We confuse our "needs" with "wants."

                 "Today salvation has come to this house"

Luke 19:9

I remember this story about a new parish Church that was built in an upper middle-class suburb. One Sunday mornings in the immediate neighborhood it is no longer as quiet as they used to be. The cars were noisy as members of the congregation drove into the Church parking lot or parked in front of homes in the area. The powerful organ and vigorous hymn-singing could be heard a block away. Some of the nearby residents who liked to sleep through their Sunday mornings, circulated a petition to curtail the noise. When the petition was presented to a certain Jewish man who lived within half a block of the Church, he refused to sign. "No," he said, "I won't sign that petition. Those people sing as though they really believe that the Messiah came. If I could believe that, I would sing out even louder, and not just once but seven days a week." 

In today's Gospel, Jesus comes into the neighborhood of a certain Jewish man named Zacchaeus. Although small in stature, Zacchaeus is big in the neighborhood: a "chief tax collector and rich," Luke tells us. He is also a curious man. He wants to get a look at this man, Jesus, whom crowds of people are following wherever He goes. But because he is so short, physically, Zacchaeus can't see above the crowd waiting for Jesus to pass by. So he runs on ahead and climbs a sycamore tree. And when Jesus comes to the place, He looks up and says, "Zacchaeus, make haste and come down; for I must stay at your house today" (Lk. 19:3, 4-5). Whereupon Zacchaeus scrambles down from the tree, and receives Jesus into his home. Meanwhile, the crowd outside complains that Jesus "has gone to be a guest in the house of a sinner." 

The trouble with Zacchaeus, the little man in our Gospel is greed! He has made a career out of using his position of power to exploit other people in order to line his own pockets. And, in the final scene in today's episode, it seems clear that his greed has caught up with him, giving him a troubled conscience. Then Jesus comes walking into his life and he makes that 180 degree turn we call "repentance," which means conversion, change, born again, transformation. Call it what you will, in this case, Jesus calls it "salvation." We read in Luke:  

And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, "Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold." And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house ... For the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost" (Lk. 19:8-10). 

One of our troubles can be that we confuse "needs" with "wants." How many times have you said, "I need a new car" or "I need a new house" or "I need new clothes" or "I need this or that or the other thing," when those "needs" weren't actual needs at all, but "wants." Do you get the point? You can legitimately "want" all those things, but they aren't needs that address any of life's fundamental issues. Your real needs consist of such things as the need to forgive; the need for self-esteem; the need to be of service to others who are in need; the need to embrace an attitude and approach to life and to other persons that is in harmony with God's Will; the need to begin now to experience the joy of eternal life with God in and through a loving  relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Come Sunday, we gather together, with Jesus in our midst, to praise God and listen to His Word, and we give lip service to our need to do His Will. But, come Monday, unless we truly commit ourselves to a day-to-day effort to pick up our cross and follow Jesus, once again we will begin to confuse "needs" with "wants." Come Monday, doing God's Will (our genuine need for experiencing the good life) will give way, once again, to those incessant "wants" that promise the good life but never deliver. 

There was a story of little girl accompanied her mother to the country "General Store." After the mother had made a large purchase, the proprietor invited the little girl to help herself to a handful of candy. The child held back. "What's wrong, don't you like the candy?" the proprietor asked. The child said "Yes, I like the candy." Whereupon the proprietor put his hand into the jar and dropped a generous portion in the girl's cupped hands. Later, the mother asked the little girl why she had not taken the candy when it was first offered. "Because his hand was bigger than mine," she said.

When it comes to fulfilling your every "want" there may be times when it seems that God's hand is small, or isn't there at all. But when it comes to fulfilling your genuine need to grow into the beautiful, compassionate, forgiving, generous person you were created to be, God is always ready, willing and able to demonstrate that His is the biggest hand of all! 

God Bless you all!

Fr. Nony,CRM

An ongoing, persistent hunger and thirst  -29th Sunday 2019

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.

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.  

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

20th Sunday C

"We only sell seeds."

"I have come to bring fire to the earth"

Luke 12:49

A pastor was standing at the Church doorway, shaking hands with the parishioners as they filed out.  The pastor spotted a man who, prior to that Sunday morning, hadn't seen the inside of a Church in ten years.  He pulled the man aside and said, "Glad to see you again.  Are you ready for service in the Army of the Lord?"  The man looked all around, then whispered in the pastor's ear, "I'm in the Secret Service."

In the matter of serving in the "Army of the Lord," Jesus' words in today's Gospel seem to identify many of us with the Secret Service.

"I have come to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were blazing already," Jesus says to His disciples.  Jesus came to light up the world with the fire of God's Love.  And we who have enlisted for service in the "Army of the Lord" have been commissioned to carry the torch.  Each of us is duty-bound to make the Love of God burn brightly in the world in which we live our daily lives...

Jesus didn't recruit us for His "Secret Service."  That's a role more suited to the angels

"Do you suppose that I am here to bring peace on earth?" Jesus asks in today's Gospel.  "No, I tell you, but rather  division... the father divided against the son, son against father, mother against daughter, daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law, daughter-in-law against mother-in-law"  (Lk. 12:51-53).

This is one of those texts that many people prefer to gloss over.  The words are there in Luke's Gospel, spoken by Jesus, and yet they are puzzling -- even perplexing -- to many Christians. "Father against son?  Son against father?  Mother against daughter?  Daughter against mother?"  Does it mean that Jesus wants to break up our families?

The answer, of course, is a resounding "No!"  Jesus is not a destroyer of families.  Jesus is the "Man For All Families."  He wants to heal broken family relationships.  He wants to reconcile mothers and fathers with their estranged sons and daughters.  He wants wives and husbands to love one another.  His Gospel of Love is the cement which binds man, woman and child together in society's basic, life-enriching unit:  the family.

When Jesus speaks of divisions among family members in today's Gospel, He is telling us in very forceful language to keep our priorities in order.  Jesus is saying that His Gospel is like a "sword" that separates the "eager" from the "contented."  When God is at the center of your life, you live in a condition of eagerness -- eager to hear His Word; eager to learn more about who you are in God's eyes and what to do in God's service; eager to fulfill a burning desire to let it all spill over into the lives of others; eager to change whatever it is in your life that keeps the Love of God from burning brightly in your heart.

On the other hand, the "contented" are those who do not have God at the center of their lives.  They are not eager to change.  They prefer the status quo.  Their number one priority might be money, or career, or security, or just plain "having a good time."  Whatever it is, it nurtures a spirit of contentment with things-as-they-are:  "Stay away from my money, God!  Stay out of my work life, God!  Don't threaten my security, God!  Don't interfere with my good times, God!  I'm just not going to change any of that."

Jesus has not come to settle us down in the false peace of the status quo.  Jesus has come to raise our hopes to a level higher than anything we could have dreamed of on our own.  Jesus has come to change our attitude.

Attitude is more important than the past...more important than education...more important than money...more important than circumstances...more important than appearances...more important than skill. Attitude will make or break a company... make or break a Church...make or break a home. The remarkable thing is, we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.1

"I have come to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were blazing already," says the Lord.

Anthony de Mello, whose inspirational stories have been read by millions, has written this incisive first-person story:

A woman dreamed she walked into a brand-new shop in a brand-new mall. She was more than a little surprised to discover Christ Himself behind the counter. "What kind of merchandise is for sale here?" she asked. "Everything to fulfill all your burning desires," Christ answered. The woman couldn't believe her ears: Everything to fulfill all her burning desires? After thinking it over, she decided to ask for only the very best things that any human being could passionately desire. "I would like to have peace of mind, and love, and freedom from fear, and genuine happiness, she said. Then, she added, "And not just for me, but for the whole world -- for everyone on the face of the earth." The Lord smiled. "Perhaps you are misunderstanding," He said. "We don't sell fruits here. We only sell seeds."

In so many ways we have fallen tragically short of our ideals, of what life could be -- should be.  But, at times, we have displayed in our work and in our deeds, our capacity for compassion -- for love.  And in this we hold the key to well-being.  The choice is ours.  We take part in this choice in the life we decide to live. Choose wisely! Be a sower of seeds that bears good fruit. Be a bearer of the fruit of God's Love!

Samaritan - Better Believe it

Two men were jogging one morning on the beach. They stopped abruptly when they spotted an exotic, ancient lamp half-buried in the sand. One of the men picked up the object and began rubbing off the sand. Whereupon, a Genie suddenly appeared before him. "Sir, because you rubbed this mystical lamp, I can grant you and your companion one wish each," said the Genie. To which the first man replied, "I wish to be the smartest man in the world." "Your wish is hereby granted," said the Genie.

Then, to the second man, he said, "Now you may make a wish. What is your wish?" "I wish to besmarter than the smartest man in the world," he replied. Whereupon, to his surprise, the Genie made him into a woman.

"Life is full of surprises," so goes the old cliché. Moreover, the Gospels say it over-and-over again: Jesus' life and teachings are full of surprises. He came to a generation of people who were anticipating a powerful "Military-Hero" Messiah. But soon He told them that the Messiah would be branded a common criminal and suffer torture and execution. What a surprise!

He came to a generation of people steeped in a philosophy of vengeance: an eye-for-an-eye, a tooth-for-a-tooth, a life-for-a-life. And He told them to "turn the other cheek; to go the second mile; to love their enemies -- pray for them, forgive them. What a surprise!

He told them that those people who loved money would have about as much chance of experiencing God's Presence in their lives as a camel has of getting through the eye of a needle. What a surprise!

He told them that those people whose top priority was trying to be Number One would come in last. What a surprise!

Jesus' life and teachings are full of surprises like these, and probably none greater than the one He springs on us in today's Gospel.

An expert in the Religious Law approaches Jesus and asks, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus replies with a question of His own. "What is written in the Law?" He asks. "you shall love God with all your heart and soul and strength and mind ... and your neighbor as yourself," the lawyer replies. "You have answered right; do this and you will live," Jesus answers. (Do this and you will inherit eternal life! Do this and you will experience the real Presence of God in your life!) But the lawyer, seeking to embarrass Jesus, says to Him, "And who is my neighbor?" Whereupon, Jesus gives His answer in the form of the "Parable of the Good Samaritan"...

On the road running from Jericho to Jerusalem, a traveler is mugged by robbers. They beat him, strip him and leave him laying on the road half-dead. A Jewish priest passes by, sees the man in distress, but keeps on going. A Levite (a priest's assistant) passes by, sees the man in distress, but keeps on going. Then a Samaritan comes along. (Samaritans were regarded by the Jews as heretics and semipagans -- outcasts, enemies). The Samaritan has compassion. He gives the man in distress first aid, then takes him to an inn and provides money for his continued care.

After telling this story, Jesus asks the lawyer, "Which of these three, do you think, proved neighbor to the man who fell among robbers?" (Lk. 10: 3, 6). The lawyer answers, "The one who showed mercy on him," that is to say, "the Samaritan whom we regard as an outcast and our enemy." To which Jesus replies, "go and do likewise" (Lk. 10:37).

In so doing, Jesus demonstrates to His interrogator that the question, "Who is my neighbor?" is the wrong question. The proper question is "To whom must I be a neighbor?" Answer: To the person in need, regardless of class or status or social standing, or race, or religion; to any person in need, even one whom I have categorized as enemy. What a surprise!

Although this one of Jesus' best-known teachings, nevertheless when it confronts us in a real-life situation, it not only takes us by surprise, it shocks us.

Am I really expected to lend a helping hand to that hateful, spiteful, vengeful person who can't get along with anyone? Unbelievable!

Am I really expected to treat all other persons in a way that demonstrates my unshaking belief in the Gospel Truth that God loves each and every one of them as much as He loves me? Unbelievable!

And yet ... and yet ... Jesus is saying to us now, "You'd better believe it if you want to realize your full human potential. You'd better believe it if you want to experience wholeness of life. You'd better believe it if you want peace of mind and heart and soul. You'd better believe it if you want to get the best earthly taste of the promised ultimate joy of eternal life with God."

The former pastor of the Riverside Church in New York City was fond of telling the story of an elderly woman parishioner who had acquired an immense dislike for him. Worse yet, she spent a good deal of her time conveying these intense feelings to others in the parish. The pastor knew this, and he dreaded the day when his parish calls inevitably would lead to her door...

Finally that day came, and he paced back and forth in front of her building, trying to work up the courage to go in. Hoping she would not be home so that he could just leave his card, he climbed the stairs and knocked on her door. No answer. Again he knocked, no answer. He knocked a third time and heard a faint sound inside, but no one came to the door.

Then he knelt down and looked through the keyhole to see if anything was wrong. "Maybe the poor woman has had a seizure of some kind and needs help," he said to himself. But, as he stared through the keyhole, to his surprise he saw an eye staring back. And then he heard the woman say, with a chuckle, "This is the first time we have seen eye-to-eye." "Yes!" he replied, "and we had to get down on our knees to do it."

Two thousand years ago, even among Jesus' close followers, there were those who did not see eye-to-eye with some of His teachings. And to this day there are those of us (Jesus' followers) who still refuse to accept and to obey certain of His teachings. We acknowledge Jesus Christ as Son of God and our Lord and Savior, yet we think we know better. We think we're smarter than Christ. It's the original sin all over again. We think we can outsmart God.

Vengeance should not reside in your heart! Racism should not be an acceptable part of your life. "Too busy to get involved" should not be an acceptable rationale for avoiding your Christian responsibility.

Jesus' definition of neighbor should not be rejected as a vital, guiding principle of your life!

We're talking here about the root causes of much of the alienation, and the anxiety, and the fear, and the violence that are so prevalent, and even out of control, in today's society. And if this still comes as a shock, Jesus is telling us now, loud and clear, "You'd better believe it!"

Reconciliation ... compassion ... caring ... sharing -- these are the ways to a better world, according to Jesus; these are the ways to peace of mind and heart and soul, according to Jesus. And, you'd better see eye-to-eye with Jesus' teaching, you'd better believe it, if you are among those who are genuinely concerned about the kind of world you'll be handing over to your children and your grandchildren.

13th Sunday in ordinry time june 30'19

Proclaim the kingdom of love now!

A member of the choir in a small parish was hurrying into church. Already twenty minutes late, he quickly parked his car, and as he scurried along the uneven path leading to the side entrance, he fell. Picking himself up, he muttered a mild profanity. Then immediately he looked skyward and said, "I'm sorry, Lord!" A short distance later, he again fell, even harder than the first time. Looking skyward again, he murmured, "You didn't have to push me Lord! I said I was sorry!" In today's Gospel, Jesus encounters some would-be followers who apparently needed a good push. 

In today's Gospel, as Jesus and the disciples are going along 

the road, a man says to Him, "I will follow You wherever You go." Jesus says to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head" (Lk. 9:57-58). Then another man comes along and Jesus says, "Follow Me!" The man replies, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father." To which Jesus answers, "Leave the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the Kingdom of God." And to still another would-be follower, Jesus says, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the Kingdom of God" (Lk. 9:59-60, 62). 

Jesus is talking to would-be disciples about priorities. He says that those who have given their faith must also give their life  -- not when it becomes convenient to do so, but now; not after worldly interests have been attended to, but now.  "Go and proclaim the Kingdom of God," Jesus says, meaning right now. Place your life under the Rule of God now, and attend to all your family interests and all your worldly interests within that context. 

There was a mother drove to the airport to pick up her two daughters who were coming home from college for the summer. It was at peak travel time and the traffic was fierce. As she waited for the line of traffic to move, she spotted her daughters standing in front of the terminal, still more than a block away. She got out of the car and hollered as loud as she could, "Alice! Kathy!" Her two children heard and came running. Whereupon, the man in the car behind called out, "Would you mind calling for Harold?" 

Jesus is calling now -- for Alice and Kathy and George and Bill and Mary and Johnny and Harold and, yes, even you! Moreover, He not only doesn't mind calling for you, He is calling for you at the top of His lungs, so to speak.  

He is calling for you who remember how good it was when you were younger and stronger. He is calling for you who remember how good it was when the children were still at home, when prices weren't so high, when competition wasn't so fierce, when life was easier. He is calling for you who can't forget the hurts that were inflicted on you in the past. 

He is calling for you who look forward to how good it's going to be when you finally get the bills paid. He is calling for you who look forward to how good it's going to be when all the kids leave home and go out on their own. He is calling for you who look forward to how good it's going to be when you get that promotion or when you retire. He is calling for you who look forward to how good it's going to be when you graduate high school or college. He's calling for you who look forward to how good it's going to be when you get married and have a family. 

He is calling for all of you who are letting life pass you by because you insist on living either in the past or in the future. 

"Follow Me," Jesus commands. Jesus wants us to get out of our present rut. Jesus wants us to break away from the old habits. Jesus wants us to walk with Him down a different street. Jesus wants us to "Go and proclaim the Kingdom of God now." Jesus wants us to enter into eternal life with God now. Jesus wants us to proclaim the Kingdom of Love now!

Fr. Nony,CRM

7th Sunday of Easter C.

"To them I have revealed Your name and I will continue to reveal it so that Your love for Me may live in them and I may live in them"

John 17:26

"The Stranger," by Albert Camus, is a powerful novel which deals with those fundamental life-and-death questions that concern us all because we are human: What does God mean to us right now? What does our ability to reason mean to us right now? How are we to act as human beings right now? Is life meaningful or absurd? Albert Camus' stranger" can find no answer to give him hope, no answer to give him reason for being, no answer to give meaning to his life. He lives an empty, joyless existence. He is a stranger to his own life. He attends his mother's funeral but has no grief, worrying only that people might notice that he has none. He has a love affair which is empty because he has no genuine feeling for the girl. Finally, he commits a senseless murder and when the death sentence is pronounced he is scornful. He couldn't care less. So many people who have read this book have said, "That's me sometimes. There are times when life seems more an absurdity than a priceless gift of God."

We Christians often are accused of being so totally preoccupied with afterlife that we don't know how to live present-life for just one hour without getting restless or bored or both. But Christianity is not a life-negating religion, despite appearances to the contrary in the way many Christians live. Jesus did not come to take the joy out of life. Jesus came with Good News: life is the gift of a God who loves and cares, right now! And we really have not understood Jesus' promise of eternal life until we realize that it has already begun. It comes down to this: it makes little sense to worry about afterlife if you are not serious about learning how to live now.

There is the story of the young man who snuggled up to his best girlfriend and said, "Darling, I love you, I need you, I adore you, I can't live without you." The girl pushed him away gently, saying, "Please John, don't say such things. I don't want to get serious." To which John replied, "Who's serious?" How accustomed we grow to the "games people play" with words--saying one thing and meaning another! To that frivolous fellow, the words, "I love you" are only code-words, cover-up words. He has no intention of conveying the notion that he has any honest, deep feeling for that girl. And he seems genuinely surprised that she doesn't seem to get it. "Who's serious?" he asks.

Jesus doesn't play word-games with us. Remember the story of the rich young man who came to Jesus looking for relief from the emptiness he felt in his life? He had everything money could buy, and still his life was empty. He had obeyed the Ten Commandments since boyhood, and still his life was empty. Here was a very rich man and a good man by ordinary standards--and he was a stranger to his own life. "Good Teacher," he pleaded, "what must I do to share in everlasting life?" (Lk.18:18). Jesus didn't play with words. He told that rich man that if he was really serious about curing the emptiness in his life, he would have to take one more step. To discover New Life, Jesus told him, "Sell all you have and give it to the poor... then come and follow Me" (Lk.18:22).

There is a wonderful story about a man who got the idea of walking on a tight-rope over Niagara Falls. Other people had done it, but this man had a new twist. He was going to push a man in a wheelbarrow. He began at once to prepare for the event, even though he hadn't yet found anyone willing to ride in the wheelbarrow. He set up a tight-rope near the Falls and every day he could be seen pushing and balancing the wheelbarrow filled with stones. One day, a young man came up to him to wish him well. "Good luck," he said. "I've watched you practicing and I have confidence in you. I know you can do it." The tightrope walker answered, "Do you believe I can do this?" And the young man replied, "Yes, of course!" Again, he said, "But do you really believe I can do this?" "Yes, of course, the young man repeated. "Then you're my man. Get in the wheelbarrow!"

Now Jesus was always doing that to people. People would come to Him, as the rich young man did, and tell Him they believed in what He was saying and doing, and Jesus would say, "Get in the wheelbarrow! Show Me! Leave the fishing boats! Leave your family! Come! Follow Me!" It was always a call to radical obedience, without exception. And this is the point at which the religious enterprise breaks apart for many of us. And the reason it does is because we don't really take it seriously. We don't take Jesus seriously when He says absolute trust in Him is the price we must pay for our fulfillment.

If you are looking for answers to those life-and-death questions that concern us all because we are human, then remember two things: Be serious and be ready to pay the price. You've got to be as serious and as ready to pay the price. 

A young boy in elementary school had heard much talk about his uncle, who was a great preacher. But he had never met him or heard him preach a sermon until one Sunday when his parents took him into a big Church. And there he listened to his uncle preaching eloquently on the crucifixion. The boy got so caught up in it that he started crying. He looked around, suddenly aware of the fact that not only were the people around him unmoved but they were looking at him as if he were some kind of freak. This upset him very much. As he said later, he was upset most of all when he saw the congregation walking away after the service as if nothing had happened. And he could not understand that. Now we do that Sunday after Sunday. We come here and celebrate the Crucifixion and the Resurrection of our Lord and walk away as if nothing happened. That's what is so good about some of the music and good religious art--created by sensitive persons who are trying to get through to us and help us feel this and help us be moved by this wonderful thing God is doing for us. "To them I have revealed Your name... so that Your love for Me may live in them, and I may live in them" (Jn.17:26). That is Jesus praying for us. Do you believe He can reveal God to you? Do you believe He can bring God's love into Your life? Do you believe He can make your life whole and rich and rewarding? Do you really believe? If your answer is "Yes," then don't count the cost. Give everything you have to Jesus. Jump into the wheelbarrow. Put your life in His hands. You can trust Him to take good care of it. As long as you remain a friend to Jesus, you will never be a stranger to your own life."

FR. NONY,CRM