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Exploring the word

12 Aug 2012 - Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

When undertaking a journey—whether it be a vacation, pilgrimage, relocation, or the life-voyage as a whole—you need to prepare appropriately. Underpacking is perilous. Overpacking is burdensome. Lugging the wrong equipment is frustrating. Every inch and ounce of luggage has to be made to count. Some things are always useful, no matter where you’re headed. Education. Information. Logic. Courage and determination. Creativity and resourcefulness. A cheerful attitude and a can-do spirit. A sense of humor is essential. Being able to laugh at yourself and the absurdity of the unexpected can be more helpful than the can-opener or matches you left behind. Maybe Elijah failed to bring humor along that day he fled into the desert. Ahab and Jezebel were out for his blood, true, but throwing himself under a broom tree and praying for death was not a helpful response to his dilemma. Also, he went a day’s journey into the desert without water and food. While accustomed to living by a spring with ravens bringing him sustenance, he might have been pushing his luck this time. Evidently Elijah was unfamiliar with the saying: God helps those who help themselves. No matter. God remained faithful to his prophet. Not quite finished with Elijah, God sent an angel to revive him for one more expedition. Many of us have been to this spot ourselves, the point at which we are no longer willing to try to save ourselves, the moment of exhaustion when we give up and let fate decide if we survive or not. And then the angel comes, by any other name. It could be in the form of an unanticipated reprieve, a phone call or sudden visitor, a stranger’s kind word, or what we often call a "lucky break.” Grace arrives and a bridge appears over troubled waters, enabling us to cross to the other side unscathed. It’s the hour when we might remember to say: Taste and see the goodness of the Lord! Life is full of desert moments when, if the manna doesn’t fall from heaven or the angel doesn’t arrive in time, we’re goners. Even if we travel in Winnebagos or never leave home without American Express, sooner or later we find ourselves on a trail we didn’t plan to take, without the resources we need to endure it. Illness, unemployment, disability, the anguish of losing someone we love, moral uncertainties take us by surprise and can hurl us under the broom tree, out of options and praying for a quick resolution, however final. The single most critical item, though, to take on this journey—on any journey—is confidence in God. God will always provide bread for the road we’re on. When God is our destination, any road will do. Related Scripture links Being taught by God: Isa. 54:13; Jer. 31:33-34 Come to me all who labor: Matt. 11:28 Elijah’s exploits: 1 Kings 17-19 Manna story: Exod. 16:1-35 Other “magic” meal stories: 2 Kings 4:42-44; Mark 6:34-44; 8:1-9 With God all things are possible: Matt. 19:26 or Mark 10:27 Catechism links Eucharist: CCC 1333-1336; 1341-1344; 1356-1390; 2177-2183

Authors Alice Camille

manna angel Journey Elijah

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Sign & sacrament

12 Aug 2012 - Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

On their desert journey the Israelites gathered up and ate the manna that sustained them for their trek to the land of promise. Eventually they did arrive, but also, eventually, they died. Elijah depended on the food and drink that God provided so that he might make it to his destination, the mountain of God. He arrived, yet that prophet also died. John’s gospel, though, emphasizes our hunger for God, as constant and basic as our hunger for food, but also a spiritual hunger that will be satisfied only by our being nourished by the body of Christ. Jesus calls himself the bread of heaven not only to keep us going during our turn on the planet but as the taste of heaven so that we who partake “may eat it and not die.”

manna Desert Elijah

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Exploring the word

05 Aug 2012 - Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

There’s a war on carbs going on out there! But we Christians must stand up for bread. Bread stories abound in scripture: the blessed offering of Melchizedek to Abram; the bread of angels that rains down in the Exodus desert; Elisha’s miraculous multiplication we recalled last week; Elijah’s angelic hearth cake we’ll hear about next week; and on and on through gospel stories of multiplied meals until we get to the bread-to-end-all-breads, which is the Bread of Life itself. Isaiah once urged his listeners not to waste their money on food that fails to satisfy. He said not to put your hard-earned cash on the table for less than bread. That’s because bread is the staff of life, the bottom line of subsistence in so many cultures. It’s why we use the terms bread or dough to refer to exchangeable currency and why making a living is “earning our bread and butter,” as bread historians note. Bread is, simply, the one thing we depend on for life. Even in the proverbial jail cell, you could always count on bread and water. In fact, bread and water were two items on the Israelite grumble-list in the desert. The God of Moses sprung them from slavery in Egypt, but they behaved like captives ever after. Even in bondage, after all, they got bread and water! If Moses can’t do as much, they might as well have gone back to Egypt. Once they have the manna, of course, they started clamoring for meat. Jesus gave his multitude bread and fish up front, so they rushed after him as soon as their bellies were growling again, looking for more. What part of “wagering for what fails to satisfy” didn’t they understand? Jesus reminded them that perishables from the grocery store are called that for a reason. Their usefulness is transient. Moreover, though these folks didn’t know it now, Jesus wouldn’t be around forever to provide them with a portable lunch. But he could and does and will offer them the bread of God that lasts forever—and because it’s eternal, he offers the same to us. Yes, we’re talking about Holy Communion and heaven. And no, it’s not “just” that—although some might argue that’s pretty darn good. Communion with the life of Christ is a total conformity to the values, mission, and heart of Christ. We “put on the new self,” as it says in Ephesians. “For it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me,” Saint Paul told the Galatians. “The bread you eat will claim your heart,” preacher Walter Brueggemann says. In other words, we get the True Bread; and the True Bread gets us. Retades Scripture links Significant “God-crossings”: Gen. 3:8; 15:17; 28:12-13; Exod. 3:4-6; 19:16-20; 33:18-23 Seven signs in John 1-12: Water into wine, official’s son, cripple at Bethesda, loaves and fishes, walking on water, man born blind, raising of Lazarus Manna ends at Cana: Josh. 5:11-12 Catechism links God’s love: CCC 218-221; 733 Bread of Life: CCC 103; 1338; 1355; 1392; 1509; 2830; 2835; 2837 Manna: CCC 1094; 1334 New self: CCC 1473; 1695; 2475

Authors Alice Camille

manna communion Elijah Bread

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Sign & sacrament

05 Aug 2012 - Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

The word manna can be translated “what is this?” Not a bad question for us who are confronted on a Sunday morning not with strange, edible flakes strewn upon the desert floor but with the “true bread from heaven.” Some of us are old enough to recall parents who would take that bread, Holy Communion, at Mass only if they had gone to confession the very day before. Today we do not presume upon familiarity. Asking ourselves “what is this?” or “what is the Eucharist?” can keep us from taking the sacrament for granted. The crowds misunderstood Jesus’ meaning and expected his bread to nourish them like a loaf warm from the oven—a limited view. A hymn says it better: The one “whom earth and heaven cannot contain comes in our hearts to dwell.”

manna Bread confession Eucharist

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Homily stories

26 Jun 2011 - Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi), Cycle A

In today's first reading, Moses tells the people that their hunger was a gift from God so they can come to know their deeper hunger and dependence on God. Many of the religious images in our salvation history have to do with being fed by God: manna in the desert, Jesus lying in a manger (a food trough that signals his role as food for the world), Jesus feeding the 5,000, the Eucharist on Holy Thursday and on the road to Emmaus, and more. It's typical with an admired person to toast them and their accomplishments and even what they stand for. But in the Eucharist, we don't just "toast" Jesus, we take him into ourselves, we consume him, are fed by him, and are transformed by him. And more than admiring him from afar, we hope that, in faith, we may become what we eat.

Moses Hunger manna Eucharist

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Can Catholics' trust be restored in the city of brotherly love?

24 Jul 2011 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Saint Paul was surely one of the most hopeful of early Christians. “We know that all things work for good for those who love God,” he promises in this week’s reading from the Letter to the Romans. Catholics in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, deeply shaken by revelations of wide-ranging sexual abuse of children, hope that all can work for good under new leadership. Denver Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., the first Native American to be named an archbishop in the U.S., will succeed retiring Cardinal Justin Rigali, the Vatican announced Tuesday. In his remarks before introducing Chaput, Rigali did not refer directly to the sexual abuse situation but said, "If I have offended anyone, I am sorry" and apologized "for any weaknesses on my part." Later, in response to questions from the press about whether he had any regrets, he said, "We've learned so much we didn't know before," and "we see now with greater precision" what might have been done differently. For his part Chaput said his transition to leading the Philadelphia archdiocese was a little like joining a family and that it would take some time to become familiar and adjust to each other. “No bishop will try harder to help persons who have been hurt by the sins of the past or work harder to strengthen or encourage our priests and to win the hearts of the people." Chaput, a Capuchin Franciscan, was born in Concordia, Kansas and is a member of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Tribe. In the Philadelphia news conference announcing his appointment, Chaput said he has two Indian names, one from the Potawatomi meaning "he who makes the leaves rustle like the wind" and the other from the Lakota meaning "good eagle." Chaput is considered by many to be a conservative Vatican hardliner who voices strong opinions on “hot button” issues, but he rejected labels in a recent interview. “I try to be faithful to the church's teaching, as the church has handed it on to us,” Chaput said. “I don't feel that as a Christian or as a bishop I have a right to play with that tradition, which is the apostolic tradition of the church. I hope that I'm creative and contemporary, however, in applying that teaching and in the structural living out of it in the local church.” In addition to Tuesday's Philadelphia announcement, the pope also accepted the resignation of Bishop J. Kevin Boland of Savannah, Georgia and appointed as his replacement Father Gregory Hartmayer, a Conventual Franciscan priest who currently is pastor of St. John Vianney Parish in Lithia Springs, Georgia. Sources: Articles by Patricia Zapor for Catholic News Service and Eric Marrapodifor CNN and an interview by John Allen for National Catholic Reporter

bishops gregory hartmayer j kevin boland archdiocese of philadelphia charles chaput clergy sexual abuse justin rigali sexual abuse philadelphia savannah
Tragic end for lions and tigers and bears, oh my

23 Oct 2011 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Loving one’s neighbor ranks with loving God with one's whole heart, soul, and mind as the greatest of the commandments, Jesus teaches in this Sunday’s gospel. When your neighbors include wild predators such as lions and tigers, however, the welcome can be less than warm--and the outcome tragic. Beginning Tuesday night sheriff’s deputies in Zanesville, Ohio shot and killed nearly 50 wild animals after the park owner set them free before committing suicide. As homeowners nervously hid indoors, officers armed with high-powered rifles and shoot-to-kill orders fanned out through fields and woods to hunt down 56 animals that had been turned loose from the Muskingum County Animal Farm by owner Terry Thompson before he shot himself to death Tuesday. Thompson, 62, had had repeated run-ins with the law and his neighbors. The sheriff's office had received numerous complaints since 2004 about animals escaping onto neighbors' property, and Thompson had been charged over the years with animal cruelty, animal neglect, and allowing animals to roam. John Ellenberger, a neighbor, speculated that Thompson freed the animals to get back at neighbors and police. "Nobody much cared for him," Ellenberger said. After an all-night hunt that extended into Wednesday afternoon, 48 animals were killed, including 18 rare Bengal tigers and 17 lions. Six others--three leopards, a grizzly bear, and two monkeys--were captured and taken to the Columbus Zoo. "It's like Noah's Ark wrecking right here in Zanesville, Ohio," lamented Jack Hanna, TV personality and former director of the Columbus Zoo. He defended the sheriff's decision to kill the animals but said the deaths of the Bengal tigers were especially tragic. There are only about 1,400 of the endangered cats left in the world, he said. Ohio has some of the nation's weakest restrictions on exotic pets and among the highest number of injuries and deaths caused by them. At least nine people have been injured since 2005 and one person was killed, according to Born Free USA, an animal advocacy group. On Wednesday the Humane Society of the United States criticized Ohio Gov. John Kasich for allowing a statewide ban on the buying and selling of exotic pets to expire in April. The organization urged the state to immediately issue emergency restrictions. "How many incidents must we catalog before the state takes action to crack down on private ownership of dangerous exotic animals?" Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO, said in a statement. "The tragic shooting of 18 tigers in Ohio really highlights what is happening on a daily basis to tigers in the wild throughout Asia," said Barney Long, an expert at the World Wildlife Fund, "Their numbers are being decimated by poaching and habitat loss, and that is the real travesty here." Over the last century the worldwide tiger population has plunged from about 100,000 in the wild to as few as 3,200, he said. Source: An article by Andy Brownfield and Kantele Franko for the Associated Press

tigers animals exotic pets terry thompson jack hanna zanesville
Anxious Egyptian Christians grieve fallen patriarch

25 Mar 2012 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Only when a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies can it produce much fruit, Jesus teaches his followers as he prepares them for his approaching death in this Sunday’s gospel. Coptic Christians in Egypt might have been prepared for the death last Saturday of the elderly and ill Pope Shenouda III, but his demise nevertheless leaves the Christian minority unsettled and worried in a time of transition.Shenouda, 88, led the Coptic Orthodox Church in Egypt for four decades, expanding the church’s presence around the world as he struggled, often unsuccessfully, to protect his Christian minority at home. He had suffered from cancer and kidney problems for years.His death comes at a time of rising fears for Egypt’s 10 million Coptic Christians, who have felt increasingly vulnerable since the fall of President Hosni Mubarak and amid attacks on churches by hard-line Islamists and repression by Egypt’s security forces.The rise to power of conservative Islamist parties has also raised concerns that Egyptian national identity is becoming more closely bound to Islam. “It’s an injection of uncertainty for Copts at a time of transition in the country,” said Michael Wahid Hanna, a fellow at the Century Foundation. “Whether people were fond of him or not, this will cause anxiety.” Source: An article by Kareem Fahim for the New York Times

egypt islamism copts coptic christians michael wahid hanna shenouda iii
Violent government crackdown targets Syrian civilians

03 Jun 2012 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The psalmist this Sunday describes the sometimes trying periods when our souls wait for the Lord, “our help and our shield,” our hope for deliverance from death. Beleaguered Syrian civilians are wondering how much longer they must wait for help that will shield and deliver them from a violent government crackdown last Friday that killed at least 108 people, including 49 children and 34 women, in villages northwest of the central city of Homs.Earlier this week, United Nations special envoy Kofi Annan met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus to try to salvage what was left of a peace plan brokered six weeks ago that has failed to stop the violence on the ground. Annan said the uprising had reached “a tipping point” after the massacre.“The Syrian people do not want their future to be one of bloodshed and division,” Annan said after two days in Damascus. “Yet the killings continue, and the abuses are still with us today.”Eyewitness accounts from the massacre describe shadowy gunmen slaughtering whole families in their homes and targeting the most vulnerable in poor farming villages. Assad's government often deploys fearsome militias that provide muscle for the regime and carry out military-style attacks. They frequently work closely with soldiers and security forces, but the regime never acknowledges their existence, allowing it to deny responsibility for their actions.Protesting the atrocities, the U.S. joined with 10 other nations Tuesday in expelling top Syrian diplomats. "We hold the Syrian government responsible for this slaughter of innocent lives," U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said. "This massacre is the most unambiguous indictment to date of the Syrian government's flagrant violations of its U.N. Security Council obligations." Sources: Articles by Neil MacFarquhar for the New York Times and Elizabeth A. Kennedy for the Associated Press.

united nations security council massacres militia groups syria bashar al-assad victoria nuland kofi annan
Getting high may heighten risk of heart disease

27 Apr 2014 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The reading from Acts of the Apostles this Sunday describes how members of the early church lived in a state of heightened joy and exultation as they broke bread and praised God together. Marijuana users report their own kind of high, but today’s medical news brings what might be called a serious downer to the pot party: Younger people who use marijuana may be at risk for heart attacks and other serious cardiovascular problems, a new study suggests.Researchers reviewed records from the French Addictovigilance Network, a national system of centers in France that gathers information about drug abuse and dependence. From 2006 to 2010 they found 35 reports of patients who had experienced cardiovascular complications following cannabis use. The study was published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Heart Association.About 85 percent of the patients were men and their average age was 34. In nine cases the patient died. While the study doesn't identify a particular level of risk of marijuana use, it does call for more research on the subject and warns doctors that there seems to be at least some danger."Currently people think [cannabis is] harmless," said lead study author Emilie Jouanjus at the Université Toulouse III-Paul Sabatier. "What I think is very important from my work is that we see cannabis use may lead to very serious complications on the cardiovascular system."Jouanjus was surprised to find all but one of the patients with cardiovascular problems was under the age of 50. She believes this study shows only the tip of the iceberg, as people usually under-report their cannabis use.Homily hint: Those leading the rush to legalize pot smoking nationwide should at least pause to consider the results of this study. Beyond that we all need to ask why so many in our nation seem to need some form of artificially induced chemical high. As the early church's experience demonstrates, authentic religious experience offers the “real deal” when it comes to joy and peace—and it’s chemical-free! Source: An article by Trisha Henry for CNN

marijuana cardiovascular disease cannabis

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