‘Fair Play’
October 1, 2023
Deacon Dennis Walters

Surely every parent has heard the howl of protest when a child faces discipline: “That’s not fair!” The parent who is confident of the family’s standards of justice and how they apply to the child’s conduct will not give in to a temper tantrum. Rules are rules, and as long as they’re reasonable and the parent applies them with an even hand, the child can only benefit by them.

In our first reading, Israel complains that God’s rules are not fair. Through the prophet, God counters that they are. They set the parameters that make life with God possible. Vi o l a t i n g t h e m h a s consequences. To modernize Ezekiel’s example, a Catholic who has been faithful all his life but commits just one mortal sin can incur damnation if that sin is not repented of. He may still retain faith in the Gospel; he may even think he still loves God. But his spiritual state is like that of the husband who cheats on his wife only one time. He places his marriage in mortal danger.

By contrast, someone who has flouted the commandments all his life can be saved if he abandons his former ways and starts doing what is right. Jesus warns the priests and elders to pay attention to the example of the tax collectors and prostitutes who are entering the kingdom of God. These have come to believe the way of righteousness. The disbelief of the law-abiding priests and elders keeps them from entering it.

There is a paradox at play here. In both the Old and New Testaments, Scripture advises us to choose life over death, and presents us with two ways that represent the most fundamental of life’s choices. One leads to life and ultimate freedom by following the commandments, the moral law. Life is what everyone wants, or should want; but, as Jesus says, that way is hard and narrow, and few people take it. The other is broad and easy, and many people choose it because it seems to promise freedom from constraints even though its end is destruction.

But why should the path to life be hard and narrow? And how can obedience to God’s laws promise freedom? Perhaps an analogy can help. All games have rules. Even Hide & Seek has rules. Their purpose is to define what the game is, present the goal and pose the challenge to reaching it, increase skill at play, and provide reward. Football, for example, consists of a field of prescribed width and length with goal posts at either end. The challenge is for each team to carry a ball to its own goal against opposition from the other team. The game is supposed to involve strenuous effort with fair play, and referees are there to ensure fairness. With the rules (and the referees), one is free to play the game as it was designed. Without them, players can do what they want, but no one knows what game they’re playing.

Life also has rules, and they exist for the same reasons game rules do. They define standards, present the goal of life and pose the challenges to reaching it, increase wisdom, and promise reward. They can be reduced to ten simple statements — though, as Jesus points out, each statement has further implications. You shall not kill, but that also means that you shall not harbor murderous anger. You shall not commit adultery, but that also means you shall not look lustfully at anyone. You shall not take vengeance on an enemy, but that means you shall not refuse to forgive him. Lots of negatives. But with these rules, one is free to live life as it is meant to be lived. Without them, life becomes purposeless.

Jesus himself is firm about moral rules. He forgives the woman caught in an act of adultery, but tells her not to sin again. He heals the disabled man at the pool of Bethesda, but warns that, if he doesn’t change, worse ills may befall him. He affirms the law of Moses, refusing to change a single punctuation mark. He tells His disciples, “Whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same is the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 5:19-20).  

Parents instinctively know the value of rules. They also know the rules don’t exist for their own sake. Any parent who wants to ensure that his child grows up into a responsible, mature adult will make demands by enforcing a few reasonable rules fairly. For the child, the road to adulthood can sometimes feel narrow and hard, but it leads to a good, fulfilling life. 
God, Scripture says, treats us like sons and daughters when He makes similar demands on us. As the book of Hebrews says, our parents “disciplined us for a short time as seemed good to them, but God does so for our benefit in order that we may share His holiness. At the time, all discipline seems a cause not for joy but for pain, yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who are trained by it” (Heb 12:7-11). God’s way  leads to life. It brings way it was intended to  be lived. If we complain that His way is not fair, He reminds us that we who don’t  want rules are the ones who are not playing fair. ❖

It’s Never too Late
September 24, 2023
Fr. Bosco Padamattummal

Today’s readings are all about the human sense of justice contrasted with the extravagant grace of a merciful God. God rewards us, not in the measure of what we do, but according to His good will. In the first reading, the prophet Isaiah reminds the exiles in Babylon that their God is more merciful than they are and more forgiving. 

Today's Gospel tells us that it's never too late for God. A full wage is offered to each of us, whether one has served Him for a whole lifetime, or has turned to Him only at the eleventh hour. This story of the landlord's love and generosity represents God’s love and generosity to us. God's provisions for our spiritual lives will never run out. The question in God's mind is not, “How much do these people deserve?” but, “How can I help them? How can I s a v e t h e m b e f o r e t h e y perish?” It is all about grace and blessings.

Most of us think that good work, seniority, and experience should be rewarded, that all should be subject to the same rules, like “First come, first served,” that everyone should be treated impartially, and that there should be no exceptions and no favorites! Therefore, when confronted with a situation such as the parable of identical wages, for a specific number of hours worked, our sense of fairness is provoked. We could all tell our own version and experience of this parable. We know people who, in our not-so-humble opinion, neither earned nor deserved what they got; a job, a promotion, a raise, recognition, happiness, success. Sometimes, we work longer and try harder to no avail.  
crucified beside Jesus, expresses belief in Christ. Jesus accepts his conversion, saying “Today you shall be with me in Paradise." 

Conversions at the point of death have a long history. The first recorded deathbed conversion appears in the Gospel of Luke where the remorseful thief, crucified beside Jesus, expresses belief in Christ. Jesus accepts his conversion, saying “Today you shall be with me in Paradise." 

Perhaps the most momentous conversion in Western history was that of Constantine I, Roman Emperor, later proclaimed a Christian saint. It was on his deathbed that he was baptized. A famous literary genius who entered the Church at the final moment was Oscar Wilde. Wilde lived a notorious lifestyle. He did scandalous things. On his deathbed, Oscar Wilde asked for and received baptism and anointing of the sick from Fr. Cuthbert Dunne. But he was unable to receive the Eucharist.  Today’s parable suggests wages and grace stand in opposition to each other. They are two opposing world views. A wage-based worldview allows little room for grace in our own lives or the lives of others. Grace reveals the goodness of God. Wages reveal human effort. Grace seeks unity and inclusion. Wages make distinctions and separate. Grace just happens. Wages are based on merit. The only precondition of grace is that we show up and open ourselves to receive what God is giving. When we do, we begin to see our lives, the world, and our neighbors differently. Grace does not justify or excuse discrimination, unfairness, or oppression. To the contrary, it holds before us the truth that each person is more than their behavior, their looks, their accomplishments, or their failures. These later hired workers received more than they earned, more than they deserved, and more than they had a right to ask or hoped for. That’s just what God does. “Whatever is right” isn’t about fairness but about grace.  Dear brothers and sisters, the parable is a message of hope to everyone struggling in their holiness and need of God’s mercy. We are invited to see ourselves in the story. The wages at stake are not actual daily wages for vineyard laborers, but forgiveness, life, and salvation for believers as we are all co-workers in the kingdom (1 Corinthians 3:9). 

This parable perfectly matches the story of Jonah in the Old Testament, who has run away to avoid delivering the message of forgiveness that God has sent him to proclaim. Jonah complains “for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing,” It is ironic that Jonah, who had earlier declared that “deliverance belongs to the Lord”, a deliverance he himself has experienced, has rejected the good news of who God is for others.

No one is too old to come to Christ. No one is is too sinful to come to Christ. Go to Christ now, even in the eleventh hour, and he will gladly welcome us into His kingdom. As we receive His love and merc generously, our Lord’s merciful
l o v e be upon others. ❖

Are You Able to Forgive?
September 17, 2023
Fr. Bosco Padamattummal

How often have you gone to see a doctor and come away with a prescribed medication to be taken as needed? Thirty days later you go back to the pharmacy for a refill. You repeat the process for the rest of your life because that particular med is for the maintenance of your physical or emotional well-being. We spend much of our lives doing what the doctor tells us to do - if we want to maintain the highest attainable level of  health to live life to the fullest extent permitted by our physical condition and personal situation. To that end, we follow the advice of a physician in whom we trust. 

Similarly, if we aim to maintain the highest level of spiritual health possible, in order to keep from living out our days in misery, we ought to heed the advice of the Great Physician whose remedies were given to us in parabolic prescriptions. Today we focus on one such prescribed remedy many folks find so costly and so hard to swallow that we become hesitant to follow through on it, if not resistant to it. 

In His parable of the unmerciful servant, Jesus used the teaching technique of exaggeration to make His point that, where love reigns, forgiveness is practiced as needed, but with one caveat: as prescribed  in today’s Gospel from Matthew 18:21-35. Through the parable of the two debtors, Jesus teaches us that there should be no limit to our forgiveness and no conditions attached to our reconciliation. We represent the greater debtor in the parable because we commit sins every day and, hence, we need God’s forgiveness every day. But He prescribes a pill that is hard to swallow, we must forgive in order to be forgiven. But we need to take that pill to be healed and to have a healthy spiritual life. Jesus explains, after teaching the prayer Our Father, “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father also will forgive you.”
In 1981 there was an attempt on the life of Pope St. John Paul II. Fortunately, the Pope lived. After he recovered, he shocked the world when he made a visit to Rome’s Rabbibia Prison on Christmas Day to see the man who had attempted to assassinate him. Millions watched on television as the Pope, on Christmas Day, visited with Mehmet Ali Agca, who only two years before had tried to assassinate him. The white-robed Pope and jean-clad terrorist talked in the dark prison cell for 20 minutes. When he emerged John Paul explained, "I spoke to a brother whom I have pardoned." We will never forget the headline the next week in Time Magazine, "Why forgive?" That is a good question, one that has been asked for centuries. Today’s readings give the reasons to that question. 

Prior to this particular parable of today’s Gospel, Jesus had been talking to His disciples about making things right with friends they might be at odds with. Jesus said to His disciples: "If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won over your brother. If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you.” In that context, forgiving is not saying, “Oh, that’s okay. Just forget it; let’s continue to be friends.” No. To forgive is more like saying, “You said or did something that really hurt me. I care enough to talk to you face-to-face. It’s not that I’m seeking revenge. It’s that I need to tell you: I forgive you.” 

Peter was not satisfied with Jesus’ remedy, so he tried to influence Jesus to come up with a mathematical formula to be applied to any uncomfortable situation that required reconciliation. Peter wanted a number . . . a limit . . . a point at which he could draw a line “in the sand” and say, “Okay, that’s it. I’m done with you. Our friendship is over. You go your way and I’ll go mine.” Peter even thought he would be magnanimous and suggest, not “three times” as he had been taught by the rabbis, but double that number plus one for good measure – seven times – to forgive someone! 

But our Lord understood that Peter’s approach was to put a limit on his Christian responsibility. A forgiving heart is what God wants for each one of us who belongs to the family of God. Instead of being academic with Peter and the other disciples by engaging in a theological exposition on forgiveness, Jesus told a simple parable in which He contrasted the forgiving heart with the unforgiving heart.

Dear brothers and sisters, why not follow Paul’s advice? “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” We need to heed C. S. Lewis’ instruction: “To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.” 

Ernest Hemingway, in a short story, tells of a Spanish father and son who had stopped talking to each other. Things got so bad that the son left home. After a few years, the father set out in search of his son so as to mend the relationship. He looked everywhere. When he came to the capital city of Madrid, the father decided to go to the newspaper office and take out a big ad in the newspaper that read: “Paco, please meet me at noon tomorrow in front of the newspaper building – all is forgiven. I love you, Your Father.” The next day at noon, when the father arrived, there were hundreds of men named Paco standing in front of the newspaper building! 
Is there a “Paco” in your life? Are you yourself a “Paco”? Remember this: the sins others commit toward us are always small compared to those we have committed against God. Yet, God forgives us. Why should we not forgive? ❖

You Are Your Brother’s Keeper
September 10, 2023
Fr. Bosco Padamattummal

The common theme of today’s readings is God’s command concer ning spiritual responsibility and our individual accountability of fraternal correction to each other. We are, therefore, the “keepers” of our brothers and sisters with the responsibility of lovingly and prudently correcting them. This responsibility includes our obligation to forgive our offenders and to ask forgiveness from others for our offenses. 

In a little church in a small village, an altar boy serving the priest at Sunday Mass accidentally dropped the cruet of wine. The village priest struck the altar boy sharply on the cheek and in a gruff voice shouted, "Leave the altar and don't come back." That boy became Marshal Tito, the Communist leader and dictator of Yugoslavia. In the cathedral of a large city in another place, another altar boy serving the bishop at Sunday Mass also accidentally dropped the cruet of wine. With a warm twinkle in his eyes, the bishop gently whispered, "Someday you will be a priest." Do you know who that boy was? Archbishop Fulton Sheen. How do you deal with others who have caused problems for you? Modern people tend to think that they have no right to intervene in the private lives of their fellow believers. Others evade the issue saying, “As a sinner, I don’t have the moral courage or the right to correct someone else.”

So should I be my brother’s keeper or should I strictly mind my own business? God’s word to Ezekiel in today’s first reading has an answer to that question “if you do not warn the evil man to change his ways, I will hold you responsible for his death in his guilt, but if you warn the wicked trying to turn him from his way and he refuses to turn from his way then you are not responsible for his death in guilt.” 

A ticket seller of an airport limousine service said to a father, “Sir, your son looks young for his age. Just take a half-fare ticket. If the limousine driver questions you just say the boy is under twelve, save yourself a few bucks.” If you had been that father, what would you have said to the ticket seller? Take another case, a mother caught her five-year-old daughter with a stolen candy bar just after they returned from the supermarket. If you were that mother, what would you do? The Gospel tells us Christians have an obligation not only to do what is right but also to help others do what is right. 

The case of the limousine ticket seller really happened to one of the families from my former church. The father told the ticket seller, “I appreciate your concern for me to save a few bucks in my pocket, but I want my son to be truthful even when it works to his disadvantage.” The second case of the candy bar from the supermarket also happened to someone whom I know. When the mother returned the candy bar and apologized, to the mother’s dismay, the manager said “Oh don’t worry about it, It is such a small item, my employees steal much more than that from me every day.” The manager gave the child the impression that stealing is no big deal if it is only a small item, but the mother said stealing is always wrong no matter how big or how little the item is.

The heart of fraternal correction is deep in the Gospel. Paul says in Galatians 6:1, “Brothers if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently.” Matthew expands a saying of Jesus into a four-step procedure for disciplining confrontation, negotiation, adjudication and excommunication. Jesus tells us how to deal with and finally mend a broken relationship within the Christian fellowship.

1) Confrontation:  The worst thing that we can do about a wrong done to us is to brood about it. Brooding can poison our whole mind and life until we can think of nothing else but our sense of personal injury. Hence, the first step proposed by Jesus to the one who has been wronged is that he should go to meet the offender in person and point out lovingly, but in all seriousness, the harm he has done. This first stage is designed to let the two persons concerned solve the issue between them. If it works out at that level, that is the ideal situation. "You have won back your brother."  

2) Negotiation:   Suppose the first step does not resolve the situation and the person refuses to admit wrong here. The second step is to take one or two other members along with the wronged person to speak to the wrongdoer and to act as confirming witnesses. The taking of the witnesses is meant to assist the reconciliation process by emphasizing and explaining calmly the gravity of the situation. 

3) Adjudication: If the negotiation step does not resolve the situation either, the third step is to have the whole Church or community of believers confront the wrongdoer.  The case is brought to the Christian fellowship because troubles are never amicably settled so the Church provides an atmosphere of Christian prayer and Christian love. 

4) Excommunication: If the offender chooses to disregard the believing community's judgment, the consequence is “excommunication.” This means that if none of the three steps has brought a resolution to the situation, then the wrongdoer should be treated like "a gentile or a tax collector."  That is, the wrongdoer should be put out of the Church with the hope that temporary alienation alone may bring the erring person to repentance and change. 

Many Scripture scholars think that Jesus would not have suggested this step and that it is a personal addition by Matthew. They wonder how this type of expulsion can arise with Jesus' openness to sinners, including corrupt tax collectors and prostitutes, or with the story of the Prodigal Son. Dear brothers and sisters, the practice of fraternal correction brings many benefits both for the giver and for the receiver. As a specific act of Christian charity, it bears fruits of joy, peace, and mercy. Whether we are the offended or the offender, we are to take the initiative to effect reconciliation. Jesus doesn’t allow us to leave the wound untended, whether we inflicted the injury or are among those who have been wounded. He makes us the responsible agent for correcting the problems. ❖

Staurophobia
September 3, 2023
Deacon Dennis Walters

Some of you may know who Msgr. Charles Pope is. He’s the pastor of Holy Comforter/St. Cyprian parish in Washington, DC. He also writes for National Catholic Register and Our Sunday Visitor, and often speaks at conferences and other events. A few years ago, he spoke in Ann Arbor at a Renewal Ministries conference on the topic of the moral confusion of our time. Much of what he said bears directly on the Gospel message for today, on taking up the cross.
In this homily, I intend to quote Msgr. Pope extensively and verbatim, but first I need to establish a little context. The monsignor was addressing an audience of priests, deacons, and laity, people who preach to or evangelize others. One of his objectives was to encourage his audience not to water down the difficulty of the cross. What he says to them applies to all of us who face our own difficulties with it.

He begins with what he calls staurophobia (I’m quoting him now). “Phobia means fear, stauros means the cross. There is a fear, an aversion, a sorrow, a sadness at the cross. Now, in our churches we sing, ‘Lift high the cross [of Christ],’ but we don’t mean it. Not for a minute, not in a collective sense, anyway. As soon as that cross comes in for a landing and it’s no longer an abstraction or an act of Jesus long ago, in my life or even worse in somebody else’s life, we go, ‘Oh, no, that can’t be so.’”  

Here I must interrupt the Monsignor for a moment, to clarify something. All of us have our personal crosses to bear, some big like a chronic illness or a death in the family, and some of them small like the normal irritations and inconveniences of everyday life. Those latter are often the most difficult. Normally, we want to avoid them, fix them, cure them, anything to make them less unpleasant. What makes them a cross is what they have to do with following Jesus to His (and our) death. And that dying is what we fear.

But the Monsignor is not talking only about the crosses we carry, but about the false compassion we may have for the crosses other people carry. We see someone in trouble and we want to lighten their load. We say, “Oh, you shouldn’t have to go through all that. God wouldn’t want you to be miserable.” We might even go so far as to recommend or at least condone ways of lightening their load that may be gravely sinful.

Monsignor Pope again: “Jesus did not say, ‘Take up your warm electric blanket, your teddy bear, your sofa cushion and follow me.’  He said, ‘Take up your cross.’ We have a share in this cross. It’s not just something Jesus did. I was on that cross with Him mystically. So were you. We’re members of His body. Somehow we have a little sliver of that cross for ourselves.   He carried it all. We have our share.

“But when that cross comes in for a landing, when it makes real demands, there’s a staurophobia. People ask, ‘Are you saying that a couple who are in an unhappy marriage should have to stay married?’ Ye a h , t h a t ’s w h a t we’re saying. When the parents throw down the cross, who picks it up? The kids, living out of a suitcase going back and forth between two houses because two adults couldn’t work out their problems.

“’Are you saying that two gay people who have love for each other can’t get married to demonstrate this love?’ Yeah, that’s what we’re saying. That’s not what marriage is for.
“’Are you saying that a person who is at the end of his life and suffering shouldn’t be able to commit physician-assisted suicide?’ Yeah, that’s what we’re saying. See, his life belongs to God, and no one has a right to take his own life. You are not your own. You have been purchased and at a price. So glorify God in your body.

“’Are you saying that a woman who has been raped has to carry that child to birth?’ Yeah, that’s what we’re saying. That child did nothing wrong. Now we have to help her. We have to be Simon of Cyrene [for her].

“God is deeply respectful of our freedom. He will not force us to love what He does, but He cannot change. He’s God. And His kingdom has certain parameters that you either want or you don’t want.

“We hold up the cross. And we say it’s the power and the wisdom of God. It’s a stumbling block to the Jews and an absurdity to the Gentiles, but for us who believe it is the power and the wisdom of God. Now, you either believe that or it’s just a slogan. If it’s real and true, then we cannot and should not exempt [ourselves or anyone else]. [People in hard situations] deserve our care, our love, our support. But lying to people and just saying, ‘Well, the cross isn’t for you,’ is to block the saving path that God has opened for them, first through the cross and Calvary.  

“Over the hill of Calvary, there is the beautiful Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem in all its glory. There’s only one way, one path, one door [to that city], the way the Lord Jesus walked. Through the cross.” ❖

“Who do you say that He is?”
August 27, 2023
Fr. Bosco Padamattummal

Who do you say that I am? Most of us know the right answer. We have read Peter’s answer: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Today’s Gospel is not, however, about giving the right answer. This is not a test. This is not about what is in our heads but what is in our hearts. It’s about what lies at the core of our existence. Jesus is asking the disciples to consider what centers their lives. It is not enough to just give the right answer. They are to become and reveal the answer by their lives, words, and actions. Those things, for Jesus, are foundational to a life of discipleship. It not only shapes how we live but, more importantly, who we are becoming.

Our spouse, children, friends, or other relationships can easily become the center of our world. For a good Christian Christ is the true center, the foundation that holds everything together. That does not mean there will not be difficulties, pain, or losses. It means that when they occur the center holds, and we all need a center that will hold. 

In the first question, Jesus is asking what the disciples hear and see around them. In the second question, He wants to know what they see and hear within themselves. Jesus is always pushing us to go deeper, to look within and discover who or what our life is centered on and then to re-center. It is true we are followers of Christ but the life of discipleship is one of continual re-centering. “You are the Messiah, the Son of God, the living one,” Simon Peter answers. This is more than just an answer. With those words, he has re-centered his life. 

Christ is the axis around which Peter will present his life as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah…. I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build My church.” Jesus renames Simon. His Greek name is Petros which in English means rock. Simon is now Rock. Whenever we re-center our lives on Christ we become a new person, we become rock-like. We become the foundation, the rock on which rests the church, the new ark that holds and reveals the presence and glory of God.

The promise: “You are Peter and upon this rock, I will build my Church.” These verses have been among the  most disputed in the New Testament.   Historically, they have been central to issues of authority in the Church, especially of the authority of the episcopacy and of the Bishop of Rome. Jesus’ promise to Peter is the Catholic basis for the position of the Pope and of the Church. The Church teaches that Peter was given the keys which admit a man to Heaven or exclude him from it, and that Peter was given the power to absolve or not to absolve a man from his sins. In other words, Jesus gave to Peter the authority to determine what courses of action would be permitted or forbidden in the Church. Today that authority rests in Pope Francis, who, as the direct successor of Peter, is the head of the Church and the Bishop of Rome.
With all its frailties, Jesus chooses human life and relationships to be the rock on which He builds His church. We are not, however, rocks that are unmovable or unchangeable. As water slowly forms and shapes a rock over time so does a lifetime of re-centering form and shape us to be Christ’s foundation in this world. Re-centering is our life’s work and it is not easy work. It means we must continually let go of what we thought centered our lives and move to our true center; the Messiah, the Son of God, the living one. 

The opportunity for re-centering is hidden within the ups and downs of our life. It is something we do over and over and we don’t always get it right. Look at Peter. He is the one of little faith sinking in the water. He doesn’t understand the parables. He argues with Jesus and ends up being called Satan. He falls asleep when he is supposed to be praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. He denies knowing Jesus. Through it all he was being shaped, formed, and molded into the rock Jesus knew him to be. Ultimately Peter was crucified for re-centering, following, and loving Jesus.

Dear brothers and sisters, what Jesus says to Peter He says to all. “Who do you say that I am?” Don’t just answer His question. Go live the answer. Discover the “rockness” that Jesus knows you to be. Live with hope in the midst of despair. Love your neighbor as yourself. There are many ways we can live this answer: care for the poor, feed the hungry, and defend the oppressed. Offer forgiveness despite your anger. Pray when you are too busy to pray, take up your cross, and follow Him. Practice generosity in a declining economy. Re-center even
when it feels like you cannot  stand up. Do these. Be the rock . Be t h e Expense for trash -$150.00 rock on which Jesus’ church stands before the world. ❖

“When Jesus “Ignores” Your Prayer”
August 20, 2023
Deacon Dennis Walters

I recall the story of a young mother whose first child was born with significant abnormalities. Surgery after surgery tried to correct some of them, but the child showed little improvement. The mother, in agony, pleaded with God for the child, clamoring for the miracle that would make him normal. But eventually, the child died, leaving her distraught, wondering why God hadn’t answered her prayer.  

Sometimes, prayer just seems like a fruitless enterprise, almost as if the Lord is ignoring it. You’re facing a serious issue in your personal or family life, you’ve been praying about it for what seems an eternity, and there is no answer. Perhaps you get frustrated with God. Maybe you even think of giving up. Today’s Gospel reading suggests that that might not be a good idea. Let’s review the elements of the story to see why.

Jesus and His disciples have withdrawn from Galilee into a region associated with the ancient Canaanites, those people whom the Israelites entering the Promised Land were to drive out because of their immoral practices. We don’t know His reason for going there, but His remark to the disciples implies that His concern was with the “lost sheep of the house of Israel,” in other words, Jews of the diaspora living outside the confines of Israel where they would be contaminated by the prevailing pagan culture. Israel was the Lord’s first-born, and so entitled to be first in this attention.

Somehow, Jesus’ reputation has preceded Him. A pagan woman of the area, who knows that He is a descendant of David, which means royal blood, calls out to Him, appealing for His pity. Matthew identifies the woman as a Canaanite, someone who has inherited that culture, as a non-Jew, not someone His mission is just now concerned with. But she forces herself on Him. Her daughter is “afflicted by a demon.” The daughter is apparently not possessed, in the sense that the demon has taken over the girl’s personality; she is tormented, obsessed, that is, harassed by the demon in some fashion that affects her physical health. 

Uncharacteristically, Jesus ignores her, even when she three times calls Him Lord. Finally, she does Him homage, possibly by throwing herself at His feet so he can’t ignore her any longer. Now there ensues a little dialog that Jesus starts by saying that it’s not right to take the children’s food (that is, His message to the Jews of the area) and throw it to the dogs. In that culture, most people would have taken that as an insult. Jews of Jesus’ day regarded dogs as unclean animals. They didn’t usually keep dogs as pets; they could use them as watchdogs or to herd sheep but typically regarded dogs as dangerous scavengers. And this is what Jesus seems to imply: the Canaanite woman is a scavenger.

Well, two can play that game. If He wants to push, she will pull. “Please, Lord, even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the master’s table.” At that, Jesus can’t resist. “’O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done as you wish.’ And the woman’s daughter was healed from that hour.”
What can we learn from this? When we come before the Lord in prayer, do we think of ourselves as scavengers, picking up scraps? Perhaps we do sometimes act as if we have no claim on God’s attention. Yet we are not in the same position as the Canaanite woman. She was outside Israel, not one of the “lost sheep.” The day would come soon when God’s attention would turn in favor of Canaanites and other gentile outlanders. Soon, but not yet. However, we who are among the baptized are recognized as children of God – grafted into Israel, it’s true, but still belonging to the household of God. The Canaanite woman has no prior claim on God’s attention. We do.

Still, her approach to Jesus can teach us a lot when it seems that God is ignoring us.  
First, she exhibits humility, since not only is she not put off by Jesus’ comparison of her to a dog, but she actually agrees with the comparison. Scripture says that God hears the lowly of heart, but knows the proud from afar. We can argue with God, even get mad at Him. But we can’t stand on our rights. When it comes to approaching the Lord for favors, humility is absolutely necessary. Yes, we are children of God and entitled to His attention, but we are still sinners and not entitled to demand what we want.  

Second, she shows perseverance by three times approaching Jesus, not giving up until her prayer is answered (or at least addressed). Perhaps we think we are persevering in prayer when we’ve been praying for the same intention for months or even years. Still, Scripture advises us to “wait for the Lord” with the promise that He will act (Ps. 31:24; 37:5,9). Sometimes, the answer to a prayer must wait until the conditions for the desired outcome are in place. Also, sometimes the answer comes in a form we do not expect. 

Finally, the woman demonstrates faith. She is convinced that Jesus has the power to heal her daughter, and her humility and perseverance convince Him that her faith is genuine. St. James warns us that, when it comes to prayer, our faith must be whole-hearted, “without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven by the wind and tossed about. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways” (Jas. 1:6-8).

By the way, I didn’t quite finish the story I began with. The woman whose first child died soon became pregnant again, and this time she delivered a baby that was perfectly normal, a beautiful child. God did answer her prayer, but there was a cost. She wanted a normal child, but lost one child to get the other. It’s always wise to be careful how you pray for what you wish God to give you.  ❖

“Don’t Fear the Eye of the Storm”
August 13, 2023
Fr. Bosco Paddamattummal

Many years ago, I was a pastor at a parish in India. The parish cemetery was very close to my rectory, the distance was like this rectory and our church. Someone asked me, “are you not scared to live there alone? Do you see any ghosts?” I said, “I have not yet seen them and even if I do, I am sure they will bless me for remembering them in my prayers.”

Jesus’ walking on the water follows the miraculous feeding in Matthew, Mark, and John. However, the account of Peter's walking on the water is found only in Matthew. Thus, Matthew's retelling of this event also says something about Peter and his faith. While we might emphasize Peter’s fear, his sinking, and his “little” Faith, it helps us to look at our fear at what is happening in our life and our nation today. 

Storms come in all sorts of different ways striking individuals, families, churches, and nations. We can all tell stories about how life was blown off course, the structures of life were washed away, and plans and hopes were damaged or destroyed. Whenever the storms of life arise so does the question of faith. Have you ever felt you are rowing against the wind and making no headway? Have you ever found yourself alone, far from land and a safe harbor? If you know what that’s like, then you know what it was like for the disciples in today’s Gospel. In those circumstances, it’s easy to see ghosts, to be terrified, and to cry out in fear. 

That’s what happened to the disciples. It happens to us. The world today is crying out in fear. Some cry out with tears and screams of horror. Some cry out in silence, not knowing what to say or do. When I listen to the voices in my head and I can hear fear, it’s usually the loudest and most talkative. When we read the headlines of the news and we find stories of fear, we’ve rowed the same boat as the disciples. We’ve been tossed about by the storms of life. We’ve seen the ghost and we’ve cried out in fear.  The boat of our life is far from land right now. The night is dark, the waves are high, and the wind is strong. There is every reason to be afraid. I am afraid that we are sad over these circumstances but not angry enough to overturn the tables and drive out the animals (John 2:15). I am afraid that we are brokenhearted over what is happening in our schools but not wholehearted enough to speak up. I am afraid we express our opinions of how wrong this is about the gender issues happening in our nation today but refuse to be witnesses of Christ. I am afraid about the invention of artificial intelligence without human consciousness in the robots that can one day take over human beings or eliminate human beings altogether. 

But we don’t want to live in fear. We want to feel the wind of change as Jesus walks towards the boat, we want to make room for Jesus in the boat. That’s exactly what Jesus tells the disciples in today’s Gospel (Matthew. 14:22-33). “Take courage … do not be afraid it is I. ” 

We want to escape the storm and avoid the ghost. We want to be picked up and set down somewhere else, somewhere that is safe, calm, and comfortable. Jesus doesn’t do that. He didn’t do that for the disciples and He doesn’t do that for us. Instead, Jesus reveals Himself, speaks, and comes to the disciples in and from the very midst of the storm itself. He did not take the disciples out of their storm; He entered their storm. Jesus came to the disciples walking on the water, through the wind, and in the darkness. Jesus’ peace, words of comfort, and presence are not outside the storm but in the eye of the storm. So  why do we not look for Him in that place, in place of our fear? That’s where Jesus shows up. If Jesus is not in our storms and fears then He is not Emmanuel. He is not God-with-us.

Dear brothers and sisters, the wind and the waves are about more than the weather conditions. They are more descriptive of what is happening within the disciples than of what is happening around them. Regardless of how much faith we have, disease take a toll on our bodies, accidents happen, and loved ones die. Despite our faith life is difficult, relationships break up, and we don’t always get what we want. No matter how strong our faith the sea of life gets rough and stormy. 

But the very elements that threatened to destroy the disciples became the environment in which they recognized Jesus as the Son of God. What they first perceived as certain death they now recognize as new life, hope, and salvation. After all, Jesus is the One who “made the disciples get into the boat.” Jesus is the One who told them to “go on ahead to the other side.” Jesus is the One who prayed during their night voyage. Jesus is the One who came to them in the midst of the storm. Jesus is the One who reassured them saying, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.” No matter how high the waves become they are the waves on which Jesus walks toward us. No matter how strong the wind blows it is the wind through which Jesus walks toward us. No matter how dark the night it is the night in which Jesus comes toward us. No matter how great our fear it is the fear that Christ has already trampled on and defeated.   
❖