I DO! (sort of)

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

What if God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone, or the
woman either. I will make an abundance of sex partners for them to experiment with, as often as they get in the mood to do so. They will hook up briefly with little emotional depth, remaining completely separate persons, no commitment required.’??

Today's first reading from the second creation story of Genesis and the passage from the tenth chapter of Mark's Gospel address the issue of marriage permanence. Actually they are about more than whether divorce is allowed. In fact Jesus changes an exception to the law in the Jewish tradition. In the male dominated culture of Palestine in Jesus' day, a man could receive a divorce if his wife was unfaithful. Jesus tells them that God's intention from Creation was that a commitment is a commitment, always and forever. He even goes so far as to say that neither men nor women can ask for a divorce. (In Jesus' world women could never ask for a divorce, since they had no clout.) So Jesus stretches the minds of the law making Pharisees. He tells them that women and men are both equal in the eyes of God, but both are required to live up to their commitments.

Today divorce is a plague. I believe this stems from our insistence on individualism in our culture. We all know what the rules are and what the ideal is. But we also believe that we each have circumstances that cause us to be the exception to the rule. I figure that State Troopers are lenient, so I put my cruise control on "76" rather than "70". I make excuses for friends who fall "in love" and leave the priesthood. I've consoled my aunts and uncles when they tell me of family members choosing divorce over counselling and forgiveness. Don't get me wrong. There are definitely life threatening and unhealthy occasions where the best thing that can happen to a couple is that they divorce. But too many times divorce is chosen as a first option, or at least it is chosen way to quickly.

Jesus' statement on divorce happens in the chapter following where he twice told His disciples what His commitment to them was. He told them twice and again later that He would suffer, die, and rise for them. He asks them to do the same as His followers. Commitment is important in all of the Gospels, but especially in the Gospel of Mark. Today he tells the Pharisees and us that commitment is important in marriage as well. That is the way God intended it from the beginning. God hasn't changed.

peace and blessings,
Fr. Chuck

Is Sin Contagious?

When I was a kid, our family would take trips together. Sometimes it was just the seven miles from Loretto to my Grandmother's home in St. Mary's, KY. But at other times it was a vacation trip to Clearwater or St. Pete Beach, FL. My sister, brother, and I would sit in the backseat of our Ford Galaxie, or LTD. Dad would drive the whole way with Mom in the "shotgun" seat. (She also doubled as the trip disciplinarian!!!) Since I was the oldest and most mischievous I was the one who usually started the trouble that caused Mom to put on her disciplinarian hat and dole out punishments for our (MY) misbehavior. It didn't take much to get my brother in trouble. He was the youngest and thus had the smallest bladder. So I would just start suggesting watery things like swimming, rain, water hoses, and he would start to get the urge. Then I'd step it up a little bit and start talking about flushing toilets and bath rooms, and then he'd start whining about needing to use the toilet. This would cause Dad to get mad (because we had just stopped a few miles back, and besides going to the rest room, Stephen had used some of his vacation money to buy him another Dr. Pepper). When Dad got irritated, Mom was called upon to settle us down. By this time Stephen was crying and begging to stop at the first big bush. I was smirking because my mission was accomplished. My sister Kathy was tougher to get going. She had the patience of a mountain. I'd tease her and call her a "girl" and she'd remain un-flustered. I'd make fun of her dolls that she played with, and still was undaunted. Finally, I'd resort to holding my finger one inch from her ear and whisper the mantra, "I'm not touching you! I'm not touching you!" That would eventually get her to start slapping at me and yelling at me. That in turn got Dad upset, which got Mom in gear, which got her to pull me into the middle of the front seat (to separate us), which is where I wanted to sit all along.

The readings for this Sunday tell me that sin is a virus. The Letter of James (5:1-6) and the Gospel of Mark (9:38 & following) say that how we treat others has an effect on how they behave. James accuses the rich and the high and mighty in society of having the most effect on folks. But because God sees the way that they treat the poor and little ones of the earth, then they will have "HELL" to pay later. Jesus gives His disciples an ominous warning too. If we cause folks to sin then our sins will be punished.

The good news is that we can influence people positively too. We usually don't notice that our small acts of kindness and virtue also have a ripple effect on others. They do! Sin and virtue are always personal choices. I choose to do good or bad. But my choices and behaviors always effect others. I choose to make a snide remark about my boss, or the president, or a family member. That may cause a shadow of doubt and negativity to be formed in the mind or heart of another. I show kindness to someone who may have a bad reputation, or someone who is low on the social totem pole. That may cause someone else to have second thoughts about how "bad" that person might be. If someone sees me picking up a piece of litter on the sidewalk, it may make them hesitate the next time they're tempted to drop a candy wrapper on the ground.

We're in this world and in the Kingdom of God together. Everything we do has an influence on our planet and the rest of the Body of Christ. Let us pray for the strength and the grace to act virtuously, so that that God's will may be done and not thwarted.

peace,
Fr. Chuck Walker

Last But Not A Loser!!!

I am in some football pools this fall, as I have been for the past several years. One of these involves $1 a week. The others are bragging rights pools. When I see the NCAA or NFL games that I need to choose from each week I go to the different polls, blogs, and Internet sites that rank teams from top to bottom in relationship to the team they are playing each week. I factor in which team is the home team and if I have some prejudice for or against a team. (i.e. I'll never pick UK or the Cowboys and I'll always pick UofL and the Packers.)(Don't hate me. I'm just being honest!!) I do put a lot of credence in the ways that the different gurus rank the teams though. They are professional sports writers, coaches, and analysts, so I respect what they have to say. Their rankings are important to my decisions.

Jesus tells us in the ninth chapter of Mark's Gospel that if we want to be first in God's rankings, then we have to place ourselves last and servant or slave to God and others. This may be the hardest lesson that Jesus teaches us. This is a tough thought for our American minds to get around. We are very big into building ourselves up, keeping up with the Jones', being the best, or at least being better than the next guy or gal. I do not think we are selfish people when we dig below the surface, but I think we are trained to make sure we take care of ourselves financially, educationally, physically, militarily, and about every other "ly" we can consider. Jesus and the Gospel fly in the face of any thing remotely selfish. Jesus' life and teaching make us constantly question our tendencies to take care of our self and to live for God and others first.

The good news is that our efforts at living and trusting in God can be and are acceptable if they are even incremental. One step at a time and one day at a time is fine with God. God is Love, Mercy, and Forgiveness. So He accepts our minute human efforts in living in His image as baby steps toward the goal of fully imitating Him in our next life.

May your prayer and your efforts at living for God's Will and God's Kingdom increase in being selfless. May your actions and thoughts today be steps toward be first later and last now.

paz,
Fr. Chuck

Come On And Do It!

"Preach the Gospel at all times; if necessary use words."

This quote is attributed to St. Francis of Assisi. While St. Francis wrote a lot of songs, prayers, and letters, he is most known for his acts of faith. He started an order of religious men and women based on living the Gospel as simply as possible. His rule (IE. set of standards) ,for the religious order to follow in order to be part of his order, was himself. He led them in living simply. He led them in making the scriptures an integrated part of his life. He led them in trying to imitate Jesus' love, forgiveness, and sacrifice. He did this because he got a message from God to "rebuild My Church." When he heard God calling him to rebuild, he changed his life. He went from a rich kid living off of his father's wealth, to a man determined to rebuild the Church spiritually by simple and holy living. In doing that he found that the only wealth that mattered was the love that God had for him and the reward he got for being poor and serving the poor.

Jesus in today's Gospel says, "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, pick up his cross, and follow me." Living a holy life has little to do with talking about a holy life. Living discipleship means preaching the Gospel without words.

What steps can you and I take to put our faith into action a little more each day? How can we prayerfully and practically show our love of God through the ways we treat others? How can we simplify our lives and embrace the only way to real happiness now? How are you being called to preach the Gospel at all times??

peace,
Fr. Chuck

Can You Hear Me Now???

A story is told of a father and his young daughter who had had a very strained relationship for some time. Returning from a trip, the father did something that was very unusual for him. As he entered into the room he presented his daughter with a necklace that he had bought her. Completely overcome with joy by this unexpected act of giving, the young girl inadvertently dropped the necklace and went running from the room with tears in her eyes. She returned shortly only to find as she walked into the room that her new necklace was now around the neck of her infant baby sister. "Oh," said the father. "I went on and gave it to her. You didn't like it anyway." He wasn't listening. Apparently he didn't know how to listen to his daughter.

Jesus heals a deaf and mute man in this Sunday's Gospel (Mark 7:31-37). Friends brought the man to Jesus and He heals him on the spot. They are so flabbergasted at Jesus' healing that they all start spreading the Word about how great Jesus is despite Him asking them to keep it quiet. When the deaf man with the speech impediment was healed, both he and all of his companions start proclaiming the goodness of God. So, in the eyes of Jesus, more than one man was healed from deafness and the inability to speak that day. Another thing to note about this healing is that Jesus did it for a foreigner in a foreign country. So hopefully some of His Jewish disciples and other followers got the message that God's graces and benefits are bigger than just one group of people or just one localized corner of the world.

Listening is an art or skill that needs constant attention. We've all heard that God gave us two ears and one mouth so that we could listen at least twice as much as we speek. It is a truly disciplined person who can listen well. Most of the time when I listen I am already building up my argument or my reply to what the person is saying before they stop speaking. That is not listing. It's debating. Most folks just want to be listened to when they come to me. They just want to know that they have been heard. After they know they are heard then they want to hear a little advice. But until they are listened to, they'll not be open to my two cents.

I think God likes to (and needs to) be listened to. That to is a skill and an art. I spend an inordinate time talking to God in my prayer. I know that contemplation and meditation are the purest forms of prayer. And I try to spend time during each of my sessions of prayer listening for God. But when God doesn't talk on my schedule, I start filling the silent void with my requests and my idle thoughts. It is a real discipline to sit and truly listen to God. It may not even happen every time we pray, but it truly worth the wait. When the peace, assurance, encouragement, forgiveness, challenge, or compassion comes from God, there is no doubt that God has communicated with us. And then we are folk like the ones in today's Gospel story. Once God has open us we have to share it and live it.

I hope that these meanderings of mine are helpful. I enjoy writing them. It is a prayerful practice for me. If you wish please send me a reply or your reflection upon what you've read.

Paz,
Fr. Chuck

Jesus Rulz!!!

When I was about 11 my Dad and I were building a new dog house for my new dog, "Rags". As I threw my hammer accross the yard, Dad said, "DeWayne, it's not the hammer's fault that you hit your thumb." He also made me go find the hammer and apologize to it for taking my frustration out on it. It was a point well made. In the seventh chapter of Mark's Gospel Jesus tells the Pharisees that it is not what goes into a person that causes evil; it is what is inside a person that makes evil things occur. Jesus' point is similar.

The Pharisees were very big on making sure people obeyed the very literal interpretation of the Jewish purity rituals. Some of those had to do with washing your hands and feet as you entered someone's house, or before you ate something. This what not just a matter of personal hygiene but a religious prescription. In other words not to wash made you ritually impure and therefore sinful, and not able to enter the temple, synagogue, or another Jew's home. These rules were very strict already and the Pharisees wanted them to be enforced even stricter. Jesus and His disciples were good Jews but not much concerned about human interpretation of God's law.

Jesus and the Pharisees seemed to bump heads a lot. Sometimes it looks like Jesus would heal people, or get His followers to disobey a Jewish law just to make the Pharisees, scribes, Levites, and other strict observers ticked off. His point is always to get the disciples and the nay sayers to understand that good rules are there to help us follow God more closely, not to seperate us from God more. His point on this occasion is to get the disciples and 'religious' folks to see where sinfulness begins. Our minds, hearts, and souls are what choose sin. Our minds, hearts, and souls are also what choose grace and virtue.

It is the same will that chooses to lie or decieve as it is that chooses to express thanks, forgiveness, and love. This a hard and very human lesson to learn. We have God's Word, God's law, God's Spirit, and God's Son to guide our choices. But we get to choose. Prayer, scripture reading, Mass attendance, and developing good and virtuous habits help us make good choices. But we cannot blame the devil, or God, or another person, or our car, or anything else for a choice we've made.

peace,
Fr. Chuck

Choose Life!

When is the last time you swam against the current? While everyone else seemed to be going with the flow, doing the reasonable and expected thing, have you ever chosen to do the thing least expected?

In this weekend's readings, both Joshua and Jesus ask there folks to take and unpopular stand, and follow them. Remember the Israelites had been meandering in the desert for forty years. They had to be tired of wrong turns, wrong decisions, fighting enemy tribes and one another, sleeping in tents, and being homeless. When they are about ready to finally enter the Promised Land of Canaan, they question Joshua's leadership again. He says to them that he and his family are going to choose the prospect of a new life in the Promised Land; and he asks the rest to follow him and his prospects for new life. I'm sure that some turned away because they saw this as another pipe dream or scheme. But the faithful followed.

Jesus has been talking scary talk to the thousands that He fed with the loaves and fish. He tells them that unless they eat of His Flesh and drink His Blood, they have no life in them. He told them that only by eating and drinking Him could they have eternal life. The Gospel today says that many started turning away from Him because of His scary speech. He asks His twelve most devoted followers if they want to leave also. St. Peter responds, "Lord, to whom else would we go. We've come to believe that you have the wards of Eternal Life." For once St. Peter does not stick his foot in his mouth. He responds correctly to Jesus.

God asks us to follow today too. No matter what our vocation is, we are called to follow God's call. If we take that call seriously, following the Godly way will always take us the unpopular and hard way. Going the way of God leads to life with God forever, but it is a daily up hill path.

Are you willing to make the tough choice?

paz,
Fr. Chuck