Are We Truly Humble? (30th Sunday, Year C)

To listen to this homily, click here.

Over the last month we’ve been formed by Jesus in a series of lessons about faith and prayer. Using the image of a mustard seed, we were told the smallest amount of true faith can accomplish incredible things. The healing of ten lepers reminded us of the need for gratitude towards God in all he does for us. Last week the parable of the dishonest judge and steadfast widow demonstrated the desire Jesus has for us to pray without getting discouraged, and this week, we have a parable about a Pharisee and a tax collector to warn about the danger of pride in our prayer. As Jesus tells the story, the outwardly-righteous Pharisee is not pleasing to God; the humble, sinful tax collector is.

In the parable, what the Pharisee says in his prayer is this: “I thank you, God, that I am not like the rest of humanity—greedy, dishonest, adulterous—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.” Meanwhile, the tax collector simply prays for God to have mercy on him, acknowledges that he is a sinful man and doesn’t even dare raise his eyes to the heavens. He trusts God will hear his prayer but he knows he is not entitled to this Divine Mercy.

Notice the parable doesn’t doubt the Pharisee’s truthfulness: he has real moral goodness. He does things that are pleasing to God and worthy of imitation. Notice also that the Pharisee doesn’t congratulate himself on this moral goodness in his life. He thanks God for it and gives God all the credit. So what exactly is wrong with this Pharisee?

Eleanor Stump, a philosophy professor at St. Louis University, points us to the answer by referencing St. Thomas Aquinas who wrote about four kinds of pride.

(1) There’s foolish pride. in other words, you think you have an excellence which you don’t have, like a child who thinks he’s the best basketball player in the world or knows better than his parents.

(2) There’s the pride of the self-made man. You think you have an excellence you do in fact have, but you believe you got that excellence for yourself, without anybody’s help.

(3) Then there’s the self-congratulatory pride. You think you have an excellence you do have, and you recognize that God gave it to you; but you assume God gave it to you because he knew that only you would make such good use of it.

(4) Lastly, there’s the most self-deceptive kind of pride. You think you have an excellence you do have, and you recognize that you have it because God gave it, and you acknowledge God gave it because he is so good, but you are glad others don’t have it and you hope they never get it because it makes you feel superior to them.

All four types of pride are a problem. That’s why we say it is the root of all sin. And now we see what is wrong with the Pharisee. He acknowledges his excellence is a gift from the Lord. He simply doesn’t want anybody else to have what he has. He likes looking down on that tax collector and everyone else! And he is content to compare himself spiritually to others rather than striving to grow in true holiness. As long as he is better than the tax collector, that is good enough for him! That is the worst kind of pride and a deadly poison for our soul.

So how do we avoid getting tripped up by this spiritual pride? The remedy found in the virtue of humility. True humility is seeing that every goodness we have is a gift from our loving Lord. True humility realizes that the spiritual and material gifts we have are meant to be discovered, developed, deepened and then shared with others as freely as God has shared them with us; they ought not be hoarded with jealousy! Lastly, true humility rejoices in the gifts of others, even when they surpass ours because all goodness is by the grace of God and for his Glory. If we are humble, we are not threatened by the gifts and excellence of others.

We need to be on guard not only against pride but also against false humility which masquerades as virtue. Humility is not denying our talents or putting ourselves down. Humility is not trying to hide the things we are good at or finding every flaw in what we accomplish. Humility is not low self-esteem or self-hatred. Humility, in its most basic definition, is knowing who we are, both the good and the bad, as we stand before God. 

Which leads me to the final point. No matter how how good, how holy, how gifted any one of us is, we are all the tax collector when we stand before God. All of us have ample room to grow in holiness. And that is nothing to be ashamed of! In some way, we are all weak, fallible, and fickle sinners whose hearts constantly wander away from God. It’s no secret! He already knows it! So why pretend in our prayer that the virtue and goodness we do practice is somehow due to our own efforts or accomplishments? It is good to acknowledge our sinfulness and weakness to God. He has a special place in his Divine Heart for the repentant and humble. Our psalm tells us that the Lord hears the cry of the poor. The first reading assures us that the prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds and does not rest until the Most High responds. With this in mind, we would be wise to present all of our prayers with a healthy dose of humility.

As we continue with the perfect prayer of the Mass today, let’s us make the words of the tax collector our own, “Lord have mercy on me a sinner.” If we offer this prayer humbly, we can be sure that God will not only shower us with his mercy but also his limitless grace and countless blessings.

Toilet Paper and Prayer (29th Sunday, Year C)

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Before I dive into these wonderful readings, let me ask you ask you, “isn’t it true that some of the simplest things are also the hardest to do?” Think about the roll of toilet paper in your bathroom. How hard is it to change when it's empty? It takes, like 5 seconds to swap out. But how many times have we walked into this sacred space only to see a new roll perched precariously on the old like some sort of outhouse Jenga? Surely it took more effort to get the balance right than just change the roll! This is not an isolated problem. I read an article in the paper that there is now an escalating battle in the TP industry; double, triple, jumbo and mega rolls are no longer enough. They’ve all been wiped out by Charmin who is now offering the forever XL roll, complete with its own stand. It is more than 13” in diameter and is equivalent to 36 rolls of standard toilet paper. I think it's bigger than the tire on Fr. Sullivan’s Prius!! Of course this still does not eliminate the basic problem of who changes the roll; it simply delays it. 

Changing a roll of toilet paper isn’t the only simple thing that we humans have a hard time doing. Prayer is another. What is prayer? In it’s most basic form, it is simply talking to God. We can speak with the Lord anytime, anywhere, about anything. He is always listening and present to us whether we are here in church, in the car, at work, on a run, somewhere without cell service; you name it, he is there. Yet even though it is so simple, we struggle mightily to pray and even more so to keep praying on a regular basis. How often we put it off, over and over again, stacking many other tasks and activities on top of something that is so simple, easy, and essential. Or we start out strong, when prayer feels good and comes easily but then give up when it becomes challenging and dry?

We might wonder why we have to pray at all. If God knows everything and can do anything, why does he need our pitiful little words? Here’s the truth: God doesn’t need anything from us. He is complete. But He, in his wisdom, knows that prayer is what we need; prayer doesn’t change God, it changes us. And that process of articulating what we need, asking favors for ourselves and others, expressing sorrow for our sins, gratitude for blessings, all these things regenerate our spirits, increase our faith, and provide strength, healing, and eventually, holiness. God could do everything for us but, like a good parent and teacher, he knows we have to be part of the journey. Prayer is our participation in the process of becoming saints and returning to heaven. Prayer is something that is not hard to do but we have to do it. God can’t do it for us. He does the heavy lifting and hard work of salvation. He sent his son to fight evil and conquer sin and death. Our part is to stay close to Him and support one another.

Which brings us to another point about prayer. We don’t just pray for ourselves or by ourselves. One of the great lies of modern times is this notion of rugged individualism, that somehow we are strong when we don’t need anyone and do everything on our own. God loves us as unique persons but he saves us as a community, a family. We are not little spiritual islands that make our lonesome way to heaven. We do it together as members of a spiritual body. Our job as Christians is not just to be good people and make holy choices but also to support one another in the ups and downs of life. In the marvelous first reading we see this played out. Moses is praying on behalf of the people who are battling the Amalekites. God is doing the tough work of making them win but he asks Moses to lifts his hands in prayer, protection, and intercession. When he does this the Israelites win. But holding out one’s arms is hard to do, especially when the battle lasts all day. Moses gets tired and when he lowers his arms, he is no longer praying and the Israelites start to lose. God’s people figure this out pretty quick and they send Aaron and Hur to help poor Moses. They support him in prayer, they are truly his prayer partners and together with God they help the Israelites win the day against their enemies.

Jesus is the new Moses who holds out his hands on the cross until the victory is won. We are reminded of Jesus interceding for us in the battles of daily life every time we walk into a church and see his arms extended on the crucifix. But we are not just spectators. We need to be like Aaron and Hur, supporting each other in prayer, holding up the arms of those who have grown weary and discouraged. I cannot tell you how many times, as a priest, I have felt worn out or discouraged and wondered, “is my life and my ministry making any difference at all.” It never fails that someone will respond to my doubt and discouragement with something simple yet meaningful like, “I’m praying for you” or “I appreciate what you are doing”. I am humbled by how many times my arms have been lifted up by you, by your kindness and prayers and genuine encouragement. That’s why the “Our Father” has become one of my favorite parts of the Mass. In that moment, when I extend my hands in prayer with you and for you, I am reminded we are helping each other in the spiritual battle that continues as soon as we leave church. 

Reflecting on these readings also showed me how often I skimp on my prayer. I do fine during the week with a set routine but then when my schedule opens up, when it’s my day off or a morning where I can sleep in or I’m on vacation, how quickly I abandon those moments to talk to God! I suspect we can all relate to that struggle; knowing we ought to pray but putting it off until the day or week has flown by. So how about this? The next time you see that empty toilet paper roll, (change it and) let it remind you to pray. It doesn’t take very long, it’s easy to do and it will not only benefit us but others as well. Who knows how our day and our life can be transformed by maintaining this spirit of prayer?! Who knows who might be relying on our prayer to win some spiritual battle? If you struggle to pray or come to Mass, be encouraged! God will send someone to hold up your weary arms, just as he did with Moses. Lord, please give us perseverance in prayer like the persistent widow of the gospel and may we, like psalmist, always say, “Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth!”

"Lord, Increase Our Faith!" (27th Sunday, Year C)

To listen to this homily, click here.

I was looking over my 12 years of homilies to see what I had preached on in the past for this Sunday. Noticeably absent from my collection was any preaching on the 1st reading of Habbakkuk. He is one of the minor prophets, which isn’t a judgement of his importance but instead a description of how little he wrote. The minor prophets only left us a few pages while the major prophets like Jeremiah and Isaiah were more prolific and their writings significantly longer. Habbakkuk’s book is only three short chapters and his ministry takes place during the decline of the southern Kingdom of Judah. They were about to be destroyed by the Babylonians and sent into exile. Babylon was considered the worst of worst at the time. They were similar to how Al Quaeda or Isis is regarded in our time. About 150 years before this, the Northern Kingdom of Israel was defeated by Assyria and essentially wiped out by genocide, slavery, and assimilation. While this tragedy was happening, the people of the southern kingdom were largely indifferent, enjoying their life of luxury, and arrogantly thinking, “that sort of thing will never happen to us.” Just a few generations later, here they are, about to be pummeled by the one of the most efficient and ruthless armies of the ancient world.

Habbakuk, on behalf of the people, challenges God and says, “how long are you going to let this go on?” We cry out to do you and you do nothing.” Not a good idea to call out God! The prophet and the people get an answer back from the Lord, much of which is cut out of our reading today. God replies he is doing something amazing, so amazing that if he told Habbakuk, he wouldn’t believe it. He is allowing Babylon to conquer and destroy his own people as part of the Divine Plan. This would be like God saying, “I will let Isis be victorious over America and it is all part of my design. Just have faith.” No one, then or now would believe it! In the end, we see God does just that with the Babylonians. It doesn’t happen right away; in fact, it takes a couple hundred years. But in the end, a Persian King from Babylon, named Cyrus, sets the Israelites free and sends them home. Not only that, he even gives them money, materials, and craftsmen to help rebuild the temple and offer pleasing worship to God. 

But first the Israelites have to be punished. For generations they have ignored the poor and suffering. The people closest to the Lord, they have scorned. God’s people have fallen in love with the things of this world and the comforts it offers. As a nation, they put their trust in acquiring things: riches, power, and prestige. They stopped worrying about what pleases the Lord and instead spent their energy trying to please the world around them. Worst of all, instead of spreading the message of mercy, salvation, worship that came from their covenant with God, they remained silent and ashamed about their special relationship with God. 

God never stops loving his people but they have become so wicked that they will only turn back to him when they see their self-appointed idols of riches, power, and worldly alliances fall apart. Their hearts have become completely hardened. 

Only a person with the gift of Faith, could trust that God would work through the Babylonians. Only a person with Faith can avoid having a hardened heart to the voice of God, as we prayed in our psalm. Only a person with faith can bear their share of hardship for the gospel, as St. Paul encourages Timothy to do in the second reading. And if a person has even the smallest portion of true faith, Jesus assures us that they could say to a tree, “be uprooted and cast into the sea” and that would indeed happen.

The obvious connection between all the Scriptures this weekend then is the gift of faith. With it, we can see God’s hand and his care for us, even in the darkest moments of human history. If Faith informs our daily living, we can be like St. Paul, in prison, writing one of his last communications before execution, and still be full of care and encouragement for others. 

There is another, darker side to the coin as well. Without faith in God, the kind of faith that wants nothing more than to know, love, and serve him, we decline spiritually at a rapid pace, both as individuals and as a society. I found myself thinking about this sobering point repeatedly as I wrestled with the readings for today. Maybe that’s why so many preachers skip over this first reading and simply talk about faith without the troubling background of Babylon looming over the Southern Kingdom. The context of Habakuk raises the uncomfortable possibility that we, as modern Christians, have become blind to or tolerant of the substantial suffering of our most vulnerable brothers and sisters. How often do we cry out for God to save us and put an end to the ills of our society, horrible things like mass shootings, corrupt politicians, hypocritical clergy, broken homes, and the epidemics of suicide, anxiety, depression, and addiction, to name some but not all. And yet, at the same time we have become largely numb to things like abortion, capital punishment, experimentation on humans at the embryonic stage, human trafficking, the constant death and degradation of refugees around the world, homelessness and so much more. Oftentimes we turn look to the idols of money, materialism, politics, and comfort. 

Will God respond to our prayer for deliverance as he did to Habakuk? That He is indeed doing something amazing, so amazing we wouldn’t believe it if He told us because of our lack of faith. Could it be that many of us in our country and in our Church have hardened our hearts so much that we cannot return to God until we have been purified by suffering and loss, just as the Israelites were? Not an easy thing to consider for sure. But the parallels between their times and ours are eerily similar. 

Only faith will enable us to see God working amidst the sin, sadness, and tragedy that is all too common in our times. Only faith will soften our hearts and move us to work with God to build lives, families, communities and nations that are righteous, compassionate, and focussed on helping others and offering right worship to the Lord. We receive the gift of faith in small, concrete decisions made each day regarding our relationship with God. We soften our hearts by making time each day to pray and listen to God, reading his Scriptures, going on retreat like many of our teens just did, and looking to serve others in the name Jesus, especially the poor, forgotten, vulnerable and inconvenient. We need to make our own the prayer of the apostles today; “Lord, increase our faith.” Even if we just have a little, it can accomplish incredible things. So please give it to us. Make us willing to suffer and do whatever it takes to be faith-filled people. Increase our faith today, tomorrow, and every day, amen!