Faith and a Mustard Seed

"If you have faith the size of a mustard seed,

you would say to this mulberry tree,

'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you."-Luke 17:6

This is the year of faith and the Lord speaks to us today through the wisdom of the Church in the Gospel reading.  I think that this reading is very literal and very relevant today.  The Holy Father has declared this year to be the year of faith and most, if not all, issues with the Church can be traced to their origin in a lack of faith.  

Cardinal Dolan wrote in his book, Priests for the Third Millenium, “I propose one of the reasons priests stumble and fall, or why they shrivel up into careless, crabby, comfortable, lazy bachelors, has little to do with vocation but everything to do with faith”.  At the time of writing the book, Cardinal Dolan was the rector for the North American College in Rome.  Why is this important?  Because the topic of faith for a priest should present itself in formation to become a priest.  This discernment should renew the faith for the seminarian and invigorate the vocation.  

All Christians should wrestle with their own faith and their relationship with God.  God is accessible from a secular, academic approach but God has revealed to us through scripture, and through his Son, that we have been adopted through Christ to be sons and daughters of God.  This belief is the invitation to come to know God as father.  If we believe, and know that God is our father, then we commit, and re-commit daily, to know God intimately.  God already knows us.  Scripture tells us that every hair on our heads is counted.  

I find that I struggle with faith.  I am not afraid to admit that my daily waking up and daily laying down is confirmed by my fear.  My fear is of not of any one thing but a conglomeration of many things.  Sometimes, I am driven back to earlier memories triggered by something in the present.  I may awaken at night to a sound or light and be afraid.  In those moments of fear, I forget that I am loved by a God who is the giver of life.  In those moments of fear, I forget the trust I profess in a God who is my advocate.  My faith is always renewed.  That same God I forgot, does not forget me.  I am constantly being strengthened by the Holy Spirit.  I am constantly being comforted in my weakness.  I am constantly being convicted of the faults that cause me to fall away from God.  

I reflect on my own struggles and some of the many things I’ve read, and I try not to reduce faith to a theological construct because faith is unique and personal every person.  Our faith is our reflection of our relationship with God.  God endows us each with the ability to love and be loved.  God creates and it is good.  God gives and it is good.  God takes away and it is good.  The challenge for us is to remember what faith is.  

The Epistle to the Hebrews assures us that “faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1).  Our hope is in promise fulfilled in the resurrection of Christ.  His death is a participation in our fallen humanity and his resurrection is the promise of life for us who live, and die, with faith.  We sinned; Christ is sinless (even in his human life).  He became sin so that we might become righteous (2 Corinthians 5:21).  The saving act is finished in Christ.  Our only requirement is to have faith in God.  This requirement is often the most difficult to adhere to because of the simplicity of its action.  Faith is a movement of the heart, an inclination of the soul.  We believe.  We have faith.  And it is a gift.  

To Err is Human, To Forgive is Divine

You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, ‘You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.  But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raqa,’ will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna.  Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift.—Matthew 5:21-24

The news and the media outlets today bring light to many things that happen in the world.  The two I wish to reflect upon today as my Angelus reflection today are the stories regarding Trayvon Martin and Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales.  These two were at the forefront of my mind because each of these men represents a miscarriage of justice.  Trayvon Martin was killed by a security guard.  Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales stands accused of murdering 16 Afghanis.  The media coverage has created an outrage in each of these situations.  I firmly resolve to pray for all those who are hurt and angry as a result of the injustices faced in these two situations.  Speculation in the media is driving the idea that Trayvon lost his life as a result of racial hatred.  I know neither the facts of the case nor the mind of the man who took his life.  However the Lord tells us, “Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted (Mt 5:4).”  We should take our comfort in the Lord because he knows our need and in his mercy, he hears and answers our prayers.  This is not to say that we should not be outraged by this incident because anger in the face of evil is not only normal but it is just.  However, we cannot allow anger to beget evil or more violence.  The Lord guides us more, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy (Mt 5:7).”  The challenge to us today is to seek justice and mercy for those who have been wronged by sin.  The same goes with Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales.  This man is accused of the murder of 16 people in Afghanistan.  One headline posted states, “How Staff Sgt. Bales’ lawyers are fighting for his life (Leitsinger, 2012).”  The commentary on this article is divided viciously over whether he should be found guilty or not.  As has become the custom in this reflection, we return to the Gospel of the Lord according to St Matthew:

           

            Stop judging, that you may not be judged.  For as you judge, so will you be judged,             and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you.  Why do you   notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your            own eye?  How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove that splinter from your        eye,’ while the wooden beam is in your eye?  You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam             from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother’s       eye.—Matthew 7:1-5

The hurt and the pain inflicted in both of these heinous crimes are not negligible.  However, we are called to respond and call for justice for the victims AND the accused.  “If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you.  But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions (Mt 6:17-18).”  It is very difficult to get past our own outrage and the flood of emotions caused in both of these incidents create a hunger for justice and the Lord will not disappoint for he promised us, “Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied…Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God (Mt 5:6, 9).”  Our challenge is to rise to the occasion and live as Christ commands.  We desire justice.  We desire peace.  And we are called…

Let us pray....

Lord, you bring peace to the madness of the world.  We are desperate for your love and hope in this time of sorrow and despair.  Lift us from our own troubles and give light to our path.  We pray for those who suffer violence and hate.  Give us hearts for love and justice.  Make us not live in anger but give rise to a new hope founded in you during this Lenten season as we look forward to the celebration of the resurrection of your Son this coming Easter.  We hope and we pray and we ask this humbly through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit.  One God, forever and ever. Amen.

Leitsinger, M. (2012, March 22). U.S. News - How Staff Sgt. Bales' lawyers are fighting for his life. Retrieved from msnbc.msn.com: http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/22/10797887-how-staff-sgt-bales-lawyers-are-fighting-for-his-life

What have you done for me?

 'Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.'-Mt 25:44

Lent is this time for fasting, almsgiving and penance.  I often feel like I don't fast enough, I don't give enough, and I certainly do not do enough to show that I am sorry for the sins I have committed.  It is a blessing to know that the Church, in her wisdom, chooses to give us readings today that call us back to where we are supposed to be.  In today's first reading from the Book of Leviticus, the Lord speaks to us and gives us hope for our lives.  His litany of 'You shall not['s]...' would seem like chains to bind us but rather it sets the foundation for the promotion of hope and virtue.  The law in Leviticus also shows that the Lord is a God of love and compassion.  God tells us that we are to "not bear hatred for your brother in your heart" and to "take no revenge and cherish no grudge against your fellow countrymen" but above all "you shall love your neighbor as yourself."  The teachings of the Church echo these laws given by the Lord for our benefit so that we can glorify in the goodness of the Lord and not suffer the indignities that come when these laws are forsaken.  It is very difficult for me to reconcile my lack of action for others when the Lord calls me out.  There really is no excuse.  Psalm 19 evokes the trust we should have for the Lord.  "Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life."  This psalm affirms the first reading and confirms for us the wisdom of Church in placing it with today's readings.  We should accept that the "precepts of the Lord are right", "the law of the Lord is perfect" and that "the ordinances of the Lord are true."  God gives us these messages of what we should and should not do so that we can live and live fully.  The Psalmist tells us the words of the Lord are life.  Acting in love, as the Lord commands us, can certainly diffuse many tensions we face in everyday life.  But also if we remember the Lord's command to participate in things that bring him glory, we will certain avoid dangerous situations and allow the Lord to give us life.  Today's Gospel calls to mind the judgment of the Lord.  The Lord tells us how we are to be judged when he comes again in glory and he begins to list off what the Church calls the 'Corporal works of mercy:'  Feeding the hungry, giving the thirsty drink, welcoming a stranger, clothing the naked, caring for the ill, visiting the imprisoned.  These days, we cannot reach all those in need and sometimes, our efforts to give to those in need are not necessarily what is in their best interest (depriving a hungry person of food is not what I mean, but rather giving an addict cash money).  The Church helps us in this time and can suggest for us many ways to live the Gospel call and truly helping those in need.  This Lent we are challenged to do so.  So Jesus asks us essentially "What have you done for me?"

Blessed Are They Who Hope In the Lord

"If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.  For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.  What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself. 

The beginning of Lent always stirs within me great feelings of hope and suffering.  My friends and I will have our annual discussion of what we are giving up this year.  I am usually disinterested in the actual giving up on things since I tend to not dwell on things.  However, this year, I found myself addicted to what one friend deemed “Demon Coffee.”  The rest of the world calls it ‘Starbucks.’  So my Lent features the sacrifice of my morning cup of Joe from my favorite provider.  Giving up stuff for the sake of giving up stuff is completely contrary to the purpose of Lent.  Some of my friends like to profess that this is the time for sacrifice but I often disagree with them as some of my friends often misinterpret the value of sacrifice in the Lenten tradition.  The Church calls on us to fast whenever we are in need to spiritual graces and I am not just speaking of the fast from eating but rather the fast from anything which will distract us from the life to which Christ has called us to live.  Thus the sheer sacrifice of taking something away from daily life is arbitrary without purpose and intent.  Lent is a prescribed time for growth as we wait on the Risen Lord and the sacrifice of Lent is to remove the obstacles to growth in Christ. 

The Holy Father’s reflection for Lent this year calls to mind a beautiful thought and that is on the virtue of charity.  “Let us be concerned for each other, to stir a response in love and good works.”  Pope Benedict XVI draws from the Letter to the Hebrews to inspire us this Lenten season.  As Christ is ‘the Way, the Truth, and the Life’, we must use this Lenten season to draw ourselves away from the materialism which seems to pervade the society we have come to live in.  When we allow our vision to be obstructed by an iPhone, Xbox 360, or whatever shiny new thing is out there, we run the risk of overlooking our brothers and sisters in need.  Lent is the time to call to mind those who are in need and to give in Love so that we can receive in kind.  God calls us to follow him.  All we have to do is pick up our cross and go. 

Go Ahead Lord, You Know What You're Doing

Wrath and anger are hateful things, yet the sinner hugs them tight.
The vengeful will suffer the LORD's vengeance, for he remembers their sins in detail.
Forgive your neighbor's injustice; then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven.-- Sirach 27:30-28:2


Sometimes it is difficult to understand that the Lord knows what he is doing.  And yet on today, we can see from the Readings that Lord has our hearts in mind and knows our ways.  As we commemorate that terrible events that have marked our history with a seemingly perpetual taste of sadness, anger, vengeance and many other emotions, we must pause today and open our hearts to let the Lord speak to us and to show us what it is that we are to do.  Though we stand as a wounded people, broken from many wounds inflicted over the generations, we are still a redeemed people.  Though the scars of war continue to plague many peoples around the world (and in a special way we remember our Soldiers in harm's way), we must trust that the mercy and kindness of the Lord have a place in this world and remember that the Holy Spirit does work in our lives and salvation has been made to all of us.  The tragic loss of life and the violence of September 11, 2001 must become a page in a history book and an anecdotal story and no longer a source of hatred and animosity.  The Lord tells us today that these are what the sinner holds tight, so as this is the Lord's word, we must learn how to get past the things that lead us to sin.  The fruit of confession is learning how to turn away from our occasions of sin so that we may move forward on our walk with Christ and live virtuously.  Living virtuously is completely incongruous with hatred and vengeance.  I am not remiss to say that these stories are a source of grief and pain because the losses are still very real in our lives.  Everybody needs forgiveness and everybody needs compassion and for this, everybody needs a Savior.  We are so blessed that ours has already come.  Jesus has already taken our sins and won for us salvation.  Christ came so that we might have life and have it abundantly.  We have to look within ourselves and see the Christ who has imprinted his creative touch upon our souls and show that to the world.  The mercy and grace of the Lord is in our ability to forgive and be forgiven.  


"Lord, hear our prayer and in your mercy answer us.  Grant this day be a day of your joy and peace in you.  Give us hearts that do not call for vengeance but for love.  Turn our eyes from the sadness of the history of this day but let us gaze upon you who are the source of a light and all good things.  Grant to us the love and joy you want for this world and make us one in you so that we can know what it truly means to be held and loved.  Forgive us our trespasses and give us the strength to forgive those who trespass against us.  Make us a virtuous people with overwhelming faith, hope and love.  We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever.  Amen"

And Revealed Truth Will Set You Free... Or At Least Give You Another Dogma...

“I trust in the mercy of God forever,”  Psalm 52:10

Having finished the Luis Rocha novel, The Last Pope, which underscores a brilliant conspiracy theory regarding the circumstances of the death Albino Luciani, who chose to be called John Paul I; I find that I am even more interested in Church history.  The book is a thrilling read as it was gripping from the very first pages.  It is the Da Vinci Code with much more turns in a shorter span.  While I praise the creativity and captivation of this novel, I must also note where its fiction separates from fact.  The book has its many accuracies and creative view of the facts but it also takes liberties to assume that the Holy Father before his death would have changed some doctrines within the Church.  The story assumes some current day trends would have been normalized by a liberal Pontiff.  As such, I digress into full support of the teachings of the Church and guidance of the Holy Spirit in that the will of God and the trust that the teachings of the Church would have always been safeguarded by the Magisterium. 

While the Chair of Saint Peter has been occupied by men with questionable intents, we believe that the will of God for his Church is done.  Even more so we trust in the mercy of God as the Church is led by fallible men and all too often, the concept of papal infallibility is misunderstood, misinterpreted or outright mistaken.  The aforementioned novel also misunderstands infallibility.  The novel supposes a conversation between a senior, corrupt, cardinal and the Holy Father where the Holy Father suggests that infallibility should not have a place for the pontiff and the cardinal makes a remark about how the Successor of Peter is protected and this leads to Humanae Vitae being brought up as being inaccurate though the cardinal argues for its infallibility.  The key understanding the truth to this is that papal infallibility has been invoked only once in the history of the Church and that was in the document, Munificentissimus Deus, promulaged by Pope Pius XII in 1950, and that was regarding the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  The Pope is subject to fallibility, however, when in accordance with the College of Bishops under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Father can proclaim a teaching as infallible.  A note:  The Holy Father does not need the accordance of the College of Bishops to make an infallible statement, he need only 1) speak ex cathedra, 2) on a matter of faith or doctrine, and make a pronouncement of dogma.  Given that this has only happened once in 2000 years, we can see that it is a very rare phenomenon.  The process itself is rather interesting. 

When the Holy Father makes an infallible statement, he goes to his cathedra (chair) to speak ex cathedra.  The Holy Father’s chair is not in St Peter’s Basilica, though many believe it is, but rather is in the Archbasilica of Saint John  Lateran in Rome.  The Holy Father during the ceremony will sit at his cathedra and pronounce “"By the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own authority, we pronounce, declare, and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma..” 

What happens next is that all (and it is ALL) the ordinaries (bishops and archbishops of all dioceses, archdioceses and ordinariates) will go to their respective cathedras and pronounce the very same proclamation as the Holy Father. 

What Goes Up May Not Necessarily Come Down....

"Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid"-Matthew 14:27

The Gospel writer takes great pains during the discourse where this quote to be as visually descriptive as possible while staying true to the Christological and theological value of the story.  *(Christology is more or less the study of Jesus' divinity)*  The writer makes note that after the feeding of the five the apostles are told to precede him to the other side of the lake (a very, very large lake).  The notable part is that the apostles are a few miles out when the story indicates it is the fourth watch of night.  There is a windstorm according to Matthew and the boat is not winning.  By now the apostles have probably been awake for close to 24 hours.  Have you ever not had full faculties while exhausted?  The apostles were human and probably were suffering a bit at this point.  Jesus tells us that his sheep know him by name and they recognize his voice.  Well, Jesus tells the disciples to "do not be afraid" even though he is approaching them in the storm, while walking on water... They first take him as a ghost but Peter speaks up and says "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water."  What does Jesus say?  "Come".  Faith like a mustard seed is what we are asked to have.  We can move mountains, heal the sick, walk on water.  These are not extraordinary things.  We have been trained to understand and obey these laws of physics but quickly forget that the laws of physics were written by God for us.  And God certainly does not hesitate to show us that these laws are subject to him.  Our faith is what we need to overcome all things, including physics.  I am not saying that these do not have value, but rather they are here to complement creation.  Today let us take a leap, feel gravity and understand that God one day may call us to jump... and not come back down...