May 28, 2018 Chapter 41 Moving with the Spirit
I love the first line of this chapter: "The wind can be blowing, but if your sail isn't raised, you won't go far."
The other day I heard a talk by Dr. Edward Sri, a theologian at the Augustine Institute in Denver, Colorado. He was speaking about Pope Francis and his Apostolic Exhortation: The Joy of the Gospel. And he reminded me of a story that I had almost forgotten about. Early on in his pontificate, Pope Francis was asked this question, "Who is Jorge Bergolio?" Pope Francis thought for a moment and said, "I am a sinner on whom the Lord has cast his gaze." Later he expounded on that a little bit more. He said he was always captivated by a painting that was titled: The Call of St. Matthew. In the painting, he explains, the Lord has locked eyes with Matthew and invited the tax collector to follow him. Matthew looks bewildered perhaps thinking, "I'm an enemy of my people. I work for the Roman government. People despise me. Why would you call me?" and yet he is captivated by the gaze of Jesus...Matthew still has one hand on his money bag...thinking of all that he will have to give up to follow Jesus...yet he is captivated by Jesus...but afraid to give up what he has...captivated by Jesus and yet afraid to give up what he has..."I am a sinner on whom the Lord has cast his gaze."
When he expounded on that answer, Pope Francis, I think, spoke for all of us who are at times mesmerized by the winds...but still afraid to raise our sails. It is so much easier to simply go with the flow...to do your own thing...to lessen the Christian calling to anything less than the radical giving of one's total self. It is easy still for me to think of a thousand reasons why I can't be the kind of priest God calls me to be, why our parish can't be the kind of parish our God calls us to be. It is easy to focus so much on our weakness (I am a sinner...) that we forget about what we can do when we follow the one who first called us (on whom the Lord has cast his gaze).
My prayer this week is that I'll find a way to follow Jesus more fully each day.
Sunday, May 27, 2018
Sunday, May 20, 2018
May 21, 2018 Chapter 40 The Spirit is a Moving (Pentecost Sunday)
I have heard the words a hundred times before but never really thought about them. Jesus tells his disciples it is better for them that he goes. I imagine that they thought this was hogwash! But with hindsight we see how true it is. Without the Holy Spirit, could the faith have spread across the globe? Jesus, a human being, could only be in one place at one time. God's Spirit can be everywhere.
I am writing this reflection before my Pentecost Masses. I'm going to go out on a limb this weekend to see if we as individual members of the Body of Christ in St. John Paul II Parish, have felt the spirit's nudge. Have we grown in our faith in any substantial way in the last year? the last 2 years or 3 years or 5 years? By the time you read this, I will have asked people to stand if they have grown in their faith in some significant and noticeable way during that time period. If any stood, i will pray a blessing on them. If no one stands, I have significant work to do.
I believe the Spirit is at work in our parish. I hope this weekend proved that true!
I have heard the words a hundred times before but never really thought about them. Jesus tells his disciples it is better for them that he goes. I imagine that they thought this was hogwash! But with hindsight we see how true it is. Without the Holy Spirit, could the faith have spread across the globe? Jesus, a human being, could only be in one place at one time. God's Spirit can be everywhere.
I am writing this reflection before my Pentecost Masses. I'm going to go out on a limb this weekend to see if we as individual members of the Body of Christ in St. John Paul II Parish, have felt the spirit's nudge. Have we grown in our faith in any substantial way in the last year? the last 2 years or 3 years or 5 years? By the time you read this, I will have asked people to stand if they have grown in their faith in some significant and noticeable way during that time period. If any stood, i will pray a blessing on them. If no one stands, I have significant work to do.
I believe the Spirit is at work in our parish. I hope this weekend proved that true!
Sunday, May 13, 2018
May 14, 2018 Chapter 39 Whatever the Hardship, Keep Rising Up
Rise up was the theme of this year's LA Congress. And while at Congress we heard stories of people who had to rise up against the hardships of life: poverty, illness, death; Immigration issues, language barriers, separations; unemployment, loneliness, fear.
One of the things I love about the "uprising" of our faith is that our faith doesn't tell us we won't have problems, that we won't have hardships; it simply gives us a "road map" of how to deal with them when they come. That "road map" is Christ and Christ crucified. For the Christian, we take up our cross daily and follow him. That is our road map. That is our way.
I deal with people struggling on a daily basis. I imagine all of us do. My hope and my prayer is that I can lead them to the road map. That I can lead them to Christ who lived, died and was raised so that we can find our way from death unto life.
Rise up was the theme of this year's LA Congress. And while at Congress we heard stories of people who had to rise up against the hardships of life: poverty, illness, death; Immigration issues, language barriers, separations; unemployment, loneliness, fear.
One of the things I love about the "uprising" of our faith is that our faith doesn't tell us we won't have problems, that we won't have hardships; it simply gives us a "road map" of how to deal with them when they come. That "road map" is Christ and Christ crucified. For the Christian, we take up our cross daily and follow him. That is our road map. That is our way.
I deal with people struggling on a daily basis. I imagine all of us do. My hope and my prayer is that I can lead them to the road map. That I can lead them to Christ who lived, died and was raised so that we can find our way from death unto life.
Sunday, May 6, 2018
May 7, 2018 Chapter 38 An Uprising of Stewardship
I have come to realize that as a priest I am a little bit weird. I enjoy talking about money. I'm not sure that I always have but I know for the last 15 years or more it has been something I enjoy preaching about and something I don't mind talking about in everyday conversations. I think part of the reason for that is that I have come to believe that money itself has no inherent value, just as a rock has no inherent value. A rock can be used for good or it can be used for evil. The same simple truth applies to money--it is a tool given to us to manage for God.
Two things struck me in the reading for this week. The first came on page 193 when McLaren writes: "But what hasn't changed, and what must never change, is this: we realize that the systems of this world runs on one economy, and we in the commonwealth of God run on another." That is a powerful statement about the Christian view of money. We should see it differently from non-Christian people. As said before, money is not a bad thing. Having money is not a bad thing. It is our use of money that has in it the potential for judgment.
A few weeks after I was ordained in 1990, I asked a classmate to go on vacation. He said that he didn't have the money. I was a little shocked at that because shortly after ordination he had told me that he received gifts totaling around $10,000. A few years later I heard that he had given all but $1000 away to a family that was going through a difficult financial time due to an illness.
That story leads to the second thing that struck me in this reading. It comes from a paragraph on page 194. It is the paragraph that begins with the words: "When it comes to how we spend our earnings, stewardship means living below our means." What challenges me about this paragraph is that it turns upside down and inside out the manner with which I typically talk about stewardship. When I talk about stewardship, I say that God gets the first 10%, and then we can use, and save and spend the rest. The early Church, according to McLaren, reverses that order. First, they would decide what they needed to live on--to provide for themselves and their family. Then they would save what they felt they needed to save for their future--the wisdom of foresight.Then finally, the rest would be used for God. When I reflected on that, it was call to reevaluate yet again how well I practice biblical stewardship.
Talking about money is a challenge. Dealing with money is a challenge. None of us, I suppose, gets it right all the time. But, nonetheless, we must always continue to deal with it, wrestle with it, adjust it here and there, so that in all that we do with money, we do it in the name of God.
I have come to realize that as a priest I am a little bit weird. I enjoy talking about money. I'm not sure that I always have but I know for the last 15 years or more it has been something I enjoy preaching about and something I don't mind talking about in everyday conversations. I think part of the reason for that is that I have come to believe that money itself has no inherent value, just as a rock has no inherent value. A rock can be used for good or it can be used for evil. The same simple truth applies to money--it is a tool given to us to manage for God.
Two things struck me in the reading for this week. The first came on page 193 when McLaren writes: "But what hasn't changed, and what must never change, is this: we realize that the systems of this world runs on one economy, and we in the commonwealth of God run on another." That is a powerful statement about the Christian view of money. We should see it differently from non-Christian people. As said before, money is not a bad thing. Having money is not a bad thing. It is our use of money that has in it the potential for judgment.
A few weeks after I was ordained in 1990, I asked a classmate to go on vacation. He said that he didn't have the money. I was a little shocked at that because shortly after ordination he had told me that he received gifts totaling around $10,000. A few years later I heard that he had given all but $1000 away to a family that was going through a difficult financial time due to an illness.
That story leads to the second thing that struck me in this reading. It comes from a paragraph on page 194. It is the paragraph that begins with the words: "When it comes to how we spend our earnings, stewardship means living below our means." What challenges me about this paragraph is that it turns upside down and inside out the manner with which I typically talk about stewardship. When I talk about stewardship, I say that God gets the first 10%, and then we can use, and save and spend the rest. The early Church, according to McLaren, reverses that order. First, they would decide what they needed to live on--to provide for themselves and their family. Then they would save what they felt they needed to save for their future--the wisdom of foresight.Then finally, the rest would be used for God. When I reflected on that, it was call to reevaluate yet again how well I practice biblical stewardship.
Talking about money is a challenge. Dealing with money is a challenge. None of us, I suppose, gets it right all the time. But, nonetheless, we must always continue to deal with it, wrestle with it, adjust it here and there, so that in all that we do with money, we do it in the name of God.
Monday, April 30, 2018
August 30, 2018 Chapter 37: An Uprising of Partnership
I have to admit that I struggled with this chapter a bit. I liked the "placing ourselves in the scene" in the first part of the chapter when McLaren spoke about the growth of the early "ecclesia." But then I struggled with how that tied into the story of the disciples in prison. And then it hit me.
The growth of the Church was because of the witness of the disciples. Paul and the disciples simply witnessed to the faith by not fleeing the jail. They witness to the faith by not letting the jailer harm himself. They witnessed to the faith by staying put when they could have fled. They stayed put precisely because they knew that in staying put they could witness to the faith. It was almost as if they were saying, it doesn't matter if there are chains or not, we will stay here because this is where God put us.
I've been asking myself lately the question of how well do I witness to my faith. Can people see in me something different? Is my witness real and is my faith authentic enough to attract non-believers or people who have walked away from their faith?
This weekend's Gospel is the vine and the branches story (John 15:1-8). At our mission a couple of weeks ago David Wells told how a grapevine is one of the few plants that you can cut off a piece of the vine that is dying in one area and graft it into another piece of the vine somewhere else and it will thrive in this new location. Much like we do medically with a skin graft. That thought made John 15 come alive for me. Our job as a a church is to help people graft into Jesus. And it is in that grafting that we find life again.
I have to admit that I struggled with this chapter a bit. I liked the "placing ourselves in the scene" in the first part of the chapter when McLaren spoke about the growth of the early "ecclesia." But then I struggled with how that tied into the story of the disciples in prison. And then it hit me.
The growth of the Church was because of the witness of the disciples. Paul and the disciples simply witnessed to the faith by not fleeing the jail. They witness to the faith by not letting the jailer harm himself. They witnessed to the faith by staying put when they could have fled. They stayed put precisely because they knew that in staying put they could witness to the faith. It was almost as if they were saying, it doesn't matter if there are chains or not, we will stay here because this is where God put us.
I've been asking myself lately the question of how well do I witness to my faith. Can people see in me something different? Is my witness real and is my faith authentic enough to attract non-believers or people who have walked away from their faith?
This weekend's Gospel is the vine and the branches story (John 15:1-8). At our mission a couple of weeks ago David Wells told how a grapevine is one of the few plants that you can cut off a piece of the vine that is dying in one area and graft it into another piece of the vine somewhere else and it will thrive in this new location. Much like we do medically with a skin graft. That thought made John 15 come alive for me. Our job as a a church is to help people graft into Jesus. And it is in that grafting that we find life again.
Sunday, April 22, 2018
April 23, 2018 Chapter 36 An Uprising of Worship
One of the things I like about this book is that McLaren will often invite us to imagine ourselves in the world of Jesus or those early followers of his. Today's chapter is an example of that. He invites us to imagine a table fellowship where all are treated as equal. The rich and the poor dine together. The slave and the master eat from the same table. The woman and the man drink of the one cup. And because of this "awe came upon everyone." Acts 2:42
Why is it that Christianity fails to "awe" today. Have we simply become so routine, so mainstream that people don't see us as different. What would a truly Christian community look like?
Our parish has been through a tough few weeks. I'm not sure how well we would pass the Jesus test. Some among us have sought to exclude others not because of anything they have done but simply because they are a little bit different. I'm not sure anyone would be in awe over that.
We have a ways to go, we Christians...we have more journeys that we need to walk.
One of the things I like about this book is that McLaren will often invite us to imagine ourselves in the world of Jesus or those early followers of his. Today's chapter is an example of that. He invites us to imagine a table fellowship where all are treated as equal. The rich and the poor dine together. The slave and the master eat from the same table. The woman and the man drink of the one cup. And because of this "awe came upon everyone." Acts 2:42
Why is it that Christianity fails to "awe" today. Have we simply become so routine, so mainstream that people don't see us as different. What would a truly Christian community look like?
Our parish has been through a tough few weeks. I'm not sure how well we would pass the Jesus test. Some among us have sought to exclude others not because of anything they have done but simply because they are a little bit different. I'm not sure anyone would be in awe over that.
We have a ways to go, we Christians...we have more journeys that we need to walk.
Sunday, April 15, 2018
April 16, 2018 Chapter 35 The Uprising of Discipleship
The word disciple and the term missionary disciple has been bantered about the last few years. St. John Paul II began the discussion and Pope Benedict continued it. Pope Francis too has made it a central theme of his preaching and teaching. It is the vision I have for our parish as well. We are a community of disciples.
I like McLaren's definition of disciple as "a follower, a student, an apprentice, one who learns by imitating the master." (page 179)
What does that look like in real life? I think it means finding ways to grow one's faith. I think it means not being content with the status quo especially in our faith journey. In many ways I think in means waking up to God's action in our lives and feeling a need to respond to that action.
I'm always touched to listen to another's story. It is especially exciting when that story involves a "catching fire" for God. I think we need to find ways to share that in our Catholic churches. We need to find ways on Sunday mornings for people to be able to witness to their faith and the ways God is acting in their lives. It is not enough for disciples to hear it from the priests. They expect to hear it there. They also need to hear it from one another.
In the prayer we call the Magnificat, Mary says this: "The Almighty has done great things for me and holy is God's name." Luke 1:49 What are the great things that God has done for you that allow you to proclaim Holy is God's Name?
The word disciple and the term missionary disciple has been bantered about the last few years. St. John Paul II began the discussion and Pope Benedict continued it. Pope Francis too has made it a central theme of his preaching and teaching. It is the vision I have for our parish as well. We are a community of disciples.
I like McLaren's definition of disciple as "a follower, a student, an apprentice, one who learns by imitating the master." (page 179)
What does that look like in real life? I think it means finding ways to grow one's faith. I think it means not being content with the status quo especially in our faith journey. In many ways I think in means waking up to God's action in our lives and feeling a need to respond to that action.
I'm always touched to listen to another's story. It is especially exciting when that story involves a "catching fire" for God. I think we need to find ways to share that in our Catholic churches. We need to find ways on Sunday mornings for people to be able to witness to their faith and the ways God is acting in their lives. It is not enough for disciples to hear it from the priests. They expect to hear it there. They also need to hear it from one another.
In the prayer we call the Magnificat, Mary says this: "The Almighty has done great things for me and holy is God's name." Luke 1:49 What are the great things that God has done for you that allow you to proclaim Holy is God's Name?
Sunday, April 8, 2018
April 8, 2018 Chapter 34 The Uprising of Fellowship
The reading from John's gospel this week is the gospel reading each year for the Sunday after Easter. It is a recounting of "the evening of that first day of the week,"--that first Easter Sunday. Since it is the reading every Second Sunday of Easter, that means I have probably preached on this gospel passage at least 25 times. And in all 25 times I have focused almost exclusively on the person of Thomas. So much so that it had never really dawned on me the three things that Jesus does in the passage. McLaren points out those three things.
First, he offers them peace. This is huge. He doesn't call them idiots for not getting his words about his death and resurrection. He doesn't say I told you so. He doesn't call them cowards for running away in the garden the night of his arrest. He doesn't ask them why they couldn't be more like the women who at least followed him to the cross. Instead he offers them peace.
The second thing he does is remind them of their purpose. he gives them their orders. He sends them on mission. He hasn't given up on them. He hasn't said to them, "You're fired." He renews his trust in them.
Finally, he gives them a down payment of the Holy Spirit (which will come in its fullness at Pentecost). He breathes on them and gives them the power of forgiveness. I guess I've always thought of this as a general power to forgive sins. However, occurring as a post resurrection account it now seems obvious that Jesus is talking at least n part about the forgiveness of those who put him to death, those who fled his side, as well as those who didn't seem to care one way or the other.
Peace. Mission. Mercy. The gifts given that first Easter Sunday!
The reading from John's gospel this week is the gospel reading each year for the Sunday after Easter. It is a recounting of "the evening of that first day of the week,"--that first Easter Sunday. Since it is the reading every Second Sunday of Easter, that means I have probably preached on this gospel passage at least 25 times. And in all 25 times I have focused almost exclusively on the person of Thomas. So much so that it had never really dawned on me the three things that Jesus does in the passage. McLaren points out those three things.
First, he offers them peace. This is huge. He doesn't call them idiots for not getting his words about his death and resurrection. He doesn't say I told you so. He doesn't call them cowards for running away in the garden the night of his arrest. He doesn't ask them why they couldn't be more like the women who at least followed him to the cross. Instead he offers them peace.
The second thing he does is remind them of their purpose. he gives them their orders. He sends them on mission. He hasn't given up on them. He hasn't said to them, "You're fired." He renews his trust in them.
Finally, he gives them a down payment of the Holy Spirit (which will come in its fullness at Pentecost). He breathes on them and gives them the power of forgiveness. I guess I've always thought of this as a general power to forgive sins. However, occurring as a post resurrection account it now seems obvious that Jesus is talking at least n part about the forgiveness of those who put him to death, those who fled his side, as well as those who didn't seem to care one way or the other.
Peace. Mission. Mercy. The gifts given that first Easter Sunday!
Saturday, March 31, 2018
April 1, 2018 Chapter 33 The Uprising Begins (Easter Sunday)
Easter Sunday in April Fool's Day this year. It seems kind of funny doesn't it? It also seems pretty appropriate.
If you are regular in any of the parishes I have ever served you will know that the Easter Season is also Holy Humor Season. People will sometimes ask me why I do this and the answer is pretty easy. Easter is the day God laughed at death. Easter is the day God laughed at fear. Easter is the day that God laughed at destruction and pain and hurt. And yes, Easter is the feast that God played the ultimate April Fool's joke on the world. Death is not the end! Death has no power! And if death is no longer powerful over us, then really we have nothing to fear!
God's blessing on you and your family this Easter. Alleluia!
Easter Sunday in April Fool's Day this year. It seems kind of funny doesn't it? It also seems pretty appropriate.
If you are regular in any of the parishes I have ever served you will know that the Easter Season is also Holy Humor Season. People will sometimes ask me why I do this and the answer is pretty easy. Easter is the day God laughed at death. Easter is the day God laughed at fear. Easter is the day that God laughed at destruction and pain and hurt. And yes, Easter is the feast that God played the ultimate April Fool's joke on the world. Death is not the end! Death has no power! And if death is no longer powerful over us, then really we have nothing to fear!
God's blessing on you and your family this Easter. Alleluia!
Friday, March 30, 2018
March 31, 2018 Chapter 32C Doubt. Darkness. Despair. (Holy Saturday)
I've often said that Jesus resurrection would have been just as powerful if he had died at 3 p.m. and rose at 9 p.m. or 8 p.m. or midnight or 7 the next morning. But he stayed in the tomb for three days. Is that God's way of telling us that there would be times when we are caught int he tomb? Is that God's way of saying life's pains are not usually easy to overcome. When we have deaths in on ours lives (both literally and figuratively) it takes time to deal with the pain. It doesn't happen overnight...or even in three days...but it happens. And it happens because Jesus showed us the way.
Today I invite you as McLaren does to sit in the darkness. Rest in the moments of despair that come often in our lives. To allow yourself to experience the doubt of loss.
My spiritual director in seminary put it this way: sometimes we just need to sit in the shit! Sometimes we just need to lay in the tomb and allow God to be with us in the pain.
May this day allow you some time to do that.
I've often said that Jesus resurrection would have been just as powerful if he had died at 3 p.m. and rose at 9 p.m. or 8 p.m. or midnight or 7 the next morning. But he stayed in the tomb for three days. Is that God's way of telling us that there would be times when we are caught int he tomb? Is that God's way of saying life's pains are not usually easy to overcome. When we have deaths in on ours lives (both literally and figuratively) it takes time to deal with the pain. It doesn't happen overnight...or even in three days...but it happens. And it happens because Jesus showed us the way.
Today I invite you as McLaren does to sit in the darkness. Rest in the moments of despair that come often in our lives. To allow yourself to experience the doubt of loss.
My spiritual director in seminary put it this way: sometimes we just need to sit in the shit! Sometimes we just need to lay in the tomb and allow God to be with us in the pain.
May this day allow you some time to do that.
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