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July 27, 2010
Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time [August 1, 2010]
Good friends: most Christians have come to know the Holy Scriptures as Good News. The word gospel, the words of Jesus, is an ancient way to describe the Good News. And, indeed, for the most part, the scriptures are good news, at least for those who come to them with an unbiased mind and heart.
But there are instances in the Scriptures when the writer or speaker does not seem very happy. Indeed, in some cases he sounds downright depressed. After all, the scripture writers or speakers are human individuals with human feelings. Some days they may be highly spirited, happy over the way life seems to be for them. On other days, of course there is not a spot of blue in the sky or in their feelings about life and how it appears to them when they rise from sleep. So, of course, we can forgive them for that, sensitive as they are to life around them.
Now, with all that, my friends, we are offered two pieces of scripture for this 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time that seem to be the most depressing of any in the corpus of the Jewish and Christian writings. The first comes from the book of Ecclesiastes, referred to in Hebrew as Qoheleth. It is basically a philosophical essay on the meaning of human life. As the author sees it, there is no divine plan in history, nothing good in nature or personal existence. The only satisfaction one can have is to live life as fully as possible because when life is over, that’s all there is.
Is Qoheleth the ultimate pessimist or a realist? You will surely remember the opening words of the text from memory. “Vanity of vanities, says Qoheleth, vanity of vanities, all things are vanity. The laborer must ultimately leave all things behind.” So, what is the point of working or even of living? All things in this world are only temporary. Remember the old comic play, You Can’t Take it With You?” That is Qoheleth’s point of view: enjoy life now because soon you will not be able to have that opportunity.
The gospel spells out a similar theme: The context is a quarrel between two brothers over an inheritance. (Sound familiar?) At any rate, they ask Jesus to settle the dispute. In so many words, Jesus says: “Listen, why ask me, go settle it yourselves.” “Besides,” Jesus says, “avoid greed in all its forms. A man may be wealthy, but his wealth does not assure him of eternal life.”
While on the subject, Jesus tells the crowd the story of a man who had such great wealth that he ran out of space to store his harvested grain. “I’ll just build more,” he says, “then I will be eternally happy.” “That man is a fool,” Jesus says. “This very night your life may be taken from you; then what advantage will your piled up wealth be then?”
So, you see, in both instances the authors simply say that material goods do not add up for eternal happiness. So then, where does ultimate happiness lie?
This is my sense of the question: Yes, it is true that material possessions, great or small, in this life do not add up to everlasting happiness, but could we not say that material things in themselves are a gift of God. All material things on this earth are a gift of the divine creator-God. So, then, why not celebrate and give thanks for them because their very presence in the cosmos is a symbol or sign of the richness of God.
However, what about the value of life itself? Granted, we cannot live forever, but could it not be said that the life of any creature born to this earth somehow leaves a stamp on all creation? Life is forever changed especially knowing that this material reality, this human person has been here, not simply on planet earth but in the cosmos. In some fashion or other, this individual being has carried on the eternal line of being. It is all a great mystery, of course, how all this takes place. Even common sense can tell us that all created beings some how fit into the picture of life in the cosmos. Despite what Qoheleth may say, therefore, death is not the end. And even the man with great wealth who must ultimately die, still has left some identifiable mark on the cosmos. Death is never the end; nothing in the universe ever is lost in the mind of God. Otherwise why would God have allowed this or that piece of the cosmos to exist at all? In the mind of God all life is eternal, even though we here on this planet may not recognize it. All life, of whatever species, class or kind, is somehow eternal in the mind of God. Could we not say, therefore, that all life, whether recognizable to the human eye or not, must be celebrated and praised for the manner in which it mirrors the power and mind of God.
Surely, of course, we do not look forward to death and we cannot avoid it, but could we not say that during life we are all part of that endless string of being that has made planet earth what it is in our time? Much has been handed on to us from the eternal past; should we not do our best to eradicate the evils we have also inherited?
In short, life in all its forms as they exist in cosmos is a sign of the eternal power and love of God. I can just imagine God remarking to himself, “wow, that turned out pretty well, didn’t it?” And to ourselves we should say: “thank God that in some mysterious way, I had a part in God’s creative and endless power to make all things a mirror of God’s eternal self. Now, with that thought, anyone should be able to go to bed each night and say: “Thanks be to God for me; thank God for everybody and God for everything in this glorious universe.
The scriptures: Ecclesiastes 2:2; 21-23; Colossians 3: 1-5, 9-11;
Luke 12: 13-21
Posted by Cindy Lentine at 04:15 PM.
July 20, 2010
Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time [July 26, 2010]
If someone were to ask me to list the greatest needs in my life, I am sure I could recite at least a dozen in a matter of seconds. Like most people, at least those of my acquaintance, I seem to have many needs, real or assumed. I always seem to be short on something: money, patience, wisdom and freedom. Understanding, forgiveness, reconciliation, and many more.
The very question, it seems to me, is a sign of our human insufficiency. Suddenly, we realize that we are not in total control of our lives. No matter how hard we try, we can find no answer to our dilemmas. Searching for “quick fix” solutions does not always work. Appeals to psychologists, friends, priests, ministers and counselors, even lawyers are too embarrassing, at least to the person who says: “I’d rather die than pretend that I cannot handle my own life.
Ah, but then comes the sudden idea when everything else has been tried: Why not pray to God for an answer. My hunch is that many people, whether religious or not, will try that solution. It is sort of an “up against the wall issue.” When nothing else works, try God.
That solution may at first seem rather over simplistic. I have personally often asked God for many things, but, for the most part, I was left hanging in the air. It is often difficult to distinguish between God’s intervention in my life and purely natural causes or solutions. Appealing to God when all else has failed almost seems like a “stopgap” solution. Why should I appeal to God only in “up tight” situations? Do I ever talk to God at any other time, for any other special cause of lesser importance? Should I imagine that God even cares about my problems?
Well, my friends, we are not the first to be faced with that human dilemma. Indeed, we have one unique instance in our scriptures regarding this question. It appears in the Book of Genesis, the famous story of the sin cities of Sodom and Gomorrah of ancient renown.
Abraham, father of the Israelite nation is on a journey to visit those places, just out of curiosity. However, in a vision he hears God say: “Listen, don’t waste your time going there. I’m about to wipe them out” Abraham, basically a compassionate man, cannot believe that a just God might do such a thing. Then the bartering begins: “Lord, God, listen, let’s say you could find 10 just persons there, would you still follow through with your planned destruction?” “Well, for 10 just people, maybe not,” replies God. This conversation, of course, goes on until Abraham has God down to only one person. God gives in. “Okay, you win, I have heard your prayer; there will be no destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.”
Here we have one of those biblical instances, which insist that if one repeatedly “harasses” God about an issue, God will relent. It is also one of those classic situations, which claims that one can change God’s mind if you repeatedly try hard enough.
I admit that there may have been situations in biblical history where repeated pleading with God has “worked.” My sense, however, is that it is a kind of word game with God, bringing God down to the level of senseless situations.
On the other hand, there may be a better way to appeal to God in such conditions. “God, if it is your will, please give me a break, okay? If it’s not your will, I’ll try to make it on my own, okay?
But there is a way to think about such situations for which we have prayed and “lost.” Think of this: Today, May 31, a nurse here in our house suddenly died of cancer. It was a great shock to us all. She was one of the family. We had all been healed by her great care and compassion. So, why should this happen to someone who could still be doing such good for everyone? It is a question that arises at most funerals. There is no answer to the question of “senseless” death. Indeed, in some sense any death seems unexplainable. Seemingly, however, God does not interfere with the course of nature God has created. Suffering and death are an integral part of the way the cosmos functions. In short, such incidences occur because of the normal rise and fall of all beings. It is a death and resurrection story once again. Ultimately, the manner in which mysterious incidents seem to occur, happen according to the laws God has created for this mystery we call the cosmos. Therefore, the question remains: what good does it do to pray to God, even in perilous times? My sense of it is this: Ultimately, God’s ways in the cosmos, are indefinable, indeed, when one thinks about it, everything in the cosmos, including ourselves, is a great mystery. But that does not mean that we should stop praying. I like to think that Thomas Merton, the monk and mystic had an answer to prayer; here is what he writes: “My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you and I hope that I have that desire in all that I am doing
And I know that if I do this, you will lead me by the right road although I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death, I will not fear, for you are ever with me and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. This is one of the most honest prayers I have ever read.
Praying, therefore, must be an admission of our human inability even to know how to ask the right questions or plead for the right causes. Nonetheless our effort to do the best we can must surely count for something.
Genesis 18: 20-32; Colossians 2: 12-14; Luke 11: 1-13
Posted by Cindy Lentine at 11:08 AM.
July 14, 2010
Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time [July 18, 2010]
First of all, let me say up front that hospitality has to be one of the eight gifts of the Holy Spirit. I say that because every human act in this world is a form of grace. Any human act done with the hope of making something or someone more closely resemble the face of God has to be holy.
Let me give you one example: Back in the thirties of another century, I grew up in grain country, wheat, barley, oats, rye, flax, corn and beans. In the hot and humid August of the year one or the other of those fields of grain needed to be harvested. In those harsh times many men rode the rails, hoping to find temporary employment on farms and ranches near the Great Northern tracks.
And so it was that each fall, my father would hire such men, put them up in the hay mow (“No smoking, guys, okay?) They washed up in fresh well-water, ate at our table, shared with us their stories of life on the road. For a youngster like myself, the yearly adventure was pure heaven. I can remember my mother making sure that they had several roast beef sandwiches to take with them once they finished the job and headed off for the next farm.
For that short two weeks, these men were part of our family. We never asked their family heritage or their personal background. On their part, they helped us to harvest the grain before the fall rains descended upon us.
Family hospitality: It’s not complicated, only a sense that another human being may need food, water, lodging and a paycheck to carry on his itinerant style of life down the railroad line.
It must be as old as human beings are old on this earth. At least it appears so if we read the story from the book of Genesis listed for our current Sunday. The author simply writes that the Lord God appeared to Abraham at a remote place in the desert. The vision took place in the character of three wandering Bedouin men. In such circumstances, of course, one does not simply wave and say, “Stop by again some time when you are in the area. " No, as Abraham and his wife Sarah did, you pour a bowl of cold water to wash hot bare feet. You offer whatever food you have; you sit in the tent and listen to the stories of life in the desert. That’s hospitality. One does not expect any recompense. The fact that visitors simply graced your door and accepted food and water would have been a heaven-sent gift. One does not expect rewards in such circumstances.
The gospel lays out for us the famous hospitality story of Jesus’ visit to the home of Martha and Mary. Martha, as we read, provides the work of hospitality, providing food for the table. Mary, on the other hand, provides company for Jesus as the food is being prepared. Why would one need two cooks in the kitchen?
At any rate, Jesus comments on the fact that both women have provided him with gifts, one of action, the other of listening.
What all this implies is that the Christian is called to ministries, action and contemplation in whatever situation it is called for. St. Paul made the same point to his early Christian community: “There are various gifts given by the Holy Spirit as needed.”
Here is a short side issue that must not be overlooked. In both stories, it is the women who provide the food and water. Sarah, Abraham’s wife, in the first story, and Martha in gospel story hat follows story.
It has been my experience (given a few exceptions) that the hospitality of nourishment seems to be the special gift of women. In my growing up, it was always women who took complete responsibility for providing food. Perhaps this gift had its origins in pregnancy, birth and the care of children. At any rate, we always assumed that a mother could carry on this task with greater giftedness than a man.
The final point in all this is that the gift of hospitality is not meant for us alone. It is a shared virtue. It is based on the human insight that none of us can live in this world without the support of others, whether with food and drink, kindnesses of all sorts, compassion, love and tears. Unless we can appeal for help from someone when we are in stress, life will become almost completely unbearable.
And so, I repeat as I began: Hospitality is one of the 8 gifts of the Holy Spirit. We have been gifted by our God with graces too numerous to recall. But of what use are they unless another human being realizes that you wish to share them. It is at that point that grace builds on grace and in the end we are all the better-blessed for it.
Readings: Genesis 18: 1-10; Colossians 1: 24-28; Luke 10: 38-42
Posted by Cindy Lentine at 11:08 AM.
July 07, 2010
Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time [July 11, 2010]
Think a little with me, my friends, about an every day matter we call law; yes that human phenomenon we either hate or upon which we depend to keep our lives sane and our world in some semblance of good order. In some sense we are talking about whatever it is that keeps the world, indeed the cosmos from flying into deep space.
It does seem that all created matter has a certain natural order that drives it. Even the heavens seem to look the same whenever we gaze on them. The planets always seem to be in the same spot. The sun always “rises” and “sets” whether we can see it or not. Seasons come and go, days and nights are usually predictable.
But of course, there are catastrophes: Hurricanes, floods, tornadoes et cetera which seem to us complete disorder. But think of it: That is nature doing exactly what it was created to do. It is only from our vantage point that such phenomena seem chaotic. But from nature’s point of view all matters follow their created instinct. They have no other option.
Ah, but then we think for a moment about that other phenomenon in the cosmos called man, man and woman. Does it not seem that these creatures have the freedom to do exactly what nature cannot do, namely, to break the law of its nature, cause chaos, destruction, mayhem, harm to self and another? It seems that way to me.
But again in some sense, this is the unique gift of humankind: We have the freedom and the power to do well and to do harm. Other creatures do not seem to have that power.
And so, it does seem that over the millennia that humans have been present on planet earth they have found it necessary to create certain restrictions which will make it possible them to live together without taking advantage of one another or doing each other mortal harm.
I should imagine that there has been the necessity of law even in those ages when human beings lived privately and simply. Everyone had sufficient room to live and food to eat. What more could one ask?
Now, for those of us who believe that our lives are governed by God or that there is also a spiritual law, a law of the human spirit; (some call it natural law, the law of our nature), this law should be sufficient to maintain good order in us personally and in our relation with others. The rule seems necessary whether a person claims belief in God or not.
Given that long introduction to law, let me now call your attention to the scriptures for this 15th Sunday in Ordinary time. The author of first reading from the Book of Deuteronomy (a word that means “second law”) points out to us that the law of God (which is the law of our human nature) is not something far off that we need to go out and retrieve it, nor too deep that we would not understand it. No, he says, God’s law is on your lips and in you heart. You only need carry it out!
No, my friends, that is a piece of wisdom most of us seldom reflect upon. Again, it is the law of our nature, the law that God has instilled in us from our conception.
When one reflects a bit on that piece of wisdom, it could be assumed that the written laws of history should not have been necessary. If humankind is filled with God’s Law, why should anyone threaten us with a human law? I have only one answer to that question: Original sin or the sin of our origins. Each of us naturally knows what is right and just, but other human factors seem to steer us in another direction: unfettered desire greed, selfishness, the craving for something beyond what we already have, those sorts of things.
As a result of that human failing, we need to call on our deepest instincts of honesty, integrity to keep us on the naturally good human track. In short, no one, no law forces us to do wrong. Goodness is our natural inclination and our obligation.
In some sense of course, the written law is a blessing inasmuch as reinforces our normal tendency to do good.
The gospel for this same Sunday tells us the beautiful story of the Good Samaritan, which we all know so well by heart.
But think for a minute, my friends, of the introduction to that story of the religious interpreter of the Divine Law who asked Jesus to recite the Law of Moses which Jesus did including the final law: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” And “who is my neighbor,” the lawyer asks. Jesus, of course, answers with the story of the Good Samaritan. In short, the neighbor is the one who is in need, no matter whether he or she happens to be your race, creed or liking
So, you see, we are back to the question of the law of nature. Your neighbor is even the one whom you may naturally dislike and refuse to assist.
Again, where is the Law? It is in that natural human realization that your neighbor is yourself. You cannot avoid doing good even when you dislike the implications.
Thank God, therefore, those human written laws are part of our normal human life urging us to do the good that we should do by nature, but often need a little “encouragement.”
The Scriptures: Deuteronomy 30: 10-14; Colossians 1: 15-20; Luke 10:25-37
Posted by Cindy Lentine at 09:53 AM.
