When we start talking about being disciples of Jesus we usually hear stories about super stars. Some time ago the Christopher News Notes carried three stories of three regular people, each answering the call of discipleship.
The first story concerned a youth minister in California. He built an extra hour or two into his weekly shopping schedule to talk with his young flock at the town’s mall. When asked about his “mall ministry,” the youth minister said:
“Jesus went where the people were, and that’s where I must go, too. The kids are at the mall, so that’s where I must go.”
The second story concerned a woman in Minneapolis. She ran a downtown shelter for the city’s homeless and abandoned. When asked about her “shelter ministry,” she said:
“I’m simply trying to do what Jesus said to do. He said we should love everyone, especially those most in need.”
The third and final story concerned a group of Harvard law students who were getting ready to graduate. To court them a group of the nation’s most prestigious law firms invited the students to a lavish banquet in a plush downtown hotel.
After receiving the invitation, the students made this request to the law firms: “Could you hold the banquet in a more modest hotel and serve a more modest meal?”
When asked about this unusual request, the students simply said, “We’d like the money saved to be given to the poor.”
These three stories illustrate the first point that Jesus makes in today’s gospel. He says:
“If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.”
These words are not to be taken literally yet these words of Jesus are a provocative way of saying three things:
1. That our priority in life must be to Jesus and to his work of completing God’s kingdom on earth.
2. That as followers of Jesus, our responsibility extends beyond our flesh-and-blood family to the entire human family.
3. That if we want to follow Jesus, we must follow him not only into church on Sunday morning but also into the marketplace of our lives on Monday morning.
Former television talk show host, Phil Donahue, says that commitment is made up of three stages.
First there is the fun stage. That’s when we go out and say, “I love doing this. Why didn’t I get involved sooner?”
Second, there is the intolerant stage. That’s when we go out and say, “Anyone who doesn’t get involved isn’t really a true Christian.”
Finally, there is the reality stage. That’s when we suddenly realize that our involvement is going to make only a microscopic dent in the problems of our world. And that’s the stage at which saints are made.
The stories of the youth minister in California, the woman in Minneapolis, and the law students at Harvard are stories of people who have arrived at the third stage of commitment.
They are people who realize that they are going to make only a microscopic dent in the problems of our world. But they are also people who realize that the worse evil is to do nothing because they can only do little. They are people who have committed themselves to Jesus and to his work, and are living it out.
They are people whose commitment makes us ask ourselves,
1. What are the top three priorities in my life right now and are they in the right order?
2. What am I doing for Jesus right now?
Let’s close with a poem. Perhaps you are familiar with it. It sums up the message and the invitation of today’s liturgy. It compares our commitment to Jesus and to his work to two people riding on a tandem bicycle. The poem goes something like this:
“At first, I sat in front; Jesus in the rear. I couldn’t see him, but I knew he was there. I could feel his help when the road got steep.
“Then, one day, Jesus changed seats with me. Suddenly everything went topsy-turvy. When I was in control, the ride was predictable – even boring. But when Jesus took over, it got wild! I could hardly hold on. ‘This is madness!’ I cried out. But Jesus just smiled – and said, ‘Pedal!’
“And so I learned to shut up and pedal – and trust my bike companion. Oh, there are still times when I get scared and I’m ready to give up. But then Jesus turns around, touches my hand, smiles, and says, ‘Pedal!’”
Archive for the ‘Ordinary Time’ Category
Pedal 9-5-2010
Wednesday, September 1st, 2010God Draws A Circle 8-29-2010 Deacon Patrick Conway
Sunday, August 29th, 2010The great California educator and poet Edwin Markham wrote:
I drew a circle that shut him out
Liar, thief, worthless lout
But Love, Love had the plan to win
Love drew a circle that took us in
The film Invictus tells the story of South Africa in its first days after Nelson Mandela became president. Facing overwhelming political, moral and economic pressure, South Africa’s white minority allowed the blacks to vote, and Mandela, who had been imprisoned for 27 years by the whites for his struggle against apartheid, was elected by an overwhelming majority.
Mandela knew that he had to work quickly to build national unity. On the one hand were the black majority, oppressed for years, many of whom were filled with hatred for the whites and who desired revenge. On the other hand were the white minority, suddenly cast out of power, many of whom were filled with fear, anger and resentment over their losses.
South Africa was a tinderbox of animosity that was ready to explode in civil war. Both sides had members who were pulling the two groups apart, each one hating the other. But they were blessed with a wise and compassionate leader whose goal was not and never had been black domination, but reconciliation, healing and national unity.
Mandela was inspired to reach out to the white minority, and he chose to do this by embracing South Africa’s rugby team. This was a controversial choice, because the rugby was a white man’s sport, and the team had been a symbol of white domination. Rugby was shunned by the blacks for this reason. Many of the blacks wanted to disband the rugby team altogether.
But Mandela understood that this was an opportunity to demonstrate to the white minority that they were an essential part of the new South Africa. Through public appearances, speeches and brilliant PR strategies, Mandela promoted the rugby team throughout his first year in office. He even wore one of their despised jerseys. Through his leadership, the whole country was caught up in the drama of the South African rugby team’s bid for the 1995 World Cup, which they won in one of the most exciting games ever played. In that moment of victory, the whole country, both blacks and whites, experienced pride and unity in their country, and had a tangible experience of what the new South Africa could be.
For decades, the white minority had drawn a circle that excluded Mandela and the blacks. With inspired genius, Mandela drew a circle that took them in.
In today’s gospel, Jesus challenges us to also draw a circle that takes others in, a circle that’s perhaps wider than the one we are presently drawing. If we accept his challenge today, then I know that we’ll be presented with opportunities this week to include others that we have been excluding.
Who will it be? Will God ask us to draw an inclusive circle of love and acceptance around that family member that we’ve written off, around that former friend or coworker who’s betrayed us, around that neighbor who bugs us, around whole groups of people who are different than us?
You bet. You can count on it! God has a plan to help each one of us grow and reach out. God is always going to invite us to draw a new inclusive circle around those whom we have shut out of our lives. Like Nelson Mandela and the South Africans, God always wants to bring us together in peace and in unity around his table of love.
We’re not always going to like it, but we can trust him that it’s for our own good and for the good of the world.
God also challenges us as a faith community to widen our circle. Jesus specifically mentions certain types of people that we should all be including:
“When you hold a lunch or a dinner,
do not invite your friends or your brothers
or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors,
in case they may invite you back and you have repayment.
Rather, when you hold a banquet,
invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind;
blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you.
For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
Did he really mean it? I think he did. Last year we started making a point of inviting the poor, the crippled and the lame to our community gatherings, and we’re continuing it this year. We have these gatherings about once a month, called Food and Faith Community Table, and we invite people off the street to come and share food and faith with us. Our next one is on September 19th at 11:30 am. Bring a dish to share, and bring someone new to share it with. When you see someone on the street corner with a sign asking for help, invite them. We’ll have invitations for you to distribute in September.
Why does God want us to change and grow? What does he have in mind? He knows what’s best for us, and that our exclusive circles are not good for us. They cause division, poverty, fear, hatred. God knows that they only way for true peace and prosperity for us is through inclusiveness and acceptance. God knows this because this is how he is. His circle includes the whole world.
We draw circles that shut them out
Those who are different, who somehow stand out
But God, God has a plan to win
God draws a circle that takes all of us in
The Narrow Door 8-22-2010
Sunday, August 22nd, 2010A young man wrote a letter to a priest. He told the priest he could use the letter any way he wished. Except for a few minor changes, here’s what the young man wrote: “I was one of the top swimmers in my category in Canada. Then one day I let my friends talk me into experimenting with drugs. I got hooked, and soon my mental, physical, and spiritual health deteriorated badly…I knew I was all screwed up. I became lonely and terribly frightened. There was no one I could talk to. To make matters worse, I was in debt to drug dealers for over $3,000. I figured my only way out was suicide, so I went home and wrote this note: ‘Dear Mom and Dad, I am sorry to cause you this pain…please don’t grieve too much. If I had stayed alive, I would have caused you a lot more grief than by what I just did…I love you and the whole family. (signed) Christopher”
“I began to drink to overcome fear as I prepared to take my life. Then at the last minute something made me stop; I grabbed the phone and called a crisis center. I didn’t know it then, but my mother was praying like mad for me. A few days later I entered a drug rehabilitation program. Soon I regained my physical and psychological health. It was then that I started reading the Bible. The more I read it, the more peace and joy I felt. This led me to put all my trust in God.”
“Meanwhile, there developed in me this growing desire to learn more about Jesus and to get to know him better. It’s kind of funny. I must have prayed on my knees at least ten times – asking Jesus to come into my life – before I realized that he was already in my life…”
“All this happened about five years ago. Since then, God has blessed me greatly. I teach in a Catholic high school and I’m active in my parish community…I’m also still trying to learn how to open myself more and more to the love and mercy of God. Sincerely your, Chris”
That letter illustrates one of the points in today’s gospel: The door to God’s kingdom is, indeed, narrow. But that didn’t stop Chris from trying to enter. He struggled and struggled until he did. I wonder how many people (like you & me), would have had the courage to struggle as Christopher did.
Someone said there are three kinds of Christians: Tug-boat Christians, sail-boat Christians, and raft Christians. Tug-boat Christians are people who follow Jesus not only in sunny weather but also in stormy weather. They are people who follow Jesus not only when the wind and the tide serve them but also when the wind and the tide oppose them. They are people who go to Mass not because they have to but because Jesus said at the Last Supper, “Do this in memory of me.” (Luke 22:19) They are people who help other people not because they feel like it but because Jesus said, “Love one another as I love you.” (John 15:12)
Sail-boat Christians, on the other hand, are people who follow Jesus when the wind and the tide serve them. But when the wind and the tide oppose them, they tend to go in the direction they are blown. They are people who go to Mass when family and friends go. But left to themselves, they often miss. They are the people who ask, “How far can I go before I sin?” Rather than, “How much more can I do because I love?” They are people who tend to follow the crowd more then they follow the Gospel.
Finally, there are the raft Christians. They are Christians in name only. They don’t really follow Jesus, even when the wind and the tide serve them. If they do go in his direction, it’s only because someone pulls or pushes them. They are people who do Christian things not because they want to but because they have to. In short, they are Christians in name but not in deed.
The question set before us is this: Are we a tug-boat Christian, a sail-boat Christian, or a raft Christian? Are we tug-boat Christians? Do we follow Jesus in good times and in bad? Do we go with him not only through the wide door but also through the narrow door? Or are we sail-boat Christians? Do we follow Jesus only in good times? Or are we raft Christians? Are we Christians in name only?
These are some of the growth questions today’s readings set before us. No one can answer them for us. We must do that ourselves.
