Living Books

Appreciating Catholic schools and the lost art of reading

01/27/2019

Luke 4:14-21 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news of him spread throughout the whole region. He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all. He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom  into the synagogue on the sabbath day. He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord. Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him. He said to them, "Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing."

One thing that I learned in Catholic schools, and for which I am forever grateful, is a love of reading and a love of books. Or, as a real book lover would say, Catholic schools made me a “bibliophile.” My “happy place” is kicking back in my recliner after a long, hard day of saving souls, cracking open a classic of literature, and pouring a tall glass of merlot. For me, merlot and Milton pair a lot better than merlot and filet mignon; I would rather read than eat.

To be honest, it took me a while to learn to love reading, like it takes time to develop a taste for fine wine. At Catholic High School in Little Rock we were given the option of reading a 94-point book, or a 97-point book, or a 100-point book. As you can guess, the more the possible points, the tougher and thicker the book. In the beginning, I always settled for the easier and shorter 94-point books, but by the end I was hungry for the challenge of the 100-point books.

One of the 100-point books for sophomores was titled Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. It’s a chilling story about burning books. In some distant future people abandon reading all together, and mindlessly watch television all day. Sound familiar? Anyone caught with a book in their home has their entire house burned to the ground by the fire department. The fire department in the story no longer puts out fires with water hoses; they cause fires with flame throwers. The books gets its name from the temperature at which the pages of a book will burn, 451 degree Fahrenheit. But a group of bibliophiles starts to meet in secret outside the city to read and even memorize entire books. Eventually each person memorizes a whole book, able to recite it backward and forward. Each bibliophile becomes a virtual book on two legs. The story is ostensibly about burning books, but the underlying moral of the story is about saving books. Indeed, it is about loving books and even becoming a living book.

Our scriptures today also speak about both loving and living a particular book, namely, the bible. In the Old Testament book of Nehemiah, Ezra the priest stands before the people and reads from the Pentateuch, the first five books of the bible, the Law of Moses. It says that he read from “daybreak till midday,” which would probably be about six hours. And how did the people react? We read: “All the people were weeping as they heard the words of the law.” Now, they were not weeping like we would weep if Mass went more than one hour. They were weeping for joy, like a woman weeps when he her beloved proposes to marry her. The Israelites were bibliophiles of the bible.

In the gospel, Jesus reads from the prophet Isaiah a passage about the mission of the Messiah. Then he profoundly proclaims: “Today, this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” Now, when Jesus fulfills a passage of scripture, he doesn’t just mean some Old Testament prediction came true. Rather, he turns that page into a Person, namely himself. He becomes a living book, like the bibliophiles in Fahrenheit 451. Jesus was the bible on two legs.

By the way, when Catholics use the term “Word of God,” we mean first and foremost the Person of Jesus Christ. The Word was a Person of the Trinity long before he became a page of a book. Only secondarily and subsequently does “Word of God” mean the bible or scriptures. That is why John began his gospel with these unforgettable words: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” In other words, you can burn all the bibles you want, but you will never destroy the real Word of God, the second Person of the Holy Trinity, Jesus Christ. Everything Jesus said and did fulfilled the scriptures because he was the bible in Person, the Incarnate Word, the word made flesh.

Today I am so excited to launch Catholic Schools Week. We teach our students so much great stuff here at Immaculate Conception School, it’s hard to summarize it all. But to me, one of the greatest gifts we give our students is to help them become bibliophiles, lovers of books. I bet some of our sixth graders know what the word “bibliophile” means and can even spell it. When our students have free time during the school day, they frequently grab a book and start reading. That’s their happy place, too, but hopefully without the glass of merlot! I know one fifth grade student who reads at the college level; Fahrenheit 451 probably feels like a 94-point book to her.

But more than just loving books, we want our students to become living books, especially of The Book, the bible. Here’s how we help them love the bible. Our students stand in this pulpit like Ezra and proclaim the scriptures by reading at Mass during the week at school and on Sunday. That’s something many adults would not dare to do. What’s more, our students become the bible on two legs, indeed fulfilling scripture a little like our Lord, when they help each other at school, when they put into practice the seven habits, when they serve the poor, when the memorize bible verses. They grow in wisdom, age and grace like Jesus did in Nazareth, the very first Catholic school. Paraphrasing St. Athanasius, we might say: “The Word of God became the words of men, so that men and women could become children of God, living words.” Be sure to take a bulletin home today and see how you can participate in all the fun-filled and faith-filled activities of Catholic School Week.

Fahrenheit 451 was not entirely fiction. During Hitler’s rule in Nazi Germany many books were banned and even burned. The Hebrew Scriptures, meaning the Old Testament, was among those books thrown into the fire, and Jews in Germany wept that day for a very different reason than they did during the time of Ezra the priest. But if the day should every come when books are burned again, don’t worry, Catholic schools are raising up generations of bibliophiles. Our students not only love to read books; they are becoming virtually living books.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

The Art of the Possible

Discerning how to vote with a Catholic conscience

09/06/2020

I am going to do something I have never done before. I am going to deliver a series of homilies for the next 8 Sundays to address important issues before the general presidential election on November 3rd. The fastest way to lose friends and make enemies is to talk politics from the pulpit. I am about to talk about religion and politics in polite company, and you might not feel very polite after you hear what I have to say. Of course, I am not going to talk partisan politics – advocating one party over another – but rather I hope to present the high ideal of politics, once beautifully described as “the art of the possible.” That is, people working together, and even compromising at times, in order to promote the common good, and thereby achieve a higher common happiness.

Since I am a Catholic priest and I am speaking to a Catholic congregation, I will present these important issues in the light of Catholic faith. For instance, when our Catholic faith shines on issues of abortion, marriage, racism, immigration, etc., how do we see them differently? I would suggest to you that we see these issues as they really are because it is the light of Christ that illuminates them, and reveals what is true and false in them. The Second Vatican Council taught: “Only in the mystery of the incarnate Word does the mystery of man take on light…Christ…fully reveals man to man himself and makes his supreme calling clear” (Gaudium et spes, 22). Just like we see everything most clearly when we bring it out under the bright light of the noonday sun, so Jesus, the Son of God, illuminates what is obscure and opaque in social, moral and political issues.

I am going to rely heavily, but not exclusively, on the U.S. bishops’ statement on political responsibility called “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship.” It was originally published in November, 2015 (prior to the last election), and republished with a new introductory letter in November 2019 (prior to this election). Here are the eight topics I will present and on which weekends (so you can plan accordingly): today (Sept. 6) I will address abortion and prolife, which seems the most fundamental of all issues. On Sept. 13 I will touch on racism that is riveting our country and the ripple effect it causes. On Sept. 20, I intend to broach the topic of marriage and family, with special attention to the care for persons in the LGBTQ community. On Sept. 27 I hope to address immigration and welcoming the stranger, especially the beautiful people from India!

On Oct. 4, I will discuss the environment and living together on this plant, our “common home” as Pope Francis says. How providential that October 4 is the feast of St. Francis, who called the sun his “brother” and the moon his “sister.” That is how close we should feel to creation. On Oct. 11, I will try to deal with the basic right to health care, because we really cannot live without it (pun intended). On Oct. 18, I will address global solidarity and our need to participate in the destiny of the world, rather than sit on the sidelines as spectators. Jesus warned: “To whom much is given, much will be required” (Lk. 12:48), and we Americans have been given a lot. Last but not least, on Oct. 25, I would like to share what the bishops have to say about religious liberty and Catholic education, especially how valuable our Catholic schools are.

I strongly recommend you read the U.S. bishops’ entire document on “Faithful Citizenship.” But here are a few of the points they made regarding abortion and being prolife. They wrote in the Introductory Letter: “The threat of abortion remains our preeminent priority because it directly attacks life itself, because it takes place in the sanctuary of the family, and because of the number of lives destroyed.” A little later the bishops emphasize why this issue is “preeminent” and stands head and shoulders above other issues: “The direct and intentional destruction of innocent human life from the moment of conception until natural death is always wrong and is not just one issue among many. It must always be opposed” (Faithful Citizenship, 28). In other words, the right to life is not “equal” to other rights: it is the bedrock and foundation of a just society. If you are dead, what good are any other rights?

However, the bishops were careful not to conclude that you must always support a politician or policy who adopts an “all or nothing” attitude regarding abortion. Sometimes incremental change – little by little – is more successful. The bishops quote St. John Paul II’s prudential advice: “When a government official who fully supports abortion cannot succeed in completely overturning a pro-abortion law, he or she may work to improve protection for unborn life, ‘limiting the harm done by such a law,’ and lessening its negative impact as much as possible (Evangelium vitae, 73).” Thus, the bishops concluded: “Such incremental improvements in the law are acceptable as steps toward the full restoration of justice” (FC, 32). That is, sometimes you have to take “baby steps” to help babies take their first steps.

The bishops also expanded their prolife stance to go beyond abortion alone. They insist: “Cloning and destruction of human embryos are always wrong. The purposeful taking of human life by assisted suicide and euthanasia is not an act of mercy, but an unjustifiable assault on human life. Genocide, torture, and the direct and intentional targeting of noncombatants in war or terrorist attacks are always wrong” (FC, 64). When we intentional take an innocent human life, therefore, we try to step into God’s shoes and decide who lives and who dies. And whenever we have “played God” in the past, disaster has struck.

And lest the bishops be accused of callously forgetting the desperate mothers who sadly choose abortion, they add: “We promote a culture of life by supporting laws and programs that encourage childbirth and adoption over abortion and by addressing poverty, providing healthcare, and offering other assistance to pregnant women, children and families (FC, 65). When I was in high school, I volunteered at Abba House in Little Rock, a home for unwed mothers run by Mother Teresa’s nuns. We tutored the children after school and helped with chores around Abba House. In other words, we build a culture of life, not only by voting for prolife candidates, but also by helping those around us to choose life. And if for some serious reason we cannot do the first, then we must do the second.

If you were waiting for this homily to tell you who to vote for, I’m happy to disappoint you. The purpose of this homily, taking a page from the U.S. bishops, is to shape and form YOUR conscience so YOU can better decide whom to vote for. But don’t decide who to vote for yet, there are still seven more homilies you need to hear! I know it’s not easy to discern and to read, to pray and to ponder, before making your decision. It’s a lot easier to let someone else do our thinking for us and tell us who to vote for. Henry Ford famously said: “Thinking is hard work, that’s why so few people do it.” We want someone to make elections easy, but they aren’t. It wasn’t easy for Jesus to carry his cross, and it should not be easy for us to carry ours. If casting your vote in November doesn’t feel hard like carrying your cross, then you’re probably not doing it right.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Bible on Four Walls

Understanding the design and beauty of the new altar

05/17/2025

In 2000, Bishop Robert Barron wrote an obscure little book called, Heaven in Stone and Glass. He lamented that we live in “iconoclastic times” explaining that “our church buildings have become largely empty spaces void of imagery and color, places where people gather but not places that, themselves, tell a story.” In semianry we called them “Pizza Hut churches.”

Instead, Barron insisted, a church building should basically be like a book, indeed, a catechism. He went on: “In their windows and towers, vaults, naves, roses, labyrinths, altars, and façades, these Gothic churches…teach the faith and focus the journey of the spirit.” In other words, every time we walk into church it should feel like we entered the Bible on four walls.

And I would like to share with you how our new back altar and new statues also “teach the faith and focus the journey of the spirit.” I will structure this homily in the form of FAQ’s, that is, frequently asked questions that people have posed lately about our recent renovations.

First, how long did it take to develop the design and construct the back altar? We worked with a company called King Richards for the past 16 months to design, build, ship, and install the new altar. As you know, the arrival was delayed due to shipping, so it took 4 months longer than we planned.

Second, what material is the altar made from? A company in Carrara, Italy built the altar out of two colors: pink and white, to match the pink and white in the current altar, and communion rail. You will notice we reversed the color scheme: instead of a pink frame with white panels, the new altar is white frame with pink panels. Mark Twain once observed: “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” So, the two colors of our altars don't repeat, but they do rhyme.

Third, what do the symbols in the new altar mean? Like Bishop Barron said, the altar tells a story, and these symbols play a prominent role in the book of Revelation. The alpha and the omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, and Jesus declared himself the Alpha and the Omega in Rv 22:13.

Incidentally, the Italian company sent us an extra marble Alpha and Omega. So I am going to put the Alpha on my office door and rhe Omega on the associate priest’s office door. So everyone knows who the Alpha priest is in this parish.

And in the middle panel is a Lamb sitting on a book with seven seals. Rv 5 speaks of Jesus as the Lamb who alone is worthy to open the seven-sealed book. And by the way, the seven seals signify the seven sacraments, which open up God’s graces to us, and Jesus alone unlocks.

Fourth, how did we decide on the other design features for the reredos? The central cupola directly above the tabernacle mimics the exterior of our church roof directly above the central transept. You have to step outside to see that.

The six niches with pointed arches framing the candles connect the altar with the pointed arches atop the stained-glass windows. The arches are not arbitrary but intended to make the altar harmonious with the original design of our Gothic church. The new altar should feel like it could have been the old altar.

Fifth, where did we get the statue of St. Patrick? King Richards designed it in their studio – with our input – carved out of wood. Then they painted it to match the statues of Mary and Joseph on rhe other end of the sanctuary. Why St. Patrick?

Well, I want to pay a debt we owe to our Irish forebearers who built this church. Sunday after Sunday we walk into this magnificent Gothic church, and we can easily take it all for granted. But the sacrifices they made yesterday made possible this Bible on four walls we enjoy today.

Sixth, why did we move the Sacred Heart statue to where the tabernacle was? That altar to stage-right (your left) was designed deliberately for the Blessed Sacrament because of the gold in-laid stone background. In art, gold always signifies divinity, like a golden halo symbolizes divine grace that makes a saint holy.

So, the only statue that could legitimately stand before the sign of divinity was the Son of God, Jesus Christ, and not a saint, not even the Blessed Virgin Mary. And honestly, I think the Sacred Heart looks stunning there and now four statues artfully balance the entire sanctuary.

Seventh is the million-dollar question on everyone’s mind: when are we going to raise the crucifix on the back wall? We originally designed the new altar to reach 3 inches below the feet of Jesus on the crucifix. But it ended up taller than we expected. But I am not entirely disappointment. Why not?

The new altar should dominate the sanctuary because it is the focal point of the architecture of the whole church. As Bishop Barron remarked: “It focusses the journey of the spirit.” We will raise the crucifix by 18 inches, so Jesus’ Body will be clearly visible from everywhere in the church. So, stay tuned, our sanctuary will soon be even more glorious.

In the gospel today, Jesus exclaims at the Last Supper, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him.” Jesus was speaking, of course, of the glory of his impending death on the cross, by which he fulfilled God’s will and demonstrated the infinite depth of his love for us.

But on a much smaller scale, Jesus is also glorified in this new back altar, and his Sacred Heart beams enthroned and surrounded by gold. May all who enter this church feel inspired to glorify our Lord and Savior in the Blessed Sacrament and love our neighbor as he loves us. Welcome to our Bible on four walls!

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Modern Prometheus, Part 1

Assessing advantages of human versus AI teachers

02/28/2024

Arguably one of the greatest challenges to the Church and to the world today is artificial intelligence, or AI for short. All technology is a tool, like a hammer, an abacus, or a search engine, and can be used for good or for ill. So, too, AI. It is not inherently malicious. A local restaurant uses a robot server to deliver pizza to customer’s tables using AI software - pretty harmless. Over the past few years my brother and I have had intermittent conversations about the proper place of AI, trying to pin-point its true value. It began on a car ride to Tulsa where we casually started a discussion about the advantages and disadvantages of human teachers compared to a robot teacher endowed with artificial intelligence. We humorously harangued over which teacher would be superior. With my background in classical liberal arts (philosophy, literature, history), I championed the side of the human teacher, while my brother, who is well-versed in information technology (senior vice president in information technology, no less) gravitated to the AI teacher.

The first round of the debate went decisively to the AI robo-teacher. That is, every time I raised a possible advantage for the human teacher, my brother’s AI teacher delivered a counter-punch with greater force, leaving my human teacher looking like Rocky Balboa after his first round with Ivan Drago. For example, I said the human teacher would be more empathetic to needy or shy students than a cold, unfeeling robot could be. My brother countered that the AI teacher would instantly marshal from the Internet all the best-practices of teaching a needy or shy student and discern what this particular student (having learned everything about the pupil as well) needed most. The AI teacher’s ability and speed in assessing, evaluating, and reacting to a struggling student would be lightning fast compared to the slower and clumsier reaction rate of a human teacher. In sum, an AI teacher would be smarter than Albert Einstein, more compassionate than Mother Teresa, and more attractive than Taylor Swift, and sing better, too.

Since that initial defeat in the first round, I did not stop thinking about what is unique and unrepeatable in a human teacher that is utterly out of a robot teacher’s reach. I was convinced that this elusive quality of being human – whatever it might be – was also the human teacher’s edge, and just might land the knockout punch in our brotherly boxing match. My initial hunch was that human superiority hinges on a spiritual soul. Wasn’t it precisely Rocky’s intangible and indomitable spirit (his soul) that finally overcame the technically and genetically superior Drago in the fifteenth round of the movie “Rocky IV”? The purpose of the following essay, therefore, is to answer the hypothetical question – which may not remain hypothetical for long – is a human teacher superior to a robot teacher with artificial intelligence, and if so, in what way?

Romans Catholics, and most Christians, believe that a human person receives a spiritual, animating principle, called the soul, at conception. That is, the mother and father each contribute twenty-three chromosomes to the begetting of a new person. But that combination of forty-six chromosomes does not complete the human picture. At the same instant of conception, God infuses a spiritual soul into that individual. From its first moment of existence, therefore, a human being is inextricably a body-soul composite. This body-soul composite marks the radical newness and unrepeatability of every human being vis-à-vis all animals, all artificial products, and even all angels. No scientist can inject a spiritual soul into a robot because souls are immaterial and therefore cannot be captured, manipulated, exchanged, reproduced, manufactured, or studied under a microscope. A soul always stands a few inches beyond a scientist’s reach.

Suggesting the presence of a spiritual soul inevitably raises the critical question of preliminary assumptions. You know, of course, what happens when you assume something, right? You make an “ass” out of “u” and “me”. That is, before we take up a position from which we can argue, everyone assumes certain “givens” which we accept without debate or doubt. For example, in mathematics we begin with the integers “0” and “1” and everything else we build (or prove) in mathematics is constructed upon that foundation. In the art of painting the preliminary assumptions are the primary colors blue, red, and yellow; all other colors being an admixture of those three. Each science or discipline – indeed any discussion – begins with a set of assumptions. First, therefore, we must agree on what a human being is – that is, our assumptions about the constitution of man – if we hope to make the conversation about the difference between human teachers and AI robot teachers productive. Otherwise, we will only make an ass out of you and me.

It is no exaggeration to say that most modern scientists (and modern society in general) consider human beings as essentially and only composed of genetic material, that is, man is forty-six chromosomes sans spiritual soul. A good example of such modern scientist would be Rickard Dawkins, the Oxford professor of evolutionary biology and zoology. In his New York Times Bestseller, The God Delusion, Dawkins maintained:  "An atheist in this sense of philosophical naturalist is somebody who believes there is nothing beyond the natural, physical world, no supernatural creative intelligence lurking behind the observable universe, no soul that outlasts the body and no miracles – except in the sense of natural phenomenon that we don’t yet understand." Interestingly, later in the book he argues for the impossibility of immortality, asserting: “Many religions, for example, teach the objectively implausible but subjectively appealing doctrine that our personalities survive our bodily death. The idea of immortality itself survives and spreads because it caters to wishful thinking.”  Surprisingly, Dawkins and I do agree on one point: the soul, God, and immortality are a package deal, that is, these are things which we assume without doubt or debate. We either accept all of them as givens (as I suggest) or we begin with other purely material criteria for human beings and all reality (as Dawkins does).

In other words, if the purely material conception of a human person is the unquestioned starting point of our conversation about human and AI teachers, the AI robot will have the upper hand, as we saw back in the first round. If scientific, material, and observable measurements are all that are used, what human teacher could compete with the Albert Einstein-Mother Teresa-Taylor Swift teacher? I would not start at that “given”, however, but rather with a human who is essentially an ensouled-body, or contrariwise, an enfleshed-spirit. Dr. Peter Kreeft once explained the reason we are afraid of ghosts and zombies is that each represents only half of a healthy, normal human. Zombies are bodies without souls, and ghosts are souls without bodies. The reason we love scary movies is because they agree with our fundamental assumption about a human being as a body-soul composite, otherwise there would be nothing startling or eerie about them. So, my starting point – my assumptions – are that each person is a tightly knit body-soul composite who has received his soul directly from God at conception and is destined to live forever. And it is only if we can agree on the assumptions that we can have a productive conversation. Otherwise, we just end up making an ass out of you and me.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Justice League

Living in a society of possible gods and goddesses

12/07/2017

Matthew 7:21, 24-27 Jesus said to his disciples: "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. "Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock. And everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand.  The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house.  And it collapsed and was completely ruined."

       I love a good superhero action movie, like Superman or Batman, or Wonder Woman. But what I have never understood is why you need more than one superhero to save the world, like in the recent movie, “Justice League,” which teams up five superheroes. Clearly, Superman can defeat mankind’s enemies single-handedly, and so can Batman and so could Wonder Woman. So, doesn’t it seem like overkill to have a movie like “Justice League” where we need Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Cyborg and Aquaman to save the world? These are the things I stay up late ruminating on and cause me to lose sleep.

        And I’m not alone. Do you recall that memorable dialogue between Hurley and Charlie in the television series LOST where they argue over who’s faster, Flash or Superman? Charlie states: “You’re insane mate, Superman can fly around the plant in the blink of an eye!” Hurley retorts: “Dude, if we’re going by a pure footrace, Superman would get dusted by the Flash.” Charlie counters: “Well, why would the Man of Steel agree to a sodding footrace?” To which Hurley matter-of-factly answers: “Uh, for charity, and Flash would totally win, cause he can vibrate through walls and stuff.” How can you argue with logic like that? Nevertheless, the one question superhero movies never address is: Why do you need more than one superhero? Isn’t Superman enough? People like me (and Hurley and Charlie) just instinctively answer: the more the merrier.

          Today is the feast of St. Ambrose, the holy and wise bishop of Milan, Italy. And we might pose the same question to our Catholic faith: isn’t one saint enough, or to raise the stakes even higher, we could probe: isn’t Jesus Christ enough to save mankind? Indeed, I would suggest to you that this question is precisely what lurks behind many Protestant objections to Catholicism. Why more than one Superhero, namely, Jesus Christ? Why do Catholics insist on the veneration of Mary and the Saints? Well, to be sure, Jesus’ work of salvation is alone sufficient and enough. But like a master painter does not stop with one masterpiece, but displays his genius in countless works of art, so Jesus’ grace and glory are displayed in countless masterpieces called the saints up and down the centuries. Or to change the metaphor: just like we see how beautiful light is when it is refracted through a prism, emitting a rainbow of colors, so the saints refract the love of Jesus in every age. You can love the Lord more when you see his legacy in the life of his saints.

           St. Ambrose lived between 340 and 397 AD, but like the Justice League, he was surrounded by other superhero saints. Ambrose taught and mentored St. Augustine (one of the greatest minds of the Church), Ambrose counseled and comforted St. Monica (Augustine’s mother), Ambrose debated with St. Jerome, the fiery translator of the Bible. And it’s not any different today, because we are surrounded with spiritual superheroes like St. Teresa of Calcutta, Pope St. John XXIII, Pope St. John Paul II, and Blessed Stanley Rother. We might ask: why all these saints? Isn’t this a little overkill? Isn’t Jesus enough to defeat all the enemies of mankind? Indeed he is. But deep down Christians instinctively know it is precisely Christ’s glory and greatness that’s refracted in the lives of his saints; and the more the merrier.

          By the way, I am convinced that C. S. Lewis must have been a superhero action movie fan, too, when he wrote his famous essay, “The Weight of Glory.” He said: “It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare.” My friends, it is not only in the movies that we meet superheroes; they are all around us, if only we had the eyes of faith to see them. Then, we, too, might say, the more the merrier.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Whistler’s Mother

Learning to love Mary like Jesus does

Luke 1:26-38 

The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.” But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus.

          What if you had the chance to draw or design, conjure up or create the perfect woman: what would she look like for you? Can I tell you what my perfect woman would look like for me? Don’t tell the bishop, okay? She would be about 5’ 6” tall, have long black hair, high cheek bones, a radiant smile, and eyes that dance when she laughs. She would be a woman who is purposeful, passionate and pensive. She would be resourceful and religious; she’d be humble and holy. And she’d also be from India. Do you know who I just described? It’s my own mother. I have a sneaking suspicion that the first woman a man falls in love with is his own mother (in an innocent way, of course), and she thereby becomes the standard by which all subsequent females are measured in that man’s mind. You see, for every man, his mother is always the first person whom he places on the pedestal of the ideal woman.

          Do you know what is one of the most famous pieces of American art known world-wide? It’s actually the portrait of a mother. In 1871, the American-born painter, James Whistler painted his own mother, Anna McNeill Whistler. That portrait has become so popular it is hailed as “an American icon” and as “a Victorian Mona Lisa.” One day, Whistler was complimented on the portrait of his mother, and he answered, “You know how it is; one tries to make one’s Mummy just as nice as he can” (quoted in Fulton Sheen’s, The World’s First Love, p. 16). The first woman Whistler ever saw and then loved was his own mother, so naturally, he would paint her as nice as he could!  Wouldn’t we all do that for our own mommies?

          Today we celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Many Catholics miss the message of this feast by a mile: they think it’s about Jesus’ conception, but they are wrong. Today is about Mary being conceived in the womb of her mother, St. Anne. By the way, that’s why the four-story convent building next to our church of the Immaculate Conception is called “St. Anne’s.” St. Anne...the Immaculate Conception... Ohhhh, I get it now!

          But let me suggest another way to probe deeper into the meaning of this feast: try to see it as Jesus creating his own mother. Jesus was the only Son in history who had the chance to do that, since he is God. How do you suppose he would have designed her? Would she have any unsightly physical blemishes, or would she suffer from any defects of character, or would she display any moral failings? Not at all. Indeed, he would make her perfect – “immaculate” that is, free from all stain or sin – from the first moment of her existence, from her “conception.” If you had a chance to do that for your mom, would you do it? I know I would! And I know Jesus would, and therefore I know he did.

          That extraordinary out-pouring of saving grace upon Mary at the first moment of her conception – because Jesus did save his mother: he saved her before she sinned, not afterwards, like the rest of us – is the doctrine of the “Immaculate Conception.” This is why the angel Gabriel, upon first greeting Mary in today’s gospel, says with a holy hush: “Hail, full of grace!” In other words, Mary is so full of grace that there is no room in her for sin.  My friends, if you and I – we who are far from pure or perfect – would make our mothers as beautiful and breath-taking as we could, how much more would Jesus do that for his own mother? You see, what Whistler did for his mother with painted canvas, Jesus did for his mother with a perfect conception.

          The real beauty of this feast consists not only in Mary being Jesus’ mother, but also in that she’s our mother, too. How is that possible? Well, by baptism, we are adopted into God’s family and we therefore become Jesus’ little brothers and sisters and so we can call Mary our own mother. That means we should have a living relationship with Mary – we should talk to her, listen to her, learn from her, love like her, just like Jesus did during his earthly life, and as he still continues to do in heaven. Personally, I pray the rosary every day. It’s my way to keep in touch with my spiritual mother. Other people have a medal of Mary they wear, or a statue of Mary at home, or a rosary hanging from the rear-view mirror of their car. Maybe all you can do is say a Hail Mary when you wake-up, and a Hail Mary before you hit the hay. Find your own way to make Mary your mother. Why? Because her Son, Jesus, made his mother (and our mother) as perfect as a person can be, and like very good man, Jesus “made his own mommy as nice as he could.”

          Let me end this homily with how Dante draws to a close his Divine Comedy, namely, with an ode to Mary. Dante does with poetry what Whistler did with paint: they both place a mother on the pedestal of the ideal woman (and don’t miss all the impressive ironies).  Dante writes: “Virgin Mother, daughter of your Son, Humbler and higher than all other creatures, Fixed aim and goal of the eternal plan.” The Florentine poet continues: “You are the one who lifted human nature, To such nobility that its own Maker, Did not disdain to be made of its making.” In other words, when God sat down to make the perfect woman, he made Mary.

          Praised be Jesus Christ! 

Stick To Your Knitting

Embracing the cross as the core of Christianity

 Acts of the apostles 17:15, 22-18:1

 After Paul’s escorts had taken him to Athens, they came away with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible. Then Paul stood up at the Areopagus and said: “You Athenians, I see that in every respect you are very religious. For as I walked around looking carefully at your shrines, I even discovered an altar inscribed, ‘To an Unknown God.’ What therefore you unknowingly worship, I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and all that is in it, the Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in sanctuaries made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands because he needs anything. Rather it is he who gives to everyone life and breath and everything. He made from one the whole human race to dwell on the entire surface of the earth, and he fixed the ordered seasons and the boundaries of their regions, so that people might seek God, even perhaps grope for him and find him, though indeed he is not far from any one of us. For ‘In him we live and move and have our being,’ as even some of your poets have said, ‘For we too are his offspring.’ Since therefore we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the divinity is like an image fashioned from gold, silver, or stone by human art and imagination. God has overlooked the times of ignorance, but now he demands that all people everywhere repent because he has established a day on which he will ‘judge the world with justice’ through a man he has appointed, and he has provided confirmation for all by raising him from the dead.” When they heard about resurrection of the dead, some began to scoff, but others said, “We should like to hear you on this some other time.” And so Paul left them. But some did join him, and became believers. Among them were Dionysius, a member of the Court of the Areopagus, a woman named Damaris, and others with them. After this he left Athens and went to Corinth.

             Have you ever heard the old expressing, “stick to your knitting”?  It means stick with what you’re good at instead of branching into areas where you have no expertise.  The most obvious example of this is when Wal-mart tried to be more like Target – you know, Tar-Jay – and sell high end merchandise.  They failed miserably and decided to “stick to their knitting” and be the best bargain store.  As a personal example, I tried this as a Carmelite and the Carmelite monks told me, “Stick to your knitting and go back to the Diocese!”  Actually, they were happy for me to stay; it was Jesus who told me in prayer, “Stick to your knitting.  I made you to be a diocesan priest.  Do that well.”  Did you ever see the movie “Chariots of Fire”?  Eric Liddell, the Scottish runner says, “God made me for a purpose.  But he also made me fast.  And when I run, I can feel his pleasure.”  When we “stick to our knitting,” when we do what God created us for, we, too, can feel God’s pleasure.

             We see St. Paul learning this lesson throughout the Acts of the Apostles.  In Acts 17 he tries to branch out into a new way of presenting the gospel message: he tries philosophical argument.  He’s in Athens, the intellectual center of the Ancient world, and he tries a new approach to speaking about Jesus, he refers to him as “the Unknown God.”  How did that work out for him?  It was an abysmal failure.  Paul realizes he must “stick to his knitting,” so he later writes to the Corinthians, “I decided to forget everything else and preach only Jesus Christ, and him crucified.”  When Paul stuck to his knitting, he converted the masses, and he could feel God’s pleasure.

            Yesterday, I attended a meeting with Bishop Taylor in Little Rock to discuss how the Diocese should handle ministry to homosexual persons and same-sex marriage.  I want  you to know Bishop Taylor takes this issue very seriously and wants to show great care and compassion.  We wanted to avoid two pitfalls: alienating gays by insisting marriage is only between one man and one woman, but also offending traditional Catholics by welcoming gays and seeming to compromise Church teaching.  We felt the predicament of Paul: how do you preach the Gospel in this brave new world?  In the end, I believe we must “stick to our knitting.”  That is, like Paul we, too, must resolve to preach Jesus Christ and him crucified.  In other words, instead of trying to discuss this issue in terms of how to define marriage, instead of considering it a matter of freedom and rights, instead of looking at it in terms of equality and tolerance, we should invite everyone – which means everyone – to know Jesus Christ and him crucified.  We must all embrace the Cross, which has always been the only way forward for any Christian in any period of history.  That’s how a Christian “sticks to his knitting.”

            In the seminary, I was having a hard time and I talked with Msgr. Hebert.  He looked at me kindly – he always looks at you kindly – and said, “John, this is your cross.  Pick it up and carry it.”  Such simple advice.  And when I did, I could feel God’s pleasure.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Chess or Checkers

Choosing to be wise rather than smart

11/07/2021

Mk 12:38-44 In the course of his teaching Jesus said to the crowds, "Beware of the scribes, who like to go around in long robes and accept greetings in the marketplaces, seats of honor in synagogues,  and places of honor at banquets. They devour the houses of widows and, as a pretext recite lengthy prayers. They will receive a very severe condemnation." He sat down opposite the treasury and observed how the crowd put money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents. Calling his disciples to himself, he said to them, "Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury. For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood."

Which do you think is better: to be smart or to be wise? Or put it more personally: do you think you are smart or do you believe you are wise? Our modern culture puts a much high premium on smarts but not much value on wisdom. You will get into an Ivy League school like Harvard or Yale because you are really smart – you made all A’s on your high school report card.

On the other hand, if you are wise, you might only make C’s and D’s, but at least you will understand why you did. Smart people can answer the questions: what, where, how, and when, but only wise people can answer the question why? Google makes you feel smart; but only God will make you wise. Sadly, most people today trust Google far more than God.

Let me give you two examples of how wise people think and therefore live. Have you ever seen that “magic art” that at first looks like patterns of colors on a piece of paper? But if you stare at it long enough, a three-dimensional image appears. That is what wise people do: they stare at life long enough that they see how multi-dimensional life is. In other words, wise people perceive that life is more than what at first meets the eyes.

Have you ever hard the phrase, “He is playing chess while everyone else is playing checkers”? Chess is far more complicated – and far more fun – than the simple game of checkers. Wise people, therefore, are playing chess in life – seeing moves and possibilities and opportunities – while smart people stick to checkers. So, would you rather be wise or smart? Do you prefer to play chess or checkers?

In the gospel today, we see Jesus display a wisdom that is given by God, and far surpassing the smarts of the scribes. First our Lord criticizes the scribes who wear long robes and are respected by others for all their smarts. They were like the Ivy League professors of their day, smart as a whip. But then Jesus observes – that is, he stares for a long time – how people put money into the treasury.

Suddenly, he notices a widow – whom most people missed – and Jesus shockingly says: “This poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury.” Like that magic 3-dimensional art, Jesus saw more deeply than others, and most especially he saw into people’s souls. Jesus never went to school and earned all A’s or graduated from Harvard or Yale. But he was playing chess while everyone else was playing checkers.

Folks, let me give you three practical applications of how to think and live like Jesus today; how to be truly wise rather than simply smart. First, this is why the Catholic Church teaches both the value of marriage but also promotes priestly celibacy. I cannot count the number of times people ask me: “Fr. John, when will the Church stop forcing young men to be celibate and allow them to marry? It would solve so many problems!”

But Jesus said in Mt 22:30, “At the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage but are like the angels in heaven.” In other words, celibacy (or better virginity) is the heavenly condition, not marriage. Marriage is only half the picture of human life; the other half is celibacy. The Church is playing chess – seeing possibilities, moves and opportunities – but the world wants us to play checkers. Why? Because people settle for being smart rather than seek wisdom.

A second example is studying scripture. The great St. Augustine, when he first tried to read and study the sacred text, said: “Back then, when I scrutinized Holy Scripture, I did not feel the way I do now when I speak of it. Instead, it seemed to me unworthy of comparison with the merit of Cicero’s writings.” He adds insightfully: “My powers of perception could not penetrate its depths” (Confessions, Bk. 3, Ch. 5).

Just like people today prefer to read the morning paper or Harry Potter, so Augustine preferred Cicero and skipped the Scriptures. Studying the Bible is like that magic 3-d art: you have to stare at the scriptures with faith and love and you begin to see its deeper dimensions. The scriptures offer us the wisdom of God, not simply smarts of professors and pundits. Reading the Bible is playing chess while reading Harry Potter is playing checkers.

The third example is earth and heaven. Where do you feel is your true home, that is, where do you spend all your time, treasure and talent: in building an earthly home or in building a heavenly home? If you are really smart and know a lot of stuff, you can have a huge home on earth. And that is not a bad thing.

But if you are wise, you might be like that poor widow who gave all she had to the temple treasury. When we put our marbles in an earthly paradise, we are merely playing checkers, living a one-dimensional life. Whereas, when we turn our eyes to heaven, we start playing chess and living a richer, multi-dimensional life. We see deeper dimensions we never thought possible.

Now, I love to play checkers, too, like those old men sitting in the park. But if you ask me to choose between being smart and being wise, I would rather be wise. I would rather be celibate than married; I would rather read Scripture than any other book; I prefer to build a home in heaven than erect one on earth. In that spiritual sense, I would rather play chess than checkers.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Evil World, Good God

Seeing how God lovingly governs everything

09/16/2019

1 Timothy 2:1-8 Beloved: First of all, I ask that supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgivings be offered for everyone, for kings and for all in authority, that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life in all devotion and dignity. This is good and pleasing to God our savior, who wills everyone to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth. For there is one God. There is also one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as ransom for all.

One of the most complicated questions in theology is unraveling the mysterious workings of divine providence. Indeed, providence (sometimes called predestination) is also one of the most thorny problems in life. Put simply (the question, not the answer), does God have the final say, total control, and absolute authority to direct all created things according to his will and pleasure? And the resounding Christian answer is “yes!” St. Thomas Aquinas wrote in his Summa Theologica: “All things are subject to divine providence, not only in general, but even in their own individual selves” (ST, I, Q. 22, Art. 3). The Angelic Doctor was stating something that’s easy to believe but hard to understand.

Immediately, therefore, numerous questions bombard that simple assertion of faith, namely, why is there suffering? Who ordains the natural disasters that kill thousands of people? Why are people allowed to sin and hurt one another? Why doesn’t God stop mass murderers before they commit such heinous crimes? Why do “bad things happen to good people?” the title of the popular book by Rabbi Harold Kushner. Some people, especially modern people, feel suffering would not be possible if there were a good God who knows everything, who loves everything, and who can do everything. As a consequence, one of the fastest growing segments of our society with regard to religion is atheism. One root, perhaps the deepest root, of modern atheism is the struggle with God’s providence or his predestination of things, or his lack thereof. In other words, an evil world argues against a good God.

I like to think about the existence of evil in the cosmos like the presence of evil in our own homes and families. Parents want their children to be happy more than anything. They make tremendous sacrifices for that happiness to flourish. I often think about how my parents moved half way around the world – from India to the U.S. – for their children’s happiness. Moreover, parents work to provide daily nourishment, nurturing, guidance and discipline, so their children will not be spoiled but successful in life.

Nevertheless, no matter how holy parents are and how hard parents work, can they prevent all problems, even inside their own homes? Can they keep their children from fighting? Can they prevent their children from being jealous? Are they able to force their children to share and not be selfish? They can and they try to a certain degree, but they cannot achieve that absolutely. And when the children suffer – quite often due to their own sinfulness – the same children complain against their parents saying it was the parents’ fault for their pains and problems, just like we blame God for the bad things that happen in the universe, even though they are often the result of our own selfish actions.

Admittedly, this comparison is just an analogy and all analogies limp, they are not perfect explanations. Analogies reveal as much as they conceal. Perhaps only when children grow up and have their own families will they appreciate how hard it was for their parents to provide for them. They see the problems of parental providence, and maybe even get to glimpse God’s providence in a new light, a more sympathetic light. Just because there are problems in your family, it doesn’t mean your parents aren’t good.

A friend of mine, who runs a multi-million dollar organization, likes to say: “the higher you go in an organization, you can do less and less about more and more.” That reminds me of how another friend described what it meant to earn a Ph.D. – you know more and more about less and less. In other words, as a CEO, you are responsible for more and more – all employees and the business itself – but you feel a sense of powerlessness over daily details. Why? Well, because as the CEO, your concern is for the long-term health and objectives of your whole business, but you leave the daily operations to vice presidents and directors to handle.

With these preceding reflections, we might take a stab at understanding St. Paul’s meaning in his first letter to Timothy, where he writes: “God wills everyone to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth.” Yes, God has absolute control over all things whatsoever, but his control is directed to helping everyone to be saved and to know the truth. Salvation and truth are the targets that God’s providence and predestination are aimed at; and he never misses. That is the objective and end of this “company” called “creation,” over which God is the CEO. It is also the purpose of the company for those employees called “atheists.”

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Death be not proud

Seeing the world through Jesus’ eyes

 JOHN 11: 1-15

Now a man was ill, Lazarus from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. So the sisters sent word to him 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.” Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that he was ill, he remained for two days in the place where he was. Then after this he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.” The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just trying to stone you, and you want to go back there?”  He…told them, “Our friend Lazarus is asleep, but I am going to awaken him.” So the disciples said to him, “Master, if he is asleep, he will be saved.” But Jesus was talking about his death, while they thought that he meant ordinary sleep. So then Jesus said to them clearly, “Lazarus has died. And I am glad for you that I was not there, that you may believe. Let us go to him.”

            Do you know how many funerals we’ve had since I arrived here on December 1st?  There have been 15 funerals.  Now, that’s a lot of funerals!  Fr. Andrew has started calling me “The Boatman” (you know, the guy who guides people across the River Styx after they die?), but under his breath he secretly calls me “The Grim Reaper.”  May I respectfully mention the names of our beloved deceased?  They are: Myrna Wells, Eddie Christian, Kathleen Garner, Martine Anhalt, Angel Bravo, Bob Lindsay, Barbara Walker, Phillip Rogers, Betty Merrywell, Gloria Cortez, Lorene Komp, Isabelle Phillips, Erma Page, Doris Barber, and most recently, Bishop Andrew McDonald.

            Before a funeral begins, I always give the family a little advice.  I say, “Keep your eyes on Jesus.”  I explain further: “At this funeral there will be some light, happy moments where we’ll laugh, and some sad, heavy moments when we’ll cry, and some moments where you feel overwhelmed by your loss.  But in every moment, keep your eyes on Jesus and everything is going to be OK.”  What I really hope is that they will keep their eyes not only on Jesus, but peer closely and carefully into his eyes, and see the world reflected there.  Have you ever looked closely at someone’s eyes?  If you do, you can see your own reflection there.  Now, if you do that with Jesus, you begin to see the world reflected there, and even begin to see things THROUGH his eyes, and you even see death.  You start seeing things the way Jesus does. Peering through Jesus’ eyes, you see that everything is touched with grace and every moment is budding with glory, even the grim moment of death.

             In the gospel today, we see an example of how Jesus looks at death.  After Lazarus dies Jesus tells his disciples: “Our friend Lazarus is asleep but I am going to awaken him.”  Now, I am convinced that Jesus is NOT speaking metaphorically here.  For Jesus death really is sleep.  And to prove his point, he touches Lazarus to wake him up, just like you wake up your sleeping children for school in the morning.  Sometimes, when someone very dear dies, we comfort little children by telling them that the deceased is just sleep.  But we adults don’t really believe that; we are only saying that to comfort our children, who cannot handle the grim finality of death.  But maybe we adults are the ones who don’t see right; like the disciples, Jesus has to correct our vision of death and teach us that it really is sleep.  When you look through Jesus’ eyes death looks like sleep, and what Jesus sees is what things really are.

            I know all this talk about death can be a little depressing, so here’s a little joke.  A young boy was in church staring up at a large plaque. It was covered with names and small American flags mounted on either side of it. The pastor walked up, stood beside the little boy, and said quietly, "Good morning Alex." "Good morning Pastor," he replied, still focused on the plaque.  "Pastor, what is this?"  The pastor said, "Well son, it's a memorial to all the men and women who died in the service."  Soberly, they just stood together, staring at the large plaque.  Finally, little Alex's voice, barely a whisper, asked, "Which service, the 9:00 a.m. or the 10:30 a.m.?"  Try to see the world through Jesus eyes, but if you can’t manage that, look through a child’s eyes, that’s the next best thing.

             My friends, death is a great mystery and I don’t mean to make it sound simple to understand or easy to deal with.  The pain of losing someone, the enduring grief that lingers so long, the possible extinction of life as we know it, all converge to overwhelm us.  After all, even Jesus wept at the grave of Lazarus; death is no small thing.  I don’t really have any answers or explanations to make the specter of death magically go away.  My only advice to you is: keep your eyes on Jesus, and look into Jesus’ eyes.  If you train your eyes to look intently into Jesus’ eyes, you’ll see the whole world reflected there, even death, and you’ll know everything is going to be OK.

            John Donne wrote a poem about how death looks through Jesus’ eyes, called “Death be not proud.”  Here’s a small snippet of that poem:

DEATH be not proud, though some have called thee

Mighty and dreadful, for, thou art not so,

For, those, whom thou think'st, thou dost overthrow,

Die not, poor death, nor yet canst thou kill me.

One short sleep past, we wake eternally,

And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die.

            Maybe it takes 15 funerals in 4 months to finally see death the way Jesus does, to get a glimpse that death is only a really long nap.   Because you see, in Jesus’ eyes everything is touched with grace and every moment is budding with glory, even the moment of death.

            Praised be Jesus Christ!

Vacation from Hell

Longing to sleep in our own bed

Genesis 46:1-4

          Israel set out with all that was his. When he arrived at Beer-sheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. There God, speaking to Israel in a vision by night, called, “Jacob! Jacob!” He answered, “Here I am.” Then he said: “I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you a great nation. Not only will I go down to Egypt with you; I will also bring you back here, after Joseph has closed your eyes.”

            I have had the best summer ever, and been on vacation all over the world.  Of course, I’ve been here in the U.S. enjoying seafood in Seattle and wine in Napa Valley.  I’ve gaped in wide-eyed wonder into the Grand Canyon, and almost caught a homerun at a St. Louis Cardinals game.  I’ve taken gondola rides in Venice and stood in silent prayer looking down at the USS Arizona in Pearl Harbor.  I almost got sunburned on the beach and nearly lost my Ray Bans on a roller coaster ride.  I’ve walked through the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the Louvre in Paris, the Prado in Madrid and the Uffizi in Florence.  And you know what else I did?  I slept in my own bed every night!  How is that possible, you’ll no doubt ask.  Easy.  I’ve been seeing everyone else’s vacation pictures on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter!  That's just like being there!  But do you know the best part of any vacation?  It’s coming home and sleeping in your own bed; unless you take vacations like me (on Facebook) and sleep in your own bed EVERY night.

            The first reading today from Genesis 46 is about a family vacation that literally “goes South” and becomes a disaster.  Jacob packs up his whole family and goes to Egypt.  And while they are in Egypt they enjoy the sites and sounds; they live in the best neighborhood of Goshen and they were people of prominence and prestige because Joseph was second in the Kingdom.  But like Chevy Chase’s “National Lampoon’s Vacation,” disaster strikes and the family becomes enslaved in Egypt.  But God promises Jacob, “Not only will I go down to Egypt with you; I will also bring you back here, after Joseph has closed your eyes.”  In other words, God promises Jacob that one day, after this vacation from hell, you will sleep in your own bed.  Too bad Jacob didn’t have Facebook – he could have slept in his own bed every night, like me.

            My friends, may I suggest to you that our whole existence on earth is kind of like the vacation from hell?  We started off great in the Garden of Eden, but then Adam, like Chevy Chase, drove the family RV off the cliff!  And we’ve been picking up the pieces of that ruined vacation ever since, trying to make the best of it on earth, making lemonade out of lemons.  Just like Jacob’s family spent 400 years in enslaved in Egypt, so Adam’s family has spent 4,000 years enslaved on earth. But God also says to us, “Not only will I go down to Egypt with you; I will also bring you back here, after Joseph has closed your eyes.”  In other words, someday, this vacation from hell – our lives on earth – will be over, and we will go home to heaven and sleep in our own beds.  That’s why St. Teresa of Avila described earthly life as “a bad night in a bad inn.”  Maybe St. Teresa had watched the movie “National Lampoon’s Vacation,” too.  The best part of any vacation is going home and sleeping in your own bed.

            Praised be Jesus Christ!

I Wish

Praying to our heavenly Father

Matthew 6:7-14

Jesus said to his disciples: “In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him. “This is how you are to pray: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

            If you fortuitously found a genie in a bottle who offered you three wishes, what would you wish for?  In these scenarios people usually ask for loads of money or cars and houses or long life, or for the Razorbacks to win the national championship (because they put a big bet on them). But I want to burst out: “Ask for more wishes!”  Why can’t anyone figure that out??  Do you remember that 1960’s sit-com called, “I Dream of Jeannie”?  In the very first episode, an Air Force captain crashes on a deserted island and finds a bottle with a beautiful genie.  And do you know what he asks for?  He asks for a helicopter to come rescue him so he can go home.  Think about that for a minute: you are on a deserted island, with a beautiful genie who calls you “master,” and you ask for a helicopter.  Really??  If you were in that position, what would you wish for?  I would say, “More wishes!”

             In the gospel today Jesus helps us think about what we should request, not from a genie, but from God.  Jesus knows that sometimes we tend to look at God more like a “genie” than like a Father.  Jesus says, “Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”  And that’s precisely the problem: when we pray, we’re really asking for what we “want” – what we wish for – instead of what we really need.  And when God answers “no” to our prayers, could that not mean that we really don’t “need” those things but they are really something we want or wish?  Every time God says “no” to a prayer it’s a painful but necessary reminder that we’re not dealing with a genie in heaven, but a Father in heaven.  And good fathers don’t give their kids everything they wish for.  Maybe what we “need” the most is to remember that God is our Father who will always take care of us, regardless of whether he says “yes” or “no” to our prayers.  That's our greatest need.  That’s why the Lord’s Prayer, the Our Father, is not a laundry list of our wishes.  We don't pray: "Our Father, who art in heaven, let me win the lottery today, let me never grow old, give me this day a skinny body, and lead me into more and more wishes.”

            Last Saturday, a very thoughtful young man named Trey asked me a question that all thoughtful people ponder sooner or later.  He asked, “Why did God create a world in which there is suffering and sin and pain?”  I replied, “Why do you think he did?”  Trey thought for a moment and said, “I guess so we would have freedom to choose between good and bad, and suffering is the consequences of our sinful choices.”  I said, “That’s a great answer!”  But I added, “It’s also because if there were a better world, wouldn’t God have created that one instead of this one?  And so if God, in all his wisdom and love, chose to create this world, we must already be living in the best possible world.”  In other words, there’s no need to wish for a better world in which there is no sin and suffering or pain, where we're all rich and beautiful and never die, because we’re already living in the best world God could have created.

            But here’s the catch: this world was created by a Father and not by a genie, who doesn’t want his children to be spoiled, but to be saints.  And in this world, if you find yourself on a deserted island with a gorgeous genie and a magic lamp, maybe you, too, should wish for a helicopter.

            Praised be Jesus Christ!