Love your enemies. Really. No I mean it, seriously.

There is a lot of talk in our world about doing what Jesus tells us to, a lot of influence to be obedient to the Gospel and to live a holy life. As for me, I tend to be leery of a lot of this talk, but hey- that’s just me. Oh I get the obedience thing, but don’t ask me about obedience, unless you want some etymology – after all, the word is based on deep listening, not simply following marching orders.

Today’s Gospel from Luke really caught my ear, well my eye, because I read it, I did not hear it. Did you read or hear it today? If not, allow me to reprint some of it right here:

But to you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.

To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other one as well, and from the person who takes your cloak, do not withhold even your tunic.
Give to everyone who asks of you, and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you.

For if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same.

If you lend money to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit [is] that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, and get back the same amount. But rather, love your enemies and do good to them, and lend expecting nothing back; then your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as [also] your Father is merciful.

Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven .Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.

Where do we begin with this Gospel?

I don’t know about you, but I find myself directly confronted with a lot of straight talk from Jesus that I am ill prepared to follow. Oh, trust me – I want to follow it, but that is no easy task, or single destination journey. It is exhausting and daunting to even think about all of this.

We are in the midst of a particularly ugly-and-getting-uglier political season, filled with more toxic doses of vitriol and lies than I have ever seen before. And yet, what candidate does not profess his or her love of Jesus? Can we assess either one of them then, with these standards?

Let’s forget the politics though, and go back to our own journeys? How do we do this? How can we ever do these things? This example of Bl. John Paul II with the man who tried to assassinate him is always moving to me, and a real image of love in action.

Trust me, I want to do them. But most of the time… I simply cannot. For the moment, and forever I hope, I will not stop trying. For me, that is the deep listening of obedience, one tiny step at a time.

How about you?

Forgiveness

In general, I have forgiveness and redemption on my mind. What is life if not we are not redeemed? Christian or not, religious or not, I think that the theme of redemption figures prominently in many of our lives, whether we realize it or not. That is because redemption is so tied up with forgiveness. There is a whole other reconciliation piece, but that is really another topic.

Do you think about these things also? Or is it just me being my over-thinky-church-life-nerd-self? Don’t answer that!

It is the 11th Week in Ordinary Time and we had some really good readings on this very topic. Go look at them if you wish, if not, stick around if you will. Maybe we can have a good conversation in the comments, because I am not going to do any big-time scriptural exegesis here today.

Of course I did want to, but I just couldn’t find my mark with the texts, so I planned on saying nothing. I did hear a homily at mass, but I did not really want explore in that direction. Or so I thought.

Today I was in my car listening to the radio. While I love WAMC Northeast Public Radio, I was growing weary of the fund drive. (Thank God it is over now.) So I had tuned into VPR for awhile. They carry WNYC’s great program, On The Media, so I was happy to listen.

The segment that I tuned in on was about Wilbert Rideau, prison journalist, someone I had never heard of until today. He is a prison journalist, because he was in prison.

Yes. He was in prison for 44 years. In that time, he was transformed and that is what his new book, In The Place of Justice, is about. I do not buy new books any longer, or rarely do anyway. This is one I think I am going to try to fit into the budget; it sounds compelling. The NYTimes review is available here.

Rideau’s life in prison is a story of transformation and redemption. While there is a discussion of what happened and how it happened, he robbed a bank and people did die. As a result, in 1961, Rideau was sentenced to death in Louisiana. I don’t think I have to tell you that the court system in Louisiana in 1961 was not exactly fair or friendly to black criminals – especially if they had robbed a bank and people ended up dead.

So Rideau was sent to Louisiana State Prison, also known as Angola, often called the “bloodiest prison in the U.S.”

What, you may ask, does this have to do with forgiveness and redemption? Please hang on, I am getting there.

During his time in Angola, Rideau did a lot of reading while he was in solitary confinement. This was the beginning of a great turning.  I got to thinking, as I heard his story on the radio, that sin is a prison. Now I am not saying that all our sinful acts are the problem… well they are, but the real problem is that sin is turning away from God. And to turn away from God is to turn away from God’s people.

No community.

This perhaps why solitary is real punishment – worse than death in many ways.

In any case, this is what he says about the impact of solitary and his reading:

“Reading ultimately allowed me to feel empathy, to emerge from my cocoon of self-centeredness and appreciate the humanness of others. . . . It enabled me finally to appreciate the enormity of what I had done.” 

It enabled him to finally appreciate the enormity of what he had done. Through words, through books – because people were not available to him, he found empathy. Rideau went on to become a journalist while in prison and his story is astounding. He was the editor of the Angolite, a prisoner produced magazine. While I am taking this in another direction, I do urge you to go read about Wilbert Rideau’s life and work.

Empathy is essential to life. Without it how do we relate to one another?  And if we are Christians (and I realize that some of you are not), how can we “do this in memory” of Jesus? How can we feed His sheep, if we do not do it with empathy?

Empathy opens our hearts to a path of connection, connection opens our hearts further to understanding, understanding – or something akin to it, deep within, leads us to forgiveness.

To forgive and to be forgiven – not two singular acts, but a dynamic – are essential to the very essence of Christian life. I would also posit that this is enormously important for all life.

Not unlike the woman in today’s Gospel (thought I had left that behind, right?), Rideau is at the bottom, outcast. When you are out there, there is no place to come but back in. And many of us, myself included, are like Simon the Pharisee. We’re in, we are the “good people,” to do-ers and be-ers of the world. We get things done, we play by the rules, we know what to do and we do it. Yay us!

Maybe not so much.

Faith is not just the work of do-ers and be-ers. Oh – make no mistake, there must be some of that, but we simply have to revisit the story of Mary and Martha to reframe that little idea, not to mention the second reading from today, from St. Paul.(Let’s not forget who Paul was before he was Paul, not exactly a follower of Jesus.)

And look at the first reading, about King David, from Samuel… David did awful, horrible things, yet he was a chosen one of God. We all do horrible things and yet, we are all chosen ones of God!

It is easy to cast aside the woman who washed Jesus’ feet with her tears, it is easy to cast aside Wilbert Rideau, it is easy to cast aside pretty much anyone we deem unworthy.

Thankfully, God sees otherwise. Wilbert Rideau learned to see otherwise about what he did. King David learned to see otherwise about what he did. St. Paul learned to see otherwise about what he did.

Can we see otherwise about what we did? About what others do? Whether we are talking about a death row killer or we are talking about a friend or family member who has angered us, we must find our way to empathy and forgiveness in some fashion. This is no easy or automatic thing, that is certain. However, the desire to heal, to restore the tear in the fabric, must be present.

How do we do this?

I’m not sure that I have a clue, but I find that I am always moved by the thought of it.

Father Pat constantly reminds us that we must do the one thing we do – keep coming back to the table each week. Week in, week out. Together we must find some pathway back to that table. And as we do so, we must be find pathways to the tables in our own hearts and the hearts of others.

What are our choices otherwise?

(I heard this great Johnny Cash song today, and it really fit with this post, so enjoy.)

Lenten Reflections – Sunday March 14, 2010 Fran Rossi Szpylczyn – The Ethos of Repair

The Ethos of Repair and Reconciliation – A Reflection on

Today’s Gospel, The Prodigal Son

Abba Mios was asked by a soldier: “Father, God then accepts the repentance of the sinner?” The Elder, after counselling him with many instructive words, suddenly asked him:

“Tell me, my beloved, when you tear your uniform, do you throw it away? “No,” the soldier answered, “I sew it and use it anew again.”

Then Abba Mios also thoughtfully told him:

“If you take pity on your clothing, will not God take pity on His own creation?”

The other night I offered a reflection on prayer, fasting and mercy at St. Edward’s Evening Prayer. While working on what I would say, it occurred to me that I thought that fasting was hard… I however had to refocus on the idea that mercy was much harder.

In case I needed any reminding of that, today’s Gospel from Luke is a clear message about what God wants.

God wants us.

In reading the short anecdote about our desert  father, Abba Mios, I really had to pause and think about how the ethos of repair in our culture works its way into the theme of reconciliation.

You may be thinking, “what is she on about now?” Well, here is what I think…

We live in a “throwaway” culture – a culture of planned obsolescence. There is a whole other series of reflections about just that and the mess that our economy and world are in, but I will save that for another day. There are numerous societal, cultural, ecological and economical aspects that can be explored!

In any case, we do inhabit a world in which things are meant to run out of usefulness and break more quickly than they should. That is so that we might get rid of them and go right out and get lots more new stuff that will need to be replaced sooner rather than later.  This goes from everything to clothes and shoes to appliances large and small, houses, cars…

And people?

Well, there is a lot that I could say about people, but I will focus on one aspect and that is forgiveness.

It is so hard to forgive and to be forgiven. What a burden it carries. There is something to be said about going out and just getting some new people. Well – not really, but it does seem that way, doesn’t it. And even if we don’t get some new people, we can certainly find numerous ways to sustain the energy that is required for keeping those that we are angry or hurt with out.

That’s why I think the Abba Mios story is so interesting… It may be harder to comprehend in an era in which our cloak does not get repaired, our sock does not get darned, our torn seam does not get re-sewn… We just get a new one.

However, there are other things that we might expend energy in trying to restore and keep, but either way the emphasis is on things.  Our things mean a lot to us, our stuff.

But what about people?

In the parable of the Prodigal Son, a story so well-known we see a story of truly radical reconciliation.  It is important to have some understanding of Jesus’ time – this kind of event did not happen lightly.

The father is clearly out there waiting for his son… He sees him in the distance! Typically, the scorned father would be waiting inside and might not be all that concerned. This father, who is Our God, is anxiously anticipating our return!

He throws his arms around his son… Another socially unimaginable moment from that time.  The son would, if anything, have to pay the father homage and then maybe get the father’s attention.

No – this father, Our God is elated to embrace us and welcome us back.

I could go on and on, but you get the picture.

We are not thrown away, we are never thrown away. There is no planned obsolescence for us.  Each of us is God’s unique and loving creation and God treasures each and every one of us.

So I would simply ask you to consider all the things – and people, that you might otherwise throw away. Especially with the people – this might mean:

• a friend who has offended you so deeply that you will never speak to them again a spouse who has hurt you beyond imagining 
• a son or daughter who has not quite lived up to your expectations for them
• a relative who has brought, in your estimation, shame up on the family
• anyone who disgusts or annoys you
• yourself

Yes – yourself. We are all called into this radical reconciliation moment by our God who loves us and if we can’t give ourselves the forgiveness needed, if we can’t accept God’s outrageous attempts at such deep love and welcome, we may miss the moment on the road when our own prodigal person returns.

You may have to recycle your old iPod, but don’t do it with your people.

What is Repentance?

A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
For you are not pleased with sacrifices;
should I offer a burnt offering, you would not accept it.
My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit;
a heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
Psalm 51

Contrition. Repentance. Humility.
Such depressing words.
Who wants to wallow around in self-criticism and sorrow?
Why not think positively instead?

Well…because that’s not what God calls us to, nor does refusal to look at things as they are help us to grow in holiness. While the call to repentance is ongoing, the season of Lent is a time set apart to consider the ways in which our behaviors and thoughts serve to separate us from God. It is a time to turn our lives back again toward God, to take up again the practices that lead us in that direction, and let go the ones that don’t. But most of all, it is a time to recall the great gift that is forgiveness. Jeremiah reminds us that “no one need despair on account of his or her sins, for every penitent sinner is graciously received by God.” Yet repentance is not itself the source of salvation. There is nothing we can do to effect our salvation, for that is a gift from God. There is much we can do to reject it, however, which is the reason for engaging in Lenten practices that will prepare us to accept and act upon it.

The Greek word translated as repentance in the Christian scriptures is “metanoia”, which really means “to think differently after.” Change of mind follows change of behavior, in other words. It isn’t enough to confess your faults and feel sorrow for them, though those actions may be
necessary. Repentance isn’t an isolated act. It is a process, a lifelong task of growing in obedience to God.

So how do you know if you’re headed in the right direction? I find the 3rd chapter of Colossians to be a good guideline. Don’t engage in idolatry, greed, malice, slander, or fury. Watch what you
say. Don’t lie. Don’t exclude anyone. Be compassionate, kind, humble, gentle and patient. Put up with each other. Help each other. Forgive each other. Work things out, don’t let them fester, and then get over it. Love. Love. Love everyone and everything.

So in Lent, especially, and all the time really, it’s good to look at your life and see where you’re
falling short of those things. Be sorrowful if that helps you remember to do better. But don’t stop there. Rejoice in the gift of your forgiveness and your salvation, and then get back to the work of love, for in that way peace is found.

Baya Clare, CSJ

(Baya Clare, CSJ is a Sister of St. Joseph of Carondolet and has graciously offered some of her words here on our blog this Lent. This is one of the many beautiful ways that faith is shared and community is created via the internet. Welcome her with gratitude and prayers.)

Lenten Practice and The Forgiveness Project

Lent is coming and I have been thinking about what my Lenten practice will be. I don’t like to simply think of what I will “give up.” A long time ago I had a spiritual director who urged me to think outside the “give up box.” When I returned to church it was a little hard to take that part of Lent seriously… his advice has gone a long way, reframed in the context of true metanoia and transformation.

Today on Facebook, I posted that I might want to consider the unresolved business of my life for Lent. Relationships that are paralyzed – maybe they won’t be saved, but they should be resolved. There are things, pretty major ones, that I have just not faced or dealt with head on, that need something. And of course, the secrets. The secrets are bad because they lead directly to lies. God, I hate saying that.

Ruminating on this today has lead me to think about forgiveness. As a culture and a society, we tend to oversimply and complicate forgiveness simultaneously. We either see things as non-negotiable unforgiveables or we do it in a way that does not walk through the valley of reconciliation death. That death walk generally needs to happen.

And forgiveness has as much to do with our ability to forgive ourselves as it does to forgive another.

In any event, I am reminded of some times, few as they are, when real transformational forgiveness happened in my life. I will write about that soon.

In the meantime, I would like to direct your attention to The Forgiveness Project. If you are not familiar with it, I would suggest that you have a look around. It is pretty profound – it is to me at any rate. I link to the page about Bud Welch; his daughter was killed in the Oklahoma City bombing and his story has always moved me.

What do you think about forgiveness?

Lenten Reconciliation from Pittsburgh

I read this story about a letter written by the Bishop of Pittsburgh, David A. Zubik.

It just stays lodged in my Lenten heart and in the most profound way.

Zubik wants to address those who have been hurt by the church and to apologize for those hurts.

For many of us Lent means giving up chocolate or doing some extra good works. This is not a bad thing. However, in the tradition of the early church, Lent was a time when those who were put out of the community for what they had done, to prepare to return to their community.

This was the true reconciliation – to be brought back into the community. To be sorry and to be forgiven and welcomed back in so that unity might be restored.

Imagine that – Lent in preparation for communal restoration… What a beautiful thought!

In any case, Bishop Zubik says this:

We know that the Church as the Body of Christ is divine. But we also know that the Church is also very human. We also know that over the years the Church in its humanness has been the cause of harm or pain to some of the faithful. It has happened anywhere in the world. It has happened in our diocese. This harm could have been from anyone representing the Church. That certainly includes me by my actions or inaction.

The acknowledgment that the Church is human is a most meaningful one and a most needed sentiment.

Then he goes on to say:

Were you ever hurt by a brusque or sarcastic comment from a leader in the Church? Have you stayed away from the Sacrament of Penance because some priest decades ago “yelled” at you in Confession? Was there some disagreement while employed with the Church that unjustly ended with you losing your job? Were you in any way, in any way, harmed by any representative of the Church? Did you feel picked on by a teacher in one of our religious education classes or in one of our schools?

Because representatives of the Church and I have been responsible for hurting others, I will be leading a special Service of Apology, a Service of Prayer, on Tuesday of Holy Week, April, 7, 2009, at 7:00 p.m. at Saint Paul Cathedral in Oakland for anyone who has been hurt or harmed in any way by the Church. It is a moment for me as Shepherd of this local Church to say those three very important but oft forgotten words “I am sorry” and in so doing to seek forgiveness of anyone hurt by the Church.

I would have to just say, go read the whole thing.

Be moved. Forgive. Be forgiven. Hope.

What else is there?

Metanoia – Forgiveness and Sin

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect. (From Matthew 5:43)

We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. (From Romans 8:28)

As I make my way through our Lenten journey I am reminded that the transformation or metanoia that I seek is not really in my own hands to make. Rather it is a dance of sorts where God is leading. Yes, I must respond and take my steps, but it is always in reference to the Lord.

Wow that is hard to deal with sometimes. To once again use one of my favorite Father Butler-isms… “what a pain!”.

We are reminded in Matthews’s Gospel that we are clearly told by Jesus that we must forget what we had learned – that was to hate our enemy, but instead we are to love our enemy.

Now there is a challenge. I can even pretend to do it from afar in a rather antiseptic and hypocritical way. In fact I do practice this more than I might care to admit. What about you?

Loving my enemy means far more than some words or a prayer. Ultimately I must bare my heart and make myself vulnerable, knowing that God is at work here. I am reminded of great public acts of reconciliation, such as when Nelson Mandela became the President of South Africa. His choice to act nobly rather than in retribution was a true act of courage.

I mean if you spent 26 years in a prison being beaten and literally having to break rocks under the cruel hand of a captor, it might be easy to consider what you might do if you got to take over.

However, he chose otherwise.

So I have no real clue about how to make this kind of metanoia work in my life and as I type those words I realize it is not about making it “work” but rather than “working” with the spirit. In fact, let us scrap the word work and change it to surrender to the spirit that God has so lovingly given. The same spirit I seem to avoid a great deal of the time. That stony heart, how it plagues me.

Do you have any real experience of a transformational experience of true forgiveness… either given or received? If so, maybe you would consider sharing about it in the comments.

I do have one that comes to mind that I am in receipt of. In 1980 I very cruelly ended a relationship with a man I was dating. At age 22 I was young, foolish and impetuous. And scared to death of love or commitment. For many years I carried this regret deep in my heart and prayed about it often- how I longed to be forgiven.

However in 2003, I was to make the acquaintance of this man once more and imagine the shock of hearing his ability to completely forgive me the heartbreak and pain that I had caused him. All of which has led me here to this community as today that same man is my husband.

Which brings me to the other Scripture I presented at the top. And that is how God uses even our sin to transform us, to heal us. Which is a reminder that I should not always look at my sin as just weeds to yank out of the garden. Yes – they should go, but I should be mindful and prayerful about just what it is and how it is being used by God to heal me.

Which is pretty much about learning to love and to forgive myself.

What a pain.

Justice, Mercy and Dinner

Today’s readings were most provocative indeed! As was Father Lanese’s homily. I am going to jump right into these topics, which I have titled Justice, Mercy and Dinner.

First stop- first reading from the First Letter of St. Paul to the Romans, 11:29-36. This reading starts out very strong with this, Brothers and sisters:

The gifts and the call of God are irrevocable.

This means that they can not be altered or changed. That is pretty powerful. Then Paul tells us basically that despite our disobedience, we have the gift of God’s mercy and that mercy must be extended forward.

Then listen to this:

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How inscrutable are his judgments and how unsearchable his ways!

That is pretty clear- basically, how can we ever claim to know the mind of God? Um, we can not. It is probably not the most fruitful use of time to ponder God’s mind too deeply other than to listen and obey.

The Responsorial Psalm, which is Psalm 69:30-36, shows the promise of God’s mercy in any circumstance. As the psalmist cries out asking for God’s love and reply, we are reminded that it is already there.

Then the Gospel, which is short and from Luke 14:12-14. I put it here in its entireity.

On a sabbath Jesus went to dine at the home of one of the leading Pharisees. He said to the host who invited him, “When you hold a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or sisters or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors, in case they may invite you back and you have repayment. Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

Father Lanese gives us a brief lesson in the Sabbath meal. This reminded me of friends and family, as I have many connections to observant Jews, both in my family and also friends of mine. This is an important meal. The sun has set, prayers are offered, bread and wine are blessed and offered. Now the time has come to stop all things other than attention to God for the next 24 hours.

Jesus being invited to the home of a Pharisee is a big deal really. He was more of an outsider, yet one of the main insiders invites him to dine. This always makes me curious – who was this Pharisee and why did he invite Jesus? We will never know.

Jesus then goes on to say that if you have a banquet that it is best not to invite friends and family, lest you run the risk of some repayment. He says instead to invite- and this is specific, the poor, the lame, the crippled and the blind.

Father Lanese asked us then what we would do, how we might think or feel if Jesus was at our table and said that? A provocative question indeed. He went on to ask us to ponder – would we be upset? Hurt? Annoyed?

What do you think you would say or do if Jesus were at your table and said that around your family and friends?

I for one, would have to hang my head down low, because I know I would be there with my own family, friends and so forth. It is hard to think of having a big dinner party and inviting the unwanted. And yes, I am well aware that the lame, crippled, infirm, unwanted outsider is actually me.

Yet it is clear, that each day in His great mercy and forgiveness, God invites us over and over and over to His meal. The only real barrier that prevents us from eating at His table, is the one that we erect in our own hearts. That is the only thing that stops us; it certainly is not God.

Yes, this is what happens at Mass every day… all the lame, infirm and otherwise unwanted- yes I mean all of us, gather and are fed. As we gather, we are fed and each day we are healed. It is amazing and a gift beyond imagining.

This reminded me of reading a story in the news, maybe about 10 years ago or more. A young woman had a huge wedding planned, a large scale, lavish meal at a fancy place. At the last minute, her fiance bailed out on her. She and her mother decided to have the wedding banquet and they invited all kinds of homeless people, elderly and infirm- I don’t recall the details. Can you imagine? What an act of mercy! In the midst of her pain!

At the time such a gesture shocked and delighted me. It still does. Could I do the same thing? Would I?

That is the measure of God’s love- unending, abundant, generous, over-flowing and ever present. Mercy, forgiveness, justice, dinner and grace are available to us at every turn. And turn is the word, because all that we must do is turn towards God fully.

I will close with some possibly controversial thoughts of my own. If this post or these comments resonate with you, maybe you will write your own thoughts in the comments. If for some reason you just don’t feel up to that, you can also email me at stedwardsblog@stedwardsny.org.

Here is what I truly believe. I believe that we as humans, no matter how holy any one of us might be, have no real concept of the enormity and vastness of God’s love for us. As a result, it is very hard to fully accept and live in the great promise of justice, mercy, forgiveness.

A long time ago I either read or heard this- and I think it was attributed to Thomas Aquinas, but I am not certain. He- or someone like that said that hell existed but that it was not very well populated. That really struck me- I find it hard to believe that we can’t all turn to God, even in the last moment.

If that is true, then imagine our shock and surprise when we get to Heaven and see that it is populated with despots and dictators as well as saints and angels. I think it is challenging, but I like to remind myself that all the mercy that God has given me is freely available to someone that I might perceive as evil.

So while a heaven with Hitler, Hussein, Stalin or Mussolini is a challenge to every thought, feeling and sense, what if it is true? Symbolically that is the sick, the poor, the infirm, the unwanted being invited to the banquet, isn’t it? I know, it is a shocking image indeed- yet I continue to have it come up in my thoughts and prayers.

What does reading that bring up for you? That I am crazy or wrong? I don’t know, I hope you will tell me. How else are we to cooperate with each other and God if we don’t discuss, pray and commune in Jesus’ name?

Just another thing to ponder in my heart as I walk this path, enjoying the bounty of God’s grace in my own life.

Peace unto all.

"That Is Just Not True" or This Whole Freely Given Thing Is Hard To Handle

Yesterday was Friday of the 27th Week in Ordinary Time. I was able to attend daily mass at St. Edwards, which was great. I’ve been away for a few weeks and it was so nice to get back, to be at mass and to see some friends I have missed seeing.

The readings continue to be somewhat challenging this cycle. That said, they are important and challenge is part of the deal… No one ever said it would be easy. Or that it even should be!

There’s an old saying that goes something like “I learned more in 10 days of pain and suffering than I did in 50 of peace”. I believe that there is a lot of truth in that. Not that we are meant to be in a state of constant suffering! Not at all… Just that we need all the moments in our lives in order to grow and be transformed, not just the happy ones.

For the entrance hymn Father Butler had us sing “Praise to the Lord”. If you click into that link it will not only show you the lyrics (when you page down) but it will also play an instrumental version of it too. When he chose that one I had a feeling that we would be hearing about it in the homily.

Father Butler’s homily, which I am, in all due respect, convinced is the same homily spoken over and over again with different variations, brought up the topic of salvation/grace/forgiveness.

For those of you who may read this who do not belong to our parish, make no mistake – Father Butler is an excellent homilist. He is really good at finding many different ways to say the same thing over and over again. We are very fortunate here to have his words and the great homilies of Father Lanese as well. I have been told that our former pastor Father Cairns was also an excellent preacher, but I was not here to be able to witness his words. In any event, we are blessed indeed.

Anyway, the sermon began with Father asking us if we were “people of praise or people of woe?”

He then went on to say that it is very easy for us to be people of woe, because sadly that is kind of what we have been taught, in a somewhat backward and antithetical way. However, if we read the words of the hymn or the readings, along with every other word of God, we might want to refocus on that people of praise portion. Father is never timid about pointing out all the times that he himself is loathe to practice, literally, what he preaches.

Again, the homily emphasized our forgiven state and that we need not work to earn God’s love and forgiveness, but to accept what is there and carry it forth. This is the most simple and powerful point – and such a challenge!

At this point I heard someone sitting in a row behind me say softly but clearly “that is just not true!” That really struck me. Whoever this person is, another child of God, clearly the message is hard for them to take in. Which is exactly what Father was talking about. And to be honest, I get it. Don’t you? Aren’t there times when we are so loved and forgiven and we simply can not accept that?

Accepting that means that we must with a generous heart do just the same for everybody else. That kind of stinks sometimes, doesn’t it? This brings to mind another saying I recall, source unknown – “I love mankind, it is people that I can’t stand!”. We can’t love mankind and not love human beings. So it goes. This is one of the basic principles of what Jesus stands for. Easy to read or write about, very hard to do.

Well, as someone who spent many years as a card carrying person of woe, let me tell you that I think he is 100% right. I also think that it is really hard to get to that place of praise and then stay there. For the record, I would identify myself as a person of praise, but if I really think about it and am totally honest, I am a bit more woe-fully inclined than I might care to admit. Gulp.

Another point made by Father Butler was the one he makes over and over again. I wonder if he ever gets tired of telling us this. I sometimes wonder if he says it because he too needs to be reminded. We are already forgiven. We do not have to do anything to gain God’s love and forgiveness. It is there for us. We however must participate. Grace is everywhere and abundant but does require some participation on our part. Like awareness and then the hard part- passing that grace and forgiveness alone. That is at the root of salvation.

Sins were forgiven on the Cross 2000 years ago when Jesus, arms open and crying out for us to embrace him. Our work is to love God and one another. To give what we are given over and over and over again.

Suddenly I have this image of a long human chain with buckets of water, as we are given water in our bucket, we must turn and pass it to the next person, turn back and receive more, turn again and give more. That is our beautiful human work.

Now I think that maybe I am writing the same blog post over and over and over again.

Grace Happens

“We think we must climb to a certain height of goodness before we can reach God. But He says not ‘At the end of the way you may find me;’ He says ‘I am the way; I am the road under your feet, the road that begins just as low down as you happen to be.’ If we are in a hole the Way begins in the hole. The moment we set our face in the same direction as His, we are walking with God.”
~Helen Wodehouse (1880-1964)

As I was reading something today, I came across these words from Helen Wodehouse and I was completely stopped in my tracks. What a message. My thanks and prayers to JH for sharing this with me.

How we love to think we have to “work harder” to “earn” God’s love and forgiveness. And that is just not good Catholic theology and it is just not true.

How often have you said “there but for the grace of God…” The grace of God is the road under our feet. Grace meets us, pursues us, encounters us. The problem is – for me anyway – is that I just don’t always notice.

This reminds me of Father Butler’s relentless reminders that we are already forgiven. Father Lanese says the same thing, just using slightly different language. Lucky for us they seem to not tire of saying it over and over and over again.

How then, do we appropriate what has been given so freely to us? That’s s the question. It is all easier said than done, we know that. However, the invitation to do so is always open. We just need to open our hearts to accept it as freely as it is given.

Amen to that.