Being Rich

"Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more." Lk 12:48

I am a very rich man. I am in good health. I am very well educated. I live in a home with running water, electricity, heat in the winter and room air conditioners in the summer. We have computers and television. We have a full kitchen, and indoor plumbing. We eat each day without worrying whether we can afford the meal. I have a car for my use and enough money to put gas in it. I can go to a doctor when I am sick and pay for medication when I need it.

Unfortunately, like most people in the developed world, I often take all of this for granted, and even feel entitled. If the phone doesn’t work for two days, I might threaten the service provider with switching to another company. You get the idea. I have been given so much that when I read today’s gospel parable, I realize that my one task is to stay awake in gratitude and too often I am asleep, even to the gift of faith.

On occasion, I ask people at a workshop to complete the statement, I believe..... Their responses always touch and challenge me. They say: I believe there is a benevolent God who loves his children. I believe God has sent us his son as an eternal gift. I believe that the world is a good place that I can make better by my faith. I believe I should be compassionate to every creature. You can imagine the rest, and I would encourage you to pause a moment to answer yourself. When we stop to notice, acknowledge and offer a word of gratitude for whatever and whomever comes to us each day, we are different. We are rich and as Jesus reminds us, “Much will be required of the person entrusted with much.” Don’t be afraid of this warning. Be grateful for the gifts you have been given, and share them generously. God gives us all the strength to live our faith and give it away with joy and exuberance.

Today, make an inventory of all you have been given. Then take five minutes of silence to sit with your gifts in gratitude.

Boasting about God's love

What occasion is there then for boasting? Rom 3:27

It is easy for our heads to get too big for our hats. Someone kindly offers an affirming word. Another says how much they like a homily we gave. A friend drops a note of gratitude for a kindness shown them. We walk around in the glow of appreciation, all of which is normal, natural and understandable, but when we fail to give God the credit for life, goodness and our own successes, we risk becoming full of ourselves.

Paul’s reminder that there is no room for boasting is a good and important one. However, we must also be careful. While boasting is always inappropriate, we can be so defensive about our tendency to pride that we forget to be grateful for all God’s gifts. Each of us, Paul also reminds us, have a gift that does not belong to us but is given to us by God for the good of all. It is impossible, I think, to meditate too often on the image or metaphor of the Body of Christ.

To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit. To one is given through the Spirit the expression of wisdom; to another the expression of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit; to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit; to another mighty deeds; to another prophecy; to another discernment of spirits; to another varieties of tongues; to another interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit produces all of these, distributing them individually to each person as he wishes. 1 Cor. 12: 7-11

A young friend of mine writing her college essay took a uniquely interesting and evocative slant on helping people understand how interconnected we are in Christ. “Maggie” suggested that we are all small broken branches that when put together carefully become a nest of safety for those who come after us.

I love Maggie’s image. Clearly each small stick or branch is important to the nest, but if it falls out there are many others that can take it place. Being grateful to God for being chosen, even though we sometimes appear or feel dead and useless, is the key to celebrating the nest we can be for the children of tomorrow.

Clearly, Paul does not want us to boast about any gift we have received, but he does want us to be grateful. Whether we can read a spreadsheet and help a company grow or we know how to fix a car just by listening to the engine is not the point. Remembering that these gifts are given to us for the good of all makes all the difference.

Today ask God to show you again the gifts you have received for the building up of the Body of Christ. Ask him also to let you see and celebrate the gifts of others knowing that together we can build a nest of safety and hope for the next generation of believers.

The Exaltation of the Cross

“We are disgusted with this wretched food!" Num. 21:5

Today is the anniversary of my father’s death.  I don’t usually remember anniversaries but my mother planted this one deep in my spirit.  As people came to Dad's wake to offer her a word of consolation, she reminded them that after months of struggling to breathe and swallow following a devastating stroke, my father was taken down from his cross on the feast of the exaltation of the Cross. Further, she told everyone, he would be buried on the feast of the Stigmata of St Francis. Because faith was an everyday experience for my mother, very much like breathing, the liturgical calendar was important to her, and she made sure it was for us as well.  The liturgy was an anchor that reminded us each day of God's enduring presence.

Today, therefore, I invite you to reflect on a brief passage from the book of Numbers, named for the census the Lord orders of all men over twenty years old who would be fit for military service. "We are disgusted with this wretched food," the Israelites complain. Though not funny, the passage makes me smile thinking of my father who never saw a meal he didn’t like, especially if it was prepared for him. Dad’s spirit was gentle and kind, and he listened far more than he spoke, but he couldn’t boil water. More important, he was poor as a boy and every meal was an occasion of gratitude. His meal prayer always made us smile.  “Thank God for the next meal,” he said, “we’re sure of this one.”  Food was a gift which he did not always have as a young man.  He could never imagine being disgusted with anything placed before him.

The Israelites wandering in the desert learned this lesson the hard way.  The more they complained, the more God reacted, sending snakes to bite them.  It was only Moses’ plea to God to forgive his people that softened God’s heart. God instructed Moses to fashion a bronze serpent, put it on a pole and hold it up before the people. If they looked at it they would be healed. The bronze serpent became a reminder to them never to take for granted God’s mercy and love in freeing them from slavery.  Neither should we.  Although we may not always like the food set before us, a word of gratitude for those who grew it and prepared it is a wonderful way to honor the God of creation. Further, by pausing today before a crucifix on this feast of the exaltation of the Cross, we celebrate the God who gave his life so that we might have a place at the eternal banquet.

Anniversary

August 31, 2011

And she (Peter’s mother in law) got up immediately and began to wait on them. Lk 4:39

Today marks the completion of 50 years of Capuchin life for me.  It hardly seems possible. 50 years ago, after a silent 8 day retreat (no easy task for me), I was clothed in the Capuchin habit with more than two dozen other frightened young men.  It was an amazing day and its memory brings me to a point of deep gratitude. When I entered the Capuchins I could never have imagined the wonderful friars I would meet and live with, the education I would receive, and the opportunity to meet, teach and serve people from so many different cultures and countries. Though not without its struggles, Capuchin life has been a great gift!

It is these rich memories that make me stop and pray in gratitude with Peter’s mother in law whose story is told in today’s gospel.  When Jesus heals Peter’s mother in law she gets up immediately and waits on all those assembled.  The immediacy of her response is what most impresses me. She doesn’t hesitate at all or ask to rest, something that would seem perfectly natural after a severe fever. Anyone who has suffered with a high fever knows how tired one can be when the fever passes. But, then again, perhaps that was part of the miracle. Not only was she freed of fever, she got her strength back.  In the light of God’s goodness to me, and conscious of how often God has forgiven me, I hope that I will always want to serve others immediately like Peter’s mother in law.

Service is a hallmark of the Christian life and completes it. Service of others, especially of those most in need, is a sign to the world that we have heard the good news and want to live it. Service is an act of gratitude.  Aware of how good God is, how God has changed our lives by accompanying us in all things, we acknowledge that words, even the Word of God, without action is empty.  God’s love transforms us and compels us to go out in God’s name as servants.  Jesus was clear about this just before he died. When he commanded his disciples to, “Do this in memory of me,” he was not only referring to the breaking of the Eucharist bread, but the washing of one another's feet. Today I want to offer a prayer for all those who taught me the gospel by washing my feet and all those who have allowed me to wash their feet in memory of Jesus. I invite you to do the same.

Stay awake. (2)

"Since the bridegroom was long delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep." (Mt 25:5)

Today’s gospel has a very consoling verse for people like me and many older people.  Matthew writes that  the ten virgins "all became drowsy and fell asleep.”  Since I am an early to bed person, the thought of staying up very late waiting for “the bridegroom” to arrive and then dragging myself to a wedding banquet is not something I would look forward to.  Clearly the issue in this parable is not falling asleep; we all do that when we are tired.  Rather, the Lord wants us to be prepared with enough oil for our lamps to accompany the bridegroom  to the banquet whenever he arrives.

Being ready to serve God at all times is a constant theme of Matthew’s gospel, especially in its final chapters. Jesus, as he did in yesterday’s gospel, reminds us to stay awake, to be alert, and today he uses the parable of the ten virgins as a reminder for us to be prepared to meet the Lord every day, not just as a preparation for death, but in order to live the gospel fully.

Nevertheless, being prepared for the Lord, especially when we are tired and anxious, can be tedious and boring. It means doing the same thing day after day, often with little consolation. Perhaps that is why Rabbi David Kimchi, a late 12^th century Jewish scholar, recorded this lovely story about the great sage, Rabbi Eliezer. "Turn to God one day before your death." Rabbi Eliezer said. But his disciples responded, "How can a man know the day of his death?" Eliezer answered them, "Therefore you should turn to God today, perhaps you may die tomorrow; thus every day will be employed in returning."  Kimchi on Isaiah 65:13.

Turning to God today in prayer and gratitude for all the gifts of creation and faith is one way we store “oil” so that even when we fall asleep, we will ready to greet the Lord with light and joy whenever he comes.  Mahatma Ghandi was reputed to have said, “If you do not find God in the next person you meet, it is a waste of time looking further.”  When we pray fervently and school ourselves in gratitude, we can be sure that we will recognize the Christ in every person, even our enemies.

Though the challenge of always being prepared can seem daunting, even overwhelming, we should not be afraid. Though all of us will regularly fail at living a full gospel life, if we have prepared ourselves for the inevitable breakdowns in our commitment, God will be waiting to greet us when we wake up again.  Pray and be grateful each day for the gift of faith.  Christ will do the rest.

"I gave you a land that you had not tilled and cities that you had not built, to dwell in; you have eaten of vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant." Jos 24:13

How much God does for us each day!  How many gifts do we continue to receive!  In the United States: clean air, clean water, more than enough food, and so much more.  Most of us are also blessed with good friends and family who understand and support us, especially when we are lost or upset.  

Now we have only to learn to share God's gifts. As Jesus says very clearly  in the 12th chapter of Luke's gospel: "Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more."   Bread for the World reports that almost 16,000 children die every day from hunger, and this in a world that produces enough food to feed everyone.  20% of the world consumes 70% of its food, while in the United States we spend 40 billion dollars a year on diet products, most of which don't work. (Business Week)   These kinds of contradictions not only hurt our head, they send a message to the rest of the world about the United States that suggests we are more concerned about our personal appearance than the health of people around the world.

Today's reading from from Joshua, therefore, not only demands that we be grateful, but that we work together to find ways to distribute God's gifts more equitably.There are any number of agencies and philanthropists trying to do this, (CF), not the least of which is  Catholic Relief Services.

Today I suggest we take an extra moment or three to pause in gratitude for all those working for social change, and then, before eating, ask God for the insight and courage to discern a personal path to help feed hungry people.  When we take for granted the gifts of creation, especially nourishing food and clean water, we dishonor the God who so graciously provides them for us.