Not Our Problem Dear

Prudently picking the problems we must solve

05/23/2017

Acts of the Apostles 16:22-34 About midnight, while Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God as the prisoners listened, there was suddenly such a severe earthquake that the foundations of the jail shook; all the doors flew open, and the chains of all were pulled loose. When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, thinking that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted out in a loud voice, "Do no harm to yourself; we are all here." He asked for a light and rushed in and, trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" And they said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus and you and your household will be saved." So they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to everyone in his house. He took them in at that hour of the night and bathed their wounds; then he and all his family were baptized at once.

         Arguably one of the most popular pastors of Immaculate Conception Church was Msgr. John O’Donnell. Next to the definition of “Irish wit” in the dictionary, you will see his smiling face. But popularity has its price. Since he was the pastor of the biggest Catholic church in town, people expected him or the parish to take care of all sort of problems. Sometimes those requests were reasonable, but sometimes they were just passing the buck. But because Msgr. O’Donnell also had a huge heart, he gladly gave himself to the point of exhaustion.

           One day he was visiting New Orleans and saw a baseball cap for the city police. On the cap were the letters, “N.O.P.D.” standing for “New Orleans Police Department.” His Irish wit always sitting just below the surface of his smile, he bought several hats as gifts for the church staff. He handed them out to the staff members saying, “Wear this if someone comes in asking you to do something unreasonable. The letters stand for “Not Our Problem Dear,” – N.O.P.D.  Fortunately, they have not worn that hat when I have asked them to do something. When you’re popular you must prudently pick what problems are yours and which are “Not Our Problem Dear.”

           In the first reading today, the jailor find himself in a similar predicament: trying to discern which problems are his and which are not. Paul and Silas are imprisoned and an earthquake frees them from their chains. The jailor realizes his life will be at risk for his apparent dereliction of duty and is ready to take his own life. He wanted to don that hat that said, “Not Our Problem Dear.” He wanted to escape responsibility. But when he learns that the apostles are still inside, he realizes that something bigger is happening here. He hears the Good News proclaimed by them and he and his family are baptized. In other words, he told his family to put on the hats with N.O.P.D. but he interpreted those letters to mean “Now Our Problem Dear.” You could say that, in a sense, they made Christianity their own problem, and that’s the best problem you can have. Everyone must discern what problems are “now ours dear” and what problem are “not ours dear.”

           Here are a few tips I’ve used to help me make this same discernment. First, I have a personal rule that I do not give people money – cash – when someone catches me in the parking lot. However, I do put money in the poor box and I give to the church to help the poor. That way I feel my money truly helps the poor instead of merely enabling the lazy. Second, even when I cannot give someone exactly what they request – a million dollars for instance – I try to give them something: a smile, my time to listen to them, or a cup of coffee. I feel like the little kid in the gospel who had only 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish, but Jesus was able to use that to feed thousands. And third, I pray for those who need help on my daily rosary, or sometimes we even pray together. In other words, we do not have a responsibility to give everyone everything they ask for, but we do have a responsibility to give them something.

            Msgr. O’Donnell was exactly right in handing out the N.O.P.D. hats to the church staff. The hard part is knowing when those letters should mean “not our problem dear,” and when they should mean “now our problem dear.”

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Selective Hearing

Learning to open our ears to the Holy Spirit

05/21/2017

Acts of the Apostles 8:5-8, 14-17 Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed the Christ to them. With one accord, the crowds paid attention to what was said by Philip when they heard it and saw the signs he was doing. For unclean spirits, crying out in a loud voice, came out of many possessed people, and many paralyzed or crippled people were cured. There was great joy in that city. Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent them Peter and John, who went down and prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for it had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.

         This may sound like a sweeping generalization, but I believe we all suffer from “selective hearing disorder.” Selective hearing is when you focus on some ambient sounds, but ignore others. Children ignore their parents voices telling them to turn off the ipad and come to dinner. Husbands tune out their wives telling them what’s on the “honey-do list” and instead keep watching the baseball game. Catholics miss the part in the sermon where the priest says give more in the collection. Huh? What?

          Selective hearing disorder can even affect monks. A new monk arrived at the monastery. He was assigned to help the other monks in copying the old texts by hand. He noticed, however, that they are copying copies, and not the original books. So, the new monk goes to the head monk to ask him about this. He points out that if there were an error in the first copy that would be continued in all of the other copies. The head monk says: “We have been copying from copies for centuries, but you make a good point, my son.” So, he went down stairs into the cellar with one of the copies to check it against the original. Hours later nobody has seen him. So, one of the monks goes downstairs to look for him. He hears sobbing coming from the back of the cellar and finds the old monk leaning over one of the original books crying. He asks, “What’s wrong?” The old monk cried, “The word is ‘Celebrate.’ ‘Celebrate’.” I guess you have to be a celibate priest to truly appreciate that joke. So, sometimes selective hearing disorder works in our favor (we hear what we want to hear), and sometimes it doesn’t (we miss something significant). It’s hard to discern which voices to focus on, and which ones to tune out.

           In the first reading today, the apostles help the people to focus on the voice of the Holy Spirit instead of listening to unclean spirits. In classic Catholic spirituality, this is called “discernment of spirits,” that is, tuning our selective hearing to the Holy Spirit. First the apostles cast out unclean spirits, that is, they helped the people hear that certain voices were harmful and do not lead to happiness. Then the apostles, through the laying on of hands, bestowed the Holy Spirit upon them. By the way, this happens to modern Catholics at Confirmation, when the bishop lays his hands on them. In other words, Catholics learn when the Holy Spirit says “celebrate” (and calls you to marriage) and when he says “celibate” (and calls you to priesthood). The apostles were correcting the people’s “selective hearing disorder.”

           People sometimes ask me how I prepare my Sunday homilies. And to be honest, it requires that I adjust my selective hearing so that I can hear the Spirit. Maybe the tips I use to preach will help you be more sensitive to the Spirit as well. I try to do three things to prepare my homilies: (1) listening in prayer, (2) listening to people, and (3) listening in the silence. Let me explain each one.

First, listening in prayer. Before I preach any homily, I always whisper this prayer I made up myself, saying, “Come, Holy Spirit, help me say what you want me to say, and help them to hear what you want them to hear.” Have you seen my lips silently moving before I preach? Now you know what I’m saying. I am constantly amazed how people thank me for a certain point in a homily that I never actually made. The Spirit spoke to them. And sometimes they thank me even when the deacon was preaching – and I definitely do not want credit for their preaching. Maybe you could say that prayer before having a serious conversation with your spouse, or with your elderly parents, or with your teenagers. Prayer helps you correct some of that “selective hearing disorder” because the Spirit helps people to “hear what he wants them to hear.”

           Secondly, listening to people. I always warn people to be careful what they say around me because it may end up in next Sunday’s sermon. But I think some people are inspired by that, and hope they will end up in the sermon – enjoying “their 15 minutes of fame” as Andy Worhol once said. Two people I want to make famous in today’s homily are Bishop Taylor and Pope Francis. Now, I gotta tell ya, I don’t always agree with or appreciate they say – please don’t tell them that! Nevertheless, I believe they are the authorized and apostolic voices of the Holy Spirit, and if my opinion differs from theirs, then I should be suspicious of my own opinion not theirs. As early as the second century AD, St. Ignatius of Antioch taught, “Be subject to the bishop and to one another, as Jesus Christ was subject to the Father” (Letter to the Magnesians, 13:2). In other words, let the voices of other Christians, especially church leaders, correct your “selective hearing disorder.” Who knows, the pope could actually change “celibate” to “celebrate”! Go, Francis! Go, Francis! But you have to listen to him to hear that.

           And third, listening in the silence. Do you remember how Elijah heard God’s voice in the Old Testament? God’s voice was not in the earthquake, or in the strong wind, or in the fire. Rather he spoke in a “still small voice” (1 Kings 19:11-12). You need silence to hear that still small voice. C. S. Lewis said that the two things you won’t find in hell are music and silence. Listen to Screwtape’s (the devil’s) strategy: “Music and silence – how I detest them both! We will make the whole world a universe of noise in the end” (Screwtape Letters, XXII). Folks, when every second of your day is filled noise – car radio, ipad, television, ear buds, your playlists, the 24-hour news cycle, etc. – your life resembles hell more than heaven. Hell is noisy with the voices of unclean spirits, whereas heaven is silent with only the whispering of the Holy Spirit. In the silence I hear the ideas for my homilies, and in the silence you will hear the Spirit, too.

           My friends, it doesn’t matter if you didn’t hear a word I said in this homily, or if you took a nap. The Spirit knows what you need to hear. Just don’t tune him out with your selective hearing disorder. He may be saying “celebrate” but you only hear “celibate.”

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Foiled Again

Seeing our adversaries as our antagonists and allies

05/20/2017

John 15:18-21 Jesus said to his disciples: "If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you. Remember the word I spoke to you, 'No slave is greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. And they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know the one who sent me."

         I loved learning about literature when I was in college. Great authors often use the literary device of a “foil” in their plots. Do you know what a foil is? The foil is the antagonist in the story – we would call him the villain – work works in direct opposition to the protagonist, or the hero. The Joker was the foil to Batman, Khan was the foil to Captain Kirk, the Wicked Witch of the West was the foil to Dorothy. The foil does not just make the plot interesting – because we wonder who will win – but he or she also enhances and highlights the noble qualities of the hero. The hero’s goodness shines in sharp contrast to the villain’s badness.

          My favorite foil of all time, however, is Snidley Whiplash of the cartoon series called, “Dudley Do-Right of the Mounties.” It’s easy to recognize Snidley as the foil or villain because he wears a black cape, a black top-hat and a moustache (all good villains do). Snidley’s favorite crime is tying innocent women to the railroad tracks, who are always saved by Dudley at the last second. Do you remember what Snidley says every time Dudley saves the day? His customary catch-phrase was “Curses, foiled again!” But notice what’s happening in the story: Dudley shines brighter because he stands in sharp contrast to sinister Snidley. In literature, the foil enhances the story but it also enhances the hero; indeed, the foil is the “necessary evil” in all great literature.

   

           In the gospel today, Jesus teaches his disciples that they, too, will have a foil in their life as Christians. Our Lord warns them, “If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world…the world hates you.” In the gospel of John, the evangelist employs “the world” as the foil to Jesus and his followers. The world in this sense was embodied by characters like Pontius Pilate, King Herod, Judas Iscariot and ultimately by Satan. These foils not only make the life of Christ the greatest story ever told, but also highlight his holiness. Jesus’ goodness grows greater as he stands next to the world’s sinfulness. Jesus saves his bride, the Church, often tied to the railroad tracks by Satan, and we hear Satan say, “Curses, foiled again.”

           My friends, let me invite you to look at your life as a great work of literature. You are the protagonist (of course!), the hero, Dudley Do-Right. But how will we highlight your holiness and make you look good? We need to give you an antagonist, a villain, someone to antagonize you, a foil! Can you think of any foils in your life: someone trying to sabotage your happiness and make you miserable? Maybe your foil will be your spouse, or perhaps you think it’s your parents, or maybe it’s the opposing political party, or is it Russia? My personal foils are the deacons. You may wish you didn’t have a foil, an antagonist, and that your life would be easier and happier without them. Yes, it would be easier, but it would also emptier, and your life story would not reach the heights of great literature. Your foil is your opportunity to highlight how good you are: how patient you are, how humble you are, how forgiving you are, how cheerful you are. Dudley Do-Right would be a feeble and fickle hero if he didn’t have Snidley Whiplash to make him look so daring and dashing. Folks, you need a foil to defeat daily and make him or her say, “Curses! Foiled again!”

          Have you heard that song called “Let Her Go” by the band Passenger? The lyrics are a haunting reminder of how contrast (or a foil in literature) serves to highlight goodness. They sang, “You only need the light when it's burning low, Only miss the sun when it starts to snow, Only know you love her when you let her go, Only know you've been high when you're feeling low, Only hate the road when you're missing home, Only know you love her when you let her go.” All great literature teaches that the greatest adversary, the antagonist, can also be the greatest ally, the necessary evil that makes goodness shine so bright. 

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Head of the Table

Handling authority issues without resentment or resistance

05/19/2017

Acts of the Apostles 15:22-31 The Apostles and presbyters, in agreement with the whole Church, decided to choose representatives and to send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. This is the letter delivered by them: "The Apostles and the presbyters, your brothers, to the brothers in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia of Gentile origin: greetings. Since we have heard that some of our number who went out without any mandate from us have upset you with their teachings and disturbed your peace of mind, we have with one accord decided to choose representatives and to send them to you along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, who have dedicated their lives to the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. So we are sending Judas and Silas who will also convey this same message by word of mouth: 'It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us not to place on you any burden beyond these necessities, namely, to abstain from meat sacrificed to idols, from blood, from meats of strangled animals, and from unlawful marriage. If you keep free of these, you will be doing what is right. Farewell.'" When the people read it, they were delighted with the exhortation.

         Most people struggle with “authority issues” to some degree, that is, they can’t quite relate to authority figures in a happy and holy way. They get nervous when the cop pulls them over for speeding. Their knees knock when they’re called into the principal’s office (or the pastor’s office). They dread the conversation with their boss.  This authority angst tends toward two extremes: either you become obsequious, and just a “yes man,” or you become belligerent and oppose the authority figure. When we have a parish council meeting, the last seats to be taken are always next to me. At church on Sunday, there are always plenty of empty pews up at the front, near the seat of authority.

Now, sometimes, the “authority issue” resides in the authority figure himself or herself. The leader makes it hard for people to approach them: they are aloof, or arrogant, or acrimonious in their attitude. John Maxwell paints a portrait of an able and approachable authority figure in his book Developing the Leader Within You. He writes: “The chairman of a large corporation was late for a meeting. Bolting into the room he took the nearest available seat, rather than moving to his accustomed spot. One of his young aides protested: ‘Please, sir, you should sit at the head of the table.’ The executive, who had a healthy understanding of his place in the company, answered, ‘Son, wherever I sit is the head of the table’” (Developing the Leader Within You, 68). What a humble thing to say, and how easy it would be to approach such authority. Relating to authority figures (and relating to other as the authority figure) is critical in any organization, be it a family or a country or a church.

         

          In the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, we hear the first instance when the pope and bishops asserted their authority, namely in Acts 15 and the famous Council of Jerusalem. Pope Peter and the other bishops settle a dispute about new converts having to follow old Jewish customs like circumcision. Hearing about circumcision all the men in the room would have slowly crossed their legs. The apostles gently assert their authority, saying, “It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us not to place on you any burden beyond these necessities.” Like Maxwell’s humble CEO, the apostles knew that wherever they sat was the head of the table. And how did the people respond? We read a few lines later: “When the people read it, they were delighted with the exhortation.” There is no trace of authority issues in the early church. The apostles were humble leaders and the people were cheerful followers, and therefore the Church grew exponentially.

          My friends, the longer you live, the more leaders you see.  Just think of all the pastors who have preached from this pulpit during your lifetime. Msgr. Galvin, Msgr. O’Donnell, Msgr. Oswald, Fr. Luyet. Each one had a unique leadership style, and each exercised his authority differently in this parish. And how did you respond to that leadership? Did you feel some “authority issues” by either being overly subservient, or did you rebel and become a “roaming Catholic” and take your ball and go to another parish? How do you deal with our bishop and with our pope as leaders of the Church? Be aware of the authority issues lurking in your heart, and try to react to their teachings like the people in Acts to the authority of the apostles, that is, by being “delighted in their exhortations.”  All healthy organizations need humble leaders and cheerful followers.

     

           Do you want to know how I deal with my authority issues, as both a leader and as a follower? I remember that the real leader of the Church (including Immaculate Conception Church) is the Holy Spirit. I like to say that “the Holy Spirit is driving the bus!” That means that the Holy Spirit speaks through the clergy and the laity to lead the Church. When we gather for a parish council meeting, I remind myself, “Wherever the Holy Spirit sits is the head of the table,” and he sits in every seat.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Higher Happiness

Allowing the angel in us to tame the animal in us

05/18/2017

John 15:9-11 

Jesus said to his disciples: "As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and remain in his love. "I have told you this so that my joy might be in you and your joy might be complete."

         The best definition of a man (or woman) I ever heard was given by Fr. George Tribou, principal of Catholic High School for Boys in Little Rock. He often told us boys, “a man is he who controls the animal within which he lives.” That definition is based on an assumption that every human being is composed of two things: of soul and body, or put another way, of angel and animal. If the angel does not tame the animal side of us, then the animal side will kill the angel in us. The animal side pursues pleasures like money, sex and power, or more colloquially, “sex, drugs and rock and roll.” If you pay close attention to advertising, you’ll notice how advertisers always appeal to the animal side of us. The first rule of advertising today is, “sex sells.”

         On the other hand, the angel in us can get the upper hand and tame the animal, and we become real men or real women, “controlling the animal within which we live.” The angel in us aims at a higher happiness, like honesty, hard-work, humility, holiness. I remember in philosophy, they taught us an ancient aphorism: “it is better to be Socrates dissatisfied than to be a pig satisfied.” In other words, it is better to be a happy person (like Socrates) than a happy pig. (Obviously, I did not study philosophy at the University of Arkansas, where everyone wants to be a happy pig.) Nevertheless, the answer should be self-evident; we should seek the higher happiness.

         In the gospel today, Jesus agrees with Fr. Tribou’s definition of a man, and adds that it is in him – and only in him – that we find that higher happiness. Our Lord says, “Remain in my love…I have told you this so that my joy might be in you, and your joy complete.” That is, when the angel tames the animal, when you “control the animal within which you live,” you experience Jesus’ own joy, which “completes” our own joy. I once heard Bishop Robert Barron say that we live “at a higher pitch of creation,” when we are united with Jesus. Think of a musical score, Beethoven’s 9th symphony for instance, written and performed at a higher octave, a higher pitch. Our happiness is higher, our satisfaction is deeper, our love is more intense, our purpose is more defined, our sacrifices seem smaller. We are no longer a happy pig, but a happy person.

          Folks, let me suggest three ways you can “control the animal within which you live,” and help the angel to tame the animal side of you. First, take time to pray every day. My favorite form of personal prayer is the rosary. I sometimes walk through the church offices praying the rosary. It keeps me calm in the middle of a stressful day, and when the staff see me praying the rosary, it calms them down, too. Prayer helps me hit that higher happiness, and touch the joy of Jesus. Second, do some daily penance by making small sacrifices each day. Don’t put sugar in your coffee, don’t listen to the radio while driving, come five minutes earlier to Mass, stay five minutes later after Mass. These things allow your angel to tame the animal in you, who seeks the passing pleasures of this world. Instead, sacrifice helps you reach that higher happiness. And third, help the poor. Sometimes, we think we should help the poor as an “addendum” to living our faith - we give them the “leftovers” - but Pope Francis says the poor should come first in living our faith. The poor and marginalized always come first to the Holy Father; the pope jumps out of bed every morning to help the poor. That’s how he acts more like an angel and less like an animal.

          By the way, I do want to apologize for this homily to all my friends at P.E.T.A. – people for the ethical treatment of animals. I want to assure everyone that no actual animals were harmed in the making of his homily.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Paid Agitators

Choosing to be peace-makers instead of trouble-makers

05/17/2017

Acts of the Apostles 15:1-6

Some who had come down from Judea were instructing the brothers, "Unless you are circumcised according to the Mosaic practice, you cannot be saved." Because there arose no little dissension and debate by Paul and Barnabas with them, it was decided that Paul, Barnabas, and some of the others should go up to Jerusalem to the Apostles and presbyters about this question.

         I believe there are two kinds of people in the world. Some people tend to be trouble-makers, while others are rather peace-makers. The first kind love to stir the pot and create conflict and controversy. Some people do this professionally, as we saw during the presidential campaign, with so-called “paid agitators,” who disrupted townhall meetings and campaign rallies. I could see this in my siblings and me when we were young. My parents often lamented, “Why is it that you three cannot be together for more than five minutes before there is turmoil and trouble??” And they were right. If we saw that we were all playing peacefully together, one of us felt it was our sworn and sacred duty to stir the pot and start a fight. Can you detect this in your own family?

         John Maxwell, the popular leadership guru, says every leader carries two buckets: one filled with water and the other with gasoline. When he or she sees a fire – a conflict or controversy – raging in the organization, they have a choice to make. Will they use the water to put out the fire and be a “firefighter,” or will they use the gasoline and cause the conflagration to become bigger? When we were little kids, we loved to throw the gasoline (all kids love to play with fire), never the water. Some people are peace-makers, others are trouble-makers.

          In the first reading today these two kinds of people exist even in the nascent Church. You would think that all Christians would naturally be peace-makers, wouldn’t you; but sadly, we’re not. In the Acts of the Apostles, one group of Christian converts constantly caused conflict and controversy. We read: “Some who were from Judea were instructing the brothers, ‘Unless you are circumcised according to Mosaic practice, you cannot be saved. [And] there arose no little dissension and debate.” This group was called the “Judaisers,” and they loved to stir the pot in the early Church, like me and my brother and sister when were young. On the other hand, Paul and Barnabas, wanted peace; they were throwing the water on the fires of conflict. In every group or gathering, you find these two kinds of people: trouble-makers and peace-makers, firefighters and fire-starters, apostles and agitators.

          My friends, let me suggest three things you can do today to be a peace-maker instead of a trouble-maker. First speak kindly about others, and if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all. Sometimes, our silence in such situations can speak volumes. The ancient proverb teachers, “the pen is mightier than the sword,” and that means don’t underestimate the power of your words, to do good and to cause harm. Weigh your words wisely; “loose lips sink ships.” Secondly, try to see the issue from the other person’s point of view. Most people are not crazy and usually have legitimate reasons for what they think and do. Even if you disagree with someone, you can still try to understand them. Just because Fr. Andrew Hart is a Cubs fan and I am a Cardinals fan, doesn’t mean he’s crazy. Wait. Sorry, that’s a bad example. Anyway, you get my point. And thirdly, pray for your persecutors, asking God to bless them. Even if you cannot love someone, you can at least pray for them. Just say one Hail Mary in the moment you feel like throwing the gasoline on them and lighting a match. All peace-makers wield prayer as a powerful weapon.

         Today, ask yourself: which kind of person am I: a peace-maker or a trouble-maker, a firefighter or a fire-starter, an apostle or an agitator. You have two buckets in your hands, which one will be empty at the end of the day?

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Saddlebag Preachers

Proclaiming the gospel of what Jesus has done for us

05/16/2017

Acts of the Apostles 14:19-28 

In those days, some Jews from Antioch and Iconium arrived and won over the crowds. After they had proclaimed the good news to that city and made a considerable number of disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch. They strengthened the spirits of the disciples and exhorted them to persevere in the faith, saying, "It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God." They appointed presbyters for them in each Church and, with prayer and fasting, commended them to the Lord in whom they had put their faith. Then they traveled through Pisidia and reached Pamphylia. After proclaiming the word at Perga they went down to Attalia. From there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work they had now accomplished.

         The life of a Catholic priest can be likened to that of a “circuit rider” in the frontier times of the United States. Itinerant clergy were sometimes also called “saddlebag preachers” because they rode on horseback, stopping in towns and small cities, where people were interested and where people were not interested in their message, as St. Paul urged in 2 Timothy 4:2, “preach the gospel in season and out of season.” Fr. Tom Elliott once joked that every priest on their ordination day should be given a Winnebago so he could easily drive to a parish, plug into the utilities, and when he was reassigned (which happened frequently), he could unplug and drive to his next assignment. We could called it the “plug and pray priesthood.”

         Being a circuit rider perfectly describes my own history. Even in the 3 and ½ years here as pastor of Immaculate Conception, I’ve also been pastor of St. Leo’s in Hartford, Our Lady of the Ozarks in Winslow, chaplain to the St. Scholastica Nuns, Administrator of Trinity Junior High, and the last two weeks Administrator of St. Boniface. I’ve started saving money to buy a Winnebago. And what does a saddlebag preacher preach? It’s simple: he shares his own journey with Jesus. I’ve learned that the most effective homilies are the most personal ones. Instead of trying to razzle-dazzle people with high spirituality or with deep theology, I simply tell people how Jesus has changed my life, and how he keeps changing it. A saddlebag preacher’s own life history is the gospel on two legs, or if he’s on horseback, it’s the gospel on four legs.

         Today’s first reading from the Acts of the Apostles recounts St. Paul’s life as a circuit rider. Actually, it relates the first of his three missionary journeys. In the seminary our Scripture professor chided us seminarians by saying that every fourth grader knows about St. Paul’s missionary journeys. And we seminarians did not. In the seminary we may not have learned much about the missionary journeys, but we sure learned Catholic guilt. But the vast majority of the 28 chapters of Acts describes Paul’s missionary adventures. And what did Paul preach driving around in his Winnebago? He simply told and retold the story of what Jesus did for him on the road to Damascus. Paul didn’t carry too much in his saddlebags, just his journey with Jesus; how Jesus changed his life and kept on changing it.

         Pope Francis is calling for a “missionary transformation” of the Church, that is, he wants everyone – priests as well as people – to see themselves as “missionary disciples” or “circuit riders.” This does not mean you have to run out and buy a Winnebago. It doesn’t even mean you have to buy tons of theology books, or memorize millions of Bible verses. Rather, it simply means you have to share with others your journey with Jesus. How has he changed your life, and how does he continue to change it?

         

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: “Lay Christians are entrusted by God to the apostolate” (“apostolate” means sharing the faith) “so that the divine message of salvation may be known and accepted by all men throughout the earth” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 900). By the way, do you know why I just quoted the Catechism? It’s because a parishioner, a lay woman by the name of Margaret Sexton, told me once she loves it when I quote the Catechism.   So, I try to include a quotation whenever I can. But do you see what she just did? She shared with me her journey with Jesus. By telling me how Jesus has changed her life, Jesus is now changing my life. And that’s what a saddlebag preacher carries in his saddlebags: just their journey with Jesus.

Praised be Jesus Christ!