Is Christ Our King Yet? (Christ the King, Year B)

  The intrigue of kings and queens, the secrets of royal life, and the cutthroat politics which take place within the walls of the palace have always captivated people. There is an enduring quality to stories of kings and queens, princes and princesses, whether they be real or fictional. King Arthur, Queen Elizabeth, Henry VIII, Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, King David and King Herod are just a few. In all these stories, real or imagined, one thing stays the same: there can only be one ruler, one king, one queen. Sharing the power might be a nice idea and begin with good intentions but it never works out. Sooner or later there is a struggle for the crown and people must make a choice about whom they will serve.

While the monarchy isn't a great political model because of human weakness, it is the best model to describe how things work in the spiritual reality that governs heaven and earth. Jesus IS King of the entire universe, whether we choose him or not. Jesus will rule over all things, places and people at the end of time, whether we chose to serve him or not. Morality and the authority of Jesus are not something we decide or vote on. He is Lord of all but he lets us choose to whom we give our allegiance. 

There can be only one king at the end of time and there is a massive battle going on even now to establish the everlasting kingdom. This battle started when satan and his angels rebelled against God. It reached a new level when Adam and Eve rejected God and chose sin. Back and forth it continued until the decisive moment when God became man and died for us on the cross. From that moment on, the victory was won for God and his faithful. Jesus WILL reign, forever more, forever more, as the song says. You and I happen to live in the final stage, when things are wrapping up. Human history is moving towards Jesus’ return once and for all, where he will judge heaven and earth and give eternal glory and happiness to those who served him during their life while eternal shame and punishment will be given to those who served other lords.

As a general rule, most of us feel comfortable saying Jesus is king and lord of our lives. We wouldn’t be here in church if we didn’t agree with at least most of what he teaches and expects of us. But this feast calls us to examine our lives closely, for Christ the King must rule over every aspect of our lives, every dimension of our mind, body, and heart. We cannot serve other masters and still be his. So how can we evaluate our loyalty in a way that’s honest, open, and yet not driven by guilt, shame, or self-hatred? The key is to remember that Jesus loved us and died for us before we ever existed. He made the choice to give everything for us even if we would reject him in the future. His love is unconditional and the only reason he doesn’t want us to serve other kings is because he knows it will lead to our destruction and unhappiness. 

With that being said, is Jesus king of all aspects of my life? Is he Lord of my mind? Do I use my mental gifts, to learn more about him and his Word? Am I expanding my knowledge of the faith, no matter how young or old I am? Do I use my capacity to think in a way that helps others and glorifies God? Am I developing my intellect as a well-rounded human being and making the most of my time as a student? Or does something else rule my mind? Am I mentally lazy, just vegging out in front of a screen? Or more consumed with increasing knowledge of things that are less important or not important at all? If there are areas of my mind that are off-limits to Jesus, where he is not allowed to enter, then he is not yet my King.

What about our bodies? They are temples of the Holy Spirit and made in the image of God. At the end of time, they will be raised up and reunited with our souls, either in heaven or in hell, depending on our choices. Do we show our loyalty to Christ the King by the way we dress, the way we eat and drink, by respecting our body and the bodies of others? Do we reverence the gift of our sexuality as a treasure entrusted to us by God, as something to be protected and honored rather than exploited, redefined, or used for selfish pleasure? For our married couples, are you open to the gift of life and generous in responding to God’s invitation to be co-creators with him? Are there parts of us that are ruled by addiction, excess, self-indulgence, or lust? If there are areas of my body that are off-limits to Jesus, then he is not yet my King.

Last of all, what about our hearts, which guide our relationships and the things and people we choose to love? Is Jesus allowed into the way we love other people? Do we have concern for others, especially the poor, the sick, the unborn, the hurting, the ignored, and inconvenient? Do we keep the good things of life, like money, possessions, and careers in their proper place; never allowing them to become idols or using them as an excuse to trample the rights and dignity of others? Do we see each person as another Christ to be loved, respected, and cared for? Do each of our relationships help us and the other person grow closer to God? To put it most simply, would we be comfortable having Jesus alongside us as we interacted with our friends, family members, co-workers, and strangers? Or would he see us as impatient, unkind, manipulative, selfish, angry, or cruel? If there are any relationships or parts of my heart that are off-limits to Jesus, then he is not yet my King.

As I was reflecting and writing this homily, I realized how much I need to work on. I have a divided heart in many ways. Sometimes, I like to keep Jesus out of parts of my mind, body, and heart. It is difficult to give him free reign because I think I can do better or I just want things my way. But that is ultimately self-sabotage. Jesus is no ordinary King. He is not even simply a good or great king. He is the King of Kings, savior and shepherd, our Lord and lover who will never misuse his power and authority in any way. He is not content to be one king among many. Our time here on earth is short and now is the time to choose which king we will serve for all eternity. Let’s ask God for the grace and faith to open every part of our lives to Christ the King because he will be victorious and reign forever more! 

Wisdom of the Widows (32nd Sunday, Year B)

  One of the greatest honors of priesthood is being invited into peoples’ lives, often at the bookend moments which are either the happiest or saddest a human experiences. Every weekend, it’s really incredible to look out and know so many stories, represented in the faces seated in the pews. I smile inside when I catch a glimpse of the couple I married a few years ago who are still holding hands and crazy about each other. My heart is full when I see parents wrangling unruly toddlers who are trying to escape church because years earlier they asked me to pray for a healthy pregnancy. I also see people whom I visited in the hospital after a health scare, who received the anointing of the sick and now are back in action, full of new life and energy. And finally, I see many who have a lost a loved one and are walking through the various stages of grief. It’s hard for me to believe, but in my time at IW, I have celebrated more than 150 funerals and those stories always stick with me. Most of all, I am moved by the widows I have served as a priest. More often than not, there is a certain grace in their sorrow, an openness to God in their loss, and an honesty about the vulnerability and uncertainty which lies ahead. There has never been a good time to be a widow, but in the ancient world, it was pretty much the worst fate that could befall someone. It is only recently that social programs and safety nets were put in place for those who lost not only their beloved spouse but also their protector, provider, and advocate. For this reason, widows have a special place in God’s heart throughout the Scriptures. Over and over again, God sends prophets to call for their protection and condemns those who take advantage of their desperate situation. In Luke’s gospel, Jesus raises the son of a grieving widow and today he praises another for her generosity and trust. What might you and I learn from the example of the two widows presented in our readings?

What I first notice about both of them is that, despite their tremendous loss and hardship, they maintained a connection with God. So often, when things go wrong for us (sometime it only takes a trivial thing), we begin to doubt God’s love and goodness. Tragedy that is filtered through the lens of “why me” or “this is not fair” often moves us to pull away from God and even forsake him completely. For those who are able to hold on to faith, even in the worst moments of heartbreaking loss, there is the ability to walk with God, even in the darkness which gives no answers. The widow of Zarephath practices hospitality towards Elijah, even though she is down to her last bit of flour and oil, because her faith tells her that in welcoming the stranger, one might be ministering to God himself. The widow in the temple continues to give, even though she too is down to her final reserves, because somehow she still realizes and acknowledges all that God has done for her. Even in tragedy, even in hardship, even in poverty, these women live generously. When there is nothing left to give, they give a little more! 

Faith simplified these women. Trust brought them to a place in their poverty that carved out a capacity for God and a generosity that defies caution and conventional wisdom. Sometimes, my heart can get so cluttered that there is little capacity for God. If I actually stop and do an "inventory" of my heart, I discover all kinds of desires there, all sorts of attachments, a wide variety of hostilities and judgments, and most of all, a list of worries, tensions and fears. Even though I might turn to God in prayer to give me what I want and remove what I don't, I can't always say my heart is full of the Lord. It takes honest reflection to discover the many ways our possessions and our plans possess us. Our needs and our anxieties quietly erode our capacity for trust.

St. John Paul II captured this holy disposition of the two widows in a phrase called the law of the Gift. This spiritual principle is counterintuitive but it states that you become more fully human, more alive, and more completely the person God made you to be to the extent you give yourself away. If you want to save your life, lay down your life. It is in giving that we receive. Abundance comes from the willing gift of who I am and what I have to others and to God! 

In that place of total trust in God, the jar doesn't go empty and the jug never runs dry. Then, instead of asking God to take away my troubles or punish my enemies, I'm asking God to help me to be a source of joy, comfort, assistance to others, to help me be generous because I now see all those who are in greater need than I am. When we are hooked onto the one, true God, who is pure gift and love, we can give and give and we will not run empty.

Now, the opposite is also true. If I cling to substitutes for God, if I turn things into God that are not God, I can hoard all the wealth, power, fame, and pleasures possible and it will still not be enough. I will still feel empty and insecure. 

With these readings today, we could ask for the grace to be able to give more from the deepest reserves of who we are and what we have. We get God’s love by giving God’s love away. We can ask, who needs this kind of generosity from me. Who in my family needs what I had instinctively feel is more than I could give? Who in the world, in the church, in this parish needs my generosity, not from my leftovers but from my deepest reserves?

Can we imagine being this generous, this free? We can only get closer to that place by asking for these graces boldly, by letting God love us into freedom, by letting our Lord convince us that our real happiness will be in letting go of more and more, and falling into the hands of a loving God - who keeps faith forever, who protects and provides for widows, and who sets captives free.

Shema is for All! (31st Sunday, Year B)

At first look our readings might seem a little dry; I certainly thought so when I started wrestling with them. Then, as I read a commentary on the original text, I was blown away at what is being said to us in the Scriptures. I will try my best to give you the clifnotes.

In the first reading, it appears Moses is mainly telling the people a whole bunch of rules. "Fear the LORD, your God, and keep, throughout the days of your lives, all his statutes and commandments which I enjoin on you.” How many laws and commandments were there? Most of us would say 10 because we remember that great story where Moses comes down the mountain with the two stone tablets inscribed with the commandments. Ah, but that is not all of them! Over time, there would be 613 commandments from the law of Moses. Why so many?! Remember the story of Adam and Eve? God gave them only two commandments: “Be fruitful and subdue the earth, and eat of any tree except the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil.” We know what happens. They can’t even honor those two commandments. And pretty quickly, humanity chooses sin and runs away from God. As this happens, God has to introduce more and more commandments to keep us from hurting ourselves and others. Think of God’s commandments as guardrails to keep us safe…and we are really bad drivers! 

The speech we hear from Moses is one of the most holy and important scriptures for the Jewish people, even to this day. "Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone! Therefore, you shall love the LORD, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.” This prayer is called the Shema, which is the first word of the passage in Hebrew, and it gave them their identity. At the time of Moses, no one worshiped one god. You would worship a whole bunch of gods and let them fight it out to see which one was better. The Chosen People were different. They belonged to one God and him alone they served. But they kept messing up and wandering off. And so God would give them more commandments and laws to bring them back in line. 

Today Moses is reminding them of this reality once again so they can enter the Promised Land. So how do they stay faithful?

The first word for us to pay attention to is “hear” which is that Hebrew word shema. In Hebrew, this word is not just listening for a sound, it also the word to obey. Unlike English, there are not two different words.  So, if you truly hear someone, including God, and you shema them, you obey them. And of course it’s not possible to hear and obey the one true God while at the same time hearing and obeying all those other gods that Israel kept sneaking off to serve. 

This prayer was everything to the Jewish people: it would be whispered into a baby’s ear when it was born, it would be spoken in the moments when someone was dying, and it is one of the prayers worn on the forehead in little boxes by Orthodox Jews as well as the Mezuzah, displayed in every Jewish home.

But obedience isn’t all. Moses tells them to love God as well, in the same way someone would love his or her spouse. Time and time again, God will compare Israel to a spouse who keeps running off with strangers who don’t love her. Jesus constantly uses spousal images as well. How are we called to love God? Like a husband, like a wife.  

With all your heart is not just feelings or emotions. That’s not what heart means in the Hebrew language. The Hebrew word for heart is “lavav” and means a place of decision, a place where we meet God face to face, and choose who we will serve. The word for heart means to decide to serve.

Nephez is the word for soul and it means “personality” “weirdness”, “quirks”. So we are called to love God with all our strangeness and uniqueness that makes us who we are. That is the full meaning of loving him with all our soul.

Mayod is the Hebrew word for strength and it is not actually a word. It is the equivalent of 5 exclamation points. So put it all together it means: “make a decision, before God, to serve him with all my personality, and weirdness all bold type with 5 exclamations points!!!!!

Psalm refrain picks this up and uses this Mayod word again, “I love you Lord my strength”, my mayod, my exclamation point.

The Shema, this most important prayer of the Jewish people was what Jesus tells the scribe in today’s gospel when he asks which of the 613 commandments is the most important. Interestingly enough, Jesus adds one additional thing to loving God with your whole heart, soul, and strength. He adds that we must also love God with all our mind too. Why? We cannot choose to love God or serve him until we know him. And it is with our mind that we come to know who God is and how best to love him with all that we are.

As any good teacher would, Jesus ties everything together as he connects loving God and keeping the commandments with loving our neighbor as ourselves. We can say we are holy and such great people and do all these things for God but if we treat each other like dirt, then those religious gestures and practices mean very little to God. The Lord wants to see us integrated, consistent in how we practice our faith and worship. The scribe, who is seeking truth, recognizes immediately that Jesus has revealed something special and life-changing and Jesus lets him know, “you are not far from the kingdom of Heaven.” Only one thing separates this scribe from perfection; now he needs to follow Jesus. It’s not enough simply to know him, we also have to hear, to obey, to Shema, the Lord.

Reflecting on the richness hidden in the original text of today’s readings leaves us with some challenging questions:

Do I hear the Lord as he speaks to me in Scripture and the teachings of the Church? Do I hear in a biblical way, meaning do I obey him?

Do I love the Lord with a free, total and conscious decision or only when I feel like it?

Do I love him with all my weirdness and uniqueness that makes me me?

Am I willing to make my love for God, the equivalent of Mayod, five exclamation points, my everything?

Will I incorporate Jesus’s addition to use my mind to know and love God and not just rely on my emotions?

Last and perhaps most important, as I work on these things, will I follow after Jesus, wherever that following may take me, even if it leads to the cross?

More than likely we have some work to do. I know I sure do!