Growing Slowly like Fig Trees

 "For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none. So cut it down. Why should it exhaust the soil?" Lk 13:7

At the time of Jesus, fig trees were often planted in grape vineyards and took three or four years to bear edible fruit. More important, to be healthy, fig trees needed large amounts of water, a resource which to this day Israel has in short supply. It made perfect sense to cut down a fig tree that was not producing good fruit after three years. Nevertheless, Jesus insisted that God was patient and would give his people more time to grow as long as they worked at bearing fruit.

The lesson remains important today in helping us understand God and God's love for us. Like the Israelites of old, God wants us to succeed, to grow, to understand, and to internalize the great truths of our faith. When that happens, we will bear fruit, and the fruit will feed the world. God is patient, but we must work and do what it takes to bring forth good fruit. We need to water, fertilize and tend to the fig tree that is our faith.

Today, do something that will help you grow in faith.

What have been the most important elements in your faith life?

Shepherds

"Shepherd your people with your staff, the flock of your inheritance. Micah." 7:34

God as our shepherd has always been an attractive, inviting and empowering notion for believers. In the ancient world from which this image comes, shepherds treasured their sheep as their inheritance. Without their sheep, they were nothing. 

Additionally, because the poor could not afford their own sheep pens, shepherds were hired to look over the sheep of many families in a common pen throughout the night, and  while they were able to rest, they could not sleep since it was their task to protect the sheep from predators. In order to do this effectively, shepherds would lie down across the opening of the sheep pen in order to protect the sheep entrusted to them. That the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament remind us that God and Jesus are shepherds, willing to give their lives for their sheep, is both comforting and challenging.

Today, thank someone who has been a Good Shepherd to you.

What is your most helpful image of God?

Celebrating Differences

  "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone." Mt 21:32

Whenever we fail to look at stones and people with the eyes of God, we fall into the trap of rejecting them because they don't fit our notion of perfection or beauty. What a shame and what a loss. Not only do we demean and objectify things and people who are "different," we expose ourselves as prejudiced and small minded.

We have no real idea what Jesus looked like, but we do know that he has been portrayed as a member of every race, ethnic group and culture, and while some may want to insist that he should always be a middle eastern Jew, the vast majority of  believers realize that Jesus is beyond any one culture or background.  In other words, we need to find the Christ everywhere and in every person, especially the poor.

This is not to say that difference doesn't matter. When we move outside our comfort zone culturally and socially there is always a level of disorientation, and while this is disconcerting we need to work our way through it in order to see and meet people where they are. Simply put, while inculturation is painful, when it is embraced it becomes a gift that opens us to a God who is beyond every culture.

Today, acknowledge your discomfort with difference.

Have you had a cross cultural experience that benefited you and helped shape your faith?

Lazarus and the Rich Man

  "And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the rich man's table. Dogs even used to come and lick his sores." (Lk 16:20-21)

It is so difficult to read the passage about Lazarus and the rich man. How is it possible to have someone lying at your feet and not see him? Couldn't the rich man at least have swept the crumbs off his table so that Lazarus could have something to eat? How could he let his dogs lick Lazarus' wounds? These seem natural but unanswerable questions, but they demand reflection from us.

Who is it that we don't see? Are there people so unimportant that we ignore them? Too often the answer is yes. Sometimes it is people of color or those who are culturally different than us. At other times, it is people who are generational recipients of welfare. More often we turn away, almost unconsciously, from the homeless and mentally ill because they frighten us, but we can and ought to try to change this.

The act of seeing whatever and whoever is directly in front of us is a discipline and practice we can learn, but it takes prayer and silence. Those who take time each day to sit quietly, to breathe deeply and pay attention to all creation, after a while, find it impossible not to see those in need, and while we might not be able to do anything immediately, at least we have honored those who need to be seen and recognized as people just like us.

Today, spend five minutes in quiet and reflection in preparation for seeing that which is directly in front of you.

What situations and people are most difficult for you to face?

St Joseph

  "When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home." Mt 1:24a

There are many ways to wake up. Sometimes, it is simple. Our bodies tell us to pay attention. We have a headache that will not go away or we discover a skin growth that looks strange. Our bodies are telling us to pay attention and take action. At other times, especially when we take time to relax and reflect, an idea that has been percolating in our minds and hearts, takes shape. We read about AIDS in Africa or the plight of refugee children in Syria, and we start searching the Internet for places and organizations that are addressing these vital concerns. Waking up to the challenge of acting on the Gospel is important for our own salvation and the good of others.

Joseph, the husband of Mary, troubled by his young wife's pregnancy, wakes up. Not wanting her to be stoned, he decides to divorce her quietly. In this way, Mary will have other chances to marry and build a family. But then Joseph has a dream and when he wakes up, he knows that God wants him to marry Mary despite his misgivings. That he listens and acts upon the message he receives is critical for Joseph's salvation and ours.

Waking up to the immensity of God's love for us, while sometimes very challenging, is a gift that keeps on giving. Not only does it empower us  personally to live more freely and gratefully, it urges us to tell others the Good News of God's desire to love them more deeply an totally.

Today when you wake up, pause and let God speak a liberating word to you.

Have there been moments in your life that changed the course of your faith?

Getting our Hands Dirty

  “The scribes and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses. Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example. For they preach but they do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens hard to carry and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they will not lift a finger to move them. All their works are performed to be seen." Mt 23: 1-3

Every time Jesus becomes direct with his antagonists, especially the Pharisees and scribes,  he makes me uncomfortable. A priest now for almost 54 years, it is my obligation to preach God's word without gloss, to announce the Good News simply and plainly, but this is never easy.

When any of us, committed to Jesus' message to feed the hungry, visit the sick and imprisoned, and clothe the naked, fails to do anything in this regard, we run the risk of being labelled Pharisees. Furthermore, it is not enough to give an occasional or even a large donation to a charity that feeds the hungry, clothes the naked or visits the sick. We must get our hands dirty.

Years ago I heard the story of a mother who told her troubled son that they only way he would get out of his own way and heal would be to do something for others. She encouraged him to work in a soup kitchen, or a community closet in order to get close to those in terrible need, and her advice worked. Initially angry and resentful of his mother,  her son began to work in a soup kitchen every week and it changed his life. Experiencing the gratitude of those who no longer could help themselves, the young man began to realize how "rich" he was. Soon after beginning his volunteer work, he returned to school, graduated with honors, and now has a career teaching others while continuing to feed the hungry.

Today, don't just encourage others to be compassionate, do something concrete for someone in need.

What has been your experience of direct service to and with the poor?

God's Mercy

 "O LORD, we are shamefaced, like our kings, our princes, and our fathers, for having sinned against you. But yours, O Lord, our God, are compassion and forgiveness!" Dn 9:8-9

The heartfelt confession of Daniel demands our attention because Daniel does not excuse or try to explain away his sins and faults nor the sins of his people. Acknowledging and accepting his guilt and the guilt of the nation, he asks God's pardon, but expects nothing. He knows that if God acts on behalf of his chosen people it will be a totally gratuitous gift, and his confession and honesty are rewarded. While God punishes the people, he also promises to relent so that Jerusalem will be restored to the glory God intended.

The theme of God's justice and mercy is a constant one during Lent. If God, who sees everything, chooses to forgive, so must we. No matter the sin against us, if we are to act like God towards those who hurt and abuse us, we must forgive. This does not mean we must put ourselves in harms's way. Rather, it means we should let go of any harsh judgments we may have made against those who sinned against us and begin again. We may not be able to repair the  damage done to us or our families, but we need always to love others as God loves us. Moving on with out lives, despite its sorrows and pain, is essential if the life of the Spirit is to be known in the world.

Today, forgive someone who has sinned against you.

What is most difficult in offering others God's mercy?