Worldly vs. Catholic Wisdom

Third Sunday of Lent

Have you ever noticed that there is never a shortage of people who are willing to give you advice?  I suppose I might be cutting out my legs from under me, as most homilies are supposed to help people find practical way to apply the Gospel to their daily lives.  But, just think about it: how many TV shows or commercials are basically trying to give you advice on how to diet, how to learn, how to understand what’s happening in the world, in politics, in sports?  Maybe it’s “Dr. Oz,” maybe it’s “The View,” maybe it’s a commercial with your favorite celebrity on a political or social issue, maybe it’s a talk show on your preferred cable news station, or maybe it’s even the way the news is presented by individual networks.  But advice seems to be everywhere from people who want to tell you how to live your life.

This is, of course, nothing new.  Different groups have always been trying to influence the way people think, trying to get people to live their life based on a particular view of reality.  And with the advent of social media, that has only increased.  You can’t scroll Facebook or Twitter without seeing pithy quotes that are supposed to help you be a better person.  Sometimes the phrase sounds good, but in fact, isn’t really Catholic or Christian.  For example, I saw a post on Facebook the other day that said, “There is no turning your back on God.  There is only turning your back on yourself.”  Sounds profound, deep, insightful, right?  It’s rubbish!  Of course you can turn your back on God!  There are so many quotes like this that are from non-Christian or secular websites or pages that may sound amazing, but, in fact, are contrary to Scripture.  And we should be wary about giving our minds and our will to any wisdom that doesn’t come from God through the Scriptures or the Church’s teaching.  I’m not saying it’s all bad, but much of it is, and we don’t want to be poisoned by something that we think might be good.  Imagine picking mushrooms, not knowing which ones are good and which ones will kill you, and leaving behind the guidebook to which ones to consume.  That’s what it is to take wisdom from a non-Christian or secular source without running it past what God has revealed to us.

And what is the wisdom that God gives to us?  The wisdom of God is Christ crucified.  It seems like foolishness and maybe makes people stumble, but our crucified Christ is “wiser than human wisdom,” as St. Paul said in our second reading.  The life of Christ is not only a story, it is a pattern, a guide for all those who want to find happiness.  I know, it may not look like Jesus’ life had a lot of happiness: He was poor, wandered around, most of His best friends abandoned Him when He needed them the most, and He died mostly surrounded by His enemies in a most shameful way of dying.  Sign me up for that, right?

But God raised Jesus up, and, in fact, we have no evidence that Jesus ever seemed to want for anything, or lack any happiness.  He felt sorrow for those who couldn’t or wouldn’t follow Him, but I think it’s pretty safe to say that the Gospels paint Jesus as a happy Person.  He didn’t have money; He didn’t have power (in the way the world sees power); He didn’t have sex (do people really do that?!?).  But Jesus was happy; truly happy.  And He was happy because He lived by God’s Word, the words of everlasting life, as our Psalm response said this morning.  

The Ten Commandments that we heard in our first reading seem like a long list of nos that cramp our style: no idols, no taking God’s Name in vain; no work on the Sabbath; no murder, no adultery, not stealing, no lying, no coveting; the only really positive commandment is “Honor your father and your mother.”  And yet, that wisdom from God which seems so negative, opens us up to a larger ability to say yes.  By not doing menial work on Sunday, the Christian Sabbath, the day of the Resurrection, we are saying yes to enjoying time with our family, maybe even with a family dinner; to serving the poor; to worshipping God and being fed by God’s word and the Body and Blood of Jesus.  And all that because we take a break from work that will always be there.  Think about the people who say yes to taking whatever they want, even if they don’t have the money to pay for it: they may get away with stealing a candy bar or maybe something more, but eventually it catches up with them, and they end up being prosecuted, maybe even going to jail.  And I don’t know many, if any people, who are happy and in jail.  So by saying no to stealing, they are saying yes to freedom, to more opportunities, and to a happier life.

Sometimes living by the wisdom of the Word of God may seem like simply a lot of nos.  But in fact, the ways that God asks us to say no actually allows us to say yes: yes to God, yes to love, yes to peace, yes to happiness.  May our Lenten observances also encourage us to say no to all the things that bring us death and slavery, to our sins, and say yes to all the things that bring us life and freedom, to God’s grace.

Kenny Chesney & the Rich Young Man

Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

            This may come as a surprise to some of you, but I’m a fan of country music.  Others may have noticed my cowboy boots and country hat that I have worn.  One of the popular country stars in these days is Kenny Chesney.  He has such hits as “Boys of Fall,” “You and Tequila,” and “She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy.”  Lesser known is his song, “Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven.”  The words of the refrain are: “Everybody wants to go to heaven/ Have a mansion high above the clouds/ Everybody wants to go to heaven/ but nobody wants to go now.” 

            Today’s readings also focus us on what our priorities are: are they earthly or are they heavenly?  In the first reading, the Sacred Author, traditionally regarded as King Solomon, says that he prayed for prudence and wisdom, and he received it.  He wanted it more than “scepter and throne, and deemed riches nothing in comparison with her, nor did [he] liken any priceless gem to her; because all gold, in view of her, is a little sand, and before her, silver is to be accounted mire.”  He didn’t care about good health and being attractive, and even about sleep.  Solomon here is not just talking about being book smart or street smart, but is talking about the wisdom from above, the wisdom from God so that Solomon could know what is important, and what is less or unimportant.  But, even though Solomon talks about only wanting the wisdom of God, he also says, “Yet all good things together came to me in her company, and countless riches at her hands.”  Having the wisdom of God did not deny Solomon the good things, but, instead, brought the truly good things to him.

            Jesus, in the Gospel, talks about obstacles to heaven, as seen in the Rich Young Man.  The man had kept all of the commandments, and so Jesus told him that he lacked just one thing: “‘Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’”  But the man couldn’t bring himself to make that radical step.  The Word of God, Jesus Christ the Divine Word, was sharper than any sword for that man, penetrated between soul and spirit, joint and marrow, and was able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart, and that Rich Young Man’s heart loved his possessions more than he loved Jesus.  Now, to be clear, Jesus did not condemn wealth.  But, Jesus did condemn making wealth a god, and preferring it to following Him.  He also warned how easy it is for riches to become an obstacle to salvation, going so far as to say, “‘It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.’”  Money so easily becomes a god unto itself which beckons like a siren to be loved and treasured above all else, and to try and make more and more and more.

            Now, money isn’t an obstacle for all people.  It’s so easy to place other lesser goods between us and the Lord, so that the demand isn’t so great.  We could prefer status to Jesus; or vacation; or power; or prestige; or even just our own will.  Each of those things, and so many more, can be things that we feel we cannot let go, even if the Lord is calling us to abandon them in order to follow Him more deeply.  Our relationship with Jesus, truly knowing Him and loving Him, has to be first, with no excuses why anything else is more important.  If today Jesus appeared right in your midst, in His glorified body, and said to you, “You can spend two hours with me here, or I will give you the winning Powerball numbers so you can win $50 million dollars,” what would we say?  I know what I should say.  And maybe you’re like me, and want to immediately rationalize what we could do with $50 million dollars.  But the only right answer is Jesus.  And even if money isn’t your temptation, it could be good grades, a good job, a nice vacation getaway, or, again, maybe just having your own way.  But, the key is, what comes first for us?

            What’s interesting is that the choice isn’t: follow Jesus and be miserable, or follow whatever little god is important to you and have pleasure.  After St. Peter tells Jesus, “‘We have given up everything and followed you,’” Jesus replies, “‘there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age…and eternal life in the age to come.’”  Now, Jesus is also clear that with following Him comes persecution.   But you also receive a lot more, even in this age, not to mention eternal life and happiness with God.  Bl. Teresa of Calcutta attests to that; she preferred nothing to Jesus.  And even though she didn’t even own the sari on her back and went through intense spiritual darkness, she was truly happy.  Venerable Solanus Casey is another good example.  He was ordained a priest, but he was not allowed to hear confessions or preach sermons.  Most of his work was opening doors to the monastery, and serving the poor.  Yet I dare you to find a happier man, who also brought such joy to those he met. 

            Nothing is more important than our relationship with Jesus.  Nothing even comes close to its worth.  The Lord asks each of us today: what is an obstacle to our relationship?  What keeps us from drawing close to Him?  “‘Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides.’”

Sophomores

Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

            I was talking to a high school student from Lansing Catholic a couple of weeks ago.  He was showing me his iPod and all the songs he had on it, and talking about how the songs he had were true music.  So, I showed him my iTunes library on my phone to compare.  As it turns out, according to him, I only had a few songs that were actually “music.”  The rest was just “noise,” apparently.  Now, sometimes high school students in any grade know it all.  But if there’s one class that epitomizes the attitude that they know it all  (because, after all, they’ve studied) it would certainly be a sophomore.  You see, in general, freshmen know that they don’t know anything and that they’re just starting out.  Juniors and have studied enough to realize that, while they know a lot in their particular area of interest, that they have only scratched the surface of available knowledge.  Sophomores, on the other hand, think they know it all, but haven’t learned enough to realize that they don’t: a particularly dangerous combination.  But that’s why we use the word sophomore to describe their class year: it comes from the Greek words sophia and moros, meaning wisdom and fool.  Sophomores are, again in general, wise fools.

            The Word of God in today’s readings talks about wisdom, and sets before us two types of wisdom: the wisdom of the wicked, and the wisdom from above.  Our first reading focuses on the wisdom of the wicked.  In their mind, the just one needs to be eliminated, or “taken care of,” as a wise guy might say.  The wicked consider a holy person obnoxious, and they are insulted by his correction of their faults.  They are ready to put the just one to the test and see if all this “God talk” adds up, and if God will really protect His so-called servant.  The wicked see a holy life as a threat and a danger to their way of life, and so they have to destroy it so that they can continue in their own way. 

            The wisdom from above, on the other hand, is “pure, then peaceable, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, without inconstancy or insincerity.”  It is a different way of looking at the world.  It does not waver in the face of threats, and is always sincere and true.  It seeks peace, not just an absence of conflict, but true justice for all.  It forgives wrongs and does not go looking for a fight.  Jesus also tells us in the Gospel that the wisdom from above turns the wisdom of the world on its head.  Whereas in the view of the world the truly great person is the one who is in charge of everything, in the wisdom from above, the great person is the one who is the servant of all. 

            If it were that easy to pick out the two types of wisdom, our world would probably be a better place.  But we are beset by weakness, but concupiscence, the desire for lesser goods, and the wisdom of the wicked often looks more enjoyable, more attractive.  When it comes to skipping class, or alcohol, or sex outside of marriage, the wisdom of the wicked seems much more appealing.  But wisdom from above gives true happiness, not just passing pleasure.

            If we are truly convinced that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, the Life, rather than just one way, or one truth, or one life, then we who have the wisdom from above should seek to share it with others.  If the Gospel truly is Good News, and true wisdom, than to keep it to ourselves not only does us harm, but also does those who need to hear that Good News and that wisdom harm.  That is one way that we serve others: by sharing with them the wisdom and joy that we have in Christ.  Have you asked a roommate or a friend, whom you know is Catholic but is not coming to Mass, to join you on Sundays for Mass, or for men’s or women’s group?  We are not called to condemn, but to invite.  We warn others about the dangers of the wisdom of the wicked, but we do not cajole others into joining us.  We simply extend an open hand of love and joy. 

            When those who are wise in wickedness are confronted—by a friend, a family member, or religion—it’s always portrayed as people just trying to rain on the parade.  We may be called obnoxious by our friends.  Laziness, drunkenness, and debauchery look like a ton of fun.  And they certainly are pleasurable.  But they do not lead to happiness.  They quickly fade, and often leave a path of destruction in this world.  Meanwhile, the just, those striving for holiness, often put up with a lot more suffering, a lot more pain, certainly less pleasure in the eyes of the world.  But, if God created the world, and He knows best how it works, and He is the best answer for the desire of every human heart, then following the wisdom from above makes sense, not just in this world, but also in the world to come.  A life of restraint and service is what makes for a great life, not a life of license and using others.  It’s upside down from our view.  But if we take it from God’s perspective, then it’s just the way God intended it. 

            We can stay sophomores in our faith; we can be wise fools.  God gives us that freedom.  We can pretend that we can do whatever we want now, and just make up for it in some possible future act of repentance that we may never make.  Or, we can be truly wise, and move beyond our sophomoric ways, and live by the wisdom that comes from above, that gives us and those around us true peace and joy.  And then, being truly wise, we will see the need to serve others by sharing with them the wisdom from above, so that they can find that peace and joy that we have by living a truly wise life.

Silent Night

Nativity of the Lord, Mass at Midnight

            I’ve mentioned before my deep love of the book The Lord by Romano Guardini, and it is the third chapter in book 1 that I reference tonight.  Guardini, writing in 1937, mentions in that chapter that in the Mass (what we would now call the Extraordinary Form), the words of the Book of Wisdom help to guide the feast: “‘For while all things were in quiet silence and the night was in the midst of her course, thy almighty word leapt down from heaven from thy royal throne…’”  He continues, “The passage, brimming with the mystery of the Incarnation, is wonderfully expressive of the infinite stillness that hovered over Christ’s birth.  For the greatest things are accomplished in silence—not the clamor and display of superficial eventfulness, but in the deep clarity of inner vision; in the almost imperceptible start of decision, in the quiet overcoming and hidden sacrifice…The silent forces are the strong forces.”

            We are here, in the midst of the silence of this sacred night, recalling an event that took place almost 2,000 years ago in the silence of the night in Bethlehem, which forever changed human history, whether you believe in Jesus or not.  As Christians we date time from this moment: everything which came before is BC—Before Christ.  Everything which took place afterwards is in AD—Anno Domini, the Year of the Lord.  Even those who wish to separate our dating of time from Christian belief, who use the term BCE (Before the Common Era) and CE (the Common Era), still point to the time when Jesus was born in the manger, in the silence of the night.

            The greatest things happen in silence.  The silent forces are the strong forces.  These words are no less true today than 75 years ago when Guardini wrote them.  The greatest things do happen in silence.  In silence the world was forever changed, not by some king, but by the King of kings; not by one who came to be served, but one who came to serve and give His life as a ransom for many; not by a strong, handsome adult, with thousands of Facebook friends, but by a child: a weak, helpless child, laying in a manger, surrounded by His Blessed Mother, His foster-father, and the animals of the stable. 

            But, as Isaiah prophesied, “upon his shoulder dominion rests.  They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace.”  Do not let his lowly birth fool you.  Do not scoff at his humility.  For the child that the shepherds came to adore: the child who was helpless in His mother’s arms, is the Almighty God who created the heavens and the earth.  That little child caused a bush to burn without being consumed, split the Red Sea in two so that the Chosen People, His people, could escape from the Egyptian army.  This child is weak, but He is no weakling.  He is mild, but He smashes the yoke of slavery that burdened us and tramples underfoot the evil serpent, Satan, crushing his head.

            That power, that glory, did not come with human activity: the decorating, the hurrying about, the shopping, the partying, but was announced only by angelic hosts to the shepherds in the fields, who heard them say, “‘I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  For today, in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Christ and Lord.’”

            So why come here now?  Why come to this church in East Lansing?  Why come each Sunday back to the Mass which, even given our new translations, does not really change that much?  Why come in the midst of this dark, cold night to hear familiar carols being sung?  We can do that at home, listening to the radio!

            We come, in the dark, silence of this night, and each and every Sunday because He who was born in Bethlehem, the city of David, the “house of bread,” as the name Bethlehem means in Hebrew, because Jesus Christ is born again for us in this Mass: not as a child, but under the appearance of bread and win.  His most holy Body and Blood adorn not a manger, but this altar.  He is surrounded on earth not by His Blessed Mother and foster father, but by His mothers and brothers and sisters, those who do the will of His heavenly Father, as He tells us in Sacred Scripture.  This holy night, this night divine, in the silence, broken only by the words of the priest saying those same words that Jesus spoke—“Take this, all of you, and eat of it;” “Take this, all of you, and drink from it”—Jesus Christ is made present to us today and at every Mass sacramentally just as He was made manifest to the shepherds 2,000 years ago in the stable in Bethlehem.  We get the greatest gift of Christmas, the gift of being able to receive the same Jesus into us that the angels proclaimed in the heavens. 

            “Beloved: The grace of God has appeared, saving all and training us to reject godless ways and worldly desires and to live temperately, justly, and devoutly in this age, as we await the blessed hope, the appearance of the glory of our great God and savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to deliver us from all lawlessness and to cleanse for himself a people as his own, eager to do what is good.” 

            “‘For while all things were in quiet silence and the night was in the midst of her course, thy almighty word leapt down from heaven from thy royal throne…’”  In the silence of this night Jesus Christ unites His Divine nature to our human nature, not just in the remembrance of His Nativity, but in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.  O come, let us adore Him: Christ the Lord.

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.”