Training in Righteousness

29^th Sunday of Ordinary Time year C 2019:

St. Paul tells Timothy today about the importance of the Scriptures.  Not only can they teach us about Jesus Christ, but the scriptures are helpful for teaching, refutation, correction, and, my favorite, “training in righteousness.”  I love this phrase: training in righteousness.  I like the idea that the Christian life is a life of training.  Why?  It means no matter where we are along the journey, we should just keep plugging along.  We are in training.  We haven’t finished anything.  We can keep on working, growing, changing, improving.  I find this concept of training extremely hopeful and encouraging.  Let’s keep up the training.

Today’s gospel gives us something to think about as we are training in righteousness.  Today Jesus gives us another parable and another example.  Yet, this is not really an example of someone we should follow or imitate.  He gives us the example of an unjust judge.  Even this man would render a just decision because of the badgering of the widow.  We had a similar situation a couple of weeks ago.  Do you remember the parable of the dishonest steward?  Remember, he was getting fired so he made deals with the master’s debtors as a way to find a place where he could go once the master got rid of him. 

Normally, when we hear the preaching and parables of Jesus, he gives us amazing examples that we want to emulate.  Think about last week, we heard about the Samaritan who was healed and gave thanks.  He was a good example for us to give thanks to God for all his blessings.  Or think about the Good Samaritan who took care of the man who fell in with robbers.  He was a good example of mercy and kindness toward one’s neighbor.  Think of the parable of the prodigal son.  He was a good example of a man who recognized he was a sinner, but had the courage to return to the Father’s loving embrace.

Yes, all of these are good examples.  But, what do we do with the dishonest steward or the unjust judge?  Jesus gives them to us as examples as well.  Only these are not positive examples.  Rather, these are negative examples, but they teach us important lessons.  

Isn’t this the way that life goes too?  I approach life with these two rules in mind.  Everyone is an example and every experience can teach us something.  We can learn from everyone and everything.  We want to emulate the qualities of good people or good experiences.  But, when we encounter bad people or bad experiences, we can learn from these things too. 

This is not always the easiest thing to do in reality.

Yet, everyone is an example.  Think of a painful experience you had in your life.  Now think: what can I learn from that experience?  Sometimes it’s very basic: I promise never to do or say something like that in my own life.  It is definitely the case that all of us will experience sadness and pain in our lives.  But, do we let it beat us down?  Or do we let it build us up?  Everyone is an example.  Every experience can teach us something.  

Jesus uses the unjust judge to teach us to be persistent in prayer.  By doing so he is reminding us that even our negative and painful experiences in life can truly open for us pathways to grace and goodness.  This is not easy.  This process requires the ability to open our hearts and minds to Christ in the midst of our pain.  All scripture can help us to train in righteousness and so can our experiences.  If we have the right perspective then everyone is an example and every experience can teach us something, even our pain and difficulties.  Let’s ask the lord to help us to train in righteousness through his words and example and from the people and experiences we have in our lives.  Lord, help us in our training in righteousness.

The generosity of God

28^th Sunday of Ordinary Time year C:

The story of the Bible is the story of God’s generosity.  God creates the entire universe out of nothing.  Without God there would be nothing.  God creates man and woman in his image, after his likeness.  Without God we would be nothing.  Adam and Eve turn away from God with the Original Sin, God continues to take care of them.  God helps the people of Israel by raising up Joseph in Egypt.  After they were enslaved in Egypt, God frees them by leading them through the Red Sea.  After the people were taken out of the land by the Babylonians, God rescues them.  In the fullness of time, God sends his Son Jesus to be our savior.  He generously gives himself up on the cross, handing over his life for us.  Next, God sends the Holy Spirit as a generous gift that gives spiritual power to the Church.  This Holy Spirit continues to be the gift for the Church as we receive this power through the grace of the Sacraments.  You and I have received the forgiveness of our sins in baptism.  We have received the gift of the Spirit in confirmation.  We receive mercy in Confession.  We receive the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist.  From the start of creation to this very moment, the whole story is a story of God’s generosity.  

If we see everything through this lens of the generous God, what should be our response?

The generosity of Christ is on clear display today in the gospel.  He freely chooses to heal these men, afflicted with leprosy.  He did it out of sheer love, out of generosity.  All 10 received the amazing gift of God’s mercy.  Now, I’m sure that they were all appreciative.  I’m sure each of them were happy to get their health and their lives back.  Yet, only one converts the interior disposition of gratitude into action.  One man returns to give God thanks. 

You and I are not much different than the men in the story today.  True, you and I do not have this particular disease or affliction.  But, we have our sins, we have our weaknesses, our illnesses.  We have our troubles and temptations.  And yet, we also have received tremendous graces and blessings from our God.  I’m sure that if I asked everyone here in Church: are you appreciative of all that God has given you?  I’m sure we would all say yes.  But, does that sense of thanksgiving actually change our lives?  Does it change the way we live?  Does it change our actions?

I think I’ve mentioned this before, but I try to practice 5 minutes of gratitude every morning.  I think of three things I’m thankful for.  Then I think of three things that would make today great.  This practice only takes 5 minutes, but it makes a tremendous difference on my day.  It’s one thing to be appreciative of God’s blessings.  But, the Samaritan in the gospel reminds us that thanksgiving should also affect our lives and our actions.

Thanksgiving is not only central to our lives, it’s at the very heart of the Mass.  In fact, the word Eucharist means “thanksgiving.”  What do we say in the preface: it is truly right and just to give you thanks.  This mass and every mass is a chance for us to turn our appreciation for God into the very act of worship.  The mass is not only a great gift for which we should be thankful.  It’s actually the worship where we give God thanks for all his many blessings.  

So, as we celebrate this mass, let’s take on the attitude of the Samaritan from the gospel.  Let’s be thankful to the generous God who has given us everything.  But, let’s also seek to make this thanksgiving more than just our attitude.  Rather, it should affect our lives and our actions as well.

The gift of faith

27^th Sunday of Ordinary Time year C 2019:

The apostles have a really great request from Jesus today: increase our faith.  How many times have you and I said these words to the Lord?  In times of difficulty, trial, suffering, pain.  We are tempted to cry out: Lord, increase my faith.  I really appreciate the sentiment from Habakkuk in our first reading: Lord I cry for help and you do not listen.  What is God’s response: wait for it, it will surely come.

Doesn’t it seem like we are in the middle of a tension?  We experience pain, suffering, trials, and temptations.  And yet, we are a people of faith.  We believe that God hears us.  We cry out to him.  Our faith is strong.  We know that we strive forward to the promise of eternal life.  And yet, we have to wait for that time of fulfillment.  We already believe in the coming of God’s kingdom.  Still, we are not yet there.  

This is why faith is so important for us in our lives.  Faith is precisely that virtue that enables us to continue down this pathway of our lives, fixed on the life to come.  We read in the Letter to the Hebrews that faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.  Faith is so important because of the tension of human existence.  We live stretched out between heaven and earth.  We live here on earth, but we long for the life of heaven.  Faith is the evidence of things not seen.

Yet, faith is a gift.  We call it a theological virtue.  This means that it comes from God.  We first received this gift of faith at our baptism.  All the baptized received the gift of faith.  Yet, why do people fall away from Christ?  I’m sure all of us can think of friends and family members who have received the gift of faith at baptism and yet do not experience or live out their life of faith.  

We need faith.  Yet faith is a gift from God.  So, we can pray like the apostles: increase my faith.  But, also, we can learn a valuable lesson from the second reading today too.  St. Paul says to Timothy: stir into flame the gift of God you have received.  I think faith works like this too.  We receive this gift from God.  We can ask him to help us increase our faith.  Yet, what do we do with these gifts?  We have the responsibility to fan the gift of faith into a flame.  

Faith is not a passive virtue.  It doesn’t just automatically kick in and take care of all our problems when we face tough times.  Faith is a virtue that requires some time and attention to fan into flame.  All of us should ask ourselves: what do I do on a daily/weekly basis that helps me to turn the gift of faith in to a flame?  

Let me tell you the absolute basics: daily prayer, regular confession, and Sunday Mass.  These things are the very building block of a life of faith.  Without these, we will lose our way.  Our faith will feel cold and distant.  

But, what about taking it to the next level?  How to we stir the gift of faith into flame?  First, I would challenge everyone to continue to be fascinated by the holy.  What is it that fascinates you about God or the Church?  Maybe it’s one of the sacraments, maybe it’s the life of a saint, maybe it’s the church’s work to spread the gospel to distant lands.  Do you have a Catholic passion?  I have a brother who is slightly obsessed with Star Wars.  He follows all the blogs.  He watches all the trailers in super slow motion.  He comes up with his own ideas and theories.  He has a real passion for Star Wars.  I don’t have to convince him to spend time and energy learning and fueling his passion.  He does it because of his drive and enthusiasm for Star Wars.  We should all have such a passion for the faith.  We should all have such a passion for the Mass or for the Bible or for learning about the saints.  Imagine how much our faith would grow if we spent our time and energy digging in deeply on the truths of the faith.  And honestly, what’s more exciting: and adventure in a made up galaxy far, far away, or the drama of the loving God who gave his son as a ransom for us sinners?  Fan the gift of faith into flame by learning about your faith, become passionate about the faith.  

Life is hard sometimes.  It seems like I say that all the time.  While we live our lives here on earth, we long for so much more.  This is why we need faith.  Faith is the evidence of things unseen and the realization of things hoped for.  Lord we pray, increase our faith.  Help us to fan into flame this gift you have given us.