Vision and Ventilators

Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
    We hear this familiar Gospel passage, and probably, if we are honest, we don’t like this parable too much.  Perhaps now, more than ever, we all want to get what is ours, what we are owed, and we want what we feel is just.  The idea that someone could work for one hour, and receive the same amount of money as a person who worked for an entire day seems ludicrous.  But Jesus never promises that everyone will get the same amount. 
    This really speaks to how much God values spreading the Gospel.  He is willing to pay someone a full day’s wages as long as they work hard, no matter how long they worked.  The obvious message is the relationship between those who were “faithful” Jews, and those who were making last-minute conversions.  It could also easily be extended to mean the Jews (who were called from of old) and the Gentiles, who were only joined to the olive tree of Israel after Christ broke down the barriers between Jew and Gentile by His Death and Resurrection. 

    And we even see this parable at work in a real situation in St. Dismas, the good thief, who was crucified with Jesus, but who prayed that he would be with Jesus in paradise.  “‘Amen, I say to you,’” said our Lord, “‘today you will be with me in Paradise.’”  We have no evidence that St. Dismas had followed Jesus at all during his lifetime, and the only thing we know about him before his death is that he was a criminal, often times described as a thief.  But hours after his statement of faith in Jesus, he would be in heaven. 
    Do we have the same drive for the spreading of the kingdom of God as did the landowner?  Are we willing to pay dearly so that the Gospel can be shared, even to the point of foolishness?  Or do we have other motivating factors for our actions, that we feel are more fair or equitable?
    Jeff and Mary Love, Karen Downs, Deacon Dave and I, recently attended the first of three meetings on helping parishes spread the Gospel.  The meetings are co-hosted by the Diocese of Lansing and the Catholic Leadership Institute.  We learned about parish vision, core values, and purpose statements.  For St. Pius X, it was all a bit awkward, as we know we are on a trajectory towards closing.  In talking privately with one of the facilitators, I spoke about the preference you expressed, to exist until we ran out of sufficient funds.  He asked the question that has been on my heart since you voiced your desire for St. Pius X: is this really what would advance the kingdom more?  Is this really the best path for spreading the Gospel, not just in Flint Township, but for Genesee County and the Diocese of Lansing?
    I know that your preference is based on your love of St. Pius X.  It is hard to let go of something so dear to us, especially when some of you helped to found St. Pius X with your family.  Change is never easy, especially the longer we live, and holding to the status quo requires the least amount of change.  But is it operating with the same drive that Jesus describes in the Gospel for spreading the kingdom and sharing the Gospel, such that resources are brought to bear on those who will do that work?

    To be sure, I understand the mindset of wanting to hold on for as long as possible, even when the end seems obvious.  In late March of 2020 we were at the very beginning of a virus about which we knew little.  Ventilators were in high demand and short supply.  Those with pre-existing conditions were especially vulnerable.  It was in that context that my grandfather, whom most called Jesse, contracted COVID from his nursing home.  He was taken to Sparrow Hospital for treatment.  For his kids and grandkids, including me, it was scary.  The mortality rate was rising quickly, and no one seemed to know how to treat COVID effectively.  My grandfather started out with a cough, needing a little bit of oxygen from a mask from time to time.  He had some good days, and things seemed to be holding steady.  We, of course, were not allowed to visit, except by Zoom.  As the days progressed, though, things got worse.  Eventually the occasional dose of oxygen from a mask became the nasal cannula, the thing they stick in your nostrils in order to deliver oxygen all the time.  We grandkids made a video holding up signs, telling him we loved him.  Around that same time that we showed the video, the nasal cannula was proving not enough, and he was going to need a ventilator.  My mom and her siblings had to decide what to do next. 
    My grandfather was 93.  He had been a strong man throughout his life.  His children, who loved him dearly, and most of whom could not see him, even if they traveled from being out-of-State, would not have a chance to say good-bye in person if they decided to withhold further care.  But, as hard as it was, they made the decision not to use the ventilator, as it was not always proving useful in treatment, especially for the elderly, and perhaps that ventilator could help a younger person who had a better chance of surviving the Coronavirus.  He died shortly after being removed from oxygen on 9 April 2020.
    Do I wish I could have been with my grandfather in his last moments, giving him the Sacrament of the Sick and the Apostolic Pardon?  Certainly.  Would I have done anything to keep him around longer and put him on the ventilator so that we could have, hopefully, a few more days?  No.  At the time, the what-ifs were frequent in my mind, but I know my mom and her brothers made the right decision.  It wasn’t easy, but it was for the greater good.  And I would like to believe, though I have no proof of this, that someone else who needed a ventilator benefited and maybe even had his life saved from the machine that my grandfather would have been using if that route of care had been chosen. 
    Our mission is to spread the Gospel.  I have been preaching that since I arrived in 2016.  We have groups who are active here in the parish, working hard to strengthen their faith, and I applaud those groups.  But I think, if we’re honest, we know where this is going.  From factors both in and outside of our control, our parish is dying. 
    So what is the best thing for us to do?  Is it to remain as long as we can, and just spend money to have the semblance of a parish so that we can pretend everything is ok and pretend that hundreds more people are going to start coming to St. Pius X in the next months or year?  Is that the calculation that the landowner makes for spreading the Gospel of the kingdom?  Or can those resources, both personal and financial, be better used by supporting other parishes in the area?  Could the ventilator we have chosen to use, which may prolong things but which will not cure things, be better used by someone else?
    We hear in our Gospel the paradigm that God uses for evaluating what is best: how can I get more workers for the vineyard to spread the Gospel?  Is that the paradigm that we are using as a parish as we continue our on pilgrimage to closing?  Or do we have another paradigm for how long we should exist?  I know what we all want.  But is what we want in line with the mission of any parish: to spread the Gospel as effectively as possible?  

Already and Not Yet

Feast of Christ the King
    In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.  As we celebrate Christ the King, we celebrate what is, but also long for what is to come.  We see this even in our Lord’s description of His kingdom.  In the Gospel according to St. Mark, in the very first chapter, Christ says, “‘This is the time of fulfillment.  The kingdom of God is at hand.”  In the Gospel according to St. Luke, in chapter 21, the same Christ says, “‘behold, the kingdom of God is among you.’”  And yet, as we heard today, Christ also says in the Gospel according to St. John, “‘My kingdom does not belong to this world.  If my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants [would] be fighting to keep me from being handed over….  But as it is, my kingdom is not here.’”  So, which is it?  Is the kingdom at hand and even among us, or is it not here?

    Yes.  Yes it is at hand; yes it is among us; yes it is not here.  As with so many aspects of our faith, we need to unpack the idea of Christ’s kingdom.  The Incarnation is the presence of the Kingdom of God, where all is right.  Christ holds all things together in himself, and in Christ we have the perfect union of God and man, which is part of the kingdom.  In Christ, the human soul is subject to the will of God perfectly, and the body is subject to the human soul.  In Christ, love and truth have met, justice and peace have kissed (to cite Psalm 84).  
    But, and you don’t have to look hard to realize this next point, we’re not living in the fullness of the kingdom.  Our bodies do not always obey our souls, which do not always obey the will of God.  Love is distorted to mean delight or even license; justice is often available to the highest bidder and is applied differently if you have money and/or power than if you don’t; civil unrest, battles, and wars still plague our cities, State, nation, and world.  Sorry, Belinda Carlisle, but heaven is not a place on earth.      And yet, as followers of Christ live the Gospel, heaven does break into earth more and more, and the kingdom establishes itself more perfectly.  When we love to the best of our ability with the love of God, the kingdom grows.  When we proclaim the truth of the Gospel, the truth that the Church continues to unpack throughout the centuries, the kingdom grows.  When we not only give each other his or her due, but also help others to thrive, the kingdom grows.  When we are able to pray for our enemies and do good to those who persecute us, the kingdom grows.  This is not to say that we are the ones who bring about the kingdom; that work is always primarily the work of God, with which we participate.  The approach that we have to usher in the kingdom tends to go wrong pretty quickly, due to our own sinfulness.  Just look at the approach taken in Central America which sought to bring about the kingdom, but which ended up being Marxist regimes that oppressed the people and led to class warfare and societal instability.
    It is Christ who brings about His own kingdom, and He will fully establish His reign at the end of time, when His angels will separate the sheep from the goats, the wheat from the chaff, and will cast down the beast and its followers for eternity in Hell.  That will be a dies irae for those who work against God, and the battle will be swift and decisively victorious for Christ.
    It will be decisive because Christ already decisively conquered on a tree.  His sacrifice, re-presented for us in an unbloody manner on this altar, was the defining battle of all time, when Satan was conquered once-for-all, and sin and death were trod underfoot.  So Christ already achieved victory, but that victory has not been extended in totality yet.  And that is why we wait.
    And as we wait, we show if we want to be victorious in Christ, or conquered with the ancient foe.  We demonstrate whether we prefer to serve in heaven or reign in hell.  Our actions are our response to the invitation of eternal salvation in the kingdom of God.  Are we going to the wedding feast of the kingdom, or do we find excuses why we cannot attend?
    If we wish that kingdom to spread, if we wish to cooperate in spreading that kingdom, then it begins here.  If Christ is the kingdom of God in its fullness, then when we receive Holy Communion worthily, the kingdom of God is among us and even within us.  Coming to Mass, offering ourselves with the host and the wine, and then receiving in a state of grace the Eucharist allows the kingdom of God to be planted inside of us at least each week, or even every day.  The more that we receive the Eucharist in a state of grace, the more likely it is that we will respond to spreading that kingdom in our lives at work, at home, on vacation, at sporting events, etc.  
    That kingdom also spreads most easily through the domestic church, the family.  When parents demonstrate love, the children learn to do the same.  When children and parents tell the truth, God’s kingdom is strengthened among them.  When parents make sure that every member of the family has the ability, not only to survive but to thrive, the justice of the Kingdom of God grows.  When children learn how to say “I’m sorry” when they have done wrong, and when children see their parents apologize for their sins in confession and in the home, Christ’s kingship is established more and more.  And then those children are more likely to do the same in the homes and families that they make for themselves.  And the kingdom spreads even more.  
    If you wish to help the kingdom God, then love, not only your neighbors, but also your enemies.  If you wish to help the kingdom of God, tell the truth, be honest in contracts.  If you wish to help the kingdom of God, stand up for what is right, no matter how unpopular it may be, correct with charity, when appropriate, and administer discipline as your state calls you.  If you wish to help the kingdom of God, admit when you’re wrong, and forgive when others have wronged you.  It will help show the “already” of the kingdom, and will allow us to persevere in the “not yet,” until Christ reigns fully, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever.  Amen. 

Peace and the Kingdom of God

 Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
    Life is full of ups and downs.  There are days of rejoicing, but there are also days of sorrow.   It is so easy to see only the bad things, the things that are going wrong, in our life.  The “downs” seem to clamor for attention at each and every second.  
    The same was true for the people to whom Jesus came.  The Jewish people were ruled by the Romans, who were not known for their generosity nor gentleness to those they ruled, especially when those they ruled had a tendency to rebel and cause problems, as certain groups of Jews did.  There was a puppet king, Herod, whom the Romans allowed to exercise some little authority to try to appease the Chosen People, but who held no respect from the people.  No prophet had claimed to speak for God for hundreds of years, save John the Baptist.  The Pharisees remained ever-present to remind you not to break the law.  Leprosy was lurking in the population, which would get you expelled from your neighborhood and basic civilization.  The rich seemed to always get richer, and the poor seemed always to get poorer.

    In the midst of that sorry situation, Jesus sent His disciples out to announce “peace” and good news.  What is that good news?  That the Kingdom of God is at hand.  God’s reign was breaking into the world, and the final battle had begun that would lead to the irrevocable victory of God.  God’s People would no longer be oppressed by any force, earthly or spiritual.  God’s Word would not only be heard, but would come to fulfillment.  The Law would be written on hearts and would be liberating.  Sickness and disease would cease, and all would have their fill of the good things of the Lord.  That does sound like good news!!
    And that is the same message that we proclaim today.  The message has not, in essence, changed in 2,000 years, because it is not our message, but the message of the Messiah.  The message has not changed in essence in 2,000 years because, while governments come and go; while words from experts and gurus multiply every year; while some use rules to put others down; while new viruses continue to wreak havoc and the poor are still separated from the rich, yet the Kingdom of God is still breaking into our world, leading to it’s perfect fulfillment at the end of time.  And we still need to hear that good news.
    Because it is easy to notice all the negative.  It is easy to focus on the faults and failings and the things that never seem to go well or as we planned.  It is easy for our hearts to be disturbed and full of anger and hate.  And so we still need to hear, “‘Peace to this household’” and “‘The kingdom of God is at hand for you.’”  
    You probably need to hear that message, and so I proclaim it to you.  But you also probably know people who need to hear that message, who need peace and the in-breaking of the Kingdom of God in their lives.  And it is so easy to put it off sharing that with others.  It’s so easy to let our day become filled with noise and busyness and many things that we don’t have to do, but that keep us blissfully numb.  How many times have we thought, “I should call this person”, only to then quickly move on to the next task at hand and not call them for days…or weeks…or ever?  
    8 June was National Best Friends Day.  I think this is a holiday that Hallmark made up.  But none the less, it’s a thing.  And so I bought my two best friends cards expressing gratitude for being a good friend to me.  Let me tell you, it’s a little hard to find good cards to send best friends who are guys.  Many were a bit too mushy for my liking, so I did the best I could with the selection from which I was choosing.  A few days later I saw one of my best friends, and he thanked me for the card, but wondered why I sent it.  I guess I forgot to put “Happy National Best Friends Day” in the card.  But I sent it because I am grateful and appreciate my friends, and so I said so.

    When was the last time you sent a card or a letter to someone?  Not an email; not a text; not even a phone call.  When was the last time you wrote a letter or wrote a physical note to someone?  Emails, texts, and phone calls are nice.  But cards say you went the extra mile to take time and write out words and buy a stamp and put it in the mail.  Even if you’re not wandering around the countryside to spread God’s peace and kingdom like the disciples in the Gospel, you can do so by the mail.  That one letter or card can change a person’s life.  Especially for the younger folk here, I know that seems like an odd thing to write a letter, but it really does make a difference.  We’re so used to getting only bills or junk ads in the mail.  When we get a card or a letter, it’s a very pleasant surprise.
    Every town and every person has its ups and downs.  We have good days and bad days.  But Jesus has commissioned us to spread His peace and the good news of the kingdom that Jesus won by His Blood.  When we do this, maybe by writing a letter or a card, it can raise someone to new life and help to inscribe our names in heaven.

Which Kingdom?

 Third Sunday in Lent
    In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.  At the end of the day, there are only two kingdoms: the kingdom of God, and the kingdom of the devil.  The Kingdom of God has and will win.  The kingdom of the devil has and will lose.  The question for us is: to which kingdom do we wish to belong?
    The easy answer is, of course, the kingdom of God.  We’re here, after all, so we must put some faith in God and want to be with him.  But we often find ourselves as divided, as some of us wants God, and some of us wants the devil.  We would likely never say it that way with our lips, but our actions tell a different story.  Every time we sin, especially, but not limited to, mortal sin, we choose the kingdom of the devil.  Every time we respond to God’s grace, we choose the kingdom of God.  
    Our Lenten pilgrimage is meant to help purify us to choose God more frequently than we choose the devil.  By denying ourselves certain things, or maybe doing extra things, we are trying to train ourselves to choose God.  As our Lord says elsewhere, we cannot serve two masters.  We will either love one and hate the other, or hate one and love the other.  
    St. Paul outlines ways that the people of the Church in Ephesus chose the devil: by saying obscene or silly or suggestive things, or participating in immorality, impurity, and greed, which the Apostle calls idolatry.  And certainly, when we do those things, we give our attention to something other than God.  Instead, we are told to be thankful.  Thanksgiving might seem to fit as an antidote to greed, but what does it have to do with immorality and impurity?  I suggest that we give thanks to God for the gift of our sexuality, but also for knowing how to use it properly.
    Our sexual passions often become false gods.  They so often want to demand total obedience.  But they are a hunger which is never satisfied.  They keep wanting more.  They’re like the old commercials for Lays Potato chips: bet you can’t have just one.  It’s not enough to see one impure image; once one is seen the desire for another, or something more enticing, grows.  The passions that arise from physical expressions of affection, too, seem to want to keep ramping up and escalating.  But God has revealed ways that humans can express physical affection, but without becoming slaves of them.  He tells us that certain expressions of love are only fit within the confines of marriage, where man and woman can give themselves fully to the other, open to life, as an expression of love between a husband and wife.  If those three requirements are not met, then a couple would be falling into the immorality which St. Paul says can exclude us from the kingdom of God.  Even and husband and a wife could need to abstain from physical intimacy if those three requirements for holy sexual activity are not present, so that they do not use each other simply for pleasure.
    In my work as a chaplain for the Michigan State Police, I too often see where people have let their passions, both sexual and other passions, run free, and how much it ruins their lives.  God does not desire ruin for us.  He desires the fulfillment of our human nature, which God reveals to us.  Yes, it sometimes means saying no to our desires, but that no is a sign that we are free.  If we only can say yes to something, then we are a slave.  If we have the ability to say no, then we are governing ourselves.  The devil, on the other hand, desires our ruin.  He never paints it that way, but he encourages us to give in to our desires every time they pop up.  But in doing so we enslave ourselves to the prince of lies.

St. Irenaeus

    Christ, by His Passion, Death, and Resurrection, has tied up the strong man.  As St. Irenaeus says:
 

For when Satan is bound, man is set free;…the Word bound [Satan] securely….And justly indeed is [Satan] led captive, who had led men unjustly into bondage; while man, who had been led captive in times past, was rescued from the grasp of his possessor, according to the tender mercy of God the Father, who had compassion on His own handiwork, and gave to it salvation, restoring it by means of the Word–that is, by Christ.

This time of Lent is the perfect time to re-welcome the kingdom of God in our lives, and ask Christ to bind up the enemy, so that we might no longer be in slavery to him.  
    So the question for us is: to which kingdom do we want to belong?  To the kingdom of the devil, which often brings immediate pleasure but later suffering and death?  Or to the kingdom of God, which does have us deny ourselves at times in the present, but which leads to the eternal joy of heaven, where we see God face-to-face: the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.