Faith in All Living Creatures Great and Small

 

There is a story about a boss at the shoe store where the person worked: Whenever one of the employees would whine, “Hey Boss! Can I take my break?” He’d snarl back, “I gave you a break when I hired you.”

The message is pretty clear. You don’t get any special treatment or extra pay for doing what you’re supposed to be doing anyway. When the apostles ask Jesus for more faith, he’s quick to let them know they already have enough to get the job done. Before they start asking for an increase, they should take a look at the blessings from God they currently possess.

St. Francis of Assisi, whose feast day is celebrated on October 4^th is a great example of taking a mustard seed’s worth of faith and using it to change the course of Christian history. This guy is probably the most popular canonized saint in history next to Saint Nicolas (It’s hard to beat Santa!). As a young man Francis had everything going for him. He came from a rich family and was in line to inherit his dad’s lucrative commercial silk business. But, to his old man’s great displeasure, Francis gave up the family money and the prospect of becoming a big shot silk merchant and embarked on a life in service to the gospel without a penny to his name. He became a beggar so he could minister to other beggars.

Francis did what he thought he ought to do—live a life in imitation of Jesus Christ. Jesus didn’t have a bank account either. Jesus hung out with the poor and the sick, so Francis did the same. Jesus trusted in the Father’s goodness, and so did Francis. The result was that Christians were attracted to the poor missionary’s Christ-like simplicity and sincerity. Men and women joined the religious order Francis created, wanting nothing but to be faithful servants who made others fall in love with the goodness of God.

Because of his love for the earth and all living things, Francis is known as the patron saint of animals, and it’s become traditional to bless animals on his feast day. I have a spouse who has a great passion for animals, especially orphaned kitties. She serves as a coordinator for Volunteers for Animals, an organization helping foster moms with potential adopters. Sue receives calls daily from the foster moms seeking advice how to care for a sick kitten and restore the furry creature to health.

I like to think that an adoring pair of eyes and purrs greeting you as you return home from a trip of any duration would be a reminder of God’s unconditional love. I hope that we, like Francis, would feel the wonder and the mystery of God in all living things—plant or animal—about us, and grow in true love, respect, and admiration for the blessed gift of this earth.

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends who have “fur babies” in their homes and like to offer this blessing prayer for your pet companion. “Good and gracious God, we give you thanks for the animals who share our lives and have done so in the past. We thank you for the joy and comfort they have given us. We humbly ask you to protect them from illness and injury and grant them long, happy lives. May they, through our hands, feel the love you have for all you have created, and may we, through their selfless love and companionship, be ever reminded of your constant presence, love, and care for us. We ask this in Christ Jesus, Our Lord.

If you would like to make a donation to help “fur babies” click link below:

Click here to make donation to Volunteers4Animals.

 

 

No Applause, No Nobel Peace Prize

 

This gospel passage reminds me of a Reese's Cup. Part chocolate, my favorite, and part peanut butter, something I really could easily live without. I'm not crazy about peanut butter, and my apologies to Reese's. Give me the chocolate, you can keep the peanut butter. Part favorite, part not so much, that's this gospel. The part that's my favorite, it always inspires me when Jesus teaches us about the mustard seed. If you have faith as small as a grain of mustard seed, you'll be amazed at what you can do. Just need a little. And yet we really struggle to believe. And it always reminds me of God's great power, faith the size of a mustard seed. 

But then in the gospel there's this peanut butter part. Not so favorite. Jesus says when you're doing the will of God, when you're serving people, loving God, bringing justice, sharing peace, do not look to be thanked, or even recognized. Hear these challenging words. When you have done all that is commanded of you, you say, "We are unworthy servants, we have only done what was our duty." Just doing our duty? 

I got to admit, I'm not all that crazy about that. I don't mind the doing my duty part, I'm all about that. But being honest, I kind of like to be thanked. Or at least acknowledged. Have you ever given somebody a gift, and they never even acknowledge receiving it? And they never say, "Thank you." It's not very satisfying, is it? In fact, it can be highly demotivating. I'll go where my gifts are appreciated or wanted, thank you very much. My neighbor is not big on saying thank you very much. I’m glad the nurse and physical therapist show up to her home just the same.

But these words of Jesus, "We are unworthy servants. We've only done what was our duty." These words of Jesus make me think about Fr Erick. He should be the patron saint of anonymous service. Poor Fr. Erick, when his parish was struggling through shock and disbelief that they would be homeless, Fr. Erick was there. When the parish had to relocate to a new building, Fr Erick was the moving van that took the altar, pulpit, altar rail tabernacle and statue of Our Lady of Gaudeloupe and relocated into a neighborhood mall. When you walked into their new worship site everything was in its place like before. Eventually after the move, all the extra statues he placed in storage pods. I know because I was with him setting up for Holy Week where he found the statue of Jesus lying in the tomb in one ot the pods. Fr Erick just quietly goes about following Jesus without recognition or special treatment. Fr. Erick: quiet, faithful, almost anonymous.

Think about it. Some of the most remarkable people in your life are just like that, aren't they? Stuff just sort of gets done and nobody really knows who did it. The meal just got delivered; the church just got cleaned up; the home visitation ministry just helped some seniors; the dishes just got washed; the bus for the youth, it just got driven; the chapel just got unlocked for morning Mass. 

What do you do that no one else really notices?

Are you faithful in the little things when nobody's paying attention? Are you good with serving and doing things without recognition? No plaque, no banquet, no applause, no Nobel peace prize. Fr. Erick understands that we all serve an audience of one. And he was good with that. He preaches the gospel every Sunday from his heart and his people benefit from his humility and generosity.

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends who are challenged with these tough words, "We've only done what was our duty." Expect no gratitude, expect no praise, expect no recognition, we have only done what was our duty. And that's the thing about Reese's Cups. If you like the chocolate, you got to eat the peanut butter too.

 

 

Bridging the Great Chasm

 

The story of the rich man and Lazarus presents us with two lives lived in stark contrast—one in luxury, the other in misery—and the eternal consequences that follow.

We hear of a rich man who "dressed in purple garments and fine linen and dined sumptuously each day." Purple cloth was extraordinarily expensive in Jesus' time, a symbol of extreme wealth and status. At his gate lay Lazarus, covered with sores, longing to eat the scraps from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came to lick his sores—a detail that emphasizes his utter destitution and suffering.

What is striking about this parable is not merely the contrast between wealth and poverty during their earthly lives, but what happens after death. Lazarus is carried by angels to the "bosom of Abraham"—a Jewish expression for paradise—while the rich man finds himself in the netherworld, in torment. Now the tables have turned completely. The rich man, who once feasted, now thirsts desperately for even a drop of water. Lazarus, who once longed for scraps, now rests in comfort.

But notice something important: the rich man is not condemned simply because he was wealthy. The Gospel does not condemn possessions themselves. Rather, his sin was indifference—a complete blindness to the suffering at his very doorstep. It is not wealth itself that is evil, but rather the indifference that wealth can generate in us toward the needs of others.

The rich man knew Lazarus by name—we see this when he calls out to Abraham about him—yet he did nothing to relieve Lazarus's suffering. Day after day, he stepped over or around this suffering man to enter his home. He had countless opportunities to show mercy, yet he remained blind to Lazarus's humanity.

In death, a great chasm separates them, which Abraham says cannot be crossed. This chasm, however, did not suddenly appear after death. It existed during their lifetimes—a chasm of indifference that the rich man himself created and maintained. In eternity, this self-made chasm simply becomes permanent.

The rich man was not punished because he was rich, but because he was unmerciful. His wealth was not his condemnation, but rather his failure to use that wealth in service of love and mercy.

This parable challenges us to examine our own lives. Who are the Lazaruses at our gates today? They may be the homeless person we pass on the street, the elderly neighbor living in isolation, the immigrant family struggling to make ends meet, the colleague battling depression behind a brave face, or the abandoned orphan kitty we find in our backyard

The "gate" in the parable represents the boundaries we create between ourselves and others. Our gates might be our busy schedules, our comfortable routines, our social circles, or simply our self-absorption. These gates can blind us to the suffering around us.

What is one concrete step you can take this week to bridge the chasms in your own life? This Saturday, I am hosting a thank you picnic for 80 foster moms who take stray kittens into their homes and provide shelter, love and meds to raise these furry companions until they are ready to be spayed or neutered and adopted into caring homes.

Perhaps you are making time to visit someone who is lonely, contributing to organizations that serves the vulnerable, advocating for just policies that protects human dignity, or simply being more attentive to the needs of those you encounter daily.

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends for the grace to see as God sees—to recognize Christ himself in the face of every Lazarus or furry friend at our gate. May we use the gifts God has entrusted to us not to widen chasms of indifference, but to build bridges of compassion and love.

Enjoy images of Animal Shelter Appreciation Picnic

 

 

 

 

 

 

Acts of Kindness

Oh, yeah the gospel story this week is about a “slimy dude. The Parable of the Dishonest Steward in Luke’s gospel is one of those lessons pastors can’t seem to navigate smoothly. It’s like a driver’s test where we keep running over the orange safety cones because we don’t really know for sure what Jesus (or our evangelist, St. Luke) is trying to tell us.

However, I want to share a true story about a Sonshine Friend who recently retired and choose to work part-time as a home companion. He is providing home care for a senior physically challenge patient. This patient called my friend to say he had fallen in the bathroom and his wife was not at home to help. My friend called his agency to inform them that their client needed assistance and the agency response: “that was against policy for the patient to call the home care aide and he was not to go to the home.” Really! The client is required to call the agency first to request services. My friend was told “not to go.”

However, my friend is not bound by policy but rather a compassionate heart and he immediately got in his car and drove over to help the patient.  He waited to get scolded or worse lose his job because he violated agency policy. To his surprise, he received a letter in the mail with a commendation from the agency for his willingness to help their patient. Go Figure?

Of course, he never told the agency that he ignored their policy and went to help that man in his time of need. Yesterday, my friend shared that this gentleman and his spouse were celebrating their wedding anniversary. Due to his disability the couple would not be able to go and celebrate this occasion. So my friend asked the couple what they would like to eat for dinner to celebrate. The wife shared “real mashed potatoes” not the kind that come out of a box. So he was preparing in his kitchen a sumptuous meal and planning to uber the dinner to their home that included “real mashed potatoes.”

Back to that parable where the sneaky guy gets commended, and Jesus leaves it up to the listeners to figure out what the story really means. You could just say the manager was in a pickle, knew he had to act quickly for he would be out of a job and homeless.

What does that have to do with us? We know how the times are. They’re just as desperate, confusing, and uncertain for our generation as they were for those who heard Jesus preach centuries ago. We have resources, but how do we use them? How should we use them? Are we squandering the things the Boss has left in our charge?  How are we called to reduce the burden of our neighbors? These are questions we should be asking.

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends who have compassionate hearts like my friend who put aside policy and went to help that man in his time of need. Better yet, he went beyond the call of duty to help that couple celebrate their wedding vows and love for one another. Now why don’t you go do the same for someone you know in need of your gifts with your acts of kindness.

 

 

Kirby and Acts of Mercy

 

This retired shepherd was invited this morning to Holy Family’s annual picnic. Their pastor, Fr. Corey asked me if I would preach a childrens’ homily. So, I bring Kirby along and together we shared this story about mercy. I wanted the children to learn that Jesus’ love can come from people we never expect.

Once upon a time, there was a dog called Kirby who was going to the park to play with his favorite ball when – he was chased by a Big Bully Cat! The Big Bully Cat pulled Kirby’s ears and bit his tail and scratched his face and finally chased poor Kirby into a large bed of pricker bushes and left him there. Poor Kirby. It was worse than that. Poor Kirby was so hurt that he could not get up, he just lay in the bed of pricker bushed feeling very sad.

But just then, a poodle came by, a fluffy, white poodle. “Hooray!” thought Kirby, “This fluffy, white poodle will help me out of the pricker bushes. But the poodle did not help Kirby. She turned up her nose and walked straight past. Oh. That wasn’t very friendly. Poor Kirby.

 But then, a sausage dog came by, a long, sausagey sausage dog.
“Hooray!” thought Kirby, “This long, sausagey sausage dog will help me out of the pricker bushes.” But the sausage dog did not help Kirby. He looked the other way and walked straight past. Oh. That wasn’t very friendly.

Then, a dalmatian came by, a big, spotty dalmatian. “Hooray!” thought Kirby, “This big, spotty dalmatian will help me out of the pricker bushes.” But the dalmatian did not help Kirby. She turned her spotty back and walked straight past.

Poor Kirby. Kirby was feeling very sad. Would no-one come to help him? Then another Big Cat came walking along and Kirby feared he would be mean to him. He will pull my ears and bite my tail and scratch my face! Kirby shook in fear.

But this Big Cat did not do any of these things. Instead, this Big Cat pulled Kirby out of the pricker bushes. The Big Cat found a bandage in his pocket and he put the bandage around Kirby’s head. Then he rubbed Kirby’s ears better, put some soothing cream on his tail, and brushed his fur all smooth again.

Finally, this Big Cat gave Kirby his favorite treat – dog biscuits!. Then Kirby and the Big Cat who wasn’t a bully went to the park to play ball together.

To the grownups at the picnic, I ask.  Why do we do acts of mercy? There is a story about thirty-two members of my small parish who were willing to be volunteer hosts for guest families living in the church basement.  They brought them home-made dinners, watched their kids, and generally tried to treat them like human beings in the midst of their unfortunately crappy circumstances. As always happens, of course, there were some complaints from church members. They claimed their guests were sloppy, that they didn’t come for dinner on time, they didn’t do the dishes, their kids were bratty, they left the lights on. they didn’t leave the building when they were supposed to, etc., etc. (It just wouldn’t be a church if people didn’t whine about something, you know?)

I like to remind those who find fault that, if these guests actually had their acts together, they wouldn’t be living in a church basement. Sometimes we need to remind ourselves why we do acts of mercy in the first place. When the pastor was asked what we hoped to get out of it. He responded that he wanted a ministry for his church in which people could see that they had made a real difference in the lives of others. One of his parishioners answered that this program would “make God smile.” Others came up with similarly groovey-sounding answers, but one of his teenagers simply said, “I want these homeless people to get back on their feet.”

 

In this Sunday’s Gospel (Luke 15: 1-10), Jesus teaches us about rejoicing when the lost are found. It’s meant as a critique against those who get their shorts bunched up over why people get “lost” to begin with. We are to be supporters, not judges.

 

Think about it. If you’re a parent and you have a child with an addiction or an eating disorder, do you condemn or abandon that child? Wouldn’t you diligently search for the best care you could find to bring him or her back to your family in one piece?  And when that lost child reaches a recovery milestone or graduates from school or gets married or achieves some goal of a normal, healthy, functioning human being, aren’t you overcome with joy? Don’t you want to throw a party and celebrate?

 

All of us, after all, are lost in some way. Jesus has gone to pretty drastic lengths to find us and bring us back to ourselves. I’d say that calls for a party, or a picnic like today.

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends that we realize that all our acts of mercy put us in a cloud closer to Our Lord and heaven.

A Very Special Sonshine

 

Last November, I received a phone call from Joe. He sadly shared that his father had died of a massive heart attack at home. The paramedics did all they could to bring him back but there was nothing more they could do to save him. I was stunned and I am still in disbelief. He was like a son to me.

 

In his memory, I am launching the attached photography website to remember his gift and generosity to his family and many friends. 

https://fathermattkawiak.myphotofeed.com/

 

At his funeral service, I shared this memory of Ken. He loved adventures and enjoyed traveling to new places and along the way doing some unexpected shenanigans. In 2017, we travelled on a Road Scholar trip to Acadia National Park. On our way to Maine, we stopped at a dozen lighthouses to take pictures. My hobby is as you will see attached is landscape photography, 

 

Ken’s hobby is wandering, especially to places that say “no admittance.” For him that meant there must be something interesting to explore so forget the sign that says ”too dangerous, government restricted or detours.” His attitude was fearless or perhaps reckless, “let’s find out what’s on the other side.” As I am setting up my composition, he would be wandering, up and down the shores and rocky coves, collecting rocks and stuff to bring home to his beloved grandchildren.

 

When we finally arrived in Acadia National Park, we began our walking tour with a group of twenty people from around the country. We hiked the trails 5-9 miles each day. During the tour, you had free time to do your own thing. That was Ken’s opportunity to explore new adventures not in the itinerary and this would get very interesting for you never knew what he was thinking or where we would end up. So off we are driving from Acadia to New Brunswick, Canada. Ken would be the pilot and I was his navigator recommending landscape sites to stop along the way. Our destination was a lighthouse claimed to be the most photographed in the world. It is located in Roosevelt Campobello International Park in New Brunswick that can only be reached at low tide. 

 

Ken surprised me with this crazy idea. He wanted to find a local Canadian grocery store searching for some unique candies that were only sold in Canada. I had no idea what he was plotting, but I got the shot of that lighthouse that he had enlarged and hangs behind his desk in his office. We are now searching for a local grocery store, in New Brunswick, nobody speaks English but he is determined to find a candy called “Smarties.

 

It's a candy like M&M’s, however different in that they have a sweet flavor from the coating, followed by an almost hot-chocolate-powder chocolate taste. Ken buys 20 boxes of Smarties, puts them in his backpack and we drive back over the border to our motel for the night.

 

The following morning, we rejoin our group and we are back on the trail hiking Cadillac mountain. Our group leader stops us for lunch. As people are getting their box lunches out of their backpacks, Ken starts passing out the Smarties boxes to all our fellow hikers. They were surprised and delighted to learn that this was a unique treat for them to enjoy. He shared the story about this candy coming from Canada, but I can only admire his desire to surprise and bring joy to our fellow hikers. Ken’s generosity and spontaneity to do these crazy acts of kindness made me smile to have such a thoughtful, generous friend. 

 

In the past nine years, it has been my humbled privilege to travel to many national parks from Banff National Park in Alberta to Crater Lake in Oregon last September. In Ken’s memory take a few minutes to review the images of our adventures and if there is a photo you would like to hang in your home or office, simply email your selection to my attention and I will help you with an order.

 

However, this photo website is an invitation to support a wonderful volunteer group called “Volunteers4Animals.” I have attached their website and encourage you to make donations to support their special work to save kitties and puppies.

 

Please feel free to forward Fr. Matt Photography to all your FaceBook friends for their support.

https://fathermattkawiak.myphotofeed.com/

 

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends and for my spiritual son Ken. At his funeral, I asked the congregation: Is God calling you from a too self-indulgent lifestyle to one of helpful concern for people who are less fortunate than yourself? Is God calling you to some generosity of time and gifts? From his kindness we have all received a blessing. In the quiet of our hearts, in our prayers, may we forever be grateful for Ken's love and kindness and promise to continue all his good works and be a blessing to one another. Amen.

 

NOTE: At the end of Fr. Matt’s Photography website is a “Contact Me” message. Feel free to give me your thoughts, order a print or send a message that you want to take me along on your travels to visit a national park. 

https://fathermattkawiak.myphotofeed.com/

 

 

 

VIP Seating

 

Boy do we ever love status. I guess that’s why facebook is so appealing. We can really show ourselves off like we’re all still trying to be the cool kids in high school. With the ability to publish our every thought and activity to hundreds of “friends” at once, Mr. Zukerberg has successfully managed to keep America in a perpetual state of adolescence. I’m just glad the acne doesn’t come with it.

 

But status, prestige, and big rewards are the things Jesus warns us about in the Gospel. Jesus has been invited to a dinner party at some big-shot Pharisee’s house. It’s pretty clear the host didn’t invite Jesus in the hope of a reciprocal invitation to an equally swanky soiree. Nope. Jesus doesn’t have those kinds of bucks. But I suspect the itinerant rabbi’s fame is what put him on the A-list. All the other guests are looking at this peasant preacher, the current flavor of the month around Israel, and wondering what he’s going to do and say. Maybe some of them only showed up because they heard the famous Jesus of Nazareth would be attending. If we can’t be a celebrity, you know, we at least like to say we’ve met one.

 

Jesus is watching them, too. He sees how they jockey for position, everybody trying to get the VIP seats at the table to show off their stature within the community. The moral is pretty obvious: Don’t go around puffing yourself up, because somebody will—inevitably—come along and let the air out of you. Then you’ll be disgraced. Which is bad. There are some folks who would prefer cancer to humiliation.

 

I’d like to point out, however, that I don’t think there’s any real sin in being successful or well-regarded. In a brilliant speech he gave at King’s College, C.S. Lewis likened having status to inheriting a fortune from your maiden aunt. If she dies and leaves you a ton of money, there’s nothing wrong with that. The sin is in coveting it. That is, if you want the old broad to kick off so she can leave you her loot, you better get yourself right with God. The hunger for status, fame, adulations, or what have you is the real problem. It’s like a drunk’s thirst for booze. A little bit is too much, and a lifetime of praise is never enough. It will be cool for a while, but will eventually leave you unsatisfied. You’ll discover your fellow high-status people are just as messed up and insecure as you are.

 

What would the world look like, I wonder, were we to put all the effort and resources we put into making ourselves look successful and important into providing mercy and aid for the “unimportant” people of the earth? Those “little people,” you see, are pretty big and important in God’s eyes. And so are you.

 

Just remind yourself. Once a man loved you so much that he went to death on a cross for you. You were that important. You mattered that much to him. Is there any job or honor you’re going to get, any swanky friend you’re going to make, any award you’ll win or applause you’ll receive that will matter more to you than the knowledge of how much God already loves you? I mean, come on. Do you really give a crap about where you sit at the table? Because at the head of the table or at the foot, the end of the meal will be the same.

 

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends who take time for the “little ones” in your community. You who take meal on wheels to your neighbors, or volunteers at local food cupboard to deliver groceries, or  volunteer at your local fire department, or take your senior relative shopping for groceries or a doctor appointment. May God’s peace go with you this week, my friends.

 

The Healing Community

 

 

Last week, on one of my critical incident trauma calls I experienced a miracle. I was informed that an electrician had been electrocuted. I was debriefing his coworkers and to my surprise and delight the electrician not only survived but he attended the debriefing to thank his fellow coworkers for saving his life. This was a God moment for me where the gratitude of this survivor brought his coworkers closer together with a firm commitment to be more diligent and safe doing their dangerous work.

Sadly, in the same week I was deployed to provide grief support to a different employer whose regional manager suffered a heart attack and died while out of town with his coworkers at a conference. One coworker who was friends with the manager shared he made the call to tell the spouse what had happened. It was hardest thing he ever had to do. What do you say at this tragic moment of loss?

I remember sitting with this coworker as he shared how this spouse shared the sense of isolation she felt. Everything in the world seemed absurdly trivial in the face of her loss, and she experienced a profound sense of separation. She told him with no small amount of bitterness, “People tell me they know how I feel. Well, they don’t.”

Isn’t that the truth?

When we experience a serious, life-changing loss the whole world seems to slip away from us. We enter some kind of invisible bubble from whose interior we can see the rest of the world and all the people in it, but we no longer feel any sense of connection to it or them. Grief and pain isolate. And it’s not just our own feelings, but the rest of the world tends to sneak softly away from our suffering. What do you say to someone who has just been diagnosed with cancer? How do you approach a couple whose child just committed suicide? Is there a proper way to comfort my senior neighbor who had fallen out of her bed and taken to the hospital and then transferred to a nursing home to perhaps never to return to her home.

The anguish felt by the woman in the gospel story may not be only the orthopedic ailment which has crippled her for years. It might also be the awful sense of “otherness”—a sense of not being part of a community. It’s significant, I think, that this unnamed woman did not approach Jesus. Rather, Jesus saw her, knew she was suffering, and called out to her. He broke through that invisible bubble which kept her at a distance from those who understood illness and infirmity only as God’s punishments for some kind of disobedience.

I can’t help but wonder what the woman was feeling when she came to the synagogue. She certainly didn’t come seeking or expecting the guest rabbi from Nazareth to make her ailing back straight again. Did she come just to be in the presence of the sacred, to hear the words of comfort from the scrolls? Did she stand in the rear, not mixing with the other women, keeping her eyes on the ground, accepting that her infirmity was her permanent burden to bear for her sins?

The work Jesus performed on this particular Sabbath was a work of restoration. By restoring this woman to wholeness, Jesus restored her to the community. She was able—and quite joyful—to enter into the praise of God with all the others who had come to that holy place of worship. Jesus was quite clear that the disability which had afflicted this poor lady for eighteen years was not a sign of God’s frowning judgment. He went on to call her a “daughter of Abraham”—further establishing her as one of the family, re-connecting her, and breaking the bubble of suffering which had made her a pariah.

Let me share something very profound and the real reason to come to church this Sunday. This is the joyful blessing of the Sabbath. It’s the ability to gather as community. I must confess that, in the pre-COVID-19 days, I thought the internet would be a wonderful a tool for the Gospel. I knew a priest who bragged that he had 22 million followers on the internet watching him. But he was wrong. There is absolutely nothing to substitute being in the company of your church family on the Sabbath. Our need for warm, interpersonal contact is both nourishing and healing. Yes, there are those who fear betraying their emotions in the sacred space. Perhaps they worry that their anxieties, fears, or griefs will intrude on the devotion of their fellow congregants. I say if such frailties are not excused and embraced by a Christian community that community isn’t doing its job. We don’t always have to know how to approach a hurting brother or sister. We’ll do 90% of our care by simply showing up.

I agree with that spouse whose husband died suddenly at his company’s conference. Many will claim they understand when they really don’t. You don’t need to understand someone in order to love them. We can all do that. And whenever we gather for Sabbath worship, we can look to the one on the cross. He understands us all.

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends and I truly appreciate you for taking the time to read my blog and praying for the 60 people on our prayer list. You don’t know them and you don’t understand the hurt and isolation they feel with their illness, but your willingness to pray for them is good enough.  Please remember the Sabbath day and be in the company of your Christian family. They need you.

 

 

Families Fight. What Would Jesus Do?

 

Families fight. What would Jesus do?

Families fight. That’s an ugly truth. People who are supposed to love and protect each other can often be split apart. It always hurts. 

Polish National Catholics of all people are aware of how families can bicker. Our whole denomination was formed by a dust-up with our Roman brothers and sisters. Today I see a pretty humongous division over the very definition of what it means to be a Christian in America. I feel a little bit of barf coming up in my mouth at the very mention of the term “Christian Nationalism.” Some of our coreligionists use Christian identity as an excuse to promote intolerance, bigotry, and a reactionary mindset which, to my way of thinking, slanders the name of our Lord and Savior. 

I don’t see how “Christian” it is slashing aid to low-income families or cutting out funding for research to eliminate disease. I can’t understand how we solve the gun violence crisis by letting everyone carry a gun. And faith in God’s deliverance is one thing, but ignoring the crisis of climate change is putting the Lord Our God to the test—a test we’re not going to pass.

No question about it: there are divisions within our family. There are people in North Java who think attending Holy Family Catholic parish gets you a ticket to hell. This is simply cruel and a lie. My former parish where I had the humble privilege to serve as shepherd for 12 years are the most generous, compassionate and hard-working farm families in Wyoming County. If your Catholic parish is closing or you are searching for a loving faith community, take yourself to North Java and experience the love of Jesus first hand. Everyone smiles and greets one another at the door and gives you a cup of coffee after the service and asks what can I do for you this week. One more thing, the children in Wyoming county all want to church  because Renee their religious teacher, is the most, fun, dynamic and enthusiastic religious education teacher bringing those kids closer to Jesus every Sunday. Get the word out, bring your kids to Renee and meet Jesus.

Whether we’re arguing public policy, church doctrine, or if it’s just a squabble between a parent and a child or a couple of in-laws, each of us thinks we’re arguing from the moral high ground. Our challenge should always be to discern if we’re arguing in obedience to Christ Jesus or from our own pride and stubbornness. Is our indignation born out of faith or a desire to maintain a tribal loyalty? Are we trying to help one another or cling to an ideal which no longer exists or even applies? 

What would Jesus do? Can we find it in ourselves to speak and fight for truth but do it out of love? Can there be controversy without contempt? Can we be unyielding without dehumanizing the person with whom we disagree? And are we willing to accept divisions without being complacent about them? 

Faith in Jesus has never guaranteed perfect harmony among believers. Just check out the New Testament if you don’t believe me—it’s full of family squabbles. But the beautiful thing is that in Christ, our squabbles can still be full of compassion.

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends, especially those who attend Holy Family in North Java, Holy Mother of the Rosary Cathedral n Lancaster, Holy Trinity in Woodlawn, Divine Mercy in Las Vergas, St. Jude the Apostle in San Antonia and all those churches who are held in contempt by the bias and prejudice of their neighbors. Bless them for their courage, perseverance and faith in your love for one another and all their neighbors.

 

Fear or Faith Which one is it going to Be?

 

I’m not saying there isn’t plenty to worry about these days. In the reading this morning, Abram is worrying that God won’t ever come through on his promise. He and his missus Sarai have been planning for and expecting a baby, but one just isn’t forthcoming. Abe’s getting discouraged, and his big fear is he will never achieve the desire of his heart—a son and heir. God reassures the old boy that he’ll get what he wants. It’s just not going to be right away. So Abe says, “Okay,” and the Lord reckons it to him as righteousness.

If you’re ever wondering what righteousness looks like, there it is. It’s faith. Not mere assent to a doctrine, but the living belief that it’s the Father’s good pleasure to give us what we need (although not always what we want!). Our baptism is a reminder of God’s grace and goodness. It’s the reminder that we matter to God so we can operate out of faith and not out of fear.

After all, there are really only two ways to live: by faith or by fear. Some may suggest there’s a third way—manly self-reliance. I’m not so sure that’s going to work when your company downsizes you or you or your family member gets a life-changing diagnosis. You’ll be looking to rely on something more than yourself. No. It’s pretty much faith or fear. And we have to decide how we’re going to live.

In our Gospel story, Jesus’ admonition to live fearlessly comes with a pretty scary suggestion. Who wants to sell everything they have and give the money to the poor? Shouldn’t you be saving a little something in case of a stock market collapse or a hurricane or the zombie apocalypse? I think what the Lord is really challenging us to do here is get outside of ourselves. Fear is the result of self-preoccupation Jesus is urging us to pull our heads out and be part of the world around us. His suggestion about selling our possessions and giving to the poor is a recipe for faithful living. When we transfer some of the blessings God gave us to others—be it through donation of our cash or the donation of our time as volunteers—we’re making two statements of faith. First, we’re saying that we’re going to get along just fine on what’s left over. If we give ten bucks to the Charotte Comfort Home (hospice in North Java), we won’t be ten bucks short at the end of the pay period. We made a choice to trust in God for our own preservation. Second, we’ve said through our gift or volunteering that what we’ve done will matter. We believe someone’s life is going to be just that much better because we’ve reallocated some of our own blessings for the benefit of others.

Another part of this Gospel lesson is a parable Jesus teaches about servants (that could be us) staying alert for the return of their master (that could be Jesus). There are two ways I think you could look at this. You could go the “end-of-the-world-is-coming-soon” rout and start interpreting every story you hear on the news as a harbinger of the Apocalypse, the Second Coming, the End Times, or whatever. That’s a sure-fire way to live in fear.

The other way to look at this is the Matthew 25 rout where Jesus tells us, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” What I mean is we should always be on the lookout for meeting Jesus. He could be present in a neighbor, a family member, someone in need, a panhandler on the street, or an immigrant behind the counter at Dunkin Donuts. Any chance encounter might be an opportunity to draw closer to God by drawing closer to the ones around us.

Finally, the last part of this Gospel lesson is a weird kind of warning. Yes, if the homeowner knew what hour the thief was coming, he’d have met the guy at the window with a loaded Smith & Wesson. The problem is, we don’t know when stuff is going to happen. Like the arrival of a baby, life-changing moments occur, and we can’t always control them. So, it’s not about what happens, but about how we react. You can live in fear and sit at home all night with your Smith & Wesson on your lap just in case a burglar should try to break in, or you can go out among fellow human beings, risk loving them, and find your purpose.

Fear? Faith? Which one is it going to be?

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends that we choose to live in faith and focus our resources on lifting a helping hand to anyone who needs our help today. Maybe you like to volunteer at an animal shelter or my wife Sue reported there are lots of kittens at the shelter who need a loving home. If interested in adopting a kitten contact: info@vol4animals.org –or call (585)343-6410 option 7