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Exploring the word

19 Jul 2015 - Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

Most of us know the story of Sacred Heart Father Damien de Veuster—or, Damien the Leper. After years of ministering among leprosy sufferers on the island of Molokai’i, Father Damien contracted the disease himself. Recognizing the need for someone to replace him in this difficult assignment after his death, he reached out to Mother Marianne Cope and her band of Franciscan sisters in Honolulu. They were already working among leprosy sufferers isolated at a port hospital on Oahu. We’re all naturally reluctant to expose ourselves to contagion. When it comes to the potentially deadly variety—Ebola, AIDS, leprosy—our hesitation may reach the level of paralyzing fear. Yet when Mother Marianne and her sisters first landed in Hawaii to begin their service among the quarantined, they viewed the ruined, joyless facilities and desperately ill population they inherited and exclaimed: “How much good there is to do here!” Where many could see only impenetrable darkness, these women saw a place to bring their light. According to the Bible, this is what God sees in every wilderness: not vacant wasteland, but a place for flowers to bloom. Not barren desert, but soil waiting for rain. It’s a quiet space for tired disciples to take their rest, for hungry multitudes to be fed. Wilderness is where water can spring from a rock or bread might fall from heaven. Meat can be supplied by a passing flock of quail. To God, wilderness is a clean canvas on which to paint a beautiful future. God sees the potential for light in darkness, for grace to rebound in landscapes full of sin. We might imagine what God sees in South Sudan and Haiti, places where most of us see only starvation and despair. When God looks at countries where diseases are decimating whole populations, does God foresee the power to heal? When God views battlegrounds and bombed cities, does the vision of peace and restoration show through? Does God look into our hardened hearts limited by prejudice and suspicion, and perceive the potential for these hearts of ours to break open with love and welcome? Does God watch the global crisis of climate change and anticipate our discovery of self-control to save our planet—and ourselves? As Jesus views the vast crowd pursuing him around the lake, chasing after miracles and fantasies of an economic or political savior, he doesn’t see deluded masses or leeches in search of a quick fix for their personal problems. He sees sheep in need of shepherding. He sees need and it moves his Sacred Heart. Is it possible for us to begin to view the world’s wilderness of need differently? Not with: “It’s too much! It’s impossible!” But as: “What an opportunity to do good!” Related scripture links Good King Hezekiah: 2 Kings 18:5 The cry of the poor: Job 34:28; Ps. 34:16-18; Prov. 21:13 The parable of the lost sheep: Luke 15:1-7 Gospel shepherds: Matt. 2:6; 9:36; 10:5-6; 15:24; 18:12-14; 25:31-45; 26:31; Mark 14:27; Luke 2:8-20; John 10:1-30; 21:15-19 Jesus will lose none given to him: John 6:37-39

Authors Alice Camille

Service Missionary Wilderness Desert

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Exploring the word

25 May 2014 - Sixth Sunday of Easter, Cycle A

Jesus was around on this earth for about three decades, and then he wasn't. Some said he died on the cross and that was that. Some said he rose from the dead, stuck around another 40 days, and then returned to his Father. But those who believe accept two things simultaneously: that Jesus definitively went away, and that he also emphatically remains. So where is he? Jesus said he would be with his church always, to the end of time. So that's one good place to seek and find him: within the community of faith. Jesus also said he would send his Spirit, the Advocate, to be with us and dwell within us. So that's the second place you might seek Jesus: in the indwelling Spirit of God in each person. You profess that Jesus is truly present in the bread and wine, which become Body and Blood of Christ at every Eucharist. So that makes three reliable places to find Jesus: church, Spirit, and communion. Jesus tells his followers that whatever they do to the least of their sisters and brothers they do to him personally. Number 4 location of Jesus today: in the lives of the poor. Jesus is the divine Word spoken into the world—and we still hear that Word proclaimed in our assemblies. So the Number 5 place to find Jesus is within the proclamation of scripture which is transformative when it becomes a word-made-flesh in people’s lives. The church has long called the priest alter Christos, “another Christ.” While most priests will blush to identify themselves so completely with Jesus, it is true that the ministry of the church is a definite sign of Christ-action in the world. So yes, both metaphorically and actually, the priesthood of the church is a place to look for Jesus. To the extent all share in the priesthood of the baptized, they participate in that reality, too. Theologians have termed Jesus as "the sacrament of God"—that is, Jesus both conceals divinity inhis person and reveals divinity through his person. In turn Jesus provides seven sacramental actions that both conceal and reveal God. So if you're looking for Jesus, look to sacramental signs of welcome, thanksgiving, reconciliation, testimony, healing, fidelity, and service. The sacraments point appropriately to the Number 7 way to find him. Three more places to find Jesus! Seek the Holy in the holy: Look to the lives of the saints, both living and gone before, who imitated Jesus until it was no longer they who lived but Christ who lived in them. The crucified Lord is the most familiar image of Jesus for a reason: You also find Jesus in the suffering of humanity. One more place to find Jesus? I leave that to you. Where do you most reliably discover him? Scripture links Stephen’s first (and last) homily: Acts 6:8-7:60 Philip and the magician, and the Ethiopian: Acts 8:9-13, 18-25, 26-40 The gospel to the ends of the earth: Matt. 28:19-20 Catechism links Spirit of Truth: CCC 243-248; 687-688; 692; 729; 733-741; 787-789; 2465-2503; 2615; 2671 Apostolic authority: CCC 1286-1289

Authors Alice Camille

Service Eucharist Community sacrament

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Sign & sacrament

13 Apr 2014 - Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord, Cycle A

When we think of heroes we usually think of those who save people through their use of power or force, those who establish empires, those who dominate the competition—think Superman, Alexander the Great, Michael Jordan. But Jesus broke the mold when it comes to heroes. He shows us another way to live a heroic life: emptying ourselves in service to others—think Mother Teresa, Saint Francis of Assisi, Archbishop Oscar Romero. The Easter story teaches us that when we pour ourselves out for the sake of others, our resulting “emptiness” allows us to rise to the very heavens. For more “Sign & sacrament” material, search the Prepare the Word database by today’s scripture reading, a particular theme, or a special occasion.

Service hero

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The inner word

27 May 2012 - Solemnity of Pentecost, Cycle B

In the Pentecost Day reading from the First Letter to the Corinthians, Saint Paul notes the different kinds of abilities and forms of service each member of the Christian community has. His point, however, is that all these gifts come from one place, “the same God,” and that they all exist for one purpose: the benefit of the community. Paul may have been responding to some people in the church of Corinth who were using their talents to advance themselves past others. Whatever the situation, Paul presents Christians then and now with a challenge: to recognize and cultivate the gifts you have and use them to do the most possible good for all.

Pentecost talents Service

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Sign & sacrament

01 Apr 2012 - Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord, Cycle B

When we think of heroes we usually think of those who save people through their use of power or force, those who establish empires, those who dominate the competition—think Superman, Alexander the Great, Michael Jordan. But Jesus broke the mold when it comes to heroes. He shows us another way to live a heroic life: emptying ourselves in service to others—think Mother Teresa, Saint Francis of Assisi, Archbishop Oscar Romero. The Easter story teaches us that when we pour ourselves out for the sake of others, our resulting “emptiness” allows us to rise to the very heavens.

hero Service Mother Teresa saint francis archbishop oscar romero

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