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Exploring the word

21 Aug 2011 - Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

OUR GOD IS very much into “forever.” Maybe if you’re an eternal Being you appreciate not having to do things twice. The everlasting and abundant nature of God’s many attributes—goodness, kindness, justice, mercy, truth, power, glory, holiness—ensures that when God does a thing, it stays done. So, too, with God’s word which, once uttered, takes effect and remains in force. Human beings, by contrast, have the tendency to be fickle and partial in what we say and do. Our efforts are rarely more than 90 percent, often more like 50-50. We’re committed to people and ideals up to the point of personal cost; from there it gets dicey which way we’ll go. It’s not that we’re false when we speak. It’s just that we lose our early resolve, or change our minds when the effort becomes greater than we imagined. So promises are revoked; labor becomes halfhearted; marriages fail; holy young priests become cynical older ones. Saint Paul admits to the Romans that mortals just can’t fathom God’s way. God is ageless and deep, and we’re not. Rather than seeing that as cause for despair, the realization inspires Paul to praise. Knowing who God is and who we are—distinguishing divine nature from our human one—makes it all the more astonishing that God chooses to love and forgive us. To which we like Paul must respond: To him be glory forever! Acceptance of our weakness leads to the twin spirits of awe and humility. Denial, meanwhile, will certainly drag us in the direction of arrogance and ruin. We’ll go the way of Shebna, taken down a peg in his mastery of the palace. He’s replaced by Eliakim—who will go the same way by the end of the chapter. We meet Saint Peter today at a crucial crossroads of self-awareness. He’s blurted out the true identity of Jesus, a thing he hardly knew until he said it. Jesus pronounces him blessed for that. The temptation for Peter is to believe he’s smarter than everyone else for having guessed the right answer. The challenge is to embrace the reality that he’s been divinely inspired. Recently I saw a stained-glass window portraying Peter receiving the keys of the Kingdom. Instead of the usual oversize skeleton key he’s traditionally handed in such images, the artist chose to render the presentation unmistakably as car keys. At first you’re tempted to scoff at the anachronism. Then the religious imagination takes over. The Kingdom is not a static idea: not a place to get to, but a path to walk—or perhaps a road to navigate? Once Peter gets the keys, he’s give divine license to drive. For every new driver, it’s a sobering responsibility. Related scripture links Importance of the Twelve: Acts 1:15-26, 2:14, 42-43, 4:33-37, 5:12, 40-42, 6:2-6, 15:2-22, 16:4; Rev. 21:14 Deacon stories: Acts 6:1-7:60, 8:4-40 Leadership in Jerusalem: (Peter) Acts 1-12, Gal. 1:18, 2:6-8, 11-14; (James) Acts 15:13-21; Gal. 1:19, 2:9 Peter's leadership in the Fourth Gospel: John 20:1-10, 21:1-23 The inner circle of three: Mark 5:37, 9:2, 14:33; Matt. 17:1, 26:37; Luke 8:51, 9:28 Peter stories in the Synoptics: Mark 8:27-30, 9:5-6, 10:28, 11:20-25, 14:27-31; Matt. 14:22-33, 17:24-27, 18:21, 19:27-30, 26:31-35; Luke 9:18-21, 18:24- 30, 22:31-34 Catechism links Who we say Jesus is: CCC 153; 422-478; 551-553; 586; 869; 881; 897-913; 1444-1445

Authors Alice Camille

god's attributes Weakness Humility Temptation Peter responsibility

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Exploring the word

17 Jul 2011 - Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

THE WHEAT AND the weeds grow up together: That is a succinct description of human history. Certainly it was true in Jesus’ own biography. He chose 12 apostles to be his intimate associates, and was not one of them a sometimes negative presence? It may be unfair to single out one betrayer, however, when others would also desert, deny, grow skeptical, jostle for power, and make inquiries that prove there really is such a thing as a dumb question. The same gospel teaching is available to all disciples. How few receive it, and how rarely even they apply it. Salvation history is acres and acres of weeds competing with the wheat for space, resources, and attention. Every Abel faces his Cain, and every David faces his own reflection in the mirror. Good and evil are rarely distinct characters in the story. Growing up in such close proximity, the wheat and the weeds frequently seem to be offshoots of the same stalk. Our task is not to separate out the bad elements in our society from the good ones but to acknowledge that all are tainted. We’re each capable of monstrous choices—which also means we’re equally capable of heroic ones. In the same way, the weedy parts of our past can still produce wonderful fruit. If we’ve suffered, it may make us more compassionate, gentle, sympathetic. If we’ve sinned, we can more easily forgive, offer guidance, encourage repentance in others. While we’re fixated on weeding out the dark elements in the societal field, our gaze is too often turned outward, externalizing what’s bad. The blame game implicitly exonerates us. Even if we find fault with ourselves, the blaming principle seeks to assign responsibility further: “He made me angry.” “They raised me to be a loser.” Don’t most of our confessions begin or end with extenuating circumstances that render us technically pre-absolved? If we surrender the impulse to blame and let God be “the source of justice” as Wisdom teaches, we find that God’s justice is much kinder than our variety. That may be what we’re most fearful of: that God won’t punish our foes enough to satisfy us. How many movie villains, intent on taking down the hero, wind up hurtling into the evil trap they themselves had set? When we insist on divine vengeance, we’re like those evil geniuses, teetering on the edge of our own hell. Jesus tells us it’s not for the servant to tell the householder how to tend his weedy field. When we allow God to be God, we’re also freed to be simply ourselves. Deprived of divine responsibilities, we no longer have to decide who’s righteous. We can also enjoy the benefits of God’s remarkable clemency. Related scripture links Imminence of the kingdom: Mark 1:15; Matt. 3:2, 4:17, 5:3-11, 6:10; Luke 4:18-21, 17:20-21 Belief more powerful than appearances: Mark 10:51-52, 11:22-24; Matt. 17:19-20; Luke 11:9-13; John 14:12-14; 2 Cor. 5:7 Patience as a kingdom virtue: Luke 21:19; Gal. 5:22-23; Rom. 8:25 Judgment is God's: Isa. 28:6, 30:18; Matt. 5:21-41, 7:1-2, 10:12-15, 42, 12:36-37; Luke 3:17; Rom. 2:1-8 Catechism links Justice: CCC 376; 1805; 1807 Heaven: CCC 325-326; 1023-1029 Kindness: CCC 736; 827; 1832 Mercy: CCC 1829; 2447

Authors Alice Camille

responsibility Wisdom Justice judgment clemency

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Exploring the word

15 May 2011 - Fourth Sunday of Easter; Good Shepherd Sunday, Cycle A

GOD HAS BEEN the shepherd of souls for a long time, biblically speaking. “The Lord is my shepherd,” declares the psalmist. “Like a shepherd he feeds his flock,” adds Deutero-Isaiah. There will be one shepherd whose authority is final, Ezekiel avows. This elevation of the shepherd to divine icon is odd, because the meandering herder was viewed with disdain by villagers and city-dwellers. Shepherds were dirty, uncivilized people more like the wilderness they inhabited than the genteel and governed citizenry. Yet God is identified as an über-shepherd. Not in the same way the Lord is “king,” a title automatically conferring esteem. God is shepherd because of what the herder does: guide and guard. God is also shepherd because of the inauspicious nature of the sheep, identified with us. Jesus adopts this title agreeably for both reasons: because he sees himself as the responsible, watchful shepherd and because he knows firsthand the low-functioning acuity and high vulnerability of his flock. Jesus is also granted the title of king later, by no less an office than the Roman procurator. What’s noteworthy is that church leaders in the following generations, while they may suit up as kings and sit on throne-like chairs, will identify with the title episkopoi, “shepherd.” Before the end of the 1st century, Saint Paul’s farewell speech at Miletus as presented in Acts 20 will include the image of flocks protected from wolves by their appointed overseers. The crosier each bishop carries today is a reminder of this identification: The shepherd has risen from a despised laboring class to an ecclesiastical appointment. You can take the shepherd out of the field, but you shouldn’t take the herder’s humility out of the episkopoi. Today we intercede for our present shepherds and hope for their betterment, not to mention a swelling of their ranks. Despite the ceremonial robes, our shepherds share a task rich with humility, burdened by the care of souls still vulnerable to the dangers of the wilderness. Maybe the wolves are not the same packs prowling around Paul’s early flocks, but the need for sure guidance and vigilance is the same. All of us have responsibilities for church leadership: some to seek ordination or consecrated life, others to support the shepherds in prayer, attentiveness, and sharing of resources. But most of all we have to embrace the mutual humility of this relationship, whether as leaders or followers. Related scripture links Role of repentance: Lev. 5:5; Isa. 1:16-18; Ezek. 36:25-26; Mark 1:14; Luke 5:32 Radical nature of baptism: Rom. 6:3-11 No longer I who live: Gal. 2:20 Parthians, Medes, etc.: Acts 2:7-11 Shepherd imagery: Jer. 23:1-4; Mic. 5:3; Ezek. 34:11-24; Matt. 18:12-14, 25:31-46; Luke 15:3-7; 1 Pet. 5:1-4 Catechism links Shepherd: CCC 754; 764; 2158 Repentance in Acts: CCC 363; 1226; 1287; 1427-1429; 1433

Authors Alice Camille

church leaders guidance episkopoi responsibility acts 20

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Exploring the word

08 Aug 2010 - Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

CATHOLICS THESE DAYS are angry. I live in a curious region that votes majority conservative Republican yet harbors a subset of way-out liberals. Both sets of Catholics are angry. While the politics of anger can be complicated to parse, one thing unites the rage on both sides: a crisis of confidence in church leaders. Catholics on both sides of the aisle are not satisfied with the way our leadership handled the clergy abuse scandals. Fresh revelations exacerbate the shame. While some fury is directed toward the offending priests themselves, most is reserved for the bishops and the pope. Lack of accountability all around continues to fester in the assembly—and it's not going away. It will be very difficult for the church to lead if the faithful give up on following. We have to talk about this; and by "we" I mean we who preach. We can't wait for the media to give the pope's remarks on these matters a fair hearing. Don't wait either for bishops worldwide or locally to get their act together with a coherent statement that communicates. They can talk all they want about precautions currently set in place. What people want to know is: Why should we trust you? You, who couldn't be entrusted with the gift of our children? It's fair to say: If local pastors cannot regain the confidence of their communities in church leadership, we may as well close our doors right now. We get ample opportunities in the lectionary to continue the in-house dialogue on leadership. We should show courage and take them. Jesus tells a parable about responsibility and culpability this week. Peter (Peter!) asks him, "Lord, who's the steward of the household to whom you refer?" And Jesus all but tells him, as the prophet once told King David: "That man is you." The buck stops with Peter. It always stops with Peter. And those whose authority derives from Peter have to take seriously the charge that, in the master's absence, the stewards have acted in a way that deserves a severe beating, an assigned place with the unfaithful, as the gospel soberly declares. It will make any preacher profoundly uncomfortable to mea culpa for the church once again. But pastors are the local face of that authority. The alternative is what we have now: punting control of this discussion to the blogosphere, news channels, and other venues where Catholics and others get information and vent frustration. Leadership requires "girding our loins and lighting our lamps" (Luke 12:35). We need to tell the truth: A thief broke into our house and we were not ready. We need to express our shame, acknowledge the pain, pray for healing, and give our people a model to follow. Related scripture links Other heroes in Hebrews: Heb. 11:20-39 Christ assumes and fulfills salvation history: Luke 9:28-31 Common scenes in Lucan parables: 8:4-18, 10:29-37, 12:16-21, 13:6-9, 18-21, 14:7-24, 15:1-16:8, 16:19-31, 18:1-14, 19:11-27 Those who have eyes to see: Luke 7:41-42, 10:23-24, 11:33-36, 12:54-56, 18:41-42 Catechism links Preparedness: CCC 305; 544; 1021-1022; 2443-2449; 2544-2547; 2612; 2849

Authors Alice Camille

Trust sexual abuse responsibility culpability Peter church leaders

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Faith groups seek a social return on investments

20 Nov 2011 - Preaching the News for Sunday

In vivid language in this Sunday’s gospel, Jesus describes our responsibility to tend to those who are hungry and thirsty, the ill-clad and the stranger, the sick and imprisoned. The New York Times has profiled the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia who, along with other members of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, have become shareholders in order to lobby Wall Street bankers to do more to protect consumers, rein in executive pay, increase transparency, and remember the poor. The order employs a tactic known as shareholder activism that has emerged in corporate America since the 1980s. The sisters developed a strategy combining moral philosophy and public shaming. Once they took aim at a company, they bought the minimum number of shares that would allow them to submit resolutions at that company’s annual shareholder meeting. That gave them a powerful option in the event the company’s executives refused to meet with them. Unsurprisingly, most companies decided they would rather let the nuns in the door than confront religious dissenters in public. “You’re not going to get any sympathy for cutting off a nun at your annual meeting,” said Robert McCormick, chief policy officer of Glass, Lewis & Company, a firm that specializes in shareholder proxy votes. With their moral authority, he said, those in religious life “can really bring attention to issues.” The Sisters of St. Francis are by no means the only religious voices challenging big business. They have teamed up on shareholder resolutions with other orders, including the Sisters of Charity of St. Elizabeth and the Sisters of St. Dominic of Caldwell, both in New Jersey. The Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, the umbrella group under which much of the activism takes place, includes Jews, Quakers, Presbyterians, and nearly 300 faith-based investing groups. “Companies have learned over time that the issues we’re bringing are not frivolous,” said the Rev. Seamus P. Finn, 61, a Washington-based priest with the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate and a board member of the Interfaith Center. “At the end of every transaction, there are people that are either positively or negatively impacted, and we try to explain that to them.” Source: An article by Kevin Roose for the New York Times

shareholder activism religious sisters interfaith center on corporate responsibility

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Nepal reels from scope of earthquake loss

03 May 2015 - Preaching the News for Sunday

This Sunday’s responsorial psalm proclaims that “our God is Lord of the living and the dead.” The number of the dead as a result of the deadly earthquake in the Himalayan nation of Nepal last weekend has crossed 5,000, a home ministry official said on Wednesday. Prime Minister Sushil Koirala feared that the death toll could reach 10,000, as information on damage from far-flung villages and towns is yet to come in. Many thousands were injured and the United Nations estimates that 8 million people have been affected by Nepal's worst natural disaster in eight decades. Homily hint: Earthquakes are a frightening but inevitable part of life, beyond our power to control. However, building standards are something we can control, and it is time that nations in earthquake prone areas of the world adopt and enforce stringent quake resistant standards for all structures and allocate the resources needed to make that happen. No one should die from shoddy construction, as far too many have in Nepal and elsewhere. Remember, we are called to be “our brother’s keeper.” For more on the Nepal earthquake, see: In pics: 5,500 killed, more than 1/4th of Nepal's population affected after horrific earthquake

earthquake nepal natural disasters social responsibility

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Homily stories

08 Jan 2012 - Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, Cycle B

NATIONAL Vocation Awareness Week begins Monday, so we might want to ask ourselves: What does it mean that God "calls" us? Can you run but not hide when God drafts you for a particular service. Is free will a polite fiction when God has our destiny all worked out in advance? The short answers are: Our freedom is real, human history has no blueprint, and God is prepared to greet any choice we might make with a constellation of grace and possibility. Like any divine gift, our freedom comes complete with responsibility. It does, after all, make a difference which choices we make. Choose the way of destruction, and you're in for a world of hurt. Choose the way of planting and building, and the future blossoms into fuller and greater life. Yet we say God calls us. To what, if not to particular things? God wants you to be fully alive, to the height and breadth and depth of your being, which means loving, giving, expressing, and radiant--just as God is. We're made in the image and likeness of God, right? Answer that call, and you have stepped into your vocation for sure.

Authors Alice Camille

national vocation awareness week call Freedom responsibility

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Homily stories

13 Nov 2011 - Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

Working in my dad's grocery store as a teen, I was taught that the customer is always right and to smile at them no matter what. One day as I was at the cash register, a stranger asked me for change for a $20 bill and then a ten and then a five. I was responding with my dazzling smile when my brother slammed the register drawer shut. Then he told the customer to get out of the store right away. I was dumbfounded. My brother explained that it was a scam and that the register at the end of the day would be at least twenty dollars short. He was right. The next time someone tried it on me, my smile vanished as I told him to leave before my brothers and I called the police. There are times to be nice and times to be not so nice. The parable of the talents remind us how "nice" God has been to bless us with so much. But with those gifts comes an important responsibility: to use them and share them in a way that they are not squandered. Should it surprise us that God is disappointed? He has given us a beautiful world and the technology to enjoy it without destroying it. But we wantonly use up our resources not to aid those less fortunate but for our own temporary pleasure. Instead of making our world a better place, we are destroying it and anyone who stands in our way. With all that God has given us comes a responsibility. When you think about it, God is being more than fair.

Authors Father Dominic Grassi

gifts talents responsibility

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Homily stories

14 Nov 2010 - Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

One summer, years ago, I was an activities counselor in charge of 16 young boys, ages 5 to 10. I would often load them into a big van and off we'd go on fun adventures. Joey, a high-school kid from the same childcare institution, was assigned to help me, and thank God for that, because while I drove he had the unenviable task of keeping the boys in line. "He's on my side of the seat!" one boy would whine. "He's eating my corn chips!" another would shout. At the start of most trips the boys would elbow and nudge one another, wrestling like lion cubs until Joey would settle the boys with a game, a story, or occasional threats. Saint Paul faced the same challenges with the Thessalonians. Though he had recently helped them establish a Christian community, some of them felt entitled to eat though they were unwilling to work, and others were minding everyone's business but their own. It's hard to pay attention to our own lives. It's tempting to be caught up in everybody's business but our own. But growth in Christian spirituality demands that we live our own life and mind our own business. While we are to be responsive to the needs of others, we are, in the end, responsible for our own lives and our own faith.

Authors Tom McGrath

Saint Paul thessalonian responsibility

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Homily stories

19 Jul 2009 - Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

Like the apostles who gathered together to tell Jesus “all they had done and taught,” every evening at dinner my sisters and I would report to my father and mother all that we had done and learned during the day. We were filled with enthusiasm, each bursting to tell our stories because they delighted my parents. It wasn’t a test or a show of competence. It was a time for laughter and pride in our accomplishments. But most of all it was a time to hear the stories of my parents. Dad would tell us who he met, what sale he made, and how he gave some customer the “A game.” We’d hear about his stops to visit relatives, do a favor for someone, or have a drink with one of his buddies. Sometimes he’d even take us with him when he had to take inventory at some warehouse or demonstrate a product at the local hardware store. Mom’s stories usually centered around her childhood. We never knew our grandmother who died when my mother was 11, but Mom’s vivid tales of her youth brought all the ancients to life. My parents were not just good shepherds, they were joyful shepherds. They led so well because they loved so well. Their responsibilities did not come as a burden to them but as a reward.

Authors Patrice J. Tuohy

responsibility reward burden

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