If Only

 

The Gospel for this Sunday of Easter has the familiar story about the vine and the branches. Jesus, the vine, is rooted and stable and will always bring us all the nourishment we need. Trust the steadiness of Jesus’ gardener hand. 

 

However, there is the small matter of being pruned. To prune a plant is to cut parts of it off. Jesus mentions it twice in the reading: Speaking as the vine, he says that the Father  ... takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and every one that does he prunes, so that it bears more fruit. Ouch.

 

I had invited an arborist to ask his advice how to keep our shadberry trees healthy. As I get older, I want to be maintenance practical, note, maintenance free is never going to happen.

 

To my surprise, he shared that the commercial barrier that I have been using around all my trees was not a good idea. It prevents the roots from breathing and water getting down to the roots of the tree. He recommended that the weed barrier should come out of the ground and place no more than two inches of mulch around each tree. We would discuss later how to protect the trees from deer rubs in the fall.

 

Imagine I had worked for 12 years, spreading either tar paper, or wood chips, or newspaper, and fabric weed block to keep the trees looking neat and tidy. If only someone told me sooner. And it seems to be my fault that after 14 years my shadberry trees are looking straggley and not very healthy.  

 

If only I were a better person, if only I had done the right thing, if only the world were different, if only I had been dealt a better hand in the game of life, or, or, or. If I weren’t so full of guilt I wouldn’t have to be pruned. 

 

It is all my fault! Guilt is a major feature of human life. Everything goes wrong, it says, and it is my fault. So could there be a better way to deal with guilt?

 

First, decide whether you are bearing no fruit at all. None. If that is really and actually true, then get help from someone, because spiritually you are dying. Most of us do bear good fruit—it is just that we don’t remember that we do. I didn’t kill my trees, but they could be a lot healthier.

 

Second, with that understood, look at what pruning is. It is a way to make things better, make a better plant, a better tree, a better orchard. If you cut tired old branches from your Philodendron, for instance, it will begin to thrive again, not wither. Pruning encourages new growth and the overall health of the plant or tree. 

 

Third, seen in that way, you and I do need to be trimmed regularly, don’t we? Maybe unconsciously we have been thinking that we ourselves are the vine, independent of Christ, not just a branch. The reason pruning would help is not that we should be punished, but that it promotes health of the whole person, the whole garden, the whole orchard—the mystical body of Christ. 

 

Last weekend, with the help of some young hands, I pulled 50 weed barriers out of the ground while my young handyman shoveled mulch around each tree. We need to place out trust in the steadiness of Jesus’ gardener hand. Trust even while suffering. Let the body and blood of Christ, which was pruned to almost nothing, fill you and shape you. 

 

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends, that we can go ahead and say to the Lord, go ahead, trim whatever gets in the way! I am not the vine, I am a branch. My job is not to be perfect, it is to remain in Christ, and to let him do good within me.

 

Those Other Sheep

 

I have often wondered about those “other sheep” to whom Jesus refers in the gospel story about the “Good Shepherd.”

 

• Specifically, who are they?
• And why does Jesus make it a point to mention them at all?
  

·       And what do those ‘other sheep’ have to do with you and me?

 

And so it is I have wondered at where I have encountered those ‘other sheep’ in these past days. And I have wondered at my, and our, response to them as those whom Jesus knows and who know Jesus in return. I would offer you some possible scenarios now…

 

I was working at a trauma call in Buffalo, NY. In the factory lunchroom, there are vending machines with breakfast sandwiches, snacks and drinks. A retired man works part time for the vending company and his job is to replenish the snack food daily. This retiree shared that on Friday’s there is an expiration date on the food and he needs to pull the food off the shelves and out of the refrigerators and toss in the garbage. He feels bad because the food is good and a waste since so many people are hungry in his community. He said if he knew a church that was giving out food, he would gladly donate. I suggested that he call 211 which is a local referral center to identify food cupboards in his neighborhood where he could take the expired food and put it to good use. He thought this was a great suggestion. 

In my recent Holy Week visit to Divine Mercy in Las Vegas, there are many homeless living on the streets in Vegas. Without a doubt, these people are not necessary drug addicts or mentally ill but simply in need of people who care for sheep who do not belong.

 

I suggested to the pastor that he might ask a local restaurant chain, if they would like to offer help. They might be happy to provide the sandwiches. Our first instinct might be to say “no.” We were getting along just fine surviving at Divine Mercy, thank you. And did we want to get in the business of helping the homeless or bothering local businesses?

 

Then we might think about the Good Shepherd story. What is our mission in this church?  “Sheep who do not belong” on the streets would be a little less hungry.  And so we might sit down and worked it out a plan to feed the homeless. 

 

We might see that this as our mission. And yet, maybe it is so that as Jesus says, the ‘sheep not of this fold’ are simply ‘not yet‘ of this fold. And by partnering with anyone who would help us do good, perhaps we are exhibiting the same openness as Jesus when he says “I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice.” Perhaps in this way, we are paving the way for them to be part of it with us. Perhaps?

 

So, who is ‘of the fold’ and who ‘is not’ and who is ‘not yet’ and who is to judge? Indeed, I cannot help but wonder if Jesus just shakes his head sometimes at how we tend to draw lines between those who are ‘in’ and those who are ‘not in’ the fold.

 

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends and wonder what do we think his words have to do with you and me who understand ourselves as those who ‘do belong to this fold?’

 

When have you encountered these ‘other sheep?’ What will happen next?

 

 

 

 

Helping Firefighters Cope with Trauma

I served as the Catholic chaplain for 10 years at Strong Memorial Hospital. I continue to provide support to people in times of trauma. Chief Fluker asked me to make a presentation to help his first responders cope with a trauma response and there story was published by the Batavian and Batavia Daily News.

Chief Jeff Fluker, right, is joined by Bethany firefighters at the department’s fire hall. The department recently provided training to help its members deal with the potential traumas they might encounter. Courtesy of Dr. Matt Kawiak

by Matt Surtel, Batavia News Editor

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

BETHANY — If you’ve spent enough time as a first responder, you’ll likely see some terrible things. Rolling up to a car accident, you might see one or more fatalities. You might respond to fatal fires or witness a neighbor’s death from a medical emergency.

 

It’s traumatic.

Those realities are why the Bethany Fire Department offered a trauma response program for its members, providing some basic training in case they ever experience the worst.

 

“Some of these guys have never seen it before,” said Chief Jeff Fluker during the recent training session. “They’ve never been through it.

 

“There’s only a very few of us ... who have been through it,” he continued, naming some of the old members. “But some of the other guys, even though they’ve been in awhile, haven’t seen it.”

 

The department recently met with Dr. Matt Kawiak, a town resident who specializes in crisis counseling. He discussed the realities of stress in first responders, along with ways to find help if needed. Trauma doesn’t need to be from a single, awful incident. It can also arise from repeated exposures to bad situations — the kind of thing firefighters, ambulance crews and police deal with regularly.

 

For the Bethany Fire Department, that’s often meant responses to “Suicide Corners,” the notorious intersection at Route 20 and Bethany Center Road that’s been the site of serious accidents for decades.

 

“Down here at Suicide Corners, there’s always something that happens and you don’t know what you’re going to get when you get there,” Fluker said. “The cars that you see, the vehicles are completely destroyed. The last one we had, (the drivers and passengers) were fine, but you look at the vehicles, they were destroyed — the front end was just taken right off the thing.”

First responders are usually able to cope, but horrific incidents, lack of processing time between events, long hours and fatigue can overwhelm even a hardened person’s ability to respond.

 

Fluker and Second Assistant Chief Jeff Wolak are experienced responders — Fluker has 33 or 34 years with the department, while Wolak has 20. They remember one particular fatal accident years ago. It was an ugly scene in which a vehicle burned and several people died.

“It was my first one and you’re just like ‘What’s going on? ‘” Fluker said. “At the time they had stress debriefers come out and they talked to you about the situation, and what happened and what you saw, and ‘How do you feel?’ and things like that.

 

“But to this day today, I can sit right here and still see it, you know?” he continued. Wolak remembers a similar accident in which he was the first to arrive and again, people were dead and scattered. He also noted the reality of placing the deceased in body bags.

“How do you deal with it?” he asked. “You do.”

 

Kawiak’s program addressed stress, trauma and the effects, both physical and emotional. Burnout, suppressed emotions and damaged relationships are among the risks.

Departments might also experience turnover among valued responders. Among other factors, 

 

Kawiak’s program addressed being able to ask for help when a responder finds himself or herself getting overwhelmed. It also gave “in the moment” tools which hopefully allow responders to function in the moment and respond later.

 

Such events can be tough for responders to discuss, Fluker said. They like to talk to personnel within a week of a traumatic response, such as a “watch-and-see” effect. That might include calling a newer member, checking in on them, and gauging their “rhythm.” If a person seems “off” or is having difficulties, they can call a trauma team to see what can be done.

“You’ve got to pay attention to everybody to see what’s going on and make sure they’re doing the best they can,” he said.

 

Fluker believes it’s an area which hasn’t really advanced over the years for first responders. And you simply don’t know who will or won’t be affected. “You can think that the biggest, toughest, hard guy out there would be the guy for it, and he could be the worst,” Fluker said.

 

“It all depends on how a person handles stress,” Wolak added. “Some people handle it and other people don’t. Training helps, but it’s not going to help when putting somebody in a body bag, or you’re trying to fight a major fire and there might be somebody in it. Like Jeff said, you never know.”

 

That’s why they invited Kawiak for his program. What is the fire department hoping to impart for its personnel? “I guess probably if they know a pre-plan, if you will, on what to expect,” Fluker said. “Nobody’s ever really prepared for it, but at least this will give them something of what to expect, and maybe after it, that there’s people out there they can talk to, to see what the aftermath is.

 

“How bad was this person traumatized after seeing it?” he continued. “That there’s somebody there who can help a little better.”

 

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends and keep safe all our First Responders who volunteer and risk their lives to keep us safe from harm and moments of trauma.

 

God Moment-Hugging the Cross

I have returned from my deployment serving as mentor, teacher and best friend to Fr. Erick, pastor Divine Mercy Parish in Las Vegas. I was most humbled and privileged to concelebrate at all the Holy Week and Easter Sunday services. The 200 Hispanic and Anglo families faith, courage and fortitude have not only survived financial scandal but are a community whose current leadership have helped to heal and flourish as the most dynamic Polish National Catholic Church in the world. 

Fr., Erick’s theme on the Resurrection was a question he often hears from his people: “I want to meet Jesus.” In my Easter Masses, I signed the words: “I see Jesus’ love in you.” Everyone in church young and old with smiles on their faces signed these words and experienced that the divine spark of Easter lives in each one of our hearts.

After Easter, I had planned a brief photo tour of three Nevada State Parks. Landscape photography is my opportunity to see Jesus in the stunning beauty of Our Lord’s creation.

So my first image is Shoshoon Falls taken at sunset located in Twin Pines, Idaho. It was 8pm and all the visitors had left the viewing platform and it was dark and cold. There are moments when we feel depressed and alone and God seems far away with all the struggles of life. This image taken at twilight reflects when we allow the light of God’s grace to come into our life and our troubles are transformed and we are given a new life and hope.

 

The Easter stories have the disciples lost in confusion, despair and grief. However, when Jesus appears to the apostles His message is an invitation to “stay with Him.” This is the same message the Divine Mercy families have witnessed in the past year that shouts ”we are here to stay.” My second photo is sunset at Cathedral Gorge that displays the beauty of the rock formation and reflects the beauty of your faith to stay close and follow Fr. Erick. 

 

 My third image was taken in total blackness. It is 11pm and I am standing looking up into the dark sky with a billion stars. However, I composed the photo with a rock formation in the foreground that stands for your strong faith in Jesus and one another. Sadly, many who were hurt by the past have left this church, but if you look up into the sky they will forget all those hurts and see the love of Jesus reflected in the billions of stars that represent your generosity and good works to keep Divine Mercy open to all and flourishing with this message, “Jesus is alive and walks in your midst for the spark of the divine is in each of your hearts. 

 

My fourth and final image is a moment that I will never forget. It is the Good Friday Service and the community is invited to come up to venerate the cross. We are invited to express our gratitude for Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross for our sins. With humble hearts, people walked up to the cross to kiss or touch the wood. However, one mom was bringing her children up close, when suddenly her little boy hugged the cross with all his might. 

 

Let this image of this little boy rest in your mind and heart. Take that boy’s passion back to your homes and like the apostles ask everyone you meet this week “Would you like to come to my church?” When someone asks you why simply say: “ALL ARE WELCOMED FOR JESUS IS IN YOU!!!” 

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends that when we look at that little boy hugging the cross it makes us humble enough to think that we have a friend in Jesus who died for our sins so that we may share in His glory.