Month: July 2022

Greed

(Ecc.1:2; 2:21-23; Col.3:1-5, 9-11; Lk.12:13-21)

Do you remember the American entertainer Liberace? It was he who coined the term ‘Laughing all the way to the bank.’

For a while Liberace was the world’s highest paid performer. At his height, he spent five million dollars a year, a huge sum in those days. When he died in 1987, he left behind eight warehouses full of things that couldn’t fit into any of his five fully furnished homes. [i]

Surely this is greed: craving something you like, when you really don’t need it.

In the movie Wall Street, Gordon Gekko says that greed is good. ‘Greed works,’ he says. ‘Greed clarifies, it cuts through and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit…’ [ii]

Someone once argued that without greed, we’d all still be living in caves. But greed is also one of the seven deadly sins. It consumes people. It clouds our vision, it destroys our sense of peace and gratitude, it corrupts our behaviour and it causes conflict and division.

Greed is about getting more of what you want, in a world where there’s never enough for everyone. Whether it’s money, power, possessions, pleasure or anything else you think is good, greed is about getting it all for yourself.

In today’s gospel, Jesus is talking to a large crowd, when a man calls out: ‘Master, tell my brother to give me a share of our inheritance’. He’s been fighting over money, but Jesus doesn’t want to get involved.

Instead, he starts teaching the crowd about greed, and he tells the parable of a rich man who’s had a great harvest. He’s planning to build bigger barns to store his new wealth, and then spend it all on a life of pleasure.

Today, many would admire this man’s success. Yet, Jesus calls him a fool. Why?

Firstly, he’s only concerned about himself. He uses the words I or my eleven times, and not once mentions God or anyone else.

God doesn’t bless us with riches so that we can be selfish. The fact is that everything comes from God, and he expects us to use whatever we have wisely, to benefit others as well as ourselves (Eph.4:28).

Secondly, his barns are full, but his heart is empty. The only thing he cares about is money and the pleasure it gives him. His success, and the comfort it brings, is blinding him to his spiritual poverty (Rev.3:17).

And finally, he’s forgotten about time. He dies soon afterwards and has nothing to show for his life before God (Dt.16:16-17).

When we think about it, this parable really isn’t about money. It’s about our values and the way we live our lives. Being wealthy isn’t wrong, but what is wrong is not using our blessings to help others.

Let’s close with a story. A countryman once knocked on a monastery door. When the monk at the door opened it, he gave him a big bunch of grapes saying ‘Brother, these are the finest grapes in my vineyard. They are my gift to you.’

‘Thank you!’ the monk replied. ‘I’ll take them to the abbot. He’ll love them.’

‘No, they’re for you,’ the countryman said. For whenever I knock on this door, you always open it. When I needed help in the drought, you gave me bread and wine every day.’

The monk admired the grapes all morning, and then he gave them to the abbot, for he’d always encouraged him with wise words.

The abbot was delighted, but another brother was sick. ‘I’ll give him the grapes,’ he decided. ‘Perhaps they’ll give him joy.’

But the sick man didn’t keep the grapes for long. ‘The cook has always looked after me,’ he said. ‘I’m sure he’ll enjoy these.’

The cook was amazed by these perfect grapes. ‘No-one would appreciate them more than the sexton,’ he thought. ‘He’s such a holy man.’

The sexton then gave the grapes to the youngest novice, so that he might appreciate the wonder of God’s creation.

But when the novice received them, he remembered his first visit to the monastery, and the kind monk who had welcomed him at the door. It was that welcome that inspired him to join this community.

And so, that evening, he took the grapes to the monk at the gates. ‘Eat them and enjoy them,’ he said, ‘for you spend most of your time here alone, and these grapes will make you happy.’

That monk finally understood that this gift was meant for him. He relished those grapes, before falling into a pleasant sleep. [iii]

This, then, is our choice: either the joy of sharing, or the dead-end of greed.

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[i] William Bausch, Once Upon a Gospel, Twenty-third Publications, New London, CT.2011:229.

[ii] https://www.americanrhetoric.com/MovieSpeeches/moviespeechwallstreet.html

[iii] https://academictips.org/blogs/the-circle-of-joy/ (abridged)

The Lord’s Prayer

(Gen.18:20-32; Col.2:12-14; Lk.11:1-13)

In today’s Gospel, Jesus is still on his ‘Great Journey’ to Jerusalem, which takes up a third of Luke’s Gospel. A central theme through these ten chapters is discipleship, so it provides lots of useful advice for anyone who is serious about following Jesus.

Today’s reading reminds us that prayer is essential for any Christian.  Many of us know this, but we’re often too busy or too distracted to pray well. It can be a struggle.

Jesus was a busy man, but he always made time for quiet prayer. His relationship with his Father depended on it, and he encouraged his disciples to do the same.

The truth is, you cannot do your best work without God. That’s why we all need to withdraw regularly to somewhere quiet, to receive his divine nourishment and inspiration.

In Luke’s Gospel, when the disciples ask Jesus how to pray, he teaches them the ‘Our Father’. This Lucan version is shorter than the one we use today, which comes from Matthew (Mt.6:9-13). We use Matthew’s version because it’s more complete, but there’s nothing unusual in there being two versions. As a teacher, Jesus often repeated his lessons and sometimes used different words.

Matthew’s version has seven petitions, and St John Paul II once said that ‘Everything that can and must be said to the Father is contained in those seven requests…’ 

In other words, the essence of any prayer we might pray can be found in one of the seven petitions in the Lord’s Prayer.

In ancient times, the number seven symbolised perfection, and some say that’s why there are seven virtues, seven sacraments, seven gifts of the Spirit and seven petitions in this prayer. Perhaps that’s also why St. Thomas Aquinas called it ‘the perfect prayer’.

Luke’s version doesn’t have seven petitions, though. It only has five. They are:

1. Hallowed be Your Name,
2. Your kingdom come,
3. Give us each day our daily bread,
4. Forgive us as we forgive others, and
5. Lead us not into temptation.
   
   Matthew’s version has two more:
   
   
6. Thy will be done, and
7. Deliver us from evil.

Now, let’s look briefly at Matthew’s ‘Our Father’. The first 3 petitions are all about God:

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name (here, we pray that God’s name will be made holy in us and in the world); thy kingdom come (here we pray for the coming of God’s kingdom of love, truth, peace and justice); and thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven (here we pray that we will all faithfully do what God wants us to do).

The other 4 petitions are about ourselves:

Give us this day our daily bread (here, we pray for our material needs and for spiritual nourishment); and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us (here, we ask God to forgive our sins, and for the grace to forgive those who have offended us); and lead us not into temptation (here we pray that God will help us avoid sin); but deliver us from evil (finally, we ask God to free us from all physical and moral evil). [i]

This prayer is simple but has such depth that many saints, including St Francis of Assisi, St Teresa of Avila and St Augustine, wrote about it.

St John Paul II also said that this prayer is so simple that even a child can learn it, yet there’s such depth that a whole life can be spent meditating on its meaning. Indeed, the second century theologian Tertullian said that it’s a summary of the whole Gospel.

And have you noticed that this prayer is written in plural terms? It never mentions ‘me’ or ‘my’; it only refers to ‘us’ and ‘our’. So, this is a prayer we pray for others, as well as for ourselves. [ii]

Finally, in her book Everyday Epiphanies, Melannie Svoboda notes that the traditional English translation of this prayer has 56 words, and 40 of these only have one syllable, e.g., ‘thy will be done on earth’. She suggests that Jesus is trying to tell us something here: that he likes our prayers to be short and simple. [iii]

So, the next time you find a moment to reflect and pray, say the ‘Our Father’ and be aware that the words come from Jesus himself.

And remember that the Father you pray to is not only Jesus’ Father; he’s yours, too.

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[i] It’s worth noting that the doxology ‘For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory’, was not part of Jesus’ original prayer. It’s a brief hymn of praise from 1 Chronicles 29:11 that was added by Protestants for occasions of public worship.

[ii] Flor McCarthy, New Sunday & Holy Day Liturgies, Year C, Dominican Press, Dublin, 2018:277.

[iii] Melannie Svoboda, Everyday Epiphanies. Twenty-Third Publications, New London, CT. 2013:7-8.

Martha and Mary

(Gen.18:1-10a; Col.1:24-28; Lk.10:38-42)

In today’s Gospel, Jesus is still on his ‘Great Journey’ to Jerusalem, and he drops in to see his friends Martha and Mary at their home in the village of Bethany.

Jesus knows them well. He has often stayed in Bethany because it’s only 3 km east of Jerusalem, where he goes three times a year for the big Jewish festivals. This visit is different, however, for it’s his last.

We don’t know if the disciples are there, because they’re not mentioned. But their presence could explain why Martha is so busy. In any case, she’s a great hostess, and she warmly welcomes Jesus.

As Jesus settles in, Martha returns to the kitchen and Mary sits at his feet, like a student sitting before a rabbi. Then Martha starts complaining. She needs Mary’s help and tells Jesus to send her. But Jesus replies: ‘Martha, Martha, you fret about so many things … it’s Mary who has chosen the better part…’

Through the centuries, people have reacted to this story in many different ways.

The British author Rudyard Kipling, for instance, considered it unfair to Martha. He thought it allowed ‘spiritual’ people like Mary to be lazy and to avoid doing their fair share of work.

In his poem, The Sons of Martha, Kipling wrote: ‘They have cast their burden upon the Lord, and – the Lord he lays it on Martha’s Sons.’ [i]

Others, however, have sided with Mary, recognising that it is important to periodically sit quietly with Jesus, recharging our spiritual batteries. John Newton, the former slave trader who wrote Amazing Grace, wrote this in his hymn Martha and Mary:

How oft are we like Martha vexed,
Encumbered, hurried, and perplexed!
While trifles so engross our thought,
The one thing needful is forgot.

Others have suggested that we don’t need to take sides, because Martha and Mary symbolise two different, but equally important approaches to discipleship.

Here, Martha is the faithful and active servant, sacrificing herself for others. She is like St Peter the Apostle and St Teresa of Avila, who were both practical, action-oriented people and sometimes quite outspoken.

And Mary represents the prayerful, contemplative life. She is like St John the Apostle and St John of the Cross, who were both calm, loving and deeply reflective people. [ii]

But Ron Rolheiser offers us another approach to this story. He says that Martha and Mary could represent two distinct stages of life.

Here, busy Martha represents younger people who are actively building their careers, raising a family and creating a home. They don’t have much time for quiet reflection.

And Mary represents those of us who have more time on their hands, like empty-nesters and retirees, who have time for a more contemplative life. [iii]

And then there are those like Origen, the early Church father, who said that you don’t have to choose between Martha and Mary at all, because they represent the two sides of a faithful Christian life. As Origen used to say, ‘Action and contemplation do not exist one without the other.’ They go hand-in-hand.

If you think about it, most of us do possess both qualities. Indeed, Jesus loved these two sisters equally, so perhaps we can learn from both of them.

Martha highlights for us the importance of offering hospitality and loving service to others, and most especially to God. She also demonstrates that it’s quite OK to be honest with Jesus, to let him know what we really think, for her faith is strong.

Certainly, Jesus would have been impressed by Martha, because she is one of the few people in Scripture to clearly articulate her faith in him (Jn.11:25-27). Indeed, her confession of faith is as strong as St Peter’s (Mt.16:16).

Mary, on the other hand, reminds us of the importance of making time for regular spiritual nourishment, even in the face of difficulty. Mary knows what a blessing Jesus’ presence is, and she revels in it. That blessing fills her with a peace and contentment that will always bear much fruit.

When we nurture Jesus’ presence in us, we too are choosing the better part.

Finally, have you noticed that in Luke’s Gospel, the parable of the Good Samaritan immediately precedes this story? That parable is all about loving service. And directly afterwards, Jesus teaches his disciples how to pray.

This surely is a clue in itself. We’re all meant to be both Martha and Mary: Actively loving our neighbour and treasuring God’s presence in prayer.

All at once.

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[i] Rudyard Kipling, The Sons of Martha https://www.bartleby.com/71/0216.html

[ii] Carol Lee Flinders, Enduring Grace, HarperCollins eBooks, p.173, https://www.elcaminosantiago.com/PDF/Book/Enduring_Grace.pdf

[iii] Ron Rolheiser, Daily Meditation: Failure and the Second Half of Life, October 17, 2004. https://ronrolheiser.com/failure-and-the-second-half-of-life/#.YsAQXHZBzMY

So Many Questions

(Deut.30:10-14; Col.1:15-20; Lk.10:25-37)

Have you ever noticed how often Jesus asks questions? Across the four Gospels, he asks 307 of them.

His first recorded words are a question: ‘Did you not know that I must be about my Father’s business?’ (Lk.2:49). And in Matthew, his last words on the Cross are a question, too: ‘My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?’ (Mt.27:46).

Jesus even replies to questions with questions, and rarely gives straight answers. In his book Jesus is the Question, Martin Copenhaver says that of the 183 questions Jesus is asked, he only answers 8 directly. [i] Why?

Some might argue that it’s a cultural trait, because Jesus was Jewish, and some Jewish people seem to like answering questions with questions.

But there may be other reasons. Bill Bausch says that in Biblical times, less than 1% of the population could read and write, so storytelling was widely used to convey thought and wisdom. [ii] As a storyteller, Jesus often uses parables to raise questions and to get his disciples thinking.

This is good teaching technique. Effective teachers often encourage students to find their own answers, instead of spoon-feeding them. After all, wisdom can only be learned, not taught.

But questions can also persuade. Courtroom lawyers, for instance, ask witnesses a series of questions to build an argument, and then use that argument to persuade the jury.

And questions can bring people together, especially when they start exploring topics of interest and listen respectfully to each other. [iii]

We know that as the Son of God, Jesus does have the answers. But he didn’t come to indoctrinate or control us. He came to teach and liberate us. So, he uses questions to challenge our assumptions and to encourage us to think in new ways.

That’s what he does in today’s gospel. A lawyer wants to embarrass Jesus, and asks him a loaded question: ‘Master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ Jesus knows what he’s up to, and decides to deflect the challenge. But he also wants to help this man learn, so he replies with a question: ‘What is written in the Law?’

The lawyer says, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind, and your neighbour as yourself.’

That’s right, Jesus says. ‘Do this, and life is yours,’ he adds.

This lawyer realises that he’s failed to embarrass Jesus, so he tries to justify himself by asking another question. ‘And who is my neighbour?’ he asks.

Jesus wants this man to understand that his head and his heart are not aligned. So, he tells him the story of The Good Samaritan: A traveller is badly beaten up. Two Jewish religious leaders come upon him, but refuse to help because they don’t want to break their strict rules about ritual purity. Then a Samaritan comes along, and rescues the poor victim.

Now, this lawyer has long believed that Jewish leaders can do no wrong, and that Samaritans can do nothing right. Rabbinic law also insists that only Israelites can be considered as neighbours.

But Jesus knows this thinking is wrong, so he asks the lawyer: which of these three was a neighbour to the wounded man? The lawyer replies, ‘The one who had mercy on him.’

It must have pained him to say this. The Jewish people hated the Samaritans, and here he is admitting that the Jewish leaders were selfish and the Samaritan was a hero.

By asking these questions, Jesus has helped this man to think in new ways. It’s the start of new life.

In his play, The Rock (1934), T.S. Eliot writes:

O my soul, be prepared for the coming of the Stranger,
Be prepared for him who knows how to ask questions. [iv]

Jesus is the one who asks questions, but he’s not really a stranger. He knows each of us intimately (Lk.12:7). If you take the time to listen carefully, you might notice that Jesus is always asking questions, like: ‘Who do you say that I am?’ (Mk.8:29); ‘What do you think?’ (Mt.18:12); and ‘What are you looking for?’ (Jn.1:38).

Jesus doesn’t always give us the answers, at least not right away, because wisdom can only be learned, not taught. But the answers are there to be found.

So, why does Jesus prefer questions? It’s because answers tend to close things down.

Questions, however, open things up. They can lead to new life.

What question is Jesus asking you now?

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[i] Martin B Copenhaver, Jesus is the Question. United Methodist Publishing House, Nashville, 2014, eBook.

[ii] William J Bausch, From No to Yes. Clear Faith Publishing, San Marco, FL. 2018:163.

[iii] Alison Brooks & Leslie John, The Surprising Power of Questions. May-June 2018, Harvard Business Review,  https://hbr.org/2018/05/the-surprising-power-of-questions

[iv] TS Eliot, The Rock. Harcourt, Brace & Co, NY, 1934:31. https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.3608/page/n15/mode/2up

The Heart of Discipleship

(Is.66:10-14; Gal.6:14-18; Lk.10:1-12; 17-20)

In Luke’s Gospel last week, Jesus began his Great Journey to Jerusalem. Today he sends 72 disciples out ahead to evangelise all the villages and towns he intends to visit.

But why does he choose 72? Why not just the original 12?

In Biblical times, people believed there were 72 countries in the world. They calculated that by counting all the descendants of Noah’s three sons: Shem, Ham and Japeth. They were the only survivors of the flood, and therefore the ancestors of all humanity. So, the number 72 came to represent all nations.

By using this number, Luke makes the point that Jesus is sending his followers not only to Israel, but also to the whole world.[i] Jesus has commissioned them to go tell everyone about God’s love and to establish new faith communities.

However, as he says, ‘the harvest is rich, but the labourers are few’. This explains why Jesus doesn’t simply rely on the Twelve to do this work. He needs all his followers to help spread the Good News.

Today, there’s still so much work to be done, because millions of people still don’t know about God’s love.

In the 1960s, after Vatican II had a good, fresh look at the work of the Church around the world, 16 documents were published. James Mallon, in his book Divine Renovation, says that all these documents can be summarised in two phrases: the universal call to holiness, and the universal call to mission. [ii]

In other words, it’s not only priests, deacons and religious who are called to holiness and mission. Because of our baptism, every Christian is called to be holy and to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ.

But how might we do this today? Especially when so many of us feel unqualified to talk about Jesus? 

The thing to remember is that God is love. All you need to promote Jesus is to have a heart full of love, and enough passion to share that joy with others.

You don’t have to be anyone special to do this, because Jesus encourages us all to live in simplicity and innocence, just like children (Mt.18:3).

And remember, too, that although Jesus only had five loaves and two fish, he still managed to feed over 5,000 people (Lk.9:10-17). In other words, start with what you have, and God will give you whatever else you need.

Flor McCarthy tells the story of a knight who was about to set out on a long journey. He tried to foresee all the problems and dangers he might face, and prepared for them.

He took a sword and a suit of armour in case he met an enemy. He took a jar of ointment to guard against sunburn. He took an axe to chop wood for a fire. He took a tent and several blankets. He took pots and pans for cooking. And he took a sackful of oats for his horse.

Thus, heavily laden, he set out.

However, he hadn’t gone far when he came to a rickety old bridge straddling a deep gorge. He was only halfway across, when the bridge collapsed under him. He fell into the gorge and died. [iii]

This helps explain why Jesus tells us to travel light when he sends us out into the world. He urges us to trust in God and only take the most basic of essentials, because God will take care of his workers.

Today, when we leave Mass, nourished and transformed by the Eucharist, Jesus will be sending us out, just like his 72 missionaries. He’s commissioning us all to take his love and Gospel message into our families and into every community to which we belong.

For some, this might seem quite a challenge, but we can learn from St. Thérèse of Lisieux.

Thérèse was a simple nun who never performed any great works, but she still became a great saint. She clearly understood that what matters in the Christian life is not great deeds, but great love. She knew that anyone can achieve the heights of holiness simply by doing the smallest things well for the love of God.

She lived in a convent community that was sometimes challenging, but she wrote, ‘All is well when one seeks only the will of Jesus’.

St. Thérèse reminds us that it’s love that makes us good disciples, and it’s the little things that keep our Christian community growing and moving forward.

For love is the heart and challenge of discipleship.

And that is our calling.

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[i] William J Bausch, Once Upon a Gospel, Twenty-Third Publications, New London CT, 2011:198.

[ii] James Mallon, Divine Renovation, Garratt Publishing, Melbourne, 2014:28.

[iii] Flor McCarthy, New Sunday and Holy Day Liturgies – Year C, Dominican Publications, Dublin, 2018:256-257.