Don't be a Shebna - Stay connected to God

Fr. Vince preached on things that needed to be replaced: Batterieis, Lightbulbs, oil in cars, and even hips and knees. In the first reading (bit.ly/1nFDjKF), Shebna, is replaced. Shebna was caretaker for the King's court, but he was more concerned about taking care of himself. God recognizes this and appoints Eliakim to succeed him. Eliakim, which means God raises up, must have been close to God and connected to him. So God appoints him to succeed Shebna.  

Simon is the focus of the Gospel reading. He is asked by Jesus who he thinks he is.  Simon spent much time with Jesus getting to know him by being in his presence and witnessing his headings and miracles. Through this God graces Simon with the understanding of who Jesus is: The Christ. 

Jesus calls Simon to the ministry of leading his Church and replaces his name with Peter, which means at rock. Peter is strong foundation, a Rock. and was called by Jesus to be the Church's leader, even with all his faults. He was close to Jesus and connected to him. 

Fr. Vince gave us some good ideas on how to be like Peter and Eliakim by praying and reading Scripture. If we do these two things we can stay connected with God and be favored by him, rather than being replaced for not being connected like Shebna was.  

Have a blessed week.  

Reflection on Fr. Dave's Homily week 20, cycle A - How you doing on Evangelizing?

This Sunday Fr. Dave preached about evangelization.  How are you doing?  I could be doing better myself at it.  Fr. Dave's homily got me thinking about it.  He encouraged us to outreach to those outside of our comfort zone and invite them to know Jesus and the faith in the workplace or through friend and acquaintances.   

The Gospel story of Jesus healing the Canaanite women's possessed daughter was the catalyst for this message. Jesus came for all, both Jew and Gentile, and the women’s persistent patience was a model she may not have fully understood who Jesus was, but she had faith in his power to heal.  Much more faith than many of the Jews at that time.  She had an immediate need, to help her daughter, and Jesus came through to help her because of her faith.  

We need to be there for others when they are seeking the healing of Jesus.    We can do this by simply sharing with others stories that we hear in the Gospel at Mass on Sunday.   The next time someone asks you what you did this weekend you can tell them you went to church and hearing about a miraculous healing of a little girl possessed by a demon.  I’m sure that will get some attention.  I’m sure there are many people who have not heard of the healing that Jesus did.  Maybe this is a good place to start for our brothers and sister who have yet come to know Jesus.  

Another good resource is Dynamic Catholic.  I just heard Matthew Kelly talking on Catholic Radio Indy 89.1 last week about subtle ways to evangelize.  If you are not comfortable talking to others in detail about faith you may want to consider letting someone else do the talking through books and CD’s.  Dynamic Catholic makes these available at very low costs.  This is something that you can order and keep handy to hand out when the time is right.  You can give to someone and invite him or her to read or listen to a tape or CD.  After a time you can ask the person what they thought.   This could be a good way to get people interested in knowing more about Jesus and the Catholic Faith.

If you want to read Fr. Dave’s homily check out this blog: http://holdtothetradition.blogspot.com

Have a blessed week sharing the good news of Jesus!

19th Sunday Ordinary Time - A - Listening in Silent Prayer

One of the real treasures that we have in Indianapolis is Fatima Retreat House.

 It’s located on East 56^th Street next to Cathedral HS.

Some of you may have been to retreats or presentations there.

It’s really a beautiful, peaceful place.

While in deacon formation nearly all of our classes and retreats were held at Fatima.

The building and the grounds are beautiful.  It’s hard to believe that such a quiet peaceful place can be in the heart of Indianapolis.

The one thing that always comes to mind when I think about Fatima is Psalm 46:11 

‘Be still and know that I am God.’

It was displayed on the front of the lectern in the main conference room for all to see.

I thought about that passage when I read today’s readings.

Elijah hearing the voice of God in a tiny whispering sound.

And Jesus, going up the mountain by himself to pray.

Being still in prayer is something that Jesus and Elijah did.

And it's something that all of us need to do.

I ask you - what is prayer? 

We Catholics know lots of prayers.

We have the Our Father, the Hail Mary, the Glory Be, to name a few.

We have the Mass, the ultimate prayer of the Church.

We also know how to pray privately and spontaneously.

I’ve shared this before with all of you but it bears repeating.

I once heard the bishop of Springfield, IL use a coin to describe prayer. 

He said that one side of the coin is where we speak while God listens; the other side of the coin is where God speaks while we listen.

He said that prayer is a conversation, a dialogue between two people who love each other. 

It’s a discussion between the Creator and the created.

Most often during prayer, we seem to do all the talking while God listens.

But as the bishop of Springfield reminded me God speaks to us in prayer as well and we need to listen.

We heard in our first reading Elijah’s encounter with God up on a mountain.

Elijah didn’t hear God in the heavy wind, or in the earthquake, or in the fire.

Elijah finally heard God in a tiny whispering sound. 

In order to hear this tiny whispering sound, Elijah needed to be in a quiet place away from the hustle and bustle, away from the noise. 

In our Gospel today, after Jesus fed the multitudes, he sent his disciples off in a boat while he went up on the mountain to pray.

Like Elijah, Jesus prayed with God the Father on the mountain.

He went off by himself, in peace and solitude, so he could speak and listen to God.

Jesus left the distractions of the ‘world’ so he could communicate with the Father.

We can learn from both Jesus and Elijah how to have prayer that speaks to us.

In order to be able to hear the tiny whispering sounds we need quiet and peace in prayer. 

The noises of TV, radio, the computer, and other distractions need to be placed on hold during prayer to better hear God’s whispering.  

My friends, silence is essential for prayer as well, but it can also be prayer itself.

Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta had this to say:

‘We need to find God, and God cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature--trees and flowers and grass--grow in silence. See the stars, the moon, and the sun, how they move in silence. The more we receive in silent prayer, the more we can give in our active life.’

This week, let’s reflect on our prayer life.

Let’s ask ourselves:

Do I have a prayer life?

If not, why not?

If so, is my prayer life active or is it stale?

Am I allowing God to speak to me in prayer? 

Have I prepared myself to hear God’s whispers? 

We all know that we need a good prayer life. 

We also know that it’s hard to squeeze more things to do into our busy days.

Perhaps each morning we should pray “God, help me find 10 minutes today to pray so I can get to know you better.” 

As Jesus and Elijah demonstrated, let’s place ourselves on our mountain, wherever that might be, so we can hear God.

Maybe our mountain is our favorite chair, or our backyard, or the woods, or the Blessed Sacrament chapel, or Mass, or Fatima Retreat House.

The good news for all of us is that whatever mountain we are on, God is always available to us in prayer.

God wants to commune with us, to listen to us, and to talk to us. 

God loves each of us in deep and profound ways and wants each of us to hear that message, to feel His love. 

This week each time you reach in your pocket or purse for a coin, may it be a reminder to pray by speaking and listening to God. 

May it remind you to take the time to escape from life’s distractions, to climb your mountain, and to feel the love and peace of God. 

And may we remember Psalm 46:11

‘Be still and know that I am God.’

Homily Week 19 cycle A - Have faith and keep focused on Jesus

Good morning.   The banner on the South wall of the Sanctuary is for St. Clare whose feast day is tomorrow.  She was a lifelong friend of St. Francis who was her spiritual guide.  She lived a very simple life of poverty following a rule of life given by St. Francis.  He established a Secord Order, the Poor Clares, and St. Clare was the abbess of the order until her death.   St. Clare had a strong devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and trusted in Jesus.  Her trust was so strong that she placed the Blessed Sacrament on the convent wall when facing attack by invaders, who fled at the sight of it.  St. Clare, pray for us to have that same trust in Jesus.

        

         This story in the Gospel of Jesus and Peter walking on water reminded me of a vacation I went on as a young teenager to visit my cousins in Northern Minnesota.  They had moved away several years prior due to their dad’s job relocation.   We waited until late in the summer to visit, as it was quite a bit cooler there. We got there just at the right time since it been in the 80’s for over a week. The morning after we arrived we got up at the crack of dawn to go to a swimming hole so we could catch some crawfish.

Our cousins told us that crawfish tasted just like lobster and we were excited about having a feast!  As soon as we got to the swimming hole our cousins all jumped off a 6-foot ledge right into the water.  My brother and I were a little reluctant at the height of jump, but they were having such a good time we took the plunge.  

Little did I know our cousins had been fully conditioned to the frigid elements of Northern Minnesota.  When our feet hit the water they instantly went numb.  The water felt so cold that I think the ice had just melted only a week earlier.  The reaction of my brother and I was biblical, a bit like St. Peter.  We got out of the water so fast you’d think we walked on water.

I know many of you have been on vacations and have got to spend some time on the beach or lakes this summer.  These places by the water can be very peaceful and relaxing.   But water can also be distressing as well, especially if your caught out in a storm and unprepared for the conditions.  I’ve been out on a boat myself and caught un-expectantly in a storm. It was quite frightening and I felt out of control and helpless.

Peter must have felt a bit like this as he was being tossed in the waves.Jesus had sent him and the disciples off to the other side of the lake while he went off to pray.  He needed some quiet time to pray and be with his Father. His cousin, John the Baptist was recently killed, and he also just ministered to the multitudes, feeding over 5000 people from 5 loaves and two fish.  He was probably exhausted and spent at ministering to all these people.  Peter knew Jesus needed to pray, but probably wondered why he left the disciples alone when the winds and the waves started violently tossing the boat. Peter was in familiar surroundings on the water as he was a fisherman for many years, but he also knew of the peril from the wind on the sea that must have struck fear in his heart.

In the midst of the darkness the disciples amazingly see Jesus walking on the water but they didn’t even recognize him.  They didn’t have faith in him. Jesus sensed this and tells them who he is and not be afraid.  Did you know the phrase “be not afraid” is one of the

most frequent saying by Jesus in the Gospels?  Jesus is there at their side in the midst of their trials. Peter recognizes Jesus due to his faith and asks Jesus to call him to come. He does and Peter walks on water. This supernatural act could be only done with Jesus’ help & Peter’s faith.  But Peter’s faith is tested by his fear of the strong winds & he begins to sink.  He takes his eye off Jesus and tries to navigate the water alone, which is beyond his natural ability. In distress Peter calls out for Jesus’ help who saves him immediately. After saving him it appears that Jesus scolds him for lack of faith, but he is really trying to encourage Peter. At the calming of the winds the disciples first recognize Jesus’ divinity as the Son of God. They now have faith in Jesus, at least for a time.

We experience very much the same fears as the disciples did in our own lives.   We struggle with difficulties such as serious illnesses, troubled marriages, and death of loved ones that rock our boats and toss us around where we feel out of control.   We can go from peaceful calm waters of everyday routines and then instantly be in unfamiliar territory that we don’t know at all. But if we keep our focus on Jesus and invite him into our boat in the midst of the chaos, we can experience his saving supernatural power that can help us from being overwhelmed. 

The best way to do this is by strengthening our faith in peaceful times so we can weather the storm when water gets rough.  We can do this by getting into the boat with Jesus.  In the Gospel the boat is a symbol for the Church.  Jesus will be there with us in both the peaceful and challenging times. 

The Church can help us in three ways.  First, in the body of Christ through the faith community that is made of every one of us.  We can be there to encourage and help each other in good and bad times.   That’s why we are here, to love our neighbors in time of need.  

The second way is through prayer.  Prayer builds up our personal relationship with God.  When we pray we need to take some quiet time like Jesus did in the Gospel to be with God.  If we don’t have the words to pray, we can turn to Scripture as our prayer, especially the Psalms.  It’s also a good idea to carry rosary with you to help you pray as well. We can also pray by just being quiet to hear God in the whisper like Elijah did.

Finally we can meet Jesus in the sacraments.  The Church brings Jesus to us whenever we receive the Eucharist, hear his words in reconciliation, or feel his touch in anointing.  Jesus is there for us always to strengthen us to endure our trials.  We will still have struggles, but we do so knowing he is there with us, especially through our community of faith.  And with Jesus we may even walk on water and overcome challenges that we never imagined being able to do. 

But we can only do so by having faith in Jesus, and keeping our focus on him in good times and bad.  So make it a practice to work on building up your faith and enter into the boat with Jesus every day. By preparing in the peaceful times it will help us when winds make it rough. If you know others who are sinking in their own storms invite them to come along with you to Church and see strength that Jesus provides.  May God bless you on your journey living the Gospel this week.