When I ask my students if Jesus ever sinned, it is inevitable to the Gospel reading for today from John 2:13-22 that they refer. It is because in these verses we can read about the scene where Jesus, “made a whip out of cords and drove them all out of the temple area”. Jesus is not sinning here as he drives out those who are misusing the purpose of the “temple area” because as he shares this is the house of his Father, not a “marketplace.” In the line of prophetic tradition, Jesus is making a bold spectacle to drive home the point that the temple is a place of worship for his Father.

Greater still than the temple, is the people of God. Further down in the text, when those present ask for a sign as to the reason he commits this act, Jesus said: “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” Clearly he was pointing to his body as the temple of God and referring to his Resurrection that would come. The temple, the house of God, believed to be the very corporal presence of God for the people of Israel, will be destroyed in 70 AD by the Romans. To where will the Jews go to find God? Two groups I shared about yesterday who were intimately tied to the sacrificial cult of the temple, the Sadducees and the Essenes would in a short period of time cease to exist as a sect within Judaism. The Pharisees, who already were moving to a practice of home worship that mirrored the worship in the temple would survive and be the ancestral root of Judaism today. The followers of the new way of Jesus would become the Church, the Body of Christ.

Each of us have a unique part to play in representing the Church. For some, we may be the only Bible someone ever reads. That means in all that we do, we need to be faithful to God. Does that mean we are to be perfect? No, as we are not. We are no better than anyone else. As soon as we begin to compare ourselves to others, thinking I am not as bad as that person, we are in trouble. First, we have no idea what is truly in the heart of another nor the burdens or trials that they carry. Second, the only one we are to compare ourselves to is the cornerstone, Jesus the Christ.

Pope Francis wrote: “Believers should not be presumptuous; rather, truth leads to humility. We know it is not ourselves possessing truth, it is truth that embraces and possesses us” (14). We are all wounded and going forward doing the best we can. We need to recognize that we all fall short of the glory of God. This is not a proclamation of despair, but one of hope. Because as unworthy as we are, Jesus loves us as we are. His Father loves us more than we can ever mess up. The Holy Spirit meets us in our humanity and empowers us to actualize who we are called to be and invites us to be there to support and uplift one another.

Photo: View from the top of the mountain at Cardinal Newman High School.

Walking With Pope Francis: Thirty Days with the Encyclical The Light of Faith. New London, CT., Twenty Third Publications, 2013.

Links to today’s Mass Reading:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/110917.cfm

Luke begins the pericope, the passage of the Gospel for today, by describing how great crowds were traveling with Jesus. He then relays how Jesus then turns to address them. I can see this scene in my mind’s eye. Jesus striding along with people walking, talking, and moving about, when he just stops and turns. Those closest to Jesus pull up to a stop with him, others continue right past, while at the same time others bump into and trip over those who had stopped before them. The subtle hum of random conversation then slowly comes to a halt, a stillness ripples through the crowd, and then there is silence. The dust begins to settle, as a slight breeze is felt. Those closest have their eyes locked on his, as those further back are craning their necks, moving left and right to get a better look, some cupping their ears to catch the sound of Jesus’ voice.

This crowd is not made up of Jesus’ disciples, they are just on the periphery because of curiosity, they are here because they just might receive that special word or phrase, that confirmation of why they have come to hear this man, that will convince them to be his disciples. Jesus begins with, “If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife or children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple” and then finishes with  “In the same way, everyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple” (cf. Lk 14:25-33).

I do not have a clue as to what this group expected to come out of Jesus’ mouth at that moment, but I would not be surprised to see that more than a few began walking away not to long after Jesus finished with bewilderment. Those maybe hearing it second hand as it was relayed to them because they may have been further from the point of direct hearing may not have believed the message was transmitted to them correctly.

Luke does not share the response of the large crowd. Again, I would not be surprised if the response was very similar to John, chapter 6, when Jesus was talking about eating his flesh and drinking his blood. All walked away except the Apostles. Any advertising or marketing campaign aficionados would have been absolutely apoplectic with either presentation from Jesus.

The invitation that Jesus offers is for all to be saved. Though he is not going to dumb down or sugar coat his message just to get numbers. He is presenting the way to live a life of fullness and wholeness, to restore that which has been lost: the relationship with God his Father. The message has been the same from the beginning of his ministry. “The time of fulfillment is here. The kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Repent and believe in the Gospel” (Mk 1:15). The key step to restoring that relationship which has been lost is that God the Father must be the primary focus, nothing else can come before that relationship. With God first, all other things will fall into their proper place.

If we are willing to surrender our will to God, to receive his love, it is only then that we will truly be able to begin to be free to love our father and mother, wife or children, brother and sister, and even our very self. Any possessions or materiality we place before our relationship with God will distract us from the very flow of the life force that fuels our existence. Finite materials will always fall short of the fulfillment that we seek. Is your finger getting ready to swipe away from this message as the feet of those who began to turn away from Jesus were? If you are, are you doing so because you think it is not possible to truly put God before our relationships and our technology and our possessions? You are right. On our own, through our own effort and willpower it is impossible. But with Jesus all things are possible!

The real question is do we want to be an onlooker or a disciple? The path back to the Father is through Jesus. All we need to do is pray:

Jesus, I trust in you, I believe in you, I surrender all to you, show me the way back home to the Father. Baby steps.

Photo: In chapel at St Ignatius Cathedral, just prior to my ordination Mass, September 2013. To my left, long time friend Fr. Ed O’Brien, a true disciple!

Photo Credit: Deacon Michael Miller

Link for today’s Mass readings:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/110817.cfm

One of those at table with Jesus said to him, “Blessed is the one who will dine in the Kingdom of God.” He replied to him, “A man gave a great dinner to which he invited many. When the time for the dinner came, he dispatched his servant to say to those invited, ‘Come, everything is now ready'” (Lk 14:15-17).

The ever increasing violence, polarization, shouting over one another, delegitimizing, and dehumanizing of one another can be a heavy weight to bear. Some react by sinking into cynicism, indifference, apathy, or worse, despair and hopelessness. We need not engage in any of the above. There may have been different ways to express the same issues above, but they were present in Jesus’ time as well. Judaism was far from unified. The Sadducees, Pharisees and scribes, Samaritans, Zealots, and Essenes all felt they were the authentic expression of Israel. Jesus not only addressed this division by sitting down to break bread with as diverse a population as possible, he also shared parables around the same idea of the invitation to share in the celebration of a feast, as we read today.

Each encounter we are gifted to have with one another is an invitation to experience communion. We have the opportunity to interact with people in so many ways. We can interact in person, through text, email, skype, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, through video phones, snail mail, and a myriad of other ways. Through each exchange we can deny the invitation of communion by choosing to demean, degrade, delegitimize, gossip, or defame. We can also accept the invitation by embracing the opportunity to treat each other with dignity, to empower, to be kind, and to love.

Jesus is inviting us to fellowship with his broken Body. We are all hurting, suffering, and in pain in some form. We need to belong, to be accepted. We need each other. Each day we have a choice to make. Are we going to further perpetuate the condition of original sin, choosing our self over God and one another, or are we going to engage in being a healing agent of his wounded body?

Jesus help us to assume a posture of understanding and humility today. Help us to recognize that many people are dealing with trials and tribulations that we aren’t even aware of. When others act in any way toward us that is in any way less than kind, grant us patience. If someone is short with us, let us resist the defensive response and instead ask if there is any way we can help. If someone is talking over us, grant us the ability to breath and listen. Ultimately, help us to be present and love those we meet today, and be willing in our interaction to let God happen. “Everything is now ready!” Let us come to enjoy the feast of communion with Jesus as we interact with one another today.

Photo: Serving Thanksgiving dinner at Seton Manor, my novitiate year (about 1992) with the Franciscans. Seton Manor was one of my ministries assisting people living with HIV.

Link for today’s Mass readings:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/110717.cfm

“[W]hen you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you” (Lk 14:13-14).

The words of Jesus today give us the key to loving unconditionally. We are to resist the temptation of doing, so that we can receive thanks or praise. The only motive is to reach out to the needs of those in our midst for its own sake. We embrace our dignity as human beings when we recognize the inherent dignity of another and serve them without hesitation, without holding anything back.

This is the root of what we mean when we say that we are believers in the God of Jesus Christ. This God is a divine community of persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Father gives all that he is to the Son perfectly, infinitely, holding nothing back. The Son receives all that he has been given perfectly, infinitely and returns, in like fashion, what he has received to the Father. The infinite Love shared between the Father and the Son is the Holy Spirit.

Through the Son of God becoming incarnate, becoming one with us in our humanity and returning to the Father at his Ascension, we now participate in that same divine love given and received between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We do not give of our time, our talent, and our treasure, because we will be given in return – more time, more talent, more treasure. We give, we love, because we have already been loved into existence by a loving God.

The very fact that we exist, that we have life, is a gift. What it means to be human is to be able to look into the eye of every person we meet and see in them our brother and sister. With each smile, each embrace, each listening ear, and each act of walking with another, we reaffirm to each other that we exist, that we have dignity, having been created in the image and likeness of God who is Love.

Jesus, open our hearts and minds to the wonderful gift of participating in the love given and received between you and the Father. In this way, may we too experience the Holy Spirit, that we may have the courage to mirror your unconditional communion of love here on earth with those we meet today.

Photo: Jesus on the grounds of Our Lady of Florida Spiritual Center

Link for today’s Mass readings:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/110617.cfm

I have been working since I was twelve years old. My first job was as a paperboy. I delivered newspapers in our neighborhood. When I was fourteen I worked the summer on a farm cultivating and picking shade tobacco. Through high school, I worked at McDonalds and then through college, I worked second shift as a nurse’s aide at a nursing home.

The gift of these opportunities was more than making money, it was an opportunity that God provided for me to draw me out of myself and provide me with the ability to serve the needs of others. This was especially true working in the nursing home. Caring for my elders was pretty demanding work, especially in my last few years working there because we were consistently short of help. During that time I had been punched, peed and pooped on, and you haven’t lived until you have had the privilege of taking someone’s dentures out of their mouth that wants them to stay in.

Yet, I would not trade those five years for anything. Through my time there, I learned the deeper meaning of love, agape, that is unconditional love. What St Thomas Aquinas calls, willing the good of the other. The residents and my colleagues drew me out of my own self-centered state of looking at the world. In those years I became more alive, more human.

This is what our job as Christian is to be. Pope Francis in his August 2, 2017 weekly general audience addressed this point when he said, “Baptism is the reason for our hope, and it should inspire us to give off our light even in the most mundane or difficult moments throughout daily life.”

Pope Francis in the same address also said, “What a grace when a Christian truly becomes a Christ-bearer in the world.” Mary is known by the Greek title of Theotokos. This means God bearer. Mary bore Jesus, the incarnate Son of God into the world. We are to be God bearers as well. This is our ultimate calling, this is what we have been created for, this is to be our purpose in life.

How are we to bear Christ to one another? One way is revealed in today’s Gospel “The greatest among you must be your servant.  Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Mt 23:11-12).

Being a Christ bearer starts with developing a relationship with God. We need to be humble before God. This is not a false humility where we walk around saying we are nothing. What this does mean is acknowledging that God is God and we are not. This means surrendering our ego to the Lord of all creation. God will give us that which we need to bring Christ to the world. St Mother Teresa of Calcutta gives us the perfect image; we are to be a pencil in God’s hand. He moves us through the Holy Spirit and we write his love song.

“For as long as I shall live I will testify to love. I’ll be a witness in the silences, words are not enough. With every breath I take I will give thanks to God above. For as long as I shall live, I will testify to love.” – Chorus from “Testify to Love.”

To be a Christ bearer means we need to be loving, to be humble. Being a Christ bearer also means that we are to be gentle and kind with one another. St Paul shows how he ministered in this way with the Thessalonians: “We were gentle among you, as a nursing mother cares for her children. With such affection for you, we were determined to share with you not only the gospel of God, but our very selves as well, so dearly beloved had you become to us.”

We are to have the humility to serve one another with kindness, with gentleness. We are called to accompany, to walk with one another. To be there for one another in our needs and struggles. The more we give, sharing of our time, talent, and treasure, emptying ourselves, the more God fills us up. Once we are filled with the love and mercy of God, we are ready to go and announce the Gospel of the Lord.

Bearing God to the world is not easy. We live in a fallen world of darkness and sin in which many prefer to remain in the darkness. Sin has not destroyed us, it has only wounded us. This is why we need to resist imposing our faith, instead we need to be inviting, modeling our life with the joy of the Gospel.  We are called to minister, to be a healing salve to others, to assist in bearing one another’s burdens.

Paraphrasing Pope Francis, we need to remember that as Christ Bearers we don’t believe in darkness, but in the light of day; we don’t succumb to the night, but wait for the dawn; we are not defeated by death, but long to rise again; we are not bowed down by evil, because we trust in the infinite power of good.

Let us take courage.

Be not afraid.

Let us bear the light of Christ in the midst of the darkness in our corner of the world, in our realm of our influence this day. As long as we shall live, let us testify to love.

Photo: Early morning at Cardinal Newman High School

“Testify To Love” Avalon CCLI# 2572844 Copyright (c) 1996,1998 Universal Music Corp.

Pope Francis. General Audience. August 2, 2017:

https://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/audiences/2017/documents/papa-francesco_20170802_udienza-generale.html

Link for today’s readings for the Mass:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/110517.cfm

“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted” (Lk 14:11).

With these words, Jesus ends his parable about people jockeying for seats of honor, when in fact that is the place of the host to determine the seating. Jesus also addressed this same issue with the Apostles when James and John requested to sit, one on his right and the other on his left when he would come in his glory (cf. Mark 10:35-45). True humility is submitting ourselves to the will of God and acting as he directs such that he is given the glory and not us.

A memory of mine from third grade has been coming back to me recently. It was the feeling one day of someone watching me in the classroom, not classmates or the teacher. I do not believe I was paranoid, nor do I now. What I think the experience was about was me starting to be aware of me from the outside of myself, kind of looking in at myself as I perceived others as seeing me.

Maybe this was the awakening of my ego. I am no psychiatrist, this is all speculation on my part, but I feel as if that memory and today’s Gospel reading has converged. How often throughout my life have I made decisions seeking others’ approval, but just as often, I chose my actions regarding perceived opinions on my part, not actual decisions requested of me directly. These perceived opinions were much more subtle in nature, but also could multiply so to be debilitating at times when I sought to make a decision.

What I am coming to realize, is that it is more important to align myself to God’s will for my life. This does not mean that I am turning my back on family, friends, and colleagues, but in point of fact, by coming to a better understanding of God’s will, I am more authentic in my interactions with others instead of operating from a posture of appeasement, which is more disingenuous. In so doing, I am better able to be present to others for their needs and not my own.

What may have been going on with those at dinner seeking the closer seats to the host, what impelled James and John to want to sit at Jesus’ right and left when he came into his glory, was that they were seeking honor, prestige, glory, acceptance to feed their egos, their false senses of self. What Jesus is teaching us is to align our energy and seeking God’s will and we will find the fulfillment and joy that we seek. This is the transformation we saw happen in Peter. He protected himself at the cost of denying Jesus three times but forgiven by the mercy of Jesus he gave himself in love to serve him and his Church to his death.

May we seek freedom from indecision, mental distractions, and temptations that we entertain to build up our own ego. Let us pray instead for a clearer mind, heart, and spirit that can discern clearly the will of God, and the courage and confidence to act upon his leading without hesitation. May we surrender our ego to God, as Mother Teresa is known for saying, to become a simple pencil in God’s hand. Instead of seeking honor, recognition, and praise, let our intention rather be to follow God’s leading and to serve others unconditionally, willing their good. In dying to our ego-self,, may we go forward today living for Jesus. In our baptism we have been crucified with Christ, so it is no longer we who live, but Christ in us (cf. Galatians 2:20).

Photo: Statue of St Peter in our rosary garden at St Peter Catholic Church.

Link for today’s Mass reading:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/110417.cfm

“Who among you, if your son or ox falls into a cistern would not immediately pull him out on the sabbath day?” But they were unable to answer his question (Lk 14:5-6).

Jesus was again dealing with the issue to heal or not to heal on the Sabbath. Jesus was dining at the home of a leading Pharisee. While there, Jesus noticed a person suffering from dropsy. This English word is derived from the Greek word hydrōpikos which refers to the swelling caused by the retention of fluid, or edema (cf. Johnson, 223). If you have ever experienced swelling of the joints it can be uncomfortable at best and extremely painful or debilitating at worst, especially if one’s livelihood is dependent on hard labor.

Jesus again showed his keen awareness and compassion, yet, why does Jesus keep healing on the Sabbath? He knows it gets under the skin of the Pharisees, why doesn’t he just heal the day before or after the Sabbath? Jesus, in the line of the prophetic tradition, utilized these confrontations regarding Sabbath observance as teachable moments to make a point. Jesus wanted to help the Pharisees and others observing these interactions understand what it meant to know and follow the will of God. Ultimately, what Jesus proposed through his consistent healing on the Sabbath was that the dignity of the person is to be the barometer in guiding whether we are following the will of God or not. In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus stated that the Sabbath was made for people, and not people for the Sabbath (cf. Mark 2:27).

Jesus was not questioning the Sabbath, he was boring down on the core issue. The real debate was not about whether to heal or not, but what had been debated often in Jewish circles was how to define work. It was doing work that was to be avoided on the Sabbath. The further inference Jesus was making was that respecting the dignity of the person ought to be the starting point about making any decision, policy, or observed practice.

May we take time to reflect over the course of the past twenty-four hours. How did we treat those we interacted with in person, online, in traffic and those we are watching on the television? What we think about another directly or indirectly does make a difference in their and our welfare. If we find that we have been thinking, speaking, acting, or looking, in any way that has been less than kind, encouraging, or empowering, may we seek God’s forgiveness. May we also pray for the grace to begin each day with a firmer intent to think, speak, act, and look at another with the primary intent of willing their good.

May we also pray for those who lead us, secularly as well as religiously. May each policy that is formulated; how we deal with the unborn, health care, aboriginal rights, law enforcement, capital punishment, immigration reform, racism, interfaith or no faith, sexual orientation, end of life issues, scientific advancement, military decisions regarding war and peace, begin with the dignity of the person. Building a culture of life starts person to person, but doesn’t just stop there. We also need to stand up when the dignity of our brothers and sisters are not respected. May we be inspired by Jesus to be aware of the needs of another, be moved with compassion to want to help another, and the courage to embrace and walk with another.

Photo: I’m drumming with Albert White Hat, Sr. (November 18, 1938 – June 13, 2013) and neighbors at the Lakota Summer Institute, Rosebud Reservation, SD. I believe in the summer of 1990. I feel blessed having had the opportunity to learn from and spend time with Albert that summer. He taught me a lot about respecting the dignity of the person.

Link for today’s Mass readings:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/110317.cfm

Johnson, Luke T. 2007. “The Gospel of Luke”. In vol. 3, Sacra Pagina Series, edited by Daniel J. Harrington. Minnesota, Liturgical Press, 1991.

“For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him on the last day” (Jn 6:40).

This is what we believe, this is our hope, that we who see Jesus and believe in him shall have eternal life. This is God’s will, this is what he created us for, to be in communion with him and one another in this life and the next. A word of assurance that I often lean on is from the book of Wisdom: “The souls of the just are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them. They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead; and their passing away was thought an affliction and their going forth from us utter destruction. But they are in peace” (Wisdom 3:1-3).

The miracle of Jesus raising the daughter of the official embodies these verses from Wisdom. As Jesus entered the home of the official many were “making a commotion” and Jesus dismissed them stating: “Go away! the girl is not dead but sleeping.” He was ridiculed by the crowd but paid them no heed, went to the girl, took her hand, “and the little girl arose” (cf. Mt 9:18-26).

Jesus’ assurance that the will of his Father was that all would be saved and experiences like the raising of the official’s daughter were seeds of hope that he planted in those who followed him. They witnessed  his actions and words, and not only kept these experiences in their hearts, but shared their stories. This is the gift of the Gospels. That we are able to enter these same encounters with Jesus to experience again and again that the kingdom of God is at hand.

Today, All Souls Day, we celebrate those who are victorious in Christ. Those souls who are now at peace with him. Though we may or may not encounter them again in this life, they see us. Let us pray for them and ask them to pray for us. May we open our hearts, souls, and minds to Jesus so that we too, like those who have gone before us, may believe and have eternal life. Share this Good News!

Photo: Remembering my maternal grandparents

Link for today’s Mass readings

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/110217.cfm

In lower Manhattan yesterday, a man drove a truck into a biker’s lane and then hit a school bus. As of this writing, eight people were killed and eleven were injured. Our Gospel reading today from Matthew presents Jesus sharing the Beatitudes from his Sermon on the Mount. The second Beatitude is: “Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted” (Mt 5:4).

Another word for blessed is happy. How are we to feel blessed, or happy? How do the families and friends of those who died feel blessed? We seem to hear of mass killings through violent acts on a weekly basis. From a theological point of reference, one response is that Jesus is speaking from the perspective of the eschatological event, his second coming at the end of time, and that we can rely on the hope that for all those who sleep in Christ will rise with him on the last day.

I do not dispute that claim, but I also believe that Jesus was also speaking about our day to day experiences as well. Jesus said, as is recorded in Mark 1:15: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand.” Jesus, was the kingdom at hand, just an outstretched arm away. The key to this beatitude is that those who mourn will be blessed, will be happy. Meaning, we are blessed if we enter into the grief and the suffering of the loss and not run away from the agony and pain that threatens to overwhelm us. Also, Jesus’ invitation to embrace the pain is offered, because by entering into our pain and suffering we come to encounter Jesus on the cross with his arms wide open ready to embrace us in our agony, ache, and loss.

By experiencing the sorrow, to be able to mourn, we are in a better position to heal. If we ask God the why of such atrocities we may not receive a sufficient answer and I have yet heard anyone offer one. What I do believe is that his Son, who suffered the agony, loss, pain, and hurt as we did, understands what we are feeling. He is present with us and will guide us through to healing when we turn to him. As we free ourself through embracing the pain, not only are we able to come to a place of healing, we are also better able to experience the wonder of encountering our loved ones we believe lost, but come to the awareness that he or she is now found, risen with Christ. There have been many who have experienced consolation from a loved one’s after death encounter.

Today, we celebrate the gift of this promise of the Resurrection, the gift of the Communion of Saints on this All Saints Day. Those who have gone before us, those who from their heavenly home cheer us on, encourage us, intercede for us, have also welcomed those who have left our present dimension and entered a new plane of existence with God. Let us not be afraid to mourn, to shed a tear, to let loose the depth of our sorrow; for through the grace, mercy, and love of God the Father, we will be comforted.

Jesus suffered death, but that death did not have the last word. He conquered death and death no longer has any power over us. Yes, we mourn the loss of those we hold close to our heart, yet we also rejoice in their new life in Christ. St Paul of the Cross taught: “The world lives unmindful of the sufferings of Jesus which are the miracle of miracles of the love of God. We must arouse the world from its slumber.” When faced with the growing darkness of acts of violence and hatred, we must not give in to complacency, cynicism, or hatred, but instead like many first responders, be the hands and feet of Jesus so to rise up and love all the more.

Let us pray for the repose of the souls for those who died and Manhattan yesterday, those recovering from injuries and the trauma, as well as those who mourn.

Source for quote from St Paul of the Cross:

https://passionist.org/st-paul-of-the-cross-passionist-founder/

Photo:

Crucifix at the front entrance of Our Lady of Florida Retreat Center

Link for today’s Mass Readings:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/110117.cfm