Hebrew Country Music

27th Sunday Ordinary Time – Cycle A

Is 5:1-7 Psalm Ps 80:9, 12, 13-14, 15-16, 19-20 Phil 4:6-9 Mt 21:33-43

Isaiah the Hebrew Country Singer
When I heard the first reading proclaimed today, I had this image of the Prophet Isaiah appearing in ancient Jerusalem. Just imagine yourself walking down the street in 700BC and coming face to face with this ancient Jewish prophet, standing on a street corner decked out in his prophet robes and great big long beard playing this tune as a one-man band. If we had to put Isaiah’s song to music, what sort of music would it be?

To help us figure that out, let’s listen again to the first reading…

I am singing a song about my vineyard
on a fertile hillside;
with the choicest vines;
a fine watchtower and wine press.

Just Like Country Music – Good and then Disaster
This part of the song would be like a country song, where the singer starts by singing about his wife, his dog and his Chevy truck.

Then he looked for the crop of grapes,
but it yielded wild grapes.

So now we wonder – Why this disaster?
But, then his wife leaves him, his dog gets shot and his truck gets wrecked. The translation we have here speaks of “wild grapes”, but perhaps a more accurate translation might be “stinky grapes”. So, like any good Hebrew country ballad, the singer reflects, “What more could I have done?”

What more was there to do for my vineyard
that I had not done?
Why, when I looked for beautiful, luscious, tasty grapes did I find only stinky, putrid grapes instead?

From Hebrew Country to Fundamentalist Fire and Brimstone
It is at this point in his song that Isaiah turns away from his Hebrew country-western genre and wanders into some “Fire and Brimstone” imagery –

I will let you know what I will do to my vineyard: I will tear down its hedge, break through its wall, and let it be trampled!

Images clash in scripture for a reason
And, now, we are left standing on the corner in Jerusalem before Isaiah the prophet thinking “Huh” – His one-man band show began with a beautiful country ballad, but ended up sounding like some really obnoxious thrash-metal. It’s like combining two foods that should never be put together – say pickles and peanut butter, or wearing a striped shirt with some really obnoxious plaid pants from the 70’s.

We only do this when we want to get peoples attention, and this is Isaiah’s purpose as well.

In the Gospel today, Christ uses this same parable when speaking to the chief priests and the elders of the people, so it is an important parable that the Church has given for us to reflect on today. What is the message?

Call to Conversion – Look at what God has done for us!
The message of this parable is conversion, it begins by reminding us about how blessed we are; that God has so profoundly blessed us in this life. As Isaiah says, He built the vineyard, He planted the FINEST vines, He dug the wine press, He built the watch-tower, He planted the hedge. He did all of this, and then turned it over to us, the tenants.

Think of this vineyard as our souls. God planted in our souls, the FINEST vines, we are after all created in the image and likeness of God. He gave us a fine winepress (Baptism), gave us Guardian Angels to watch over our souls, and gave us a hedge to protect us from sin.

How are we responding to God’s blessings?
How have we responded to God’s blessings? Are our lives producing stinky grapes? What is the fruit of our spiritual lives? Think back over this past week and reflect, seriously reflect; When did I fall into Sin?

[[PAUSE]]

Did I, did we live lives that Christ would be proud of this past week? Did we conduct ourselves in a manner that was worthy of the description – “Christian” – were we Like Christ?

[[PAUSE]]

Parables help us to think objectively about our lives
Jesus and Isaiah used this parable to help people see the difficult things about their own lives. Elsewhere in Scripture Christ reminds us that it is easier for us to see the speck in our brothers eye than to see the beam in our own. That is why he set’s this story in the third person and then asks the people, asks us – “What do you think the master should do after they murdered his Son?”

It’s easy to see the evil and faults of others, It is more challenging to see our own faults. That is the challenge of the Gospel today.

Are we Spiritual Brats?
Another way of asking the question of the Gospel, perhaps a bit more forcefully is – “Are we spiritual brats?”

Do we realize the great gifts that God has given us, or are we behaving like spiritual brats, picking up the precious gifts of grace that God has poured out into our lives and thanklessly throwing them into the corner, while we pursue a life of self-indulgence and sin?

[[PAUSE]]

Spiritual Maturity – the Anti-dote to stinky grapes
Well, the anti-dote to stinky grapes is spiritual maturity. The readings today are inviting us to “grow up” and begin to act as women and men who are followers of Jesus Christ. To combat the sickness of sin that is rampant in our church we can follow the example of St. Clare of Assisi.

Clare of Assisi
St. Clare was the 3rd of 5 children in Assisi in Italy at the end of the 12th century. At a young age she left home and pursued a life of austere poverty in order to focus on her relationship with God. She recognized that certain things in her life (comfort and luxury in her case in particular) were distracting her from caring for her vineyard

I am not encouraging all of us here today to head for the convent or the monastery, but rather to grasp the essence of Clare’s spiritual life and become aware of the factors in our life that distract us from Christ.

Avoid distraction – just tend to the vineyard
Clare was filled with a profound awareness of the greatness of God’s blessing in her life. It wasn’t in what she had, her family, friends, wealth, fine linens. It wasn’t in stuff, but rather it was in relationships – First with God, and her close friends. Clare found that the more she listened to the words of St. Paul in the second reading, the more that she sought after what was “true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, gracious, or excellent” the more profoundly she came to know Jesus Christ and be filled with “the peace of God that surpasses all understanding”.

Awareness of Gods blessings leads to thanksgiving
Clare’s life was filled with thanksgiving to God for the ways that He had shown her his blessings. She found that in her life, pursuing poverty in the convent was the way that she could best recognize the blessings of God, and so return to Him the finest grapes of her love.

The lesson for us is the same, to seek after the ways in which we become most aware of God’s graces in our lives, so that we too can begin to relate to God with thanksgiving. Here are three practical ways to become more thankful this week.

1. Spend time in prayer (Relationship with God)
2. Spend time with someone who needs company, relationship over “communication” – Don’t text when you can call, don’t call when you can visit. Etc.
3. Examine your day before you go to sleep (Recognize God’s blessings in your life). Become aware of the state of your vineyard.

When we stumble, we pay attention to where we are going
St. Paul described Jesus as a “stumbling stone”. In this way he describes an encounter with Christ as an encounter that means to stop us and give us the opportunity to think, and then act on the gifts that God has given to us.

We can reflect back on our sins of this past week, shrug our shoulders and say, well I tried, ho hum. Or, we can begin this by setting our sights on something that is better than a life of sin, to seek out as St. Paul encourages us to seek out “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” Because when we do, we will encounter Christ, and He will become the Corner Stone of our lives, and fill us with “the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

Time for work!

20th Wednesday Ordinary Time – Cycle A

Ez 34:1-11 Psalm Ps 23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6 Mt 20:1-16

What does guilt feel like?
When was the last time that you got caught doing something that filled you with a sense of guilt? Perhaps it was speeding on the highway, or as a kid getting caught in some very wrong behavior. I want you to take some time to think back to that sense of guilt that you felt.

[[PAUSE]]

Shepherds are being called to task
I wanted you to have that experience in mind today, so you could have solidarity with me – this is how I felt when I listened to the first reading this morning because whenever scripture speaks about shepherds our (we bishops, priests and deacons) ears ought to perk up – because God is speaking to us. I don’t know if you caught it, but the prophet Ezekiel did not have very flattering things to say to us, the clergy this morning. It might leave us feeling guilty about the poor ways that we have gone about living out our ministry as shepherds that God has entrusted to us.

All of us have flocks to care for
But we clerics are not the only people here today with a flock to shepherd, because as parents, uncles, aunts, grandparents, we too have those to whom God has entrusted us to shepherd. This means that all of us here ought to experience a certain amount of guilt when we listen to the reading from Ezekiel today.

In truth we cannot dismiss guilt
It is important for us to recognize our own sense of guilt. Modern Psychology has sought to remove the effects of guilt from our lives, because in its wisdom, psychology sees guilt as evil. One of the tools that is often used in this treatment of guilt is that of moral relativism which is the idea is that the truth can be what-ever I make it, so we make justify our behaviors in terms of what we do, and don’t worry about the guilt.

Responding to guilt leads to conversion
The problem with this is that all humans have an innate love of the Truth, and eventually these lies will unravel. Catholics have always viewed guilt as a good thing – because guilt leads us to examine our behavior in the light of the Truth – Jesus Christ. If we have an experience of guilt, then we have an opportunity for conversion, to change our ways.

Taking care of the flock means working in the vineyard
In the Gospel today, Jesus is describing the Kingdom of Heaven in the terms of a Master who is always going out of his vineyard to find new workers to help him in the harvest. It does not matter what the time of day is in our life, God is always coming to us and inviting us to work with Him in His vineyard. The challenge for us workers loafing on the side of the street today is how will we answer his invitation? What work is the Lord calling you and I to do today in His vineyard? How are we called to pasture His sheep?

More than a black cross on your forhead

Ash Wednesday

Jl 2:12-18 – Psalm 51:3-4, 5-6ab, 12-13, 14 and 17 - 2 Cor 5:20—6:2 - Mt 6:1-6, 16-18

Peace Huts Retreat

Before I became a Deacon I helped out at a retreat center on the Colorado Prairie that was called the Peace Huts. The Peace Huts was really a “back-to-basics” kind of place. When I went on retreat we had to use an outhouse, cook on a wood-fired stove and walk a mile one way to fetch water.

Retreating is about getting into the basics of your faith


The beauty of taking a retreat is that they help us to focus on the basics of our faith; our relationship with God, our family and our friends. Taking a spiritual retreat enables us to leave the distractions behind, and to spend time focusing on our relationship with God. We do this with prayer, with listening, with serving one another and with fasting. The fruit of a good spiritual retreat is that it leads us closer to the heart of God.

Lent – The Church on Retreat


Lent is the time when all of us go on retreat. We stop our lives for a moment, so that we can take some time to grow in our relationship with Christ. Ash Wednesday is one of the most popular days of the Church year, because on Ash Wednesday the Church all over the world begins her retreat. Lent is the time when we work at our relationship with God.

Begin with Simplicity – Simplifying your life


When we go on retreat we need to begin in simplicity. Being on retreat means going to a quiet, out of the way place so that we can hear God. For us, for this Lent, it means that we need to take a mental inventory of the busyness in our life so that we can pare it down to what is essential. To help us to do this we begin Lent with fasting, abstaining from meat. Fasting helps us to focus on our prayer life, so that we can listen to Jesus with our heart.

Repent – Change your heart!


During Lent we are called to repent – which means to change your life so that you can fall more deeply in love with God.

Fasting and Abstinence


During Lent the Church calls us to abstain from eating meat on Fridays. (This means that we can only eat vegetables and fish – no chicken, no pork, no steak because eating simple food reminds us to change our lives.

Fasting is a way of quieting our stomach, of reminding our body that the needs of the soul (which will live forever) are more important than the needs of the body. Fasting allows us to listen to God. The first step to listening is ridding yourself of these things that distract you from Him. What is distracting you from God? Television? Video Games? Gambling? Alcohol? Lying? Pornography? Now is the time to change, repent, and make more room for God by trimming away one of the excesses in your life!

Pray All Ways


When we go on retreat we make an effort to spend time praying with God because prayer is an essential element of our relationship with God. We can pray the Rosary, the Psalms, the Scriptures, the Mass, spend time listening, or praising God in song.

Lent too is a time to increase our prayer life – to increase the time we spend with God. During Lent we are encouraged to take time to speak and listen to God. If you don’t know how to do this then come to the Church this Friday night at 6:00 PM for Soup Supper and the Stations of the Cross. We will share a simple meal and then spend time meditating on the Passion of Our Lord. Think of it as watching the Passion of the Christ from within your heart.

Conversion


During Lent it is important to receive the sacrament of penance. There will be time for confession every Wednesday and Thursday night. Many of us have not been to confession for a long time – do not worry – the Father’s here will help you to make a good confession, so that you can be freed from sin. In today’s reading God begs us to return to him with our whole heart – so that we are able to receive His blessing of love and healing.

God will heal your heart


Whenever we take time for a retreat God will heal us – sometimes in a small way, sometimes in a big way. He changes our hearts by stretching them a little. God stretches our hearts by filling with His love, and as a result we end up making more and more room for Him in our lives because we become more and more hungry for His love. The more our heart is filled with God’s love, the easier it is for us to avoid the sin’s that are killing us.

Peace Huts is more than a Burlap Sack – Ash Wednesday is more than a black cross on your forehead!

The retreats that I used to attend at the Peace Huts began with an exercise of simplicity – We would have to empty out the bag that we brought our stuff in and then pack what we NEEDED into a burlap sack. Over the years I learned that going on a retreat is not about packing all of my stuff into a burlap bag and walking out into the middle of the prairie, but rather it is about opening myself up to the possibility of God’s love. Going on a retreat is about setting aside our busy lives for a little while so that we can learn to listen to God. Going on a retreat is about getting rid of those habits that I have that are killing my relationship my creator.

In the same way Ash Wednesday is more than receiving a small black cross on our foreheads – it is about setting aside what we think we need for fasting, acts of charity and penance. Ash Wednesday is about allowing ourselves the opportunity to listen to God. Ash Wednesday is about making a little more room in our hearts with our prayers, our charity and our actions so that we can be filled with the love of God.

No Money, Sack or Sandals

14th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Cycle C
Isaiah 66:10-14c, Psalm 66:1-7,16,20, Gal 6:14-18, Luke 10:1-12, 17-20

[[NEEDS:
Wear Sandals
Backpack
Small Headlamp bag filled with change.]]

Introduction
I thought that it would be useful for us to get into today’s Gospel using what St. Ignatius would call active imagination. To help out with this, I have some stuff back in the Sacristy that I need to get

[[Go to the Sacristy and put on the Pack]]

So, I want to take us back in our imaginations to the time when Jesus sent out the 72 disciples. I imagine that the night before he announced this to his disciples and so early the next morning they gather to go out, and that is where this mornings Gospel starts.

[[Return to the Center of the Church wearing the pack]]
No Money Bag – (Trust God, Enable the Charity / Hospitality of the Neighbor)

But – without a money bag how do I pay for meals?
What will I do when I need a room to stay in?
In this context, money disables the missionary. Without a money bag I am relying on God to provide, and on others to reach out to me in hospitality.

Do I trust God enough to provide for my needs?
Do I trust God to work through others to help me with His work?
The Money Bag is symbolic of my distrust in God, and in God’s invitation to trust him more deeply. What area in my life holds some distrust? Why?

[[Throw the Money Bag at the foot of the Ambo]]

No Sack –

But – it’s not really a sack – it’s a backpack J
Ok, it really is a sack, but I need it to carry all of my stuff. How can I go on a mission without carrying my books, a bedroll, some water, and food?

What is the baggage that Christ is calling me to surrender? How is my stuff getting in the way of my relationship with God?

I must go on this mission unburdened –
By my own self-reliance – remember the money bag – God is in control
Of my own false expectations – That Christ is this conquering hero-messiah
Of my own false judgements of other people.
Of my own hurts – things that only God knows that lie within me. These distort the way I try to understand and represent the truth.
Letting go of my sack means being open to God healing me, and being docile to the direction of His Holy Spirit.

Am I willing to set aside my baggage so that I can carry out the will of the Father? What baggage is Christ calling me to surrender?

[[Take off the pack and place it at the foot of the Ambo]]

Without my pack I am freed of my burdens, I am not burdened – and I am better disposed to receive the grace of God.

No Sandals – In the Holy Land most people went around barefoot at all times. Only the rich and powerful wore sandals.

[[Remove the First Sandal]]
Going without sandals means that I am willingness to set aside my agenda – to live a life of humility. It is a willingness to imitate Christ who came to be with us.

[[Remove the Second Sandal]]
Now we are ready to preach the coming of the Kingdom of God.

The Kingdom of God

What does it mean that the Kingdom of God is at hand?

It means that Christ is at hand – He is coming, He is here – In you and I my dear brothers and sisters for we are the Body of Christ. The Kingdom of God is at hand – Christ will be with each one of us in a few moments when we invite him into our souls, into our houses in Communion.

Christ is the message, he is the messenger, he is the Good News not just with what he says and does, but in his very person.

How do we enter into the Kingdom of God? Through Faith and Conversion.

Faith – When I say Amen to receive the Body of Christ, I am stating that I believe what we believe in the Creed. I am saying that Christ is the Son of God, a real person who took on flesh – and became like us, he lived, was crucified and rose from the dead to lead us into communion with the Father in heaven. This is what St. Paul speaks of in his letter to the Galatians today.

Conversion – Repent – The Kingdom of God is at Hand. What does it mean to repent? It means to see things in a new light, in the light of Faith, rather than by the light of the World. It means to change my minds and to see things rightly. So Repent. Part of how you understand where you are on the road to salvation is by the degree of repentance, conversion that exists in your life. From the very beginning God created us to be free of evil. The healing that the 72 performed were a sign of a deeper spiritual salvation – freedom from sin. Healing in our life invites us to conversion, and little conversions lead to deeper conversion, which lead us into a true sense of liberation and freedom – freedom from Sin, and entrance more fully into the Kingdom of God.

Little Conversions lead to big conversions. For the 72 leaving behind the moneybag (ego), the sack (attachment to things), and the sandals (pride) led to deeper conversion in their own lives, and in the lives of those to whom they were sent.

What decision have I made that Christ is calling me to repent of? What must I change? (SOME SIN EXAMPLES)

What is the Goal of the Kingdom of God?
THE GOAL OF THE KINGDOM IS FORGIVENESS and the Love of Service

The goal of the Kingdom of God is that our relationships are transformed by the Love of Christ. We live in the Kingdom of God when we allow Christ to enter into our relationships through Forgiveness, Love and Service.

Husband and Wife, Father and Son, Mother and Daughter, Friends, Co-Workers, Neighbors and Classmates.

Proclaiming the Kingdom of God means that we allow Christ into our hearts and He transforms our relationships by his love, so that we learn to forgive, and to serve one another.

Who do I need to forgive? Why does Christ teach forgiveness? Vengeance is mine says the Lord. When someone hurts us we have a legitimate rite to judge them. When we forgive we do not deny justice, rather we turn justice over to God who is the definition of Justice. Forgiveness means letting go of the debt – freeing ourselves of the burden and trusting that God will give justice to those who have hurt us.

[[CONCLUSION]]

God is calling each one of us to be laborers for his kingdom, to bring in the harvest. What are you going to do?