Ordinary Living is Sacred Living (Lk 2:22-40)

            Scripture provides very few details about the boyhood and coming of age years of Jesus. We know from scripture that, for the first thirty years of his life—90% of his time on earth—Jesus lived a very ordinary family life with Mary and Joseph.  He grew up in Nazareth where he became strong in spirit and filled with wisdom. From all accounts, we know the young Jesus was not a willful child or a rebellious teen, but was obedient to his parents.  He behaved as he should have.  He did chores around the house.  He studied Scripture as well as his school lessons, and he went to the Temple with his parents at the appropriate times. 

            As he grew older, Jesus worked as a carpenter with Joseph and earned his living as was expected of him. Throughout his life, Jesus never travelled more than 200 miles from his home, even after he began his public ministry.  Jesus experienced a normal growing up process, both physically and mentally, that most everyone goes through.  All of this shows that Jesus placed a great deal of importance on ordinary living.

            The ordinary life of Jesus was holy because he was dedicated to God from the moment of his conception.  In the same way, our ordinary lives are also holy.  Indeed, the feast of the Holy Family shows that ordinary living is sacred living.  We celebrate this feast during the Christmas season, for this is a very holy time of year when family takes on special meaning and importance. 

            We tend to think of family in very traditional terms of mother, father, and children—all of whom reside together in one household and are related by marriage, birth or adoption.  We know the reality is often very different, but we hang on to this ideal because thinking this way keeps us in our comfort zone.

            Jesus makes it clear, however, that our relationship with each other in the household of God is spiritual rather than biological.  He reveals his view of family in a special way when he responds to someone who says to him, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, asking to speak with you.”  Jesus responds with the question, “Who is my mother?  Who are my brothers?  And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers.  For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother’” (Mt 12:47-50).   

            The message is clear.  For Jesus, natural kinship is only “half” the story.  Jesus’ “whole” family includes all those who do the will of his heavenly Father.  With this response, Jesus shows that we are a spiritual family in the household of God, united in ways that enlarge the traditional terms of family.

              In his letter to the Colossians, Paul calls attention to what life in the household of God means in ordinary, practical terms.  According to Paul, we are equal “citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God…For those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God” (Rom 8:14-17). As a result, Paul says we are to put on heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience…bearing with one another and forgiving one another…and above all, we are to put on love (Col 3:12).     

            From this ordinary standpoint, we should experience our own families as safe havens.  Just as the baby Jesus found rescue and safety with his family, we too should find rescue and safety in our families.  Family is the place to find love and acceptance, encouragement and support, freedom from psychological and physical abuse.  Family is where we should find mercy and forgiveness, and a less critical eye than the world brings to bear.  Family is where we can learn genuine love for God and for others.

            Genuine love means taking an active regard for those around us.  And we can do this in very ordinary and yet sacred ways.  We can bring the love of Christ to others in our own families—and in our spiritual family.  Our words and actions can be life-giving and life-affirming.  We can inspire others to search for truth and abandon old, destructive ways.  We can be open to all people, especially the foreigner and the stranger.  Sometimes all it takes is a simple act of kindness—just being there when somebody needs you.

            This is what the feast of the Holy Family means—showing love for others in very ordinary and yet sacred ways.  Ordinary living is sacred living. 

It's not about the money (Mt 25:14-31)

As the parable of the talents unfolds, it becomes clear that this is not a story about personal wealth and a moral imperative to increase its value.  Nor is it a story about a moral obligation to use personal talents in a productive way.  It is neither of these, because, in this story, the master does not give anything to his servants for their own personal use.  Rather, he entrusts his servants with a portion of his own wealth.

Even though the master leaves no instructions for them about what to do while he is away, his servants know what to do.  They know because they know the heart and mind of their master.  They know he wants them to increase the value of their allotted portion. Two of his servants in fact imitate his cleverness because they know the master is clever at increasing his wealth.  In following his example, they immediately begin trading their portion, and before long, they double its value by sharing it with others.

The portion that Jesus gives to each of us, and the portion he expects us to increase in value, is the love and peace of God.  Thus, the parable is a story about bringing the love and peace of God to others. Jesus makes this clear not only with the two great commandments to love God and to love neighbor.  He unites the love of God with the peace of God when he tells his disciples, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.  Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid” (Jn 14:27).  In this sense, love and peace go hand in hand, for both are at the heart of Jesus’ mission.  His gospel of love is also the gospel of peace (Ep 6:15).

Like the servants in this story, we too know the heart and mind of Jesus, and thus we know what to do with the love and peace that he leaves us.  For this reason, we reject the choice of the third servant. Although he also knows his master, he does not imitate him.  Instead, he hides his portion and refuses to share it with others out of fear.  In time, he tries to explain away his lack of good stewardship, but there is no defense.  The master does not believe his excuse, and calls him wicked and lazy. The master would have been happy with simple bank interest alone.  It was not necessary to double the value.  Yet, this servant would not imitate his master even in this small way.

Thus, our choice is to live like those two servants who imitate their master.  Like them, we too do not receive detailed instructions from God about how to bring his love and peace to others. But, we know the heart and mind of God because we know his son Jesus whom we can imitate. As St. Paul reminds us in his letter to the Romans, we imitate Christ by bringing the love and peace of God to others, especially through good works (Rm 14:17-19).

We know the kind of works that were close to the heart and mind of Jesus—feed the hungry, clothe the naked, welcome the stranger.  In a special way for us today, that includes strangers from foreign lands. We learn from Jesus that love for others means more than wishing them well and sending them on their way without the necessities of life (Jm 2:16).  “Whatever you do for the least of these, you do for me” Jesus tells his disciples (Mt 25:40). This close identity of Jesus with others proves how much Jesus loves each of us.  If Jesus loves each of us this much, we ought to imitate his love for others and treat them in a similar manner (1Jn 4:11).

Loving others in this way fulfills the commandment to love God with our whole hearts and minds, and to love others as ourselves (Gal 5:14).  We love God by loving his children and his creation (1Jn5:2).  If you keep this commandment, Jesus says, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and remain in his love.  If we remain in Jesus as a branch to the vine, he remains in us and we bear much fruit (Jn 15:4-10).

Although love for God means seeking his peace, we do not have to bring the peace of God to the whole world.  Just as the master would have been satisfied with simple bank interest, so too will God be satisfied when we bring his love and peace even in small ways to others, especially to our families and communities.

In the very least, Jesus expects simple acts of kindness on our part done in imitation of his own kindness.  That is, we do not return insult for insult; we do not seek revenge; we do not engage in violent acts or speech, no matter how trivial or said in jest.  We treat each other—friend and foe alike—with compassion and respect out of love for God.  We keep Christ in our hearts and in our lives. Living in the peace and love of God brings genuine security and well-being for ourselves, our families, and even our communities (Lk10:5; Mk 9:50).  Small acts of kindness truly do go a long way. 

Love is the Law (Mt 22:34-40)

The commandment of Jesus to love God and to love one another as we love ourselves is really a call to live in the Spirit of Christ. And, living in the Spirit of Christ is to live according to the Law of Christ. There is nothing contradictory in such a claim, for Jesus makes it clear that he did not come to abolish the Law.  He proves it when he characterizes the two great commandments in terms of the whole law and the prophets.  By this, Jesus means that love itself--both of God and of neighbor—is at the root of the entire Mosaic Law and the motivation behind all that the prophets uttered.  This is what inspires St. Paul to make the bold claim in his letter to the Romans that we should “Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law” (Rm 13:8). 

Paul’s instruction calls attention to the power of love.  Although we too usually think of the word “commandment” in terms of power, we think in terms of obligation, not love. The Hebrew word for “command”, however, is better understood as a directive.  The verb form of directive has the additional meaning of landmark. The ancient Hebrews traveled the desert with their flocks in search of green pastures and water.  As a result, they relied on various rivers, mountains, and other distinctive features as landmarks to give direction to their journey.  This is what the verb “command” means in Hebrew, to direct one on a journey.

This is the background and meaning of the command that Jesus gives to his disciples.  When Jesus says to love one another as I have loved you, he means that love is the principle of life itself, and therefore must be the principle that guides our way of life.  We know we are on the right path when the principle of love is the landmark by which we direct our lives, our actions, and our decisions.  Allowing ourselves to be guided by the principle of love is the only sense in which we can live in the Spirit of Christ.  Our lives thus become truly holy because we then imitate the holiness of God.

To say that God is holy is to say that God is always true to himself, or in human terms, God is a person of integrity.  That is, God is always and never anything but God, and all that God does is always and completely consistent with who God is.  I AM who I AM, God tells Moses (Ex 3:14). God always tells the truth, always loves, always does good, always creates beauty, is always joyful and faithful because God is love, God is truth, God is beauty, God is unity, God is good, God is Holy.

Because God is holy, God invites us to be holy as well (Lv 11:44; 1 Pt 1:16).  We are not alone in our response to this invitation from the one true God, however.  In our Profession of Faith, we say, “I believe in the Holy Spirit.”  We believe that the Holy Spirit is a powerful creator who can and often does intervene in the physical nature of human beings, and help us do things we cannot do alone.  We believe that the Holy Spirit is the Great Inspirer, the Great Nudger, if you will.

The Holy Spirit speaks to us in our hearts, in our minds, in our reflections, and through the wisdom of others to transform our lives into lives based on the principle of love.

How the Holy Spirit inspires us and participates in our lives is different for each of us.  There are many gifts, but one Spirit.  Send forth your Spirit, Oh Lord, and each of us shall be created, each of us made new, each of us transformed into persons who can lead better lives, overcome even the most complicated difficulties, and who can love others and touch their lives as Christ loves and touches each of us.  If we live in the Spirit, then let us follow the Spirit’s lead, as St. Paul reminds the Galatians (Gal 5:25).

Sometimes, following the lead of the Holy Spirit calls for a change of mind and heart toward God.  We change our minds about how to live, about what is important, what values will motivate and guide our way of life.  This change of heart and mind then allows for a genuine life in the Spirit. Life in the Spirit is a life focused on authentic good deeds.  This is the message that Jesus preached long ago.  It remains a call to follow him, to live a certain kind of life, to be a certain kind of person.  The decision to follow Christ is a decision to be a person who is led by the Spirit to be loving, kind, patient, understanding, merciful, and just towards others, especially the poor and vulnerable members of society.  To live in the Spirit of Christ means to live a life of integrity rooted in the commandment to love God and to love one another. 

Green Is Not a Good Color (A 25 Sun 17 (MT 20:1-16a)

       Jealousy and anger are very human emotions.  These emotions often catch us off guard sometimes in a way that we cannot explain why we got so upset in the first place.  The parable about the workers as found in Matthew's gospel brings to light how these emotions come about.  The parable shows that all jealousy begins with a comparison.  We first compare our situation with someone else’s, and that comparison leads us to conclude that we are on the short end of the stick.  We feel like we didn’t get what we deserve in comparison to what someone else has or receives.  The green-eyed monster rears its ugly head and we become jealous.  Our jealousy often leads to anger and resentment, or worse.

       Notice that, so long as the first workers in the parable are unaware that the last workers will receive the same pay for doing less work in better conditions, the first workers are satisfied with their pay.  They accept the offer of the usual daily wage with no complaint.  Later, however, when they become aware that the last workers receive the exact same pay for doing less work in better conditions, they feel cheated. They become jealous. 

       From their perspective, simple fairness dictated less pay to the five o’clock crowd.  Jealousy pushes the complainers into anger and resentment toward their employer for what they perceive to be an injustice.  Rather than give them more pay, however, the employer rebukes them for their attitude.  He makes no apologies for his generosity and offers no justification for his actions.

       The parable ends on that rather harsh note, but the lesson is clear.  Comparisons often lead to jealousy, and jealousy does not bring about anything good, even if it stops short of anger. Even so, as a practical matter, I doubt that we can avoid making comparisons.  We learn at a very early age to compare ourselves with others.  As we were growing up, for example, how often did we hear phrases such as, why can’t you wear pretty clothes like your sister; or, why can’t you be nice like your brother; or, why can’t you make better grades like your friend so and so? 

       Sometimes such comments can be positive, but only if we are cautious about how far we let them take us.  The outcome to avoid is feeling jealous.  The employer’s rebuke in the parable seems to suggest that satisfaction with what we have without feeling jealous is possible, indeed, the preferred outcome. 

       On a spiritual level, however, the parable reveals more.  It reveals a difference between fairness on human terms and fairness on God’s terms.  This difference is the hard lesson from Isaiah: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord” (Is 55:8).  God just doesn’t see fairness the way we do.  We tend to think of fairness in terms of productivity and merit.  On our terms, we get what we deserve and we deserve only what we have earned. 

       We tend to think this way even when it comes to the kingdom of God.  We often think we earn our own way to the kingdom, we earn our own salvation, through our own dint of effort.  We think this even though Jesus makes it clear that getting into the kingdom is not a matter of getting ahead of others; rather, it is a matter of getting behind others.  Not first in line, but first in service.  This is fairness on God’s terms.       

       And, this is the whole point of the parable.  God measures fairness in terms of faithfulness.  The common factor among all the workers in the parable—from the first to the last—is that each is a faithful servant.  Each person worked for the length of time requested for the agreed upon pay in the circumstances in which they found themselves.  As a result, not one got cheated.  All receive the pay they were promised for the work they did.  They were faithful servants; they did what was asked of them, and their faithfulness was rewarded exactly for that reason.

       Perhaps the take away is this.  God does not look for grandiose effort on our part as a condition of our participation in his kingdom.  Rather, he looks for faithfulness to his word as each of us understands and applies that word.  In that case, rather than begrudge the gifts and achievements that our neighbors enjoy, we can celebrate their successes.  At the same time, we can be grateful for our own gifts by using them in loving service to others.  Faithful service is all that God expects from each of us, and we can expect a reward for nothing more.

What's it like? (Mt 13:44-52)

Jesus told many parables about the kingdom of heaven.  These parables reveal as much about who the members are and how the kingdom comes about as they reveal about God.  In a passage from Matthew’s gospel, for example, Jesus compares the kingdom first to a treasure buried in a field, then to a merchant who finds a valuable pearl, and lastly, to a fisherman who catches fish of all kinds from the sea. 

This three-part story reveals the kingdom of heaven not only as a process initiated by God and brought to fruition by others.  It also shows that we are in this together.  Hunting a treasure, searching for fine pearls, and fishing in the sea are all a process of one kind or another.  Each has an active main character, for sure, but none act alone.  Many other unidentified but essential participants contribute to the process and to the outcome.  One sows and another reaps, so to speak, but their participation is a joint effort (Jn 4:37).  We are in this together. 

This story also reveals that participation in the kingdom is an offer from God open to everyone, though not everyone will accept the offer.  The net cast upon the sea catches fish of all kinds, but eventually, the wheat gets separated from the chaff (Mt 3:12).  In other words, the offer to participate in the kingdom is a gift born of love, and like any true gift, can be accepted or rejected.  The choice is an individual matter, for God asks but does not force anyone to participate in his kingdom.

Those who choose to participate in the kingdom, however, have work to do.  The treasure hunter does not buy the field to keep the treasure hidden, but presumably to share it with others in some manner.  The merchant does not buy fine pearls to stockpile or hoard them, but to sell them to others for a profit.  The fisherman does not keep the fish for his own consumption alone, but for others to eat as well.  Once we accept God’s offer to participate in his kingdom, we are no longer passive observers.  Our participation is an active commitment to share our gifts and talents with others.  The question is, what does this require exactly?

Jesus is our example in this regard.  He came to do the will of his heavenly father.  And, the will of the heavenly Father is nothing less than to love one another as Jesus loved us.  Indeed, we demonstrate our faith in Jesus Christ and our love for God with good works born of love.  Jesus does not provide specific instructions in this respect, but he guides us in many ways—with the parables, with the beatitudes, with the Ten Commandments, with various sayings and teachings.  He also sends the Holy Spirit as our helper and defender to guide our way.

Life as a disciple of Christ is no more complicated than this.  Participation in the kingdom of heaven means that we are called to a life of good works.  This is what motivates St. Paul to write in his letter to Titus that good works are evidence of our faith in God (Ti 3:8).  Paul tells Titus that we receive gifts from the Holy Spirit for service to others in building up the kingdom here on earth (Eph 4:12).  We build up the kingdom by bringing Christ’s peace, justice, love, reconciliation, and respect for the dignity of all to the people who are part of our own daily lives both near and far.

Our call is really a way of life, a way of seeing things, a worldview that is possible through Christ, who strengthens us for the task at hand (Phil 4:13).  When we conform ourselves to his image, we become coworkers with Christ, collaborators who help bring about the kingdom.  In this way, we are the salt of the earth, the light for the world, a branch of the true vine, a temple of the Holy Spirit, who transforms our hearts and thereby renews the face of the earth.

This is the message of the parables on the kingdom of heaven. God has chosen us for a life of good works that will transform the world into a new reality, the kingdom of heaven, however long that may take.  Participation in the kingdom means that we truly become a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that we may announce the praises of him who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light (1Pt 2:9).