Comfort Food | September 10, 2015

September 10, 2015

Raise your hand if you have ever found comfort in food? Comfort food is something I think we can all relate to, and there are different kinds of comfort food for different situations. When I’m sad I usually turn toward a classic: rocky road ice cream. When I’m sick, any of my family’s soup recipes will do, but most especially my dad’s corn chowder. When I am stressed, I eat French fries. When I am lonely, I eat mac-n-cheese (but it absolutely must be from a box with the orange powder cheese or it totally does NOT count). And obviously during the holidays there are our family traditional superstars like Orange Fluff and Grandma’s Green Bean Casserole smothered in Velveeta Cheese, that I am sure you and your family have your own versions of as well. Food is comforting because it nourishes and sooths us, it gives us energy, it satisfies, it feeds our cravings, it reminds us of the love of family, it sustains us. Today’s readings (all three of them) are like comfort food. They are classic, timely, and exactly what we need to hear when we are sad, lonely, stressed, or ill. If you have ever had the notion to memorize any scripture, the readings from today are an excellent choice.

The first reading is a continuation of Paul’s letter from yesterday entitled Rules for Holy Living. He suggests that we clothe ourselves in virtue. This is one of the best images for me to wrap my brain around because I LOVE clothes!!! Color coordination should be included as one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit if you ask me and I’m pretty sure that is what Paul is saying here, “Put on, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do. And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection. And let the peace of Christ control your hearts, the peace into which you were also called in one Body. And be thankful.” Now there is a coordinated outfit if I ever saw one!! What if we actually did look at these virtues as our clothing each day? I must wear shoes (that match my outfit of course) AND heartfelt compassion, I must wear a shirt AND kindness, I must wear underwear AND humility, I must wear pants AND gentleness, etc. etc. I think if we clothed ourselves in virtue as a genuine prayer practice every day, we might just start changing the world. It gets a little tricky when Paul tells us to bear with one another and forgive one another as the Lord has forgiven you, but when we are clothed in all the other virtues…this behavior might just come naturally, don’t you think? Ultimately, Paul tells us that the most important thing that we must wear is LOVE. This is the primordial AND final touch that our outfit needs in order for it to be complete. Without it, we are prime candidates for the show What Not To Wear. Finally, Paul tells us to let the peace of Christ control our hearts and to be thankful. I want you to imagine a world where the hearts of Christians are completely controlled by the peace of Christ…comfort food for sure.

This passage from Colossians is a great one to commit to memory and it ends with an affirmation to all worship leaders, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.” Which leads me into the Responsorial Psalm for today, “Let everything that breathes praise the Lord!” It is fitting that these words close out the book of Psalms (Psalm 150) because it reminds us that we need to praise God in literally everything we do and everywhere we go. Now if that isn’t comfort food, I don’t know what is.  My friends and I pray the Office together sometimes and this Psalm is by far the most fun to rap because it has great rhythm. I encourage you to try rapping this Psalm at one point today. Don’t worry we won’t judge you, which leads into the gospel for today.

“Stop judging and you will not be judged,” may be the most quoted scripture of all time. Everyone becomes a scripture scholar when the opportunity to use these words arises, right? But this passage follows a very compelling and difficult speech from Jesus entitled Love For Enemies!!! To love ones enemy may have been the most controversial thing Jesus ever said, aside from EAT ME, to an audience of mostly Middle Eastern men. The culture was and still is a culture based on violence and revenge and loving an enemy was a foreign concept. I’m just guessing here but might this be the very reading that inspired Pope Francis to declare a Year of Mercy? If I were a betting woman, I’d probably go to Vegas with that one. I’m also not a fan of tattoos but the following bullet points from this passage just might make the most epic tattoo ever:

• Love your enemies,
• Do good to those who hate you
• Bless those who curse you,
• Pray for those who mistreat you
• To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other one as well
• From the person who takes your cloak, do not withhold even your tunic
• Give to everyone who asks of you, and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back.
• Do to others as you would have them do to you.
• For if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them.
• And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same.
• If you lend money to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners,
• But rather, love your enemies and do good to them, and lend expecting nothing back; then your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.
• Be merciful, just as also your Father is merciful. (See I totally would have won in Vegas!!!!)
• Stop judging and you will not be judged.
• Stop condemning and you will not be condemned.
• Forgive and you will be forgiven.
• Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap.
• For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.

I told you it was an epic tattoo but seriously if we put all these ingredients into a pie and ate it every day, then clothed ourselves in the virtues from Paul’s letter, and gave praise to God in every single moment of our days, singing psalms and inspired songs………………then SWEET BABY JESUS, LIFE WOULD BE GRAND WOULDN’T IT? Let’s do it, guys!!! Let’s turn to these things everyday as the comfort food that nourishes and sooths us, gives us energy, satisfies us, feeds our cravings, reminds us of the love of God, and sustains us. Savor them in your soul, inhale the fragrance into your heart, and remember them in your mind so that they will be spiritually and permanently tattooed upon our every thought, action, and word. Now pass the beer because that is my comfort food when I’m happy!!!!

Reading 1 COL 3:12-17

Brothers and sisters:
Put on, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved,
heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience,
bearing with one another and forgiving one another,
if one has a grievance against another;
as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do.
And over all these put on love,
that is, the bond of perfection.
And let the peace of Christ control your hearts,
the peace into which you were also called in one Body.
And be thankful.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly,
as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another,
singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs
with gratitude in your hearts to God.
And whatever you do, in word or in deed,
do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Responsorial Psalm PS 150:1B-2, 3-4, 5-6

R. (6) Let everything that breathes praise the Lord!
Praise the LORD in his sanctuary,
praise him in the firmament of his strength.
Praise him for his mighty deeds,
praise him for his sovereign majesty. 
R. Let everything that breathes praise the Lord!
Praise him with the blast of the trumpet,
praise him with lyre and harp,
Praise him with timbrel and dance,
praise him with strings and pipe.
R. Let everything that breathes praise the Lord!
Praise him with sounding cymbals,
praise him with clanging cymbals.
Let everything that has breath
praise the LORD! Alleluia.
R. Let everything that breathes praise the Lord!

Alleluia 1 JN 4:12

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
If we love one another,
God remains in us,
and his love is brought to perfection in us.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel LK 6:27-38

Jesus said to his disciples:
“To you who hear I say, love your enemies,
do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you,
pray for those who mistreat you.
To the person who strikes you on one cheek,
offer the other one as well,
and from the person who takes your cloak,
do not withhold even your tunic.
Give to everyone who asks of you,
and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back.
Do to others as you would have them do to you.
For if you love those who love you,
what credit is that to you?
Even sinners love those who love them.
And if you do good to those who do good to you,
what credit is that to you?
Even sinners do the same.
If you lend money to those from whom you expect repayment,
what credit is that to you?
Even sinners lend to sinners,
and get back the same amount. 
But rather, love your enemies and do good to them,
and lend expecting nothing back;
then your reward will be great
and you will be children of the Most High,
for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.
Be merciful, just as also your Father is merciful.

“Stop judging and you will not be judged.
Stop condemning and you will not be condemned.
Forgive and you will be forgiven.
Give and gifts will be given to you;
a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing,
will be poured into your lap.
For the measure with which you measure
will in return be measured out to you.”