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REFLECTION ONE:  RESISTING THE TEMPTATION

Every year on Ash Wednesday we begin Lent with two basic commands:  Return to God with your whole heart, and do not be hypocritical – which really means there is one command that we are called to take very, very seriously.

Return to God with your heart.  Implicit in this command seems to be the idea that our heart is not whole, or that our return is not whole – that some how our heart and our desire to return is divided.

In our Gospel yesterday, we once again encountered Satan tempting Jesus in the desert, as we hear every year on the first Sunday of Lent. Perhaps it is comforting for us to be reminded that even Jesus was tempted?  Perhaps it is helpful to know just as Jesus resisted the urge to sin, to turn away from God, so can we resist the temptations that come our way.

But I don’t know that we really stop and consider what the temptations really are? Are they not connected to the divisions you just named?

Let me ask it a different way:  is what you bring to confession connected to the divisions you just identified?

I find it helpful to begin with the basics:  what matters to God?  That is to ask, what does one heart for God look like?  (In Mark 12:28, we hear that one of the scribes asked Jesus this question, and Jesus answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.  AND ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.)

THE TEMPTATION WE RARELY ACKNOWLEDGE

In our first reading, Moses speaks to people reminding them what God had done for them:  how God heard their cry and made them a strong nation, rich with all that they needed.

It is for this reason, that the people are reminded that they should return to God a portion of what they have received, so that they do not take what they have for granted – so that they do not forget that all they have is a gift.

But like ourselves, we know they forgot.  How often I think that we have not come so far from our ancestors.  That very first sin was a belief Adam and Eve could be god’s of their own making. Unlike Christ, they did not do so well in resisting the temptations of power and greed.  You could say that is was because it so concealed so well.  It looked like something good, but it was anything but.

FROM HERITAGE TO CULTURE

“Return to me with your whole heart.”  Every year, this opening line from the Prophet Joel not only defines this day, but also this sacred season.  But this season does seem different.  Many church pundits have already written about how desperately the church needs Lent this year.  A season of repentance for our sins.

At the same time, it is hard to repent for what you do not acknowledge.  This is true for all of us, who profess to be Christians in name but so often fail in word and deed.

There is this line in our first reading that I don’t know has every caught my attention the way that it did this year.  “Let the bridegroom quit his roomand the bride her chamber.  Between the porch and the altarlet the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep,And say, “Spare, O LORD, your people,and make not your heritage a reproach.”

SUMMING IT ALL UP

From the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks.  If this is true, then folks, I fear many of us are in even more trouble than we were last week.  You remember last week, right?  Love your enemies, give without expecting repayment, turn the other cheek. . .

You know, I find it interesting that three weeks ago, we re-encountered the Beatitudes – our instruction for detachment, to be followed by two weekends of challenging Gospels that get to right to heart of living what we say we believe, to be followed by the beginning of Lent this week.  All in the context of a church and society that seems to have lost its moral authority.

In so many ways, it seems we are being lead to rediscover the heart of our identity, which is our relationship with Jesus and our responsibility to care for our neighbor.

A FAMILY AFFAIR

This homily was given at the funeral Mass of Ann Kness, my grandmother at Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Bellville, Texas.  

May she rest in peace.

HOW DID WE GET THIS SO WRONG?

How do we receive the call to give of our tunic, and deny access to our way of life? How do we receive the call to turn the other cheek, and ever think that killing another person – even in self defense – is what Jesus would do? How to we receive the call to love our enemies, and feel hatred towards those who disagree with us? How do we hear the call to lend money without expecting repayment, and not work to end the disparity that exists in our own city?

You could I guess, argue that that the issues of our day have more to do with HOW we respond to these calls – for example is it the role of government to do for us, what we should do for ourselves? Is it their decision or ours, for example? But if it is not the role of government, then it seems we bear all the burden to live the imperatives of such a Gospel.

ITS ALL ABOUT JOY

The Beatitudes.  They are the most profound and fundamental lessons of Jesus.  They are his teachings about how we are to live the joy that Christ promised.  They are how we live with ultimate freedom and receive the promises of God.

Each of them concern how we live joyfully in communion; how we discipline our own desires and practice detachment.  Because here is a fundamental lesson of Jesus:  it is not about what you have or don’t have; it is about HOW you have it.  That is to say, Jesus is not concerned about how rich or poor you are as a measure; but rather about HOW you understand and use what treasures you have.

Let me ask you, why did Jesus get so angry at the people in the market place?  Or get so frustrated by the Pharisees?  After all, they were only doing what they were supposed to do.  They were doing what they felt was needed for the law, but they could not understand that HOW they were doing it was lacking.  Though technically there was nothing wrong with this according to the law, their intentions – the way they did it (so as to take advantage of others) was the issue.

PRIESTLY IDENTITY

The following homily was given on the occasion of the first Mass of Fr. Steven Huber.  

When I first glanced at the readings for today’s celebration, I thought there is nothing more I really need say.  Each of them speak perfectly to the occasion of first Mass for a newly ordained priest; as well as to all of us as we strive to live our own vocations, without any need for elaboration or clarification.   

For each reading recognizes our own sinfulness, not as a disqualifier, but as the very reason we are compelled to sing God’s praises in word and deed.  This is our vocation, in whatever way, we choose to live it:  to return the love we have first known back to God; to recognize that it will never be what we achieve will define our lives, but fundamentally how we receivethat helps us to realize who we really are. 

In our reception, we learn that our imperfections do not make us inadequate, for in our practice of receiving God’s love and returning back to God through the vocation to which we are called, we are made holy. Over time, we learn not be afraid of your weaknesses or your wounds, for they will be very openings that will allow God’s grace to pour through, and on to others. 

 

BEGIN ANYWHERE

Over the past two weeks, since we began Ordinary time, our readings have been following a particular theme about the gifts we have and choose to share.  At the same time, we have been hearing about Jesus at the beginning of his ministry – how his gifts of healing and presence have created a fair amount of confusion and anger in the minds and hearts of the Pharisees and religious leaders.

These are confusing, anxious times. . . whether we are talking about 2000 years ago or now.  The religious leaders of Jesus’ day were convinced that they had God figured out, and then Jesus came challenged the system.  Because while the system – the traditions and rituals of religion – were working for a few; Jesus’ actions tell us that there was also a great amount of suffering.  Jesus responded when the traditions and structures of the day were more limiting, rather than opening, to presence of God.

But Jesus did more than just respond; he also claimed the authority that belonged to him.  “Today, this scripture – to bring glad tidings to the poor; liberty to captives; sight to the blind, and let the oppressed go free – is fulfilled.”

Remember that Jesus did not feel particularly ready to enter into public life.  During the wedding at Cana, he felt “his time had not yet come”; but being ready is rarely the requirement.  We must only decide if we are willing.  Most of us don’t decide what the purpose of our life is going to be; most of us feel a desire to respond to a situation, and that summons ultimately defines our life.

MERCY IS PERSONAL

In order to understand the parable of Jesus in our Gospel today, it is necessary to read the context in which this parable occurs.  The Pharisees and Scribes, who believe Jesus to be possessed, are commenting on the great number of healings that have occurred at the very beginning of Jesus’ public ministry– so many in fact that we are told Jesus did not even have time to eat.

But it wasn’t simply the number of healings that upset the Pharisees, it was that the mercy of Jesus’ extended beyond the bounds of the accepted rules and customs; which of course, the Pharisees kept.  Just before the Gospel we hear today, Mark tells us that Jesus was healing on the Sabbath, commissioned the twelve to preach, as well as have authority to drive out demons. Nor where they keeping the customs of fasting, or the laws concerning lepers and the unclean.

All the rules, doctrines and the like that were necessary for God, according to the keepers of their customs and traditions, seemed to not apply to Jesus.  Thus, he must not be of God, and if he is not of God, then is a demon.

In short, Jesus was creating confusion.  God wasn’t supposed to work this way. And to all of this, Jesus challenges the Pharisees to see the fruits of his work.