30 September 2007

28th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C (2004)

06/10/07 21:16

Ordinary 28-C (October 10, 2004)

Last week, I heard the story of a man who was scheduled to make a relatively short flight from one city in the Midwest to another. But as he got to the airport, he started to feel uncomfortable about taking the flight. So instead, he rented a car and drove to his destination. Later that day, as he was listening to the news on the radio, he heard that the plane had crashed, and everyone on board had been killed.

Please look with me on your handouts. “Living on the Edge of Eternity.”

What went through the minds of those passengers in the last 30 seconds of their life, as they knew that they were about the crash and die? What went through the minds of the people trapped on the upper floors of the World Trade Center on September 11, knowing that the building was about to fall, with them in it? What goes through the mind of a person who learns that he or she has terminal cancer? What goes through the minds of people as they lay dying in bed at home or in the hospital?

On your handout is the picture of an hour glass. What would go through your mind if you knew that the hour glass was running, that these would be your last 30 minutes on earth?

All of us are living on the edge of eternity. Our last day on earth might be today, tomorrow, next week or next month, next year or 50 years from now. None of us knows. But we all know that the moment will come, for each and every one of us, when we will face eternity. The big question is: What are we doing to prepare ourselves? Are we ready for our eternity?

In our gospel today, we hear about ten lepers. They are sick, with a dreaded and fatal disease, leprosy. They are dying. They are living, quite literally, on the edge of eternity. But Jesus heals them.

The next part of the story is what is interesting. Let’s read it together on your handout: “Jesus said, ‘Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine? Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?’” (Luke 17:18)

The story has many nuances. For example, it is only the foreigner, the Samaritan, the one who is despised and rejected by Jesus’ listeners because he is not a Jew like the rest of them – only the foreigner, the Samaritan, who returns to give thanks to Jesus. We might ask ourselves: Who are the “foreigners” in our midst, the people we shun and reject and turn our backs on?

The key to this story is the attitude of the Samaritan. He is grateful. He takes time to come back to Jesus to say, “Thank you.” He is the only one who truly appreciates the healing he has received from God. And so Jesus says to him, “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you.” (Luke 17:19)

“Your faith has saved you.” All ten lepers, living on the edge of eternity, facing death. Only one, the foreigner, the Samaritan, is ready for eternity, spiritually. You see, there are two kinds of healing – physical healing, but that won’t last, because eventually – maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but someday – all ten are going to die; and then, there is spiritual healing, the kind that saves us and carries us to God and into eternity. That second kind of healing requires faith. “Your faith has saved you.”

Last week, we talked about faith. Today, we continue that discussion. And next week, too, we are going to talk about faith, because for these three weeks, we are focusing on stewardship – and stewardship is really just another word for faith and for fidelity and faithfulness.

Last week, we talked about stewardship of time. Time is a gift from God. And we all have the exact same amount of it – 24 hours a day, no more and no less. But how do we use the gift of time that God has given us? How do we prioritize our time, so that we are not just selfishly living for ourselves, but that we use our time wisely and in service to others?

Our gospel told us that if we have faith just the size of a tiny mustard seed, we could move huge trees and huge mountains. The example of the mustard seed is meant to encourage us. We don’t need a lot of faith – but we do need to tend the seed of faith by planting it, watering it, fertilizing it. Then the seed of faith will grow in us and produce a huge tree and bear much fruit.

This week, we talk about our talents. God has given us many gifts and talents. But we can horde them or we can use them generously for others. Our gospel today reminds us that the starting point for the use of our gifts and talents is an attitude of gratitude and thankfulness. If we are thankful, if we are grateful, then we start to return what we have received. We become more generous. We are like the tenth leper who made time to return to Jesus simply to say, “Thank you.”

Next week, we will look at our stewardship of treasure. As just a brief preview, Jesus will ask us in next weekend’s gospel, “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” It’s a good question. Are we people of true faith? And if so, how are we showing it?

Last week, you may remember – as we talked about the use of time – the chart that I handed out: “How much time do I have left?” It shows for our particular age, how many more years of life we have on earth, on average, according to the experts. It’s a rather sobering chart! So today, let me ask all of you a question – and please don’t be shy about yelling out the answer: “How long have you lived?” --------------

[Allow people to answer out loud. Then:] None of you answered correctly! You all answered your age – but that is very different from answering, “How long have you lived?” God wants us not just to exist and put in time, but to really live life to its fullest. And that requires stewardship – using what God has given to us wisely, giving instead of just receiving.

On your sheets, it says, “Beware of tombs!” There are many “tombs” in life – distractions, attitudes, circumstances that invade our life and take over and enslave us, that keep us from living fully as God would intend. What are some of the tombs that are holding you back from truly and fully following God and being a person of true faith?

Good stewards, people of faith, learn to leave their tombs behind. They risk doing what is right, not just following the crowd, or doing what is popular, or just blending in with everyone else. They refine their priorities, making God number 1, and not letting other things crowd out God. They reach for eternity – they are focused not just on the here and now, not just on the immediate – but on the bigger picture, on what it really means to living on the edge of eternity.

A good steward:
1. Receives God’s gifts gratefully;
2. Cherishes and tends them in a responsible and accountable manner;
3. Shares them in justice and love with others; and
4. Returns them with increase to the Lord.

Stewardship must be:
1. Intentional and Planned
2. Prayerful
3. Proportional
4. Sacrificial

Let me conclude with just one illustration, then we will talk about our Ministry Fair and how we can use our gifts and talents for God.

I have with me a jar. Now if I fill this jar with golf balls, is it full? Yes or No? Let’s add some rocks. Is it full? Let’s add some sand. Is it full? Let’s add some beer. Is it full?

Life is like this jar. We fill our lives up with lots of things. But if I fill the jar with beer first, is there room for the golf balls, or the rocks, or the sand? No! As Christians, we need to fill our life first with the golf balls, the big things that are the most important, liking tending to our relationship with God. Then with some of the other things, like the rocks and the sand. Then with the beer. There’s room for fun – but life can’t be all fun and games. Life can’t be all beer!

On your sheet are ways to use your gifts and talents….

[Discuss Ministry Fair, signing up for a ministry, attending Mini-Retreat 301 to learn more about your gifts and ministries, calling our Coordinator of Ministries for further information or questions.]

27th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C (2004)

30/09/07 22:31

Ordinary 27-C (Oct. 3, 2004)

Today, I want to talk about “Mustard Seed Faith and Everyday Heroes.”

We’re going to look at three words from our Scripture readings today: Faith, Time, and Duty. All three are related and interconnected to one another.

First, FAITH. A story is told of a priest who was celebrating a children’s Mass, and made the mistake of asking the children some questions. His first question: Who made the world? One of the children raised her hand and replied correctly: God! Second question: Who is God? Another child raised his hand and said, “God is Spirit.” Again, OK. Third question: Where is God? A third child replied, “In the bathroom.” The priest, confused, asked the child why God was in the bathroom. The child replied, “Every morning, I hear my dad screaming, ‘My God, how long are you going to be in the bathroom?’ “

Where is God? That’s a question of faith – and the question that opens our first reading, from the Old Testament book of the prophet Habakkuk:

How long, O LORD? I cry for help but you do not listen! I cry out to you,
"Violence!" but you do not intervene. Why do you let me see ruin; why must I look at misery? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and clamorous discord. -- Habakkuk 1:2-3 (NAB)

It’s also the question of the apostles in our gospel today:

The apostles said to the Lord, 'Increase our faith.' -- Luke 17:5 (NJB)

Habakkuk and the apostles lived in violent, dangerous times. Where is God in the midst of the evil emperors and the injustice and the oppression and the violence? Help us to believe, cry the apostles – increase or faith – because it is hard to believe that God is in charge when so much evil and so much pain in the world.

We ask the same questions today. We read in the newspapers about terrorists and beheadings, about church scandals and business scandals, about dirty politics and corruption, about crime and violence. Where is God? Increase our faith!

We know someone who has died of cancer, and we prayed, and prayed and prayed that God would heal them – but he didn’t. Why? Where is God? Increase our faith! Or a son or daughter is killed in Iraq – why, God? Or someone loses their job, and now their family is hungry … or a son or daughter has fallen into drugs … or a car accident leaves a friend or loved one injured. Why, O God? Where are you? How can we have faith?

Let me ask you a few questions: 2 + 2 is ___? 3 + 3 is _____? 5 + 5 is _____? The President of the U.S. is _____? The capital of the U.S. is ______?

Were those easy or hard questions to answer? Easy, right? Now let me ask you some other questions: Prove that God exists? Why does God allow pain and suffering? Why does God allow war, or earthquakes, or hurricanes or tornadoes? Why do bad things happen to good people?

Faith is not science. Faith is not mathematics. It’s not 2 + 2 = 4. Faith is more about relationship – our relationship with God, and God’s relationship with us. We all know about relationships, because we all have them – husbands and wives, parents and children, brothers and sisters. But relationships are messy. They aren’t neat and cut and dried, like science or math. They take time to nurture and to develop. They take tender care, like a plant needs water and fertilizer. They take patience and perseverance. They require trust and time.

God’s answer to the plea of Habakkuk and the request of the apostles is on your sheet: TIME. That’s the second word we are going to look at today.

Let’s read from Habakkuk:

Then the LORD answered me and said: Write down the vision clearly
upon the tablets, so that one can read it readily. For the vision still has its time,
presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint. If it delays, wait for it, it will surely come,
it will not be late. -- Habakkuk 2:2-3 (NAB)

Maybe that’s not always the word we want to hear, but it is the word that God gives to Habakkuk and to us: Wait; have patience; God’s time is not our time; trust, and in the end, God will make all things right.

Many people live just for today, just for the moment. They have no patience for tomorrow. They want everything now. They live mostly for themselves. They don’t step back to look at the big picture, of where their life is going, of what they are doing to make a contribution to the world. But God’s people of faith – us – we are called to live today for tomorrow. In other words, faith means we are grateful and take advantage of every opportunity that God has given to us in this moment in time, in this “today” – but with an eye on the future, on tomorrow, on making a contribution to the betterment of the world, and making an investment in God’s kingdom and in our eternal future, someday, with God.

Look again at Habakkuk. He says:

"Look at the proud! They trust in themselves, and their lives are crooked; but the righteous will live by their faith. -- Habakkuk 2:4 (NLT)

Real faith is not a bland, empty creed – it’s not a bunch of verbal proclamations and doctrines or rules from a catechism. Real faith is not magic, though many people think it is. Some people think of God is a magical genie -- they start praying when they want or need a favor. If God answers the way they expect, they are happy. If not, they are mad at God.

Real faith is a journey and an adventure – a choice and a way of life. It’s not just occasionally when we’re desperate and need a favor, so we shoot an e-mail prayer request up to heaven for a quick answer. It’s a long term relationship, for life and for eternity.

In the gospel, Jesus gives the example of a mustard seed. He says:

"If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to (this) mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you. -- Luke 17:6 (NAB)

But what is mustard seed faith? Jesus didn’t use this example to shame us and make us feel guilty – O, my faith is not strong enough, my faith is not adequate, because if only I had a tiny, little bit of faith, I could move mountains, but I can’t. Rather, Jesus used this example to encourage us and fill us with hope. This is God’s promise to us – with just a little bit of faith, all things are possible, with God. You don’t have to be a Mother Teresa or a Pope John Paul II to move mountains for God!

Let me illustrate. [Hold out a bucket] This bucket contains something very large. It’s bigger than a car. It’s bigger than a house. Can anyone guess what it is? Let me invite one of our children or teenagers to reach in to see what huge, large thing I have in this bucket. [Invite child or teen to pull out a mustard seed].

What is this? Right! It’s a mustard seed. It’s not very big, is it? Not yet, anyway! But this is what Jesus was talking about in our gospel. If you plant the seed, water it and fertilize it, someday – in time – it will grow into a huge tree bigger than a car or a house! But it takes TIME. And that is what faith is all about.

On your sheets, it says: “Faith is not waiting for miracles. Faith is making miracles happen.” You see, we are God’s hands and feet in the world, and God expects us to be used by Him to work miracles in our world.

Now that leads us to our third and final word today: DUTY.

We’ve asked the faith question: Where is God? And God has answered, saying that faith is a process that takes time and patience.

Now, it’s time for us to give an answer. God’s invitation is for us to be a people of faith and a people focused not just on ourselves, not just on the here-and-now, not just on the moment -- but to focus our energy and our attentions on the future and on building God’s Kingdom. Do we say “yes” to God’s invitation?

The gospel today talks about duty:

The servant does not deserve thanks for obeying orders, does he? It is the same with you; when you have done all you have been told to do, say, 'We are ordinary servants; we have only done our duty.' " -- Luke 17:9-10 (TEV)

In our American society, where everyone is considered equal, Jesus’ words here may seem strange and harsh. Who wants to be a servant or a slave? But Jesus’ point is that God IS the Master, God is the one who made us and all creation. We have a duty to be grateful and to be faithful.

Now there are two kinds of duty. One is forced, or conscripted. Soldiers in a draft WILL fight in the war, or else. Employees at a job will work, or they won’t get paid and they may lose their job. But Jesus isn’t trying to force us. Christian duty is meant to be filled with passion and enthusiasm and energy and joy. Jesus wants us to be a people of faith, NOT because we “have to,” but because we “want to” – because we are in love with God.

Our second reading from Paul’s 2nd Letter to Timothy captures this sense of duty in a beautiful way. Paul tells Timothy, Stir into flame the gift of God that you have... -- 2 Timothy 1:6 (NAB)

We have gifts, we have talents, we have time – stir what God has given you into flame, so that you can be a person of true faith. That is the “duty” that God wants of us.

I heard a joke about breakfast. Does anyone know the difference between a chicken and a pig at breakfast? The chicken is only involved – it provides the eggs. But the pig is really committed – because he provides the bacon! What kind of Christian do we want to be? Chickens or pigs? Giving just of the extra – our eggs – or giving everything we have to God, the becoming the bacon?

On the back of your handout, it says, “God’s army of nobodies.” That’s because mustard seed faith is available to everyone. You don’t need to be a Mother Teresa or a Dorothy Day or a Martin Luther King or a Cesar Chavez or a Mohatma Gandhi to be a sold-out, on fire follower of God.

Look at Habakkuk. He’s a biblical nobody. Most people can’t even spell or pronounce his name. His book is more like a footnote, hidden amid the “big” prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah. His book is only 3 short chapters. We don’t know where he came from or what happened to him. We don’t know if his followers listened to him, or if they fell asleep during his sermons.

Or look at the apostles. Simple fishermen. Not the rich, the powerful or the famous. But they changed the world with their mustard seed faith.

We can change the world, too, in little ways. For example: Vote. If all the Hispanics in this country really showed up to vote at the polls this November, they would change our country. Faithfulness is measured in the little things, not the big things.

Two last things for today:

First, think of one of your everyday “mustard seed” heroes or saints: Someone you know who has really shown in their life the meaning of true faithfulness and fidelity to God. – Turn to someone next to you and share for just a moment about that hero, that saint. [Pause]

Second, let’s look at ourselves. What are we doing to nurture and nourish our own faith. On your sheet, it says, “Spiritual Exercise.” One of our teenagers is going to come forward now – and lift this barbell. Good!

Spiritually, we need to exercise. Faith doesn’t just grow automatically. The seed needs care and watering.

In the next few weeks, we are looking at our stewardship – how we as a people of God are using what God has given to us in a wise and responsible manner. Today, we looked a bit at the idea of TIME. Next week, we will have our Ministry Fair and we will look at our use of talent. Then, the third week, we will look at treasure.

On your sheet, I’ve written a few interesting statistics about time. First: How Americans use their time. They have 10,080 minutes a week – 168 hours altogether. Sleep – 7 ½ hours a day. Work: 21 hours a day. TV – 2 ½ hours a day. You can read through the list. But what comes into last place? Right! God. Worship. How sad! If we are to be true people of faith, God cannot come last in the list of things we do with our time each week.

The second statistic is even more sobering: How much time do we have left? Look up your age, and the chart will tell you, statistically, how many years of life – on average – that you have here on the earth. It’s quite sobering, really. Most people never stop to think about it.

The point is not to squander the precious time that God has given us on earth – but to use the time we have as preparation for the future, for eternity, by being a people of real faith, a people who are in love with God and are doing our sacred duty to serve God and to fan the flame of faith and the gifts that God has blessed us with.

St. Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits, the Society of Jesus, wrote a book entitled, “The Spiritual Exercises.” We need to exercise our faith, or it will be weak and tepid. St. Ignatius wrote a prayer, which is on your handout. Let’s read it together:

Teach us, good Lord, to serve you as you deserve; to give and not to count the cost; to fight and not to heed the wounds; to toil and not to seek for rest; to labor and not to ask for a reward, saving that of knowing that we do your will. – Saint Ignatius of Loyola