with one another. This is what we mean by “the communion of saints.”
Relationships are not rocket science. If you want a relationship to grow, you give it time and attention. So, spend time in prayer, giving your attention to the Lord. Spend time with your parish family in liturgy and fellowship. Spend time with your friends, giving them your love and attention. This is the stuff of the Kingdom. This is our treasure in heaven.
