MANY LIES,
MANY MEMORIES
"Vanity plays lurid tricks with our memory."
Joseph Conrad [1857-1924], Lord Jim [1900], chapter 41
Thursday, October 14, 2010
HAVE TO OR WANT TO?
INTRODUCTION
The title of my homily for this 28th Monday in Ordinary time is, “Have To or Want To?”
There are two types of people, “Those who have to and those who want to.”
There are two types of people who come to Mass: “Those who have to and those who want to.”
There are two types of people at meetings, “Those who are there because they have to be there and those who want to be there.”
Sometimes we join an organization – or we volunteer for something – and then ugh! It’s horrible. We’re stuck. Some people know how to bow out gracefully and sometimes some people just silently disappear. Then there are those who remain in the group and they hate every minute of it.
When I got to our major seminary, someone came up to me the first day and asked me if I wanted to help with the horses. I was new and ready for everything and just finished a year in our novitiate, so I said, “Yes!” The result was I shoveled horse manure one week a month – early morning going down to our barn and feeding Alan, Rusty and Lady – every evening going down and cleaning them, feeding them and shoveling out their mess. I stayed with it for 6 years – going there 14 times a month – not freely – but out of obligation.
As priest I have discovered that lots of people stay married to someone who is much different than expected – and do it out of duty – because of their word or their commitment – or their children – or out of not wanting to be labeled, “Divorced,” “A bad person,” or “Someone with bad judgment.”
TODAY’S READINGS
Paul – when he was Saul – pursued and tried to destroy Christians out of duty – out of righteousness – out of compulsion. He practiced his religion with a vengeance – keeping the law – and every iddy bit of the law.
So in today’s first reading we hear Saul – now Paul – freely giving us his advice – from what he learned in life. Today’s first reading ends with these words, “For freedom Christ set us free; so stand firmand do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.”
In today’s first reading Paul says we have a choice to be children of Hagar or children of Sarah – children of the “Slave Woman” Hagar or children of the “Free Woman” -Sarah.
I love it that Sarah laughed.
I have discovered that those who are free can laugh.
Looking at your life: are you doing what you’re doing freely or out of duty and slavery. Do you find yourself often laughing freely – or are you a stiff? A complainer? A whiner? Unable to laugh?
FATHER FLYNN
Yesterday I was on duty. I had baptisms – a few other things – and mass here at 5 for the high school kids. I was hoping big time that the duty phone would not ring – that there would not be a call to the hospital. I especially needed time to work on a different homily for the evening mass – different from my morning homily.
Surprise – Father Pat Flynn comes up to me and says, “Let me have the duty phone. I want to go up to the hospital, because we’re going to be up at that meeting in New Jersey all this week – and I want to make sure any new patients see a priest.
He was being a child of Sarah; I was being a child of Hagar.
TODAY’S GOSPEL
In today’s gospel we have reference to Jonah. If there ever was someone who felt stuck – asked to do something – that he felt was a duty, an obligation, it was Jonah. He got on a ship and headed the other way from Nineveh.
And as the parable of Jonah unfolds in the scriptures God delivers him by force to Nineveh and surprise, surprise, everyone repented after he preached.
I hope he laughed and laughed and laughed and learned to preach and do life out of joy and laughter – than out of duty and “ugg I hate doing this”! Amen.
CONCLUSION
All of us are away this week at a big meeting. I’m going out of mixed feelings – out of some have to feelings and out of some want to feelings. I’m going to meet some good friends and catch up with them – what’s happening in their lives – and I assume there will be some sessions I’ll be at out of duty.
I laugh realizing that. Welcome to life 101.
Monday, October 11, 2010
REJECT
INTRODUCTION
The title of my homily for this 28 Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C, is, “Reject”.
Does everyone have in their desk drawer or on their desk one of those ink pads and one of those so called, “rubber stamps” that has on it the word, “REJECT”.
The title of my homily for this 28 Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C, is, “Reject”.
Does everyone have in their desk drawer or on their desk one of those ink pads and one of those so called, “rubber stamps” that has on it the word, “REJECT”.
My brother used to work for the Post Office and he had to purchase various rubber stamps for post offices. I remember him saying there were two kinds: good ones and junky ones. Some last and some don’t. Buy the good ones; reject the bad ones.
Well, my question this evening is, “Does everyone have an imaginary, ‘REJECT’ rubber stamp – up here in the top drawer of their brain and we take it out from time to time to stamp that message on some people – especially people we don’t like or consider strange?”
“REJECT”.
We all have people we reject – people we don’t like, don’t know, can’t stand, don’t understand, don’t know. They are different. They bother us.
“REJECT”.
And we also all have had the experience of being rejected.
We don’t make the team. A friend drops us. A boyfriend or a girlfriend rejects us. Our parents get divorced and we have to move and go to another school and we enter that school and feel no group or clique or anyone will accept us into their group.
“REJECT”.
And sometimes when we feel rejected by others, we figure something’s wrong with us – or if we do something dumb or wrong, we stamp ourselves with our “Reject” rubber stamp – right on our forehead.
Well, my question this evening is, “Does everyone have an imaginary, ‘REJECT’ rubber stamp – up here in the top drawer of their brain and we take it out from time to time to stamp that message on some people – especially people we don’t like or consider strange?”
“REJECT”.
We all have people we reject – people we don’t like, don’t know, can’t stand, don’t understand, don’t know. They are different. They bother us.
“REJECT”.
And we also all have had the experience of being rejected.
We don’t make the team. A friend drops us. A boyfriend or a girlfriend rejects us. Our parents get divorced and we have to move and go to another school and we enter that school and feel no group or clique or anyone will accept us into their group.
“REJECT”.
And sometimes when we feel rejected by others, we figure something’s wrong with us – or if we do something dumb or wrong, we stamp ourselves with our “Reject” rubber stamp – right on our forehead.
Nasty tatoo!
So we do this to others. Sometimes others do it to us. Sometimes we do this to ourselves.
“REJECT”.
TODAY’S READINGS
In two of today’s readings we have people who have to deal with rejection because of leprosy. In Jesus’ time and in Old Testament times, “LEPROSY” was the reject label for any bad skin disease. “Oooooh!”
In the first reading from 2 Kings it’s an army commander to the king of Aram who gets a spot of leprosy. His name is Naaman. He picked up something – a nasty skin disease and he’s now about to become a reject.
In 2 Kings we find out that in a raid on Israel a young girl was captured and made a servant to Naaman’s wife. When she sees Naaman suffering she tells Naaman’s wife that there is a prophet down in Samaria who could heal your husband. The wife goes to Naaman and tells him the story. He goes to the king and tells him the story and the king says I’ll send a letter to the King of Israel that he cure you of your leprosy.
The king of Israel upon reading the letter and an offer of all kinds of silver and gold coins and ten festive garments if Naaman is cured, says, “What am I a god. I can’t cure him of his leprosy. What is this a set up for a fight?”
Elisha the prophet whom the young girl had in mind hears about this and sends a message to the king of Israel to send Naaman to him. Naaman gets in his chariot and heads for Elisha the prophet’s house.
Elisha stays inside his house and sends a message out to Naaman that he go bathe in the waters of the Jordan 7 times and he’ll be cured.
Naaman rejects the plan. He says, “Here I am thinking he’ll come out and heal me – but no, he tells he to go bathe in the Jordan River 7 times. Why doesn’t he just wave his hand over the spot on my skin and call upon Yahweh, his God – and I’m cured. Surely the rivers up in Syria are much better than this tiny stream in Israel – the Jordan - called a river. And so he rejects the offer.
Naaman’s servants go to him and say, “If he told you to do something more difficult, you would do it, but you won’t do something that is very easy. Do it. Go for it!”
And he goes to the Jordan and bathes in the waters 7 times and he is healed – and his flesh becomes brand new – as we heard in today’s first reading.
Interesting story. I’m intrigued by the letter writing back and forth way of communicating. Very interesting.
I also began thinking about the end of the first reading when we hear that Naaman wants to take two mule-loads of earth from Israel back home to Syria. Fascinating. Commentators think that he’s saying, “I can’t stay here to worship and give thanks, so the next best thing is to bring a part of Israel back home with me, so I can worship and give thanks to God on a ‘temporary Israel.’”
I found that very real. People who have a great vacation in some spot want to bring home a T-Shirt or a shell or lots of pictures of the great place, so they can return to it over and over again – to be connected with the sacred spot. We hope people come to Mass and leave with two mule-loads of good stuff to bring home and bring to others in the new week.
In the gospel it’s 10 people with leprosy and they all beg Jesus to be healed – and Jesus tells them to go show themselves to the priests at the temple and on the way they are healed. Only one comes back to say “Thank you!”
The obvious lesson is: Don’t forget to say, “Thank you!”
OTHER LESSONS TO BE LEARNED
What other lessons can we learn from all this?
1) Gratitude for research. We need to feel gratitude for the medical research which keeps on coming up with better and better methods of healing. As you look to your future, if you have a bent for research, think getting into the healing professions or the research jobs.
2) If you feel rejected cry out for help. Don’t go it alone. Notice in the first reading Naaman goes to the king and asks if he can go to the prophet in Israel. In today’s gospel the ten people with leprosy have banded together and they all cry out for help together, “Jesus Master! Have pity on us.”
Every day around the world in thousands and thousands of church basements and buildings and in various other different places, folks who have a drinking and/or drug problem, band together for meetings to be healed. I know 3 people right now who are going to 90 meetings in 90 days. They want to be cured – healed.
If you know kids or adults who are on drugs or who are drinking you know how they are avoided – rejected – how others would wish they would disappear. They skink. They do nothing. They are a waste. They are an embarrassment. Help!
That’s # 2: ask for help.
3) Be Jesus in the year 2010. Jesus walked around and did good. Rejects came to him for help. Well, be Jesus in your school, in your home, where you work. Open up your eyes – and see the kid who is eating alone – feels alone – who is made fun of – who is rejected. And if you reach out to them, healing can happen. Others might crucify you and make fun of you for being nice to a loser – a reject – but that’s the Jesus calling to all of us. Picture someone meeting you at graduation or at a class reunion - or by accident 25 years from now and they say to you, "You were the one person who didn't reject me when I was a new kid in school. Thank you!"
4) Don’t stamp people with the rubber stamp – “REJECT” on it. People do it all the time – picking on people who are different, people who are gay, people who dress differently, people who think differently, people with acne, halitosis (bad breath), bad perfume, bad smells, etc.
CONCLUSION
Take that “REJECT” rubber stamp and stomp on it. Get a hammer and smash it. Then go to Office Depot or Staples or to a store that sells quality rubber stamps and get one made that says, “Accept” or "Accepted."
Help people feel at home with you, your groups, your situations. Help people feel at home with themselves. Help people feel at home on this planet.
Stamp on them the word, “Accepted!” or "Accept" or "Acceptable".
So we do this to others. Sometimes others do it to us. Sometimes we do this to ourselves.
“REJECT”.
TODAY’S READINGS
In two of today’s readings we have people who have to deal with rejection because of leprosy. In Jesus’ time and in Old Testament times, “LEPROSY” was the reject label for any bad skin disease. “Oooooh!”
In the first reading from 2 Kings it’s an army commander to the king of Aram who gets a spot of leprosy. His name is Naaman. He picked up something – a nasty skin disease and he’s now about to become a reject.
In 2 Kings we find out that in a raid on Israel a young girl was captured and made a servant to Naaman’s wife. When she sees Naaman suffering she tells Naaman’s wife that there is a prophet down in Samaria who could heal your husband. The wife goes to Naaman and tells him the story. He goes to the king and tells him the story and the king says I’ll send a letter to the King of Israel that he cure you of your leprosy.
The king of Israel upon reading the letter and an offer of all kinds of silver and gold coins and ten festive garments if Naaman is cured, says, “What am I a god. I can’t cure him of his leprosy. What is this a set up for a fight?”
Elisha the prophet whom the young girl had in mind hears about this and sends a message to the king of Israel to send Naaman to him. Naaman gets in his chariot and heads for Elisha the prophet’s house.
Elisha stays inside his house and sends a message out to Naaman that he go bathe in the waters of the Jordan 7 times and he’ll be cured.
Naaman rejects the plan. He says, “Here I am thinking he’ll come out and heal me – but no, he tells he to go bathe in the Jordan River 7 times. Why doesn’t he just wave his hand over the spot on my skin and call upon Yahweh, his God – and I’m cured. Surely the rivers up in Syria are much better than this tiny stream in Israel – the Jordan - called a river. And so he rejects the offer.
Naaman’s servants go to him and say, “If he told you to do something more difficult, you would do it, but you won’t do something that is very easy. Do it. Go for it!”
And he goes to the Jordan and bathes in the waters 7 times and he is healed – and his flesh becomes brand new – as we heard in today’s first reading.
Interesting story. I’m intrigued by the letter writing back and forth way of communicating. Very interesting.
I also began thinking about the end of the first reading when we hear that Naaman wants to take two mule-loads of earth from Israel back home to Syria. Fascinating. Commentators think that he’s saying, “I can’t stay here to worship and give thanks, so the next best thing is to bring a part of Israel back home with me, so I can worship and give thanks to God on a ‘temporary Israel.’”
I found that very real. People who have a great vacation in some spot want to bring home a T-Shirt or a shell or lots of pictures of the great place, so they can return to it over and over again – to be connected with the sacred spot. We hope people come to Mass and leave with two mule-loads of good stuff to bring home and bring to others in the new week.
In the gospel it’s 10 people with leprosy and they all beg Jesus to be healed – and Jesus tells them to go show themselves to the priests at the temple and on the way they are healed. Only one comes back to say “Thank you!”
The obvious lesson is: Don’t forget to say, “Thank you!”
OTHER LESSONS TO BE LEARNED
What other lessons can we learn from all this?
1) Gratitude for research. We need to feel gratitude for the medical research which keeps on coming up with better and better methods of healing. As you look to your future, if you have a bent for research, think getting into the healing professions or the research jobs.
2) If you feel rejected cry out for help. Don’t go it alone. Notice in the first reading Naaman goes to the king and asks if he can go to the prophet in Israel. In today’s gospel the ten people with leprosy have banded together and they all cry out for help together, “Jesus Master! Have pity on us.”
Every day around the world in thousands and thousands of church basements and buildings and in various other different places, folks who have a drinking and/or drug problem, band together for meetings to be healed. I know 3 people right now who are going to 90 meetings in 90 days. They want to be cured – healed.
If you know kids or adults who are on drugs or who are drinking you know how they are avoided – rejected – how others would wish they would disappear. They skink. They do nothing. They are a waste. They are an embarrassment. Help!
That’s # 2: ask for help.
3) Be Jesus in the year 2010. Jesus walked around and did good. Rejects came to him for help. Well, be Jesus in your school, in your home, where you work. Open up your eyes – and see the kid who is eating alone – feels alone – who is made fun of – who is rejected. And if you reach out to them, healing can happen. Others might crucify you and make fun of you for being nice to a loser – a reject – but that’s the Jesus calling to all of us. Picture someone meeting you at graduation or at a class reunion - or by accident 25 years from now and they say to you, "You were the one person who didn't reject me when I was a new kid in school. Thank you!"
4) Don’t stamp people with the rubber stamp – “REJECT” on it. People do it all the time – picking on people who are different, people who are gay, people who dress differently, people who think differently, people with acne, halitosis (bad breath), bad perfume, bad smells, etc.
CONCLUSION
Take that “REJECT” rubber stamp and stomp on it. Get a hammer and smash it. Then go to Office Depot or Staples or to a store that sells quality rubber stamps and get one made that says, “Accept” or "Accepted."
Help people feel at home with you, your groups, your situations. Help people feel at home with themselves. Help people feel at home on this planet.
Stamp on them the word, “Accepted!” or "Accept" or "Acceptable".
This homily was for the 5 PM Youth Mass - a tiny bit different from this morning's homily on being an "Outcast".
Sunday, October 10, 2010
OUTCAST
INTRODUCTION
The title of my homily for this 28 Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year C – is, “Outcast!”
In today’s first reading from 2nd Kings and today’s gospel from Luke, we heard about people with leprosy. When these stories took place – the first reading from around 850 years B.C. – and today’s Gospel, just after Jesus’ time, those with serious skin lesions or skin problems could be labeled as having “leprosy” and then by law they could be cast out of their family and local community.
In this homily I’d like to reflect upon being an outcast in our times. What’s it like today to experience being an outcast? I’m going to preach mainly on the reality of feeling like an outcast – more than leprosy itself – even though I noticed that someone said there are 30 million people in the world today who are affected by this disease.
For starters when these readings come up about people with leprosy, I like to point out that the United Nations and various other world organizations, have come out with resolutions and proclamations at various times that we do not use the word “leper”. Here it is in today’s gospel and I deliberately changed it – and have been doing this for about 25 years now – ever since I read these declarations.
For example, on August 2nd, 2010, the United Nations Human Rights Advisory Committee said that the word “leper” is discriminative – and can lead to discrimination against those affected by this disease.
On October 30, 1997, United States President Bill Clinton while in office sent a message for the Opening of the U.N. Quest for Dignity Exhibit saying, “An important step in our efforts to ensure that all individuals are treated equals is to permanently strike the hurtful word ‘leper’ from our vocabulary.”
Francisco A.V. Nunes of Bacurau, Brazil, who had this disease, writes, “To many of us worse than the very disease is the prejudice that comes along with it. Many of us stopped being called Francisco, Joe, Maria, and we started being called leprosy patients, ‘lepers’ and recently Hansenites ….” Hansen’s Disease comes from Dr. Hansen who isolated the cause of this disease. Francisco goes on, “I believe that our greatest challenge is to make sure that millions of people who have lost their identities will go back to being called by their own name.”
I think the word “leper” as a general term for an outcast has decreased. And I think all of us can become more sensitive to calling people by their name – instead of seeing people as numbers or “mental patients,” “nuts,” “cancer patients,” etc.
I think as Christians, hopefully, we all can be sensitive and caring to those who come into our presence – especially those who might have feelings of not being welcome. There are people who feel like outcasts – who feel rejected, ignored, dismissed or expelled.
As Christians hopefully we do our best to welcome those who feel unwelcome – who feel like a nameless nobody – or labeled by a sickness or disease.
EVANGELIZATION
Yesterday morning Steve Beard and I, as well as Father Fabio Marin and William Arias who do Latino ministry here at St. Mary’s went to a morning on Evangelization up in St. Gabriel’s Parish in Woodlawn. There were over 200 people present from many, many parishes, and a similar program took place at Frederick last week for the western part of the Archdiocese of Baltimore.
The big question was: Why?
Why are we doing what we are doing as Church – as Catholics – as Christians?
A question addressed that hit me was: “Do we reach out for the 2/3 of Catholics who don’t come to church or the 1/3 who do come to church?”
Do you feel welcome here at St. Mary’s?
I hope so.
I keep hearing that there are 15,000 registered people in this parish. Why do 10,000 in the parish not come to worship on the Sabbath? Why do the 5000 come?
When I read today’s gospel and today’s first reading in the light of the conference we attended yesterday, various thoughts and questions hit me.
Do some people who don’t come feel like outcasts? Do they feel like the Catholic Church, specifically St. Mary’s, or some priest or some experience caused them to feel rejected or hurt?
How do those who are divorced – or who have been in prison – or had an abortion – or are bankrupt – feel about coming into this church? What about those who are gay or lesbian?
Yesterday I heard the question about those who are handicapped – those in wheelchairs – those who are deaf – etc. etc. etc.?
This is the year of The Gospel of Luke and it seems that Luke has very warm and welcoming criteria for coming home and into our Church. The Prodigal Son is hugged and kissed and celebrated – even though he needed a shower big time – even though he messed up big time – even though he ruined the family name. Jesus eats with tax collectors and sinners.
When we were taught New Testament, we were told to read the gospels in light of not Jesus’ time, but Matthew, Mark, Luke and John’s communities many years later – the situations taking place in those communities.
That was an eye-opener – till I realized that’s what we are called to do every Sunday.
We come here to have Jesus feed us, challenge us, heal us, and be in communion with us. We come here to welcome and be welcomed by Jesus and each other.
OURSELVES – AS OPPOSED TO OTHERS
To be practical I would think the issue is to focus on the individual person in the pulpit and the individual person in the pew – a person with a name and a pronoun – namely me, myself and I – you, yourself and you.
How do I score on a scale of 1 to 10 as being a welcoming person – 10 being the highest?
I think by asking and answering that ourselves – as opposed to the whole parish – we would be challenged better.
If I asked, “On a scale of 1 to 10, do you see St. Mary’s as a welcoming parish?” I would assume that most would say, “It all depends.”
It all depends on whom we’re talking about?
But if we put the question directly to ourselves, then we might make this a better parish and world.
How do I treat, see, judge, consider, look at, those who are I think are lazy, overweight, old, young, sick, noisy, won’t move into the bench, won’t park right, don’t dress right?
How do I see, understand, know, those who are poor, those who are Moslem, those who look different than I look, those who are liberal, conservative, independent, unknown?
WWJD
A bunch of years back there were lots of folks wearing those WWJD bracelets or t-shirts. Some praised them; some po poed them.
If you like the idea or reject the idea, if you make fun of the idea or don’t get the idea of asking, “What Would Jesus Do?”, the challenge is still there every day to be Christ to our world.
Let’s narrow that challenge down. The challenge is that today or this week we might be the only person that another will meet Christ in or a Catholic Christian in. It’s me!
We can have the amazing healing power of Jesus by simply sitting with the stranger or the person who feels strange.
We can be the person who welcomes another and 1 out of 10 might come back and say, “Thank you!”
And then they feel part of the human family – and maybe then they will show themselves to their priest, rabbi, or minister or religious leader.
I know I have made it one of my goals in life to say hello to everyone – in elevators, planes, airports, on line, behind the counter, or what have you. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it’s a disaster moment – and I feel stupid. I think that’s the price one pays to be a follower of Christ.
CONCLUSION
The title of my homily is, “Outcast!”
In this homily I’m saying that today, this week, we might be the only Gospel, the only Good News, someone will hear.
Yesterday I heard that the goal is not to get people come to church – but to come to church and then leave church and make this a better world.
That’s why the Father sent the Son into the world.
That’s why Jesus said, “I’m calling you to go into this world and to love one another as I have loved you.”
This is tough – difficult – a challenge – a dying to self.
I’m not really sure how to end this homily, so let me close with the end of today’s second reading. Scholars think it’s part of an early Christian hymn.
If we have died with him
we shall also live with him.
If we persevere
we shall also reign with him.
But if we deny him
he will deny us.
If we remain faithful
he remains faithful,
for he cannot deny himself.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)