DON'T BE AFRAID

 

 

Jesus said to them: "Fear no one! Do not be afraid! Have no fear!”
Matthew 10:26-33

Last week, we heard about Jesus picking the twelve apostles from among his disciples! This week we hear some of his instructions to them as he sends them out!  We’ve got to give Jesus some credit! After calling his disciples to follow him, he certainly did not promise any of them a rose garden! In today’s gospel, part of a longer passage we are reading over several Sundays, Jesus tells his disciples “not to be afraid,” not once, but three times! He speaks about “killing the body,” not once, but twice! It is part of a longer instruction to them before he sends them out to preach and to heal! 

I don’t know about you, but if I had been there, I would have smelled a rat, big time! Who needs to get involved in that kind of bad news? I hate to admit it, but I may have run like hell! However, in spite of all the mistreatment that Jesus warns them about, he also tells them that they will be taken care of! “Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge. So don’t worry; you are worth more than many sparrows. Even the hairs of your head are numbered.” He sums up his instruction by telling them to be sure to acknowledge God before others during the best of times and the worst of times!

Faithful Catholics, as a member of his church, Jesus sends us out as well and asks us to acknowledge our faith in the best and worst of times. For the church today, these are some of the most unsettling of times we have seen for a long time, which makes acknowledging our faith very difficult on some days! These are rough times, yes, but one of the good things that has come out of this time of trial is that it has forced every Catholic to reevaluate his or her faith! 

Embarrassed, some Catholics have no doubt, thrown in the towel on the church! Even though I find that tragic, I can understand their response - and I don't find it surprising! What really surprises me is the fact that many of you are staying and are working through all of this uncertainty! You are the people who keep me going! I have said more than once, I can see that your faith is well placed. Your faith is not, nor has it ever been, in the church's messengers!  The church has always referred to you as “the faithful,” and so you are!  You have loved your priests, no matter how quirky and weak they have been, and I believe that most of you still do! That’s what makes this so painful for you: the realization that someone that you have loved so much could, in their sickness, do harm to children!  The revelation of these events has no doubt shaken some of your faith, but not destroyed it. Your faith is built on solid rock! It will stand! Jesus asks you today to acknowledge your faith to others in the best and worst of times just like he asked his original followers to do!

Jesus has sent me out, as well as you, and has asked us to acknowledge our calls in the best and worst of times! I can still remember the days right after the sexual abuse scandal broke into the open here in Louisville. I caught myself one day putting my hand over my Roman collar at a stop light so nobody could see it. I was embarrassed to be a priest! My feelings were published in America Magazine in 2002 in an article I submitted called "Collateral Damage: How One Priest Is Feeling These Days." It still saddens me to remember how I felt writing it in just about an hour on my front porch!  

In my 56 years of priestly ministry, I have also seen some great times. As a priest, I have experienced some incredibly marvelous things, things I could not have imagined being part of when I was growing up! Yes, I have a few set-backs that I thought I would not live through, but they have been so few compared to the numerous wonderful things, even incredible things! As I trudged through that sexual abuse scandal a few years ago, everything went through my mind. For the very first time, I caught myself imagining what I would do if I were not a priest! It was only momentary, but still it is significant that my mind even went there to begin with! What was shocking, even to me, is that I had even felt a twisted kind of envy, yes envy, of those who were forced out! I knew that some of my brother priests who had lost everything because of their twisted behaviors and were dismissed also experienced a great freedom: with their whole lives exposed, they were finally free of the heavy burden of other people’s expectations, something that those of you who have never been in our shoes as a public person, may not understand.  In spite of those painful days, when all was said and done and when I came to the end of a day’s worrying, I always returned to the fact that that pain was good pain! Children must be protected! Priests must be trusted and those of us who remain must, as St. Paul puts it: “Preach the gospel in season and out of season, whether convenient or inconvenient!” As for me, I am hopefully here to stay, even though I cannot say that I have always been without fear. I am trying to carry on and not be afraid. With God’s help and with the finish line in sight, fear will hopefully not overwhelm me the rest of the trip!

I served the archdiocese as the Vocation Director during the height of that scandal. When I was the local Vocation Director, what did I say to those who might feel called to priesthood? To them, I simply said this. "The church needs you now more than ever!"  To any would-be-priest, in all honesty, I would say this even today! "If you fold in face of every crisis and you collapse every time you face a set-back, you probably should think twice before getting into this way of life!" It has always taken some kind of courage to be a priest. I believe that it will take even more courage in the future. As scripture says, “My son, if you seek to serve the Lord, be ready for a battle!” As one-about-to-be-ordained seminarian was quoted in NEWSWEEK magazine a few years ago when a reporter asked him if he was hesitant about going into the priesthood, he said this. "This is the priesthood today - to suffer for things you did not do!" If he was ordained, that young man is no doubt making a fine priest somewhere! Going into it, he was obviously aware of the warning Jesus gave the first group of disciples that he sent out in today's gospel! 

I learned a long time ago that priesthood, whether it is your baptismal priesthood or my ordained priesthood, is actually healthiest when it isn’t a bed of roses! As the old saying goes, “Whatever doesn’t kill you will make you stronger!” For me, priesthood has seldom been a bed of roses, but in my book, it has definitely been worth it! Many of you could say the same thing about being a parent. It may not have been a bed of roses every day, but it has certainly been worth it!

My friends, we live in trying times when it comes to remaining faithful Catholics. Many have simply walked away from the church. Being faithful Catholics, we are sometimes attacked and ridiculed for our fidelity. There are indeed many thorny issues dividing us, but in spite of our fear I have met so many fellow Catholics who are trying their best to hang on! They inspire me to hang in there with them! 

I once heard a great preacher compare the church today to being a gigantic egg. I have shared that story with you many times before. He said that some days we wake up and that egg is covered with small cracks - ever widening cracks! Many simply run away for the ensuing mess. Others are running around with tape and string and ladders yelling that it is falling apart and we must do something to hold it together.

That great Catholic preacher suggested, on the other hand, that when the egg starts cracking like that, we need to stand back and let it hatch! We are not dying! We are giving birth! I grew up on a farm and I know that he was right. I know that the dumbest thing you can do when an egg is about to hatch is to try to prevent it! In trying to prevent it from cracking, you can actually smother the new life that is struggling to get out!  

Sending them out, Jesus said to them: "Fear no one! Do not be afraid! Have no fear! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHURCH CHAT #33

 

FIVE MARKS OF A GROWN-UP FOR THOSE WHO ARE NOT THERE YET

 

THE FIVE MARKS OF ADULTHOOD

A Bit Of Help From The Internet

from 

Robert Kegan 

1. Self-Authored Identity: At this stage, individuals are no longer bound by external expectations, societal norms, or fixed identities. They are self-authored, which means they can define their values, principles and beliefs independently.

2. Embrace of Paradox: People at this stage are comfortable with ambiguity and paradoxes. They can hold opposing viewpoints, recognizing that truth is often multifaceted. This is where the concept of the “death of the ego” comes in, as it signifies a transcendence of the ego’s need to be right or in control.

3. Broader Sense of Humanity: At this stage individuals experience a profound connection with humanity as a whole. They recognize their interdependence with others and often engage in activities that contribute to the greater good.

4. Adaptive and Agile: This stage brings a high degree of adaptability and agility. Individuals can shift their perspective based on context and have a deep understanding of the multiple roles they play in different aspects of life.

5. Continuous Growth: This stage is not an endpoint but a starting point for continuous growth. It’s a place from which individuals can navigate complexity, learn, and adapt in an ever-changing world.

THE BEATITUDES EXPLAINED

 

Unlike the Ten Commandments, which stress the things that one who loves God should not do, today’s gospel offers us a list of things that a person who loves God does do. It is important to remember here that Jesus is not saying “do these things and God will love you,” but rather “if you love God, these are the things you will do!” We do not do these things to earn God’s love, rather if we love God, we will do these things. So, what then does a serious lover of God look like?

(1) He or she is first of all “poor in spirit.”  What Jesus is talking about here is not merely economic poverty. Even the dirt poor can be greedy in their hearts. What it means, really, is the deep-down knowledge that when it comes right down to it, we own nothing and everything can be taken away from us in an instant. Every material possession, every blessing we have ever had, is a gift from God that was given to us, not to hoard, but to share. The more we have been given, the greater the responsibility we have to share.” “Poverty of spirit” is a basic knowledge that we are all poor, when it comes right down to it. As they say, “There are no pockets in shrouds!”

(2) A serious lover of God is able to mourn. One who loves God seriously knows that we are interconnected human beings and therefore never loses his or her ability to feel the suffering of others. A cold-hearted, self-centered, disinterested person is not a friend of God. A friend of God shares the compassion of Christ who was moved deeply by the horrible suffering of simple human beings and is never far from “the gift of tears,” as the saints called it.

(3) A serious lover of God is meek. A “meek” person is not a person who lets people walk over him or her. A “meek” person lives with the knowledge that he is never “a god,” but nonetheless always a “child of God.” In other words, he neither inflates his own worth on one hand, nor does he allow others to deflate his value on the other hand.  Being meek means to know who we are in God’s eyes- nothing more, but nothing less!

(4) A serious lover of God hungers and thirsts for righteousness. A serious lover of God does not dabble in religion, placing religion somewhere outside the realm of his daily living and daily choices.  Rather, he or she is a serious spiritual seeker, always trying to align his everyday life with Christian principles.  He or she strives always to close the gap between being a Christian in name and being a Christian in fact, while being totally free of religious fanaticism and doing spiritual violence to others in the name of orthodoxy.

(5) A serious lover of God is merciful. Being merciful means letting God be the judge of other people. It means giving people the benefit of the doubt, giving them a break, wishing them well on their path, knowing that with God, it isn’t over till it’s over, and with God there is always another chance. Yes, it also means living the maxim, “There but for the grace of God, go I!” Thomas Merton said, "The whole idea of compassion is based on a keen awareness of the interdependence of all livings things, which are part of one another, and all involved in one another."

(6) A serious lover of God is clean of heart. A serious lover of God doesn’t just do good things, he or she does them for the right reason and with the purest of motives.  I tried to remind the seminarians at Saint Meinrad that it is a good thing to want to be a priest, but one must go into it for good reasons – to serve people, not for what priesthood can do for them. It is a good thing to give to the poor, but one can give to the poor, not because they love the poor, but because they will get their name in the paper or will have a building named after them. A serious lover of God always does good things, but he also does them for the right reason.

(7) A serious lover of God is a peacemaker. War is getting more and more irrelevant. We need to become as good at peacemaking as we have been at building sophisticated weapons. There will always be misunderstanding between people. One who truly loves God has the ability and the credibility to prevent disagreements from becoming a reason for violence. We need not think globally only. Families, marriages, neighborhoods, siblings and churches desperately need these peacemakers. When enough of us really love God, we will have enough peacemakers to move us closer to universal peace.  If you love God, you love his people! If you love his people, you will do what you can to bring them together.

(8) A serious lover of God will be persecuted, insulted and lied about. The brighter the light the fiercer the attack! Evil does not like goodness. Evil cannot tolerate the presence of goodness and so it attacks. One who seriously loves God is more than willing to take persecution, insults and lies, knowing that personal integrity is more important than comfort or approval.

So, the bottom line is this – you will know that you are on the path to sainthood if these "beatitudes" describe you! If these eight characteristics don't describe you, make a u-turn while you can, because you're headed in the wrong direction!      

 

 

 

 

 

 

A MOTLEY CREW FOR SURE

The names of the twelve apostles are these: Peter, Andrew, James, John, Phillip, Bartholomew, James, Thaddeus, Thomas, Matthew, Simon and Judas.

Matthew 9 

Jesus was right! The church is like a huge dragnet that scoops up a little of everything from the depths of the sea. Jesus was right! The church is like a field of weeds and wheat growing together. Jesus was right! The church is like a wedding banquet attended by the good and bad alike!   Today’s "Pharisees," like the self-righteous Pharisees of old, are scandalized by this reality, the reality that the church is, and always has been, a hodge-podge of sinners and saints! These self-righteous types try to distance themselves from today's “undesirables,” imagining themselves as "better than" while despising so-called "degenerates," "sinners," and various people on the margins.  

In another gospel text, we are presented with the scene of Jesus joining tax collectors, sinners and his disciples at a dinner at Matthew's house.  Jesus obviously attended such dinners quit often because the Scriptures tell us that Jesus earned the nicknames of “glutton” and “drunkard” within the religious establishment. Coming upon this dinner scene at Matthew's house, with "tax collectors and sinners sitting down with Jesus and his disciples to eat," the Pharisees objected vehemently, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”  Overhearing their criticism, Jesus responds without apology, saying this to them: “Those who are well do not need a doctor! Sick people do! I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners!”

If the church is like a dragnet that scoops up a little of everything from the depths of the sea, then Jesus must have scraped the bottom of the pond to come up with this motley crew that we have come to call “apostles” and "saints."  As St. Paul said of Jesus, "He chooses the weak and makes them strong!" A few years ago, I came across a funny memo addressed to Jesus about the apostles he was about to choose. It is sent from a fictional consulting firm in Jerusalem! It may be funny, but it makes a profound point that I have used a couple of ties before in other parishes. Let me read a section to you.

Jesus, Son of Joseph
Woodcrafter Carpenter Shop
Nazareth 25922

Dear Jesus:             

Thank you for submitting the resumes of the twelve men you have picked for management positions in your new organization. All of them have now taken our battery of tests; we have not only run the results though our computer, but we have also arranged personal interviews for each of them with our psychologist and vocational aptitude consultant.

It is the staff's opinion that most of your nominees are lacking in background, education and vocational aptitude for the type of enterprise you are undertaking.              

Simon Peter is emotionally unstable and given to fits of temper. Andrew has absolutely no qualities of leadership. The two brothers, James and John, place personal interest above company loyalty. Thomas demonstrates a questioning attitude that would tend to undermine morale. We feel that it is our duty to tell you that Matthew has been blacklisted by the Greater Jerusalem Better Business Bureau. James, son of Alpheus, and Thaddeus definitely have radical leanings, and they both registered a high score on the manic-depressive scale.

One of the candidates, however,  shows great potential. He is a man of ability and resourcefulness, meets people well, has a keen business mind, and has contacts in high places. He is highly motivated, ambitious and responsible. We recommend Judas Iscariot as your controller and right-hand man.

We wish you every success in your new adventure.

Sincerely yours,

Jerusalem Management Consultants

 

“God’s ways are not our ways.” How many times have we heard that remark? Well, it is absolutely true and the Scriptures are full of examples where God seems to relish in picking losers, crooks, idiots and incompetents to do his most important work. In the Old Testament, we read about the call of Abraham and Sara. They were 99 and 90 respectfully when they were called to begin the most important family in history! A little old, don’t you think? When he needed a mother for Jesus, who did he pick but an engaged teenager from nowhere!  A little risky, don’t you think? Are we surprised that Jesus would pick such a shaky foundation on which to build his church: a liar, a couple of mama’s babies, two Middle Eastern terrorists, an agnostic and a tax collector? The only reason I can figure out for these kinds of decisions is to let us know loudly and clearly that it is God’s work, not our effort or expertise, that counts! It’s not about our goodness. It’s about God’s goodness!

Most of my life I have struggled with feelings of not being good enough, no doubt results of some serious emotional abuse when I was a child. “You will never amount to anything!” “You can’t do anything right!” “You’re a hopeless case!” My feelings of not being good enough are not as severe as they used to be, by a long shot, but traces of them are still there and those old feelings can be triggered almost without warning. Many of you know what I am talking about. They are irrational feelings, for the most part, but they are still there. One incident in particular triggered them “big time!” Pope Benedict told a group of newly ordained priests in Rome a few years ago that they must be “perfect.” Since I have never felt like I could adequately measure up to the expectations that people place on priests, those words really rattled me. It has taken me years to quit beating myself up for not being perfect and be consoled that my best was good enough for God. I don’t want to go back there! I won’t go back! 

It is the gospel message that has helped me understand God's love more than any psychologist! The word “gospel” means “good news.” The “good news” is this: our best may not be good enough for this world, but it is good enough for God! God loves us without condition! As our second reading today puts it, “God proves his love for us, in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us!” God’s love is freely given without any need on our part to earn it. God loves us flaws and all!  One Scripture says this: “People see externals. God sees into the heart.” Another Scripture says this: “God chooses the weak and made them strong in bearing witness to him.” Jesus filled these weak, flawed and sinful bunch of men with the fire of his love and gradually made saints of them! In his ministry Jesus specialized, not in ritual temple service, but in helping society's rejected and marginalized people feel worthy in God's eyes: the poor, women, children, the diseased, the ostracized and the marginalized - people who did not feel good enough!

My friends, in the end, it is not about what you do for God, it is about what God has done for you! No matter what happens, remember this: you are valued and loved in God eyes, no matter what you’ve done or failed to do!  As scripture says in our second reading today: “He died for us while we were sinners.” Notice that it does not say: “He died for us because we shaped up!” God loves us, not because we deserve it, but in spite of the fact that we do not deserve it!

If Jesus can choose Peter, Andrew, James, John, Phillip, Bartholomew, James, Thaddeus, Thomas, Matthew and Simon and use them for his work, he can choose people like you and me, flaws and all, to carry on that work! God did not love us because we are lovable. We are loveable because God loves us.  God’s love is purely a gift. So, before we go around judging others’ worthiness before God, let us own our own sins and failings. If God can have compassion on us, after knowing all our sins and failures, then we surely can have compassion on each other.  As we say in the Mass, right before communion, “Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed!” 

              

 

CHURCH CHAT #32

 (LATIN for "THINGS DESIRED")