Tuesday, November 30, 2010

John the Baptist, Edgy Preacher

Pastor’s Column
2nd Sunday of Advent
December 5, 2010


John the Baptist was unique. The people of Israel had not seen an Old Testament prophet for centuries but they did recognize the real thing when they heard him.  People were coming from all over to hear Jesus – and this included many Scribes and Pharisees – the religious leaders of their day. John wasn’t afraid to tell it like it was!  But preaching like this got him in trouble pretty fast.  John, too, would soon be a prisoner in a jail for speaking the truth once too often.

          John the Baptist compares our lives on earth to an orchard in today’s gospel (Matthew 3:1-2).  We, in the Willamette Valley, are blessed with numerous orchards.  According to John, we ourselves are like a tree planted in an orchard!  And what is the point of a tree planted in an orchard?  To bear fruit!  OK, here is the straight story.  I am a tree. If all I do is grow leaves and look beautiful, I am going to be cut down, because I am expected to bear fruit, not just look beautiful or take up space!

          Earth is a garden, and on it, God plants successive waves of orchards.  We are now living in an orchard planted by God, and, at least for the moment, you and I are planted in the Orchard of Salem-Keizer. I will not be here forever.  No, I will be here only for a time.  I am here, not just to take up space, not just to look pretty, but to bear fruit.  Eventually, the best and most productive years of my life will pass by and I will be uprooted so that another tree can be planted in my place.  Space on earth is limited, and some day, I will have to go, so it is important to understand what life is really all about and what is expected of me during the years that I am permitted to grow and be planted in the orchard.  I am here to bear fruit for God!

          I am a tree in an orchard.  John in today’s gospel is very blunt, but his words still ring true today.  Is my life fruitful for God and others?  Or am I all leaves, just taking up space?  The time that we have to bear fruit on earth is limited.  It is necessary to use this time well.  Advent is a precious time to allow God to prune us so we can bear more fruit for him.  He loves us and he knows better than we do how precious and limited our lives on earth are.  If we listen to him, we will understand what life is all about.  My life is meant to be a gift to others – my family, my friends, the people I work with, go to school with, encounter in the store, on the road, and on the internet.  This is the field where I am planted. This is where God wishes me to bear fruit.  At present, we are all planted in the orchard of God’s garden on earth but my time is actually quite limited.  It is necessary to use it well.   
                                                                                        Father Gary

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

An Unexpected Knock at the Door


An Unexpected Knock at the Door
Pastor’s Column
1st Sunday of Advent
November 28, 2010

So too you must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect the Son of Man will come.
                                        Matthew 24:44

          Very few of us appreciate being caught off-guard by the sudden arrival of an unexpected houseguest, especially if we are unprepared!  Yet interestingly, this is exactly what Jesus is promising to do – to knock on the door and catch us by surprise.  The key to this lies in understanding that this is all a part of our life test.

          Jesus gives us a lifetime in which to exercise our free will, making decisions that are either for or against God; upbuilding our neighbor or tearing him down.  All of this, as well as our free will, comes to an end at death when we will have to live with the consequences of our choices and our ultimate choice for or against God.  This Advent let us resolve to make good choices.  

Advent is such a paradox!  In the next 4 weeks, most Americans will be celebrating Christmas in advance in a frenzy of buying, baking, decorating, card-writing and partying that is supposed to be fun, or at least to make Christmas Day fun, but actually leaves many relieved when Dec 26 comes.  This is because too many of us are taking our cue from advertisers instead of the church.  There is so much to prepare materially before the big day comes – but this is essentially a spiritual season.  Am I preparing my heart to receive Christ?  Is He really part of my Advent plan?

Advent is meant to be a kind of mini-Lent, but more joyous.  Christmas is meant to begin on Dec 25 and continue for at least the next week, not end when people of the world at large usually think it does.  Perhaps we can reclaim a bit of the Advent season this year, which invites us to wait a bit.

One great way to do this is to plan to attend our penance service on Dec 16 (or one of the other 3 in the area).  We clean our homes before entertaining guests, yet often neglect to clean the home within us so that Jesus will want to stay there!

Another way to prepare is to really read the little Advent booklet we offer you as a gift, one page a day.  You never know when one little insight will change your life.

Plan to include the needy in your shopping plans.  If your resources are limited, it could amount to a can for the food drive or, if possible, a present for a needy child from the giving tree, a child you will never meet.  This is the best kind of gift! 

Make up your mind that this Advent you will practice one of the virtues that Jesus loves so much, like patience when you are frantic, humility when things aren’t going according to plan, poverty in the sense of spending less on useless things, or silence by stopping by the Adoration Chapel.  Christ may indeed arrive unexpectedly but we need not be unprepared.
                                                                                Father Gary

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

The Martyrs of Our Lady of Salvation

Pastor’s column
Solemnity of Christ the King
November 21, 2010

         Last year we looked at the martyrdom of Blessed Miguel Pro of Mexico and how his death and that of others in the Christero movement there in the 1920s led to the establishment of the Solemnity of Christ the King.  Miguel Pro was executed as he extended his arms in the form of a cross while praying “Long live Christ the King!”

          At the beginning of this month, the church witnessed the latest martyrdoms for the faith, this time in Iraq.  For some reason, this story has not received much press coverage but the bishop of Iraq has pleaded for prayers from Catholics around the world and to make this story known.

Iraqi Catholics (Syrian Catholic rite) were attending Sunday Mass in the cathedral of Baghdad, called Our Lady of Salvation, when terrorists entered the church.  First they barred all the doors so that no one could leave.  Then they took aim at the priests, who immediately offered their lives so that others could be spared.  One priest was celebrating the Mass when he was killed; one was shot while in the confessional; one priest died while trying to protect children with his own body.  In all, 53 worshippers died in this, the worst single act of violence against Christians since the war began.  The attackers were quoted as saying they were cleaning out a “nest of polytheism” because of our belief in the Trinity.  Survivors have continued to be attacked in their homes.

May God spare our country from this kind of violence, but when we do have to suffer deeply, we have a choice to make.  In this Sunday’s gospel, Jesus’ throne on earth is the cross.  As Jesus is dying, he has company: two thieves who are suffering the same cruel death.  One thief reviles Jesus as he dies; the other admits his own guilt, notes the innocence of Jesus, and simply asks that Jesus remember him when he comes into his kingdom.  For that simple act of contrition and faith, this thief becomes the first person to be saved by the cross.

Christ’s kingdom, Our Lord says very clearly, is not in this world.  If he truly reigned here, horrible tragedies like the suffering at Our Lady of Salvation Cathedral would not happen.  These martyrdoms are the result of the sins of human beings, not the will of God.  Yet there is a place where Christ does wish to reign in this world, and only you have the key: in your own heart, for Jesus says very clearly that the Kingdom of God is within you.

Depending on my response to trials and situations in life, I will take the role of either one thief or the other.  Life consists in its essence as a series of choices: will I allow Christ to reign as king of my heart at this moment, in this choice?  In our daily lives, then, with struggles both small and large, we are preparing ourselves for the final choice we will make, for or against Jesus as Christ the King, on the last day of our lives.

                                                                                Father Gary

Friday, November 12, 2010

A Way to Pray Always

A Way to Pray Always
Pastor’s Column
33rd Sunday Ordinary Time
November 14, 2010

          Many of us are unfamiliar with a traditional Catholic way of prayer that can work very powerfully in our lives.  A few weeks ago we heard the parable of the tax collector whose only prayer was, ”Oh God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”  The Lord was very pleased with this humble and effective prayer, and quite a few parishioners have shared with me that they have begun praying with this prayer that we call an invocation. These can be prayed almost anywhere.  You can create your own as well.
                                                                                          Father Gary


·       My Lord and my God (this is often said at the consecration at Mass).
·       O God, be merciful to me, a sinner.
·       Jesus, Lord and Savior, I love you.
·       Come Holy Spirit!
·       Praise the Lord!
·       Lord, grant me grace that I might do your will.
·       Lord, I believe, help my unbelief!
·       Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for me now and at the hour of my death.
·       Jesus, I trust in you (the prayer of Divine Mercy).
·       Jesus, teach me to give without counting the cost (from Saint Ignatius).
·       Heart of Jesus, I love you.
·       Blood of Jesus, wash me clean.
·       Jesus, you are my hope.
·       Jesus, I believe in you.
·       Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, I adore you.
·       Jesus, teach me to love you.
·       Jesus, grant me patience, grant me love.
·       Holy Spirit, open my eyes, my mind, my heart.
·       Praise you God the Father; praise you God the Son; praise you God the Spirit!

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Life After Death

Pastor’s Column
32nd Sunday Ordinary Time
November 7, 2010

“…but for those deemed worthy to attain a place to the coming age and to the resurrection of the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage; They can no longer die, for they are like the angels; and they are the children of God because they are the ones that will rise.”
                                from Luke 20:27-38

          This Sunday’s teaching by Jesus on the resurrection of the dead springs from something we all recognize: evil people often prosper, while the good frequently suffer for other people’s mistakes.  The current economic crisis is a good example of this.  Many of the financial “wizards” who created so much of our problems seem to go unpunished (indeed, many have been “rewarded” with bonuses), while ordinary people, the middle class and the poor, are paying the price.  If we believe in God, then it immediately follows that there must be a world to come where justice is done, since it is often not evidenced here very much.

          We don’t need to look toward banks or Wall Street to see this: one of my favorite expressions, which I often say in jest, is that “No good deed ever goes unpunished;” there is more than an element of truth to this!  The good that we do does not always have an immediate reward; while those around us, who apparently have no room for God in their lives,  often seem to be doing great without him.  Of course, this same principle is evidenced in Jesus’ own life!  All his miracles, teachings and sacrifices only led him to be crucified by the people he tried to love and serve.  But God raised him from the dead.

In fact, what we perceive to be “inaction” on God’s part toward people whose actions seem to be quite evil is actually an expression of God’s mercy: he is giving them time to repent.  This is now the era of God’s mercy, for as long as we live, God gives us time to turn our lives around.  For Catholics, healing is as near as the confessional!  It is true that some people do not realize this and go from bad to worse while others are made to suffer but this situation will not last for long.  At death, the period of mercy comes to an end and we all must come face to face with the consequences of our actions: how they affected our own lives, how they affected others, and how they looked from God’s point of view.  This is why we are called to be people of mercy now: receiving mercy from God by acts of repentance and forgiveness and extending it to others through acts of love, patience and kindness.

There is an expression about Oregon weather that also applies here: if you don’t like the weather, just wait an hour.  In the same way, if you wonder when God is going to restore righteousness to his creation, just wait a bit longer, but do take advantage of his mercy while you still can because his justice is right around the corner.

                                                                                          Father Gary