Guilelessness and Transparency

"Here is a true child of Israel. There is no duplicity in him."  Jn 1:47

One of the most difficult challenges of contemporary life is transparency in our public lives.  Though everyone calls for it in politics, religion, and business, there seems to be little willingness to act. In recent years, however, Sean Cardinal O’Malley, OFM Cap., to the consternation of some, has published a complete financial report on the website of the Archdiocese of Boston.  Anyone wanting to know how much money the Archdiocese received and how much it spent only needs an internet connection to find out.  In my view, this is not only laudable but necessary. We need to learn from leaders like Cardinal O'Malley how to be transparent in the public arena.

Unfortunately, however, because our society has become so litigious, we have learned a kind of political correctness that does not serve the political process or our personal lives very well. People are afraid to be transparent for fear it will be held against them.  The result, of course, is that everyone walks around looking over their shoulders and the power of the gospel gets lost in a sometimes disingenuous flood of words. 

St. Bartholomew, whose feast we celebrate today, ought to be the patron of those seeking to speak clearly and directly.  Jesus recognized Bartholomew as a man without duplicity. Some translations say he is without guile.  Bartholomew says what he thinks and is honest about what he hears and sees. We need to seek the virtue of guilelessness in our daily lives, to be transparent about what the gospel demands of us and be willing to suffer the consequences of standing behind our beliefs.   

In the light of so much consternation about immigration in our country, for instance, a concern that is understandable especially when so many are out of work, we cannot allow ourselves to forget the challenge of Matthew 25:35-36:  “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.” The word “stranger” is sometimes translated “alien”, and it is clear both in Jewish law and in Catholic history that it is not all right to refuse food, medical care or temporary housing to those in need whether they have legal status in this country or not. While the bishops of our country have been clear about this,(USCCB on immigration) we don't always hear it in our parishes.

Today we pray to and with Bartholomew that the Lord will help us grow in transparency and vulnerability, and that we might hear the words of Jesus: “Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid.” (Mt 14:27)

Do not pray to be successful, pray to be faithful

“But as we were judged worthy by God to be entrusted with the Gospel, that is how we speak,  not as trying to please men (and women), but rather God, who judges our hearts.” (1 Thess. 2, 4)

Mother Teresa is reputed to have said: "I do not pray to be successful, I pray to be faithful." Sounds very much like St. Paul in today’s passage from first Thessalonians. He is not trying to please the people he is serving, but God.  What a challenge both these great saints put before us.

Soon I will be celebrating another birthday, a time for reflection and hopefully some renewal.  But I always smile ruefully at times like this because I continue to rely too much on others' approbation of my life and ministry, even though I know it is silly, even childish.  While this enduring fault may be a good exercise in humility, I would like the grace to let go of success as a barometer of my value, and enter more deeply into the mystery of God’s presence all around us.

Since some of you may be struggling with this same fault, let me suggest a few practices that might be helpful.

1. Take a moment each morning to hand over the day ahead. Ask God to make it holy and to help you not worry about the things you can’t control.
2. Pause during the day in an intentional way and thank God for whatever is happening.  Sometimes I set my watch alarm to buzz at noon and 5 pm to remind myself of this.
3. When troubled (or obsessed) with others' behavior, ask what it is like for others to live with you as you are.  
4. Develop some form of repetitive prayer throughout the day.  The Jesus prayer might be fine way to begin:  “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.”

A gospel life must be very simple. Don’t be afraid to laugh at yourself. Cluttering life with too much to do, too many worries, too many things to say or think gets in the way of knowing the heart of God at the heart of all that is.

Spiritual Blindness

“Blind fools, which is greater, the gold, or the temple that made the gold sacred?” (Mt 23, 17)

Jesus’ rant against the Pharisees is painful to read no matter how many times we return to it.  There seems to be no wiggle room whatever for the Pharisees. Jesus sounds full of rage at them and we wonder why.  What we do know about the Pharisees is that they regularly sought “conversions” among observant Jews to their way of leading an authentic Jewish life. (1) They demanded that their “converts” eat properly tithed food and be ritually pure. However, there seems to be little evidence that a conversion of this kind affected the lives of the newly converted. In other words, conversion to phariseeism was more of an internal and personal experience of reform, but had little to do with the redoing of one’s entire life.  Perhaps that is the source of Jesus’ anger.  

In a contemporary setting, those of us who profess to be “practicing” Catholics might work very hard at keeping the laws of the church, rigorously observe the Sunday mass obligation, fast and abstain from meat during Lent, and contribute to the upkeep of the church by regular contributions, but rarely if ever make changes to our lives that help us to be more conformed to Christ and authentic witnesses of a gospel life.

Today's gospel challenges us to think about our personal and communal blindness. What is it as individuals and communities that we must reflect upon and change?  Almost every Sunday I think about young people and young adults because I rarely see them in church. Are we too upset, too confused to acknowledge this?  What do we need to do to attract young people to a faith filled life?  I am not talking about changing the liturgy so that it might be more lively and attractive to them.  I am thinking about what they catch from us who profess belief.  Do they catch a passion for prayer, the poor, new immigrants, and those who feel isolated from the church for any reason?

Today I invite you to think about what others “catch” from us. Do others witness our compassion and understanding, and feel challenged to live a counter cultural life?  Or do they simply see observant Christians whose faith seems not to affect their everyday lives?

Eliakim and Peter

“I will place the key of the House of David on Eliakim's shoulder;... I will fix him like a peg in a sure spot, to be a place of honor for his family.” Is. 22.

Anointing people for service and leadership is an ancient ritual that religious traditions use to designate men and women as spokespersons for the entire community. In ancient Israel, priests, prophets and kings were all anointed, so too were some of the objects used for worship. In the book of Numbers we learn of Moses’ obligation to anoint the altar, the Ark of the Covenant, the lamp stand and all the temple furnishings.  In this way, people and objects, having been dedicated to the Lord in a special way, are initiated into a ministry not for their own good but for the salvation of all, or as Isaiah says of Eliakim, “for his family.

In today’s scriptures both Eliakim and Peter are “anointed” and given keys of power and authority.  Though neither of them is worthy, God chooses them to keep their communities focused on the One God, and to remind them to work for justice in the world.  Both the community of Jews that Eliakim would lead and the new community of Christians Peter leads will be known, not only by their faithfulness to God and God’s law, but by their service of the community. 

Near his death, Jesus challenges his first disciples and all of us to follow him as a servant by washing the feet of others, a task done in the ancient world only by slaves and women.  Jesus does not want his disciples to be known by their power over others, but by their service of those most in need, thus proclaiming a new freedom and hope for all who are held captive by their faults, sins, gender, state in life, class, poverty, ethnicity and culture.  In other words, leading through service breaks down all the barriers that separate us from one another.

Are we prepared to receive the keys of the kingdom today, to be hung with Eliakim “like a peg in a sure spot,” as a sign to all of the enduring power of Jesus’ powerlessness?