First Five Trees

Seeing both the forest and the trees of the Bible

03/28/2023

Nm 21:4-9 From Mount Hor the children of Israel set out on the Red Sea road, to bypass the land of Edom. But with their patience worn out by the journey, the people complained against God and Moses, "Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in this desert, where there is no food or water? We are disgusted with this wretched food!" In punishment the LORD sent among the people saraph serpents, which bit the people so that many of them died. Then the people came to Moses and said, "We have sinned in complaining against the LORD and you. Pray the LORD to take the serpents away from us." So Moses prayed for the people, and the LORD said to Moses, "Make a saraph and mount it on a pole, and whoever looks at it after being bitten will live." Moses accordingly made a bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole, and whenever anyone who had been bitten by a serpent looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.

I am a big picture kind of guy. What I mean is that I do not like to focus so much on the "trees" that I lose sight of the whole "forest". That is why I love to look at maps because they allow me to zoom out and see the big picture of my whole trip: where I came from, where I am on the road, where my final destination lies, and how long it will take me to get there.

Now this is especially important when we read the Bible, we should not miss the forest for the trees. There are 73 “trees” or books that make up the “forest” of the Bible. But it is easy to get bogged down in the details of the trees of the books, and we can easily lose sight of the overall message and meaning of the great, dense forest of the Bible.

Would you mind if I painted for you the big picture of the first five books of the Bible? Those books are: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Of course a lot happens in those five books, but the basic story line is how humanity was created in Genesis, goes down into slavery in Egypt, is saved by passing through the Red Sea, receives the 10 Commandments on Mt. Sinai, worships the Golden Calf, wanders in the wilderness for 40 years, and finally Joshua leads them into the Promised Land.

I am convinced these five books, called the Pentateuch (literally “five scrolls”) is also the outline of our own lives as Christians. How so? Well, we are all born beautiful and innocent in our mother’s womb, as if in the Garden of Eden. But immediately we contract original sin and are contaminated by the idolatry of Egypt. We are saved from original sin by baptism, going through the death and new life of the Red Sea. As we grow we are taught the 10 Commandments. But we disobey them like teenagers do by worshipping the Golden Calf.

That golden bull symbolizes the three gods we waste our lives worshipping: money (the gold), sex (the virility), and power (the strength of the bull). As a result, we spend 40 years wandering in the wilderness, complaining to God, praying to God, and growing in grace. And finally, at the end of our earthly wanderings, a Joshua, which is another name for Jesus, leads us into the Promised Land of heaven. That is the big picture of the Pentateuch, and it fits rather neatly with the big picture of our Christians lives as well.

Now that we have glanced at the forest, let’s zoom in and take a closer look at these five trees of the Pentateuch. The fifty chapters of Genesis recount Adam and Eve’s creation all the way through Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and ends with Joseph. By chapter fifty, the 12 tribes of Israel have settled in Egypt and live comfortably (a little too comfortably) in Goshen, the primo real estate in Egypt, thanks to Joseph, who is second-in-command of the country.

We have been hearing from the second book of Exodus during Lent. Why? Well, because just as Moses spent 40 days and 40 nights fasting and praying on Mt. Sinai, so we spend 40 days doing penance so God will bless us. Exodus takes the people of Israel out of Egypt and to Mt. Sinai (covering about 3 months), where they tragically worship the Golden Calf. That is where that ancient maxim comes from: “You can take the people out of Egypt, but you can’t take Egypt out of the people.” In other words, their hearts were still back in Egypt even though their bodies were at Mt. Sinai.

Next comes the 27 chapters of Leviticus which covers the roughly one year timeframe the Israelites stayed at Mt. Sinai. You may remember that when the Israelites worshipped the Golden Calf, it was the tribe of Levi that took out their swords and slaughtered over 3,000 idolaters that day, their own kinsmen and families. From that point on, the tribe of Levi was ordained and became the priestly tribe. And Levi-ticus talks about their ordination, their role, and their responsibilities.

The next book is Numbers, and our first reading today, covers the following 38 years of wandering in the wilderness. The book takes its name (“Numbers”) from two censuses: the first one was taken when the people left Mt. Sinai, and a second one when the people arrived at the Holy Land. That is how I remember the meaning of Numbers – it refers to the two censuses at the beginning and at the end of the book.

The fifth and final book of the Pentateuch is Deuteronomy. And it is essentially one, long, tired, and tiring sermon by old Moses, who was 120 years old by then, droning on and on and on in the plains of Moab about how the people should obey God and reject other gods. Deuteronomy comes from two Greek words, deuteros and nomos, meaning “second law.” Why was a second law needed? Because the people could not keep the first law, the Ten Commandments.

So Moses, the great lawgiver, creates a long list of stipulations and even exceptions to the original law. And one of those exceptions is divorce in Deuteronomy 24:1. And Jesus will correct that in Mt. 19. And Moses dies on the plains of Moab within sight of the Promised Land, but unable to enter it. Why? Because only Joshua (Jesus) can lead us into the Promised Land of heaven. Now I hope you can see the forest and at least the first five trees of the Bible a little better.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

 

My Happy Place

Seeing how a happy place needs a happy person

03/26/2023

Jn 11:3-7, 17, 20-27, 33b-45 The sisters of Lazarus sent word to Jesus, saying, “Master, the one you love is ill.” When Jesus heard this he said, “This illness is not to end in death,  but is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. He became perturbed and deeply troubled, and said, "Where have you laid him?” And Jesus wept. So Jesus, perturbed again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay across it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” So they took away the stone. And Jesus raised his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you for hearing me. I know that you always hear me; but because of the crowd here I have said this, that they may believe that you sent me.” And when he had said this, He cried out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, tied hand and foot with burial bands, and his face was wrapped in a cloth. So Jesus said to them, “Untie him and let him go.”

Do you have a happy place? Are you familiar with that expression? A happy place is where you feel at ease, where you feel loved, and where you feel a deep sense of contentment. It is the one place you would rather be than anywhere else on earth. This past week on Spring Break a lot of people went to their happy place. For example, I saw pictures on social media of some families skiing on the sides of picturesque white mountains. Other families splashed in the waves or soaked up the sun on sandy beaches (to look more like me!).

Others spent time in the deep woods, camping, hiking or just listening to the silence of nature. Being in the woods always reminds me of that Brad Paisley song, “I want to check you for ticks.” Another more elevated thought was from Henry David Thoreau: “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” Waldon Pond, therefore, was Thoreau’s happy place. Do you know what my happy place is? My happy place is Fort Smith, when everyone else leaves for Spring Break! And there are no ticks either!

Today’s gospel passage from John 11 is obviously the famous story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. But I think a curious fact that adds another layer of meaning is that Bethany and the home of Lazarus, Martha, and Mary was Jesus’ happy place. In other words, Bethany is where Jesus would have gone on his Spring Break, where he felt at ease, where Jesus felt loved, where our Lord found deep contentment.

It was in Bethany that Martha complained of doing all the chores while Mary sat at Jesus’ feet. It was at Bethany that Mary poured the expensive aromatic ointment on Jesus’ feet preparing his body for burial. It was at Bethany that Jesus spent the last week of his life during that first Holy Week, from Palm Sunday to Holy Thursday. And it was from Bethany that Jesus left earth and ascended into heaven, the last place he visited. When Jesus wanted to get away from it all, he went to Bethany and spent time with Lazarus, Martha, and Mary.

And I am convinced that this detail of Jesus’ happy place can shed a lot of light on the shortest sentence in the Bible which we heard today, namely, John 11:35, “Jesus wept.” How so? Well, why would Jesus weep now on this particular occasion? After all, Jesus had raised other people from the dead – like Jairus’ 12-year-old daughter in Luke 8, or the widow of Nain’s son in Luke 7 – but on neither of those occasions did Jesus shed a single tear that we know of. Why not?

Well, undoubtedly Jesus loved them, too. He loves everyone, and died for everyone. But Lazarus was part of Jesus’ happy place, and Lazarus death touched Jesus heart deeply, because now Jesus’ happy place was touched with sorrow. In other words, what makes a certain place a truly “happy place” is the people we share it with. With all due respect to Henry David Thoreau, people are what make places happy.

My friends, it is great if your happy place is the snow-capped mountains, or the sandy sun-soaked beaches, or the quiet whispering woods, or even Fort Smith when everyone else leaves. But I also hope and pray that coming to Mass and being inside this church will feel like your happy place too. Now, you might be thinking, “Are you kidding? Church is boring and I can’t wait to get out of here!”

But remember what makes a happy place truly happy are the people you spend time with there. And besides me, and your family, and your friends, in this place (in this church) you also spend time with Jesus. Over the course of a day, I love to see people just stop in here at church and spend five minutes with Jesus, who is always present in the Tabernacle. I pray that for those people, those five minutes this church felt like their happy place, no matter what problems or pressures or preoccupations they are carrying.

Whenever people pop in on Jesus I think of the numerous times that Jesus popped in on Lazarus, Martha, and Mary in Bethany. And those siblings must have been thrilled, and so is Jesus when we spontaneously stop in and see him. And in a couple of weeks our close Friend Jesus will die (like Lazarus died) and we, too, may feel like weeping (as Jesus wept) on Good Friday as we stand before the open and empty Tabernacle, knowing Jesus is not present here. Why? Well, because what makes a happy place truly happy is the people we share that place with, especially Jesus.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Strong, Silent Type

Following the example of St. Joseph

03/20/2023

Mt 1:16, 18-21, 24a Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Of her was born Jesus who is called the Christ. Now this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home.

Have you ever heard the expression “strong silent type”? It means that a certain person does not talk much, they are often silent, but they possess an inner strength of character that does not require words. That is, their actions speak louder than their words. Now, this character-type can be very frustrating to women, who wish men would open their mouths and be the “strong talking type” instead. Women ask: “Why don’t you tell me how you feel???” Sorry, ladies, you cannot have everything in one man.

Well, no man in history has epitomized the strong silent type character better than St. Joseph, whose solemnity we celebrate every March 19. This year, however, March 19 fell on a Sunday of Lent, which takes liturgical precedence. So, St. Joseph’s feast was moved to Monday, March 20. Why? Well, because St. Joseph is too huge a star in the constellation of Christ’s saints that we cannot omit his feast day. Even though some women are frustrated by men who are the strong silent type, the Church holds one such man up as a model for the whole Church to emulate, and never misses his feast day, or a chance to learn something from this unsung saint.

Now, the reason I say he is the proto-typical strong silent type is because St. Joseph never utters one word in the whole Bible. Now that should surprise us because he plays a critical role in the entrance of Jesus the Messiah onto the stage of salvation history. But even more than saving the Baby Jesus from the clutches of King Herod (like the Mandalorian saved Baby Yoda), St. Joseph raises Jesus in Nazareth, and teaches him the trade of carpentry.

We can only speculate on how St. Joseph passed on his carpentry skills to Jesus. Those years are entirely omitted from the Bible. But if I had to guess, St. Joseph did it more by actions than words. In other words, St. Joseph had the exact opposite philosophy of lesser examples of manhood, where men tell their children, “Do what I say, not what I do.” That is, don’t follow my poor example. St. Joseph was not armchair quarterback. He led by example, first and foremost.

And furthermore, I cannot help but wonder if in those long hours of quiet contemplation of carpentry, slowly working the wood with loving and nimble fingers to take the form of tables and chairs and plows, there was ample time for prayer. And here we touch on the taproot of St. Joseph’s real strength as the strong silent type. It wasn’t that he had bulging muscles, although he must have been physically fit and strong, more like a triathlete than a body builder. His muscles were for action, not for admiration.

As a result, while his body was at work, his mind and heart were absorbed in prayer. When you close your mouth, you open your mind and heart. And so it should not surprise us when we read in Luke 6:12, “In those days, Jesus departed to the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in prayer to God.” We can ask the natural question, “Where did Jesus learn to pray like that?”

And even though he was fully God, he was also fully human, and like all human beings we learn to pray by watching our mothers and fathers pray. So too our Lord. Just like St. Joseph, Jesus had discovered that true strength comes from sustained and frequent prayer. And he had learned that lesson of contemplative prayer from the example of his foster-father, St. Joseph, the strong silent type. When your mouth is closed your mind and heart are open, and speak to God in profound prayer.

My friends, does is surprise you, then, that St. Joseph is the patron saint of the whole universal Church? Just like he guarded and protected May and Jesus 2000 years ago, so today he guards and protects the Church, the Body of Christ through his intercessory prayers. What he once did with the Head (Jesus), he now does with the Body (the Church).

He is also the patron saint of workers, those who earn their living by honest labor, and offer the fruit of their labors as their sacrifice to God by improving the human community. St. Joseph the Worker’s feast day is celebrated on May 1. And today’s feast on March 19 is called "St. Joseph, the Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary." So, we hope all the ladies will understand when we men are quiet and don’t say too much. We are just following the example of our patron, St. Joseph, the strong, silent type.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Wear Better Glasses

Seeking the gift of faith in order to see better

03/19/2023

Jn 9:1-41 As Jesus passed by he saw a man blind from birth. When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva, and smeared the clay on his eyes, and said to him, "Go wash in the Pool of Siloam" —which means Sent—. So he went and washed, and came back able to see. They brought the one who was once blind to the Pharisees. Now Jesus had made clay and opened his eyes on a sabbath. So then the Pharisees also asked him how he was able to see. He said to them, "He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and now I can see." So some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, because he does not keep the sabbath." But others said, "How can a sinful man do such signs?" And there was a division among them. So they said to the blind man again, "What do you have to say about him, since he opened your eyes?" He said, "He is a prophet."

Our sense of sight has always been associated with knowledge, understanding, and even wisdom. To see something is to know that thing. We even use seeing as a synonym for knowledge. For example, when we say, “Can’t you see what I’m talking about?” We are saying, “Can’t you understand what I’m talking about?” Or, saying, “Do you see what I mean?” is another way of asking, “Do you understand what I mean?” In other words, seeing and understanding are two ways of saying the same thing.

I learned this connection between seeing and knowing way back in elementary school. I was not making very good grades at St. Theresa Elementary in Little Rock, mostly C’s and D’s. But I noticed that my friends who wore glasses were the smartest students in the class. So, that was their secret to scholarly success! Just wear glasses and you will make better grades! Of course, I did not think studying hard had anything to do with it. Even though I could not see the real connection between seeing and knowing, I could at least see there was one: wear better glasses and you’ll know more.

Now, it is precisely this connection between seeing and knowing that John the Evangelist explores in his magnificent gospel in chapter 9. Jesus cures a man born blind and restores his sight. The man could not see physically but after Jesus miracle, he is able to see perfectly. He could pass any eye test with flying colors. But Jesus does more than that. Besides restoring his physical eyesight, Jesus also gives him spiritual sight, that is, the gift of faith. In other words, this formerly blind man can now see on two levels, the physical and the spiritual. His seeing had become knowing.

This is the reason the blind man can now instruct and teach even the Pharisees about theological truths. The man starts to interrogate the religious teachers, saying: “This is what is so amazing, that you do not know where he [Jesus] is from, yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if one is devout and does his will, he listens to him.”

The blind man continues his lecture as if speaking to college freshman, the Pharisees: “It is unheard of that anyone ever opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this were not from God he could not be able to do anything.” The blind man could very well have asked the Pharisees, “Can you see what I mean?” But sadly, even though the Pharisees had perfect physical sight, they had very imperfect spiritual sight.

Indeed, they were spiritually blinder than the blind man was before he was healed. The Pharisees were making C’s and D’s in theology and thought (like I did in grade school) that all they needed were glasses to make them spiritually smarter. But what they really needed was the gift of faith, to be healed of their spiritual blindness by Jesus. In other words, they needed to catch the connection between seeing and knowing; that there is a knowing called faith, which is the highest form of knowing.

My friends, how is your eyesight these days? Can you see what I am asking? Sometimes we are so literal we miss the symbolic; we are so material we miss the spiritual; we are so earthly we miss the heavenly. We are like my dog, Apollo. When I point to something, he comes and sniffs my index finger instead of the object I am indicating. Why?

Because his whole world is all about playing and pooping, walking and waging his tail. Even though he can see perfectly, he stares at my with a blank look when I ask him, “Do you see what I mean?” And Apollo answers: “Sorry, I don’t see what you mean because I only see on one level.”

C. S. Lewis was trying to explain these two levels of seeing in his book “Mere Christianity.” I’m sorry this quotation is so long, but I hope you will see why I used it. Lewis wrote: “Everyone has warned me not to tell you what I am going to tell you in this last book (the last part of Mere Christianity). They all say, ‘the ordinary reader does not want Theology; give him plain, practical religion (that is, just tell me what I have to do to get to heaven)’. I have rejected their advice. I do not think the ordinary reader is such a fool. Theology means ‘the science of God’, and I think any man who wants to think about god at all would like to have the clearest and most accurate ideas about Him which are available. You are not children: why should you be treated like children?” (p. 154).

The gospel of John does not give us simply “plain practical religion” – just tell me what I need to do to get to heaven – but rather theology, the science, of God. It points to something called faith. But instead of the gift of faith and theology, maybe you would rather just get back to playing and pooping, walking and waging your tail. After all, what you really need to make better grades is just to wear better glasses.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Flip the Script

Seeing how we all behave like the Pharisee

03/18/2023

Lk 18:9-14 Jesus addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else “Two people went up to the temple area to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector. The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself, ‘O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity — greedy, dishonest, adulterous — or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.’ But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’ I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Today we hear why Catholics love to sit in the back of church in the gospel today. And why no one likes to sit in the front of the church. It is an interesting phenomenon that most of the time when we go to Mass, people prefer the back seats and would rather not sit in the front pews in church. Although, when we go to basketball or football games, we all want to be close to the action, and not far away, because those are the more desirable seats. We are interesting people.

In the gospel today we get an idea why Catholics like to sit in the back of church, and that is because there is a sense of humility in where we sit. We don’t feel worthy to come up closer. And so in the parable that Jesus tells today we find the contrast between the tax collector, the obvious sinner, who sits in the back. And he beats his breast acknowledging his faults and failings.

By the way, that is why when we begin Mass and say the “Confiteor”, which is Latin for “I confess”, when we always beat our breasts, like the tax-collector did in the parable today. And that is where the beating of the breast business comes from. It is from Jesus’ parable in Luke 18. We didn’t just make that up; Jesus made that up. We do what he tells us to do. And so we beat our breasts and acknowledge our faults and failings, and grow in humility by sitting in the back of church.

Now this being in the back is opposed to the Pharisee, who is so full of his own self-righteousness. And when we first hear that parable – I don’t know about you – but I immediately put myself in the shoes of the tax-collector. And I think to myself, clearly I am humble, I acknowledge my sins, I beat my breast at the beginning of Mass. And look, I even prefer to sit in the back of church. I must be the humble one in the parable.

But I think we have to be very careful drawing that conclusion. I think more often than not, we are more like the Pharisee. It is very easy to compare ourselves to other people, and see how wrong they are, how many faults and failings they have, and easily justify ourselves. Whenever you tell others what is going on in your own home, in your relationship with your spouse, isn’t it easy to see your spouse’s faults and failings?

And isn’t it so easy to justify our own behavior? The reason I did that was because of X, Y, and Z. You see, I have reasons for my weaknesses. But my spouse, clearly, has no excuse for his bad behavior. You see, that is exactly what the Pharisee is doing. Whenever we tell stories of our past, we always put ourselves in the role of the hero, the knight in shining armor. When you are the director of the play, you cast yourself in the leading role. That’s how we all tell the stories of our lives.

When we think about this parable, and think about our own lives, we shouldn’t be too quick to think we are the humble tax-collector just because we sit in the back of church. Listen very carefully to how you tell the stories of yourself, and other people. And how easily we see their weaknesses, and how easily we justify our own faults and failings.

One last thing this parable always brings to my mind is how we design churches. Ever since Vatican II in the early 1960’s, we started to design churches in a different way. Have you noticed this? You can always tell when a church was built: either before 1960, or after 1960. Before 1960, the churches we built like our own Immaculate Conception, long and narrow, and with an area in the back, far away from the altar.

The churches that were built after the 1960’s, were built like Christ the King, here in Fort Smith. It is built in the shape of a semi-circle. What is the effect of a semi-circle? It brings everyone closer to the altar. In that design, there’s no one who’s far away from the altar. The point of the design is to bring people closer to the altar.

Now I have to admit, those churches that are designed like IC or like Christ the King is either friendly to the preacher or to the people. The long, narrow-like church is friendly to the people because you can hide in the back. The churches that are designed like Christ the King, on the other hand, are friendly to the preacher. Why? Well, everyone is close, and I can see you, whether you’re paying attention or falling asleep. You cannot hide from me. That is the point of the design, to bring you close to me, so that I can speak to you.

And I used to think that maybe one design was better than the other. But I have no earthly idea which design is really best. But I do know this: sometimes it’s everything we can do to walk through the doors of a church. For some people that small step requires a Herculean amount of heroic courage. It’s almost impossible for someone to walk inside the door of a church, even if they’re still a hundred miles away from the altar.

And so, maybe this older design has some merit, because it does allow people to hide. That is, to hide from the great, bright light that is Christ, and which we cannot quite bear in its full force. We cannot even lift our eyes, like this poor tax-collector, and look into the bright sun of Jesus’ love and mercy. And we sit in the back. We beat our breasts, and we ask for forgiveness.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

A Priest’s Dog

Obeying rules for our health and happiness

03/16/2023

Mt 5:17-19 Jesus said to his disciples: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the Kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.”

Did you know that last December I got a dog? His name is Apollo and he is the most handsome dog in the whole world, and that’s my unbiased opinion. He is only 7 months old, so he is still very much a puppy. But if dogs could have souls, then he would have what people say is “an old soul.” Have you ever heard that expression: “He has an old soul”? It means that a child is very mature for their age, and probably enjoys being with adults more than other children.

Do you know any kids like that? Even though they are very young in their body, they have a very mature or old soul. Well, Apollo has an old soul because even though he has the body of a puppy, he has the personality of a mature dog. He is calm and obedient and takes tons of naps during the day, like I do!

Well, because Apollo has an old soul, he has been super easy to train, and I am a pretty tough trainer. For example, I have some very strict rules he has to obey. One rule is that he does not eat people food, but only dog food. Now, most people feed their dog leftovers from dinner or the dogs get to lick the plates in the dishwasher. But not Apollo.

A second rule is he does not get to jump on the furniture or sit on the furniture. Now, other people often let their dogs get on the furniture, sit on their laps, or even sleep in their beds at night. Do you do that with your dog? Well, that’s okay, but Apollo does not get to do that. Don’t worry, he has some very nice beds but they are on the floor, and he does not get on the furniture.

A third rule is we don’t jump up on people when we meet them. Apollo is a pit bull, German shepherd, pointer, lab, supermut mix, so he’s pretty confused about who he is. But that also means he’s going to be a very big dog. It may seem fun or cute if he jumps on people as a puppy, but he will scare the heck out of people if he jumps up on them as a full grown dog. So a third rule is not jumping up on people.

And a fourth and final rule we have is he always sleeps in his crate at night. Now, that’s a very important rule because he never messes up his crate because it is his bed. So that means he can sleep all night and does not bark or wake me up. Oh, and yesterday I took him to be neutered. And so now he is really a priest’s dog! Can you see why I say Apollo has an old soul? He has some strict rules but he is also mature for his age, and learns quickly, and enjoys hanging out with old people, like me.

In the gospel today, Jesus is also talking about the rules he has for us, his commandments. And he tells us to obey his commandments and rules, even the smallest ones. And just like I am proud of Apollo when he obeys my four rules of no people, not getting on furniture, no jumping up on people, and staying in his crate, so Jesus has 10 rules for us called his Ten Commandments. You know them well because you are blessed to go to a Catholic school, where they teach Jesus’ rules of behavior. You know what those rules are: honor your mother and father, keep holy the Lord’s Day by going to Mass, do not tell lies, do not steal, do not kill, and so forth.

Now, some schools do not have all the rules a Catholic school has, and so students can do things there that you cannot do here at Trinity. Just like other dogs get away with things that Apollo cannot do in our home. But I think my rules help Apollo to be a happier and healthier dog, a real Supermut, inside and outside. And that’s what Jesus’ rules and Trinity’s rules do for you: they help you to be happier, healthier, and holier, inside and outside. You, too, can be a Supermut.

To be honest, Apollo is not perfect, and he does try to get away with breaking the rules. Sometimes he will eat things he should not eat, besides his dog food. In December I noticed some of the green Christmas wrapping paper was missing. That evening I took Apollo for a walk so he could poop. Guess what color his poop was? It was green! Whenever Apollo poops, I call that true confessions because I know what he did earlier that day. And Jesus sees what we do all the time when we break his rules, even if we think (like Apollo) that we are getting away with it, and no one sees us.

Boys and girls, rules are hard to follow in the beginning, just ask Apollo. But slowly, as time goes by, and we learn to live by the rules, our life will be far more fun and enjoyable.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

A Little Blarney

Being honorary Irishmen on St. Paddy’s day

03/18/2023

Lk 5:1-11 While the crowd was pressing in on Jesus and listening to the word of God, he was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret. He saw two boats there alongside the lake; the fishermen had disembarked and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, he asked him to put out a short distance from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. After he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch." Simon said in reply, “Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets." When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish and their nets were tearing. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come to help them. They came and filled both boats so that they were in danger of sinking. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said, “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man." For astonishment at the catch of fish they had made seized him and all those with him, and likewise James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners of Simon. Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men." When they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed him.

March 17 is the annual feast of St. Patrick. He was a missionary from Britain, its first bishop, and as everyone knows, he is the patron saint of Ireland and all Irish people. On March 17 everyone feels like an honorary Irishman. So let me tell you three cool things about St. Patrick and Ireland to get you in the Irish spirit today.

First, the roads in Ireland, really they are little lanes, are notoriously narrow, and accidents happen frequently. Well, a Jesuit priest and a Franciscan priest were driving in two different directions on these narrow Irish lanes and ran into each other. Both were pretty badly shaken as they stumbled out of their cars.

The Jesuit priest asked the Franciscan, “Are you feeling okay, Father?” The other priest answered, “Oh I got a good bump on me head and a bit shaken.” The Jesuit priest pulled a bottle of Irish whiskey out of his car and said, “Here ya go father, have a good drink of this and you’ll be feeling fine.”

The Franciscan takes a good drink and asks, “Aren’t you having any father?” The Jesuit smiles and answered “Oh, I think I’ll wait until after the police come.” Now don’t you guys get any ideas and try that yourselves. Your Irish accent isn’t good enough to pull that off. So the first lesson about the Emerald Isle is to beware the notoriously narrow lanes and clever Irish priests.

The second thing is that St. Patrick is actually not buried in Ireland. He is buried in Northern Ireland, which is a completely different country. And while Ireland is predominantly Catholic, Northern Ireland is principally Protestant. And St. Patrick is buried at Down Cathedral, a Protestant Cathedral, located in Northern Ireland.

Many years ago, I took a vacation with a priest-friend of mine, Fr. Eric Pohlmeier, who’s a bishop now, to Ireland. And we visited Down Carhedral and the tomb of St. Patrick. There’s a museum inside the Cathedral and it tells the story of St. Patrick. But St. Patrick’s history was definitely told from a Protestant perspective.

That is, they portrayed him as a rebel and antagonistic to the pope, to whom he was disobedient. In other words, they tried to paint St. Patrick as if he were a Protestant reformer 1,100 years before there were any Protestants. I’m not sure how accurate that version of events are, but whenever you read history keep in mind who’s telling the story.

Winston Churchill is credited with the saying, “History is written by the victors.” And there is probably a lot of truth in that. That’s the second lesson: it can be hard to separate the fact and fiction about St. Patrick. There’s often some blarney in it.

And the third thing to get you in the Irish spirit has to do with the movie “Star Wards: The Last Jedi.” In the movie Luke Skywalker has disappeared and is hiding out on a remote island away from all civilization. Well, that island was not a CGI (computer generated image) creation but an actual place.

That island is off the western coast of Ireland as part of two islands called “The Skelligs.” On that trip with Bishop Pohlmeier, we visited that island. In the movie Luke is living in these beehive-shaped huts that were really built by Irish monks founded by St. Columban shortly after the time of St. Patrick in the 500’s.

There Irish monks believed they were retreating to the edge of the world, just like Luke Skywalker felt he wanted to retreat from the known world, too. So, if you don’t have the time or money to go to Ireland, just watch the movie “The Last Jedi” and it’s as good as being there.

I know the juniors and seniors are going on college visits in the week before and after Spring Break. So let me end with an Irish blessing for travelers: “May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm on your face. The rains fall softly on your fields. And, until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of his hand.”

Praised be Jesus Christ!

 

People of St. Patrick

Trying not to be more Catholic than the pope

03/14/2023

Mt 18:21-35 Peter approached Jesus and asked him, "Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?" Jesus answered, "I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. That is why the Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants. When he began the accounting, a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount. Since he had no way of paying it back, his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, his children, and all his property, in payment of the debt. At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.' Moved with compassion the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan. When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a much smaller amount. He seized him and started to choke him, demanding, 'Pay back what you owe.' Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.' But he refused. Instead, he had him put in prison until he paid back the debt. Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master and reported the whole affair. His master summoned him and said to him, 'You wicked servant! I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?' Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt. So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart.”

Have you ever heard the phrase, “more Catholic than the pope”? That refers to Catholics who are super strict in following Church teaching, that even if the pope himself were to allow certain exceptions to specific rules, they would not avail themselves of it. Now, I have to admit when I was younger I tried to be “more Catholic than the pope” by following the letter of the law, no exceptions. But now that I’m older (but probably not any wiser) I feel that if the pope allows certain exceptions, then I am going to take full advantage of them. I don’t know if that indicates that I’m lazy or maybe I’ve gained some common sense, or maybe both.

One example of being “more Catholic than the pope” is how we treat the Sundays of Lent. Do you practice your Lenten sacrifices on Sundays: giving up chocolate, or TV, or social media, etc.? Some Catholics do. I remember Fr. Tom Elliott used to say: “Jesus did not come out of the desert every six days to take a break from his fasting.”

But if you count the Sundays of Lent as sacrificial days, you end up with 46 days of Lent. Why is that? Well, because every Sunday is considered a mini-Easter. And just like we will not fast but rather feast on Easter Sunday, so every Sunday of the year, including the Sundays of Lent, are days of feasting and not fasting. How you treat the Sundays of Lent, therefore, is an example of being “more Catholic than the pope.”

Let me give you another example a little closer to home, and this applies only to the good people of Immaculate Conception Church in Fort Smith, AR. One of the 1752 canons of the Code of Canon Law that governs the Catholic Church is canon 1251. That canon reads: “Abstinence from meat…is to be observed on all Fridays unless a solemnity should fall on a Friday.” Did you catch that: a solemnity that fell on a Friday would provide an exception to the rule of not eating meat on Fridays of Lent.

But besides the Code of Canon Law, there is also a set of rules for the celebration of the sacraments (baptisms, funerals, Masses, etc.) called the GIRM, an acronym that stands for General Instruction on the Roman Missal. There we read this: “Every parish should celebrate as a solemnity its patronal feast (who it is dedicated to) and the anniversary of its dedication.” Now, before our parish was called “Immaculate Conception” it was called St. Patrick. St. Patrick is therefore our parish’s patron saint.

And the feast of St. Patrick falls on March 17, which this year happens to be a Friday. And when a feast is celebrated as a solemnity it means you treat it as if it were a Sunday. So, just like we are not required to fast and do other sacrifices on the Sundays of Lent, so parishioners of St. Patrick’s are not required to abstain from meat when March 17, our patronal feast day, falls on a Friday. Or, are you “more Catholic than the pope”?

Now, some of you might be wondering how and why our church’s name changed from St. Patrick’s to Immaculate Conception. According to the 150th anniversary book, From the Foundation Up: The Story of a Frontier Parish, it happened in a very unorthodox way. In the 1860’s, the pastor of St. Patrick (as we were called then), Fr. Lawrence Smyth visited Rome and had the chance to meet the pope, the very intimidating Pope Pius IX.

His name in Italian was “Pio Nono” which was very appropriate because he usually said, “No No” to any exceptions to Catholic teachings. Well, as the pope was greeting people in line, Fr. Lawrence Smyth was anxiously waiting his turn, understandably very nervous. When the pope stood before my predecessor, the Vicar of Christ asked him, “My son, what is the name of your parish?” The poor pastor of St. Patrick’s went completely blank, and could not remember the name.

But he had a little Irish luck and suddenly he blurted out: “It is the Church of the Immaculate Conception.” And Pio Nono smiled broadly and said approvingly: “Yes, yes.” Clearly the pope was pleased. Now, why had that answer been so lucky? Well, in 1854 the same Pio Nono (Pius IX) had written an infallible papal decree called Inefffabilis Deus, where he solemnly declared that Mary was immaculately conceived. In other words, Fr. Smyth gave a very politically and spiritually astute answer to the pope. He was saying, in effect, I am not more Catholic than the pope. If he declares or teaches something, then that’s good enough for me.

So, this coming Friday, the parishioners of Immaculate Conception, the parish formerly known as St. Patrick’s, will be put to the test. We must all ask ourselves: am I more Catholic than the pope? And I will be answering that question while cutting into a juicy steak on Friday night.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

 

The Rock’s Cooking

Exchanging self-confidence for Christ-confidence

03/12/2023

Jn 4:5-42 Jesus came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there. Jesus, tired from his journey, sat down there at the well. It was about noon. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” His disciples had gone into the town to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him, “How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” —For Jews use nothing in common with Samaritans.— Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink, ‘ you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you do not even have a bucket and the cistern is deep; where then can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this cistern and drank from it himself with his children and his flocks?” Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.” Jesus said to her, “Go call your husband and come back.” The woman answered and said to him, “I do not have a husband.” Jesus answered her, “You are right in saying, ‘I do not have a husband.’ For you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true.”

One of my closest priest-friends is Fr. Jason Sharbaugh. Now, the reason he is one of my closest friends is because he thinks that I look like Dwayne Johnson, the muscle-bound actor who is called The Rock. If someone thought you looked as handsome as the Rock, wouldn’t he be your best friend, too? I can even raise one eyebrow like Dwayne Johnson can.

Before Johnson became the highest-paid actor in Hollywood, he was a professional wrestler with the name The Rock. After making a dramatic entrance into the fighting ring, with flashing lights and thunderous music, Johnson would take the microphone and ask the crowd rhetorically: “Can you smell what the Rock’s been cooking?” It was his signature catch-phrase line, and that one line signified all his strength and self-confidence. In other words, what the Rock was cooking was self-confidence.

Before I came to I.C. in December 2013, I took three months to live with the Carmelites in Dallas, Texas. I was thinking about becoming a Carmelite monk, believe it or not. As a monk-in-training, I was not supposed to communicate very much with the outside world. So, I decided one day to send my good friend, Fr. Sharbaugh, a brief note to let him know I was doing well. On a blank piece of paper I only wrote one line: “Can you smell what the Rock’s been cooking?” and nothing else. Fr. Sharbaugh got a good laugh out of that one-line letter and he’s kept it ever since.

What I hoped my one-line letter conveyed was that I was well and also feeling very confident in the monastery. But the Rock of my strength was not my bulging muscles, or my intimidating eyebrow, or my shoulder-sleeve tattoo. Rather, the Rock of my strength was and is Jesus Christ. And as a Carmelite monk I could smell what that Rock (Christ) was cooking like never before. I could smell the gourmet meal of the Holy Eucharist that Jesus Christ, the Rock alone can cook. Dwayne Johnson asks, “Can you smell what the Rock’s been cooking?” And I could answer “Yes, I can” in my little Carmelite cloister away from the world.

The first reading today from Exodus 17 also speaks about a rock. And like Dwayne Johnson, the wrestler rock, this miraculous rock also does some cooking, that is, it provides water in the desert. God commanded Moses, “Strike the rock, and the water will flow from it for the people to drink.” Interestingly, Moses was told only to strike the rock once, and afterwards, he only had to speak to the rock for the water to flow. That rock actually followed the Israelite around for their 40 years and became the source of their strength and confidence that God was with them.

In the gospel today from John 4, the Samaritan woman is also thirsty, like Israelite people in the desert. But she is not dealing with a symbolic rock at Mt. Sinai, but rather with the real Rock, Jesus Christ himself. That is why Jesus replies to her comment about drinking water at Jacob’s well, “If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

In other words, what the rock at Mt. Horeb only symbolized, giving people water in the desert, Jesus came to fulfill as the reality of that Rock that gives “living water.” By the end of the gospel passage, Jesus could ask the Samaritan woman, “Can you smell what the Rock’s been cooking?” And she could answer “Yes, I can” because Jesus had become the source of her strength and her confidence and not her five husbands.

My friends, in a sense, Lent is the season in which we ask ourselves spiritually, “Can you smell what the Rock’s been cooking?” That is, we should ask ourselves: what is the source of my strength, my self-confidence, my peace of mind, the axis around which my world revolves, the rock on which I stand? Some of us may think of our possession as our strength and what gives us peace of mind.

Others may rely on their intelligence and expertise as their sure foundation. Still others may feel their family and their friendships are their greatest strengths. But during Lent we voluntarily detach ourselves from these earthly goods, kind of like I did when I lived in a Carmelite monastery. Why? So we can attach ourselves more completely to Christ the real Rock.

When we have been wandering in the desert (like the Israelites) we really appreciate the living water (Jesus). When we have lost at love five times (like the Samaritan woman), we are truly grateful when we find true love (Jesus). So, too, through our Lenten sacrifices we stop trusting in our brains and our braun, our bulging muscles and our bulging bank accounts, and put all our trust in Jesus, the Rock, who alone saves us and gives us strength.

So let me ask you, as a Dwayne Johnson look-alike: “Can you smell what the Rock’s been cooking?”

Praised be Jesus Christ!

 

Rich Dad Poor Dad

Learning about finance from two fathers

03/10/2023

Lk 16:19-31 Jesus said to the Pharisees: "There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen and dined sumptuously each day. And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the rich man's table. Dogs even used to come and lick his sores. When the poor man died, he was carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried, and from the netherworld, where he was in torment, he raised his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he cried out, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me. Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am suffering torment in these flames.' Abraham replied, 'My child, remember that you received what was good during your lifetime while Lazarus likewise received what was bad; but now he is comforted here, whereas you are tormented. Moreover, between us and you a great chasm is established to prevent anyone from crossing who might wish to go from our side to yours or from your side to ours.' He said, 'Then I beg you, father, send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they too come to this place of torment.' But Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.' He said, 'Oh no, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.' Then Abraham said, 'If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.’”

Just a couple of thoughts about today’s marvelous parable of the rich man and Lazarus from Luke 16. First of all, it is very interesting that only in this parable Jesus actually names one of the people in the parable. Most of the time in Jesus’ parables the people who do the acting in the parable are anonymous. But in this case it is different. Jesus identifies one of the actors by the name of Lazarus. And that is highly significant. Why?

Well, because I believe Jesus is trying to make a connection, between the unbelief of the Pharisees, symbolized by the rich man, what it takes for them to come to believe in Jesus. What does the rich man ask of Abraham and Lazarus? He asks that Lazarus be raised from the dead. And if Lazarus were to be raised from the dead, then the rich man’s five brothers would believe.

Well, it just so happens that Jesus in fact raises someone named Lazarus from the dead in John 11. But do the Pharisees convert and start to believe in Jesus as their Messiah? No, they do not. And that is why Abraham says, “If they do not believe in Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone were to rise from the dead.” And Lazarus did exactly that.

So the meaning of the parable is multilayered. Not only is Jesus trying to tell them to believe in Moses and the prophets, he is also trying to show them the hardness of their hearts. Even when Lazarus rises from the dead, and Jesus gives the rich man exactly what he asked for, he and his brothers (the Pharisees) do not believe in Jesus.

That should make us ask ourselves the same question: what does it take for someone to believe in Jesus? Even after we experience great miracles in our lives, that we cannot deny as the work of God, we continue to be stubborn and not believe in the Lord. We return to our old ways. That is one lesson of this parable of the rich man and Lazarus.

Another lesson we can draw from this parable is about a book that I found rather fascinating about finances. I don’t know if you read many books about managing money, investing, and finances. But there is a book with a very catchy title, written by Robert Kiyosaki, called “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”. Maybe you have read it. It’s a series of parables, so it’s very easy to understand.

It became a New York Times Bestseller, for multiple weeks, and perhaps years. It was picked up and promoted by Oprah Winfrey, so you know it’s got to be good! Since Oprah is such a financial wizard. The parables are about Robert Kiyosaki’s dad, who was poor, and no matter how hard his dad worked, he could never quite get out of poverty. He just got by.

In contrast there is a metaphorical person, who is Robert’s mentor, who is the “rich dad.” From this rich dad, Robert learns about entrepreneurship, and investing, and managing his money. So, there are these two people before our eyes while we read this book, the rich dad and the poor dad. And he learns from the rich dad how to be rich, and from the poor dad how to be poor.

And so in a sense, the book offers us a choice. And indeed, we do all learn from our dads how to manage our money, at least in the beginning. It is interesting that Robert Kiyosaki never made any money on his own as an entrepreneur. Do you know where he made his money? From the sale of the books. So does the book teach you about money or about marketing?

We, too, are presented by the gospel today with two figures. One person is a "rich dad" who presents us with worldly wealth, and another sort of “poor dad” Abraham, who teaches us a different kind of wealth, which really looks like poverty by all earthly standards. And we, too, can choose whose example, and teaching, and wisdom we will follow.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

 

Thinking about Life

Avoiding a massive error of affective forecasting

03/09/2023

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.” Jesus said in reply, “You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?” They said to him, “We can.” When the ten heard this, they became indignant at the two brothers. But Jesus summoned them and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and the great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave.

Several years ago a friend gave me a book called “Thinking Fast and Slow” by Daniel Kahneman. The last chapter is called “Thinking about Life” and began with a very insightful survey about marriage. A group of people in Germany were asked about their satisfaction with life over a number of years, leading up to their marriage and several years after their marriage. The graph revealed that the year of their wedding was a high point in happiness, while every year after marriage their satisfaction level declined. Can you relate to that graph in your own married life and the happiness it has brought you?

Here is what Kahneman concludes: “The graph evokes nervous laughter from audiences, and the nervousness is easy to understand: after all, people who decide to get married do so either because they expect it will make them happier or because they hope that making a tie permanent will maintain the present state of bliss.”

Kahneman continues (and this is the critical point): “The decision to get married reflects, for most people, a massive error of affective forecasting. On their wedding day, the bride and the groom know that the rate of divorce is high and that the incidents of marital disappointment is even higher, but they do not believe that these statistics apply to them” (p. 399). Would you raise your hand if you made a similar “massive error of affective forecasting”? Just kidding. I think we all make that massive error when we are young. We are mistaken about what will make us happy.

In the gospel today, Jesus is trying to help his apostles avoid a massive error of affective forecasting, too. He is not talking about marriage, but rather, about discipleship. That is, the disciples have some definite ideas of what following Jesus means, namely, positions of power, royal authority, and being the boss and telling other people what to do.

And they believe that doing those things would bring them happiness. After all, why bother following Jesus if he’s not going to make you happy? Like Daniel Kahneman in his book, so, too, Jesus wants to help his disciples “think about life” and not make a “massive error of affective forecasting.” He tells them bluntly that following him will not be all butterflies and unicorns. Instead, they will have to pick up their cross and learn to be servant-leaders, not bosses in high-back leather chairs who tell others what to do.

But just like it is almost impossible to convince engaged couples that “the divorce rate is high and the incidents of marital disappointment is even higher,” so the disciples did not believe Jesus’ dire warnings about following him. In other words, we are all doomed to make this “massive error of affective forecasting” when we begin our adult life.

My friends, one decisive advantage we have over the original disciples of Jesus is that we know how the story ends. That is, we know how events will unfold on Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday, Judas’ betrayal, Peter’s denial, John’s faithfulness, Mary’s sorrow, the empty tomb, and the glory of Easter Sunday. We have a panoramic perspective, a little like that graph that Dr. Kahneman referred to, showing people’s happiness levels before and after their wedding. All engaged couples should very closely study that graph!

But our faith teaches us more than that graph, because it shows us the real end of the story culminates not here on earth but in heaven, where that “massive error of affective forecasting” will finally be rectified. We will at long-last be truly happy.

This self-correction of our massive error of forecasting happiness is what Lent is all about. For forty days we are reminded that discipleship comes at a cost. Following Jesus does indeed entail immense joy and happiness, but first comes the Cross. There can be no Easter Sunday Resurrection without first a Good Friday Crucifixion. And most of this life will feel more like Good Friday than Easter Sunday. And that is something both Christian disciples and engaged couples would do well to remember.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

  

Family Finances

Running an economy on members rather than money

03/06/2023

Gn 12:1-4a The LORD said to Abram: "Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk and from your father's house to a land that I will show you." I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. All the communities of the earth shall find blessing in you." Abram went as the LORD directed him.

One of the lessons I learned early in life was about family finances. That is, how my family manages money, and we didn’t have much so it didn’t take us very long! Now, my family emigrated to the U.S. when I was seven years old, and like most immigrants, we were poor. My mom loves to remind us how she arrived in New York with only $10 in her purse. Today, though, my parents live on the golf course of the Springdale Country Club, and my mom has a little more than $10 in her purse. I think it is $20.

My parents are a living example of the American dream and how faith in God, hard work, and a family-first philosophy can help you to be successful in this life. I have nothing but admiration for my parents and countless other immigrants to this country who came with very little money, but with lots of faith and family values.

But I also learned that there are other ways to look at family finances. That is, the way we think about money here in the U.S. is not the way we think about money in India, or in most developing countries. In developing nations, people see their real wealth as their children rather than as their checking accounts. And I am not speaking metaphorically or symbolically, but rather very much economically. In other words, children are not just an expense item we spend money on, they are an asset class from which a family grows financially. How so? Well, in an agrarian society the children work on the farm. And they are free labor!

But more importantly, your children were your retirement plan. In India, we do not have Social Security, or 401k’s, or investment portfolios to provide income when parents are too old to work. Instead, children take their parents into their home and care for them until they pass away. That is why most developing nations have never heard of nursing homes or retirement communities.

By the way, that is why most families also had lots of kids. So that by the time you are old, at least one of those kids still loves you and will take care of you. In other words, this is what family finances look like beyond the borders of the United States, where the economy runs on the number of children rather than on the size of your checking account.

This sense of family finances may also help us understand the first reading a little differently and more deeply today. God calls Abraham and sends him to a new land, the Promised Land. But God’s blessing wasn’t just the land, but also countless descendants. Later God would explain that Abraham’s descendants would be like “the dust of the earth” (Gn 13:16), or “the stars in the sky” (Gn 22:17).

In other words, when Abraham heard God promise him “countless descendants” he did not think like we Americans do, “Oh no! How am I going to feed all those hungry mouths?” That is going to be so expensive. Children, according to Abraham’s reckoning, were not an economic expense or liability, but rather a windfall, like winning the lottery.

Indeed, the etymology of the word “economy” is not the flow of money in a country, like we typically think. Economy comes from two Greek words “oikos” meaning “household” and “nemein” a verb meaning “to manage.” In other words, the original sense of an economy has less to do with money in a country and a lot more to do with the members of a family, a household. In Genesis God taught Abraham the original meaning of family finances.

Here’s my last point about family finances. Did you know this original meaning of an economy, based on members and not money, is how the Catholic Church operates at its best? That is, traditionally Catholic families ordinarily had many children, maybe eight or ten was considered normal. Well, from those children came the future priests and nuns who ran our churches and taught in our schools.

And how much salary did we pay those priests and nuns? Well, we paid them a pittance. Why? Well, because all our parishioners were poor and raising huge families! We didn't put money in the collection plate, we put our children in the collection plate. But notice how we operated under a different kind of economy. Our household management of the Church was not based on money but on members. And having lots of children was not considered a serious liability but a huge asset.

My friends, there is more than one way to think about family finances. Most of the world is starting to think of an economy the way we do here in the United States, where it’s more about money than members. And we even operate our family finances according to the same model. And that is too bad because we are abandoning the originally meaning of economy, which is both more Scriptural and more spiritual.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

 

Easier and Harder

Learning how to love and follow Jesus

03/04/2023

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.”

One of the things we must always be mindful of when we read the Scriptures, especially Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, is that being a Christian is both easier and harder than being anything else. In what sense is being a Christian easier and harder? Well, Jesus says something rather hard in the gospel today. He says you have to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect. And don’t just love all your friends and the people who love you. But love your enemies, the people who hate you. That’s certainly hard to do.

And yet at the same time, being a Christian is easier. How so? Well, Jesus is constantly talking about mercy, and forgiveness, and kindness, and being child-like. Those things are easy and enjoyable. So, there is always this two-fold expectation in being a Christian: it is both easier in some senses, because there is lots of mercy and forgiveness; and yet it is harder, in another sense, because the expectation and the standard is high to be holy.

This is very much what it was like growing up in my family. It was both easier and harder to be an Antony kid. Why? Because sometimes we saw the neighbors kids and our friends getting away with murder. And yet, when we went home there were very high expectations for us. You had to do your homework. And by the way, as an Indian immigrant, the children were not allowed to date in high school. So, you can just imagine the draconian expectations in my home: do your homework, don’t mess around with girls. So, it was a heck of a lot harder being in my home and in my family.

On the other hand, it was really easier being in my home because we had delicious Indian food, that my friends didn’t have. And we knew that our parents loved us. And more importantly than the fact that they loved us, is that they loved each other. You know that is what kids really want. It is not for their parents to love them – they already know that. Rather, they want to see their parents love each other (which is often in doubt). And in my house, we knew that our parents loved each other as much as they loved us kids. And so in my home, just like being a Christian, it was both easier and harder.

I think this is how sometimes my dog, Apollo, must feel. That is it both easier and harder to have me as his owner. It is easier because I spend all my time with him. He goes with me everywhere. He rides in the car. He meets all kinds of interesting people. I feed him three times a day. We do on walks. I pick up his poop. So, in a sense it is easy to be my dog.

But in another sense, it is very hard to be my dog. Because I don’t let Apollo get away with things that other people’s dogs get to do. He does not get on the furniture. He does not sleep in my bed. He does not eat people food. He is learning to sit, and to shake, etc. That is, the expectations are higher for poor Apollo.

And I’m sure sometimes when he sees other dogs he must feel a touch of jealousy. When we visit my brother and sister-in-law, Apollo see their dog jump on the furniture and sleep in their bed. But he has to go into his kennel every night and go to bed. So, for poor Apollo, life with Fr. John is both easier and harder, but maybe it is a very good life nonetheless.

And I am also convinced that this is the litmus test of whether or not you belong to the true Church. Because the true Church will be just like its Savior, Jesus Christ: easier and harder. And that is why in the Catholic Church we have such high expectations for our parishioners. You have to go to Mass every Sunday. You cannot live together before you get married. You cannot use contraception in your marriage. You are not allowed to have same-sex marriages. And you cannot remarry after a divorce without an annulment. Those things are hard in this household of God.

And often we see the neighbor’s kids, the people who attend other Christian churches and we might think: “Wow, that’s a lot easier over there!” Why can’t mom and dad (the pope and the priests) take it easy on us? And yet we must remember that in the Catholic Church things are much easier than in other churches. There is mercy. There is Mary. There is devotion to the saints. There is confession. There is reconciliation and prayer. There is Friday fish frys during Lent.

I am convinced that one of the signs that we are following Jesus closely is when we find in our lives this two-fold expectation. In some ways it is much easier to follow him, and be in his Church. And in other ways, it’s super hard. But that is when you know you are probably following Christ.

Praised be Jesus Christ!