Fr. Rick Spicer

On Facebook recently, I viewed an incredible photograph that featured Pope Francis embracing a disfigured man.  Vinicio Riva suffers from an illness that has covered his body with itchy blood tumors. Last November, he was part of a group that traveled to Rome for an audience with the pope. Since he was confined to a wheel chair, the Swiss Guard ushered him and his party to the front.

When Pope Francis saw him, he embraced the poor man and kissed his head. Accustomed to stares, Vinicio was at first confused by Pope Francis’ lack of hesitation to embrace him. “He didn’t have any fear of my illness,” Vinicio said.  This brief encounter transformed his life, providing him with a sense of acceptance he seldom felt.

A similar encounter takes place in today’s gospel. While the woman at the well is not physically disfigured, in the eyes of her community, she was internally “disfigured.” Her lifestyle, considered by her neighbors to be godless and sinful, made her a pariah in her community. When Jesus encountered her, He broke the normal social practice of Jewish men back then and asked her, a Samaritan, for a drink.

In the middle of their long conversation, Jesus says something that causes the woman to allow him to change her life.  He knew she had been married five times before and said that she was continuing her sinful ways, living now with a man outside of marriage. This caused the woman to change her life. Jesus’ tone conveyed his concern for her.  She must have felt that she was being addressed as a person, not as an object of scorn. In effect, Jesus said to her, “My dear woman, you can be better than this.”  He spoke to her heart and her heart turned to Him.

You can be better than this. What stops so many people from doing so is that they tend to see sin as either mortal or superficial fluff.  Unless we have committed a mortal sin, we think that we are not that bad.  We don’t see the pain we are inflicting on the Body of Christ because we have only stubbed its toe; we didn’t amputate its foot. 

Maybe one reason why I am not better is that I have not really tried hard to be better. Might that be the same with you?  Perhaps that temper, that lack of patience, that bad language on the road pops up again and again because you are not convinced you can be better than you have been. If you are involved in serious sin, perhaps you don’t go to confession because you have given up the fight and feel you would not be able to avoid the sin in the future. 

Jesus transformed the woman at the well because he was concerned about her.  He wanted her to be the best person she could be.  He convinced her that she could do it.  And she heard His message screaming to her in her heart.  She was determined to change her life and then wanted to shout out at least to her neighbors that she had met the Messiah.

By acknowledging her, speaking to her, asking for a simple drink of water, Jesus shatters the taboo that had isolated her from God and her community, lifting up her up dignity and hope. He wants to do the same for us.  We know that Jesus loves us.  We know that he cares for each of us and that he sees the bumps and bruises of our lives that we impose upon others and ourselves.  We also know that He doesn’t condone our sins, whether they are big or small. Instead, He hurts for us.  He wants us to be better.  And he provides us the chance to start anew no matter what we have done or failed to do through the sacrament of reconciliation.

In the latest issue of Northwest Catholic, Archbishop Sartain reflects on those who feel that they are unworthy of God’s mercy. He wrote, “You are the very one Jesus is looking for so that he may tell you, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’”

In that same issue, I read that 3 out of 4 Catholics celebrate this sacrament less than once a year or even not all. Some shy away from the sacrament, convinced that the confessorwould think less of them. To the contrary, instead of looking down on them for what they have confessed, priests admire those who are honest and brave enough to admit their sins and seek God’s forgiveness.

Jesus’ overpowering love can give us the courage to change our lives, to be better than we are.  The blood that poured from his wounds on the cross has ignited countless generations with the fire of his Love. “You can be better than this,” he says to us with a tender, compassionate voice of Love. And we can be with his grace.

This beautiful drama of a woman who was spiritually thirsty reminds us that the Lord cuts through the barriers we put up to protect our selfishness, inviting us to accept the living water of his grace. Like the woman at the well, we have to recognize that we are being offered the opportunity to deepen our relationship with God but first, we have to allow God into the totality of our lives.  Seeking God’s forgiveness through this healing sacrament leads us down that path.

If you still doubt the good news of what is being offered in this sacrament, imagine Jesus saying to you, “Be not afraid. Come to me and allow me to bathe you in my love and mercy.” The Samaritan woman did and Jesus changed her life. He can do the same for you as well.

A woman was shopping for a new dress and found the most stunning creation she had ever seen, but it was outrageously expensive…$500. Still, she knew she just had to have it. If she didn’t snap it up, it would soon be gone. Despite the many overdue household bills, she bought it. That evening, she modeled it for her husband, who asked, “How much did it cost?” She told him and he ranted. “How could you? You know we’re scrimping to pay our bills!”

She explained that she was tempted beyond her ability to resist. Her husband said, “When you’re tempted, tell the devil to get behind you!” “I did,” she answered, “And he bent close to my ear and said, ‘It looks great from the back, too!’”

Being human, we have the freedom to make our own choices and as makers of our choices, we live with the consequences. Some decisions may be trivial; others can be far-reaching. What I ate for breakfast this morning may seem inconsequential, but sooner or later, I would become a prime candidate for a heart attack if I habitually ate bacon, eggs and buttered toast. Such a diet would endanger my physical well being. Listening to the wisdom of nutritionists and my doctor shapes the decisions I make.

What Adam and Eve chose to eat on that fateful day in the Garden of Eden left an enduring impact on humanity. In choosing to ignore God’s wisdom, they introduced the reality of temptation and sin into our lives. They are as much a part of human experience as death and taxes. No one escapes the daily challenges of temptation, not even Jesus.

Adam and Eve’s sin resulted from their decision not to trust God. God had provided them with everything, but they felt He was keeping something from them. There was something out there even greater than everything they had. The serpent lured them into believing that by eating the forbidden fruit, they would become like God.  

They were right. God was keeping something from them, namely an awareness of evil and its consequences.  After experiencing sin, Adam and Eve realized they had lost their innocence, the innocence like that of a three year old who runs around the house in his or her birthday suit was now replaced by the embarrassing awareness that they were naked. By rejecting God, they had become vulnerable.

Temptations arise when we are most vulnerable. They entice us to put our own desires and needs first, to do what we think is best for ourselves at the moment, to give into our impulses without seriously considering the consequences of our actions. Resisting temptation is really a matter of resisting self-centeredness. Like Jesus, we must surrender ourselves to God, who alone should be the center of our lives. To make any other choice is to choose false gods.

Like Adam and Eve, we must wrestle daily with the fact that we can and do introduce evil into this good world made by our loving God. More often than not, we are too attracted to the prize, as was the wife who purchased that expensive dress, to consider the consequences before hand. Instead of serenely and happily enjoying what was allowed, Adam and Eve were lured into eating the fruit that was off limits. They never considered the possibility that God was protecting them from harm like any loving parent would, and from more than they could humanly deal with.

Too often, we see God in the same way, not as a loving parent who seeks to protect us, but as a rival intent on limiting what we perceive as our freedoms. We fail to appreciate the fact that God’s commandments are meant to protect us from harm. When we have experienced the consequences of our evil choices, we might then begin to better appreciate God’s wisdom.

A temptation is a suggested course of thinking and action that is not in our best interest or in the best interest of others.

When one arises, we often feel that we are being pulled along too quickly. We do not have enough time to think it through and to see all the implications involved. This is because speed and pressure are essential features of most any temptation. Temptations convey the message, “You have to do it now and if you don’t, the consequences will be serious.” When we look back, we feel we have been led astray, which is true. We went along with the devil because we could not apply the brakes of self-restraint.

We often think of temptation as an enticement to sin but the gospel suggests yet another meaning: testing. When a temptation arises, we are being tested, as was Jesus, to place God at the center of our lives.

In the war against drugs years ago, we often heard the line, “Just say no.” That is the underlying message in these readings. We are responsible for much of what goes on in our lives. We can say no to our bad habits, our inclination to blame others for our misfortunes, our waste of time and/orgoods, or our impulse to not trust God. We can say no to anything we want; after all, we say no all the time to the things we don’t like or want.

Consider saying, “Yes,” to what God asks of you. As Jesus said to Satan, “The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve.” As one desert father said in the 4th century, “Draw near to God and Satan will flee from you.”

Our lives are full of relationships. Good relationships nourish us, giving us joy and much satisfaction, but sooner or later, something can go wrong and someone gets hurt. Instead of forgiveness the name of the game we often play when we have been victimized is getting even. In good conscience, we defend that mindset with the line from Leviticus that Jesus even quotes in today’s gospel, “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” (Lev. 24:17-20) but if any of his lines is worth remembering, it’s the one we just heard, “You shall notbear hatred for your brother or sister in your heart.”

We are often told, “Don’t get angry. Get even.” Ah yes, we are all too ready to sacrifice peace of mind and loving relationships on the altar of “getting even,” but in the end, do we really feel any better? These feelings of bitterness and hatred can actually cause us even greater suffering.

In this gospel passage, we find Jesus challenging our way of thinking. He is saying, “To return good for good is human; to return good for evil is divine.” He is reminding us that anger is but one letter short of DANGER.  The best way for us to get even is to forgive just as we have been forgiven.

Jesus practiced what he preached. He forgave the people who crucified him and even made excuses for them. As he was dying on the cross, he said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

Jesus knows that when we have been hurt, we want to get even and we tend to hold the grudge if that doesn’t work. In either instance, the pain persists. His solution is simple. We are called to forgive. “Oh, no, I can’t do that,” may be our first reaction but let’s get something straight. Forgiving is some thing we must do for our own good. We need to forgive in order to get on with the rest of our lives.

I recall years ago when Avis, then the second largest car rental agency in the country, advertised the slogan, “We try harder.” The message said to the customer that they would go the extra mile in service. That is what I hear Jesus calling us to do in this gospel passage. As his followers, we are expected to go the extra mile in extending forgiveness; to try harder at practicing the art of forgiveness.

The intent behind this final bit of wisdom from the Sermon on the Mount is not to saddle us with an impossible task, but toprovide us with an additional blueprint, along with the beatitudes and the commandments, for experiencing the peace of God’s kingdom. So long as we refuse to forgive, we remain the victims, for an unforgiven injury binds us to a time and place that someone else has chosen, holding us trapped in a past moment bound by old feelings of ill will.

I imagine any psychiatrist would agree with me that we have a need to forgive and love our enemies for love can be a healing balm for the wounded heart. Should we remain angry, we will sooner or later become sick, and possibly end up in a psychiatrist’s office as a paying customer.

Martin Luther King, Jr., once noted, “Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life, love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life, love illumines it.”

Hatred, a very dangerous thing, must be kept for a cause such as injustice or intolerance, not for an individual. That was the key to the success of Nelson Mandela, who spent 27 years in prison. When he was finally released, he had every reason to feel bitter and to seek revenge. Instead, he came out seeking reconciliation with the leaders of the regime that had imprisoned him. Thus, he became the cornerstone of a new South Africa. Mandela suffered much yet he achieved the only triumph worth achieving; that of not being soured by his suffering or tempted to surrender his dignity by seeking revenge. If he had harbored bitterness instead, who knows what would have happened.

When we hate, we expend far more energy than in any other emotion.  Imagine how much better our world would be if we put that energy to work building up God’s kingdom instead.

When Jesus speaks of loving our enemies, he is talking about those close to us: in our families, our community, our parish, our work place or school; someone who is making life difficult for us. Who are the people whom we seek to avoid at all cost, whom we find hard to forgive, who awaken feelings of unease, fear, and anger that can easily turn into hatred?

Our enemies are not those who hate us, but those whom we hate. When we discover our capacity to hate and harm, it can be humbling. Too often we have found ourselves regretting our outbursts of vengeance and ill will that have done irreparable harm. We learn then that the problem is not with the other person but in ourselves. When we face the chaos within us, we can begin to travel the road to freedom.

Jesus’ command to love our enemies is a radical rejection of violence in any form. He is calling on us instead to respect the dignity of others. No matter how much someone hurts us, we must not let bitterness close our hearts to that person. Admittedly, returning love for hate is one of the most difficult things one can do, but doing so makes sense. As Christians, instead of seeking vengeance or bearing grudges, we must try to imitate the generosity of God in our readiness to forgive for unless we endeavor to imitate the embracing love of God, we are no better than anyone else.

In our lifetime we make many choices. Some of them are very significant and might even be heroic, while others may seem less consequential, yet still necessary.  We all choose:for example, how to spend our money; what career to pursue; whether or not to marry, and whom if we do; what values are important to us; what issues we are willing to stand up for; and “What place does God have in my life?”

Some people contend that God is responsible for the choices we make. In philosophy, this is called predestination.  That is like saying God calls all the shots. Such a viewpoint wipes out any gist of human freedom, which doesn’t make sense when you consider all the choices we freely make on any given day. We are who we are because we have free will. The choices we make shape our lives.

Think back to the story of creation. In the beginning, God was courageous enough to make a creature who might refuse to love him. To allow that creature’s love to be genuine, God gave Adam and Eve the knowledge of good and evil and the freedom to choose between them. When they sinned by listening to the tempter who prompted them to eat of the tree of knowledge, God did not write them off as a failed experiment in love. Instead, God encouraged them and their descendants to be faithful to his commandments.

As Sirach points out, the human person chooses between fire and water, life and death, good and evil. The prophet’s point is to excuse God from all blame for the evil in the world for “to none does he give license to sin.” The responsibility for sin is to be laid at the feet of those who choose  to do so. Like Topsy, in the American classic, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, we can say, “The devil made me do it,” but we made the choice to listen to the devil in the first place whenever we sin.

The choice is ours to keep or ignore God’s commandments but so too are the consequences of our decision. As Sirach suggest, evil choices will burn us like fire and good choices will refresh us like water.

While every age in human history reflects its own wisdom, Paul tells us of a timeless wisdom. “What eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and what has not entered the human heart, what God has prepared for those who love him, this God has revealed to us through the Spirit.”  The more we love God, the more we can grasp his wisdom, which will allow us to see that the commandments are intended to enable us to live life fully.

By choosing to do the right thing for the right reason, Jesus is saying that we can experience the joy of God’s kingdom in this lifetime. Those who choose to live according to God’s timeless wisdom will find themselves following a wisdom based not on logic, statistics or passing trends but on love. Antoine de St. Exupery, the French aviator best known for his book, The Little Prince, once said, “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”

Unfortunately, we tend to view the commandments literally,just as the Pharisees and scribes did, forgetting that they are really the reader’s digest of God’s moral teachings. This is why Jesus calls on his listeners to consider their motives, not just their actions. Instead of declaring the commandments obsolete, he broadens them for us to include our thoughts and words in addition to our deeds. Consider the first example he gives: “You shall not kill,” but then he goes on to caution that anger can be just as deadly. There is more than one way to kill a person besides doing so literally.

Once we see rightly, then we can see the wisdom of what Jesus is saying when he urges us to be reconciled with our brother. “Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court, otherwise you may be thrown into prison.” The first sacrifice that God looks for in us is our endeavor to be at peace with others through reconciliation.

When Jesus cautions that we cannot enter the kingdom of heaven if our righteousness does not surpass that of the scribes and Pharisees, he is saying that what matters more than our external behavior is the inner disposition of our hearts. Hanging on the wall in my office is a quote by Ralph Emerson, “What lies behind you and what lies before you are tiny matters compared to what lies within you.” Rollo May, a renowned psychologist notes, “the essential point in Jesus’ ethics was his shifting the emphasis from the external rules of the Ten Commandments to inward motives.”

In this sermon, Jesus teaches us a higher morality, a tougher faith. It’s not just appearances that matter, but what’s deep inside us. It’s not whether we look good, but whether our motives are right. Since none of us can make ourselves good on our own, we turn to God, who can make us right and good and pure.  We can choose to let God make this journey of life with us.

Are you ready to make such a choice? On the table in the narthex, you will find this flyer entitled, Living life as a sacred story. Beginning on Ash Wednesday, I invite you to join me on a forty-week retreat that will provide a daily prayer walk with Jesus. This life-changing program, based on thespiritual exercises of St. Ignatius, could introduce you to a heart-felt personal relationship with Jesus through daily prayer, spiritual discernment and the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Will you accept my invitation?

That was quite a gathering last Wednesday in Seattle as people came from near and far to celebrate the Seahawks Super Bowl championship. Some claimed that more people attended the parade than live in the city of Seattle. I wonder how many in that huge crowd were Christian. On the surface, there is little that separates them from others.

One French writer observed centuries ago, “Christians are not distinguished from others by country language or clothes. They do not dwell in cities of their own; they do not use some extraordinary tongue; their lifestyle has nothing singular about it. They follow local customs in matters of behavior. They obey established laws, and their manner of living is more perfect than the laws. In brief, Christians are to the world what the soul is to the body.”

No wonder Jesus said to his listeners, “You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world.” This is not intended as a compliment, but as a challenge, a plea for us to live the gospel we have heard and profess to believe: to love, teach, pray and serve. Quite simply, our Lord wants us to become the people he has made us to be; to follow him and truly witness to what we believe.

“You are the salt of the earth,” Jesus tells us. He uses an interesting yet profound image. By itself salt is rather useless. You can’t do anything with just salt. I can’t imagine anyone swallowing a spoonful of salt. When we use salt in cooking, we do so sparingly, knowing that the right amount enhances the meal while too much salt ruins the taste. On the other hand, those who have to live without salt for health reasons, recall how bland food taste at first without salt. Just as salt can make a crucial difference in the kitchen, Jesus is saying we can make a difference in the world around us.

The readings today speak to us about witness. The best apologetic to someone who has fallen away from the Catholic faith—or is not Catholic and, in either case, has questions about the Catholic faith—is not some brilliant theological discourse, but a life that gives good witness to the faith. If we live truly spirit-filled lives in Christ Jesus, we will evangelize more powerfully than if we use a thousand words. As St Francis of Assisi suggested: “Preach always, and use words only when necessary.”  

Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia recently opined, “Christians are here for a reason: to change the world, for the sake of the world, in the name of Jesus Christ. That work belongs to each of us. Nobody will do it for us. And the idea that we can somehow accomplish that work without engaging — in a hands-on way — the laws, the structures, the public policies, the habits of mind and the root causes that sustain injustice in our countries, is a delusion.

“Laypeople are not second-class disciples in this task. They’re not second-class members of the Body of Christ. There is no such creature as a “second-class” Christian. Baptism is a sacrament of redemption; but also of equality in God’s love. Laypeople have exactly the same dignity as clergy and religious — and this moment in history cries out for mature, intelligent, zealous and faithful lay leaders in an urgent way.”

One need not be an extravert, entertainer, or brilliant lecturer to be a successful Christian. It’s not about personality; it is about heart. It is about approaching your Christian life with passion rather than with a yawn. After all, on the day of Pentecost, Jesus did not rain down Prozac from heaven, he rained fire. In the presence of fire, people don’t meander and mope, they move and move quickly.

We can’t be the light of the world unless we are on fire. The Christian life cannot be lived on autopilot or in a robotic fashion. That approach renders a faith that is barely surviving, which is why in due time, a fair number of Catholics drift away from the faith. Such a laid back approach to living the faith attracts no one to Christ and the Catholic faith.

So how can one move from being a lukewarm Catholic to a salty, on fire one? Simple. Through prayer, which deepens your relationship with Jesus Christ. Ask yourself right now if your faith is hot or lukewarm. Are you spiritually alive or comatose? Here is a test. Answer these questions honestly:are you excited about prayer, or do you find it a chore? When you have extra time and money, how much do you ever invest in spiritual growth or service to others? Are you “too busy” to get to confession regularly, attend a parish event such as Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, or get involved in serving the needy? If so, I have a suggestion.

In the bulletin, you will find this flyer entitled, Living life as a sacred story. Beginning on Ash Wednesday, I invite you to join me on a forty-week retreat that will provide a daily prayer walk with Jesus. This life-changing program, based on St. Ignatius’ powerful spiritual exercises, could introduce you to a heart-felt personal relationship with Jesus through daily prayer, spiritual discernment and a regular and fruitful practice of the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Our closing song is one we have sung often: This little light of mine. Children and adults alike sing it with delight. As simple as the words may be, and as airy the melody, the message is profound for it is a proclamation of one’s willingness to give witness to one’s faith. When we do, may our actions brighten the way for others to find God.