Buen Camino

 Unfulfilled Goal - Walk the Camino

I love to hike, wander and explore - so it should come as no surprise that one of my unfulfilled goals in life is to take a summer and walk the Camino de Compostela in Spain - which is an ancient pilgrimage route across the Pyrenees Mountains to the tomb of St. James.  

Credencial - Passport - Waypoints on your journey

To walk the Camino you obtain a “Credencial” - a Pilgrim’s passport that is stamped by the various places that one stays along the way.  It is like a passport that is a record of your journey.  The Credencial identifies you as a pilgrim, someone on the way.  The invitation to live in the Kingdom of God is an invitation to live ordinary life in an extraordinary way.

Camino - Blending of Adventure and Faith

I first learned of the Camino when I saw the movie “The Way” which is the story of a father (Tom) who travels to Europe to bring home the body of his son, and decides to take up the way so his son can complete the way.  As he goes from town to town Tom is encouraged by others whom he meets who wish him a “Buen Camino” - which means something like “May you have a good (i.e. blessed) journey.  

Describing the kingdom vs Showing the kingdom

In the Gospel of Mark the parables that we hear today how Jesus describes what the Kingdom of God is like.  For the most part, up until this point in the Gospel Christ has been showing others the fruits of the Kingdom of God - He frees people from demonic slavery, he heals them and he calls them to follow Him, He invites them to an adventure of faith.

The Kingdom of God is a life of faith

You will not fully understand how it works, but you know what to do, how to act and then trust that God is pouring His grace into your life.  That is why he likens it to the farmer who plants the seed and then watches the effect in our lives.  

• At first the seed lies “dead” in the earth.  Your faith might not yet feel effective - but God’s grace is at work 

• then a shoot springs up, 

• then the ear forms, 

• then the seed forms in the ear 

• then the ear is harvested and the faith that you have been given is to nourish those around you.

Christs plan to evangelize the world

Wrapped up in this parable is Christ’s plan to evangelize the world - he will share his faith with those who have the chance to know him, and to know the father through him - then generation after generation that faith is passed on - from parent to child and from child to grandchild.  Each generation when they die (are harvested), the witness of their relationship with God inspires (feeds) the next generation.

The seed is planted at Baptism and grows as we grow

The seed is planted in our lives at our baptism - which is the sacrament of faith.  It is nourished in our lives by experiences of faith - either in the sacraments, in prayer, or experiences and gradually, across the duration of our life our faith matures, ripens, and becomes stronger. How that works is a bit of a mystery - that it works is clearly true - the fact that we are here today - worshiping God is witness to the kingdom of God being lived out throughout time.

Live by Faith - Not by Sight

In the second reading St. Paul admonishes us to “Live by Faith and not by Sight”.  This is his way of inviting us to live in the kingdom of God.  To live by faith is to live in the kingdom of God, to strive for communion with Christ and to imitate his love in all of our actions.   To live by sight is to simply live in the world - eat, sleep, work, repeat.  St. Paul uses this analogy to live only by what is clearly before you not seeing the deeper reality that the spiritual life calls us to.  

We live in a world of 3 cults

In many ways our culture today lives by sight - we have the “Cult of Fitness” - where the focus is you have only one life, optimize fitness at the expense of everything else.  We have the “Cult of Beauty” which idolizes the most beautiful, and if you were not created to be that way, you can pay a surgeon who can “fix” that.  We live in the “Cult of Celebrity” where we seek out fame, and the adoration of people who want to aspire to be an idol for others.  One of the impacts of social media is to permeate our lives with these ideas - 24 x 7 x 365.  

Yet, fitness fails, as we all grow old and die, we are not going to be very fit in the grave, and beauty fades, as we grow older, age takes a toll on our looks, and celebrity is fleeting, and eventually we will be forgotten.  These “Idols” do not last, they do not satisfy, and in a certain way they are empty.  That is what it means to live by sight.

Reject the cults - Have Courage

Paul calls us to “have courage”, to live by faith, to know that God is using all of the events of our lives to help us to understand and know His love.  This is what it means to live in the Kingdom of God - to know God’s love and to allow our experience of that love to strengthen us, shape us and through us to invite others into that same kingdom.

The Examen - ask when did I Live by sight? Live by Faith?

We choose to live in the kingdom of God when we recognize temptation in our lives and ask Him for the grace to overcome it, or when we ask Him for the grace to forgive us.  This is why daily recollection and frequent confession is one of the ways that we can choose to live in the kingdom of God.  St. Ignatius invited his brothers to make an examen at the end of each day to understand where in their day they “lived by sight” and in which moments we “lived by faith”.  The way it works is that at the end of the day you take some quiet time to reflect over the events of that day, asking the Holy Spirit to point out to you the times when you failed, fell into sin, or “lived by sight”.  You also ask the Holy Spirit to point out to you the moments in which you “lived by faith” and saw the witness of God’s love for you in your life.  

Making this a daily habit helps us to see the many ways in which God sends us His Grace.  It also makes receiving absolution at the foot of the cross in confession easy - because we are well aware of the ways the devil tries to incite us to defect and leave the kingdom of God.

God’s permissive will governs all - he brings good out of evil

There is a second part to this mystery of the Kingdom of God - and that is a profound trust that God’s purpose is found, not only in the good and joyful moments, but also in the difficult and painful moments of our lives.  The prophet Ezekiel speaks of this with his parable about the Cedar tree, that God will pluck and plant on the highest of mountains so that all trees will know that it is God who

bring low the high tree,

lift high the lowly tree,

wither up the green tree,

and make the withered tree bloom.

Our lives go from periods of consolation, to periods of desolation which are periods of growth and periods in which we are fallow.  The trick is to recognize them and to know (by faith) that God is working through both times.  After all, Christ made it clear that if we want to be His disciples we need to be willing to pick up our crosses and follow him.  The cross is never easy, and often brings us low and withers our life - just as the cross did with Christ.

The kingdom of God has the view that Death is not the end

But we know by faith, and by the witness of the Apostles that this was not the end for Christ, and is not the end for us.  That He was raised from the dead and conquered death.  In the same way too, our periods of desolation are necessary for us to grow in faith and in our relationship with God.  They are needed for us to be able to live more fully in the Kingdom of God.

The Kingdom of God is like a Mustard Seed - Who is the rock of your life?

That brings us to the second parable about the kingdom of God - it is like a Mustard Seed, that is the smallest, most insignificant, most unnoticed of seeds.  If it is allowed to flourish it becomes the greatest of bushes, and all the birds of the air find their home in its branches.  Think about your family or the ones who have brought you the faith - who is the one in your family who is like a mustard seed, whose faith encompasses everyone in the family, and invites you to live in the Kingdom of God?  That is the sign of faith well lived - not publicly, but quietly, faithfully, persistently.  God loves that and blesses it to become an abundant faith.

Christ invites to the adventure of the Camino

This is the invitation of the Gospel today - Christ invites us to choose to live in the Kingdom of God.  Christ invites us to the adventure of the “Camino”, the way in which through our journey to meet the Lord.  We willingly embrace the kingdom of heaven with its joys and struggles because we know it leads us to a beautiful place - where we will be immersed in the love of God.

Buen Camino!

Three Mountains

Feast of the Transfiguration

Why Do I Climb Mountains?

As many of you know, I love the wilderness and mountain climbing.  The feast today has challenged me to examine the question – Why do I climb mountains?

·     I climb mountains because I like the perspective from the top.  It changes your outlook on the world.

·     I climb mountains to find solitude with God.

·     I climb mountains because it is hard.  My friends and I enjoy the challenge.

·     I climb mountains to encounter nature –it’s beauty and ruggedness, nature that is raw, unruly and untamed.

·     I climb mountains to know that I am alive - it is not simulated or fake – it is creation at it’s best.

The Three Mountains of Scripture

There are 3 Mountains in scripture related to the Feast today.  Tabor – the Mount of the Transfiguration, Calvary – The Mount of the Crucifixion and Olivet – the Mount of the Ascension.

·     Tabor shows us the Glory of God, and teaches us that God comes to touch us.

·     Calvary shows us the Love of God, and teaches us that God can heal us from our sin.

·     Olivet teaches us the Reality of Heaven, it teaches us about our final destiny.

Fortunately, we cannot skip from mountaintop to mountain top, rather we need to descend into the valleys and then toil our way back to the top of the next peak.  Let’s examine the Gospel to see how Jesus climbs.

How Does Jesus Climb Mountains?

Jesus took Peter, James and John and climbed up a high mountain to be alone… 

Do not climb alone

The first thing that we notice in the Gospel today is that Jesus does not climb alone.  Climbing alone can be a bad idea, because if we get into trouble we have no one to help us.  Jesus brings along Peter, James and John to the top of Tabor because he wants them to experience the fullness of the Father’s Glory together – in community.

Am I climbing alone?  Time for community

For this reason Christ established the Church – that we journey together.  Who is in my Church?  Who is in the group that I can have those authentic faith-filled discussions with – my friends who share my faith and challenge me in my journey.  Is that my family?  Are these my friends?  Where do I find my companions for the journey?

Who do they encounter on the way?  Moses and Elijah

While they are on the way Jesus, Peter, James and John encounter Moses and Elijah.  They are conversing with Christ about the next mountain that Christ would climb – Calvary. 

Moses represents the Law – that is knowing how to be in relationship with God.  Elijah represents the Prophets – Knowing how to act out of our relationship with God.  These two men show us how to have an authentic relationship with God, and how to live out of that relationship.  It is a kinetic experience – it is moving and flowing and transforming.

Peter wants to memorialize this into the tabernacles.  He wants to get caught up in the here and now – yet Jesus reminds him that it is a journey that we are called to.

Then we encounter the presence of God the Father.

When I was younger I climbed Mount Massive, the second highest peak in Colorado.  We made it to the top on a windy and cloudy day.  While we were atop the mountain, looking off to the north west a cloud was blown up and onto the top of the mountain.  We were enshrouded in fog and the vast vista was cloaked in mystery.  After a minute or two a hole opened up in the sky and the sun shone down onto the cloud that we were in – atop the mountain and the fog was transformed into this curtain of dazzling bright white light.  It was as if we were trapped inside of a sun beam.  Everything was illuminated.

I imagine that this was the kind of experience that Peter, James and John had when the Father spoke to them atop Mt. Tabor – they found themselves wrapped in the presence of God the Father.  That presence can be terrifying because it illuminates the reality of where we are and where we are in our relationship with God.

Mount Calvary - Sin separates us from God. 

Our sin becomes like a mountain that divides us from God.  Our sin is why Jesus needs to go from Tabor to Calvary – to die to conquer the mountain of our Sin.  In the Psalm today the psalmist prays.  “The mountains melt like wax before the LORD, before the LORD of all the earth. The heavens proclaim his justice, and all peoples see his glory.”, and later on he prays “Because you, O LORD, are the Most High over all the earth, exalted far above all gods.” 

When we harden our hearts with sin they become like mountains of rock that block us from the love of God, and when we choose to sin we make ourselves god in place of God – and yet when we have the opportunity to experience the Transfiguration like Peter, James and John the presence of God melts the mountains of our sin and we recognize the reality of God.  This is an experience of humility.

Jesus comes with a healing touch to cure our sinfulness

In the depths of their sin it is Christ who reaches out and touches them.  It is a human, a physical interaction that Christ performs to draw Peter, James and John out of the terror of the moment so that they can resume the journey with Him.

We experience the touch of Christ here in this liturgy tonight – He touches our ears when His word is proclaimed in the Mass.  He touches our hearts when we receive Him in the Holy Eucharist.  He calls us to touch others as we go out into the world this week to live out this Gospel.  Take a moment during this Mass and allow Christ to touch you.

Mount Olivet

After Calvary, Christ is raised from the dead and then leads the Church to Olivet – the Mount of the Ascension.  It is at Mount Olivet that we learn that Christ takes our Humanity into the fullness of the Divinity.  This is expressed in the vision from Daniel in the first reading today.  Here comes the Son of Man on the clouds of heaven he received dominion, glory, and kingship.  All things enter under the providence of God – the Truth of who we are, our sin is subjugated and we enter into life with God for eternity – it is the ultimate goal that we are created for, and that we strive for.

Why am I Catholic

I am Catholic for many of the same reasons that I climb mountains –

• I desire a better perspective on life. 
• I have fallen in love with the beauty of divinity.
• I thrive on the Challenge to become a better man, a better person.
• I love to work to grow closer to God – In Prayer, in my actions, in my deeds.
• I am Catholic because I love the community – Like Peter, James and John I am not alone, but I have Brothers and Sisters who climb with me.
• I am Catholic because I realize in my encounter with God that He is wild, unruly, untamed.  There is a rawness to the reality of God that energizes and inspires me.  Like Peter I can say that God is reality and not simulation, and the encounters that I have had with God inspire me to become more connected to Him in His totality.

Contradictions

The Gospel today is filled with Contradictions

• What is hidden from the wise is revealed to the little ones
• The King Comes to You
• The Flesh is Death, the Spirit is Life
• Take on my yoke - because it is easy

How are we to take this into our hearts and live it out in our lives this week?

What is hidden from the wise is revealed in these little ones.

No one comes to the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him to.

We are the Body of Christ - We are Christ in the world today - it is through His disciples that Christ is revealed.

• How do we share Christ with those around us?  Are we willing to share our encounters with Him with others?
• Do we choose to encounter Christ in our daily lives?  Not just on Sundays, but Monday through Saturday?
• When we receive Christ in the Eucharist do we allow that encounter to transform us?

Yet - realize that as the disciples of Jesus Christ - we are the ones that the Son has commissioned to share the love of the Father with the world.  When we share our encounter with Christ with others in our lives, then we are sharing in the mission of Christ - Revealing the Love of the Father to His little ones.

The King comes to Us - In a normal world I need to go to the King
This is the second contradiction of the scriptures today.  In a "normal" world when we had trouble we would have to go to the King, and bribe palace officials for an audience or wait for days for the King to hear our case and then to receive his judgment.  Yet the Prophet Zechariah uses this imagery of the King coming to seek us - not with a royal procession, guards, and important people, but meek and humble, riding on the colt of an ass - a beast so small and fragile that it needs gentleness and tenderness.

The image of the King coming to help us is the image of a Father coming to the aid of a hurt child.  Perhaps he fell down and skinned his knee?  How would a loving Father respond?  Perhaps he is sick with the flu, then instead of being imperious, he would scoop his child up and place him in his own bed to get better.  Bring him Soup, crackers and care for him in his sickness.  This is the kind of King that Zechariah shows us.

The Humility that Christ has clothed himself shows up in another contradiction - the contradiction of the Flesh and the Spirit.

Christ comes to us clothed in humility.  His grace, his Spirit is like water - it is the gentlest of forces, and yet the most trans-formative of forces on the earth.  Water shapes rock, it transforms mountains, it provides life.

The Spirit versus the Flesh.  We are creatures of the Flesh yet we are also creatures of the Spirit.

That water is seeking to free us from our attachments to unclean things (to sin).  Zechariah speaks of this as the king and his kingdom coming to rid us of the weapons of war.

When I joined the Navy, I did not know how to swim.  You think that this would be an important thing for someone who might be sent away on a ship thousands of miles from the shore. In boot camp they threw us all in a pool to see who could swim.  If you couldn't, you'd thrash yourself to the side of the pool, and be assigned to the remedial swim lessons.

When we got to the swim lessons, they taught us to relax in the water, and to open up our lungs, to use our arms and legs so we could actually stay afloat.

This is an analogy for the third contradiction that shows up in the reading from St. Paul to the Romans - If you live according to the flesh you will die, but if you live according to the Spirit you will live.

Another way to think about this is how am I living - selfishly (according to the Flesh) or selflessly (according to the Spirit).

Am I spiritually downing and trashing because my arms are busy holding onto those things that lead me to Sin or am I swimming because I reaching out to live according to the Spirit.

Selfishness occurs in every sin - When I choose myself, my pleasure, my gratification, my satisfaction over God or another.

When I am busy grabbing or holding onto stuff that is for me, then I can't stay afloat (spiritually) and so I will drown.

On the other hand if I let go of the crutches that Christ is trying to free me from - from my attachment to sin then I am free to help others and to live truly according to the spirit.

This brings us to the final contradiction

My Yoke is Easy and my Burden is Light.

A Yoke is a big hunk of wood that we put on the neck of an oxen when we want to tie them to a plow and do some work - prepare a field for planting.

A Yoke, to our world today looks like an instrument of enslavement.  You are no longer free to do what you want, but you need to do what God asks.
How many of us have had to answer questions - or complaints against Christians - If you become a Christian, if you become married then you are no longer free to do what you want.

God gave us the gift of freedom in order to choose to love Him, not to do what we want - that is selfishness.  Christ invites us to take up his yoke, to allow our lives to become productive.  To prepare the soil for planting, that our sacrifice and selflessness becomes fruit for others to come to eternal life.

The Yoke is to live the Beatitudes - the commandments of Christ.  If we focus our lives to following Christ, to being his disciples then it becomes possible for Christ to transform not only us but those around us.  We then begin to respond to the grace of God that surrounds us like water and to live according to the spirit rather than according to the flesh.

• Blessed are the poor in spirit,
• Blessed are they who mourn,
• Blessed are the meek,
• Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
• Blessed are the merciful,
• Blessed are the clean of heart,
• Blessed are the peacemakers,
• Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,

Come to me all you who are labor and are burdened (with Sin) - put my Yoke upon you (live the beatitudes) for I am gentle (like a father to a sick child) and humble of heart (like water).  And you will find rest for yourselves (because you will no longer have to flee the effects of Sin).  For my Yoke is easy and my burden light (for you to illuminate to the world)...