Developing a Taste for God (28th Sunday, Year A)

 To listen to this homily, click here.

Today’s readings center around food and the connection between the hunger we feel in our bellies and the hunger we can and should have for heaven. Isaiah describes paradise as a banquet of “juicy, rich food and pure choice wine.” God, he says, will provide it “for all people”, which is a bit of a good news/bad news situation. Good news because everyone is invited to attend, bad news because even our enemies and the people we judge to be unworthy are also welcome at the same table. In other words, God wants the people who voted for Trump and the people who voted for Biden to be saved; the people who drink coke and the others drinking Pepsi are all invited to the same heavenly banquet! Now whether any of them actually attend is up to each individual, but our readings are clear: all are invited!

Such an image appeals to all of us in some way; especially if you are like me and love to eat! The idea of abundance, with massive tables of fine food and drink, something for every taste, and everyone coming together as family for a leisurely meal is the hallmark of a good time in any culture and every age. But our love for food and drink is something that must be cultivated and developed. Most of us start with a very narrow list of things we eat. Every parent has experienced this truth as they try to expand their child’s palate from chicken nuggets, pizza, and french fries. For those picky eaters, going to the finest Michelin-starred establishments, and the offer of Kobe Beef, hand-made sushi, or French patisserie would be nothing but torture.

I can relate to this when it comes to alcohol. I never developed a taste for liquor and when someone offers me fine scotch, bourbon, or whiskey, one sip makes me want to pour the whole thing down the drain, no matter how much it costs. Most of us have some food or drink we declare as our favorite and we also have a few we do not like, even after giving it a try. Fortunately there is great variety in the world of food and we are blessed to be able to pick and choose what we want. 

However, there is one taste which we all must acquire during our lifetime. If we do not, it will be a tragedy because this craving is the only one which ultimately matters. This flavor, this hunger, is the one we have for God and the things that lead to him. Like our earthy cravings for food and drink, the desire for God must be cultivated and expanded deliberately and thoughtfully. While something in us is naturally attracted to the Lord, we are easily distracted and often attached to what is easy and quick.

As Jesus offers this image of a happy banquet, open to all, he also introduces a somber detail. He understands our human nature and how often we reject the good things God offers. He knows that many people will ignore his invitation and refuse to enter the feast. The parable does not tell us exactly why some make that choice, although we hear their excuses which are pretty flimsy. We are left to wonder. Do they harbor some resentment against the king? Do they consider themselves superior to the other wedding guests? Do they feel they have more important things to do? Is it the food itself which does not appeal to them? We do not know. The horrible thing is that, by a series of decisions, they have built up a palate which cannot be satisfied by the Lord’s feast. His food does not sound appetizing to them. They have failed to form the one craving which matters – the taste for God.

Today’s parable invites us to reflect on the tastes we are developing. It matters little whether we have a preference for meat, vegetables, sweets, or any other food. But it will make a huge difference if we become attracted to sin and vice, the junk food of the soul. Things like revenge, hatred, greed, deceit, impurity, jealousy and the many other menu items that make us spiritually unhealthy and malnourished. At every moment and with each choice, we are either drawing nearer to God or pulling further away from him. We can look at our decisions this way: Is what I am thinking, doing, or saying helping me acquire a craving for God? Or is it making me want the very opposite of what God has prepared for me? 

Very often, our problem is not that our desires and hungers are too great for what God offers; instead, they are too small. We struggle to believe that God can satisfy so we fix our attention on lesser things which taste sweet but make our soul hurt. And if God, in his mercy, deprives us of these unhealthy things, or commands us to stay away from them, we accuse him of being unfair or unloving. But this is not true. He has prepared the richest possible banquet for us. And part of us knows what God offers is actually what we want. We must trust God and let go of the wretched stuff we keep grasping and consuming, thinking it will take away our hunger for happiness and meaning. God made us for himself and as St. Augustine famously said, “Our hearts are restless until they rest in God”!

The wonderful news in these readings is that very little is required of us compared to what we receive. God provides everything, even the wedding garment that each person should wear. Through baptism and the sacraments, through Scripture and Tradition, through the guidance of the church and abundance of his grace, God makes us worthy to be at his table and delight in what he offers. The one thing we have that he cannot make or take, is our “yes”. He waits for us to choose him; once we do, we will have more than we could ever want. 

So let us choose him. Today, tomorrow, and every day we find ourselves on this earth until we are ushered into the eternal feast which is being prepared for all those who love Him! 

Have No Anxiety! (27th Sunday, Year A)

 To listen to this homily, click here.

There were these great commercials in the 90’s; some of you weren’t born then but you can find them on Youtube. These ads highlighted the Tombstone frozen pizza brand and they presented different scenarios of someone about to meet their maker. Before they did, the bad guy asked them what they wanted on their tombstone and they answered, “pepperoni and cheese”. There is something sacred and special about last words, at least in the movies, where someone leaves a lasting impression or a killer one-liner, right before they depart this life, a sort of immortal mic-drop. While this is mostly Hollywood stuff, there have been some amazing last words throughout history. St. Lawrence roasted his persecutors as he was being cooked to death over a massive fire. “Turn me over, I’m done on this side” he said. Bob Hope, the great comedian, was asked by his wife in his final hours where he wanted to be buried. “Surprise me”, he replied. And W.C. Fields, a well-known actor and comedian who was also a bit of a party animal and a generally difficult person, was seen reading the bible not long before he died. When asked why he had the holy book in his hands, he quipped, “I’m looking for loopholes.”

If we were about to die, whom would we write or call, and what would we say? Most of us would contact our loved ones, use words that expressed our affection, along with guidance and encouragement for the rest of their earthly lives. The apostle Paul was in a similar situation when he wrote his letter to the Philippians. Paul was under house arrest in Rome, in chains and under armed guard. He was soon to go on trial for his faith and the death penalty was a real possibility. So, Paul chose to write to his loved ones, the Christians in Philippi, a church that Paul had founded. 

So what were Paul’s last words to the Philippians? What was the enduring thing he wished to leave them? St. Paul tells them (and us), “Have no anxiety at all.” We might smile at those words. When someone says not to worry, it can sound naive, unrealistic, or even dismissive. But, that is hardly the case with Paul. He faced trials few of us could conceive. A partial list includes an escape involving being lowered over the side of building in a basket, public whippings, shipwrecks, snake bites, imprisonment and bodily ailments. Yet in this letter, written toward the end of his life, he says, “Have no anxiety at all.”

In his admonition to stop worrying, St. Paul was echoing Jesus. At the Last Supper, knowing full well that the next morning would bring public humiliation and unspeakable tortures, Jesus told his disciples, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” We might ask how it is possible to obey such a command. All of us would like to be free from worries, but it seems impossible. We have financial problems, family difficulties, work deadlines, health concerns – not to mention worries about what is happening in our world: natural disasters, societal breakdown, wars, economic turmoil and intense division. When Paul says to have no anxieties, when Jesus tells us not to be troubled, it does not mean to ignore reality. What it means is that we take a different approach to our troubles.

Before we get to that, I want you to know that I am not speaking from some high and mighty place. I am a worrier. I worry about money. I worry about what people think about me. I worry about not doing my job well enough. I hear other people problems and I worry about them too! It bothers me that I can do so little to help. Slowly, over time though, I am beginning to see the wisdom of St. Paul’s words. More often than not, my anxiety does no good for me or others.

When I look at my worries, I see that the majority concern only two things and I have no control over either of them. Those two things are centered around an unchangeable past or an unknowable future. I often obsess about past faults and blunders, yet I can do nothing to change them; what’s done is done. The best I can do is to learn from them, repent of those things which were sinful and make restitution if possible. The same is true about tomorrow – the things which I worry about often do not come to pass or, when they do happen, they turn out completely different than what I feared. The only day I can control is today. This doesn’t mean we fail to make prudent plans. Careful preparation is part of today's duty. But once we make those plans, we put them in Jesus’ hands.

After telling his readers not to be anxious, Paul offers a better way. First, we are to be prayerful. God wants to help us handle our problems and concerns, if we let him. If we commit our worries to God in prayer he will give us inner peace, contentment and assurance. So let’s make sure we set aside time to pray every day. Find a few quiet minutes to offer God our anxieties and fears, to lift before him the troubles of others, and to thank him for all he has given us and promised us. No special words are required. We can say what we really feel. If we do this, God will calm our hearts and clear our minds. We will experience gratitude as we remember that he was faithful in the past and he will continue to be faithful in the present and future!

Secondly, Paul encourages us to turn our minds to whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, gracious, excellent, and worthy of praise. That is a pretty comprehensive list which covers everything good in the areas of belief, behavior and beauty:

• In the area of belief, it means learning and reflecting on everything true about God, about ourselves and about the world he has made. Are we listening to the voice of Paul and others in the Bible and our Catholic Tradition who teach us about the character of God, the nature of humanity and the work of Christ? Or do we get our version of reality from news, cynical politicians or corporations who stand to profit from our anxiety?
• In the area of behavior, do we seek to contemplate and imitate those individuals in Scripture and in society who exhibit godliness, kindness, generosity and all the other fruits of the Spirit? Above all, do we look to Christ as our role model and example for living?
• And in the area of beauty, do we appreciate and delight in all that God has made, giving thanks to him for all that is attractive and glorious in Creation? 

In all of this, we realize our thoughts really matter! If our thinking goes astray or is consumed with anxiety, our beliefs and our behavior soon follow. So let’s make sure we guard our hearts and minds, and take responsibility for what we and our families give our attention to.

To bring this full circle, none of us knows what our last words will be. We don’t know whether they will be witty, wise or memorable. But we do know Paul’s last words to the Philippians. Last words that should be of first importance for us. Last words written in the face of death that can guide us in life: Have no anxiety, be prayerful, and turn our minds to all that is good.

Unsend Your "No" to God (26th Sunday, Year A)

 To listen to this homily, click here.

One of the wonderful innovations of technology introduced in the last year or two is the ability to “unsend” emails and text messages. There are lots of reasons why someone might want to do this and most of us can think of moments when we wanted to turn back time to get a message back. For whatever reason, I have a bad habit of sending emails too soon, before I include all the recipients or attachments. Of course, I usually remember immediately after pressing ‘send’. Having the ability to fix a problematic text or email without looking like a fool is wonderful! It is a blessing to be able to change your response, to right a wrong, and correct an answer before it is final. 

The gospel parable reminds us that God does something similar for us, his often-foolish, selfish, wishy-washy children! The ability to change our answer to him and make things right is not something we deserve but it is a gift given to us by God who loves us more than we can imagine. His story gives the scenario of two children, who are asked by their father to work in his vineyard. The first son is defiant and disrespects the honor of working side-by-side with his father. “No way” he says, but later changes his mind and does what his dad asks. The second son is a smooth talker or perhaps lacks commitment, and says, “sure Dad”, but never follows through. If you have raised children, you have likely seen the actions of both sons unfold before your eyes. Certainly all of us, at some point, have played the part of both.

This parable has, of course, a historical context. The vineyard stands for God’s people and the two sons represent those who are called to care for them. The second son represents the established religion of Jesus’ time, exemplified in the skeptical scribes and pharisees. As often happens in such cases, the religious leaders of that time paid lip-service to God but, when Jesus came in a way they did not expect, they were unable to accept the mysterious ways of God, 

The first son stands for the “outsiders”; including non-Jewish people, who had been accustomed to saying “No” to God but, having been humbled by their experience of sinfulness, were receptive to the challenge of Jesus. They were joined by “tax collectors and prostitutes” who, though despised by the religious types of that time, were humble and open to the message of Jesus. The point is that pride and smugness are far greater obstacles to true conversion than a sinful past ready for repentance. 

And so here is the thing for us to notice. What the NO-saying son says is contrary to God’s will. But what he does is inline with it. It is the other way around with the YES-saying son. The words of the YES-saying son are obedient to God’s will, but his actions are in opposition to it. The words of the YES-saying son are empty. His life, not his words, tell the real truth about his relationship to his father. The truth is that the YES-saying son rejects God’s will, however much acceptance appears to be in his words.

One of the great hallmarks of Jesus’ preaching is that even though it is set in a historical context, it reaches across generations and cultures. The Lord’s challenge to the scribes and pharisees is also directed at us. Today’s parable demands that we consider the question, “which son am I?” Ideally we would be neither; the best case would be that we say “yes” to God when he calls and we would also do what we promised. But we all struggle with sinfulness and selfishness and must ask: are we the one who says “no” to God’s face but then repents and does what he wants? Or have I been the one who says “yes” to God’s face but in my heart I never do what he asks? 

Or, maybe we are somewhere in between? Children of God who try hard some days to be faithful and on other days let our hardness of heart, our selfishness, our unwillingness to listen to God get the better of us?

That is the profit of this passage for us; asking who we are and what needs to be done. The good news is it’s possible to change one's mind; it’s never too late, as long as we are alive, to become a child destined to see and enter the Kingdom of God. Today it’s not too late to get right with God, to take back our “no”. It’s not too late to say to God - I believe - help my unbelief. It’s not too late to say to God: yes, I will go out in the vineyard after all. I will work to bring the good news of your love to my family, my friends, and the whole world in what I say and do. I will worship you and work with you and obey your will.

The Psalm gives us the right prayer to go with this parable: “guide me in your truth and teach me!” Our ways need to be God’s ways. It is good if our words say YES to God. But what is crucial is that our lives also say YES to God. Unless they do, our words are worthless. May we become the sons and daughters of God who please him with both our words and our actions, each and every day!