Right Place, Right Time

Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time–Second Scrutiny

    As many of you know, Buffalo Trace Distillery is one of my favorite places to visit in the US.  Two different times I have been there at what I would call “just the right time.”  The first time I was visiting around 11 a.m. just to see what Buffalo Trace had for the day.  I had found all the special bourbon that I wanted, along with a few other bar accessories, and was in the check-out line, when someone mentioned that they had just put out a very special bottle of bourbon.  I was allowed to leave the line to get said bottle, which was an experimental bourbon Buffalo Trace released, and which I have never seen anywhere else.  A second time, on our Basilicas and Bourbon Pilgrimage, after our tour I went back to the gift shop, though I had already visited it earlier before our tour to pick up any of the special bottles I sought.  Sure enough, they had just put out another very special bottle of bourbon called the Single Oak Project.  Twice I was in the right place at the right time to score a special bottle of bourbon to add to my collection.
    In our Gospel, the man born blind also finds himself in the right place at the right time.  There’s no evidence he sought out Jesus, but Jesus and the disciples walk past him, and ask whether the blindness served as a punishment for the man’s sins or the sins of his parents.  But Jesus uses the opportunity to heal the man, in a very earthy way.  

Statue of David in Jerusalem

    In a similar way, David never sought to be king.  In fact, Samuel, one of God’s great prophets, thought that David’s other brothers would be good kings.  But God did not choose the greatest king of Israel based upon appearance.  And so David, who did not seek the position of king, ends up receiving the rule of the land of Israel.
    Skyler, I imagine if I would have known you and asked you ten years ago if you had any desire to join the Catholic Church, you would have said no.  But God sought you out and, with the help of others, piqued your interest in the Catholic Church, which has brought you to today and your upcoming baptism.  Through new connections with others, you were in the right place at the right time to hear God’s call that He makes to every person: to join the Mystical Body of Christ, the Church.  
    And it is this relationship with Jesus that will help you see the world more clearly.  We all have blind spots in our lives, things that we don’t notice, or sometimes even that we choose not to see because admitting that we see could be painful and necessitate change, which always seems difficult.  Our world often proposes that happiness comes from having power over others, having large amounts of money, and ever-increasing varieties of physical pleasure.  But Christ shows us that true happiness comes from laying down our life for another, being poor in spirit so that we recognize our dependence on God, and that while physical pleasure like the taste of a good meal or good bourbon, or the embrace of a loved one, is good, it cannot be the goal of our life, because we are made for more than just what this world provides.
    And while this transition can feel difficult, which is why we have a ritual before you are baptized to pray over you and ask God to strengthen you to leave behind in you all that is fallen, we do gain true liberation and joy from living more and more for God each day.  And as you open yourself up to God more and more, you find that you are in the right place at the right time, and actually become yourself a conduit of God’s grace and action, just as others helped draw you in, Skyler, to the Catholic faith.
    Today is also special for Xavier, who will be making his First Holy Communion today.  Xavier, you are also in the right place at the right time, as the anniversary of your baptism is just in a few days, and we remember your baptism as you carried the candle in procession with us.  Today, Xavier, you get to receive Jesus into you in a very special way, in a way closer than you’ll ever be to Jesus until you make it to heaven.  Jesus loves you so much that He doesn’t want anything to keep you from being united to Him, and He wants to strengthen you with spiritual food that will continue to help you choose Jesus and do what He would do. 
    And while I’m sure there are days where you wish you could be an adult and do all the cool things that adults get to do, today Skyler, a young adult, is actually wishing she could be you, because you will receive the Eucharist today and Skyler will have to wait two more weeks until she is baptized and gets to receive Holy Communion for the first time.  
    But God has called both of you, Skyler and Xavier, and all of us, my brothers and sisters in Christ, to allow Him to put us into perfect place at the perfect time.  Sometimes it benefits us, like the man born blind.  Sometime it also benefits others, like when God chose David to be king.  But may we all seek docility to the will of God to allow us to glorify God in every circumstance.

God Getting Dirty Hands

Fourth Sunday of Lent–Second Scrutiny

The Strouse House

    Though we didn’t have a farm growing up, we did live in the country.  There were farms not far from our property, including pigs and cows (which made for interesting smells in the summer time).  We understood, early on, where meat came from.  We did have a little garden in the summer to grow corn, tomatoes, and zucchini.  And we would be responsible for planting the seeds, by hand, watering the ground, and picking the weeds.  We weren’t afraid of getting a little dirty, unlike some city folk I have known who imagine that food just magically appears at the grocery store each week.
    Our Lord wasn’t afraid of getting a little dirty as He healed the man who was born blind.  Jesus spits on the ground, makes a kind of mud, and then puts it on the eye of the man, and tells him to wash the mud off in the Pool of Siloam.  And in the first reading, God chooses David to be the new king.  Now, the reading describes David as “ruddy,” which I have heard numerous times, but had to look up, as it’s not a word we often use.  Ruddy means “a healthy, red color.”  The reading also describes David as handsome, but notes that he worked with sheep.  Sheep are not the cleanest of animals, nor the brightest.  So David, even with his handsome, healthy appearance, also probably had a bit of dirt on him.
    God uses earthy things to communicate.  Dylan, in a few weeks you will be washed, not in the Pool of Siloam, but in the font of baptism.  You, like David, will be anointed with oil on your head.  And while both things come from the earth, and spiritual reality will be accomplished through the earthly substances.  
    Through the water being poured on your head, God will remake you, just as He remade the man born blind.  Water is already a natural means of cleansing, but through the water blessed at the Easter Vigil, you will receive cleansing from original sin and adoption into God’s family.  It may feel no different from other water, but through this holy water, infused with the Holy Spirit, you will die with Christ and rise with Him to new life.  
    Likewise with the oil.  The oil, the Sacred Chrism, is just a mixture of olive oil and a special perfume.  But because of its consecration by Bishop Boyea, it will have the ability to give you the Holy Spirit, the same spirit that rushed upon David at his anointing by Samuel.  It will smell different than the oil that you cook with, but it will look the same.  Still, by that oil, you will become an anointed of God, with the ability to offer the sacrifice of your life to God as a priest in the common priesthood of the baptized; the ability to speak for God as a prophet in union with the Church; and the ability to govern yourself to follow God’s law as a king in the kingdom of Christ the High King.  All of that will be accomplished through simple, earthly things which we dedicate to God for His use with our cooperation.
    Today, in the second scrutiny, you will again ask God to prepare you for these earthly and heavenly realities mingled together.  We will pray for you that God will continue to remove any blindness from your life to the sins that hold you bound now, but from which you will be freed at baptism.  We will continue to pray that God will make you ready to rise from the dead, so that “‘Christ [may] give you light.’”  

    And all of that will culminate in your reception of Holy Communion.  God will receive the simple bread and wine that we offer, and, through the power of the Holy Spirit and my ordained priestly ministry, will transform it in the Body and Blood of His Son, Jesus Christ.  That spiritual sustenance will give you what you need to follow Christ each day and continue on your pilgrimage to heaven, along with the rest of us.  Through your reception of Holy Communion, you will be closer to Christ than you could be in any other way on earth, in anticipation of being united to Him in heaven.  Again, God will use ordinary, earthly things to communicate His life, His grace, to us, as He does with all the sacraments.
    Our response, then, is to walk in the light of truth and be faithful to Him, even when we are challenged by others, as the man born blind was by the Pharisees.  Those who are not enlightened might see just simple water, or oil, or bread and wine.  But you will know that the Holy Spirit will be present in each, and that the bread and wine will be the Body and Blood of the Savior.  And your job, as with all of us who are confirmed, will be to help others to also see the spiritual realities that are communicated through earthly things.  You will use that new life, the Holy Spirit, and the spiritual sustenance of the Eucharist to help you help others know how God works among us, even now.  May God, through these scrutinies, help you to see more clearly in preparation for your baptism, confirmation, and reception of the Holy Eucharist.  And we all also receive clearer vision, and give you an example of those who were blind, but now see, and share the good news of life in Christ.

Keep Your Head on a Swivel

Fourth Sunday of Lent

    In the Michigan State Police, and in other settings, there’s a phrase often called “tunnel vision,” and it refers to being so focused on something, that you don’t notice other things.  In particular, this phrase is used when pursuing a vehicle.  The tendency is to stay so focused on that vehicle, that you can totally miss other vehicles on the road, and whether or not they’re stopping for you or getting over to the side of the road.  The solution to tunnel vision is another phrase we like to use, “keep you head on a swivel,” meaning, keep looking around at your surroundings, and not only on the car that you’re chasing right in front of you.
    Tunnel vision is a form of blindness.  Your eyes still work, but they’re so focused on that one thing, that you miss everything else going on.  And we hear about this especially in our first reading and Gospel today.  In the first reading, Samuel the prophet sees the sons of Jesse, and is so fixated on a strong, leader-looking son to be the next king of Israel, that at first, Samuel fails to see as God sees.  We humans see the appearance, “but the Lord looks into the heart.”  Only when David appears, who is the youngest, but still ruddy and handsome to behold, does God reveal the son of Jesse who is to be the next king of Israel.  Later on we learn that David has a radical trust in God, which is precisely what God wanted in a king for Israel, and which allowed small David to conquer the giant, Goliath.
    In the Gospel, we hear about two blind people: the man born blind and the Pharisees.  The man born blind has physical blindness, and yet is able to see the spiritual realities.  The Pharisees can physically see, but they are blind to the work of God.  The man born blind recognizes Jesus in the beginning as a prophet of God, and later, as the Son of God.  The Pharisees see Jesus as, at best, a nuisance, and at worst, a person who leads others away from God and keeping the sabbath law and the laws of Moses. 
    I think that we’re all suffering, at least a little, and in many cases, a lot, from tunnel vision.  We are so focused on one thing, that we fail to see the other things around us.  And of course, that one thing right now, is COVID-19/Coronavirus.  It’s almost all we hear and see on the news.  It has led to the cancellation of public Masses.  It’s on our minds as we drive on empty roads around town.  It’s certainly our focus at the grocery store as we buy beyond our need and, as has happened so often recently, even beyond any sense of reason.  We focus on the virus when we think about touching someone, or even coming closer than 6 feet to another person.  Some have lost jobs, or at least lost hours at work.  We can no longer dine-in at restaurants.  It has become, in many ways, the all-encompassing focus of our lives.  And because there are still so many unknowns, and no known cure at this point, we focus on all the negatives, which only drives us to more fear.
    I will admit, I’ve been in this same boat.  On my mind has been: How do we make the Mass available to people?  Are the people I encounter carriers?  Are they more vulnerable?  How low is the collection going to be?  Which bills should we pay?  Will the school open up after Spring Break, or will it be closed for the rest of the school year?  Will I be able to visit people at the hospital who are sick and need the sacraments?  How can we provide faith-building materials for people in the midst of our changing schedule?  And on an on it goes.  It seems like that’s all that’s on my mind, and I’m sure you feel the same way, too!
    But, because I have suffered form tunnel vision, I have missed seeing things that God also wants me to see.  Just last Monday, while walking from the rectory to the office, the sun was shining, and there were the first, small flowers blooming by the school, with their little lavender petals and a bright yellow circle in the middle.  And I realized that I was blind to the other things that God is doing.  Spring is springing, flowers are starting to bloom; my perennials are pushing up through the soil, the temperature is warming (ever so slightly).  Have we noticed that?  What else are we missing?  There is a generally greater awareness of caring for our neighbors, making sure that they have enough food and supplies.  Hopefully, even as Masses are cancelled, people will recognize their need for the Eucharist, and not see Sunday Mass as merely an obligation, but a chance to worship God and be nourished by His Word and the Body and Blood of Jesus.  Maybe people are learning new devotions to feed their daily prayer life, and/or reading the Bible more.  What happens when you have tunnel vision is that you miss all those things.  But if you keep your head on a swivel, you can notice that, even in the midst of the very real and great challenges in which we find ourselves, God is doing great things.
    Today, I invite you, to think about what positive things are happening in your life.  What is God doing with, for, and in you that is positive?  Can you recognize the good things that God is doing in your life, in the lives of your family and friends, and in the world around you?  They are there; you simply have to look for it.  Keep you head on a swivel!

Afraid of the Dark

Fourth Sunday of Lent

Part of moving into a new house, as I did last July, is getting used to it.  A foreign house, especially if you live in it alone, can be a little scary.  Probably a few of those first weeks, as I went to bed, my heart started to beat a little faster as I heard creaks and different noises in my house.  Of course, there was nothing there, but because it was a new house, I wasn’t used to the different noises it would make at night.  What didn’t help was that Flint does not have the reputation of being the safest place in Michigan (though I have to say I have not had any problems here).  The other big issue was that, especially immediately after going to bed, the house was dark, and the fact that I couldn’t see and wasn’t familiar with the different parts of the house and how the shadows fall probably kept me alert without any real cause for concern.

Not being able to see can often change the way we approach things.  To a child, those clothes hanging in the closet or the stuff underneath the bed can seem like monsters.  But even adults, in an unknown area might try to be more attentive as they walk to their car from a restaurant.  Law enforcement is always trying to keep their eyes open, especially these days, so that they are not taken by surprise by someone trying to harm them.

Our readings today remind us of the importance of seeing correctly.  In our first reading, even one of the great prophets, Samuel, does not see as God sees when trying to find the next king of Israel among the sons of Jesse.  Samuel was looking at outward appearances; God was looking at the heart.  

And St. Paul in the second reading reminded us to take advantage of the light of Christ, since we are children of the light, not of darkness.  We do not belong to the night or the darkness, no matter what Pat Benatar sings.  In baptism, we were given the light of Christ, and Christ always gives us the light of His grace to help us know right from wrong.  He does that through our conscience, but even our conscience has to be formed by the light that the Church gives us.  Especially living in an age which, in many ways, are contrary to the teachings of Jesus, our conscience is not always a sure guide for the choices we should make.  

The Gospel we heard, about the man born blind, is one we hear maybe every year, but definitely every three years.  Ironically, in this passage, the person who sees the best (besides Jesus) is the Blind Man.  Neither the Pharisees, nor even the disciples, see as Christ sees.  The disciples think the man is blind because of some sin.  Christ corrects them and says that it’s so that God may be glorified and His works be more visible.  The Pharisees cannot see that Jesus is displaying His divinity in healing the man.  They do not accept Jesus’ miracles, and therefore do not accept Jesus Himself.  Even the man, now formerly blind, exclaims, “‘This is what is so amazing, that you do not know where he is from, yet he opened my eyes.  […] It is unheard of that anyone ever opened the eyes of a person born blind.  If this man were not from God, he would not be able to do anything.”

But, if we are honest, sometimes we do not see as God sees.  We do not let the light of Christ illumine our lives.  We have a type of spiritual glaucoma, and no marijuana, medical or not, will cure our spiritual glaucoma.  Only Christ can heal us; only he can restore our sight.

Throughout the history of the Church we have examples of people who saw with the light of Christ.  They had 20/20 spiritual vision.  We call them saints, and we should strive to follow their example in our own lives.  I’ll mention just a few.

St. Martin of Tours, who lived in the fourth century, was a soldier, and later became a bishop.  But one of the stories about him mentions that, as a soldier, he was riding a horse in the cold.  He saw a poor man on the side of the road, with very little clothing.  St. Martin cut his cloak in half, and gave half to the man.  That night, Martin had a dream where Jesus was wearing his cloak.  St. Martin did not simply see a poor man, but saw Jesus, and tried to help him.

St. Francis of Assisi needs almost no introduction.  But how many of you have heard the story of how St. Francis, who had started to give up his father’s wealth, saw a leper, whose skin was rotting away from his body, but dismounted from his horse, gave him money to help, and even kissed his hand.  As hard as it was, Francis saw past his fear of contracting leprosy, and dared to touch, and even kiss, the lepers as a sign of his love for Jesus.

In our own more recent times, St. Teresa of Calcutta is someone who saw with the eyes of Jesus.  In the streets of Calcutta, Mother Teresa would see the “untouchables,” those whom society had rejected, literally rotting away in the streets as they died, flies likely laying their eggs in the putrid flesh, and Mother would care for them and show them the respect and love that she had for Jesus.  I worked in Rome with the Missionaries of Charity, Mother Teresa’s order, not so much with the dying, but with the poor and neglected of the Eternal City.  I will admit: I struggled to see Jesus.  But for me I knew that my sight was not quite right, and that I need the healing of Jesus not to be blind to Him in the least of His brothers and sisters.  I’m sure I’m not there yet.  I still pray that I can see.  How is your spiritual sight?

Seeing with God's Vision

Fourth Sunday of Lent–Second Scrutiny 

In 2009 I was driving back from St. John parish in Fenton, where I was assigned as a deacon, to Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit.  It was a Fall night, and it was raining fairly steadily.  I pulled onto M-10, what most Michiganders who are familiar with Detroit call the Lodge.  I was driving 60 mph, which was still slower than 99% of the traffic, which was going at least 65 mph in the 55 mph zone, but I was having a hard time seeing the stripes that divided one lane from another.  I made it home safely, but I knew something was wrong with my eyes.

I didn’t have vision insurance, though, so I was nervous about how much getting my eyes checked was going to cost.  My optometrist was very kind, and gave me a great deal on the eye exam.  During that exam, she put the big machine in front of my eyes to read the chart with the letters on it.  As she started to change the lenses, I realized how poor my vision had been.  My vision is not horrible (I’m near sighted), but as soon as she put my prescription up on that machine, everything was much clearer.

We need an occasional eye exam for our souls.  The eyes of our souls can sometimes lose their original power, and sometimes we need the lenses of Jesus so that we can see clearly.  Otherwise our eyes get worse, and might even become blind.  This Gospel that we heard today, along with the first reading especially, reminds us that we do not always see as God sees.  What Samuel saw as the winner was not God’s choice for the king of Israel.  What the disciples saw as the result of sin was what Jesus said would bring glory to God, and was not due to a moral issue in the man born blind.  In both of those readings, God gave an eye exam, and helped Samuel and the disciples realize how their vision was off.

What do we see when we see a person walking down the street with dirty clothes, maybe with bags full of cans, digging through trash, or asking for some money?  Do we see a beggar, maybe someone who has mental illness issues, a druggie, a drunk, or do we see Jesus?  If we do not see Jesus, then we do not have 20/20 spiritual vision.  Yes, that person might have a mental illness.  Yes, that person might be a drunk or addicted to heroin.  But that is still a person, made in the image and likeness of God, a beloved child of God, one of the least of the brothers of Jesus, with whom Jesus associates.

I come from a pretty sheltered life.  My family was never rich, but we never wanted for anything.  We didn’t have extravagant vacations every year, but we got to enjoy the State Parks of Michigan, and occasionally did take a trip down to Florida.  It is sometimes a challenge for me to put myself in the shoes of those who have nothing and who struggle each day.  I have to strain to see Jesus, and many times I have missed Him in the people I see.  One of the great blessings of being a chaplain for Adrian Fire Department, and working with Adrian Police Department and the Lenawee County Sheriff’s Department is the presence I can give to those who work to protect our city and county.  But another blessing is that I have more opportunities to see Jesus in the people to whom we respond, many of whom I would never see or encounter.  

Samuel chose, by God’s grace, a king for Israel in the first reading.  Tuesday, as residents of the State of Michigan, we have the opportunity to help shape our election in November for President of the United States.  It’s not my job, and I won’t do so, to tell you for whom to vote.  The Catholic Church does not endorse a particular party or a particular candidate.  We will work with anyone, as we have for 2,000 years.  But I do want to challenge all of us about whether or not we are voting (which is very important and a civic and moral duty) with the eyes of God.  When we look at our favorite candidate, do we see them with the eyes of God?  I doubt God has a favorite candidate, and I’m sure He’s not endorsing anyone.  But do we examine each person, each a child of God and made in His image, in the light of divine revelation, so that we choose a person who protects all human life, in the womb, on the streets, in the nursing home; who does not spread fear and hatred of different classes of people, ethnicities, jobs; who respects and welcomes people of all faiths, but acts in accordance with the truth, even when unpopular; who works against discrimination of people with homosexual attractions but also understands that marriage, according to faith and reason, can only be between one man and one woman; who will build up the country in unity, rather than dividing us into different camps?

The way we see things determines how we interact with the world.  How are our eyes?  Do we see with the vision of God?

Getting an Eye Transplant

Fourth Sunday of Lent–Second Scrutiny

I give real credit to those who use contacts.  I don’t think I’ll ever be a contacts guy because I hate the idea of touching my eyes.  I don’t know why I have this phobia, but one of the most sickening things for me in movies is when someone gets their eye poked or damaged or even removed!  I see pictures of people having eye surgery and it just makes me sick to my stomach!!

But, if we are honest, we need eye transplants.  Our eyes do not work as they are supposed to work.  They receive the light of the sun, but do they receive the light of God?  Just as our eyes need the light of the sun (s-u-n) to see our world, we need the light of the Son (S-o-n) to see as God sees.  Even Samuel, one of God’s greatest prophets, didn’t fully see by the light of God because he couldn’t see God’s choice for the new king of Israel.  Only after God enlightened Samuel did Samuel understand that David was to be the new king, even though David was not considered to be much by his family.  

So, too, the man born blind was able to tell who Jesus was, even without following Him, because Jesus cured Him.  The Pharisees were closed off to the Light of Christ and so they could not see, even when it was right in front of their faces, that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God.  Of course, even the blind man needs some help in recognizing just who Jesus is, because Jesus has to reveal Himself as the Messiah.  But as soon as that comes to light, the man born blind believes.

Today we’ll pray again for our Elect, that they might see with the light of the Son of God.  We will pray that they will be freed from being blind to truth, and seeing false values and lies.  And this freedom from lies will happen through the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth.  But we also need to pray for ourselves.  We also need the Spirit of Truth to give us new eyes to see as God sees.  What a great gift to be able to see that way.  How differently would we treat each other if, when we saw a person in our work, on the street, and even in our homes, with the eyes of God!  What a difference that would make in our life and in theirs!!  

As much as it makes me a little queasy just to think about it, we need to pop out our eyes that see from a worldly point of view, and pop in eyes that only are work with the Light of Christ.  At the Easter Vigil I will sing “The Light of Christ” as that one Paschal Candle illumines the darkness of the night, showing us in visible form how Christ is the Light of the World who dispels the darkness.  In these next few weeks as we prepare for the Easter Vigil, that Vigil of Vigils, may our eyes be more attuned to the only light that we truly need: the Light of Christ.

A Precious Treasure

Fourth Sunday of Lent

            Every once in a while when I’m having lunch at the rectory, I flip to the History Channel and watch the show “Pawnstars” about a pawn shop in Las Vegas.  Most of the times people think they have something of extraordinary value, when what they have is not worth quite as much as they hope or want.  Occasionally, though, people come in and think they have something that might be worth a few hundred dollars, only to find that it’s worth tens of thousands of dollars.  That must be a crazy feeling when you realize that something you never valued that much turns out to be a precious treasure!

            This evening the question I believe the Lord is posing to us, especially through our Gospel, is how much we value suffering.  Now, suffering is not a good thing.  It was never part of God’s original plan.  And yet, as we said no to God, we brought suffering in: suffering that comes from saying no to loving God and each other, and suffering that comes from illness and disease that entered into the world through original sin.  But I don’t think I need to convince anyone that suffering is not good.  It’s more of a task to say that it’s a precious treasure.

            In our Gospel today, Jesus’ disciples ask Him why the man was born blind.  They want to know why he suffers.  And they have some idea that suffering is due to sin.  But they equate it to the man’s personal sins, or his parents’ personal sins.  Instead, Jesus tells them, “‘Neither he nor his parents sinned; it is so that the works of God might be made visible through him.’”  The disciples fall into the trap that so many of us do all the time: if something’s going wrong, God must be punishing me.  But Jesus says the blind man’s suffering is not because he or his parents did anything wrong.  He suffers so that God’s works might become known, and people might believe in Jesus, the Son of God.  As we follow the story, it’s easy to see that reasoning, as the blind man is led to faith and worships Jesus.  But do we see that reasoning in our own life?

            When there’s a tough exam that we have to take; when a loved one passes away; when a friendship or romantic relationship we want never gets off the ground, or when a friendship or a romantic relationship that we’re in falls apart; when we’re sick; whenever something negative happens to us, like MSU losing in the Elite Eight, it’s easy to get down in the dumps and say, “Why me?”  It’s easy to wish away the suffering and try to avoid it as much as possible.  We see it as simply a negative.  But when we do that, we are blind.

           

As we approach Good Friday, I bet that all of us here have thought or said that we would be there with Jesus through it all.  We would stand with Him and accompany Him as He went through His passion.  I think that’s why so many people show up for the Good Friday liturgy.  But then, when we find ourselves at the foot of the cross of school; at the foot of the cross of the death of a loved one; at the foot of the cross of relationships that never were or that failed, we, like most of the apostles, want to get as far away as possible.  We want the resurrection, but we don’t want the pain and suffering that lead to it.

            Suffering is a treasure, something beyond the price of gold, because Jesus has made it precious.  By His innocent suffering, He has made all the pain and suffering of life mean something because it can be united to His redemptive suffering.  No longer does suffering have to be meaningless.  It can be directed toward salvation, just as Good Friday was directed toward Easter Sunday.  God loved us so much that He took on our suffering, so that we would know that we do not suffer alone, but that we suffer with God.  And when we do suffer with God, we also know that we will later rejoice with God.

            The exams, family deaths, relationship issues, and sickness all become a treasure.  When we embrace them and offer up to Jesus the very real pain that comes with them, we have new ways to show forth the work of God.  We have new ways to show forth the power of the resurrection that comes after the passion.  When we unite our sufferings with Jesus on the cross, then we find ourselves on Calvary, but instead of running away, we stay there with the Blessed Mother, St. John the Evangelist, and the few other disciples, not enjoying the suffering (God doesn’t ask us to be masochists), but finding peace and joy because we know we are becoming more like Jesus and our sorrow will be turned into laughter, and our pain into peace. 

            Today we ask God to heal our blindness, and let us see the true value of suffering.  We ask God to help us to unite our suffering to the suffering of Jesus on the cross and show forth the work of God, which changes suffering to joy.  We don’t look for suffering, but as it comes our way, and we all know that it does every day, we ask God to help us treasure our suffering, so that we can stand with Jesus at the foot of the cross as He suffered, and so share the joy of the resurrection that comes after suffering is complete.

How's Your Sight?

Fourth Sunday of Lent—Second Scrutiny

            I remember the night pretty clearly: I was driving back to Sacred Heart Major Seminary from St. John the Evangelist parish in Fenton, where I was assigned as a transitional deacon.  It was dark out, and a steady rain began as I merged onto MI-10, the Lodge.  I suddenly noticed that, even just driving 57 miles per hour (with everyone flying by me, I might add) I couldn’t see the lines that separated each lane.  I didn’t want to slow down and get run over, but I certainly wanted to stay in my own lane so I didn’t cause or get in an accident. 

            At that time of my life, I was the only one of my parents and my two sisters who didn’t have corrective lenses.  But, when I finally made it safely home, I knew that I needed to at least get my eyes checked.  When I went to the optometrist, and she started to put those different lenses over my eyes for the reading chart, I suddenly realized how fuzzy the world had been, and how I hadn’t really been able to see.

            Our first reading and Gospel today give us an insight as to how God sees.  When Samuel goes to anoint a new king, after Saul had disobeyed the Lord, Samuel is directed to Jesse’s sons.  Samuel sees Eliab, the one he is sure is supposed to be king.  But the Spirit of God tells him that Eliab is not God’s choice.  And then Samuel goes through seven sons, but God does not choose any of them.  Finally, the youngest, David, is called in from the fields and is anointed as the new king of Israel (though he doesn’t formally become king for quite a while).  When Samuel wants to know why it was not Eliab, and likely why it was not the other sons, God tells Samuel, “‘Not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearance, but the LORD looks into the heart.’”

            In our Gospel today, there’s a lot of seeing going on, but not all of it is true sight.  We begin with the disciples who see a man blind from birth.  When they look at him, they see a sinner, or at least the son of sinners.  But then Jesus looks at the man, and sees, not sinfulness, but a man whose cure of blindness at the hands of Jesus will make manifest the work of God.  Then the Pharisees see the man born blind, and they ask him about Jesus, whom they had also seen before.  The Pharisees see the man, now cured, and still see a sinner.  They look at Jesus as a horrible sinner who does work on the Sabbath.  And the man himself, though his sight is given to him at once, gradually sees who Jesus is, as he first calls Jesus a man, and then a prophet, and then the Son of Man and Lord.

            How easy it is to look upon failure or a lack of something as a curse.  As Catholics we’re particularly proficient at seeing something bad happen and figure that God is somehow punishing us.  Whether its an illness like cancer, or the loss of a job, or a troubled marriage, or whatever curse we feel we’re under, it’s easier to assume that God is, for one reason or another, punishing us for something we did, even if it was a long time ago. 

            And while there are sometimes bad consequences that follow from our bad choices, Jesus reminds us that what seems like a curse can truly be a way for the glory of God to shine forth.  For years the man born blind and maybe his parents assumed they had done something wrong; many people saw it that way, including the Pharisees.  But Jesus says that the man’s blindness was there so that he could be healed by Jesus and give glory to God.  Sometimes, our maladies or negative circumstances are ways that we can draw closer to God and reorder our lives properly.  Ironically, sometimes the bad stuff that happens can actually be a great blessing.

            These elect that we have with us today: those who will be baptized, confirmed, and make their first Holy Communion, have been on a path from spiritual blindness to sight, a pilgrimage we’re all on in different ways, but a path for them which is leading to be able to see with the eyes of God.  They began by inquiring about the faith, learning more about this man Jesus and His Body the Church, and why so many have joy who know Him.  Then they were accepted as catechumens, those who are seeking to be joined to Jesus in a certain way, and to know and love Him better as they open the Word and see it active in their lives as Jesus who is The Prophet speaks for God as His Word.  Then Bishop Boyea, in the name of Christ, chose them for the Easter Sacraments.  As they  continue today through the scrutinies where they are prayed for in a special way in these last weeks before Easter, they come to the sacraments so that they can profess Jesus as Lord, as God.  They are like the man born blind who, after he was healed, spoke about Jesus as a man; who when questioned by the Pharisees called Jesus a prophet; and when asked by Jesus, professed Him as Lord, which is the title used for God. 

            These Elect challenge us to see with the eyes of God, as they are growing to do.  They challenge us to approach the world with the sight of God, rather than putting people in the boxes that make us most comfortable and either accepting or rejecting them based on our criteria.  What a tragedy and a true scandal it would be for those who have been baptized, who have been enlightened by Christ, to not see with the eyes of faith that we received in baptism.  Look at other people, work, relaxation, and world situations with the eyes of God, so that we can look at what the world considers darkness, and bring the light of Christ.

Judging People by their Covers

Fourth Sunday of Lent

            We probably heard it in school or from one of our parents: “Don’t judge a book by its cover.”  And yet, if you’re anything like me, as I’m looking for a book to buy, and if I don’t know anything about the author, I see which cover looks most interesting, and I buy that one.

            Almost instinctually we do the same thing with people.  We look at how prosperous they are, how handsome or beautiful they look, what kind of a job they have, and we assume by the cover of money, physical traits, or occupation that God loves them and has blessed them.  While those who lack prosperity, beauty, or a job we treat as if they have done something wrong and God is simply giving them the justice they deserve.

A bronze statue of David after he
beheaded Goliath from the
Tower of David, Jerusalem

            If this describes you at all, and I think it describes all of us at some points in our life, even the way we view our own life, then we can put ourselves into the role of Samuel in the first reading, who assumes that God’s choice as king must be the most handsome, the strongest, the fittest son of Jesse.  Now, Samuel was one of the greatest prophets in Israel, even if this wasn’t his best moment.  So we might not feel so bad.  But the other people who assumed that outwards prosperity was a sign of divine benevolence were the Pharisees from the Gospel today.  They assumed, because the man was born blind, that he or his parents had done something horribly wrong to merit this divine punishment. 

            Samuel at least didn’t have the benefit of the book of Job, so we can let him off the hook a little more easily than the Pharisees, who would have been familiar with the story of Job, who, though he had done nothing wrong, was allowed to endure horrible afflictions to his family, the loss of his livelihood, and even physical disease to see if his love of God was pure, or just based on earthly prosperity.  The Pharisees should have known better.  But they dismiss the man born blind as a sinner, as cursed by God.

            We still struggle with equating earthly blessings with divine favor.  If we have a good job, if we have a good family, if life is relatively easy, then we assume God loves us more.  But as soon as those so-called measures of divine favor are taken away, we assume that we have done something wrong, and that God is displeased with us. 

            The reality is that you can’t judge a book by its cover.  Some people seemingly have everything: a good job, lots of money, a handsome family, popularity, and any of the ways by which the world judges favor.  And yet, to whom much is given, much will be expected.  Sometimes what those “favors” mask are real struggles in living out the faith, in being faithful to God, in seeing the world as God sees it.  Sometimes the prosperous are really spiritually blind.  While those who have very few or even none of those “favors” have a deep and abiding relationship with God, and rely on Him because they have nothing else on which to rely.  While they seem blind, they, like the man born blind, recognize God as He comes to them, ready to accept His healing.

            The one who proves this the most is Jesus Himself.  On Good Friday we’ll hear from the Prophet Isaiah: “Even as many were amazed at him, so marred was his look beyond human semblance and his appearance beyond that of the sons of man…[and] there was in him no stately bearing to make us look at him, nor appearance that would attract us to him.  He was spurned and avoided by the people, a man of suffering, accustomed to infirmity, one of those from whom people hide their faces, spurned, and we held him in no esteem.”  We have a God who became man.  He did not come as a prince, or as a wealthy merchant, powerful and rich as He was, but instead placed Himself in the family of a carpenter, who was too poor to offer the usual sacrifices to the Lord.  We have a God who allowed Himself to be beat, crowned with thorns, stripped naked, and hung on a cross; a man who was cursed, as St. Paul says citing another passage in Scripture: “Cursed be he who hangs from a tree” so that we might receive the blessings of God’s eternal life of the Kingdom. 

But God’s blessing was never taken away from Jesus, despite his poverty, despite his death in utter shame and disgrace.  Jesus remained the source from whom all blessings flow, even though we thought of Him as accursed.  And so we cannot assume that because life seems to be going well, our souls are ready for heaven.  It could, in fact, be the opposite, if we rely on ourselves and not on God.  We cannot assume that because we suffer some shame, like the man born blind, that God is punishing us.  Because, from all eternity, God planned to allow that man to be born blind so that Jesus could reveal His true nature by the healing of a man born blind, a healing which led that man to believe in Jesus and worship Him. 

The way to know that we are being blessed by God, no matter what the trials, no matter whether or not the world thinks we are favored, is to believe in Jesus and act accordingly.  Then, at the end of time, we will be able to judge a book by its cover, because those who lived contrary to the will of God and separated themselves from Him will suffer eternally in hell, while those who followed Jesus and lived as a faithful disciple will receive their glorified body in the eternal banquet of heaven.  Blessed are those who are called to the eternal wedding feast of the Lamb.