Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time_C - The Cost of Discipleship_090422

                                                    Image Credit: Palamas Institute

Deacon Tom Writes,

The Cost of Discipleship

 

Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Take up thy cross, the Savior Said

If thou wouldst my disciple be;

Deny thyself, the world forsake,

And humbly follow after me.

These words from an old hymn capture the essence of our Gospel today as we hear Christ tell us a difficult truth that in order to be a true disciple, we will have to put some “skin in the game” so to speak. Being a disciple of Christ will cost us some relationships, some status, some sleepless nights and perhaps even some suffering and pain. For Jesus did not take on our human nature to sit around the fire and sing Kumbaya. Quite the opposite as we heard Christ say several weeks ago "I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!”

We have been listening to Luke’s gospels for a number of weeks now. He has been directing us towards a deeper relationship with Jesus by telling us to separate ourselves from the things of this world and to work for treasures that will last. Indeed, Luke urges us to set ourselves apart from all that would separate us from God.

I know that this is difficult to do. We live in the physical world and we work hard to gain the pleasures and comforts that it offers. Yet, we cannot lose focus on the spiritual realities that guide and govern our lives and lead us into the fullness of life that Christ promised us during this life no matter what state this life serves up to us. We who have been blessed with the good things of this life, like the Rich Man, cannot forget those who lack the basic necessities of life just because we are well fed and have a roof over our family. We cannot be insensitive to those who are refugees just because we are safe and sound here in our country or because we have the “right” citizenship. We cannot forget the lonely, the suffering, the addicted, and discouraged just because we are healthy, hopeful, befriended, and living the good life.

Taking up our crosses daily requires our willingness to surrender some of our creature comforts, some of our leisure time, and some of our self-centered way of thinking. We need to place an emphasis on our spiritual life and well being so that we may be sensitive to the needs of those who are less fortunate than we are. This death to self by loving and serving others as Christ did is the one sure way to begin a life in the spirit in order to grow in the awareness of the needs of those we are called to love and serve. Again, growing our spiritual lives is not an easy task but one that will have its own reward in this life and in the world to come.


Enjoy the day!
Deacon Tom

Visit my blog at: www.deacontomwrites.blogspot.com

And tune into the www.deaconspod.com to hear a contemporary Catholic conversation exploring the treasures our faith has to offer.

Recommended Reading: 50 Spiritual Classics by Tom Butler-Bowdon gives a little taste of Spiritual Classic literature in summation form. Nice read.

Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time_C - Musical Chairs_082822

Deacon Tom Writes,

Musical Chairs

Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

The image Jesus often uses to describe the Kingdom of God is that of a banquet. Today is a good example of just that. Jesus is invited to a dinner party by one of the leading Pharisees. The Gospel opens by saying that … “people were observing him.” That’s an interesting use of words since what it really means is that “everybody” was watching him. That’s because Jesus is the outsider. He is the one that is not one of them. These other guests make up the power elite that keeps the system working …for them and to suit their purposes. Jesus is well aware of this and in turn he is observing them as well.

It is easy for Jesus to recognize the dynamics at work as the guests begin to be seated. Everyone wants the best seat in the house… at the head table. We can imagine many people lunging for a few seats, an ancient version of “musical chairs” …. with or without the music. Jesus completely understands that getting some form of recognition, even if it is only a better seat than someone else, is an absolute necessity for an immature and self-absorbed ego. And so, perhaps as the dinner guests are working their way to the head table, Jesus gives them a lesson on humility, on what it means to have a healthy, mature and appropriate understanding of who we are.

When we freed ourselves from all the demands of our egos, one of which Jesus describes for us today, only then are we able to enjoy genuine guest parties, where we invite our friends regardless of their ability to reciprocate. We are able to enjoy one another’s company because we no longer have to put ourselves above them or compete with them to satisfy our egos-needs.

The table fellowship that Jesus envisioned he has passed on to us in the gift of the Eucharist. Here at the table of the Lord we share in the Body and Blood of Christ and we become one in him, putting aside all that divides us… race, color, economic status, everything, even our pride and our egos. We come to the table of the Lord as we are… broken, sorrowful, hungry and longing to be nourished, healed and forgiven; and, we are humbled to discover that at God’s table…… there are plenty of seats for everyone!


Enjoy the day!
Deacon Tom

 

Visit my Blog at: www.deacontomwrites.blogspot.com

And tune into the www.deaconspod.com to hear a contemporary Catholic conversation exploring the treasures our faith has to offer.

Recommended Reading:  Christ Among us by Anthony J Wilhelm, C.S.P. gives us a "Modern Presentation of the Catholic Faith" in the early days after Vatican II

Recommended Podcast: Busted Halo Show with Fr. Dave Dwyer engages a relevant and accessible voice to help people understand the Catholic faith, put it into practice in ...

Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time_C - On the Outside Looking In_082122

 

                                 Image Credit: Becky Johnson - - On the Outside Looking In - steel and glass

Deacon Tom Writes,

“On the Outside Looking In”

Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Today we find the Lord busy gathering people from all the nations, bringing them from east and west, north and south to recline at his table. All are invited to the feast. All are welcomed to the celebration; no reservations are required! Jesus, however, indicates that we have to do a little more than show up ready to eat. We need to acknowledge the invitation we receive to participate in God’s kingdom by sending back the R.S.V.P. Yes, it seems that we have to act on our desire to participate in this wonderful banquet the Lord has prepared for us. And how, some may ask, are we to accomplish this? Simply by living good and wholesome lives, for when all is said and done, that is the way Jesus taught his disciples to follow, the same one he traveled. 

It is so easy to say to ourselves that God loves us “Unconditionally” and then go on living lives unworthy of that love. Today’s gospel gives us cause to rethink that behavior. Jesus makes it clear that following him is difficult, therefore, the reference to the “narrow gate.” Those who are not “strong enough” to walk the narrow path, that is, those who live morally shallow or self-absorbed lives, find themselves “on the outside looking in” when it’s time to enjoy this great celebration the Master has prepared. 

We all make choices to make in life, and all of those choices have consequences. We are so blessed to have the freedom to engage in virtually unlimited activity and to do pretty much as we please. With such great freedom, we run the risk of making the wrong choices and there can be dire consequences. Making bad choices that complicate our lives and create problems for ourselves and those we love is tragic enough. What about the choices we make that threaten our eternal life? The image Jesus presents today drives home that point effectively.

We don’t want to miss out on eternal life, as hard as that is for us to imagine living, as we do, in a physical, material world. But we do know that St. Paul tries to describe it for us when he says, “What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and what has not entered the human heart, what God has prepared for those who love him."     (1 Cor. 2:9)

If we could only live each moment of our lives as if the banquet of eternal life was to begin tonight, we would never have to worry about being on the outside looking in!

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom 

Visit my Blog at: www.deacontomwrites.blogspot.com

And tune into the www.deaconspod.com to hear a contemporary Catholic conversation exploring the treasures our faith has to offer.

 

 

Recommended Reading: The Challenge of Jesus by N.T. Wright who explores the Jesus of history in order to deepen our faith and spiritual experience.     

 

Recommended YouTube Video: Click Here       or

 Go to YouTube and search for: Contemplative Vision: Presentation Two, Richard Rohr,

Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time_Year C - Between a Rock and a Hard Spot_081422

Deacon Tom Writes,

“Between a Rock and a Hard Spot!”

 

Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Jeremiah finds himself in a tight spot. He is accused of “demoralizing the soldiers who are left in the city.” The princes want to put him to death on the charge of...demoralizing the soldiers and all who remained in Jerusalem. Jeremiah, we know, is guilty as charged! And just what crime is Jeremiah guilty of? He disheartened the inhabitants of the city because he told them the Truth. He spoke the words that God wanted them to hear… that everyone who remained in the city would die. It seems that the false prophets, i.e., the liars, were telling the people that there was no need to worry, that everything would be fine; Jerusalem would be safe because their enemy would break off their siege and withdraw from the city. The false prophets were convincing because… the people wanted to believe them. They wanted to be lied to in order to keep the status quo and life as usual. The people wanted to continue on their evil ways; they wanted to ignore and shun the prophet Jeremiah because he spoke the Truth.

Well, as we read today, those who were unwilling to listen to the truth, i.e., God’s Word, toss Jeremiah into a dry cistern so that he would die. But God comes to his aid and Jeremiah is rescued and continues as God’s messenger to a reluctant people.

Today the Word of God remains unfashionable. We turn our backs on God in order to pay homage to the false prophets of our day who say all the right words that keep us snug and comfortable in the cozy world we have fashioned around us. God’s Word calls us out from our comfort zone so we can find “life in the fullest” just as Jeremiah struggled to encourage the people of his day to be faithful to God’s ways.

God’s Word is always relevant. It speaks to us today as it has to the people throughout the millennia. Who are the liars among us today? How are we to know “the Truth” about anything? The challenge for us is to discern what God is saying and then to live life that way. That’s how we will find true happiness in our troubled and chaotic world and dispense with the false prophets who would lead us astray from all that God has in store for those who love him.

Enjoy the day!
Deacon Tom

Visit my blog at: www.deacontomwrites.blogspot.com

And tune into the www.deaconspod.com to hear a contemporary Catholic conversation exploring the treasures our faith has to offer.

Recommended Reading: An Ocean of Light by Fr. Martin Laird O.S.A takes us into the world of contemplative prayer in this third book on this subject.

Recommended YouTube video: Click Here      or

Go to YouTube and search for:  Contemplative Vision: Presentation One, Richard Rohr         

Recommended YouTube video: Click Here or

Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time_C - Three Ingredients for a Happy Life_080722

Deacon Tom Writes,

“Three Ingredients for a Happy Life”

 

Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

The readings today give us a practical guide to good living. First, there’s the matter of faith. You need it! Without it there is nowhere to turn, no one to trust, no shelter from the storms and rocky roads of life. Like the ancient people that God called out of bondage in Egypt, we need faith to get us through the hardships and the adversities we all experience at one or more times in our lives. Let’s face it, we’re fine as long as things are going our way. We enjoy the good times, the happy moments when we celebrate birthdays, graduations, weddings and anniversaries. We delight when we are successful in moving up the corporate ladder and get the big promotion. But those days of disappointment when things don’t work our right, when relationships fall apart or end, when we lose loved ones, that’s when faith, if we have fostered and nourished it, enables us to endure and eventually to heal. Faith, a faith built upon a deep and intimate relationship with Jesus, is a lifelong friend and companion, that enables us to live life to the fullest, in good times and in bad.

The Responsorial Psalm provides the second ingredient to a happy life inviting us to recognize the blessings we have received and to give thanks and praise to God. He has called us into an intimate relationship with him to share in his love and goodness. In doing so he fills the deepest longings and desires of our hearts that helps us grow in faith in him and trust in his works.

The gospel completes the list of essentials reminding us of what we should bring into this relationship, namely…. attentiveness and faithfulness. God requires that we be diligent servants… Always mindful of what the master wants done; always faithful to do what is required.

Some say that life is a mystery and there is a lot of truth in that statement. The same can be said about faith. There is a mysterious element to it that awakens our need to praise and give thanks to God, and moves us to be faithful and attentive servants. Like essential nutrients, these ingredients aid us in living good spiritual lives. They enable us to give mature and effective witness to the world that we are Disciples of Christ.

Jesus knows how difficult it will be to live according to the high standards He has set. So, once again He reassures us and tells not to be afraid. Words to comfort us and encourage us to persevere in our efforts to live good lives of faithfulness, praise and service.


Enjoy the day!
Deacon Tom

Visit my Blog at: www.deacontomwrites.blogspot.com

And tune into the www.deaconspod.com to hear a contemporary Catholic conversation exploring the treasures our faith has to offer.

Recommended Reading: A Sunlit Absence by Fr. Martin Laird O.S.A. takes us into the world of contemplative prayer in his second of three books on Contemplation.

Recommended Podcast: The Commonweal Magazine Podcast presents engaging conversations at the intersection of politics, religion, and culture:

Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time_C - Real Wealth_073122

Deacon Tom Writes,

“Real Wealth”

Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

 

St. Paul instructs us to “Think of what is above, not what is on earth.” Good, practical advice to build for ourselves a spiritual legacy but, unfortunately, one in direct conflict with our earthly way of thinking. Take the man in the parable today. He is not just successful; he is very successful. He is having a bumper crop and so he makes, on the surface, a wise decision to tear down the existing barns and build bigger ones so he can store much more of his harvest. Consequently, he will acquire more and more wealth to provide a more and more safe and secure future for himself and his family. Seems logical, doesn’t it. I mean he doesn’t come across as a prepper... one preparing for the global, world-wide disaster...Yet, rather than being the poster child for ingenuity and entrepreneurial enterprise, this parable ends with this enterprising farmer standing before God (to whom we must all render an account - Rom 14:12) about his spiritual net worth, or lack thereof.

Jesus tells this parable in response to a request to settle a dispute over an inheritance problem, an issue we might be tempted to think is a contemporary problem. Jesus understands the dispute; he seems to categorize it in the context of how much it enough or will the human heart ever be satisfied? He seems to have put his finger on the crux of the problem - Greed! This parable is intended to remind us that we are more than what we possess.

Two thousand years have passed and I don’t know if we have heeded Jesus’ warning about greed. The blockbuster movie “Wall Street” was released in 1987. Remember the famous scene in which Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas) spews that classic line - “Greed is good…greed in all of its forms has marked the upward surge of mankind.” Well, if nothing else, these intervening years has dispelled that myth. Oh, it has worked for the top 1%, but not for everyone else. We have all witnessed and experienced the horrific damage that greed has spawned around the world. It has shattered the lives and dreams of millions of people. It has unleashed a cynicism and hopelessness that is running rampant today. It is causing discontent and worry in the hearts of many mothers and fathers seeking to improve the quality of life for their children. No, greed is not good, not now, not ever. It is a capital sin, one that can ruin not only this life, but steal from us that eternal life that Jesus won for us by his death and resurrection.

St. Paul writes that our lives are, “hidden with Christ in God.” If we place our hope and trust in him, we no longer have to, “store up treasures for” ourselves, for we can claim the inheritance Jesus has secured for us, eternal life that already has begun to run its course.

Enjoy the Day!
Deacon Tom

Visit my Blog at: www.deacontomwrites.blogspot.com

And tune into the www.deaconspod.com to hear a contemporary Catholic conversation exploring the treasures our faith has to offer.

Recommended reading: Into the Silent Land by Fr. Martin Laird O.S.A takes us into the world of contemplative prayer in the first of three books on this subject.

Recommended resources: Check into the resources of the Catholic Apostolate Center at:

 https://www.catholicapostolatecenter.org/

Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time_C - God's Mercy At Work_072422

Image from http://www.robparkersblog.com

Deacon Tom Writes,

“God’s Mercy At Work”

 

Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Today Abraham is like the little Dutch boy whose valiant effort of placing his finger in the hole in the dyke averts an impending disaster. Abraham’s actions are directed at averting a disaster, a spiritual one, trying to hold back God’s wrath against the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. He knows that the residents of these towns have racked up a pile of divine retribution because of their sins, yet he appeals to God not to destroy these two cities. Abraham cleverly invokes God’s mercy and seeks his forbearance not to bring destruction upon the inhabitants of these places should he find 50, no 45, AHHH 40, how about 30, 20 perhaps, OK 10 innocent people in these towns. Abraham is a gifted negotiator, a skilled plea bargainer. We could use the likes of him today!!! And God, at least for the time being, is compelled to listen to him, withholding his punishment while Abraham seeks out the innocent. This, to me, is an incredible sign of God’s patience with us, his disobedient children, and his willingness to give us every chance to get things right, even though we fail time and time again. In today’s first reading we learn that God’s justice is tempered by his mercy. In teachings about God’s mercy, we learn about our need to be merciful to each other also.

In light of the many problems we face in our personal and societal life today, it is fitting to assess the progress we have made in our efforts to expand the depth and horizons of our capacity to be merciful. How we engage other people, what we say to them and how we say it can have a powerful impact on them. Are we genuine? When we ask “How are you” do we really mean it? Are we prepared to stop and listen? You may have experienced a situation in which a few words of kindness can reshape a stress-contorted face into a smile. If you have ever stopped and listened to someone who wasn’t having a good day and, by doing so, cheered them up, you know it doesn’t take much to change a bad day someone is experiencing into a tolerable one... or even better. If we have ever reconciled with someone who has hurt us or offended us in any way, we know the healing and peace that flows from God’s mercy. As little as these actions are, they are important ways of sharing God’s grace and making his mercy visible to those around us. God indeed has infused us with his mercy so that we may share his mercy with others. When we act as God’s agents, we are instruments of his mercy just as Father Abraham was intermediating between the people of his day and God…And God listens, I believe, with our ears.

Pope Francis in his Easter Urbi et Orbi address several years ago stressed the point that only mercy can save the world. How does God’s mercy come into our world except through the lives and hands and hearts of those who love him? St. Teresa of Avila (1515 – 1582) was a living testimony of this truth. Her prayer is most fitting for us today. She prayed, “Let nothing disturb you. Let nothing frighten you. All things pass. God does not change. Patience achieves everything. Whoever has God lacks nothing. God alone suffices. Christ has no body now on earth but yours; no hands but yours; no feet but yours; yours are the eyes through which the compassion of Christ must look lout on the world. Yours are the feet with which he is to go about doing good. Yours are the hands with which he is to bless his people.”

There is need for God’s Mercy all around us and no hands or feet to help but ours. What do you say? Are you in? Will you give it a go?

Enjoy the day!
Deacon Tom

Visit my Blog at: www.deacontomwrites@blogspot.com

And tune into the www.deaconspod.com to hear a contemporary Catholic conversation exploring the treasures our faith has to offer.

Recommended Reading: God So Loved the World by Robert Spitzer, S.J. explores the depth of God's love for us and how

Recommended YouTube: CUA on Tap: Love is Light; Faith and Forgiveness - The story of a family shattered by violence whose response is to love and forgive and be healed.