I’m told that children are no longer taught penmanship anymore, nor are they taught how to write in cursive. What further need have we of proof of the decline of western civilization? I bet Jesus knew how to write in cursive…in Hebrew! Still, I wonder what he was writing on the ground as the religious leaders confronted him with the woman caught in the act of adultery.
First of all, we know that they are not genuine in the encounter. They could care less about her offense. If they did, then where is the guy?! The last I checked, it took two person to commit this sin. No, they are simply using her situation to try to trap Jesus so they can have something to accuse him of. They think they have him in a “Catch 22.” If he says they should stone her, then they can denounce him to the Roman authorities as an insurgent. If he says they should not, then they can discredit him as one who does not know or follow the Law of Moses.
It’s not so easy to fool the Incarnate Word of God. Instead, Jesus simply bends down and starts writing on the ground. Many scholars have speculated about what he was writing. Was he writing the passage of the Law to which they were referring, thus showing his knowledge to them? Or was he writing down the sins of the religious leaders? The sacred text does not say. It does say that when Jesus says, “Let the one without sin be the first to cast a stone,” they have no response and drift away one by one, starting with the elders. Jesus is the only one present who could cast a stone, but he choses not to. Her guilt is not in question, but neither is the love and the mercy of Christ.
This Lent, do I have the courage to stand before Christ honestly and admitting my sins? Can I trust in the love and mercy of Christ who came not to condemn, but to save the world and to show us a better way?
Of Burning Bushes, Fig Trees, and Such
There is a lot going on in the scriptures this weekend. While we are in Year C of the three-year lectionary cycle, various Masses will be using the A Cycle readings for the next three weeks as we celebrate the Scrutinies for the Elect in the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA).
While the burning bush is a neat attention getter, it is the parable of the fig tree that should really give us pause. It’s notable that it comes in the context of two recent tragedies, the folks whose blood Pilate mingled with the pagan sacrifices (a terrible sacrilege and curse) and the death of 18 people who died when a tower collapsed.
Whether we admit it or not, we still carry with us the notion that “what goes around comes around.” Namely, if you do something bad, something bad is going to happen to you. It was even more prevalent in the days of Jesus. Many in the crowd assumed that those who suffered these tragedies must have done something to deserve it. While our Lord is quick to disavow them of this, he uses it as a way to remind them and us that an even greater tragedy looms for our souls if we don’t repent of our sins and believe in the Gospel. Dying is not the worst thing that can happen to you. Eternal damnation is.
So how does this tie into the fig tree that does not bear fruit? Simple. A disciple who does not repent is not much of a disciple. Repentance, not perfection, is the fruit that Christ is looking for. If we are too proud or too busy to repent, then there’s not much he can do for us, no matter how much he cares for us.
Lent is a time that reminds us that the first fruit, the first gift, we give to God is sorrow for our sins. Doing so opens the door for the healing grace of God to enter our lives and lead us down the path of reconciliation leading to the joys of the resurrection. May our Lenten prayer, fasting and almsgiving guide our steps into the way of true discipleship.
The View From the Top
Hey, Church Fans, this is the basic text, but there is a whole lot more on the video from the 8:30 Mass, including a little explanation of the Sacrifice of establishing the covenant with Abram in the first reading. I would have put a clip of it here, but Microsoft has decided that making a video clip should take at least 45 minutes instead of just two or three like it used to. You can see the homily by clicking here and then just fast forward. It is at 18:50 in the video. Sorry to make you work harder. You may want to tell Microsoft that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Right in our backyard in Anchorage is the most climbed peak in North America. It is 3510 feet high and has a peak roughly the size of a football field. Easily accessible from the Glen Alps trailhead, it is scaled by young and old, humans and canine. In the old days, they would even haul a polka band and a few kegs of brew to the summit on the summer solstice. I am talking of course, about Flattop Mountain.
Most people climb Flattop because it is a quick and relatively easy hike, but also because on a nice day the view from there is really spectacular. It puts all of the Anchorage bowl, and sometimes life, into perspective.
You’ll notice that the encounter of Abram with God and the Transfiguration of our Lord both happened on the top of a mountain. In the ancient world, this is where one went to encounter God, presumably because it got you that much closer to heaven, but also I suspect that, just like on Flattop, the view puts everything into perspective.
It was certainly true of the ministry of Jesus. From this vantage point, we see by the presence of Moses, that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law. By the presence of Elijah, we see that he is also the fulfillment of all Old Testament prophecy. From the mountain top, we can see all the way back to the origins of God’s people, and we can look ahead to “what he would accomplish in Jerusalem” by his passion, death and resurrection.
It is good to pause once in awhile either in prayer, or even by climbing to a place like the peak of Flattop, to put things into perspective. It is good to look back on where we have come from, how God has accompanied us and guided us on this journey of life and then to try to get a glimpse of where that is leading, what God might be calling us to as individuals and as a parish “and what we will accomplish in 99504.”
How Tempting!
Temptation is an interesting thing. No one ever pursues something because they believe it to be evil. Rather, they pursue it, because it is something that they perceive to be good, or at least benign.
As humans beings, it is part of our very nature to pursue the good. As Christians, we understand that the greatest good is God. The problem is that there are all these other lesser goods out there vying for our attention. Some of these will lead us to God. These we call “real goods.” Others will lead us away from God and ultimately into perdition. These are called “apparent goods.”
So how do you tell the difference? The temptation of Christ in the desert depicted in this week’s gospel (Luke 4:1-13) can help us out.
Let’s take the suggestion of the Devil that Jesus turn the stones into bread. Is a bread a good thing? You bet! All things being equal, there’s nothing better than a big hunk of warm sourdough with a slab of melting butter on it. And Jesus was hungry after fasting for forty days, so what’s the harm? Well, there’s lots of harm, actually. He who is able to turn water into wine can certainly turn stones into bread, but that is not why Jesus has that ability. Rather, it is to bring others to faith in God and in himself. To do otherwise would be a misuse of God’s gift.
Likewise, understood and used rightly, political power can be a very good thing for the building of a just society. However, the power that the Devil offers Jesus comes only if he turns from the Creator and worships one of the created. Secondly, the Kingdom that Jesus has come to proclaim is “not of this world.” To pursue worldly power would be to subvert the very reason of the Incarnation.
Finally, reliance on the providence of Almighty God is a very good thing. However, there is a not-so-fine line between faith in God’s providence and presumption of the same. When we cross that line, we say “MY will be done.” not “THY will be done.” Remember, God has three ways of answering prayer: “Yes.”, “Not yet.”, and “I have something better in mind for you.” Who are we to presume that we know better than Almighty God?
Keeping in mind the grand scheme of things helps us to distinguish between apparent goods and real goods. Something may be good in itself, but if it is not what God intends for us, then it is not a real good that will lead to our fulfillment and salvation, but an apparent good that will lead to our doom. May we have the grace of prayerful discernment to know the difference.
A Practical Paradox
St. Luke must have been an interesting guy. We don’t know much about him personally, but based on what we do have, I gather that he must have been a bit of a renaissance man. He was at once a doctor, an artist, an historian, and an author, among other things. I also get the idea that he was a very practical man.
A good example of this is his presentation of Jesus’ teaching commonly known as “the Beatitudes.” Unlike Matthew who has nine, Luke only has four. Luke also has an accompanying “woe” for each beatitude. Why is this teaching of Our Lord so important to Luke?
Perhaps it’s because as a physician and an historian, it was very important for him to highlight the practicality of Jesus’ teaching. Matthew was a Jew writing to other Jews. Luke on the other hand, was a Gentile writing to other Gentiles. As such, he tailors his message to his audience. Luke knew about the deepest desires of people in the Greek and Roman societies of his day. He also knew that such desires were often as out of reach for most as the pagan gods to whom they were obligated to pay homage. The great fears of the day were poverty, hunger, death and persecution.
It was in just such a social and spiritual environment that the paradox of the Paschal Mystery could bring hope. This paradox is expressed clearly in the Lucan beatitudes and woes. It is the poor who are blessed; the hungry, the mourners, the persecuted. In his life and ministry as well as in his passion, death and resurrection, Jesus had experienced all of these things and emerged triumphant and glorious. For the pagan Greeks and Romans, the good news was that there was a better way. That the limits of this world, including even death itself, no longer had the final say, and thus has no lasting power over us in this life or the next. Christ has shown us that our final destiny is far greater, far more triumphant, far more glorious, as we enter into communion with the Divine in this life and into the next.
As human beings, we are made by God, for God. Our Deepest longings can only be satisfied by God. We are all born with what Ron Rolheiser calls a “holy longing” that can only satisfied by communion with God.
Sadly, though, so many try to fill that holy longing for God with the very things Our Lord says will bring us woe: wealth, pleasure, power, and honor. None of these are bad in and of themselves, but if we place them in our heart before God, they will lead to our ultimate destruction.
The Christian knows that when Christ is the center of one’s being:
Wealth finds its expression in charity.
Pleasure is found in feeding the hungry
Power is used in service to others.
Honor comes from leading others to glory.
Thus, the paradox. blessed are the poor, blessed are the the hungry, blessed are those who mourn, blessed are those who are persecuted.
Things have not changed all that much in the last 2000 years. Our way of doing things has changed, but we humans still seek ultimate meaning and the revelation of our final destiny. We still have the same fears and desires; and these fears and desires are still overcome by the power of Christ’s passion, death and resurrection.
Luke helps us to see that salvation is still a practical matter. Despite the passage of time, we humans have not changed all that much, and neither has the salvation won for us in Christ so that we may enter into the realm of the Blessed.
Every Nation on Earth
Merry Christmas, Day 12! Today (and tomorrow) we celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany. As we do every year, we get Matthew’s gospel account of the Magi coming to visit the Holy Family in Bethlehem. These Magi are interesting characters. We really don’t know how many of them there actually were, but pious tradition has settled on three, given that they brought three types of gifts. I’ve spoken before about how the gifts represent that Jesus was a king (gold), a priest (frankincense), and how both of these would be manifested in his passion, death and resurrection (myrrh). Let’s chat a little about the Magi themselves and what they represent.
First, they are not kings. That notion developed over time in art and popular piety over the centuries for a variety of reasons. But strictly they are magi. Magi were interesting folks. They were scholars and astrologers who looked to the heavens to discern what was going on in the world. Interestingly enough, about the time of Christ’s birth, the planet Jupiter, which represented kings, moved into Aries, the constellation that represented Israel at that time. This would make sense to magi, but would probably have gone unnoticed by others.
Also very notable is the fact that they are all Gentiles. Matthew saw them as the first fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah in today’s first reading, as well as echoing today’s Responsorial in Psalm 72, “Lord every nation on earth will adore you.” In time, the characteristics of the magi in artistic expression, such as their skin color and their style of dress, have them representing the three known continents of Europe, Asia and Africa. This was a way to help people understand, as Paul says very clearly in today’s second reading from Ephesians, “that the Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body, and copartners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.” The good news is truly universal in scope.
Finally, the magi also help show us that the nature of the Kingdom which Christ ushers in is very different than any earthly Kingdom. Sadly, Herod, being the despot that he is misses this point entirely. Like so many rooted in the world, he sees Jesus as a threat, not as a Savior.
The world has changed quite a bit since a long time ago in a Galilee far, far away. Sadly, human nature has not. Thus, those of us who understand who Jesus really is have the special task of making him known to the world of today. Wise men still seek him. May we all have the grace to be heralds of the good news.
Learning from the Holy Family
Merry Christmas, Day 5!
Many of you know Deacon Jim Lee and his wife Mireya. Deacon Jim is more or less retired from the deacon biz now, but I always appreciated his homilies. I remember him preaching once on this very Feast of the Holy Family many years ago. He was chatting about his own family and quipped, “I used to wish that my kid would be more like Jesus. Then I realized that my kid would probably be more like Jesus if I were more like St. Joseph.”
As we celebrate the Feast of the Feast Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, we can learn a lot from them on how we can each be “holy families.”
They faithfully practiced their faith — The scriptures tell us that the Holy Family did all the things a good, pious Jewish family would do…and more. They were faithful to the Law when they dedicated him in the Temple. We see today in Luke how they would go up to Jerusalem each year for the Passover. Something Jesus did well into adulthood all the way up to the end of his public ministry when he celebrated the Passover with his disciples in the Upper Room at the Last Supper.
They were each open to the will of God—Each member had to grapple with what God was asking them and then go forward living their lives accordingly. Mary was probably envisioning a very different life with Joseph when the angel Gabriel announced to her that she would be the mother of the Savior. Yet, she responded in faith, saying, “Let it be done to me according to your will.” Joseph also had to change his plans when Gabriel told him that it was by the Holy Spirit that Mary had conceived. Then again, when he was told to flee into Egypt…and again when they returned to Nazareth. Finally, in his agony in the garden, Jesus asked that this cup might pass, but in the end said, “Not my will, but yours be done.”
They dealt with hardship and kept their faith in God and in each other—The circumstances of his birth in the stable and becoming political refugees fleeing from Herod are just two examples. I am particularly struck by how the Blessed Mother remained with Jesus all the way through his passion and death on the Cross. Even later, she stayed the course and remained with the disciples in the Upper Room. She was with the disciples in the Upper Room at Pentecost.
There are many, many other examples of how the Holy Family can teach us holiness, but let’s go with these three for now.
First, let us practice our faith.
Now, you have heard me say a few times this year that to be Catholic in the United States these days is to be countercultural.
Sometimes we may think that this is a recent phenomenon, but it has ALWAYS been so.
So, how can we live our faith in today’s world? Pretty simple really. The Church sanctifies three things: people, places and time. To sanctify someone or something, means to set it aside for God. Each household, such as it is, should do the same.
- Realize that you have been sanctified by your baptism. You are a holy people, a holy family, a household of grace, set aside by God for the sanctification of the world. And if not the whole world, then at least that little part of the world which with come into contact each day. Be the animators of grace in your neighborhood.
- This season, or next, put up a manger scene in your yard. John Thomas Williamson has a really cool one that he came up with made out of plywood and a few lights. It is really cool. If we are nice to him, maybe he will share with us the plans so we can each have one next year. Imagine the difference that would make?
- Sanctify space: Where does prayer happen in your home every day? You have a place to eat, a place to sleep, a place to watch TV, hopefully a place for your vehicle. Where is the space set aside for prayer each day? Get creative.
- Sanctify time:
- When does prayer happen each day in the home. This will change as the life within the home changes. Prayers that once took place at bedtime may move to right after dinner as the household gathers around the dinner or moves into the family room for a quick decade of the Rosary.
- Celebrate the holy seasons and feasts of the Church as part of the life of the home. Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter, feast days of the patron saints of members of household.
2. Living our faith and building that deep relationship with Christ and one another allows us to be open to the will of God for each member of our family.
In doing so, we are able recognize the gifts of others in the household and encourage those gifts to be used in a way that is pleasing to the giver within the family and the Church for the greater glory of Almighty God.
For ten years I was the Vocations Director for the Archdiocese. Do you know what the greatest biggest obstacle was for those who were discerning a vocation to the priesthood or religious life?
Parents. Specifically fathers who wanted their family name carried on and mothers who wanted grandchildren.
Now, neither of these are bad things, but if they are not the will of God for your child, you are doing them a great disservice and will find yourself fighting against God himself. Personally, I would not want to be in that position. You want your kid to be happy? Want the same thing that God wants for them. You’ll be glad you did. Celebrate each others gifts and vocation within the family and within the Church…for the world.
3. Finally, if we live our faith, if we are open to the will of God, then we are we may bear hardships that lead us and those around us to salvation.
I’ve said it many times.
Life is messy…and…God is faithful.
You can count on it.
Still, I cannot say how I have been inspired and lifted up by those who seem to be going through the worst of times. Yet through it all, they literally glow with the light of faith.
It is real and it is undeniable.
It was true for the Holy Family, who seemed to know no end of hardship in those early years.
Why would it not be true for us also?
The world and everything and everyone in it has limits.
Sometimes those limits manifest themselves in very tragic and troubling ways. So what?!
We have God and one another.
I know a woman who has had cancer two times, who has a 6’4” autistic son, who sometimes is more than a handful, and who by many measures of the world has had more than her share of heartbreak and hardship.
And yet she radiates a joy that is unmistakable.
When I asked her about it once, she said, “Well, you just have to realize that you are held.”
And so we return to the Holy Family
As Jesus was held in the arms of Mary and Joseph so too each of us is held precious in the arms of a loving God.
So let US be a holy family.
Let us practice our faith with courage and constancy,
Let us celebrate each other’s gifts for the glory of Almighty God
So that none of the troubles of this world or of anyone in it can ever separate us the love of God or one another.
Advent – Hope and Joy!
You know, in my life as an Ecumenist, both on the theological and the practical side, I have worked with folks from every denomination and major world religion. One of the side effects is that when one enters into dialogue with others, you gain a real appreciation for your own tradition.
…I really like being Catholic.
One of the great things about being Catholic is that how we see every part of life as touched by Almighty God. We sanctify everything: people, places…and time. As we enter int Advent this week, I’m going to concentrate on how we sanctify time.
We have holy hours, holy days, (ergo the word “Holiday”), Holy Week, and holy seasons. In many ways this makes us counter cultural.
While secular America has just entered “the Holiday Season”, we enter into the Holy Season of Advent. For us Catholics and many protestants, the Christmas season proper does not begin until the Vigil Mass on Christmas Eve and continues until the Solemnity of the Baptism of the Lord. on January 12th.
But before we get there, we have this wonderful season of expectation, preparation, repentance, and hope.
Most people may know that the Advent season focuses on expectation and think that it serves as an anticipation of Christ’s birth in the season leading up to Christmas. This is part of the story, but there’s so much more to Advent.
The word “Advent” is derived from the Latin word adventus, meaning “coming,” which is a translation of the Greek word parousia (παρουσία). During the 4th and 5th centuries in Spain and Gaul, Advent was a season of preparation for the baptism of new Christians in January on the feast of the Epiphany, the manifestation of Christ’s humanity and divinity by the visit of the Magi to the child Jesus, his baptism in the Jordan River by John the Baptist, and his first miracle at Cana. During this season of preparation, sometimes called St. Martin’s Lent, since it began on November 11th, the Feast of St. Martin, early Christians would spend 40 days in penance, prayer, and fasting to prepare for this celebration.
By the 6th century, however, the Church in Rome had tied Advent to the coming of Christ. Pope Gregory the Great in the late 6th/early 7th century composed many of the prayers, antiphons, and psalm responses. But the “coming” they had in mind was not Christ’s first coming in the manger in Bethlehem, but his second coming in glory at the end of the age. It was not until the Middle Ages that the Advent season was explicitly linked to Christ’s first coming at Christmas.
These days, the first three weeks of Advent focus on our preparation for Christ’s second coming in glory. Then, in the last week of Advent, we shift the focus to our preparation for his first coming in humility.
The readings each Sunday reinforce this. Today, we hear the prophet Jeremiah remind us that the days are coming when the Lord will fulfill his promise to send the Messiah
Paul exhorts us to conduct ourselves in a way that is pleasing to God.
And finally, Our Lord himself tells us that when he comes again in glory, we should stand erect and raise our head, for our redemption is at hand. Indeed, the trials and tribulations that he mentioned seem all too present sometimes. Thus, we need to remain vigilant so that we may recognize him at his coming.
And he may find us waiting in joyful hope.
How we keep the Holy Season of Advent not only helps us do so, but it can be a lot of fun.
Be counter cultural!
This year, why not make Advent something special. Here’s some ideas
- Get an Advent Wreath.
- Celebrate the Sundays of Advent and the major saints and feasts:
- St. Andew’s Christmas Novena
- St. Nicholas Day, 6 December
- Immaculate Conception, Holy Day Dec. 9th
- Our Lady of Guadalupe, 12 December
- St. Lucy Day, 13 Dec
- Go to Confession! Get your spiritual house in order.
- Fun stuff to do in Advent
- Advent Wreathes
- Jesse Trees – an example in the Narthex
- Advent Calendars
- O Antiphons
- Have the Wise Men travel across the living room a little each day, until they finally reach the manger on January 6th.
- Once you’ve set up your Manger, (of Baby Jesus won’t go in there until Christmas), have a little pile of straw nearby. Every times someone in the house does a good deed, put a piece of straw in the manger so that Jesus may have a comfortable bed when he arrives .
- Clean out your closet and give something to the Warm Clothing Drive.
- Go to Formed.org for videos, podcasts and Advent resources.
Advent is a time of expectation, preparation, repentance, and hope.
For the first three weeks we prepare for his second coming in glory at the end of the age. In the last week, we shift our focus as we prepare to celebrate his first coming in humility.
Be counter cultural! Get ready! Have fun! So that when Our Lord comes…
however he comes,
he may find us ready to welcome him
standing erect, with our heads held high,
filled with hope and joy.
Ask Fr. Leo – Christians in the Military? Why only Pilate in the Creed?
Dear Fr. Leo,
Can a Christian be in the military? What about the fifth commandment? – G
Dear G,
The quick answer is, “Yes, but only for the right reasons.” Christian soldiers do not wage war indiscriminately. Rather, they are the agents of peace in the maintenance of legitimate self-defense.
The question is one of the oldest moral conundrums in the Church. It came to the fore in the early 4th century soon after the emperor Constantine legalized Christianity in 313 A.D. By the beginning of the 5th century, Christianity was the official religion of the Empire. Things came to a head after the pagan armies sacked Rome in 410. Many had written on the subject before, but it was St. Augustine, in his classic work on religion and civil society, The City of God, who gave us the definitive articulation. Augustine said that Christians actually make the best soldiers because they only fight in just wars. Augustine’s articulation of what constitutes a just war still sets the context for public policy today. (See the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 2302-2317, Safeguarding Peace.) The taking up of arms for legitimate self-defense is only justified if all of the following conditions are met:
– the damage inflicted by the aggressor on the nation or community of nations must be lasting, grave, and certain;
– all other means of putting an end to it must have been shown to be impractical or ineffective;
– there must be serious prospects of success;
– the use of arms must not produce evils and disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated. the power of modem means of destruction weighs very heavily in evaluating this condition. (CCC, par. 2309).
The catechism goes on to say that only those with legitimate authority, namely, national governments have the responsibility of determining if these conditions are met. By the same token, governments may impose upon their citizens the obligations of defense. In times of national crisis, they can draft people into military service. In doing so, “Those who are sworn to serve their country in the armed forces are servants of the security and freedom of nations. If they carry out their duty honorably, they truly contribute to the common good of the nation and the maintenance of peace.” (CCC, par. 2310)
At the same time the Church is very clear that governments must also make allowances for those who in conscience cannot take up arms. However, “these are nonetheless obliged to serve the human community in some other way.” (CCC, par. 2311)
In sum, Christians can and do serve honorably in the armed services, but they do so, not as “hawks” or aggressors, but under certain conditions and according to a strict moral code. Nations have a legitimate right to self-defense, but war is always the last resort when all other peaceful means of resolution of conflict have been exhausted. In the meantime, we all have an obligation to work actively to build up a more peaceful world, in our homes, in our parishes, our schools, and our communities so that armed conflict becomes not only unnecessary, but truly unthinkable.
Dear Fr. Leo:
Why is only Pontius Pilate named for his role in Christ’s crucifixion in our creed? Why are the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes who persecuted, plotted, and paid blood money for Christ’s crucifixion not named? – T
Dear T,
That’s a good question. In fact, we could even take it even a step further. Why not name all of us other sinners as well? If you think about, we all had a role to play in the sufferings of Christ. That being said, I like the distinction you make that it was the religious authorities at that time, and not the whole Jewish people, who had a central role in the Passion of Christ.
But in point of fact, the wording of the Nicene Creed has less to do with what went on at the time of Jesus than what was going on at the time the Creed was written. When the bishops met at Nicaea in 325 A.D, they were faced with the first major dogmatic crisis in the Church. The priest, Arius, a good Greek well-versed in the Greek philosophers, could not get his head around the notion that Jesus was truly human and truly divine. As a result, he rejected the divinity of Christ. He gained quite a following and caused much confusion and conflict in the Church. To resolve the matter, the emperor called a Council. Long story short, with the help of St. Leo the Great, the council fathers affirmed that while truly human, Christ was at the same time “of the same substance” as the Father. Furthermore, it was the whole Christ, not just half of him, who redeemed us by his suffering on the Cross, and who glorified us by his resurrection. I suspect that since Pilate was the legitimate Roman authority who gave the order, he was named in the Creed as a way of including all those involved. And, if you think about it, all of us are included a little earlier in the Creed with the phrase “For us…and for our salvation, he came down from heaven.” Thanks for the question!
To Serve
Here in Alaska, we are blessed every year by over 2.7M people who visit us every year. The average stay is about eight and a half nights. Every one of us either has or knows somebody who has waited tables or tended bar, or worked in some aspect of the hospitality industry. I think everybody should at some point. You learn a lot of good, subtle skills.
I’m reminded of the man from Wisconsin who walked into a bar. While he’s sitting there, he hears a little voice say, “Hey, I like your hair that way.” He looks around and sees no one. As the bartender brings him his drink, he hears the voice again, “Hey, that color looks really good on you.” Puzzled, he asked bartender, “Are you speaking to me?” The bartender says, “Oh no, that’s the peanuts. Their complimentary.”
Chris and the peanuts understand what Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, meant when in 1825 he said: To welcome a guest is to be answerable for his or her happiness so long as he is beneath your roof.
In short, it is a very profound, indeed a sacred thing to be at the service of another person.
And as we learn in the readings given us today, it is an essential part of being a follower of Jesus. You cannot be a follower of Jesus without being a servant to others.
We get a hint of this in the first reading where Joshua confronts the people at the end of their journey to the promised land. There, with the people who have joined them, he essentially exhorts them, “Choose now! Whom will you serve?”
This sense of service emphasizes the transcendence of God. The servant subordinates him- or herself to the one being served. In the context of Joshua and the people, it is a statement of faith, an acknowledgement that God is greater that we are and that our lives only make sense in service to him. In short, it is an embrace of primary tenant of true religion:
God is God…and you are not.
Paul emphasizes this idea of subordination in his Letter to the Ephesians that we hear today. The first thing we hear him say is: Be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Do you see the subtle shift here?
Q: Jesus Christ is Lord. But how are we to serve the Lord?
A: By being of service to one another.
Paul then gives some examples of what that might look like in the culture of his day.
For Paul, and for us, to be a Christian is to be one who serves others.
Q: Where does Paul get this idea?
A: From Christ himself.
Today we come to the conclusion of the Bread of Life Discourse. It is a moment of decision, not unlike the one with Joshua and the people we heard earlier.
Up to this point, having seen the miracles, having been fed by the loaves and the fishes, those in the crowd are great fans of Jesus, but they are not yet his followers. The teaching that Jesus has just given is hard. They don’t know what to make of it. But what an interesting question Jesus asks them: “ What if you saw the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?”
When we realize who Jesus is and when we understand what he has done, the implication here is inescapable and utterly stupefying. Put simply, the second person of the Blessed Trinity, the Eternal Logos, he who is truly divine made himself subordinate to us. He came to serve, not to be served, so that we might have life and have it abundantly.
It is fitting that the conclusion of the Bread of Life Discourse ends by reminding us that to be a follower of Christ means to be a man or woman who serves.
Even today, Jesus has many fans but few followers. One can be a believer without being very believable.
So many in our increasingly secular society see Jesus as a cosmic therapist who is there simply to make them feel better.
Nothing could be further than the truth.
To be a follower of Jesus is to serve the Lord by serving one another. In our Eucharist, which he left us as an everlasting memorial of his passion death and resurrection, we do four things.
We gather
We share our stories
We break and share the Bread of Life
And we are sent into the world to be of service to the world
And if not the whole world, then at least that little part of the world with which we will come into contact.
Let me conclude with the story of the Ten-Foot Chopsticks.
There was a man who died and went to the Pearly Gates. St. Peter greets him and says, “Hey, good to have you here! You are in. Would you like a look around?”
The man replies, “Sure, what is there to see?”
“Anything you want,” St. Peter replies.
“Well,” says the man, “I’m in right?”
“Sure,” says Pete.
“Uh…this may seem a bit strange, but do you mind if we see hell first? I’m just really curious.”
“No problem,” St. Peter replies, and off they go.
When they arrive in hell, the man is stunned to see a huge banquet table with every imaginable kind of food and delicacy heaped upon it in abundance. Yet around the table are thousands and thousands of damned souls. Everyone is emaciated and starving.
“This is awful!” the man says, “Why are they all starving?”
“Well,” explains St. Peter, “There is only one rule in the afterlife. You have to eat with ten-foot chopsticks.”
“I can’t take this anymore,” the man says, “Let’s get out of here.” And off they go.
When they arrive in heaven, the man is shocked to see that it is exactly the same setup. Again, there is a huge banquet table with every imaginable food and delicacy in abundance. But in heaven, everyone gathered around the table is well-fed and happy. People are chatting and laughing and generally having a great time.
“Oh, thank God!” the man says, “I’m sure glad that ten-foot chopstick thing doesn’t apply here.”
“No,” says St. Peter, “Actually it does. Same rule. Everyone in the afterlife has to eat with ten-foot chopsticks.”
“I don’t get it,” the man says.
St. Peter replies, “The difference is that here in heaven, we feed each other.”
May our thoughts, our words, our deeds show that we are not just fans of Jesus, but followers as we serve the Lord by serving one another.