November 14th - 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (English)
November 21st - Christ the King (English)
November 28th - 1st Sunday of Advent (English)
If today were the last day of your life
what would you do? That’s a question that most of us don’t think
about much. Maybe you would want to rush to confession and try to
get your house in order with God. Some of us would make lots of phone
calls to family and friends we haven't talked to in awhile. Maybe
you would try to make amends to someone you offended or grant forgiveness
to someone who hurt you.
One clergyman was asked this question
and he replied, “I would spend it just as I intend to spend it. I
would preach that day and then travel to Tewkesbury and meet with the society
there. I would go to my friend Martin’s house who invited me to dinner.
Then I would go to bed and the next day wake up in glory.”
That all sounds good and noble, but
my guess is that most of us wouldn’t be that content to just let the day
go on without any interruption, just as we had intended it to go on.
Why is that? Probably because most of us say that we are ready to
go at any time, but in reality have loose ends that we would like to take
care of. We suppose that there will always be enough time to take
care of things. So, we don’t have that sense of urgency about attending
to those things today.
Today we hear a passage about the wise
and foolish virgins. It all sounds like something of a fanciful story.
Yet, you and I know that it’s not so far from the truth. We know
that when we were threatened by a hurricane many of us had to catch up
on the details that we had neglected to do at another time. We know
that in the spiritual life we can find ourselves in need of more time with
the Lord. “Some day, I’ll get to it,” we say to ourselves.
I would imagine that Jesus told this
parable for two reasons. On one hand he wanted his apostles to remember
that he was going to return in glory. They shouldn’t be despair that
he would be away from them for awhile. Even if it were longer in
coming than they first thought, he would return.
The second reason Jesus told this parable
was to let his disciples see that they needed to be wise and prudent with
their time and energy. They needed to plan for the future.
Isn’t it appropriate that we have come
together today to celebrate our anniversary with such readings? What
is an anniversary but a time to evaluate where we have come from and where
we are going? Bishop Grady established St. Clare parish on
November 1, 1989. It was decided that this parish would encompass
mostly rural Deltona, Lake Helen, Cassadaga, and Osteen. In the last
ten years we have tried to be the parish for people who came to Deltona
or the surrounding cities and villages aware of the need for quiet intimacy
with God while at the same time longing for the benefits of community.
Most of us have come from other places. We have family in other states,
countries, and the Caribbean. Most of us chose to come to this part
of Florida for economic reasons or for the warm weather. Yet, we
didn’t leave our Catholic faith in some other land. We brought that
with us.
What shall we do with our faith?
What is God calling us to here and now? That is the question we ask
ourselves and our God. Like the wise virgins we want to be prudent
with our time and with our treasure. We know that the Lord could
come tomorrow or next week. We do not know the day or the hour.
We, as members of this parish, have
always agreed that what makes us a community is not where we worship, but
who we worship with. It doesn’t matter whether we are in a storefront,
the Osteen Civic Center, Clare Hall, or whatever building the Lord will
provide us with in the future. We are a people united in a tapestry
of faith to build the Body of Christ here and now.
Our parish has been known for its attention
to prayer and worship. We strive to do Liturgy well. We want
to sing to our God at Mass and Morning Prayer. We know that we are
a community blessed by our God and we want to offer Him fitting praise
in return.
Liturgy without service for justice
and peace is hollow. We have committed ourselves to working with
other congregations in Volusia County to eradicate social problems and
work for justice. We have partnered with St. Ann parish in building
a Habitat House. We continually feed the hungry with our food pantry
and look for new opportunities to provide comfort and hope for the poor,
the unborn, and for those in any need. This is what it means to be
a member of St. Clare Catholic Community.
Now, we await with eager expectation
the return of our Lord and Savior. We know that the faithful departed
who have gone before us have given their time and service in this parish.
We mourn their loss and ask for their prayers of intercession for our community.
We who remain must choose to be a witness of God’s love to everyone we
meet. If not us, who? God will use us if we allow Him to do
so.
As I suggested in the Tapestry, I do
not know what our parish will look like ten years from today. What
I do know is that if we continue to ask the Lord to guide us through the
intercession of Clare, our patroness, we will do great things. Let
us be awake and ready for the call of the Lord whether it comes at midnight
or midday. Amen.
About a hundred years ago the telephone was invented.
The primary means of long-distance communication before the phone was the
telegraph. It is said that Western Union was approached about the
telephone and said that they could see no good use for this invention.
They didn’t see how it would be helpful. I know that throughout history
there have been people and companies that missed the boat on new inventions.
Most of the time these companies don’t make it. They hold onto a
technology or a process that they have and refuse to see the possibility
that growth in another area will make what they do obsolete.
Today’s Gospel is praising the servants who looked ahead rather
than backwards. They were told to make use of the master’s money.
They weren’t told how to use it or what kind of return the master expected
on his funds, only that they should use it.
The first two servants make good use of the money entrusted
to them. They are able to double their master’s money. When
he returns they can give back a fine return. The third servant chose
not to use the money. Instead he takes it and buries it. One
could argue that his might have been the safer move. What if he had
taken the money, invested it poorly and lost it all? What would the
master have done to him in that situation? This servant believes
he is doing the best that he can do.
In the parable Jesus praises the first two servants but severely
punishes the last one. As in a lot of Jesus’ parables this story
hits us. This seems unfair. The man was only trying to be careful.
Why does he get off so badly?
Remember, as in other parables this is a story that requires
one to look closely. The story has a number of possible meanings.
The first one is the obvious one. We should make use of the talents
God gives us. I think that most of us realize this. Usually
as teenagers we are told to try different things so that we will know what
we are good at and what we might like. Then, we choose a career based
on our interests and talents. The jobs that we hold usually hone
those skills and we become better at what we do.
The second possibility in this parable is that it’s again
a story about being ready for the coming of the Lord no matter when that
occurs. The three servants have no idea when the master is going
to return. They just know that at some point they will have to give
an account of what they have done. So, they figure that whatever
time is given they will do the best they can. The man who buries
the money doesn’t anticipate that his master could be gone awhile.
Maybe he doesn’t even realize that he could make more of the money than
he does.
That leads me to the third interpretation. Often we
don’t know what the Lord will ask of us. We can try to anticipate
the needs of our family or the parish. But, we might be asked to
do things that seem impossible. I have known people who ended up
working in a soup kitchen who were afraid of working alongside of the poor.
Others couldn’t imagine enough courage to minister to those in a nursing
home or hospital find that when they said yes to God they could do it.
You may not believe this, but I didn’t think that I could be a priest because
I was afraid of getting in front of people to speak. I dreaded having
to do that when it was required in school. Yet, with practice and
with being able to do it by leading music I found that I had courage.
I realize today that God can multiply gifts if we cooperate.
Vatican II said that each of us is called by our baptism to
service in the Church and the world. Most of us are getting better
at serving inside the Church. Most of us have learned that we can
read or sing or minister at the altar. What is still left to be done
is working in the world. Many people are afraid to share their faith
or to stand up for that which is right in the world. We think that
we are forcing our religion on others or that we won’t be liked if we seem
“too religious.” That is the area that still needs our further work.
Let us ask the Spirit to help each of us to learn what our gifts are and
then to use them to bring forth the Kingdom. It is crucial that everyone
take up the challenge. It doesn’t matter whether you have been given
many talents or few, what is important is using whatever God has given
you for His work. Amen
Recently, Gov. George W. Bush was asked to name
the leaders of India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine. He had a
hard time with that question. It would seem only right that he would
know who those leaders are. Yet, when I thought about that question
I realized that probably most Americans and I would have a problem with
that question. In fact, virtually everyone knows what President Clinton
looks like, but if you had to pick out the Prime Minister of Canada could
you? How about the Mexican president? Unless a world leader
is in the news a lot or becomes our enemy we don’t know what they look
like or what they stand for.
Most kings and rulers know that.
So, they ride in limousines and chariots. They dress in robes and
crowns. They speak from high podiums and stages. They have
bodyguards and palaces. All of the trappings lead the subjects of
these kings and rulers to know whom they are to give honor and respect
to.
Today we proclaim that Jesus is Christ
the King. Yet our king has chosen not to be known as one who inhabits
palaces and wears gold. Instead, he was known as one born in a stable
and raised in a tiny village. He wore simple clothes and was stripped
naked and died on a cross. His crown was thorns and his bodyguards
were apostles who ran away when Jesus needed them. Not much of a
king?
Today we understand what kind of king we
serve. Jesus tells us a parable of what His kingdom consists of.
He gathers all the people together and says that they will be judged not
on how many weapons of mass destruction they could amass. It won’t
be a nation built on economic wealth and power. The ranking of importance
in Jesus’ kingdom is not based on how many Fortune 500 companies are there.
It also isn’t based on the standard of living index. Most nations
are ranked on what their per capita income is and what kind of healthcare,
how many people are enrolled in colleges and universities, and how many
cars, televisions, and telephones are owned by the people. Notice
Jesus doesn’t count any of those things as important in His kingdom.
Instead, what is His kingdom about?
He says that his kingdom will be known by how well the hungry, thirsty,
sick, and lonely are cared for. The unusual part of this way of categorizing
the kingdom is that the subjects will not be doing good for the king, they
will be doing good to the king. Even more unusual is that the subjects
won’t even realize they are doing it. That is how commonplace it
will be.
The righteous will be rewarded not because
they earned it, but because they so knew their king that they would do
as he would do. They would be the shepherds they were called to be.
Likewise those who are expelled from the kingdom will be thrown out because
they had not served their king. They had not heard the voice of their
leader and responded with generous love.
In all of Jesus’ life he shows us what
kind of king he is. He is born of humble beginnings. He grows
up in complete obscurity. His public ministry includes welcoming
the lowly and outcast. He picks disciples not because they are well
financed or have a high place in society. They are simple people
who are willing to listen and learn from the Lord.
What does Jesus teach his apostles?
He teaches them that God loves them. They are more precious than
all the birds of the air and the flowers of the field. He teaches
them to love one another and to forgive without counting the cost.
He teaches them that if they want greatness they need to serve others.
Jesus worked many miracles. He cured
the sick, raised the dead, walked on water, calmed the sea, and turned
water into wine. But all of those miracles were done not just to
prove that he had power and that they should listen to him. He did
his miracles mostly for his disciples. He wanted them to see that
they too could do these things.
Recall the miracle of the multiplication
of loaves. The crowds have heard Jesus all day. Now it is evening
and the disciples realize there is not enough food for everyone.
Jesus tells them to give them some of their food. They can’t imagine
how that would be of any use. When they trust him and give away their
food they have an abundance. There are twelve baskets of food left
over. When Jesus sends out the disciples to the neighboring villages
he tells them to preach and heal the sick there. When Jesus ascends
to heaven he instructs the disciples to go to all nations and heal.
Jesus’ ministry of healing wasn’t meant simply to impress the crowds.
He was instructing the apostles and us that the mission and ministry of
Jesus is our mission and ministry too. The shepherd lives with the
sheep. We are now the shepherds of Christ. Will we care for
the sheep entrusted to us?
We give honor to Christ our king and shepherd
by our care and concern for the sheep for as often as we do it to one of
the little ones we do it for him. Do we recognize our king in the
poor and sick of our world? That is all that matters. Amen.
All the world’s clocks are ticking down to the end of the year.
People all over the world are preparing for a grand celebration on December
31st. With the end of the year comes the end of a decade and a century
as well as a millennium. There has been so much hype and emphasis
placed on the end of this millennium and the beginning of a new one.
I suppose that is only natural. We live in a culture that always
anticipates the next big event. We look forward to dates that are
special. But nothing seems more special than the turning into a new
year. Well, we in the church have beaten the clock this time.
For today begins the new liturgical year of our Lord 2000.
I suppose that we like the possibility of a new year for a
number of reasons. We get to use all of those new calendars.
They are shiny and new right now. They aren’t filled with activities
and appointments. As we page through each month we imagine
what they will be filled with. We think of what we might do next
summer. We think about our own birthday or those of loved ones.
It’s kind of exciting to begin a new month on a calendar-even more so to
start a new one.
I think we like the possibility of a new year to begin again.
Whatever we did in the past year that didn’t turn out well we can put behind
us. We make resolutions to lose weight, exercise this year, or do
more good deeds. Spiritually, we realize that we have been lazy and
weak at times. Maybe we haven’t taken the time for prayer or for
ministry. The beginning of a new liturgical year is no different.
We have new hymnals, new colors, and different music. We hopefully
realize that as Christmas draws near we have time to pledge our lives to
Christ anew. We can start again. In fact, we must.
Our readings remind us that we do not know how much time we
have. We do know that at some point Christ is going to return in
glory. We will all have to make an accounting of our actions when
He does. We also realize that even if the Second Coming of Christ
isn’t for a thousand years our days on earth won’t be that long.
We will be called home to the Lord soon. That might be tomorrow or
thirty years from now, but eventually it’s going to happen.
We are told to watch and be ready. Be prepared!
This warning has been sounded the last several weeks in our readings.
As I have suggested before, it’s hard to be ready all of the time.
When a crisis occurs we get into gear. When the crisis is over we
go back to our normal routines. The warning in Advent and Lent to
be ready is really a call to reevaluate the importance of all those daily
routines. What is truly necessary and what gets in the way of doing
the Lord’s work?
St. Paul reminds us that in some ways we are already prepared.
He says that we have been richly endowed with knowledge and the gift of
speech. I know a lot of people who would argue that Paul didn’t know
what he was talking about. I don’t think that he meant that everyone
is naturally a good speaker or intelligent. If that were only so!
No, I think he was talking about the knowledge of salvation and the words
that we need to praise God and offer thanks. We have all those words.
We know what Christ demands of us. It’s not difficult to understand
or comprehend. We know how good it feels when we praise God or sing
joyfully and feel the peace that God promises. We know that Paul
was right. Yet, it seems so easy to forget. We can and do often
neglect the care of others. The mercy of God we desire. Yet, every
time we pray the Our Father we ask that our sins be forgiven as we forgive
others. How easy it is to forget to forgive even though we still
want our sins to be forgiven and forgotten by God.
This Advent offers us a new year to begin again. Let
not the Lord look at us and say that our hearts have been hardened and
every good deed we do is only a polluted rag. Instead, let our hearts
be turned toward Him in prayer and in humility. That is the first step.
If we will make this Advent a worthwhile season at all let it be a time
to open our hearts to listen to the Lord. That is always the first
step. May the Lord turn us on the potter’s wheel and reshape us into
the image that is pleasing. Ask that the Lord would reshape you not
only physically, but also spiritually. Let Him make of you a holy
person pleasing in His sight.
Then, once our heart has been opened and softened by the gentle
touch of God, may our deeds give glory to God. May He find in us
a treasure. I know that it is possible. But will this new year
be different from last year?
