salvation

Are we willing to embrace the humility of Naaman?

Naaman, is an interesting character that comes to life, not only in the first reading, but Jesus refers to him as well. Naaman is a successful commander in the Aramean army and well favored by the king. The conflict that arises for him is that he suffers with what appears to be the beginning of leprosy.

Naaman shows his humility in his willingness to listen to the advice his wife’s servant girl. Someone who had no voice or status in society. He follows her guidance, goes to Israel and leaves from his encounter with Elisha angry because the prophet does not meet with Naaman’s expectation. Before all is lost, Naaman’s willingness to listen to the reasoning of another of his servants will lead Naaman to be completely healed and praising the God of Israel.

Jesus in the Gospel has returned to Nazareth and although the hometown crowd is initially moved by his powerful teaching, things turn ugly fast when he shared about how God worked through the faith of the widow of Zarephath, who saved Elijah, and Naaman’s story. Both the widow and Naaman were foreigners, they were others, they were Gentiles, and not Jewish. Jesus is echoing the prophet Isaiah and sharing that God’s offer of salvation is not only for the chosen people of the house of Israel, but it is to be for all nations.

The offer of universal salvation filled Jesus’ hometown crowd with fury, and they rose as one to “hurl him head long” over the hill and out of Nazareth. At first reading, we might wonder how this invitation could be so unnerving.

What if we spent a few moments of placing ourselves in the synagogue at Nazareth and imagine ourselves sitting and receiving his same message? The only difference this time is when Jesus reaches out his healing hand and offers his invitation of salvation, he offers it to… let us fill in the blank. With whom or with what group of people might we bristle? Would we embrace his message or begin to cross our arms and seethe? Would we too want to rise and reject Jesus and throw him head long over the hill?

Or can we be humble like Naaman, and admit our own biases, and be healed of our own limitations and prejudgments? Are we willing to support the idea of salvation for only a select few or for all? Will we be an obstacle to Jesus’ healing or be humble enough to admit where we need healing, be healed, and share Jesus’ message and healing with others?

Photo: Beginning of Rosary walk last night. St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary, Boynton Beach, FL.

Link for the Mass readings for Monday, March 4, 2024

Let’s embrace the wonder of God’s creation and one another.

There is a sadness and an ache that accompanies today’s readings. David sins again and many people suffer because of the choices he makes as leader. In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus preached and taught in his “native place”, but for the most part, his words were not received. Because of the lack of faith of his hometown crowd, their unwillingness to trust in him, Jesus did not perform many healings or exorcisms. He was not able to bring those who knew him for the majority of his life into deeper communion with his Father.

The whole reason that the Son of God became man was to bring light to a world suffering in darkness and to reconcile humanity to their rightful place as sons and daughters of his Father. And yet, those closest to him refused the invitation such that: “he was not able to perform any mighty deed there, apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them. He was amazed at their lack of faith” (Mk 6:6).

Is our world today becoming more and more like Jesus’ “native place”? Is Jesus taken for granted? Do we pay attention to him at all? Many expend more energy on cynicism, taking care of number one, and an uncritical acceptance of empiricism or scientism. Again, a sad state because science is an awesome gift. Science and faith come from the same source, our intrinsic ability to embrace the wonder of God’s creation! These two are not incompatible. Authentic faith seeks understanding. A questioning and searching mind are the ingredients for a living, relevant, and vibrant faith, and life.

Faith without reason, as well as reason without faith, leads to a more limited understanding of the vast expanse of our world. Scientism is limiting the very gift of science itself because it stops when the questions get really interesting, when the exploration goes beyond the measurable, the sensate experiences as we know them. Faith without reason can devolve into mere superstition and legalism.

Jesus invites us to resist setting limits, settling for a minimalist or cynical approach, and the hardening of our hearts. He instead is inviting us to open ourselves up to the limitless possibilities God opens up before us! There is so much to experience in God’s creation if we just slow down and are still enough to experience the wonder of our everyday moments all around us.

The Holy Spirit works through each of us when we resist keeping each other at a distance and placing each other in a box. Many of Jesus’ own people could not see Jesus as anyone other than a simple carpenter and son of Mary. There was no way he could do all the things people were saying about him.

May we resist the lie that we know all there is to know about each other. There is so much wonder to the gift of each individual, especially when we allow ourselves to expand by following the will of God for our lives and helping each other to do the same. We can experience so much more by embracing our faith and reason, opening our hearts and minds to the wonder and glory of God and each encounter with one another. As we do so, we will begin to experience God’s greatest joy, the human being fully alive!

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Photo: Short morning walk yesterday, enjoying some blue sky and sight of the moon. Mary has often been compared to the moon as she reflects the light of her Son!

Link for the Mass readings for Wednesday, January 31, 2024

The Holy Family teaches us to counter violence with compassion.

Just seven days ago, on Christmas Eve, a 14-year-old shot and killed his 23-year-old sister, and his 15-year-old brother shot and wounded him in retaliation. This happened because of an escalating argument over Christmas presents.

This happened not in Israel or Ukraine, but just about 200 hundred miles northwest of Jupiter, FL. There are so many more examples I can give. I will not. I have already shared one too many.

Violence in our world is a reality, it has many forms and infiltrates our homes, families, communities, nation, and our world. This reality is not new, nor is this reality the truth of who God created us to be and our readings today bear witness that there is another way as we celebrate the gift of the Holy Family: Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.

In another time and place, a baby was born in a cave because no one was willing to allow his parents entry into their homes or even the local inns. This family also fled to Egypt to save the life of their Son. They would return after Herod’s own death, and live in Nazareth in poverty as an occupied people under brutal Roman rule. Despite all of this, and no matter the level of their suffering, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph trusted and were faithful to God. The holy family models for us what God intended for all of humanity from the beginning.

Joseph and Mary were also faithful to the law and brought Jesus to the Temple to dedicate him to God. As we just heard proclaimed Simeon said: “Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in sight of all the peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel” (Luke 2:29-32).

“My eyes have seen your salvation.” Simeon is calling this child God’s salvation. This child is to be the instrument to save humanity. Jesus’ name means, one who saves. This baby is to be “a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel.” Jesus, whose name means, one who saves, came to show us the difference between the selfishness and fallen nature of men and the truth and love of God. Jesus was born for us, to be one with us, to reveal to us the goodness of our humanity, to forgive and heal us, and invite us to the fulfillment of our humanity which will come to through our participation in his divinity.

“Why then,” you may be thinking, “has nothing seemed to have changed in the almost 2,000 years since his birth. Simeon answers this as well: “Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to a sign that will be contradicted (and you yourself a sword will pierce) so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed” (Luke 2:34-35).

This is not just a prediction of the pain Mary will suffer at the cross of her newly born infant when a Roman soldier pierces his heart, but Mary also is standing as a representative of Israel and through Israel, all of humanity. Jesus comes close person to person. He invites, he does not impose his will. The dignity that God has given us is foundationally the freedom to choose to reject or accept his love and his relationship. To choose division and separation or to choose unity and communion.

The brothers did not wake up Christmas Eve with the intent of taking up arms instead of opening presents. There were choices and circumstances surrounding their lives long before that led to each of their choices to pull the trigger. Why did they and so many in our world choose violence instead of the peace and the love of Christ?

So many reject the Prince of Peace. And even many that accept him do so in name only. We are blinded by the temptations, influences, and diversions of the world. We need to realize first and foremost that we need a savior. We can’t change this world or ourselves on our own. We need to acknowledge that this child is indeed our savior, we need to accept the invitation to come to know him, to open our hearts and minds to him, and to allow him in to heal and forgive us. When we do so, and our relationship with him grows, we will be transformed. This happens only in our everyday experiences and the choices we make. Each “Yes” to the will of God, our fallen nature will become less, and Jesus will become more. Hopefully, over time we say yes much more than we say no, such that people no longer see us, but they see Jesus in us, and we see Jesus in them.

I had an interesting experience Friday morning. I flew into Ft. Lauderdale on four hours sleep and then took the Tri-Rail up to Boynton Beach. As I got up to leave the train car, my eyes and the door attendant’s eyes met, and she gave me a wonderful smile which I returned as I left. When I completed all I needed to do at the seminary and drove up to Jupiter, it was already early evening, so I picked up an Impossible burger at Burger King on the way home. As the cashier handed me my bag in a rush to get back to the drive-thru, she turned and also offered me a wonderful smile.

I am not going to make anyone’s top one hundred list for most handsome man and I was old enough to be each of these women’s grandfather. There are those moments when kindness and gentleness are exchanged because we see Jesus in one another. I believe that is what happened in both encounters.

It may sound like a small thing, but when we see Jesus in others and they see Jesus in us, there is no more, us and them, there is a brother and a sister in Christ. Ending our tendency toward violence is not an easy fix, but when we surrender our lives to Jesus and we begin to see him in each other, that is a good first step.

St. Paul’s life was transformed by his encounter with and surrender to Jesus. He turned away from a life of persecuting Christians even to the point of death in at least one incident with St. Stephen. He came to see the truth of who God calls us to be in our humanity and shared it in his letter to the Colossians: “Put on, as God’s chosen one, 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” (Colossians 3:12-13).

This is what Christmas is all about. This is how we are to live our lives. We will do so when we come to know this child, spend time in the school of the holy family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. When we make the time to pray with these readings, meditate and contemplate with them, we enter into Jesus’ memory. He lived them and invites us to enter into these accounts each year and to experience them as our own. When we do so, we remember who we are, God’s chosen, his holy and beloved daughters and sons.

When we allow ourselves to be loved and forgiven, healed, and saved, surrender and follow Jesus, our lives will be changed. We will be more compassionate, humbler, kinder, patient, forgiving, and loving. We will see each other as brothers and sisters as the one Body of Christ.

I invite you to come to receive Jesus who came as an infant almost 2,000 years ago and will be made present again on this altar. The Son of God became one with us in our humanity, will be made present for us in the Eucharist, so we can be one with him in his divinity. As we are loved by Jesus and love him and each other in return we counter the violence of our world one person, one smile at a time. Come receive Jesus and share him with all those you encounter today and through this week.

This will be a peaceful way to begin the new year!

Photo: Statue of the Holy Family on the grounds of St. Peter Catholic Church, Jupiter, FL.

Link to the Mass readings for Sunday, December 31, 2023