Feedback from a Stranger

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The following is a true story that took place at Holy Family in North Java.

A person from out of town wrote in his journal that he wanted to start taking chances with strangers. Jerry wrote that he came to attend the 10am Sunday Mass and felt the call to sing in the choir. He got off the kneeler in his pew and walked to the front of the church and said, “Do you need another person to sing?” He remembered that there was a ten second pause. Then someone in the choir said, “Yes.”

Jerry thought to himself what did he have to lose. Nothing. The choir could have said come next week and audition, or there is not much room up here and we are pretty crammed in on this side of the sanctuary. But “no” he honestly opened himself up to the group and they welcomed him like he had been a family member all his life. Jerry wrote: “What a great community!”

Then someone asked him: “Are you any good at singing?” He said, “I’m OK.” The choir member responded: “We are all OK too! Here stand in the back, it is better if you are not up front.”

Jerry recalled that the members of the choir helped him with the music, which books to use and the page location of the hymns. They even had “kleenex” and he admitted that he cried after the “Penance Service.” Someone gave him the prayers for the penance service. The blessing that took place for each person in the church was most healing for hm. No one missed a beat, he wrote. They (choir) were awesome! Signed Jerry Rzatkiewicz

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends who are searching for a faith community where they feel the warmth and love of Jesus. The secret to our growing parish is “warmth.” Our choir said “yes” to Jerry and let him know that he was welcomed and appreciated for his willingness to share his voice and sing the praises of the Lord.

          

A Letter of Reference from the Poor

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In my town, the local board had filed complaints against 50 properties that were in violation of some property codes. It could a barn that’s falling apart, or rusted trucks or cars on the property, or God forbid, the neighbor’s grass is 10 inches high and that’s a violation of the town code. I suggested to a member of the town board that a better solution would be to help these property owners find a grant to clean up these properties like I helped my neighbor get rid of her trash and broken-down garage. In reality, I was grateful to Dan who came with his backhoe and helped me load two 30-yard dumpsters to get rid of all her trash.

Have you ever done something simply on principle, because it was the right thing to do, knowing that you couldn’t explain it to anyone, without there even being a good feeling attached to your act?

Jesus would agree that he makes this both the central tenet of religion and the overriding criterion for salvation. We see this in the famous text in the gospels where Jesus tells us that whatsoever you do to the poor here on earth you do to him. For Jesus, to give something to a poor person is to give something to God, and to neglect a poor person is to neglect God.

They had been asking Jesus: What will be the test? What will be the ultimate criterion for judgment as to whether or not someone enters into the kingdom of heaven or not? His answer surprised them. The religious of his day expected that judgment would revolve around issues religious practice, correct observance, and moral codes. Instead they got this answer:
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.” (Matt 25:31)

And what, according to Jesus, will be the basis for the separation? Only this: did you feed the hungry? Give drink to the thirsty? Invite in the stranger? Clothe the naked? Visit the sick and imprisoned? Because when you do these things to the hungry, to the thirsty, to strangers, to the sick, and to the imprisoned, you do them to God, and vice versa.

 The Jewish prophets had taught us that serving the poor is a non-negotiable, integral part of religion, that nobody gets to heaven without a “letter of reference from the poor.” But Jesus adds:  God doesn’t just have a preferential option for the poor, God is within the poor.

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends who help their elderly neighbors  shopping, taking them for groceries or giving them a lift for a doctor appointment. Or, maybe the next time we are walking down the street and someone asks us for a handout, we simply buy them lunch. God is within the poor.

One more idea to practice this message. Our former rectory now houses a hospice for dying residents. It needs donations to continue to provide the best care to the dying and their families. Now would be a good time to secure your place in the kingdom and make a donation, or better yet, sponsor a fund-raiser in your community to support this hospice ministry.

To donate or volunteer contact: Tim Kibler, Director Charlotte House at
585-727-0942 or email timothy.kibler@charlottehouse.org
Make checks payable to: Charlotte House, PO Box 123, North Java, NY 14113.

The Miracle in North Java

Let me share a little miracle I witnessed today. No, it’s not the Buffalo Bills going 2 and 0 this week. Rather, a Catholic parish gathered for their annual outdoor picnic. I brought my collection of stuffed animals and discovered that one was missing.

I asked the kids to help me find “Spinach.” This hand puppet has been teaching about Jesus for over 40 years and sure enough a grownup finds him hiding in the pavilion rafters. Even though I have a very large collection, every one of them is very important to me and I would be very upset if one of them was lost.

That reminded me of a lesson that Jesus taught to a group of religious leaders one day. The religious leaders were very upset that Jesus was often seen associating with sinners. He was even sometimes seen eating with them. The religious leaders didn't like that at all and were very critical of Jesus. Jesus told them a story to help them to understand.

"Suppose one of you had a hundred sheep and you lost one of them," Jesus said. "Wouldn't you leave the ninety-nine who were safe, and go and search for the lost sheep? And when you found the lost sheep, wouldn't you joyfully put it on your shoulders and carry it back home? Wouldn't you be so happy that you would tell all of your friends about finding the lost sheep?" I imagine that all of the religious leaders had to agree that they would do just as Jesus had suggested. Then Jesus said to them in the same way, there is more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent."

The Bible teaches us that we are like sheep and sometimes stray away from God. I told the kids that “Arthur’ my pet kitty was hitting “Daisy” on the head with his paws. That’s like being a bully to your brothers and sisters and that makes God very sad, but he never gives up on us. Now here’s where I get to “hook” mom and dad and their neighbors into this wonderful story.

Jesus wanted us to know that God cares for us as people, and He will not let us wander and stray away. Sometimes we might do things that simply are not our best, like gossip or criticize our neighbor. Sometimes we make mistakes, or even turn our backs on God and His love. But He will “never leave us.” Nothing we can do will ever separate us from God’s love, and He’s always waiting with open arms to welcome us back into His family, if we should walk away. In fact, God loves us so much that, even though we do selfish things, He sent Jesus who gave His life for us! He didn’t just come for good people, but for all people. That is something to be thankful for.

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends who might think that God doesn’t listen to their prayers or gave up on them a long time ago. Like a Good Shepherd, Jesus is searching for you because he made you very special and He will help you if you ask.

By the way, the miracle I witnessed was the photo you are looking at top of this reflection. It shows all the young couples and their children of Holy Family. God’s love is contagious and these parents like to invite you to join our youthful and growing church family. Bring the kids!

Can I Count on You?

Many employees these days, work from home. One of the tricks to working at home is to make sure people know that you actually are working, so one man decided that he needed a professional-sounding voice-mail greeting so everyone would know he was hard at work.
As luck would have it, the moment he decided to record his message, his wife was across the hall from his office, folding clothes, while their six-year-old daughter was just getting out of the shower. Given that set of circumstances, you can understand why his so-called professional message ended up sounding like this:
Male voice: “Hi, this is Jeff with IBM.”
Female voice: “Look at you! You have no clothes on!”
Male voice: “I’m not available right now...”

Think of how many communications devices we have today: Facebook, Twitter, cell phones, texts and e-mail. And every one of them allows us to present the image of a constant presence — a constant availability to the world, but that presence is always on our own terms. Every one of them allows us to some degree to screen out those communications we don’t want to respond to. We can seem to be available when we really aren’t.

And that’s exactly what Jesus is talking about with the crowd when he says, “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple.” The word for hate is a Semitic expression meaning ‘to turn away from, to detach oneself from,’ rather than our animosity-laden understanding. In other words, Jesus is asking, “Will you set aside every other loyalty — as important as they are — and really be available to me? Can I really count on you?”

Sadly, we fail to make ourselves available with all kinds of excuses and put ourselves on “voice mail.” We get the call, know the caller, but refuse to answer because we don’t want to be available.

Christ was available for you and me. And he asks us to be available to walk in his footsteps. Are we willing to do that or are we too attached to our own plans, our easy lives and our usual way of doing things?

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends who find the humility to be available to a neighbor, veteran, coworker, abandoned kitty and family. Give us the compassion and commitment to put ourselves in an uncomfortable position, Help us to walk in your footsteps.

Whose on Your Invitation List?

It’s a wedding and the ushers are standing around in a strange church, feeling awkward, and kidding one another. The father of the groom decides to inform them that it’s their job to escort guests into the pews. Groom’s family on the right, bride’s family on the left. Then out of nowhere a stranger dumps four boutonnieres on a table in the vestibule. The guys are clueless, so like it’s Mother’s Day for me as I take each flower and instruct the guys to hold still. I am now the onsite florist making the men look handsome for the money shot since their photographer expects them to be wearing a flower for “the wedding” portfolio.

I notice another boutonniere left the table and bet that this must belong on the groom.  So, I race back to the sacristy and tell Chris to shut up and stand still. Of course, he’s nervous and babbling about something, but I got his boutonniere to pin on him and tell him that he looks great!

It’s about two minutes before the wedding, and hiding in the sacristy are dad, our deacon, his son, the groom and me. I’m listening to our Eastman School of Music graduate students playing Ave Marie on their cello and violin. The next moment, I hear Chris crying and asking for a tissue and he says, that he misses his grandmothers and wishes that they were was here for his wedding. Then dad starts to shed a tear and I have these two men quietly sobbing seconds before we are to walk into the sanctuary.

So, I let them shed their tears. For obviously, it about love for a special grandmother and a mom whom they miss and I say a simple pray to God that these grandmothers watch over this wedding and make it perfect.

Well, grandma did a great job for the wedding ceremony was perfect. Dad preached a great homily, the groom’s mom looked proud of her son, and his sisters were beaming in their wedding party gowns. The bride was gorgeous and I did not embarrass any of her family members or friends who are Baptist leading them through the service. I praised their support as they gave their blessing for their daughter to marry our Catholic groom. 

Much different scenario, when at the reception my parishioner married over fifty years ago remembered that he was married at the communion rail because he was Protestant marrying a Catholic girl.

Jesus message in the gospel is different from what he experienced for the Lord encourages us to review our guest list and, in a display of proper etiquette, be sure that everyone has a seat. When we live in a spirit of humility, we focus less on ourselves and much more on how to ensure that we make space for everyone. We extend an invitation to others, expecting nothing in return.

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends that we give up our seat and invite all to dine with us that includes: immigrants, refugees, migrants, women, girls, victims of human trafficking, mentally Ill, physically challenged, children, youth, people of differ sexual orientation, religions, ethnicity, country of origin, people of low socio-economic status, the unemployed, and incarcerated people and their families.