Walking the Walk, Not Just Talking the Talk

 

Deacon Dave · Walking the Walk

Homily for the 26th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Oct. 1, 2023. Gospel of St. Matthew 21:28-32. Theme: Walking the Walk, Not Just Talking the Talk 

The Parable of the Two Sons in today’s Gospel teaches us to be real careful about judging people based on who they are and how they live. Only God sees into the heart and knows all the various things that have happened in a person’s life that have made them into who they are and what they do. It also teaches us that no one is beyond God’s reach and that it’s never too late to change direction in life. We have plenty of examples of this in the lives of saints who lived far from God for many years and then turned themselves around in amazing stories of conversion. And we have also had our share of those in the opposite situation; of Church leaders who seemed good and holy on the outside but were corrupt and self-serving on the inside. 

A majority of the Jewish leaders whom Jesus was addressing in this parable were very much like that. They were so precise and externally obedient to their religious rituals and laws and from the outside looking in, they seemed to have it all together regarding God and devotion. But in reality, they utterly failed when it came to living out the very heart of religion. Even when they saw the miracles Jesus worked before their eyes they remained deaf to His teaching. They are like the first son in the parable, saying the things that make them look good and pious, but never actually following through with what God really asks of them. 

On the other hand, the tax collectors and prostitutes were in the opposite situation. They obviously did not care about looking good and virtuous to the people. Tax collectors were Jews who turned traitors, working for the enemy occupied forces and extorting their own people for personal financial gain. Prostitutes didn’t give a second thought to God’s Word about the sacredness of marriage and human sexuality. They made a good living by dragging others into their debauchery. In other words, at first they said “no” to God. But after hearing St. John the Baptist preaching repentance for sin, something clicked inside of them and they turned their “no” into a “yes”. And so they are like the second son. 

It seems to me that Jesus is asking each one of us to personally identify how we are responding to God’s Word in our lives. Are we like the Jewish leaders who think they are just fine as they are? Do we think that we will be welcomed into the Kingdom of God simply because we fulfill the formal obligations of our religion? Jesus calls us to examine ourselves on this very important question because He cannot heal what is broken until we admit it and then ask for His help. And a good place to start this process is by reflecting on a verse from our second reading today. In it, St. Paul calls us to proclaim Jesus Christ as LORD and then to live lives that truly reflect what this proclamation means. 

You see, in the ancient culture of the early Christians, the title of “Lord” was the way one addressed the ruler of the land or the master of slaves. So, St. Paul is telling us that if we truly profess that “Jesus is Lord” this means that He is the Ruler of my life and the Master of all my actions. In other words, Jesus is to be Lord of every aspect of my existence and not just of my religious devotion. So, we have to honestly ask ourselves: is Christ really and truly Lord of all my life? Lord of my social life, Lord of my financial life, Lord of my sexual life, Lord of my professional life, and Lord of my political life? Do His words and teachings influence, direct and inform all of these aspects of my existence? 

The external practices of faith can make us look good and even fool us into thinking that we are doing good, when in reality we are simply practicing an “empty-on-the-inside” religion. In such a situation, our lips say “yes” to God while the actions of our lives are really saying “no”. This is what Jesus was condemning in the Jewish leaders he confronted in today’s Gospel. But in the lived example of the reformed tax collectors and converted prostitutes Christ was reminding us that it’s never too late to change our response. And we can do so the very same way that they did! By being humble enough to take the preaching of St. John the Baptist to heart and put it into practice in our daily lives. 

And what was his message? It was simply this: Repent and give evidence by your actions that you intend to change. To repent means to have a change of mind which leads to a change of heart. It begins with humility and means walking the walk and not just talking the talk. It expresses itself by asking God for the grace to turn ourselves around. Repentance is more than the feelings of regret or remorse. It’s a mindful and intentional turning away from sin and selfishness that proves itself in a new way of living, a new way of thinking and a new way of loving that is inspired and enlightened by the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

God's Ridiculous Generosity!

 

Deacon Dave · God's Ridiculous Generosity!

Homily for the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Sept. 24, 2023. Gospel of St. Matthew 20:1-16. Theme: God’s Ridiculous Generosity! 

The Parable of the Landowner in today's Gospel always gets alot of comments. Most of these have to do with how unfair it is to pay people the same wages for not doing an equal amount of work. However, as with all parables, it’s important not to get caught up in the particular details but to discover the message it contains. As important as a just wage may be, Jesus has a much deeper lesson to teach us. This parable is really about how God seems to be ridiculously generous with His love and mercy. It’s an example of how, as our first reading puts it, God's thoughts are not like our thoughts and God’s ways are totally unlike our ways of doing business, of living life. 

A big reason for this difference between how God thinks and acts and how we think and act is due to the fact that even among the best of us, there’s always some trace of selfishness. When we set out to do something, even something good and noble, there always seems to be a little bit of the question, “what will this cost me?” in the back of our minds. But as Christians we are called by Christ to put a check on selfishness because our mission in the world is to reflect the goodness of God. We are called to follow the example of Jesus who was also ridiculously generous with love and mercy, even to the point of it costing Him His life on the cross. 

When a Christian becomes really aware of this calling it begins to change them from the inside out. They start to understand more deeply the teaching of Jesus that love for God is utterly inseparable from love for neighbor. They begin to realize that since God has been so ridiculously generous with them, they are to pay it forward. So, when they see suffering around them, they refuse to be blind to it. And when they hear the cry of the poor they refuse to close their ears to it. Their hearts will not let them rest until they have done something, anything, whatever they can do, even if it doesn’t seem like much, to help their struggling neighbors who need some ridiculous generosity in their lives. 

One such group of Christians who do this are the members of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul which was started in Paris in 1833, a time of bloody revolution in France. The destitute poor were starving and being decimated by sickness in their slums, while the wealthy were carrying on with their opulent lives, turning their eyes and ears away from the sights and sounds of suffering. A 20-year-old Catholic law student at the Sorbonne University named Frederic Ozanam together with 4 college classmates and a professor, began to understand that a faith that didn’t do something about this horrible situation wasn’t much of a faith at all. They reached a breaking point where they were no longer content to practice their religion by simply saying their prayers and going to Mass. They were pushed out of their comfort zone by the Scripture that says, “You can’t say that you love God whom you cannot see, if you do not come to the aid of your neighbor whom you can see.” 

Even though it was extremely dangerous, they began to go out 2-by-2 into the shacks and hovels of the Parisian slums. Through these home visits they were able to see with their own eyes what needed to be done. Then they would return to their parishes to collect food, clothing, medicine and money to distribute on their next round of visits. As news of what they were doing spread, others of all ages began to join them and many began to support them. The Society grew and spread. Today it’s a world-wide Catholic lay movement that has close to 100,000 members just in the USA alone. Here at St. Sebastian’s we have been very blessed to have had a parish Conference of the Society for over 40 years. And its members, known as Vincentians, still serve in that person-to-person way of Frederic and his first companions. They meet with the poor and learn for themselves the various needs that exist. And then they come back to their parishes, to us, in order to spread the word and collect funds to provide relief. 

Our Vincentians are ordinary everyday parishioners who have responded to God’s call to be ridiculously generous and do something beautiful for those who are struggling just to survive. You might be surprised to learn that right here within our own parish boundaries (which encompass Greenbrae, Kentfield and southern San Rafael) there are those who are living with the constant stress of being just one small paycheck away from homelessness. And quite often they are also caring for a disabled child or spouse. There are those who have to decide whether to pay utility bills or buy medicine because they can’t afford to do both. There are some who are newly out of rehab or others escaping abusive relationships who need assistance to start a new life and head in a new direction. And finally, there are so many who depend on the Safeway cards that our Vincentians distribute to help ends meet until the next meager paycheck arrives. 

Today’s Gospel parable tells us that not all who were sent into the vineyard did the exact same work and yet they all received the exact same reward from God. And this can also be said about the Vincentian works of mercy. God calls all of us without exception to share the responsibility of serving our neighbor in need, but not all of us will be able to work at it in the same way. Some are called to become active Vincentians who go out to the poor and we certainly need more of them! Others are called to become Vincentian partners through financial support. Both forms of participation are indispensable; both are desperately needed! So please listen with the ears of your heart and discover how God is calling you to become part of this beautiful expression of His ridiculous generosity. 

Today’s second collection for the Society of St. Vincent de Paul can be dropped into the donation boxes at the entrances to the church. Be sure to make a note on your check or use one of the special white envelopes you will find in the pews. I can personally assure you that every penny donated goes directly to the care of the poor. St. Sebastian parishioners have always been extremely generous to the poor and I am confident that this will continue and so I thank each one of you ahead of time! God bless you and grant you peace!

77 Times?!

 

Homily for the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Sept. 17, 2023. Gospel of St. Matthew 18:21-35. Theme: 77 Times?! 

The message of today’s Liturgy is so important that the Church knows we need to hear it over and over again: forgive, forgive, forgive! In addition to the teaching in today's passage, Jesus’ consistent and persistent words about forgiveness were recorded by Matthew several more times in his edition of the Gospel. He tells us that Christ declared that only if we ourselves are merciful will we be shown mercy, warning us that God will forgive us on the basis that we forgive others. Jesus even made this clause a petition in the “Our Father” where He has us say: "...and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us..." We all know that prayer so well and can recite it so easily from memory that I think we often overlook what it is that we are actually saying! We are telling God to forgive us only and to the extent that we forgive others! 

Jesus gave us this repetitive emphasis on forgiveness because He knows that showing mercy by extending an olive branch to someone who has hurt us is probably one of the most difficult things for us to do. And the deeper the wound, the harder it is. But we have to remember that to forgive is not to condone a terrible thing that someone has done. It does not mean, “What you did to me was OK.” To forgive means that although we recognize the damage done to us, we freely choose to move beyond it. We intentionally refuse to seek revenge and “get even” because Christ intentionally refused to do so even during the agony of His Passion. And so, we choose to forgive because we want to have a merciful heart like Jesus. We know that if we are sincere about being Christians in fact and not just in name then we should forgive, we need to forgive, and we will receive the power to forgive. 

First, we should forgive. Because if we don’t we are actually rejecting God’s mercy for ourselves. I honestly think that most of us do not keep in mind the reality of this precondition for our own forgiveness. As I just mentioned, Jesus says it several times and in various ways. In today’s Gospel he puts it like: “So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart.” Referring back to the parable of the unforgiving servant, what Jesus is saying is that we will receive only the amount of mercy that we ourselves give out. So, you see, for our own good if nothing else, we should forgive. 

Secondly, we need to forgive. Otherwise we will end up destroying ourselves. We know that unresolved anger along with the underlying seeds of resentment will become a spiritual cancer in our lives if we do not treat it with the medicine of mercy. It will entrap us in a toxic attitude that reaches out and poisons all our relationships in one way or another. How cold, callous and cruel it would be to have to live out our days in such an environment. There would be no meaningful expression of love. No inner serenity. No laughter or contentment. Actually, that’s a pretty good description of Hell, isn’t it? To refuse to forgive is to condemn ourselves to a slow and painful spiritual and emotional death. Holding a grudge results in past hurts remaining within us like radioactive material, gradually poisoning us from the inside out. We need to forgive if we want to live life to the fullest and experience love both in this world and in the after-life. 

Thirdly, we will be given the power to forgive. The sacrifice of Jesus on the cross is like a great river of forgiveness that keeps flowing through all centuries and generations until the end of time. When we discover the need to forgive someone and find it hard to do so, we can ask Christ in prayer to pour out this water of mercy upon us to soften the hardness of our hearts. Consistent and persistent prayer can transform each one of us bit by bit from being a victim into being a healer, from being a hater into being a lover. It might be very hard to do and it may even seem impossible. 

But Jesus, truly present in the Eucharist that we receive, makes it possible. Through our frequent and mindful communion with Him, He will place within us the power to love as he loves, to forgive as He forgives, to be merciful as He is merciful. Christ living in us by grace and Eucharist will give us the strength to overcome harmful attitudes of retaliation and to become a people of compassion who reflect the mercy of God. So, you see, as Christians we should forgive, we need to forgive, and we can forgive.

“Friends Don't Let Friends…”

 

Deacon Dave · “Friends Don't Let Friends…”

Homily for the 23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Sept. 6, 2020. Readings: Ezekiel 33:7-9; Romans 13:8-10; Gospel of St. Matthew 18:15-20. Theme: “Friends Don't Let Friends…” 

I am sure we’re all familiar with the public service announcement reminding us that “friends don’t let friends drive drunk”. And we can easily see the wisdom and love that is at the heart of that statement. And as tragic as the potential loss of human life can be, the loss of one’s immortal soul is even more tragic. Why? Because our span of life on planet Earth - even if it is a very long one - is not the whole story of our existence. 

In other words, we each survive our physical deaths. We move on to continue our existence in another realm or dimension or place, or however you wish to describe it. Today’s readings remind us that the reality of surviving our physical deaths can be experienced as a pleasant or a dreadful destiny. To put it in traditional Catholic vocabulary, we can either live according to God’s Word and reach eternal life in Heaven or live life according to our own terms and merit eternal separation from all that is good in Hell. And while that decision of destiny is up to each one of us, our Faith teaches us that we have a responsibility towards others in this regard. 

This can be a very difficult truth for us to live out because our culture tells us that religion is a person’s private affair. However, as Christians we are counter-cultural in many ways and this is one of them. We have a duty to help others come to know and love God in this world so that they can choose to be forever happy with Him in the next. But all too often we hesitate, we feel uncomfortable speaking up, we disconnect from this social obligation that we have as an expression of love for our neighbor. 

But, you know, there is a proper way to go about it. We don’t roll into someone’s life like a bulldozer but we wait for the opportunity to speak up to present itself organically. We try to be aware of the right time and the right place to have this interpersonal exchange. And when it happens we do our best to express our thoughts with gentleness and understanding. In today's Gospel Jesus shows us the importance of respecting personal dignity by first of all speaking up when we are alone with them. We choose not to do so in front of others or in a way that might embarrass them. We only bring in others only when it is a matter of great import or a serious occasion of harm and when we see that our solo efforts are not sufficient. But even in such a situation the Lord tells us to preserve the spirit of friendship and charity. 

Today’s First Reading holds up to us the figure of the prophet Ezekiel who was tasked with being a watchman for the Lord, alerting people to spiritual danger. We Christians are also prophets, anointed as such at Baptism. We are tasked like Ezekiel to tell the truth about right and wrong, to point out error and deceit. Being bearers of the light of Christ we have a moral duty to enlighten those who are confused and wandering through life. But we are called to do this with the kind of approach and attitude that Jesus Himself used when correcting others. His words and actions were tailored to the individual and it was clear that he had a person’s best interest at heart when speaking the truth out of love. But how can we know how to imitate Jesus? By praying with the Gospel every day! It’s there that we learn His life and teachings. It ‘s there that we learn from His lived example. 

We are also able to become more Christ-like because of the Eucharist that we celebrate, receive and adore. At the Eucharist, we hear the Word of God proclaimed and explained and so are taught the truth that we must speak. At the Eucharist, we come into intimate communion with Jesus the Bread of Life, and receive the power of His presence within us, enabling us to become channels of His gentle and healing mercy to our brothers and sisters, no matter who they may be. Through our devotion to the Eucharist we are strengthened to become Christians who, to tweak the public service announcement a bit, are friends who do not let their friends drive their lives full speed into the eternal self-destruction of Hell.

The Message of the Cross

 

Deacon Dave · The Message of the Cross

Homily for the 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Sept. 3, 2023. Gospel of St. Matthew 16:21-27. Theme: The Message of the Cross 

Last Sunday we heard Jesus bestow great honor upon Simon the Fisherman, making him “Peter the Rock” on which he would build His Church and to whom He would give the keys of the kingdom. And yet today we hear the Lord calling this same disciple a “Satan” (which means adversary or opponent) and tells him to “get behind me” (which is Hebrew slang for “know your place!”). What happened? Why the drastic change in attitude and outlook? 

Well, I think the answer isn’t hard to find and it’s something that every one of us can relate to: Peter didn’t want the cross. He wanted to follow a Savior who promised joy and glory, not One who foretold struggle and suffering. Everything was just fine for him until Jesus mentions the cross which is a most challenging and uncomfortable (yet indispensable and unavoidable) aspect of Christianity. Like Peter we don’t want it either. We find the cross to be just fine for decorating our churches or worn as jewelry around our necks, but not as a stark reality in our everyday lives because it reminds us of difficult and challenging truths. 

First, the cross reminds us that sin is real and that we are sinners. Those two concepts aren’t very popular to speak about these days but they are at the heart of the Good News of Jesus. Yet they are precisely the reason why Jesus came to live among us. We humans have an in-born tendency to rebel against God’s love and mistreat one another in many ways. And when we do so intentionally, knowingly and freely we sin. The cross reminds us that sin is deadly serious bringing with it the potential to separate us from God and from love eternally. We may be tempted to dismiss or downplay both the reality of sin and our innate status as sinners, but to do so is to dismiss and downplay Christ Himself. 

Second, the cross reminds that real love is sacrificial and unselfish. While this description of love sounds noble and inspirational to us, the reality is that we don’t normally live that way. We applaud the heroism of love in others and even make best-selling movies and books about it, but then we go on living life in the opposite dynamic, with ourselves as the center focus. But deep down we know that we are called to be better than that and the cross becomes an annoyance reminding us of this fact. The cross silently shouts out to us that we are called to love as Jesus loved: putting God first, others second, and myself last. The cross reminds us that true love is not based on how we feel but on how much we give of ourselves to others. When we really look at a cross it makes each one of us ask ourselves: is my love a reflection of Christ’s love? Am I choosing to place my freedom at the service of love? 

The cross also reminds us that suffering, struggles and difficulties are an inescapable part of life. None of us would choose these for ourselves but nonetheless they come to each one of us in some way, shape or form. And like Peter, we don’t want the cross. We want to somehow bypass it but we can’t. However, the good news is that they can be transformed into a pathway that leads us to Heaven, to eternal fulfillment in the after-life. It’s all in what we do with them. Because of the spiritual union we have with Jesus through Baptism, we can do what He did with the cross: we can carry it out of sacrificial love and by doing so break through the suffering and so enter into glory and happiness. We have the sure and certain promise of Christ that if the cross is carried in loving union with Him we will go where He has gone before us. And this should give us great hope. 

Peter struggled with the message of the cross for his entire life. When it got too close to him during the Passion of Christ, he denied even knowing the Lord. But he repented and was forgiven. Then 30 years later as an old man, Peter tried to escape from the cross once again in the city of Rome. He almost succeeded until he encountered a stranger on the road out of town. He asked the man where he was going and got the reply, “I am returning to Rome to be crucified again.” At that moment Peter realized that it was the Risen Lord Jesus appearing to him. Once more he repented and returned to the Eternal City where he himself was crucified. The cross that he first protested about so many years before ended up becoming his pathway to eternal life.

Crucifixion of St. Peter by Caravaggio, 1601 AD