Weekly Reflection 102807AD

Sunday, October 28, 2007AD

30^th Sunday in Greentime

TaxCollector and/or Pharisee?

Jesus’ parables demonstrate that His right brain was highly developed. His creative way with words and imagery made for such memorable stories that people, after 2000 years, can still catch His drift.

On one hand, we have to be careful because, as often as we hear the parables, their “punch” might be lessened on us. Still, we change as people just as the parable does not.

The parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector is familiar to us for several reasons. First, before the liturgical readings were changed after Vatican II, in 1970, this parable was proclaimed every year on a summer Sunday. Second, the bragging of the Pharisee is so outrageous that he is obviously setting himself up, while the humility of the sinful tax collector is touching. Third, Jesus had a knack for setting up two characters in many of His parables. (Recall the older brother and the younger brother in the Prodigal Son, the Rich man and Lazarus, the Good Samaritan and the priest-levite, the unrighteous judge and the annoying widow.) Fourth, Jesus’ moral, based on a quotation from Ezekiel, teaches us that God sees things differently than we do. How does God see reality?

A graced insight in the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector is that everyone is in the position of the tax collector seeking God’s mercy. All of us need forgiveness for something in our lives whether we care to admit it to ourselves or not. The doctrine of original sin speaks of the baggage of a world that we create without God. None of us is perfect and, without grace, we all contribute to this baggage (or “rubbish”, as St Paul said) of the world. Whether we acknowledge it or not, all of us need God’s forgiveness. With God’s Grace, all of us can see a gift in realizing that we need to beg God for the mercy.

This may be one reason why the prayer of the tax collector has resonated down through the centuries since Jesus first spoke the parable, “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.” (In fact, it is quite an acceptable mini Act of Contrition, according to the revised ritual of sacrament of penance and reconciliation in 1974.)

There is even a mini-version of the mini-version, the four syllable, two word mantra “Jesus, mercy.” According to stories of saints, this prayer was a liberating technique for people who were able to internalize the prayer through frequent recitation so much so that it became a natural part of their everyday lives! One anonymous Russian peasant, known simply as “the Pilgrim”, walked through Russia-Siberia in the nineteenth century saying the pray as he continued his journey.

A theologian recently said that humility equals truth. When we realize that everything in life is either a gift or predicated on a gift, then we realize the need to say thanks to S(s)omeone. Does anyone ever say thanks enough to our Creator and our Liberator and our Source of Life? In addition, does anyone not miss the mark as well by honestly admitting some basic self-descriptions? Our lives are a mass of contradictions. Our lives can be described as works in progress. Our lives are books that are still be written, sometimes with inappropriate chapters. Our lives can be aptly described as a “process of three steps forward, two steps backwards.”

We don’t have to walk from JFK to SFO. Yet, the internalization and recitation of the “Jesus Prayer” reminds us of the need for forgiveness in our lives as well as make us more tolerant of those who need our forgiveness. 102807 AD jfq

Weekly Reflection 102107AD

Sunday, October 21, 2007AD

29^th Sunday in Greentime

No Ice Pack Needed.

Karl Rahner, perhaps the greatest Catholic theologian in the twentieth century, said that in the 21^st century, Catholics would have to come to a deep personal search for Transcendence (aka God) in our lives. He spoke of the “supernatural existential” in each person, viz., the call of Transcendence, Which God has programmed into our personalities. Catholics call it “the desire to happiness and fulfillment”.

God’s New World Order (aka the Kingdom of God) is not the System, not the American Dream, not Western Civilization, not the City of Man (a la St Augustine). This is because our culture became less focused and committed to acknowledge that God even is! Still, occasionally, prominent people pay lip service to God, but for many, a “practical atheism” kicks in. Throw in a “God bless America” every once in a while and then, do what you want. So, American Catholics have to be especially careful.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus speaks to His disciples of “the necessity of praying always and never losing heart.” In the post-World Trade Center world, we heed Jesus’ Words in a radical way. Our world has changed, not ended. Yet, Jesus Christ is the Same, yesterday, today and tomorrow. He urges us to pray always without losing heart, and His Words are strangely encouraging.

The widow, in ancient Israel, had a special place in the social and economic system. This was because unless there was a son or a brother or father to provide security, a widow was on her own. In the early church, there was an order of older women, whose vocation was, after the death of their spouses, would agree to pray and to serve the needs of the Christian community. In gratitude, the community would support them in their needs. This order of widows was an ancestor of the orders of religious women in the Church.

A crooked judge was a strange image for Jesus to employ to describe God. Jesus probably had tongue in cheek when He told this story because he tells us that the judge was afraid that she might, literally, “give him a black eye” if he did not acquiesce to her demands. The point is that if a crooked judge will ultimately respond to a legitimate petition, will not a loving God respond even more quickly?

In addition, Catholics are to respond to the call of the Infinite in our lives as a group when we gather for our family gathering at our Domus Ecclesiae (29 Cox Ave) each weekend. We accept the invitation to gather, to share the story about Jesus, to share His Meal and then, to return to the new week fortified by mutual support and Nourishment.

Jesus urges us to pray persistently (not 24-7-365) on a regular basis. We need to turn periodically to God. Islamic men do so five times a day. Catholics can emulate their example by praying five days a day as well, viz., in the morning and evening and before three meals.

More and more, people are realizing that the drive to Transcendence is a “Holy Longing”. Some go to ashrams or pagodas to practice Zen or other Eastern techniques (for a fee, of course!!) Our Catholic tradition is summed up in the watchwords from Vatican II, “the Universal Call to Holiness.” Our children can teach their parents the technique of Centering Prayer. The children are called to silence, to solitude and to slow down for a fixed period of time. (The ideal is 20 minutes twice a day, preferable in the morning and the evening.) When the “monkey mind” wanders, (as it always does), then the children call to mind a simple word which is a reminder of their commitment to give God time and space in their busy lives. It could be as simple as the word “God” or “Peace” or “Love”.

Rahner’s warning that individual Catholics needed to get more in touch with the Sacred in our lives is strangely on the money after September 11^th. With such absurd evil confronting us in our own nation and our world, so many felt that the only place to turn was to a good God, Who Alone brings consolation. 102107 AD jfq

Weekly Reflection 101407AD

Sunday, October 14, 2007AD

28^th Sunday in Greentime

In TXG, Then What?

Jesus locked horns with conventional wisdom on many occasions. Borrowing a modern term that describes a core value of Judaeo-Christianity, even before Jesus, He exercised the “preferential option for the poor”. Jesus cared about the ones who had been written off by others because He understood that God is like a “loving grandmother”, Who loves all Her grandchildren equally, but Who has special care for the one that needs Her most. In addition, She expects the others to have the same special care.

All of us, at one time or another, experience the left hand of God. We experience the painful mystery of descent and ascent that is the warp and woof of the universe. We all experience pain in sickness, betrayal, rejection, accident, old age, death of a loved one, and our own impending demise. With God’s Help, we are transformed in Christ when we believe that we can bear the difficulties of life, confident in the Presence of God in our experiences.

The 10 lepers today had experienced the left hand of God in what was considered the most devastating disease of the time. Most of Jesus’ audience would have been in the 95% lowest percentile in the social-economic ladder. Therefore, money even to get a diagnosis and cure of the condition was not available. Back then, some folks considered illness a punishment for one’s sins. (Many still do today!!!) In addition to the physical ailment, the psychological separation from one’s family and community only exacerbated the matter. The poor and the sick frequently have a particularly rough go. Then, these lepers meet Jesus. Now, they experience the right hand of God, the One that showers all the good things upon us. In their euphoria, they rush to get certified that they are indeed cleansed. (The passive voice indicates a “theological passive”, viz., God is the reason for the healing.)

In many ways, might the 9 lepers not resemble many of us? Do we stop to thank God for the blessings showered upon us each day? Do we realize that everything ultimately is a “radical grace” or predicated on a “radical grace”? Do we focus on a satiated individualism unbecoming of the grandchild of a caring grandmother?

The Jesus Movement (again, that’s us) needs to always let “our attitude be gratitude.” (Indeed, our liturgical word, “Eucharist”, means gratitude or thanksgiving. 1) A thankful attitude will give us pause to remember to slow down in silence and solitude each day to be present to the “God Within and Without Us.” 2) A thankful attitude will diminish the desire to settle scores, but rather to work for win-win solutions to problems we face. 3) A thankful attitude encourages us to take responsibility for our actions. God has gifted us with much; we must be responsible persons to God. 4) A thankful attitude urges us to get the lead out and do something for others less fortunate than we.

And, worst of all! It is the hated Samaritan who turns out to be the “Grateful Samaritan”. Just as in the famous parable of the Good Samaritan, it was the outsider who acts on his relationship with a loving (grandmother) God. It is the outsider who senses the need to say thanks at the feet of Jesus.

God loves all, not some. Frequently, it is the unlikely ones who know enough to say thank you. All of us, in different ways are the unlikelys, the unworthies, the unknowns, through whom God normally works. Do we all know enough to go and to do the same? 101407AD jfq

Weekly Reflection 100707AD

Sunday, October 7, 2007AD

27^th Sunday in Greentime

Make Me A Change Agent for Your Peace

Only God can bring God’s New World Order (aka the Kingdom of God) to fulfillment. God asks the Jesus Movement (that’s us) and all men and women of good will not to make the world perfect, only better. Our challenge is to build better human communities throughout the world reflecting the programmatic of God’s New World Order, the anthem of the Kingdom, the Lord’s Prayer, the Prayer that Jesus (alive and quite well!) still teaches.

Last Thursday, we saluted St Francis of Assisi who got it. (Last month, we saluted Blessed Teresa of Calcutta and UN Secretary General, Dag Hammarsjkold, both of whom got it as well.)

Ironically, today, a little known Quaker from New Jersey, named John Woolman, got it as well. He was born in 1720 near Philadelphia and died in 1772 in York, England. He tried to live as best he could the Gospel of Jesus in his daily life. In southern New Jersey, the institution of slavery still existed. In addition, southern New Jersey was settled by many Quakers as well, because of its proximity to Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love. However, several of the Quaker families held slaves, and they were not troubled thereby. Woolman’s response was “The only Christian way to treat a slave is to set him free.” Recall St Paul’s words to Philemon recently on the same question.

He challenged many by his belief that the craving of luxuries and unnecessary possession was the root for all oppression and war. (One might wonder what he would say today?) He never used sugar or molasses because these commodities were produced by slave labor in the West Indies. Finally, he challenged those who enjoyed even the indirect enjoyment of exploited labor. He said the prophetic words, “May we look upon our treasures, the furniture of our houses and the garments in which we array ourselves and decide whether the seeds of war have any nourishment in these, our possessions, or not.” (cf Ellsberg, All Saints.) What might he say today about globalization or gobblization, as some call it?)

In addition, he opposed the violence of the French and Indian War fought as the Great War for Empire from 1754 – 1761. Not imprisoned, he was fined for disobedience.

He made a journey to England to describe the horrors of slavery and consumerism (18^th century style) and died there on October 7, 1772. He did not change the world back then, but he was a change agent who prompted others to make the moves to a better world.

He did not see an end to slavery in his lifetime. He, however, was a “change agent” for William Wilberforce, who introduced the law in 1807 to end slavery in the British Empire by 1833. (In what became the USA, slavery did not end until the 13^th Amendment in December, 1865.)

The prophet Habukkuk was a change agent as well in the 587BC in Jerusalem. In a sense, he was an ancestor of John Woolman and St Francis and Blessed Teresa and Dag Hammarsjkold (and us as well, if we allow God to do God’s thing in and with and through us). He spoke out that God had to address greed and violations and human rights abuses and practical atheism. He knew that it would take time for God to do so, but he wrote “Wait for the Vision.” Still, Jerusalem did not listen to Habukkuk and Jeremiah and the prophets that the reckoning had to come. When it did, the people remembered the promise made in Habakkuk that God was always faithful. We have to clean up our acts.

What God in Christ Jesus is asking these days is not only to do some serious critical thinking about what really caused the chaos of the system today. Rather, God is asking us to teach our children to avoid the mistakes that we have blindly made and prepare the world as our common home for the grandchildren of our children. God in Christ Jesus seems to operate through change agents, channels, critical mass who have the insights that God needs promulgated in the world. St Francis, John Woolman, Blessed Teresa and Dag Hammarsjkold were examples thereof. Will future generations include your children as well? 100707AD jfq