Tag: disciple

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Set the World on Fire

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Set Your World on Fire!

Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time Mass Readings

First Reading: Jeremiah 38:4-6, 8-10
Psalm: Psalm 40:2, 3, 4, 18
Second Reading: Hebrews 12:1-4
Gospel: Luke 12:49-53

“I have come to set the earth on fire,” (Luke 12:49).

Okay…what does this mean?

Jesus came to set fire to the earth. This is very often interpreted to mean the fire of the Holy Spirit which will be set upon the earth after Jesus endures the baptism of his passion and death.<1> But Jesus goes on in this same verse to say, “…how I wish it were already blazing!” And then he goes on to say that his message will divide people and divide families. Why? What’s going on here?

Well, I think it’s too easy to get caught up in the mechanics of life. It’s too easy to be caught up in all the things this world tells us are important or necessary – contradictory messages that you can have it all, so apply for that new credit card, against the message of saving and investing. It can be so confusing, and at the same time so tempting. We’re drawn into the realities of this world, often out of necessity, and find that we work and work and hardly get ahead in life. I often wonder if the enemy hasn’t rigged the system to keep so many of us distracted from what’s really important – to keep our eyes off Jesus. And so, we get caught in the rat race – a proverbial hamster wheel from which many will never escape. The rat race traps us in into mediocre and unfulfilled lives.

But Jesus came to set the world on fire! He came to smash the hamster wheel, if we’ll let him. He came to lift us out of the rat race, if we accept him. He came to offer us the chance to be the people we are called to be.

So, where do we start? The answer to that question is an invitation to discipleship, which is the overall theme of our readings today.

First, as we heard in the Letter to Hebrews, we need to confess our sins, (Heb 12:1). Why? Look, happiness and fulfillment aren’t out there somewhere. You can’t go out and try to find your happiness and you will never find it in a cherry-red convertible. Happiness isn’t something that will magically come tomorrow. Happiness is available to us right here and right now. We need to confront the sin and the pain and hurt in our lives so that we can let it go and move on and experience the joy that Jesus offers us right now – today!

Second, we need to accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. That means we need to keep our eyes on Jesus, as we find in today’s second reading from the Letter to the Hebrews. For many of us, this means reigniting the fire of our baptism. Allowing the Holy Spirit to set fire to our lives means that we surrender our attachment to this world – to everything which distracts us, like money, possessions, control, social media. By detaching ourselves, we then can take our rightful place as stewards using wealth and resources as tools rather than allowing ourselves to become slaves to the tools.

Next, we need to deepen our relationship with Jesus. We do this in several different ways. We can try to learn more about Jesus intellectually, like participating in Bible study programs or like going to talks offered by your church or in your area. We build on the intellectual by spending time with Jesus in prayer and in the mass. In our Catholic tradition, there are even opportunities to sit with Jesus during adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. But here’s the catch: we mustn’t try this exclusively alone. Yes, there are some aspects of this we do as individuals, but Jesus didn’t just come to save you and to save me. He came to us in the context of the community. That’s what the Kingdom of God is – a community. So, we need to reach out to those who are on the same journey we are on and discover the gift of seeing Jesus in their eyes. That’s beautiful! That’s a gift!

Finally, we need to share the gift of faith, the gift of salvation, the gift to rise above the rat race with other people. We need to witness to the one savior, Jesus Christ, to his church, to the community of believers. We need to witness to the fullness of salvation available through Jesus Christ. <2> This is what it means to be a missionary disciple.

Setting the hamster wheel a blaze, spending more time with Jesus and sharing the saving message of Jesus Christ and the gift of his church on earth are not popular messages. Walking this path could strain friendships and divide families. This path is not easy. In our first reading, they threw Jeremiah in a cistern for speaking out against an unjust war. Think about St. Teresa of Calcutta. Yes, she dedicated her life to serving those on the margins, but she fought years of doubt and depression in order to carry out God’s will. Or St. Agatha, the twelve-year-old girl who endured all kinds of torture, including disfigurement and sexual assault, but she would not deny her faith in Jesus Christ. Bishop St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More refused to go along with a man who wanted to make himself head of the Church in England and paid for it with their lives. And of course, they crucified Jesus for his radical message. <3>

But Jesus endured cross so that you and I might not, “grow weary and lose heart,” (Heb 12:2-3). We are challenged as disciples to keep running the race, (Heb 12:1). We are emboldened by the virtue of fortitude, which is both a gift of the Holy Spirit and a quality inherent in the human person. By allowing the fires of discipleship to consume the yoke that enslaves us to this world, we can help others rise above the distractions which keep our eyes off Jesus, and we can introduce others to Jesus Christ. Our salvation cannot be found in our bank ledger or our in our possessions. Those things are fleeting and can easily be lost or taken away from us. Our salvation comes from the undeserved, unmerited grace of God. Our salvation comes from the scandal of the cross. Our salvation comes from the blood of Jesus Christ. Our salvation comes through the fire of the Holy Spirit. Are you ready to set your world fire?

Homework! After being nourished by the Word of God proclaimed and by the Eucharist, I encourage you to reflect on these questions this week.

  1. We didn’t get a chance to discuss it, but who do you think the “cloud of witnesses” in the second reading from the Letter to the Hebrews refers to? What do you think everyone in the cloud of witnesses has in common?
  2. Does the radical unconditional love that God has for you cause resistance or division in your heart? If yes, why?

I think by doing our homework, we will be able to become more authentic witnesses as the disciples Jesus calls us to be. Do you got it? Do you get it? Are you going to do it? Good! May Almighty God bless you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. +Amen!

Notes:
<1> The Gospel of Luke by Pablo T. Gadenz, Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture, Baker Academic (2018).
<2> A History of The Christian Tradition by Thomas D. McGonigle and James F. Quigley, Paulist Press (1996).
<3> St. Teresa of Calcutta
St. Agatha
St. John Fisher
St. Thomas More
St. Catherine of Sienna

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Are You Ready?

A blurry photo of colorful lights reflected in water with the caption keep your lamps burning Luke 12:34

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Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Mass Readings

First Reading: Wisdom 18:6-9
Psalm: Psalm 33:1, 12, 18-19, 20-22
Second Reading: Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19
Gospel: Luke 12:32-48

Are you ready? The servants Jesus tells us about in today’s parable are. The lamps are lit, their loins girt and they are waiting for their master to knock on the door. They don’t know when he is coming, but they know he will come at some point. What a great example of faith, right?

What is faith? I’d like to share an example from one of our family’s favorite movies – the 1994 movie Santa Claus with Tim Allen. I know this is a secular example, but hang with me a minute, okay?

Let me set the scene a little. Neil, played by Judge Reinhold, is Charlie’s stepfather. Charlie, played by Eric Lloyd, is Scott Calvin’s son. Scott Calvin is played by Tim Allen who of course becomes Santa Claus, only, shhh because it’s a secret!

In the movie, there’s a scene where Neil challenges Charlie’s belief that his dad is Santa Claus. He says, “What about Santa’s reindeer? Have you ever seen a reindeer fly?” Charlie answers, “Yes,” to which Neil responds, “Well, I haven’t.” And here’s Charlie’s faith-filled response. He asks Neil, “Have you ever seen a million dollars?” Neil says, “No.” Then Charlie says, “Just because you can’t see something, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.” Absolutely brilliant!

Okay, let’s come back to our readings today. We know Jesus exits, and we know he will return as he promised, but we don’t know when. To believe, to accept this belief and more importantly to live out this belief in our everyday lives requires faith.

The Israelites in today’s first reading listened to God and prepared the Passover as they waited for deliverance. In the second reading, Abraham left his homeland for the Promised Land even though he didn’t know where it was. They believed that God would be true to his promises. We can do that too!

But faith isn’t just believing. Faith is about acting on what you believe. It’s about taking the steps necessary that flow from your belief. The servants in today’s parable didn’t just believe their master would return. They prepared for his return by lighting the lamps, etc. How can we take steps that flow from our belief in Jesus Christ?

Well, there’s a number of things we can do to be ready. We can go to confession. Now, I know you might say, “Whoa there, deacon! Slow your roll! I don’t need to confess my sins to a man.” Okay, I get it. I live in the shadow of Zwingli and Luther, so I am familiar with the concern. But confession isn’t for the Church and it isn’t about the man – the priest. No, confession, or the Sacrament of Reconciliation, is about you and I consciously, mindfully setting aside time to be honest – brutally honest with ourselves about the sin in our lives – the sins that cause us to turn our backs on God and on other people. These are big sins that rupture our relationships. We call these mortal sins. During confession, we take responsibility for those sins. During confession we verbalize our sins – we say it! We own it! And we ask God to forgive us. Why? So that we can get back on a level playing field – so that we can be healed. In the language of the Church, it’s so that we can be in right relation with God and his creation. That’s why we call it reconciliation. Through the grace of confession, we are reconciled with God and one another.

What else can I do? Go to mass! We are social beings created for one another. So, we need to step out of the comfort of our individual lives and join the community in worship of the God who saves. Through our participation in the mass, we ask God to forgive us for little sins in our lives. We call these venial sins, things like I bit my sister and kicked the cat, or maybe I bit the cat and kicked my sister. Isn’t that awesome? Not the biting or the kicking, but just coming to mass can help me clean the slate.

But God is so generous that the mass – our praise and worship – is not all about him. He sends us home with gifts. In the mass, he feeds us through his Word, through the Scriptures, and then he feeds again, this time with the Word made flesh, that is, Jesus Christ who is made present to us through the Eucharist. The Eucharist is not a symbol.

Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 11:27-29, “Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord. A person should examine himself, and so eat the bread and drink the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself.” We believe the Eucharist is the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus.

Jesus says to us in John’s Gospel 6:54, “…whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” Now that’s just awesome! And these are just a few examples of the myriad of ways we can come to experience God.

But that’s not all! No, through the Sacraments, Jesus offers to heal our wounds and nourish us while we wait for his return. We are not called to be pew potatoes! No! God has blessed us all with gifts – gifts that must be shared. Just like eating bon bons while binge-watching a show, if we don’t use the gifts God gives us, then our spiritual gluttony can leave us feeling like sloths. We need to be active. In today’s parable, the servants didn’t just sit around. They actively prepared for their master’s return so that they would be ready for when ever he might come. The same is true for us.

We are showered with gifts, like talents and abilities, and we are nourished with Scripture and the Eucharist, and our wounds are mended through the grace offered to us in the sacramental life of the Church, like Reconciliation and Anointing, so that we can go out into the world and bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to those who can’t come to church, don’t come to church, or won’t come to church. That’s what discipleship is all about.

Jesus offers us salvation. He offers us eternal life. He offers us a chance to be healed, to learn our true purpose and to live our purpose in this world. So, our task as disciples is to reach out to those who don’t know him, and to invite them to meet Jesus. Sometimes that means talking with our family and our friends and indeed strangers and ask them if they’d like to meet Jesus. Are ready to come to the waters of baptism to be cleansed – to be healed – to be united with God through Christ by the grace of the Holy Spirit, now and forever. All it takes is faith.

Homework!

  1. I suggest we ask ourselves, “Am I practicing active waiting? For example, when was the last time I went to Reconciliation or when was the last time I went to mass?”
  2. We can ask ourselves, “How do I practice active waiting? Do I reach out to share my love for Jesus with others? Or am I a pew potato?”

I think by doing our homework, we can practice our faith as the disciples we are all called to be. Do you got it? Do you get it? Good! May Almighty God bless you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit! +Amen!

Resources:

  1. What is the Holy Eucharist? EWTN Q&A on the Eucharist
  2. Bishop Barron on Catholics Misunderstanding the Eucharist
  3. Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers – My Encounter – Eucharist
  4. Why We Have to Attend Mass and Receive Communion in a State of Grace
  5. Why Non-Catholics Can’t Receive Communion
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The Lord’s Prayer

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Mass Readings for the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

First Reading: Genesis 18:20-32
Psalm: Psalm 138:1-3, 6-8
Second Reading: Colossians 2:12-14
Gospel: Luke 11:1-13

Hello! In today’s Gospel according to Luke 11:1-13 we find the Lord’s Prayer. The wording is a little different but basically what we pray. The wording we use is closer to what we find in Matthew 6:9-13. I’d like to spend some time unpacking the Lord’s Prayer because sometimes when I pray it, I just rush right through it. I think it’s important to pause and reflect on the words we pray.

What is prayer? Well, there are sorts of prayer, like prayers of adoration, prayers of petition, prayers of thanksgiving, etc., but prayer at its core is about relationship – relationship between the Father and each one of us. As disciples, we want to learn more about Jesus and to deepen our relationship with Jesus. So, prayer is critical to building relationship just like talking with a friend or loved one builds relationship, right? You can’t say that you’re in a relationship with someone and never have a conversation with them, right? And yet, how many of us try to practice our faith without being in conversation with God?

Jesus’s disciples had the same question, so they ask him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples,” (Luke 11:1). Jesus who prays in his humanity wants to teach us how to pray like him, so he says, “When you pray, say: Father…,” (Luke 11:2). Let’s stop right there.

Everything about prayer is about a relationship between us and our God, about relationship between us and our Father. And when we enter into this relationship, we’ve got to come to know that we’re loved by him, and we’re giving a response, (right?), prayer is a response, that I want to love him. It’s primarily about being with someone who loves you. The deepest need in all of our hearts that we all have is to be loved. No matter what we do in life, we’re always trying to fill the emptiness in our hearts which is the desire for love. And that’s why so many people don’t have peace in their hearts because they’re trying something to fill that hole, so, they’re trying this or trying that whether it’d drugs or alcohol or pornography or gadgets or fast cars or extramarital affairs. But the only thing that can fill the emptiness in our heart is the love of our Father which is eternal.

The word Jesus uses is Abba, meaning daddy. This is intimacy. God loves you and wants to hold you to himself. He wants you to rest in his arms and be in relationship with him. When Teresa of Avila would say the word, “Father”, she would go into ecstasy – she couldn’t get past the word “Father” in the Lord’s prayer! She couldn’t get over that we can call the God of the universe, “daddy”.

Then he says, “…hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come,” (Luke 11:2). You know what that means? It means, God, instead of building my kingdom and my world and taking care of all my stuff, I want to build your kingdom on earth. Do I go about everyday building God’s kingdom?

“Give us each day our daily bread,” (Luke 11:3). Everything we have we get from God, so we turn to God for our needs. But, in the early church this was also a cry for the Eucharist – the bread of life. If we want to improve our prayer life, we need to go to mass and receive the Eucharist on a regular basis. No, Christmas and Easter only is not a regular basis. What is more important than Jesus? Nothing!

“…and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is in debt to us,” (Luke 11:4). How many of us do not need to come before God and ask for mercy? I come before God, and he has never withheld mercy from me. Never once in my lifetime has God ever said to me, “That’s enough, I’ve had it with you, Rudy!” If he’s that generous with his mercy for me, how can I withhold my mercy from anybody? Jesus wants to make this clear. The point is that we can never separate our prayer from our relationship with our brothers and sisters – it just can’t be done! Jesus says that we are to pray that just as we forgive others, that’s how I want to be forgiven. Whoa! So, I need to come before him with a heart filled with mercy if I am to experience mercy.

“…and do not subject us to the final test,” (Luke 11:4). When it comes to temptation, we run to God, not to the enemy. In our prayer, we ask him to help us avoid those things that might lead us into sin, in the language of the Church we say, “avoid the near occasions of sin,” whether that’s TV or the internet or alcohol or drugs or promiscuity.

God desires you. He so loved the world that he gave his son for you. He wants to be in relationship with you. That’s why he gave you life. Too often prayer isn’t about relationship though, it’s just something we have to do, right? We just check a box on our holy roller disco card. As a deacon, I made a vow during my ordination that I would prayer the Office of the Church every day. So, I am bound by law and by the promise I made to God to pray the Office every day. Every morning, I pray Morning Prayer and later in the day I pray Evening Prayer and before I go to bed, I pray Night Prayer. I do lots of things, and I’m very faithful to my prayer life not because I’m holy, but because I want to honor my commitment to God and to the Church. But I can tell you that all too often in my prayer, maybe this doesn’t happen to you, but in my prayer life, I can miss an encounter with God. I miss entering into relationship with God. Sometimes I get the impression that my guardian angel smacks his hand to his head when I rush through prayer.

God is calling your name and he is calling my name each and every day. Do we listen? Do we respond? Our prayer is a response to God’s call to enter into relationship with him. If we can get up every day without thinking, if we can get up every day and eat, if we can get up every day and go to work, then why can’t we get up and sit for a couple of minutes and pray?

Homework!

  1. First, are you holding any grudges in your life? If yes, I invite you to make peace in your heart so that you can stand before God with a heart filled with mercy. Remember, forgiveness does not mean an absence of consequences. Forgiveness means I can stop torturing myself with a painful memory. Your first homework assignment is to let go of past hurts.
  2. Second, do you begin each and every day with a prayer? If not, I encourage you to pray just for a couple of minutes to start with. Maybe say the Lord’s Prayer slowly, thinking about each world as you pray it this week.

Do you got it? Do you get it? Are you going to do it? Good! May Almighty God bless you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit! +Amen!

Notes

  1. Based on talks by Fr. Larry Richards, The Reason for Our Hope Foundation