Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter,
was one of the two who heard John and followed Jesus.
He first found his own brother Simon and brought him to Jesus.
Jesus looked at him and said,
"You are Simon the son of John;
you will be called Cephas" — which is translated Peter.
John 1:35-42
Jesus was right! The church is like a huge dragnet
that scoops up a little of everything from the depths of the sea, like a field
of weeds and wheat growing together, like a banquet attended by the good and
bad alike! Today’s self-righteous
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 like to distance themselves from “undesirables,” painting themselves as
man’s gift to God while looking down on the weak and sinful. Jesus would not join them today, just as he
did not join them 2,000 years ago!
In another place, we have the scene of Jesus inviting tax collectors and sinners to join him and
his disciples to dinner. Jesus obviously held these dinners quit often and obviously these crowds
of rejects had a great time at his dinner parties because the Scriptures tell
us that Jesus earned the nicknames of “glutton” and “drunkard” in the religious
establishment. Coming upon this scene, this “holier-than-thou” group of
Pharisees objected vehemently, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors
and sinners?” Overhearing their
criticism, Jesus responds, without apology, lays this on 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.” A few years ago, I came
across a funny memo addressed to Jesus about the apostles he is about to
choose. It is sent from a fictional consulting firm in Jerusalem! It may be
funny, but it makes a profound point! 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
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. 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 need 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 loud and clear that it is God’s work, not our
effort or expertise, that counts! It’s not about our efforts. 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. I have been battling feelings of not being
good enough like a wildfire these last several weeks. One incident in
particular triggered them “big time!” The Pope recently told a group of newly
ordained priests in Rome 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 went right through me. It has taken me over 30 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! I won’t go back!
It is the
gospel message has helped me 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 the first reading 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! “People see externals. God sees into the
heart.” “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 people who feel bad about
themselves, feel worthy: 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! Look what
out second readings says 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 lovable
because God loves us. God’s love is pure
gift. And before we go around judging others’ worthiness for God, let us
own our own sins and failings. If God can have compassion on us, knowing
all our sins and failures, surely we 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!”
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