Joyful Challenge

Joyful Challenge

 

 "Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom"

Gospel for The Feast of Christ The King:  Luke23.35-43

 As Catholic educators, we spend our days sharing our life in Christ. This is the "great commission" as disciples. In sharing the Good News, we know it to be a joyful challenge, because much of what we say and do is contradictory to the "logic" of the world around us.

Take our liturgical year. It doesn't line up with the regular calendar, and it can be confusing to our students and the uninitiated. Today, we end our Church year and begin a new cycle of worship and prayer. 

Why?

Well, ending our Church year at this time allows us to prepare our minds and hearts for the coming of the Lord.

And to remind us of who it is we prepare for, we end with the Feast of Christ the King. It is a fitting celebration, when we consider the Gospel readings of the past for or five weeks. They all were about the kingdom, and how to live and love as Kingdom people.

As we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King, we celebrate an entirely different King than the world has known.

A King whose throne is a cross.

A King whose glory is in an inglorious death

A King whose power is in the emptying of Himself.

The religious leaders, and even one of the criminals, mocked Him. "Let him save himself if he is the Christ." 

You can imagine them thinking: Where is his God? He has no supernatural power!

Those in power (represented by the soldiers) also

 insulted Him: "If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!" 

You can imagine them thinking: Where are his followers? He has no political power!

 And in those final moments, when the criminal on his right asks, "Remember me when you come into your kingdom," Jesus does what he always does:
Invites. Welcomes. Loves.

The joyful challenge of discipleship is to invite, welcome and love others into the life of Christ. It is a challenge because our world is no more receptive to this King and his Kingdom than 2000 years ago. 

And life in Christ is not easy.

But it is joyful. Many people misunderstand joy, thinking that it is the same as happiness. Joy is really about hope. We live hopeful lives because of a King that emptied himself so we might share in his Divine Life.

For this week...

If you teach in a Catholic school... reflect with your students on what it means to be a "good king". How is Jesus like that? What makes Jesus different.

For all of us...  As part of your prayer time, use the words of the "good thief": Jesus, remember me, when you come into your kingdom...

And accept the joyful challenge of discipleship.

A Bishop's Wisdom

A Bishop's Wisdom

Gospel for the 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time: Luke 21.5-19

This past weekend, I was blessed to attend the Alberta Catholic School Trustees Association's annual general meeting. Not being a trustee myself, it was wonderful to be in community with such dedicated Catholic educational leaders.
There were many highlights for me, including the opening remarks from Bishop Fred Henry, the presentations from Fr. Raymond Carey, and of course the numerous conversations I had with trustees and administrators.
The conference concluded, naturally, with Eucharist on Sunday, presided by Archbishop Richard Smith. With keen insight and great wisdom, his Grace broke open the Gospel reading for all of us as a reminder of our call as Catholic educators. Allow me to paraphrase his Grace's three insights from Luke 21.5-19.

1. ‘As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.’

Consider for a moment, the blessing that we have in Alberta, of fully-funded Catholic education. We have everything we could possibly ask for- state of the art schools, the most advanced technology and countless amenities. We have spent millions upon millions on buildings and capital projects. Many times, pursuing the dream of new or modernize school buildings can shift our ultimate goal- to bring those in our care to a relationship with Jesus Christ and to live as his disciples. While it is important and necessary that schools be built, let us be mindful that all this will pass away. 

2. ‘Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, “I am he!"

Jesus is warning his listeners that there will be many who will come and attempt to lead them astray. We can easily think that this a message solely for the people of his time- after all, anyone who would claim to be Jesus today would be easily dismissed. However, being "led astray" is alive and well in our culture, and it is an seemingly relentless attack.

For we are being led astray by a plethora of "isms"- materialism, relativism, and post-modern cynicism to name three of the biggest. We are so completely immersed in these "isms' that we flow aimlessly in their stream. Without a voice that is "counter-ism" (I resist here using the word "counter-cultural" because it can seem like there is nothing good in the culture), we will truly be following false gods.

This is precisely why we have Catholic schools. By proclaiming the Good News of life in Christ, we can help our students, and ourselves, be the "light of the world". Which brings us to...
3...."This will give you an opportunity to testify..."
Archbishop Smith concluded his homily on this passage from Luke's Gospel by exhorting us to be true to our call as disciples:

 Witness to the Reign of God

Witness to the Good News of our redemption in Christ Jesus

Witness to the joy of life in the Holy Spirit

As Catholic educators, we have been given this command by our Lord. We testify with our words, and our actions. Mostly we testify with our love.

Thank you Archbishop Smith, of reminding us of who we are and whose we are.

FOR THIS WEEK:

Check out Archbishop Smith's blog: http://archbishopsmith.blogspot.ca/

Know it All

Know It All

Gospel for the 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time: Luke 20.27-38

  

Nobody likes a know-it-all. In Jesus' time the worst of the Know-it-alls were the Sadducees. We often lump the Scribes, The Pharisees and the Sadducees together, and true, they were all very similar in that they were the keepers of the LAW. The Sadducees were slightly different- they believed that only the first five books of Hebrew Scripture- ones attributed to Moses- were the only authentic scripture.

As such, they did not believe in the resurrection of the dead. It's important to know that all understanding of a "resurrection" was shrouded in mystery, but the Sadducees rejected the idea completely.

So when Jesus proclaims a resurrection of the dead, they scoff at the notion, attempting to trick Jesus with a crazy scenario about seven husbands of one widow- who is she married to in heaven???

Jesus' patience is amazing. He simply tells them that their vision of heaven is not God's vision. Marriage, the covenant of love that expresses on earth the love God has for us, will not matter. The union that we seek is with God, and with all of creation.

Then, Jesus uses the Book of Exodus and the story of the burning bush, that God "is not of the dead, but of the living, for to him all of them are alive." (Luke 20.38)

That's the danger of being a know-it-all. Eventually they learn that they know nothing.

Thank goodness, we're not know-it-alls, right?

I mean, we are NEVER: 

Scripture know-it-alls who quote Jesus to make our point.

Church know-it-alls who quote the Catechism the same way Scripture know-it-alls do 

Liturgy know-it-alls who remind others how to "do the liturgy correctly"

Prayer know-it-alls who tell people that my way of praying is the best way to pray

Social Justice know-it-alls who lack forgiveness for those who are responsible for injustice

Relationship know-it-alls who can't understand how people can be divorced, separated or in trouble with their marriage- clearly they've done something wrong...

And if we are teachers and/or parents, we are more susceptible to know-it-all thinking than anyone else!

Clearly, Jesus is speaking directly to us when he says "remove the log out of your own eye before removing the speck from your neighbor's eye" Luke 6.42

The advice is clear- whenever you correct, inform or advise, do so with humility. That is one thing that know-it-alls lack. Without humility there is no wisdom.

Because we can't know it all. True wisdom lies in the realization that we live and love in mystery. 

In this world, anyway, it is the only way to enter into the heart of God.

For this week: Pray for the humility to say, "I don't know all the answers, Lord. Grant that your Holy Spirit give me the wisdom to know that."

Someone Wants to See You

Someone Wants to See You

Gospel for the 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time: Luke 19.1-10

How is your attention span at Mass? Mine isn't always as it should be- I guess that's one of the many reasons why I need to go every Sunday- one of these weeks, I'll get it right. 

Anyway, a couple of years ago I was my usual ADD self, watching the activity in the pew in front of me, rather than what was happening at the altar. There was a little girl of about five or six years old, with her mother, who was trying to participate in the liturgy, and answer questions about what was going on at the same time. 

This is never easy!

The little girl had a million questions about EVERYTHING- it seems that this may have been an infrequent visit. I could tell the mother was getting more and more frustrated.

At the moment of consecration of the Eucharist, chimes were rung, and the priest lifted the host. 

The little girl asked, "Mommy, what's going on? I can't see!"

To which the mother replied, "There's nothing to see."

At that moment, my heart broke. It was broken for the little girl whose curiosity is at the heart of discipleship. It was also broken for the frustrated mother, who, like me, is too distracted to see.

The mother was right- there was nothing to see. But there was SOMEONE to see. 

 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Last week's parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector is now "brought to life" in the encounter of Jesus with Zacchaeus. This Gospel story is very popular with the young children, and with good reason. The main character is like them- too little to see what's going on. Zacchaeus solves the problem in an undignified, "childish" way- he climbs a tree. And the story ends well- Jesus sees him and wants to stay at his house.

What else is going on in this story?

 First of all, what was Zacchaeus trying to do? "He was trying to see who Jesus was." Zacchaeus was not merely trying to get a look at a famous man, like someone stretching to see a politician on parade. There is a sense here that Zacchaeus is opening a door to an encounter. 

Why? 

Could it be that there was something missing in his life? He was "a tax collector and was rich."- while he had wealth, he certainly did not have the affection of the Jews (remember tax collectors were despised because of their allegiance to Rome, and their propensity to extort from their people)
In any event, whether Zacchaeus knew it or not, he was "lost".
And Jesus finds this lost sheep, telling him to come down from the tree "for I must stay at your house today." 

Jesus calls. Zacchaeus responds.

And notice how he responds! He doesn't say, "Oh you'll love it Jesus, we're having a wonderful meal today" NO  Zacchaeus says:
Look, half of my possessions Lord, I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much...

Zacchaeus responds with a conversion of the heart. He also "puts his money where is mouth is," or should I say where his heart is...

And "salvation has come to this house" a reminder to all that Jesus came to seek out and save the lost.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
At every Mass we have the opportunity to see Jesus. But more than that we get to encounter Him through the Eucharist. The Gospel today reminds us that we should be attentive to the liturgy and its impact in our everyday life. Consider this part of the Mass. Right before we go up for communion, the priest says:
Behold the Lamb of God! Behold him who takes away the sins of the world! Blessed are those called to the supper of the Lamb.
Since last Advent, we have had a new response to this. It comes from Luke 7.7, when the Centurion asks Jesus to heal his slave. But it is also for us, a Zacchaeus moment. Jesus is inviting us, and so we respond:
Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.
And, I, like Zacchaeus, will have a new heart to do your will.
For this week:
Teachers and Parents:Read the story of Zacchaeus to your students and children. Ask them if they ever felt like Zacchaeus. Talk to them about how Jesus lives at your house. And when your at Mass, make sure they can see what's going on. Answer their questions- it is your time to give the homily!
For all of us: If you can, spend some time in front of the Tabernacle. If not, the next time your at Mass, be attentive- look up at the host and chalice as it becomes the Body and Blood of Christ- it's one of the reasons the priest is holding it up! Cherish the "Lord I am not worthy" prayer. And when you receive the Eucharist, be aware of that you become what you receive.
After all, someone wants to see you...