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July 26, 2008
Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - True Treasure
When I lived in Anchorage, Alaska, I could always tell when spring was near. It wasn’t the disappearance of the snow or the appearance of trash that had been lying beneath it all winter. Actually, it was not even the first sight of the tulips I had planted last September. The first clue I would notice was always the ragged, ill-conceived and poorly-constructed signs on the corner of my street: Garage Sale, Moving Out of Town Sale, Yard Sale, Everything Must Go . Some are fairly creative, but most were probably hastily put together in someone’s kitchen a half hour before they were placed on a wobbly stick for all to see.
Garage sales are so common and so frequent in the summer months we hardly even think much of them. For those of us who do not frequent such mercantile ventures, they mean little. However, for others, they are a way of life. Some folks spend an entire Saturday driving from one home to another searching for that one piece of treasure that will make all the difference in their lives. They are rarely very costly, but they mean something to this person, something to take home and be stored in the garage or the basement until it’s time to take the piece and sell it at another next garage sale!
The well-known saying: One person’s trash could be another person’s treasure surely seems to apply here.
The point, of course, is that we do not seem to know the true value of the things we buy or accumulate. What we thought would be a treasure, often turns out to be useless “stuff.” So, off to the next garage sale they go. Material things usually do not have much “staying-power.” Our interests change from moment to moment.
For those, however, who take the time to look more deeply into life’s human patterns, non material things often have more lasting power. Of course it takes some thought and discernment to see the difference. There is no price-tag on such non-material realities. It’s how we prize them that make the difference.
Those thoughts came to me as I read the scriptures for this 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time. The story of Solomon and his choice of prudence and wisdom over gold and power is an example of a man who knew the true value of life’s treasure.
Following this, we have Jesus telling several stories which compare the Reign of God to various sorts of treasures. The point Jesus is making is that the Reign of God is truly a treasure, although we seldom think of it that way.
So, what is this Reign of God? One author I read described it as how the world would look if God had his way. Sometimes the way we look at the world, of course, does not resemble any sort of treasure. The news in morning paper or the evening television will tell you pretty quickly where the world’s treasures lie.
The real question, however, is not where the world’s treasures lie, but where ours lie. We, each of us individually, are responsible for our own perception of what is of value in our lives. Running from one garage sale to the next may be an exciting venture. The real question, however, is this: What do these items mean to us, what lasting value do they have? What does the quest for having these material things tell us about the deeper meaning of life?
Granted, material things usually exert a strong attraction on us. The reign of God, on the other hand, can only be discerned if we avail ourselves of some quiet time each day to discover what is or should be important to us. Perhaps the garage sale sign on the street corner may still entice us but the attraction may soon lessen if we compare it to God’s Reign.
The scriptures: 1 Kings 3, 5 7-12; Romans 8: 28-30; Matthew 13: 44-52
Posted by Cindy Lentine at 09:34 AM.
July 19, 2008
Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - A Weed by Any Other Name
I imagine most of us have heard or read the line, “A weed by any other name is a flower.” Actually it seems to be true. We give names to many things, some of which we feel are useful to us, others that are simply a nuisance. Of course, even nuisance items are useful for something if we care to look at life from the broader perspective. One person’s dessert may be another’s poison! Even poison oak and poison ivy must be good for something, although not for us humans.
So, I assume that many of our convictions about the natural world depend on our perspective, whether they benefit us or not. It would be wise, therefore, if we could develop a sense that not everything in the world is bad and not everything is good. There seems to be a mixture of goodness and badness in almost everything. The problem is that we cannot always tell the difference.
As we have mentioned in earlier homilies, Jesus of Nazareth was a keen observer of nature, not as a biologist or a botanist, but simply as a normal citizen walking along the roads of Palestine.
The difference between Jesus and other travelers, of course, was that he saw meanings in nature that no one else saw. Of course, being a spiritual teacher, a rabbi, he would also be looking for the spiritual meaning of common things. I imagine, when his followers heard these spiritual interpretations, they might have said to themselves: “Hey, I never thought of life like that.”
So, when we hear Jesus speaking to the folks about the implications of wheat and weeds, they must immediately have asked themselves, “I wonder where I fit into this picture?”
Actually, Jesus was thinking beyond the individual person. He was more interested in the human condition at large: He would ask, “What are the world’s weed issues and what are the wheat issues? The answer, of course, is that it’s pretty hard to tell. Life is such a mixture of good and bad. Besides, who really knows who is bad and who is good? Sometimes it is fairly clear but at other times its rather foggy.
The point Jesus seems to be making is this: Generally speaking we do not know what is in the mind of another or what their motivation is. Besides, it is really none of our business. We should have enough to worry about in our own regard.
It seems true to me, therefore, that it is difficult to judge the lives and motivations of other people. Perhaps they could be blamed for a bad attitude on one issue, but praised for their position on another. No one, it seems to me, fits solidly into a single category.
An individual, for instance, may be “Pro Choice” (sadly, I think) but may also be deeply concerned about other social and religious issues: World poverty, for instance, or immigration problems, the plight of people suffering with AIDS. Others may decide to travel overseas to work with Catholic Relief Services in devastated areas of the world.
So, the point seems to be that it is not wise to be a “One Issue Person” or to accuse others of being “One Issue Persons.” Goodness and evil seem to exist alongside of one another and we are not always capable of discerning the wheat from the weeds. Perhaps we should say again that the discernment is not our responsibility; it’s God’s business. Just think, for instance, how peaceful the world would be if we allowed God to do what God does best.
By the way, I still keep a healthy distance from poison ivy. Tangy stalks of rhubarb, on the other hand, are another matter. Strawberry rhubarb pie is still my favorite dessert!
The scriptures: Wisdom 12: 13, 16-19; Romans 8: 26-27; Matthew 13: 24-43
Posted by Cindy Lentine at 10:21 AM.
July 12, 2008
Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Nature’s Signs
Almost everyone I know seems to be talking about the price of food today. Actually, I do not need to buy much food where I am living, but I read the papers each day and many of the commentators who write on the economy are concerned about the rising prices of many commodities.
Of course, it’s not the food itself that is more costly; it’s the price of fuel for transportation that’s driving prices up. I feel sad for the folks who need to make their living in commercial transportation. Some need to fill up the gas tank of their trucks out of their own pocket.
The same is true for people who need to drive over an hour to work each day or taxi drivers who ferry people to their destinations. The margin of profit is getting narrower.
I have one particular gripe too: Why are we raising corn for Ethanol when people around the world are starving? Do folks (mostly men) need to drive Ford F-100’s or Dodge Ram 3000’s while people around the world simply long for the corn that provides food of all sorts? It makes no sense to me. Of course, I’m not in a position to change much of this, but if I were……..
Jesus speaks of food in the gospel for this 15th Sunday in Ordinary time, food not on the table yet, but out in the field. Now, Jesus himself was not a farmer as far as we know, but he surely watched farmers in the springtime of the year seeding their fields. He also knew that not all the landscape of Palestine was fit for planting. Therefore he points out to his listeners that the farmer who throws seed on dry, rocky, weed-prone soil cannot expect much of a harvest. The smart farmer, of course, will pick out a plot of good black loam, if it’s available, and know that he will eat well at harvest.
Now, at the same time, we must remember that Jesus was not particularly interested in good soil or bad soil or about good or poor harvests. Jesus was a story-teller and a crafter of analogies. Hence, what he is teaching here is a lesson on the power of the Seed-Word of God and the human “field” which awaits that seed. Jesus, natural parable-maker that he is, makes the point that if God’s word is to have any effect on our lives, we will need to have an open mind and a correct attitude. Otherwise the power of that Word will never germinate into something that will fully nourish our spirits.
I suppose it remains true for some of us, that the human seedbed is not always so well adapted to religious concepts or truths. There are just so many other secular interests: Television, movies, the daily newspaper. All are good and profitable, of course, for the person interested in how the world turns. But somewhere we might hope that the word of Jesus might also find a place among all these other interests.
I do know many people, for instance, who can pick up the New York Times and find many “gospel” articles on such issues as justice, peace, issues of immigration and others.
So perhaps we might need to say that the word of Jesus can be found in the scriptures but also in the pages of the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times or even in your local daily paper. If that’s the case, I’m sure Jesus would say, “Ah, now you’re getting the point.
The scriptures: Isaiah 55:10-11; Romans 8:18-23; Matthew 13: 1-23 or 13:1-9
Posted by Cindy Lentine at 12:03 PM.
July 05, 2008
Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - "Understanding Mystery"
It seems to be a common feeling among most of us that we love newborns, new newborns of every kind: Little babies, colts, calves, rabbits, baby pandas. You can add to the list. My hunch is that we love little ones because they are still whole, still unspoiled. As for little children, they are still totally innocent. Nothing spoiled has entered their tiny minds. (Wait until they are teenagers!!)
I must confess that some of the most wonderful, the most hilarious experiences have been in my association with little kids in church. In some of the churches I served in the Archdiocese of Anchorage, I would take the opportunity before the readings and call up all the kids who wanted to come. And then I would pick a short piece from the gospel and quiz them. Now, let me tell you that can be a risky thing to do. You never know what is going to come out of the minds and mouths of six or seven year olds. Sometimes even I was embarrassed and happy to know that the kids could not get near the microphone. Their parents would have been scandalized. Knowing they were kids, of course, we can let it go. Adults say worse things.
I must admit also, however, that there is a kind of wisdom that flows from the lips of children. They may not know it as wisdom; it’s just something that flows out naturally, and that is a sort of childlike wisdom.
It has often occurred to me also that, at least in church, kids will always tell you the truth. (I don’t know what goes on at home!) It may be a kind of naïve truth but it will always be truth as they perceive it.
It occurs to me also that children have an uncluttered, untutored mind and there is a kind of wisdom that manifests itself when they speak, not the wisdom of the philosophers and theologians but something that comes as though from “instant thought.” It is something that just feels right and so they say it, whether it theologically correct or not.
I always find it interesting also to read in the gospels that Jesus took note of little kids. He must have sensed their innocence as even we do today. It is also interesting that Jesus points them out as models of truth, of simplicity and suggests that adults might learn some wisdom by observing the actions of the kids.
Perhaps it might be said that kids teach us a kind of intuitive theology, something that comes not from books or even from sermons, but simply from the first thought that comes to mind.
Unfortunately, we adults, particularly those of us who make theology or preaching our business, have learned too much theology to the point where we have forgotten simple theology, the kind that comes from intuition, from the heart.
But perhaps it’s not too late. Perhaps even we adults can learn all over again to think and pray as little children. It may embarrass us, but that may also be the most truthful way.
It is interesting, finally, to note that Jesus tells his disciples that God has hidden certain things from the learned and the clever and revealed them to merest children. That has always been a mystery for me: What was hidden from adults, and what was revealed to little children? Perhaps it means that kids understand mystery and we have gotten too old for that. Perhaps the fact that you and I must still continue searching for that sort of wisdom means that we still do not have the mind of a child. I suspect that it takes a lifetime. Oh well, we’ve got time and it will be worth the effort in the end.
The scriptures: Zechariah 9: 9-10; Romans 8, 9:11-13; Matthew 11:25-30
Posted by Cindy Lentine at 12:35 PM.
