Today’s Thoughts: Sometime the signs God gives us come from people and experiences we least expect. This little sentence might best sum up the Gospel (Luke 11: 29-32) today. Often, we are looking for the great or the grand or the unusual when it comes to God. We want unbelievable miracles. Yet all around us God is speaking and often God can be found in unexpected places and heard through unexpected people.
Jonah himself did not think the people of Nineveh would get it but they did. The queen of Egypt did not believe in Solomon’s God but she came and could see and hear God’s wisdom in Solomon. It often has been said that, God works in mysterious ways and throughout scripture we are reminded of God’s mysterious ways! The challenge for us is to not box God in, to not predict God’s intentions. We need to listen, to look around us and be ready to see, hear and experiences the presence of God in our lives. We cannot write-off people or experience because we never know when we will find God through them. The signs of Jonah and the queen of the south are all around us. We just have to be ready, willing and open to see and hear them! Have a great Monday everyone!
0 Comments
Today’s Thoughts: In the Gospel today, Jesus again directs “an in your face” parable to the religious leaders. Last week we had another parable of indictment against the same leadership as well. The image in our parable today is that of a king who has prepared a wedding banquet for his son. The servants, (who are the prophets within the history of God’s relationship with Israel) are sent by the king to bring in the invited guests. However, the servants are met with disinterest invited guests who refuse to come and continue their everyday lives. A second time the servants are sent and this time they are mistreat and kill. Prophets in Israel did not have an easy time of it.
The king, in anger, destroys those who had refused the invitations and instead, sent his servants out into the kingdom, into the common areas, streets and alleys to invite the “bad and the good alike.” There are plenty of them around, because the hall was full. There is a strange end to this parable at least for me. The king finds one person attending the banquet who is not dressed properly. The king has this person bound and thrown out “into the darkness outside where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.” As I always say if someone in Jesus’ parable is outside at the end you do not want to be that person. A question is why such selective brutality? The “wedding garment” is the issue. I often think of Sunday Mass when I read this parable. Today, unlike when I grew up, there seems to be no unwritten desk code. Wear whatever you want, shorts, t-shirts, flip-flops anything goes. Come late leave early, no problem. We cannot say anything because we just have to be glad they are there. When I was a kid, living in a steel town people came dressed up to Sunday Mass. I often think of this when I hear all the hullabaloo about the National Anthem but that is another conversation. What is the “wedding garment” in Matthew’s Gospel. Well, some experts in scripture write that it is the image of Baptism, proper incorporation into the “hall” or community. Others write that the “wedding garment” is how the invitation has changed the called-person. Perhaps all the other invitees were honor to be invited, they saw the honor and importance of being there and this lone invitee just sat there eating and drinking, not seeing the significance and importance of the event. Maybe he was not acting as invited, but he was acting entitled. Perhaps he had forgotten that there was more than food and drink provided. Maybe he was wearing a t-shirt, shorts and flip-flops! The religious leaders knew that Jesus was telling them that they had been invited and refused to come. That Jesus was an invitation to change, because of the relationship to which they had always been invited and they didn’t want in. Jesus was telling them that they were getting tossed out, not because they were not baptized, but that they refused to let Jesus into their life, because He was different from what they expected or demanded. When Jesus this parable comes around I always think about the movie The American President. In the climax of the movie President Shepherd gives an impassioned speech to the press during which he says, “America isn't easy. America is advanced citizenship. You gotta want it bad.” I believe that Jesus in his parables and at other times is saying, “Discipleship, citizenship in the Kingdom isn’t easy. The Kingdom of God is advanced discipleship, advanced citizenship and you have got to want it bad! There is not half way in faith! Have a great Sunday everyone and don’t forget to give a little time to God! Today’s Thoughts: Today we have a very brief, two-line Gospel. One in which we hear a woman call to Jesus, “Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed.” But Jesus’ responds, “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.” (Luke 11:27-28)
I think in our Gospel today Jesus is suggesting that we change our focus. That we look at life through a different lens. He is not discounting his own mother and their close relationship, for Jesus family is more than biology, more than DNA, family is hearing the Word of God and living it. Jesus is telling us that our own relationship with God can be blessed if we use God’s word as a lens through which we look at and then live life. In today’s Gospel we are invited to be family with others beyond our immediate family relationships. We are to include others because we have been included by Jesus. As we have encounters over the last five plus year with Pope Francis, he is a person who has heard the word of God and who lives it. He finds Jesus in the faces and lives of the poor and struggling in our world. And by his words and actions Pope Francis asks us to open our hearts to the hungry, the poor and the marginalized. He asks us to open our hearts to those struggling in the world because they are family. We are called be the Word of God to reach out to others who need us as a way to really unite to Jesus and his mission on earth. What does Jesus want from us? Jesus wants a family. Jesus wants a friendship. Jesus isn’t looking for us to read more about him or discuss the theology of his ministry. Jesus longs for a close and personal friendship with us as we speak to him about our lives and lean on him for support in times of need. Blessed by his love, we hear the call to keep his word by loving as he has loved us, by being family to all. Jesus invites us today to reach out to those who need us. Pope Francis calls us over and over again to be a society, a church, a family of inclusion, dialog and service for all. Have a great Saturday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: I have always struggled with the passage in Luke that is our Gospel today (Luke 11:15-26). First of all, if Jesus is taking the time to case out demons, why are people upset? Why are they casting a negative light on Jesus and his ministry? You would think that they would be pleased. You would think that they would be open to all the help they can get!
Perhaps the reason for their negativity is that they have become accustom, even comfortable with these demons. How does the old saying go, “The devil you know is better than the devil you don’t know!” Sometimes we become comfortable with the devils that make a home in us. We look at them and begin to rationalize our encounters with the devils of our life. “They are just small problems, personal things, they really don’t hurt anyone. – Everybody does it. Everybody is doing it.” Looking at it another way we might say that Beelzebul is the strong man who guards his palace. His possessions are hatred, anger, prejudice, greed, and injustice. Through them he tries to control the world. By ourselves, we are helpless against his power. But this parable is one of hope. It proclaims the gospel message. There is one stronger than Beelzebul who can overpower him and cast him out of our lives if we let him. Christ is our strength, who by his resurrection has defeated the power of evil. We are called to live each day in the faith that Christ can help us overcome our demons. If we do our heart becomes a place where no demons dwell only Christ. O Lord, create in us a clean heart and a faithful spirit! Have a great Friday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: Today’s Gospel (Luke 11:5-13) encourages us to pray, to stay connect with God because God is so eager to help us. As Jesus says if a reluctant friend can be persuaded to help, how much more will God be willing to help!
As Kathleen Norris puts it, “Prayer is not asking for what you think you want, but asking to be changed in ways you can't imagine.” Or as Blessed Mother Teresa puts it, “Prayer is not asking. Prayer is putting oneself in the hands of God, at His disposition, and listening to His voice in the depth of our hearts.” Today we are asked to put ourselves in God’s hands and let God change us in ways that we cannot imagine. This does not mean that God will always give us whatever we ask but it does mean that God always hears our prayer! Have a great Thursday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: The passage we find in Luke’s Gospel today (Luke 11:1-4) always causes me to remember my father and the morning after my ordination day. The morning after my ordination I was to celebrate mass with my family. It would be my very first mass!
I had not looked at the readings because of all the busyness leading up to my ordination day, so early that morning now some 31 plus years ago, I awakened and wandered down the hall to the retreat house chapel to look at the readings and prepared for my first mass. When I got to the Gospel I could not believe what I read. It was Matthew version of today’s Gospel about Jesus teaching his disciples to pray, specifically to pray the Our Father. I put the book down and tears welled up in my eyes and I just sat there for about an hour unable to prepare any more. For you see the Our Father was one of the last prayers I prayed with my “Abba,” my dad, my father, before he died some four years before. It was a December night and I was in my father’s hospital room late that night and as I was about to leave he asked me to pray with him. I was more than happy to do so and I asked him what prayer he wanted to pray and he said, “The Our Father.” I began to say the words and notice that my dad was not praying so I stopped and asked what was wrong. Dad said, “I don’t remember the words.” His illness had begun to affect his mind. So, I said, “No problem” and suggested that I say a few words of the prayer and that he repeat them after me. Do you know how hard it is to say the Our Father when you have to stop and think about what you are saying? Well, we got through the prayer and dad became very peaceful and for the most part remained peaceful over the last few days of his life. I have always remembered that moment. I had wanted my dad to see me ordained but that was not to be but on that Thursday morning I realized that he was with me and had been with me all along. I have never prayed the Our Father at mass, during the rosary or at any other time and not thought about that moment. What power there is in this simple prayer, what a gift this simple prayer is to all who pray it. I would invite you at some moment today to pause and slowly, deliberately pray the Our Father. Listen to the words. Realize what God offers you through the words of this simple prayer and what God asks of you. Just a little thought about the Our Father, Jesus actually uses the word, Abba, which if translated literally would be “daddy or dad.” I wish that the first translators of the prayer had used the informal rather than the formal it might have made a difference in how we think about this simple prayer today. It certain would have made the prayer more intimate! Have a great Wednesday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: Here we are once again beating up poor Martha. Is really what today Gospel is about? (Luke 10: 38-42) Is Martha really doing the wrong thing? I think not!
I have often felt that Martha has gotten a bad rap because of the way we have looked at this Gospel over the centuries. We seem to think that a person who is hardworking, hospitable and concerned about her guest is somehow less faithful, less holy than a person of formal prayer and that is just not true. Martha is a good and faithful person, her mistake in the Gospel today is that she focuses on someone else; she is concerned about what someone else is doing rather than focusing on what she is doing. If Martha had just done her work with joy, enthusiasm and unselfishness this story in Luke’s Gospel would have never taken place. Let us for a moment reverse the roles. Suppose Mary had come to Jesus to complain about Martha. “You know Jesus she is always working, always running around being hospitable. She should stop when you come into the house and sit and listen to you!” What would Jesus have said? My guess is that he says, “Mary, Mary, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Martha has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.” You see each woman in the story chooses her journey. Choose what she does best and that becomes her better part. Martha is a worker, she does it well. Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus, she listens and she does it well. There will always be tension between action and contemplation, between ministry and prayer, between work and quiet time. But the challenge is to pick what is best for us at that moment. What is our better part at each moment or stage of our life? What will help us to recognize God? Martha and Mary remind us that there are many gifts and that each gift is important. We just need to recognize what is important for us and not be worried about what is important for others! Have a great Tuesday everyone! "We need credible witnesses. And when we have no witness, perhaps life goes well, we earn well, we have a profession, a good job, a family … but we are men and women who are 'parked' in life; that is, we do not go ahead, we do not move on. Like conformists: everything is a question of habit, a habit that keeps us tranquil, we have what we need, nothing is lacking, thank God... Those who do not take risks, do not move on. Take a risk on noble ideas, risk dirtying your hands, risk just like the Samaritan in the parable took a risk. When we are more or less calm in life, there is always the temptation of paralysis. … Go towards problems, come out of yourself and take risks." (Pope Francis)
Today’s Thoughts: “Run away from God,” that is Jonah’s response to what God asks of him and I have to say that there have been many times in my own life when I would have liked to have done the same thing. Sometimes what God seems to be asking of us just doesn’t feel right. Sometimes what God asks of us seems beyond our ability. Sometimes what God asks of us isn’t fun. Sometimes what God asks of us puts us at odds with the world around us. So why not run?
Well as we find out in the story of Jonah today (Jonah 1:1-2; 2, 11) you can run but you can’t hide from God! Somehow, someway God is going to find you and put you right back in the middle of things or God will find someone else to do the job. The priest and the Levite ran away but God persisted and the Samaritan did not (Luke 10: 25-37). You can hear the voice of Pope Francis in the Gospel today. He echoes Jesus’ voice on who is our neighbor. Our neighbors are the people in most need and our challenge is to always show mercy. When faced with this challenge we can always run, we can always try to hide, we can always make excuses. But God is always going to find us, perhaps not in this life but when it most counts the life to come and if we haven’t responded, if we haven’t been merciful we will find ourselves in a terrible and unending storm! There have been many moments in my life when I felt like running away from God and it was the simple prayer, the Our Father that held me in place. The Our Father is often the formal prayer that I pray when running because of its simplicity and power. Today we are challenged to be merciful to the people around us. We are challenged not to run from God when things get difficult or don’t go our way and to keep our feet grounded in God and our eyes open to the needs of others. Have a great Monday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: It would be easy to listen to our first reading today from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah and the parable from the Gospel of Matthew and say, “Right on God – Right on Jesus. I am with you!” After all isn’t God talking to the people Israel through the prophet Isaiah because they have turned away from God and the covenant? Isn’t Jesus talking to the chief priests and the elders of the people just like he has in the previous two parables because they have not been faith in their leadership? The readings today are about others not us!
There are two sayings that I often think about in these situations. The first is that someone described a biblical prophet as one who comforted the disturbed and disturbed the comfortable. The second is “Christ came to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.” Both statements say the same thing and our readings today need to be heard in of them. It is easy to listen to the scriptures and hear them as a challenge to others, while keeping them at arm’s length from ourselves. However, Isaiah and Jesus are speaking to us today and if we feel uncomfortable perhaps it is because we are living, acting and responding to God’s grace and presence in our live just like ancient Israel and the chief priests and elders of the people in Jesus’ day. Perhaps we are the wild grapes and the tenants who think we know better than the vineyard owner! St. Paul’s words in our second reading today remind us how faithful grapes and tenants are to live – we are to live by “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing what you have learned and received and heard and seen…. Then the God of peace will be with you.” May the God of peace be with you today and always. Have a blessed and holy Sunday everyone and don’t forget to give God a little time today! |
Fr. Paul R. Fagan, C.P. "Preacher on the Run"Just a few thoughts to help you on your journey through life...let me know from time to time what you think... Archives
April 2024
Categories |