Long-Tailed Cats

Sharing three random thoughts on a Tuesday

10/26/2022

EPH 5:21-33 Brothers and sisters: Be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives should be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is head of his wife just as Christ is head of the Church, he himself the savior of the Body. As the Church is subordinate to Christ, so wives should be subordinate to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the Church and handed himself over for her to sanctify her, cleansing her by the bath of water with the word, that he might present to himself the Church in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. So also husbands should love their wives as their own bodies.

I just want to share with you three random thoughts today. First of all we were so blessed to have Bishop Taylor with us for Mass yesterday morning. Everyone is so happy when the bishop comes and celebrates Mass for us, except the pastor. I was as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. Seriously, it is always a blessing to have our bishop with us. He even asked me to preach, so that added a whole other layer of pressure, to try to think of something really smart and holy to say in front of the bishop. But he was very kind and said I had a nice homily after Mass.

I would ask for your prayers for our bishop and our whole presbyterate. That word “presbyterate” is the word used to refer to the whole body of priests of a diocese. We are individually presbyters, so the presbyterate refers to the whole body of priests. Recently, just last week, there was a study put out by Catholic University of America, about the relationship between bishops and priests. And there seems to be some lack of trust and confidence and closeness between bishops and priests. In other words, priests look at bishops with a little bit of suspicion and distance, as if they were authoritarians rather than father-figures, who really care about their priests.

You might be interested in reading that study. You can google it and find it online: Catholic University of America, Survey of Catholic Priests. I think it is very useful and very helpful, but it also somewhat paints the picture with a broad brush. In other words, you cannot take the conclusions of the whole study and think it applies to every diocese specifically. The circumstances in every diocese are very different.

And I am very happy to say that I think the rapport, the morale, the trust, the love and the affection between the priests and bishop of our diocese is very healthy, and very good. And so while in general speaks about a lack of healthy relationship between bishop and priests in most diocese, our diocese is an exception to that rule. Nonetheless, keep our bishop and our priests in your prayers so we don’t feel like long-tailed cats in a room full of rocking chairs, when the bishop comes to visit.

The second thought I want to share with you is a text that I received from my mom yesterday. She was very happy that an Indian is now the prime minister of England. Did you hear about this? Rishi Sanak is the new prime minister of England. He is not exactly from India himself, but his grandparents migrated from India, so he is definitely of Indian stock. And it reminds me of the old saying, “If you can’t beat them, join them.”

If you can’t beat the British, join the British, and then take over the British. And so we now have an Indian who is in charge of the British government. And we might pray for him as well, for he has no small task. He faces inflation, as well as other economic problems, not to mention issues with Ukraine, and other international challenges for him to face. But in any case, he is an Indian and my mom and dad are very happy he is in charge of England.

And the last random thought today is Jesus’ comparison of the Kingdom of God. He is asking: what can I compare the Kingdom of God to so that you might understand what it is? And he comes up with two very beautiful images. First, he says it is like a mustard seed, meaning the Kingdom of God is small, and then it grows and blossoms to a ginormous tree that can be a home for all the birds of the air. And so it is.

The Kingdom of God began with Jesus and the twelve apostles. And it has grown into a ginormous tree that encompasses the whole world. And everyone can find a nest in its branches. And you and I have found a nest in the branches of the Kingdom of God.

Another image the Lord uses is that of yeast in the midst of flour.

As the invisible yeast causes the flour to grow and to become bread, so too, the Kingdom of God works invisibly. God’s Kingdom does not grow by means of armies and financial resources and political power. It grows through the invisible working of grace in your heart and in my heart, like yeast invisibly making the flour to rise and becoming dough and bread, and feeding the world.

In the first reading today, St. Paul comes up with another image for the Kingdom of God when he compares the relationship between Christ and his Church to the relationship between husbands and wives. In other words the Kingdom of God is like a Bride, and Jesus Christ the King is the Bridegroom. That is what I always mention at every wedding.

As the bride is coming down the aisle to meet her husband, I ask if people know what they are seeing. This is a preview of coming attractions. This is a snap-shot of the end of the world, when the Bride (all of us, the Church) is finally prepared, as St. Paul says, “without spot or wrinkle or any such thing”. The Church will be perfect, filled with grace, and ready to meet her husband, Jesus, the Bridegroom, who has perfected us, with the washing of the water and the word.

It is interesting as we prepare to celebrate the rest of the Eucharistic liturgy, pay attention how many times the Eucharist refers to the Church as a feminine, a she, or her. Because the Church invites us to see the Kingdom, us, as the Bride of Christ.

Praised be Jesus Christ!