Resist the Tribal Approach

 Homily: 26^th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle A

         Friends, in order to understand today’s first reading from the prophet Ezekiel, we need to take a look back at the cultures of the Ancient Near East in order to understand it a little better.  On first hearing of this reading, we could pause and think, “Why did they think that the Lord’s way was not fair? He was declaring that only those who actually did something wrong will be punished for it, which seems to be THE fair way of doing things.”  In the Ancient Near East, however, the culture favored more of a “tribal” approach to things, versus an individual approach.

         In the individual approach, one is free to choose and to do and to then reap the rewards or suffer the consequences for his/her actions.  Certainly, this is the way with which we are all familiar in our modern culture.  In the tribal approach, however, the choices of one affect the whole “tribe”—be it a single-family household or a whole extended bloodline.  This means that if one person in the tribe was honored, the whole tribe was honored with him/her (including, perhaps, those whose individual actions and behaviors didn’t deserve honor); and if one person in the tribe did something shameful, then the whole tribe was shamed with him/her (including, perhaps, those whose individual actions and behaviors were always upstanding and honorable).  This idea can seem unfair to us who have lived according the individual approach our whole lives, but to the people of the Ancient Near East, this tribal approach was normal.

         This is not to say, of course, that those ancient peoples couldn’t see the logic and value of the individual approach.  Their tribal approach worked well to keep them united in a time when tribes or nations of tribes were constantly threatened by rival tribes/nations that surrounded them.  But certainly, there were many individuals who, having suffered punishment for the crimes and wrongdoings of some of their relations, stopped and thought, “Boy, this certainly seems unfair. I didn’t do anything wrong!”  Nevertheless, the value of remaining united as a people was more important than trying to single each person out.  The tribal approach reminded folks that they were responsible not only to themselves, but to others, too.

         Truly, it seems, the ancient Israelites’ objection to God turning to the individual approach to judgement/punishment must lie in the fact that the changes were going to benefit some in the future in ways that those of the present hadn’t been able to enjoy.  “Your way is not fair, God! I had to suffer for my father’s sins and I have suffered much striving to keep myself from sin so that my own children won’t suffer, but now you’re telling me that it no longer is going to be this way and that, no matter what I do, my children will neither suffer nor reap honors?”  In this short-sighted view, this change does seem to be unfair.  In declaring this new approach to judgement/punishment, however, God was unveiling another part of his plan to bring redemption and salvation to the world.  From then on, each individual must take responsibility for his/her own behavior and, thus, receive judgement for his/her own behavior alone: a reward for righteousness (even if that comes after many years of wickedness) or a punishment for wickedness (even if that comes after many years of righteousness); and both of these in spite of the righteousness/wickedness of his/her relatives.

         To provide a contrast: When Jonah went to Nineveh and declared God’s judgement on them, the king of Nineveh declared a fast for EVERYONE (including farm animals!), saying (essentially): “Many of us have sinned and we are all about to suffer punishment for it. Therefore, we must all fast and do penance so that the Lord, in sparing one, might spare us all.”  Perhaps there were some in Nineveh who thought, “I didn’t do anything wrong, I don’t see why I need to fast.”  Had these persons not had a “tribal” approach to judgement, and, thus, chose not to fast, God would not have relented and Nineveh would have been destroyed.  When John the Baptist began preaching, he called people to a baptism of repentance.  Yet, instead of calling a whole nation to repent as a nation, he called them to repent individually and each to receive a baptism of repentance individually.  This individual approach reflected the change that God instituted with Ezekiel and made it possible for the salvation that Jesus was about to bring to spread beyond the tribes of Israel into the whole world, one convert at a time.

         So, where am I going with all of this?  Good question.  As I said at the beginning of this homily, most of us might have a hard time understanding why the ancient Israelites thought it was unfair that God was declaring the “tribal” approach no longer valid, but rather that the “individual” approach would be applied from then on, and that this is because we’ve been “hardwired” to the individual approach and see its inherent “fairness”.  As I reflected on how things have been playing out in our society over these recent years, I realized that, culturally, we’re moving rapidly back to the “tribal” approach for judgement: meaning, that we’re turning again to accounting the sins of any one individual to the entire “tribe” to which the individual belongs (the “tribes” being made up not of family bloodline, necessarily, but rather of identity traits).  For example: it’s almost cliché now to say it, but as a white male in the US I am the problem.  “Wait, I am the problem?”  “Yes, YOU, that is the collective ‘you’ of white males that hold all of the positions of authority to which we ascribe all of the problems of our society.”  You see what I mean?  The sins of a few are being applied to the entire “tribe” of persons who share identifying characteristics with the few who sinned.  This cultural move back towards the tribal approach to judgement is something about which we ought to be concerned and thus to which we must pay attention.

         Many of you have probably seen or at least heard about the YouTube video that a priest in Wisconsin made declaring that no Catholic can, in good conscience, vote for a Democrat.  When I heard about it, I was bothered by it because it furthers this cultural move towards “tribal” judgement.  This priest ascribed judgment on everyone who declares him/herself a Democrat without taking the time to determine whether each individual Democrat fully subscribes to every point of the Democratic party’s national platform.  Assuredly there are some who do not align themselves with their party’s stance on abortion, let’s say.  Does a Catholic, having duly investigated a Democrat’s stance on these issues and having found him/her not aligned with the party’s platform still incur sin if he/she votes for this particular candidate?  Of course not.  Yet this priest declared that particular Democrat to be in the wrong, simply by his/her association with the Democratic party.  Can you see how damaging this kind of attitude can be?

         Friends, our Scriptures remind us today that we cannot allow ourselves to fall back into this tribal approach to judgment: ascribing to a whole mass of people guilt for the sins of individuals who have gone before them or who are contemporary to them and share certain identifying characteristics.  The measure with which you measure will be measured out to you, our Lord said.  None of us would like to be judged in this way and so we must be diligent not to judge others like this and even stand against it when we see others doing it.  And why?  Because judgments like these disrespect the uniqueness of the individual and exclude the possibility of repentance.

         In the Gospel reading, Jesus’ lesson was meant to highlight how the scribes and the Pharisees had fallen into this trap of “tribal” judgment.  For them, sinners like those who supported the Roman occupation by collecting taxes for them and those who lowered themselves to sexual immorality in order to make a living were condemned simply by being who they were, while they, because they were members of this “religious elite”, were righteous before God and so acceptable to him.  Jesus flipped the tables on them and said, “No, they are more righteous than you because they have recognized their need for repentance and have sought it, while you believe you have no need of repentance and so remain in your sin.”  For Jesus, no one is destined for sin because of the group to whom he/she belongs, nor is anyone destined for righteousness because of the same.  Rather, each is called—in whatever state of life he/she may find him/herself—to recognize his/her own sin and repent from it, turning back to the way of righteousness (which is to follow Jesus).  Those who do will find salvation.  Those who refuse will find condemnation.

         My brothers and sisters, as Christians—and, more particularly, as men and women who have turned to Christ in our individual sin and have been forgiven—we must fight against this turn in culture which seeks to ascribe the sins of some to all who share a connection with them.  Why?  Because this is not the way of God.  The way of God is to look at the individual and to judge the individual not by any one particular act, but rather by how that person acts now.  Was she a scoundrel who has repented and turned to a life of virtue?  She is to be commended.  Was he an upstanding man who has now fell into sin?  He must be called to repentance for fear of being lost.  In no way, however, can her former sin or her present virtue—nor his former virtue nor his turn to sin—be ascribed to the members of their families or to any group with which they might identify: their virtue and/or their sin is theirs alone.

         To counter this movement, I think that we need to go back to Saint Paul’s exhortation to the Christians of Philippi that we heard in today’s second reading.  There he says:

Brothers and sisters:
If there is any encouragement in Christ,
any solace in love,
any participation in the Spirit,
any compassion and mercy,
complete my joy by being of the same mind, with the same love,
united in heart, thinking one thing.
Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory;
rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves,
each looking out not for his own interests,
but also for those of others.

Have in you the same attitude
that is also in Christ Jesus.

Friends, we, “united in heart, thinking one thing”, must be the force to move this culture away from the destructive path that it is on.  To do so, we must have in ourselves “the same attitude that is also in Christ Jesus”, which is to humbly submit ourselves to work for this good, no matter the hardship it brings to us.  Like Jesus, however, when we do this, we will find that God will exalt us.

As Jesus humbles himself to be made present to us again here on this altar so that we may receive him, let us renew our promise to him to do this work and, thus, to make manifest his kingdom here until he comes again in glory.

Given at Saint Joan of Arc Parish: Kokomo, IN – September 27^th, 2020

The end IS nigh.

 Homily: 25^th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle A

         A few years back, David Meade, who calls himself a “biblical numerologist”, claimed that the end of the world was to begin a month or so after the total eclipse of the sun.  Maybe you don’t remember this guy and his prediction, but do you guys remember that eclipse?  His prediction was based on the following things: the biblical significance of the number 33 (namely, that Jesus lived for 33 years here on earth), the fact that the total solar eclipse was exactly 33 days before his predicted date, and that, on that same day, a planet, named “Planet X”, was supposed to pass by earth at close proximity and cause numerous natural disasters to occur at the same time: volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, earthquakes, etc.  Well, two out of three ain’t bad, but that third part was certainly a stretch.  I’m not sure how Mr. Meade got around the fact that NASA had repeatedly stated that “Planet X” didn’t exist and that, regardless, there was no planet whose trajectory would take it anywhere near earth anytime in the foreseeable future.  But, thanks be to God, his prediction wasn’t accurate and so, in hindsight, we can see that it doesn’t really matter.

         Or does it?  I mean, maybe he wasn’t right on about the “how” and the “when”, but he might have still been on to something.  With Western Society seemingly trying to consume itself into oblivion and with the great slew of natural disasters currently occurring (say nothing of what now will be an absolute bloodbath of a political fight leading up to the national election), Mr. Meade might, actually, have been on to something.  In fact, as Catholics, I think that we have to say that he is right: doomsday approaches… the end is nigh!  Why do we need to say this?  Well, because we’ve been saying it for nearly 2000 years.

         You see, the first Christians took seriously Jesus’ words to his disciples before he ascended into heaven when he said, “This generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place.”  “These things…” to which Jesus was referring were the signs of the apocalypse, namely that “the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.”  And so, the first Christians made haste—and none hastier than Saint Paul—to try to preach the Gospel to the whole world before these “things” would take place.  Saint Paul was always ready to leave this world at a moment’s notice—as is evidenced by his words to the Philippians in the second reading and which demonstrates his conviction that the end was nigh—but, nonetheless, he remained content to continue working in this world for the benefit of those to whom he preached until the Lord returned.

         Eventually, of course, that generation began to die off, thus prompting some Christians to begin to question whether the “end” was truly “nigh”.  That’s why, in later writings of the New Testament, we see the authors beginning to try to explain how this makes sense.  They found hope in Jesus’ words that, when he returned, those who were in the graves would be raised up: that none of them would be lost.  This didn’t diminish, however, the urgency with which they continued to proclaim the Gospel.  They refused to believe that, what seemed to them as a delay, meant that Jesus had given up all-together.  They knew that, as Isaiah had prophesied, “God’s ways were not their ways, and His thoughts were not their thoughts”.  Thus, they continued to preach that “the end is nigh” so that no one would be caught off-guard.

         Nearly two-thousand years later, we’ve softened the “the end is nigh” rhetoric, a bit, but it nonetheless is a core teaching of our message.  This is, in part, why in our liturgies we still read passages like the passage that we read today from the prophet Isaiah.  “Seek the Lord while he may be found, call him while he is near” the prophet said.  The prophet was implying, of course that there may be a time—in the near future, even—in which the Lord may not be found and in which he may not be near.  We read this again today to wake us up to the same reality: it will not always be possible to find God when we seek him nor will God always be near to us when we call.  The end is nigh.  Thus, we are reminded of the urgency with which we must continually seek the Lord while he may be found and call on him while he is near.

         Even the parable that Jesus gives us in the Gospel reading tells us something of the urgency that should still motivate us.  There, the landowner shows himself going out repeatedly during the day to seek workers for his vineyard.  We see that, even up to the last hour of the work day, if he finds workers who have not been hired for the day, he will hire them and send them out to his vineyard to earn a day’s wage.  Although it is easy to focus on what seems to be an injustice to the workers who worked all day long, I want to draw your attention to something that might be easy to overlook: that, ultimately, the day ended and, thus, that the landowner no longer went out to look for any more workers.  Seek the Lord while he may be found…

Our Bishop, Bishop Doherty, is keenly aware that, while it seems that the Lord continues to delay his return, he may, at any time, return; and, as a laborer who has been sent into the Lord’s vineyard to work for the harvest, he cannot sit idle and expect to receive his “wage” at the end of the day: that is, the reward of a faithful laborer when he is called to judgment.  Thus, since 2014, he with the help of many collaborators had been preparing how we, here in this diocese, are going to respond to present challenges to proclaiming the Gospel in the 21^st century.  The result is the Uniting in Heart pastoral plan.

The changes that you all have been experiencing are part of the plan to re-align not only our resources, but (more importantly) our focus on the mission of evangelization so that our diocese—and all of the parishes within our diocese—will be best positioned not only to survive, but to thrive well into the future.  This new pastorate alignment that you are experiencing is intended to help decrease our isolation and increase our collaboration, thus diversifying our resources and leveraging our talent to have the greatest impact on our mission: that is, to labor in the Lord’s vineyard in order to prepare an abundant harvest of souls who will be won for Christ and, thus, enjoy the rewards of eternal happiness with Him in heaven.

As a sign that we are realigning across the board, Bishop Doherty has launched the “Catholic Ministries Appeal” (what was formerly known as “the Fruitful Harvest Appeal”).  This appeal leverages the strengths of the Fruitful Harvest Appeal and realigns other parts of it so as to increase the transparency regarding what the appeal supports as well as to better highlight not only the ministries and services that the appeal supports but also the benefits of those ministries and services here in your local parishes.

One example is standing here before you.  Your support for this appeal makes it possible for me to work full-time as the Vicar for Clergy and Director of Vocations, meaning that I can remain exclusively focused on ministering to the priests and deacons of this diocese (ensuring that you have healthy clergy who are striving for holiness and who can serve you for many years) as well as ministering to our future priests, our seminarians (ensuring that your parish and all the parishes of this diocese will continue to have healthy clergy who strive for holiness for generations to come).

My hope today is that you will be inspired to give to the appeal in order to support my ministry and the many other fruitful ministries of our diocese that this appeal supports.  But I also hope that you will be inspired to look at yourself and your parish and ask yourself, “have I been a diligent laborer in my Lord’s vineyard? Have I striven for holiness so as to ‘conduct myself in a way worthy of the Gospel’? Have I sought to spread the Good News of Jesus to those whom I encounter in my life?”  Having done so, I hope that your hearts will be enflamed with a desire to step up your efforts and to become an enthusiastic laborer to help make Uniting in Heart a reality: both for our good and the good of generations to come.

Today, on behalf of Bishop Doherty and Fr. Logsdon, I am asking you to make your pledge to “Hearts on Fire: the Catholic Ministries Appeal”.  I will challenge you to be generous, more generous perhaps than you’ve been before, because the stakes are higher than they have ever been.  With our combined efforts, however—both yours here locally and the Bishop’s across the diocese—we will fulfill our duty to Our Lord in his vineyard so that the harvest, whenever our Lord comes to reap it, will be abundant.  Thank you, in advance, for your generosity.

         My brothers and sisters, Planet X did not pass close to the earth a few years ago, thus sparing us from the horrible consequences that might have occurred, but that does not mean that the end is not nigh.  As our Lord has told us, we know “neither the day, nor the hour” of our Lord’s return, meaning that it could still be something that is close at hand.  And so our job is not to “seek to know the day and the hour”, but rather it is to “seek the Lord while he may be found” and to help others to do the same.  We seek him when we seek him in our daily personal prayer, in the sacraments, celebrated in a worshiping community, and in the poor, whom we serve with generous hearts; and we help others to do so when we invite them to seek the Lord with us.

         And so, as we approach this altar on which we encounter the Lord who is still near to us, let us call to him and ask him to strengthen us on our journey: so that, whether the end of the world comes today or another 2000 years’ worth of todays from now, we will be ready to run to him and receive his generous reward when he comes in glory.

Given at the parishes of Randolph and southern Jay counties in Indiana

September 19^th & 20^th, 2020

The command to forgive

 Homily: 24^th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle A

Friends, you don’t know me, and I don’t know you, and that makes it difficult to put a homily together that speaks to the needs of your community.  Thankfully, our readings this week provide us with a theme that is broadly appealing: meaning that it applies to just about everyone in every place without needing a lot of “translation” into a particular context.  If you were paying attention during the readings, you probably already have a sense of what I mean.  Regardless, let’s take some time to look at this theme more in depth to really flesh out the message with which God is blessing us this week.

First, let’s remind ourselves of one thing.  That is, that in the Ten Commandments, there is not one that commands us to forgive anyone.  “I am the Lord, your God, you shall not have other gods besides me; you shall not use the Lord’s name in vain, you shall keep holy the Lord’s day, you shall honor your father and mother, you shall not kill, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness, you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, you shall not covet your neighbor’s goods.”  Ten commandments, not one that says, “you shall forgive offenses”.  Nonetheless, throughout the old and new testament, an admonition—nay, a commandment—to forgive those who have done wrong to you appears.  This commandment is not arbitrary, however, but rather has great purpose: a purpose which our readings show to us today.

In the book of Sirach (which is a “wisdom” book that is a collection of wise sayings... proverbs, if you will), we find not only the admonition to forgive but the reason behind it.  In fact, let’s just read it again:

Wrath and anger are hateful things,
yet the sinner hugs them tight.
The vengeful will suffer the LORD’s vengeance,
for he remembers their sins in detail.
Forgive your neighbor’s injustice;
then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven.
Could anyone nourish anger against another
and expect healing from the LORD?
Could anyone refuse mercy to another like himself,
can he seek pardon for his own sins?
If one who is but flesh cherishes wrath,
who will forgive his sins?
Remember your last days, set enmity aside;
remember death and decay, and cease from sin!
Think of the commandments, hate not your neighbor;
remember the Most High’s covenant, and overlook faults.

Again, not only does this reading tell us that we must forgive sins, but it tells us the reason why we must do it: for if we refuse to forgive, we ourselves cannot expect forgiveness from the Lord.  When it says, “the vengeful will suffer the Lord’s vengeance”, it echoes a teaching from Jesus: “the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you”.  Thus, the admonition to forgive is one of self-preservation!  Yet there’s also a further reason given, towards the end of the reading: “Remember your last days,” it says, “set enmity aside; remember death and decay, and cease from sin!”  In other words, “Don’t hold onto these grudges and hurts. Forgive them! Because your days are numbered and holding onto grudges threatens your readiness to receive the fulfillment of God’s covenant with you.”  Perhaps even more succinctly: “These worldly grudges don’t matter in heaven, so let them go and they won’t keep you from it.”

Then in the Gospel reading, Jesus turns this admonition to forgive into a commandment.  When Peter asks how often he should forgive someone who wrongs him, he asks with a number that was absurd: “As many as seven times?”  Jesus replies with an even more absurd statement: “Not seven times, but seventy-seven times.”  If it wasn’t serious, it be almost silly.  It would be like someone asking “When I see someone begging on the street, how much should I give him? As much as $10?” and then receiving the reply, “Not $10, but $10 million”.  It was the kind of reply that would make you pause and say, “Wait, are you serious?”  That was obviously the look that Jesus got from Peter and so Jesus proceeded to tell the parable in order to illustrate that he was, indeed, serious and why.

The point—and the reason why the admonition to forgive has the weight of a commandment—is this: God has acknowledged every offense—every sin—big or small, that any of us have committed throughout our lifetime; and when we have come before him in humility and sincerity of heart and asked forgiveness, he has forgiven them.  Not because he is compelled to forgive, mind you, but rather because he wants to forgive.  He chooses this both out of his love for each of us, but also because, as Our Father, he desires to give us the example of how we are to treat one another.  Thus, the parable in which a man is called to reckon for his enormous debt (some say that it was as much as $60 million in today’s money), but who is then forgiven of it when he begs his master’s mercy, and who then fails to show mercy to one who owes him a paltry amount, in comparison (maybe $100).  This offense is not missed by the master who then rescinds his forgiveness and sends the man to prison until his whole debt can be paid.  (Think about that for a minute: how long would you have to work washing dishes at minimum wage to pay off $60 million of debt?)

Friends, we should not get lost in the very practical nature of this parable.  Jesus is talking about mercy in worldly affairs, for sure.  The parable, however, is meant to demonstrate to us a vision of the final judgment.  All of us have racked up an enormous debt with God because of our sins.  Nonetheless, God forgives us when we turn to him and seek forgiveness (especially in the sacrament of reconciliation).  If we, then, fail to forgive the offenses of others against us (which are tiny in comparison to the ways that we have offended God), God will judge us for our lack of mercy and in turn rescind his forgiveness: sending us to a place where we will suffer until that debt is fully paid.  This place is hell and eternity is the length of time that we will need to pay the debt.

Forgiveness, therefore, is not about appearing nice—or worse yet, soft and weak—but rather about the eternal destination of our souls!  We forgive because of our gratefulness for having been forgiven and because this way of mercy is the way of the kingdom of heaven which we, as disciples of Jesus, have been tasked to proclaim to the world!  You know, everyone is out there looking for and claiming solutions to all of the strife that afflicts our world today.  I hear very few persons, if any, saying that the way out of this strife is to forgive others their offenses.  Well, let me be one who says it: there will be no way out of the strife and enmity that are embroiling our society today unless we can look at our neighbor and say: “What you did hurt me, but I forgive you.  If there is anything that I have done to hurt you, I am sorry and I beg your forgiveness.”  You and I must take personal responsibility to do this or we will never see this societal strife come to an end.

“But Father, that’s not fair!”  You’re right, it’s not fair if you’re only thinking in worldly terms.  Strict natural justice says, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth”.  Do not forget the words of Sirach, however: “Remember your last days, set enmity aside; remember death and decay, and cease from sin!”  In other words, “Pay attention to what is beyond this world and live according to those consequences, not the ones of this world.”  In the world beyond this one, we will be shown mercy to the extent that we showed mercy.  If we want unlimited mercy, then we must be unlimited in the mercy that we show to others here and now.  “But Father, won’t the wicked then prevail?”  Maybe so, but in this world only, while our souls will be preserved for eternal life.

This week and last, we’ve been treated to lessons on a number of the “spiritual works of mercy”.  Last week, Jesus gave us a very practical example of how, with great love, to perform the work of “admonishing the sinner”.  This week, he is showing us the consequences of failing to perform the works of “forgiving offenses” and “bearing wrongs patiently”.  While these negative consequences are to be avoided, there are, nonetheless, positive outcomes, too.  For when we forgive offenses and bear wrongs patiently, we, in a sense, absorb the spirit of wickedness in the world and take away its energy. 

Here’s what I mean: We all remember the “super-bouncy balls” right?  When you bounce one of these balls in a small room with nothing in it but walls, what happens?  It loses very little of its energy as it ricochets off walls repeatedly, perhaps even bouncing back and hitting you, the one who gave it its energy in the first place!  If there are some soft surfaces in there, however (an overstuffed couch or chair with pillows, let’s say) and the ball hits one of those things, then what happens?  The ball’s energy is absorbed, and it stops bouncing all together.  This is the effect of the spiritual works of mercy on evil and wickedness in the world.  As long as we resist them, trying to “fight fire with fire”, we become like hard surfaces off of which the energy of the evil and wickedness bounce and ricochet back into the world.  If we bear them patiently and offer ready forgiveness, however, we become those soft surfaces in the room which absorb their energy so as to end their destructive chaos.

Is this the way that the world proposes to solve our problems?  Nope.  Will we be mocked for proposing this as the way?  Absolutely, yes.  Does that change the fact that we are called to live and proclaim it?  Not one bit.  Friends, the fact that you are here at Mass demonstrates to me that you get this, at least implicitly.  For what we celebrate here is the ultimate fulfillment of all that I just explained: Jesus took the full brunt of force that human wickedness and evil could bring forth in his passion and he absorbed it so that the full force of the grace of God could be poured forth into the world again.  As members of his Body, we are called to continue this work of absorbing the world’s wickedness and pouring forth grace in its place so that the full flourishing of God’s kingdom can be made manifest in our time.

Only in Christ can we do this; and so, as we come forward to receive him today, let us open our hearts and minds to be filled with his strength and courage, so that we might be greater instruments of his mercy in the world.

Given at St. Mary Parish: Union City, IN – September 12^th, 2020

Given at St. Joseph Parish: Winchester, IN – September 13^th, 2020

Given at Immaculate Conception Parish: Portland, IN – September 13^th, 2020

No estoy bien y tampoco estás bien

 Homilía: 23º Domingo en el Tiempo Ordinario – Ciclo A

Existe una cierta idea común a nuestro tiempo presente en la que se anima a las personas a aceptar la forma en que son. Esta no es una mala idea, por supuesto. Muchas personas sufren de angustia psicológica porque no pueden aceptar que quienes se ven a sí mismos no coinciden con lo que la sociedad promueve como el "ideal". Por lo tanto, aceptar la forma en que eres es algo saludable. Esta idea va más allá de eso, sin embargo, a un lugar que en realidad es algo insalubre. Básicamente, lo que esta idea promueve por completo es la noción de que estoy bien tal como soy y que, si te sientes cómodo con tu forma de ser, también estás bien. En la superficie, tiene la intención de promover la armonía entre nosotros: "No te criticaré si no me críticas a mí, ¿okay?" (Porque todos sabemos que no es agradable criticar a alguien, ¿verdad?) Y es la aceptación de lo que propone esta idea lo que promueve el tipo de pensamiento que nos lleva a decir cosas como: "¿Quién soy yo para criticarlo?" o (en el otro lado) "¿Quién es ella para criticarme?"

Por supuesto, todos sabemos que nuestra compulsión por hacer juicios sobre la forma en que la gente actúa o las cosas que la gente dice no es algo que podamos apagar, como un interruptor. Más bien, es algo muy natural para nosotros, porque nuestra razón busca constantemente dar sentido a las cosas que suceden a nuestro alrededor. Y así, cuando nos convencemos a nosotros mismos de que está mal criticar a la gente abiertamente, encontramos que terminamos criticando a la gente de manera encubierta; a través del chisme (y nos encanta el chisme, ¿verdad?), comportamiento pasivo-agresivo y guardar rencor. Esto es lo que la sociedad nos dice que debemos hacer. Guarde nuestros juicios y críticas para nosotros mismos, o al menos no los haga públicos. Pero, ¿qué tiene Dios que decir al respecto? Creo que nuestras Escrituras de hoy nos lo muestran.

A lo largo del Antiguo Testamento, vemos que Dios nombró profetas para que sean aquellas personas que nuestra sociedad moderna nos dice que no deberíamos ser: el que critica abiertamente las acciones de la gente, que declara ciertas acciones como malas y llama a los malhechores al arrepentimiento. En resumen, un profeta de Dios es alguien que molesta a aquellos que se sienten cómodos con su maldad. Como suele ocurrir cuando Dios llamó a sus profetas, la primera reacción de Ezequiel fue muy similar a la reacción que solemos dar hoy: "¿Quién soy yo para criticar?" Y Dios le respondió como les respondió a todos los demás profetas: “Tú eres el que yo he designado. Por tanto, irás y les hablarás lo que has oído de mí”. Dios agrega a Ezequiel una declaración que deja en claro las consecuencias de la responsabilidad que le está dando: “Irás y les dirás estas palabras. Si no lo hagas, será responsable de su culpabilidad". Y entonces vemos que, en la antigüedad, Dios llamó a algunos a ser responsables de llamar a su pueblo al arrepentimiento.

Luego, en la lectura del Evangelio, vemos a Jesús revisando este principio. Jesús, que vino a redimirnos del pecado y a proclamar la venida del reino de Dios, nos enseña que, en este reino, cada uno de nosotros es responsable unos de otros. Por lo tanto, dice, "Si tu hermano comete un pecado, ve y amonéstalo a solas". En otras palabras, no espere a que alguien más lo corrija, sino acuda a él usted mismo. Así debe ser en el reino de Dios. ¿Pero cómo? Bueno, no es frecuente en los Evangelios que se registra que Jesús haya dado instrucciones específicas sobre cómo lograr algo; pero reconciliarse unos con otros es tan importante para la edificación del reino de Dios que aquí se registran las enseñanzas de Jesús sobre este tema.

Primero dice "ve y amonéstalo a solas". En otras palabras, no lo hagas como un espectáculo (y, por el amor de Dios, no hagas chismes al respecto), ve al que ha pecado contra ti y cuéntale cómo te lastimó con lo que hizo. Fíjate, él tampoco dice que lo ignores; porque ignorarlo deja a tu hermano en el pecado; y, como Ezequiel, si dejamos a nuestro hermano en el pecado y no decimos nada, entonces su culpa se vuelve nuestra también.

Si eso no funciona, enseña Jesús, entonces traiga a uno o dos más para hablar con él. En otras palabras, traiga un "tercero objetivo" que pueda reforzar su amonestación a su hermano y, con suerte, llevarlo al arrepentimiento. Nuevamente, no haga de esto un espectáculo, sino hágalo en privado. Quién sabe, cuando haga esto, puede descubrir que estaba equivocado, lo que puede ayudar a lograr la reconciliación más rápido.

Si eso no funciona, entonces trae a tu hermano a la iglesia, enseña Jesús. Mira, esto todavía no es algo público. Jesús no está diciendo que debamos venir aquí y proclamarlo a la congregación desde el púlpito. Más bien, está diciendo que se lo lleve al pastor y a los líderes respetados de la comunidad; porque tal vez tu hermano los escuche.

Finalmente, si todo lo demás falla, Jesús dice, "apártate de él como de un pagano o de un publicano". Bueno, sé que esto puede parecer duro, porque en otras partes de las Escrituras, los paganos y los publicanos son despreciados y maltratados, pero recuerde cómo trató Jesús a los paganos y a los publicanos: los trató como personas cuyo pecado era claro, pero a quienes, sin embargo, amaba y deseaba ver llegar al arrepentimiento. De ahí su amonestación sobre la oración. Si lo trataras como yo trataría a un pagano o a un publicano, es decir, con amor, orarás por él y por su conversión. Y cuando dos de ustedes estén de acuerdo en orar por su conversión, entonces yo estaré allí con ustedes y nuestro Padre que está en los cielos les concederá lo que oren. Esta es una noción radicalmente diferente a la que nos enseña la sociedad, ¿verdad?

Y ahora vemos que la idea de que "yo estoy bien y tú estás bien" es evidentemente falsa. Sabemos que hay formas de vida "correctas" e "incorrectas" y que, la mayoría de las veces, no estamos bien. Lo que no necesitamos es que nos dejen solos para que nos sintamos cómodos viviendo en nuestros errores. Lo que necesitamos son personas que nos amen lo suficiente para decirnos cuando estamos haciendo mal para ayudarnos a estar bien. Y necesitamos ser esas personas para los demás.

“Sí, padre, pero yo también soy un pecador. Entonces, ¿quién soy yo para juzgar? ¿Quién eres tú? ¡Eres cristiano! ¡Y tienes el Espíritu Santo de Dios viviendo dentro de ti! Cuando fue bautizado, fue bautizado en Cristo, que es sacerdote, profeta y rey. Por tanto, eres un profeta; y por lo tanto, como Ezequiel, estás obligado a hablar las palabras que el Espíritu de Dios te da para hablar. A través del bautismo Dios nos ha llamado a cada uno de nosotros a ser responsables unos de otros, en la caridad. ¿Y cuál es la vía caritativa? El camino que Jesús nos presenta en la lectura del Evangelio de hoy.

Hermanos y hermanas, si de verdad queremos lo que Jesús quiere, es decir, ser una familia de amor que haga presente su reino venidero en la tierra, entonces debemos asumir la tarea de ser responsables unos de otros como Jesús nos ha enseñado. Y esto es difícil, porque el amor es difícil. Sin embargo, fortalecidos por el amor que Jesús derramó en la cruz, el amor que recibimos de este altar, podemos hacerlo. Por eso, tomemos valor para que la obra de amor de Dios se cumpla en cada uno de nosotros.

Dado en la parroquia de Nuestra Señora de la Gracia: Noblesville, IN

6 de septiembre, 2020

The outrage culture and the kingdom of God

 Homily: 23^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle A

Friends, one of the things that has disturbed me over these past few years and especially in these most recent months has been the development of what many have called the “outrage culture”.  This means exactly what it sounds like it means, of course: that a “culture of outrage” has developed among us in which the primary way that we interact with each other and attempt to solve our problems is by becoming outraged whenever someone says or does something that we don’t like.  It has become tolerable to become outraged, in other words, and we are reaping the results of this in places where extreme tolerance of this has led to ongoing, violent demonstrations.

Before I go any further, I’d like to say that I am not attempting to diminish any of the issues about which people are upset.  Some of these are things that people ought to be upset about.  What disturbs me is not that people get upset (we’re human, with unique personalities, and we’re bound to rub each other the wrong way or even treat each other poorly from time to time); what disturbs me is that people immediately go from “upset” to “outrage” and that this type of behavior is something that we’ve not only tolerated, but have given approval to in greater society.

This, of course, is really surprising because of the hypocrisy of it all.  One of the characteristic features of the “outrage culture” is that those who have become outraged tend to make loud, public pronouncements about their outrage seemingly seeking to shame the ones through whom they became upset into retracting or modifying their statements and actions.  This is hypocritical because these are essentially bully tactics and if you ask anyone whether or not bullying is an acceptable behavior among young people, the answer, of course, is a resounding “no”.  Nonetheless, the “outrage culture”, which seems to thrive on bullying, continues to grow stronger.

But this is not the way that Jesus showed us as the way to resolve our differences, right?  Certainly, Jesus spoke very strongly at times when necessary in order to confront those who were in the wrong.  Just look at his interaction with Peter last Sunday.  Peter tried to rebuke Jesus when he claimed that he must go to Jerusalem to suffer and die and Jesus strongly corrected him (it was no small thing to call him “Satan”!).  But what Jesus didn’t do, was go onto Facebook, Twitter, or his Podcast to continually blast Peter so as to shame and discredit him, too.  Those things are things that you do to an enemy, whom you wish to destroy, not to one with whom you have a relationship.

What Jesus instructs his disciples to do when one of their brethren needs to be corrected is a very practical course in how to do the spiritual work of mercy of “admonishing the sinner”.  He instructs his disciples in this way not because it is the most effective way (although it certainly can be the most effective), nor because it is the most efficient (it certainly isn’t), but rather because it is the most loving way to correct someone and to call him/her to conversion.  Even when the process gets to the end and the disciple is instructed to “treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector”, there is love there; because love desires the good for the other and the suffering of being separated from the community of believers, while not in itself good, is meant to soften his/her heart so that he/she might see the wrong of his/her actions and finally repent of them and seek reconciliation.

This is the function of excommunication in the Church: to create a painful situation that calls the person in error to repentance so that he/she might not be lost to sin, but rather restored to the grace of God.  Ignoring the error of the person and acting as if nothing is wrong is a very un-loving thing to do, since that person will be judged by God for persisting in this error and, as God revealed to the prophet Ezekiel, we will be held responsible for that judgment for not striving to correct him/her and, thus, suffer the same punishment.

The outrage culture doesn’t allow for this kind of loving work to happen.  Rather, it immediately sets up one person against another (or one group against another group) and says, “We are at war”.  In that situation, there can be no dialogue between persons or groups, but only bloodshed (either virtual or real).  But this is not the way of the kingdom.  Rather, the way of the kingdom of God is the way of communion and dialogue—the way that begins with each and every one of us looking at every other human being and saying: “You are my brother/my sister, and, therefore, it is never ‘me vs you’, but rather ‘me for you’ and ‘you for me’”  This is the way Jesus spells out for us and it is the way to which Pope Francis has been calling us over these last years.

In this way of dialogue, it is not expected that we will agree on everything.  It’s not even guaranteed that we won’t be insulted or have our feelings hurt!  But even in the midst of these disagreements and occasional insults, if we can stay engaged with each other in dialogue that seeks communion, we will find a way forward that will lead to greater harmony and respect for all.  This means becoming vulnerable: that is, exposing ourselves to uncomfortable confrontation and to the possibility that we may be wrong about something or that we may need to give up a stance that we hold dear.  Have you tried to do that recently?  I don’t care who you are, that is not an easy thing to do!  But if I have the love of God in my heart for the other person, then I’m going to do the hard thing, because I know that it will be good for him/her.  Please let me be the first in here to say that I fail at this regularly and I pray for God’s mercy for each time that I failed to “admonish the sinner” when I had the chance.  My regular failures, though, do not change the fact that I am continually called to do this good work (and God certainly continues to give me plenty of opportunities to do it).

Friends, perhaps I’ll close with an attempt to give you one thing to pay attention to this week and beyond with which you might challenge yourself.  One of the ways that we excuse ourselves from this necessary work of mercy and instead give in to the “outrage culture” is to be dismissive.  By this, I mean that we look at someone’s behavior and dismiss it as “Just the way that person is”, or worse as “Just the way those people are”.  I urge you to pay attention this week to how often you are dismissive of others in this way.  Whenever you are tempted to dismiss another person, out of hand, pause and say to yourself, “That person is a child of God, just like me. I wonder if there is something that I can do to help correct the error I perceive.”  If that person is someone in your community, perhaps God will challenge you to engage that person in dialogue and confront the issue directly.  If that person is outside of your community (someone you see in the news, for example), perhaps then all you’ll be able to do is to pray and fast for him/her.  Both are acts of love towards that person, which can bring forth his/her conversion, true.  But even the very act of striving against being dismissive is an act of love and so that is why I am urging you to start there.

My brothers and sisters, God is never dismissive of us.  He does not delight in seeing a sinner face his/her particular judgment without repentance.  Rather, he always desires our conversion and he has made us infinitely capable of turning away from sin and back to grace.  He sent his Son to redeem us in order to prove to us this truth and the Eucharist that we celebrate is both the reminder and the re-presentation of that proof to us.  Strengthened by what we receive today, let us work to counteract the “outrage culture” among us and strive instead to build a culture of mutual respect and fraternity in which we challenge and support one another “to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect”, so that the kingdom of God—the only kingdom that can bring true peace to us—might continue to manifest itself among us.

Given at St. Mary Church: Muncie, IN – September 5^th, 2020

Given at Our Lady of Grace Church: Noblesville, IN – September 6^th, 2020