Just the Chauffer

Appreciating the unknown prophets in our midst

03/21/2022

Lk 4:24-30 Jesus said to the people in the synagogue at Nazareth: “Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place. Indeed, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah when the sky was closed for three and a half years and a severe famine spread over the entire land. It was to none of these that Elijah was sent, but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon. Again, there were many lepers in Israel during the time of Elisha the prophet; yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were all filled with fury. They rose up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town had been built, to hurl him down headlong. But he passed through the midst of them and went away.

People do not always recognize the prophets in their midst. It is like the professor who traveled around the country giving lectures with the same chauffer. The chauffer always sat in the audience during the lecture. One day the chauffer said to him: “I think I have heard that lecture of yours a thousand time. And I could give it just as well as you do.” The professor said, “All right, you give the lecture tonight and I will sit in the audience in your chauffer’s uniform.” The chauffer gave a perfect lecture.

But at the end, a hand went up in the back. Someone asked: “There is a question that I should like to ask you. When you mix that H2SO4 with that NCL02, and compare it to the photographic plates of the sun, how do you get the equation e equals m over c squared?” The chauffer answered: “That is the most stupid question I have ever heard in my life. And to show you how stupid it is, I am going to let my chauffer answer it.” So, too, there are prophets sitting in our midst whom we dismiss as just the chauffer, but they are much wiser than we suppose. Indeed, they are the ones who can really answer our hardest questions.

This is the same oversight that Jesus is complaining about in the gospel today. He refers to two of the greatest prophets in the Old Testament, Elijah and Elisha, and argues that they were essentially like that chauffer in the audience. That is, the people ignored him. That is why the prophets ended up helping foreign people, like the widow of Zeraphath and Naaman the Syrian. Jesus sums up his teaching saying: “No prophet is accepted in his own native place.” Jesus real point is that this is how the people would treat him, as “just the chauffer.” But sometimes it is the chauffer – the unknown prophet – who alone has the answers to our hardest questions.

By the way, this is the main reason that priests are almost never assigned to the parish they grew up in as a child. Why not? Well, the people have known him as a boy and a teenager, and maybe even seen the trouble he caused in his youth. It is hard for them to “switch gears” and now see him as a prophet. For example, I have never been assigned to St. Theresa’s Church or Good Counsel parish in Little Rock, where I grew up. If I were to go there, they would scoff: “Ah, he’s just the chauffer.” Interestingly, I was the chauffer for the pastor, Fr. Warren Harvey. But sometimes the chauffer turns out to be the unknown prophet in our midst.

My friends, we all have hard questions to ask, and often we turn to professors instead of turning to prophets. It is not always people with Ph.D.’s who know best, but rather people illuminated by the Holy Spirit. And that is one of the critical roles of the pope and bishops. They are anointed at their episcopal ordination with the triple munera, the three-fold office, of priest, prophet and king.

But I am convinced that it is their prophetic role that causes us the greatest heartburn, but can also be the cause of the greatest holiness. Why? Because the job of a prophet is to call us out when we go astray, and we don’t like that. Both Pope Francis and Bishop Taylor have been excellent prophets. How do I know that? Because I don’t always like what they have to say. And what I do not like to hear is exactly what I most need to hear.

And just like Elijah and Elisha, and Jesus, so too, Pope Francis and Bishop Taylor are sometimes dismissed as “just the chauffer.” But often it is the chauffer, the unknown prophet, who alone has the answers to life’s hardest questions.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Name that Child

Learning how our names carry the faith

03/20/2022

Ex 3:1-8, 13-15 Leading the flock across the desert, he came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There an angel of the LORD appeared to Moses in fire flaming out of a bush. As he looked on, he was surprised to see that the bush, though on fire, was not consumed. So Moses decided, “I must go over to look at this remarkable sight, and see why the bush is not burned.” But the LORD said, “I have witnessed the affliction of my people in Egypt. Therefore I have come down lead them out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey.” Moses said to God, “But when I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ if they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what am I to tell them?” God replied, “I am who am.” Then he added, “This is what you shall tell the Israelites: I AM sent me to you.” God spoke further to Moses, “Thus shall you say to the Israelites: The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. “This is my name forever; thus am I to be remembered through all generations.”

Choosing a child’s name is a very important responsibility for parents. But some parents pick the craziest names for their children lately. Have you noticed this? Here are a few of the funnier names I’ve heard. Some parents name their children “Starlette,” or “Snowdrop,” or “Pluto” (the Disney Dog), or “Alchemy,” what they called chemistry during the Middle Ages. A friend told me that the musician David Bowie and his ex-wife Mary Barnette named their son, “Zowie.” So, his name would be “Zowie Bowie.” But Zowie later changed his name to “Duncan.” Parents may think these names are cute, but their kids don’t.

Now I cannot really complain because we Indians have some funny names, too. For instance, those who come from my home state of Kerala often have a last name that sounds like a first name, for example, “John Antony.” When I introduce myself as “Fr. John Antony,” people ask: “And what is your last name?” I answer, “Antony.” And they say, “Yeah, I heard that, but what is your last name?” I reply, “I just told you, Antony.” They respond: “Yes, great name, but what’s your last name?” It’s like that Abbott and Costello baseball skit “Who’s on first?” I want to yell: “Antony is on first!”

But the real reason names are crucial is because they convey not only the love of our mother and father, but also their faith. Think about it: parents want to give their children the best that they have: the best food, the best clothing, the best home, the best friends, the best education, and so forth. But there is nothing more precious you can pass along to your progeny than your faith. Why? Well, because eventually everything else you give them fails and fades into nothing, but not the faith. Faith lasts forever.

A name, therefore, is a one-word summary of all the best things that parents want to give their children. When we give a child a name it should also include our faith. The reason my last name “Antony” is because it is actually my father’s first name. That is the way names work in Kerala, India. But I inherited not only my father’s name, but also his faith, which he taught me as a child. In carrying my father’s name, I also carry my father’s faith. The Catholic faith is the greatest gift my parents have given me.

In the first reading today, Moses meets God in the Sinai desert. Notice how God reveals his name to Moses, but it is not a normal name. God says: “This is what you shall tell the Israelites: I AM [Who Am] sent me to you.” Theologians and philosophers up and down the centuries have understood that mysterious moniker to mean that God towers above and beyond all names. He cannot be named like we name our children and our pets.

God did not remain entirely anonymous, however. He added very importantly: “Thus you shall say to the Israelites: The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob has sent me to you.” In other words, even though you may not know my name, Moses, remember your ancient fathers’ names, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And just as they walked by faith in me in the book of Genesis, so you will walk by faith in me throughout the book of Exodus. In a spiritual sense, because you carry your fathers’ names, so too, you carry your fathers’ faith. The best thing your fathers gave you, therefore, is not the Promised Land, flowing with milk and honey, but rather, their faith that will last a long longer than that land.

Another aspect of the Exodus story with relevance for us today is the fact that Moses is wandering in the desert when he comes upon God’s presence. You remember how Moses had fled from Pharaoh in fear, and now he finds himself a long way from home. In a sense, he has forgotten who he is, and his own Hebrew heritage, and especially his fathers' names, as well as their faith. After all, he is working for Jethro, a priest of Midian, a pagan priest.

Moses is spiritually lost, wandering like a tumbleweed rolling across the desert cut off from his roots and his religion. So, too, many young Catholics today find themselves in a spiritual desert, alienated from their roots and their religion. They have stopped going to Mass. They have forgotten their childhood faith that their mothers and fathers taught them. But can we blame them when we give them names like “Sassafras” and “Stardust”?

The good news, however, is that God finds us even in the desert of our lives. He is the burning bush that is constantly on fire but never extinguished. Like with Moses, he catches our curiosity, ignites our interests, and sets our faith on fire again. How so? Young Catholics in the desert encounter that burning bush when they meet a true Christian who loves and lives his or her faith. They meet the burning bush in the excitement of their own children getting ready for their first Holy Communion. They find the burning bush in their hearts in the silence, stillness and solitude of private prayer.

Even after their mother and father pass away, like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had died 430 years before Moses (Ex 12:40), their faith will light up the darkness like the miraculous bush on fire but never extinguished. Think about the name you give your child. It should contain a clue to the faith they inherited from you, like the last name they inherited from you conveys a clue to your own Catholic faith. That faith will sustain them long after everything else you give them (including yourselves) is but dust and ashes.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Boil the Hell Out

Learning how holy things are for the holy

03/18/2022

Jn 15:1-8 Jesus said to his disciples: "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower. He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and everyone that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit. You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you. Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather them and throw them into a fire and they will be burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you. By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples."

Do you know how to make a Christian? It is the same way you make holy water. Well, how do you make holy water? You boil the hell out of it. And there is a close connection between holy water and a new Christian because we use holy water to baptize and create a new Christian, a child of God. In other words, first you boil the hell out of the water so you can use it later to get the hell (original and actual sin) out of the newly minted Christian, who is pure gold, or better, pure grace, a saint. There is no hell in a new Christian.

In the Catholic Church there are two ways to create a Christian: the baptism of infants or babies, and the baptism of adults. Even though the baptism of babies is more common today – how you and I probably became Christians – the more ancient practice was the baptism of adults, after a long period of intense study and preparation called the “catechumenate.” Some of the most famous Catholics were actually converts to the faith. For example, Saul the Pharisee who became Paul the Apostle and was baptized in Acts 9. St. Augustine, one of the greatest doctors of the Church, was baptized around 386, when he was 33 years old. St. John Henry Newman, who was already baptized as an Anglican, but became Catholic in 1845.

More recently, Scott Hahn, became Catholic after leaving Presbyterianism, in 1986. And I personally love the story of the deathbed conversion of Judge Isaac Parker. As he lay dying, he called out to his Irish Catholic wife, Mary O’Toole, gasping, “Mary, call the priest!” Fr. Lawrence Smyth, pastor of Immaculate Conception, and my predecessor as pastor, took holy water and boiled the hell out of Isaac Parker by baptizing him. In other words, first we get the hell out of the water so that later we can get the hell out of the people by baptism.

March 18 is the annual feast of St. Cyril of Jerusalem, who lived in the 4th century. St. Cyril is the one who really put the catechumenate on the Catholic map with a series of sermons called “The Jerusalem Catecheses.” Cyril preached a total of 23 sermons (or lectures) to prepare adults for baptism and to create new Christians. St. Cyril did what our own St. Peggy Brandebura does today in the RCIA classes here at I.C. St. Cyril’s first 18 catecheses came before baptism, and the remaining 5 lectures came after the baptism. Similarly, the modern RCIA classes have lectures both before and after baptism.

Another interesting commonality between the ancient catechumenate of St. Cyril and the modern RCIA of St. Peggy is the "Mass of the Catechumens." Have you ever heard of that? The Mass of the Catechumens was the first half of the Eucharist, or the Liturgy of the Word, where we hear the Scriptures proclaimed and the sermon preached. But then the catechumens, the unbaptized, were dismissed.

As they were leaving the minister would solemnly declare: “Holy things for the holy.” In other words, only a Christian could stay for the Liturgy of the Eucharist (the second-half of the Mass) because he or she had been baptized. That is, holy water had made them holy, sort of boiled the hell out of them. Holy things for the holy: the Eucharist – the most holy Thing in heaven or on earth – was reserved only for those who are holy, who have had the hell boiled out of them by baptism.

My friends, as we go through Lent and approach the Easter sacraments, especially baptism, please pray for our RCIA candidates and catechumens. They follow in a long line of courageous Catholic converts: St. Paul, St. Augustine, St. John Newman, Scott Hahn, and Judge Isaac Parker. Pray God give them the grace to persevere through the catechetical lectures of St. Peggy and finally have the hell boiled out of them by baptism this Easter.

Then, they will understand intimately what Jesus meant when he said: “I am the vine you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing.” Then, they, too, will be able to say with confidence and conviction: “Holy things for the holy.”

Praised be Jesus Christ!

 

Tuesdays with Jesus

Seeing how death teaches us about life

03/16/2022

Mt 20:17-28 As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the Twelve disciples aside by themselves, and said to them on the way, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and scourged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.” Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee approached Jesus with her sons and did him homage, wishing to ask him for something. He said to her, “What do you wish?” She answered him, “Command that these two sons of mine sit, one at your right and the other at your left, in your kingdom.”

Many years ago I read a very moving book called “Tuesdays with Morrie.” Have you heard of it or read it? It was about the author, Mitch Albom, who returns to visit his college sociology professor after he learns that he is dying from ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease. His professor’s name is Morrie Schwartz, and Mitch spends fourteen consecutive Tuesdays walking with him and watching him die. The book chronicles the last lessons that Morrie taught Mitch as his professor, not only about sociology but also about spirituality, about what ultimately matters most.

Here are two memorable quotations that jumped out at me. On one Tuesday, Morrie said: “Everyone knows they are going to die, but no one believes it.” In other words, we all seem to waltz through most of life under the illusion of immortality. That is why a sudden terminal illness or even the deaths of civilians in Ukraine surprise and shock us. We all know we are going to die, but it feels really hard to believe it will happen to me, until death is suddenly thrust upon us by cancer or combat.

The second quotation was from the same Tuesday. Morrie taught: “Most of us walk around as if we’re sleep walking. We really don’t experience the world fully, because we’re half asleep, doing the things we automatically think we have to do.” Mitch asked: “And facing death changes that?” Morrie answered wisely: “Oh, yes. When you realize you’re going to die, you see everything much differently.” He concluded: “Learn how to die, and you learn how to live.” By the way, that is why the best contributors to the church are always the elderly. They are facing death, so they know what really matters: give to the church!

In the gospel today, Jesus teaches his own “Tuesdays with Morrie” lessons. How so? Well, he wants to emphasize how he will face his own death on the Cross in Jerusalem, like how Morrie faced ALS. But Jesus also hopes that will help the apostles learn how to live better too, that is, in sharing the Good News of Jesus’ resurrection, like Mitch shared the good news of all the lessons he learned from Morrie through his best-selling book. The apostles wrote a best-selling book, too, called The Bible!

Sadly, though, we see the apostles are walking around half-sleeping. They are worried about who will sit in places of honor in the kingdom. Jesus’ point in the gospel today was essentially the same as Morrie’s, namely, “learn how to die…and you will learn how to live.” It was Jesus own suffering and death that gave meaning to his whole life. And that would be the same for the apostles: death would teach them the meaning of life.

Folks, we are only two weeks into Lent. If you are still looking for something spiritual to do, may I suggest some reading material? If you have not read "Tuesdays with Morrie", I highly recommend that book. Here are two other books you could read for the rest of Lent. I have just started reading a novel called “Jayber Crow” by Wendell Berry.

It’s about the life of a barber in a small town next to a river, so it has some similarities to Fort Smith, winding next to the Arkansas River. The protagonist, Jayber, recalls: “Back there at the beginning, as I see now, my life was all time and almost no memory. Through I knew early of death, it still seemed to be something that happened to other people.” Then he adds: “And now, nearing the end, I see that my life is almost entirely memory and very little time. Toward the end of my life at Squires Landing, I began to understand that whenever death happened it happened to me.” In other words, it was when Jayber Crow, the barber, learned about death that he began to learn about life.

The second book for spiritual reading this Lent is one we’re all familiar with, namely, “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens. We have had so much snow lately, it still feels like Christmas in March, so this book seems apropos. You remember old Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by three ghosts, the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future. But which ghost literally scares the hell out of Scrooge? The future ghost. How did he do it? He transports Ebenezer to his lonely grave, where no one comes to mourn his loss. Staring at his own grave, Scrooge suddenly learns the meaning of life.

And that is the final lesson of Lent: “learning how to die…we learn how to live.”

Praised be Jesus Christ!

You Know Who

Not mentioning our enemies by name

03/14/2022

Lk 6:36-38 Jesus said to his disciples: “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. “Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.”

Pope Francis, like all respectable religious leaders, continued to condemn the invasion in Ukraine during his Sunday blessing yesterday. I read an article in “The Guardian”, though, that made this curious observation. It said: “The pope has not used the word ‘Russia’ in his condemnation of the war since Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion on February 24.” The article continued: “However, his choice of words, such as ‘armed aggression,’ and ‘no valid strategic reason,’ appeared to be aimed at contesting Moscow’s justifications for the invasion.” In other words, in a small but very noticeable way, the pope was practicing Jesus’ teaching to hate the sin but love the sinner by not mentioning names.

That genuine gesture of love by the pope reminded me of Archbishop Sartain’s gentle correction when I wrote my first book of homilies. He wrote the “Foreword” to the book, but first he read the whole book. He made a friendly suggestion in one homily where I mentioned a bishop in Germany who had a reputation for luxurious living. In my homily I had mentioned the bishop by name, but Archbishop Sartain recommended I might consider omitting using him as an example because I really did not know the circumstances of the bishop’s life and ministry.

He was right. I had hated the sin, but I had failed to love the sinner. In other words, when we mention someone by name while criticizing them, we equate the sin with the sinner, and we condemn both. It might seem like a small thing to do not, to mention someone's name, but it is really a very hard thing to do: to hate the sin but love the sinner, especially today while we watch the war in Ukraine.

In the gospel today, Jesus urges his disciples to exercise not only love but mercy. He teaches in Luke’s “Sermon on the Plain” (his counterpart to Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount), Jesus saying: “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” I think Pope Francis and Archbishop Sartain were putting that teaching into practice by refraining from referring to people by name. But Jesus goes a step further in the last line of the gospel, where he adds: “For the measure with which you measure will in return out measured back to you.”

In other words, how would you like people to speak about your name, especially in public? We all naturally want everyone to use our name with respect and honor. Don’t drag my good name through the mud. And if they are going to criticize something we did wrong, they should understand and sympathize with all the extenuating circumstances that made us do it. Put simply, when someone utters our name, we hope they will love the sinner even while they hate the sin. Sometimes the best way to strike that delicate balance is not to mention someone by name, and focus only on their actions, which is what the pope did.

I am convinced that a person’s name touches somehow the mysterious depths of a person, and they are depths we will never fully understand. Thus we read in Jer. 17:9 (one of my favorite passages): “More torturous than anything is the human heart, beyond remedy; who can understand it?” The Jews acknowledged the hidden depths of God’s plans and purposes, the desires of his heart, when they refused to pronounce is divine name, “Yahweh.” It was the four-letter word, YHWH, the tetragrammaton. Instead, they represented it in writing with simple the four letters YHWH, and in speaking they substituted the word “Adonai” which means “Lord.” That is, do not pronounce the name of God because you really do not understand God.

Here is a rather mundane example from the popular novels called “Harry Potter.” Do you remember the person whose name was so powerful and awe-inspiring that no one ever uttered it? Rather, they whispered fearfully, “You Know Who,” or they said with dread: “He Who Must Not Be Named.” Even with a villain as wicked and cruel as Voldemort, his name was shown respect and deference. Even with him maybe J. K. Rowling was suggesting, like Pope Francis and Archbishop Sartain, we should show mercy, and love the sinner and hate the sin.

We love it when people remember our name. We pray that they will respect our name, even when we do sinful things. And we pray they will love us (the sinner) while they hate our sins. And we should extend the same courtesy to others. Why? “For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.”

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Love Your Enemies

Trying to apply Jesus’ toughest teaching today

03/12/2022

Mt 5:43-48 Jesus said to his disciples: “You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers and sisters only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Today Jesus presents perhaps his most radical teaching, namely, he says, “love your enemies.” And today, history presents us with a perfect opportunity to apply that teaching by trying to love our enemy, President Vladimir Putin. Never before, at least in my lifetime, has the gospel seemed so practical and relevant, and yet also appeared so impossible and radical, and maybe even a little ridiculous. Is anyone seriously trying to "love your enemy" today? Or, rather don’t we see Putin painted as a maniacal madman, or others who hijack his agenda for their own ideological purposes and political goals? Some hate Putin and want to punish and destroy him, while others use Putin as a pawn in their own chess game. But in both cases, no is trying to “love your enemy.”

Here are three ways I try to take baby steps toward applying Jesus’ tough teaching to the enemy at the gates, President Putin, and try to love him. Maybe this will help you to love your enemy a little more too. First, it helps me to remember that to love someone does not mean you have to be "best friends" with everyone. It is impossible to be best friends with almost 8 billion people in the world. Fr. George Tribou, our high school principal, told us that if we have one or two best friends in our life we are very fortunate. But I have over 4,000 best friends on Facebook, so Tribou was obviously wrong. But if best friends are few and far between, how do we love our neighbor let alone our enemy?

Well, I think there is a minimum level of love, namely, that you wish everyone to go to heaven. And that level of love – low as it may feel – you can extend to all 8 billion people living on earth. But the hard part is not wishing the opposite on our enemies, that is, not saying, “Go to hell,” and meaning it, not desiring someone’s eternal damnation. When we feel that, we fall below the lowest level of love, and we fail to love our neighbor or our enemy. So, can you wish for President Putin to go to heaven and not to hell? Even though we may rightly want him to be punished for his war crimes, Christians should not want him to be punished eternally. That is one step toward fulfilling Jesus’ command to “love your enemy.”

A second step to love your enemy is to remember that no one deliberately chooses something evil because it is evil. We all choose the good, even if it is not good for us. I eat three pieces of cheese cake because I think it is very good, not because I think it is very bad, although it is very bad for me. Why, then, is Putin invading Ukraine? Here a little history may help. The country of Ukraine was formed on June 23, 1917, and it was called Ukrainian People’s Republic. Sadly, four years later, in 1922, it forcibly became a founding member of the Soviet Union, and fell under Communist rule. Ukraine gained its independence in 1991 after the fall of the Iron Curtin and the dissolution of the Soviet Union. In 1994, Ukraine democratically elected a president, Victor Yanukovych, who was very friendly with Moscow.

But in 2013, there was protests and Yanukoyvch was deposed and a new government was forcibly established which was more friendly to the West. Obviously, that was a very unwelcome state of affairs from Putin’s point of view. That is why in 2014, Russia annexed Crimea and ever since has been preparing to invade Ukraine and establish a government more friendly to Moscow. I don’t know Putin’s end-game in Ukraine, but history may give us a hint. He doesn’t want to run the country, but he also doesn’t want the West to run it either.

That would be equivalent to Texas seceding from the United States and creating its own government. We would probably fight to get it back under the mantle of America. My real point, of course, it not political but rather moral, and to say one no one chooses evil just because it is evil. I eat three slices of cheesecake, and Putin invades Ukraine, but we both think we are getting something good, even if it is not good for us. And that may help you to love your enemy a little (maybe).

Finally, the third baby step is to recall C. S. Lewis’ book “The Four Loves.” He distinguishes between family love, friendly love, erotic love, and God’s love. In other words, we all love our families (most of the time). We love our friends and we do things for them in need. And we love our beloved wife or husband romantically, erotically. But God loves us all, friend and foe, neighbor and enemy, Ukrainian and Russian. While we practice the three easy loves, let us ask for God’s grace to practice the highest and holiest love of all: God’s love. That is what Jesus summarized today when he said: “Love your enemies.”

Praised be Jesus Christ!

War is Hell

Trying to see the war through eyes of faith

03/10/2022

Mt 7:7-12 Jesus said to his disciples: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Which one of you would hand his son a stone when he asked for a loaf of bread, or a snake when he asked for a fish? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask him. “Do to others whatever you would have them do to you. This is the law and the prophets.”

The famous phrase “War is hell” is attributed to the Union General William Tecumseh Sherman during the American Civil War. That phrase became a self-fulfilling prophecy as General Sherman pursued a “scorched earth policy” through the South, not only defeating the Confederacy but also demoralizing it. He destroyed cotton plants, burned plantation homes, roads and bridges. Sherman made war hell.

We are also witnessing a scorched earth policy by Russia in Ukraine as they turn their guns from aiming at soldiers to aiming at civilians. On Wednesday, a Russian missile hit a maternity ward in Mariupol, killing at least three people, one of whom was a child. Over 1.3 million Ukrainians have become refugees in nearby Poland, not counting the hundreds of thousands in other neighboring nations. On the Russian side the death toll stands between 5,000 and 6,000 soldiers. War is indeed, hell, for all parties involved.

But war is hell in another sense, too. Not only because it makes us question our faith in human beings, but also because it makes us question our faith in God. Many people all over the world are wondering why a good, loving, wise and powerful God could let all this needless suffering and death happen. There is an old adage that states: “There are no atheists in foxholes.” But that is not always true. Why not? Because sometimes war makes us doubt a good God could exists who allows such atrocities to take place. “Where is God?” we all rightly ask. Foxholes sometimes produce atheists.

And Jesus’ words in the gospel today do not help the Christian cause one bit. He says: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” But we may well object: haven’t the people of Ukraine asked for the fighting to end? Haven’t they sought peace through negotiations? Haven’t they battered the doors of heaven with prayers for protection, for at least the women and children, even pregnant mothers? But those prayers seem to have gone unheard, and by all observable standards, they remain unanswered. In that sense, war is hell because it makes us doubt heaven exists. During a war, it seems hell is all there is.

War can indeed shake our faith, but war can also solicit a deeper faith. It is often said that “seeing is believing.” And, to be sure, it is much easier to believe in God when we see the beauty of his creation, the love of human beings who help each other, the peace and joy of family life, the miracle of new life, and so on. But that is easy faith, indeed, an immature faith. Real faith, mature faith, comes when we believe without seeing. Real faith is blind faith.

I will never forget what Pope St. John Paul II said when someone tried to assassinate him on May 13, 1981. Because May 13 is the feast of Our Lady of Fatima, the Polish pope said Mother Mary had moved the path of the bullet to miss his vital organs. A cynical reporter replied, “Why didn’t Mother Mary move the bullet so it would not hit the pope at all?” The pope demonstrated an almost blind faith in God’s love and saw all things in its light. He could believe without seeing. The reporter, on the other hand, needed proof. He might believe, but first he needed to see. War is hell, and wartime demands a deeper faith: believing without seeing.

Let me also say a word about prayer, since that was Jesus’ teaching in today’s gospel. Our Lord is explaining one kind of prayer: the prayer of petition, where we ask for something, like for the war in Ukraine to end and the protection of civilians. But that is not the only kind of prayer, nor is it the highest kind of prayer. There is also the prayer of thanksgiving, which is what the Mass is essentially. The prayer of contrition or seeking forgiveness and mercy.

And finally, the prayer of adoration and praise, where we see all things in God’s hands, guided by his providence, and redounding to his glory and our salvation. This highest and holiest form of prayer is practiced in contemplation. St. Paul captured the core of this prayer in Rm 8:28, where he said: “We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him.” In other words, there is more going on in Ukraine than what meets the eye, but it takes a deep faith and a persistent prayer life to begin to see it. To the naked human eye, on the other hand, all we will see is that “war is hell.”

Praised be Jesus Christ!

 

The Best Rock

Seeing the good and evil of every generation

03/09/2022

Lk 11:29-32 While still more people gathered in the crowd, Jesus said to them, “This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah. Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. At the judgment the queen of the south will rise with the men of this generation and she will condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and there is something greater than Solomon here. At the judgment the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because at the preaching of Jonah they repented, and there is something greater than Jonah here.”

Every generation always think they are the “greatest generation.” Do you know how I can prove that? Every time we listen to music from another generation, we think it sounds terrible, but the music from our generation always sounds best. I grew up in the 1980’s, and I know that 80’s rock, with Bryan Adams, U2, the Rolling Stones, and Bon Jovi, was the best rock music ever. And whenever I hear music from the 1970’s or the 1990’s, I roll my eyes and my stomach turns. Do you feel like the music you listen to now is the best ever and the music your parents listened to really sounds bad? That musical snobbery and superiority is evidence that we think our generation was the greatest, and all others were merely ho-hum.

By the way, here is a breakdown of the various generations and the labels or names given to every 20 to 30 year period of history. The truly greatest generation fought in World War II, and they were born between 1901 and 1927; they came of age when the war began in 1939.  The Baby Boomers (your grandparents) were born between 1946-1964. My generation is called Gen X (which is Greek for “the greatest generation” – just kidding), was born between 1965 and 1980. I was born in 1969.

The Millennials were born between 1981 and 1996, which includes a lot of teachers here at Trinity. Generation Z was born between 1997 and 2012, which would encompass all our students at Trinity. And finally, Generation Alpha includes those born from the early 2010’s to the late 2020’s. No matter what name or label is slapped on a certain generation, though, we all think we belong to the greatest generation in American history, and you probably do too.

In the gospel today, Jesus slaps an unflattering label on his own generation of Jews. Do you recall what he called it? Our Lord said: “This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign but no sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” And as we heard in the first reading from the book of Jonah, the prophet Jonah preaches to Nineveh, the capital city of Assyria, a horribly corrupt and terroristic nation. Assyria was like the ancient Al-Qaida. Jesus is saying that his own generation of Jews is actually worse than the Assyrians because at least the Assyrians repented when Jonah preached to them, but the Jews would not.

If you asked the Jews of the first century, “What is the greatest generation?” What do you think they would say? They would answer just like we would: THEY are the greatest generation. And I’m sure they did a lot of great things. Yet, they were evil, too. My point is that every generation is always an admixture of good and bad, light and dark, holy and wicked. No generation is perfect, not even the greatest generation that fought in World War II.

Boys and girls, as you go through school, and even through life, be careful not to think you are the greatest generation. Maybe right now the 8th graders think they are the greatest class to ever graduate from Trinity, and all other classes before and after them were mediocre at best. I remember the principal at Catholic High School, where I attended, made us feel like we were the best class to ever graduate from that school. Then suddenly it hit me that he says that to every graduating class, and the balloon of my ego was burst.

When I am assigned as pastor to a new parish, I always think: “Wow, good thing I’m here to set things straight because the pastor before me left everything a disaster!” Then one day I realized that the priest who took my place at my former parish was thinking the same thing: “Good thing I’m here because that Fr. John left this place a disaster!” And it’s true: we all do some things well, and other things poorly. We are all the greatest generation, and we are also an evil generation.

Let me leave you with the opening lines of Charles Dickens’ novel “A Tale of Two Cities.” He captures what I’m trying to say about each generation in a "far, far better" way than me. He wrote: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way.” In other words, every generation is the greatest generation and every generation is an evil generation. But 80’s rock is still the best.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Prayers for Putin

Interceding for those who need it most

03/07/2022

Mt 25:31-46 Jesus said to his disciples: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’ And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’

I am sure you have watched what is happening in Ukraine with the same heart-break and helplessness I feel. Every day – even every hour – I check the latest news to see if there has been any improvement, but nothing yet. Even the small glimmer of hope and humanity – trying to get civilians out of the teeth of the fighting – failed when Russia continued its attacks after agreeing to a cease-fire. Since February 24, when the invasion commenced, we have all been praying for peace and a quick resolution. We have prayed for the refugees, over one and a half million at present, who are now homeless. And we have prayed for all world leaders to exercise calm and caution so we don’t cross over the brink into World War III.

But do you know who we should really be praying for? We should be offering Masses, rosaries and sacrifices for the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. Has anyone said a Hail Mary for Putin yet? Maybe you’re thinking we should not pray for Putin, we should assassinate him. In a sense, that is "below" our paygrade, because Christians are at a "higher" paygrade. Why should we pray for Putin? Well, because Jesus taught us unequivocally in the Sermon on the Mount: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”

In other words, Jesus is contrasting the justice taught in the Old Testament – the lex talionis, eye for an eye – with the justice of the New Testament, perfectly embodied by Jesus on the Cross, who prayed for his persecutors, the Roman soldiers hammering nails into his hands and feet. A very simple test of whether our faith is stuck in the Old Testament or has matured into New Testament faith is whether you can say a prayer for President Putin today. Can you say one sincere Hail Mary for him?

Besides the biblical basis, here is another reason to pray for Putin. It comes from the ancient Greek philosopher Plato, who put his teaching on the lips of his own teacher, Socrates. In a dialogue called “Gorgias,” Socrates argues that is it worse to commit a crime (even if you get away with it) than to suffer a crime to be done to you. In other words, it is worse to be rich with ill-gotten gains than to be poor but honest and humble.

Applying that principle to the war in Ukraine, President Putin who has launched an unprovoked attack on Ukraine and bombed apartments and even schools, is worse off – morally and spiritually – than the displaced refugees and those who have died. From the perspective of eternity, the poor Ukrainians who suffer now are in a better state than powerful Putin who sits comfortably eating caviar in the Kremlin, but whose eternal destiny is very much in danger. For that reason President Putin needs prayers far more than the persecuted and powerless Ukrainians.

Here is a third reason to pray for Putin. Prayer opens our eyes and helps us to see things, and especially see others, as God sees them. I often counsel people who are arguing and fighting – usually married couples – to pray for each other. Why? Prayer softens our hearts and sparks a soft glow of love for the person we are praying for. You cannot pray for someone and hate that person at the same time: there is not enough room in one human heart for both those dispositions. Prayer and hate are mutually exclusive.

When we say a prayer for President Putin, we begin to see him as God sees him, and a little less like how we see him. And that is a very different point of view because God is the Father of all people, even Russian presidents and oligarchs. Brothers and sisters may hate one another, but parents never hate their own children, no matter how evil their behavior. Prayer opens our eyes and our hearts to see and love like God does.

Today say one Hail Mary for President Vladimir Putin. And show you are a Christian worthy of the name, and earn your paygrade.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

 

Megachurches Like Us

Seeing what makes Catholic churches special

03/06/2022

Lk 4:1-13 Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days, to be tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they were over he was hungry. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” Jesus answered him, “It is written, One does not live on bread alone.” Then he took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a single instant. The devil said to him, “I shall give to you all this power and glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I may give it to whomever I wish. All this will be yours, if you worship me.” Jesus said to him in reply, “It is written You shall worship the Lord, your God, and him alone shall you serve.”

Today I want to share a little about our church finances. Many of us approach supporting the church financially like a young man meeting his future in-laws with his fiancée. After dinner the mother told her husband to find out more about the young man. So the father invited him into the study for a drink, “in vino veritas.” The father asked the young man, “So, what are your plans?” The young man answered: “I am a Bible scholar.” The father said: “Hmmm. That’s admirable but what will you do to provide a nice house for my daughter to live in, like she is accustomed to?” He replied: “I will study, and God will provide.”

The father continued, “And how will you buy her a beautiful engagement ring, such as she deserves?” The youth said: “I will concentrate on my studies. God will provide for us.” The father went on: “And children? How will you support children?” The young man said: “Don’t worry sir, God will provide.” After more questions and the same answer, the father returned to his wife. She asked: “Well, how did it go, honey?” The father shook his head, saying: “He has no job and no plans. But the good news is he thinks I’m God.” In other words, when Catholics are asked how they will support the Church, they answer: “God will provide.” And to be sure, God does provide, but he does so through the generosity of our parishioners, that is, each of you.

Sometimes people think of I.C. Church as a “megachurch,” when they hear we have about 6,000 parishioners, see all our facilities, especially our magnificent church, and learn of our long history stretching back to 1843. As a result, they think we are rolling in the money, and feel they don’t need to give financially to the church. So, let me compare a few statistics of our church with a real megachurch. Here are a few facts taken from a Forbes magazine article from 2010 on megachurches in America.

First of all, how does our budget compare to the budget of a true megachurch? The largest megachurch in America is Lakewood Church with Pastor Joel Osteen. In 2008 their annual budget was $70 million. By comparison, the total budget of Immaculate Conception is $1.7 million. Now the fascinating thing about that $70 million is Lakewood Church spends half (50%) on salaries, 25% on buildings, and the remaining 25% on missions. By contrast here at I.C. we spend a little over one third (37%) on salaries, one third on Catholic schools (I.C. and Trinity), and the rest on clergy, ministries, charity and administration. Folks, if we are going to be a true megachurch, we need to increase the salaries of our clergy by about 20%! Can you see why this is such a helpful comparison?

Another useful statistic is how much megachurches spend on their buildings. Lakewood Church rented the Compaq Center, where the Houston Rockets used to play basketball, which seats 43,500 people. I.C., on the other hand, seats about 600 people. Pastor Osteen spent $95 million to renovate the Compaq Center so it would feel more like a church. The Forbes article stated: “There is wall-to-wall carpet beneath the seats. The largest of three jumbotron screens is 32 feet by 18 feet. Twin waterfalls book-end the stage that rises and falls before a circling gold globe and a pulpit where Osteen preaches about staying positive.”

Here at I.C. we spend a total of about 25% or $230,000 annually on buildings. That total number includes maintenance, utilities and also insurance. One of the true treasures of our parish is undoubtedly this magnificent Gothic-styled church, and I hope you agree it is worth what we spend to keep it beautiful. But we will never spend $95 million to renovate our church to install a 32 foot tall jumbotron. You don’t want to see my head get any larger. Trust me, I look a lot better from far away.

Let me share one last statistic. The Forbes article acknowledged this generous gesture by Pastor Osteen, who said: “God has blessed me with more money than I could imagine from my books.” The article continued: “Osteen gave up his $200,000 salary about five years ago, when royalties started flowing in from his [book] “Your Best Life Now.” By the way, did you know that I have written three books, too? The royalties from those books have helped four different Catholic schools: I.C., Trinity, St. Joseph in Fayetteville, and St. Theresa in Little Rock. And I decided to give up my whopping $12,000 a year salary too. Why? Well, all the church staff made sacrifices to balance the budget during the pandemic. See, that’s just what we pastors of megachurches do.

My point in comparing I.C. to other megachurches was to provide some perspective, not to criticize other churches. But I also wanted to mention that many Catholics support the Church like that fiancé who was a Bible scholar: we come to Mass on Sunday to learn about the Bible, hear a good sermon, but leave the financial responsibility on God’s shoulders, and say, "God will provide."

I hope you will prayerfully consider how you can give financially to the church, especially if you have never given anything before. You don’t have to tithe ten percent, but you should give something. I.C. church doesn’t have waterfalls, or a gold globe, or jumbotrons, but we do have the Eucharist, the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ. And no megachurch can offer you that.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

 

Christian Catch 22

Learning to give God the glory in everything

03/02/2022

Mt 6:1-6 Jesus said to his disciples: “Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father. When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win the praise of others. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, so that your almsgiving may be secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.

As Christians we are often caught in a “catch 22.” What does that mean? Well, a catch 22 is a scenario in which you are darned if you do and darned if you don’t. For example, we know we should not enjoy the pleasures of this world to excess –that is what Lent is all about. We say, “Darn it!” But we also cannot yet have all the glories of heaven just yet – that’s what Easter is merely a foretaste of. Again, we say, “Darn it!” Christianity is constantly a catch 22, darned if we do and darned if we don’t.

In the gospel today Jesus throws yet another catch 22 conundrum at us. Did you catch it? He says very clearly in the gospel today, taken from the Sermon on the Mount: “Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise you will have no recompense from you heavenly Father.” Obviously, Jesus tells us not to flaunt our faith and good works, but be humble. And yet what do we do every Ash Wednesday? We parade around all day with these huge, gray crosses smeared on our foreheads made of ashes, so that everyone can see them. So, that is one end of the dilemma: where we see to disobey Jesus. Darn it!

But a little earlier – in Mt 5:16 and still from the same sermon – Jesus sounds like he is saying the opposite. He encourages us: “Your light must shine before others, so they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.” In other words, at first Jesus says don’t do good deeds for people to see, but then he turns around and says do good deeds for people to see. Well, which is it, Jesus? This sounds exactly like a catch 22: darned if we do and darned if we don’t.

I think one way to resolve this dilemma is to make sure God gets the glory for all we do, whether people see our works or not. He deserves it, after all, because his grace working in us makes possible every good thing we ever accomplish. I cannot lift my pinky finger on my hand without his help. Many years ago in 2000, an unknown quarterback named Kurt Warner led the St. Louis Rams to the Super Bowl and they won.

A reporter asked him after the game, “Kurt, how does it feel to win the Super Bowl?” But Kurt Warner did not hesitate to answer: “First things first, all the glory and praise to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!” Kurt Warner did not grab the glory for himself but gave it all to God. His good works were seen by the whole world, but he gave the glory to God.

At other times, however, we should keep our good deeds hidden. One day at another church where I was pastor, a parishioner came to the church office and gave me a check for $250,000 and asked that I remain anonymous. On another occasion someone gave me $500,000 and asked that no one know where it came from. And one time, unbelievably, someone actually gave me a $2.5 million donation and asked me to keep it between us – “entre nous” as they say in French. Those generous Catholics did not want their reward on earth but rather in heaven. They kept their good deeds quiet, so that God could have the glory.

As we go through the forty days of Lent, some things we do will be seen by other people, like our ashes. When that happens, do your best to give the glory to God. He is the One who deserves it. But there will also be things you do that remain hidden, secret and known only to your heavenly Father. And that is good, too, for your reward will be great in heaven.

Christianity is full of catch 22 dilemmas. But if we probe the depths of that dilemma with the eyes of faith, we discover God’s great love for us, the mysterious working of his grace in us, and ultimately why he alone deserves all the glory. Then we no longer have to say, “Darn it!” but we will say, “Praised be Jesus Christ!”

 

CBA not CBD

Doing the cost benefit analysis to follow Jesus

03/01/2022

Mk 10:28-31 Peter began to say to Jesus, “We have given up everything and followed you.” Jesus said, “Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age: houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come. But many that are first will be last, and the last will be first.”

Do you know what a “cost benefit analysis” is, or a “CBA” (not a CBD)? It is what Fr. Daniel and I witness every episode of Shark Tank. A hopeful entrepreneur stands on the famous carpet of Shark Tank, makes their pitch for their product, and tries to get one of the sharks to bite. The sharks, meanwhile, are conducting a CBA in their minds, a cost-benefit analysis. They are evaluating and weighing the pros and cons of investing in this product. Only if a shark believes the benefits outweigh the costs will he or she "bite" and make an offer to invest in the product or person. Cost-benefit analysis is the bread and butter of the business world.

But I would suggest to you a CBA is also the bread and butter of Christianity. Two famous spiritual sharks were C. S. Lewis and Blaise Pascal, and each man conducted his own CBA about investing in the Christian faith. C. S. Lewis said this in his memorable essay, “The Weight of Glory,” “For it must be true, as an old writer says, that he who has God and everything else has no more than he who has God only.” In other words, for Lewis when the benefit is God, it out-weights all costs, and even out-weights all other benefits.

Blaise Pascal, in the 17th century philosopher and mathematician, proposed his famous “wager” which was his own version of the CBA. He conceived of Christianity like a coin toss. We have a fifty-fifty chance about whether God exists. One side of the coin means God exists and therefore we have hope of infinite glory, while the other side of the coin means God does not exist and so we can only achieve finite (limited) happiness on earth. So, why not wager (or invest) in the fifty percent chance that God does exist and choose eternal happiness? In the end, both Lewis and Pascal were conducting a CBA, just like on Shark Tank, but their stakes were spiritual and infinitely higher.

In the gospel today we see St. Peter is not only a good fisherman, he is also a shrewd businessman, a sort of spiritual shark. He says to Jesus, “We have given-up everything and followed you.” St. Peter was doing his own CBA about being a Christian, like C. S. Lewis and Blaise Pascal. And Jesus sort of finds himself on the famous “carpet” and makes his pitch to Peter, saying: “There is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel who will not receive a hundred times more in this present age…and eternal life in the age to come.” In other words, Peter, do the math. Conduct a little cost-benefit analysis and you will quickly see that following me has infinite benefits that cannot compare to the finite sacrifices (costs) you have to bear today. St. Peter was learning about the bread and butter of the spiritual life.

Today is Fat Tuesday and tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, so we are perfectly poised to do our own CBA o the spiritual life. How so? Well, today we will pig out on all the world has to offer: food, friends and frolic, and hopefully not go overboard, like they do in some places where the football team wears purple and gold, and people have too much CBD. And tomorrow we will calculate the cost of Christian discipleship. On Ash Wednesday we receive our ashes by going to church, we fast from food, and we abstain from meat.

Like St. Peter we may feel like asking: why give up all this and make all these sacrifices? Well, do the math, like Jesus and C. S. Lewis and Blaise Pascal. That is, be a shark about the spiritual life and you will quickly see that the benefits far, far out-weigh the costs. As we go through the forty days of Lent, indeed, as we go through the rest of our lives, remember the words of another spiritual shark, St. Paul, who write in Rm 8:18: “I consider that the suffering of this present time as nothing compared to the glory to be revealed for us.” That’s some good CBA, not CBD.

Praised be Jesus Christ!