He had pity on him...

6^th Sunday of Ordinary Time, year B 2018

I have always appreciated this story from Mark’s Gospel.  It truly helps us to experience the compassion, the love of Christ.  We hear that Jesus is moved with pity.  Then he stretches out his hand to the leprous man, and heals him.

In many ways, this many with leprosy represents the whole human race.  He is sick, he is cast out from the community, he is hurting, he faces a great deal of suffering.  Isn’t it true for us as a whole?  The whole human race fell away from God.  We have inherited this great wound, we call it original sin.  It leads us away from God, it causes us weakness, suffering, death, sadness, sorrow.  And yet, God is moved with pity. 

Many times in our lives we will ask the question “why” in the face of suffering.  Why did this person die?  Why did this disaster happen?  Why did my loved one get sick?  These are honest and heart-felt questions.  The answer is often illusive: we suffer and die because we live in a fallen cosmos.  This isn’t the most satisfying answer.  We want someone to blame!

But, as I often like to say, rather than ask “why” we can ask “what”.  In other words, what did God do to respond to the suffering of the human race: he was moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, he sent his only beloved son.  My friends, this mercy extends to every one of us.  Know and believe that Christ continues to have mercy, compassion, pity for every one of us.  Just like the man in the gospel, he is there to stretch out his hand, to heal and save us. 

So, this story teaches us a great deal about God, his son Jesus, and the great mercy and love he has for us.  But, I think, it also teaches us a little bit about the spiritual life.  The many with leprosy represents us all.  So, his actions sketch out a pathway for us.  Notice he does 3 things in the gospel before he is healed.

Number 1: he approaches Jesus.  This might sound simplistic.  But, it is truly impossible to receive the healing and mercy of God if we don’t go to him.  Our task in this life is to love and serve God.  But, it is quite difficult to love and serve a God we don’t know.  Without spending time with God, without turning to him in prayer and praise, we will keep wandering around lost and suffering.  But, if we take the example of this man in the gospel, we will approach Jesus, we will pray and spend time with him.

Number 2: he kneeled down.  I love this image of kneeling down.  It’s a powerful image of submission.  It’s an image of worshiping.  Kneeling down is a powerful reminder that God is the great king.  Kneeling down is an act of thanksgiving, it is an act of prayer.  So, our prayer life should certainly include giving God thanks and praise.  I mentioned this last week when I spoke about stewardship, but the more we recognize that everything comes from God, the more we will be filled with his joy and peace.  Like it often says in the Eucharistic prayer, to give God thanks is itself a gift from God.  Kneeling down before the Lord gives us a great perspective.

Number 3: he begs Jesus.  He makes known to Christ his needs: if you want you can heal me.  So, the other side of the life of prayer is to beg God for all that we need.  To ask him for healing, to ask him for guidance, to ask him for courage.  These are the prayers we can bring before the Lord.  Now, the healing we are looking for may not happen as swiftly as it did in the gospel today.  In fact, we might not receive the fullness of the peace we long for until heaven.  But, by begging Christ for all we need, we grow closer to him, and we experience his love and compassion more deeply.

So, I love this reading because it tells us a great deal about God.  He is moved with pity at our suffering, he sent Jesus as the response to human suffering.  And, it teaches us about the spiritual life.  If we long for healing, if we desire to experience the mercy and compassion of Christ, we approach him, we kneel down, and we beg him for all that we need. 

Everyone is looking for you

5^th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B 2018 Stewardship Sunday

Everyone is looking for you.  These words were spoken by Simon Peter to Jesus over 2000 years ago.  But, I think they are just as true now.  Lord, everyone is looking for you.  Jesus Christ is the answer to the question of human existence.  Jesus Christ is the answer to the question buried deep in every human heart.  What is that question?  Why am I here?  What is my destiny?  The answer is Jesus Christ.  He is the union between God and humanity.  Why am I here?  Because God put me here.  What is my destiny?  To be united with God forever.  We are all gathered here in church to day because we too are looking for Jesus.  Everyone is looking for you.  Because we have found Jesus, because we have the gift of faith, we come here to give God thanks and praise for all the many gifts he has given to us. 

This is a familiar pattern.  God does amazing things, and his people give him thanks and serve him in return.  This is what Simon’s mother-in-law does.  Jesus heals her fever.  Then, the gospel says, she waited on them.  Gift leads to service.

It was similar for St. Paul in the second reading.  Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel.  Paul had received so much from God, that he was internally compelled to serve God, to preach the gospel and to serve the people “free of charge.”  And, most importantly, he says that it was important for him to do it willingly, not under constraint.  He loved God so much, and God had done so much for him, that he gave back freely to the Lord.

This weekend we celebrate our Stewardship Sunday.  Every year about this time, we take a Sunday to pause and to reflect upon the Stewardship way of life.

I would like to start by giving a little update, especially when it comes to our stewardship of treasure.  The last time I spoke to you about parish finances, things did not look so good.  We put together our parish budget in the spring and noticed big problems.  So, I brought these problems to the attention of everyone this last spring.  The response has been tremendous.  You have generously answered the Lord’s call to generosity.  We had been noticing our collections going down over the last few years.  This past year our collections are going up again.  Thanks to your generous response our financial situation is looking stronger.  Also, we made some pretty major changes in staffing in the school.  Mike Obergfell and all the faculty and staff creatively found ways to give an excellent education to our children, while significantly lowering the annual budget.  This has helped tremendously.  Also, over the past year, we have received some very generous contributions to pay for technology improvements in the school, and here in the church.  This has been a year of tremendous blessing.  This is all thanks to you and to your generous response to the gifts that God has given you.

But, when I look to the future, there are always things that cause me some anxiety.  Our projected number of school children ended up about 15 too high, which means that our school income will be quite a bit lower than I had anticipated.  We had a few pipes break in the school, and we still have to decide how to fix these issues.  There are a number of other capital improvements that we can see as being needed in the next few years. 

So, what is the outlook of our parish?  I think it is tremendously hopeful, with a dash of uncertainty.  And you know what?  That’s probably good.  I mean, this just means that St. Jude is just about like any family, right?  Doesn’t this sound like most of our own personal financial situations: tremendously hopeful with a dash of uncertainty? 

So, I’m here today to encourage each and every one of you to continue to cultivate the stewardship way of life.  This is an important spiritual principal for all of us to live by.  God gives us so much, we give back to him out of love.  He has given us our lives, our talents, our treasures.  We use these things for his good and for his glory.

This week you will receive from us an annual report about Stewardship in our parish.  This will include financial information, but also a great deal of information about all the important works of service that have taken place here at St. Jude because of your great commitment of time and talent as well.

As I mentioned, life is often a mix hopeful and uncertain.  This is just a fact of life.  But, if we put our attention mainly on the uncertainties of life, we are filled with worry and dread.  But, rather, if we put our attention to the tremendously hopeful things in life, we will be filled with God’s joy and peace.  As pastor, I put my hope and my trust in God and in all of you.  Over the past year you have responded with incredible generosity, and I know you will certainly continue to do so in the future. 

Therefore, I invite all of you to spend some time this week to think about your stewardship of Time, Talent, and Treasure.  And I invite all of us to recommit to giving back to God for all the good he has done for us.