Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time_B - RESPECT_100321

Deacon Tom Writes,

RESPECT

Twenty-seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B

Aretha Franklin was arguably one of Rhythm and Blues top female vocalists. Referred to as the “Queen of Soul”, one of her many blockbuster hits was, “RESPECT.” It became the US’s No. 1 hit in 1967. The following year it won two Grammy Awards. Rolling Stone Magazine ranked it at No. 5 on their list of “The Greatest Songs of All Time” securing its place in music history for all time.

Besides being a musical blockbuster, the very title of Franklin’s music expresses, perhaps, the most fundamental obligation and duty we owe not only to one another but to the entirety of creation around us. Why is that?

In calling forth creation, Genesis recounts this majestic moment when, after Adam named all the animals, God found no suitable partner for him. That there was no suitable “partner” for the man from all that God had made is telling. Man’s partner does not come from all prior life that he was given dominion over. Rather, the man’s partner is “bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh.” How unique that this creation story is centered around a partnership between two created beings, intimately sharing the same flesh and blood, whose purpose in life was to become, as it was to begin, “one flesh?”

This is our foundational narrative. This is the Creator’s plan from the beginning, a plan that would manifest itself in the unity and equanimity of the man and the woman that would extend to all of creation they were to govern.

Respect is a duty we owe to one another and all creation. It is the profound recognition that we are “created beings” whose origin is from the beneficent Creator who has made us “little less than god” (Ps 8:6) who are destined to share in his very being for all eternity.

If we only understood the meaning of the word “respect.” If we only knew the meaning of the Creation Story, what a different world we would experience. Fostering respect for one another is the way out of many of the problems we confront in our society today. This is certainly rich soil to cultivate. We are living in a time when respect for one another has all but disappeared. Worse, we are living at a time of disrespect for individuals, institutions, laws, any moral authority. Don’t tell me what to do!!! Don’t try to limit my freedoms!!! Such disregard for others can only produce outcomes that will lead to further division, strife and alienation from one another.

Today’s readings urge us to reflect on not only how we treat others but how we view them. For in Christ we are all members of the “One body”. And people of faith treat one another with RESPECT.


Enjoy the day!
Deacon Tom

Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time_B - Envious Hearts_092621

Deacon Tom writes

“Envious Hearts”

Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

Both Moses and St. Luke shed some light about a serious sin that we all experience from time to time, the sin of envy.  In the spiritual realm this is such an insidious offense that it ranks as one of the seven deadly sins so named because they tend to inspire one to further sin. We hear today how Moses responds to a complaint brought to him by two of his tribesmen.  What bothered them was that several others of their group were prophesying even though they had not been in their company when they received the “spirit. Moses sensed that a spirit of envy or jealousy was at work with those who lodged the complaint. Instead of chastising the two who had received the gift of prophesy while away from camp, instead he responds, “Would that all the people of the LORD were prophets! Would that the LORD might bestow his spirit on them all!"

In a similar way, the Apostles see that someone not in their group is casting out demons and report that to Jesus.  Jesus wisely cautions his disciples “Do not prevent him.” Jesus knows that any good work done in his name will produce good fruit.

Very often our fragile human nature shows itself in the ugliest of ways. In these two incidents from Sacred Scripture we notice how one group of individuals is offended because others appear to have gotten something that they did not deserve. In the first reading the Spirit came to rest on the men who left camp and the “crowd” is upset with this; in the gospel a stranger was empowered to cast out demons without being an Apostle and again the “crowd” of disciples are offended. Envy is at work in both these events. In both instance the intention of those who complain is to get someone – Moses or Jesus – to issue a cease and desist order to the perceived antagonist. Rather than get their way, our teachers today hold a class that remains applicable for us today. 

Our sequential, linear minds constantly seek to put God in a box. We want to control God. We want him to be predictable and to be fair; fair, that is, as we perceive fair to be. But God is above all our thinking and our wildest imagination. God’s ways are simply beyond us and we need to grow into that realization.

God is at work all around us, in all faiths, in all peoples, in all circumstances. God’s Spirit works in the hearts of the faithful everywhere. God is the reality through which we live, and move, and have our being. It is not jealousy that should fill our hearts when we see good being done, but rather a deep sense of awe at the wonders God is unfolding minute-by-minute, day-by-day all around us. Even by those who look, act, believe, and worship differently than we do. Better than keeping a jealous eye on what others appear to be doing is for us to act as those upon... whom God’s spirit has been bestowed. 

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom

Image from: zazzle.com

Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time_B - Who's Numero Uno_091921

 

Deacon Tom Writes

“Who’s Numero Uno”

Twenty-fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B

One of telltale signs that we struggle to embrace Jesus’ message “to become the least” is the fact that we do all that we can to be the first… to be the best… the greatest, the center of attention. We want to be in the limelight; we want the bigger piece of the pie. Yet, today, Jesus’ instructions are clear: the only way we get to the head of the line is by seeking to be the last one in it! “If anyone wishes to be first”, he says, “he shall be the last of all and the servant of all”. That’s how things operate in the Kingdom of God. It was the behavior of his closest disciples that prompted Jesus to pass this teaching on to us. In today’s gospel we hear that an argument broke out among his disciples as to who was “Numero Uno”. This happened right after Jesus revealed what’s going to happen to him when they get to Jerusalem. “He will be handed over to men and they will kill him…but in three days he will rise”. How callous of his followers to be so dismissive of Jesus’ horrific prophesy! Imagine how anguished we would be if, while we were bearing our souls to a close friend, they were disengaged and self-absorbed. There is just no imaginable way to describe how hurt and distraught we would feel‼!

Jesus made many references to the fact that the Kingdom he was announcing was ordered a bit differently than our experience here in this temporal realm. In God’s kingdom ….the first shall be last, the hungry will be satisfied, the broken, crushed, dispossessed and sorrowing will be comforted. And forever, the peacemakers will be held in high esteem….!

Those are some powerful promises, and yet, given the state of the world, some of our inner city neighborhoods, and even our family, one can’t help wonder if we are doing all that we can to ease the plight of the poor, the neglected, those who are suffering through this life? Why aren’t we looking to “store up treasures in heaven” (Mt 6:20) by helping the worst of the worst? Are we confused about the significance of Jesus’ teachings? Matthew, Chapter 25 makes it pretty clear… “Whatever you do to the least of my brothers and sisters, you do to me?”…Or, are we, like the disciples in today’s gospel more distracted with our own concerns and interests than the suffering and hopelessness of many of those around us?

It is very difficult to die to self, to take up the crosses of our lives and unite them with that of Christ. That is why we need to learn from the Master, to follow in his footsteps, and practice every day to love and serve each other, as Christ has loved us, even unto death. That is one way to show others is really “Numero Uno” in our lives.

Enjoy the day!
Deacon Tom

Image from – lailas blog.com

Twenty-fourth Sunday_B - Better Choices - Better Results_091221

Deacon Tom Writes,

“Better Choices - Better Results” 

Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

This Saturday marks the twentieth anniversary of the World Trade Center tragedy. As we commemorate this heart rending occasion we suffer the additional trauma of watching the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. We have all has our share pain and suffering over these years, the consequence of both natural disasters and of our own poor decisions. There’s nothing new here, I suspect. But, perhaps more than ever, it may be time to look at our decision making process that has produced such anguish, anxiety and negativity in our local and global communities, in our churches, in our politics and in our families. 

There is a saying that goes like this, “If you always do what you always have done, you will always get what you’ve already got”. So, if we keep eating the cheesecake, we are going to keep adding on the pounds! Makes perfect sense, doesn’t it? So, when it comes to understanding and solving the problems in our families, in our communities and in our world, we need a different mindset than fighting fire with fire, or punching back harder when someone strikes us. We need a higher level of thinking to find real solutions. To paraphrase Einstein, genius that he was,  he said it this way, “Problems cannot be solved with the same mind set that created them”. Many of the problems of our world, our communities and in our families are of our own making. We have no one to blame but ourselves for the bitter results of our poor choices. Real solutions to any problem that ails us demand that we pursue alternate and elevated way of thinking than the thinking that got us into that bad situation as Einstein so eloquently noted. 

For us whose faith is centered upon Christ, today’s gospel gives us insight into finding solutions to any problem we face, large or small. Jesus tells Peter, “You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do”. The invitation here is clear:  elevate your thinking! This may be an oversimplification, true. But, at the same time, it is good advice. For left to our old patterns of thinking, one could reasonably expect more of the same... more war, more violence, more suffering and pain, more erosion of the moral and spiritual fabric of society in a continuing state of decline. 

The antidote to this dismal future lies in the essence of Jesus’ teaching that is founded upon the dynamic principle of Love. Love of God and love of neighbor. Simple, yet this is the challenge of a lifetime. Love as Jesus loved: selflessly, unconditionally, without ulterior motive or even a desire to be loved in return. Love that forgives all injuries, infidelities, idolatries.  It is called agape, where Jesus empties himself because of his complete and total love of God and dependence upon God for all things and for all outcomes. This is the way God, Abba, thinks, acts, and IS. And God invites us to do the same! 

Change the way we think, act and how we approach our problems from our way to God’s ways and while that might not produce immediate results on a global scale, more than likely we will be much more successful solving problems in our homes and in our communities. A good enough start wouldn’t you agree? 

Enjoy the day!
Deacon Tom

Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time_B - The Secret To Success_090521

Deacon Tom Writes

“The Secret To Success”

Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

Jesus has a remarkable encounter with a deaf man as he traveled the countryside of the Decapolis. Petitioned by the man’s friends, Jesus cures him. “Be Opened!” Jesus says two simple words to the deaf man and he is able to hear. His life changed in an instant. There is newness to the world he has been living but not fully participating in. He is complete, made whole, reunited to the community from which he was isolated and ready, perhaps, to begin life anew.

There are many events recorded in scripture that demonstrate Jesus had power over the natural world. He changed water into wine, walked on water, calmed the sea. But Jesus’ greatest power lies in his power to heal as we read in today’s gospel. He uses that power to set this man free from the loneliness and isolation that his deafness caused. 

The words we hear in the gospel today are powerful, “Be opened”. They challenge us to look into our lives and find those attitudes and behaviors that stand in contrast to the openness to which God calls us. Are we “Open” to forgive someone who has hurt us? Are we “Open” to letting go of resentments? Are we "Open" to changing our behavior and stop gossiping or thinking that we are better than others?  

Be Opened! Not just our ears, but our minds and attitudes also. We are living in a fast-paced, media fueled, 280 character twitter tweet, relationship challenged world and we can’t help but wonder if, when we speak, there’s anybody listening?” Is anyone open to what we are saying when we speak about God’s love for us and for every person; that we are made in God’s image and likeness; that we are infused with great dignity, and our destiny is to share eternity in the divine presence?

When we are “Opened” to the Word of God, our lives change, just as the man in the gospel’s life was changed. We don’t know the details on what changed. We only know that everyone was told to keep silent about what happened. Yet, because of their astonishment, they just couldn’t keep this amazing occurrence to themselves. They had to spread the word. And those words did not fall upon deaf ears! Praise God!

God never disappoints. There is nothing in our lives that God can’t use to bring about the good if we turn to him and trust in him. That’s the deeper meaning of faith. That’s the “Openness” that God longs for so that he can fill us with every good thing in our time of need. Openness is our invitation to God to come into our lives and holds the secret to success in attaining a peaceful and joy filled spiritual life.

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom 

Image credit: dave-burke.squarespace.com/storage/ephphatha.jpg