Palm Sunday Homily (Anglican Retreat)

Such can be hard to do, but disciples are called to serve.

Shortly after my Presbyteral Ordination, a couple of years ago, I was feeling on top of the world when a friend of mine cautioned me:  “Pierre,” he said, “remember these peaks when you go into the valleys”.   For better or for worse, I soon found out that honeymoons do not last.  In two years I have experienced frustration, grief, humiliation, anger and sadness, along with inner peace and joy.  Such is the nature of Christian life. 

So we have a new Bishop of Rome, as well as a new Archbishop of Canterbury.  I am not as intimately affected by the latter, but can tell you that the election of Pope Francis has placed me and many others on top of the world once again.  For anybody who wants to see change in the Roman Catholic Church this is an exciting time – but we all know the honeymoon will not last.  Scribes, Pharisees and Romans are already manoeuvring to discredit the new Pope, or to downplay the prophetic nature of his actions, linking Francis to less holy ways of the past.   Indeed difficult times lie ahead for he, for Justin Welby, and for the Church.

Christ knows all about such challenges.  When the despairing people of Jerusalem cry out for a Messiah, Jesus becomes theirs’ for a day.  But no sooner is betrayal plotted than while they are feasting together.  And through vanity it thickens (men gathered for supper jockey for positions and pledge their loyalty as though words mean anything without actions).  In the end, fear overcomes all; Jesus is abandoned and put to death. 

Apparently, we are an insecure Church.  As people of God we desperately long for a Messiah to eliminate fear and grace with unwavering hope -and sometimes despair wins.  Sometimes we fail to see the salvation walking amoung us. 

This week, holy week, is for Christians the reminder that we do not always see nor do we understand the obvious.  The passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, memorialized by Eucharist, is the source and the summit of discipleship.  These events can be a wake up call and/or a liberation.   The journey of Jesus to his cross and beyond can and does transform the clueless into the conscious, the unsure into the zealous, the afraid into the courageous, and the desperate into the hopeful, but such is a journey that never ends.  As they go with God through peaks and valleys believers become who they are, sharers in the life, death and resurrection of a Christ who has been there before. 

Ours’ is a God who makes all things possible.  From Him may we discover what it takes to do the impossible –to suffer through valleys and emerge ready, able, and willing, to serve. 

Why Pomp and Pageantry is Ugly - My Liturgical Comment

Not all press on Pope Francis has been friendly.  In apologetic tone, self-described Catholic liturgical “traddies” struggle to makes sense of the Pontiff’s lowly oriented instincts.   Many Catholics grieve the end of "Benedictine" rule, characterized in part by dismay for the liturgical reforms of Vatican II.  Pope Francis signals a move toward more “simplicity” in Catholic worship;  he has said that he is not into “Carnivals”, so to speak.  Thus pietists fear the loss of an identity rooted in some of the most subversive traditions of a triumphalistic cohort.  As a man who will not be caught dead in lace, I fail to empathize.   The un-catechized equate simple with ugly and beauty with the lie that we are stuck in our sins.   The church equates beauty with salvation, confidence in the outstretching truth and the goodness of a risen Lord.  'Might we avoid the sickness of a self-referencing body' (Pope Francis)?

In Catholic worship we celebrate what God does for us.  The Eucharist is the “Source and Summit” of Christian life, where we attest that God incarnates and transforms.  Eucharist is the church’s statement that God enters this world in profound ways, and changes human beings into spirit-filled disciples.  And perhaps most importantly, Eucharist states that God sides with the poor. 

Christians believe that Christ is present whenever two or more gather in His name.  In liturgy, we say that God is present in the Word, in the Presider, in the People gathered, and in the forms of Bread and Wine.  Each of these presences carries its own, but equal, significance.  But beyond the fact that God is present to God’s people, we have to acknowledge that God affects us in the in-breaking (sacrament).  That is why we call Eucharist "the source", as well as "the summit". 

We say that Eucharist is the source because we take it with us when we leave.  In the world we are called to do for others (hence the holy Thursday foot washing) what God does for us in sacrament (symbolic of what God does through the cross).   When we return, it should be evident why Eucharist is our summit.  Common worship, complete with signs and symbols of a transformation, announces what Christians have become for the world.  Through gestures of mutual dependence, indications of baptismal dignity and universal hope, a church of prophets, teachers, proclaimers, and more, images appreciation for what God does within them.  And there is nothing more beautiful than human beings redeemed – people who serve.

Pomp and Pageantry displays the dark side of humanity.  It flaunts a perverse desire to construct superficial hierarchies, to abdicate personal accountability along with mutual dependence, and to suppress grace.  To downplay or to deny the inclusive and the transformative liberation of the risen Christ is a slap in the face to our Jewish ancestors who for centuries longed for what Christians have received.  Pomp and Pageantry is ugly because it highlights the sins of a fallen race rather than celebrating the Beauty, the Truth, and the Goodness of a victorious God. 

Of course, this is just my opinion.  

God Alone (First Sunday of Lent)

The temptations of Jesus Christ point to the everyday experience of human beings –our tussle with seductive power and wealth.  I find it intriguing that Luke does not address our third basic persuasion (sex).  

This is a bit of a side but, for those who do not know, the knots on my cord stand for poverty, obedience and chastity – how to deal holistically with money, power and sexuality- the issue for every believer.  The Gospel directly tackles but two of three. 

Underneath the lure of food and of kingdoms for Jesus is an identity struggle.  Once alone, Jesus’ first temptation is to  serve himself and himself only.  Through this struggle he emerges (as St. Augustine says “struggle and emerge” like Jesus Christ).  He emerges zealous to worship and to serve God alone.  And, in time, Jesus would show all that to do so is to love brother and sister, the poor, the meek, the merciful, the abandoned, the lost and the confused.  As Christ becomes who He is He becomes for others; we do the same. 

This week, as you know, the Pope resigned and by and large the reaction from around the world has been positive but there are some who are less than impressed.  Few of these sorts have spoken out but an Italian politician, the granddaughter of Benito Mussolini, the Fascist dictator, has ranted that Benedict is out of line.  “The Pope is not any man,” she said this week, “he has no right to resign.  Jesus stayed on his cross and the Pope should stay on his.”  Alessandra Mussolini goes on to fret that the Popes’ resignation “will weaken the Church."

Well I cannot agree with her at all!  The fact is that the Bishop of Rome is but an office held within God’s people for the world and need not be a death-oriented sentence.  What Benedict XVI did is admirable, a humble reminder to us all that the Church exists to serve.  As children of God, brothers and sisters for Christ, each believer, every one of us, has work to do that she/he does not posses.  We do it for God and for God alone. 

But back to Jesus:  Why did he exist and what did he learn about himself in the wilderness? 

St. Paul says that there is only one Lord and that is Jesus Christ.  For believers this Christ is generous, inclusive and above all who remain equal.  God, Jesus learned, is the Lord whom all worship and the Lord whom all serve.  The Lord of Jesus Christ is the God who serves Him.  Ours’ is the Lord who, though tempted, serves us. 

As people of God we are constantly tempted, as Christ was in the wilderness, to serve only ourselves.  We struggle to accept that in order to worship and to serve God we must let go; after the example of Jesus Christ we must give ourselves to relationship.  Because God is not known until creation makes God known.  God is not loved until what God creates is beloved.  God is served where God is present, in the poor, in the Word, and in the Eucharistic feast. 

As children of God may we, like Christ, be tempted.  May this wilderness teach us who we are, and lead us to worship and to serve our God alone.

Grace, Happiness, Gratitude - the Baptism of Jesus

Speaking about grief and loss as it relates to chronic illness, Canadian actor Michael J. Fox, who suffers from Parkinson's disease, once said "My happiness grows in direct proportion to my acceptance (of what is) and in inverse proportion to my expectations."  Another way of expressing this is to admit that "we would all be much happier if we lowered our expectations."

But is it really possible to accept what is and be satisfied?  Should we not expect more? 

Well, personally, I am not sure if I will ever be content with status quo but I am sure that I can be a lot more grateful.

   

I should be more grateful because I have been baptized, and in baptism a Christian has a lot.  Like Christ, who humbled himself to be baptized before us, we through water and grace posses the very life-giving spirit of God. 

What God gives is neither entitled nor is it earned -what God gives is pure grace.   What God gives is the ability to live the beatitudal virtues of Christ himself:  to build and strengthen relationships and to bring forward a kingdom of such things as mercy, patience, charity and kindness.  Baptism is the grace to be prophetic, which is to adopt an attitude of gratitude.

Basilian Father and World Youth Day legend Tom Rosica calls baptism the “call to a prophetic career”.    A means to make the gospel our way of life, Baptism, says Rosica, is an invitation “to get our hands and feet dirty” so to speak.   The sacrament of baptism, he says, “fills human beings with boldness, confidence, and enthusiasm, reminding them that the Gospel must be proclaimed with gratitude for its proven beauty”.   And I would add its revealed beauty. 

Yes, the Gospel is indeed beautiful because Christ lived it. 

G.K. Chesterton, as you may know, said "it is not that Christianity has been tried and found wanting it is that Christianity has never been tried”.   And perhaps, in a sense, he was right – there are no perfect disciples but we know that Jesus practiced what he preached.  

Who among us gives God the gratitude God deserves? 

Whether we are Christian or not, I think we tend to think of ourselves as self-made, as though everything I have I have because I have earned.   Such is a lie we tell ourselves. 

Because in baptism we know that such is not true.   Baptism affirms that I am neither self-made nor am I alone.  In baptism we are reminded that God not only formed humanity in God’s very own image, God confirmed that we are good, that God brought us together and graced a Christian community with every opportunity to love and to give as Christ has loved and has given. 

So yes, baptism is the grace to be prophetic:  to stand out for the truth, the goodness, and the beauty that comes from God alone; the grace to witness to things that come from above, and to give from ourselves especially when it hurts. 

In the spirit of Christ Jesus whose baptism we celebrate today, may we accept the grace of our own baptism.    As one prophetic voice, may this community of baptized be nothing other than grateful for all that it has.  

Merry Christmas!

Martha and Mary: Chose as You are Chosen

Life is a litany of choices.  As I tell folks discerning their vocation, the worst decision is not to make a decision – do not fool yourself, not choosing is choosing. 

And the decisions we make, remain with us.  How difficult was it for St. Paul to become a self-described “Apostle” for the very people he persecuted?  How could his past not have haunted him?  Even today, commentaries suggest Paul persecuted Christians before and after his conversion to Christianity.  He was, without question, passionate about his beliefs. 

 

The story of Mary and Martha is a complex reflection on choice.  For one thing, it is easy to identify with both characters – there is a bit of Mary as well as Martha in each one of us; both exhibit social virtues.  

For starters, Martha welcomes Jesus into her home.  And then she busies herself with household tasks, in what would appear to be an effort toward hospitality.  But Martha, on this occasion, misses out.  Her sister Mary is the one who capitalises on the presence of Jesus; Mary spends time with the guest and learns from him – a fact that very much angers her sister Martha.  Martha is so bothered that she tries to tell Jesus, a guest in her home, what to do.  “Tell her to help me”, she says.  But Jesus does not concede.  “Mary” he says, on this day, “has chosen the better part”.  And he is will not take that away from her.

In life situations such as these arise all the time, and for everything to do there is a time.  For us, the question becomes what time is it?  In each moment there are choices to make.  Do I prepare, as a good host does, or do I just be?  Do I teach, or do I learn?  So often there are no wrong choices, just choices.

For God, the choice is always the better one.  God, at a moment in time, chose to be with us.  God chose relationship, the consequences of which we still bare today.  God chose to receive whatever this world put in front of him, and God suffered for it.  But because of the choice God made, in the form of his Son, we have yet better choices to make.  We chose to or not to relate as God relates with us.  We chose to take what is offered, or to reject it.  We chose to let God love us, or not. 

As believers in a God who unequivocally chooses us, may we learn from what God does.  May we take what this world has to offer, and give of ourselves to it.  May we share who we are, do what needs to be done, and hear what our God has to say. 

Feast of St. Francis Homily

It is never good to be alone.  This is a fact we sometimes forget.   

In Genesis, where the good of Creation and humanity in particular, is defined, so too is our Franciscan identity moored.   A Christian reflection on the Universe asks why.   Why this planet or solar system as the birthplace of salvation?  Why God did you choose humanity, the only beings made for faith or reason?  Since nobody in the history of time has answered this question, it will be the first I ask the Maker when we meet. 

God’s Word speaks of love between creatures, and the relational nature of human beings.  And so, by the way does our particular tradition. 

In his Feast Day Homily two years ago, Minister General Jose Carballo noted that St. Francis was “radically relational”.  For Francis, the Word of God and he shared in “intimate relationship”.   The two expressed themselves sine glossa, freely and without interference, to each other.  To what the Lord said in the Word, was the heart of Francis totally open.  Francis was very aware that the closer he got to God’s Word, the closer he got to God Himself. 

But Francis was not only relational, he was communal.  “He knew well,” Brother Jose insists, “that when the Lord spoke and he responded communion was established.  Listening to the Word and devouring it, Francis not only edified himself, but conformed to the God speaking.”   As the law of love states: a lover conforms to his beloved.  Observe a married couple for a few years to see this occur.  And dare I say that such is even seen in community.

When he wrote his testament, a look back on life lived, our Father Francis referred to the difference between the man he was without brothers and the man he became once no longer alone.  In community Francis changed, the pious disciple adopted new priorities.   When alone Francis enjoyed an exclusive relationship with God, and while never losing this completely, in community he became concerned about something known as “the common good”, and how others related to each other.       

Brothers, I inserted in today’s liturgy a short reading from Celano as a reminder to us all about who we are, where we come from and where we, ideally, go. 

In the gospel, Jesus invites us to be like children, which as Friar Charles Talley of the Santa Barbara Province tells us is to be “open, innocent, spontaneous and joyful”.  To be childlike is not to be childish, which is perhaps dodgy, manipulative, fearful, to scratch the surface. 

If childlike we are brothers, men who holistically depend on one another but do not own one another.  If like children, we trust in one another.  If truly brothers, we are men who celebrate the gift of one another as totally other than ourselves. 

The gospel Jesus preached invites us to be brothers.   In the same way friars were called 800 years ago, Jesus gathers us together in a spirit of holy simplicity, innocence of life, and a purity of intention stemming directly from the human heart.  And even though such seems impossible (I do tend to doubt historicity of Celano’s romantic memory), even though the bar is high, we as men of common faith are directed to common ground.  We are to be of a common spirit, a common will, a common mind, harmony and common virtues.  God, for whatever reason, God for faith, chose us, as so we share a common call. 

Now Jesus says, my yoke is easy, my burden is light, but brothers the aforesaid seems impossible.  I doubt that all of us can agree on much.  I fail to foresee multiple friars excited about many common causes.  But brothers, the same gospel is ours to share.  

And so, if we do nothing else, may we live it with passion!  May each and every one of us love the Word of God and be drawn together.   Like and as faithful children, may we be brothers to one another.