Hello, blogosphere! I did not preach to the parish this weekend, but I did start a column in the parish bulletin. I think I’ll put these in as well. Let me know what you think.
How long, O LORD? I cry for help but you do not listen! I cry out to you, “Violence!” but you do not intervene. Why do you let me see ruin; why must I look at misery? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and clamorous discord. Then the LORD answered me and said: Write down the vision clearly upon the tablets, so that one can read it readily. For the vision still has its time, presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint; if it delays, wait for it, it will surely come, it will not be late. The rash one has no integrity; but the just one, because of his faith, shall live.
Take a good look a the reading from Habakkuk in this week’s scriptures. Now, think about your own prayer life, how often have you used these or similar words: “How long, O LORD? I cry for help, but you do not listen!”
These words of Habakkuk are in the scriptures because at some time or another, every disciple has experienced shouting, pleading, and sometimes ranting at a Silent God.
There are many reasons for this I suppose. One might be that too often we pray “MY will be done!” instead of “THY will be done.” But I think this is not so common.
Rather, I think it is because in our insta-gram, fast food, give-it-to-me-now, culture we are not very good at waiting. We want it right done right, we want it courteously, and we want it NOW! For reasons we often do not fully understand, waiting irritates us.
And yet, as Christians, waiting is an essential element of the faith. We await the coming of Christ in glory at the end of the age. As we here in the Embolism at the end of the Lord’s Prayer: “…as we await the blessed hope and the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ.”
There is a great difference between waiting with great irritation and waiting in joyful hope. Often times there are many things in the background that we are unaware of that the need to happen before the good stuff can happen. For example, I’m told that the cone of certain pine trees will lay dormant for decades and will not germinate until a wildfire burns the husk and activates the seed. It may be urban (or more precisely “arborial”) myth, but the point is well taken.
In the same way, I have found that so much of prayer is simply waiting on God. And I have learned that if I am willing to wait long enough, insight always comes…always.
Finally, it is important to remember that God has three way of answering prayers: a) “Yes.” b) Not Yet”, and c) “I have something better in mind for you.”
Today
I will talk about – Wealth, Poverty the
Middle Class and the Kingdom of God
Jesus
spoke in parables for a reason
They can be interpreted on many levels
Literally – real weath and real poverty
Spiritually – rich in faith, poor in
spirit
Analogically – rich man as the pharisees,
Lazarus as the people of Israel
Today I will be looking at the parable in
the literal sense.
Also, when someone remains unnamed in a
parable, the listener is invited to see themselves in that role.
From our earlier meditations, we know
that wealth in and of itself is neither sinful, nor virtuous,
Poverty in an of itself is neither sinful
nor virtuous
Being
somewhere in the middle class is neither sinful nor virtuous
Yesterday, we celebrated the feast of King
Wenceslaus, who ruled an empire,
on Friday we will celebrate the feast of
St. Francis
who renounced all wealth and lived and died in abject poverty.
Both and many like them are celebrated as
great saints.
So, what’s key?
If wealth or poverty is neither virtuous
nor sinful, what was the Rich Man’s sin?
Was it that he did not feed Lazarus with the scraps from this table? Not really.
Was it that he did not bath his wounds so that he might be healed? No so much…
No, the Rich Man’s sin was that he did
not even SEE Lazarus. He was blind to the reality of another man who was right
on his doorstep. He had the means, but he did not have the vision.
Wealth, in and of itself is neither virtuous
nor sinful, but wealth at the service of the gospel can make all the difference!
By the same token, poverty in and of itself is neither sinful nor virtuous, but
poverty lived in service to the gospel can make all the difference.
It’s not being rich or poor or somewhere
in between that matters…It’s what you do with it. None of us is without the
means the to live the truth of the gospel, to proclaim it in lives of faithful
service of the gospel
But to do so, we see, pray, discern, and
then to act as we are able.
I’m not sure what has been going on in
this town since I left for Italy three years ago, but we have a marvelous gift
in that it is virtually impossible to drive through town without seeing the
poor.
This
believe it or not, is a marvelous gift. What do I mean?
Well, let me tell you about the first time
I ever met Mother Teresa, now know as St. Teresa Kolkata
(actually, it’s the only time I ever met
Mother Teresa)
It was while I was in the seminary in the
mid-1990’s. The seminary was having an in-house silent day of reflection on the
Compassion of Christ. There was a morning, an afternoon and an evening
conference.
At the afternoon conference, at the end
of his talk the spiritual director the house said, “Gentlemen, the dress code
for Vespers this evening is formal. We
have a very special guest coming.”
Now we had all been on enough high school
retreats by this time and so we laughed among ourselves and said, “Oh yes! Jesus is coming!”
But then he continued and said, “Mother
Teresa is in Rome. We have invited to join
us for evening prayer and she has accepted.”
Not that was something different. So we said among ourselves. “Are you going to dress up? Do you think she
is really coming?”
Well, we did and she did.
She
entered the room and we all stood up out of respect.
Then she knelt down to pray.
So we all knelt down to pray.
And
at the appropriate time during Vespers, the rector invited her to speak.
Now the first thing you noticed about Mother
Teresa was that she was only about 4 and a half feet tall. Apparently height is neither virtuous nor
sinful either.
The second thing is that she liked to
talk and there was no one in that room
who was going to try to silence her.
We were all anticipating what great
pearls of wisdom might come from the mouth of the saint.
And this is what she said to us, “My
young brothers, you who want to be priests, you must love the Lord your God
with all your heart and all your soul and all your strength…and this is how I
have done it…”
And then for the next 45 minutes she just
told us stories about things she had done and how God had opened her eyes to
see the poverty on the streets of Kolkata, and she had found her vocation in
serving Christ in the poorest of the poor. She did not do it to get
noticed. In fact in the middle of her
talk she said: “You know, I would rather bathe a leper than talk to the press.”
And as she continued, we all noticed that
there was really nothing all that extraordinary to what she was doing, nothing
any of us could not do.
No, the great wisdom of Mother Teresa is that she did very ordinary things, with an extraordinary love, and she did it without compromise.
Near the end she said to us, “People are always
saying to me, Mother Teresa, I want to come to Kolkata to help you serve the
poor. And I always say to them, ‘Don’t
come. You find the poor in your own
neighborhood and you serve Christ in them.’”
If we have eyes to see, we do not have to
look very hard to find the poor in our town.
How shall we serve Christ, by serving them?
I encourage you to read my column in the bulletin
this week. In there I note with great
interest how three private entities have pledged over $40 million over the next
five years to address the problem of homeless in Anchorage. That is quite a lot of resources. Time will
tell if it will make a difference.
But what about you? What about me? What about all of us as the parish family of
St. Patrick? What shall we do…such as we
are – wealthy, poor, or somewhere in between?
We may not all be called to extraordinary
things, (Although I am convinced some in this room are.)
But we are all called to see, to pray, to
discern, and then to act as we are able.
[The Story of the Boy and the Starfish.]
Perhaps it is something as simple as washing
feet at the Brother Francis Shelter, or to bring food for Clare House, or to
donate clothes, or to fund a worthwhile project…
No,
it’s not so much doing the extraordinary things that will get us to heaven, but
rather doing very ordinary things with an extraordinary, uncompromising love.
Deacon Mick Fornelli – 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time
[Howdy, Blogosphere! This week Deacon Mick Fornelli gave one heck of a good homily at St. Pat’s. With his permission, I share it with you now.]
There are times, I think
we all have the inability to focus
so we do things to help bring the focus back.
Channel surfing is something we probably all do.
I know I do and it drives Michelle a little crazy.
We use the TV remote control to
run through all the 6-700 various cable & Internet channels
trying to focus or commit on one .
Our life can become like that.
It’s called compartmentalization.
One channel is about family life.
Another is our job.
Another is our Church Life.
Another is our social life.
Another is our political life.
Every day maybe even every hour
we switch from one channel to another
and never connect them.
The truth is that ——- a Catholics, we are called
to focus on only one channel in our life
it’s the channel to be followers of Jesus
wherever we are and wherever we go.
Our first reading
from the Old Testament prophet Amos
gives us a snapshot
of some merchants/money changers in a synagogue service,
bored to death.
They’re waiting for the service and the sabbath
to be over so they can go back
to what they did best ——
and what they did best was cheating and shortchanging people.
This was their version of compartmentalization.
They separated their religious duties
from their business or work life
and separated both of these from their family life.
This example of the lack of living ones faith
is a constant subject of so many of Jesus’ homilies.
If we are going to be true followers of Jesus
then being a follower of Jesus should affect
how we raise our family, how we do our job,
how we vote, how we spend our leisure time.
There is no time-off from being an intentional disciple of Christ.
Unlike those merchants in the synagogue that Amos describes,
our faith should influence and impact everything we do.
In fact,
everything we do should be a way of serving the Lord.
In his Letter to Timothy in today’s second reading,
St. Paul writes that
we should pray for kings and all those in authority.
That is something we Christians should not forget.
We should hold up all our leaders in prayer,
even those for whom we did not vote
or even those we opposed.
The kings and leaders in St. Paul’s time
could be extremely brutal. Yet,
Paul says that we should still pray for them.
My friends, —— There is power in prayer.
Prayer can change the world.
Finally, we have the Gospel parable of the devious servant.
It’s unclear why
homilists find this parable so puzzling.
It’s relatively evident that
the Lord is praising the man’s ingenuity
and He says that the children of light
should be as thoughtful and resourceful
when it comes to the matter of salvation.
Jesus tells us
we need be just as clever
in planning for a secure future for ourselves,
and it’s not just for the few years we spend on-earth that
we have to provide ———— but more importantly
also for our time in eternity.
Our life in this world is temporary.
Eternity is forever.
So —— do we apply the same ingenuity
the same thought and planning
to our own spiritual life as we do to other areas of our life?
Many people put more effort
into taking care of their body
than they do in caring for their soul.
Some people who don’t think twice
about spending hour after hour at a gym to stay in shape
have difficulty spending an hour in church
or even 10 minutes a day in prayer.
Many people spend more time studying the stock market
and taking care of their portfolios
than they do deepening their faith.
Many people put much more thought and effort
into buying a car or the newest computer or the latest iPhone
then they do in seeking the will of the Lord in their life.
Many people spend more time
in planning their career here on earth
than their future in eternity.
I believe, the point of this parable is straightforward.
The manager used his position
and even the fact of his termination
to take care of his future.
Do we use events in our life
— both positive and negative —
that happen to us as a way of coming closer to the Lord?
My friends, what we do with our wealth,
our time; and our resources
says a great deal about our priorities,
and the seriousness of our fidelity to Christ.
Stop channel surfing!
The stock markets goes up and down.
Wealth can be taken away by a medical crisis.
Popularity comes and goes like the seasons.
Careers come to an end and the company continues without us.
The high fashion of one decade
is the joke of the next.
Neighborhoods change
and old landmarks are replaced.
Our bodies weaken and our appearance changes.
But our soul,
unlike every other investment we make,
lasts forever
and it’s our ticket to eternity.
The call of this parable is to
take as much care of the spiritual side of our life
as we do for the material side.
The call of this parable tells us to
avoid compartmentalization, to avoid channel surfing
by letting our commitment to our faith
and our love of Jesus Christ
shape everything we do.
Quite simply —- It calls us to focus on
and show the same ingenuity,
planning and effort in our spiritual life
as we do in our material life.
My brothers and sisters,
have absolutely no doubt
the best decision we will ever make
is the investment in and the care
we take of our immortal soul.
[Sad to say, through the miracle of technology, there is no audio file for his homily. But the text is below.]
Today we are going to talk a bit
about deliberation in discipleship. Just
as there are no anonymous Christians, it is impossible to be a disciple without
being intentional. Discipleship takes planning and deliberation. There are no
accidental Christians.
We Alaskans are pretty good about
planning. Many of us live here because
we like to head out into the wilderness. But you and I both know that you don’t
go into the wilderness without planning.
Sadly, we
read all too often in the paper about people who did not prepare correctly with
disastrous and sometimes fatal results.
It’s no different being a
disciple of Jesus Christ. That’s what he’s telling his disciples today in the
gospel. Essentially he is telling them,
and us, that if we would follow him, we have to know what we are getting into.
“If anyone comes to me without hating
his father and mother,
wife and children, brothers and sisters,
and even his own life,
he cannot be my disciple.
Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me
cannot be my disciple.
And he goes
on. You don’t start a construction
project without first doing the math to see if you can afford it. You don’t go
to war with a strong foe without a reasonable chance of success.
We do no go into the wilderness
without planning and deliberation. We
don’t start building projects without planning and deliberation. We don’t go
into battle without planning and deliberation.
Why then
would you ever think that you could enter into the dessert of contemplation, that
you could build a life centered on Jesus, or that you could do battle with
devil without planning and deliberation?
There is no
discipleship without deliberation. There are no accidental Christians.
Yet, so often we try to do
exactly that. We try to be disciples on the fly. We try to ad lib our way through the life of
virtue. Here is one of my favorite
prayers of an accidental Christian:
Dear Lord,
So far I’ve done all right.
I haven’t gossiped,
haven’t lost my temper,
haven’t been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish, or overindulgent.
I’m really glad about that.
But in a few minutes, God,
I’m going to get out of bed.
And from then on,
I’m going to need a lot more help.
This is a
cute prayer, kind of funny, and it does emphasize how we need to depend on God,
but it really doesn’t require anything of us. You and I both know that it’s not
just about avoiding the wrong things. It’s about ordering our lives with Christ
at the center so that the world may “see the good things we do and give glory
to the Father.”
So,
if we are going to be intentional disciples, it will take planning and
deliberation. But where do you
start? Here are three easy steps:
Step 1 – Involves
getting our priorities straight, especially when it comes to relationships.
Does Jesus really want us to hate our father and mother, wife and children,
brothers and sister, even our very life?
I don’t think so. But he is saying without apology that if you put any
other relationship, even your most cherished ones, before your relationship
with Christ, then your priorities are out of order. We must put Christ in the
center, because it is our relationship with Christ that gives context and
meaning to all our other relationships and gives them life.
Step 2 – Once we get our
priorities rightly ordered, take inventory of how you are spending your time
and your resources. It’s very
simple. Show me your calendar, show me
your checkbook or your Alaska Airlines Mileage Card statement and I will tell
you what your priorities are.
Step 3 – Organize your physical space to make room
for Jesus. Now, I don’t have a house to live in right now, but most of you
do. Very likely you have a place to eat, a place to sleep, perhaps a place for
the TV. If you are lucky you may have a
garage in which to put your car. Is
there a place in your house dedicated to prayer?
These three simple steps can make
all the difference in the movement from being a consumer of religious goods and
services to an intentional disciple of Jesus Christ.
1.
Examine the priorities of your
relationships
2. Take an inventory of how you spend your time
and resources
3. Organize your physical space to make room for
Jesus.
It is
especially important that we do so, because we know that sooner or later our
faith will be tested and the cost of discipleship will become manifestly clear.
We have a very clear example of
this in the second reading. What’s going
on? The letter is written by St. Paul in
his later years to a wealthy Christian named Philemon. We know that Philemon
was wealthy because he owned slaves. One
of these slaves was named Onesimus. At
some point earlier he had run away from Philemon and eventually sought out the
Apostle Paul in Rome. At some point he became a Christian. Now, Paul is sending
him back to Philemon with the very letter we read today, asking that he be
received, not as a slave, but as a brother in Christ.
Philemon has a problem. By the
laws of that day, (which thank God are not the laws of our own day), he has
every right to punish Onesimus and re-enslave him. Yet, Paul is asking him to
receive him as he would Paul himself. What can he do? His faith is asking him to do one thing, but
the socio-economic impact would be devastating. What about his other slaves?
What would they think? What about the
neighbors?! He is being asked to reorganize his entire household according to a
whole new way of thinking. What is he going to do?
We do not know what Philemon
eventually did. There is no return
letter or record what happened next. But
since this letter is included in the canon of Scripture, I like to think that
he did the right thing. But one thing I do know is that like Philemon, we too
are asked to reorganize our lives and our households around our relationship
with Christ.
We need to
1. Examine the priorities of our
relationships
2. Take an honest inventory of
how we spend our time and our resources
3. We need to organize our
physical space to make room for Jesus.
It is not
easy,and like Philemon, it may rock our world.
But there is no greater call than
to be a Christian. Perhaps not doing great and extraordinary things, but
perhaps doing the ordinary things of life with an extraordinary love.
Our Lord
makes it abundantly clear.
There is no discipleship without
planning and deliberation.
On a dry, hot, windy day, with the fire
danger at its highest, I find it a bit unsettling that Our Lord should begin
his discourse with “I have come to light a fire on the earth!”
Talk about bad timing!
And
talk about some tough, sobering readings this week. We see Jeremiah, thrown into the muddy
cistern for proclaiming the Word of God. The psalmist cries out “Lord, come to
my aid!” The Letter to the Hebrews describes in vivid detail the sufferings of
Christ for the Gospel and even Our Lord says that those who follow him will be
subject to persecution even from those closest to them for the sake of the
Gospel.
I’m going to speak today about one of
the more difficult aspects of Christian discipleship. It will be quite sobering,
some of it may be a bit depressing; but don’t worry, as with Jeremiah, I will
take us down into the cistern, but at the end I will draw up out again.
Why were Christians persecuted in
ancient times?
Because of the nature of their message,
and the threat they represented to established internal power structures, they
were rejected by the Jewish religious leadership of their day and eventually
expelled from the Synagogue.
But in the Roman Empire in general, they
were more or less left alone until 64 AD.
What happened then?
Well,
it helps to remember that the Romans were very religious people. They had a god and a religious observance for
just about everything. If you went to the market or transacted other business,
you made a short sacrifice to Mercury. If you wanted kids, you visited the
Temple of Vesta, goddess of fertility.If the state went to war, which they seem
to have done quite often, the sacrifice was to Mars. And everything in the
Empire depended on keeping Jupiter happy. The security of the state depended on
keeping the gods appeased.
So,
in 64 AD, Nero fiddles, and Rome burns. Somebody as angered the gods? Who could it be? Well, they had this one
religious group called Christians who refused to sacrifice to the gods. No
wonder the gods were angry. We have to
bring these people to heal.
So
ironically, the early Christians were first persecuted as atheists.
But
what about in modern times? Surely, the
world has moved beyond such things, yes?
Sadly that is not the case at all. If anything, there is more religious
persecution now than there ever was in ancient Rome. Christians seem to be getting the worst of
it. The last 25 years have seen a
dramatic increase in numbers and intensity.
According to a recent report ordered by
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt of the United Kingdom, he persecution of
Christians in parts of the world is at near “genocide” levels. The report estimated that one in three people
suffer from religious persecution. It
found that Christians were the most persecuted religious group. It warned that
Christianity “is at risk of disappearing” in some parts of the world,
pointing to figures which claimed Christians in Palestine represent less than
1.5% of the population, while in Iraq they had fallen from 1.5 million before
2003 to less than 120,000.
In
2016, the UN found that 825,000, or 40%, of Syria’s 2 Million Christians have
fled the country.
The
Vatican Charity, “Aid to the Church in Need” released its “Religious Freedom
Report” on Nov. 22, noting that 300 million Christians live in a country of
persecution, subject to violence, arrest, and human rights violations.
– 4,136: Christians
were killed for faith-related reasons
– 2,625:
Christians were detained without trial, arrested, sentenced and imprisoned
– 1,266 churches
or Christian buildings were attacked
Today,
11 countries are now considered at the “extreme” level for their
persecution of Christians. Five years ago, North Korea was the only one.
During
the past year
– 105 churches
are attacked, burned or vandalized each month
– 11 Christians
are killed every day for their faith
Why are Christians persecuted so much
more today than they were 25 years ago? One factor, is that in the middle East
and elsewhere, with the breakdown of civil order and religious extremism on the
rise, minority Christian populations are extremely vulnerable. This is
particularly true in areas where political boundaries are drawn along religious
lines.
It is a heroic thing to be a Christian
in certain parts of the world today.
It makes one appreciate the religious
liberty we enjoy, at least for now, in our own country. Granted, there has always been an
undercurrent of anti-Catholic bias in the United States. But today, one can also notice a growing
anti-Christian sentiment, and the exclusion of Christian principles from the
public square, as secular humanism seeks
to establish itself, with increasing success, as the American civil
religion. Don’t believe me, read the
Humanist Manifesto at https://americanhumanist.org/what-is-humanism/manifesto3/
Jesus knew that his message of
reconciliation and the forgiveness of sins would be opposed by those who will
only see the world through the lens of power and influence. It was true then and it is true now.
The simple fact of the matter is that if
we even try to live our Christian faith in peace; if we simply try to remain
true to the teachings of the Church; if we merely proclaim the Gospel by the
example of our lives, there are some who, thank God, will find it very
attractive. But there are others who will find it very, very annoying, and they
will do everything in their power to shut us up.
It was true for Jeremiah. It was true
for Christ. It was true for the early Christians. It is true today. Sometimes the persecution is severe, as in
the Middle East and Northern Africa. Sometimes it is more subtle, as it is
here. But have no illusions. It is part and parcel of being a Christian
If that were the end of the story, there
would be no point to being a Christian.
And as St. Paul says to the Corinthians: “we would be the most pitiable
of people.” (1 Cor 15:19)
But you and I both know that it is not
the end of the story.
We are people of the resurrection. The suffering
and death of Christ, and our own sufferings and death in this life, are a part
of the Paschal mystery. But it is the
resurrection of Christ from the dead, and our own resurrection at the end of
the age which makes all the difference. By
his passion death and resurrection Christ conquered sin and death, and
reconciled all creation to the Father.
The supreme paradox of the Good News is
that it is precisely through suffering and trial that the Christian is
transformed; the Church is transformed and purified; and the world is
transformed, so that we can become what God has created us to be.
We are
people of the resurrection. So much so
that St. Paul could say:
So
what must we do in the present age to be people of the resurrection in the face
of an increasingly hostile world?
I
offer two things for your consideration.
– First, we must support other
Christians whenever and wherever we can – by our prayers and by our practical
support. This might include the aforementioned Aid to the Church in Need, or the
Good Friday Collection for Christians in the Holy Land.
– Second, we must strive for
personal holiness centered on the person of Jesus Christ. This is not easy. It
takes prayer, it takes vigilance; it takes all of us supporting each of us, living
our faith without compromise and engaging the world in charity for the transformation
of hearts and the establishment of a just society.
It is a heroic thing to be a Christian
in the world today. But it is nothing we have not seen before; and it is something,
no doubt, we will certainly see again.
I
suspect the late Francis Cardinal George of Chicago knew this when he said:
“I expect to die in bed, my successor will die in prison and his successor will die a martyr in the public square. His successor will pick up the shards of a ruined society and slowly help rebuild civilization, as the church has done so often in human history”
Alas, no text for this one. I’m slowly figuring this blog thing out. It’s quite fun. As a bonus, here is a shot of the mosaic that I refer to from the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome:
Don’t you just love Qoheleth in the Book of Ecclesiastes?
He’s at the end of his life and lamenting the futility of it all. So we get this great line:
“Vanity of Vanities! All things are vanity!
It reminds me these three men talking one day, and the one says, “What would you like people to say people to say at your funeral?”
[“LOOK! He’s moving!”]
Vanity of vanities All is vanity.
In one sense Qoheleth is right:
With ownership comes responsibility.
With responsibility comes work
Work takes time
And we only have so much time in this life.
When it is over, we must leave all our earthly possessions behind to others.
Think about it:
You never see a hearth with a U-Haul behind it.
But is it really as futile as Qoheleth says it is?
Is it really all just vanity and a chase after the wind?
I don’t think so Saint Paul doesn’t think so and neither does Our Lord.
The key, as St. Paul rightly points out is to
“Think of what is above, not of what is on earth.”
We need to seek that which is of heaven,
Even while we are still living on this earth…
ESPECIALLY while we are still living
on this earth.
The urgency of this is made clear by Our Lord with the Parable of the Foolish Man with the Bountiful Harvest:
“Thus will it be for all who store up treasure for themselves but are not rich in what matters to God.”
Which begs the question: What matters to God?
What are these “things above” upon which we are to set our sights?
Put another way, while we are living on this earth, what are the things of heaven that are in front of our collective noses right here, right now?
What is it about the Kingdom of God that is literally within our reach?
I think I know: Let me share with your one of the best personal introductions I have ever heard.
It was given years ago by a speaker at a seminar to all the clergy and parish staff members
(definition of an expert, a guy from out of time with a briefcase.)
He started out by saying, “Let me tell you a little about myself:
– I am a disciple of Jesus Christ
– I am husband to my beautiful wife Sandra
– I am father to my children, Eddie, Carol and Bridget
– With my family I am a member of St. Gregory the Great Parish
– I am a best friend to Stephen, Larry, Carl, and a few others.
And only then did he tell us what his profession was.
As I listened to him, I thought to myself, “Self! This guy has got it right!”
He understands what really matters to God.
It’s surprisingly simple:
The Kingdom of God is all about relationships.
So on the one hand, Qoheleth is right.
We never really own anything in this life
We are not owners; rather we are stewards of whatever material gifts Our Lord chooses to bless us with in this life.
All those things we might accumulate
We gladly leave it all behind.
Because they really don’t matter to God.
But on the other hand, we can leave this world incredibly rich!
For what do we really take with us at the end of this life, if not the relationships we build with those around us?
Our relationship with Christ
Our relationship with others
THESE are those things of heaven that are in front of our collective noses right here, right now.
The Kingdom of God is built of relationships, and relationships are as close to us as the person sitting next to you right now.
The Kingdom of God is at hand for you.
Think about this in a few minutes when we get to the sign of peace.
There is an art to building relationships with God and others, but it is not rocket science.
If you want a relationship to grow,
You give it time and attention.
Time is a precious commodity.
You can fill it with the things you like
But how much better to fill it with the people you love!
Time and attention, these are the two essential ingredients of any relationship.
Do you want your relationship with Christ to grow? Give him your time and attention.
– Spend at least ten minutes a day in private prayer with Our Lord
And if you cannot find at least ten minutes a day in private prayer with Our Lord, your life is out of control and you need to make adjustments, no excuses.
– Spend time in prayer with each other at home
Spend time and pray and with other members of our parish family here at St. Patrick’s, either in a ministry, or especially in a small group. Associate with the people you want to be like. The old adage is true: Show me your friends and I’ll tell you who you are. If you want to get close to Christ, hang with people who also want to get close to Christ, It’s like a wagon wheel with Christ at the center and ourselves on the spokes: the closer we get to Christ, the closer we get to one another, the closer we get to one another, the closer we get to Christ.
Finally, our unity in relationship with Christ and one another finds its fulfillment, is celebrated, and renewed here in the Sacred Assembly in the Eucharist. Here we are fed and renewed in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, participating fulling these Sacred Mysteries and entering into the most glorious of relationships known as “COMM-UNION.”
where are united literally at the level of our very being. With God, and with one another This finds its sacramental expression when we receive Holy Communion, That it is known thus is no accident.
We raise our hands in prayer, and the Kingdom of God, which is relationships, is very much within our grasp.
Our union with Christ and with one each other in the Church gives a special context to our relationships with everyone else we encounter outside these walls.
Do you want your relationship with your spouse to grow?
– pray together
– establish a date night and stick to it religiously
– fight for your time together
Lavish time and attention on each other and the Kingdom of God, which is made of relationships, is within your grasp.
You want your relationship with your friends to grow?
– call them up and invite them to lunch or dinner
– go out and do stuff together
– make memories, enjoy each other’s company
And the Kingdom of God, which is made of relationships, is within your grasp.
Remember, in the Kingdom of God, it’s not what you know, it’s WHO you know and who well you know them.
The Kingdom of God is built of relationships
And your relationships with Christ, his Church and others grow because you give them time and attention.
The closer we get to Christ, the close we get to one another, the close we get to one another, the closer we get to Christ, until we all meet in the Eucharist.
Let us then celebrate this Holy Communion, this most intimate relationship of life and love with Christ and one another
Living in this world, but not wedded to it
Heart to heart and hand to hand
knowing that the Kingdom of God, which is made of relationships, is very much within our grasp.
Well,
it’s been a good week here so far in St. Patrick Parish. I’m finally over my cold, it seems, and the
voice has returned. So hopefully, you can hear me this week.
Summers
in Alaska are always fun. Summer is when we go outside to play, and stay up way
too late talking because it’s still light out.
Right
now, my mom’s house if full of out of family and out-of-town guests. It’s a part of the joyful chaos that is
summer in Alaska.
We Alaskans are particularly good at
hospitality, I think, don’t you? We are
always welcoming guests and showing guests around and taking them fishing and
playing tour guide. For many of us, it’s
the only way we get to see certain things in our own state. I don’t know about you, but the only time I
ever go to Denali National Park is when I have guests in town.
So I
would imagine that most of us can identify quite well with Abraham and Sarah
and Martha and Mary as they demonstrate for us in today’s reading the value of
hospitality as a religious virtue
I’d like to spend a few minutes
reflecting on Christian Hospitality as a hallmark of the good disciple and of
the good Catholic parish.
It was
Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, in 1825, who said:
To
welcome a guest is to be answerable for his or her happiness so long as he is
beneath your roof.
To
help us do exactly that I think we all need to be aware of at least these seven
attributes of remarkable hospitality. This is true in our homes and in our
parish:
In
short, Good hospitality:
Is
welcoming, friendly, and courteous
Is
knowledgeable
Is
efficient
Is
flexible
Is
consistent
Communicates
effectively
Exceeds
expectations
Is welcoming, friendly, and
courteous
First impressions matter.
Are people greeted as they
come through the door?
Are there designated and
trained greeters and/or ushers?
Are they well dressed and
groomed?
Are people with special needs
accommodated in architecture and design?
Do ushers/greeters and
parishioners smile?
Is
knowledgeable
Where is the first aid kit?
Where is the
defibrillator?
Are ushers trained in its use?
Are there gluten free hosts
available? If so, where are they?
Do greeters/ushers know who
the medical personnel in the parish are?
Is efficient
Are people greeted immediately
at the door? In the narthex?
Are there enough ushers to
seat people expeditiously?
Is the collection taken with a
smile and without wasted effort?
(Second Collection after the
first.)
Are major announcements done
BEFORE Mass?
Is
flexible
Are
all parishioners trained in the basics?
Can
they change their routine to accommodate the guest?
[‘YOU’RE SITTING IN MY SEAT!!]
Are parents with children accommodated with
courtesy?
Is
consistent
People may come to our church
for many reasons, but they will return for only one
…They
like it!
Consistency can make the
difference.
Communicates
Effectively
Does signage and posted placards help people
find their way to the restroom, parish hall or office?
Are the fire extinguishers well marked?
Is the information desk/rack easily accessible?
Do ushers/greeters give clear, concise
information and instructions?
Exceeds
expectations
Are people asked their name and place of
origin? Are these announced by the
Presider?
Are birthdays, anniversaries or other
significant events noted in the bulletin, monitors and pulpit?
Are returning guests remembered?
Are new families welcomed and given information
about the parish?
Welcoming breakfasts/luncheons?
In
short, Good hospitality:
Is
welcoming, friendly, and courteous
Is
knowledgeable
Is
efficient
Is
flexible
Is
consistent
Communicates
effectively
Exceeds
expectations
Hospitality
comes easily to us Alaskans because it literally comes with the territory. By and large, as a parish, I think we do a
pretty fair job, at least this newcomer’s first impression is pretty good. Nevertheless, there are many things I think
we can do that would set us in a class by ourselves.
Good
hospitality is not only an act of kindness, it is one of the primary Christian
virtues. To welcome the stranger it is a
corporal work of mercy. As a parish
family, may we be the heart and the arms and the hands of Christ, reaching out
in welcome to those come to our doors, so that they may indeed encounter Risen
Christ within these walls and return to the world refreshed, renewed, and better for the experience.
My
dear friends in Christ in St. Patrick’s Parish.
It is nice to be here after 24 years of
being away.
For me, this is a bit of a
homecoming. As many of you know, I was
the Associate Pastor here from 1995-1996, while we were building the building
in which we now worship.
It is
always an exciting and nervous time for a parish to get a new pastor. The first question that most people ask is a
positive one:
What is
he like?
The
second is more tenuous…
What’s going to change?!
Let me
answer the second question first and the first question second.
What’s
going to change?
The
quick answer is: Nothing for now.
The
reason for this is simple. The first
order for me is to become a part of the parish community.
Yes, your new pastor comes with a lot of
local, national and international experience.
…and WAAAAY too much education.
As I
mentioned last week, I just finished 27th Grade!
In due time, all that experience and
expertise will be put to good use.
But not right now.
Now is
the time to listen, to learn, to get to know each other.
This is a very different place than when
I was here 25 years ago.
Let’s take our time…and get to know each
other.
Which
brings us to the second question: What’s he like?
Actually,
in the weeks, months and years to come, you are going to get to know me pretty
darn well.
So
instead, let me tell you what I have heard about you!
Let’s
start general and then get a bit more specific.
As you
know, St. Patrick Parish was founded in 1971. The name was chosen, quite
frankly, because the Archbishop’s name was Ryan and the parish was to be
located on Muldoon Road. Its boundaries were drawn to coincide with the 99504
zip code, and remain unchanged to this day.
The parish covers approximately 6.3
square miles.
It is primarily a residential area. There are 15,642 households, of which 14,986
are occupied, meaning there are 656 unoccupied dwellings in the parish.
Of those 14,986 occupied households, 1128
of them are registered parishioners of St. Patrick Parish.
The parish is home to 40,917 people,
about 4174 of whom are members of the parish.
Thus, we are a little over 10% of the population in the area.
The average
household income in the parish is $92,815 which puts us about in the middle for
the Anchorage Bowl. We are not poor, we
are middle to upper middle class. Statistically, 6.8% of our households make
over $200,000 a year.
You
are fairly generous. Last year, ordinary revenues from Sunday and Holy Day
Collections and donations was $708,920.67, although this was about a 11% from
the previous year of $723,780.64
Also, I was happy to note that just this
week, you have just passed your parish goal for the One Bread One Body
Archdiocesan Appeal. Now everything that comes in goes directly to the
parish.
Just to give a nudge to those of you who
are still contemplating what you are going to do for OBOB. I have yet to make
my own pledge, but I plan to do so in the amount of $500. I never ask my parishioners to do something I
am not willing to do myself. You may take this as a guide, or a challenge as
you so choose.
As a
community of faith, we have a history that is long, and colorful, sometimes
magic, sometimes tragic.
St. Patrick’s has always known how to
throw a good party. We love to sing and
dance and celebrate the best parts of life and liturgy.
But we have also known the worst trauma
that a parish can experience in the betrayal of sacred trust by the founding
pastor.
Here at St. Patrick Parish, the scandal
of clergy sexual abuse is not an abstract distant concept,
for
many in the parish, your new pastor included, it has a name and it has a face.
It is personal.
Many
of us are still hurting from this betrayal. Let us walk together on the path to
healing.
In recent times we have also experienced
a lesser tragedy with some notable earthquake damage to many parish buildings,
including the probable loss of the JPII Center.
The primary result of this is not only the loss of needed meeting and
classroom space, but also it also means that there is no place for your pastor
to live.
We’re going to take our time on this.
There are many people in the parish I need to consult with. I’m still finding out who they are. But in due time we will take care of this and
related issues in a way that makes the most practical and financial sense for
the parish.
Finally,
I am convinced that our best and most exciting years lie just ahead.
In the past few years, I have noticed
that both physically and spiritually, you have been embarking on a deliberate
program of making something beautiful for God.
Whether in the Sacred Liturgy, or programs
of catechesis, the deliberate formation of intentional disciples, or
evangelization to those in the parish who are not yet part of the parish family;
Whether in the multitude of ministries of
service already in place to those within the parish family or to those in our
parish boundaries who have never set foot on the grounds;
Whether in our personal lives of prayer,
in our homes, our small groups, and finally our liturgical and other ministries
of service to the parish or the community
It is important that we build something
beautiful for God.
Beautiful lives of faith, a beautiful
community of grace
Housed in beautiful spaces to celebrate
them as only the people of St. Patrick Parish know how.
The
basics of discipleship are not hard.
As Moses said to the people:
[It]
is not too mysterious and remote for you.
It is not up in the sky, that you should say,
‘Who will go up in the sky to get it for us
and tell us of it, that we may carry it out?’
Nor is it across the sea, that you should say,
‘Who will cross the sea to get it for us
and tell us of it, that we may carry it out?’
Believe
me, I have been across the sea. It is no
different here than it is there. In fact, here we have a lot more fun here than
in Italy, but perhaps not as much as in Africa…yet. Back to discipleship…
No, Moses says, it is not something far
away…
…it
is something very near to you,
already in your mouths and in your hearts;
you have only to carry it out
St.
Paul rightly points out that the fullness of the Mystery of God’s love was
revealed to us in the person of Jesus Christ.
He is “the image of the invisible God.”
Nothing mysterious here.
Finally,
in his interaction with the scholar of the law
[Yes,
my canon lawyer radar went up at the reference…]
Jesus reveals to us just how
simple it is.
The
exchange follows the typical style for rabbinical teaching of the day. It is ritual dialogue.
It begins with a standard question by the
student.
“Teacher,
what must I do to inherit eternal life.”
This
is followed by an insightful answer by the teacher.
His
interlocutor is a scholar of the law, so Jesus refers him to the law. With
great insight, he articulates for Jesus, the Great Commandment for love of God
and love of neighbor.
Once they have established common ground,
the student is expected to justify himself by asking a more probing
question. “And who is my neighbor.”
Here
we dive with Jesus into the depths of understanding. Thus, the Parable of the
Good Samaritan.
The point of the story is clear.
As disciples of Jesus Christ
As stewards of the many gifts that God
has given us here in 99504
As a community of faith
As the parish family of St. Patrick’s
Our
task is two-fold
We must love God, with all our heart, being,
strength and mind
And we must love our neighbors as
ourselves.
In short, our job as disciples, as
families, and as a parish is to become so much a part of the life of the community
in which we find ourselves that they cannot imagine life without us.
This will be true in your home, on your
street, in your neighborhood, in all of this part of the Kingdom in Anchorage
which Our Lord has given us to look after for him,
known
to the world simply as 99504,
but
known to God and to us in the realm of grace, as St. Patrick Parish of the
Archdiocese of Anchorage.
We
have a mission.
We
have been given this little part of the Kingdom to do with as we please.
Hopefully,
we will care for it in a way that is pleasing to the Giver.
So that in due time, we may
give it all back to him better than we found it.
To become so much a part of
the landscape, that they cannot imagine life without us.
I am
so very happy to be here.
Together, let us make something beautiful
for God.
Greetings, Blogosphere! Fr. Leo Walsh here. ‘Sacerdos Borealis!’ or “Priest of the North” for those of you whose Latin is a bit rusty.
I’m still figuring out this blog thing and the web design is a bit more difficult, but I think I have it figured out enough to launch. No doubt it will improve with experience. What was supposed to take about a half hour is now in its fourth hour.
Here you will primarily find the audio files for recent homilies, along with their text, if available. You will also find my random but edifying musings on such topics as Ecumenism, Canon Law, Flying Bush Planes in Alaska, Dog Training and perhaps even a beer column or two.
I shall be posting weekly. Perhaps more if I get the notion.
