Twenty-seventh Sunday – Ordinary Time Cycle C

2 October 2010
Comments (8)

Reflecting on 2 Timothy 1:6-8, 13-14

There’s an incendiary sentence in this week’s second reading from 2Timothy: “I remind you to stir into flame the gift of God bestowed when my hands were laid on you.”  Those of us in Colorado and California have had more than enough “flames” this season.  One hundred and sixty nine Boulder families were recently displaced when flames, whipped up by winds, darted from house to house, destroying homes and hundreds of acres of land.   It is the most costly fire in Colorado history.

Beautiful Zeenat. She’ll be President someday.

But it does give one pause.  How quickly, how ravenously a fire can consume anything in its wake.  A fire starts out quietly (in this case in a fire pit) and then builds volume as it spreads.  And it’s just that kind of fire that the author of the letter to Timothy is encouraging!

I’ve seen lots of those kinds of fires.  Twelve years ago my brother Marty pointed out a little girl in his inner-city Math class and said, “This kid will be President someday if somebody will just give her a little help.”  Last year, at age 18 and a first-year college student, she wowed the benefactors at the Seeds of Hope gala with her poised and thoughtful reflection on the many mentors who supported her as she navigated her way through elementary school and high school.  She’ll probably be President of her own non-profit someday.  She will undoubtedly spend her life stoking the same fires of compassion and justice that were darting around her during those difficult years.

Send forth the fires of your justice, God.  And let each one of us fan the flames of radical kindness and goodness into a fire that can never be extinguished.

Sharing God’s Word at Home:

Can you remember a kindness that one person extended that grew into a larger “firestorm” of good?

What would YOU like to say about this question, or today’s readings, or any of the columns from the past year? The sacred conversations are setting a Pentecost fire! Register here today and join the conversation.

I have come to light a fire on the earth; how I wish it were already burning (Lk.12:49).

8 Comments to “Twenty-seventh Sunday – Ordinary Time Cycle C”

  1. beckyOctober 2, 2010 at 9:20 pm

    My life has been richly blessed with kind people who have made a difference! And sad to say that I didn’t always realize what blessings that some of them were offering. I remember my God mother Rose, she was so sweet and humble, and very out spoken too. No rose colored glasses for Rose. But now that I am matured I see the wisdom she offered. It funny how true the saying that “youth is wasted on the young” is. Oh, the things I could have done if I had shut the mouth and opened the ears. When I fell away from the Church, she and many friends stuggled to open my eyes. Yet what they thought was falling on deaf ears, laid in my heart and smothered for year. Then one day a tiny ember began to glow and guide me back. Sometimes it’s a roaring fire and other times it’s a little flicker. But all along it has been flued by the love and care of good loving people that God led me to. Becky

  2. beckyOctober 2, 2010 at 9:27 pm

    p.s Im still trying to get the hang of being online from my cell. Sorry for all the typos!

  3. brebis galeuseOctober 3, 2010 at 8:43 pm

    In 1967, a friend’s family invited me to stay with them when my parents kicked me out of their house. I remember saying, “I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you.” Their response was, “If a time comes that someone needs help, and you’re in a position to help, do it.”

    I have found so many opportunities these past 43 years to help others the way I was helped. If they say that they don’t know how to repay me, I repeat, “If a time comes that someone needs help, and you’re in a position to help, do it.”

    I hope some people have caught “fire” in these endeavors. I’ll never know, but that doesn’t matter, does it?

  4. CrisOctober 4, 2010 at 4:50 pm

    A couple of months ago, a friend passed away at age 54. I circulated 40 slips of paper containing the e-mail of the beareaved wife so that after the 9-day novena, there will be 40 e-mails of daily support to the wife who lives by herself.
    Each slip of paper contains a date when the person who draws it is supposed to call the beareaved. I called the activity ‘Cadena de Amor’ – – (Chain of love.)
    Result: plethora of e-mail arrived, eventually compiled by the beareaved’s daughter into so many pages. The ember that turned into conflagration. – – Cris

  5. ChrisOctober 5, 2010 at 2:23 am

    “a Spirit of love and self contoll”

    Well, tonight I am excersizing the “love and self control”. I am struggling to help my son as he works to choose the next steps in his life (he’s a senior in High School). On one hand he wants to enlist in the Marines, the next hand he wants to go to a military college, the next he wants to just goof off. I’m fine with him joining the military, it’s the “on again” and “off again” that makes it hard.

    Some of it is him being 17, I know. But it is most difficult when working to be a guide and you feel like you’re being ignored. My son is ADHD and it only adds to the difficulty at times.

    Ahh, well, thanks to the Holy Spirit, I have the courage and self control to continue to support, guide, and love him. But it does take a great deal of perseverance, persistance and patience .

  6. ChrisOctober 5, 2010 at 2:25 am

    Thanks for listening to my rant. Sometimes it helps to just “say” the words.

  7. leehemmingerOctober 5, 2010 at 1:07 pm

    I have recently been writing a blog about my life, for my adopted daughter. In doing so, the many individuals who had an impact on my life at every level have been recalled. And, I wonder to myself if they have any idea what their caring and love meant, and how my life was guided by so many. Most will never know, for as Becky states, “Youth is wasted on the young.” The results weren’t always immediate, in fact laid fallow in my heart at times, needing some reminder to re-kindle the flame. So, as Brebis, I have tried to ‘pay it forward’ when an opportunity arises, and find that most of the time the results aren’t as obvious as was the case with the lovely child in Kathy’s story. But, remembering my own experiences, I’m comforted to realize that you never know when the fire will erupt!
    Chris, I hold you in prayer. Such difficult years for parents!! We always want to lift them up over the mud puddles, spare them from the mess of life, and they always need to wallow in the mud and experience it themselves, don’t they? 🙂

  8. Debra SparnOctober 8, 2010 at 9:16 pm

    Thank you for remembering the people of Boulder. So many friends have lost so much. A fire of love has swept this community (Boulder always reacts with generous care for others – despite what the media say). Care of the displaced still goes on – there is a fundraising lunch at Namaste Solar next week. Of course, my parish has done nothing. It is deeply disturbing.
    Thank you again fro this wonderful place of reflection.

    (By the way: ADHD kids hear every word you say. They can’t help taking in everything. They just have trouble filtering things, processing them and then letting it back out.)

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Twenty-sixth Sunday – Ordinary Time Cycle C

25 September 2010
Comments (15)

Reflecting on Luke 16:19-31

As I read this story today about starving Lazarus and well-fed Dives, I stop and look out our window.  Rows and rows of luscious greens, bursting with cucumbers and tomatoes and green beans, fill our backyard.  How, I wonder for the millionth time, could Lazarus have ever been hungry?

We lost our clothesline to the cucumbers.

Two years ago we gave our prickly, neglected backyard into the care of an urban gardening co-op called Farmyard. Then we sat back and watched these talented, hard-working young people turn our little yard into the Garden of Eden.  This is the season when God must love to say, “See what I can do?  The earth is mine, and all the fullness thereof” (Ps. 24:1).

I confess that until two years ago I never noticed where food came from.  And now, one hundred people are eating from the riches of the long-neglected soil just outside our window!  But, since God is so unbelievably generous, why are there still hungry people all over the globe?  For that matter, why was Lazarus hungry in the very same city where Dives was over-fed?  Maybe one answer is found inside the Gospel, where Dives, the former rich man who is now in torment, still thinks of Lazarus as his inferior, one whom God should command down to his netherland to cool his burning tongue with water.  Ha!  We can imagine Lazarus’ response: “Not ‘til hell freezes over.”

The seeds of entitlement, class distinction, geographic advantage are buried right there in the story, waiting for us to notice them and be converted once again to the new heaven and earth that the God of the harvest demands.

Sharing God’s Word at Home:

In what ways are you partnering with God to feed the world?


What would YOU like to say about this question, or today’s readings, or any of the columns from the past year? The sacred conversations are setting a Pentecost fire! Register here today and join the conversation.

I have come to light a fire on the earth; how I wish it were already burning (Lk.12:49).

15 Comments to “Twenty-sixth Sunday – Ordinary Time Cycle C”

  1. brebis galeuseSeptember 25, 2010 at 10:23 pm

    Should we talk about food for the bodies or food for the souls?

  2. frogSeptember 27, 2010 at 3:49 am

    really like this story

  3. Steve GivensSeptember 27, 2010 at 3:55 am

    A beautiful reflection on abundance and need…I never can fathom how so many people can go to sleep hungry every night while others (including me) enjoy an abundance of every good thing. WE can never forget our Christian duty to care for those who have less…

  4. waitinginjoyfulhopeSeptember 27, 2010 at 4:23 am

    The last sentence of today’s gospel was the clincher for me. Jesus, knowing full well he would die and rise from the dead, also knows that there will still be those who won’t get it even after he rises from the dead. It’s as though wealth can blind us to the blatant needs of others we trip over every day and know by name, as did the rich man but it can also blind us to the power of the resurrection.

    I know in my own life how easy it is to become complacent. It keep my distance, stay busy, uninvolved, write a check and move on all the while telling myself I’m ok even good/great. How often today’s world tell’s us we are ok, everything is great

  5. CrisSeptember 27, 2010 at 2:34 pm

    Three thoughts: 1.) Fr. Mo West in his homily mentioned how the Rich Man was not an evil man, corrupt, immoral, etc. He was guilty of “insensitivity” – – Imagine how our eternal life might be determined by insensitivities.
    2.) The Rich Man’s plea: Not to convince his brothers that there is an after life. The plea is to convince them of the unbreakable link between helping the needy and one’s after life.
    3.) I go serve in the homeless shelter once a month to help feed 500 people not so much “to do this act of charity” but to remind myself that there but for the grace of God go I. I am one pay check away from being homeless. I am one catastropic tragedy away from being homeless. There but for the grace of God… – – – Cris

  6. brebis galeuseSeptember 27, 2010 at 3:48 pm

    That’s an excellent point, Cris. I like Fr. Mo’s take on our insensitivity, too. It is an example of our taking blessings for granted, isn’t it?

    I’d like to go back a few weeks to my question about whether God can be seen as a punishing God. This morning’s reading from the Book of Job struck me as a good example of how our own interpretation can put the responsibility for bad things on God.

    Job 1:6-22 — God and Satan make a deal in which Satan is ALLOWED by God to temp Job into denouncing God. God’s only restriction on Satan is that he is not allowed to “lay a hand upon his person.”

    In the end, though, after being told of all the bad events and losses caused by Satan, Job makes the following statement: “Naked I came forth from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I go back again. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord!” For giving or for taking away?

    Job is the one who gives the responsibility to God for all the calamities he has suffered. Then, he immediately praises God. How do we explain this dichotomy?

  7. SharonSeptember 27, 2010 at 9:39 pm

    It is so very easy to ignore the poor. One thing that helps me is that I have made http://www.thehungersite.com the home page of my internet connection. There, at no cost, with one click I can donate a cup of rice to the hungry. It’s not much, but it adds up over the year and reminds me every day that there are hungry people who need help.

  8. ChrisSeptember 28, 2010 at 4:42 am

    Why did the rich man perish? Because he did not follow the one commandment our Lord gave us, “love one another”.

    To love one another, we mush love ourselves, and we must love God. Thereby fulfulling the first two and greatest commandments of the Old Testament.

  9. brebis galeuseSeptember 28, 2010 at 3:03 pm

    Lazarus starved while the rich man was well fed . . . in this life.

    The rich man starved while Lazarus was well fed . . . in the next.

    Who had the better portion?

  10. mikeandbetsySeptember 29, 2010 at 4:09 pm

    Donating bags of food from time to time, and not even using my discards, but good stuff from Cosco, etc. when there is an opportunity. There are food drives for fire victims, for example, or at the OUR Center, or Christmastime special collections, etc.
    It doesn’t seem to be enough, in fact, it’s all too convenient, and doesn’t really address my own excesses. I could learn what it truly means to share.
    I heard a homily once explaining that we don’t have to go hungry because there are hungry people, or become poor because they are poor, but (there was a pause, then his voice and facial expression became quite serious, as he emphasized this line: “We DO NEED to SHARE what we have.”) I took it to mean not the way I do it, which I consider “charity”. Why am I beng so cynical? I do take time, sometimes a whole half day or more, gathering and organizing things to give, driving there and leaving the stuff. Why be cynical about what I and others do contribute? I think it’s because it’s not enough for what I want to do for people living under conditions of depravation and disaster. This “charity” as I call it, is too separate from the people all over the world that I read about, hear about and ARE AFFECTED BY, that call out to me, FOR A DAY, OR MAYBE A WEEK OR SO, AT A TIME.
    Well, at least I hear them calling later again. But I say in the back of my mind, someday, when my life gets organized, and the ones nearer and dearer don’t need so much from me, I’ll do more. But do they really need so much? Or can we all share?

  11. leehemmingerSeptember 29, 2010 at 6:24 pm

    I guess my mind is an enigma…since reading this question and Kathy’s story about the garden on Saturday, I’ve been thinking about water. Less than 3% of the earth’s water supply is usable by humans, and a large proportion (69%) of that supply is used for agriculture. 80% of disease in 2/3 of the world is related to poor drinking water and sanitation, and 1/3 of the world’s households go out of their homes, walking as much as a mile, to acquire this water due to lack of infrastructure. Yet, here our consumption is so great in comparison, that one flush of the toilet uses as much water as developing countries use for a whole days drinking, cooking, washing and cleaning. So, I was so focused on the excessive consumption of this country that I just thought about our selfishness. Being environmentally conscious, using less water, working to prevent contamination of the water supply that is shrinking, donating to Catholic Relief Services to help with establishing infrastructure for water supplies in other countries was foremost in my mind.
    As President of Council for Catholic Women – AD Denver, I see many women invested in doing the little things, together, that will hopefully bring some relief to those in need. So, just each day doing a little thing that helps; a bag of food to church, cooking and serving for various food lines, buying a meal for someone on the streets, and giving up a bit of the consumption is all any of us can do. And hopefully, in the process, spreading the awareness and the love across the universe. No one individual can turn it around, but with all of us together we have a chance.
    Sorry for the wordy response!

  12. adminkSeptember 30, 2010 at 5:35 am

    What wonderful, informative contributions this week. Thank you, everybody. Does anyone want to engage Brebis’ question that she posed about Job?

    I hear from many people who haven’t contributed yet how much they enjoy the conversation that takes place here.

    Thank you!

    Kathy

  13. leehemmingerSeptember 30, 2010 at 3:39 pm

    Sometimes my mind takes off in its own direction, and I seem to have no control over what it produces, so I offer apologies for the previous post. But,speaking to Brebis’ question about Job, I can say that my own family is struggling with some of this right now. My 34 year old niece was given 3-6 months to live as a result of metastatic malignant melanoma this past week. She has a husband and three children, has lived a loving, consciencous and responsibile life as wife and mother, daughter, granddaughter, sister, aunt, niece and friend. To add to the mess, her brother died a year and a half ago. These are the only two children my sister had. So, my daughter questioned me last night about how we can believe in God’s love and mercy when something so totally unexplainable and unacceptable happens to a good person. Her question centered around “if God has a plan for us all, why do these things become part of the plan.” As I struggle with my own grief, the words to help her seem not to penetrate: that God doesn’t have a blueprint for each of us; only a plan that we will be happy and have fullness and abundance in our life. What that abundance may be isn’t always monetary; perhaps it’s that she has lived a life filled with love from her friends and family, has accomplished her dream of having children, and has loved them unconditionally. Why these ugly cancer interlopers change the course of life for some at a young age is beyond comprehension. But, a physician who advised her that all the original tumor was removed, and that there was no need for follow up made a mistake. The human aspect of this life brings awful suffering, but the only way one could possibly blame God for this is to lay the blame on his decision that humans would be flawed and imperfect. Also, that we have free will, and sometimes make faulty decisions leading to tragedy. But, like Job, all we have is our faith in God’s love and mercy. Certainly, like Job, we question things which have no answers, we struggle with the consequences of an imperfect life, and ask God to give us strength to bear it all. So, we THANK God for giving us Renay, with her quirky humor, her strength and compassion, her great love for her family. I am looking for direction on how to thank him for TAKING her away. She has suffered so many losses in her short life, perhaps it is that her struggles and pain will be ended when her life ends. But, I’m like everyone else: it’s going to take time to work through it and come to some reasonable acceptance.

  14. JgfelsOctober 1, 2010 at 1:58 am

    Awesome; I love you two! If that garden isn’t a holy representation of Mary’s nurturing care, then I don’t know what is. Perhaps in her infinite wisdom and abundant love the Virgin Mary appears to us today in the form of “mother earth.” What a beautiful apparition to behold!

    I think our community will have to borrow some of your urban farmers though. In collaboration with several of Colorado’s food banks and inner city youth programs, we have been attempting to grow an abundance of fruit and veg. to benefit families/individuals who find themselves living in “food deserts.” As rates of obesity and Type II diabetes rapidly grow among the poor, it seems only right that everyone (regardless of income) should have equal access to healthy food. This is our first year making full use of our hydroponics system and, suffice it say, it is still in need of a bit of fine tuning: calling all worms…. 😉

  15. adminkOctober 1, 2010 at 5:46 pm

    Hi everybody,

    Just a note of thanks, again, for the great contributions this week. This column hit a record number of readers and contributors this week. That Lazarus and the Rich Man story always hits its mark, doesn’t it?

    And Lee, our hearts break with yours. What a tragic, tragic event in the life of your family. Your niece sounds so dear. Let’s all keep her at the top of our prayer lists in the coming months, and her husband and children and extended family too.

    Peace and grace, and belated Happy Feast Day yesterday to St. Jerome, the crochety scribe who loved the Scriptures, and so do we.

    Kathy

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Twenty-fifth Sunday – Ordinary Time Cycle C

18 September 2010
Comments (11)

Reflecting on Luke 16:1-13

Hi everybody.  It’s me, Jesus.  Sorry about that parable today.  I know, all of you who own your own businesses want to know why it’s okay for that steward to cheat his boss like that.  Here’s the thing: if you had lived in the Middle East in the First Century you would have laughed and applauded my brilliance when I spoke that parable.

The Shrewd Stewart Art - work of Kazakhstan Artist, Nelly Bube

My prophet Amos had it so right.   I love that part where he called out those vendors and merchants for the religious hypocrites they were.  Sure!  Hurry up and get these religious observances over so we can start cheating the poor and trampling on the needy.  See, that’s what I was getting at in my story all those years later.  It takes a lot of energy and cunning to steal and exploit people.  (These days I’m especially thinking about the murderous drug cartels in my beautiful, Catholic Mexico.  And all the drug abusers north of the border who keep them in business.)

See, the steward was stealing from his master, and when he knew he was getting fired he used the same cunning to start making friends with the very people he’d been cheating for years.  Think how much hard work it took for them to pay the master in all that olive oil and wheat, and he was taking a huge chunk off the top!  So he canceled out his huge commission, which made their debts so much less.  It was like he knew he was on a sinking ship and he decided to give all his stuff away to the guys manning the lifeboats.  Now that’s smart!

So, the moral is: make friends with the poor, the beloved of my Father.  Look at me.  I was so poor I was buried in a tomb that belonged to somebody else.  No problem.  I knew I wouldn’t be staying long.  And you’re not long for the grave either, every one of you who loves me and recognizes me, as Mother Teresa said, in my distressing disguise of the poor.

Of course she’s here.  Where else would she be?  You should have seen all her friends up here opening those gates when they heard she was coming. Happy 100th birthday, Blessed Teresa of Calcutta.

Sharing God’s Word at Home:

What energies are you harnessing to do good?

What would YOU like to say about this question, or today’s readings, or any of the columns from the past year? The sacred conversations are setting a Pentecost fire! Register here today and join the conversation.

I have come to light a fire on the earth; how I wish it were already burning (Lk.12:49).

11 Comments to “Twenty-fifth Sunday – Ordinary Time Cycle C”

  1. adminkSeptember 20, 2010 at 8:17 pm

    Hey, is anybody out there? Did you not like the column, or just didn’t like the Gospel this Sunday enough to remark on it?

    Becky is having problems logging on, but she sent this funny and deep insight:

    See, it is true the steward was dishonest, but so were the people he was dealing with. No one said “Oh well, no thanks, that’s wrong” or even reported it to the master. But our master needs no report, He knows us and try as we may we can’t pull a fast one on Him. Love you, Becky

  2. DonnaSeptember 21, 2010 at 2:43 am

    When I think about this Gospel, I remember that Jesus told many parables to get peoples attention. Make friends with the poor, what a concept! Even today how many times do we walk by without a look, do we think that if we don’t make eye contact with the beggar we can forget that he’s there?
    Maybe I don’t want to think about hunger or homelessness, so if I don’t recognize their presence I don’t have to think about these scary things.
    I’ve been told by many good people, “don’t give him money, he’ll just go drink it”.
    How many blessings has my Lord given to me and does he say, “I am giving you this Donna, only if you do what I want you to”. No, he gives to me unconditionally, he loves me in my sinfulness and in my brokenness!
    The poor have much to teach us, if only we show them dignity
    and they almost always respond “God Bless you”.
    God Bless you!

  3. MichaelCarlosSeptember 21, 2010 at 4:43 pm

    Didn’t like you column? Perish the thought!

    This parable has always been a challenge for me, and I’ve never felt like I had a handle on the message. It seems to reward self-interest more than anything else, or so I always thought. But after reading several of the commentaries from the links on your site and then re-reading your reflection, I finally have a better feeling about it. His actions actually brought some relief to the debtors, the poor he had been exploiting. Make friends with the poor, as you said. And Donna, what a sensitive commentary you wrote.

    Maybe some of my resistance to this gospel is tied to my inability to answer unequivocally Kathy’s question about what I’m doing to harness my energies to do good. Maybe too many of my efforts are focused on my own good, on my wants. Thank you for the reminder to direct my energies to doing good to those who cross my path each day, and those who fall beneath my notice.

  4. leehemmingerSeptember 21, 2010 at 5:33 pm

    I, along with Michael, find this parable challenging. It seems the steward is considered prudent in his actions to save his hide in the future, rather than focusing on doing good for the needy. While his actions did have the consequence of providing some relief to the debtors, they were cunning and calculating in nature. Maybe it’s Jesus’ way of telling us that no matter how much we cheat him of our loyalty, we will be forgiven even if our retribution is provoked merely by self interest. Gosh, if the steward had only acknowledged some sorrow and regret for the pain caused to the poor in the past I would have found the parable to have a better message. Answering the question was equally difficult as then I had to contemplate the measure of my energy these days! Does it count that I stopped to pick up a dog in the middle of the road, found him to still be alive, and despite my fatigue drove him to an emergency clinic, waiting around to be sure he would survive?

  5. brebis galeuseSeptember 21, 2010 at 10:22 pm

    I had a difficult time with the question, “What energies are you harnessing to do good?” I cannot couch my response in positive terms. I tried to turn it around, but I found that I wasn’t able to see it from a different perspective.

    Whenever I harness my limited energy to do good, people take advantage of me by expecting more than I am able to give. When I explain that my energy is limited by chronic illness (a fact of which most of them are well aware), they get angry as if I am rejecting them.

    We live in an extremely self-absorbed society, where other people look at us in terms of what we can do for them, with no consideration of what they might do for others. Takers are abundant. Givers are abused. No matter how well we model generosity, there are people who are just waiting in the wings to take rather than give. In order to do good for others, we must guard against abuses of our generosity.

  6. brebis galeuseSeptember 21, 2010 at 10:24 pm

    P.S. And isn’t that a shame?

  7. leehemmingerSeptember 22, 2010 at 1:21 am

    Yes, Brebis, it is. But, all we can give is what we have. No more, no less. And, that is enough in the eyes of our loving God. Blessings.

  8. mamidecincoSeptember 22, 2010 at 6:01 am

    When I read this Gospel, I tend to focus on the fact that the Steward had a choice. He could have chosen to continue to charge his “surcharge” for the debtors. But instead he chose to be “trustworthy” and as a result made friends with the debtors. He had a conversion of sorts, even if it was motivated by the fact that he would soon be fired and needed some friends. I am always left wondering what becomes of this steward. Do the debtors take him in and befriend him? Do they now see him as trustworthy? Does his conversion experience in this portion of his life have further reaching effects?

    Like Michael Carlos, I struggle to answer the question Kathy poses. What energies am I harnessing? Even though at times, I feel that my energy is set on “low”, I think of Christ and how tired he must have been trying to set aside time to go apart to pray and yet when the crowds followed him, he ministered to them. So, I feel that regardless of my own take on my energy level, I should be doing more because that’s what our Lord did. That’s what Blessed Mother Theresa did too…emptied herself in service to others. My answer then is, “I’m getting there one baby step at a time, striving always to give more” I pray that my efforts will be pleasing to God.

  9. DonnaSeptember 22, 2010 at 2:59 pm

    This subject has turned into great Conversations!
    To Brebis, I would like to say like leehemminger,it’s true there are people out there who take advantage of “the givers” of the world. Jesus told us this would happen, and we can only do what we can do.
    This Gospel also teaches us to be prudent. Live simplier lives dependent on fewer material things.
    The energies I am harnessing? I am trying to teach those who are searching for God in their lives. I have had such great teachers in my life (Kathy, Ben).
    Like Mamidecinco wonderfully stated, “one baby step at a time”
    God Bless

  10. MichaelCarlosSeptember 23, 2010 at 4:13 pm

    I couldn’t let Lee’s question go unanswered. Yes, it absolutely counts! It’s our time and energy that is most limited and precious, and sacrificing them for any of God’s creatures instead of our own comfort is doing good!

  11. adminkSeptember 23, 2010 at 8:39 pm

    What thoughtful and brave submissions this week. You know, I am lucky enough to actually know all the contributors this week. I am struck with the irony of the anxieties expressed here about possibly not harnessing enough energy for good. Why is it that God’s great ambassadors are always the ones who feel unworthy, and are always on the lookout for more ways to do good?

    I am inspired and challenged by each of you. Thank you for your contributions.

    Kathy

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Twenty-fourth Sunday – Ordinary Time Cycle C

11 September 2010
Comments (6)

Reflecting on Luke 15:1-32

Even though we live in a religious country with a strong religious heritage, the very core of religious faith―that a loving God actually exists and actually longs for communion with us―seems to elude us.

Return of the Prodigal Son (Rembrandt) c.1669

And so we’ve come around again to the great Lukan parables of the lost coin, the lost sheep, and the lost son.  (This only happens in Year C, where we heard the story on the Fourth Sunday of Lent and again today.)  What will it take for us to really hear that the Hound of Heaven will chase us through the alleyways of our lives in order to catch us and look us in the eye and say, for the millionth time, but didn’t you know that everything I have is yours?

So let’s let Francis Thompson, tortured opium addict and believer in God’s mercy, remind us once again:

I fled Him, down the nights and down the days; I fled Him, down the arches of the years;

I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways of my own mind; and in the midst of tears I hid from Him….

I wonder.  Do you suppose that Lost Sheep was watching in the canyons to see if the shepherd would really leave everything to find her?  How delicious that must have felt, to hear him calling for her, and hear the relief in his voice when she stepped from her hiding place and he wrapped her up in his arms and carried her home.

Hey, do you know someone who’s ready to be found?  It’s not easy to step out of the dark canyon.  It takes a lot of humility to admit that we are loved that much.

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Do you recall a time of being “found”?

What would YOU like to say about this question, or today’s readings, or any of the columns from the past year? The sacred conversations are setting a Pentecost fire! Register here today and join the conversation.

I have come to light a fire on the earth; how I wish it were already burning (Lk.12:49).

6 Comments to “Twenty-fourth Sunday – Ordinary Time Cycle C”

  1. brebis galeuseSeptember 12, 2010 at 4:14 pm

    As a convert, I felt unqualified to train my son when he was ready to receive his First Communion. His father (a lifelong Catholic) wasn’t interested in being involved. I went to the Director of Religious Education at our parish to discuss the situation. When I told her that I was grossly unqualified to help Curt, she said, “I will put you down to teach first grade.” I thought she was nuts, but I agreed.

    Once the CCE classes started, she told me that catechists had to be certified by the Archdiocese of Denver. I didn’t even know what “catechist” meant! I agreed to give it a try. Can you say “Holy Spirit?”

    So, as I attended the classes every week and learned about the faith, I was astounded at the knowledge I gained and the insights into Catholicism and spirituality. Our DRE Mary Zebley was the one who truly converted me to the Catholic faith. I was lost and just going through the motions when she found me and brought me to an understanding of the motions I was simply going through. I will always be grateful to her for “finding” me.

  2. leehemmingerSeptember 12, 2010 at 6:05 pm

    One summer when I was about eleven or twelve, after my grandparents divorced, I was living with my mom and step-dad in Arizona. For some reason, I went from neighbor to neighbor, going to church with different ones,no matter what denomination, seeking SOMETHING. We moved into a trailer court in Tucson, where I met a wonderful family, Bill and Nan Murray and their older children, Tom and Kitty. Nan was pretty much bed-ridden with heart problems, but she was always covered with a beautiful afghan and had a bright smile and a deep faith. Each night, the family gathered around her and recited the rosary, and they invited me to join them. Then, Bill asked me if I would like to attend church with them the next day. Boy, did I!!
    Walking into that Church of the Sacred Heart that Sunday felt like I had arrived “home”. Each Sunday after that I was ready and attended mass with Bill, Tom and Kitty. Bill would sit beside me, and whisper in my ear as the mass progressed, letting me know what was happening and what was expected of me.
    At the end of the summer, Bill approached my parents and told them that he and Nan would like to pay my tuition to Sacred Heart School if they would consent. Thus, my only two years of Catholic education, in 7th and 8th grade.
    Truly, the Murray family “found” me in my wandering and led me to the faith that has sustained me for the rest of my life. To this day, there are times during the mass that I can actually hear that whisper in my ear, and offer a prayer of thanks for the blessings of this generous and faith-filled family.

  3. CrisSeptember 14, 2010 at 1:56 am

    Dear brevis and leehemminger,
    I am scheduled to give a parish mission in Virginia, and one of the topics I’ll be reflecting on with the parishioners is conversion.
    The two stories each of you shared convinced me that the phenomenom of conversion is not excluively tied up to dramatic moments, ala St Paul of Tarsus.
    Thank you for pointing to the ordinary kindness of people as God’s vehicle of conversion.
    Please pray for me presentation— Cris

  4. DonnaSeptember 14, 2010 at 2:53 am

    Your stories have touched my heart, thank you for sharing!
    that is the beautiful part of this website, the sharing.
    Many years ago I left my hometown, my 7 year old daughter and I (she is now 38) so it was a long time ago! My marriage was over, try as I did, I couldn’t fix it. This was a desert period in my life, I felt like such a failure.
    I stopped going to mass, I stopped praying. One day a sister went to my daughters elementary school and asked if anyone in that class wanted to receive their first Communion. Of course she raised her little hand. The classes were going to be held in a community center after school. She started attending. One day she told me, “Sister said we should go to mass and sit up front so that I can see what’s going on”. I said ok, I guess we can do that. I didn’t know where any churches were in Denver, but I found Holy Ghost parish.
    Well, the Holy Spirit had other plans than just having that little girl learn about mass. Slowly, I began to feel the healing love of God in my heart. I came back into the arms of my Lord, who had never left my side…it was I who left Him! The rest is history so they say. I have come a long way!
    Cris, I am praying for you and your presentation!
    Thank you all!
    Donna

  5. mikeandbetsySeptember 14, 2010 at 9:17 pm

    I was found by Sister Guadalupe, my first grade teacher. I was afraid of her on the first day. I was 5 1/2 and she was the first nun I had ever seen; with the full starched habit and all. I screamed and acted out. I had to be taken home, and was even more afraid to go to school the next day. But she treated me with gentle kindness; a few moments in her presence took all fear away. She showed me about Jesus, not so much in words, but in that loving presence. I had fears, and she found me, to hold me until they went away.
    A priest asked a question to a group of parents of which I was a part, later on, when I had a young son. Fr. Jim asked, have you shown your children the ROOTS of what it means to be Catholic, that is, have you SHOWN them some of who Jesus is? When Kathy asked “Do you recall a time of being found?” I remembered Sister Guadalupe, and Fr. Jim’s counsel when I was a single parent also was something I thought of.
    In the three parables of Sunday’s Gospel, the shepherd with the lost sheep and the woman who lost the coin were persistent seekers of the one they lost. Yet the father only waited for his son, or else grieved, thinking he was never coming back. Was it because the son asked for his share of the inheritance (kingdom), and the father knew that his son had thought at that time that the father had nothing more to give him? Did the father know better, but was forced to wait? Because he knew the son thought he had all he needed…I wonder if we make God just wait for us, not be a seeker of us but a grieving waiting father, because we think we have all we need, in the material world we live in. And we forget about Him, draining our spiritual resources in a “life of dissipation”. I hope I always remember the person who showed me about Jesus, because I still need to be shown now, as much as I needed it at 5 1/2.

  6. adminkSeptember 14, 2010 at 11:00 pm

    Claudia, I have NEVER thought of this before. I LOVE this, and am going to steal it from you the next time the Prodigal Son story comes up (which won’t be for 3 years, but I’ll remember).

    Did everybody see this? The son stayed away so long because he didn’t think his father had anything more for him, other than the sliver of inheritance he had received (since the Older Son would have received the much larger sum). Doesn’t that sound EXACTLY like every twenty-and thirty-and forty-something former Catholic we all know: the Church gave me what I needed, I am now an ethical person who knows right from wrong, the Church has nothing more for me. Don’t bug me about it anymore.

    Hmm. Maybe JESUS has something more, always, always something more…

    Thanks for the beautiful, rich sharings this week, everybody.

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Twenty-third Sunday – Ordinary Time Cycle C

4 September 2010
Comments (15)

Reflecting on Luke 14:25-33

Okay, did Jesus really say we have to hate everybody we love in order to be his disciple?  Isn’t that completely out of character with everything we know about him?

Paul writing to Philemon about his slave Onesimus

First, the better translation for “hate” is “to love less than”.  Am I willing to love my own life less than I love being wrapped in the mystery and grace and healing love of Jesus?  Oh yeah.  Because it’s a win-win.  When I yield to the stronger-than-death love of Christ I find my life all over again, hidden and made richer through my day-by-day encounter with his Spirit.  How could I ever love my life if it were apart from him?

But look out.  A life in Christ means the status quo is out the window.  For example, the tribal codes of honor and shame that kept sons and daughters in perpetual debt to their parents were dismantled by Jesus’ invitation to follow him instead.  In that fascinating second reading today Paul reminded the Christian slaveholder Philemon that his slave Onesimus had been baptized, and was now his brother in Christ.  Wow!

So, loving Jesus more than we love slavery, family ties that welcome no stranger, religious restrictions that keep us forever bound up in guilt and unworthiness?  You bet.   That’s the liberating message of this difficult Gospel today. The disciple of Jesus hates everything that keeps a grudge going, a door closed, and a social status in place that, when the ship is going down, keeps some down in steerage while the rest of us get the lifeboats.

So I get it now.  That message is completely in character with everything we know about Jesus.

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Is there something you need to “love less than” in order to have a deeper faith life?

What would YOU like to say about this question, or today’s readings, or any of the columns from the past year? The sacred conversations are setting a Pentecost fire! Register here today and join the conversation.

I have come to light a fire on the earth; how I wish it were already burning (Lk.12:49).

15 Comments to “Twenty-third Sunday – Ordinary Time Cycle C”

  1. susanigomezSeptember 4, 2010 at 3:25 am

    Thanks Kathy, for such a meaningful commentary on this Gospel. I have always been uncomfortable with Jesus’ comment about hate. That is such a violent word, even by itself. I recently spent a retreat day reflecting on the Good Samaritan Gospel and came to the conclusion that hating our sisters and brothers would be hating Jesus too, since Jesus lives in each person. So, I know Jesus doesn’t want us to hate anybody. Jesus said a lot of things that need reflection and discernment. Peace! Sue

  2. brebis galeuseSeptember 4, 2010 at 9:35 pm

    I like your explanation of “hate” as “love less than,” but I think keeping priorities might be easier to understand. Making as a priority love for Jesus and doing God’s will doesn’t result in loving others less, it makes us love them more in the Trinity, because we first loved Jesus. When Jesus is the priority, we cannot fail to fulfill the two great commandments he left us.

  3. leehemmingerSeptember 5, 2010 at 1:56 pm

    I by the fact that your invitation at the end of the column, “Let’s get talking, Church” used a capital “C”. Over the past few years my own struggle has been that living the Gospels hasn’t always been congruent with that image. It is more often in the small “c” church where I find the inclusive and accepting love of Christ, among the people. In order to live in that reality, I sometimes find it’s necessary for me to love the Church “less than” Jesus. Brebis, it is just those two great commandments that urge me on, and it seems that if we are striving to fulfill THEM the first ten become second nature, (as much as that’s humanly possible).

  4. leehemmingerSeptember 5, 2010 at 1:58 pm

    correct the first sentence to start out “I was struck” – it apparently got lost in the submission!

  5. brebis galeuseSeptember 5, 2010 at 11:14 pm

    I have a question for this discussion group. This morning, Father said that his parents were angry when he decided to enter the seminary. They were previously not Church-goers. He said, “Jesus caused them great pain from my decision.” He also related that his parents have come back to Church and are very active.

    I have a problem with anyone who ascribes causality of pain or bad events to God. In the struggles of my life, I have come to believe that God is with us through pain that comes from life, and that God gives us grace to handle the problems of life, but I’ve never believed in a God who causes pain for us.

    Is God-given pain bad theology?

  6. leehemmingerSeptember 6, 2010 at 12:51 am

    I missed Father’s homily today, but having had similar conversations with him about this sort of thing, I don’t think he meant to imply God causes us pain. His words may have been poorly placed or something, but my take on it would be that maybe his parents felt Jesus had caused them pain. I do know that when someone says “It was God’s will” in time of pain and loss, Fr. Pat has always said that God does not will children to die or other painful events to happen. I can’t speak for him, but just what I know about him makes me certain that his theology doesn’t include God-given pain. Maybe it would be helpful to Email him and ask him to clarify for you. I agree with your theology that God is with us through the pain that life brings.

  7. leehemmingerSeptember 6, 2010 at 1:26 am

    However, this event wasn’t meant to be a painful one…It was joyous and grace-filled and Ft. Pat became God’s instrument to move his parents back to Him. So, I’m not sure that it fits into the same category as the pain that comes from living. If his parents had chosen not to hear God’s call, or to just love Fr. Pat and accept his choice, and chose to feel pain over Fr. Pat’s vocation, then to me it seems that would have been the result of their choice, not God’s. Does that make sense?

  8. adminkSeptember 6, 2010 at 4:58 am

    Oh boy, this is funny. I need to jump in here for a second. Lots of the readers of this site are hearing great preaching on Sundays from Fr. Pat at MPB, and that preaching often finds its way onto the site via parishioners.

    But “brebis galeus” is not an MPB parishioner, and the Father she was referencing is her own pastor, not Fr. Pat! I think Fr. Pat would think it’s hilarious that this conversation took place about him, based on a homily given by a completely different priest.

    So, delete the previous two comments and have a laugh. But a good question has been asked and probably should be talked about here: is God-given pain bad theology???

  9. brebis galeuseSeptember 6, 2010 at 12:41 pm

    Kathy,

    Thanks for clarifying that. I’ve actually heard this type of statement from many priests over the years. “God will do anything to get your attention.” Some of them followed up with examples, “take your health,” “take your children,” etc. I’ve always rejected this theology and thought, “Why would I want to believe in a God who works that way?”

    Likewise, people who believe that piety is a facial (usually sad sack) expression have it wrong in my view. We won’t be attracting many converts to the faith, if we look so miserable and believe that God is waiting to zap us.

    When my little sister died, my parents told us that the “angels came and took her away.” For two toddlers, ages 2 and 3, this was scary, and my older brother and I tiptoed around corners checking for angels before we would proceed. Then, when my first son died at the age of four months, people told me it was God’s will.

    It took me years to sort out a theology that doesn’t include a pain-giving God who wills babies to die and angels who take babies away.

  10. leehemmingerSeptember 6, 2010 at 1:34 pm

    Thanks Kathy! I tried to delete the comments, but don’t seem to be smart enough to do so. Anyway, to the question; well meaning friends, families, etc. often use that phrase “It was God’s will” to offer some comfort, and I’m not sure they realize the implications it may have for our perspective on God. I’m really sorry for your loss, brebis galeus. That must have been a terrible time in your life, and to think that God had willed it would stretch ones abililty to accept that God is the loving God we believe in.

  11. CrisSeptember 6, 2010 at 2:54 pm

    Thanks, Brevis for sharing that story about angels taking kids back to God – – this helps me in my catechetical work to assist catechist with pious images that may be acceptable to adults but inappropriate for children.

    I think that the problem of evil, usually reduced by theologians to God’s permissive will (as opposed to God’s proactive will)is utterly inadequate when placed in the context of an all merciful, all loving God. For if he is indeed all loving, why permit such an occurence? [Mr Spock would agree at this point with his iron clad syllogism.]

    So where does this take us. Some traces of answers I found from other people involved basically throwing oneself in the lap of God and getting lost in that mystery while God gently caress them. – – – Cris

  12. clm1127September 6, 2010 at 6:14 pm

    A friend once told me “If God takes you to it, he will take you THROUGH it.” To me, that is a visual explanation of faith. Even though I falter, I know that God is there with me, and that my suffering (perceived or real) is part of His great plan. And so he is walking the road with us, to get us through the fire, or the parted sea, or whatever else we are enduring, and ending up with an understanding either in this life or the next. Another friend reminds me that our home on earth is only a temporary dwelling place. And by following Jesus even if we have to turn from our family, friends on possessions on earth, we will end up in a much better place for eternity!

  13. Steve GivensSeptember 8, 2010 at 8:19 pm

    This is a clear, gentle explanation of one of the toughest scriptural lessons we ever hear or read. I’m always glad that I haven’t taken a non-believer to mass on the day the reading is used! But if you were there to explain it…

    Steve
    http://www.givenscreative.com

  14. adminkSeptember 8, 2010 at 8:49 pm

    Hi everybody. Please welcome Steve Givens (above) to the site. Steve, we are honored that you have joined us and look forward to any contributions from you in the future. Steve is the author of THE most beautiful book on life with cancer. Embraced by God: Facing Chemotherapy with Faith is by far the most insightful and rich book out there on the subject of living through chemotherapy.

    Steve writes a stunningly beautiful blog on spirituality,
    http://www.givenscreative.com. I recently met Steve at a composers’ conference in Nashville. His music is coming out in the premiere new hymnal, The St. Augustine Hymnal.

  15. BobbieSeptember 10, 2010 at 1:47 am

    Kathy, I am so glad that you helped clarify that “hate stuff.” I think that people could go wild with a misunderstanding of what hate means. And it seems to be happening all the time as an excuse for exclusivity. It’s easy to say I love Jesus but hate those people who live down the block, who are different because of gender, age, social status, race, sexual orientation, religion. It’s easy to say the gospel tells me I’m supposed to hate, so why should I reconcile, forgive or ask forgiveness? Whoa… What a gross misinterpretation that would be, a self-centered manipulation of God’s word to keep us from seeing others with their God-given dignity! How then could we say that we love God when we know that Jesus was about embracing not excluding people, no matter who they were?
    The question about loving less so that I can grow in faith really hits home. I need to love less selfishly and more selflessly. If I reached out to Jesus more, I would be letting go of the things that I grasp so tightly, be they ideas, things, or people. And then, when it comes to looking at others as if they were unlovable, these are the ones I have to love more, because this is what God is doing. Perhaps what I have to do most of all is love with the heart of Jesus. Prayer leads me to say: “Help me love You, choose You and give myself to You. Be with me as I embrace those who need to know that they are loved.”

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Twenty-second Sunday – Ordinary Time Cycle C

29 August 2010
Comments (19)

Reflecting on Luke 14:1,7-14

Several summers ago I was recovering from surgery on my vocal cords and couldn’t speak for a week.  I was out walking one very hot Sunday afternoon and began to panic because I had run out of water and was still a mile from home.  One of the churches on the corner of a busy intersection was having a “Getting to know you” picnic on their grounds as an outreach to all those speeding by.  Ah, thank you, God.  Here I can get a refill for my water bottle and make it home.

The last shall be first

There were lots of warm, friendly congregants out on the front lawn, pouring lemonade and passing out cookies and information about times of their services.  Because I couldn’t speak, I smiled and indicated my empty water bottle.  All these years later, I’m still hurt by the detached indifference I experienced.  The smiling hospitality members took a few steps back and walked away.  No one would make eye contact with me.  I was, I guess, the odd, sweaty interloper who wasn’t speaking and kept pointing to her water bottle.  For some reason that made me scary, or at least not the person they were hoping their picnic would attract.

But I’m a SOMEBODY!  I’m a SINGER!  I’m just TEMPORARILY DISABLED! I’ll be at the top of my game again in a DAY OR TWO!

And you know what?  That day never came.

How glad I am now for that tiny peek into the world of those who come into our churches without resumes, without connections, but with a sliver of hope that someone will notice them and reach out.  The “last” are actually SOMEBODIES, as those of us who have been “first” a lot will surely one day find out.

Sharing God’s Word at Home

What experiences of “first” and “last” have shaped your life?

What would YOU like to say about this question, or today’s readings, or any of the columns from the past year? The sacred conversations are setting a Pentecost fire! Register here today and join the conversation.

I have come to light a fire on the earth; how I wish it were already burning (Lk.12:49).

19 Comments to “Twenty-second Sunday – Ordinary Time Cycle C”

  1. brebis galeuseAugust 30, 2010 at 12:50 pm

    I was always last in my family. Financial resources and emotional support went to my older brother first, and whatever was left seemed to mostly dissipate before it got to me. After years of therapy, and the realization that I’m not dead last with God, the impact of being last still affects my life. I always expect to be last and disrespected, so my perspective is looking for that slight. I have to consciously remind myself that my family was dysfunctional, and the “last” status was not about me. It’s hard at times to make that connection prior to reacting to a perceived slight, but I’m getting better at it. Yesterday morning, Father started his homily by asking, “Who’s the best person here?” I didn’t automatically think it was for certain somebody else! That’s progress.

  2. dcherryAugust 30, 2010 at 3:49 pm

    It is so hard to accept how God strips us of things that we have claimed as our identity, like Kathy losing her beautiful voice, her identity as a singer. As I’m getting older (wait a minute, how can I be 60 years old…that’s my mother’s age) and as a consequence am losing some of my physical abilities (or anticipating losing some of them as my older friends have), and soon my identity as a high school counselor as I move into retirement from that job and on to other activities the Lord is moving me toward, I try to remember it’s all part of the plan to move me closer to God, more dependent on Her, and ready to join the throng of adorants(if that’s a word and if not, it’s a good one) populating Heaven. And part of the process is to realize we are all ok, no one is better than the other despite what we may have been led to believe by our family or life’s circumstances. We are all the face of God, to quote someone! As one of my students reminded me, “What doesn’t kill us, makes us stronger”.

  3. leehemmingerAugust 30, 2010 at 6:36 pm

    I was the first born in my family. My parents divorced by my first birthday, and each remarried, having children with their new spouses. I still remained the first born, the eldest, with the most expectations to “set an example for your younger sisters/brothers.” But, living with my grandparents for most of the first 9 years really designated me as “last”. As much as I loved my sisters and brothers, my place was never fully recognized in either family. It was as though I just didn’t fit in, and seen as an outsider. I got married at 15, because I want to “belong” someplace and be “first” in some relationship. That was the first of many mistakes made in my search for a place to belong. The golden thread that came out of the whole situation was that I grew up with a passion for justice and became a champion of the underdog; and, I always had this innate sense that I belonged to God. As I begin my 80th decade, I am grateful for the gift of compassion and acceptance this life experience brought.

  4. leehemmingerAugust 30, 2010 at 6:42 pm

    as an addendum, let me say that the weeds that come with this experience is that I continue to feel like an outsider in many situations. Even though I have many wonderful, thoughtful and faithful friends, and belong to multiple communities, that sense of not “fitting in” often lifts its head in my consciousness. I feel as though I march to the beat of a different drummer, but have come to accept that as a good thing most of the time.

  5. leehemmingerAugust 30, 2010 at 6:52 pm

    You seemed to open the vault with this one, Kathy. It feels like I could just let the words flow endlessly. The unfamiliar knot in my throat and the sense of vulnerability lets me know that a chord was struck. No matter how much work one does on “issues” a remnant seems to always remain that flares up once in awhile. Thank you for this forum.

  6. mamidecincoAugust 30, 2010 at 11:57 pm

    The first time I really “got” this teaching…the last shall be first was when we traveled to Guatemala. While in Antigua we visited the church of San Francisco where Saint Hermano Pedro is buried/interned.

    Here we saw the “last” of a very poor society, the poorest of the poor…hundreds of “lasts” approaching the church on their knees, smiling, hopeful, FAITH-FILLED. They had so very little materially, but so very much spiritually. The contrast between them and me was stark and it became crystal clear to me in that moment how the last in our society, those whom we completely overlook and ignore, will be the first in the Kingdom of Heaven.

    ~Kim

  7. ChrisAugust 31, 2010 at 2:06 am

    Possibly, we might ask ourselves, “how can I be last in my community?” Jesus teaches us the value of humility in this week’s reading. Fr. Tim this past Sunday made 2 thought provoking points that I would like to share with all of you.

    1) Humility is not something we strive to be good at. If we intentionally go to the wedding feast seeking the lowest seat with the thought that we’ll hopefully get moved up, then, we’ve missed the point.
    Humility must become part of our nature, not our intentions.

    2) Jesus commanded us to “Love one another”. But how does one do that? Fr. Tim said, “Humility is the basis for love of others.” And it hit me like a ton of bricks, that he is so right. If we are able to make humility part of our nature, putting others ahead of ourselves, then how can we not love them?

    True humility may not come easily. But I will pray for the Peace and Grace of God to help me find it. For it is only with God that I will.

  8. eileenAugust 31, 2010 at 2:11 am

    I am not sure which would be better——-to be in the accepted group and then move to the outsider group or the other way around. My experience is of the first type. It is a very hurtful time to know you somehow don’t belong. However, it opens ones eyes to those around you, the ones you never saw before and for whom my heart now aches. It is good to be “opened up”. You see after 63 years I now accept my self as a lesbian.

  9. CrisAugust 31, 2010 at 3:15 am

    Thank you leehemminger and brevis for sharing your stories. You heal all of us by doing that. – – Cris

  10. JgfelsAugust 31, 2010 at 6:51 am

    What a poignant reminder that holiness is defined by who we include as opposed to who we exclude. Do we let spiritual materialism harden us or by connecting with our own woundedness can we begin to humbly realize that “self” and “other” are not actually different? Can we begin to train without bias and learn to communicate from the heart essence? If we lack empathy for another perhaps it is because we are afraid of confronting our own brokenness. It is in letting go of appearances that we connect with suffering and can begin to reflect upon the countless beings who are feeling exactly what we are feeling at this very moment. The experience is different, but the pain is the same. What people really need is for others not to distance themselves from them. Are we willing to risk such openness of vulnerability? It will likely force us to examine our perspective. Maybe when we view the banquet from the eyes of wakefulness we will see that there are no seats of greater or lesser honor. There is only a table: come and eat….

    Many thanks to those individuals who have responded to Kathy’s message with just such vulnerability. You are our compassion warriors!

  11. DonnaAugust 31, 2010 at 4:41 pm

    The responses this week have really touched me and most importantly made me think. Thank you all for sharing!
    I grew up with a mother that I could never please, no matter what I did it was never good enough. As an adult I realized (after years of hurt) that some where in her life she was wounded. I went into nursing trying to take care of
    people, I went into a marriage feeling not good enough to be loved by a man who didn’t even love himself, because he was alcohol addicted. I felt like such a failure!
    Then like a miracle the realization that My God loves me more than I can imagine, and loves me unconditionally…He was always there, waiting for me to invite him into my life, and he gave me his mother too! Thank you Jesus!
    Thank you Kathy for this website and for being such a great teacher,and everyone for sharing your intermost thoughts!

  12. eileenAugust 31, 2010 at 5:43 pm

    I can’t stop thinking of the song by Joan Collins in which she says “I’ve looked at life from both sides now”.

  13. adminkAugust 31, 2010 at 9:02 pm

    Wow. What can I say to this outpouring of friendship and community that we are building here? The purity and depth of painful, prayerful, faith-filled, intimate sharing on this site is more than I had dreamed.

    I read every word and hold each one close, as I know all the contributors to the conversation do as well. Thanks for listening and holding each other up.

    I’m always struck at how many people whom one would assume have always been “first” perceive themselves as “last”. Maybe that will be a surprise too, when we are “bathed in the crush of intimacy” (Fr. Pat’s words, again,)in heaven, and realize that we held on to our feelings of being “last” so long on earth because taking the leap to pull away from that safe place of pain was too much work.

    But the writers here grabbed on to faith and found a safe place, even in the face of lifelong struggle. Now that’s true strength and true humility.

    God bless every one of you who have shared part of that journey.

    Kathy

  14. ClaudiaSeptember 1, 2010 at 1:13 am

    I’ve read every response and I am so humbled and touched by the honesty that flows from feelings to written words. Kathy, I am so taken aback by your personal loss. Having heard you speak and watched your body language…the glow
    that never leaves your face; the tenderness that exudes from your smile…one would never think that such disappointment had touched your life.

    I am in a continuous wrestling match with myself. So many “good” days; and, so many days filled with self-talk;
    attempts to keep myself encouraged and believing that I’ll be okay. Parents are powerful. They know us before we truly know and understand ourselves. They truly are armed with the power of love or the weapons of self-doubt which can be flung at our fragile, developing selves. Two things have finally begun to unravel inside of my mind…leaving me with such a sense of inner happiness. I have gone into deep smit over the most wonderful author…Rosamunde Pilcher. She’s now in her 80’s and “retired” from writing in 2000. I can become so immersed in her words. I am living inside the world that she’s writing about. I leave her books; sad to have finished, eager for the next one and
    bursting with insight. To my point…in one of her books;
    a father’s 12 year old daughter has died. He grieves for months. The upcoming Christmas holiday brings visitors into his home…one a 14 year old girl. They become friends. She is asking him about his daughter. Heavy on paraphrasing here….”We used to sit at the piano and play together; I helped her with her school work.” The girl asks if his daughter played the piano well…”no..not really.” She pursues if she was good with her studies…
    “no,not really.” She asks..”tell me what she was good at doing” and he replies…”LIVING”. This has made all the difference in my thinking. I have wasted so much time being afraid, holding back when I want to simply be living and experiencing my life. Secondly, I realize that I haven’t “hit” that magical plateau that I was supposed to be at by this time in my life. Supposed to be mature; understand life; be filled with wisdom; and be a sage to others! I find that I am still a mix of parts! Much like a puzzle. Last night, at choir practice, we sang for two hours…glorious, beautiful music. I went across the street to Poppies and sat with fellow choir members…now my friends. I drank a beer. I laughed and talked and listened. On the way home, I listened to Sly and the Family Stone sing SUMMER DAYS…cicadas singing their own song of summer. Wind rustling trees…trees still laden with leaves and sweet smells. Here I am…69 in November…
    mother, grandmother, friend,church member, still working full time….feeling “those summer days” and permission, AT LAST, to FEEL alive; to be ME!

    Blessings and love.

  15. BobbieSeptember 2, 2010 at 10:04 pm

    At 5’9”, I’m taller than many women I know. As a child attending Catholic school, I was frequently last in line because we stood smallest to tallest. Regardless of whether or not I could make out the writing on the blackboard, I was assigned the last seat in a row of desks so that I would not block the view of other students. There was something about “not blocking other people’s view” that seems to linger in my head even now. I tend to stand behind people when watching a parade march by. What happens is people taller than I am find a way in front. Then guess what. Someone is blocking my view. I automatically go to the back of a group picture so that I don’t cover anyone’s face. This usually means I’m in an awkward position and an even more awkward pose. As I write this, I’m asking myself why I’ve allowed this labeling as a child to become the way I behave today. In truth, my height is something I cannot control.
    Since I’m far from athletic, during high school gym class I found out what it means to have a team “stuck with me.” Usually one of the opposing team captains sighed loudly before choosing me or another teenage girl. So sometimes I was next to last, which didn’t make me feel much better. I realize I’ve developed an “I should be last” attitude. I tend to wait for other people to take their seat, then sit wherever there’s an empty space. When meetings break up into smaller groups for chit chat, I often find myself left out. It takes so much energy to “break into” one of those pairs or threesomes. Then I ask myself if I’m not interesting enough to be part of the conversation. Perhaps I’m not good enough for them to be with me.
    Being last comes out as not being worthy, loveable or good enough. How sad is that?
    When it comes to ice breaking and introductions, I usually make the first move. Though it takes a lot of courage, it keeps me from feeling rejected, even if the conversation is short lived. The first step is something I can control. In a group setting, if someone asks a question about something I know, I am first to offer an answer. I take pride in my knowledge, and as I grow older, my wisdom, so I feel free to share it. (Notice, I keep showing up on this website.) The place I most allow myself to be first is in church. I sit right up front, not quite the first row, but in the second. Before Jesus, I just know that he invites me to come up closer because with him I am worthy, loveable and enough. Ad it doesn’t seem to matter whose view I block.

  16. brebis galeuseSeptember 2, 2010 at 10:35 pm

    Claudia wrote, “Kathy, I am so taken aback by your personal loss. Having heard you speak and watched your body language…the glow that never leaves your face; the tenderness that exudes from your smile…one would never think that such disappointment had touched your life.”

    I am absolutely convinced that Kathy smiles in her sleep!

  17. brebis galeuseSeptember 2, 2010 at 10:43 pm

    Oh, yeah, something else that struck me on Sunday morning as Father gave his homily on humility. The Magnificat — Mary’s proclamation that from now on “all will call me blessed.” She knew who she was in God’s sight. Humility is not feeling bad about oneself, or thinking we are less than others, as we were so often taught. True humility is simply knowing who we are in God’s sight. It’s accepting the gifts and talents that God has given us and using them to further the kingdom here on earth.

  18. MichaelCarlosSeptember 3, 2010 at 1:27 am

    First, of course, I have to say again how humbling it is to read all your reflections. What courage you show in revealing your vulnerability and affirming one another with compassion and such wisdom. 

    The single most important experience that shaped me on this question occurred at the Mile Hi Religious Education Congress many years ago (is that what it was called, and has it also disappeared?). I don’t remember what the workshop topic was, but I remember an impassioned and Spirit-filled presenter talking about liturgical ministry. There was a particular segment in which she talked about how we identify people suited for the various ministries. She used the analogy of a family dinner, and I’m sure I’m paraphrasing like crazy, but she said something like: “Everyone is good at something. YOU can cook; YOU can set the table; YOU can lead the prayer; YOU can do SOMETHING. And without all these contributions, there cannot be a dinner to share.” 

    This articulation of her approach crystallized what I experienced every Sunday in the parish where she was the liturgist and music director. That presenter, you won’t be surprised to learn, was Kathy McGovern, who made everyone in that parish feel like she or he was first, not least the socially inept young man who assisted her each week, and who is so grateful to her to this day for seeing something in me then and knowing how much I wanted to participate, to belong. 

    That lesson stayed with me during my sojourn in the religious life and later as I had the good fortune to manage employees in two very different industries. There’s no better feeling than showing another person that you really SEE him or her, affirming the special gift she/he brings to whatever enterprise you are sharing.  

  19. TeresaSeptember 4, 2010 at 5:52 am

    I’m so touched by the desperation you must have felt that day Kathy. I cannot fathom the impact your loss still must have today. You rise above it like no one I can imagine, but just the thought of it is painful to me.

    It’s crazy when I’m part of a wonderfully accepting community and family that I can still have little moments of fear and dread reminiscent of my adolecence I’ve never quite grown out of. Surely I’m not cool enough, not smart enough, not young enough, not enough, enough, enough. But I am human and Jesus became a part of all our humanity. We are enough. May this give me the confidence and faith to love and act with justice and grace.

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Twenty-first Sunday – Ordinary Time Cycle C

21 August 2010
Comments (16)

Reflecting on Luke 13:22-30

It turns out that the question of who gets into heaven and who doesn’t gets settled on the bus.  Well, not just any bus.  It’s that primordial bus that C.S. Lewis creates for us in his masterpiece, The Great Divorce. There we see ourselves as the fearful, suspicious, whiny, gossipy passengers who have boarded the bus between heaven and hell.  And guess what?  We can’t get into heaven because we won’t get off the bus.

And why should we?   We can see from our stuffy, boarded-up windows that SHE made it in, and we CERTAINLY aren’t interested in getting out if they let HER in, for heaven’s sake.  We’ll just sit right here, thank you just the same.

The grass in heaven is so strong it’s like walking on sharp knives when you’ve been such a cheat and such a fake your whole life that you’ve never built up any real integrity to give you strength.   And who can stand up to the rain in heaven?  It’s like getting hit with bullets when you’ve spent your whole life dodging responsibilities, or the outstretched hands of those who are poor.

But watch!  There are angels to help us step off the bus and take those first courageous steps towards humility, and forgiveness, and healing from addictions, and reunions with family members we’ve cheated or ignored or abused.  All it takes is the grace to give God permission to make us fit for heaven.

Lord, will only a few be saved? Perhaps the better question is Lord, will only a few WANT to be saved? Because heaven isn’t for sissies.  But heaven IS for those grateful souls who, in fear and trembling, take God’s hand and step off the bus.

Sharing God’s Word at Home

What are you working on changing so that you’ll be comfortable in heaven?

What would YOU like to say about this question, or today’s readings, or any of the columns from the past year? The sacred conversations are setting a Pentecost fire! Register here today and join the conversation.

I have come to light a fire on the earth; how I wish it were already burning (Lk.12:49).

16 Comments to “Twenty-first Sunday – Ordinary Time Cycle C”

  1. gamaAugust 22, 2010 at 1:43 am

    I have just order the book by CS Lewis on my kindle. I keep thinking about my mother talking in her last days here on earth and dreaming about a train coming to pick her up and seeing a young child waving in the window. Anyway so much for the rambling I will read the book and re-reply. Thanks for the info.

  2. brebis galeuseAugust 22, 2010 at 6:04 pm

    I had a discussion with our late pastor five years ago about who is going to heaven and who is not. He told me to let that be decided by God, because of John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” End of conversation, right? Nope. John 3:18, “Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” They condemn themselves.

    So, do you have to stand up publicly and denounce Jesus? Probably not. Do we accomplish that by our actions? A single action wouldn’t define us, but could a pattern that shows that we don’t truly believe condemn us?

  3. DonnaAugust 23, 2010 at 4:53 pm

    Wow! great question…what am I working on changing? A great Jesuit, Peter Favre said, “take care, take care never to shut your heart against anyone”. I think about this often. Jesus says to love those who persecute us. Love those who hate us? I pray for grace to see God in all creation. This is what I struggle with… what I am working on changing.
    Can I step off that bus? Only by the grace of God!

  4. brebis galeuseAugust 23, 2010 at 5:56 pm

    “Take care never to shut your heart against anyone.” I am going to print this out and carry it with me all the time. I think it’s one of those things that’s so easy — until you are in the presence of another. Thanks for sharing this, Donna.

  5. mamidecincoAugust 23, 2010 at 10:42 pm

    Oh to pass through the narrow gate….there is so much I could let go of and change!! To truly live humbly, I most need to remove my sense of pride. Like Mary in her Magnificat in the past week’s reading, to turn all praise to God for what he accomplishes and to truly accept and realize that I can at most be a vessel of his mercy and grace.

    I really think emptying myself (of pride, self interest, worry, etc..) in order to be filled with the Spirit, is a challenge. If one can accomplish that and live in true humility, then shutting your heart wouldn’t be an option, nor would staying on that bus.

    ~Kim

  6. KarenAugust 24, 2010 at 1:33 am

    Oh my goodness Kathy! So many contradictory thoughts and ideas run through my head (and heart) when I contemplate this question… I love the work of Fr. Richard Rohr and Fr. Ronald Rohlheiser and I think both would challenge us with the notion that ALL of God’s beloved children will be in heaven ~ ALL of us! I remember hearing Richard Rohr say, “we are all totally worthy and totally unworthy” as the beloved children of God. There is no “earning” any of the grace freely given by our loving Creator. And so, we all show up together, with all of our baggage, afraid to get off of the bus. God doesn’t keep us there, we keep ourselves there.

    As so many of your readers have shared, the learning and the work and the soul searching comes in letting go. It is in the surrendering of our fear and our pride and our neediness that allows us to get off the bus. Giving-in to truly knowing that we are nothing without the grace of God is what allows us to “pass through the narrow gate” or to “pass through the eye of the needle” or to “fall into the arms of our loving God.” We just are not very good at doing that, or I should say that “I am not very good at doing that!”

    And Kathy, one more thought about heaven… I know God as a loving parent, who I think probably looks at me and wonders why I so often choose the difficult path in my life, sometimes like I look at my own children, thinking “they could have picked an easier road but might have missed the lesson.” As a human parent, I cannot imagine ever damning my child to a life of pain or suffering or heartache for “choosing wrong.” God loves better, bigger and more fully than I can begin to comprehend! And so, how could our loving Creator ever damn one single beloved child to eternal suffering, no matter how horrendously sinful one’s life might have been (or is right now)? I just can’t believe that our God is capable of “not loving,” ever, in any circumstance…

    This is by no means an easy understanding of “heaven” and “hell” but rather an incongruency with which I continue to struggle. It seems that our “heavens” and our “hells” begin right here, right now, and sometimes we’re closer to one than the other, depending on our choices and our ability to surrender…

  7. clm1127August 25, 2010 at 1:45 am

    That is an awesome visual…a bus from heaven to hell. And if you choose the wrong stop….watch out!! It shows how fickle we humans can be! Is “the bus” Purgatory?

  8. CrisAugust 25, 2010 at 2:04 pm

    “The narrow gate/eye of the needle” vs.”the publicans, prostitutes, sinners will enter the kingdom first before the legalistic sanctimonious go thorugh” – – – a paradoxic thought to ponder….. – – Cris

  9. mamidecincoAugust 25, 2010 at 7:45 pm

    Cris, I like the paradox you propose because it make me think for a bit.

    In reflecting, I don’t see it necessarily as a true paradox. For me, the narrow gate means you have to be willing to let go of that which is holding you back, keeping you from heaven. I think sinners, protitutes, etc.. might find that more doable than the sanctimonious.
    ~Kim

  10. ChrisAugust 27, 2010 at 4:26 am

    Karen,

    I would say the issue has little to do with “God not loving” us. But instead, us not believing or loving him. As brebis galeuse quoted John 3:18 above, we condem ourselves.

    I will _always_ love my two sons. But that does not mean that they could choose a way of life (violence, crime, hate, …) that could keep us from being able to live together. I pray to God that it never happens.

    Chris

  11. mikeandbetsyAugust 29, 2010 at 6:25 pm

    Kathy, this is to me so far your best reflection. The words that have stuck with me the most, and I hope they will for a long time, talk about having enough integrity to build up the strength for heaven. Also the question of having the ability to withstand the rain of heaven, when you’ve been dodging responsibilities on earth. Those are reminders for each moment of the day, as well as core things to consider when making big decisions. I haven’t read “The Great Divorce”, but I will now. I need to realize more fully the importance of each day, that it means so much eternally, that God has given us the time to prepare for the real thing, and saints everywhere, like CS Lewis and Kathy to give us clues about how to go about it. I pray that I remember to make every decision, big and small, for God.

  12. leehemmingerAugust 29, 2010 at 6:59 pm

    Father Pat began my thought process on this issue so long ago, when he asked in a sermon “are you ready to share heaven with Hitler?” As humans we have such difficulty forgiving others for their crimes (sins) against society. I pray daily for the love and humility to look forward to seeing Hitler and others, ie: Timothy McVeigh. Also, the wisdom to realize that it will be my reassurance of God’s unconditional love and mercy. I keep at it! A lifetime of teaching on the other end of the spectrum continues to add that small nagging fear, but it keeps getting better.

  13. ClaudiaAugust 29, 2010 at 7:33 pm

    Better late than never!! “Our/my” Father Pat, of MPB in Denver, had a homily that I believe will stay with me forever!! In talking about how “we” can look at one another and make such judgments as “that person will never be in heaven.” His little sardonic laugh and assurance that every toot-head, whom I most disdain, will be rubbing elbows with me! BUT, the crux of what he said, that has given me my own “come to Jesus meeting” is…”think about this…Heaven with YOU and no one else. You will get to spend eternity with YOU!” Thinking that I’m a fairly decent, kind person; my thoughts went immmediately to my many weaknesses and the bits of my personality that can sometimes bite me like a tiny wasp sting! Me and me in Heaven…for all eternity. SO MANY things to work on!! So
    little time! The idea kinda takes the uppity right out of me!!

  14. leehemmingerAugust 31, 2010 at 1:19 am

    I searched for this, and found my notes from a retreat last year:
    Religion – for people who believe in Hell.

    Spirituality – for those who have been there.

    Heaven “is neither an abstraction not a physical place in the clouds, but a living, personal relationship with the Holy Trinity. It is our meeting with the Father which takes place in the risen Christ through the communion of the Holy Spirit,” Pope John Paul II, 21 July 1999.

    So, I continue to ask, if Heaven, and Hell,is not a place, but rather a state of being of a spirit or human soul, is it possible for one to experience both Heaven and Hell here on Earth? Believing in God’s infinite love and mercy, it’s hard for me to comprehend that eternal damnation is possible even for those who have committed heinous acts. As we enter into the purification state of being and God continues to call us home, I would like to believe that all of His creation will ultimately be re-united with Him. Naive? Possibly, but a comfortable place to be.

  15. BobbieSeptember 2, 2010 at 10:05 pm

    When I was a child, I rode the bus more often than I do now. I can remember the stop-go experience of a city bus, with people getting on or off. Exact change dropped into a glass coin-meter made it less time consuming to get on. Sometimes the bus was empty and there was a lot of room. Other times the bus was crowded or even over crowded with people’s knees bumping or with backsides squeezing an extra person onto the seat. Every once in a while, someone stood to let an elderly person, a pregnant woman or one with a couple kiddies sit down. Occasionally, people who were lucky enough to sit, held packages on their laps for those who stood hanging on for dear life with their hands wrapped around a pole or in a dangling loop suspended from the roof of the motor coach. It was easy enough to pull the cord and disembark when the bus was not crowded. But when it was, not only did one have to say, “Excuse me, excuse me, excuse me,” while moving through the multitude, but there were times when leaving through the rear exit caused the traveler have to shout to the bus driver, “Open the door again, please,” so as not to miss the stop. People knew their destination and how to get there. They wanted to get where they were going so they followed the rules, put up with some inconveniences and kept moving. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the same applied to everyone on the way to heaven?
    Thanks, Kathy, for the challenging question about what I’m changing so that I might be comfortable in heaven. There seems to be one answer, accepting people for who they are when they don’t live up to my expectations. (Maybe even letting go of expectations…) The cashier who talks to a fellow customer service rep while ringing up my groceries and who doesn’t even seem to notice that I’m standing right there. The person who calls my friends and me “guys” when we are very definitely and visibly women. The woman who has taken a bath in perfume/cologne and causes the entire busload of people to wear her scent when we get off.
    Is it just tolerance or is it bigger than putting up with a person or situation? Is it acceptance? Unconditional positive regard? Love? What I’m working on changing is the way I love God, other people and myself. I’m trying to live that commandment of loving with my whole heart, mind, soul, person, so that I’m not going to miss my chance of getting off the bus because of all those “HE’s and SHE’s.” It means being mindfully conscious of the face of Christ in each of the people that I connect with whether by choice or circumstance. My actions and attitudes are my responsibility. I’m trying to love God because God IS and to accept that God loves me just because it’s what God does—LOVE. So I attempt to regard myself through the eyes of compassion and self-acceptance.
    What you said about giving “God permission to make me fit for heaven,” speaks so clearly to me. It reminds me to cooperate with the grace of the day in the midst of the joy and sorrow, abundance and loss, fullness and emptiness, hurt and forgiveness. Your challenge helps me recognize who I am in the midst of it all and offers a world of possibilities for all that I can be.

  16. MichaelCarlosSeptember 3, 2010 at 1:38 am

    Bobbie, thank you for a beautiful reflection. So much to absorb . . .

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Solemnity of the Assumption – Ordinary Time Cycle C

14 August 2010
Comments (11)

Reflecting on Luke 1: 39-56

Today’s Gospel, the visitation of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth, tells us that Mary, a woman alone and with child, made a fifty-mile journey from Galilee to Ein Karem, in the hill country of Judea.  Today a Catholic church stands at that site. Its many paintings depict Elizabeth and Mary, and other women of their time, as they went about the sacred business of keeping alive their religious traditions.  It is surely the most “feminine” church in Christendom.

Church of the Visitation in Ein Karem, Israel

When Mary, now the ark of the covenant, the carrier of the Savior, arrives at her cousin’s home, she sings her Magnificat.  What seems to be most on her mind, curiously, is not the news of her astonishing pregnancy, or even that of her old cousin.  Instead, she wants to talk about God’s power to lift up the lowly and to fill the hungry with good things.

It makes you wonder what she saw on that road as she traveled.  Did she see widows and orphans crying for food, cast far away from the safety nets of husbands and fathers?  Did she see the executed Jews, whom the Romans crucified along well-traveled paths as reminders of the “Pax Romana”?    When she arrived at her cousin’s, the unborn John sensed the presence of the true and only Prince of Peace.  That six-month-old fetus was the first to recognize the Incarnation, traveling in the womb of his mother Mary.  That should end any question of when life begins.

As the lovely Medical Missionaries’ hymn, The Visit, sings, There leaped a little child in the ancient womb.  And there leaped a little hope in every ancient tomb.

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What do you think the young Mary was thinking about as she traveled to see her cousin?

What would YOU like to say about this question, or today’s readings, or any of the columns from the past year? The sacred conversations are setting a Pentecost fire! Register here today and join the conversation.

I have come to light a fire on the earth; how I wish it were already burning (Lk.12:49).

11 Comments to “Solemnity of the Assumption – Ordinary Time Cycle C”

  1. brebis galeuseAugust 14, 2010 at 2:23 pm

    This is a great question, Kathy. My thought is that Mary was pondering the reality of her situation — how on earth was she going to explain this pregnancy to her cousin? When John the Baptist leaped in Elizabeth’s womb, Mary’s problem was solved. Elizabeth’s response, “Who am I that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” gave way to Mary’s praise of God. Would that every pregnant woman could see the miracle of life and praise God unceasingly!

  2. defensorAugust 14, 2010 at 8:47 pm

    I have always wondered about that, I think that her trust in God, was so deep, that she accepted His will in everything. I think that She knew, that there was something special about all these. Her whole Life, she lived with full confindence in the trust of God. Something we all work at daily.Her sole was intrusted in God from the begining. but she still had to be human, an experience life as we all do, except her faith was so deep. Something we all work hard to accomplish, everyday.

  3. beckyAugust 14, 2010 at 10:48 pm

    This is may be my favorite reading. This is the strength of woman in faith, love and charity. Mary’s Obedience is what we ought to strive for. I think that the girls from that area grow up and marry as young as they did then. So her youth and innocence isn’t the only heroic act that we usually focus on, It’s the pure faith and obeience she shows through the whole life of Jesus that makes me ponder her goodness. I think as she walked that journey to see Elizabeth, she was thinking okay now what do I do, I’m suppose to marry Joseph and how will mom and dad take the news. And just how do you raise a God? The usual thoughts that a new mother to be think about in her shoes. She knew that it would work out, but how would it develope, who would believe her and so on. Then with a few spiri filled moments it was clear as water. The two babies knew each other and Elizabeth knew that her own miracle child was in the presence of the Promised One. And Mary and Jesus had thier first believers.

  4. DonnaAugust 16, 2010 at 3:07 pm

    Good question! I think Mary must have still been filled with awe, so much had happened. I think she prayed on her journey, as she pondered and trusted that God would lead her every step.
    I remember a talk I heard about Mary and how she was foreshadowed in Scripture as the Burning Bush, the Ark of the Covenant, the seat of Wisdom and then Crowned as the Queen of heaven and Earth. What beautiful images!
    How our God loves us!
    Donna

  5. Gen215August 16, 2010 at 3:53 pm

    Great reflection, Kathy. I love that we get the Magnificat when we are thinking about the Assumption too. It fills the Magnificat with whole new meaning!

    In the Assumption we celebrate a God who literally lifted up his humble handmaid to her exalted throne in the heavens! Truly Mother Mary, the Almighty has done great things for you! Do you think she prayed the Magnificat again during the Assumption? I also take great comfort that she continually prays for the anawim, the little ones, still on earth who need “lifting up” and reminds us that we are to make the Magnificat a reality in our love for the poor.

  6. brebis galeuseAugust 16, 2010 at 7:39 pm

    Do we think that Mary is the only one for whom God has done great things? If that’s the case, why are we still here? What would attract us to a God who quit after Mary’s Magnificat? Shouldn’t we all be writing a Magnificat of our own for all the great things God has done for us? Isn’t it all about praise and gratitude? If you had to write a Magnificat (and why don’t you — that is all of you) what “great things that God has done for you” would you include?

  7. adminkAugust 16, 2010 at 8:18 pm

    I LOVE THIS! Thanks, brebis galeuse, for this great question for all of us. Here’s mine:

    My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for God who is mighty has known me in my mother’s womb and kept me safe there, brought me to birth and given me breath every day of my life, held me up from the water’s reach, lifted me from the cavernous deep, sent me the Body of Christ to comfort and heal me.

    God has given me more love than I can bear, more joy than my heart can possibly hold, more hope and strength and comfort than I need for today, but perhaps just enough for tomorrow.

    OTHER (holy) is God’s name, and because God is OTHER I rejoice that God has looked on me in my lowliness and blessed me with an awareness of God’s presence, not always, but sometimes, and that grace has been enough for me so far. AMEN.

    Meanwhile, I’m thrilled to see Gen215 in this week’s conversation. Thanks, Thomas, for your insightful connections.

    Becky, I love the last sentence of your comments this week; at the Visitation Mary and Jesus had their first believers! I’d never thought of that. Perfect!

    Donna and Defensor, you seem to sense a deep faith and love in Mary that I suspect has been operative in your own lives as well?

    Thanks for the conversation, everyone!

    Kathy

  8. mikeandbetsyAugust 18, 2010 at 6:15 pm

    Mary and Elizabeth’s joy when greeting each other does seem to be about more than their own personal miracles of their pregnancies, as Kathy said. From this discussion and going back to think about the passages again, Mary and Elizabeth become for me not only models for all mothers and all women, but for all people of faith. Because their joy seems to come from GOD’S MERCY TO THEIRS AND ALL PEOPLE, manifesting through them.
    Deep down they must not have been unaware, in fact the process was already beginning, of knowing their children were to be a gift for all humanity, not for them as parents alone. So that being human, their motherhood would include pain and sacrifice few could imagine. But still their joy in what God could do for their people through them overpowered any concern for themselves.

    Because I am a worrier, I always have to ask God to help me break through preoccupation with myself and my own personal world. If I could more easily let things go, I could know deeper joy in the Lord.

    My soul hopes to magnify the Lord,
    and my spirit will rejoice in God my savior.
    How grateful I am that lovingly he looks upon his handmaid’s lowliness.
    The MIghty One has done great things for me,
    and holy is His name.
    His mercy is from age to age
    For even those like me who forget Him.
    He lifts us up and fills our hunger with good things,
    according to his steadfast promise.
    May the Lord bring His mercy to others through me forever.
    Amen

    All people are gifts to the world. Recognizing that about our children is a sacred task of motherhood; to back off from an ownership mentality and realize what that God intended for Mary and Elizabeth as mothers, he intended for us all, in a way: to give them to the world with love and

  9. mikeandbetsyAugust 18, 2010 at 7:06 pm

    Woops, I didn’t edit my comment completely. I meant to leave off that last paragraph; that’s why the last sentence was not finished. It’s great to comment on this web site; as you start to write, your thoughts about the topic evolve, and in my case today, pared down and got simpler. Sorry for not erasing the part I started out writing about and decided not to go into. Yet it is true about motherhood. I still don’t know what the last word would be. It’s hard to find a word that would emulate Mary and Elizabeth as mothers.

  10. brebis galeuseAugust 18, 2010 at 8:31 pm

    My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
    my spirit rejoices in God my savior.
    He blessed me with two sons to love and cherish,
    and he gave me strength to cope with the loss of each of them.
    He has taught me to be grateful for my blessings and not to dwell on my losses.
    Through chronic illness, he has given me compassion and graces.
    He offered me his gift of faith in the face of a dysfunctional family,
    and he rejoiced when I accepted that gift.
    He has been merciful through my failures and joyful through my successes.
    Holy is his name.

  11. BobbieAugust 20, 2010 at 12:24 am

    When I was a child I thought that Mary making haste to Elizabeth’s house meant that she just took off after saying farewell to her parents. And then, when I was on pilgrimage in Israel, I realized that would have been a very difficult, treacherous journey for a young, pregnant teenager alone. It is desert country and would have been a place for outlaws to hide and take advantage of the unaware. There’s the scorching heat during the day and bitter cold at night. Wind and blasts of sand can be blinding and the lack of water dangerous.
    If I understand the culture of first century Palestine, for safety’s sake and because she was a woman, Mary would have travelled with a group of people. Perhaps she had some quiet time, but then again, perhaps her fellow journeyers included some very chatty women. How does one hold such a secret as Mary carried in her womb? And yet, it wouldn’t be the stuff of conversation with acquaintances. Her good news had to be treasured.
    As much as I think about how wonderful it is to have contemplative time to really enjoy what is happening in my soul, life is all around me as it must have been for Mary—setting up camp, preparing food, sitting around a fire, wondering are we there yet?
    So what was Mary thinking about as she moved not only toward Ein Karem, but also deeper into the stillness of who she was and what was happening to her? She was probably praying for a safe journey. Perhaps she was asking God why she was chosen, what made her the one to be mother to the Messiah. As she walked on, I do believe the poor and the burdened, the weak and the innocent were all around her, and as Kathy mentioned, the “signs of Rome’s peace.” What an awful sight! Perhaps her thoughts and longings went to how their lives could be transformed. Jesus was named “Savior.” Was her prayer like any other mother’s just saying his name that she heard the angel whisper to her? Would Jesus be able to overcome all this pain that was part of the people and situations she met along the way?
    They still show up in newspapers and on the internet every day. How does one hold in contradiction the peace that God offers when war abounds? How does one embrace forgiveness in one hand and sentence an inmate to death? In the 21st century how does a woman in the Middle East get sentenced to 99 lashes for talking with a man or 200 lashes for being raped? How do we forget the story of the Annunciation, Visitation and Nativity?
    Someplace during the journey Mary recognized hope, possibility and God’s Divine Imagination at work. When she met Elizabeth, it could not be contained and poured out of her in praise. The journey of about fifty miles and maybe two weeks brought her to such an awareness of God in the now, that there could only be the power of God at work. Both women knew God’s presence. John leapt in his mother’s womb. I have to wonder if we wouldn’t dance a lot more if we were more aware of God-with-us, Emmanuel. But perhaps before we are surprised enough to take a leap, we have to set off on a journey, one that moves us from a relatively safe place, into the desert with strangers, where it’s dangerous to our ideas, our thought patterns, our very lives. Then we can cross over into the kind of expectation that Mary had and the truth that she discovered.

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Nineteenth Sunday – Ordinary Time Cycle C

7 August 2010
Comments (9)

Reflecting on Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19

Imagine this: Abraham and Sarah had no idea where they were going when God sent them out to a land they’d never seen.  In a dangerous world they set out to travel hundreds of miles in order to take possession of a land about which they’d never heard.

Abraham went out, not knowing where he was supposed to go

Why?  Because they were convinced that God had instructed them to do that.  After they completed that huge marathon of trust it must have become easier to believe all the other promises God had given them, even though it was impossible to imagine how any of them could ever be fulfilled.

Faith is like a muscle.  You have to work at it to make it strong enough to lift you up.  The author of the letter to the Hebrews was flexing the muscles of the early Christian believers by reminding them that the same God who was faithful to Abraham and Sarah will be faithful to them too.

My great friend Sr. Macrina Scott, O.S.F. reminds me that, in times of anxiety or fear, I should just remember that the same God who was faithful in the past will of course be faithful in the future.  That’s easy to recall during these long, luscious summer days of peaches and corn on the cob.  When the November winds blow a few months from now we’ll need to remember, once again, that faith is the evidence of things not seen.

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In what ways does remembering God’s faithfulness give you strength?

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9 Comments to “Nineteenth Sunday – Ordinary Time Cycle C”

  1. brebis galeuseAugust 7, 2010 at 3:15 pm

    Every time I think that our culture is doomed to the self-absorption and “anything goes” attitude of what seems to be the majority these days, I remember that Christ said that he would be with us to the end of time. The morality of our Church will not be overcome by any of those who wish to destroy a decent society by allowing all kinds of immoral behavior and self-absorbed attitudes. God is faithful and will not leave us to destroy ourselves. I am sometimes discouraged by Catholics who don’t seem to understand church teaching, but then I realize that God will save us even if there are only ten innocent people left. (Genesis 18:32) I trust God’s faithfulness to His Church.

  2. beckyAugust 7, 2010 at 4:22 pm

    The only things I have of any true value are #1 my faith and #2 my word. These are really all any of us have any true control over, “now there is a sobering thought.” I use to wonder how we are made in God’s image? And a thought came to me one day that God never lies, and never makes any promises He won’t keep. Then I looked at my own conduct and thought this is the great difference, I’ve promised so many things and I may even intend to keep what I have promised, but I many times I may forget or I am unabled to keep the promises I make. Then in a time when I was greatly depressed another thought came to me, God is always there and always true, people may let us down but He never does. My faith may be only the size of a mustard seed, but these things show me His great desire to have me in heaven, He knows all the things of our hearts and loves us anyway. Jesus tells us to be vigilant to the Masters coming, but I tend to forget, He is coming or I am going, either way we will meet face to face, and I really don’t want my face to be too red when we do.

  3. CrisAugust 9, 2010 at 11:49 am

    Abraham too this trip “blind” in faith yet interiorly assured. Guia and I took this trip in 1972 when we fled the martial law of Dictator Marcos and got uprooted from families, friends, food, language, culture, etc… – Cris

  4. Jen RadosevichAugust 9, 2010 at 7:01 pm

    What struck me most about the readings this weekend was this line from Hebrews, “he thought that the one who had made the promise was
    trustworthy.” It seems to echo so many discussions I’ve had about the root of sin and the root of the reasons I worry. The question I have to remind myself of is, “Do I believe that God is trustworthy?” If I do (and I SAY I do), then why do I often doubt him?

    Eve doubted God’s trustworthiness too. She though she new better, thought that by withholding the fruit that God was withholding goodness. So she “grabbed” instead of opening her hands to “receive.”

    It is hard, especially in the modern world, to trust that we will receive the good things God has for us. Every earthly relationship we have has had some breach of trust, so it makes sense that trusting is hard to do. How foolish am I, though, that I would trust my own judgement more than God’s! Thank good ness for second, third, and . . . seventy times seven chances!

  5. sandyeroybalAugust 10, 2010 at 2:44 am

    Oh you of little faith. So why do I doubt my Lord? I became a widow many years ago when my husband was killed in a car accident. We had three small sons. We had just moved to relatives for a short time. I had to find a job and a place to live. I found a job in the schools only 3 blocks from our home. Now the amazing thing is I found a three bedroom home for rent. My sons and I moved in. Our landlord was a wonderful man, because he never raised my rent in 10 years. I payed the same amount for 10 years, WOW!! Kathy your question is wonderful., I needed to remember how faithful our Lord can be. Do I believe our God is trustworthy? I say I do!

  6. ChrisAugust 10, 2010 at 3:10 am

    Hebrews 11 is simply one of my most favorite readings in the entire Bible.

    “Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen. Because of it the ancients were well attested. By faith we understand that the universe was ordered by the word of God, so that what is visible came into being through the invisible.” Heb 11, 1-3

    The rest of Ch 11 is there to provide examples that support this point. How important this MUST be for the author to spend so much time support 3 sentences. OUR faith is a gift from God that we have hoped for and OUR faithful obedience is the evidance of our Christianity.

  7. ClaudiaAugust 12, 2010 at 12:49 am

    Cris and Sandy, thank you for sharing your stories of courage and strength. To have endured such great losses…yet to speak with such love and faith; you truly lead by example!!

    Blessings.

  8. ErinAugust 12, 2010 at 2:28 pm

    What strikes me here is that faith is a muscle that you have to exercise.
    Most of the time it’s easy for me to bring to mind all the things that God has done for me. I regret to say this, but sometimes I approach God with an attitude of: What have you done lately? This happens especially at those times when it seems that everyone I know is struck by some tragedy and bad news is everywhere.
    One afternoon, years ago, when I was feeling that God was distant, I went to a nearby church to pray. After complaining a bit, I decided that it would be polite to mention what I was grateful for. I thought there would only be a couple of things (I was not in a good mood, I’m sorry to say.) Very quickly, I found myself naming a very long list of all the things that God had done for me, and done for me lately.
    Sometimes I just have to remind myself to remember to do that.

  9. BobbieAugust 13, 2010 at 9:40 pm

    Before I learned that there really is no answer to the question “why,” I found myself asking it through a lot of life’s situations. Not only WHY is this happening to me, but also WHY is this happening TO ME? When the light bulb finally went on, the question became “how?” How do I live through this life experience? How do I grow despite the fact that I feel like I’m at a standstill? How do I live after losing someone I love? How do I gracefully move into another career? How do I continue to trust the God whom I’ve know since I was a child, especially when the God of my childhood seems so different to the adult that I am?
    Perhaps this is where I find a piece of an answer to the question about remembering God’s faithfulness giving me strength. Yes, because God was there when my father died, I knew that God would be there when I faced the grief of my mother’s death. Because God was present in sudden bouts of illness, I knew God’s healing presence when I moved through breast cancer. God was always making memory present, alive and active. Even more, God was saying, “Discover who I am in this situation. Know me as I reveal myself to you in these circumstances.”
    God’s faithfulness to me lets me know who God has been. The gift allows me to experience God in a new ways beyond what I dream is possible. It gives me strength because I stop putting God “into a box” where I limit what God can do. Instead, I wait upon the wild imagination of a God who takes me to new places of faith, just like Abraham and Sarah, who left their homeland and traveled to a place unknown. Throughout Scripture, God has been faithful, even when the chosen ones have turned away. The God I know cannot be unfaithful. Believing in this God is about being in relationship, and because of our friendship, I stand in a place of strength.

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Eighteenth Sunday – Ordinary Time Cycle C

31 July 2010
Comments (13)

Reflecting on Ecclesiastes 1:2, 2:21-23

Of all the Old Testament writers, I think I feel sorriest for the guy who wrote the Book of Ecclesiastes.  He has a symbolic name―Qoheleth, “ Preacher”―because his actual name and position in the 3rd century B.C. community is unknown.  He’s lived a long life, tried on every one of the theologies available to him from the Scriptures, and has come to this conclusion: life’s a drag, and then you die.

Poor Qoheleth

My heart breaks for Qoheleth because if he had only been born just 250 years later he might have known Jesus.  I’ll bet he would have been a disciple, or maybe even one of the Twelve.  He was a seeker, a true lover of the Word in his youth, but as he aged he experienced that most radical challenge to Hebrew theology:  bad things happen to really good people.  And because he never knew Jesus he didn’t have any place to put that in his head.  He had no understanding of an afterlife, no theology of meaning in suffering.  Hence his conclusion: Vanity of vanities, life is just a chase against the wind.

The foolish landowner in today’s Gospel thinks to himself: I can’t take it with me, so I might as well eat, drink and be merry. But Jesus says we do take it with us ―every bin of grain that is opened up and poured out for those who are poor goes with us when we go to God.  And, by the way, we have no idea when that day may come.

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What is the hardest part of your wealth for you to share?


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I have come to light a fire on the earth; how I wish it were already burning (Lk.12:49).

13 Comments to “Eighteenth Sunday – Ordinary Time Cycle C”

  1. ClaudiaJuly 31, 2010 at 4:45 pm

    What a great question! I have no financial wealth. This is painful to me because there is such a huge need for so many and my resources are very limited. I have two family members living with me; and, a baby on the way! A bit more financial stability for them would be great; but, we work with what we have. Knowing that material wealth has never been my advantage…or disadvantage; I believe that the wealth I have accumulated over time is myself. In reality, it is all that I truly have. No matter where I go; I am always with me! Other than the clothes on my person; each day that I leave my home, and all that I own, I am all that I have. What part of “me” is hard to share is trust. I can be trusted and I know that this is one of my “assets”. It is trusting others…turning myself over to trust. We are all teachers in our lifetime…through example, through interaction, through observation, through intimacy. Sometimes our “teachers” are unkind, selfish, manipulating.
    Maybe through happenstance, or poor judgment; I have had too many UNtrustworthy people in my life. I want to choose, in a more discerning manner, to open this part of my life;
    share in the “wealth” of two-way trust.

    Blessings to everyone…be safe this coming week. Thank you, Kathy!

  2. becky wolfeJuly 31, 2010 at 11:32 pm

    As I have said before I was very active in a Denver parish many years ago, The priest who was a good friend gave me a small job there on Saturdays. He and the other staff members knew the stuggles I and my family had. I won’t drop names, but there was a certain person who would send me money about once a month, I think that I was supposed to buy a coat with it, but usually the shortage of food came about the same time this secret helper’s money arrived. I always opt to buy food, my mom was ill and on medications and food was important to help the meds work. I’m sure this secret helper wondered why won’t this girl buy herself a coat? Please don’t get me wrong I’m not that saintly, not at all. But I try to weigh out the most important issue at hand and deal with it and then go to the next. I just don’t think I could ever be happy thinking of myself when there are so many greater needs in this world. I’ve been told “you can’t save the world,” that is true enough, but God gave a small corner of it to be aware of and as a Christian when my eye are opened to a need at hand I feel there is where He wants to work through me. I don’t want to save the world that’s for Jesus, I just want to pick up whatever cross is mine and may be carry someone elses for a short distance. So to all those secret helper in my live that carried my cross for a few feet I may not of said thank you enough but I want you to know that you did warm me with your care and support.

  3. defensorAugust 2, 2010 at 12:44 am

    I was in San Francisco two weeks ago, we went with another couple, as we were walking down fishersman wharf, there was an older man asking for money, so I took 10.00 dollars and gave it to him. the couple that we’re with us, ask me why did you give him some money? he is just going to buy liquor, my response was, it didn’t matter what he bought with it.I thought to myself, it takes somebody asking for money some humility. and besides, I don’t need anything, the good Lord has given me everything I have including the 10.00 dollars I gave to beggar.

  4. CrisAugust 2, 2010 at 4:58 pm

    Last Friday, we spent about 7 hours at the homeless shelter cleaning the chicken, cooking, serving, etc. After we’re done and were about to leave, we saw in the parking lot this awesome Tesla sports car, a totally electric car that goes 200 miles to one charge. When the owner came out, we were surprised to see it was one of the volunteers. None of us imagined the “Vanity of vanities” condemnation applying to her because this young woman has been one of the most reliable servants of this outreach ministry.
    I thought to myself: perhaps the Qoheleth warning applies to the infection caused by material goods on people’s relationship and not on the goods themselves? – – Cris

  5. adminkAugust 2, 2010 at 9:07 pm

    Hi everyone,

    What beautiful, insightful and RICH input from all of you on this tricky question of wealth, what to do with it when you’ve got it, when you don’t have it, and when it is given to you from someone else’s overflowing bin. The diversity and wisdom of this circle is just exactly what I had hoped for when dreaming of this site.

    I asked Michael to post a reflection that he gave at his family reunion on Sunday. It’s longer than the usual postings, but, like all of your writings, so, so beautiful.

    Peace and richest blessings,

    Kathy

  6. ChrisAugust 3, 2010 at 3:31 am

    I enjoyed your reflection and Qoheleth may well have had _more_ to say had he known Jesus. But, we should not forget either that Qoheleth was right! That most of our toil and anxiety of heart is vanity. We get too wrapped up in our daily lives of worldly concerns. Jesus taught us not to worry. But it’s not easy. He is my only hope of staying the on the path.

    Chris

  7. ErinAugust 3, 2010 at 4:19 pm

    It is so inspiring to read these comments!
    I don’t think of myself as a person who spends money on frivolous things, or lots of money on anything. But whenever I’ve moved and have been forced to look at the amount of accumulated stuff, it’s amazing to see the things I thought were important or essential. It’s a humbling experience.
    Thinking about Kathy’s question, it occurred to me that the wealth I don’t think about is the time, the number of days, of minutes, given to me. I’m not sure how wisely I spend that either.
    Kathy, thank you for this wonderful site.

  8. DonnaAugust 3, 2010 at 4:34 pm

    What a great question, it made me think about many things!
    Thank you all for your insights, I was so touched!
    My material possessions are not many. My wealth is my faith and my family.
    How do I share my faith? This was hard for me because I am not a great speaker or a teacher by profession. I have been blessed by having had wonderful teachers!
    Sometimes I find myself speaking from my heart and life experiences and the Holy Spirit blesses me and I forget about everything else.
    Sometimes God uses us when we least expect it, in ways we could have never imagined.
    God Bless you all!

  9. MichaelCarlosAugust 3, 2010 at 11:21 pm

    At Kathy’s request, I’m sharing the post-Communion reflection I wrote for my family’s reunion this weekend. I have been inspired by the example of the community of contributors on this site who write so beautifully of your own experiences connecting the Story to your daily lives.

    ********************

    It’s no accident that today’s readings are concerned with the question of inheritance, prosperity, and even a little sibling controversy.

    I love how in Luke’s gospel, Jesus often answers direct questions by telling a story. But the parables are tricky, mostly because they’re so familiar to us. The whole point of a parable is that our expectations should be overthrown when we get to the end of the story. Parables are supposed to challenge our assumptions and make us think in a different way, opening our hearts to new understanding.

    Today’s parable is framed in a question about a disputed inheritance. We don’t know any of the background about this brother’s claim, and we aren’t told the outcome. Instead, we hear a story about a man who gets an unexpected windfall and makes some pretty reasonable plans to store it for his future enjoyment. The surprise, of course is that he doesn’t HAVE a future. And in that unexpected ending, Jesus directs our attention to the definition of true treasure: “rich in what matters to God.”

    We gather today from across the city and across the country because two people came together more than a hundred years ago, two people truly rich in what matters to God: love, generosity, faithfulness, hospitality, patience, and forgiveness. Mama and Daddy Lopez created a home where those virtues lived. So our story began not with an ambitious plan for wealth and prosperity, but with a promise to be faithful to each other and to welcome children joyfully as blessings from God. It began with a hope for OUR future. WE are their legacy; we are the rich harvest they hoped and worked for.

    I doubt they could have imagined that from their little green house in the Valley would grow this thriving dynasty, but I hope they would be proud of us, and I am certain they are happy to see us together today.   

    Being a family is not always easy. Patience and forgiveness are not easy. But the gifts are real. The bonds that join us are deep and lasting. 

    So we take time this weekend to remember, to re-tell the stories that anchor us to our past and to each other. To cry a little in remembrance of all the precious ones we have lost through the years, but to laugh a LOT as only we can do. To create new stories together and to share in the hope for all our future generations. 

    To be rich in what matters to God. To be a family.

  10. brebis galeuseAugust 4, 2010 at 3:28 pm

    Thanks, Michael Carlos, for your reflection. Parts of it gave me goose bumps. I think it’s important, especially for those of us who come from dysfunctional families, to remember that we are all members of God’s family. It is impossible to change our past, but we are responsible for making the future better. Those from whom we come may not have faith, but faith is a grace from God offered to everyone. I am grateful that God touched my life early on and invited me to His family. I don’t know how I would have faced the challenges of my life without His grace.

  11. beckyAugust 4, 2010 at 4:03 pm

    How very BLESSED we have been this week with everyone’s sharing. All week I have found something that just brings me back to this site and read the different ways we are touched by what (or may be the Way) that Jesus speaks to us in this reading. Thank You Everyone for blessing me.

  12. BobbieAugust 9, 2010 at 8:52 pm

    It’s taken me a week to think about this question. Just what part of my wealth am I willing to share, to give up? I slowly make my way around the house and box up things for charity. I haven’t used this glass fruit bowl in years. I don’t need this set of sheets that doesn’t really fit the bed right. I could give away this plant hanger that I bought a long time ago and is still in its original package. Why did I buy it in the first place?
    I stare at all the books I’ve purchased. I’m not yet ready to part with them though I haven’t dusted them in a while. Then there are the pieces of tissue paper that I think I will use to wrap up some of the fragile things I’m going to give to charity. I look at the bag and think what clutter, but if I toss them I will need them. What a dilemma! Of course, this time of year, there are always such great sales on those big plastic storage bins. Throughout the years, every time I’ve bought one to transfer “my treasures” from paper boxes into plastic, I rationalize with how much cleaner the “stuff” will be, how plastic is less likely to be invaded by a mouse family or even how it will reduce the possibility of fire. And then the gospel asks me if I really need the bin because tomorrow…. Why is it that I just don’t part with the “stuff?”
    And then there’s the fact that I’m currently unemployed and because of previously working at a church, cannot collect unemployment. Whoever thought of that rule? So, I pinch pennies. A high school football player comes to my door and asks, “Will you support our team by purchasing a discount card?” How do I say no? What will I have to give up by saying yes? And yet, generosity needs to win sometimes, like the widow and her two pennies. Meanwhile, some very gracious individuals connect with me and invite me to lunch. I let them be generous and give up my pride. I recognize I have a wealth of pride that could certainly be “sacrificed.” Working on my resume and tweaking it over and over, I find that I have a wealth of knowledge, skills and abilities. So in the midst of looking for a paid job, I share my wealth by volunteering at a hospital. If time is money, then I am putting my wealth out into the universe.
    And then there is the richness that comes to each of us because we pray. I have more time to pray, even though it sometimes feels like mumbling and grumbling about my unemployment. But God continues to ask me to let go of what I hold so tightly to myself even in this. Momentarily, I let go of my anxiety, worry and fear and soak in the realization that God will continue to provide. So, if you are reading this, then know that I have prayed for you within the richness of God. This is the promise of connection and the abundance of God.

  13. ClaudiaAugust 12, 2010 at 1:04 am

    I am so behind with my reading. Bobbie and Michael…WOW!!!
    “You make my heart soar like a hawk”!!!

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