God-smarts

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time—Catholic Schools Week

            There is a group of people who have a lot of common sense and who know how the world works. We refer to them as people who have street smarts.  They may also have a degree and be book smart; they may not have any degree.  But they’re the sort of people that know how to get along in the world.  They know how to work well with others.

            Our second reading and Gospel today focus on a different kind of smart, not book nor street smart, but what we might call God smart.  It is not a worldly knowledge, as St. Paul says, “Not many of you were wise by human standards.”  It is, again, quoting St. Paul in our second reading, “wisdom from God.”  A person who is God smart knows how to connect with others according to the mind of God.  And the wisdom of God is often contrary to the wisdom of the world.

Fr. Mike Byrnes celebrating Mass at the bottom of the
Mount of Beatitudes in Israel, along the coast of the
Sea of Galilee

            For example, in the eyes of the world, if you mourn, if you’re weepy, then you’re weak.  We hear it in different forms: men don’t cry; “Big girls don’t cry,” to quote the song; or even, quoting Tom Hanks, “there’s no crying in baseball!”  And yet Jesus tells us: “‘Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.’”  Jesus is not simply rewarding the melancholic, but is saying that blessedness, true happiness, is found in those who mourn for the sinful state of the world.

            Or, as another example, in the eyes of the world, it is the man or woman with the most weapons or power who wins the day.  We saw this during the Cold War, when we wanted to have more weapons than the Soviets in order to prevent them from nuking us.  We see it today in so many nations deciding that war is the first and easiest way to solve differences.  And yet, Jesus tells us that the peacemakers are the ones who are blessed and will be called children of God.  These are not values that come from worldly wisdom.  They come from the mind of God and are active in those who have God smarts.

            Why this reversal of fortunes?  Why are the ways of God so different than the ways of the world?  St. Paul tells us that “God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise…and God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something, so that no human being might boast before God.”  God helps us realize that we are nothing without Him by showing His greatness in those that the world considers nothing.  He recognizes and loves those who recognize their true poverty, that they have nothing without Him, and raises them up, while at the same time lowering those who think they are rich because they are the masters of their destiny, money, or power.

            Just like street smarts, which have to be learned, God smarts must also be learned.  But, while street smarts generally cannot be learned from a book, we have a collection of books, the Bible, as well as the teachings of the Church, which can guide us in becoming God smart.

            This week we celebrate Catholic Schools and the gift that they to the Church in the United States.  Of course, we have a number of you who teach or administer in public schools, and we thank God for your Catholic witness that you provide in those public schools.  Yet, we celebrate Catholic Schools because they are fulfilling in a very purposeful way, the command of the Lord to make disciples of all nations, including children, by giving them God smarts, and becoming disciples of Christ.  In no public school can an explicit, purposeful mention be made about the way that God communicates with His creation as the truth that sets all people free and gives all people life.  While our Catholic teachers in public schools do, and should, provide by their lives a witness of the blessings of being poor in spirit, meek, and peacemakers, in our Catholic Schools we are able to back it up with daily study of God’s revelation through Scripture and Church teaching which help all of us to become God smart. 

            Are Catholics Schools perfect?  I wish I could say they were.  But in our parish school, in which I am often present, I can assure you that besides forming the mind in academics, forming the body in physical education and sports, we also work at forming the soul, helping it to realize that true blessedness is in following Christ.  And when there is a problem, as problems do occur, we can relate it back to how Jesus calls us to be so that we can be truly happy and find real blessedness.  As one of our students recently pointed out to a visiting parent who was thinking about enrolling his child in our school (uncoached and without cajoling), what makes the difference in our Catholic Schools is the formation in faith.

            Many of us are book smart.  Likely many of us have street smarts.  But what a great thing if all of us were God smart and lived out the beatitudes in our daily life, so that God could prove His wisdom in us, “as well as righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.”

Michigan or Michigan State?

Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

            As I have been assigned, first as a seminarian, then later as a deacon, and now as a priest, at any parish that has a school, there is one early question that can change the effectiveness of my ministry.  It’s always asked by at least one student in every school, and the question can be simplified into four words: Michigan or Michigan State?  Generally, the question refers to athletics, and if I answer correctly, then that young man or woman has a connection, because we like the same team.  Now, as far as athletics goes, for the most part, we have been teaching our “Older Brother,” (their words, not mine) a lesson.  But, as happens, coaches change, teams improve or get worse, and that’s what feeds a good, competitive spirit.

            Problems happen when the rival mentality that feeds a University’s student body and the alumni creeps into the Church.  And, unfortunately, the United States is no stranger to this phenomenon.    While it is certainly fine to connect to certain causes more than others because of a similarity in personality of one of the leaders, or a focus in an area that is near and dear to our hearts, the Church is not the NCAA, made up of opposing teams that, while keeping good sportsmanship, are trying to destroy each other on the field, court, ice, or any other venue.

            This problem is not new.  We hear about the exact same problem in the second reading from St. Paul’s first letter to the people of Corinth.  Paul writes, and we heard, “I urge you, brothers and sisters…that there be no divisions among you…For it has been reported to me…that each of you is saying, ‘I belong to Paul,’ or ‘I belong to Apollos,’ or ‘I belong to Cephas.’”  Paul wrote this letter from Ephesus somewhere between AD 52 and 57, which means that not 20 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, his followers were already finding ways to attack the unity that Christ desired of His Church.

            The problem continues today, with some claiming, “I belong to this cause,” or “I belong to that movement.”  Again, while it is fine to look up to these causes and groups and to admire them as much as they promote causes that we find important and give us the true faith, we cannot treat our allegiance as to one camp over and against another in the Catholic Church.  Truly, none of you belong to any one cause.  You belong to Christ!  As much as those bishops help you to belong to Christ and follow the true faith, they are to be followed.  As much as they divide you from Christ and the true faith, they are to be avoided. 

            At the end of today’s Gospel, we heard about the call of the first of the Twelve Apostles.  And already we begin to see some of the diversity in unity.  Peter was no doubt a little different than Andrew, as are any set of brothers.  The same probably went for James and John, the sons of Zebedee.  And then among the four of them, there were probably many differences, even though they were all fishermen.  And yet, they were unified in following Jesus and obeying Him as He preached the Gospel and cured the infirm.  One can only imagine the diversity of personalities when all Twelve were gathered together.  And yet all, minus Judas, were first and foremost concerned with following Jesus.  And then you add Paul into the mix, Paul who chided Peter, not for his teaching, but for his lack of action that followed his own teaching of saying that Gentiles did not have to keep kosher law. 

            There is no problem with true diversity.  It is a gift of the Holy Spirit to the different cultures into which the Gospel has been preached.  It is a gift to those who take seriously the teachings of the Church, and seek to make those teachings a reality in the world.  We see diversity in unity in the 21 different rites of the Catholic Church, who have legitimately developed certain traditions that vary among the rites.  But they are all unified by their basic structure and their fidelity to the legitimate authorities who guide how the Mass develops in their rite.  We see diversity in the many ways that Catholics try to bring their faith in the public sector and decrease the social evils that plague us: abortion, poverty, racism, and many more.  But that diversity is also bound in unity to teaching which is in harmony with what we have first received from Christ and have developed over the centuries in harmony with Scripture and Tradition.  Just like an orchestra, we are made up of many instruments that play individual parts, but those instruments and parts must be united by a common score of music, lest we are left with a cacophony.  

This Tuesday ends the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.  And while we certainly pray that all who bear the name of Christ, all Christians, may be drawn together into the one Church that Jesus Christ founded, where the fullness of grace and truth are found, the Catholic Church, we cannot neglect the real need for unity in the members of that same Catholic Church. 

This cause and that movement are not Michigan State and Michigan.  We are all a part of the Body of Christ, the family of God’s adopted children in Christ.  Follow those causes who draw you to a closer relationship with Christ as they pass on the authentic faith of Jesus’ one Church.  But do so only to the extent that they promote unity and charity in truth and in fidelity to the Gospel of God.  May Jesus’ prayer in the Upper Room be fulfilled soon: “ut unum sint”: “that they may be one.”

Mistaken for the Father

Feast of the Baptism of the Lord

            It’s a pretty common occurrence, I think, that happens to many young men and women during adolescence.  It has certainly happened to me a number of times.  The phone rings.  “Hello?”  “Hi Rob, how you doing?”  “Actually this is Anthony.”  “Oh, sorry, you sound just like your dad!”  I know it also happened a at least a few times with my sisters picking up the phone, and the person on the other line thinking it was my mom.  While it can be frustrating for the young man or woman, there is a certain fittingness to the fact that the child sounds like his or her parent.

             As we celebrate the Baptism of the Lord today, we notice a similar series of events taking shape, albeit without the telephone, in our readings.  As we listen to the words of the Prophet Isaiah in the first reading, we hear God the Father promising to send a servant who will bring justice to the nations.  The servant will open the eyes of the blind, bring out prisoners from confinement, and bring those in darkness out from the dungeon.  This servant will be one upon whom the Spirit of the Lord rests, and with whom God the Father is pleased.

            To those who had ears to hear and eyes to see at the Jordan River, to those who had remembered this passage from Isaiah, Jesus’ baptism would have been a jaw-dropping moment.  Because just as Jesus came up from the water, the Spirit of God, in the form of a dove, came upon Jesus, and a voice from heaven said, “‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.’”  The prophecy from Isaiah was fulfilled in their hearing, and it is reaffirmed for us in our hearing today. 

But if you notice, God does not simply fulfill the prophecy.  No, he goes beyond its fulfillment.  He does not simply send the Spirit upon Jesus in a nebulous, invisible form, but allows the Spirit to take the form of a dove, so that all might see it.  And Jesus is not just the servant with whom the Lord is pleased, but Jesus is the servant who is the beloved Son of God, with whom God the Father is well pleased.  God’s abundant love is seen here, going beyond what the Chosen People were taught to hope for.  God outdoes His own promises, out of love for the people He has made His own.  And Jesus’ public ministry, the proof that He is the servant and Son of God, is Jesus opening the eyes of the blind, freeing prisoners from the slavery of sin, and bringing the light of truth and grace to those who were kept in.

Brothers and sisters, if we have been baptized, then we have been joined to the Body of Christ, and this prophecy, which was fulfilled in its fullest form in Jesus, also is meant to speak of us.  If Christ is the Son and servant of God who is called to open the eyes of the blind, free prisoners, and bring light to those in darkness, and if we are members of the Body of Christ, the Church, through our baptism, then we are also called to do the same.  When people hear our voices, they should hear the voice of Christ, the revelation of the Father; when they see our good deeds, they should see Christ present, and in seeing Christ, know of the Father’s love in action; when they hear us proclaiming the Gospel, and telling people to repent and believe because the Kingdom of God is at hand, they should recognize Christ, and in recognizing Christ recognize the Father, because Jesus is the manifestation of the Father in the world.

It is as if we were on the telephone, and because we are so like Christ, who is the full revelation of the Father, people mistake us for the Father’s beloved Son, not by the treble of our voice, or by the way we look physically, but because we are continuing the proclamation of the Good News: that God loves us so much, that He sent His only Son, so that whoever believes in Him might not perish but have eternal life.  Just as can happen with young men and women on the telephone, people should confuse us for Jesus when they come into contact with us because of our devotion as disciples to the Master.

Now, certainly this is a tall order.  But you have what it takes.  It is not limited to a particular race, gender, or those with good speaking abilities, or priests, or religious.  No, as St. Peter said in the second reading today from the Acts of the Apostles, “‘God shows no partiality.  Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly is acceptable to him.’”  We have the ability because we were baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection, and we have a fountain of graces, ready to flow, if only we would accept it, and let it flow, rather than blocking it by embarrassment of seeming “extreme;” by false humility of thinking, “I can’t spread the Gospel because I don’t know enough;” or by sin which separates us from God.  Certainly we do have to work at presenting the truth of the Gospel in Love, and we must know Him about whom we preach, and all of us need to return to the Lord for forgiveness for those times when we have fallen into sin, but God has already given us all we need to spread the Gospel to all nations, so that they can be baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and become members of the Body of Christ, and co-heirs of eternal life. 

We have a mandate from our Lord to preach the Gospel to all nations, and we must use both our words and actions.  We cannot hide behind an alleged saying of St. Francis that we only need to act.  We need both words and deeds, so that when people hear our words proclaiming Jesus as Lord by what we say and how we say it; so that when people see our kind deeds to the least brothers and sisters of the Lord by the actions of our daily lives, they do not see us so much, as see Christ.  I pray that all of us, by the graces given to us in our baptism, are so like Christ, that we can be known as the continuation of the His ministry, the manifestation of the Father’s love, even more than, when the kids are at their parents home, they can be confused over the phone for their parents.

Gifts better than Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh

Solemnity of the Epiphany

            I have often thought that having a birthday on or near Christmas is a mixed blessing.  On the one hand, you get the joy of knowing that everyone will remember your birthday and that, in many cases, the whole family is around to celebrate.  On the other hand, the celebration that usually takes precedence is the birthday of Jesus Christ, while the birth of the other person usually takes a back seat.  And, in terms of presents, I would think that many people have “present fatigue,” if you will, and aren’t really in the mood to shop for another gift.

            The solemnity we celebrate today, that of the Epiphany, is sort of like having a birthday around Christmas.  In our modern age, the celebration of the birth of Christ, when the Incarnation was made known to the shepherds, is the major celebration.  But, in the overall history of the Church, the Epiphany was always the greater celebration, because Christ was made known, not just to the few shepherds around Bethlehem, but also to the whole world, to the Gentiles, through the adoration of the Magi.  In fact, the very word epiphany comes from two Greek words meaning, “to show forth.”

            While Christ did make Himself known to the Gentiles through the three kings or wise men, traditionally named Melchior, Caspar, and Balthazar, He did not stop revealing Himself, and indeed, the entire Trinity, on that one day.  No, Jesus continues to make Himself known to us so that He and we might not be strangers, but might know each other well, like the best of friends, or like a spouse.

            Four ways that Jesus is made known or present are experienced in this very Mass!  Jesus is made truly present in the Word, since Jesus is the Word of God, as St. John tells us in the Prologue to the Gospel which bears his name.  Jesus is also truly present in the most august Sacrament of His Body and Blood.  He is made present through this community, gathering together, since He promised, “where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in their midst,” as well as through me, your priest, who acts in persona Christi capitis, in the person of Christ the Head.  In this Mass, God, through Jesus, in the Holy Spirit, is making Himself known to all of us so that we might have union with Him in this privileged way.  What is important is, not so much that we show up to Mass (although it is important to come to Mass), but that God wills to communicate, to share, Himself with us, in the way He has given to us as a gift.

            This year the Epiphany, which was traditionally celebrated on January 6, also coincides with the New Year, the time when we look forward to more joys, and hopefully fewer sorrows, than the previous year.  We make new resolutions to better ourselves and the world.  This year, as a Church, we have a great opportunity to make some new resolutions that also go hand-in-hand with Christ making Himself known.

This New Year will bring with it a new translation of the way we celebrate Mass starting at the end of November: not in a new language, but in an English translation to which we are not yet accustomed.  FAITH Magazine has been preparing us, and will continue to do so even more, for these new words.  Our parish is preparing times when we can gather as a community to learn more about the Mass and to prepare for the new English words that we will say.  Change can hard.  Whatever our personal New Year’s resolution is, we have to work at it; it does not simply happen.  The same goes for our parish resolution  It will take a while to get used to the priest saying, “The Lord be with you” and the people responding, “And with your spirit.”  But frankly, the bulk of the changes will have to be made by the priests, rather than by the people.  So the burden is mostly on Fr. Mark, Fr. Joe, and I to work at being good leaders for you to guide you through the transition. 

            Our New Year’s resolution as a parish, as a Church, united in Christ, is to give God gifts that we know He wants to receive: not so much the “Caravans of camels…from Midian and Ephah,” or “from Sheba…gold and frankincense,” nor even the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh that the three Wise Men brought.  But, as we prepare for these new ways of responding during Mass, it is our parish New Year’s resolution to give Jesus the gold of humility, the frankincense of patience, and the myrrh of obedience. 

Humility is like gold because it is precious in the eyes of the Lord when we realize that God is in charge, and we are not.  It helps us to value the fact that our God so loves us that He makes Himself present to us through the Mass in a four-fold way, rather than clinging to our own opinions of whether or not we like the way the new responses will sound.

Patience is like frankincense because when we are patient with the transition to the new responses, it is like the sweet smell of incense which rises before the Lord, and because, if you’re anything like me, the way that I grow in patience is to pray for it from the Lord as a gift.  Incense is a symbol of our prayers rising before God.

Obedience is like myrrh because myrrh is a perfume that was used to anoint dead bodies, and obedience means that we really have to die to our own wills, our own opinions, our own preferences, as good as we might think they are, and adapt to the great gift that the Church is giving us: to worship God in the way that He wants to be worshipped.  And, the more that we die to ourselves, the more we will rise to God, just as Christ, who was anointed at His death and burial, rose to new life in the resurrection.

Let us not pass over this great celebration of Jesus making Himself known to the Gentiles, but rather, let us offer God the great gift and New Year’s resolution of humility, patience, and obedience in thanksgiving for the four-fold way He makes himself known to us in this Mass: His Word, the Eucharist, the People gathered, and the priest; and in the manifold ways that He makes Himself known to us in our day-to-day life.