My Grandfather’s Blessings: In her book My Grandfather’s Blessings: Stories of Strength, Refuge and Belonging, physician Rachel Naomi Remen tells of the many unusual gifts she received from her beloved grandfather, an Orthodox rabbi, and scholar.
Once, when she was four, her grandfather brought her a paper
cup. She expected to find something special inside. It was full of
dirt. Rachel was not allowed to play with dirt. Disappointed, she told
her grandfather that she wasn’t allowed to play with dirt. Her
grandfather smiled. He took her little teapot from her doll’s tea set and
took little Rachel to the kitchen where it filled it with water. He put
the little cup on a windowsill in her room and handed her the teapot. “If
you promise to put some water in this cup every day, something may happen,” he
told her.
This made little sense to a four-year-old, but little Rachel
promised. “Every day,” he repeated. At first, Rachel did not mind
pouring water into the cup, but as the days went on and nothing happened, it
became harder and harder to remember to do it. After a week, she asked
her grandfather if it was time to stop yet. Grandfather shook his
head. “Every day,” he repeated.
The second week it became even harder, but Grandfather held her to her
promise: “Every day.” Sometimes she would only remember about the
water after she went to bed and would have to get up in the middle of the night
and water it in the dark. But, in the end, Rachel did not miss a single
day of watering.
Then, one morning three weeks later, there were two little green leaves that
had not been there the night before. Rachel was completely
astonished. She could not wait to tell her grandfather, certain that he
would be as surprised as she was -- but, of course, he wasn’t. Carefully
he explained to his beloved granddaughter that life is everywhere, hidden in
the most ordinary and unlikely places.
Rachel was delighted. “And all it needs is water, Grandpa?”
Gently, he touched her on the top of her head. “No, dear Rachel.
All it needs is your faithfulness.”
Faith is the ability to see the potential in the smallest of
things and the courage and perseverance to unlock that potential.
Humanity’s dreams of peace, community and justice will be realized, first, in
the everyday acts of such goodness of each one of us. Such is “mustard
seed” faith: that, from the smallest and humblest acts of justice, kindness and
compassion, the kingdom of God will take root.
***
Patience does it
Wilma Rudolph was the 20th of 22 children. She was born
prematurely and her survival was doubtful. When she was four years old, she contracted
double pneumonia and scarlet fever, which left her with a paralyzed left leg.
At age 9, she removed the metal leg brace she had been dependent on and began
to walk without it. By 13 she had developed a rhythmic walk, which doctors said
was a miracle. That same year she decided to become a runner. She entered a
race and came last. For the next few years every race she entered, she came in
last. Everyone told her to quit, but she kept on running. One day she actually
won a race. And then another. From then on she won every race she entered.
Eventually this little girl, who was told she would never walk again, went to
win three Olympic gold medals.
Jack Canfield in ‘A 2nd. Helping of Chicken Soup for the Soul’
In today’s Gospel Jesus speaks to the crowds in parables. Jesus is speaking
about an issue that confronts us: Why is there good and evil in this world? Why
does God permit evil? Nature itself provides many metaphors for the kingdom of
God. In the first parable the farmer does not weed his field because that might
also damage the good plants. Similarly, faith communities are made up of
imperfect individuals at various stages of spiritual growth. God does not
‘prune’ the community of believers but waits patiently for individuals to
change and let the goodness in them bloom forth. Like the farmer, God knows
that things are not always what they first appear to be. God is patient,
allowing us time to mature and reveal our truer selves. Given time we might
turn out to be something very good. It is hard to trust the slow work of God.
Perhaps when we grow frustrated with the world and wonder why God doesn’t seem
to be acting, we can reflect on his patience with us. If we do that we might be
able to cooperate more deeply in the slow work of God that will make all things
right in God’s own time. The parable of the mustard seed and the leaven shows
that something quite small can have a very large effect. Our God, while doing
great and magnificent things, is also the God of small things! Some of the
greatest saints had humble beginnings and spent their lives doing ‘little’
things. The kingdom of God is really like a mustard seed or a pinch of yeast.
What makes you what you are
Stephen Grant, a research scientist who had made several medical breakthroughs was being interviewed and asked: What set him so far apart from others? He responded that in his opinion, it all came from an experience with his mother that occurred when he was two years old. He had been trying to remove a bottle of milk from the refrigerator when he lost his grip on the slippery bottle and it fell, spilling its contents all over the kitchen floor. When his mother came into the kitchen, instead of yelling at him, she said, “Robert, what a great and wonderful mess you have made! I have rarely seen such a huge puddle of milk. Well, the damage has already been done. Would you like to get down and play in the milk for a few minutes before we clean it up?” Indeed he did. After a few minutes, his mother said, “You know, Robert, whenever you make a mess like this, you have to clean it up and restore everything to its proper order. So how would you like to do that? He chose the sponge and together they cleaned up the spilled milk. His mother then said, “You know, what we have here is a failed experiment in how to effectively carry a big milk bottle with two tiny hands. Let’s go in the back yard and discover a way to carry it without dropping it. The little boy learned that if he grasped the bottle at the top near the lip with both hands, he could carry it without dropping it. What a wonderful lesson! The renowned scientist then remarked that it was at that moment that he knew he didn’t need to be afraid to make mistakes. Instead, he learned that mistakes were just opportunities for learning something new, which is after all, what scientific experiments are all about. Wouldn’t it be great if all parents would respond the way Robert’s mother responded to him? Jack Canfield in 'A 2nd Helping of Chicken Soup for the Soul'
The Window
There were once two men, both seriously ill, in the same
small room of a great hospital. Quite a small room, it had one window looking
out on the world. One of the men as part of his treatment was allowed to sit in
bed for an hour in the afternoon. His bed was next to the window. But the other
man had to spend all his time flat on his back. Every afternoon when the man
next to the window was propped up for his hour, he would pass the time by
describing what he could see outside. The window apparently overlooked a park
where there was a lake. There were ducks and swans in the lake, and children
came to throw them bread and sail model boats. Young lovers walked hand in hand
beneath the trees, and there were flowers and stretches of grass, games of
softball. And at the back, behind the fringe of trees was a fine view of the
city skyline. The man on his back would listen to the other man describe all of
this, enjoying every minute. He heard how a child nearly fell into the lake,
and how beautiful the girls were in their summer dresses. His friend’s
descriptions eventually made him feel he could almost see what was happening
outside. Then one afternoon the thought struck him: why should the man near the
window have all the pleasure of seeing what was going on? Why shouldn’t he get
a chance? He wanted a change badly. One night as he stared at the ceiling, the
other man suddenly woke up, coughing and choking, his hands groping for the
button that would bring the nurse running. But the man watched without moving
–even when the sound of the breathing stopped. In the morning the nurse found
the other man dead. And quietly took his body away. As soon as it seemed
decent, the man asked if he could be switched to the bed next to the window. So
they moved him, tucked him in. and made him quite comfortable. The minute they
left, he propped himself on one elbow, painfully and looked out of the window.
It faced a blank wall. Author Unknown
Patience
There was a monk who was very impatient. You may wonder, why would a monk be
impatient? Don't they become monks so that they don't have to deal with the
world? Yes, that's true. So imagine how impatient this monk was... The more he
tried, the more impatient he became, so he decided that he must get away
altogether to learn to be patient. So he built himself a little home deep in
the woods, far away from civilization. Years later, a man was traveling in
those woods and met him. The man was amazed to find anyone living so far away
from the rest of the world, so he asked the monk why he was there all by
himself. The monk said that he was there to learn to be patient. The traveler
asked how long he had been there, and the monk replied: seven years. Stunned,
the traveler asked, "If there is no one around to bother you, how will you
know when you are patient?" Annoyed, the monk replied, "Get away from
me, I have no time for you." Every time that I feel myself getting
impatient, I picture the monk and I laugh out loud. This is yet another example
of how to control our so-called "uncontrollable" emotions. By
associating a funny story with an undesirable emotion, I give myself an opening
- a chance to stop for a moment and look at what I'm doing. And most of the
time, I realize that what's getting me all ruffled is so insignificant! I
realize that it must be strange for anyone dealing with me at that point. One
minute we could be arguing, and about to tear each other apart, and the next
I'm laughing. I suppose I would wonder about such a person's state of mental
sanity too. But think about it - what better way to break the tension? How many
people get into arguments that literally break up relationships - over petty
stuff! One word leads to another and before they know it, its ten years later
and they have no idea of why they lost touch. If they backtrack, they realize
that it all started over something so insignificant that they're too
embarrassed to admit or disclose it. So, even at the risk of looking
ridiculous, the next time that you are about to lose your sovereignty over your
mind and your body, remember the monk! While you're laughing, explain why. The
next thing you know, you'll both be laughing, and then you'll both be able to
really talk and listen.Carmen Colombo
The NY Taxi driver’s story
I arrived at the address and honked the horn. After waiting
a few minutes I honked again. Since this was going to be my last ride of my
shift I thought about just driving away, but instead I put the car in park and
walked up to the door and knocked. 'Just a minute', answered a frail, elderly
voice. After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her 90's stood
before me. By her side was a small nylon suitcase. 'Would you carry my bag out
to the car?' she said. I took the suitcase to the cab, and returned to assist
the woman. She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the curb. She kept
thanking me for my kindness. 'It's nothing', I told her. 'I just try to treat
my passengers the way I would want my mother to be treated.' When we got in the
cab, she gave me an address and then asked, 'Could you drive through downtown?'
'It's not the shortest way,' I answered quickly. 'Oh, I don't mind,' she said.
'I'm in no hurry. I'm on my way to a hospice. I don't have any family left,'
she continued in a soft voice. 'The doctor says I don't have very long.' I quietly
reached over and shut off the meter. For the next two hours, we drove through
the city. Sometimes she'd ask me to slow in front of a particular building or
corner and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing. As the first
hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly said, 'I'm tired. Let's go
now'. We drove in silence to the address she had given me. It was a low
building, like a small convalescent home. Two orderlies came out to the cab as
soon as we pulled up. I opened the trunk and took the small suitcase to the
door. The woman was already seated in a wheelchair. 'How much do I owe you?'
She asked, reaching into her purse. 'Nothing,' I said. 'You have to make a
living,' she answered. 'There are other passengers,' I responded. Almost without
thinking, I bent and gave her a hug. She held onto me tightly. 'You gave an old
woman a little moment of joy,' she said. 'Thank you.' I squeezed her hand, and
then walked into the dim morning light. Behind me, a door shut. It was the
sound of the closing of a life. I didn't pick up any more passengers that
shift. I drove aimlessly lost in thought. For the rest of that day, I could
hardly talk. What if that woman had gotten an angry driver, or one who was
impatient to end his shift? What if I had refused to take the run, or had
honked once, then driven away? On a quick review, I don't think that I have
done anything more important in my life. We're conditioned to think that our
lives revolve around great moments. But great moments often catch us unaware-beautifully
wrapped in what others may consider a small one. Author Unknown
****
From Fr. Tony Kadavil:
1: “Throw them out! Throw them out!”
The year was 1770, and in a small Italian church, two altar
boys prepared for Benediction. Annibale Della Genga and Francesco
Castiglioni entered the sacristy, put on their albs, and grabbed the heavy
brass candlesticks. And then they began to bicker.
Arguing over who would stand on the priest’s right for the procession, their
quibble escalated into a shouting match. Alarmed parishioners turned their
heads to the back of the Church to see the commotion, and that’s when it
happened: Castiglioni cracked Della Genga over the head with his candlestick.
Blood dripped from Della Genga’s injury, and both boys began shoving each
other. Shocked parishioners screamed, “Throw them out! Throw them out!” So, the
embarrassed priest grabbed the boys, led them to the door, and tossed them out
of the church. Now fast-forward several decades to 1825. Half
a million-people gathered in Rome for the great Jubilee celebration. The
Jubilee occurred every 25 years, and its grand climax was the opening of the
Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica. Traditionally, the Pope would knock on the
door three times with a large silver hammer and sing, “Open unto me the gates
of justice!” On the third knock, the door would swing open, and the Pope would
lead his people through. The symbolism was rich: pilgrims from all over the
world coming back home to the Church, following their leader through the great porta
fidei, the “door of Faith.” That Jubilee year, in front of thousands
of pilgrims, Cardinal Della Genga made his way to the door. It was fifty-five
years after the candlestick incident. Cardinal Della Genga who had become Pope
Leo XII neared the door. Turning to the Cardinal beside him—Cardinal
Castiglioni, the Pope said, “Let me have the hammer.” With a sly grin,
Castiglioni replied, “Just like I gave you the candlestick?” Amazingly, four
years later Castiglioni succeeded his friend and became Pope, taking the name
Pius VIII. Now if you told any of those pew sitters back in 1770 that they had
two future-Popes in the back of their church, they’d have laughed you out of
the building: “Those two boys? The ones shoving and whacking each other with
candlesticks? Today’s Gospel gives us the good news that God can change even
“weeds” to wheat and that we should be patient. (Rev Greg Willits quoted by Fr.
Kayala in his blog).
(Fr. Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
2) Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: Strange Case
of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is a gothic novella by the Scottish author
Robert Louis Stevenson first published in 1886. The work is also known as The
Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,
or simply Jekyll & Hyde. As a story, it talks about the concept
of good and evil that exists in all of us. In the novel, Stevenson creates a
hero in Dr. Jekyll, who aware of the evil in his own being, and sick of the
duplicity in his life, succeeds by way of his experiments on himself using a
self-made potion, in freeing the pure evil part of his being as Mr. Hyde, so
that each can indulge in a life unfettered by the demands of the other. After
taking the potion repeatedly, he no longer relies upon it to unleash his inner
demon, i.e., his alter ego. Eventually, Hyde grows so strong that Jekyll
becomes reliant on the potion to remain conscious. Finally, Dr. Jekyll kills
himself in order to save his fellow people from the evil of his alter ego
Edward Hyde. (http://www.covenanteyes.com/2014/07/25/killing-mr-hyde-bible/)
— Today’s Gospel teaches us that we are all a mixture of good and evil and
hence how we should be patient and merciful with the evil ones in our families,
parishes and society. (Fr. Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
3) “The vine that ate the South.” Kudzu (Pueraria
lobata of the Pea family) was introduced to the United States in 1876
at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Countries were
invited to build exhibits to celebrate the 100th birthday of the U.S. The
Japanese government constructed a beautiful garden filled with plants from
their country. The large leaves and sweet-smelling blooms of kudzu captured the
imagination of American gardeners who used the plant for ornamental purposes.
As an exotic import, it became popular as a shade plant on canopies, and was
seen as a God-given solution to the soil-erosion problem, following the Great
Depression. Between 1935 and 1942, government nurseries produced 84 million
kudzu seedlings, planting them wherever they would grow. By 1943, there was a
Kudzu Club of America with 20,000 members and an annual “Kudzu Queen.” So,
what’s the problem? I’ll tell you what! Kudzu is a vine with phenomenal growth.
Twelve inches in 24 hours is not unusual. And 50 feet in a single growing
season is well within the norm. People in the South have a saying: “If you’re
gonna plant kudzu, drop it and run.” Which explains why some have called it
“the vine that ate the South.” It can cover anything and choke everything. It
can twine itself around fruit trees until it kills the entire orchard — which
is why the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) eventually demoted
kudzu to “weed status” … with the definition of a weed being “any plant that
does more harm than good.” The weeds in Matthew’s little parable are “darnel.”
Botanists call them Lolium termulentum. They are members of the
wheat family, which look like wheat and hide out in wheat-fields, producing
poisonous seeds. Darnel is the villain in today’s Gospel story of the wheat and
the weeds. (Fr. Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
4. Who created the weeds? In the beginning, God
created the Heavens and the Earth and populated the Earth with broccoli,
cauliflower and spinach, green and yellow and red vegetables of all kinds, so
Man and Woman would live long and healthy lives. Then using God’s great gifts,
Satan created Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream and Krispy Creme Donuts. Satan said,
“You want chocolate with that?” And Man said, “Yes!” and Woman said, “And as
long as you’re at it, add some sprinkles.” And they gained 10 pounds. And Satan
smiled.
And God created the healthful yogurt that Woman might keep
the figure that Man found so fair. And Satan brought forth white flour from the
wheat and sugar from the cane and combined them. And Woman went from size 6 to
size 14. So God said, “Try my fresh green salad.” And Satan presented
Thousand-Island Dressing, buttery croutons and garlic toast on the side. And
Man and Woman unfastened their belts following the repast.
God then said, “I have sent you heart-healthy vegetables and
olive oil in which to cook them.” And Satan brought forth deep fried chicken,
fish and chicken-fried steak so big it needed its own platter. And Man gained
more weight and his cholesterol went through the roof.
God then created a light, fluffy white cake, named it “Angel
Food Cake,” and said, “It is good.” Satan then created chocolate cake and named
it, “Devil’s Food.” God then brought forth running shoes so that His children
might lose those extra pounds. And Satan gave them cable TV with a remote
control so Man would not have to toil changing the channels. And Man and Woman
laughed and cried before the flickering blue light and gained pounds.
Then God brought forth the potato, naturally low in fat and brimming with nutrition. And Satan peeled off the healthful skin and sliced the starchy center into chips and deep-fried them. And Man gained pounds. God then gave lean beef so that Man might consume fewer calories and still satisfy his appetite. And Satan created McDonald’s and its 99-cent double cheeseburger. Then he asked, “You want fries with that?” And Man replied, “Yes! And super-size them!” And Satan said, “It is good.” And Man went into cardiac arrest. God sighed and created quadruple bypass surgery. Then Satan created HMOs.
5. Political weeds: “Bet she regrets
asking Brigitte Gabriel that question:” Click on:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Ry3NzkAOo3s
Brigitte Gabriel’s website:
https://youtu.be/mD0uKeqZszM,
Lolium termulentum= the “Bearded Darnel” weed
30- Additional anecdotes:
1) Disastrous elimination of weeds in history: In an
effort to separate “good” from “bad”, or the law-abiding from the insurgents,
Claudius forced a separation and commanded all Jews to leave Rome (ca. AD
49-50.). Centuries later, Jews would be similarly expelled from Spain (1492).
Later yet, and in an act of unique horror, Adolf Hitler attempted to
definitively separate and annihilate every Jewish person in order to construct
what he perceived to be a superior race. When he was finally stopped in 1945,
only 3,000,000 out of a population of 9,000,000 Jews in Europe remained alive.
Millions of non-Jews were also killed during the third Reich, their only crime
being the fact that they were judged as different and therefore lesser than
their persecutors. During the Middle Ages (ca. 1150) formal investigative tribunals
were established with an eye to safeguarding the integrity and authenticity of
the Faith. But when Pope Innocent III declared heresy a capital crime in 1199
and when the Fourth Lateran Council (1215) provided secular punishment for
heretics, all manner of cruelty and injustice ensued. Inquisitors were ruthless
in their prosecution of those whose ideas ranged anywhere from the truly
heretical to the merely diverse. Those alleged to be heretics had no rights;
they were forced to prove their own innocence without benefit of counsel.
Similar attempts at separating those judged to be orthodox from those who were
not resulted in the infamous witch trials, which swept Europe from the
thirteenth to the early eighteenth century and crossed the Atlantic to take
hold in the Americas in the seventeenth century. Religious intolerance
perpetrated the torture and deaths of actual practitioners of black magic,
necromancy, etc. as well as others who were accused simply because they
happened to have red hair, or who, because of nervousness may have stumbled
through the Lord’s Prayer. Segregation and separation of peoples because of
their different ideas, or social mores, has been a blight on the visage of
humanity for centuries. The readings for today’s liturgy proffer a challenge to
this gathered assembly that this blight should be eradicated. (Patricia
Datchuck Sánchez).
(Fr. Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
2) “Your Excellency, your cabin-mate left his valuables
with me for the same reason!” A Bishop was sailing for Europe on one
of the great transatlantic ocean liners. When he went on board, he found
that another passenger was to share a cabin with him. After unpacking his bags,
he went to the purser and inquired if he could leave his gold watch and other
valuables in the ship’s safe. He explained that he had just met the man who was
to occupy the other berth in his cabin and he was afraid that the man might not
be trustworthy. The purser smiled, accepted the valuables and remarked, “It’s
all right, Bishop, I’ll be very glad to take care of them for you. The other
man has just been up here and left his valuables for the same reason!” Today’s
Gospel reminds us that we should not judge others hastily. There is a lot
of good in the worst of us and a lot of evil in the best of us. In other words,
the best of us are still “weeds” in God’s garden. (Fr. Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
3) Elimination of Jewish “weeds” by Hitler: Later
still, Adolf Hitler attempted to separate and annihilate every Jewish person in
order to construct what he perceived to be a superior race. Prior to and during
World War II, Jewish persons in Europe were told by the Nazis that if they
boarded the trains provided for them, they would be resettled in comfortable,
peaceful areas. But the truth was that the trains were headed for Auschwitz and
other death camps. Some Jews who knew the truth tried to warn the others, but
the majority hushed them up, saying, “That’s ridiculous. If you talk like that,
you will terrorize people.” Today many Christians are being herded aboard
another train of false promises called universalism. It is the belief that all
persons are bound for Heaven whether they wish it or not. Scriptural verses
contradicting this false belief are discarded as spurious additions by early
churchmen with hearts full of judgment. But real love does not tell people what
they want to hear; real love tells the truth. It does not pretend that a train
to Auschwitz is a train to triumph. The recent trial of former Nazi officer
Klaus Barbie brings to our consciousness the barbarity of that page in human
history. The most infamous of the Nazi death camps was the one at Dachau. A
monument there memorializes the victims of the Nazi terror. Alongside, a series
of exhibits depict Nazi methods of annihilating the Jews, the wretched
detention camps, the extermination ovens, the mass graves. A huge sign
proclaims in French, German, Russian and English: “Never Again!” We need to be
reminded of Dachau. We need to keep thundering in every generation, “Never
Again!” Evil within the hearts of men and women: the hatred, bigotry, envy,
bitterness, lust, anger, greed, etc. result in more terrible events than Jewish
extermination by Hitler. (Fr. Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
4) “Weeds” of pornography and obscenity: Obscenity,
like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. With words to that effect more than
two decades ago the Supreme Court of the United States of America left the
decisions regarding pornography in the hands of local communities. During the
intervening years states and cities have struggled with the issue, desiring to
uphold the basic rights of freedom of speech and expression, and at the same
time attempting to establish and maintain what is decent and acceptable to the
majority. The latest entry to invade this debate and garner headlines is music.
Now, it seems, obscenity may also be in the ear of the beholder. But the issue
goes much deeper than “X-ratings” and warning labels on album covers or motion
picture posters. If anything, it is symptomatic of a more pervasive problem
than simply pornography in theatres or music. So, then, what do we do about the
presence of the various expressions of evil in our world – what Jesus would
call weeds? Whether it takes the form of dehumanizing depictions of sexual
violence on the screen, of suggestive lyrics, of environmental pollution, or of
the tragedies of greed and self-serving possessiveness, the presence of evil
rears its head seemingly at every turn. So what are we to do? The “weeds”
comprise all that is contrary to the spirit and work of Christ, of what is good
and decent and upright — in our eyes and to our ears! What are we going to do
about them? Can we do anything at all? Historically, the Church has attempted
to be a “weed-puller,” zealously trying to eliminate all that is perceived as
rotten and wrong in society. The world has, unfortunately, had to face the
onslaught of the wrath of well-meaning Christians. It has endured the violence
of the Crusades of the Middle Ages and the Salem witch hunts in colonial
America. The Church has conspired to commit numerous acts of violence and has
violated the lives and livelihoods of countless numbers of persons in an
attempt to convert sinners and purge society. In the name of pulling “weeds”
and eliminating evil, great harm has been inflicted on humanity. At the other
extreme, and just as frightening — perhaps more so — the Church has also been
quiet when someone rises to power with a message of hate for those who are
different. It has remained on the sidelines while misguided ideas have taken
over and wrecked lives and societies.
(Fr. Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
5) Recording angels to ascertain the weeds: Michener,
in one of his first novels, The Fires of Spring, tells about a
couple who are burdened with a load of guilt from their past. They wander into
a Quaker meeting. They sit with the others for what seems like hours waiting
for something to happen. Finally, an elderly man stands up and speaks. He says,
“The most misleading concept in religion is that of the recording angel. I
cannot believe that God remembers or cares to remember a single incident of our
lives. [Rather] I am the recording angel. My spirit and my body are the record.
My good deeds show in me, and my wrong deeds can never be hidden. My spirit
either grows to fullness or declines to nothing. God has no need of recording
devices. We must not think of [God] as a vengeful or shop-keeping dictograph. [God]
has created a better instrument. [God] has made me. [God] needs only to look at
me, and all is recorded.” The old man goes on to conclude that with God’s
permission we have the privilege of erasing our past mistakes. God offers us
repentance, redemption, the opportunity to start fresh and make our lives
useful by forgiving our past sin and by opening our lives to wisdom.
(http://gbgmchurches.gbgm‑umc.org/aldersgate‑ma/s030713.htm).
Missionary and best-selling author E. Stanley Jones said that God does not need
to punish us for our sins. Our bodies and souls carry within them the record of
our sins. “We do not break the Ten Commandments,” said Dr. Jones, “We break
ourselves upon them.” (Fr. Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
6) Bad choices are “weeds” ruining our lives: You
may have read about a 61‑year‑old Massachusetts grandmother who ended up in a
mess of trouble sometime back. It was on the first day of her new job as a
school bus driver. She took some wrong turns and made some poor decisions as to
which roads to take. She got so lost that she wound up in the state of
Connecticut. Because she had already picked up ten kids on her route, an all‑points
bulletin was issued for her on charges of kidnapping, and, since she had
crossed the state line, the F.B.I. was called in. After finally locating the
lady and interrogating her, the police and F.B.I. agents concluded that she had
made some wrong turns and had simply lost her way. So, they released her. (A
few wrong turns. It happens in life. It happens to good people. A few bad
judgments and suddenly you are lost, entangled, trapped in the weeds, a golfer
might say. Sometimes much is at stake. A marriage. Your health. The safety of
others. Pulling weeds is an important part of a successful life.
http://www.firstpcavillarica.org/Sermon%20Notes/THE%20LAMP%20WITHIN.htm).(Fr.
Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
7) Good folks sometimes do stupid things: Fans
of country music revere the name of George Jones. Jones has had enough hit
songs on his hundred or so albums to make the careers of ten singers. Sometime
back, George was nearly killed in an automobile accident. He was talking on his
cell phone. When the news first came out, many of his fans probably assumed
that George was off the wagon again. Along with George Jones’ talent and genius
came a dark side. Jones had a reputation for wild living and self-destructive
behavior. In the past he had struggled with a serious addiction to alcohol and
drugs. His addictions were so severe that Jones would literally do anything to
fuel his habit. At one time, George was almost outwitted by his then-wife,
Tammy Wynette. To keep him away from the local bar, Tammy took George’s car
keys. But George’s determination to feed his addiction won out. He hopped on
his riding lawn mower and rode ten miles to the nearest bar. [Randy
Scott, Country Music Revealed (New York: MetroBooks, 1995), p.
60.] Why otherwise good people allow themselves to get trapped in
self-destructive patterns of behavior is beyond our understanding. And where
does such behavior come from? Can we get off the hook by saying, “The devil
made me do it?” Is it genetic? (Fr. Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
8) “Weeds” among dogs: An instructor in a dog
training workshop in Salt Lake City noted that a dog’s disposition can be
tested by the owner. If the owner will fall down and pretend to be hurt, a dog
with a bad temper will tend to bite him. But a good dog will show concern and
may lick the fallen owner’s face. Susan Matice attended the class and then
decided to test her two dogs. While eating pizza in her living room, she stood
up, clutched her heart, screamed and fell to the floor. Her two dogs looked at
her, looked at each other, then raced to the coffee table for her pizza.
[Associated Press (1-17-91). Cited in Edward K. Rowell, Humor for
Preaching and Teaching (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1996).] (Fr.
Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
9) What is it that causes some people to act
irresponsibly? Just a few short years ago, we had a President of the
United States who was guilty of irresponsible behavior. He was not the first
President to behave badly, just the most recent. But somewhere along the way,
the American people made a decision that President Bill Clinton was not an evil
man. Most people believed him to have a good heart, but even his most rabid
fans have to agree he had a serious problem that he did not seem able to
control. What causes some good people to lose control of their lives? Even more
important, how can we help these people and even help ourselves when we are
drawn toward similar self-destructive patterns?
10) “Weed” control: Journalist Bob Garfield
specializes in reporting on the quirky and unique aspects of human nature. When
Garfield traveled through Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 1992, he thought that he’d
hit the mother lode of quirkiness. He met people from all walks of life who
were trying to find healing or wholeness through such things as aura-balancing,
drum-beating ceremonies, ancient mystical therapies, crystals, astrology,
spiritual channeling, and the like. Even in a Santa Fe health food store,
Garfield found some highly unusual approaches to medicine. Rather than
containing the average mix of vitamins and herbs, this store offered vitamin
and herb mixes called, “Luminous Spirit, Positive Attitude, Women’s Courage,
Emotional Rescue, Clearing Hate, Clearing Greed, Humiliation, (and) Children of
Divorce. . . .” [Bob Garfield, Wake Up Screaming from the American .
. . (New York: Scribner’s, 1997), p. 94] If only we could find emotional rescue
or spiritual growth in a pill! But it’s not that easy. Where do we turn for
help?
11) Positive view enables us to make positive choices: Former
President Jimmy Carter often reflects on the changes he sees in people’s lives
because of the work of Habitat for Humanity. “We see extraordinary commitments
and lives changed among forgotten people,” he says. “A Habitat family that
lived near Washington had been living in an abandoned automobile. One of their
children was an eight-year-old boy. He was very excited about getting a new
house. When the family was chosen, he jumped up and down and said, ‘We won, we
won.’ After the home was finished and the family had moved in, the little boy
attended a different school. He had always been in a slow learners’ class, but
when he moved his records had been lost, and he was put into a regular class by
mistake. No one noticed the error, and at the end of the first half of the
year, his lowest grade was a B. Now he is still learning with the smartest of
students. This is what having a decent home for the first time in life can do.”
[From the book Living Faith, by Jimmy Carter, Random House (Audio
Books, 1996).] Now, you tell me. Was it the change of houses that made a
difference, or did the boy change his view of himself? How we view ourselves is
often reflected in the choices we make. If we have a positive view of
ourselves, we will make positive choices. If we have a negative view of
ourselves, then watch out!
(Fr. Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
12) Christian cruelty of searching for “weeds”: The
English author, C. S. Lewis, in one of his books, points out that when people
become Christians, if they are not careful, their sinning often shifts from the
overt, outward, visible sins of lying, cheating, stealing, cursing and
swearing, to the more inward, hidden, non-apparent, invisible ones … and among
them he lists “a critical spirit” … a spirit of judgmentalism, a censorious
attitude. In fact, he points out that this sin is one of transgressions which
is more commonly committed by Church people than by those who are not. So
prevalent is it in Churchly circles that it is sometimes labeled “Christian
cruelty.” This squares with Webster’s definition: “Judging is to criticize or
censure, to think or suppose … by pretending to know the motives of the person
doing the acting.” The sin of judging is dangerous business and should be
carefully avoided by those who wish to prevent this sin from becoming part and
parcel of their lives. A pastor in a teetotaling denomination in a small
Illinois town was seen leaving a tavern at 12:45 AM. “He was with another man,
and both were drunk,” swore the informant. When confronted with the accusation,
the pastor readily admitted that he had left the tavern with another man at
that late hour, but it was not as it seemed. He, at the request of a distraught
wife, had entered the place to persuade the husband, who was squandering his
paycheck, to go home. His efforts met with success at precisely 12:45 in the
morning at which time they both left the tavern. The pastor had not been
imbibing. He stumbled while trying to hold the inebriated husband upright. But
the story with all its lurid implications would not die. It grew and spread out
of all proportion in that small town. The pastor’s Bishop upbraided him for
what the Bishop considered an indiscretion, and finally the priest was
transferred from his parish. This exemplifies the “Christian cruelty” which is
frequently practiced.
(Fr. Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
13) Seeds for sale: A woman dreamed one night that
she walked into a brand-new shop. Much to her surprise, she found God working
behind the counter. She asked God, “What do you sell here?” “Everything your
heart desires,” God replied. It was incredible. She was talking face to face
with God. “I want peace of mind and love and happiness and wisdom and
freedom from fear,” she told God. Then almost as an afterthought she added,
“not just for me, but for everyone on earth.” God smiled, “I think you’ve got
me wrong, my dear. We don’t sell fruits here. Only seeds.” (Anthony De Mello,
S. J., in “Taking Flight”)
(Fr. Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
14) Here is a “weed-gatherer”: A teenage
daughter asks her father, “Why don’t you go to Church?” He replies, “Because
the Church is full of hypocrites.” “What do you mean by a hypocrite?” she asks.
He thinks for a moment and answers, “A hypocrite says one thing and does
something else.” “That sounds like you, Daddy!” she replies. “I’m no
hypocrite!” he responds. “Yes, you are,” she says. “You tell me that going to
Church is important. You say that I have to go to Church, but then you don’t
go. You say one thing and do another. Doesn’t that make you a hypocrite? I wish
you could go with me because there is room in the Church for one more
hypocrite.”
(Fr. Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
15. Wheat among the Weeds: One day, when the
inimitable Groucho Marx was getting off an elevator, he met a priest who
immediately recognized the famous comedian. The excited clergyman extended his
hand, saying, “I want to thank you for all the joy you’ve put into the world.”
Groucho replied, “And I want to thank you, Father, for all the joy you’ve taken
out of it.”–Application: Many of us become so concerned with pulling out the “weeds”
we lose the sense of hope and spirit of joy. Do we experience deep joy because
we are disciples of Jesus? We often approach religion as a deadly serious
business; we lose the spirit of joy and the sense of hope that are part of the
promise of the Risen Christ. We become so concerned about pulling out the
“weeds” that we forget to harvest the grain; we become so focused on the evil
and abuses that surround us and “threaten” us that we fail to realize and
celebrate the healing and life-giving presence of God in our very midst; we
become so intent in upbraiding and punishing sinners that our own lives become
mired in gloom and despair. The task of judging sinners belongs to God;
to us belongs the work of compassion and reconciliation. (Gerard Fuller in
Stories for All Seasons; quoted by Fr. Jude Botelho in Net for Life) (Fr.
Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
16.“You are a good boy.” A little boy not
familiar with an echo thought he had heard in the woods the voice of another
boy not far off. He shouted: “Hello, there!” and the voice shouted back,
“Hello, there!” He cried again: “Who are you?” and the voice replied, “Who are
you?” He cried once more: “You mean boy,” and the cry came back: “You mean
boy.” Then this little boy went home and told his mother that there was a bad
boy in the woods. His mother understood how it was and said to him, “Well,
speak kindly to him and see if he does not speak kindly to you.” The boy went
to the woods again and shouted, “You are a good boy.” Of course, the echoing
reply came, “You are a good boy.” “I love you,” he said loudly. “I love you,”
replied the faithful echo. The story of the echo is the story of the good and
bad in life. (Vima Dasan in His Word Lives). (Fr. Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
17)“Two wolves within.” Have you ever noticed
that the people who are bad sometimes are the very same people who are good
sometimes? It reminds us of a story called, “Two Wolves.” It goes like this: An
old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. “A fight is going on inside
me,” he said to the boy. “It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves.
One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity,
guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.” He
continued, “The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity,
humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and
faith. The same fight is going on inside you – and inside every other person,
too.” The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his
grandfather, “Which wolf will win?” The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one
you feed.” (Anonymous). Today’s Gospel parable reminds us that we are a mixture
of good and evil and, hence, instead of judging others we have to lead
exemplary Christian lives and leave the judgment to God.
18) The Beauty and the Beast: The
film Beauty and the Beast is based on a classic French fairy
tale. It tells the story of a beautiful girl who loved books and wanted to live
like the characters of the book. Her father Maurice was a petty inventor.
Gaston the village tavern owner loved the beautiful girl Belle. In that village
there was a prince who was handsome but vain. One day an old lady came to him
to ask for shelter but he turned her away. She was a fairy and with her magic
wand she turned him into a Beast and gave him a mirror to see the world. She
also gave him a rose saying that before the last petal fell he must find
someone to love him in his condition as a Beast. One day Maurice went to the
woods and was lost and captured by the Beast. Belle went to release him. She
was captured and imprisoned for life by the Beast. Belle did not love the Beast
but tolerated him. One day she was attacked by a pack of wolves. The Beast
saved her life. The beast gave Belle the magic mirror in which she could see
her father who was so sick that he was considered a lunatic. Belle went home to
save her father and told him all about the Beast. Gaston wanted to kill the
Beast. Belle ran to save the Beast. Just before the death of the Beast she told
him that she loved him. At these words the beast turned back into a handsome,
and loving, prince. –Within every one of us and in the world, there is beauty
and there is a beast. There is good and evil, there is virtue and vice. There
are wheat seeds and there are weeds. (Elias Dias in Divine Stories for
Families; quoted by Fr. Botelho). (Fr. Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
19) Evil is Deceptive: Albert Speer was an
important member of the Nazi hierarchy during Hitler’s reign. He was Hitler’s
architect, and Minister of Armament, Munitions and War Productions. After the
defeat of Hitler and Germany, he was tried at Nuremberg for crimes against humanity
and subsequently condemned to serve 20 years in prison. Albert Speer was one of
the most intelligent, educated and principled persons in Germany. How he was
captivated by Hitler’s magnetism to accept such bizarre ideologies — the secret
policies, the concentration camps, the nonsensical rhetoric of Aryan Supremacy
and anti-Semitism — is beyond anyone’s comprehension. During his trial at
Nuremberg, he took responsibility for the horrors of the Nazi regime, although
most of the time, he was not aware of the happenings around. Later in life, he
sincerely regretted his association with Hitler. He could still not explain
completely why he had subscribed to Hitler’s evil idiosyncrasies. (John Rose in
John’s Sunday Homilies; quoted by Fr. Botelho). (Fr. Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
20) Who is a Saint and who is a sinner? There
was this village, which was plagued with sheep thieves, and it was about time
they were taught a lesson. Two of them were caught and branded on their
foreheads with the letters ST standing for sheep thieves, that would be their
punishment for life! Unable to bear the shame one of them ended his life, while
the other decided to mend his ways. He set about doing all the odd jobs in the
village and would help all those who needed help. Years passed and his misdeed
was forgotten. As an old man now he was looked upon as someone who could be
relied upon to help anyone in need. One day as he was passing by, he heard
little children talking about him. One remarked: “I wonder what those letters
‘ST’ on his forehead stand for?” Another child replied “I am not sure, but he
is such a kind man, I am sure ‘ST’ stands for Saint!” (Anonymous; quoted by Fr.
Botelho).
(Fr. Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
21) A “self-test” for your patience. “Imagine yourself in
the following situation: It’s Saturday at 5:45 PM. You’re flying in a plane at
35,000 feet. The plane is an hour-and-a-half late. People are grumpy; some are
angry. Flight attendants are apologizing and offering complimentary cocktails
to soothe the raw nerves and roiled tempers. To top it all off, the meal is
late and the passenger on your left has a cold and gives out a big sneeze about
every ninety seconds. What would be your response to these problems?”
(Fr. Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
“Or…imagine another situation. You are at the grocery
store; busy evening, long lines ahead of you; your shopping cart has a wheel that
drags; the fruit juice aisle is blocked off as two shoppers lean over their
carts to chat; you do a U-turn and rush down another aisle; you finally finish
and choose a check-out line with only two shoppers ahead of you; the
cashier at the register is new; her hands tremble; beads of perspiration
form on her forehead; slowly she begins to tally your total; her cash register
tape runs out; she doesn’t know how to change it; she calls for help from the
manager. What’s your response?”
“Or, how about this one: It’s dinner-out-with-the family
night in that special place. You have fasted most of the day so that you may
eat what you’d like tonight. You’re shown to a table and given a menu but the
restaurant is very crowded and the waiters are extremely busy. So you sit
there, hungry as a wolf with only a glass of water and a menu that
you’ve begun to gnaw on. What’s your response?”
Swindoll in his book Growing Strong in the Seasons
of Life insists that in these relatively unimportant situations, “the
rubber of Christianity meets the road of proof.” In other words, it is at
such times that our Faith is really tested. Indeed, the best test of our
growth as Christians occurs in situations like the ones mentioned above.
Today’s Gospel reminds us of God’s patience, leniency and willingness to wait –
to allow time for the wicked to come to conversion and for good people to
overcome their small faults. (Fr. Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
22) “It is with straw that I start My fires.” (Blessed Anne
Garcia and Some Straw (linked to Second Reading): St. Paul understood this and
so, as we hear in in today’s Second Reading, he was able to explain how our
frequent sense of helplessness in spiritual things is no cause for panic,
because “the Spirit, too, comes to the aid of our weakness.” This was an
especially difficult lesson for Blessed Anne of St Bartholomew to learn. She
came from a poor shepherding family in sixteenth-century Spain. While still
young, she became a disciple of St. Theresa of Avila, Doctor of the Church and
foundress of the Discalced Carmelite order — one of the most remarkable Saints
in the history of the Church. Blessed Anne was one of St. Theresa’s closest
collaborators and friends, and St. Theresa actually died in her arms. But then
Blessed Anne was sent to Belgium and France to start Carmelite convents, and to
be prioress in some of them. She would often complain to our Lord that she was
too ignorant and shy to be given such important responsibilities. In fact, she
complained so much that finally our Lord appeared to her. She had just tried to
convince him that he should choose someone else, someone more intelligent,
better educated, and more outgoing to do the work she was being asked to do —
she had none of those gifts. So our Lord appeared to her and said, “It is with
straw that I start My fires.” He didn’t comfort her by telling her how great
she was. He simply pointed out that He is the one who will do wonderful things
in and though her, if she will let Him. When we feel helpless to do all that
Christ is asking of us, or to bear our crosses, we need to remember that “the
Spirit, too, comes to the aid of our weakness.”(E- Priest) (Fr. Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
23) St Francis the Crusader: Sometimes we think
that the Saints were born with special saint-genes. But that’s not true. Every
Saint was a fallen human being just like us. The difference is that they
understood God’s greatness, and let their lives become instruments of that
greatness. Few people remember that St. Francis of Assisi participated in the
fifth Crusade. He travelled to Egypt, where the Crusaders were trying to
conquer one of the powerful Muslim strongholds. St. Francis didn’t fight with
sword and spear. Instead, after the military effort got bogged down, he and another
friar made their way to the enemy lines, dressed in their humble robes,
weaponless, and singing Psalm 22: “Though I walk through a valley as dark as
death, I shall fear no evil.” Thinking Francis was an ambassador sent to
negotiate a truce, the sentries brought him to headquarters, where St. Francis
explained that he wanted to speak to the Sultan about the Gospel. The Sultan
received him and enjoyed the conversation so much that he invited Francis to
stay with them. Francis said he would, if the Sultan would become a Christian.
And to prove the superiority of the Christian religion, St. Francis offered to
undergo a trial. “Heat a large oven,” he suggested. “Your priests and I will
get into it, and you can judge by what happens which of our two religions is
more holy and true.” The Sultan said that he didn’t think his priests would
climb into a hot oven. So St Francis said, “Very well, I’ll get in by myself.
If I die, you can put it down to my sins; but if the Divine power protects me,
will you swear to recognize Christ as true God and Savior?” The Sultan would
not, and so the oven-trail never happened. St. Francis wasn’t a saint because
he was super-smart or super-strong. St. Francis was a saint because he had
learned to believe in and depend on the supernatural, all-powerful, smarts and
strength of God Himself. (E- Priest).
(Fr. Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
24) St. Victoria Wins the Victory over the “weeds” of pagan
religion: If all religions were the same, Jesus should never have started a new
religion — plenty were already available. And if all religions were the same,
the Church would never have survived its first three centuries of existence,
during which believing in Christ instead of the false pagan gods of the Roman
Empire was a capital crime. The martyrs who gave their lives for Christ in
those times did so only because they recognized that Jesus was different from
Jupiter. Take St. Victoria, for example. Victoria lived in North Africa in a
pagan family, around the year 300, when severe, legal persecutions against the
Christians were frequent and violent. As a teenager, she converted to the
Christian Faith, though her family stayed pagan. Soon she fell so in love with
Christ, that she desired to give her whole life up to him, and made a vow of
virginity. Her parents were furious, because she was their only daughter and
they had arranged a profitable and honorable marriage for her. They refused to
accept her refusals and forced her to go through with it. But when the wedding
day came, she put her trust completely in Jesus, and instead of going
downstairs to be received by her husband, she said a prayer and then escaped,
unhurt, from the upper story window of her room. She fled to a nearby Church
and started serving Jesus and his Kingdom full time. One Sunday morning some
years later, when she was in her early twenties, she was with a group of about
fifty Christians attending a Mass being celebrated in a private home. Suddenly,
a platoon of Imperial soldiers burst in, broke up the Mass, and arrested the
whole group. They boldly stood trial, professing their Faith courageously and
eloquently even after being tortured. Victoria’s brother (still a pagan) attended
the trial and pleaded for her release on the grounds of insanity, but she
debated so intelligently with the judge that she disproved the charge. The
judge, in fact, was so impressed with her valor and wisdom that he stepped down
from his bench and pleaded with her merely as a friend not to throw her life
away. She responded, “I have already told you. I am a Christian. And I attended
the Mass.” Eventually, all the Christians having firmly held their Faith, the
authorities lost patience and threw them into prison, where one by one, through
long hours and longer days of suffering born with love, they entered into the
joy of the Lord. This is one example of thousands from the history of the
Church. If all religions are the same, then Victoria’s brother would have been
right, and all these canonized saints were really just insane. (E-Priest). (Fr.
Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
25) Reincarnation vs. Resurrection: Let’s take one example
to make this clear. Most of us have heard about the doctrine of reincarnation,
a common belief among the ancient Hindu and Buddhist religions that originated
in the Orient. Reincarnation teaches that at death, unenlightened human souls
transmigrate from our body into another body, either of an animal, vegetable,
or mineral. That process of transmigration is repeated over and over, until the
soul (Athman) is completely enlightened and fit for communion with God (Brahman).
No good and evil here, no Heaven and Hell – just a forced recycling process
ending when the enlightened individual self finally dissolves into nirvana
(which means “nothingness”). Some people who say that all religions are the
same claim that reincarnation is just an eastern version of what Christians in
the west call resurrection. Really? In the Bible we read, “Just as man
is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was
sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people” (Hebrews
9:27-28). Once. Christ died once, and rose again once. We will all die once,
and will be judged, and then spend eternity either with God or without God.
Jesus says the same thing in today’s Gospel. At the end of time there will be
the harvest, and the “weeds,” unrepentant sinners, will not be planted again to
see if they come up as wheat, but will be “thrown into the fiery
furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.” But the
“wheat,” the righteous, who spent their brief earthly lives resisting the seductions
of evil, repenting of their sins, and battling against selfishness in order to
follow Jesus Christ, will enter into the joy of eternal life, shining “like the
sun in the kingdom of their Father.” That doesn’t sound like reincarnation at
all. To claim that they are the same empties both doctrines of their real
meaning. That’s why this approach is so tempting. If doctrines don’t really
mean anything, we have a good excuse to just go around doing whatever we feel
like, instead of trying to follow a clear moral code. It’s easy to say all
religions are the same; it’s hard to follow Jesus Christ. (E- Priest).
(Fr. Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
26) The Kingdom of God is always growing: It started small
when Christ established it, like a mustard seed as told by Jesus in today’s
Gospel. Just a few disciples gathered in a room on the first Easter Sunday. And
it starts small wherever it goes. St Augustine of Canterbury had only a handful
of monks when he crossed the English Channel around the year 600 to evangelize
the barbaric Anglo-Saxons. Just over a century earlier, St Patrick had gone to
the even more barbaric land of Ireland, which even the Roman Empire had never
conquered, all by himself. It starts small inside our souls as well. The voice
of conscience, God’s voice within us, is often only just a whisper, like a tiny
breeze. Christ’s Kingdom starts small, like a mustard seed, like a little bit
of yeast in a huge batch of flour – but it’s alive, and so it is always
growing. And so, 100 years after St Augustine and a couple of buddies arrived
in England, the English Church was exporting hundreds of saints and
missionaries back to continental Europe to evangelize the new waves of
barbarian invaders. And so, by the time of St Patrick’s death, an entire nation
of primitive tribes had begun to be civilized and united under the Christian
Faith. And so, even if God’s voice is only a whisper in our conscience, when we
follow it, He works wonders. Some critics of the Catholic Church say that
today’s Church is too big and developed to be the descendent of that small
group of fishermen that Jesus started with. But when you plant a mustard seed,
you expect something to happen. You expect to go back and find a vibrant bush
(mustard shrubs grow to about 10 feet in height) which doesn’t look anything
like the seed. Christ’s Kingdom is always alive, dynamic, always growing. And
so, if we ever find ourselves bored with our Christian Faith, it’s simply
because we have wandered away from Jesus. (E- Priest). (Fr. Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
27) The Kingdom of God’s impact is out of proportion to its
size: How odd, for example, that St. Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa), was as
famous as the world’s great Kings and Queens, Presidents and Prime Ministers,
business tycoons and movie stars. A tiny nun from Albania, working with the poorest
of the poor in Calcutta was the commencement speaker at Harvard University’s
graduation. She was the keynote speaker at the United States’ National Prayer
Breakfast. She was nominated for the Nobel Peace prize. This is way out of
proportion. A little leaven makes the whole loaf rise. As if to make this point
abundantly clear, Jesus specifies the amount of flour being used in the
parable: three measures. That would make a colossal amount of bread – enough to
feed 100 people. And that huge lump of dough is penetrated and transformed by a
pinch of yeast. Just so, a little bit of Christian courage sends ripples far
and wide. One act of forgiveness, of mercy, can put an end to decades of
bitterness, hatred, and resentment. One young man saying yes to God’s call to
the priesthood can send tidal waves of truth reverberating throughout the world
– as it did with Pope St. John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI and as it is doing
with Pope Francis. Just so, the faithful mom and dad, lawyer, business person,
and teacher who let Christ reign in their hearts and actions are spreading
God’s saving grace far and wide. Just how far-and-wide will only be known at
the end of the age, when everything is revealed. The impact of saying yes to
Christ can never be exaggerated, as explained in today’s Gospel parable of the
mustard seed and the yeast. (E-Priest).
(Fr. Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
28) Lighting a light rather than cursing the
darkness: Terry Fox was a 22 year of student at Simon Fraser
University in Canada. In 1977 he contracted bone cancer and had to have his
right leg amputated. When his old high school basketball coach heard about the
tragedy, he sent Terry a newspaper article about an amputee who ran in the New
York Marathon. The article triggered Terry’s imagination. He knew he had only a
few years to live, and he wanted to do something significant with them. He
decided he would try to run across Canada from Newfoundland to British Columbia,
a distance of 5,000 miles. He would ask people to sponsor him and give the
proceeds to cancer research. For 18 months, Terry practiced running on the
artificial leg. Finally, on April 12, 1980, he began his run. He dipped his
artificial leg into the Atlantic and set out across Canada. In his pocket he
had pledges totaling over a million dollars. Then 114 days and 3,000 miles into
the run, Terry suddenly collapsed. The cancer had spread to his lungs. He would
be unable to complete the run. When news of Terry’s collapse broke, people from
all over Canada began sending pledges to him in the Hospital. In hours, over
$24 million was pledged. A few days later, Terry died. If anyone had a right to
curse the darkness, it was Terry. But he was too big for that. He decided to
light a candle. And that light has been shining ever since. A movie has been
made of his life. A stamp has been issued in his honour. And he is the youngest
person ever to receive his nation’s highest honour, the Order of Canada. To this
day, Terry still excites the imagination of people. (Mark Link in Sunday
Homilies; quoted by
Fr. Botelho). (Fr. Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
29) Light a candle: Rascals in Paradise is
a book written by James Michener. In its introduction, the author tells how in
the late 1930s, a learned Australian saw World War II coming. He got out a
world atlas and looked for the safest place to be when the war came. He decided
on a little-known island in the South Pacific. One week before Hitler invaded
Poland, the Australian moved to his safe haven. The island was Guadalcanal. As
fate would have it, it was destined to become the site of one of the bloodiest
battles of World War II.
(Fr. Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
Therefore, instead of running away from evil or remaining
indifferent to it, the Lord is calling us to do our bit to remove evil wherever
we can and, if we can’t remove it, at least protest against it. Instead of
cursing the darkness, He is calling us to light a candle. A little boy not
familiar with an echo thought he had heard in the woods the voice of another
boy not far off. He shouted: “Hello, there!” and the voice shouted back,
“Hello, there!” He cried again: “Who are you?” and the voice replied, “Who are
you?” He cried once more: “You are a mean boy,” and the cry came back: “You are
a mean boy.” Then this little boy went home and told his mother that there was
a bad boy in the woods. His mother understood how it was and said to him,
“Well, speak kindly to him and see if he does not speak kindly to you.” The boy
went to the woods again and shouted, “You are a good boy.” Of course, the
echoing reply came, “You are a good boy.” “I love you,” he said loudly. “I love
you,” replied the faithful echo. The story of the echo is the story of the good
and bad in life. (Vima Dasan in His Word Lives; quoted by Fr. Botelho). (Fr.
Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
30) Schindler’s List is a 1993 biographical
film which tells the story of Oskar
Schindler, a businessman, who saved the lives of more than one
thousand Polish Jews during
the Holocaust.
The film was based on the novel Schindler’s
Ark by Thomas
Keneally. The film was both a box office success and the recipient of
seven Academy
Awards. Oskar Schindler, a successful businessman, arrives in Krakow (Poland)
from Czechoslovakia hoping
to use the abundant cheap labor force of the Jews to manufacture goods for the
German military. Schindler, a nominal Catholic and an opportunistic member of
the Nazi
Party, lavishes bribes upon the army officials and Nazi leaders
and acquires a factory for the production of army mess
kits. But he is a mixture of good and evil. Unfaithful to his wife, he
certainly knows how to enjoy the so-called “good life” -cigars, drink, women.
He exploits his Jewish workers as a source of cheap labor. But as he witnesses
the horrors endured by the Jews, the good elements in his character wake up.
So, he starts saving Jews, using his immense wealth and his political
influence. At great personal risk, he protects his workers from the death
camps, thereby showing that he is undoubtedly a courageous man with basic
goodness. In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells the parable of the wheat and weeds,
explaining how we all are a mixture of good and evil and why God tolerates evil
in the world. (Fr. Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
***********
From Sermons.com:
Last week we talked about planting seeds. This week we're
talking about pulling weeds. The two go together. Every gardener knows that
planting seeds is the easy part of having a successful garden. It is much more
time consuming to weed that same garden. And it's hard work. As someone has
said: "When weeding, the best way to make sure you are removing a weed and
not a valuable plant is to pull on it. If it comes out of the ground easily, it
is a valuable plant."
There is a corollary to that truth: "To distinguish
flowers from weeds, simply pull up everything. What grows back is weeds."
Some of you can relate to one unknown homemaker who wrote: I
don't do windows because . . . I love birds and don't want one to run into a
clean window and get hurt. I don't wax floors because . . . I am terrified a
guest will slip and get hurt then I'll feel terrible (plus they may sue me.)I
don't disturb cobwebs because . . . I want every creature to have a home of
their own. I don't Spring Clean because . . . I love all the seasons and don't
want the others to get jealous. I don't put things away because . . . my
husband will never be able to find them again. I don't do gourmet meals when I
entertain because . . . I don't want my guests to stress out over what to make
when they invite me over for dinner. I don't iron because . . . I choose to
believe them when they say "Permanent Press." And finally: I don't
pull weeds in the garden because . . . I don't want to get in God's way, He is
an excellent designer!
I doubt than anyone likes pulling weeds, including God. In
today's lesson Jesus tells a parable. "The kingdom of heaven is like a man
who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy
came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted
and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared...
__________________________
There comes a time in every child's life when he or she
entertains two possibilities. One: your parents are from Mars. Two, you must
have been adopted. Usually these revelations occur in tandem . . . after a huge
fight with Mom and/or Dad; or after a sibling beats us up or puts us down. It
dawns on us that no way could we really be related to such mean, bossy,
completely opposite people.
We must be adopted.
Remember when adoption was a highly confidential, even
secretive, process? That made it a great source for childhood fantasies.
"Closed adoptions" were the norm from the 1920s through the 1960s.
The birth mother didn't know and couldn't know who the adoptive parents were.
The adoptive parents didn't know who the birth mother was. The adopted child
didn't know anything - especially if their adoptive parents chose not to tell
them. Even if they were adopted.
In the 1970s, the legalities behind adoptions began to
change. A massive shift toward what are now called "open adoptions"
took place. In open adoptions all the parties know who they are dealing with.
And at least hypothetically, there is the possibility for communication and
connection at some later time.
As with every other social scenario in the last ten years,
science and technology have changed everything. Nobody respects a "legal
screen." Nobody has to live with no information about their past. The
advent of Facebook has allowed thousands of birth parents and adopted children
of all ages to search for and connect with their families of origin. The birth
of DNA testing enables uncertainty to be eliminated.
In fact, almost all officials in the hierarchies of state
and federal adoption laws admit the same thing: "the jig is up."
Adoption information and biological identities are no longer capable of being
protected in any way, shape or form. For some adopted children and for some
biological parents this is a great advance. For others, it is hard knocks and
heartbreak.
Almost all ancient religions and cultures had legal means
whereby orphaned or abandoned children could be legally incorporated into a new
family. Both the law-loving environments of first century Judaism and the Roman
empire had a laundry list of adoption laws, policies, rights, and regulations.
Whether it was done for economic, political, or emotional reasons, in the world
Paul inhabited, "adoption" was a well legislated procedure.
So when Paul used the language of "adoption" to
describe the startling, new relationship enjoyed by followers of Jesus, he was
speaking to an educated audience...
___________________________
Two Wolves
One of my favorite theologians, Mr. Rogers, used to say:
"Have you ever noticed that the very same people who are bad sometimes are
the very same people who are good sometimes?" It reminds me of a story
called, "Two Wolves." It goes like this:
"An old Cherokee once told his grandson about a fight that was going on
inside of him. He said it was between two wolves. One was evil: Anger, envy,
greed, arrogance, self-pity, gossip, resentment, and false pride. The other was
good: Joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, generosity, truth,
compassion and faith. The grandson thought about it for a moment and then asked
his grandfather, 'Which wolf do you think will win?' The old Cherokee replied,
'The one I feed.'" (Anonymous)
Philip W. McLarty, The Parable of the Wheat and the
Tares
________________________________
Know Your Weeds
I learned more about weeds than I ever wanted to know as a
boy in Iowa. Walking through the soybean feels to cut out the weeds was my
summer job from age 13. A wise farmer once taught me that all weeds were not
the same and could not be destroyed in the same way. A cockle burr had shallow
but widespread roots and had to be pulled out to get all the roots. If you
hacked it off at the ground level with a hoe it would be back in a week. A
milkweed had a very long tap root that could not be pulled out. If you did try
to pull it up, three separate sprouts would be back in a week. Milkweeds had to
be hacked off with a hoe and would "bleed" and die as the sap ran
out. If you didn't handle the weeds right, hours of backbreaking work in the
sun would be completely wasted.
Jesus knew his weeds as well. The meaning of Jesus' parable
about the wheat and the weeds becomes clearer when we look at the specific kind
of weed he talks about. Tares are "bearded darnel, mentioned only in Matt.
13:25-30. It is the Lolium temulentum, a species of rye-grass, the seeds of
which are a strong soporific poison. It bears the closest resemblance to wheat
till the ear appears, and only then the difference is discovered. It grows
plentifully in Syria and Palestine." The problem with taking our hoe to
the evil weeds of the world is that good and evil sometimes look so much alike.
It only becomes clear later.
Todd Weir, Wheat and Tares
_________________________
Better to Have Weeds than Nothing at All
I asked the people at my last church to imagine what would
happen if we adopted a policy of weed-pulling, if we drew a circle around the
little town of Wingate, North Carolina, and made a vow that no evil would cross
that line, that no weeds would grow within that border. I said, "You know,
you and I could spend the rest of our lives protecting that boundary, standing
shoulder to shoulder with pitchforks and clubs, making sure that we kept drugs
and alcohol and pornography and gambling safely on the other side. I think it
would take all of our energy and most of our time. But what if we did it? What
if we succeeded? What would we have? We would have a town characterized by the
absence of evil, which is not the same as a town characterized by the presence
of good. And maybe this is what Jesus was talking about all along, that it's
better to have a wheat field with weeds in it than a field with nothing in it
at all.
When a church in Wingate, North Carolina, began a ministry
to the children of a nearby trailer park, they had to decide what kind of
ministry it would be. They could have chosen to root out all the sources of
evil in that place-to chase down the drug dealers and the deadbeat dads, to
confiscate handguns and arrest child abusers. Instead, they chose to put up a
basketball goal, to tell stories from the Bible, to put their arms around
little children, and sing songs about Jesus. And two years after they started
that ministry, two years of going out there Saturday after Saturday to do those
things, the pastor got a note in his box at church with five words on it:
"Adrian wants to be baptized." Adrian. The terror of the trailer
park. That little girl who had made their work most difficult during the
previous two years. Who would have guessed? Instead of pulling weeds in the
field where she lived, they just tried hard to be wheat, and somehow Adrian saw
that and fell in love with it and wanted it for herself. After she was baptized,
there was a little more wheat in the field. And because she was there, soon,
there was even more.
James Somerville, A World Full of Weeds
_______________________________________
If You Are a Preacher of Grace
How can you and I live our everyday lives with an awareness
of the hiddenness of the good among the weeds, without getting unhealthy in our
cynicism, without going crazy? Again Martin Luther offers a profound insight.
He put it this way once in a letter to his friend, Philip Melanchthon:
"If you are a preacher of grace, then preach a true and
not a pretended grace; if grace is true, you must bear a true and not a
pretended sin. God does not save people who are pretended sinners. Be a sinner
and sin bravely, but believe and rejoice in Christ even more bravely...."
Mark Ellingsen, Jesus' Vision of a Fun, Free Life, Not
Driven by Purpose, CSS Publishing Company, Inc.
_________________________________
A Line Through Every Heart
I have colleagues who continually want to cull the field,
making decisions on the basis of belief ... behavior ... even baptism. As many
of you know, my wife is into genealogy. She's traced portions of her family
back over 500 years. Just a few months ago, we learned that she had a relative
who was burned at the stake in Switzerland. Why? Because he had the wrong
understanding of baptism, that's why. They weeded him out. Then they burned him
up.
As for me, I don't always know whether I am weed or wheat.
Wasn't it Alexander Solzhenitsyn who said: "If only there were evil people
somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to
separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good
and evil cuts through the heart of every human being." Which, I suppose,
includes my heart. For all I know, I may even be the weed in somebody else's
garden. Perhaps in your garden.
Collected Sermons, William A. Ritter, ChristianGlobe
Networks, Inc.
_____________________________
I Wrote My Books on Tuesdays
There was once a great Quaker leader by the name of Rufus
Jones. Jones wrote and published one book a year for over fifty years. He did
this while attending countless meetings, making frequent speeches, editing a
magazine and taking care of countless other chores that his position required.
Someone once asked him how under these circumstances he found the time to write
so many books he answered, "I wrote my books on Tuesdays." Throughout
his career he set aside Tuesdays as his one "free" day accepting no
appointments that could be avoided. He began after breakfast and wrote until
dark. He might be thinking about his next project all week long, but he did not
put it on paper until Tuesday. By following that simple plan he left behind a
great body of work.
You have heard it before because it is true: Those who fail
to plan, plan to fail. Jesus talked about the foolishness of those who build
towers without first sitting down and figuring the cost. Successful living
requires that we give some thought to the future. We have a vision of the
beautiful garden we hope to be. Now we sit down and make a plan. What would I
have to do to make my dream a reality?
King Duncan, Getting Rid of the Weeds, Collected
Sermons, www.Sermons.com
_________________________
You Need 100 Points
There is a story about a minister who had a strange dream.
He dreamt that he had died and was trying to get into heaven. When he
approached the pearly gates, St. Peter told him he needed 100 points to get in.
Proudly the minister said, "Well, I was a pastor for 43 years."
"Fine," said St. Peter, "That's worth one point." "One
point? Is that all?" cried the minister. "Yes, that's it," said
St. Peter.
"Well," said the pastor, "I visited lots of
shut-ins." St. Peter responded, "That's worth one point."
"I worked with young people," said the pastor. "That's worth one
point," said St. Peter. "I developed a number of excellent Scout
programs," said the minister. "That's worth one point," said St.
Peter. "You have four points now. You need 96 more." "Oh
no," said the minister in a panic. "I feel so helpless, so
inadequate. Except for the grace of God, I don't have a chance." St. Peter
smiled and said, "Grace of God--that counts for 96 points. Come on
in!"
There will be a final judgment. God's justice and our freedom of choice demand it. Every person will spend eternity in heaven or hell. Our passport to heaven is simple. It's just a matter of saying to God sincerely, "I am a sinner for whom Jesus died. I claim him by faith as Savior and Lord." If you haven't taken that step in faith, do it today! Do it now!
Bill Bouknight, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com
_________________________
Clean the Glass Shade Daily
Pastor Cecil Williams tells of growing up in Texas. They
didn't have electric lights in their house. They had two oil lamps with wicks
that had to be lit daily. Once they were lit, a glass shade fit over the flame
and they glowed.
Cecil's mother kept telling her children, "Ya'll clean
the shade before you put it over the lamp. If you don't, you won't get as much
light." Young Cecil didn't like cleaning the lampshades. It took a long
time and lots of elbow grease to scour off the sticky, gray soot. But when the
shade was clean, one lamp would be bright enough to light up the whole living
room.
Back then, cleaning the lamp shades was Cecil's job...
