Lent Day Thirty Six - Creeping Darkness

Gospel	John 11:45-56 ©

Jesus was to die to gather together the scattered children of God

Many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary and had seen what Jesus did believed in him, but some of them went to tell the Pharisees what Jesus had done. Then the chief priests and Pharisees called a meeting. ‘Here is this man working all these signs’ they said ‘and what action are we taking? If we let him go on in this way everybody will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy the Holy Place and our nation.’ One of them, Caiaphas, the high priest that year, said, ‘You do not seem to have grasped the situation at all; you fail to see that it is better for one man to die for the people than for the whole nation to be destroyed.’ He did not speak in his own person, it was as high priest that he made this prophecy that Jesus was to die for the nation – and not for the nation only, but to gather together in unity the scattered children of God. From that day they were determined to kill him. So Jesus no longer went about openly among the Jews, but left the district for a town called Ephraim, in the country bordering on the desert, and stayed there with his disciples.

  The Jewish Passover drew near, and many of the country people who had gone up to Jerusalem to purify themselves looked out for Jesus, saying to one another as they stood about in the Temple, ‘What do you think? Will he come to the festival or not?’

We've crested the mountain and below us in a sweeping vista is the city of Jerusalem.  It is a site that fills me with awe, a site that fills me with wonder, and a trophy for this long, hot walk.  Uriah tells us that tomorrow, Sunday, we shall enter the great city. He has sent word ahead and we will be greeted as if we were conquering heroes!  The Master after admiring the view turned around and gathered us together.  His smile was warm as He faced us. He told us that after tomorrow He would no longer be with the group as he had urgent business in Jerusalem. He told us that each of us was beloved of God because we were true believers and had followed a hard road to get to this point.  He told us that our future was secure if we but believed in the Son and were His ambassadors and field hands.  We were to bring the Light of Christ to all we met who traveled the hot dusty roads through the valley of death.  He warned us to not depend on our own strength for if we did we would surely fail.  He bid us to talk to the Father and to cast all of our cares upon Him because He cares for us.  He told us that as we go through life day by day we should also pray for what we need and that what we need would always be provided.  He told us that in heaven we had many brothers and sisters who eagerly listen for our requests for help and they will always intercede for us with the Father if we but ask.  The saints live in the constant light of God and they behold Him as He is.  They see too,  the Son who watches the hands of the Father and is always ready to do the Father's will. And these same saints basque in the glow that the Father has for the Son and in in doing so they see the infinite love that is the Holy Spirit. He told us that upon our entry into Jerusalem we would look for Him but not find Him.  He will see them again on Thursday eve at a room that Uriah will show them.  With a single tear glistening in the sunlight as it flowed down His cheek.  He turned his back on us and looked forward, with apparent anguish, at the City of Jerusalem.  

Lent - Day Eight - Forty Days And Its All Over!

Gospel	Luke 11:29-32 ©

As Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be a sign

The crowds got even bigger, and Jesus addressed them:

  ‘This is a wicked generation; it is asking for a sign. The only sign it will be given is the sign of Jonah. For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. On Judgement day the Queen of the South will rise up with the men of this generation and condemn them because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and there is something greater than Solomon here. On Judgement day the men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation and condemn it because when Jonah preached they repented, and there is something greater than Jonah here.’

The days are starting to blend into one another.  Upon awakening, I really have to think for a moment to figure out what day it actually is.  I knew it wasn't Sunday because of the fact that the slow and easy attitude was not what I was seeing from my companions.  Breakfast was being prepared, the camels were being tended to.  So, I did my assigned chores and then we met around the campfire in the morning darkness and after a prayer, we sat down around the fire and began to enjoy breakfast.  Today the flat desert style bread was bulging with the fruit of dates and figs and the coffee was just perfect.  Overhead I saw an airplane heading east, the same direction we were going.  They would arrive at the Holy City in a matter of hours, but we had days of walking before we would get there and once again enjoy modern conveniences.  The Master, after He finished his breakfast, stood up and with that, all of the noise around the campfire stopped and we looked expectantly at Him.  

"Brothers, back in the day there was a town called Nineveh.  It was a beautiful place and it was busy with trade and there was nightlife and there were enjoyments of a carnal nature but there was no respect for God.  Oh, they knew what they should be doing but that would not be fun.  Some of the people who saw what was happening and loved and respected God and His ways tried to tell people that they were sinning.  For their trouble, they were mocked and spat upon and unspeakable things were done to them and their family that made them outcasts for the fun-loving characters of Nineveh.  The Lord God looked down and saw such evil that He could not believe it.  He resolved to remedy the matter but first would send them a prophet to warn them and if they would repent of their evil ways, well He would stay His hand.  But it was even difficult to get someone to do this job.  Jonah who was God's choice for the job was not a great lover of the people of Nineveh.  He defied the Father and the Father arranged for the ship he was using to get stuck in a great storm. The sailors knew that something unearthly was in play here and so they decided that one of them had to be put over the side.  They drew lots and Jonah drew the short straw.  He saw it as punishment for trying to flee God and so he allowed himself to be thrown overboard.  But God was not done with the man.  He caused Jonah to be swallowed by a big fish and he was in the stomach of this fish for three days and the God caused the fish to vomit him up onto dry land, and guess where?  Yes, you guessed right, it was right where the road to Nineveh began.  Jonah walked to the great city and as he walked through it he proclaimed that in a short time, the great city would be destroyed because of its sinful ways.  Others had tried this and met with failure.  Jonah touched the hearts of the people and even the king who immediately proclaimed a fast and they wore sackcloth and ashes and they repented of their sins and thus was the great city spared. "

"In this world, we can easily see the wicked and their actions and how every face is turned away from God and every person thinks he is a god. Your job is to be Jonah to those you see that are sinning.  Sin, no matter if it is your own life or if it is the life of others has to be stamped out.  This has to be done at the peril of your reputation, for there are those that will think that you have gone mad, or that you are old-fashioned, or perhaps a prude.  They will tell you that whatever rules you want to follow they will not interfere with but don't try to make them toe that mark.,  That is what they will say to your face, but they will interfere. They will go to those in power and demand that their sinful ways be protected and become the law of the land.  And they will go after you.  Your life will be revealed in stark detail and they will not hesitate to lie about you. You are called to spread the word that God is  Love and Mercy, but He is also God of Justice as well. Your job will be to tell them to repent and return to God and His ways.  Your job will be hard but rewarding in the end.  Now pack up this camp in record time, we have to go to Jerusalem."

Knowing

1 JN 2:3-11

Beloved:
The way we may be sure that we know Jesus is to keep his commandments. 
Whoever says, "I know him," but does not keep his commandments
is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
But whoever keeps his word,
the love of God is truly perfected in him. 
This is the way we may know that we are in union with him:
whoever claims to abide in him ought to walk just as he walked.

Beloved, I am writing no new commandment to you
but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. 
The old commandment is the word that you have heard. 
And yet I do write a new commandment to you,
which holds true in him and among you,
for the darkness is passing away,
and the true light is already shining. 
Whoever says he is in the light,
yet hates his brother, is still in the darkness. 
Whoever loves his brother remains in the light,
and there is nothing in him to cause a fall. 
Whoever hates his brother is in darkness;
he walks in darkness
and does not know where he is going
because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

I am a person that knows a lot of stuff.  That does not make me special, it means that I have had some education and the knowledge that has been discovered by those that came before me has in part been instilled in me.  It is safe to say that if I were to be sent back to the 1700's and ended up in Salem Massachusetts that I would have been arrested and tried and hung for being a warlock because I have knowledge of things that they could not even dream about.  Can you imagine if I told them about a light that used no fire?  Or what if I told them about a power source, such as radium, that had the potential of powering the light that used no fire forever.  Oh, they would hang me alright because they could never understand things that they had no inkling about. If you were to send me back to Europe, in the time of DiVinci, he would understand some of what I was speaking about and he would consider me a genius.  Yes, I have a lot of knowledge but so what? 

I know a lot about Jesus and his life and his Church and how to live a good Christian life but again if I do not do it, then what good does all of this knowledge do for me?  It not only does me no good because if I know it, I am responsible for it and should incorporate it into my life.  This is what John is telling us on the chilly December morning.  It is not enough to know about Jesus, you must know Jesus and follow Him by carrying your cross too. 

The poor souls need your help.  Please pray for them today. 

The Immaculate Exception

The angel Gabriel was sent from God
to a town of Galilee called Nazareth,
to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph,
of the house of David,
and the virgin's name was Mary.
And coming to her, he said,
"Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you."
But she was greatly troubled at what was said
and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
Then the angel said to her,
"Do not be afraid, Mary,
for you have found favor with God.
Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,
and you shall name him Jesus.
He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,
and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,
and he will rule over the house                                        

 of Jacob forever,
and of his Kingdom, there will be no end."
But Mary said to the angel,
"How can this be,
since I have no relations with a man?"
And the angel said to her in reply,
"The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
Therefore the child to be born
will be called holy, the Son of God.
And behold, Elizabeth, your relative,
has also conceived a son in her old age,
and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren;
for nothing will be impossible for God."
Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.
May it be done to me according to your word."
Then the angel departed from her.

Today's Solemnity makes me happy that I am a Catholic.  This feast is a prime example of the Church getting something right, right from the start. The readings presented will confuse some people because it is the dialogue of the angel and Mary on the occasion of the Annunciation.  That, of course, is not what we celebrate on this day.  The reason that the Church uses this particular scripture passage on this feast day is because of what both of the characters say.  The Angel Gabriel tells Mary that she is full of grace.  The timing of this announcement is important.  It was said BEFORE she agreed to become the Mother of God, not after.  The Angel was therefore not bringing her Grace, she already had it and she had it in an extravagant abundance, she was full, absolutely full of grace.  Her soul could not contain even one more ounce of God's love and Grace.  If you have a jar and fill it to the top with sand, you cannot get any more in it.  Mary was born without the stain of original sin on her soul, her soul was pure and beautiful in God's sight.  But why did God do this? 

Look at what we know about the nature of God.  God is infinite goodness and love.  Nothing that is impure or sinful can ever be in His presence.  The Virgin Mary was going to be the Mother of the Messiah. For nine months she was to bear in her body the body, blood, soul, and divinity of the Son of God.  I never thought of it before, but, her womb could be considered a tabernacle. If I was going to be flippant about it, I might call Mary's womb a branch office of heaven because God was present inside of her. This being the case, there could not even be a hint of sin in the place God was to dwell. 

How did God do this?  It is true, God could have created Mary as singularly different creature, one who had a specially built soul which was absolutely resistant to sin but that would make Mary a creature at least one step removed from being a human being, she would be in effect Human Being Mark II.  The genus man had sinned and it was man that had to pay the price for the sin so Jesus would have to be born through the office of an ordinary woman. Mary, therefore, required a savior. 

God is not bound by space and time. He exists in the past, present, and future as we see it all at the same time. Therefore, God knew that Jesus was going to pay the price for the sin of Adam and Eve by dying on the cross. He, therefore, applied the graces to Mary before the fact as we see it and preserved her from any taint of original sin.  The old example is that while Jesus rescued you and me from the pit of sin, Mary was carried over it by her Son. 

As I said, the wonder of this feast comes from the conversation between Mary and the Angel. To her eternal credit, Mary never hesitates, she asks only how that she would conceive a son because she never had relations with a man. Then she accepts, meekly and humbly calling herself the handmaid of the Lord and she says, "Let it be done to me as you have said."   But, doesn't this immaculate conception thing kind of make her a puppet?  Could she have refused?  

Mary was a human being.  In many ways, she was very, very, ordinary.  She was a pious girl in an age where piety was the expected norm and she was taught to love God and keep the commandments.  She also was born with free will and she was free to say no to the angel.  Because she was full of grace, her whole mind, body, and soul were turned to God in a way that made it much more likely that she would say yes rather than no but she had that decision to make. And as I pointed out, she never hesitated but she nullified the no of Adam and Eve with her "Yes" to be obedient to God. 

Our Protestant brothers and sisters have a great deal of difficulty with the concept of where Mary fits into God's plan of salvation.  We Catholics are very fortunate that we understand the truth of the matter and that we have a mother in heaven that has the ear of the Savior.  What does Mary tell us in scripture?  At Cana, she gave us her best advice, "Do whatever he tells you to do." 

Please remember to pray for the poor souls in Purgatory today.  An Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be will help them so much.  Remember, As they are, someday you may be.

Things Will Be A Changin'

Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb,                         and the leopard shall lie down with the kid;
The calf and the young lion shall browse together,
with a little child to guide them.
The cow and the bear shall be neighbors,
together their young shall rest;
the lion shall eat hay like the ox.
The baby shall play by the cobra's den,
and the child lay his hand on the adder's lair.
There shall be no harm or ruin on all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the LORD, as water covers the sea.

When you go to the movies today, you see previews of coming attractions. Movies that are scheduled to be there in the future but are not there yet. Our reading today from the book of the Prophet Isiah is just that, a preview of what is to be.  On the day the Lord returns, everything will change. Enemies will become friends. The nature of relationships between creatures will become one of peace and mutual care. On that day, Isiah says, there will be no harm or ruin, there will be peace.

This is what we are waiting for, the return of the Lord and the restoration of the world to how it was intended from the start.  When the Lord returns, those of us who are dead will rise to a great new morning, a world of wonders and a world of peace.  The Church wants us to know what it is that we are waiting for and wants us to know that we can help bring this about by living a worthy life now and to promote peace between peoples and to care for one another as it was intended for us to do from the start.  The Lord's day is coming and the Lord's day is already here! 

Our brothers and sisters in Purgatory long the Lord's day to manifest itself in their lives. They wait patiently and joyfully to be taken into the presence of God.  Your prayers and sacrifices can help them.  Won't you please pray for them today?  As they are, someday you might be. 

Lord I Am Not Worthy...

When Jesus entered Capernaum,

a centurion approached him and appealed to him, saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully."  He said to him, "I will come and cure him." The centurion said in reply,

"Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed.

For I too am a man subject to authority,

with soldiers subject to me. And I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come here,' and he comes; and to my slave, 'Do this,' and he does it."  When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, "Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith. I say to you, many will come from the east and the west, and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the banquet in the Kingdom of heaven."

If you wanted to describe the passage from Matthew in one word, I would say that the word you could use would be "remarkable."  Here we have an official of the Roman Army approaching a Hebrew street preacher to ask for help in curing his servant from some sort of paralysis.  We can assume that the Centurion had already exhausted remedies suggested by Roman medical authorities who were very often nothing more than slaves with a little bit of knowledge on how to stop bleeding and not much more than that. Unsatisfied that his servant did not attain any relief from the Roman medical community, he decided to reach out to the locals who seem to have better medical care than the occupiers of the country.  The Jewish people were healthier than most people of the era and had such modern things as toothbrushes and toothpaste made out of grit and a bit of honey.  Even so, the Centurion did not approach a medical professional but rather Jesus.  This is interesting because a Centurion was an important official in the Roman army.  He was generally a professional soldier with several tours of duty under his belt. At various times in history the number of soldiers he was in charge of ranged from thirty to one-hundred.  At this time, the Centurion in the Roman Army was in charge of one-hundred Legionnaires.  The Centurion reported to the Tribune and was in charge of and infamous for brutal disciplines meated out to those who needed it under his command.  He was expected to be a leader and one that could rally the troops when things were not going Rome's way in battle.  He must always appear resolute and he could count on being executed if he showed any cowardice when engaging the enemy.  Most of those with this rank would retire as Centurions but advancement was possible.  He could be promoted to the emperor's bodyguard and even be promoted to various civil offices including the Roman Senate.   So it was remarkable that this man would seek out a Hebrew to solve a medical problem. It shows that Jesus was known, even to the Romans, who took little notice of the religion of Israel except where it affected the power of the emperor. 

Jesus for His part, takes pity on the sick person, even though the servant was obviously not a Jew and was ready to set off with the Centurion to effect a cure.  The Centurion would have none of it.  He told Jesus that he was not worthy to expect Jesus to come under his roof.  He explained that as a person with authority he knew how to get things done.  He would tell one soldier to go and he would go and another to come here and that soldier would come running to see what was needed.   He knew enough about Jesus to know that Jesus was a man with authority and if he commanded the sickness to be gone, it would be gone.  Jesus was struck by this pagan's faith in the authority of the Christ.  He cured the servant, the Centurion went about his business and Jesus remarked that faith such as what was displayed by the Roman soldier could not be found in all of Israel and Jesus prophesied that non-Jews coming from the East and the West will sit and dine with Abraham, Isaac, and  Jacob and that salvation would be for all that could accept it, not just the Jews. 

We say the words of the Centurion every time we go to mass.  We are called to express our confidence in the ability of Jesus to do what Jesus said He would do.  Then we take the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ inside of us.  No closer union is possible for us outside of being in heaven.  How many of us walk up to communion and receive it without really realizing what it is we are receiving?  Do we understand that Christ is inside of us as He is with all of the other people that have received?  Do we receive and then return to our place and take out the bulletin and catch up on parish news or do we open our minds and souls and speak to the God who is within us and who has given us this great gift?  Do we thank Him for all of the good things He has given to us in our life or do we look at our wristwatch and wonder if we will have eggs or pancakes when we go to breakfast after mass?  The Centurion was sure that Jesus could command nature and had the power to cure and he was a pagan.  We, on the other hand, have been brought up with this gift from a God who loves us and I fear some of us do not take it as seriously as we ought.  Next time you go to communion, communicate with Jesus, He IS present within you in a special way. Don't let Him come and go unrecognized.  

Please pray for the poor souls in Purgatory. They are souls full of joy and yet they suffer for they long to see God.  Pray for them and they will remember you in your time of need.  Remember, as they are, one day you may be. 

Every Tear Will Be Wiped Away

We do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters,

about those who have fallen asleep,

so that you may not grieve like the rest, who have no hope. 

For if we believe that Jesus died and rose,

so too will God, through Jesus,

bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 

Indeed, we tell you this, on the word of the Lord,

I have been present at both the deaths of my mother and my father.  They died eighteen years apart, my mother in nineteen-ninety and my father in two-thousand eight.  My mother died young, at age sixty-four and my father at eighty-seven years of age.  Both slipped from this world to the next without much trauma, they went peacefully.  In both cases, I cried but when my mother died I went into what I now know was depression.  My sorrow at the passing of my father was just as great as when my mother passed but I was older and was able to deal with it better.  Death will happen in all families.  Just as sure as there is a God that loves us, there is the certainty of death. 

I do not want to bust up your Sunday and bring you down to consider the ultimate facts of life and death.  I want to encourage you to remember that the death of one we loved is not an ending but rather it is a new beginning.  We are assured that we will meet those that we have loved in the afterlife and we will be together again. More than that, at the end of time, we will not be disembodied spirits but we will have our bodies back and they will no longer be subject to decay and disease. They will be resurrected bodies that will be recognizable as our own but endowed with miraculous powers.

Then there is where we will be. We cannot imagine what heaven will be like. It will be a place where love reigns and there will be no tears of sorrow ever again.  Sickness will be something that no longer exists.  The aches and pains we suffer today will forever be gone.  The light will forever be bright in heaven because it's source will be from the holiness of God.  The rich people of the planet earth live in great splendor here where rust and moth take their toll.  For us, there will be the mansion built by Jesus Himself for us and it will be grander and more beautiful than any dwelling place ever constructed on earth because it will be built just for us! 

Today, all around us, are people who are closer to death than we are.  Some are in hospital or hospice counting the days, hours, or minutes until their destiny is wrought.  Or they have received word from their doctor that there is nothing more to be done and that they should plan for the end.  There are those that are afraid and are holding on to what they know with grim determination and grasping at torturous medical procedures in the vain hope of prolonging their life.  There are those also who are but moments or even seconds away from their encounter with eternity and with God.  We have to pray for all of these people.  We have to pray that they are given the help they need to accept God's invitation to experience eternity to not hold foolishly to the things of time but to embrace the things of eternity.  Each of them is beloved by God and no matter what kind of life they have lived, they will all have a final chance to claim their birthright as a son or daughter of the Great King in that final moment.  For those who have lived their lives in a worthy manner who have loved God above all, the choice will be simple, sweet, joyful, and immediate. For those who are still attached to the world, who carry with them the burden of sin, forgiveness will there for the asking, but many will choose to remain mute before the great judge because their guilt, their sinfulness, their rejection of the graces that were sent them will be self-evident and they will move away from the light of Christ towards the everlasting darkness.  Others, who are aware that they are not yet ready to stand in heaven will choose to purify themselves in Purgatory.  There they will have the joy of knowing for certain that in the future they will experience the joy of heaven when they are cleansed of the effects of sin and from attachments to worldly things.  That joy will never be taken away from them.

So today, my friends, make it a point to pray for all of those among us who are at a point in their life where they approach a crossroads. Pray that all of them experience a peaceful and joyful death and that those among them that need to accept the final chance that God will give them.  It will be a tough choice to turn away from a life filled with hate for the Holy but it can be done.  And for our friends and relatives in Purgatory, pray for them too.  Remember, as they are, you might someday be. 

Where Have All The Pagans Gone?

Thus I aspire to proclaim the Gospel                                            

not where Christ has already been named,
so that I do not build on another's foundation,
but as it is written:

Those who have never been told of him shall see,
and those who have never heard of him shall understand.

At one time in this world, there were large tracts of land where "Jesus" was just another name and he might be the miller down the block or the candle maker in the marketplace in the town square.  Today, except for very remote villages in the rainforest and islands so remote that seagulls are just discovering them, there is almost nowhere on earth where the name of Jesus is not known.  Throughout the vast reaches of lands near and far, everyone has heard of Jesus and while they may not know what is special about Him, they will know that he is loved and respected by millions of followers. 

So, does that mean that the job of bringing Jesus to a heathen world filled with people worshiping pagan gods and living lives of futility only to end up in eighteen square feet of earth when it is all over for them has been done?  Well, the very fact that I had the guts to write such a complex sentence as is the last one would at least hint at my view that the answer is, "no." 

The whole world is mission territory.  To know of Jesus is one thing but to know Jesus is another. Our job as the ambassadors of Christ is to make known that Jesus came to earth to save us from sin.  We must bring the joyous news to all we meet that the life experience is not limited to what we see, hear, feel, and touch in our journey from cradle to grave, but rather our life here is meant to be a foretaste of the life that is to come.  The futility of pagan life is over, all are called to become one in Christ and secure for themselves the life that will never end, where tears will be those of joy, where each is loved and valued not for they own or the power they had wielded while on earth, but who they are in God's eyes.

That is my thought for the day.  We have to make sure people know that they are loved by God so deeply that He never made another person just like them.  We have to tell them that God looks at the soul and knows what is in our hearts.  So many people out there think of religion as just being a system of rules and regulations.  If that was all that Christianity was then it would be no different than a club.  It is so much more than a club, it is a gateway to peace, joy, and eternal happiness with God.  For heaven's sake is there any way you can keep silent about any of this?

The month of November is when we remember those that have gone before us marked with the sign of faith.  Please pray for the poor souls in purgatory today.  

Being Proud of Our Humility?

"For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled,

but the one who humbles himself will be exalted."

The Gospel reading for today comes  Luke Chapter 14 verses 1 to 7 and verse 11  ( Click here to read  ).  In the time of Jesus, there was a definite protocol that was followed at weddings.  In many houses, especially in those of the monied class, the feast was held in a room with two levels.  The higher level was reserved for the guests of honor, the wedding party, the rabbi, people of higher civil rank and the like.  It was the place to be seen at the wedding.  The lower section was for those of lesser importance, the riff-raff, and more common people. The Pharisee and the Sadducee always aspired to the upper level because they saw themselves as men that were worthy of respect.  So, if you were a Pharisee or a Sadducee you always felt compelled to be at the top of the feast rather at the bottom.  What Jesus was saying is that what would happen if you sat down at the upper level and began to enjoy yourself when someone more important than you arrived.  The host would see that the choice spots were all taken and then he would see you sitting there where the host felt that you did not belong.  He would approach and tell you to give up your space to the man that had just arrived. If you looked insulted of if you did not look like you were going to go, he would probably tell a servant to "assist you" to a different place. Then, you would stand up and with a red face join the great unwashed on the lower level.  On the other hand, if you started on the lower level the host might see you and realize that you were certainly an honored guest and he would immediately ask you to join him in the VIP lounge.  As you walked to your new space others would look at you in awe. and yes, maybe they would be just a little bit jealous.  

Jesus is telling us to be humble.  This is something that we in the twenty-first century do not understand.  We are taught from early age to be assertive and to take our rightful place in the world.  This is good advice except we should always consider others as better than ourselves. We have as an example Jesus, Himself.  He did not descend to earth with trumpeting angels announcing His arrival to all.  Quite the contrary.  We are told that angels announced His birth to shepherds abiding in the field.  Being a shepherd was not considered to be a cool occupation.  This is because your work kept you in the field, read away from the temple, and you were more or less considered a bad Hebrew, even chronically ritually unclean.  Yet these poor shepherds were the first in Israel to hear the Good News and they came to the stable and found the Child not in a cradle of gold but in a common manger, a place where cattle ate and did the other things that cattle do after eating.  They found the Messiah in humble surroundings. 

Jesus is the poster boy for humility.  He washed the feet of his followers, a dirty job usually given to the lowliest servant in a household.  For us, he assumed the most humble role of all, becoming the Bread of Life, which is Jesus, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity in the guise of bread and wine to nourish both body and soul.  God can give no greater example of humility than that. 

So, practice humility in all you do.  Sometimes giving up your "rightful place" will be a good thing to do and you may be surprised when after doing so you are asked to come up to the higher level.  

Tick, Tick, Tick

Jesus said to his disciples:                                                                   
"Be sure of this:
if the master of the house had known the hour
when the thief was coming,
he would not have let his house be broken into.
You also must be prepared,
for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come."

The clock had stood on the mantle forever.  There was not a time that anyone going back five generations that a member of the family needing to know what time it was failed to see the ornate clock on the mantle.  Throughout all of those years, it was dusted, carefully wound, and it responded to this care by always providing the correct time.  One day, however, a bit of moisture that had started corroding one small part over a hundred years ago finally triumphed and the clock stopped.  Thinking that someone had forgotten to wind the clock, the young master of the house pulled a chair over to the mantle, mounted it, found the key and promptly overwound the clock effectively stilling the heart of the ancient clock, stilled forever, or at least until the clockmaker was able to fix it.  No one knew the exact time anymore.  They had to guess by where the sun was in the sky, where the shadows hit the terrace or of course they could look at their wrist watches or mobile phones.   Come on now, I didn't say it was the only clock!  

Just as the people in our mythical house had to judge the time using other means, so too must we.  We do not know the time or date when Jesus will return.  Maybe it will be before you finish reading this sentence or maybe it will be a thousand years after the next two millenniums fade into the period we call the past.  For the vast majority of us now living, it is possible that we will face the end of the world on our own, perhaps with family around us as we take our last breath in here on earth and make that trip to the judgment of Jesus.  We do not know when this will happen.  If we are young we feel it will be in the far distant future, sixty, or even seventy years from now.  If we are older, such as your author, we know that the time grows ever closer with every blink of our eyes.  The point is no matter if you are young, middle-aged,  or in those years we call the golden years, you must always be prepared for the call home because it will come without warning and at a time that will not be chosen by us.

I've often wondered how I would like to die.  Would I prefer everything to end at the snap of a finger, leaving this world and arriving in the next without knowing what hit me?  Or, would I like to have my end staged, gradually taking my leave as one disease or another does its mischief on my body?  I would rather have the later because it would give me time to say goodbye to those I love and to straighten any crooked lines I may have written on my soul.  But whatever God has planned for me, I accept at this moment and as I continue to live, I try to live my life in a manner worthy of my calling as an ambassador for Christ.  I place my soul into the care of the God that has loved me and who has guided me in spite of my stubborn will.  I look at the clock, its hands creep always forward, what time will the bell strike for me?  Only God knows! 

Our brothers and sisters in Purgatory need our prayers.  Won't you dedicate some of your prayer time to them today? 

Trust

"There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest.   

He asked himself, 'What shall I do,

for I do not have space to store my harvest?'

And he said, 'This is what I shall do:

I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones.

There I shall store all my grain and other goods

and I shall say to myself, "Now as for you,

you have so many good things stored up for many years,

rest, eat, drink, be merry!"'

But God said to him,

'You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you;

and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?'

Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself

but is not rich in what matters to God."

I think that this is a good reminder for us at the start of another work week.  There is dignity in all labor and all of us are called to some form of it during the time we live on earth.  We work to provide for ourselves the things that we need to survive on this planet.   I think that it is a little bit more than what the guy on the commercial says we need; Food, Water, and Intenet.  But we do need to somehow get the basic things we need to live and for most of us, we have to exchange our labor to earn money for these things.  We are warned by Jesus in the parable to guard against all forms of greed.  The man, in this case, decides that he is going to gather all of his riches in one place and then he is going to sit back and enjoy it all.  We see that God has other plans for him.  So, is this man guilty of anything?  He sounds like a commercial for a retirement counselor.  All of us are looking to make it big enough so that we can stop working.  That is okay, there is nothing wrong in that.  We are just reminded to be aware that we can be called at any time and that the riches we have so carefully accumulated will belong to someone else when we die.  We are to keep things in perspective and to trust God more than trusting in our own abilities.

Our Father has prepared for us a place that we cannot begin to imagine.  This is where we will receive our true rest and out true happiness.  Trust in God and you will be forever glad. 

The Sound of Silence

Jesus said to his disciples: "I tell you, everyone, who acknowledges me before others the Son of Man will acknowledge before the angels of God. But whoever denies me before others will be denied before the angels of God. "Everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.

There is a cost to being silent and it is a terrible price to pay indeed!  If we acknowledge Jesus, He will acknowledge us. If we deny that we know Him before others, He will deny that He knows us as well.  Can you imagine arriving at eternity and being friendless?  At the judgment, it will truly be a case of not what you know but who you know!  Some of us will gather there and feel self-assured because we studied hard and we know all about Jesus, every fact, the significance of every word He spoke that is recorded in scripture, the fine nuances of every parable and the history of the time Jesus lived and even why He came. But, when we look for Him on that awful day we will not see Him because we only knew about Him but we never truly knew Him. Standing to our right will be that little man who spent his life in obscurity, who gave to God what was God's and who ministered to The Christ by acts of piety and charity that went unseen by those with means and power on the earth.  This little, insignificant man will be trembling with excitement because he will be able to clearly see Jesus, his friend, his counselor, his king. He will jump up and down with great excitement and holler, "There He is, there He is."  Tears of joy will stream down his face while on your face they will be only tears.  The little man spent His life ministering to people that needed it.  Although he had very little, he gave what he could and cared for each person as if they were Jesus Christ in the flesh.  He spoke out when he saw a wrong, and it cost him on this earth, but he could not remain silent while the mighty stepped on the meek.  He will be shepherded into the flock that will join Jesus in heaven while you will be sent with the goats. 

Others on that day will be surprised when they are condemned when they are told that their sin against the Holy Spirit, their blasphemy against the very Love of God for the Son and the Son for the Father.  They will ask when they did such a monstrous thing and they will be told that they died in their sins and refused the promptings of the Holy Spirit to repent and so chose the road that is wide and easy to tread. 

I know that this is not a "God is Love Feel Good" message today.  But we have to remember, our lives, our actions, our speech, our acknowledgment of the primacy of God in our lives will matter more than the knowledge that we have about God.  We have to know Jesus and follow His way.  Which way is that you ask?  It is the Way of the Cross. 

Those brothers and sisters that have gone before us and are in Purgatory need our prayers to help them finish the purging of the effects of sin and the temporal effects of sin on their soul. Offer your Mass this week for them and please if you have time, say a Rosary for them.