Both compassion and conversion

Homily for 5^th Sunday of Lent Year C 2016

Isaiah 43:16-21; Philippians 3:8-14; John 8:1-11

Introduction

When I first came to this country many years ago, I was invited to a fancy wedding dinner.  The RSVP card required a choice of entrée, between chicken or steak.  Now you have to understand that at weddings in Uganda, we usually have a buffet, and you get a bit of this and a bit of that.  So I thought, I will have both, and I checked off both chicken and steak.  As you can imagine, because of this faux pas, I was never invited to another wedding by that family.

Scripture and Theology

Aside from wedding invitations, the “both . . . and” rather than “either . . . or” mentality is a good way of looking at things, as we see in today's gospel story.

We heard that the Pharisees and scribes set a trap for Jesus, by bringing him a woman, who is clearly guilty of the serious sin of adultery.  After reminding him that the Law of Moses prescribed the death penalty for this crime, they ask him: "So what do you say?”

This seems like a no-win situation for Jesus:

·        If on the one hand, he says that she should not be stoned, he would be going against the Law of Moses and he would appear weak on sin.

·        But on the other hand, if Jesus agrees that she should be stoned, he would then be contradicting his teaching elsewhere about the mercy of God. 

So, Jesus is between the proverbial rock and a hard place. What does he do?

We are told that Jesus begins to write on the ground with his finger.  But what was Jesus writing?  St. Augustine suggests that Jesus was writing down the sins of the accusers.  Others suggest that he was simply doodling, as a strategy to give the accusers time to think about their own sinfulness.  Whatever it was, it does not seem to work, for the men urge him to stop dilly-dallying and take a stand on the matter at hand.

This is where Jesus goes to the heart of the matter and asks them: “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”  And as he continues writing on the ground, they begin to leave one by one, starting with the oldest.  Having lived the longest, the older men probably had tonnes of sins.

Anyway, the gospel story finishes by telling us that in the end Jesus is left alone with the woman.  After establishing that nobody had condemned her, he tells her: “Neither do I condemn you.  Go, and from now on do not sin any more.”

With these words Jesus resolves the apparent dilemma, without taking one side or the other on the case.  He teaches that God is neither a carefree clown nor a merciless tyrant; he is both a God of compassion and a God of righteousness.  The compassionate side tells her “Go, I have forgiven you for your serious sin; I am not going to condemn."  And the righteous side of the same God tells her: "But do not sin again; I challenge you to live an upright life from now on.”

With these words, "Go, and from now do not sin any more" Jesus is telling us that the gospel message of salvation is not "either [this] . . . or [that]" but is "both . . . and."  We see this "both . . . and" mentality elsewhere in the gospels:

·        In the story of the Samaritan woman at the well, Jesus both forgives her for her serial marriages and also challenges her to set her life right with God.

·        As for the lepers, Jesus both heals them and then sends them off to the priests, to fulfil the requirements of the Law.

·        And when he invites himself to dinner at the house of Zachaeus as a sign forgiving him, Zachaeus anticipates the Lord's challenge to conversion, by deciding to make restitution for his sins.

And so, today's gospel and the whole gospel, set the example, of how we are to deal with sin in ourselves and others.  We must approach sinners with a double-barrelled approach of both compassion and commitment, forgiveness and righteousness, mercy and justice.  It is not a black or white world.

Christian Life

Let me offer three ways in which we can apply this message to our lives: educating children, discussing public policy, nourishing our spiritual lives.

When I look back in my own life, I see how I have grown as a person, as a Christian and as a priest, only because of this tough-love approach.

·        I can think of the coach in soccer, who worked us like a drill sergeant, but also consoled us when we lost a game.

·        I can think of my ninth grade teacher, who caught me reading a novel in class, and had me write 200 times, "I will always pay attention in class;" but when I took the work to him, he forgave me and offered me a treat.

·        I can think of my mother patting me on the back when I brought home my report card and at the same time urging me to do better.

Beyond the family and school, this double-barrelled approach can help us our public policy.  That is why the Catholic Bishops of the United States support:

·        An immigration policy that is concerned both with security of the nation and care for the needy stranger.

·        A criminal-justice policy that both punishes the criminal and also gives him an opportunity to turn his life around.

·        An economic policy that both encourages industry, hard work, and responsibility, and also cares for the truly needy members of society.

A Christian society like ours, must be both just and merciful, not one or the other.

But it is in our spiritual life, that this mentality of "both . . . and" bears most fruit.  Those of us who are older perhaps remember a time when our Church was all doom and gloom.  We focused so much on the cross that we forgot about the joy of the resurrection of the Lord.  Like the men in the gospel story, we considered sinners as unredeemable and having no place in the Church.  But in doing this, we chose to focus only on the part where Jesus says to the woman “Do not sin again;” we forgot the part where he actually forgives her.

But in the last 50 years, we seem to have swung the pendulum to the other extreme.  We have replaced an obviously flawed approach of fire and brimstone, with an equally defective approach of anything-goes, I-am-okay-you-are-okay. We want to throw out all the rules and commandments, stop talking about sin and repentance.  After all the isn't Lord  kind and merciful?  But in this way, we have focused only on the part of where Jesus forgives the woman and ignored his challenge that she avoid sin.  We must focus both on mercy and right-living.

Conclusion

And so, today's gospel, coming as it does towards the end of the Lenten season, tells us: "Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin any more."

·        When we are like the merciless Pharisees and scribes that brought the woman, Jesus tells us: “be merciful just as your heavenly father is merciful.”

·        And when we are caught up in sin like the woman, Jesus says to us: “be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect.”

I hope that, when I die and show up at the gate of heaven and St. Peter asks to see my invitation card, I can show him that throughout my life, I have always checked off on RSVP section for myself, God's mercy and God's call to righteousness; and that for others in my life, I have showed both compassion as well as calling them to conversion.

Learning God's fatherhood, our sonship and our brotherhood

Homily for 4^th Sunday of Lent Year C 2016

Joshua 5:9a,10-12; 2 Corinthians 5:17-21; Luke 15:1-3,11-32

Introduction

Two little schoolgirls, let's call them Monica and Ashley, were practicing their math skills by asking each other test questions.

Monica asked: “Ashley, when you have five dollars and you ask your dad for five dollars, how much money do you have?”

“Five dollars,” replied Ashley.

“That is wrong!” Monica yelled out.  “Five plus five equals ten.  Ashley, you don’t know your math!”

But Ashley replied, “Monica, you don’t know my father!"

We might ask ourselves a similar question: "Do we really know God our Father?”

Scripture and Theology

Thankfully, today's gospel parable tells us something about who God our Father is.  The story also suggests what kind of sons and daughters we should be to our father, and what kind of brothers and sisters we can be to each other.

From the parable we learn that ours is a merciful and loving father, in at least two ways.  First, God is the kind of father who respects the freedom of his children.  Unlike some fathers, the father in the gospel story does not use the inheritance to hold the younger son hostage; he lets him go.  He knows that every child reaches an age when he wants to be his own man, make his way in life, even make mistakes and hopefully learn from them.  Of course by doing this the father risks being forgotten forever; but still he does not stop his son from exercising his free will. 

Secondly, God is a forgiving father, who anxiously waits for his sinful children to return. And when they do, he rushes out to meet them and bring them back.

·        We heard that when the younger son, after squandering his money on loose living, realized the error of his ways and returned to the father.  But "While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him."  The Father decked him out in the finest clothing and jewellery, and ordered a festival in his honour, with the main dish being the fattened calf set aside for very special occasions.

·        And with the older son, the one who refuses to come in and join the feast, the father went out there to seek him and plead with him.  He tells him: "My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours."  He never forced him to come into the house and the story does not tell us if he did.  but it was not for lack of trying on the father's part.

And so, God our Father, like the father in the story, has both respect for our free will and mercy for our conversion, when we choose to exercise either.

Christian Life

When you have such a father, the natural response is to be a good son or daughter to him, as well as a good brother or sister to your siblings.  We can learn both from the two imperfect sons in the parable.

From the younger son, we learn to avoid entitlement and to practice conversion.

1.    Rather than always demanding: "Father give me the share of your estate that should come to me," we allow God to give us freely what he thinks we really need.  In our prayer, we can request, but must we leave it to God, whether he wants to add us five more dollars or not.  We cannot demand, bribe or grab. That was the sin of Adam and Eve who ate of the fruit of the tree, so that they could get for themselves knowledge apart from God.  That can be our sin today, when we take, take, from God, but never give, give at all.  And of course this entitlement is the root cause of materialism, consumerism and all the other sins that come from misusing what God has given us.

2.    But from this same younger son, we also learn what to do, especially when we sin.  As a Jewish man, being reduced to feeding pigs, unclean animals in for that religion, was the lowest one could get.  As the saying goes, he had scraped the bottom of the barrel.  That is when he realized that going back to his father, not as a son but as servant, would still be much better than being at the bottom of that barrel.  And so he went and said: "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son."  But the Father received him back.

Don't we too sometimes find ourselves at the bottom of the barrel, struggling with sins of purity, with our marriage, with our work situations, or even prayer? Like the younger son, we too should examine ourselves, become contrite and return to the Father in confession to seek his mercy. In fact, during confession, we use virtually the same words of this parable when in the act of contrition we say: "O my God, I heartily sorry for having sinned against you."

Even the older son can teach us something to imitate and a few things to avoid.

1.    Starting with his good qualities, clearly he was a committed son.  When the younger son went off and abandoned the dad, who perhaps had just been diagnosed with cancer, he stuck around.  He is diligent and obedient, like he says himself: "Look, all these years I served you and not once did I disobey your orders."  Every day, he works hard: he can be counted on to deliver the calf at 2.00 in the morning, milk the cows at dawn and take the oxen out to plough in the hot sun.  In fact, it seems that he was yet even taken a penny of the inheritance, for he tells his father: “you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends.”  Would we not like to have a child like him?

How many of us can claim this level of diligence, obedience and commitment to our earthly parents and perhaps even more importantly to our heavenly Father?  At least I know I certainly can learn something from this older son.

2.    At the same time, this older son has some vices that we must avoid:

As a son, he thinks of himself as a slave to his father, rather than as a beloved child.  He wants to buy his father's love by hard work and blind obedience.  But as  Jesus puts, "I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father" (Jn. 15:15).  God wants us to be sons and daughters who love him for him, not simply out of fear of him.

As a brother, the older son harbours jealousy and envy towards his brother.  I am a jealous person when I want to keep others from getting what I have, and I am envious when I want what the other person has for myself alone.

·        This older son is jealous because he wants to keep the father's love for himself alone.  We too can be like him when we deny that God could love other people, of a different religion, nationality, race, or even sinners.

·        The older son is also envious, because he does not want the younger son to have the father's forgiveness.  Don't we also sometimes think that God and the Church are too merciful, reaching out to sinners, prisoners, immigrants, the poor, people who don't deserve compassion?  That's why Jesus told this parable, because the Pharisees were grumbling that “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

Conclusion

As we continue reflecting on this parable, let us answer these three questions:

(1) What kind of father is God to me?

(2) What kind of son or daughter am I to him?

(3) And especially, what kind of brother or sister am I to God's other children?

Conversion is both urgent and possible

Homily for 3^rd Sunday of Lent Year C 2016

Exodus 3:1-8a,13-15; 1 Corinthians 10:1-6,1-12; Luke 13:1-9

Introduction

Do you remember after 9/11, when some people, especially some evangelical preachers, blamed that terrorist tragedy on the sinfulness of America?  And then after Katrina, when some people also blamed that natural catastrophe on the decadence of New Orleans!

Such thinking, that makes an automatic connection between sin and suffering also existed at the time of Jesus.  And Jesus, then and now strongly rejected it.

Scripture and Theology

For example, in the first part of today's gospel, Jesus refers to two tragedies.

1.    The first was the atrocious massacre of some worshippers by Pilate, when as we heard, Pilate mingled their blood with that of their sacrifices.

2.    The second tragedy was a construction accident at Siloam, where a tower fell and killed eighteen people.

We can think of the first incident as being like the kind of suffering we experience at the hands of others: terrorists, criminals, gun-toting students.  We can think of the second incident as being like the suffering that occurs by accident or by natural phenomena, like hurricanes or the recent tornadoes.

Regardless of their cause, Jesus asks his listeners, if the victims of these tragedies were greater sinners than everybody else?  And of course his answer is an emphatic "No."  He rejects a one-to-one link between sin and suffering.  Yes, some suffering is our own doing, like diseases that result from not taking care of ourselves.  But not all the suffering in the world is caused by personal sin.

The reason Jesus rejects this automatic link between sin and suffering is because it creates complacency in people who are doing well.  They think, "I am okay, I don't have to do anything."  To them, both then and now, Jesus says: "I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!” 

By "perish" Jesus is not merely talking about physical death; he is talking about eternal death, separation from God forever and ever.  In other words, he reminds the Jews and us, that the punishment for sin is not always given here on earth, but will certainly be given after death.  And so, since we don't know when we are going to die, just like those victims of Pilate and the construction accident, we must repent. And if any tragedy befalls us, we will die physically, but we shall not perish eternally, for we shall be found in a state of grace.

Alfred Nobel, the man who instituted and endowed the Nobel Prizes, was a Swedish chemist who made his fortune by inventing powerful explosives and licensing the formula to governments to make weapons.  One day Alfred's brother died.  By accident, the newspaper printed the obituary of Alfred instead of that of his deceased brother.  It described him as the inventor of dynamite who made a fortune by enabling armies to achieve new levels of mass destruction.

When Nobel read his own obituary, he got a glimpse of how he would be remembered: as a merchant of death and destruction.   That's when he decided to change, convert, turn around.  He took his fortune and used it to establish awards for accomplishments contributing to life rather than death, awards which we know today as the Nobel prizes.  He got a second chance, to repent.

If Nobel's example and the tragic examples Jesus uses serve as negative incentives against complacency, the parable of the fig tree should be a positive incentive that gives our repentance hope. The fig tree is a special tree in Palestine. Every family tries to raise one, showering care and their limited supply of water on it and expecting to harvest some figs after three years and every year after. 

That is why the master is tired of a tree that is not giving fruit, and wants it cut down.  But the gardener pleads for the plant and asks for one more year, to tend it a little more, so that it might produce fruit.  The gardener believes that change is possible; given some more nurturing, the tree will produce fruit.

In this parable, God the Father is the tree owner and he has just about had it with humanity.  Jesus is the gardener, pleading with the Master to allow him try his hand one more time at converting stubborn humanity with his life-giving message.  But now, even the gardener, Jesus, is getting really frustrated especially with the religious leaders who have refused to listen to his message of salvation and who are actively persecuting him.  That is why in very stern words Jesus says to them: “I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish . . . .”

Christian Life

But like a bitter pill, these stern words bear a message of hope for us.  They tell us that repentance is possible, even for the worst of sinners.

You have heard the proverb, "a leopard cannot change its spots."  While  that might be true for leopards, for us Christians, Jesus teaches that we can change our spots.  Through the mouth of Isaiah, the Lord says: "Though your sins be like scarlet, they may become white as snow; Though they be red like crimson, they may become white as wool" (Is. 1:18).  We must not give up on others and especially not on ourselves.  We must not resign ourselves to our sinful condition, but must always harbour the hope that change is possible.

But conversion, is not always easy.  Thankfully, from the parable of the fig tree, we see three things that can help: time, other people and God.

Change needs some time and work.  That is why the gardener asks for one more year, four seasons for nurturing the tree.  For us Lent can be such a time, when through prayer, fasting and almsgiving, we work on our addictions and sinful habits.  Some sinful habits built over time, will also take time to work on; and we should not be discouraged if change is not instant but gradual.

And as much as we need time to change, we also need the help of others.  On its own the fig tree was unable to change; only with the help of gardener, watering it, fertilizing it, would it begin producing some fruit.  This gardener is like the accountability partner or sponsor in many 12-step programs. For us, our gardener could be a spouse, a parent, a teacher, a friend, a co-worker to point out our sins and help us avoid them.  And the most important gardener that the Lord left for us is the priest, who through the sacrament of confession, helps us with his counsel and advice as we walk away from sin towards God.

But perhaps the most important person we need in our journey of conversion is God himself.  Sin has such a powerful hold on us, that we need a powerful ally.  That is why regular prayer is such an important tool if we want to resist the Evil One, turn away from his allures and turn towards God.  God's help comes best from the sacrament of confession, where the priest says to us: "I absolve you from your sins, in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."

Conclusion

This message of repentance, both its urgency and how to go about it, has been taught by the Church for the past two thousand years.  But Pope Francis, in a particular way, has brought it to the forefront, reminding us especially during this Jubilee Year, that if only we turn to God, his mercy is there for the taking.

Let me suggest that we allow Pope Francis to be our gardener, working on us this year, to help us repent and produce some fruit.  In particular, I would like to recommend his book, entitled, "The Name of God is Mercy."  This book is wonderful Lenten reading for all us, but also a wonderful gift for someone else, who like us wishes to repent, but needs a little nudge, a little help.  For when Moses asked God for his name, so he might tell the Israelites who was liberating them from slavery, God said: "I am who I am."  When Pope Francis asked God the same question, the answer he heard was: "The Name of our God is mercy."

Our citizenship is in heaven

Homily for 2^nd Sunday of Lent Year C 2016

Genesis 15:5-12,17-18; Philippians 3:17-4:1; Luke 9:28b-36

INTRODUCTION

"Our citizenship is in heaven." What does St. Paul with these words?  Is he suggesting that because you are Catholic, you are not American citizens?

Actually he and the readings of today are telling us that we Christians are dual citizens: we are citizens of this world for a short while, but our permanent citizenship is with God in heaven.  And the gospel story of the Transfiguration, gives us a glimpse of that heavenly citizenship.

SCRIPTURE AND TRADITION

In last Sunday's gospel we saw that the desert was the place where God prepared his messengers for their mission: Moses and the Israelites wandered in the desert for 40 years, the prophet Elijah and Jesus for 40 days and nights.

But when God wanted to reveal himself or his message to them, he met them on mountains.

·        It is on Mount Sinai that Moses often met God and from where he came down with God's message, including the Ten Commandments.

·        Elijah too went to meet God on that same Mount Sinai (1 Kg. 19).

·        And we heard that "Jesus took Peter, John, and James and went up the mountain to pray."

But while Moses and Elijah only conversed with God on the mountain, they did not see his face.  God revealed himself to them only in partial way, like a shadow or a silhouette.  In the case of Jesus, however, this experience on the mountain is a complete revelation of himself to the disciples.

·        We heard that: "While he was praying his face changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white."  This is what Peter, James and John saw when they woke up.

·        Even Moses and Elijah, revered messengers of God, symbols of God's Law and the Prophets, came to testify to Jesus.

·        And to top it off, there was the voice of the Father himself from the cloud saying: "This is my chosen Son; listen to him."

What Moses and Elijah had only seen partially on their previous trips to the mountain, the three disciples can now see fully in the transfigured Jesus.  The disciples have a foretaste of the heavenly citizenship that awaited them.

And Jesus has a special purpose in bringing these three with him up the mountain.  Peter, James and John were his inner cabinet, the closest of the Twelve.  Now a week earlier, he had just announced to his disciples for the first time that “he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.”  The disciples found this message difficult to understand or accept, since for them, a Messiah was someone who would come in glory and power; not someone who would suffer.  Jesus had even told them every one of his disciples would have to deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Jesus.  His painful fate would also be their fate.

And so, having proposed this rather stark picture of what it means to be a disciple, Jesus now provides a morale booster, an antidote, if you like.  By giving them this experience of the Transfiguration, he assures them that this suffering, both on his part and on their part, is not for nothing.  It is the means by which they will share in the glory of the Father.

·        And in this experience of the Transfiguration, they have a sneak-peek of that glory, to which they must look forward, for which they must work.  Like a preview of a good movie entices you to go and watch the real thing, a preview of heaven, would make them work for the real thing.

·        This experience might also be compared to a plastic surgeon showing his patient, “the before” and “the after” picture.  On seeing a preview of the "after" picture, the patient might be more inclined to undergo the pain and suffering.  Similarly, the disciples, were able to understand the Cross, because they had seen the glory in heaven that would follow.

CHRISTIAN APPLICATION

What this experience did for Peter, James and John, it should do for us today.  And coming as it does on the Second Sunday of Lent, this story should help us understand why we have to go through the harshness of the desert, of Lenten Penance, as well as of the difficulties of our daily lives.  This gospel should remind us to have the prospect of heaven (and for that matter the avoidance of hell), must always be at the forefront of our thoughts.  We must never forget as St. Paul told us that our true citizenship is in heaven.

·        In virtually all sports, coaches always tell their players to keep their eye on the ball, if they want to win.  For us Christians, the ball is heaven, which we must never keep far from our thoughts and actions. 

·        And for those who use the GPS for navigation, it only works if you enter the correct destination.  If we enter heaven as our destination, even when we take the wrong turn, it should recalculate and keep on the true path that leads to heaven.

Besides, reminding us about our true home in heaven, this story of the Transfiguration also gives us the two means of getting there: ascending the mountain and descending from the mountain.

We climb up the mountain, whenever we pray.  Luke's gospel tells us that Jesus went up to the mountain to pray.  And it is during his prayer, that this marvellous experience of his glory happened.  

We too, can experience something of God's glory, both in our private prayer and in our community prayer.  We come to prayer, to leave behind, at least temporarily the cares of our current citizenship and have a foretaste of the other citizenship.  We come to the Eucharist, Confession, devotions and personal prayer, to remain strengthened, anchored, and properly oriented for the difficult journey we are making towards heaven.  That is why prayer is not only one of the three Lenten practices; it is also one of the seven spiritual works of mercy.  Through prayer we are constantly reminded of our heavenly home.

But then we must climb down the mountain of prayer.  We cannot like Peter decide to build three tents and remain on there; rather we must bring our experience from the mountain-top to the valleys and even the deserts of everyday life.  We must let that sneak-peek experience of heaven we get in prayer inform the rest of our life.  For Peter than meant coming down and enduring the suffering and death of his Lord and Master.  For us, coming down from the mountain means that we must return to the world ready face the daily hustles of family life and work life.  When the deacon or priest after Mass dismisses us saying: “Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life,” he is essentially saying, start climbing down the mountain; go back to your daily lives and live out what you have received here.  And particularly during this season of Lent, we live out our sneak-peek experience, through almsgiving and the works of mercy.

CONCLUSION

And so, may the experience of the three disciples on the mountain, inspire our own lives, especially during this Lenten season.

·        May we learn to climb the mountain in prayer, for a regular foretaste of our heavenly citizenship.

·        May we learn to climb down so that we can live out fully and transform our current citizenship in this world.

We look forward to that day, when we finally get to heaven, to the mountain of the Lord, where there will be no more ascending and descending.  We look forward to taking up permanent residence and citizenship there, where God the Son lives and reigns with the Father, in the Holy Spirit, forever and ever.

Let us go out to the Desert

Homily for 1^st Sunday of Lent Year C 2016

Deuteronomy 26:4-10; Romans 10:8-13; Luke 4:1-13

Introduction

On Ash Wednesday most of us received ashes.  It was not just to make up for our Mardi Gras indulgence.  It was to kick-start the period of Lent.  But why Lent?

We can answer this question about the meaning of Lent, by looking briefly at the history of Lent and at the readings of today's Mass.

Scripture and Theology

The inspiration for Lent can be traced back to the many incidents in the Bible, of people going out into the desert.

·        When Moses led the people of Israel from Egypt to the Promised Land, he did not use the shorter route along the Mediterranean Sea; rather they took the longer route through the desert.  This was no scenic route; it was a gruelling 40-year journey in harsh conditions of heat and depravation.

·        The Prophet Elijah also fled into the desert to escape the death threat issued against him by Queen Jezebel, wife of King Ahab.  He too spent 40 punishing days and 40 nights in the desert.

·        And as we just heard, Jesus too spent 40 days and 40 nights in the desert.

In all three cases, the time spent in the harsh conditions of the desert, was a time of training.  Like gold is purified in fire, with the impurities burning away, so the Hebrew people, Elijah and Jesus were tested by the harsh realities of the desert.  The difficulties they faced brought on many temptations, three of which we heard about in today's gospel.  While Jesus did not give in to the temptations, the others did.  But still God took care of them all during their desert experience.  And they all came out stronger, having discovered and honed their strengths, and at the same time having pared down their weaknesses.  Now they were all ready to start their missions: the Hebrew People to living in the Promised Land, Elijah to prophesying, and Jesus to proclaiming the Good News of Salvation.

With this history in mind, it was natural for Christians to celebrate a desert-like period of 40 days.  But when would they have this experience?   Before Christmas or at the beginning of the year?  They decided that the best time to experience 40 days in the desert was right before the most important Christian feast, one certainly greater than Mardi Gras or Valentine's Day.  The desert experience was to prepare us for Easter, when we celebrate Christ's death and resurrection, which brought about our salvation, restoring us to God.

Besides being a preparation period for all Christians, two special groups of Christians used Lent to prepare themselves in a special way.

·        Catechumens, who were preparing to be baptized and so enter the Church, spent these last 40 days before Easter in intense preparation. 

·        And so did Penitents.  At that time the sacrament of confession required sinners to do their penance first, sometimes for years, and then they would be reconciled to the Church on Holy Thursday.  They too used these final 40 days to prepare themselves to tie up any loose ends in their conversion.

And so, the Lent has a long history; from the desert experience of Moses, Elijah and Jesus, to the intense preparation of Catechumens and Penitents.

Christian Life

From this history, we can see that Lent still has meaning for us today.  After all like the catechumens and the penitents, we need to renew our relationship with God through conversion. After all, like Moses, Elijah and Jesus, we need to be purified by the desert, and come out triumphant over the temptations of Jesus.

1.     The devil tempted Jesus with the pleasure of food saying: “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”  Aren't we also subject to sensual temptations of over-eating, over-drinking, sexual pleasure, pornography, television, the internet, video-games, to name but a few?

2.    After failing with the first temptation, the devil then dangled power before Jesus saying: "All this [power and glory] will be yours, if you worship me.”  Aren't we also tempted by the seductive lure of power over others at work or in the family, or the power of good looks, intelligence and wealth?

3.    Finally the devil uses piety to tempt Jesus saying: "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here [after all your God will protect you]."  Don't we succumb to this temptation when we fail to do our part and presume that God will take care of everything, such as when we fail to take care of our health and expect God to do it all, or when students refuse to study and expect that prayer will substitute for sheer hard work?

Through the desert experience, Jesus overcame these temptations of uninhibited pleasure, unbridled power, and presumptuous piety.  For us our desert experience is the season of Lent, particularly the traditional Lenten practices of fasting, almsgiving and prayer.

1.    Fasting allows us to get down to bare basics.  When faced with hunger and thirst, we quickly realize what is important in life and what is only accessory.  If we can do without food and water, which are necessary for life, we soon realize that we can survive without many other things.  Like Jesus told the devil, “One does not live on bread alone,” but on a deep relationship with God and with others, in the family, Church and society.

2.    Almsgiving allows us to realize that we are not the centre of the world.  We realize that there are others besides us, with whom we must share what is ours.  When we give alms, we use our power for good.  We share our bread with the hungry, water with the thirsty, because God has shared his life with us.  Through almsgiving we worship the Lord our God who is in the other, and through serving others we serve him who is God alone.  One very practical way to practice almsgiving is to carry out the traditional seven corporal works of mercy and the seven spiritual works of mercy, especially since this is the Jubilee Year of Mercy.  In both works of mercy, we give something of ours to another person; in the corporal works we give them something for the body like food and shelter; in the spiritual works, we give them something for the soul, like knowledge and correction.

3.    The third Lenten practice of Prayer focuses attention on our relationship with God.  In prayer we speak to God, we listen to God.  Heartfelt prayer is like a cordial conversation between close friends, where everything is put on the table, the good and the bad.  In this conversation we do not presume nor bribe nor demand from God.  True prayer makes the request and leaves it to God, to decide whether and when to grant the request.

Conclusion

Let us live out this Lent in such a way that like Jesus came out of the desert triumphant, we too will come out of the Lenten desert victorious.  For having set off on this journey with the three tools of fasting, prayer and almsgiving, we shall come out with a threefold harvest at Easter:

1.    Within ourselves, a greater control of our addictions to pleasure and power

2.    With others whom we show mercy, a closer relationship

3.    And with God who shows us mercy, a renewed relationship

And when the time comes for us to enter our heavenly Promised Land, our admission will be assured not because we bear roses or chocolate, but because we shall bear the three most important gifts: a right relationship with ourselves, with others and with God.

God does not choose the able, he enables the chosen

Homily for 5^th Sunday of Ordinary Time Year C 2016

Isaiah 6:1-2a,3-8; 1 Corinthians 15:1-11; Luke 5:1-11

Introduction

During an interview, about two and a half years ago, Pope Francis was asked: “Who is Jorge Mario Bergoglio?” And in what has now become a famous answer, he said: "I do not know what might be the most fitting description....  but the best summary, the one that comes more from the inside and I feel most true is this: I am a sinner whom the Lord has looked upon.”

Many people, were surprised that the Pope had described himself as a sinner.  We are not used to important people admitting weakness.  Rather we are used to a culture of self-promotion like Muhammad Ali, who said, "I am the greatest," "I’m the double greatest. Not only do I knock ’em out, I pick the round."  We are raised to think of ourselves as great.

Scripture and Theology

But for Christians, Pope Francis saying that he is a sinner, should not have come as a surprise.  About two thousand years ago, another would-be-pope said “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man” (Lk. 5:7).  That was Simon Peter, when he first met the Lord.  As we heard in today's gospel, faced with the true greatness and holiness of Jesus, Peter realized how unworthy he was.

This feeling of unworthiness was also felt by the prophets in the Old Testament.

·        When called by God to be a prophet, Jeremiah protested his youth, saying: “I do not know how to speak. I am too young” (Jer. 1:6)!

·        Amos lacked pedigree: "I am not a prophet, nor do I belong to a company of prophets. I am a herdsman and a dresser of sycamores" (Amos 7:14).

·        And in today's reading we heard from the prophet Isaiah, who described his unworthiness in this way: "Woe is me, I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips" (Is. 6:5).

And in the second reading, St. Paul described himself as "one born abnormally."  "For I am the least of the apostles, not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God" (1 Cor. 15:8-9).  Paul writes these words at the end of his first letter to the Corinthians, in which he chastises them for their sinful ways, but he does not forget, in fact he acknowledges his own unworthiness.

And so, from all three readings and indeed in all of the Bible, we see that God almost always picks the lowly and unworthy to be his messengers and his ministers.  Even the Blessed Mother, although immaculately conceived, was a poor, lowly teenage girl, tasked with being the mother of God's son.

But why does God operate in this way?  Why does he have such low hiring standards?  A catchy phrase used by promoters of religious vocations is: "God does not call the able; he enables those he calls."  In other words, perhaps God picks the lowly so that he can form them in his own way and so that they might do his work in his way, and not their way.  God is able to reshape and reform what is broken, and use it for his great purposes.

Just look at Simon in today's gospel.  The Lord tells him: “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men” (Lk. 5:10).  From then on the Lord teaches and trains Peter and his friends, and turns them from fishermen, to fishers of men.  That is why we see that Peter who gives that passionate sermon at Pentecost, is able to do so, only because the Lord has looked upon him with kindness and blessed him with the gifts to overcome his weakness.

Even the prophets who we have seen, despite their initial unworthiness, God worked on them and made them worthy instruments of his message.  Isaiah described for us in some detail how this transformation happened.

He touched my mouth with [an ember] it, and said, “See, now that this has touched your lips, your wickedness is removed, your sin purged.”

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?” “Here I am,” I said; “send me!”

As for St. Paul, we know the Lord called him on the Road to Damascus.  Paul admitted as much in today's second reading when he said:

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me has not been ineffective. Indeed, I have toiled harder than all of them; not I, however, but the grace of God that is with me.

God's hiring process, therefore, is not based not greatness, but on the potential to become great in the hands of God.

Christian Life

We who live at time when receiving Oscars, Emmy's and Grammy's, winning the Superbowl, is far more important that feeding the poor or dying for one's country, really need to recognize our unworthiness before God.

The words and example of Pope Francis should inspire us to look at ourselves.  But even Pope Benedict was equally self-effacing.  When he was introduced as pope on the balcony, his first words were:

After the great Pope John Paul II, the Cardinals have elected me, a simple and humble labourer in the vineyard of the Lord.  The fact that the Lord knows how to work and to act even with inadequate instruments comforts me, and above all I entrust myself to your prayers.

And anybody who had the privilege of meeting Pope Benedict personally like I did saw firsthand, his humility, most evidently demonstrated in his decision to resign the papacy.

But even Pope John Paul, despite his charismatic gifts, was just as self-effacing.  Around the time of his funeral, I remember someone calling into Catholic Radio in Uganda, with a concern.  He had heard, that one of the dying wishes of Pope John Paul II, was to ask for prayers for his soul.  This caller, a Catholic was really disturbed and said: "If we have to pray for the pope, what hope is there for the rest of us?"  Thankfully the priest on the radio show explained to the caller, that like all the faithful, Pope John Paul too was a sinner, who needed God's mercy.

Conclusion

Coming back to how we see our own deacons, priests and bishops at home, let me suggest three take-away messages for us today.

1.    First, "cut your priests some slack;" they are only human beings who can and do make mistakes.  As I have demonstrated with our three recent popes, we priests ourselves will be the first to acknowledge that we are only poor instruments of the Lord.  There is no clearer evidence of this unworthiness, than having to celebrate Mass and preach with a stomach full of butterflies.

2.    Secondly, don't stake your faith on the minister of Christ, but on Christ who works through them.  I have heard of people who have left the Church perhaps because Father so-and-so offended them in some way.  Why leave Jesus because of the unfaithful Judas Iscariot; why not stay because of the faithful Peter?  Remember our successes as priests belong to Christ; but our failures are ours as human beings.

3.    Third and finally, the humanness of priests is not excuse for mediocrity.  Like the readings have shown us, God takes shapeless clay and moulds something beautiful out of it. In the same way, God always continues to work on his priests to make them worthier instruments of his.  That is why priests-to-be take at least six years of specialized training in the seminary, to say nothing about the general training in the Christian life that they receive at home.  What can you do to help your priests become a better instrument of God?  Perhaps encourage them, advise them, an most of all, pray for them.

SOME REMINDERS FOR DEACONS

From The Order of Mass (OM) and The General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM)

A. Say the Black and Do the Red

Here is a gentle reminder from Redemptionis Sacramentum #59 about the need to use the words given in the Ritual and not make them up.

"The reprobated practice by which Priests, Deacons or the faithful here and there alter or vary at will the texts of the Sacred Liturgy that they are charged to pronounce, must cease. For in doing thus, they render the celebration of the Sacred Liturgy unstable, and not infrequently distort the authentic meaning of the Liturgy."

CORRECT	COMMON ERRORS
GOSPEL
Before the Gospel "Your blessing, Father" (OM 14). Reading the Gospel ". . . At the ambo the Deacon greets the people, with hands joined, saying, The Lord be with you" (GIRM 175). After the Gospel "Through the words of the Gospel may our sins be wiped away" (OM 16).	Before the Gospel "May I have your blessing Father." Reading the Gospel Saying "The Lord be with you" with hands extended.
PRESENTATION OF GIFTS
"By the mystery of this water and wine may we come to share in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share in our humanity" (OM 24)
SIGN OF PEACE
With hands joined, he faces the people and says, "Let us offer each other the sign of peace" (GIRM 181, OM 128).	Let us offer one another the sign of peace Brothers and sisters . . . (blah, blah, blah), let us . . . (yada, yada, yada). Hands extended.
DISMISSAL
After the Priest’s blessing, the Deacon, with hands joined and facing the people, dismisses the people, saying (GIRM 186, OM 144). 1. Go forth, the Mass is ended. 2. Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord. 3. Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life. 4. Go in peace.	Hands extended 1. The Mass is ended, go in peace 2. Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord by your life. 3. Go and glorify the Lord by your life. 4. Go in peace, the Mass is ended.

B. Uses of the Trinitarian Formula in the Liturgy

Say the Trinitarian formula as given in the ritual, especially as it is used differently in different liturgical contexts.  When you leave out  or add the preposition (of/to), the conjunction (and), the article (the), you are probably making some heretical statements about the doctrine on the Trinity, doctrine over which much blood and ink was spilled.

	SIGN OF THE CROSS/ BAPTISM	BLESSING	DOXOLOGY
Case	Genetive Case	Nominative Case	Dative Case
English	In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.	May Almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.	Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit
Latin	In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti.	Benedicat vos omnipotens Deus, Pater, et Filius, et Spiritus Sanctus.	Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto.

C. Communion for celebrating and Concelebrating Priests

Redemptionis Sacramentum #98 reminds us that concelebrants (and principal celebrant) must always receive communion under both species, and from the hosts/wine consecrated at that Mass, as such reception is required for the completion of the sacrifice that they offer.  The deacon who often distributes communion to the priests must be aware of this.

"The Communion of Priest concelebrants should proceed according to the norms prescribed in the liturgical books, always using hosts consecrated at the same Mass and always with Communion under both kinds being received by all of the concelebrants. It is to be noted that if the Priest or Deacon hands the sacred host or chalice to the concelebrants, he says nothing; that is to say, he does not pronounce the words “The Body of Christ” or “The Blood of Christ”."