2009

Do you remember the comic strip, Calvin and Hobbes?  Calvin is an eight year old with a stuffed tiger named Hobbes. Hobbes comes to life whenever Calvin is alone with him. Hobbes is his conscience as well as his secret friend.  One strip presented the bane of Calvin’s existence, the most disliked person in his life, his neighbor eight year old Suzie, walking to the mailbox on a cold, snow-covered December day, carrying her letter to Santa Claus.  Out of the corner of her eye she sees Calvin, ready to hurl a big fat snowball right at her head.  “I see you, Calvin,” Suzie warns, “and you better not throw that snowball!  I’m mailing my letter to Santa right now.”

“Is the envelope sealed?” Calvin shouts back, the snowball in his mittened hand, set for launch. “Yes, but I can always write a PS on the back of it.” “Do you have a pen?” “As a matter of fact, I do,” Suzie replied. 

Calvin then sadly drops the snowball as the triumphant Suzie walks away.  “I bet she’s bluffing,” Calvin says to Hobbes, “but this isn’t the time of year to tempt fate.”

There is never a time to tempt fate. Essentially, that is what the Gospel for today is telling us. This passage is a difficult one to hear and understand. At a glance, one could be easily scared by what Jesus is saying but there really is no reason to be.  Jesus is using vivid language familiar to the people of his time to make the point that we must always be ready to face God.

Simply put, God gives us this lifetime to discover him and come to know him through the love of others and the goodness of this world. Every day of our lives, when you stop to think about it, is an advent of expectation, preparation and hope as we await the coming of Christ. This is not a time to tempt fate for we never know when we will encounter him, be it at the hour of our death or at his second coming.

The day will come, sooner than we expect, when we must stand before the Son of Man. There will be no second chance. When we exhale our last breath, our lives will be over. We won’t be able to go back in time and correct our mistakes or apologize for our sins. Instead, we will find ourselves standing before Jesus, the same Jesus who offers himself to us in the Eucharist.

Perhaps, contrary to our imaginations, Jesus won’t have a big record book or be holding scales of justice.  Most likely, he won’t have to say much for he knows us intimately. What could we possibly say that he doesn’t already know? Will he be able to read in our hearts that we did the best we could, living our faith and heeding his words of wisdom? Will he see that we heeded Paul’s advice and grew in love? If so, he will welcome us into his eternal love, that place we call heaven.

On the other hand, if he reads in our hearts that basically we did not want to deal with him and his demands, that for whatever reason we opted to keep distant from him, then he will judge that just as we refused the fire of his love in this world, we do not care to warmed by the fire of his love in the next.

The Church begins a new liturgical year with the season of Advent, a time for us to prepare for what really matters in life.  For most of us, December is one month we find ourselves doing much preparation. The frantic shopping that began for many on Black Friday, mailing out packages and cards, putting up the tree and lights, cooking and feasting will keep us busy but for the most part, all those acts come to an end when we retire for the night on Christmas. What really matters is our preparation for the Lord, not the infant whose birth we celebrate on Christmas, but the Lord whom we will meet face to face at the end of our lives or the end of the world, whichever comes first.

Luke provides sound advice on how best to wait for the coming of Christ into our lives. Instead of waiting passively and doing nothing to deepen our relationship with him, we are cautioned, “Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life…Pray that you have the strength to stand before the Son of Man.”

We are not being called to a doomsday mindset of hopelessness but rather we are called to be hope-filled witnesses to the very presence of God in our lives. After all, such a belief determines how we live each day. By living our faith in the manner Jesus prescribes, people can see that following him does make a difference.

Being vigilant gives us the upper hand to resisting temptations that can unexpectedly surface, temptations that can lead us to do things we could later regret. Being vigilant requires being spiritually fit and that comes through prayer. No matter how busy you may be, spend time each day in prayer, contemplating how you can be a better witness of your faith to others.

Quite possibly, what you say and do could make a difference in bringing someone back to the faith. Many Catholics tempt their fate by placing Christ on the back burner of their lives. Maybe an invitation from you is what they need to join others who will be coming home to Christ and renewing their faith.

We should regard every day of advent as an adventure filled with hope, expectation and preparation. Not a time to tempt fate, thinking that we will always have tomorrow to get our act together, but a reminder that today may provide the best and possibly last opportunity we have to seek God by loving tenderly, walking humbly, and acting justly.   As Paul points out, doing what we can to “be blameless in holiness before our God.”

If we live in preparation for the coming of Christ in this way, we can look forward, not only to a merry Christmas, but also to a merry eternity.
 

This weekend we come to the close of the church year, so to quote the man who wrote Alice in Wonderland, “The time has come to talk of many things: of shoes, and ships, and sealing wax, of cabbages and kings, and why the sea is boiling hot and whether pigs have wings.”  Living here on an island, we could talk about shoes and ships any day. As for sealing wax, have you ever sent or received a letter sealed with wax? I suspect that cabbages aren’t your favorite vegetable so we can skip that. I do not know if the sea is boiling hot or not someplace in the world or ever will be. Despite all that science can do, I doubt we will ever see a pig with wings, certainly not at the county fair.

We need not talk about those things, but I would agree with Mr. Carroll that the time has come for us to talk of kings, namely Christ the King.  As Christians, we confess that Christ is our king but what comes to mind when you think of kings? Someone who has absolute authority? Someone who walks around wearing a crown of gold or riding around in a coach? Or do you think of kings as rulers of a bygone era?

Oddly enough, we do not encounter Jesus in a very majestic setting in today’s gospel. John presents a very strange image of a king, if you ask me.  Standing before Pilate, Jesus explains to him, “My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not here.” What he says makes sense to me. If Jesus intended to set up an earthly kingdom, his many disciples would have been fighting tooth and nail to protect him with the hope that they would overcome the Romans and restore Judea as the mighty kingdom it once was.  But Jesus didn’t come to liberate the Jews from the Romans. Instead, he came to liberate all humanity from the tyranny of sin.

He told Pilate, “My kingdom does not belong to this world.” In other words, his kingdom is not an earthly kingdom with powers that we would associate with an earthly king.  Since his kingdom is not a political entity with boundaries or armies to protect his subjects, we could then presume that Jesus is alluding to his kingdom as being out of this world, namely heaven, the place which he offers us, his subjects, as a home for all eternity.

To limit our perception of Jesus’ kingdom to a purely future reality, however, is to miss the point of this gospel. His kingdom is already here and now.  Recall the last words Jesus said to Pilate. “Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” This king does not reign in the manner that earthly kings do. His mighty power is not one of force, but of truth and love.

It is easy to say that we believe in God. Most people do, but that is as far as they go when defining the role of God in their lives or their relationship with Christ. Many people profess a belief in God but they choose not to make God the center of their lives. They are not drawn to listen to the voice of Christ the King.  Those who are drawn to the truth do listen to Jesus Christ. He reigns in their hearts. He can count on them to build his kingdom here and now because they listen to what he has to say.

Being a subject of Christ the King is purely voluntary. The choice is up to us.  Being committed to him prompts us to enter into an intimate friendship with him through prayer and worship. We come to see that Jesus is a very different king than the countless others who have ruled earthly kingdoms in the past and that his kingdom can be described as being “other worldly.”

Unfortunately, a fair number of believers fail to see that side of Jesus. For them, their relationship with this king is nothing more than a bunch of rules to be obeyed if they want to avoid eternity in hell. They spend this lifetime ignoring him instead of honestly listening to his voice.  In effect, they rebel against what he has to say. They have what James Fowler, a professor of theology, defines as an adolescent faith.  Like the teenager who questions and challenges appropriate authority, so do we while learning about our faith.

Ideally, though, we seek to understand what being a Christian is about. We come to appreciate the many lessons, such as the beatitudes, which this king has provided and apply them to our daily lives. We see the wisdom of following his example and teachings.  In turn, we are motivated to deepen our relationship with Christ even more and this is done by prayer, worship, service to others and study.  Choosing to become an intimate friend with Christ moves us from adolescent faith to adult faith. We listen to his voice because the truth beckons us to.

Looking back over the past year, how would you rate your allegiance to this king? Did you see yourself growing closer to him, seeing the wisdom of his ways? Or did you remain distant, doing the bare minimum, presuming that your bases are covered so that heaven will be your destiny?

To celebrate Christ as our king is to recognize that the kingdom of God can be ours in this lifetime as well as the next. By putting into practice the lessons he has provided, we can experience a quality of living that is certainly not of this world. Ultimately, Jesus is challenging us, his subjects to live our faith authentically with justice and compassion, understanding and generosity. In doing so, we can make his reign evident to others in our world.

I suggest that we think of Jesus as the king of hearts. Recognize him as the one to whom you ultimately pledge yourself for all eternity. After all, he draws us into himself with nothing less than unconditional love. Can any other king make such a claim?
 

Although this is not the last Sunday of the liturgical year, which is Christ the King next Sunday, the scripture passages today give a very descriptive picture of the end times, when this world will cease to exist  and good will prevail over evil. This is known as the apocalypse.

The events that will usher in and will take place during this time are apocalyptic in nature. This view claims, that regardless of the scope and intensity of the devastation that will take place during the last days, good will ultimately triumph. For this reason, believers are compelled to trust in God.

In the last days Michael, the angelic warrior of God, will rise up and Christ is pictured seated triumphantly at the right hand of God with his enemies under his feet, a sign of conquest. And finally, the Son of Man, the mysterious figure from apocalyptic literature, comes in the clouds with great power and glory. All of these images are apocalyptic, and each of them brings hope.

I loom back at what brings me hope and instantly I remember the times that I strolled in my back yard at night, whether winter, spring, summer, or fall, looking upward and feeling nothing but awe at what God has created for us., the moon , the stars.

I remember walking with my wife, down at the Palisades retreat center in Federal Way, on a clear sunny day, feeling the warmth of the suns rays on my cheeks, looking at the brightness of my wife’ eyes in the sunlight and the beauty of Puget Sound as the backdrop: Again looking at God’s Majestic creations, the sun, Puget Sound and especially my wife.

It is hard not to imagine this land centuries ago, even if just for moment, until through the trees you see that 4 lane hwy and a land with many buildings and artificial lights, a reminder of the development that took over the land. And still there, hanging over our heads, over it all, the sun, the moon, the stars.

The grasses had grown, died, regenerated. The leaves on the trees had changed with each passing year. Things grew and died, came and went, were torn down and built up, but the same old sun, moon and stars never changing, always hanging over the happenings of this earth. Can you imagine this earth when  it was covered with water, when it was filled with plenty of non-extinct creatures, when humanity was mostly located on the other side of the planet—

Watching when the first explorers encountered the natives who lived there; there in the sky, silent witness to the relentless growth which now illuminated a land, a land lit-up with artificial lights which once had only the moon and stars at night to show its inhabitants the way. God’s majesty in creation. WOW!

In today’s gospel, Jesus says: “in those days after that tribulation the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from the sky, and then powers in heaven will be shaken.”

If, in the end, the sun and the moon and stars, which have been there over our world since the very beginning, will not be in the new life to come, can we imagine that the things which we have created- the cars, the tv’s, the mansions, the monetary wealth, the play-stations, our beloved dell and apple computers, will be of any great importance, will be important at all?

All these things in the physical realm will have outlived their usefulness, and so they shall not be, any more. And for those who invested all their happiness in these things, their will be no future happiness and for those who have placed all their hopes and dreams in the things of this world, there will be no hope.

Jesus says for us to learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves, you know that summer is near. The lesson of the fig tree is that these things of which Jesus speaks of are near, not that the sun, the moon will be darkened and the stars will fall from the sky tomorrow, next month, or even next year, we know not when, but their uselessness is on the way.

This uselessness is near because Jesus has come, and he has put into motion his plan for our salvation and his works have already started. What he speaks of is in motion. His plan for us will come to fruition, whether we are prepared for their culmination, or not.

We must put the last things first in our lives and not make this worlds stuff more important than the journey to heaven and He gives us his body and blood in the Eucharist to give us the nourishment that gives us the strength to do so.

The end of the world is a terrifying thought for many people and is terrifying for a couple of reasons: Most of us do have a fear of the unknown, even if the unknown is something which looks to be better.

We like to know what’s coming upon us. But there’s also a fear that we’re not quite ready for Jesus’ return, that we would do things differently if either the sun suddenly blew out or the stars started falling from the sky.

The prophet Daniel wrote: Some shall live forever, others shall be an everlasting horror and disgrace. But the wise shall shine brightly, like the splendor of the firmament, and those who lead the many to justice shall be like the stars forever.”

In the end, we will have much to rejoice in if we are wise now and use this time on earth to show God how deep is our desire for heaven. God’s heavenly Kingdom! Can we even imagine how wow it will be?

The cold and wet weather of fall brings to mind a newlywed couple who found themselves stranded on a remote country road. Unable to go any further, they left their car and set out on foot toward a dimly lit farmhouse. An elderly couple met them at the door with a kerosene lamp. Explaining their predicament, the young man asked, “Could you put us up for the night? Any place on the floor or the couch would be just fine with us.”

As he was speaking, a few grains of rice slipped from the young lady’s hair and fell to the floor. The elderly couple looked at each other and said, “By all means, you can have the guest room. Get your things from the car while we freshen it up a bit for you.”

The next morning the newlyweds got up early, not wishing to disturb the old couple. They dressed quietly, put a ten dollar bill on the dresser, ventured into the living room and found the wife on the couch and her husband in his easy chair sound asleep. They had given the newlyweds their only bedroom.

For me, that story is a modern illustration of the beautiful story of the widow in today’s gospel. Like her, the elderly couple gave not from their surplus but from their meager resources. Both this couple and the widow gave generously and joyfully.

The two stories invite us to ask ourselves how we give. It has been said that there are three kinds of givers. Grudge givers who say, “I hate to give.” Duty givers who say, “I ought to give.” And thanks givers who say, “I want to give.”  So, which one are you? Do you give grudgingly? Do you give dutifully? Or do you give because you want to?

Some of you may be moaning, “There goes Father again, talking about money.” Actually, I am talking about more than that. I am talking about stewardship, which to me demonstrates how we can ideally relate to God. Once you personally choose to become a disciple of Jesus Christ, stewardship is not an option; it is the way of life for those who follow Christ for the sake of experiencing the kingdom of God.

Stewardship is about giving of ourselves, that is, our treasure, time and talent for the sake of building up the kingdom of God. For example, how do we give of our time to God in Sunday worship and daily prayer? How do we give of ourselves and our time to the members of our family? How do we give of ourselves and time to our neighbor? How do we give of ourselves and time to our parish?

Do we give grudgingly because we have to, because if we don’t, we will be criticized or penalized in some way? Do we give dutifully out of some sense of obligation? Would we rather not give but feel obligated to do so? Or do we give thankfully, because we want to? We give generously as the widows did.

If our giving is less than it should be, less than that of the widow or the elderly couple, than I would say Jesus is speaking to you in a special way, directly and personally in today’s gospel, prodding you to experience a new approach to giving.

I don’t know who Richard Braunstein is, but he said something that makes perfect sense here, especially if we see ourselves as a grudging giver. “It is possible to give without loving, but it is impossible to love without giving.”

Statistics show that few Catholics truly tithe. I read somewhere that over time the average Catholic continues to gives the same amount while the average Protestant gives the same percent of their income. Does that ring true for you? I suspect what lies beneath our reluctance to share thankfully rather than dutifully is fear and distrust. Fear that if we let go, there won’t be enough left for us. We don’t trust that God really will provide for our needs. We think that if we tithe, we won’t be able to pay our bills or if we give up several hours each week to do volunteer work, we won’t have enough time to take care of our families.

Both widows made what could be called a leap of faith, giving from their substance, unlike the scribes who gave from their surplus. They ultimately trusted in God when the facts suggested that their faith would be in vain. The first one used up the last of her flour and oil to bake a cake for Elijah, the other widow gave her last two coins to the treasury, walking away empty-handed. Neither gift was much but yet they were generous because they were sacrificial. Their stories testify to the belief that God can and does bring much out of little, but so long as we give with the grudging attitude of Scrooge, we deny God the chance to demonstrate that to us personally. When we put our money where our heart is, we will see the value of stewardship.

The radical message of today’s readings and of stewardship is that we must place our confidence in God rather than in our material possessions. That isn’t easy for many of us to do simply because we lack humility. We like being in control. Only a humble person recognizes his or her need for God. A humble person is certain that the presence of God is fundamental to one’s happiness.

Stewardship is an opportunity to share your gifts of treasure, time and talent with God. Like marriage or parenthood, this is a joyful expression of the love we have been given by God and that we loving return to God. Simply put, through stewardship, we give back to God a portion of the gifts we have received. Stewardship is not a one time collection though; it must be planned and lived out, which is why you received three cards in the mail and it must be sacrificial.  It is living out our commitment to be Christ-centered instead of self-centered.
 

Aints and Saints

Today is All Saints Day. I thank Fr. Rick, who has given me the great honor of preaching on this most important feast.

All Saints Day celebrates a very important aspect of our Catholic faith. Indeed, if the Catholic faith was not able in every age to raise up saints from among its ranks, it would have no purpose. All the Church’s buildings, possessions, fancy vestments and beautiful art would be useless if the Body of Christ was not built up by the example of the saints. They are the most convincing sign that the Church is doing what Jesus asked of it, spreading His faith effectively to the four corners of the world.

Therefore, it is these men and women who, after Jesus and Mary, are the Church’s greatest treasure. They have answered God’s call to holiness and emulation of the life of Christ, the life so beautifully described in the Beatitudes proclaimed by Jesus in today’s Gospel. As described in our first two readings this morning, they reign now in heaven, and see God face to face.

The example of the saints reminds us that we too are called to holiness just as the saints were and are. All Saints Day also reminds us of the great Catholic belief in the communion of saints. The theological concept of the communion of saints is based on the belief that the grace that Jesus offers to all of us is held in common. All of us draw on that grace to be able to be united with Him in this life and forever in the next. We can all become saints by drawing on a kind of bank of grace that is the economy of salvation, the communion of saints.

The path to sainthood is one that we share. We are all on the same road to sainthood, financed if you will by the blood and glory of Christ. When one of us sins, the bank of grace that is the communion of saints loses some of its assets. When one of us does something to build up the Body of Christ through loving action, the entire communion of saints gains in assets. When we seek forgiveness of our sins, the actions of all the saints both dead and living provides the spiritual capital if you will, to pay the bills of sinners.

For all these reasons All Saints Day can be thought of, after Easter and Christmas, as the most important feast in the liturgical year. Additionally, one is struck in our society by the popular fascination with the concept of saints. At one level, this is religious stirring in the hearts of all, churched or unchurched.

But even our often anti-religious, very secular culture refers to saints. Many cities are named after saints, even though many unsaintly things happen there. How often do we refer to someone as having “the patience of a saint.”? People we love and respect are called “saintly” people.” There is annual dinner of Washington politicos called Saints and Sinners. More saints than sinners I expect.

And yes, there is even a professional football team named the New Orleans Saints. Now the New Orleans Saints throughout their more than 40 year history have not been a very good football team. They have never won the Super Bowl or even gotten to the Super Bowl. They have a very good team this year. But some years they have been just plain awful. Fans of the Saints have sometimes rather cruelly referred to them as the Aints instead of the Saints, with the fans wearing brown bags over their head in protest of how bad the team was.

But maybe Saints football fans have stumbled on to a new religious concept. For if we think about our relationship with Jesus, we too can either be aints or saints. Let me give you some examples:

Aints worry about how many square feet they have in their home. Saints are more concerned how many people they welcome into their home.

Aints worry about how many fancy clothes they have. Saints are more concerned with clothing the needy.

Aints build up themselves and help themselves first. Saints build up and help others first.

Aints are concerned about their job title. Saints are concerned with doing a good job.

Aints words do not match their deeds. Saints do.

Aints worry first about their own rights. Saints worry first about the rights of others.

Aints fight to be popular. Saints fight for what is right.

Apropos of aints and saints, the patron saint of our parish, St. Hubert of Liege was a perfect example of an aint who became a saint. He was born in 656 in Maastricht, in what is now modern-day Holland. He was born into a royal family and in his younger years he was not very religious. He lived the life of a wealthy, devil-may-care young nobleman, and frequently did not attend church.

Hubert was a very avid hunter. Church tradition teaches that on a Good Friday in his young adulthood, Hubert went off to hunt deer in the Ardennes Forest. Church law permitted no hunting on that day. As he had a stag in his sight, he received a vision of a crucifix between the stag’s antlers. This event is depicted in a mural just above the entrance to our church. A voice warned him “Hubert, unless you turn to the Lord, and lead a holy life, you shall quickly go down to hell.”

This conversion experience changed Hubert’s life. Shortly after his wife died, Hubert renounced all his worldly positions, titles, and wealth and studied for the priesthood. He eventually was ordained, and rose to the position of Archbishop of Liege, Belgium. He had great preaching and evangelical skills. The poor knew him for his generosity. His stewardship was responsible for converting hundreds of pagans in the Ardennes region (a forest region covering parts of modern-day Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Germany) to Christianity. St. Hubert died in 727 and was canonized about a hundred years later. St. Hubert is the patron saint of hunters, hunting dogs, forest workers, hunters, those struck by rabies, the city of Liege, Belgium and the Ardennes Forest. Many animal rescue shelters are named for him.

St. Hubert’s feast day is November 3.  Because St. Hubert is not included on the Roman calendar of saints that is universally celebrated throughout the Church, he is honored on All Saints Day. For those who may be interested and wish to have a more festive celebration, we have also placed in the kiosk copies of a recipe for Venison St. Hubert. Other red meat can also be used if you are not “game” for the venison version of the recipe.
 
Brothers and sisters, there is only one letter that separates aints from saints. It is the letter s. S stands for Savior. Jesus the Savior gives us the graces to become saints. The communion of saints shares the graces, making it possible for aints to become saints. And that, brothers and sisters, aint bad at all.