Worship God or His gifts?

Homily Outline for the 8th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

Last week we heard from the preceding chapter in the aGospel of Matthew. Jesus told us to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect… this is a tall order, but it truly is our calling in Christ: holiness, perfection. I asked a bunch of rhetorical questions, but I think the most important was this: Are you satisfied? If we listen to the hunger God places in our hearts, we won’t shuffle our feet or shy away from God’s call.

This week St. Matthew continues by recounting the rich encouragement Jesus gives us to stay the course, to seek the Lord. We are not yet perfect, and sometimes our brokenness and weakness can be very discouraging. That was very vivid for me this morning – I went to check a beaver trap in a very large and thick swamp. As I strode away from the car on my snowshoes, the sky was blue, the air was crisp (about 4 º) and I was VERY content with myself, the mighty trapper! 40 minutes later I was at the empty trap with a broken snowshoe. I tried heading back without the snowshoes, and it was quickly apparent that would take me several hours as I floundered along breaking through the crust. I put both snowshoes back on, and ignoring further damage I got back to my car after missing my trail for an extra mile or so. As I struggled through the brush, I was reminded how precarious one can be… I did have a cell phone, signal, a knife, hot coffee, a lighter… and yet I realized how easy it would be to be lost and cold and afraid. I was also hoping there were no mountain lions or wolves noticing my uneven step and heavy breathing… I might have looked very vulnerable and tasty, not to mention filling!

What does God have to say to us when we’re vulnerable and afraid? Far more than being lost in a swamp, on any given day many of us may feel scared, or sad, or discouraged… perfection, if it’s still visible at all, seems a very distant glimmer. Our first reading reminds us that we’re not alone, “Zion said, ‘The LORD has forsaken me; my LORD has forgotten me.’ Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you.” Since God called Abraham 4000 years ago it has often been the case that we feel as if God is far away. Speaking through Isaiah, God tells us that He NEVER forgets us.

Different things may lead us to feel far from God. Sometimes it may well be that we have walked away from Him. As we seek to find satisfaction and peace, we may attempt to fulfill that desire in ways that are doomed to fail. If we seek worldly peace and security, are hearts will continue to be restless and yearn for more. A friend once shared a dream he had with me… in the dream he was told that Jesus would come again in one week. He began to think of all the things he would do for his family: a shiny new SUV, some really sumptuous restaurant dinners, sparing no expense… then all of a sudden he realized how off base his heart was! Faced with the end of time, he was seeking to do good, yes, but in a way that was almost entirely material, and even superficial. Only in God will our souls be at rest! God is the rock of our strength, our refuge.

The worldly things we desire are not bad in and of themselves… but they must come after God, or they will lead us to hell, both here and in eternity… “Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides.” Food, drink, clothing, shelter, love, family, joy… God will give us what we need, but we turn our back on God if we seek His gifts instead of seeking Him! These gifts are good, but they must not be first!

Here’s some ways to test where your heart is: What do you spend most of your time doing? What do you think about most of the time? What do you talk about most of the time? How often do you turn to God in prayer? What are most of your emails, phone calls, or texts about? If God’s far down the list, or not even on it, it’s time to re-evaluate! Most of us have to spend a lot of time at work, but do we offer that to God as a gift, or do we strike out on our own? Many of you are responsible for your retirement, your children, your spouse… It is not true that this is only up to you! God will help you. Perhaps worldly success is the most dangerous of all, even more dangerous that discouragement. If we’ve found our place and built our barns, we might begin to believe that we don’t need God.

Jesus mentions the beauty and joy of the birds of the air and the flowers of the field. We cannot extend our lives by a single moment through worry and self-sufficiency. We CAN be filled with God’s joy and help if we will turn to Him and ask… that most joyful of men, St. Francis, had nothing and was filled with peace. Our various vocations may not lead us to follow this literally, but each one of us must surrender our lives and cares to God if we want to walk with Him. May the Eucharist we are about to receive fill us with an abiding knowledge of God’s love and presence, and help us to surrender all to Him.

Crossing the Chasm

Homily Outline for the 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

 

Leviticus 19:1-2, 17-18

Psalm 103:1-2, 3-4, 8, 10, 12-13

1 Corinthians 3:16-23

Matthew 5:38-48

 

            Not this past week, but the week before I had the privilege of spending a week with the monks of Holy Transfiguration Skete up in the Keweenaw... these are the monks who make all the good muffins, cookies and jam at the Jam Pot!  Unfortunately, they're not baking this time of year, so I didn't get to sample the goodies.  I really enjoyed my time with them, and I wanted to join, but they said my beard was too short, so I had to come back!  In all seriousness, it was a time of retreat, a time for prayer and reflection.  They live a very counter-cultural life of prayer, poverty, chastity, and obedience.  Not only do they live this out of the conviction that it is the vocation God calls them to, but they are also a sign of contradiction and a challenge to the world, and to us.

            This past week at Catholic Campus Ministry, Fr. Larry gave a talk about what it means to be countercultural in light of our faith, the introduction to a series of presentations on ways that our faith calls us to stand up for truth.  To be a Catholic Christian is not simply to counter or go against culture… in any time and place, in every generation, there are some aspects of the culture that are good, and others that are unhealthy.  However, in every time and place Jesus Christ calls us to march to the beat of His drum, the drum of truth and goodness and beauty.  This beat, which speaks to us in the Church, in the Scriptures, and in our own conscience, is what we are to use to measure our lives and decisions, to direct and guide our path.

            The portions of the Word of God that we have heard at this Eucharist are particularly challenging, especially when taken together!  What rhythm, what beat, what pattern does God call us to?  Listen to three quick quotes: Leviticus, “Be holy, for I, the LORD, your God, am holy.”  First Corinthians, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”  The Gospel of Matthew, “So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”  This sounds like a sustained theme, a consistent message, an entirely radical and countercultural approach in any age: Be Perfect… even, be perfect as God is perfect!  

            God calls us to be holy, to be perfect… I don’t know about your life, or even an average day in your life, but in my life, that sounds rather like a pipe dream!  When we hear this call from God, there is a great danger that the major disconnect between our brokenness and perfection can cause us to turn away, or to walk on past this call.  To whatever extent we are capable of looking into our hearts with honesty, we can’t help but notice a pretty big chasm between the confusion, pain, or even boredom we find there, and God’s perfect beauty and joy.

            What does this call to be perfect, to be holy, mean then?  Why even try?  I think we need to reject some common false images before we can zero in on holiness.  First of all, this does not mean that God wants us to turn in the accumulated result of our good works, like a term paper, in hopes that we’ll get an A!  To follow this call will cost us everything, but it’s not primarily our accomplishment… it is not so much work we do for God, but work God can do in us.  Secondly, this is not a call to “be a good person.”  Unfortunately, that can often imply, “hey, look, lots of people around me are worse!  God should be grateful at all the bad things I could have done that I didn’t!  Isn’t this enough, God, I mostly play by the rules…”  This is not what the Word of God is saying, but rather we are actually called to perfection, not just to be graded on a curve, and to do better than average.  Finally, the call to perfection and holiness is not a call to be spiritual perfectionist, to be obsessed with minutiae, to be judgmental towards ourselves and others.  It is not a call to be harsh and unyielding in our adherence to the Law of God.

            All three of these misperceptions stem from seeing this call primarily in terms of our own efforts.  If we are “Temples of the Holy Spirit,” that suggests that the very life and love of God dwells within us!  God knows to whom He speaks, He knows the mess in our hearts and lives, and yet He still calls us.  We look honestly into our brokenness not to court despair, but to open up to our need for a savior, the very Lord Jesus Christ who suffered, died, and rose again for us.  John Paul II, soon to be beatified, was very fond of quoting Gaudium et Spes #22 “Christ, the final Adam, by the revelation of the mystery of the Father and His love, fully reveals man to man himself and makes his supreme calling clear.”  This is from one of the four principal documents of the Second Vatican Council.  Christ reveals us to ourselves – as we gaze upon the Lord, we not only learn of God’s love for us, but we can begin to see the journey we are called to walk.  We are not starry-eyed with false optimism: we are not now perfect, we are indeed weak, we will make mistakes, but that doesn’t mean settling for now, for today, for the status quo.  Jesus Himself calls us deeper, and shows us what deeper looks like.  Ask yourself… Are you satisfied?  Ask God to give you a hunger and thirst for holiness.  What is locked up in your heart?  What old wounds are locked up that need to be unbound?  What lust, or bitterness, or envy needs to be washed away and surrendered?  Have you allowed yourself to believe that God still loves you in the midst of brokenness?  His love for us is perfect, unfailing, and faithful, completely undimmed by our lack of faith.  Can we embrace that love, receive it once again?  It is God’s unfailing love that will transform us if we accept and receive it each day, each moment.

            At this Eucharist we who are not yet perfect, we who hunger for holiness, we who are temples in need of sweeping will approach this altar.  The one who is perfect and holy offers us once again His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity.  The power and grace to transform our hearts comes to us now… will we embrace it and be transformed?

Going to visit the monks with the middle-schoolers!

This past Sunday we had a wonderful trip up to Holy Transfiguration Skete to visit the good monks there!  There were 19 of us, and we had a wonderful day featuring monk chili, a tour of the monastery and church, and solemn sung vespers.  On the way home we feasted on pizza at Irene's in Baraga!

Check out the rest of the pictures from the trip here:  Pilgrimage Pictures

I also was able to spend last week with the monks on retreat, pictures of that HERE.

God Bless,
Fr. Ben

Retreat with the Monks!

I'm heading up north this afternoon for some days with the monks at Holy Transfiguration Skete. I am eager for a time of prayer and rest!  Please keep me in your prayers, as I will keep all you blog readers in mine.

God Bless,
Fr. Ben Hasse

From a pilgrimage to Holy Transfiguration Skete with Catholic Campus Ministry this past fall.

Shall we be salt and light?

Homily Outline for the 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

Some of you may have been at a recent Parish Leadership meeting that I regret being unable to attend. One reason I regret my absence is that some comment was made about my alleged impact on the priest food budget! Someone may have suggested that as the diocese currently pays my salary, and the parish my benefits, including the food allowance, it might be a better deal to switch!

Say what you want about my culinary habits, but the Holy Word of God seems to discuss food quite frequently! That’s not why I love God’s Word, but it doesn’t hurt. Today we Christians are told by our Lord to be the Salt of the Earth. We are to give flavor and savor to every place by our faith, hope, and love. As Catholics, we are to be the zip and pizazz in the world, intensifying all that is good. Is that how we live? Do we live up to that mandate?

Paul tells us that he came to Corinth proclaiming the mystery of God, knowing nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified. Paul brought the Corinthians the TRUTH, without frills, a TRUTH that is compelling not because it is all dressed up, but simply because it is true. God came to save us Himself, He took on flesh and dwelt among us. He cast out demons, healed, and taught. He was imprisoned, beaten, judged, mocked, and killed on the Cross for our sins, and rose again in Glory, conquering Sin and Death. We are offered the fruits of this victory, a share in this resurrection at every Mass. We believe this and live this not because it is convenient, not because it is comfortable. As Paul says in another place, if Jesus did not rise from the dead, we are the greatest of fools. This is true, and because it is true, it can and should transform our lives.

When we ARE transformed by this, then we give flavor and savor to the world! When we are transformed by Christ, we fulfill Isaiah’s description of light breaking forth: we share our bread with the hungry, shelter the oppressed and the homeless; clothe the naked, and turn away from no one. Like the dawn, the light of Christ’s truth shows forth the beauty of faith, hope, and love, and wounds are healed.

Sunrise this past fall from Mt. Marquette

 It is true that we live in a land where there is still plenty of hunger and nakedness, but it is also a land of prosperity, a land where the immense majority of people live in physical comfort incomprehensible in any other time and place. In any given day many of us may meet very few people who are starving physically, but there is still starvation all around us. What are most people in our land starving for? Precisely the truth Paul proclaims – the love and healing that Christ offers. As we respond in a real way to physical poverty, may we not neglect or ignore the much greater and more universal spiritual poverty into which our country is rapidly descending.

Spiritual poverty is especially found wherever lies and deceit become commonplace. For instance, “Just do what feels good.” Or, “If you acquire enough things your heart will be at peace.” Or, “Who knows if God exists, there are more important things to deal with.” Or, “Religion is just an opinion, we can’t really know what’s true.” These are shadows that are to be found all around us, this is the absence of salt that cause the good things of this life to be tasteless in the mouths of so many of our brothers and sisters.

So, this evening, let’s look into our hearts and see what’s there… Do we know Jesus and Him crucified? Do we listen to the prompting our consciences, formed in the light of Christ and His Church? Do we turn to the Lord in prayer every single day? Do we build our lives around Truth, or around convenience and comfort and expediency? No one here, and I put myself at the head of the line, have yet been fully conformed to the fire of truth and love that is Christ’s heart. But from right where we are at this moment, we are invited forward in the mystery and adventure of conversion. Jesus calls you and me to be salt and light, however improbable that might be! He doesn’t call us because we’re perfect, He calls us because He’s perfect, and He loves us perfectly! We are all beggars before the Lord, however much or little may be in our bank accounts or in our garages! Precisely as beggars we are able to respond to this call with joy.

The world around us needs flavor and savor and light to pierce the shadows and dullness of falsehood and un-loveliness. Jesus pierced these shadows and sharpened dullness into joy. In just moments we will be offered His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. May we offer to the Lord on this altar our hearts and lives. As we receive from this altar this MOST PRECIOUS EUCHARIST, may we be disposed and willing to be transformed into Salt and Light for a world that need us desperately!