Come, Follow Me!

Deacon Tom Writes,

“Come, Follow Me!”

Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

We read several occasions today of people who wanted to follow those holy men who crossed their paths. First Elisha was willing to leave everything to follow in the footsteps of the Prophet Elijah. In the New Testament someone calls out to Jesus, ‘I will follow you wherever you go’”. It’s easy to understand how this happened. People were amazed at the miracles these men of God performed. In Jesus’ case people saw with their own eyes the great miracles that he worked; they witnessed firsthand the gentleness and great compassion with which he treated people, not just his own but non-Jews also. They personally experienced his genuineness and sincerity of heart. They felt welcomed and comfortable in his presence. And, they wanted to stay in that comfort zone long as they could. At first glance it is easy to understand why they wanted to remain with Jesus. But remember, Jesus wasn’t peddling la dolce vita. Jesus tells them up front that following him would lead them on a challenging and difficult journey, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head”. In other words, Jesus wanted to spell out that the road ahead wouldn’t be easy, that to be a disciple, one must do as he did – pick up our crosses and follow him.

We know that being a follower of Jesus is difficult. We don’t do a good job of denying ourselves or taking up our crosses, right? Having a discipleship mentality puts us at odds with the “real world” where all of our efforts go to build ourselves up, let everyone know just how great we are or show them how much we have accomplished. That’s really the only way to get ahead in life…this life, that is. The very fact that we strive so much to succeed puts us in direct competition with everyone else and it is those basic struggles of life that often breed resentments and envy, difficult vices that challenge and undermine our faith. They don’t have to, but truthfully, they often do.

So, what’s the secret to living an authentic Christian life in our day and age? One way is to distinguish between what we want and what we truly need. Our wants are generally insatiable. Our needs are fairly basic and so much more easily attainable. If we are able to seek only what we need, we can begin to imitate the spirit of simplicity and freedom of Jesus. With less focus on our own needs and concerns, perhaps we can increase our love for one another, which puts us on track to practice the greatest commandment… loving God and our neighbors as ourselves. This is how we begin to deny ourselves and open ourselves to the good things that God has in store for us, those things not present in our world, but rather those treasures that flow from the kingdom of God that are for everyone and that last forever – everlasting… Joy, ……Peace, and Happiness.

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom

What The World Needs Now

Deacon Tom Writes,

“What The World Needs Now”

Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Around the year 520 BC the Prophet Zechariah prophesied that one day the Lord would, “pour out…a spirit of grace and petition” upon his people. He was referring to a distant time when God’s grace would become visible in the person of Jesus Christ. Hearing these words today encourages us to awaken within us that “spirit of grace and petition” to renew our hope and energize our spirit so we may confront the hopelessness and despair that seems to be on the increase in our world. Yes, what our world needs now is a profusion of that “spirit of grace and petition” that only God can give.

We know that Grace is God’s gift freely given to us, but that does not mean that we should not ask him to send it our way! Grace is a gift from God that enables us to live in harmony with God, with all of humanity, and with all of creation. Grace breaks down the harness of our hearts and opens our souls to share God’s love, mercy, and compassion. Grace moves us gradually to be able to forgive others and ourselves, frees us from the need to retaliate for the wrongs done to us, or to exact revenge from our enemies. Grace draws us toward God via our brothers and sisters in Christ and away from our self-centered obsession. Zechariah was writing about each generation’s need for God’s grace, not just for the people of antiquity.

Life has always been difficult. It has never been easy, just read the bible or open a history book. Through mass media we hear of the suffering of people in all parts of the world because of violence, cruelty beyond imagination, natural calamities, and religious zealotry. For so many people today, there is a deepening sense of hopelessness, an increase in cynicism that has caused many to abandon their faith or to have any faith whatsoever that there is an absolute wisdom governing and sustaining all creation. We seem to have lost our profoundly Christian belief that we are “Children of God” as St. Paul tells us. This is the real tragedy of our day, that so many have turned their backs to God and to each other!

As people of faith we should seize every chance we have to ask God to fill us with a “spirit of grace”. We should not hesitate to ask God to make good on his promise “to pour out his spirit of grace and petition” on us so that we may have the courage and strength to respond to the challenges of our times and to be a people of hope, a people who let the light of Christ shine in us and through us to all those around us. Yes, what the world needs now until the end of time is God’s grace and people who thrive in it.

Enjoy the day! And, Happy Father’s Day to all the dads, grandpas and great-grandpas…

Deacon Tom

For The Love of God, Surrender!

Deacon Tom Writes

“For the Love of God, Surrender”

Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

In writing to the Galatians, St. Paul expresses some of the most challenging words of the New Testament. He says, “I have been crucified with Christ; yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me”. These words are indicative of Paul’s complete transformation from living a self-center life marked by personal accomplishment, pursuit of his own individual desires, fulfilling his own sense of well-being. His life has been forever changed because of his personal encounter with and experience of Christ. He is not the same person he committed to this intimate relationship with Christ. Paul has experienced an “ontological” change… a change in his very being because he allowed Christ into the very fiber of his life. How many of us can say the same thing?

Paul’s story is somewhat scary for us. If we have any familiarity with Paul’s life, we know that he suffered much after his conversion. In his Second Letter to the Corinthians he writes, “Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I passed a night and a day on the deep”. And there was more! We know that he was also brought to trial and put into prison because of his faith in Christ.

Over time, St. Paul surrendered more and more of himself to Christ. Christ filled that void Paul created within himself by sharing his own peace and joy with him. That’s the lesson that Paul gives us in this reading from Galatians. God won’t come into our lives unless we make room for him. God respects the choices we make in our lives. That’s part of the many consequences of the gift of “Free Will”. If we choose to fill our lives with desires for worldly things, if we are constantly on the go and living each day with an acquisitive mindset trying to keep up with the Joneses, if we never have a moment to “be still and know that I am God, “ then we just may be missing out on the abundance available to us from the spiritual realm; we may be missing the peace and joy that Christ has in store for us when we give a little bit of ourselves over to him.

We can sense that reality in the woman in today’s gospel. Her sins are known to everyone, at least that is the impression we get from Simon’s musing. And yet, she has the courage to come to Jesus and in an act of pure humility to seek his favor, to ask to be set free from her past life.  Again, like Paul’s, her story is one of a change of heart, the first step in our willingness to “live no longer I, but Christ lives in me”.

St. Augustine was aware of this simple truth eons ago when he preached that our hearts would not rest until they rest in the Lord. We have to discover this truth ourselves as did Paul and the unknown woman in the gospel. And, we will, by working to put Christ at the center of our life and surrendering our will to his.  

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom

No Other Love Have I

Deacon Tom Writes,

“No Other Love Have I”

Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

You may have noticed the Ads on TV that promise to help you find your perfect partner… that love of your life, as the saying goes. According to them you simply go on-line, list some of your good qualities…that you are kind and helpful, thoughtful, etc. Honesty isn’t really necessary! Then you describe the qualities of that ideal person you’re trying to meet… one who is caring, generous, good-hearted, and so on. You get the idea. If you’re lucky, in a cyber second, you’re connected to the love of your life. Good luck! I do hope it works out.

But there is a better way. Would you believe that today’s readings could really put us in touch with the love of our lives? They reveal some essential qualities that will draw us into a deep and life changing relationship that will bond us to an intimate friend and lover, a trusted companion, who will be the source of our strength, who will be the one we turn to when life becomes uncertain and burdensome, and with whom we will want to share all our happy moments and life’s joys.

Who is this amazing one who can possibly satisfy all of our heart’s desires?

As these readings reveal, it is God who competes for our love, who reveals his great love for us all by revealing his love for these two widows today.

They represent all the poor, lowly outcast, marginalized members of society for whom God’s love is intense. God is good to them, provides for them, and rescues them from their despair. And he desires to do the same for us. 

And, in addition to being good, we learn that God is eager to help.  He doesn’t hesitate to reverse the misfortunes these widows suffer.

In the First Reading we are told that God listens…“the Lord hears the prayer of Elijah”, then quickly restores the life of the widow’s only son.

  

Then, in the gospel, God reveals many of his other qualities. In this brief encounter between Jesus and the Widow of Nain, we see Jesus as a person with deep emotion…quick to show empathy for the woman and her situation as she mourns the death of her son. We also sense Jesus being fully aware that beyond the loss of her son, the widow is now also powerless, voiceless, hopeless, reduced to the status of a beggar, and completely dispossessed. We hear Jesus console and comfort her, “Do not weep”, he says.

             

Reading this passage you can’t help but sense that Jesus is more aware of the depth of her sorrow than anyone else who is present, even though he is a stranger. We know that Jesus experiences a deep sense of compassion for her loss. He experiences her pain in a real, physical sense… that’s the meaning behind the Greek word used to describe, “how he was moved with pity”. We see that Jesus is moved to step beyond religious taboos of being made unclean as he reaches out and touches the coffin to stop the procession so that he can restore the young man back to life and avert the poverty and suffering the future had in store for his mother.

       

The God who seeks to satisfy our heart’s longing …. is a God of deep compassion, intense sorrow, empathy, sympathy, sensitivity, and is  concerned for the well being of others; a God who rejoices because, in the words of the psalmist, this widow’s “mourning  (has been changed) into dancing”.

Jesus is giving us an example, a mental picture of what it is like to be “fully human”…“fully alive” in Christ and invites us to imitate him in being an instrument of God’s love, and mercy bringing compassion to those who need tenderness and showing empathy to all who are suffering in mind or body or spirit.

These reading today challenge us to reflect on this truth: that God seeks to fill the emptiness within us, within our hearts. He truly does compete for our love. He is a God of compassion, a sensitive and caring God close to the broken-hearted, near to all who call upon him.

Jesus is God in human flesh living life to the fullest by loving God and caring for others. He invites you and me to choose him as the love of our life so that we too may live life to the fullest.

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom