Love Your Enemies

Trying to apply Jesus’ toughest teaching today

03/12/2022

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Praised be Jesus Christ!

War is Hell

Trying to see the war through eyes of faith

03/10/2022

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Praised be Jesus Christ!

 

The Best Rock

Seeing the good and evil of every generation

03/09/2022

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Prayers for Putin

Interceding for those who need it most

03/07/2022

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Praised be Jesus Christ!

 

Megachurches Like Us

Seeing what makes Catholic churches special

03/06/2022

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Praised be Jesus Christ!

 

Christian Catch 22

Learning to give God the glory in everything

03/02/2022

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

CBA not CBD

Doing the cost benefit analysis to follow Jesus

03/01/2022

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Praised be Jesus Christ!