Called to Preach
June 23, 2008
Read: Matthew 10:26-33
A priest once asked a man if he was a Catholic and the man indignantly said, “Of course.” The priest asked if he attended mass weekly, and the man replied, “I’m a Catholic, not a fanatic.” If he had attended mass more frequently he would have heard today’s Gospel – and he might not have been so dismissive of his faith. “Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father.”
What a wonderful promise! It is the heart of our Christian faith. All that Jesus asks is that we declare ourselves openly for Him and his Gospel of Love. If we do this, He will be our advocate before His heavenly Father.
It does not seem like much, does it? However, there is a catch. If we declare ourselves openly for Christ, we then have to start living accordingly. If we do not – if we go back to our old ways – we will have, in effect, denied him – and you know what that means. “Whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father.”
We can deny Christ three ways - by our words, by our silence and by our actions.
Some of us have had moments - like Peter - when we have denied Jesus with our words. We may not directly say “I do not know him,” but when our words are contrary to what we know to be his teachings, it has the same effect. A Catholic politician who condones abortion because it is politically expedient is denying Christ. He or she may try to rationalize their position, but they know that the taking of an innocent life is contrary to the Christ’s Gospel of Life.
There are other times when we deny Him by silence. We fail to speak up when He – or his teachings – are ridiculed because we are outnumbered or do not wish to offend someone. It takes courage to express Christian values in a world that often considers compassion a sign of weakness and confuses intimidation with strength – but our world today surely needs men and women of courage.
We deny Him by our actions when we live the sort of life that is unworthy of a follower of Christ - when we base our life on the lies offered by this world - instead of the hope Jesus offers us for the next. We deny Jesus when we are manipulative, unkind, or insensitive to the needs of others - when we fail to follow the two great commandments – to love God and to love our neighbor. We deny Jesus when we fail to keep in mind that every one of God’s children is our neighbor.
It has been said that every Christian occupies some kind of pulpit and preaches some kind of sermon every day – and that may be the only Gospel that some people will ever hear or see. Our words – or lack of them - and have consequences because we may be the voice of Christ to non-believers. However, what we do – or not do – is greater evidence of our faith.
At his ordination, every deacon receives from the bishop a Book of the Gospels. As it presented the bishop gives him a commission. “Receive the Book of the Gospels whose herald you are. Believe what you read, teach what you believe, and practice what you teach.”
Jesus gave all of us that commission on the day of our baptism. He called each one of us to be a herald of the gospel – to proclaim it from the housetops - and to believe it. He called us to teach the values contained in the gospel – especially to our children. He called us to practice those values – not just on Sunday – but every day.
I think St. Francis of Assisi gave the greatest – and perhaps the shortest – homily on this subject when he told his followers to go out and preach the gospel – and when necessary – use words.
Less Than Perfect Instruments of God’s Gifts
June 20, 2008
Read: Matthew 9:36,10:8
Today’s gospel names the twelve apostles. Jesus already had a small band of followers, but these twelve were given special authority.
A few years later, after his death and resurrection, scripture tells us that there were 120 present on the day of Jesus’ Ascension to heaven. Ten days after that there were 3,000 present when the Holy Spirit appeared at Pentecost. By the time the last of the original twelve died, towards the end of the 1st century, it is estimated that there were 500,000 followers of Jesus – and by the end of the ninth century, the number had grown to almost ten million. Today there are more than two billion Christians in the world.
It all started when Jesus looked out and took pity on a crowd that looked “like sheep without a shepherd.” If pity were all that Jesus had to offer, I do not think it would have had such a lasting effect. Even if he had done one great miracle – healing, curing, cleansing and driving our demons - it may have helped those who were there, but I doubt it would have had much of an impact beyond that.
Instead of one great miracle, he performed twelve. He called twelve ordinary men and gave them authority to “cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers and drive out demons.” He did not give them this power to make them rich or famous. He only asked that they pass on what they themselves had received.
Although they were now sharing some of his authority, he reminded them that they would never cease being sheep themselves. They had all received the gift of healing – had all been rescued from their own broken existence. Now they were to give back what they had received. “Without cost you have received, without cost you are to give.”
All of the millions who have followed Jesus through the ages – from the original twelve to the more than two billion Christians alive in the world today – all of us have one thing in common. We are all inadequate to the task. None of us is able to bring about the changes that Jesus brought to the world.
I recently saw the film “Evan Almighty.” It is a silly little film about a man who is elected to Congress on the slogan “We can change the world.” Of course, when he gets to Washington all he wants to change are those things that will give him power and help him be re-elected. God appears to him – in the person of Morgan Freeman – and tells him to build an ark because another flood is coming. Of course, he resists, but God is persistent – and finally he builds the ark. A dam breaks, a flood comes, and hundreds of people are saved. Evan was not able to change the world, but his ark saved a small part of it.
Of course that is more than most of us can ever hope to do. We preach to hundreds of people each week. I, for one, am very happy if my words make a difference to one.
That is the pattern of God’s saving work. Just as he did with the original twelve apostles – and with Evan - he calls each of us by name - one by one. He gives each a task to perform – all we have to do is figure out what it is. When we do, we may not think we are up to the task, but – just as he did with Evan - God will give us the tools necessary to do whatever he is calling us to do. We may be less than perfect instruments of God’s gifts - but we are the instruments that God has chosen.
This weekend we celebrate Fathers Day. All of us who are fortunate enough to bear that title are often reminded how less than perfect we are in fulfilling that role. The truth is none of us measure up to the standard of the one Jesus called Abba – which means Daddy- but that is the role for which we have been chosen. Jesus used that familiar term to describe the intimate, loving, caring, protective relationship that His Father wants for His children – and that is the standard we must try follow for our own.
Some of us may fail – but remember that only eleven of the Twelve Apostles remained faithful. All who have been chosen to fulfill the role of father - birth fathers, adoptive fathers, stepfathers, grandfathers, godfathers – even single moms who are both mother and father to their children – bear the heavy responsibility of providing the same love, care and security that we all receive from the God who is Father of us all.
God and Nature
June 15, 2008
Gospel:
Readings: Hos 6:3-6, Mt 9:9-13
Today’s first reading, from the prophet Hosea begins: “In their affliction, people will say: Let us know, let us strive to know the Lord.” I think the prophet is touching upon a fundamental question that has always concerned and confused people: What is the relationship between God and, what we call, “Nature”?
There are four primal elements of nature: earth, wind, fire and water – and they have caused the greatest natural disasters on our planet: earthquakes, tornados and hurricanes, wildfires and floods. What part God plays in these events? Does God directly send us all of these, perhaps in payment for the sins of mankind - or does God simply permit them - or does God have nothing to do with it? On a practical level, are we wasting our time praying that great natural disasters be averted - or that it does not rain on our parade or picnic?
Personally, I do not believe that God sends natural disasters to keep us in line. Nor do I believe that there is anything that God cannot control. Why God permits natural disasters to occur – and why God allows bad things to happen to good people – these are things that God has chosen not to confide in me – or to my knowledge – in anyone else. So, until He does I think we should keep on praying.
Hosea reminds us that it often takes affliction of some kind to prompt people to seek and know God. He also tells us that this sudden devotion is usually fleeting – like a morning cloud or the dew that early passes away.
It’s like the man who was late for an important meeting and was looking for a parking space. As he is driving around the block, he prays: “God, if you find me a parking space I will go to church every Sunday and give up drinking.” Suddenly a parking space appears - and he says, “Never mind, I found one myself.” How quick we are to ask for God’s help – and how slow to acknowledge it when it appears.
What does God want from us? Jesus rarely asked anyone to “love me” or “obey me” or, even “learn from me” - but I counted at least seventeen times when Jesus said to someone what he said to Matthew: “Follow me.”
In those days when a master or teacher moved his disciples would follow behind him in a line – much like ducklings follow their mother – but that is not what Jesus meant by “follow me.” He wanted them to follow his teaching and his example.
He clearly said to all within the sound of his voice – Pharisees, sinners, tax collectors and disciples – “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” It is the same message that God spoke through Hosea hundreds of years earlier: “It is love that I desire, not sacrifice, and knowledge of God rather than holocausts.”
Then Jesus makes a powerful declaration: “I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” He is not saying that he spends time with them because they are sinners – although sinners are often more interesting to be around than the self-righteous. He is not saying that it is perfectly all right for them to continue in their sinfulness.
He is saying that sinners are like people who are sick – they need to be healed - and Jesus wants to assume for them the role of physician. When I was a child, I suffered from a slight case of asthma. It only manifested itself when I had a cold - but when I got sick, I couldn’t breathe, so my mother would call the doctor. They made house calls in those days – and I can still remember the relief I felt when the doctor walked into my room. His mere presence was a sign to me that I was going to feel better.
Jesus is the great physician – the great healer. His mere presence can help sinners to repent. It can change our hearts. It can even bring about physical healing.
That is why the Eucharist is so important. We cannot get any closer to Jesus than when we allow him to become part of us.
Sometimes the physician needs an assistant – that’s where you and I come in. We can help bring about the healing power of Christ by what we say and do. The most important thing is not to be judgmental – like the people who criticized Jesus for dining with tax collectors and sinners. Sinners are always welcome in the house of God – because that is where they will find Jesus – and where they will find healing.
We do not know if our prayers have any effect on the forces of nature – but I think God wants them anyway. God does not need them, but we do. We need them to get through whatever disasters we may have to face – whether they be natural or of our own making. We need them because they are the means through which receive the healing power of God.
Jesus said to Matthew, “Follow me – and he got up and followed him.” You and I are here because we have chosen to do the same. All He asks is that we give Him our devotion, our faithfulness, our love and our lives.
Promo Video
June 15, 2008
The following is a Kaamulan Promo Video; just to give the surfer a glimpse of our Cultural Show offering. This is an actual segment of the January 19, 2008 gig at St. Vincent Auditorium, in Delray Beach, FL, for the Emmanuel Building Fund.
Please use our Contact Form on the header, or the Comments option on this post, to express a serious inquiry about possible bookings. As of now, we are scheduled for an August 2, 2008 gig in Jacksonville, Florida.