Fighting Fear (Coronavirus) with Faith (3rd Sunday of Lent)

To listen to this homily, click here.
To read the homily I was going to give about the woman at the well BEFORE COVID-19 struck, click here.

The 1866, St. Louis Cholera Epidemic killed one-in-ten city residents.  Parishes often had as many as a dozen funerals a day.  So the pastor of St. Joseph Parish at 11th and Biddle (today St. Joseph Shrine) asked his parishioners to invoke their patron saint’s intercession to end the epidemic.  They signed a pledge promising to "erect a monument” to St. Joseph in return for his help.  Miraculously, not a single person who signed the pledge died of the illness and soon the epidemic in St. Louis ended.  The parishioners erected a beautiful altar, known as the “Altar of Answered Prayers.” 

The people of St. Louis and certainly the Catholic Church, having been around for 2000 years, in every part of the world, has been through some pretty terrible epidemics throughout the centuries. 

Which isn’t to make light of the current situation. But we can thank God for so many blessings and advantages we have. We know what we are dealing with, we know how it spreads, we know how to slow it down, and we have the technology to develop a vaccine. We are blessed. 

It’s normal to feel fear about the unknown and our lack of control. But fear cannot have the final word. We have to respond by learning the facts and leaning on our faith. God is and will be with us throughout this whole situation. We might run from Him but He never abandons us. Because of His care for us, we must be the first ones, as followers of Jesus, who move beyond just taking care of ourselves to thinking of others in whatever way we minister to them. 

With every challenge, God offers an opportunity. These moments jar us out of our routine and make us think about what we put our trust in and how we use our time. With so many familiar pastimes cancelled or suspended like sports, travel and other entertainments, we need to fill that void with something. This can become a spiritual opportunity to realize how many things BESIDES God we lean on or go to for comfort and distraction. Oftentimes the penances and sacrifices we don’t choose are the best ones for our souls. What unexpected blessing and holy insight might social distancing provide for us if we give some of this time to prayer and reflection?

Personally, I’m amazed at much I miss sports. I walk into my room at the end of the day and just turn on the tv out of habit, even though there is really nothing currently on that interests me! I have to keep telling myself to turn off the tv and not just go right to my playlist on Netflix. Deep in my heart, this disruption is providing an invitation to talk more with the Lord in prayer. It’s forcing me to see how often I choose distractions over a quality conversation with Christ. Perhaps some of you can relate to that?

We need prayers right now. We need to be praying right now. What a wasted opportunity it would be if we look back and see that we  rarely prayed during this time and only sat on the couch watching the tv, shopped online or whatever else to desperately avoid feeling any boredom and anxiety. Even if we do that prayer at home, God can still hear us and we can talk to God not only for ourselves but for all who are affected by this mess. Maybe we can pray for and reach out to those whose small business is struggling because of the closures. Perhaps we could ask a doctor or nurse we know who might be working overtime if we can help in some way with a run to the store or some other errand that they have had time to do. Is their an elderly neighbor or family member who needs a phone call to see how they are doing and ask if there is anything we can bring so they don’t have to go out? Can we assure a friend or family member who is worried about their job that we will be there to help them if they cannot work?

These are just a few ideas but I’m sure you have many more. There are going to be many many ways to introduce grace and charity into an otherwise nasty situation. God is not going to run away from us; he never has. Just like the readings of this weekend, God, will always provide what we need and more. So let’s lead the way for others for however long this corona-lent lasts. Let’s respond to the fear and selfishness we hear about with hope, empathy,  encourage each other not to simply fill the extra long spring break or the working from home or the extended time at home into one long Netflix binge watching session. Don’t waste the opportunity for grace and holiness! These crisis are crisis for saints. Pray a little more, live charity, and remember we are not competing with each other but supporting each other so we can emerge from this pandemic a little healthier, holier, and kinder. 

The Woman at the Well (3rd Sunday of Lent)

This Sunday we have the wonderful story of Jesus’ conversation with the woman at the well. Jesus had sent his disciples off for food, and he is sitting at a well when she comes to draw water. This story might lose some of its impact for us 2000 years later but by all Jewish cultural standards she was considered completely worthless and unworthy of even the simple gesture of a greeting. The fact that Jesus had an extended conversation with her and asked for a drink of water was completely scandalous, even to his most loyal followers. 

Why? First, she is a woman and she is at the well at the hottest point of the day. Many interpret this as John’s gentle way of saying that she was a woman who made her living at night by selling her body to others. It is only the disciples’ awe of Jesus that keeps them from asking him why he is talking to her without a chaperone to keep watch and protect his reputation.

Secondly, she is a Samaritan. As she herself points out, Jews don’t talk to Samaritans. Samaritans are self-made outcasts from the Jewish point of view, because of their intermarriage to five different tribes after the invasion of the Assyrians some 700 years before Jesus was born. Because of this, any self-respecting Jew would stay away from them because of their racial impurity. Talk about a long-lasting grudge!

I don’t think it's fair for us to hear this story without also remembering that it could not have been easy for the woman to accept Jesus. She likely had become cynical about men and as a Samaritan she would have also been raised with a hostility to Jews. Think of the disgust some Democrats feel about Republicans - and vice versa - and you will have a tiny idea of the bad blood between Samaritans and Jews. What a remarkable heart this woman must have had to move beyond her personal and cultural cynicism and remain open to Christ.

Thirdly, this woman has the sort of history that makes her a pariah even in her community. Jesus knows her status, and he lets her know he does. She admits she has had five husbands. Even by the lax standards of our time, this personal history would make people raise their eyebrows and take note. In her village she is undoubtedly a shamed person. Bishop Barron offers us a way to understand the deeper meaning behind these failed relationships that can also apply to ourselves. He says: "Think of the five husbands as five errant paths the woman has taken. She has 'married' herself to wealth, pleasure, honor, power, material things, etc.""Or think of them as five ideologies or gurus she has followed hoping to find joy.” If that is the case, if Jesus were to sit with you and me, how many failed marriages would he see within our hearts? Maybe not to another person, but to the things of this world or a certain way of life? How many times have we given ourselves wholeheartedly to someone or something, hoping they could offer us something that only God can provide? If that is the case, maybe the number of our “marriages” is even higher than 5! 

All of these factors combine to make this woman, in the eyes of the Jewish people and the ancient world, a worthless person. So what turns things around so that she not only accepts the living water Jesus offers her but then becomes the one who evangelizes her whole town and brings them to believe in Christ? What is the miracle that Jesus performs here and could it ever be repeated?

The first miracle Jesus does for the Samaritan woman is that he listens to her. In general, as modern people, we are terrible listeners to each other and to God. For example, how many could tell me, without looking, whose gospel I just read from? How many times do we meet someone new and immediately forget their name.? If you have any doubts about the state of modern man’s listening abilities, look at our nation’s politics and you will see how poorly we practice this skill and the division that results.

If we want to welcome back the outcasts, the ones who are deemed unclean or worthless by our society, we will start by becoming good listeners. What does it mean to be a good listener, not only with loved ones but also with God? Matthew Kelly gives 5 concrete ways to become a better listener. They are: maintain eye contact, be focused on understanding instead of responding, show your attention through body language, interact with the speaker, and listen without fixing. Today we see the skill of Jesus as his listening skills turns a potentially hostile person into a powerful ally and evangelizer! Of course, Jesus is God, but in his humanity he models focused listening - so much so that the Samaritan woman exclaims, "He told me everything I have done.”

The second miracle Jesus works is showing without shaming that only his love can fulfill her deepest desire. By leading her to acknowledge her sinful past he helps her to heal so she can open her heart and hold nothing back. Jesus doesn’t deny her sinful past or her previous bad decisions but he offers her a future free from regret and failed love. 

The world needs the example of caring Christians who are caring, compassionate listeners, following the example of Jesus. We can only learn that skill by first practicing it with God in daily prayer. The more we listen to God the better we will be able to listen to each other. Secondly, You and I should come clean about our past. We have to own up to our sin, to be truthful about who we are and tell him how many gods we have chased and things we’ve wed ourselves to. Only God can satisfy us, only his love can bring us peace, joy, and fulfillment. Everything else, everyone else might do the job for a while but ultimately they will let us down.  Thank God for the miracle of his willingness to always listen to us and to help us understand the desires of our own hearts. May we receive these gifts from God and then lead others to them like the Samaritan woman.

Keep the Spiritual Six-Pack!! (1st Sunday of Lent, 2020)

To listen to this homily, click here.

It’s hard for me to believe but May marks 20 years since I graduated high school. Talk about feeling old!! My high school experience, certainly a St. Louis oddity, was a year of homeschool and then the remaining three years at a high school seminary which was a boarding school in Hannibal, Missouri. Living with your schoolmates had its ups and downs, but overall we got along great and certainly knew each other well. I recently saw one of the guys I went to school with. He was a year behind me and he was the strongest of all the students. He could lift the most in the weight room and he was the person everyone went to get advice about getting in better shape. When I saw him this past year, I almost didn’t recognize him because of how much weight he had put on! And believe me, it was not muscle gain! This is not to put him down; he is happily married and loves being a dad. We all change as we get older in every area of our lives. But it reminded me that our past accomplishments, even our previous good health, is no guarantee that we will have those same things as we grow older. We’ve all rolled our eyes at the guy who gets out on the field believing he is still the same high school or college phenom of years past. We’ve probably all had the experience of helping a friend move or joining a pickup game in the backyard and waking up the next day so sore we could barely get out of bed. What we could do in the past is no guarantee of our future abilities; we have to work mindfully and diligently if we want to preserve and refine them.

If this is true with our physical condition, it is even more so in the spiritual realm. Our relationship with God, our progress in the ways of holiness, and our stewardship of the blessings we receive are all living, dynamic things. They never stand still. We are either growing or regressing in each of them, depending on how we use our gifts, talents, and time. They are not something we can put in the bank and draw from later, anymore than we could go to the gym 30 days in a row and then take the next 30 off, expecting to stay in shape. It simply doesn’t work that way in any aspect of human existence and I think most of us begrudgingly acknowledge this, at least in certain areas of our life.

Why do I bring this up? Our parish has a legacy of being an incredibly generous, vibrant, compassionate, and spiritually-strong community that doesn’t just take care of itself but actively tries to help others. Having been here three years, I can tell you this reputation is well-earned and true. This parish is not like many others in the best possible sense. There is a spirit of giving and “stepping up” not found in other places. Praise God for that. But the past generosity and service of Incarnate Word is no guarantee of its future. It will not continue to be that way just because it always has.

We’ve had many funerals over the past year and a surprising number of them have been either founding members of our parish or parishioners who were the first to volunteer when there was a ministry or person in need. These persons were not the ones to sit on the sideline, waiting for someone else to step up. They were the first to come forward and many of them saw what needed to be done, even before the priests or staff asked for help. They shared the best of themselves and that generosity and joy became part of Incarnate Word’s identity. They have been partners in our mission of bringing the love and mercy of Jesus to our community.

Many of these wonderful parishioners are gone now and others can no longer carry out their generous service in the ways they once did because of age and illness. It’s time for the next generation of visionaries and partners in our mission to step up and help carry the torch.

What concerns me is that it is getting harder and harder to engage people in the life of our parish. To have Incarnate Word continue to be vibrant, alive, and spiritually-strong, we need the generous, joyful, and willing participation of all who pray here. It cannot just be the job of the clergy, staff, and a few people who have extra time on their hands. Sure, the clergy and staff might have a more visible role in the daily work of Incarnate Word, but I assure you we cannot do the work that needs to be done without your help. We simply don’t have the all the talents, energy, or cleverness needed to be the hands and feet of Christ in our area. Also, Catholicism is not a product we engage with as a consumer, taking what we like and moving on to the next thing. Ministers are not just sacrament machines or functionaries that wait on us for what we want, and then disappear until we need them. What makes this place a community is that we are united in our love and worship of God and support each other with the unique gifts and blessings we have to offer.

Our parish will continue to be alive with grace and compassion, if and only if, each of us is willing not just to receive the goodness Incarnate Word offers but also give something back from the best we have of our time, talent, and treasure. The least of my concerns in these three areas is money! If our government can print money in hard times to ease a recession, God will have no problems finding the funds for what is truly important in the life of this community. We are most in need of a renewed generosity in terms of the gifts of time and talent. For example, we have a perpetual adoration chapel, which many of us take for granted. People from other parishes come to pray here because their own churches are not open for them. However, we are having more and more trouble finding people to commit to one hour a week so we can keep our chapel open. Many of our adorers are in their 70’s and 80’s and are covering 2 and 3 hours at a time. There are over 6000 people registered in this parish; certainly there are enough of us to keep this spiritual treasure available by looking over our schedules to find an hour to give back? Besides adoration, there are many other opportunities for charity, service, and leadership that are being vacated by our members who are entering a new stage in their life. They were there to protect and grow the spiritual gifts that have nourished us. Now it is time for us to lead the way so the next generation can be formed and fed.

I want to gently propose we use this lent to look in the mirror in terms of our generosity with God in the areas of time, talent, and treasure. Are we willing to give something back in all three to thank Him and help this particular parish continue to be in the best shape possible? Have we been a little complacent and hesitant to step up and help; more inclined to receive the spiritual offerings from this community than to give something of ourselves. Maybe we are tempted to think Incarnate Word doesn’t need us or we have nothing to add. I assure you this is not true! Each of us has a role to play in this parish and God will make our gifts a blessing to many others. But he can’t do it until we place them at his service. Take another look at the many ministries offered here, consider calling one of the priests or staff to discern how your gifts might be exactly what we are needing right now, tell us about a blind spot we are missing and be willing to be part of addressing it, sign up for an hour of adoration (partner with a friend or another family to give some flexibility), or whatever the Holy Spirit places on your heart. The key is that we are all doing something, all trying to grow in some way in our relationship with God and in our practice of charity towards each other. Otherwise we are regressing and our souls and our parish are in danger of becoming spiritually weak. Help Incarnate Word keep it’s spiritual six-pack and continue to be alive and healthy in Christ for the many who need what is offered here!