Cheerful Giving | August 10, 2015 Gospel Reflection

August 10, 2015

I’m not a gifted gardener. I greatly admire those that can grow things out of the ground and then keep them alive, because I cannot. It’s not that I don’t try, it’s just that I don’t really understand how to do it. When and how much do I water? When and how often do I fertilize? Where do I place them, in the sun or in the shade? It’s all very involved and I am just not good at it. That’s why today’s readings resonate with me so deeply because they use gardening as a metaphor for evangelization, and while I am a terrible actual gardener, I am a fairly good spiritual gardener, and these readings serve as a reminder that spiritual gardening is the better portion.

From Paul’s letter to the Corinthians we have one of my favorite verses, “God loves a cheerful giver.” It immediately makes me think, well I’m cheerful, so, YAY, God loves me! However, what word did I just leave out? Giver. Am I a cheerful giver?  Do I sow sparingly or bountifully? If I’m being honest, I do sow bountifully which according to this reading means that I also reap bountifully and for that I am truly grateful, but I need to check my cheerfulness, because, again, if I’m being honest, I may not be as cheerful as I think in my giving. I do my fair share of complaining and pointing out people’s shortcomings. I get annoyed very easily and can be pretty vocal about that. And sometimes I’m just not feeling it.

Now with all that being said, I know that God still uses me as an instrument and the ratio of my uncheerfulness in ministry to my cheerfulness is probably like 3:10, however, this reading reminds me to let the bountiful fruits that I enjoy every single day enliven the cheer in me and let it radiate into everything I say and do.

The gospel gives us yet another gardening metaphor, “Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains a single grain.” Woo hoo! I kill plants all the time! Not quite the point. The seed must surrender itself and allow the soil, water, and the sun to transform its former self into the best version of itself. What is the best version of self? That which brings life by giving its life away. Now who  does that sound like exactly? Seeds of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, goodness, and self control have been planted in each of our souls. We need to surrender them to the soil, water them with grace, and point them toward the Son so they can become transformed into life giving food which must be shared with others, and if I can add, must be shared cheerfully with others.

Somehow, I understand all the things that I get wrong in actual gardening when it is applied to spiritual matters. How? The Holy Spirit tells me when and how much to water, when and how much to fertilize, and when souls need sun or shade. What a great blessing!! There will be periods of time spent waiting, feelings of loss, pain from tilling the soil, and possible drought, but the fruits of our “dying” will be bountiful in God’s time and the harvest of a spiritual garden is eternal life.  The good news is that Jesus reminds us “Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. The Father will honor whoever serves me.” So let us cheerfully sow seeds by giving ourselves away and in that giving we will unite our souls to Christ and God our Father will honor us by using the fruits of the harvest for His glory. Yay!!

Reading 1 2 COR 9:6-10

Brothers and sisters:
Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly,
and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
Each must do as already determined, without sadness or compulsion,
for God loves a cheerful giver.
Moreover, God is able to make every grace abundant for you,
so that in all things, always having all you need,
you may have an abundance for every good work.
As it is written:

He scatters abroad, he gives to the poor;
his righteousness endures forever.

The one who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food
will supply and multiply your seed
and increase the harvest of your righteousness.

Responsorial Psalm PS 112:1-2, 5-6, 7-8, 9

R. (5) Blessed the man who is gracious and lends to those in need.
Blessed the man who fears the LORD,
who greatly delights in his commands.
His posterity shall be mighty upon the earth;
the upright generation shall be blessed.
R. Blessed the man who is gracious and lends to those in need.
Well for the man who is gracious and lends,
who conducts his affairs with justice;
He shall never be moved;
the just one shall be in everlasting remembrance.
R. Blessed the man who is gracious and lends to those in need.
An evil report he shall not fear;
his heart is firm, trusting in the LORD.
His heart is steadfast; he shall not fear
till he looks down upon his foes.
R. Blessed the man who is gracious and lends to those in need.
Lavishly he gives to the poor, 
his generosity shall endure forever;
his horn shall be exalted in glory.
R. Blessed the man who is gracious and lends to those in need.

Alleluia JN 8:12BC

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness
but will have the light of life, says the Lord.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel JN 12:24-26

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies,
it remains just a grain of wheat;
but if it dies, it produces much fruit.
Whoever loves his life loses it,
and whoever hates his life in this world
will preserve it for eternal life.
Whoever serves me must follow me,
and where I am, there also will my servant be.
The Father will honor whoever serves me.”

Cheeseburgers in Paradise | August 9, 2015 Gospel Reflection

August 9, 2015

Hunger hurts. Physical hunger can feel like your insides are eating themselves. It consumes your mind, it makes you cranky, and it can drive you crazy. Remember those classic cartoons of the skinny guy on a desert island with his tattered cut offs and his thought bubbles would turn into a dancing turkey dinner? Have you ever been “hangry” before? We need calories to be in our right minds. We need nourishment to thrive. Isn’t spiritual hunger the same? It can feel like your soul is caving in on itself and when your soul is “hangry,”  you can lose sight of reality and our thought bubbles paint pictures of false images that we think will take away the pain. Hunger hurts.

Elijah, in the first reading, was soul hungry and his thought bubble tried to tell him that death would take the pain away. Have you ever prayed for death? I have, and it is the number one sign that a soul is malnourished. So an angel literally poked Elijah awake and immediately feeds him like a good Italian grandmother. He needed to be fortified to face reality. I love how the same angel physically touches Elijah both times he awakens him. Sometimes we just need to be held and spoon fed when we are in a place of despair. This reading from 1 Kings is a sweet account of God nurturing us in our darkest times with a simple touch (like a kiss or a hug or brushing away our tears or holding hands or caressing our face), and a basic meal. Sometimes the solutions to our problems are as simple as that.

Then we fast forward to the gospel and Jesus announces one more time that He is the Bread of Life. We all understand hunger and so Jesus in His brilliance uses something that everyone, gentile, Jew, non-believer, infant, and adult can relate to.  The essence of life to the Jews is located in the soul. Therefore, Jesus declares, “I am the Bread of your Soul,” and this is when they start to chatter. It seems that we are not so different from our ancient brothers and sisters. Don’t we find that sensational issues, statements, quotes, tweets, etc. immediately kick up the gossip in us? I know that I am guilty of this and it bums me out that I identify with their murmuring, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph? Do we not know his father and mother? Then how can he say, ‘I have come down from heaven?’” What do these statements indicate? Spiritual hunger. Hunger clouds our ability to see beyond the surface. Cheeseburgers dance jigs before our hungry eyes and the smell of French fries takes away our willpower. Sin charms us into believing that things that look like food actually are real food.

Jesus goes on to say, stop your speculating because the bread that I am is fortified by the Great I Am. This is not ordinary food, this IS life. Physical starvation is a reality throughout most of the world and unfortunately, spiritual starvation is too. We can’t survive on fake food, we need fortification, and we can’t survive on anything that does not  come from the one who made us. The only way to receive that kind of nourishment is in the Eucharist. The Bread of Life calls us to the table to eat and one day the cheeseburgers that dance jigs will be in paradise.

Reading 1 1 KGS 19:4-8

Elijah went a day’s journey into the desert,
until he came to a broom tree and sat beneath it. 
He prayed for death saying:
“This is enough, O LORD! 
Take my life, for I am no better than my fathers.” 
He lay down and fell asleep under the broom tree,
but then an angel touched him and ordered him to get up and eat. 
Elijah looked and there at his head was a hearth cake
and a jug of water. 
After he ate and drank, he lay down again,
but the angel of the LORD came back a second time,
touched him, and ordered,
“Get up and eat, else the journey will be too long for you!” 
He got up, ate, and drank;
then strengthened by that food,
he walked forty days and forty nights to the mountain of God, Horeb.

Responsorial Psalm PS 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9

R. (9a) Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall be ever in my mouth.
Let my soul glory in the LORD;
the lowly will hear me and be glad.
R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
Glorify the LORD with me,
Let us together extol his name.
I sought the LORD, and he answered me
And delivered me from all my fears.
R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
Look to him that you may be radiant with joy.
And your faces may not blush with shame.
When the afflicted man called out, the LORD heard,
And from all his distress he saved him.
R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
The angel of the LORD encamps
around those who fear him and delivers them.
Taste and see how good the LORD is;
blessed the man who takes refuge in him.
R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

Reading 2 EPH 4:30—5:2

Brothers and sisters:
Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God,
with which you were sealed for the day of redemption. 
All bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, and reviling
must be removed from you, along with all malice. 
And be kind to one another, compassionate,
forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ.

So be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love,
as Christ loved us and handed himself over for us
as a sacrificial offering to God for a fragrant aroma.

Alleluia JN 6:51

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I am the living bread that came down from heaven, says the Lord;
whoever eats this bread will live forever.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel JN 6:41-51

The Jews murmured about Jesus because he said,
“I am the bread that came down from heaven, ”
and they said,
“Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph? 
Do we not know his father and mother? 
Then how can he say,
‘I have come down from heaven’?” 
Jesus answered and said to them,
“Stop murmuring among yourselves. 
No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him,
and I will raise him on the last day. 
It is written in the prophets:
They shall all be taught by God.
Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me. 
Not that anyone has seen the Father
except the one who is from God;
he has seen the Father. 
Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever believes has eternal life. 
I am the bread of life. 
Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died;
this is the bread that comes down from heaven
so that one may eat it and not die. 
I am the living bread that came down from heaven;
whoever eats this bread will live forever;
and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”

Drill It | Wear It | Write It | August 8, 2015 Gospel Reflection

August 8, 2015

Sentences like: “Drill them into your children”, “Bind them at your wrist”, “Let them be a pendant on your forehead”, “Write them on the doorposts of your houses”, like modern day hash tags, suggest that something paramount needs attention: heart, soul, and strength or the Great Shema. Shema means to hear or witness the name of God. This prayer is where it all begins. “It” being faith.  The Israelites believed that the heart and mind were one so in this prayer, let our thoughts and feelings be undivided and devoted to God alone. The soul is where our energy or lifeblood resides, so let us be willing to lay our lives down for the love of God. Strength refers not only to our physical selves but all of our earthly possessions as well. Give it all to God.

·      Drill it:  Let God’s love penetrate our hearts, move into our minds, permeate our souls, and infuse our bodies with undivided devotion and focus. Drills build habits and the habit of loving God first is an absolute must.

·      Wear it:  Let’s go all out and get tattoos of God’s name, shall we??!! Not necessary but, this one seems pretty Catholic to me. Don’t we wear reminders of Christ around our necks and wrists? Seems pretty basic but it’s good to repurpose our reminders so that they do help us to remember oneness of heart, soul, and strength.

·      Write it:  We have it drilled into our minds, hearts, body, and soul, we wear it around our necks and wrists, and on our foreheads, and we need one last tool to really really really lock it in. Write it over and over, read it over and over.

This foundation of faith sets the stage for today’s gospel.  After the apostles were unable to heal a young boy with epilepsy, they ask Jesus why. He said, “Because of your little faith.” Then he goes on with the classic image of having faith the size of a mustard seed.  A pinpricked ounce of heart, soul, and strength loving God and only God, can flourish into hillsides of yellow witness or shema, and hillsides of yellow witness move the mountain as the breath of God blows through and the dance of faith that we participate in writes, wears, and drills the words of love on our hearts and souls, and gives us the strength to heal and thrive.

Might I suggest committing the passage from Deuteronomy 6:4-9 to memory so that the beginning of faith becomes firmly planted as a seed that will become a wild and thriving witness to all.

Reading 1 DT 6:4-13

Moses said to the people:
“Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone!
Therefore, you shall love the LORD, your God,
with all your heart,
and with all your soul,
and with all your strength.
Take to heart these words which I enjoin on you today.
Drill them into your children.
Speak of them at home and abroad, whether you are busy or at rest.
Bind them at your wrist as a sign
and let them be as a pendant on your forehead.
Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates.

“When the LORD, your God, brings you into the land which he swore
to your fathers: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,
that he would give you,
a land with fine, large cities that you did not build,
with houses full of goods of all sorts that you did not garner,
with cisterns that you did not dig,
with vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant;
and when, therefore, you eat your fill,
take care not to forget the LORD,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery.
The LORD, your God, shall you fear;
him shall you serve, and by his name shall you swear.”

Gospel MT 17:14-20

A man came up to Jesus, knelt down before him, and said,
“Lord, have pity on my son, who is a lunatic and suffers severely;
often he falls into fire, and often into water.
I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him.”
Jesus said in reply,
“O faithless and perverse generation, how long will I be with you?
How long will I endure you?
Bring the boy here to me.”
Jesus rebuked him and the demon came out of him,
and from that hour the boy was cured.
Then the disciples approached Jesus in private and said,
“Why could we not drive it out?”
He said to them, “Because of your little faith.
Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed,
you will say to this mountain,
‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move.
Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Watch | Imitate | Become | August 7, 2015 Gospel Reflection

August 7, 2015

Sometimes when people say the phrase, "Pick up your cross" I think what they are really saying is, "Stop our whining and just deal with it." This, of course, makes me a little self righteous and defensive, and honestly, when we merely throw quotes like this out at each other, they might indeed get lost in translation. In Today's gospel, however Jesus' teaching is clear, "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me." The children's game "Follow The Leader" comes to mind where the leader walks around doing various actions and the followers imitate the leader in a single file line behind them.  Yes, Jesus IS saying do what I do, say what I say, be like me, watch, imitate, become. 

• Watch: We need to observe Christ in the gospels and in the world. The only way to imitate Him is to know what He does and says and scripture is the best study guide we have for that.

• Imitate:  We have to do a significant amount of watching in order to start imitating. Imitating is not "faking it." Imitate literally means to follow an example (like the children's game). When we have watched Him enough, we will know how to act and speak like Him.

• Become:  Soon we will become that which we imitate. When you study, you learn to apply the knowledge, when you apply the knowledge you become an expert, and experts teach others how to become. 

Because we live in this world, we will always be tempted to be of this world. When we watch, imitate, and become the things that this world says are true we "forfeit" our lives. Jesus goes on with a list of things that we should pay attention to in our game of follow the leader. 

• For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
• But whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
• What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?
• Or what can one give in exchange for his life?

Jesus desires that we not only live but that we live life fully. As I was writing this reflection, it occurred to me that while Jesus agony, passion, and death were horrifying and unjust and brutal, it only lasted less than 24 hours of his entire life. I'm not trying to diminish Jesus' passion and death in any way, however, I think that a lot of times when we think about taking up our crosses we have this idea that everyday will be a crucifixion and that is just too overwhelming. But, when we watch, imitate, and become we see that Christ's life was one filled with joy, community, friendships, parties, story telling, transfiguration, love, and lots of other goodness. Meditating on this helps me wrap my brain around the cross and while it is terrible suffering, it is for just a short while. 

Today, let's play a fun game. Jesus is at the front of the line and he begins with the classic airplane wings and we all follow along flying through the air. Now try to picture what Jesus' next five moves will be and follow along just like the airplane. I'm sure each of us will come up with five different things and Jesus' example will multiply into all of our worlds one move at a time. Watch | Imitate| Become. 

Gospel MT 16:24-28

Jesus said to his disciples,
“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,
take up his cross, and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world
and forfeit his life?
Or what can one give in exchange for his life?
For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory,
and then he will repay each according to his conduct.
Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here
who will not taste death
until they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom.”

It Is Good That We Are Here | August 6, 2015 Gospel Reflection

Thursday, August 6, 2015

One of my favorite icebreaker questions is, “If you could witness one event in all of history, what event would you choose?” I’ve heard every kind of answer from the crumbling of the Berlin wall to the Resurrection. I myself go back and forth between the Annunciation and the Transfiguration. Both events involve mystery, light, an intimate encounter, and spoken words. Mystery | Light | Encounter | Word.

Today’s gospel is the account where Jesus brings his groupies to the mountain. Peter, James, John, and Jesus go on a hike and I am sure the three apostles were thrilled, honored, and maybe a little smug at being chosen for this special field trip. Jesus clearly wanted these three friends to see something apart from the rest of the group. Were they his “besties”? Probably, and we all know that every now and then, we just need a weekend or a getaway with our besties. It’s healthy for our souls and when we get away from life in the valley, we start to see things differently.

The mystery of it all must have captured their hearts. Why did he choose us? What were we going to do and see? How long is this camping trip? Who brought the food? A life with Christ can and does have a constant element of mystery to it because God is like a cloud that can’t be pinned down. There is excitement in mystery and yes, there is also anxiety. We know first hand from our own experience (i.e. Cursillo) that if we succumb our will and simply trust in the unknown, God’s surprises will completely rock our worlds, blow our minds, and transform our hearts. Mystery is God’s way of pulling our heartstrings closer and closer.

Once our hearts are enticed with a little bit of mysteriousness, God uses light to show us something wonderful. The mystery calls us to look closer and the light illuminates whatever it is that we are trying to find; in this case, a glimpse of heaven. Jesus gives us glimpses of heaven everyday like when your best friend looks into your eyes, or when a baby smiles, or when a child sings, or when a butterfly soars by. These hints of eternity call us to encounter Christ in all things.

The mystery brings us in, the light shows us His face, and the encounter changes our hearts.  Peter, James, and John were changed on that mountain because Jesus went out of his way to reveal himself to them. Have you ever played hide and seek with a child and found the most obvious place to hide just so they would experience the joy of finding you? That is exactly how God works. He’s the fat guy hiding behind the flagpole. He wants us to see him, he wants us to find him. In the finding, we encounter and in the encounter, we are changed because we are no longer alone and intimacy with Christ is precisely how we live forever.

Mystery leads to light, light leads to encounter, and encounter leads to word. The words in this story: “This is my beloved son. Listen to him.” And I’m pretty certain that those same words apply to every single encounter with Christ. When we enter into a mysterious and intimate relationship that is illuminated by grace, we will hear our Heavenly Father remind us that Christ is the way, the truth, the life, and all we have to do is listen to him.

The Transfiguration gives us a wonderful formula for spiritual growth and awakening. Mystery draws us in, light pours grace into our lives so that we can encounter love and in love we can hear the words of everlasting life. May we celebrate every single transfiguration, big or small, with the same excitement and fervor that Jesus’ besties did, proclaiming: “It is good that we are here!”

Gospel MK 9:2-10

Jesus took Peter, James, and his brother John,
and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves.
And he was transfigured before them, 
and his clothes became dazzling white, 
such as no fuller on earth could bleach them. 
Then Elijah appeared to them along with Moses, 
and they were conversing with Jesus.
Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, 
“Rabbi, it is good that we are here!
Let us make three tents: 
one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
He hardly knew what to say, they were so terrified.
Then a cloud came, casting a shadow over them; 
from the cloud came a voice, 
“This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.”
Suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone
but Jesus alone with them.

As they were coming down from the mountain,
he charged them not to relate what they had seen to anyone,
except when the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
So they kept the matter to themselves, 
questioning what rising from the dead meant.