What do we see when we see the poor?

Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Amos 6:1, 4-7

I Timothy 6:11-16

Luke 16:19-31

 

Did you see the beggar out in front of Family Fare this morning? Did you see the homeless woman as you came in today?  I did not see them either, but if they were there, I probably would have walked right by them as if I did not see them standing there. We do that all the time to strangers and unfortunately with the people that God has entrusted to us. Our readings challenge us to respond to those people who we see and know, and yet we do not respond. Our story today is an absurd story of someone ignoring someone else who is right in front of them.

 

In our Gospel, we heard a parable of a wealthy man who wears fine purple garments. Purple garments symbolize his royalty, and we are told that he eats well every day. The “gate” mentioned in verse 20, is no white picket fence, in Greek, it is describing a big heavy wrought-iron gate. The man is not rich; he is filthy rich.

 

However, lying right outside his door to his home is a poor man named Lazarus. This is the only time in all of the parables that Jesus gives a name to someone.

The name “Lazarus” means “God has helped.” Lazarus is not a panhandler he is lame and unable to move, and he wishes to eat the scraps from the table of the rich man. Lazarus only comfort is when the dogs come and lick his wounds.

 

So you have the rich man way over here, and you have Lazarus way over here. The men die, and their roles are reversed, Lazarus now lives in luxury in heaven, and the rich man leaves in misery. The rich man from his place of misery notices Lazarus and calls out for him. There are two things to notice about the rich man; the first is this his sin is not the sin of omission. The sin of omission is when something happens, and we fail to act because we did not know about it. The rich man knows Lazarus and did nothing for him while they were living on earth. The other thing is that even in death, the rich man does not change his feelings about Lazarus, the rich man only sees Lazarus as something way below him.  How pathetic of the rich man never to changes his feelings about Lazarus and never does anything to see Lazarus differently?

 

In our first reading, the prophet Amos gives strong words, as he says, “Woe to the complacent who are comfortable and eating well, you shall be the first to go to into exile.” Amos is challenging us to exam our lives in light what we heard in God’s Word.  

 

All of us have a part of the rich man in us. As we exam our lives, we have a Lazarus in our life, and it could be a spouse, child, neighbor, co-worker, or friend. WE also may have part of Lazarus in us as we have come maybe we had hoped for the scraps that fall from this table. As we gather around this table we are not offered scrapes but a life of abundance as we receive the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. May we see and act with the Lazarus’s in our lives.

 

Who is Jesus to us?

Friday of the 25th Week

Haggai 2:1-9

Luke 9:18-22

St. Vincent de Paul

 

Go to a teacher and have them stand up and ask the students, “Who is this? How do we know it is this person? What do we know about this person?”

 

In our Gospel, Jesus wants to know who people think he is. The disciples say, “Some think you are John the Baptist; others Elijah; still others one of the ancient prophets.” The people that Jesus has been with and speaking with do not know him. Jesus then asks, “But who do you say that I am?” Only Peter steps forward and says, “You are the Christ.”

 

We to need to answer this question:

 

Q.) “Who do we say that Jesus is?

 

Q.) How do we know who Jesus is?

 

We come to know Jesus in word and sacrament, and we come to know him in each other. We know who he is and we want him in our lives.

 

We gather to know Jesus but it is not enough just to know him. We gather to show him.

 

 

 

Take an account of our lives and change!

Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Amos 8:4-7

I Timothy 2:1-8

Luke 16: 1-13

 

Have you ever had to take an account of your life and where you are at, and where you are going? Often before a major surgery, people will take an account of their life, in case something goes terribly wrong. Another time that we may take an account of our lives is when a relationship is falling apart, we stop and take an account of our life and ask, “What happened to us? Why are we in this situation?” It is one thing to take account of our life, but it an entirely different thing to do something about our lives after we take account of where we are at. Our readings challenge us first to take an account but to do something with what we know about ourselves.

 

Our Gospel today has a shorter version that leaves off the parable that I just read to you. I like to think of that option is the Gospel for wimps, and we are not growing to be wimps. It helps to put this parable into context by knowing that the previous parable is the story of the Prodigal Son. We all know this story as the father who shows extreme mercy, understanding, and forgiveness. Our Gospel today is also a story of extreme living in God. In our Gospel, a rich man has a steward that has been cheating on him. So the rich man asks the steward to ‘make an account of what he has been doing.’ The steward makes an account of his life, and as he does he knows he is going to lose his job, so he begins to cut the debts of whoever owes the rich man anything. The steward is praised by Jesus, not for dishonesty but for how hard the steward worked to save his life after he loses his job.

 

Jesus is saying if this guy a sinner and a non-believer in me can work this hard to change his future, why can’t people who believe in me work just as hard to take an account of their lives and change to what I want them to be? Right now we need to take an account of our lives, and asks ourselves, “What needs to change? And what am I going to do differently in the coming days and weeks? We gather here because it is here that Christ is able to help us make those changes. Fame and fortune may change our lives here on earth, but it is only our faith in Jesus Christ that will add nothing to our eternal life!  

Walk with the Spirit and spread the Good News!

Friday Twenty – Fourth Week of Ordinary Time

I Timothy 6:2-12

Luke 8:1-3

St. Andrew Kim & Martyr, St. Paul and companions

 

We are going to take a little road trip. (Put on screens a picture of a World Map)

 

Can you find the country of Israel? In our Gospel, Jesus is in Israel, traveling about, and he has twelve disciples who are following him, and he has some woman. Jesus is ushering in a whole new ministry where all are welcomed. Jesus and his followers are traveling all around Israel sharing the Good News.

 

Do you see where North Korea is? In the early 1800s, there were many missionaries who settled in North Korea, spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ. Between the years 1839 and 1867, over 100 missionaries were killed. Most of those killed were men, women, and children, and they were killed for sharing what they knew about Jesus Christ.

 

Where is the state of Michigan? While all those things were going on in Korea here in our city of Grand Rapids, in 1833 Bishop Baraga celebrated his first Mass down by the river in downtown Grand Rapids.

 

Do you see how far the Good News of Jesus Christ has traveled? It started in Israel, it spread out from there all the way to North Korea, and now all the way to our city.

 

We gather this day to continue spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ, and we are actively doing that today with our “Walk in the Spirit: where we have been raising money so that the Kingdom of God may continue with us here at Holy Spirit Parish. May we continue to do our part in spreading the Gospel message?

 

 

A broken vessel!

Thursday Twenty – Fourth Week Ordinary Time

I Timothy 4:12-16

Luke 7: 36-50

 

God can work in and through a broken vessel. If we are feeling overwhelmed or stressed out it is a good reminder that we are not the ones who save anyone. It is only Jesus Christ who saves people. In our brokenness we become fully aware of God’s presence, and we participate with God in all he has planned for us.

 

In the first, St. Paul writes to Timothy and reminds him that even in his brokenness God is using him to lead this community by his preaching and his teaching. Timothy is very young, and he may have been feeling a bit overwhelmed. The other thing that was going on was the community was having a hard time accepting him because he was so young. God can work with brokenness.

 

In our Gospel, a woman who was a known sinner comes to Jesus at a dinner party and kneels before him. She begins to weep bitterly and washes Jesus with her tears. She dries his feet with her hair. The woman knows she is a broken vessel, but it is in this brokenness that she has so much to teach all those attending the party about the forgiveness of Jesus.

 

Today we need to rise above all the madness and know that even in our brokenness God can let the light of Christ shine through our cracks.

 

 

 

 

We choose God’s love!

Wednesday of the 24th Week

I Timothy 3: 14-16

Luke 7:31-35

 

What games do kids play today? It appears to me that most kids today, when given free time play video games. Before there were video games I would say our generation played outside.

 

In our readings today we hear about kids playing games, and two of the games they played were a funeral and a wedding. The kids would play the flute for a wedding, but some kids would not dance. The kids sang a dirge for a funeral, but some kids would not play along.

 

In our Gospel, we hear about John the Baptist, and his lifestyle could be thought of as playing in a funeral. John lived a very somber life, with little to eat, and not much excitement. What John offered was a simple lifestyle.

 

What we hear about Jesus in our Gospel is thought of to be a wedding. Jesus loved to go to homes and eat, and he was often invited to parties. Jesus would often eat with the lower class of people that were not thought much of at this time.

 

The point is not about choosing John the Baptist or Jesus. The point would be to be aware of the presence of God in our lives and asking ourselves, “How do I need to be more contemplative, like John the Baptist? Or! How do I need to be more charitable with my time by doing things for people?”

 

Do we know how to behave today?

Crossing Over!

Tuesday Twenty-Fourth Week Ordinary Time

I Timothy 3:1-13

Luke 7:11-17

 

Think about someone who was there for you at a critical moment in your life, one of those times when you didn’t know how or if you would get through it? What was happening in your life at that time? What was that critical moment? What were you feeling? What did you need or want at that moment? What did that person do for or say to you? In what ways was he or she there for you? Whatever the critical moment was for you, you lived today’s gospel story.

 

In our Gospel, Jesus was there at a critical moment for a woman who was in a funeral procession for her son. In this funeral procession, there are two deaths that have happened. There is the death of the son, and there is the death of the woman because now she has no one to look after her. She will no longer have a home, none to care for her, and she will have to beg for money and food.  

 

The woman says nothing, but when Jesus places his hand on the dead boy, and tells him ‘to rise’, it was a moment of crossing over for everyone present, the boy, who came back to life, the woman who was given new life, and the crowd who respond, “God has surely visited his people.”

 

The moments of crossing over are always before us. Sometimes they are so ordinary and mundane we miss them. As soon as we walked through those doors, we crossed over to a place of peace and strength. When you leave here today you will again cross over into a world where someone may need us at a critical moment. Do not be afraid of what will come our way today.

When we are lost!

Twenty Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Exodus 32:7-11, 13-14

I Timothy 1:12-17

Luke 15: 1-10

 

Our readings have to do with being lost, but I am not so much talking about being lost when we are driving somewhere. Our readings speak to us about being lost spiritually. We get lost spiritually in our fears and grief, our worries and anxieties, in our anger and or prejudice. We get lost in all kinds of circumstances, and it can be overwhelming. To be lost is to live without a sense of being grounded. The time I felt most lost was when my marriage of 18 years ended. I was completely lost because I had committed myself to the marriage, and when it fell apart I was truly lost. Our readings are about being lost and what God does to find us.

 

In our Gospel, we hear about a sheep who wanders off from the rest of the sheep. The sheep will eventually realize it is lost, but because it does not have other sheep around it the sheep will not find its way home on it is own. A good shepherd knowing the value of the sheep goes to great lengths to find the sheep. The thing to know about this story is there is no blame, no finding fault why the sheep went astray. In Jesus Christ, his first concern is about finding what is lost and returning it to him.

 

The second parable is about a woman who loses a coin in her home. The coin has no idea that it is lost, and it has no idea of its value to the woman. The woman knows the coin is lost, and she knows its value, so she begins to sweep and clean the entire house until she finds the valuable coin that is missing. There are times when we do not even know we are lost, and Christ searchers for us until we are found.

 

The parable we hear today is not about those not here, and it is about us!  “Do we know when we are lost?” Are their parts of our lives that are lost to sin and evil that need to change? Do we know the great value that God has for us? Do we believe with our whole hearts that right now God is searching for us to be found?

  

We gather today because God is always looking for us and the Eucharist, we celebrate is God telling us I am right here looking for you. You have great value to me. May, we say in return, “Here, I am Lord, take me home, because I was once lost, and now I am found.”

We need to remember!

 

Wednesday of the 23rd Week

Colossians 3:1-11

Luke 6:20-26

A Day of Mourning and Remembrance

 

I would bet most of us know where we were 8:46, on Tuesday, September 11, 2001? We need never to forget this day as it changed the world. On the fifth anniversary of 9/11, I was in seminary and the priest celebrating morning Mass that day was not one of the finest. He was not a good preacher, and he was very low key. The readings were today’s readings, and when he got down preaching we were amazed at what he said and how he spoke so beautifully to the anniversary. Our readings today are very prophetic as they lay out for us what we are to do to change our lives this day.

 

In our first reading, Paul is urging the Christians to put away all that leads to death and evil. Paul is urging the people to put away racism, elitism, bigotry, and embrace the truth of Jesus Christ, no matter what the person’s status, nationality, or religion.

 

 In our Gospel, we get Luke’s version of the Sermon on the Plain. The Gospel of Matthew has the same sermon, but it speaks more about deciding to act in such a way, Luke’s version is harder to live and speaks more from the present tense. Jesus says, “Blessed are those who are now poor, hungry, weeping, and who are being persecuted.”  Jesus continues, “But woe to you who are rich, those who have had their fill of food, those who laugh, and when people speak well of us.”

 

How are you feeling blessed today?

 

 

 

 

We are blessed!

Tuesday of the 23rd Week

Colossians 2:6-15

Luke 6: 12- 19

 

My Chiropractor asks me, “What would you change in your life?” Without hesitating, I responded, “Nothing! I needed all the pain and the suffering to get me where I am and to know the joy of Christ.” I know that sounds pretty saintly, but I have come to know the truth of not changing a thing in my life.  Well, I may have changed not stabbing the neighbor’s pet turtle when I was about four years old.

 

In our Gospel, Jesus spends the whole night in prayer. Any time we hear of Jesus going to prayer, this is a sign to us that something significant is about to happen. Usually he goes away for a short time, but this time it is for all night long, so we know that something spectacular is going to happen. Accompanying him up the mountain is all of his disciples, and in the morning he chooses from them twelve who would become the inner circle whom he would call apostles. Clearly who has chosen it is not of human success. There is Peter who is boastful and unreliable, there is James and John who are ambitious hotheads, Nathaniel who has little confidence in anything coming out of Galilee, Matthew is a former Roman tax collector, Thomas has his doubts, Simon is a zealot, and Judas Iscariot will betray him. Jesus could have changed his mind, but he did not because he wants to demonstrate that in our fallen human state God is still there bringing us to blessings.

 

St. Paul is telling us don’t change a thing, dig deep roots so when those troubling times come, your roots will be deep and you will not topple over.

 

What might you want to change that may be a blessing!