unjust judge 29th sunday C

Little Eddie's grandmother loved opera with a passion. She had season tickets every year, and when Eddie arrived at the ripe old age of eight, she decided it was time to take him with her, as a birthday present. So off they went and little Eddie sat squirming through an entire performance of a sombre German opera, in a language he didn't understand. The next day, Eddie's mother told him to write a "Thank You" note to his grandmother. "Dear Granny," Eddie wrote, "thank you for the birthday present. It is what I always wanted, but not very much. Love, Eddie."

That refreshingly honest response to a birthday gift, is not unlike most people's response to God -- including our own. We want God. We really do! That, among other things, is what brought us here today. We want God -- but not very much.

There are many things in our lives that are far more exciting. Some of us get more excited over a big football game, or a big pay raise, or the latest bit of political scandal, or a new romantic interest, or the stock market daily averages. We get caught up in these things and we get more enthusiastic about them than we do about our relationship with God.

In the book of Revelation, the Lord describes this attitude of lukewarm indifference as the worst possible state for us to be in. He says, "I know your deeds; I know you are neither hot nor cold. How I wish you were one or the other. But because you are lukewarm, I will spew you out of My mouth" (Rev. 3:15).

The person who wants God, but not very much, sickens Him -- a rather shocking example of Divine imagery!

Somehow, we manage to ignore the saintly admonition: "Seek and find God in all things."1 And, after failing to seek and find Him all week, it is small wonder that we don't experience much of anything happening as we spend an hour or so in a Church pew. A certain pastor was becoming disheartened by the attitude of many persons in the congregation. "This Church is lifeless." they were saying. Sunday attendance began dropping sharply and the spiritual life of the Church was at such a low ebb that the pastor decided on a course of action to improve the situation. Consequently, he announced that since the Church was considered dead, he would conduct its funeral the following Sunday.

When Sunday came, the Church was crowded. From their pews, the people stared curiously at the coffin that had been placed in front of the pulpit. The pastor climbed into the pulpit and eulogized "the deceased." He spoke of how much the Church had accomplished in the past and he expressed sorrow over its untimely demise. Then he invited the congregation to come forward and view the "corpse."

One by one the people looked into the casket, and each was amazed to see his of her own face reflected from a mirror laying in the bottom of the coffin. Most were shocked. Some were indignant. But they slowly but surely began to realize that the Church's lifelessness of which they complained was due largely to their own spiritual indifference.

Do you remember the scene on the Mount of Transfiguration? Jesus wanted so much to be at one with God that when the Apostles, Peter, James and John, looked at Him, He was literally aglow in a fever of prayer.

Do you remember the scene in the Garden of Gethsemane? Jesus wanted so much to identify with the Will of God, that He perspired so profusely Luke said it was like great drops of blood.

This is how very much Jesus wanted God. This is how Jesus persisted in calling on God's goodness, day and night.

The lesson for us is to do whatever is needed to acquire a real hunger and thirst for God and His goodness, in imitation of Jesus. If it means changing your job, you do it. If it means radically changing a family relationship, you do it. If it means a whole new way of seeing yourself and seeing others, you do it. If it means getting rid of a destructive pleasure in your life, you do it. If it means -- as it surely does -- assigning generous portions of your time for prayer and meditation, you do it. If it means changing your whole lifestyle -- your whole attitude and approach to life -- you do it.

There is a second level on which to very much desire to be at one with God. On this level, we yearn for others to know God's goodness. We hunger and thirst for the fulfillment of others just as intensely as we do for our own fulfillment. On one occasion, Jesus went into His home synagogue and began to preach God's goodness exactly in those terms. Quoting the Prophet Isaiah, He said to the congregation,

The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me ... He has sent Me to bring glad tidings to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives, recovery of sight to the blind, and release to prisoners (Lk. 4:18).

When the people heard Jesus describe His ministry in terms of service, not only to them but to others (outsiders), they tried to lynch Him: throw Him off a cliff. They were so outraged, they wanted to kill Him. And, eventually, they succeeded. But even unto death, Jesus persisted in His all-out efforts to identify with the Gracious God whose blessed Kingdom of Merciful Love was at hand and would be brought to fulfillment.

Day and night, Jesus taught His followers to long for and to work for the Coming Kingdom with a passion; a way of life; an ongoing, persistent hunger and thirst.

In today's Gospel, Jesus' "Parable of the Unjust Judge" tells the story of a poor widow who sought justice for herself but couldn't find it. She really was "up against it," as the saying goes. Not only was she obliged to pursue her just cause through a system of justice in which women had practically no rights, but also a corrupt man was sitting in judgment of her case. But she would not be denied. Her hunger and thirst for justice gave her strength to "buck" the system and, finally, she won her case. Jesus brings the lesson home in these words:

Will not God do justice to His chosen who call on Him day and night? Well He delay long over them, do you suppose? I tell you, He will give them swift justice (Lk. 18:7,8).

God's healing Presence is realized swiftly by those who call out to Him day and night -- those who want Him very much.

Someone who wanted God, but not very much, once said: "God never made a better person than myself, but somehow I just can't live up to it." That person didn't seem to understand that the God who created us never gives us a task without also giving us the strength to perform it. He never gives us a goal without giving us the strength to achieve it. He wants us to live in a certain way, and He is always present to us in a way that makes this possible. He not only gives us the task and the goal, He gives us Himself.

To live up to what God intends for your life requires more than a "Thank you, God, for the Gift of Yourself. It is what I've always wanted -- but not very much." The power and strength and the Grace to be the person God wants you to be belong to those who desire the Gift, very, very, much!

you cannot serve both God and mammon.

Two business competitors argued at length about certain shady business practices. Finally, one said to the other, "Let's be clear about one thing. There are lots of ways to make money but there is only one honest way." "What way is that?" the second man asked. "Just as I suspected, you don't know," the first man replied.

A company treasurer had called a meeting of the sales staff because she detected a pattern of fraud in their expense reports. "I'll begin with our East Coast representative," she said. "It seems clear that you've been overcharging the company for your meals. Tell me, how did you manage to spend sixty- four dollars a day for food in New York City?" To which the East Coast representative replied, "Easy! I skipped breakfast!"

"When it comes to a question of money, everybody is of the same religion." Yet truer words were never spoken about our generation, in which almost anything goes as long as it makes money for somebody.

Two thousand years ago, Jesus said to the power brokers of His time, "No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, You cannot serve God and money" (Luke tells us that "The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all this, and they scoffed at Him"). As the people of a generation which has transformed "greed" from vice into virtue, are we scoffing at Jesus' warning?

Jesus is telling us once again that nothing -- not even our money -- should ever take priority over our right relationship with God. And in this time of ours which seems bent on canonizing greed, it is urgent that we disciples of Jesus Christ deliver that message through the example of our own lives.

The most important single thing in your life at this moment is for you to be able to enter into a direct encounter with God. The most important single thing in your life at this moment is to know, down at the center of your being, how to be open to the movement of God's Spirit within you. That's your number one priority in life. It's more important than your health. It's more important than your job. It's more important than your family relationships. It's more important than all your other relationships. And, as Jesus tells us over-and-over again in the Gospels, its even more important than your money. In truth, the quality of your family relationships and all your other relationships depends on it. Moreover, your peace of mind, your peace of soul -- the quality of your life -- depends on it.

An enormously rich man complained to his psychiatrist that despite his great wealth which enabled him to possess everything money could buy, he felt miserable. The doctor took the wealthy man by the hand and escorted him to a window overlooking the street. "What do you see?" asked the psychiatrist. "I see men, women and children," the man answered. Then the psychiatrist escorted the man to a mirror. "Now what do you see?" he asked. "I see only myself," the man answered. Then the psychiatrist said, "In the window there is glass and in the mirror there is glass. And when you look through the glass in the window you can see others. But behind the glass in the mirror is a layer of silver. When silver is added, you cease to see others, you see only yourself."

Whenever your devotion to money and material things causes you to be self-centered you are in flagrant denial of God's intention for your life, and you are contradicting the example given by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Our Lord came as a Man For Others, not to be ministered unto but to minister, not to be served but to serve. Our Lord placed His whole life in the service of His heavenly Father and, within that context, in the service of all mankind.

The presupposition of today's Gospel parable and every parable of Jesus is that God loves you infinitely, that He is calling you into a union of life with Himself, that this intimate union with God is the most important thing in your life, and that nothing in life should take priority over it. Anything in your life that you cannot relate to your union with God is not worth wasting your time on. Jesus is saying that as long as you allow money to be your master, there is no way you can say "Yes!" to God. And even if you should become the richest person in the world, in terms of your ability to grow into the uniquely beautiful person God made you to be, your money is worthless.

Money will buy a bed, but not sweet dreams. Money will buy books, but not wisdom. Money will buy a house, but not a home. Money will buy pleasure, but not genuine joy. Money will buy a crucifix, but not a Servant Savior.

Several years ago a national magazine published a kind of "open letter" from a mother to her daughter. It said, in part:

My child, what can I give you?

I should like to give you everything so that you lack for nothing, not even one single desire. But I know that for want of many things I have come to be satisfied with what I have and to think of others and their needs.

I give you my personal presence in order that you will have the security you need during your childhood. I give you my ears, in the sense that I will never be too busy to listen to you.

I give you opportunities to work so that you might learn to do it without shame and come to enjoy the satisfaction of work well done.

I give you my counsel, but only when it is necessary or you ask for it so that you might avoid some of the mistakes I have made.

I give you my consolation when you have failed or feel discouraged, but I will not always protect you from the consequences of your sins.

I give you instruction in the way of the Lord, so that when you grow older, you will never depart from it.

I give you my daily prayers that the Lord will keep you and guide you in such a way that you, my child, will be a woman who will serve and glorify our Heavenly Father.

I give you my unconditional love, which means that I accept you without reservation, just as you are and will be.

These things I give you with all my love. Mother. Isn't it amazing what money can't buy?

prodigal Son

After going through the story of the Prodigal Son, a Sunday school teacher asked the kids, “At the end of the story who is it that ended up in the worst situation?” One of the kids shot up her hands and answered, “The fatted cow.” The animal-loving child was certainly correct, but the answer the teacher probably expected was “The elder son.”

There are three main characters in the Parable of the Prodigal Son: the father, the younger son, and the elder son. The younger son is a volatile, impatient, easily bored, ready-to-try-everything teenager. He collects his inheritance, goes abroad to see the world, and squanders his birthright in loose living. He represents every sinner. In sin we squander our human and divine birthright and in the end we are no better than in the beginning. Sin promises us a life of happiness, satisfaction and excitement but in the end all we get out of it is misery, wretchedness, dissatisfaction, depression, and a loss of the sense of personal dignity that belongs to us as God’s children. The good news is that no matter how deeply the sinner sinks into sin, there is always a still, silent inner voice within us inviting us to come back to our Father’s house where true freedom and satisfaction is to be found.

Then there is the father who is so loving that he lets his rascally son have whatever he wanted. In fact we can say he even spoils the boy. We have this image of God as a very stern, demanding father who is always ready to whip us into line. This is very far from the image of God we have in this parable. Here God is presented as a tender loving father who is easy on his children, and who is always ready to forgive, no matter what. If this is how God relates to us, then we can see that God possesses the tender-loving quality of mother as well as the tough-loving quality of father.

And finally there is the elder son who is introduced towards the end of the story. If you want to describe the elder son by one word you would call him a gentleman. He is a man of honour, solid, hard-working, consistent, disciplined, and sober — a perfect gentleman. In the elder son we see the virtues, as well as the vices, of middle class morality. What are the vices of middle class morality? Arrogance, better-than-thou attitude, intolerance toward those who do not meet up to our standards, insensitivity and a spirit of unforgiveness. The elder son exhibits these vices in the way he refuses to welcome his lost and found brother, his father’s explanation and invitation notwithstanding. He must have his pound of flesh. For him it is a matter of justice, but for God that is nothing but self-centeredness and unwillingness to forgive.

The first son syndrome is very much alive among us. Do you remember the execution on February 3, 1998 of Karla Faye Tucker. Karla was, to all appearances, a repentant murderer. At the moment of her execution there were two groups of people outside the Texas state prison in Huntsville: a group protesting her execution, who were there praying for her, and a group demanding her execution, who were there cheering and jeering as she was hanged. The praying group was calling for love and mercy and the cheering group was calling for justice. The parable of the Prodigal Son reminds us today that for God love and compassion takes precedence over blind justice.

We often confuse puritanism for Christianity. To be puritanical is to be scrupulously demanding in religious conduct and morals. For such a person the number one virtue is discipline. To be a Christian, on the other hand, is to profess and live according to the example and teaching of Christ. Here the primary virtue is love and compassion. As Christians we believe in a God of love and compassion. Jesus was a man of love of compassion both in his teachings and in his dealings with others. The challenge for us Christians today is to be people of love and compassion, to be like the prodigal father in the parable and not like the uncompromising elder son in a world full of prodigal sons and daughters. On a lighter side, in the supermarket was a man pushing a cart that contained a screaming, bellowing baby. The gentleman kept repeating softly, "Don't get excited, Albert; don't scream, Albert; don't yell, Albert; keep calm Albert."

A woman standing next to him said, "You certainly are to be commended for trying to soothe your son Albert."

The man looked at her and said, "Lady, I'm Albert."

Try it God's way, and live a little! "...there are those now last who will be first, and those now first who will be last" Luke 13:30

Beware!!!

A man who was suffering from constant headaches visited his doctor. "Doctor, I don't know why I keep on getting these awful headaches," he said. "I don't drink like so many others do. I don't smoke like so many others do. I don't run around at night like so many others do. I don't overeat like so many others do. I don't..." The doctor interrupted at this point. "Tell me," he said, "this pain in the head you complain of, is it a sharp, shooting kind of pain?" "Yes," the patient replied, "that describes it perfectly. A sharp, shooting kind of pain!" The doctor then made his diagnosis: "Simple," he said, "your problem is that you have your halo on too tight. All you need to do is loosen it a bit."

We like to think we're a "cut above." We like to be "out in front." We like to be "looked up to" which, very often, is another way of saying we "like to look down on." This is what concerns Jesus about His own people in today's Gospel Lesson. He is talking to His fellow Jews about this because they have grown accustomed to regarding themselves as God's "favorites," and to classifying most others as "enemy." And Jesus is trying to give them a more enlightened perspective on God's ways.

"The last shall be first...the first shall be last." Jesus is telling them that the genuine exaltation they see as their destiny will not be realized until they have paid the price. "Try your best to enter by the narrow door," He says (Lk. 13:24). They must bear the high cost of acknowledging that the light of God's love encircles all of humanity: no exceptions.

One Sunday morning, the pastor of a large parish announced to the congregation that Jesus Christ Himself, in person, was going to visit them the following Sunday. A record crowd showed up for the big event. They could hardly wait to hear the Lord preach, but when introduced He only said "Hello." The pastor offered Him hospitality for the night, as did many of the parish leaders, but Jesus politely declined their invitations. He announced, however, that He would spend the night in Church -- alone. And everyone thought, "How fitting!"...

Early the next morning, Jesus quietly slipped away, unnoticed. When the pastor discovered that Jesus was gone, he and the parish leaders went into the Church and they were horrified by what they saw: the Church had been vandalized. All over the walls, the word "Beware!" had been scribbled. The word was everywhere -- on the doors and windows, on the pulpit, on the altar, even on the floor. Wherever one looked, there it was, "Beware... Beware... Beware... Beware."

Everyone in the parish was shocked and confused -- even terrified. What did it all mean? What were they supposed to beware of? And, although they decided at first to wipe out every trace of the scribbled words, nevertheless they finally thought better of it. After all, Jesus Himself had done the damage with His own hand.

Gradually, the word "Beware" began to sink into the minds of the people when they came to Church. And they began to search the Scriptures for clues as to its intended meaning. In so doing, they found passage after passage in which Jesus warned potential followers of the price they would have to pay in order to be His true disciples.1

"Follow Me!" Jesus said, but beware...

Anyone who wants to be great among you must be your servant, and anyone who wants to be first among you must be your slave, just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve (Mt. 20:26-28).

"Follow Me!" Jesus said, but beware...

It will be hard for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven... it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven (Mt. 19:23-24).

"Follow Me!" Jesus said, but beware... Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the man who humbles himself will be exalted (Lk. 14:11).

"Follow Me!" Jesus said, but beware...

Anyone who does not welcome the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it (Lk. 18:17).

"Follow Me!" Jesus said, but beware...

You must love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you (Mt. 5:44).

"Follow Me!" Jesus said, but beware...

No one can be the slave of two masters...You cannot be the slave of both God and money (Mt. 6:24).

Now, so the story goes, when you drive past the Church that Jesus visited in Person, you can see a single, shocking word blazing above the Church in multicolored neon lights: BEWARE.

Being Jesus' disciples means that we voluntarily accept the cost of discipleship as well as the rewards. We need to remember that Jesus turned away many people who were not willing to pay the price. People came to Him because they wanted the benefits, they wanted the healing, they wanted the excitement, they wanted the comfort that came with discipleship. But when they began to make excuses for avoiding the inconvenience, Jesus simply said "No!"

There is not a single person who is forced to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. You and I are free to accept His call or reject it. But if we accept it, part of the cost is this matter of giving ourselves to others and doing for others -- family, stranger, friend and foe alike -- even when it hurts. We don't need to be grim about it. We don't need to project a martyr complex about it. The fantastic thing about it is that the life of true discipleship is the most fulfilling, most glorious life possible. And if many of us are not experiencing that kind of life, it is because we've only come half way.

"The last shall be first and the first shall be last." Who is last on your list these days? Isn't there something you can do this week to heal that broken relationship? Remember, God's thoughts and God's ways are above our thoughts and our ways. Allow God to light up your mind and heart. Let your soul soar to that dizziest of heights, where there is no one to look down on.

Try it God's way -- and live a little!

Look Again Don't forget to turn on Jesus! "Be like men awaiting their master's return ... so that when he arrives and knocks, you will open for h

A wise old pastor was asked by a parishioner, "When do you think Christ will come again?" The pastor replied, "I didn't know He had been away."

"And He departed from our sight," said St. Augustine, "that we might return to our heart and there find Him. For He departed, and behold, He is here!"

We feel the darkness closing in. We feel the threat of it. We don't know how to deal with it. Then God, in His great Love, sends the light! Let there be light at the center of this darkness! And the light that is given is the Spirit of Christ within us.

Light -- ordinary light -- is a form of energy, a source of power which stimulates the nerve-endings of our eyes. Christ, our Light, is the power of God Himself stimulating the nerve-endings of our life, making it possible for us to penetrate the darkness, put things in their true perspective, see what life is all about. More than that, it is a power that gives us strength to cope, strength to live creatively, strength to love unconditionally. When we open the window of our heart to God we can see what the beloved disciple John saw when he wrote, "The Word became flesh And made His dwelling among us, and we have seen His glory: The glory of an only Son coming from the Father, filled with enduring love" (Jn. 1:14).

Look! There is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (Jn. 1:29) ... The real Light which gives light to every man (Jn. 1:19).

Jesus Christ did not go into hiding after He rose from the tomb. He made His dwelling among us. He wants us to see His glory.

"Be on guard," Jesus says in today's Gospel, "the Son of Man will come when you least expect Him" (Lk. 12:40). "Be like men awaiting their master's return ... so that when he arrives and knocks, you will open for him without delay. It will go well with those servants whom the master finds wide awake ..." (Lk. 12:36-37).

We get so busy, we are involved with so many of life's trappings that, in spite of our best intentions, we begin to lose contact with the Master. We are no longer prepared to receive Him when He knocks. If you want to know what human life is about, "Behold! Look at the Christ." What do you see? You see One whose life makes it possible for us to love others in a very special way. You see One who gives us hope for the future. You see One who is the Savior of the world. You see One who is your Savior. You see One who comes to you personally, in an unique, individual way. Behold! Stay awake! Look until you see what God is doing for you through Christ at this particular moment in your life. You can look again, and look again, and no matter where you are in your pilgrimage, you can see something more there. This applies even to the most devout Christian believers, to those who are most faithful, to those who spend time regularly searching the Scripture and learning from it, to those who try to be obedient to the Spirit of God. Even those persons can look again and discover that God is always doing something that can lead them to deeper levels of living and loving. God is always surprising us in this way.

In a large New England parish it was the custom for the Church leaders to go on retreat each fall. There they would plan the major parish activities for the year ahead. At one such retreat, they decided that a big Christmas Pageant would be a good activity. When it came time to map out the production, they got into a long discussion of how to symbolize Jesus in the manger. They didn't want to use a doll or a statue, and they ruled out using a real baby. Finally they decided to put a light in the manger. They did this very tastefully so that throughout the Pageant a warm glow of light would shine out from the manger. On opening night, the house was packed, the audience was expectant and the curtain went up. Immediately, all of the principals realized that something was wrong and there was a moment of silent hesitation. Then, everyone heard the director say, in a loud, raspy stage whisper to the stage manager, "Hey Bill, you forgot to turn on Jesus."

The pastor of a rural Church deep in the Ozark Mountains suggested to his parishioners that they purchase a chandelier. The matter was put to a vote and the suggestion was unanimously rejected. "Why do you oppose the purchase of a chandelier?" asked the preacher. "Well," drawled one of his flock, "first we can't spell it, so how can we order it? Second, even if we did get it, no one can play it. Third, what we really need is more light."2

One of the great things about God is that He knows we need more Light and He never forgets to turn it on. He is constantly whispering to each one of us, "Behold the Christ, the Light of the world!"

Don't be a fool! "Fool! This night your soul is required of you". Luke 12:20

An elderly man confided to a friend that he was planning to live to be one hundred. The friend replied, "I too would like to be one hundred. But how do you plan it?" "It's quite simple," the other man said, "all you need to do is live until you're ninety-nine, and from then on be very careful."

Well, as we all know, it's not that simple. Some of us may have started being careful years ago, but we're still vulnerable at any age. Every second of our lives we're vulnerable. Most of us won't reach ninety-nine, much less one hundred. And yet we carry on as though we're going to live forever.

In today's Gospel Lesson, Jesus tells a parable about a man who carried on in this manner, a man who planned ahead as though he were going to live forever. A wealthy man, he looked forward to a financially secure, worry-free future while ignoring his human situation of vulnerability: his mortality. He says to himself, in effect, "I've got it made. I'm rich. I've got more than I'll ever need. From now on the living is easy -- eat, drink and be merry. I'll just live it up!"

A little girl in Bible Class had listened to the story of the prodigal son who squandered his father's estate on "riotous living." "Do you know what 'riotous living' means?" the teacher asked. "I think so," the little girl answered, "it means spending all your money on bubble gum."

In Jesus' parable, after announcing his plans for years of riotous living, the wealthy man hears the voice of God address him as "Fool!" God says to him, "Fool! This night your soul is required of you; and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?" In other words, "You're not going to live to be one-hundred or even ninety-nine. You're not even going to make it through the night. And you can't take it with you either. Because all of your planning was for the 'here," and none for the 'hereafter,' you have been living the life of a fool."

A pastor was visiting a ninety-nine year old woman, the oldest person in the parish. He said to her, "At your age, you should start thinking of the hereafter." She replied, "Oh, I do that all day long, wherever I go. I go into the kitchen or the living room or the bedroom or the basement and I say to myself, 'Now let me think. What am I here after?"

The New Testament writers want us to understand that the questions, "What about the hereafter?" and "What am I 'here after'?" are not unrelated. In Matthew's Gospel, Jesus says to His disciples, "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life?" (Mt. 16:24-26). Jesus is asking the vital "here and now" question. He is asking us to be serious about our here-and-now priorities. He is asking us to ask ourselves, "What are we 'here after'?"

But, praise God, in searching for the answer to that question, we are not left on our own. "I am the way, the truth and the life...follow Me," Jesus says to us. "If you want to discover the truth about your here and now life, I'll show you the way ... follow Me! ... I am the way."

Jesus left no doubt about His answer to the question, "What am I here after?":

..."My food is to do the Will of Him who sent Me, and to accomplish His Work," He said (Jn. 4:33).

..."I have come not to be served but to serve," He said (Mt. 20;28).

..."I do as the Father has commanded Me, so that the world may know that I love the Father," He said (Jn. 14:31).

..."I am the Good Shepherd ... and I lay down My life for the sheep," He said (Jn. 10:14,15).

And when He said, "love one another as I have loved you," Jesus left not doubt about our correct answer to the question, "What are we here after?":

...to do the Father's Will -- that's what we're "here after"!

...to express our love for God in and through our love for one another -- that's what we're "here after"!

...to follow Jesus in a lifetime ministry of loving service -- that's what we're "here after"!

"Follow Me!" When we accept Jesus' invitation, when we embrace His formula for life in the here and now, something remarkable takes place. We simultaneously receive an answer to the question, "What about the hereafter?"

When we follow Jesus in the here and now, we experience a glimpse of the hereafter -- the only glimpse that God in His Wisdom, has chosen to give to us.

When we follow Jesus in the here and now, we enter into the experience of eternal life which, in Jesus' own words, is to know God, to be in union with God, to share in God's own life -- for God is Love.

When we follow Jesus n the here and now, the joy, and the harmony, and the peace of mind and heart and soul, and the ecstasy we experience in our expressions of unconditional love for one another provide us with little hints, little glimpses, little clues in our search for answers to the questions about life in the hereafter.

A British short-story writer has written a modern-day version of the parable in today's Gospel,

A mysterious figure visits a prominent English lawyer on New Year's Eve and grants him the choice of one wish for the New Year.

"I wish for a complete set of the 'London Times' for the coming year," said the man. And immediately his wish was granted. there before him was a neat stack of three hundred sixty-five future newspapers. He quickly understood the power that he now possessed, and he began planning how to use it. He would know horse race results before the races were run and every bet he made would be a guaranteed money maker. He also began making plans on how he would profit from his foreknowledge of stock market prices. Whereupon, he took the 'London Times' for the second of January from the stack and as he was turning to the Financial Section, the headline on the Obituaries caught his eye: "Prominent Lawyer Dies Suddenly On New Year's Day." Then he read the name of the deceased. It was his own.

In today's Gospel, God uses the word "fool" to address the self-centered, short-sighted, wealthy man who planned a long life of ease with no thought of his human condition of mortality.

In planning and living out your own individual answer to the question, "What am I 'here after?"" don't be a fool! Rather, acknowledge your human condition of mortality and rejoice in the promise of your ultimate fulfillment -- in the hereafter!

Four Letter Word "God gave me wings!" "Lord, teach us to pray" Luke 11:1

2nd homily

Do you know how the pretzel came into being? Many years ago, there was a pious monk who was pastor of a Church in Italy. At one point in his ministry, the parish children seemed rather slow at learning their prayers. Consequently, he rewarded those who showed improvement by giving them a "pretiola," which means "little gift." The little gift was a biscuit shaped like a pair of hands clasped in prayer. Travelers would often take the pretiola over the Alps into Germany. The Germans glazed and salted them and they became a popular German snack. Eventually, pretzels were introduced and remain popular in many other parts of the world.

Now, the next time you see or eat a pretzel, it might well be a timely, welcome reminder to pray to God.

We talk a lot about prayer -- about the importance of prayer, the efficacy of prayer, the necessity of prayer, the different kinds of prayer. And many of us do a lot of praying -- morning and evening, and sometimes in between. Once a week, we come to Church to pray some more, together. Our trust and hope in prayer as the ultimate problem-solver is deep-rooted and profound. Yet, it is true, that for many of us, prayer itself is one of our problems. Sometimes we become perplexed about prayer, and we find ourselves praying for guidance on how to pray.

One reason we become confused about prayer is that we have been taught to expect so much from our prayers. Jesus himself says in the Eleventh Chapter of Luke, Verse Nine, "Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find; knock and it shall be opened to you." And when we ask and God doesn't seem to be answering, we begin to wonder and to doubt. Today's Gospel Lesson tells us where to begin our approach to this problem.

In today's Gospel, Luke tells us that Jesus "was in a certain place praying, and when He had finished, one of the disciples said, "Lord, teach us to pray" (Lk. 11:1). Jesus answered, "Say this when you pray: "Father, hallowed be Your Name" and then He continued to recite the remaining four petitions in Luke's version of what we now call "The Lord's Prayer" (Lk. 11:2-4).

Now, what the Biblical writers want us to realize is that on the first petition depend all the others. You can just forget everything that follows if you have missed the point of the first petition: "Hallowed be Your Name...may Your Name be held holy."

When we pray this first petition, we are not praying for God to become hallowed; God is and always was, and always will be the "Holy One" whose name is "hallowed." Rather, we are praying that God may be acknowledged by us and by all people everywhere as the Holy One: The God of Love. We are praying that all people everywhere will revere God as God: the Almighty Creator of all that is; the very Source of all of life. And when we refuse to hallow our Gracious, Loving God in every area of life, we cut ourselves off from the one and only Source of the fulfillment we seek.

Just before Leonard Bernstein's birthday, the late, great composer, conductor and musician was asked by the New York Times to write an article. He responded with a poem:

When I die, I pray there may be heard an all-embracing, brave four-letter word.

I blush to name it, so often do we abuse it,

But the letters speak; and by-and-by we may no longer hesitate to use it.

The four letters he then used were L-O-V-E. Then he closed by calling on people everywhere "to take the four-letter word and make it live, by learning to give, to give, to give!"

When we are anxious, when we grieve, time seems to drag cruelly. When we are joyful, content, delighted, time seems to whiz by. And we shall never be able to come to grips with time until we have learned to love.

Time is too slow for those who wait. Time is too fast for those who fear. Time is too long for those who mourn. Time is too short for those who rejoice. But for those who love, Time is eternity.1

To hallow God's Holy Name, to praise the Lord, is to love all His children -- all of them -- and suffer with them, and rejoice with them and never count the cost.

Will I surrender to the downs and despairs, or will I place my trust in the New Testament revelation of a loving God who is for me -- no matter what?

True story:

A young woman named Mary dreamed as a young girl of becoming an obstetrician. She completed her studies and graduated from a medical college in her native country of India. With several other celebrating young graduates she jumped into a station wagon to go on a picnic. Then an accident happened: the driver lost control and the vehicle rolled over three times. Three days later, Mary regained consciousness. She knew that she was paralyzed from the waist down.

She wept as she saw her dreams evaporate forever. "Oh God, I'll never feel warm, squirming babies in my hands." Then, like a miracle of God's Mercy, she heard the first petition of the Lord's Prayer resonating deep within her. And she whispered the words of praise: "Our Father who are in Heaven, hallowed be Your Name." It was a remarkable statement of complete trust in God's Love -- no matter what!

Into her room came one of India's leading surgeons, who said, "Mary I think you could be my assistant in surgery. We could build a ramp and you could operate from your chair." That was many years ago. Today, Mary is one of the most skillful, expert surgeons in transplanting tendons in deformed lepers' hands. Her two hands have become the ten fingers of God!

Thousands of people are happier because of her. As she says it, "I asked God for legs and God gave me wings."2

Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be Your Name!

A MATTER OF LIFE OR DEATH God is the God of all of life. Let God be God "He said to them, 'When you pray, say: Father, Hallowed be Your Name, You

There once was a small Kentucky town that had two Churches and one whiskey distillery. Members of both Churches complained that the distillery gave the community a bad image. "Besides," they said, "the owner is an atheist." They tried many times to close the place down, but were unsuccessful. At last, they decided to hold a joint Saturday-night-prayer-meeting. They would petition God to intervene. Saturday night came and all through the prayer-meeting a terrible electrical storm raged. To the delight of the Church members, lightning struck the distillery and it burned to the ground. Next morning, the sermons in both Churches were on "The Power of Prayer." Fire insurance adjusters promptly notified the distillery owner they would not pay for his damages. The fire was caused by an "act of God," they said, and coverage for "acts of God" was excluded in the policy. Whereupon, the distillery owner sued all the Church members, claiming they had conspired with God to destroy his building. The defendants denied absolutely that they had done anything to cause the fire. The trial judge observed: "I find one thing about this case that is very perplexing. We have a situation where the plaintiff--an atheist--is professing his belief in the power of prayer, and the defendants--all Church members--are denying the power of prayer.

Many of us can identify with that judge's feelings. We talk a lot about prayer--about the importance of prayer, the efficacy of prayer, the necessity of prayer, the different kinds of prayer. And we do a lot of praying--morning and evening, and sometimes in between. Once a week we come to Church to pray some more, together. Our trust and hope in prayer as the ultimate problem-solver is deep-rooted and profound. Yet, it is true, that for many of us, prayer itself is one of our problems. Sometimes we do become perplexed about prayer, and find ourselves praying for guidance on how to pray.

One reason we become confused about prayer is that we have been taught to expect so much from our prayers. Jesus himself says in the Eleventh Chapter of Luke, Verse Nine, "Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find; knock and it shall be opened to you." And when we ask and God doesn't seem to be answering, we begin to wonder and to doubt. We can begin our approach to this problem by going back to the First Verse in Chapter Eleven, where we find one of the first disciples asking Jesus for guidance in prayer. "One day Jesus was praying in a certain place," St. Luke writes. "When he had finished, one of His disciples asked Him, 'Lord, teach us to pray' ... He said to them, 'When you pray, say, FATHER, HALLOWED BE YOUR NAME, GIVE US EACH DAY OUR DAILY BREAD. FORGIVE US OUR SINS FOR WE TOO FORGIVE ALL WHO DO US WRONG; AND SUBJECT US NOT TO THE TRIAL" (Lk.11:1-4).

You may have noticed that in Luke's Gospel, the Lord's Prayer is made up of five petitions to the Father. You may not have realized, however, that on the first depend all the others. You can just forget about everything that follows if you have missed the point of the first petition: "Hallowed be Your Name." It has been said that the manner in which we offer the first petition of the Lord's Prayer is "a matter of life or death."

For the Hebrew people, a person's name had far greater significance than it does for us. We say, "What's in a name?" And shrug it off. But, for the Hebrews, everything was in the name. The name, literally, was the person himself, and if you knew a person's name you knew that person at the core of his being. What we really mean when we pray "hallowed be Your Name" is "hallowed be God." When we pray "hallowed be Your Name" we pray that God Himself, in His essential being, be "hallowed." Moreover, we are not praying for God to become hallowed; God already is the "Holy One." We are praying that God may be acknowledged by us and by all men everywhere as the Holy One; that we and all men everywhere will revere God as God; that we and all men everywhere will let God be God.

When we set this in the context of the Bible, we find that all the Biblical writers were in agreement on this point: that the one unconditional requirement that God makes of all human life is that we acknowledge God as God; that we acknowledge the fact that He is God and that we are not God. At the very beginning of the Bible, in the Adam and Eve story, we are told that if we want to be alive, if we want to realize our humanity's true potential, all we need do is let God be God, acknowledge that God is God and that we are not God. When we do this the life of Grace begins to flow into us and, through us, to other people. But when we refuse to let God be God, we cut ourselves off from the Source of Life Itself, our humanity is diminished and ultimately we are destroyed. We are dead spiritually. Until we understand this first petition correctly, until we pray it and mean it, there is no point in praying for anything else. It all depends on this.

There is the story of a little girl who went to Summer Camp for the first time. She was seated on the edge of her bunk, crying. Her counsellor came in and said to her, "What's the matter, are you homesick?" "No," the little girl replied, "I'm here-sick." We are being told, and perhaps we would agree, that most of us these days are both homesick and here-sick. And some of us are getting sick of hearing how sick we are and how sick the world is. We're sick of hearing about rising crime rates. We're sick of hearing about violence. We're sick of hearing young people complain about the older generation's lack of understanding. We're sick of hearing the older people complain about the younger generation's failure to act responsibly. And yet, we seem to just fiddle around on the surface of things and wonder why things aren't getting any better. What Jesus and the Biblical writers are making clear to us is that at the heart of the matter is our unwillingness to acknowledge that God is the God of all of life and we are not God. And, because the world has been unwilling to do this, it is being drained and diminished and destroyed. When we refuse to hallow God in every area of life, both individually and corporately, we cut ourselves off from the only Source of the fulfillment we seek.

All of us have disaster-areas in our lives in which we are not hallowing God's Name. It may be a relationship with a brother or sister or parent or husband or wife or child or neighbor. It's an area in which we demand to have it our way and refuse to let God have it His way. And because of this we cut off this relationship from the Source of Life Itself. And the diminishment and the destruction and the death of our humanity is right there--in the marriage, in the home, in the market-place, in the neighborhood, and even in the Church.

There is the true story of a pastor who played a round of golf with a perfect stranger one Saturday morning. When they came to the eighteenth hole, the stranger said, "I enjoyed playing with you. Would you like to join me for another round tomorrow morning?" The pastor replied, "I'm afraid I cannot. I work on Sunday mornings." Still unaware that his golfing partner that day was a clergyman, the stranger asked, "What in h--- do you do on Sunday mornings?" To which the pastor replied, "I've been asking myself that question for many years!" I think there are many clergymen who are asking themselves that question these days. And that is precisely the question all Church members should be asking themselves these days. What are we doing? Are we here today ready to submit our individual lives to God's scrutiny? Are we ready to submit our corporate life, as Christian Community, to God's scrutiny--knowing that whatever we do or do not do either hallows God or profanes God?

I want to persuade you to make the opening petition in the Lord's Prayer an important part of your life this week. Just this one petition! Write it down and with your pen still in hand begin to meditate--on the Name, on the hallowing of the Name. And put down on the paper, or at least in your own mind before God, your whole life--everything you think and believe and do and dream and hope for. Then, ask yourself, "Am I hallowing or profaning God through this?" And then, pray for the Church and for your involvement in the Church. Pray that everything we do will be a hallowing of God. Pray that nothing we do will be a profaning of God. Make this your prayer in the coming week so that together we may feel God's loving presence, together we may feel the healing, together we may feel the Life of Grace flow through us. For God is God of all of life! "Our Father--hallowed be Your Name!" Say it because you mean it. It's a matter of life or death!"