The End of the World...

33^rd week of OT year C 2013:

I was away from the office most of this week on retreat.  It was a nice time of prayer and reflection.  I had a chance to pray a bit over these readings today.  Jesus sends us a dire warning about the end of the world: not a stone will be left standing.  Then when I get back from retreat, what did I see but that part of the steeple had fallen off.  I thought that perhaps the end of the world was upon us!  But, fear not, we will fix the steeple.

Still, the end of the world is upon us.  Whether it comes today or in 10,000 years, we are called to be ready for the coming of Christ.  Every week when we gather here for Mass we pray our creed that states that Christ will come again.  But, it can be quite easy for us to get a bit complacent and relaxed.  Sure, Jesus is coming again, but it’s been 2000 years, I doubt it will be today…

This is why the readings of the Mass always turn toward the end times during the last several weeks before Advent begins.  Built into our church year is a yearly reminder that we do indeed await the end of the world.  That this current world is passing away, that our hope has to be placed on Christ.  For Christians, the end of the world should not instill fear or anxiety, but joy and hope for we know that the end of this world means the coming of the new world.

Still, just thinking about the end of the world probably makes us nervous.  And, just think of some of the things Jesus mentions about the end of the world: natural disasters, we just had the horrible typhoon in the Philippines; persecutions, the US bishops just put out a statement detailing how the HHS mandate for contraception and abortion coverage is a blatant attack on our religious liberty; nations against nations: we only have to turn on the news to hear about violence, war, oppression.  Yes, indeed, things can look quite bleak.

This is why our readings today are so important.  Of course things look bleak in this world, this world is passing away.  If we put our hopes in this world we will be sorely disappointed, but we put our hope in something else.  In fact, we put our hope in someone else.  Jesus Christ is the son of God, in him we put our hope and our trust.  So in the midst of the turmoil, violence, persecution, and disasters of this world, we turn to Christ. 

Today in the gospel Jesus outlines all the many tragedies and all the violence and turmoil that will come before the end, but along the way he gives us three very interesting commands if you listen carefully.  First, he says do not be deceived by many false witnesses.  Second, do not be terrified.  Third, he says remember.

First, do not be deceived.  Don’t go crazy looking for the end times. You might see shows on TV about the end times, or hear scary stories about the end times.  Do not be deceived, stick with Christ.  Everything else causes anxiety and stress, but if we listen to Christ we will have peace.

Second, do not be terrified.  Jesus knows that thinking about the end of the world is frightening, this is why he gives us this command.  Is this an easy command?  No, this is why we need to foster a deep relationship with Christ.  He will give us the strength not to be terrified in the presence of whatever we have to face in life.

Lastly, Jesus says remember.  We have to remember the good news.  The end time is not about the turmoil that will happen.  It is not about earthquakes and floods.  The end time is about the resurrection.  It is about the kingdom of God, where justice will reign for all eternity.  This is why St. Paul tells us to work quietly.  For while the end of the world may indeed be upon us, we remember the good news and we keep following Jesus without fear. 

Non Sumus Angeli

32^nd Sunday of OT Year C:

As most of you know, next April Pope Francis is going to canonize both John Paul II and John XXIII.  Pope John XXIII, was a very interesting man, and he had a long term impact on the Church, since it was he who decided to call the Second Vatican Council.  He also had a warm, down-to-earth sense of humor. One time a new building had to be constructed on Vatican grounds. The architect submitted the plans to His Holiness for his inspection and approval.  Shortly afterward he returned them with three Latin words written in the margin: "Non sumus angeli", that is to say "We are not angels." The architect was quite confused by this response, until he realized that the pope had spotted a flaw in his design.  He had forgotten to include bathrooms, and since we are not angels he would have to add them in.

Non sumus angeli, we are not angels.  This is quite clear to all of us, of course.  Angels are spiritual beings who do the bidding of God.  Human beings are certainly spiritual, that is we have a spiritual component, but we are also physical.  The nature of the human being is always a composite of body and soul.  It was God who designed us this way.  And behold, he said, it is very good. Sometimes e might fall into thinking that the body is bad and only the soul is good.  So, the sooner we get rid of our bodies the better.

There are many scriptural quotes that might even support this kind of thinking.  One of these quotes is found in today’s gospel.  Jesus tells us that those who are worthy of the future kingdom will be like angels.  If we take this one line out of context we can see that it might make us think that our bodies are bad and that we will not have our bodies in the future. 

But this interpretation goes against what Jesus says just a couple of lines later when he talks about the resurrection of the dead.  Every Sunday when we gather to worship we pray our creed together, and in this creed we say that we believe in the resurrection of the body.  Jesus gives us an insight into what this future might look like.  He says that we will be like the angels; so, in some ways, it will be a spiritual existence.  But, as human beings our nature will not change, we will still have our bodies.  So, we will live an existence where our bodies and our souls are perfectly united, and it will be a spiritualized kind of existence, but we will still have bodies.  What will this be like?  I have no idea.  Because of Original Sin and the falleness of our world, we often feel the tension between body and soul.  But, in the resurrection this will not be so.  On the last day Jesus Christ will raise our mortal bodies to be like his own in glory.  God made the human body, and it is very good.  Our bodies will rise again.

Every year, during the month of November, we always take time to think about those who have gone before us.  We take time to pray for our departed loved ones, friends, and family members.  But, it is also a good time for us to renew our faith and understanding in the resurrection.  Because it is the promise of resurrection that gives us hope when we ponder the loss of those we love.  We believe and profess that death is not the end, that we will see our loved ones again.  That those beautiful people that we lay to rest will get up again.  Christians do not grieve like those with no hope, for we believe that those who sleep in Christ will rise with him on the last day.

As we celebrate this Holy Eucharist we renew our faith in the Risen Christ.  We renew our belief that Jesus died, but he also rose again. We may not be angels, but we do indeed pray that through the power of the death and resurrection of Christ all those who sleep in Christ will rise with him on the last day.

Zacchaeus

Today in the gospel we hear about the encounter between Jesus and Zacchaeus.  I find this to be a tremendously heart-warming encounter.  Also, I find that it explains so well both the human condition and the mentality of Jesus.

First, we have the person of Zacchaeus.  We hear that he is a chief tax collector and a wealthy man.  In Luke’s gospel this is two strikes against him.  Not only is he a tax collector, but a chief tax collector.  This means that he had the reputation of being disreputable, greedy, and even a traitor, working against the people of Israel.  This is Luke’s way of saying that he is a sinful person.  If this were Star Wars you would hear the Darth Vadar music as Zacchaeus enters the scene.  But, what we hear is quite interesting: he was seeking to see who Jesus was.  Even though he was a sinner, even though he was a tax collector, even he wanted to see who Jesus was.  No matter who we are, no matter what our background, saint or sinner, there is an innate desire for God.  Every human being on earth, whether they will acknowledge it or not, desires to know Jesus.  The Catechism puts it this way: “The desire for God is written in the human heart, because everyone is created by God and for God… Only in God will the human person find the truth and happiness he/she never stops searching for.”  From a worldly point of view, Zacchaeus has it all.  Why would he venture forth from his life of wealth and seeming security?  He wants to see Jesus.

You get the feeling from the story that Zacchaeus didn’t really have any great conversion story, it just says that he wanted to see who Jesus was, but that simple act had profound consequences: Jesus decide to come stay with him.  Through this simple experience of being with Jesus, his whole life is changed: half of his possession to the poor and a promise to make amends for his past sins.  By spending this time with Jesus he found something that was more fulfilling than his life of greed and wealth.  He found something so beautiful, convincing, and persuasive in the person of Jesus that his life was changed forever.  How many of us can say the same thing?  Isn’t that why we are here today?  We come here to Mass because we want to see Jesus, we have spent time with him, and we find in him the answer to the question at the very heart of the human person: why am I here?  We were made by God and we will only find happiness in God.

Here is where it is helpful for us to think about Jesus’ role in the story.  We were indeed made by God, for God; but, long ago we lost our way.  Our first parents turned away from God, and all of human history is now full of men and women searching for a way to fulfill the deepest longings of our hearts.  Many have tried various means to find truth and happiness: power, pleasure, wealthy, comfort.  While any of these things might be good, they don’t bring us that ultimate satisfaction for which we long.  But, God made us for himself, and even after we sin and wander far from him, he loves us all the more.  Jesus says today: the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.  Again the Catechism has a wonderful statement: God, infinitely perfect and blessed in himself, in a plan of sheer goodness freely created the human person to make us share in his own blessed life.  For this reason, at every time and in every place, God draws close to humanity.  Jesus Christ came to earth precisely to find Zacchaeus, to find us, to search for sinners. 

The story of the gospel is really a love story.  God loved us in our creation, he continued to love us even after sin by sending Jesus, who showed us forever the extent of his love when he handed over his life for us and for our salvation.  And now we get to enter into that love and participate in it all again here as we celebrate this Holy Eucharist.  Every time we celebrate the Holy Mass the story of Zacchaeus happens all over again, we come here because we want to see Jesus, and Jesus comes in search of us because he came to seek and to save what was lost.

Gratitude

Imagine that when you go home today you find an envelope leaning against your front door.  You open this envelope and inside you find a $100 dollar bill.  If you are like me, you would be pretty excited.  Wow, free money.  I wonder where it came from.  No note, no name, nothing to tell you where the money came from, just 100 bucks, a gift for you.  Now, imagine that tomorrow the same thing happens, wow 2 days in a row.  Imagine this happens for a week, for a month, for a year, imagine if you received this 100 dollar bill every day for 10 years.  Would your attitude ever change?  I suppose I would start to take that 100 dollars for granted.  I might just get used to it being there, I doubt I would look at it with the same freshness and enthusiasm that I did on that first day.  The objective state of things would be the exact same, you would have received a gift, but unless that gift remains ever new, our thoughts, feelings, and attitudes have a tendency to change.

Of course, I don’t know of anyone who gets a free 100 dollar bill every day of their lives.  But, I do know that we all receive much more valuable gifts.  Today we woke up.  Not everyone received this gift today.  Today we received the gift of life, but maybe we just take that for granted.  For all those who are parents, today you received, again, the gift of your children.  Not everyone has received this gift, yet maybe we take this for granted.  Married couples, today you received, again, the gift of a loving spouse.  Not everyone has received this gift, yet maybe you take this for granted.  Today we have all received amazing gifts: life, family, friends, jobs, houses, cars, food, you name it. 

Our readings today teach us about gratitude.  I cannot overstate how important gratitude really is.  Being thankful should mark the lives of every Christian disciple.  As Christians we recognize that everything we have, everything we are, comes from God.  Without God we would not have life, we would not have our abilities, we would have absolutely nothing.  And yet, how easy it is to lose sight of this, how easy it is to just get used to the gifts that God gives us.  Once we do that, life gets pretty boring, and can even get quite burdensome.

Just think of some of the daily struggles that we all have.  Think about the fights, squabbles, disagreements, and tensions that are a part of everyday family life.  Now imagine what would happen if everyone in the family awoke every morning praising and thanking God for the amazing people he has placed in our lives.  I’m not saying every tension would go away, but I think our houses would be more peaceful.  Imagine what life would be like if we awoke every morning simply amazed to be alive.  What if we embraced every day like a gift, never knowing how many days we might have on this earth, would we live differently?  To the person who has gratitude every day is amazing.

Today in the gospel we hear about a person with gratitude.  The Lord Jesus has pity on 10 lepers and he heals them of their affliction.  Now, I would imagine that all 10 were quite appreciative.  I’m sure that all 10 were glad that they were no longer sick, no longer exiles, no longer the outcasts from society.  I’m sure that all 10 would agree that they were better off having met Jesus.  But, only one returns to the Lord, only one comes back to worship him. 

Isn’t this story really our story?  God has given us amazing gifts, which is why we are here today.  We gather here at the Holy Mass to worship the God who has loved us and given us so many good things.  Sometimes people ask: why do we have to go to Mass?  There is no better answer than gratitude.  At this Mass, and at every Mass, we have an opportunity to thank God for all the amazing ways he has blessed us.  Hopefully this experience of worship fills us with a renewed sense of gratitude for all the amazing ways God has blessed us.

Increase our Faith Lord!

27th Sunday of OT Year C 2013:

Today in the Gospel we hear one of the most beautiful, most powerful, and most necessary prayers recorded in the whole gospel.  The apostles look to Jesus and they simply say: Lord, increase my faith.

What is faith?  Have you ever stopped to think what it is?  We all know it is important.  In fact, I would say that it is the most essential and basic quality necessary for Christian living.  Without faith, there can be no Christian.  With faith, anyone can be a Christian.  Our first reading even says that the just one will live because of his faith.  So faith leads to live; therefore, it is important for us to know what faith is, and what it is not.

First, faith is not hard work or determination.  Faith is not something we give ourselves.  Faith is not simply an idea.  Faith is not just a decision we make.  For most people, faith is a decision to believe something.  Normally when we talk about faith, we mean that people have decided to believe in Jesus, that we acknowledge that his is the son of God.  But, for too many people, faith remains something that is merely cerebral, faith stays in the mind, it doesn’t extend to the whole of the human person.  This is a shallow vision of faith, and I daresay that it may not be sufficient when life gets tough.  When we are facing difficulties the idea that Jesus is God may not be enough to get us through.

Faith is much more.  From the theological tradition we know that faith is actually a virtue.  In fact, it is one of the three theological virtues.  Both of these words are important for us.

First, it is theological.  This does not mean that it is a book, or something to study.  Rather, this means that faith comes from God.  When we say that it is a theological virtue, we mean that it is a gift that is infused within us by God.  Faith is not something we give ourselves; faith is not the result of our hard work or determination; the very fact that we have faith is a gift that comes from God.  And we know that he has given it to us, because it comes from the sacraments.  Every one of us, on the day of our baptism, received the precious gift of faith. 

Second, it is a virtue.  Virtues are qualities or characteristics in a person that have grown and developed over time.  No one is born instantaneously virtuous, we all have to grow in virtues.  These are our habits or our dispositions.  Faith is a virtue, it grows over time, it becomes more and more a part of who we are. 

So, faith is a gift that comes from God, but it is a virtue that must grow over time.  We received this gift on the day of our baptism, but we also ask Christ, as the apostles did, increase our faith.  St. Paul has some beautiful words for Timothy, which seem to work well in our desire to grow in our faith: fan into flame the gift of God you received. 

My friends, we have all received this precious gift of faith, but do we fan it to flame?  Do we thank God every day for the gift of faith?  Do we pray every day asking God to increase our faith?  Do we make faithful use of the sacraments, especially Confession and Eucharist, so that God can deepen the gift of faith within us?  Do we read Sacred Scripture, help the poor, have a daily life of prayer, seek ways to grow in goodness and love?  Faith is a gift that comes from God, but we are called to fan it into a great flame that will guide and strengthen us no matter what we might face in life.

Today we gather, as we always do, to celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.  Perhaps there is not greater place for us to whisper the prayer of the apostles.  Right here at the Mass the Lord comes to us in his body and blood, right here we see Jesus, and we can ask him: Lord, increase my faith.

Lord, make us humble

22^nd Sunday of OT Year C:

As many of you know, I come from a big family.  To get laughs I will often introduce myself as the oldest of 11 children, and I’m also the most intelligent, most athletic, the handsomest, most amazing of them all, and of course the most humble of all.  Like I said this usually gets a few laughs, especially when I claim to be the most humble, for bragging about one’s humility is a sure sign that he/she lacks the virtue.

Humility is an extremely important virtue.  In fact, Mother Theresa called humility the mother of all virtues.  She says, “it is in being humble that our love becomes real, devoted and ardent. If you are humble nothing will touch you, neither praise nor disgrace, because you know what you are.”  So, I think we would all agree that humility is extremely important.  But, how do we grow in this virtue?  Humility is one of those strange traits that won’t develop if we are concentrating on it.  For example, if you walked around all day trying to be humble, there is a good chance you will become proud of your humility, and the whole thing will be ruined.

In today’s parable, Jesus gives us some examples of things to do that will help us to grow in humility.  We are to take the lower place and we are to help others without calculating the return.  These we should absolutely do.  But, how often are we invited to a wedding banquet where seats are given based on one’s social status?  Not that often.  We need to discern how to apply these principles in our daily life.  So, I think that rather than having specific humble actions in mind, we will grow in humility when we contemplate the example of humble people.

I’ve already mentioned Mother Theresa, who quietly worked for the poor and abandoned in Calcutta.  Think of St. Therese of Liseaux, a great saint who lived a quiet life of prayer.  Or, St. John Vianney, who gave a tireless witness of pastoral charity.  But, most of all, we should reflect on the person of Jesus. 

Who are we to be proud anyway?  I mean we are weak, fallen sinners.  Yet, we often aspire to those high places of honor and prestige.  How different it is with Christ!  He is the eternal son of God, and he was not born into a palace, but in a tiny manger.  He is the eternal word through whom the entire cosmos was created, but he lived in the house of a lowly carpenter.  He is the king of kings, yet he was crucified between two common criminals.  In fact, every moment of Christ’s life on earth is an amazing example of humility.  The son of God emptied himself and took on the form of a slave, St Paul says.  And he does so in order that he might lift us up.  It is precisely the humility of Christ that has the power to overcome the foolishness of human pride.  He had to sink low, but it was in order to pick us up.

It is always a good idea for us to contemplate the person of Jesus, to dwell on his words, and reflect on his actions.  But, I think it is especially important because it helps us to grow in humility.  How can I be proud, when Christ was born in a manger?  How can I be proud, when Christ was crucified for me?  How can I fail to love and serve others, when Christ did all this for me and for all of us? 

In reality, I certainly don’t claim to be the most humble person.  I need to grow in humility, we all need to grow in humility.  What a blessing, then, it is for us to come here to the Mass.  In the Eucharist, Jesus comes to us in perhaps his most humble form.  Hopefully, by receiving this Holy Eucharist, and pondering the humility of Christ, we will grow in humility and will find ways in our daily lives to take the lower place and to help others without expecting return.

Will many be saved? Only through Christ!

21^st Sunday of OT year C:

            Today Jesus is presented with a disconcerting kind of question: Lord will only a few people be saved.  If you are like me, you are hoping that Jesus’ response is: no, no, everyone will be saved, don’t worry about a thing.  But, the actual answer that Jesus gives is just as disconcerting as the question: many will attempt to enter, but they will not be strong enough.  Then Jesus goes through this parable where the master of the house denies that he knows the people who are knocking.

            This might be an important thing for us to remember.  Salvation is not automatic.  Salvation is not easy.  Jesus calls it the narrow gate.  We have to strive for this narrow gate.  But, even if we do, many will not be strong enough to enter.  Is Jesus basically telling us that few people are going to heaven?  When I was in college I remember being quite worried when I read St. Thomas Aquinas.  In the Summa Theologica, Thomas asserts that salvation is not for the masses.  Rather, salvation is only for the exceptional, the gifted.  Being saved is like being a virtuoso piano player, a great athlete, or a mathematical genius.  Sure these things come along, but not everyone who played the piano is a master, and not every Christian goes to heaven.  If you are like me you would read this and get disappointed.  If salvation is only for the exceptional, why should we even try?  Why strive for that narrow gate if getting through it will be impossible?

            If we read today’s passage out of the context of the whole message of Scripture, we might be pessimistic.  We might think, like St. Thomas Aquinas, that salvation is a rarity.  But, think of some of the passages we read in other places in the Bible: God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten Son so that all those who believe in him might have eternal life.  Also, God sent his son not to condemn the world but to save the world.  Think of the devotion to the Sacred Heart, where we remember that the heart of Christ burns with fire for the salvation of the world; or, the Divine Mercy, where rays of love and mercy emanate from the heart of Christ. 

            So, when we think about the good news of salvation, then read today’s reading it seems somewhat contradictory.  But, listen to it again: strive for the narrow gate, many will try but will not be strong enough to enter.  What is that gate?  It is the gateway to heaven, to paradise.  If you think about it, none of us are strong enough to enter into paradise.  This problem goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden.  Because of Original Sin that narrow gate is closed.  All of us are sinners, none of us can earn salvation, none of us can earn our way into heaven.  But, in the history of the world there was one man who could earn salvation, there was one man who was strong enough to enter that narrow gate.  That one man is Jesus Christ. 

            I think we should take with us a few key points today.  Salvation is not automatic.  It is a narrow gate that leads to salvation.  In fact, we cannot make it on our own.  But, that is ok, because God sent his son Jesus to be our savior.  The quicker we realize that we will never make it without Christ, the sooner we will turn to him in our weakness, the sooner we will rely on his strength and not our own. 

            We are about to celebrate the Holy Eucharist, which is often called the sacrament of our salvation, because it is the sacrament of the very offering of Christ on the Cross.  Right here on this altar we participate in the salvation that Christ won for us.  When we receive this Holy Communion we are united to Christ, the one who is strong enough to enter through that narrow gate.  Because of our communion with Christ, we believe that he will take us with him.  So today’s gospel reading is not meant to make us pessimistic, rather it should make us thankful, thankful that while we might not be strong enough to make it on our own, God loved us so much that he sent his Son to be our savior. 

Do not be afraid

19^th Sunday of Ordinary Time:

Today in the Gospel there is an unusual tension.  On the one hand, Jesus begins by telling his little flock: do not be afraid.  This was one of the great messages from John Paul II: do not be afraid.  There is much in this life that could cause us fear and anxiety, but our relationship with Christ gives us the strength to face whatever comes our way. 

Yet, in the same reading we hear a stern admonition: you must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.  Jesus tells us to make sure we are one of the good stewards who is found doing the right thing.  If not, Jesus starts to talk about severe beatings, which don’t sound like much fun!  And perhaps the most challenging sentence in the whole reading is the last one: much will be required of the one entrusted with much.

My friends, all of us have been entrusted with so much.  Absolutely everything we have, everything we are comes from God.  We wouldn’t have life if it weren’t for God.  We wouldn’t have air to breathe, water to drink, food to eat.  God made all things, he sustains all things.  Without God nothing would exist.  Without God we wouldn’t exist.  All of our talent, enthusiasm, and hard work are also gifts that came from God.  Everything comes from him.  Further, think of the gift of salvation that the Lord Jesus gives us from the cross.  Think of his gifts of grace that he pours out in the sacraments.  Every day we gather around this altar and Jesus gives us his very Body and Blood in the Holy Eucharist.  If we stop and think about it, the generosity of God is truly amazing.

Today’s reading is a compelling reminder that each one of us will be asked to give an account.  Each one of us will be asked a simple question: after everything I have given you, and everything I have done for you, what did you do for me?  How did you repay my generosity, how did you put the riches I gave you to good use for those around you? 

I don’t know of anyone who is perfect.  I know that I am a sinner.  I know that I haven’t always lived up to my end of the bargain.  I know that sometimes I haven’t made the best use of all that God has given me.  So when we think about our judgment, we might have a tendency to get anxious and worried.  But, this is why I think it is so important to remember that first line of Jesus.

My little flock: do not be afraid.  We should not be worried or afraid when we hear today’s reading.  Rather, Jesus did not come to condemn us.  He came to save us.  He came to show us the way to the Father.  Today he is reminding us that we will give an account for all that God has given us, but he does not say this so as to instill fear.  Rather, he tells us this to motivate us always to grow closer to him. 

First, start with thanksgiving.  Remember that we are stewards of all the good things God has given us.  We need to remember that everything we have and everything we are is because God gives it to us.  Then we try to be as generous as God is to us.  St. Jude’s is already a very generous parish.  But, are there still more ways we can give?  Jesus does not want us fearful and timid.  Rather, he calls us to the same kind of generosity of spirit that he showed us on the cross.

Today as we celebrate this Holy Eucharist, we give thanks for all that God has done for us, and as we leave the church today we are sent on a mission to be the good steward who awaits the return of Christ our Savior.  

18th Sunday of Ordinary Time

18^th Sunday of OT, Year C:

Vanity of vanities, all things are vanity.  This Qoheleth guy really seems like a charmer.  I mean he doesn’t exactly seem like the kind of person you would want to invite over to your house for a party.  He probably wouldn’t want to come anyway, because parties are vanity too I’m sure.  What’s going on with this reading?  Is the Bible telling us to be pessimistic and downcast?  I don’t think so.  Rather, I think there is a great wisdom to be learned from our prophet’s straight-forward kind of approach. This has been a really helpful reading for me as I begin my assignment here at St. Jude’s.

This has been an amazing week in a lot of ways.  I have met lots of new people, I have had a chance to celebrate Mass, hear confessions, I even had a wedding today.  It has been a great week.  This is a very exciting time for me in my life.  I can’t tell you how excited I am to be the pastor here at St. Jude’s.

But in the midst of all this excitement we hear: vanity of vanities, all things are vanity.  Basically the prophet is reminding us that in the midst of all the passing things of our life, we have to keep before us those things that really matter.  I don’t think the prophet is just telling us to be depressed.  Rather, he is telling us that in the varied experience of the human life there are many things that will take up a lot of our time and energy.  At the end of the day, many of these things just pass away, they just disappear into the sands of time.  Just stop for a second and think about everything you did this week.  Think of all the pleasant things, all the difficult things; think about the exciting things, and the things that caused stress, anger, discouragement, or anxiety.  Now that you have thought about these things, how many of them will still matter in 20 years?  So much of what we do is oftentimes spent on those things that don’t really matter. 

Jesus came to give us direction.  He came to give us peace.  He came to lead us to salvation.  Jesus’ words today in the parable line up with the words from the prophet: why build those bigger barns when we never know what the future might bring.  Jesus and Qoheleth both are trying to remind us to stay focused on what really matters in life. 

Now, I’m not saying that everyone should go home and quit their jobs.  I’m not saying that we can avoid all the little things in our lives.  Rather, everything we do we should do it for God.  Everything we do, we should do it with God.  Everything we do, we can only do it because God gives us the help and strength in order to do it.  I think our reading from St. Paul today is a good one for us to keep in our minds and hearts.  He says: put to death those parts of you that are earthly.  And: seek what is above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God: think of what is above.  The bible is not telling us to try to escape from our human lives; rather, we should turn to God in the midst of our human lives.  We should try to keep before us those things that really matter.

This is great advice for all of us, but I found it especially helpful this week as I begin my new assignment.  There is so much going on here at St. Jude’s, it is new and exciting; but, I have to remember to think about what is above.  I have to always keep my eye on what is the most important.  And that is our relationship with Christ.  There are many responsibilities of a pastor of a parish, but the most important one is to help lead the parish closer to Christ.  I ask for your prayers that with God’s help I am able to do this.  So that all of us at St. Jude’s can keep our hearts and minds always in communion with Jesus Christ and his Church.