What do I still lack? | August 17, 2015

 August 17, 2015

Today’s gospel is another Jesus zinger and one that really invites us to re-evaluate the things in our lives to which we are attached. The first thing we learn is that we can do no good apart from God. The young man asks Jesus, “Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?” You see that’s just it….eternal life is based on God’s goodness not on our own. It’s not that we aren’t good (because God made us good) but entering heaven is a result of God’s mercy and the sacrificial love of His Son. What we can do is follow Christ and learn what that kind of love looks like, acts like, and is like so that when we meet God face to face we will know how to choose. The devil is pretty efficient at acting super shiny and attractive because he knows that humans have a weakness for those kinds of things. He entices us with things that look and feel good, or that sound and taste good, but like junk food, they do not satisfy and slowly we become malnourished. We become addicted to unsatisfying things that constantly swoon us toward the next latest and greatest. This is how Lucifer (which means “shiny one”) works.

The next thing Jesus teaches us is that if we “wish to enter into life” we must keep the commandments. The young man asks  “Which ones?” because there were 613 laws in the Jewish faith and to follow ALL of them might have been a little overwhelming. Jesus highlights the big ones: Don’t kill, commit adultery, steal, tells lies, do honor your mom and dad, and love your neighbor. The young man probably sighed a big “whew” of relief because he was already observing these. I love this kid’s persistence and thoroughness because I think he really wanted to go to heaven and he was looking for some sort of magic formula to guarantee that he would get there. I feel like I do the same thing sometimes. Just give me a checklist with bullet point guarantees that I can present to God when I die. They will all be checked off perhaps with dates and times that they were accomplished, and most likely with side notes explaining the awesomeness of, well, me! Then I’ll get a permanent glow in the dark hand stamp and I will be an official resident of heaven!! Sounds good to me. Raise your hand if you can relate to this?

I picture the young man scratching his head saying, “All of these I observe. What do I still lack?” What a great question. What a great prayer. Imagine if at the end of every day we asked God, “What do I still lack?” Jesus comes back with a bit of a sting, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” Let’s unpack it.

“If you wish to be perfect….” I know the word perfect is intimidating and that only God is perfect, however, Jesus is really referring to spiritual maturity here. The word mature means: “completed, perfected, or elaborated in full by the mind; ripe, as fruit, or fully aged, as cheese or wine; fully developed in body or mind, as a person.” The man in the story is young, not fully aged or complete, and neither are we in our spiritual lives. But, there are things we can do to ripen ourselves for the eternal harvest and that gives me comfort because of course, I am a doer. Striving for spiritual maturity will be on my daily “To Do” list so, yay.

First, we must wish for spiritual maturity or holiness, then we must “Go, sell what we have and give to the poor.” Love is a verb, it’s active, it’s alive, and it goes out. If you have never watched the TV show, “Hoarders”, you now have a spiritual homework assignment to do so! One episode of “Hoarders” will change your life and I guarantee you will feel the need to clean something and/or get rid of stuff. Jesus is clear, we must detach from stuff and share our wealth with others. He doesn’t say give our stuff away, he says sell it and give to those in need. He doesn’t want any of us to be poor, but he wants us all to share because we don’t really possess anything. Everything is a gift to us from God and when we share our gifts with one another, we are growing, ripening, and becoming fully aged souls.

We must wish for holiness, we must go and give, and every time we give we, treasures in heaven are being deposited. It’s like an eternal savings plan. Every time we share our time, talent, and wealth with others, especially the poor, we contribute to heaven’s abundance where everyone can partake in forever. How cool is that?

After we desire perfection, and detach from stuff, and share our wealth with the poor, and our heavenly treasure is established, then we have one more thing to do…follow Christ. We can’t truly follow Christ unless we have a desire to be holy, we are actually giving love away, and fixing our sights on heaven. There’s the formula that we’ve all been looking for. It’s easier said than done but it is not impossible especially when we unite our hearts in the Eucharist. One must be part of the vine if one wants to become ripe for the harvest. “Follow me” means get back on the vine and grow; grow in spiritual maturity by giving yourself away.

The last line of this gospel really stirs my heart…”When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad, for he had many possessions.” It really is an open-ended conclusion. Of course, we want to assume that his sadness over his possessions meant that he did not heed Christ’s words and follow him, but we really don’t know that for sure. Following Christ requires sacrifice and sometimes we will get sad over the things that we must give up, but Jesus promises us treasure in heaven, so while we will be sad over our earthly losses, when we fix our hearts on the rewards waiting for us in heaven, we can “enter into life” with a fool proof formula: Follow the commandments that bring life and closeness to God, ask God what it is that you still lack, desire holiness, detach from the world, go out and love the poor, keep your eyes on heaven, and follow Jesus.

Reading 1 JGS 2:11-19

The children of Israel offended the LORD by serving the Baals.
Abandoning the LORD, the God of their fathers,
who led them out of the land of Egypt,
they followed the other gods of the various nations around them,
and by their worship of these gods provoked the LORD.

Because they had thus abandoned him and served Baal and the Ashtaroth,
the anger of the LORD flared up against Israel,
and he delivered them over to plunderers who despoiled them.
He allowed them to fall into the power of their enemies round about
whom they were no longer able to withstand.
Whatever they undertook, the LORD turned into disaster for them,
as in his warning he had sworn he would do,
till they were in great distress.
Even when the LORD raised up judges to deliver them
from the power of their despoilers,
they did not listen to their judges,
but abandoned themselves to the worship of other gods.
They were quick to stray from the way their fathers had taken,
and did not follow their example of obedience
to the commandments of the LORD. 
Whenever the LORD raised up judges for them, he would be with the judge
and save them from the power of their enemies
as long as the judge lived;
it was thus the LORD took pity on their distressful cries
of affliction under their oppressors.
But when the judge died,
they would relapse and do worse than their ancestors,
following other gods in service and worship,
relinquishing none of their evil practices or stubborn conduct.

Responsorial Psalm PS 106:34-35, 36-37, 39-40, 43AB AND 44

R. (4a) Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
They did not exterminate the peoples,
as the LORD had commanded them,
But mingled with the nations
and learned their works.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
They served their idols,
which became a snare for them.
They sacrificed their sons 
and their daughters to demons.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
They became defiled by their works,
and wanton in their crimes.
And the LORD grew angry with his people,
and abhorred his inheritance.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
Many times did he rescue them,
but they embittered him with their counsels.
Yet he had regard for their affliction
when he heard their cry.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.

Alleluia MT 5:3

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are the poor in spirit;
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel MT 19:16-22

A young man approached Jesus and said,
“Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?”
He answered him, “Why do you ask me about the good?
There is only One who is good.
If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.”
He asked him, “Which ones?”
And Jesus replied, “You shall not kill;
you shall not commit adultery;
you shall not steal;
you shall not bear false witness;
honor your father and your mother;
and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
The young man said to him,
“All of these I have observed. What do I still lack?”
Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go,
sell what you have and give to the poor,
and you will have treasure in heaven.
Then come, follow me.”
When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad,
for he had many possessions.

Perfect Perfect | August 13, 2015

 August 13, 2015

I wonder if Peter was in a quarrel with someone when he asked the question, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him?” I just feel like he was speaking from personal and maybe current experience. Either way, it’s a great question. Yesterday the gospel said that if our brother or sister won’t listen to us, or friends, or the church, it’s OK to call it quits. But today the gospel is talking about our personal responsibility to forgive not sometimes, not sort of, but always and all the way. Any time the number 7 is used, it means perfection. So to say that we must forgive 77 times means perfect perfect.

How is this even possible? Well, for man, it is virtually impossible, but for God it is a piece of cake and it is exactly how he forgives us. There is a great word that is so small and might seem totally insignificant but in it is the truth that will set us free. The word is: “as”.  “Forgive us our trespasses AS we forgive those who trespass against us.” “Love your neighbor AS the Father loves you.” “AS the Father loves me, so I love you.” This one little word changes everything. The only way for us to even begin to think about such a life changing word is with grace and even though we are all steeped in grace all the time, it takes some effort on our part to be able to draw upon that grace. Mostly, we just need to pay attention, but as the gospels for the past week reminds us that we need healthy relationships.

I like that the word relationship has the word “ship” in it because it reminds me that there will be storms, waves, doldrums, sunshine, rain, and lots of other conditions that will test our even keels. However, a sturdy vessel can handle just about any of these and then add the grace of God into the mix and suddenly your relationship becomes an aircraft carrier of abundant love, perfect forgiveness, and the word AS keeps us from getting seasick and hurling over the side.

The story about the king that Jesus uses to demonstrate his point is one big “AS my Father” zinger and his ending is perfect perfect (77): “Unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart.” Perfect perfect (77) forgiveness is always from the heart and is always AS the Father forgives us. Get your ships ready to sail into the perfect perfect sunset of forgiveness from the heart.

Gospel MT 18:21–19:1

Peter approached Jesus and asked him,
“Lord, if my brother sins against me,
how often must I forgive him?
As many as seven times?”
Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.
That is why the Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king
who decided to settle accounts with his servants.
When he began the accounting,
a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount.
Since he had no way of paying it back,
his master ordered him to be sold,
along with his wife, his children, and all his property,
in payment of the debt.
At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said,
‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’
Moved with compassion the master of that servant
let him go and forgave him the loan.
When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants
who owed him a much smaller amount.
He seized him and started to choke him, demanding,
‘Pay back what you owe.’
Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him,
‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’
But he refused.
Instead, he had the fellow servant put in prison
until he paid back the debt.
Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened,
they were deeply disturbed,
and went to their master and reported the whole affair.
His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant!
I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to.
Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant,
as I had pity on you?’
Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers
until he should pay back the whole debt.
So will my heavenly Father do to you,
unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart.”

When Jesus finished these words, he left Galilee
and went to the district of Judea across the Jordan.

Face to Face | August 12, 2015

 August 12, 2015

The first reading marks the end of the Jewish Torah or the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible), and I always thought it to be a sad ending for Moses. I feel bad for the guy that didn’t even want the job in the first place, but put up with millions of complaining Israelites for 40 freaking years! Every other week they would anger God, and Moses would come to their defense begging God for mercy. Year after year, the thought of the Promise Land stirred Moses’ heart to stay in it and to persevere. By the time they were ready to enter said Promise Land, Moses was old already and so God showed him the whole land saying, “This is the land which I swore to

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that I would give to their descendants. I have let you feast your eyes upon it, but you shall not cross over.”

BUT YOU SHALL NOT CROSS OVER??? ARE YOU KIDDING ME, GOD??? IS THIS SOME KIND OF SICK JOKE??? AM I BEING PUNKED??? That’s how I would react if I were Moses. I’m just sayin’.  

Sure enough, Moses died and if the story ended there, I personally would be inclined to say, “What’s the point of serving the Lord if I don’t get to enjoy the Promise Land?” However, the next part of the story reveals the deeper and sweeter reality:

“Now Joshua, son of Nun, was filled with the spirit of wisdom, since Moses had laid his hands upon him; and so the children of Israel gave him their obedience, thus carrying out the LORD’s command to Moses.

Since then no prophet has arisen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face. He had no equal in all the signs and wonders the LORD sent him to perform in the land of Egypt against Pharaoh and all his servants and against all his land, and for the might and the terrifying power that Moses exhibited in the sight of all Israel.”

First of all, Moses had to leave in order for the “spirit of wisdom” to be left upon Joshua, just like Jesus had to leave in order for the Holy Spirit to animate the Apostle’s souls. Also no one could see God face to face and live, but Moses was the chosen one who enjoyed such an intimate relationship with God: eyelash to eyelash they shared breath, word, love, and intimacy. Someone that close to God is NOT meant for the things of this world and so this seemingly sad ending reveals itself as a triumphal entry of God’s chosen one into the Promise of Eternity. The next time I get caught up in worldly rewards, I hope to remember that intimacy with God is the only way to cross over into the true Promise Land: Heaven.

This story paints the picture of a tender relationship and today’s gospel is all about relationships. The steps are pretty simple:

1. If someone hurts you, talk to him or her about it, face to face.
2. If they don’t listen to you, then bring a couple of trusted friends along so that there is some sort of mediation.
3. If they still don’t listen to you, then bring the matter to the church.
4. If none of these efforts result in reconciliation, then move on (Jesus actually says to shun them or excommunicate them from the community, but we’ll just say move on).

I realize that this is all easier said then done and in our modern world these steps seem a little outdated and maybe even irrelevant, however, it does give us permission to get on with our lives and to leave our baggage at the altar. If we make earnest attempts to not only reconcile with those that have hurt us, but to tell them exactly how they have hurt us, “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault” and if they do not receive those efforts for reconciliation, then we must or have permission to rid ourselves of them just like the removal of any cancer. We are called to a higher standard and that means we need to make all attempts to reconcile, however, there comes a point when we need to cut people loose if they are weighing us down by sin, or hurt, or ugliness, or abuse, or unforgiveness, or unwillingness to hear our hearts. Jesus says that if we bind these things to ourselves, in other words, tie them around our neck, we will live with them forever, but if we cut them off, we will be free of them forever.

Why do we need to focus on healthy relationships? Jesus gives us the answer at the end of this gospel, “Again, amen, I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about

anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” We need healthy relationships, because that is where God dwells!!!!!!! BAM and YAY!

I pray that each of us surround ourselves with friends that will help us to be holy, that will seek and accept forgiveness, and that will share in our prayer so that God will always be in our midst and face to face we will cross over into heaven holding hands and cheering for one another.  

Reading 1 DT 34:1-12

Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo,
the headland of Pisgah which faces Jericho,
and the LORD showed him all the land—
Gilead, and as far as Dan, all Naphtali,
the land of Ephraim and Manasseh,
all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea,
the Negeb, the circuit of the Jordan
with the lowlands at Jericho, city of palms,
and as far as Zoar.
The LORD then said to him, 
“This is the land
which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
that I would give to their descendants.
I have let you feast your eyes upon it, but you shall not cross over.”
So there, in the land of Moab, Moses, the servant of the LORD,
died as the LORD had said; and he was buried in the ravine
opposite Beth-peor in the land of Moab,
but to this day no one knows the place of his burial.
Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died,
yet his eyes were undimmed and his vigor unabated.
For thirty days the children of Israel wept for Moses
in the plains of Moab, till they had completed
the period of grief and mourning for Moses.

Now Joshua, son of Nun, was filled with the spirit of wisdom,
since Moses had laid his hands upon him;
and so the children of Israel gave him their obedience,
thus carrying out the LORD’s command to Moses.

Since then no prophet has arisen in Israel like Moses,
whom the LORD knew face to face.
He had no equal in all the signs and wonders
the LORD sent him to perform in the land of Egypt
against Pharaoh and all his servants and against all his land,
and for the might and the terrifying power
that Moses exhibited in the sight of all Israel.

Responsorial Psalm PS 66:1-3A, 5 AND 8, 16-17

R. (see 20a and 10b) Blessed be God who filled my soul with fire!
Shout joyfully to God, all the earth;
sing praise to the glory of his name;
proclaim his glorious praise.
Say to God: “How tremendous are your deeds!”
R. Blessed be God who filled my soul with fire!
Come and see the works of God,
his tremendous deeds among the children of Adam.
Bless our God, you peoples; 
loudly sound his praise.
R. Blessed be God who filled my soul with fire!
Hear now, all you who fear God, while I declare 
what he has done for me.
When I appealed to him in words,
praise was on the tip of my tongue.
R. Blessed be God who filled my soul with fire!

Alleluia 2 COR 5:19

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ,
and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel MT 18:15-20

Jesus said to his disciples:
“If your brother sins against you,
go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.
If he listens to you, you have won over your brother.
If he does not listen, 
take one or two others along with you,
so that every fact may be established
on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
If he refuses to listen to them, tell the Church.
If he refuses to listen even to the Church,
then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector.
Amen, I say to you,
whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven,
and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Again, amen, I say to you, if two of you agree on earth
about anything for which they are to pray,
it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father.
For where two or three are gathered together in my name,
there am I in the midst of them.”