11.2.25 Homily Feast of All Saints and All Souls
I believe one of the greatest gifts of our Catholic faith is the teaching of the Communion of Saints. It seems to be also one of the least recognized or understood. Every time the Apostles Creed is recited, we are professing the belief in the Communion of Saints-
As prayed in the conclusion of the prayer:
“...I believe the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, and the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Amen”
We profess this and yet I wonder if we really understand what this means-the belief in the Communion of Saints. Many think the Communion of Saints refers to the canonized saints like St Francis and St Theresa. And they are part of the Communion of Saints. Our loved ones who have passed over to Eternal Life are ALSO part of the Communion of Saints! And…… so are we: The living here in this realm!
(The definition: The communion of saints is the spiritual union of all members of the Christian church, both living and dead, in a mystical body with Christ as the head. The definition of a communion of people is: 1.The sharing or exchanging of intimate thoughts and feelings, especially when the exchange is on a mental or spiritual level.)
I believe we can take this a step further and include ALL ….not just members of the Christian Church. God is inclusive. Jesus taught us that. Therefore ALL of humankind belongs to the Communion of Saints. We are all One Body in Christ.
How often have we ourselves said or have heard others lament: “My friend, or my family member died, and I never told them how much I loved them or how sorry I am for …..or I regret I never got to say goodbye.”
This apparent belief in a separation between the living here in this realm (on earth) and the next (eternal life)....is unfortunate. Unfortunate because if we understand what the communion of saints is, and what it means, we would understand that our loved ones who have left this world into the next STILL love us. They STILL hold prayer for us. They STILL have tender concern for us. We can still send them our love in our thoughts, our prayers and our actions. And, as we have heard many times in our readings and have explored these last months that we are ONE BODY in the Christ. This unites ALL of us…the living in this world and those living in the next…all together in the One Body of the Christ!
The Celts have understood the thin veil between this world and the next for well over a millennia. They never saw the two realms totally separate. They embraced the mystical, a gift that, unfortunately the Western Church shunned for over a thousand years and is only now re-discovering and unfortunately, some are dismissing with the term “New Age”. There is nothing “new” about this…it is ancient, and now being re-discovered and appreciated.
This also touches, I think, on the profound truth that “The only separation between ourselves and God is our thought that we are separate.”
We are not physically together anymore with those we love, but in the Christ mystery, we are never truly separated, for we are all ONE. ONE-forever and for all eternity. ONE.
And what of the living? We are called to be saints too. Being a saint does NOT mean you are perfect. That is a false narrative we’ve been fed. Perfection is not the goal; rather, it is WHOLENESS. It is UNITY. It is the realization that we, with our “pluses and our minuses” are ONE…it makes us who we are…Whole. Holy. Loved. .and WE are ALL …together, belong to the Communion of Saints in the Body of Christ
This was the mission of Jesus: Metanoia….the “turning around” -this turning around into a transformation of WHOLENESS. This is what Jesus’ call to Love one another is all about.
Saints see the world in its WHOLENESS. They do not see the world in dualistic terms-things that are separate. Everything, is ONE, yet different.
Franciscan Richard Rohr frames Jesus’ message of Wholeness this way:
“What you do to the other, you do to yourself;
how you love yourself is how you love your neighbor;
how you love God is how you love yourself;
how you love yourself is how you love God.
How you do anything is how you do everything.”
That’s pretty profound. When I first read this, several years ago, my first impulse was to take issue with it. But over time, with introspection and more self-awareness, I saw it! I saw the truth so clearly, it stung.
This reflection is a personal journey we are all invited to.
This Wholeness…this Love…..this is what makes the Communion of Saints so REAL. God is Love and Love does not die.
In one of Rohr’s commentaries on the Communion of Saints, back in 2016, he makes a statement that has stuck with me:
“Faith is not simply seeing things at their visible, surface level, but recognizing their deepest meaning. To be a person of faith means you see things- people, animals, plants, the earth-as inherently connected to God, connected to you, and therefore, most worthy of love and dignity.”
Again….this WHOLENESS! ALL that is, is the incarnation of the Christ. ALL are connected. The Spark of the Divine in all that is. Jesus calls us to THIS LOVE….that we are to love all in their unity and connectedness.
Our growing …..our journey to transformation…..into living saints here means the more we can connect, the more transformation takes place and it is that transformation that grows us into the Love Jesus speaks of….this WHOLENESS…this UNITY……this LOVE, this connectedness….It is this that transforms us into saints.
(In closing…)
We are all invited to live in the Communion of Saints: living a life of continual transformation towards WHOLENESS as Saints in this world and still in communion with those who live in the next world, as eternal Saints. And, knowing….trusting….that those who went before us and are living in eternity, are Loving us through all this….through our journey into transformation…through our set-backs, through our mis-steps…they are loving us….(loving us is prayer in action). Truly, we are not separate….they live in God and we live in God….it is only in our belief that we are separate that makes this so.
Amen
Sunday's Homily:10.26.25 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time(Luke 18:1-8)
“……Nevertheless, when the Son of Humanity comes, will he find trust on earth?”
In some translations…this reads “…..will he find faith on earth?” When Jesus talks of Faith or Trust…he’s speaking of a deep, loving trust…a transformation and a “letting go” so that we settle into and experience God’s loving presence.
This deep, deep trust and confidence that assures us that all we need to do is to keep our focus on living out God’s compassion and love; reminding ourselves that God is always with us…God is always in accompaniment with us with a personal tenderness and concern. We are never alone. This is Faith.
Easy to say, and sometimes hard to remember when we’re deep in the weeds, isn’t it?
And, I have to admit, this parable about prayer unceasing always bothered me. I never could quite cozy up to the idea that if I was just faithful enough, prayed hard enough, was good enough, badgered God long enough, God would be worn down and would answer my prayers. And, there were lots of things I prayed for that didn’t materialize as I had imagined. Of course, I was making it all about “me”, and not understanding God’s ways…of what was best for me in the bigger picture of my life’s purpose. I was seeking God as Santa Claus God. It was very transactional and very ego centered. I wasn’t understanding the deeper wisdom of this parable.
In this parable, Jesus again lifts women up when uses a woman-a widow, for us. Women, who held little status, and even more so…a widow. Although the laws in the Talmud provided some support, widows were very vulnerable, particularly if their late husband’s estate was meager. They were often exploited as referenced in Jesus’ warning to “beware of the scribes” as some used their position to take advantage of widows, convincing them to transfer property to them or taking their remaining assets through excessive temple fees.
And, it could be that although we don’t live in that time and have lost some of the inferred contexts, this might have been the kind of injustice that is implied in this parable. And this would have been, to a widow of that time, an almost insurmountable injustice.
So, this parable would have had a profound impact on Jesus’ audience. And so once again, the lowly is given status and lifted up. And, the point of the widow’s badgering was not that “that behavior” is to be modeled….the point was that she doesn’t give up against this insurmountable injustice and God’s favor and care for the widow (for all who are suffering from injustices).
The point of the parable isn’t that God grants every wish we have. It is that God LISTENS to the most lowly and DESIRES compassion and justice.
This is where I used to really struggle with this parable, because I used to think of God as, as I said, like a Santa Claus God or a puppeteer God who controlled everything and every outcome. “God, why are you allowing all this? Wars, poverty, racism…why?”It took a long time for me to realize and grow into the understanding that prayer doesn’t change the mind of God. We can fast, abstain and self-deny until the cows come home, and God’s mind isn’t going to change. Why?
Because: God doesn’t require sacrifices. Sacrifices are meant to change…..to transform us…our behavior, our understanding, our priorities.
God isn’t a puppeteer. God gave us an entire creation to share, treasure and respect….. and a free will. God doesn’t move everything around like pieces on a chessboard. Most of the misery here on earth is of our own making. God isn’t an enabling God, who will continually rescue us from our screwups, when time and time again, we’ve been visited with the truthful answers through scripture, prophets and messengers from God telling us…warning us ….of our folly.
How we navigate through the difficulties in our life has the opportunity to change us. I have a saying, “If all the world were Utopia, we would never learn compassion, empathy or sharing.” And “It is in the struggles, we learn our lessons.”How we endure suffering isn’t because God is testing us, but rather it is a part of this life-What the Franciscans call holding together the sacred and the profane.
How we move through…not avoid, not around….but through the difficult, it has the power to teach us important lessons and give us unlimited opportunities for growth. And, we don’t travel this road alone, for God is traveling it with us, and all that we endure, God is right there enduring it with us. Our God is a God of solidarity. God never abandons us.
I think THAT is the deeper message of the Gospel. God is LOVE….and that LOVE means God never, ever leaves us. In our First Reading from Ilia Delio, we heard:
“Prayer is recognizing the intimate in-dwelling of God in our lives, the One who remains faithful in love even when the world around us may fall apart…”
We are all created with the Spark of the Divine, the Sacred. This is where that trust, that faith comes in. When we pray, truly, sincerely pray from our hearts, we are trusting in what we cannot understand, in a Being who infinitely cares about us, loves us, and continually is reaching out to us in relationship. This provides us with the opportunity for introspection.
Our faith grows in trusting that this infinitively and intimately loving Being is listening with the deepest care and concern, with love and compassion. Now think about that for just a moment…..
When we can accept God’s unfathomable love we are changed. When we can continue to grow in trust like this…..we will be changed. We caught a glimpse of this in the conversation exchange for our Second Reading, from poet, John Roedel, God isn’t going to “fix it” for John. It is up to John to get to work.
That is how we will learn to love, share, empathize and living out compassion. We then begin to understand that God has plans for us, God has desires for us and for everyone…..and it all rests in what we do:in how we soften our hearts; in how we change; in how we trust and accept; in how we open our hearts to God’s ways…. God doesn’t impose. God invites. God whispers. God woooos and chases after us with what God knows softens our hearts: puppies and sunsets, chocolate and autumn colors, lakeside reflections and deep starry nights, and in community with Eucharist………..
When we invite God into our hearts in prayer, and trust that this infinite being is truly listening, we enter into relationship.
With practice, we begin to understand God’s ways and we grow to live our lives in God’s ways. We change.
The change in us through prayer can grow us into more peace centered, more love centered, more open to what God’s wishes for us are.
We are like pebbles dropped into the water….the ripples from our actions spread out…..for goodness or hurt. We don’t always see the results…..but it will always, always affect someone, something, somewhere in our Universe.
When we listen to God’s Spirit whispering in our hearts to act on or not to act on something, we are answering someone’s prayer. I think this deep trust in God’s infinite tenderness and concern for us is what Jesus was asking in the last line of this Gospel :“……Nevertheless, when the Son of Humanity comes, will he find trust on earth?” Amen
This morning's homily (Celebrating National Spiritual Care Week) with the Blessing of the Hands.
10.19.25 Homily Spiritual Care Week Blessing of the Hands
From our first reading this morning:(1Cor. 12:3-7; 12-14;24-27)
“…there are different forms of service but the same Lord.” And another line that reads: “…just as a body is one, though it has many members…..all the members though many, are one body, and in like manner……is the Christ.”
And from our Gospel: (John 20:19-22)
Jesus said to his disciples: “You are peace. As the Father has sent me, in like manner I commission you.”
I’ve offered these readings in lieu of the Lectionary this Sunday because this is National Spiritual Care Week. Most of the focus this week will be on Spiritual Care providers, such as Pastors, Priests, and Chaplains.
Clearly though, both St. Paul and Jesus call on all of us. Paul tells us we are different members of one body and Jesus tells us WE are PEACE and commissions us with this peace. In most translations, this part of the gospel reads the lines: “Peace be with you” and “so I send you……” But the more accurate translations read as Jesus saying: WE are Peace. He is not using these words to describe or identify but rather as a commissioning….a call to action-an order to action .
The definition of a commission is: “An instruction, command or duty given to a person or a group of people”.
Jesus has commanded us; he has given us the duty to be PEACE. This clearer translation truly changed these scripture passages for me. So, I felt it fitting, that during Spiritual Care Week, that we might take this day to remind ourselves of our commanded duty to BE PEACE : To hear, listen, care for, heal and comfort those we encounter; be they family, friends, co-workers or folks we don’t like or even strangers….especially strangers!
Healthcare workers, pastors and chaplains aren’t the only ones called on for this mission. Jesus and St Paul are speaking to ALL of us. I think in some ways, we all are like “chaplains” in this world, and perhaps we might recognize and bless this.
As a chaplain, my focus and duty is different than that of a pastor of a congregation. Where a pastor’s focus is generally on leading their faith community and maintaining the orthodoxy of the faith and adherence to doctrine and dogma, a chaplain’s duty and focus is on spiritual care.
Spiritual care in this context means accompaniment. Chaplains accompany with and journey with a person facing spiritual distress. I call it, “sitting in the mud with them”.
It’s not about dogma, doctrine or imposing one’s own spiritual beliefs on the person. Accompaniment is not fixing. It’s not about giving the person the “right answers”, rather, it is about listening with a compassionate, non-judgmental presence.
There is a great need, especially in today’s world, where one can sit with another in accompaniment-listening without judgment or trying to “fix it”. And, it’s not easy. We live in world that tells us to “fix it”. It doesn’t teach us how to listen, without judgment. And this is what folks most often need.
We also are living in the most trying of times. Many are living with spiritual distress. And what is spiritual distress? Spiritual distress means when a person’s own coping resources are in question, failing or being stretched to the point of concern or distress. There are some situations we may all face in life that might trigger a need for spiritual care, such as:
• A significant change in one’s health, finances or lifestyle-such as a sudden forced move out of one’s home.• It might be news of or an experience of a significant loss such as a life partner, friend, job, pet or home• Someone struggling with chronic pain, mental or physical restrictions might find themselves in spiritual distress as well as those who are faced with end-of-life decisions. • There can be any number of situations that cause us distress and wonderment of “WHY? Why, God? WHY?"
Sound familiar? I doubt that any of us have been immune from some of these situations. Most of the time, we do our best to cope with these situations through the support of a family member or friend or our faith. Sometimes though, we find we need professional accompaniment through a chaplain or compassionate pastor. Still, as said, without us even realizing it, most of us are providing some level of spiritual care to each other every single day. These are tremendous blessings to be recognized. It is an important part of living out the Gospel of Love.
I’m pretty confident in assuming that each one of you has supported someone in need in these kinds of situations. Your loving heart and blessed hands were the needed prayer at that time, in that person’s life. In your loving way, you were providing spiritual care.
All of our life is spiritual, isn’t it? We all, in our own way, are spiritual care providers to all we meet each day.
Each of us is an answer to someone’s prayer in one way or another. What we do is like a pebble dropped in the pool of water and our effects ripple out into the universe. A kind word, or harsh word. A smile for someone, or a frown. It all ripples out to all of us….into the Universe…So it is, with spiritual care. It is important that we see ourselves as spiritual care providers, because what we do DOES affect others….it DOES ripple into the Universe. We ALL hold tremendous potential. We must be mindful how powerful we truly are…how all we do is a prayer. It is all spiritual.
Jesus is clear in his message: Each one of us is meant to do our part in the loving and healing of this world. Every one of us is essential in bringing about the PEACE Jesus commissions us to. Some refer to this as the Kingdom of God or Realm of God. It’s what we do here, now…on this earth. It is our commissioning.This is why, I will be offering the blessing of hands this morning after this homily.
Each of you brings your blessings of love, compassion and healing to those you encounter each day. Each one of you is a spiritual care provider whether you are an educator, an office worker, a healthcare worker, a community volunteer, a person working from home or retired; whether you are mom, dad, grandparent, single, married, divorced……. each and every one of you brings blessings to your fellow colleagues, students, patients, family, friends and even to strangers. You bring a blessing to strangers when you hold a door open and smile or invite someone to step ahead of you in line; you bring a blessing to the single eating alone when you invite them to your table; you bring a blessing to the person overwhelmed with a situation when you step up and offer, “How can I support you?”…………..the situations and possibilities are endless.
I truly believe that it is this kind of caring and blessing that Jesus refers to when he calls us to follow him and commissions us with BE PEACE. It is what he means by LOVE ONE ANOTHER.
Let us then, this morning, enter into the world with a renewed sense of what our blessing hands can be for others and what living Jesus’ command to BE PEACE looks like in our lives.Peace and Amen
BLESSING OF THE HANDSCompassionate God, bless the work of each pair of hands that come forward for your special blessing. We know, God, that we are already holy, and we thank you for this moment to be reminded of our mission:The hands that cook and the hands that drive,The hands that make beds and the hands that do laundry,The hands that dry tears and the hands tha hug trembling shoulders,The hands that make phone calls and the hands that run zoom meetings,The hands that offer water and the hands that soothe hearts,The hands that clean drains and the hands that build homes,Hands that hold and the hands that bless another's hands.(while anointing with chrism oil each pair of hands with the cross):"May God bless these hands for the work they do, the healing they offer and the blessings they offer to al they meet."
**Sending these blessings virtually to all who read this**
10.5.25 HOMILY Celebrating the Feast of St Francis (Oct 4)
This morning we depart from the Lectionary in favor of celebrating the Feast of St Francis of Assisi. I believe that honoring the life and teachings of Brother Francis are important, especially in the world we live in today. And, I chose the Gospel of the Beatitudes, because they encapsulate all of the teachings and values that Jesus taught and that Brother Francis lived.
The fact that so many other faith traditions and even those who hold no particular faith, hold such love and respect for Brother Francis, speaks, I think, of the example he lived: Love. Love in all of God’s Creation. Every person, no matter how poor or sick was held in reverence. Francis held all of Creation as family….as all part of the Christ….the Eternal Love that is God.
As St Paul tells us over and over (Corinthians) that we are all members of the One Body of Christ….I do not believe he is speaking only of believers, or what the institution of the Church holds-the baptized…no….all…..every part of creation is connected. Even the most recent cosmic science is telling us that there is an energy that connects all things…all the way back to Big Bang.
Francis could not possibly know this science, but his heart knew….and he referred to all of creation as family: Brother Sun, Sister Moon, Brother Fox, Sister Mouse…..Not unlike the Native Peoples.
We are all connected and we are all interdependent on each other. Humankind has been very slow to understand that nature has a balance and when humankind upsets it, the results are catastrophic. The disturbed jet stream is an example. Because of it, humankind is witnessing the rapid melting of glaciers, polar caps and warming global temperatures resulting the the catastrophic climate change.
Francis’s call was always about the softening of hearts. With a soften heart, one “sees” the hungry, the unhoused, the abused….anyone who is forced to the margins of society and because their heart is softened, their eyes opened-they act to relieve suffering and to welcome the “unwelcomed” from society.
Francis could see the Spark of the Divine in all of Creation.
All of Creation is Sacrament! Sacrament is the “outward sign of God’s Love”. All of Creation, including Humankind is an outward sign of God’s Love…..God’s continuing Love….from the moment God created all that is to eternity….all of it….all of us…are outward signs of God’s unending Love.
The draw that so many outside of “organized religion” feel towards what many refer to as New Age is really, I believe, a hunger….a deep spiritual hunger for authentic spiritual experience. There is a deep need for humans to connect. And, science is revealing to us many of the truths that Jesus and the prophets spoke about-an example again, is this interconnected ness that even the Peoples of the First Nations understood.
Much of humankind, sadly drifted away from this understanding and practiced “domination and conquering” instead of “cooperation and partnering”.
This interconnectedness is given a name in Franciscan Richard Rohr’s writings about the Universal Christ. “Christ” being the name for everything….(not Jesus’ last name).
This truth is echoed in the writings and teachings of others:
13th Century Dominican Meister Ekhart, Jesuit Teilhard de Chardin, Franciscan Ilia Delio, Matthew Fox and of course, Francis and so many others.
We have a wonderful opportunity to observe the incredible connection between science and the teachings of these Prophets to Humankind.
If we truly believe that all of Creation, including humankind, is sacrament, then we must really take to heart Jesus’ constant call to us to live in Love; to love one another-that means you and me and the person we’d rather avoid AND it means to love God’s gift of Creation-Our own Mother Earth and all her children: those with fins, feathers, whiskers and those with leaves, roots and waves.
All are part of our family.
I want to close with another poem by Francis, it is one of my very favorites, and I know some of you have heard it before. Both poems today were taken from a beautiful book called:
“Love Poems From God-Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West”, by Daniel Ladinsky
Francis’ poem:
“I once spoke to my friend, and old squirrel, about the Sacraments-and he got so excited, and ran into a hollow in his tree and came back holding some acorns, an owl feather, and a ribbon he had found. I just smiled and said, “Yes, dear, you understand: everything imparts His grace.”
Let it be so.
This morning's homily: 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time (September 28, 2025)
(Luke 16:1-13)
Whenever I read the stories about Jesus and especially when I read Jesus’ parables, I’m struck at how Jesus continually calls his audience (and us!) into living in a mindset of abundance, which is love, forgiveness, compassion and generosity rather than in scarcity, which is fear, close-mindedness and tribalism.
And, as much as most of us dislike the homilies about money, this Sunday’s Good News speaks of money, but truly, deep down it is really not as much about money as it is about the mindset of scarcity-about allowing ourselves to be owned or possessed by power, control, wealth, possessions and in today’s world especially, about the over-consumption of the earth’s resources to the detriment of poorer countries.
Jesus always, always pulls us toward abundance! Abundance in compassion, forgiveness, generosity, grace and God’s unfathomable, incomprehensible Love for us. As humans, we simply cannot totally grasp the depth of this Divine Love. So, Jesus gives us parables to make his point, and this one speaks vividly to us today, as we witness each day now, the effects of climate change, corporate and political greed, and the continual rise of materialism.
In today’s gospel, Jesus tells the story of the man who isn’t just rich, he’s extravagantly rich. He’s wearing fine linen garments in purple. Purple dye was extremely costly in that time, so his wardrobe screamed WEALTH. He was wearing his wealth for all to see. It was a case of : Hey look at me! Look at what I’m wearing! In other words, he was making sure everyone saw his wealth…a kind of “in your face” posturing of that time. At his doorstep is a poor man covered in sores named Lazarus, whose name means “God is my help” and is the only character in all of Jesus’ parables given a proper name.
(This is a mythical Lazarus, by the way, not the same who was his beloved friend and brother of Martha and Mary whom he raised from the dead.)
The point of this parable is that this rich man has become so self-absorbed in his excess wealth, his heart has become hardened at the sight of the poor. Remember, in Jesus’ time, if you were sick (as this Lazarus was) you were considered a “sinner”, unclean and shunned.
The scriptures give us many, prophets who called for compassion and mercy, yet this rich man’s heart is oblivious to that. He is swimming in excess wealth and ignores the plight of Lazarus, even though he’s suffering right at his doorstep. Is this rich man operating from a mindset of abundance or scarcity? He has more than enough to share.
Why doesn’t he?
Because this poor man is a considered a sinner?
Is he deciding who is worthy?
Judging?
Do we do the same?
Do we decide who is worthy for help?
What guides us?
We may console ourselves by saying we’d never turn away such a soul.
And yet, social safety nets are being cut. Our country is saying "No to immigrants.
No to Migrants
No to the mentally ill.
No to education.
No to the unhoused."
No anything that does not benefit the billionaires and corporations. We are being told cuts need to be made so that more can go to……..
War?
ICE?
Detention camps?
We often hear the messages of scarcity, such as:
“Why don’t we take care of our Veterans first, instead of those migrants! Those "illegals“! Those druggies.”
Worthiness?
This is a classic cry of scarcity-fear. We live in the richest country on earth. This either/or choice is a classic example of dualistic fear. One or the other, instead of one AND the other. We can do both.
Jesus doesn’t pick and choose which poor to help. So, why do we?
It really comes down to how we live out our spiritual values.
And, to be clear, Jesus doesn’t condemn those with wealth. Much of his ministry was financed by those of substantial means who followed him, such as Mary the Magdalene. They operated out of a sense of abundance. They used their means, their treasure, to help others. Yet, this wealthy man, thinks of no one but himself in this parable. He is operating from a mindset of scarcity. Do you see the difference?
Now, Jesus doesn’t begrudge us to have a full pantry and a roof over our heads. What Jesus speaks to us, especially in today’s world, and particularly to first world countries such as the US vs third world countries.... is the conspicuous over consumption in our society. We seem to have lost sight of what it means to live in moderation.
We might substitute the United States for the Rich Man in purple and the catastrophic famines in our world like Yemen, the Sudan, Ethiopia and Gaza, for the poor man covered in sores.
Why am I mentioning this? To make us all feel guilty?
No, of course not. But as Jesus expresses in today’s Gospel, we are expected to not ignore the poor and to share generously. And to be clear, the United States has, in the past done a lot of good. We can be incredibly generous when offering help to other countries, especially in times of natural disasters. But in the long run? How do we rate? When we consume more than our share, how is that sharing?
Is that living out of abundance or scarcity? Can we be more mindful in living out our lives guided more consciously by our spiritual values?
Do we buy because we really need something, or because we are bored or because we need “retail therapy”? Do we need or do we want? When is enough, enough? How aware are we of our “carbon footprint”?
When we educate ourselves to the problems….when we know better, we are expected to do better. This is another way of living out a spiritual life of abundance! To take more than our share is like hording……which is living fearfully, in a mindset of scarcity, without regard for others’ needs, rather than abundantly, where we share and are generous.
All we have are gifts from God.
These gifts are not ours to hoard. They are meant to be shared and used for the betterment of all.
Over the 7 years I’ve been here, at Emmaus, I’ve seen much generosity. As tiny is our faith community is, we are known in our community for our generosity: Oshkosh Food Pantry; First English Church's Lunch Bunch, the Multicultural Coalition, Inc; Casa Esther, ESTHER-Fox Valley, the Literacy Fund, and many, many other agencies that serve our most marginalized. Emmaus is a shining light and a wonderful example of generosity with God's gifts.
In closing, I invite you to reflect this week on how your spiritual values are reflected in receiving and holding God’s gifts. Is it received and used in abundance or scarcity?
I would like to close with a poem, written by our Fr Mike:
Our life is not our own, but God’s gift.
Our time is not our own, but God’s gift.
Our children are not our own, but God’s gift.
Our health is not our own, but God’s gift.
Our faith is not our own, but God’s gift.
May we open our hearts to God’ love
And reach out to others in love.
Let it be so.
9.14.25 Homily 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time God of Compassion ( Luke 15:1-32)
In this morning’s Gospel-the Good News, we have 3 parables we’ve heard many, many times before. Jesus uses these three parables, each building upon the previous one to bring us one of Jesus’ greatest parables, the one most refer to as “The Prodigal Son”. I think this title tends box the lesson into a very limited lesson. I think a better title is, The Compassionate Father and the two sons. In all three parables, Jesus is showing us a God that is not the vengeful, punitive, or the god of judgment that we so often hear in Leviticus, Exodus, Joshua, Job and many of the Psalms and others. Instead, Jesus gives us a God of unconditional love, inexhaustible compassion, forgiveness and grace. In this morning’s gospel Jesus sees the Pharisees and experts in the law watching him as he welcomes those they considered “sinners”.( Those “sinners” by the way, included the poor, the sick, the crippled and the baren…for in their understood theology, those were considered “God’s punishment for your transgressions, or those of your parents or ancestors.)
So, he begins with the easy example: The shepherd leaving the 99 sheep to search and find the one lost sheep and rejoicing over its safe recovery. He’s saying that none of us are insignificant and that God will go to all lengths to bring us home and rejoices when we return to God.
Likewise, he uses the example of the woman with ten silver coins and upon losing one, burns the lamp oil and sweeps the house until she finds it, and when she does, she is so full of joy she calls together her neighbors to celebrate with her. And, this parable is a bit of a shocker for that time, because… Jesus intentionally uses a woman as the metaphor for God! A woman! Women in that tradition, had little status as it was a heavily patriarchal society. They were subordinate to men.
So, once again, Jesus turns everything upside down and uses this image of a woman going to great lengths to find her lost coin-refusing to give up as how God will never give up on us, and will pursue (and woo) us back . Never forced-but our God will keep knocking on the door of our hearts, and continue to woo us with the love from others, with heart-stopping sunrises and sunsets and with the cries of a newborn. God never forgets us and never gives up on us.
In both these examples, we begin to see and understand the message that God will never cease in calling us back and rejoices when we do return, and the longer and more distant we were before returning, the bigger the celebration! As the late Pope Francis is credited in a saying, “The bigger the sin, the greater God’s compassion.”Jesus’ audience must have been stunned! This was a whole new take on God.
Then Jesus shares the third parable, that on the surface is much the same, God’s unfathomable compassion and joy when we return…….but this time Jesus gives his audience (and us) a twist that turns it all upside down: that older son!
Jesus, in his genius, knows that we all will identify with the older son and he is challenging us to a higher level of consciousness with a twist in this parable. He knows we are going to squirm and feel really uncomfortable with this one.
Humankind operates in a dualistic mindset. It’s centered around the ego; the ego likes to keep score. Our egoic mind will always get stuck in comparing this to that; judging this over this; and keeping score.
When Jesus’ audience (yep, that’s us, too) hears this parable and how the older son is so indignant, saying “That’s not fair! You never even gave my friends and me a party and I’ve slaved away for you all this time…..” , we are nodding our heads in (quiet) sympathy with the older son. It just didn’t feel right or fair, did it? That’s exactly Jesus’ point. Oh, he pushed all our buttons, didn’t he?
Not only that, but this older son’s “slaving away” for his father wasn’t out of his love for his father, it was out of duty. Here is that difference of the heart, shown here for us: Do we do the “right thing” out of just following the rules and expectations or do we do them with a joyfulness and love? There’s a difference !
Jesus is showing us that when we operate from our ego: We’re keeping score. Tit for tat. Jesus is challenging us to look more closely at our own hearts-how each one of us “keeps score”. The older son is complaining out of his “entitlement”. He feels rather superior to his younger brother who’s brought so much grief and embarrassment for the family. He’s believing he’s “better” than little brother. How many of us can identify with this older son? Me too.
It’s what Franciscan Richard Rohr calls “Coming to God by doing it wrong.” Rohr calls this Jesus’ Great Reversal theme. Remember two weeks ago when we examined Jesus’ use of paradox? Well, he’s at it again! Jesus turns everything, including his religious tradition upside down and on its head.
We’ve all been taught, just as in Jesus’ time, that it is all about following the rules. And, in our very early years as children, this served us well. This was our first step in learning how to behave. And most of us were raised that you get to God by doing it right, by following those rules! Jesus gives us a “gotcha!”. We actually come to God by doing it wrong. Why? I have a saying, “It’s in the struggles we learn our lessons.” Through our struggles, our lessons, we can be opened to growth.
Rohr puts it this way:
“The only things strong enough to break open our heart are things like pain, mistakes, unjust suffering, tragedy, failure (3)
I will add, Love and the pain that goes with it in truly, unconditional Love . A Love, to break our hearts open, and I’d suspect there would be pain involved in that too, because to truly love, one must be vulnerable. We humans seem to need to experience and work through situations that we cannot control, fix or understand-what some would call a “Bring them to their knees moments.As Episcopal priest and author, Cynthia Bourgault explains in her book, “The Wisdom Jesus” :
“Jesus is asking us to look closely at that part in each one of us that insists on keeping score, that can’t let go…. into the generosity and the blessedness.” (Like the older son)
How does this parable’s closing scene end? Is it the older son standing alone outside the party, fuming and stubbornly refusing to join the family? Does he hold on to his feelings of being slighted? What a vivid image this brings of how our own ego can hold “……. us back from joining the dance of Divine Mercy (compassion) in full swing all around us. If we’re stuck in the ego, we can’t hear the music.” (1) Cynthia Bourgault
It’s not hard to see how Jesus’ teachings raised more than just a few eyebrows. His entire society and traditions operated on a very dualistic, merit-based system-just like ours, today. And, the religious authorities, just like today…they would rather control people with very base, dualistic, merit based (reward and punishment) systems.
It’s easy to see how Jesus was seen as a threat to all in power. It isn’t much of a stretch to see how this kind of thinking and approach is seen in our society as a threat to the status quo and how those in power will do all they can to minimize and dress anyone delivering such messages as crazy, or blanket them as an enemy.
Let us then consider the use these parables as material for a serious examination of our own hearts and motives. Perhaps a lectio divina? In doing so, perhaps we might ask ourselves:Which one of the characters in the last parable do we identify most closely with? The father, the younger son or the older one? We could us this as a mirror to help us see where we might need to engage in some “self-work” towards our own transformation. This is Jesus’ purpose in today’s parables. It is in the softening of our own hearts that will bring the transformation that we need to continue to grow. Jesus is calling us to transformation-metanoia-that “turning around”.
Jesus has given us our homework- and some difficult challenges to consider and implement. Jesus never calls us to the easy stuff; it’s always the difficult. It is this recognition and the emptying of ourselves -over and over-this is the cross for us. Each of us has our own path to our own Cross of Transformation. Let us take heart as the lost sheep, or the lost coin or as one of the players in the parable of the Compassionate Father and know….truly know that a continual, eternal celebration awaits us with our God.Let it be so.
***Sources:(1)(2) “The Wisdom Jesus”, by Cynthia Bourgeaut , paged 49-51(3)“We Come to God by Doing it Wrong” by Richard Rohr, ofm, Center for Action and Contemplation, 8.3.17September 11, 2022 Reflection by Fr Don Pachuta
8.31.25 Homily “Humility-a Letting Go” 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Luke 14:1, 7-14)
In this morning’s good news, we hear the theme of humility and the Wisdom Jesus teaching in his use of the paradox. We are very familiar with Jesus’s use of it, such as “The last shall be first and the first shall be last”.
We see Jesus using this when he is referring to who sits at the place of honor at the dinner party. He’s teaching us the true meaning of humility.
But first, it is important to understand why Jesus is dining with the Pharisees. One commentary states this is the third time Jesus was dining with them, (Luke 7:36-50 and Luke 11:37-54). Another states that the total of these 3 mentions is the same dinner and things were heating up a bit and that’s why he’s been watched closely (like, what’s going to happen next?)
Jesus is modeling humility in that he is holding space for those who think differently from him…who’s values are different. In Jesus’ time eating together was a way to signify shared values. Although Jesus’ values are very different, and he is well aware the Pharisees oppose him, he sets those differences aside and holds “space” for them. He is demonstrating how we can come together and break bread together, even when we disagree. This was unusual for that time. Like folks dined with like folks, and NOT with the opposition.
Also, in that time, banquets were the occasion for one to enhance their social standing. It’s all about WHO YOU KNOW. (Some things never change.) The closer one sat to the person of honor, the higher their social standing was viewed.
Jesus is trying to teach what true humility in this social gather looks like: For one to choose the lowest place to sit actually elevates their standing and honor. Why? Because it is generous, it is thoughtful to others and it demonstrates this person has enough self worth, and self confidence that they don’t NEED that “preferred seating” to have worth.
As a side note, it also provides this person with the opportunity to get to know those with less social standing…to perhaps open themselves up for the opportunity to know those who have less….to get to understand what their lives are all about. It provides the opportunity to learn. We might, then, share those insights from those with less standing with those who have greater standing. Hopefully, those with greater standing are open to listening to it.
It is easy, though, to fall into the trap of false humility. Taking the lowest seat, hoping that is noticed and then receiving the admiration of others and the invite to sit with the big shots. We should be mindful of this, and be careful not to judge others no matter what the situation may be. We don’t know what lies in the heart of others. We don't always know the backstory. In our own humility, it is important to be aware of our OWN intentions.
That said, in the past, far too many of us were taught that to accept a compliment, to accept an accolade or an invitation to an honor was a sign of pridefulness. Many of us were taught that to claim our gifts and talents was prideful. This is tragic because this is not what Jesus is teaching us, and the years of this mis-understanding of humility resulted in many feeling unworthy and uncomfortable receiving compliments, gifts, or looking in the mirror and being able to even “like” ourselves. Even at communion, many of us were taught to recite the prayer, “Lord, I am not worthy, but only say the word and I shall be healed.” (Referencing Luke 7:6-10) Truly tragic.
This is NOT what Jesus taught. He taught we ARE worthy; we ARE loved; we ARE precious-each and every one of us. We are simply called and we are called to live in a healthy balance of ego: knowing our worth and service to others through Love.
Without specifically saying it, this story is about “letting go”. Letting go of the need to be first, to be recognized, to control, to claim titles, positions, and attention. Those are ego driven “needs”. When we have a healthy sense of our own worth, we don’t NEED those superficial things. We can take great joy in watching others enjoy the spotlight and recognition. We can be happy for them, because we have joy in our hearts.
This is also another example of living into Abundance! When we live in a mindset of Abundance, we don’t need to be the center of attention; we don’t need to control everything; and, we can truly show interest and joy in the lives and accomplishments of others, even when we disagree. We don’t have to force our point of view or our values on to others. (In today’s polarized world, this in understandably difficult, and might not be possible for one reason or another. Still, trying in good faith, and holding space for and the best of intentions might be a place to start…or at least to hope for.)
When we can step aside from all the attention, it may give another a chance to be noticed and not feel excluded.
All of this….this pecking order, the hierarchy, the Who’s Who, Jesus would remind us that all this is, in the end…..stuff. It’s world stuff. We can’t take it with us when we leave this world. How we treat others…how we instill hurt or instill love, THAT we will carry with us.
Jesus gives us these paradoxical stories and parables as a way of inviting us to look deeper….to the WHY we of what we do or don’t do.
He is reminding us that we are all here to learn; to learn how we build the Kin-dom, the Realm of God. We begin our learning by letting go and remaining open to the lessons.In this morning’s story, he teaches us humility and ultimately that no one is really more honored than another in God’s eyes. We are all connected; we are all of one body equally loved and cherished by God.
Let us take this week to settle in and reflect how we might live out today’s lesson in letting go into the abundance of humility.
Let it be so.
This Sunday's Homily 8.24.25 “Inclusivity” 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time( Luke 13:22-30)
There are a few lines in this morning’s gospel that we might find disturbing, not sounding like Jesus’ inclusivity at all. It will be helpful if we listen to his message through the Wisdom Jesus lens.To begin with, in both the First and Second readings, we hear the messages of inclusivity…of a universal invitation and acceptance by God.In the First Reading, which is near the end of the book of Isaiah, it is speaking of what is happening to the people of Israel and Judea. The author of Isaiah is saying that the Temple of Yahweh isn’t just for them, but for all the world. The message is that this isn’t to be a tribal, “only if you’re members of the club” thing. God is for everyone.God is not tribal. God is not exclusionary. You don’t have to belong to this church or this religion, or any religion at all. You don’t even have to believe this dogma or doctrine either. God’s love is not transactional; his love is for everyone. Universally Inclusive. No one gets left out. No one is excluded.Jesus is asked, “Who will be saved?” (when their underlying question really is “who’s right and who’s wrong”). Jesus answers with his parable that tells us, “It is all up to you-your choice” and what another’s “salvation might be” is really none of your concern.Jesus is teaching them, and us, that each of us is responsible for our own spiritual destiny. His parable about the narrow door and what happens with our choices, illustrates this point. It is up to each one of us to take responsibility for our own spiritual life in this world and beyond. Just as we heard a few Sundays ago, “Where your treasure is, so is your heart.” We may wonder, how do we navigate this? How do we name, honestly, were our treasure is? We might begin by asking ourselves each morning as we begin our day and each night as we reflect on our day, “How am I living a life centered and rooted in Christ Love for myself and for others? What does that look like? Where is my focus? Do I take my spiritual life seriously? Is it my daily priority or is it a Sunday church thing?” These questions, I believe, shed light on what the “narrow door” might be for each one of us.Jesus goes on to say that many will try and not be strong enough and the master will lock the door.Wow, that sounds like we’re getting kicked out! Rather exclusionary sounding, isn’t it? We know from Jesus that God excludes no one. Rather, we exclude ourselves. The Wisdom Jesus meaning here is that it takes focus, discipline and spiritual strength to keep ourselves in check and “re-boot” when needed. We generally focus on this during Lent and Advent, but this should really be part of our daily spiritual practice. I seek out my Spiritual Director and a trusted spiritual mentor when I’m feeling spiritually lost or unsettled. Sometimes what I discover can be so glaring I struggle to understand why I couldn’t see the obstacles right in front of me. Sometimes it’s so glaring, it stings. And yet, this re-boot, from time to time is what our human nature needs!And, this is what God calls us to….to the re-examining of ourselves-what our motives are, we might be allowing ourselves to stray from that door? From that Christ Love? How are we not quite fitting through that door? What is holding us back? We do we need to let go of?Is God inviting us? Yes. Is God locking the door, excluding us. NoIt is a call for self-accountability. WE are the master of our house…our spiritual house. We lock ourselves out, not God.No one is excluded unless they choose to. Jesus is giving all of us a heads up! He’s saying…take stock…look, really look at ourselves….not at others….ourselves….us.John Paul II stated (1999) that there is not geographical heaven or hell; instead these are states of being-of consciousness. So, what Jesus is telling us is that if we reject a life living in love serving the poor, the marginalized, working for peace, etc and choose, instead to a life living in a state of anger, hatred, judgment, division and exclusion, this is the state of consciousness our life will leave with as we take our last breath, with a door closed, completely by our own choosing.If, instead, we choose to love, striving to forgive, striving to serve the poor, the marginalized, and checking ourselves for spiritual improvement, trying to overcome our human tendencies towards unjust anger, division, judgment, etc, we will leave our life with a door wide open. Open, because we kept it open with our Christ Love.Contrary to what many of us where taught, God does not send anyone to hell. We make our own heaven and our own hell, starting right here, on earth. Jesus is telling us, it is our choice. Remember the scripture, “Where your treasure is, so is your heart.”? This is it. If our treasure….our heart, is trying to live in love and in communion with one another, we are living our heaven. If our treasure is power, anger, hatred, greed, division, excluding “these people over these people”, choosing who is worthy and who is not…..we are choosing our own hell. Without any judgment, but just observing those in our national and global world spreading hate, lies, and division….do we see peace? Do we see Christ Love? We can see this many times in our own families or communities. Do we see peace, happiness? Or do we see those who choose misery? Do we see some of this in ourselves? We can change. We can choose love, forgiveness, tenderness, empathy, service.Jesus tells us there will be those who think they are “first”…..“We drank and dined with you!” But, did you feed the hungry, did you clothe and shelter the poor? Did you open your hearts to the immigrant, the trans, the unsheltered sleeping under the freeway overpasses?This is why Jesus says that the door may be closed, and the master’s response is, “I don’t know where you are from.” Because, we are our own master and we chose to close the door to these marginalized folks. We carried hatred, judgment, division in our hearts. We close our own door. Jesus is showing us that it is a choice. Our choice. This choice isn’t just for Christians, for Catholics. It’s not about the tribe or club you belong to. It’s your attitude….what you carry in your heart. There will be many good hearted, loving, caring Muslims, Jews, Hindus and atheists who have listened to God’s loving promptings in their hearts and have lovingly served the hungry, the destitute, and the unwelcomed. They will enter through a bright, wide door.Finally, we need not worry about perfection. Yes, we will screw up. There will be times, in our own humanness, that we make poor choices. This is where that self-examination, this self-check comes in. We must open ourselves regularly to examine our spiritual journey and our choices. God does not judge us. God simply keeps sending us invitations to love. And as long as we keep saying , “Yes” to God’s invitations, we will continue to grow and learn and find plenty of room inside that door.So, let us welcome God’s invitation these next weeks to focus in (again) on what our treasure is, where are heart is and how we can live out our lives in Christ’s Inclusive Love.
Let it be so.
8.10.25 Homily “Letting Go” 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Luke 12:22-34)
“ Do not be afraid, little flock for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kin-dom (Realm of God).“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
These two statements by Jesus, I think, tell us how to live out the building of the Realm of God, the Kin-dom, here, on earth.Jesus is assuring us of our own worth, and God’s delight in our efforts to build this Kin-dom. And, he is giving us direction as to where our focus needs to be.How many of us find ourselves consumed with worry? Consumed with “what I need to accomplish?” Consumed with, “Am I good enough?” Jesus is inviting us to self-emptying….the “letting go” so that we can be filled God’s graces and invitations. When we fill ourselves up with these concerns and worries, there is little room left for God’s invitations. Jesus isn’t saying our concerns and worries don’t matter. It’s not a “This or That” (dualistic) solution. He’s saying, don’t let it consume you….don’t let it be your “treasure”….don’t let it rule your heart. It is about Balance.Jesus calls us, over and over, to embrace Abundance. When we allow ourselves to be consumed with worry or with the values of the World (getting ahead, power, status, control) we are actually limiting ourselves ….we are are closing ourselves off to God’s invitations for God’s care, love and opportunities. This is living in Scarcity.-Which is driven by fear.When reading this gospel, I was reminded of another saying given to us in scripture (Galatians 6:7-9) “What you sow, so shall you reap.”Where we place our heart-our focus, our treasure….lays the foundation for what we will receive (what we reap). When we live inclusive, loving lives-welcoming the stranger, the foreigner, the one who is different, we are living out our treasure of Abundance.When we reach out to others having a difficult time with kind hearts and an open, non-judgmental ear, we are living out our treasure of Abundance.Jesus is calling us to open ourselves up by letting go of what is holding us back. He’s giving us an invitation to examine our lives, and to ask ourselves, honestly, where our focus lives. Is there something that consumes us so much, we find ourselves unable to change, let go, and to let anything in? We do live in the world, and how we live in it and how we approach all the stresses and difficulties is exactly what Jesus is bringing our attention to. Especially in today’s world. Jesus is brilliant, because without naming it…he’s calling us to examine our own egos. And, this can be difficult for us. This can sting.What is real my motivation for doing this or that? Is it ego ( I’m saving the world) or is it compassion and love-knowing my own limitations and doing what I can, in a healthy way, and with great love? What consumes my thoughts? Is it ego driven? Do I need to control and correct? Or, is it love driven? Do I support, include, accompany others?Can I Love myself? Living in and with healthy boundaries and expectations for myself and for others?We, here at Emmaus, are a community full of compassion and love. We are also a community stretched …many of us wearing many hats, carrying many expectations. Let us treat ourselves to a week or two of inner self reflection, and perhaps re-boot as to what our treasure is. It might be just a tweak here and there, or it might help us to be more open to a different journey or set of expectations.Let us then, be courageous in our treasure hunt…searching out and finding the treasure God most desires for us.
Let it be so.
This Sunday's Homily- July 27
Martha And Mary-Jesus lifts up ALL women! (Luke 10:38-42)
Our Gospel today, I believe, is a lesson on building the Kin-dom of God. -The Realm of God. I believe the foundation of this is the inclusivity of ALL of humankind and then living out the balance of Contemplation (listening) and Action (service).
An important piece to this, I believe, is when reading the scriptures, such as this story of Martha and Mary, the meaning or lesson may change once we understand the context, traditions and culture of that time.
This understanding has not always been apparent in earlier translations done by those who already hold a cultural or theological bias. We are fortunate in this day to be the receivers of translations that are more thoroughly grounded through the work of less biased experts.
For years I would listen to this gospel and just be so irritated. Martha is cast as the complainer, doing all the work while “pious Mary” listens to Jesus and lifts not a finger; and then Jesus rebuking Martha because she didn’t make the ‘”better” choice.
Easy to make judgments, right?
This story, unfortunately, has been a victim of misunderstanding, misinterpretation and mistranslation. With the recent studies of the scriptures by contemporary biblical scholars through the lens of culture, tradition and contexts of that time and less bias, some commentaries have offered us a very different take on many of the most familiar stories such as Martha and Mary. First, there’s a whole lot going on here:Jesus is lifting women up, welcoming their education and inviting discipleship while still honoring hospitality.Jesus is turning society and cultural norms upside down.Jesus is showing us a healthy balance between service and contemplation.All of this boils down to: Service and Contemplation (listening, learning) is paramount and does not get awarded according to gender, tradition, status, or what society deems as “worthy”. In God’s eyes, ALL are worthy.
In Jesus’ time, women held little status and were not formally educated. So, for a woman to set aside her tasks in hospitality, in front of a guest, would be unthinkable. Still worse, would be a woman shunning this task of hospitality and instead, be found sitting on the floor at the feet of the Rabbi.
In this time, only the men would be sitting on the ground at the feet of a Rabbi, a posture that also indicated discipleship.Women were never invited to listen to the teachings, especially in this manner. They were not invited to discipleship. So for a woman to “leave the kitchen” (so to speak) in favor of this was just unthinkable! Scandalous! THIS is what shocked Martha, the most! This behavior of Mary was scandalous and simply unheard of in that time! Mary would have been expected to be helping Martha in supporting hospitality to their guest. And the fact that Jesus was a close personal friend of the family would not have release these women from society’s expectations. However, Jesus, understands the social norms. And to everyone’s astonishment he doesn’t shoo Mary into the kitchen. He has welcomed Mary’s discipleship as she sits at his feet listening. Martha is confused and full of worry. This all is NOT accepted behavior for women! What must Jesus think?
Now, Jesus, of course, is a close friend of the family, so Martha feels comfortable asking Jesus to intervene and set everything straight.Why would Martha feel so comfortable in this request of Jesus? It helps to recall that it was Martha who seeks Jesus out to tell him of Lazarus’ death and imploring him in her grief, “…if only you had been here he would not have died..” She feels comfortable sharing her grief and her honest disappointment with Jesus.It is to Martha that Jesus makes one of the greatest declarations, “I am the resurrection and the Life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die.” This promise, holds one of the central truths of Christianity, is first given to Martha, his close female friend-not the other disciples, but to her in her hour of grief over the death of her brother, Lazarus.
With this understanding, we know that Martha would be comfortable sharing with her dear friend, Jesus, her shock and annoyance that her sister is not acting properly in not helping her fulfill what is expected from both of them and is instead, scandalously assuming the position and “rights” of a man, sitting at his feel. (And, no doubt she is probably wondering “Why is he allowing this?”) Martha is confident that all will be well once she speaks to Jesus.
But of course, Jesus was used to scandalous behavior. His disciples and apostles were made up of women who followed him) They were not just the “hangers on”-the “groupies”.The women followed him ….with or without husbands they were welcomed by Jesus as disciples, though very few are named in scripture beyond the Myrrh-bearers and the mentions in Paul’s writings. (An example: Junia is named as an apostle in Romans 16:7)
So, here we have Mary, engaging in this scandalous behavior-listening and learning and perhaps in conversation with Jesus while her sister, Martha, is behaving as her culture and traditions calls her to do: providing hospitality to a visitor.
Now, hospitality was a huge part of their culture. As we heard in the first reading from the book of Genesis, about Abraham’s hospitality to Yahweh’s 3 angels, hospitality was one of the central, binding fabrics for the Hebrew culture.
In most of the translations and commentaries about Martha and Mary, this importance of hospitality is ignored or dismissed. The tone and translations, instead paint a judgmental, condemnation of Martha’s behavior. This is so dualistic and reflects the gender and cultural biases of past translations. For instance, most translations still read: “Mary has chosen the better part of it; it will not be taken away from her.” The Greek word used actually translates as “good” not better or best. Because of this mis-translation Martha has been pitted against Mary. It’s been an either/or choice for Martha. Unfortunate because Jesus was actually lifting Mary and Martha up as equals to men. As earlier stated, only men sat at the foot to listen and learn from a Rabbi….not women. THIS is why Jesus says, “….and it will not be taken away from her.” Jesus is, in effect, saying that this opportunity to hear, learn and be welcomed as a disciple will not be taken from her because she is a woman. This is monumental! Jesus is the first to lift women up and educate them as equals. This was contrary to all the social norms of his culture and time. This is huge!And, Jesus was also lifting Martha up, unshackling her from society’s limited expectations of her and INVITING HER to come and join Mary in listening and learning. This is why Jesus says, that Mary has chosen what is good. Not better, but good. It is good that women have the opportunity to learn….to be educated….to be a disciple.
So, Jesus’ response to Martha, especially with this different context, is not a rebuke as is commonly interpreted, but rather an acknowledgement of her cultural instilled worry about “her place” and “Mary’s place” and extending an invitation to her to come sit at his feet too, as a disciple. (Just as a man could).
With this context, we might reframe this story and instead of hearing a scolding we might hear Jesus gently and soothingly inviting….. “Martha, Martha….” This changes the meaning and intent of this whole story! It also reveals to us more clearly how inclusive Jesus was and how radical he would appear to those of his culture and time.
In this story, Jesus is also showing them (AND US), that it is important to have a BALANCE between service (Martha’s hospitality) and contemplation (Mary’s listening) and that this is not to be taken away from us-no matter what society or what the “world” pigeon holes us into.
This story can be a lesson for each of us, to examine our own lives as to our own Martha and Mary inclinations and practices.It’s not the dualistic message that has been, for too long, translated and communicated to us that it is this or that. Rather, Jesus is teaching us that it is THIS AND THAT.
Balance
Even in the name of Franciscan Richard Rohr’s Center for Action and Contemplation, we are reminded of how we can carry this balance out as a larger community.
We strive to carry this out here, in our smaller community of Emmaus, as we work to balance out our attention and practice in prayer and liturgy as well as our attention to the marginalized in our community through to incredible work of our Charity and Advocacy Ministry and our tender love and care held in cards, phone calls, and visits through our Mother Theresa Ministry. Many in our little community regularly advocate for care and justice, reaching out to immigrants and refugee families, and engage in the support of our faith community.Balance
As Rev. Trish Vanni from Charis, our sister ECC parish in Minnesota wrote regarding this gospel:
“As we become mature disciples, we realize that the task is not to choose between action and contemplation, but to learn how to keep the two practices in balance. We must learn to honor and fulfill the commitments we’ve made but not become so overtaxed that our interior lives remain barren and neglected. Mary and Martha represent two sides of a spiritual coin, we must learn to honor each face so that in harmony we can create a whole person-a truly mature disciple.”
So, this is a LOT! Perhaps this week we might contemplate this story and the many lessons we can learn for it. Let us ask ourselves how are we like Martha? How are we like Mary?How are we at times like both of them? How to we live in balance?Let us go forth then, and strive live out the invitations as Martha and Mary..Let it be so
Sources:
https://escapetoreality.org/.../jesus-pioneer-of-womens.../Scripture reflection on Mary and Martha: 7.16.25, Fr Don Pachutahttps://newbreak.church/cultural-context/ “The Hidden Surprise in the Story of Martha and Mary” by Rev. Lucy Peppiatt, Phd
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