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June 28, 2005

NOT A CARE INN THE WORLD - Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Those of us, who are old enough, will remember the “Sixties,” those crazy days when at least a certain segment of the U.S. population dropped out of the so-called normal patterns of life: Family, job, responsibility for the community, et cetera. They were called “Hippies.” No one seems to know just where the word came from. At any rate, they were young (some not so young) men and women who just decided to “drop out.” They would buy an old run-down Volkswagen bus, paint it in some bizarre colors, put a mattress in the back, add a Coleman stove, a few dishes, and off they would go driving along the back country roads with not a care in the world. At least it seemed so to the rest of us who could not imagine ourselves doing that sort of thing.

They had very little in terms of possessions, a guitar perhaps and a collection of old phonograph records. Granola, cheap wine in a jug and marijuana seemed to be their basic staples. Oddly enough, they seemed to be able to exist without many of the so-called necessities we feel we can’t get along without.

So, that was the Hippy Generation, the Crazy Sixties. By the seventies it all seemed to have gone its way. There may still be a few around, but I have not seen any lately that would resemble the “originals” with their long hair and washed-out overalls.

Looking back on all this, of course, one would have to say that these folks, who did not seem to have a care in the world, were actually very much concerned at least about one thing and that was the Vietnam War. Indeed, many “dropped out” of life as we know it precisely as a sign of contradiction to the assumptions of the generals at the Pentagon and the administration in the White House. On many occasions they demonstrated before the National Guard with only a flower for “protection” (“flower-power” they called it). So, one would need to say that they did have at least one care in the world. It may even be true to say that they brought the Vietnam War to a swifter conclusion with their efforts and lifestyle.

The moral in all this, I suppose, would be that looks deceive, public habits sometimes deceive the public; things are not always as they seem

It often occurs to me that people in Jesus’ time must also have often wondered about his life style. What we remember best about Jesus from the gospels, of course, is the fact that he was a man of prayer, that he did miracles and that he was also “slightly different.”

The fact is, of course, if we had lived at that time, we might have asked why he did not get a job, get married and have a family like most other young adults of his time. None of this appears odd to us today of course, because our vision of it is affected by the way the Church has thought of Jesus over the centuries as Son of God, Son of the eternal Father. (It is called high theology.) But in his own time Jesus must have raised some eyebrows or caused some to roll their eyes in surprise at the vocation he chose to follow.

We have no record of Jesus ever holding a job as an adult; he never had a home of his own, never cooked, as far as we know. He preached God’s kingdom even though this did not pay much and not many other people did that sort of thing. So, in a sense, Jesus might have appeared much like our Sixties Hippies who lived without a care in the world. He did not follow the normal patterns of social life in his time.

But think of also in this way: The Hippies of our day were, in a sense, a sign of contradiction: They lived differently for a reason (at least some of them did), that is, they wished to call attention to the fact that many of the things in this world we feel are so important are actually not so important after all, at least in the long term vision of life.

So, Jesus could say to his friends: “Come to me, all of you who are burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart and you will find rest for yourselves. My yoke is easy and my burden light.”

That does sound somewhat like a Hippy philosophy doesn’t it? Don’t worry about work; live for the day. Your burdens are the ones you pile upon your own shoulders. Live like me, be free.

So, what could Jesus possibly mean by all that? What are the light and easy burdens of life? Most of us don’t have the leisure of sitting about all day with nothing to do. We have jobs and responsibilities to family and society. We have a “debt” to society around us. There is a place for us in the world.

My sense is that Jesus knew that his followers had to have jobs and responsibilities. That’s the way of the world. But I also think Jesus had a way of asking a different kind of question about life: It was the deeper question about balance, about how things fit together, about what is important and what is not important. In short, if we want to enjoy a life that is peaceful and without yokes or burdens without a worry about what will come next, Jesus would say that you need to ask some pretty basic questions, questions like, what does it really mean for me to be this person this day, to be a work at this or that task? What does it mean for me to live shoulder to shoulder with other folks who are so much like myself, trying to figure life out, trying to find a place in the world that makes sense? What does it mean for me to have something to do today, something to offer the world and make the world a place where there may be some possibility of hope for everyone?

I know that these may sound like abstract questions having little to do with making a living. But they are important questions to ask if we do not want to get bogged down in the boredom, the yokes and burdens and drudgeries of daily life in the world.

In short, if the world and work seem a burden and a yoke, what can we do to make them lighter and less burdensome? Jesus would say, like the Hippies of another generation: “Live free, live without care all the while you are doing the work God has called you to do. Do something that brings some goodness and happiness to the little world you know best.” I’m sure Jesus lived like that. I’m not so sure about the Hippies, but, of course, I only saw them from a distance and that was back in another century and a different time.

The Scriptures: Zechariah 9: 9-10; Romans 8: 9, 1-13; Matthew 11: 25-30

Posted by Julie Galligan at 11:14 AM.

June 20, 2005

GETTING READY FOR THE Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

“Anchorage dwellers” are peculiar folks, but perhaps no more so than most folks in other cities. They throw their trash about the streets during the long winters, hoping that the snow will disguise it.

But the moment spring comes round they immediately get busy picking it all up because within weeks folks from the Lower 48 will be coming into town and, of course, we don’t want to look like a cave dwellers. Anyway, it all soon gets picked up and hauled off. We will go through all this again next winter and next spring in the same fashion. You can bet on it!

Part of the reason for this great effort to get the city ready is economic. We know the folks from down below spend money. Hence, if they see a lovely city, they may, in turn, be delighted to spend a few extra bucks.

But let me hasten to say that it is not all about economics. Folks here are hospitable year round whether others come here to spend their money or not. I think there is a sense among us that there is something beautiful to be experienced and explored here and we should do whatever we can to help visitors appreciate this beauty. Hospitality need not be associated with the baser instincts of making a buck!

The word hospitality comes from the Latin root word “hospis” (or hospes), and hence we have institutions such as hospitals and hospices to care for the sick and the infirm. This is surely one of the higher forms of hospitality because these are institutions where the human person is gently cared for.

During Medieval times even monasteries were called “hospes” because travelers could expect protection, food and shelter there. Indeed, they were often the only institutions which offered such care. To this very day, as we all know, churches are considered places of safe harbor.

We might draw from all this that hospitality is more than providing food and shelter to the needy. In practically all cases it is a Christian virtue, even when a monetary reward may be involved. Anything done for another to provide that person with health care, a place of rest, a source for food and shelter must surely be considered a Christian virtue no matter whether money crosses hands or not. Hospitality has to do with respect for human life, with the dignity of the human person even if it is only the service of the hot dog vendor on the street offering an inexpensive lunch. In the end it all has to do with providing life in some form.

There are several references in the scriptures to indicate that Jesus appreciated hospitality: He was constantly eating at someone else’s house. He did not have one of his own, of course. He was always on the road. We have the examples also of Zachaeus who took Jesus in one evening as he was passing through Jericho. Martha, Mary and Lazarus were often Jesus’ hosts. Peter’s mother-in-law took care of Jesus and his disciples. The fact that these instances are even mentioned in the gospels tells us that they were important to the ones who compiled the stories. Gestures of kindness should not go unrecorded.

This is the very insight we draw from the two scriptures for this Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The first is a quaint little story of an elderly couple who are childless. Whenever their friend Elisha (the holy man of God) came through their neighborhood, they would invite him in for the night. He could expect a bed, table, chair and lamp. In return for their hospitality, Elisha promised the couple that they could expect a child in their old age, and much to their surprise, it happened. For Jewish people who place much importance on having children to follow them, this was, indeed, a great act of gratitude. Not a bad exchange of kindnesses.

The gospel provides a wonderful list of paradoxes: Whatever you are willing to give away, you will receive back in abundance. It all has to do with attitude. The more you hang on to things, the more you can expect to lose them. Hence, even the smallest act of kindness or hospitality will be rewarded a hundred-fold. It’s not so much a matter of what the gift is worth as it is the attitude with which it is given. Even a cup of cold water given in love means something.

So, as the tourist season begins again in earnest here in Alaska, there are going to be a lot of opportunities to offer our hospitality to the folks from Outside who will be walking our streets in their nice, clean white sneakers. Another summer of opportunity to let folks know that we appreciate their coming…whether they buy anything or not.

The Scriptures: 2 Kings 4: 8-11, 14-16a; Romans 6: 3-4, 8-11; Matthew 10: 37-2

Posted by Julie Galligan at 10:05 AM.

June 13, 2005

FEAR FACTOR - Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Occasionally, somewhere out of my foggy kindergarten past, small parts of jingles or Mother Goose tales suddenly pop into my mind.

One such came to me as I was reading the scriptures for this forthcoming Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary time which speak in several places about faith and fear. “Fraidy cat, fraidy cat” were the lines I remembered. Actually, a quick search on Google told me that it came from a children’s story about Tommy Tiger Who Was a Fraidy Cat. Now one would not expect a tiger to be a “Fraidy Cat,” of course, but that is the beauty of children’s fiction. Even cats get scared!

Seriously, however, psychologists claim that fear is one of our most important means of human protection. When physical or psychological dangers suddenly arise, we “cut and run.” It seems to be the normal thing to do, so it must be good.

Most of us, I should imagine, have secret fears: I fear flying, for instance, also exposure to heights, dark caves, snakes, Rotweillers and spiders or whatever else could suddenly end my life against my will.

In a more positive sense, fear can also be a sign of awe or respect in the presence of mystery. In the scriptures, for instance, we often read of the holy fear of God, not terror, but simply the acknowledgement that God is God, period.

The question, however, is this: What is the relationship between faith and fear? If fear for our life, for instance, or the fear of not being able to control our destiny is sometimes a reality, how can we maintain a sense of peace and tranquility?

I can only offer some examples out of the lives of real people in history: Anne Frank, the teenage Dutch, Jewish girl who was killed by the Nazis in World War II wrote this in her diary: “In spite of everything, I still believe that people are good at heart.” Those are brave words for someone who knew she would soon be killed.

Rosa Parks, the Negro seamstress in Alabama, refused to give up her seat on a bush to a white person as the law required. Her refusal to give in to fear was the catalyst for a boycott of the city bus system and the event that propelled the civil rights movement forward.

Remember also the words of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in his first inaugural address: “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” In other words, there is no point in allowing fear to control our lives. There are too many other things in life that can truly strike fear in us.

I have a sense from reading the words of Jesus that he also must often have been afraid. Given his confrontations with the Jewish and Roman authorities, he must have known that his life was constantly in jeopardy. On the night before he died, in the Garden of Gethsemani, for instance, he was so afraid of what would happen to him that sweat ran down his face. And yet, despite all that, he could confidently say to his disciples on an earlier occasion: “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.” Or again, “Fear not, little flock, you are worth more than a whole flock of sparrows.”

Perhaps that is the reason why Rosa Parks had no fear “getting in the face” of the driver who told her to sit in the back of the bus…the reason why Anne Frank could find something good to say even about the Germans, knowing all the while she would be killed…the reason why FDR could tell Americans not to let fear direct their lives…the reason why Jesus could tell his disciples that they should not be afraid is because each of these people had a deep sense of the value of and dignity of human life.

No worldly power can ultimately and eternally harm us if we believe in our own goodness and preciousness in God’s sight. We are loved by God, no matter what. That’s the bottom line. Having said all that, of course, does not mean that I am going to go around provoking any ferocious Rotweillers any time soon either.

The scriptures: Jeremiah 20: 10-13; Romans 5: 12-15; Matthew 10: 26-33

Posted by Julie Galligan at 09:34 AM.

June 07, 2005

MISSION IMPOSIBLE - Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

Isn’t modern communication a great thing? I was thinking about all that during the time of Pope John Paul’s death and burial and also during the entire Conclave and election of Pope Benedict XVI. The Catholic Church got some really good exposure during those days and I’m sure we were all proud about that. No doubt many people, not of our faith, also learned much about the faith of Catholics.

It also occurred to me that the so-called Medieval splendor of the rites must have impressed (negatively or positively?) many people whose faith communities do not include such “finery.” Of course, we are a Church that has a long history and many traditions that people of our age are not familiar with. Nonetheless, the Renaissance model of church, the cardinals with their scarlet robes and all the rest must have astonished some people.

At the same time, beautiful liturgy, splendid religious rites ought to be done for the glory of God and not for our own aggrandizement. We Catholics know that. Whether others do, however, is a question.

All this came to mind as I read the gospel for this Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time and found there Jesus’ plans for his future Church. I said to myself, how different the Church is today when you compare it to the way it all started in the mind of Jesus in those early days.

The text of today’s gospel, for instance, says that he sent his twelve apostles out on a mission to proclaim the kingdom, cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons. When you think about this, it may all sound almost bizarre: Here you have twelve blue collar men, little formal education, no theological education for sure, being sent out to change the world! Whether any of the apostles actually did accomplish any of those miracles is not said in the Gospel.

But one thing we do know is this: Those twelve men were sent to go out and be the compassion of Jesus. It says specifically that Jesus was moved with pity for the crowd. They seemed like sheep without a shepherd.

But if it seems odd to us that Jesus would send out uneducated and untrained men to do such important work, just think of this: We have many examples of how God sends out the least and the weakest to do God’s work. Moses in the Old Testament is a good example: He was actually a murderer in his earlier life and, as the text says, a man who stuttered, that is, he was not an accomplished speaker. Not a good start for someone who has gone down in history as one of Israel’s greatest leaders.

The prophets too, men like Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel, all confessed that they were not up to the challenge of doing God’s work. And yet they used their human skills the best way they could and did some rather spectacular things, miracles included.

That brings us to the point of asking: Does God have any plan for me, for any of us to go out on mission? What is that mission anyway?

The fact is that if we are baptized Christians, our mission was included in the baptismal rite. If we were baptized as a child, of course, we were not yet ready to carry out that mission, but the challenge was there just waiting to be realized.

The further point is that, like the apostles, God does not place any special requirements on us. All God asks is for us to be holy. I realize, of course, that if we are to be of any value to the Church and society at large, it would be nice if we had some education and training for our future careers, whether in the world or in the Church. But the fundamental thing for us is to be Christian, to follow the model of Jesus.

There is a beautiful line in the First Letter of St. Peter that could be said of the mission of every baptized Christian: “…you are a chosen race a royal priesthood, a consecrated nation, a people set apart to sing the praises of the God who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

I’m not sure most of us would be up to the task of curing the sick, raising the dead or driving out demons. Actually, we are called to do something less spectacular: We are just sent out on mission to share with the world around us a portion of the gifts that we possess as human individuals: We are all good at something. The point is that we are simply invited to use whatever that gift is for the glory of God and for the good of our brothers and sisters. That’s what mission is all about. It is not an overwhelming job, but there will surely be many rewards coming from it if we work at it as diligently as we can.

I have a hunch that even those cardinals, dressed in their finery electing a new pope, probably saw all this as their way of fulfilling their mission from Jesus to go into the world and labor for God’s harvest. Who can argue with that?

The scriptures: Exodus 19: 2-6a; Romans 5: 6-11; Matthew 9: 36-10a

Posted by Julie Galligan at 08:39 AM.