Rejected by His Own

Gospel: Luke 4: 16-30

Each Gospel writer begins the story of Jesus' public ministry in a different setting.  In today's Gospel portion Luke situates Jesus' inaugural event of ministry in his home town synagogue where Jesus is invited to share a reading and preach, indicating Jesus' status as a rabbi.  The synagogue was full, people who knew Jesus and eager to see what he would read and on what topic he would preach.  This setting is full of anticipatory promise.

Jesus chooses to read not from the Torah but from the prophet Isaiah, and he chooses to preach not on Jewish life and the keeping of the law but on how God is for all people of all races, classes, genders, and religions.  The reaction to Jesus' reading and preaching is swift and violent.  The entire town drags him to the edge of a cliff, intent on killing him.  Imagine - all these people you know, with whom you grew up and worked - all of them now seeking to kill you because you state that God is not their exclusive property.

While each Gospel situates Jesus' entrance into public ministry in different places, they all note in different ways that opposition to Jesus came from the very beginning.  "He came unto his own, and his own received him not."  The message of God being for all people remains as unpopular today as it was in Jesus' day.  Even those who sing the hymn "All are Welcome" do not really believe or practice it.  But the words and deeds of Jesus continue to inspire some to live that ideal, a place at the table for all.   

The Wrong Answer

Gospel: Matthew 16: 21-27

In the passage prior to today's Gospel portion, Peter provided an insightful answer about Jesus, and for that Jesus praised him.  Since then, apologists have used that passage to create an entire ecclesiology, ignoring two important elements.  The first is today's portion, an event that takes place just after Peter's confession.  Here, Peter gets it very wrong about Jesus and his mission, for which Jesus calls him a Satan, rebuking him in the most severe terms.  

Peter had made true statements about Jesus, that he was Messiah and Son of God, but Peter did not understand at all what those statements meant.  For him, the idea of Jesus being arrested and put to death at the hands of the state and religious leaders made no sense.  The Messiah was supposed to drive out the occupying empire and purify the religion of Israel, returning her to some period of past glory, making Israel great again.  But Jesus is not that figure at all - not then, not now.  

The second error of the apologists is in thinking that the Gospels exist to justify our own notions of ecclesiology and theology.  The Gospels exist for us to know the Lord Jesus and to become like him in our lives.  They document our own moments of insight as well as our own misunderstandings about Jesus.  Our own lives are reflected in the figures of the disciples in our own walk with Jesus.  If we want a lot of wrong answers, follow the apologists.  If we want to know Jesus better, place yourself in the Gospel itself.

Whom do We Serve?

Gospel: Mark 6: 17-29

We ought not be surprised when those in power take vengeance on those who rebuke them for their misdeeds and injustices.  Nor should we be surprised when those same ruling powers make decisions on a whim, even those that result in the death of another person merely because of pleasure, convenience, and events wholly unrelated to the life of the person in question.  These events and decisions are endemic to the ruling class and elites of the world.

Unfortunately, we also are no longer surprised when clergy and religious leaders put their lot in with the ruling powers of the world - when the religiously clad bless such injustices or at the very least say nothing at all when people are trampled upon by the ruling elite.  We might be saddened, but we ought not be surprised, when religious leaders choose to become chaplains of the empire rather than pastors and guardians of the defenseless sheep.  

In life and in death John the Baptist was the forerunner to the Lord Jesus.  John and Jesus lived prophetic lives of love, mercy, and care for others.  Both suffered death at the hands of the powers of this world and with the blessing and silence of the religious institutions of the day.  For those who choose a life of religious dedication, a further choice lies before us: will we follow the path of the professional religious elites, or the way of John the Baptist and Jesus? 

A Test of Perseverance

Gospel:  Matthew 25: 1-13

The parable of the wise and foolish virgins begins a series of images Jesus provides on various qualities essential to the spiritual life.  The image of the lamp is representative of wisdom itself, but not for its own sake.  It is the wisdom that accompanies charity and care for others, of providing the light and warmth of mercy and loving kindness that is the essence of authentic religion.  This parable hearkens back to Jesus telling us to let our light shine that our good deeds may be seen and enlighten others.  

In the beginning of our spiritual journey we are eager and avid in providing this light for others.  But for some their light grows dim and tired.  They have run out of oil, run out of zeal for mercy.  The first instinct is to borrow from others, but this is an unwise move as it will drain others and not fully meet your needs either.  We must return to the source, but we find now that we have missed the opportunity to serve the Lord in others.  We lacked wisdom and lost the glow of our charity.  

Wisdom is the recognition that the spiritual life is a marathon, not a sprint.  It is the realization that we must always have what we need to adequately provide light and warmth, mercy and love for others throughout our entire journey of life.  Today is a day for us to check our lamps and our provisions of oil, to be adequately supplied with the wisdom we need in order to be the light of the world, to be the love and mercy of God on earth.

The Lord Has Come

Gospel: Matthew 24: 42-51

The topic of the coming of the Lord is a paradoxical one, for we are simultaneously indifferent to it and obsessed with it.  Our indifference stems from the fact that in the common understanding the timing of the event cannot be known.  Like waiting for Godot, we have no idea when he will come or what the arrival will even look like, and we have waited so long for this event deemed ever imminent that every mention of it leads to an even greater indifference.

On the other hand our obsession is equally acute.  In the common understanding this event of the Lord's coming has been charged with such dread and impending doom that every bad event in the world is said to portend this coming day of judgment.  Such forecasting is undertaken by people across the spectrum where each pet cause is attached to the lore of the final coming such that each sibyl has created their own barometer for awaiting this day of darkness.

But the Lord has come.  The Lord comes each day in the person of our neighbor, and each encounter does come with its own judgment on whether we have treated our neighbor with mercy, love, and compassion, or whether we have treated them with malice and judgment.  We can dispense with the oracles of doom.  We can awake from our indifference.  The Lord comes to you and me today in other people as images of God, temples of the Holy Spirit, and Christ himself.   

Sham Religions

Gospel:  Matthew 23: 27-32

These passages of woe spiral back to the Sermon on the Mount and teachings Jesus provided therein, and the woes will culminate in the final judgment passage of the sheep and the goats.  Today's woe is related to the teaching of Jesus on the wearing of religious finery and garb.  The people of religion are found clad in religious attire of one variety or another to show to the world their affiliations and positions of power and authority within the world of religion.  

The costumes also mask and hide what lies underneath.  While giving the appearance of piety and devotion and attention to the work of religion, the garb whitewashes over a life lived in avoidance of the real and authentic work of religion, the works of mercy and care for others that punctuated the life and teaching of Jesus.  It is, after all, much easier to wear the religious costume than it is to encounter the stranger, the hungry and thirsty, the homeless and naked, the sick and imprisoned.  

In the life of religion we have an ever present choice.  We can continue cultivating shallow soil with the thin veneers of religious garb that flowers and fades quickly.  Or we can do the hard thing and cultivate rich, deep soil of mercy and love that produces long lasting yields.  We can have a religion of whitened tombs that hold dead bones, or we can rise from the tomb with the Lord Jesus and continue his work anew day in and day out.

Avoiding What Matters

Gospel: Matthew 23: 23-26

Take note of the cleric and layfolk who take great pains to wash the communion vessels, noting how important care for the body and blood of the Lord is in the tradition.  Note also their utter horror when a communion host falls to the ground.  The care and attention to the host and in purifying the area where it fell are again predicated on care for the Eucharistic species and the body of the Lord.  To be sure there are rules in the Church about such matters.

Now consider the utter neglect for and open hostility to the poor and marginalized; the migrant, immigrant, and refugee;  the imprisoned, foreigner, and people of other religions or none at all.  The very folk who have such attention and care for "the body of the Lord" in the Eucharistic species will create endless reams of apologetic on why it is perfectly acceptable to harbor and exhibit animus and indifference toward untold numbers of people in our world.

The real body of the Lord is our neighbor, all human beings who are made in God's image and likeness, who are temples of the Holy Spirit, bearing the person of Christ himself in their very being.  We will be judged on how we care for this body of Christ on earth - the hungry and thirsty, the sick and imprisoned, the naked and homeless, the stranger.  These are the weightier matters of the Law.  Would that we had as much concern for these as we do on the washing of cups and bowls.

Mistaken Identity

Gospel: John 1: 45-51

Once again we have a Gospel passage where the identity of Jesus is a central element.  After Jesus makes a mere mention of seeing him under a tree, Nathaniel states that Jesus is the "Son of God and King of Israel."  Both titles are loaded with meaning for its time:  Son of God was a way of defying the Romans by using that title of the emperor to refer to Jesus, while the title king of Israel was an irritant to the Jewish authorities who rejected the idea of Jesus as Messiah.  

While the statements about Jesus may be true enough, they do not capture the identity of Jesus any more than any other title does.  Our choice of titles for Jesus say more about us than they do about Jesus, in fact.  Nathaniel, like his contemporaries and many Christians today, see Jesus and the Messiah in political and military terms, both of which will be made laughable when Jesus is arrested by the political and religious leaders of his day and brutally executed before the entire city.  

What titles do we give to Jesus in attempting to say something about his identity?  What does our choice of such titles say about us and our faith?  No matter the title we choose, it will be mistaken and it will fall short of who Jesus is.  It will also reveal the limitations and inadequacies of our own faith.  But we, like Nathaniel, have this promise of Jesus that one day we might see the angels of God ascending and descending between heaven and earth, that our faith will grow over time - never being perfect, but getting better each day on our walk with Jesus. 

Who Am I?

Gospel: Matthew 16: 13-20

In the Gospels there is a measuring stick that identifies the extent to which a person understands who Jesus is.  It is expressed in a variety of titles people give to Jesus:  sir, rabbi, prophet, Messiah, Son of God/Savior of the world.  In today's account, the disciples relate what people say about Jesus, all of which see him as a prophet.  When Jesus asks them who they say Jesus is, Peter steps up to use the titles of Messiah and Son of God, for which Jesus praises the answer.

Yet two verses later Peter will be rebuked for really not knowing what those titles meant, for he saw them in political/military terms and not in the Suffering Messiah.  But in many ways Peter's answer to the question of who Jesus is misses the point, for the answer is found in the question itself - who am I.  The answer is "I am."  Jesus is the presence of God on earth, God who is with us in our hopes and fears, our joys and sorrows.  And that presence is all we need in our lives.

When Jesus asks us who we say he is, he is not looking for a theologically precise definition from Chalcedon or 20th century Christology.  The question is not a catechism quiz.  It is a personal, spiritual, mystical one.  The answer is simply the one Jesus gives at his arrest - I am - for he is simply God's presence among us, the one who is with us in our celebrations and in our mourning.  God is not a warrior, king, or emperor.  God is simply the one who shows up and is present to us at all moments of our life.

Of Titles and Fineries

Gospel:  Matthew 23: 1-12

What Jesus has to say about titles, honors, and fineries of religious leaders is addressed to his disciples, not to those in religious authority.  The latter group would not listen to such criticism.  There is hope that Jesus' followers themselves might heed these words, but as anyone with functioning sensory systems knows that sadly these words of Jesus will go unheeded throughout history to our own times and places here and now.  

Everyday we see clergy seeking political power and influence in seats of privilege.  We hear clerics state how humbled they are to be invited to be guest preacher at a church whilst broadcasting such humility far and wide on social media.  The endless shopping for religious garb and fineries that keep up with the titles of privilege and power sought by priest and pastor carries on as if these words of Jesus were never spoken at all.  

Meanwhile, Jesus went about wearing simple garb healing people of their infirmities, freeing them from the demons that plague them, and feeding them at table.  No media train, no self-promotion, and in fact a running from crowds and attention highlight Jesus' work in the world.  That the words and example of Jesus have little actual impact on the Christian Church is all too obvious and scandalous.  But his life and words are still there for those who seek the authentic way of religion.     

Disingenuous Questions

Gospel:  Matthew 22: 34-40

Today's Gospel portion seems ordinary on the surface.  The Pharisees ask Jesus a question about the law, and Jesus answers it.  No controversy ensues, and it moves on to the next scene.  But there is more to this passage than meets the eye.  The Pharisees approach Jesus because they saw that he had rebuked the Sadducees, their bitter enemies.  They see in Jesus a potential ally, and so they approach him with a question about the law to see if he might in fact be one of them.  

Their question about the law is not a sincere one.  There is not a desire to know the truth about the matter.  The question serves only to see whether Jesus agrees with them or not.  As it happens, a great many Pharisees would in fact agree with Jesus' answer to the question.  To love God above all else and to love one's neighbor is an answer many rabbis and scholars of the law would agree as the foundations of the entire Jewish law.  But the answer is incidental in this case.

This passage serves as a caution for us.  Do we approach Jesus with questions because we sincerely want to know the answer, or do we approach Jesus with a desire for him to agree with us?  How much of religion is about creating images of God and theologies to support our preconceived positions!  Yet, authentic religion is about the quest for wisdom and truth that informs and shapes our lives to deeper commitments of mercy and love for others.   

Rethinking the Story

Gospel: Matthew 22: 1-14

We have been given a certain way of thinking about this parable where the Jewish people are maligned for their response to the king and they are replaced with other people who are brought to the wedding banquet.  But then we have this poor man without a wedding garment who finds himself unexpectedly in a wedding and perhaps unable financially to even have a wedding garment, but is now cast out of the hall for this lack of proper attire.  What are we to make of it all?

First, the story is odd in that it is highly unusual for a king's wedding to go unattended or ignored.  Those seeking favor from the king and those looking for social influence attended such functions for those reasons alone.  And no king would go about the byways seeking for any old slob to attend his wedding banquet.  And how could we fault this poor man without a wedding garment when he was forced to attend on such short notice?

This parable is addressed to the religious leaders of Jesus' day.  Perhaps what Jesus is saying here is that we may have been thinking wrongly about God for a very long time.  Maybe that's why people are not coming to the religious rites - i.e. the wedding banquet.  Instead of seeing God as a temperamental king, we might imagine God differently and arrive at different conclusions and outcomes than we have had in the world of religion.  Maybe that lesson is for religious leaders of all times and places... 

Limiting the Limitless

Gospel:  Matthew 20: 1-16

In today's parable Jesus describes for us in story form what theology has attempted to do over the centuries - the constant attempt to contain and limit what is by definition and experience limitless.  We have the story of a vineyard owner who is a representation of God.  This man hires others throughout the day to work in his fields, and at day's end he pays everyone the same daily wage.  He provides the daily bread, the daily needs, of all these people.

Now enter the theologians.  Some complain loudly that this arrangement is unfair.  They worked longer, so they should get more and others should get less.  They want to create categories of special status and chosen people over and against others.  They want to reject the idea of God's generosity to all and set limits on it.  They want to defend their economic theories of privilege and "merit" and reject ideas of the common good and care for all people.  

But God provides for all people.  God provides for the daily bread of all his children, and all people are children of God without exception or exclusion.  Even the tax collectors, the prostitutes, the betrayer, the denier, and those who abandoned him were fed at his table.  No one goes hungry.  The theologians will seek to say otherwise.  Let us instead seek to be perfect as our heavenly father is perfect, following the example of Jesus, and provide for all. 

One Lane Road

Gospel: Matthew 19: 23-30

A disciple lives in their own time, forming their judgments and theology based on this world around them.  The Master, on the other hand, lives on a different plane entirely.  Jesus tells his disciples that it is very difficult for the rich to enter the kingdom of God, a statement that shocks them.  They reply, if that is true then who can be saved? They believe, as many do, that riches are blessings from God, a sign that God has favored them and surely they would be the core of God's reign.

But this idea assumes that riches are acquired honestly and through hard work alone.  The reality is that riches are more often than not gained through dishonest means, frequently through the exploitation of and theft from others.  What is more, the hoarding of this wealth is itself its own sin, theft from the poor and needy who lack the basic necessities of life.  In the mind of the Master, riches are not a blessing but a great curse, a weight around one's neck that drags one down to a depth of misery.

We still think as those disciples.  We fawn over the rich in our "stewardship" campaigns, in the lust for political power and influence, in the love of our ornate temples and residences of our prelates.  We think all these are blessings of God, signs of God's singular favor.  It is all an illusion, a house of sand that leads to our ruin.  We remain shocked at Jesus' statements against the rich and seek to explain them away.  After all, it's not good copy for our direct mail appeals. 

What Must I Do?

Gospel:  Matthew 19: 16-22

A man asks Jesus, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?"  Jesus tells him to keep the commandments, specifically those that deal with our relations with others, with love of our neighbor.  Do not kill. Do not steal.  Do not bear false witness.  Do not covet.  And love your neighbor through concrete acts of care for them.  By avoiding actions that harm our neighbor and in performing actions of good for them, we come to inherit eternal life.

But the man is not satisfied.  I have done all that, what more can I do?  Jesus then says that if we wish to be perfect, we must then sell all that we have and give it away to the poor.  Then, we must follow the Lord Jesus and do the work that he has been doing:  healing people of their illnesses and infirmities; liberating people from their demons; and nourishing people at table.  This is the pathway to perfection - the care of the poor and marginalized of all backgrounds, excluding none.  

Notice what are absent from these lists  are the things that tend to dominate Christian concern: the quest for power, influence, and riches in our obsession with politics and media empires, or the building and upkeep of vast tracts of property.  Absent too are the perseverations over liturgical minutiae and theological erudition.  The way to eternal life and perfection is the way of love and care for others, for it was the way of Jesus in his life on earth.

Imagine If...

Gospel: Matthew 15: 21-28

Let us imagine this Gospel story from another angle.  Imagine if Jesus had listened to his disciples who tell him to ignore this foreign, pagan woman and the needs of her daughter who is caught in the grips of a demon.  Let us suppose that this version of the story is preserved, recorded, and passed on into the Gospel text, permeating the tradition.  Let us consider the various outcomes and consequences of this rendering of the story.  

Most immediate is the fact that the young girl would still remain in the grips of the demon; she would not have been helped.  Then, we would have a story and a tradition that now can create a theology of exclusion based on prejudice and bias against women, foreigners, and those of different faith backgrounds that can then be used to justify all sorts of animus against the same throughout history, leaving a trail of pain and death across the centuries.

Yes, even with the story as it is, we have still managed to create such ideologies and outcomes in the world.  At least with this story standing as it exists, those who do create such theologies and exact such pain on the world do so in opposition to the example and teaching of Jesus, not because of it.  The world can see that such theologies are utterly false and demonic, and that those who struggle to accept Christianity do so because alleged Christians follow the way of the disciples and not the way of Jesus.

Remembering the Promise

Gospel: Luke 1: 39-56

A Christian feast would not be so were there not some controversy surrounding it.  In a tradition that cannot celebrate the greatest feast of Easter on the same day, so today's feast comes with its own set of disputes, not the least of which is where it took place.  For some, Mary went with the apostle John to Ephesus where she was lifted up to heaven, and shrine exists there.  For others, Mary's dormition took place in Jerusalem, where the Dormition Church marks the locale of that tradition.  

Along the way rival ideas about whether Mary fell asleep and was brought up to heaven or whether she was just brought up to heaven added to the endless minutiae of disputes in Christianity that leave a person tired and exhausted, much like Mary to be sure at the end of her life.  This poor, simple village woman who exists as our model of bearing Christ and bringing him forth into the world by our life, surely did not sign on for such disputatious nonsense regarding the end of her days on this earth.  

In her Magnificat Mary rejoices that God has remembered the promises to his people, the promises of liberation and renewal.  Mary experienced that liberation and new life.  Her life and her final moments on earth invite us to experience that liberation and renewal as well.  Rather than adding to the discord and oppression in church and world, let us instead imitate Mary, bearing the Lord, bringing forth the Lord into the world in our lives, and being transformed by the liberation and new life that his life brings to all. 

Finding the Ideal

Gospel:  Matthew 19: 3-12

Today's Gospel portion is difficult to read if one is a woman.  The entire conversation around divorce is had entirely from the point of view of a man.  The woman is seen merely as property without any say, and the one exception allowing divorce is predicated on the lewdness of the woman, not the man.  The implied message of the teaching is that a man should keep his wife, though the motives for doing so are not stated in the ideal of love, but are left unclear.

Jesus' disciples hear this teaching and immediately say that if this is so, then it is better not to marry at all.  This response is truly horrid.  Their reason for celibacy is based not on any noble ideals or for the kingdom of God, but only on the fact that they do not have the option of divorcing their wives if they so chose.  And it overlooks the reality unmarried women faced in those days - no protection from law, vulnerability, poverty, and resorting to whatever means to survive as noncitizens unattached to a man.  

The decision to marry and remain committed to marriage is a deep and serious one, one that is borne by both men and women equally.  Marriage is not a decision of one day of proposal and another of the wedding day itself.  It is a decision of each moment of each day that both members make.  A marriage can be an inspiring thing to those who experience one longstanding and committed by each person.  This is the ideal to which married people are called to undertake in a partnership of equals in mutual love and respect.

The Great Difficulty

Gospel:  Matthew 18: 21 - 19: 1

Peter asks a disciple question: how many times do I have to forgive someone?  It is a question loaded with problems.  First, it seeks to find the minimum requirement in order to fulfill whatever standard we believe ought to exist in this category of mercy.  The second problem is even more serious: we claim to believe in a God of mercy and love who is also infinite, and yet we somehow believe that a limitless God has limits on love and mercy.  

That second problem becomes the subject of the parable that follows.  The Master forgives a debt that cannot possibly be repaid.  That mercy goes to the depth of God's mercy for each and every person.  Both the amount of times God forgives us human beings and the gravity of what God forgives each of us should give us great pause in our never ending attempts to limit and circumscribe mercy both in our own human lives and in our lame theological attempts to do so to God.  

Therein lies the point of this forgiven man who was not able to forgive a much lesser debt that another owed him.  How often do we see other people in this parable but not ourselves, even though each of us is guilty of this behavior.  We will find reasons to justify our refusal to forgive others.  We will create entire theologies and systems in order to defend our lack of mercy.  Yet, Jesus ate with sinners.  He ate with his betrayer, his denier, those who abandoned him.  He eats with us too.  We must do likewise.   

Misreading Jesus

Gospel:  Matthew 18: 15-20

Jesus gives us a set of steps to follow in dealing with people we deem are in need of correction in the church.  The first three steps are obvious enough to follow:  first, have a face to face with the person; second, bring another person along to help if the first step fails; and third, bring the person to the church community if these other steps fail.  If these fail, Jesus then says that we should treat this person as if they were a Gentile or a tax collector.  What does this mean?

In Jesus' day, the Gentile and tax collector were people utterly shunned and banished from good Jewish society.  These were the unclean with whom one could not associate.  Presumably, then, this is how we are to treat someone who will not hear correction in any of the previous three steps.  Except that Jesus did not treat Gentiles and tax collectors in this way.  He healed their sick, liberated them from the demons that afflicted them, and ate with them at table.

For those who love excommunication and shunning, we might well consider the example of Jesus in light of this passage.  Perhaps, instead of our love of shunning and expulsion, we are instead invited to encounter and deeper engagement as Jesus demonstrated in his life.  The common way of the world would make offenders pariahs and unclean.  The way of Jesus would bring us to deeper engagement and service to the offender.  Which way leads to healing, restoration, and peace? 

Who is Greatest?

Gospel: Matthew 18: 1-5, 10, 12-14

The disciples are obsessed with power, status, and hierarchy, continually asking who is most important, who is the greatest, who has the most power.  So it is to this very day.  In response to this never ending lust for power and status, Jesus sets before his disciples a child, someone with no power, no status, no influence at all in society.  A child, then as now, is the most vulnerable and weakest member of the population, someone with no rights or privileges.  A child is greatest in the kingdom of God.

To highlight the point even further, Jesus then gives us a confounding parable of the lost sheep.  Jesus asks us a question: what shepherd wouldn't leave ninety-nine sheep exposed and vulnerable in order to find the one lost sheep?  Well, no shepherd would do that - except Jesus.  Every other shepherd would apply utilitarian calculus and abandon the lost sheep for the sake of the greater number, a calculus that dominates church ministry to this day.  

But Jesus is not a utilitarian, nor is he one to care about power, status, and hierarchy.  To be great in the kingdom is to do what Jesus did - to become vulnerable, weak, and powerless in order to serve the needs of others, especially those most vulnerable and lost.  Again, we are faced with two paths: the path of the disciples with its utilitarian calculus and striving for status, or the path of Jesus where all are loved and important, especially the most powerless and vulnerable.   

To Follow and Serve

Gospel: John 12: 24-26

Each year on the feast of St. Lawrence we are inspired by his stand before the Roman Empire which demanded of him the treasures of the Church.  His response was to bring before the tribunal the poor of Rome, announcing that this is the treasure of the Church - to serve the poor.  For Lawrence, it was not a mere display or show.  He served the poor day in and day out as a deacon providing material and sacramental support to the poor throughout the city.

To serve the poor is to follow and serve Jesus.  Jesus went about caring for the poor his entire ministry: healing the sick and lame, liberating those in the grips of demons, feeding people at table.  The poor became Jesus' very identity, for he places as the only criterion of judgment before God whether we care for the poor or not.  We follow Jesus by doing what he did.  We serve Jesus in the very people whom Jesus served and with whom he identified.  

To follow and serve Jesus is not about supporting media empires or political factions.  It does not consist in the ongoing care of elaborate campuses and shrines.  It is not represented in the donning of religious garb and finery.  To follow and serve Jesus is about one thing only: the care of the poor.  The only authentic Christianity is one that has that as its primary mission and inspiration.  St. Lawrence, pray for us. 

Adrift at Sea

Gospel: Matthew 14: 22-33

The disciples find themselves at the whims of the sea between the crowd on one side of the shore and Jesus on the other.  The sea is unsettled, the wind is brisk, it is the dark of night, and they are adrift.  At a certain point, coming out of the darkness comes Jesus walking out to them on the sea.  They are frightened, thinking they see a ghost.  Jesus has to reassure them:  do not be frightened, it is I.  Jesus comes to bring peace and reassurance.  

Yet, Peter is not convinced.  If it really is you, bid me come out to you on the sea.  So Jesus invites him to come walk on the water.  Peter approaches and initially has success in walking out to Jesus.  But a gust of wind frightens him and he sinks into the sea, needing Jesus to help rescue him.  How often it is that the slightest distraction and inconvenience we sink into the water.  How often are we adrift at sea between the crowds and Jesus.  

The more we read the Gospels, the more we come to realize that they are not so much about the literal story as much as they are about the constant examination of our spiritual lives.  Whether this story took place or not is not as important as our own status the story seeks for us to discern.  Are we moved by the emotions of the sea as the disciples, unable to decide whether the crowd is more important or being with the Lord on the mountaintop? Is discipleship our priority, or imitating the Lord Jesus?

Inadequacy of Discipleship

Gospel:  Matthew 17: 14-20

A man has a son in the grips of a demon.  He first went to Jesus' disciples to help him, but the disciples were not able to do so.  The man then comes to Jesus, stating that his disciples were not able to cure his son, and he begs Jesus to cure his son.  Jesus, of course, does so, but not without a lament about the lack of faith he continually sees.  Our first reaction to this lament of Jesus is to have pity on this father - how could he be blamed in all this?

But Jesus is not blaming this man.  He is finding fault with the lack of faith in his disciples.  In fact, Jesus rebukes them for their lack of faith in failing to help this boy and his father.  As so many other Gospel stories make evident, discipleship is not the goal of the Christian life, for to be a disciple in the Gospels always leads to inadequacy and failure.  The Gospels time and again remind us that the goal of Christian living is to imitate Jesus, to be illuminated and divinized by him.

The father in this story is a model for us as well.  When we find inadequacy in churchmen - when we find they are unable to help us and in fact are obstacles to us - then we go to Jesus.  We let him know that his disciples were not able to help us, that their faith was inadequate.  We then seek to imitate Jesus, not the disciples, and in imitating Jesus we are freed from our demons, we are illuminated, and we are divinized into his likeness.     

Profits and Losses

Gospel:  Matthew 16: 24-28

What do we gain if we spend our entire lives seeking to amass riches and possessions?  Consider the house and storage sheds of those who hoard possessions.  At some point these items will mean nothing at all.  The possessor of these things will die, leaving to someone else the possessions.  Or consider the wealthy person who has amassed billions of dollars.  Upon death that money has no meaning, and the possessions, the money become a millstone, not a life line.  

Was it really worth it to spend one's life this way? Do the rich and powerful have any satisfaction at all upon their deathbed?  How many people could have benefited from their money and possessions in having just basic necessities that were deprived them by those who hoard treasure to the detriment of others.  The wealthy lose their life, for their life was their possessions and money, all of which are left behind when death comes for them.

But those who have given up such wealth and treasure have lived for the sake of others.  They have provided care and mercy for others.  They have lived a truly free life. not bound by the slavery to possessions and money.  If we find ourselves in the grip of the demons of wealth and possessions, today is a day to let them go that they may be used to help others in their need.  This is the way of Jesus, the way of the cross, the way to resurrection and life. 

Transfiguration Moments

 

Gospel: Matthew 17: 1-9

The work of the kingdom can be tiring.  The needs of the vast multitude are many and never seem to end.  Wherever we go there are people in need of healing, people struggling to overcome their demons, people hungry for food and for attention.  The mission of mercy is a constant one like the tending of a garden, and very often it can be overwhelming.  We need rest and we need perspective.  The crowd and the people fill us with all sorts of thoughts - from delusions of grandeur to feelings of inadequacy.  

From time to time we are invited up to the mountain by the Lord.  If he had not invited us we likely would not stop to take the rest.  At this invitation we go with him to the mountain, and we hear again the words of baptism.  We are reminded that we are beloved children of God, reminded of our identity, of our rich tradition, of the promise of a future resurrection one day.  These are moments of transfiguration, of renewal God provides us in the midst of the work.  

Today's feast comes in the midst of the heat of summer.  It is hot and the work seems all the harder in this time of year.  Yet, we are given this moment of renewal, this moment that reminds us of our identity as children of God, of our great tradition of faith stretching back millennia that inspires us once again to continue the work of the kingdom, the work of mercy to a world that needs healing, reconciliation, liberation from its demons, and nourishment at table.

Send Her Away!

Gospel: Matthew 15: 21-28

The disciples are annoyed by this foreign woman who asks Jesus for help. She is a Canaanite and woman - doubly unclean!  The male disciples don't like women too much.  They didn't like Jesus talking to the Samaritan woman either.  To be sure this conversation Jesus has with the woman is not particularly warm, but it is a conversation.  Jesus rejects the suggestion of the male disciples who suggest that Jesus send her away.  He does not do that.  He engages with the woman in conversation.

In the encounter Jesus discovers a great faith in the woman doubly unclean, a faith he has not seen among his fellow Israelites or in his disciples.  The woman goes away with healing for her daughter and transformation for her own spirit, and hopefully so do we.  How often have we engaged in this behavior of the male disciples.  How often have we sent people away or written off entire groups of people because of our biases and pre-conceived ideas of them.  How often did we reject the path of encounter in favor of our own versions of the path of the fortress.  

Imagine what would have happened had Jesus taken the advice of his male disciples.  The woman's daughter would still be in the grips of her demons.  The woman herself would not have been transformed, and neither would we.  We would remain in our biases and fortress mentalities.  We would use Jesus to defend these biases and fortresses.  Now, we cannot do so.  Jesus takes the path of encounter, the path of transformation every single time, regardless of the person's gender, race, socioeconomic background, or status in society.   

Empty Rituals

Gospel: Matthew 15: 1-2, 10-14

This Gospel passage seems strange to us as we are accustomed to washing hands before meals for hygiene purposes.  Yet, the ritual washings in Judaism have nothing to do with physical cleanliness.  The rituals had to do with interior purity of intention and judgment before God.  The practice, however, became a mere formalism and few knew and internalized the meaning of the ritual.  In fact, the objection of the Pharisees here is that the disciples don't follow the tradition, nothing more.  The meaning is utterly lost.

We ourselves have many such rubrics that most have forgotten and have become empty gestures devoid of meaning.  Take, for example, the practice of dipping one's hand in holy water and signing oneself upon entering a church or even one's home.  Few know that this practice is designed to be a reminder of one's baptism and a recommitment to our baptismal promises.  Yet, how many people just perform the action of of mindless habit, or have invented all sorts of nonsense about its meaning.  

The warning Jesus gives of rituals and their defenders of his day apply in our own.  If one is to partake of the ritual, know and enter into its meaning.  Jesus invites us not to abandon ritual as much as being conscious of its meaning and appropriating that meaning into the lives we live.  How often the hardest of hearts are those so fastidious and rigid about ritual and external practice but neglect the inner meaning that is designed to transform the heart of a person, to illuminate and divinize our negligible love into an ever expansive heart open to all. 

Adrift at Sea

Gospel: Matthew 14: 22-36

After feeding the large crowd, Jesus made the disciples get into a boat and go to the other side of the sea.  There, Jesus leaves the boat and goes up the mountain to be alone with God.  Meanwhile the disciples remain out on the sea between the crowd on one side and Jesus on the other.  The sea grew unsettled and the disciples grew nervous and on edge in the night.  Consider this as our condition and status all so often as ones claiming to be disciples of Jesus.

In the midst of the the darkness and turmoil, Jesus comes across the water to assure his disciples that all is well.  Instead, they grow more afraid, seeing him as a ghost and not real.  Peter then gets the courage to accept Jesus' invitation and walk out on the sea toward him, and for a brief moment he succeeds.  But then a gust of wind comes, the slightest of distractions and discomforts, and he once again falters, sinking into the sea, focused more on it than the Lord.

We hear so much about the "crisis" in the Church and in the world.  It is the constant perseveration of rival camps who use the "crisis" to their political and financial advantage.  But, like this Gospel scene, the "crisis" is of our own making.  Had we joined the Lord on the mountain we would be at peace.  Had we focused on him at the boat all would be well.  But we do not because, in a perverse way, we prefer the "crisis", we prefer being adrift at sea.  Today, however, is a day for us to prefer the peace of the Lord.

All Are Served Here

Gospel:  Matthew 14: 13-21

The Gospels always present at least two possible paths to follow in every scenario.  There is the path of the disciples and others who continually look for reasons not to do something, not to help another.  In today's Gospel portion they tell Jesus that the crowd is just too large, that they cannot go to the village for food as it is too far, that they just do not have enough provisions to care for everyone.  Here, the modern disciples would create conditions of exclusion - the worthy poor, illegals - in order to limit care to others.

But then there is the path of Jesus, who always finds a way to help others without qualification or discrimination.  Here, he challenges the disciples - go to the village, feed them yourselves.  Each solution offered by the Lord is met with an objection.  Yet, Jesus provides for everyone.  No litmus tests, no checking for lawful status, no worthiness criteria.  He just feeds everyone simply because they are hungry, much like the invitation of the prophet in the first reading from Isaiah 55.  

Christians love to call themselves disciples of the Lord Jesus, as if that title is a positive thing, as if that is our goal in the spiritual life.  In the Gospels the path of the disciple is the one that leads away from the cross; it is not a positive connotation.  For the Gospels are not about being a disciple, but rather about being the Lord in all we do.  Today we are challenged to be the Lord Jesus in our service and care for others in the world.

Herod's Follies

Gospel:  Matthew 14: 1-12

Herod was a man who, like many in high positions of leadership, viewed the world from within the confines of his palace rooms.  Earlier in the Gospel he stayed within his fortress to muse on the birth of the Messiah.  Seeing that as a threat to him, he sought the death of the child and many others.  In today's Gospel portion and in a later episode, he seeks to understand Jesus not by going out to meet and observe Jesus, but in the abstractions of his mind within his regal environs.  

It is easy to see why powerful leaders who live only in their palace walls and minds arrive at false conclusions so often and inflict violence and death wherever they go.  Jesus, by contrast, left the environs of his heaven and came among the world to understand and love those he encountered wherever he went.  The approach of encounter leads to love and understanding, never to violence and hatred.  The fortress mentality and navel gazing leads to bad judgment, mistrust, and violence.  

John the Baptist and Jesus ministered to people out in the desert, in villages, hillsides, and homes of people in need.  They did not minister in palaces and fortresses of power.  Each was brought to these seats of power in order to be condemned and executed.  Those who choose the court of Herod have their reward - power, influence, wealth.  Those who choose the way of encounter, the way of John and Jesus, have the Beatitudes as their eternal reward.