The number one relationship in your life: Jesus

The main message that I heard from both Father Vince and Father Martin’s homily this week was to give God top priority over all other relationships and things in my life.  The Gospel needed some interpretation in regards to where Jesus was coming from.   The most challenging statement for me was when Jesus tells his disciples: “If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.”  This sounds contrary to common logic, as putting “family first” is usually the top priority and preserving my own life is a number one objective.  But Father Martin pointed out that the word in Greek used for “hating” meant, “secondary” and Father Vince suggested substituting “hating” with “loving me more or better than” in the Gospel passage.  Both interpretations helped to me understand this passage in context of putting the relationship with Jesus first over family and even my own life.  The same goes for my possessions, the things that are in my life that can get in the way of my relationship with God. 

 

Father Martin also brought home what Jesus meant by “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.”  He pointed out the plight of the Syrian Christians and the persecution they were suffering for their faith, sometimes to the death.  They are truly carrying their cross and modern day examples of suffering for their faith in Christ.  Pope Francis had called the faithful to pray and fast for peace in Syria.  This call to action was very appropriate for the Gospel message of carrying your cross, which many in Syria do just by practicing their faith and to be a disciple of Christ.  Please continue to pray for peace in Syria.  

So keep God’s relationship first in your life.  This doesn’t mean that you abandon all your possessions and family, but keep them in proper perspective God’s relationship as being the primary one in your life.  It will help you endure carrying your own cross to be Christ’s disciples.  May God bless you!

Homily 22nd Sunday, cycle C: The unwelcome guest, humility, & God's generosity

Good morning. I hope you are enjoying this long Labor Day weekend spending time relaxing and having fun with family and friends.   Who here is going to be hosting a backyard barbecue or pool party?  Now, who is going over to be a guest at a picnic or party?  It’s always a good time to get together at these gatherings to catch up with people we haven’t seen for a while and find out what’s new and to hear the familiar stories about fun times from the past.  But there’s also the downside of these family gatherings: encountering the person who rubs you the wrong way.  If you’ve seen the movie Christmas Vacation you know the type of person I’m talking about: Cousin Eddie.  Most of us have a “Cousin Eddie” that we need to keep an eye on at our family gathering, as there is always the possibility of them saying or doing something that upsets or embarrasses our guests and we just can’t wait till they go home. 

In today’s Gospel the Pharisees and his guests may have felt like Jesus was a bit like that unwelcome guest.  One of the leading Pharisees hosts a dinner on the Sabbath and Jesus was invited to attend.   The guests were invited to the meal for their ability to engage in religious discussion and also for their standing in the community, as they would be expected to return the favor inviting the host to a dinner. Jesus was invited as he was a peer of the Pharisees, but also to see if they could observe him teaching ways contrary to the Jewish laws.    Jesus picks up on this and notices the guests seeking places of honor to sit, so he turns the tables on the Pharisees and the guests in telling the parable about a wedding feast.  

The Pharisees were all about getting noticed for the position in society.  Their culture was based on honor and shame, and they would do anything to protect their honor, even at the cost of putting others to shame.   Jesus tells the guests not to seek a place of honor, but to take the lowest place, otherwise they’ll be shamed into moving.

Jesus message had a twofold meaning   He gave practical advice by teaching to be humble, as none of the Pharisees’ wanted to bring shamed upon themselves, but more importantly, Jesus was teaching that God calls us to be humble and in service to others.    If we are proud and full of ourselves this attitude makes it very difficult to acknowledge that all we have is from God, and that we are dependent on him. If we are proud it’s also hard to be of service to others.  Jesus tells us when we are humble, God rewards us for our humility, “For every one who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Now the host of the gathering is not spared by Jesus’ parable.   The primary goal of the Pharisee by inviting someone to a dinner was to have the favor returned, but that’s not the way of God.  God is a generous giver, showering gifts on us because he loves us.    We have nothing to give back to God in return, except our love.   So Jesus uses the parable to teach the host to be generous as God is, by inviting the poor, lame, and crippled to the wedding banquet, none of whom’ could return the favor, which was totally contrary to the nature of the culture.  The reward for inviting those who cannot repay will be at the resurrection, which struck a cord with the Pharisees as they believed in the resurrection. 

Now back to the family gathering.  Do you sometimes have guests that constantly seek the honor of others by bragging about their job, possessions, or the vacation they went on? Do they also refuse to help to serve or clean up as they are “too important” to do such activities? They can get a bit annoying as their focus is all about their selves.  They show a lack of humility that can make you wonder why you even invited them, but we of course continue so out of our generosity, biting our tongue and smiling when the going gets tough. 

Pope Francis at Marmo Prison, Holy Thursday 2013.  Photo copyright Catholic News Agency          

Jesus’ parable of the wedding feast is an analogy for Church and how we should be humble and generous to those in need as God is to us.   Our Church’s leader, Pope Francis, leads in modeling humility and generosity.   He has chosen a simpler lifestyle for his papacy living in the hotel for the cardinal electors instead of the Papal palace, eating meals in common with the residents, and celebrating daily Mass in the hotel’s chapel with his staff along with the cooks and housekeepers.   He’s also showed great humility and generosity to a population that many in society feel are in debt to us, those serving time in prison.    On Holy Thursday this year Pope Francis celebrated Mass in a prison for juvenile offenders in Italy and washed the feet of 12 young offenders, 10 men and 2 women, humbly showing how we are to serve and be generous to those in need.

Our local Church in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis also provides service in humility & generosity ministering in jails and prison. This is a ministry that’s not usually visible as it is outside of the Church. I’ve been blessed to minister to inmates at the Johnson County Jail for the past few years along with other deacons and lay people.  Many offenders in jail have had very rough lives living in poverty and abuse, with close to 80-90% coming from families where the father was absent.   Quite a few also suffer from mental health disorders and addictions and are being punished for having a disease, rather than being helped with their illness. I will soon have the opportunity in October to minister in a prison at the Plainfield correctional facility at a Kairos retreat.   Kairos is a three-day retreat in the prison similar to Christ Renews His Parish.  There are dozens of lay people and ministers who commit many hours to prepare for and present the retreat, out of their love for Christ.  They want to share the generosity God has given to them by giving their time, talent, and treasure to humbly serve the inmates by feeding them and sharing their witness of Christ’s love over a three day period.  Nothing is expected from the inmates except to spend time to listen, and they are always free to leave.   The inmates may be wary of why someone would do something for them without expecting something in return, but it’s made possible by the Kairos presenters through their humble acceptance of God’s love and desire to share God’s generosity.

Jesus may have been the unwelcome guest to the Pharisee and his guest, but his message was something they needed to hear.   We need to be open to this message as well.  If we are humble, it helps us to understand that all we have depends on God’s generosity and helps us to serve others and be generous as God is generous to us.   In closing I’d like to ask you to pray for me and the other men presenting on the Kairos retreat that we be humble and generous in ministering to the men at the prison and also that the men be humble in receiving God’s gifts. May God bless you as you enjoy this Labor Day weekend.