18th A. Sunday in ordinary time

Genuine Christian discipleship is not just a matter of words

Once there was a lonely man who wanted a pet -- one that would not require a great deal of care. He merely wanted something to come home to in the evening, something to keep him company. He went to a pet store and explained His need to the proprietor. The pet store owner said that he had just the thing the man was looking for: a canary "guaranteed to sing." The man agreed that it seemed like the perfect choice, bought the canary and took it home. The next day the lonely man hurried home from work and, as he entered his house, was overwhelmed by the sound of beautiful music coming from the canary. He was very pleased and proceeded to feed the bird as he listened to its wonderful sound. But when he opened the cage he discovered that the canary had only one leg. One leg! This irritated Him. He felt cheated! And so he packed up the cage and returned to the pet store. "You sold me a canary with only one leg," he complained to the proprietor. To which the store owner replied, "Well what did you want, a singer or a dancer?"

We're never satisfied, some of us. It's one of the signs of the times. We're given a singer, but we're not satisfied. We want a dancer. We're given a child with his or her own unique personality, but we're not satisfied -- and we proceed to try to conform him or her to our own. We're given a good body, but we're not satisfied -- and we proceed to destroy it with overindulgence. We're given a beautiful world, but we're not satisfied -- and we proceed to exploit it and make it ugly. We're given gifts that are uniquely ours, but we're not satisfied -- and we feel cheated and long for the gifts that others possess. The "never satisfied" person is often a destructive influence, a source of needless anxiety, tension and unhappiness, not only in his or her own life but also in the life of others. 

As a Christian people we can never be satisfied merely to celebrate God's love for us. Scripture is absolutely clear about this. God's love is given to us not only as the Source of our own wholeness but as a Gift that is to be shared with others. An essential part of our Christian discipleship is to share the Gift with others. Not just a few of us but every one of us, without exception, is called upon to share the Gift of God's Love with others. The Prophet Jeremiah talked about the "fire in his bones." And "Woe is me," he said, "if I don't let that fire spread."

Genuine Christian discipleship is not just a matter of words, words, words about God's loving Presence in the world. True Evangelism is a matter of sharing the actual experience of the Christ Spirit in our lives. It is a loving, joyful, enthusiastic, oftentimes spontaneous spilling over of the life-transforming Spirit of God we have received from the Lord Jesus.

The first mission of the early Christians was to share the Good News of how the experience of Christ had changed everything for them. The experience of Christ had given them new hope. The experience of Christ had given them a deeper sense of their own worthwhileness than they had ever known before. The experience of Christ had given them a whole new way of looking at God's creation, a whole new attitude and approach toward other persons. The experience of Christ had given them a whole new way of understanding that they were and what they ought to do. The experience of Christ had so filled them to overflowing with a whole new sense of joy that they could not contain it. They simply had to share it.

Today's Gospel is the first part of Jesus' discourse on the Bread of Life. He tells the people, "You should not be working for perishable food but for the food that remains unto life eternal, food which the Son of Man will give you; it is on Him that God the Father has set His seal" (Jn.6:27). "What must we do to perform the works of God?" the people ask (Jn.6:28). Jesus replies, "This is the work of God; have faith in the One whom He sent" (Jn.6:29). "So that we can put faith in You what sign are you going to perform for us to see?" they ask. "What is the work You do?" (Jn.6:28-30).

So that others can put faith in the Jesus we know and love, what sign are we to perform for them to see? What is the work we do? First of all, as true Christian disciples, we cannot be satisfied to keep the Good News to ourselves. Sharing the Good News is a necessary precondition for our own fulfillment as a Christian people. Secondly, we can talk to others about salvation and about Jesus' life and ministry and about Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and it will be helpful, hopefully. But ultimately it is a life lived out in the world in which the Christ Spirit is reflected that draws people to Jesus. That is the sign we have to offer! That is the work we do!

REFLECTION: Why is it that so many people can't see ... including myself, that life here on earth can be a beautiful experience almost beyond belief.

I believe God has shown me some answers. Take people, for instance. God made everybody and He doesn't make mistakes. There is something beautiful in every person and all it takes is a little effort to see and respect it and you've got a friend.

It's too easy to be critical: nobody is perfect -- nobody -- but everybody needs happiness and someone to understand them and to do that gives a very special feeling to those who make the effort. I'm talking about a true happiness!

God's love is here in this worship experience. As Jesus' followers, we cannot be satisfied, ever, merely to accept it. As Jesus' followers, we cannot be happy, ever, merely to receive it. As Jesus' followers, we are not ready to receive it until we are ready to share it. I'm talking about a true happiness!

God Bless you all this month of August,

FR. Nony,CRM

4th Sunday on ordinary time

"And they were astonished at His teaching"

Mark 1:22

Once upon a time a government surveyor brought his equipment to a farm, called on the farmer, and asked permission to go into one of the fields and take readings. The farmer objected, fearing that the survey was the first step toward construction of a highway through his land. "I will not give you permission to go into my fields," said the farmer. Whereupon, the surveyor produced an official government document which authorized him to do the survey. "I have the authority," he said, "to enter any field in the entire country to take necessary readings." Faced with such authority, the farmer opened the gate and allowed the surveyor to enter the field. The farmer then went to the far end of the field and opened another gate, through which one of his fiercest bulls came charging. Seeing the bull, the surveyor dropped his equipment and began to run for his life. And he could hear the farmer triumphantly shouting after him,"Show him the paper, show him your authority."

Authority and power have different meanings, as the unfortunate surveyor discovered at the sight of the raging bull. In today's Gospel, Jesus reminds us that, in terms of our salvation -- where we our going with our lives and what we ought to do about it -- He speaks to us with authority and He empowers us, both.

The Gospel today should not surprise us when we consider that Jesus was speaking with such authority and force that His words would hit home -- really jolt his listeners into realizing that they were being asked to turn their lives upside down.

Jesus calls us to New Life. This is the experience, to some degree, of every one of us when we really listen to the Lord's Message. Hearing this Gospel story, we may be inclined to dismiss this man's cry as the lunatic ravings of an unbalanced fanatic. But the fact is that the man in the Gospel got the point. He was jolted by the Word of God. He realized his attitude and approach to life was being called into question. He realized that Jesus was indeed calling for the destruction of his old ways.

Last year, a small town newspaper's "Religion Column" included the story of a local minister who had been preaching Sunday after Sunday for two years to an empty Church. Before that, there were three members in the congregation. But two died and the third moved away. Nevertheless, each Sunday for two years, the minister went into the pulpit, looked out at the uninterrupted rows of empty pews and preached the Message of Jesus Christ as he understood it. At one point during this period he decided to turn off the sound system because some of the neighbors were complaining about the noise. When he was asked if he didn't feel a little foolish preaching to empty pews week after week, he replied, "No. I don't ever feel foolish. I'm just taking it one Sunday at a time, waiting for someone to come in and listen to the Word."

That is the problem which all serious preachers face week after week: "Is there anyone out there who realizes that the Word of God being preached is a call to turn his or her life upside down? Or am I preaching, in effect, to empty pews? Is there anyone out there who is so astonished by the Word of God spoken through Jesus that he or she feels compelled to cry out, 'I know You are the Holy One of God ... I know You are my Lord and Savior'?"

The incident in today's Gospel comes immediately after Jesus has recruited His first disciples. He held before those first disciples the glorious New Life in which they would experience God's Presence as they never had before.

Jesus held before them exactly what they were getting into as His followers. He held before them the prospect of turning their lives upside down. He held before them the lesson that as they identified more closely with Him they would be identifying with a love so deep, so sensitive that they would take upon themselves, more and more, the sufferings of others. He held before them the clear understanding that they would identify more and more with the needs of others. He held before them the Gospel truth that there would be suffering and rejection and persecution for those who live for others. Jesus held all this before His disciples, but they didn't put it all together at first. The Son of God literally had to die and be raised up again before the Word of God really grasped them at any deep level.

The question is, "Are we really listening, or is the Word being proclaimed, in effect, to empty pews?"

The man in this Gospel story serves as a witness to Christ's Presence in the world. If the Kingdom of God is at hand, then the "unclean" diabolical forces are overthrown, and the world is ruled by a new Wisdom, a new Authority, a new Power.

Through His life and through His death, Jesus teaches us that Love is all. Through His Resurrection, Jesus empowers us to live accordingly.

Love is all! Jesus taught this truth with such authority as to jolt us, to astonish us, to turn us upside down. But is anybody listening?