I Hate Buttermilk

Hammering our swords of war into ploughshares of peace

05/06/2018

Acts of the Apostles 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48 When Peter entered, Cornelius met him and, falling at his feet, paid him homage. Peter, however, raised him up, saying, "Get up. I myself am also a human being." Then Peter proceeded to speak and said, "In truth, I see that God shows no partiality. Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly is acceptable to him." While Peter was still speaking these things, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who were listening to the word. The circumcised believers who had accompanied Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit should have been poured out on the Gentiles also, for they could hear them speaking in tongues and glorifying God. Then Peter responded, "Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit even as we have?" He ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.

If Jesus came to accomplish anything it was to teach us how to turn hate into love, and how to see our foes become our friends. This gradual transformation can be illustrated by an unusual prayer a farmer once uttered. A visiting priest was attending a men’s breakfast in Ohio farming country. He asked one of the impressive older farmers in attendance to say grace that morning. After all were seated, the older farmer began: “Lord, I hate buttermilk.” The priest opened one eye and wondered where this was going. Then the farmer loudly proclaimed: “Lord, I hate lard!” Now the priest was overly worried. However, without missing a beat, the farmer prayed on: “And Lord, you know I don’t care much for white flour.” Just as the priest was ready to stand up and stop everything, the farmer continued: “But Lord, when you mix ‘em all together and bake ‘em up, I do love fresh biscuits. So, Lord, when things come up we don’t like, when life gets hard, when we just don’t understand what you’re saying to us, we just need to relax and wait till you are done mixin’ and probably it will be something even better than biscuits. Amen.” This is why I don’t let the deacons lead the prayers - I never know where they’re going! God takes things we may hate or fear and turns them into something we can love; foes become friends.

In the first reading, St. Peter echoes the old farmer’s prayer by teaching the Jewish Christians to turn their hate into love. You may remember that Jews considered themselves the Chosen People, while everyone else was not chosen and therefore not saved and therefore to be despised and even destroyed. When these same Jews converted to Christianity, they continued to believe that only Jews could become Christians and therefore only Jewish Christians could be saved. They hadn’t let go of the notion of being the “Chosen People.” But Peter urged them to see the Gentiles also as an ingredient in the recipe of redemption that Jesus was cooking up in his Church. Just like the farmer loved fresh biscuits made up of thing he didn’t care for, so Peter taught the Jewish Christians to love the Church even if it included non-Jews (people they didn’t care for).

Even in the Old Testament, the prophet Isaiah had predicted: “They will beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war again.” Jesus brought that embryonic prophesy in the womb of the Old Testament to birth in Bethlehem when in his own Person he made peace between Jews and Greeks, slaves and free, rich and poor, men and women, yes indeed even between heaven and earth. We must change the objects we hate into the subjects we love, or else Christ will have come in vain.

This weekend I would like to say a word about Trinity Junior High and ask your help in a second collection. One of the great blessings at Trinity is the rich diversity of the student body. We have many ethnic groups – African Americans, Caucasians, Vietnamese, Laotians, and even Indians (both the dot and feather kinds)! We boast a broad spectrum of socio-economic backgrounds, from all sides of the tracks! We see not only many Christians denominations, but we also have Muslims and Hindus, even atheists. While we respect all these differences, nevertheless, we gather every week at Mass and pray and worship as one student body. We begin to sense, however indistinctly and far off, that what unites us – namely Jesus – is far greater than anything that would divide us. At Trinity we teach students to beat their swords of war into ploughshares of peace, to transform hate into love. Our teenagers are coming of age in a nation bitterly divided, and they deserve to dream of another possibility for their future. This same lesson of unity and peace reverberates in all Catholic schools, including Immaculate Conception. The whole Catholic Church, and therefore every Catholic school, should be a microcosm of the unity that Jesus was born for in Bethlehem, that he died for on the Cross, and that he is enthroned in glory for in heaven. In a nutshell, love conquering hate is everything Jesus lived for. And so should we.

This evening we’re also honoring our high school graduating seniors. I love watching them process into church in their graduation gowns, each proudly sporting their school colors: Northside, Southside, Pocola, Poteau, Subiaco, Greenwood, Muldrow, and Homeschool. It’s like seeing the colors of the rainbow, which, after they graduate and get a job, will lead to a pot of gold! At least we hope they will no longer be dipping into their parents’ pot of gold. But that rich variety of colors, which on the football field or basketball court, symbolizes rivalry and sometimes animosity, here in the church becomes a sign of unity in diversity. Here, gathered in the presence of Jesus whose love conquered the hate of his enemies, we hammer our swords of war into ploughshares of peace.

Today think of things you may hate in a recipe – like buttermilk, lard and white flour – and remember what happens when a master chef mixes them all together. So, too, our Lord takes the things and people we may hates in our lives and, together with his secret ingredient called “grace,” brings about something far more beautiful than fresh biscuits. He brings about the Catholic Church.

Praised be Jesus Christ!