Everyone likes to be around a success story. Some of these disciples mentioned, Peter, Andrew, James, John: became very successful apostles for Christ’s mission. They were not perfect, but the Lord asked them to do a lot of good to build up the Kingdom of God.
One of the early disciples was not very successful. No one wanted to be around him. Very few books were written about him, “Judas, the Traitor”. I really believe there is something we can learn from Judas.
I’ve wondered at times what kind of man this Judas was. What he looked like, how he acted, who his friends were. I guess I’ve stereotyped him. I’ve always pictured him as a wiry, beady-eyed, sly, wormy fellow, pointed beard and all. I’ve pictured him as estranged from the other apostles. Friendless. Distant. Undoubtedly he was a traitor and a weasel. Probably the result of a broken home. A juvenile delinquent in his youth.
No, I think we’ve got Judas pegged wrong. Perhaps, he was just the opposite. Instead of sly and wiry, maybe he was robust and jovial. Rather than quiet and introverted, he could have been outgoing and well-meaning. I don’t know.
But for all the things we don’t know about Judas, there is one thing we know for sure. He had no relationship with Jesus. He had seen Jesus but did not know Him. He had heard Jesus, but he did not understand Him. He had a religion but no relationship.
As Satan worked his way around the table in the upper room, he needed a special kind of man to betray our Lord. He needed a man who had seen Jesus but who did not know Him. He needed a man who know the actions of Jesus but missed out on the mission of Jesus. Judas was the man.
We learn a timeless lesson from the betrayer. Satan’s best tools of destruction are not from outside the church; they are within the church. A church will never die from immorality in Hollywood or the corruption in Washington. But it will die from corrosion within. From those who bear the name of Jesus but never met Him and from those who have religion but no relationship. Judas bore the cloak of religion, but he never knew the heart of Christ.
I close with this: Calling ourselves a Christian; calling ourselves a Catholic is a Big Waste of Time; unless first we know the Heart of Christ, and unless we have a growing alive relationship with Jesus Christ.
The choice is ours;
1. The Cloak of Religion
2. The Heart of Christ.
I pray we choose wisely.
The Cloak of Religion, The Heart of Christ 1-22-12
January 22nd, 2012To Give Birth To God 1-1-2012
January 1st, 2012Ever since her mother tried on the gloves in the department store, her ten-year-old daughter decided this would be her present to her. For weeks, she put aside part of her allowance; she earned extra money doing chores and running errands for neighbors. On Christmas morning, she saw the delight on her mother’s face as she opened the box. In the joy she experienced in bringing joy to her mom, God was born.
A group of volunteers from a local church have spent the past dozen weekends at the building site. Under the direction of the professional carpenters and trades folk who have donated their time, as well, they framed the house, enclosed the building with sheet rock, painted and tiled, and are now completing the finishing work. Whether they realize it or not, they are building more than a house for a family in need: They are making a dwelling place for God.
One night a week, she returns to her classroom at the local high school. Her students are not teenagers but adults who never finished high school and immigrants from Latin America and Asia. Together they struggle through vocabulary, spelling and literature. With each new word understood and passage grasped, this young teacher gives birth—to God.
The great Dominican theologian Meister Eckhart preached that “we are all meant to be mothers of God” for “God is always waiting to be born”. God seeks to be born in our own loveless stables and forgotten caves; God waits to come to life in Bethlehem’s of anger and hopelessness; God makes a dwelling place for himself in the Nazareth’s of our homes, school and workplaces. On this first day of 2012, we honor Mary, the Mother of God, under her most ancient title, that of Theotokos, the Greek word for “bearer of God”. In baptism into the life of Mary’s child, we are called to be “bearers of God”—to give birth to God, everyone of us, each in our own way.
I close, today the New Year 2012 lies before us like a blank canvas. So many possibilities—more than just the simple resolutions we steadfastly keep until kickoff time of today’s first football game. But a whole new year, an entity of time, begins today. We Christians believe that God has sanctified all time in his work of creation and his recreation of the world in Christ. May this new year, be truly new for each one of us—a time for renewal, for making this year a year of peace in our hearts and homes, for becoming the people of compassion God calls us to become. And may we always remember that every day can be a new start, that God enables us to always begin a new canvas, that we can erase the crooked lines and the clashing colors to begin a new work of art reflecting the beauty and light of God’s life and love. Jesus—Be born again and again through us. Amen
I Done It For Love 12-25-2011
December 25th, 2011It was Christmas Eve and a young mother was busy wrapping the very last package. She asked her little boy to polish her shoes for the next morning’s Christmas Mass. And off he went.
The little fellow was gone quite awhile, but when he returned he was beaming as he presented the shined shoes to his mother. “What a perfect shoe shine!” she said. And with that she gave him a shiny new quarter for working so hard and doing so well.
The next morning when she was dressing for church, she found something lodged in the toe of her shoe – something tiny, wrapped in a crumpled piece of paper.
Carefully she opened the tiny package, and inside she found the quarter she’s given her little boy for shining her shoes.
Written on the crumpled paper in his childish scrawl were these words, “Dear Mama, I done it for love!”
As we gather this night (this day) and hear again the story of Jesus’ birth in a stable, and as we remember with sadness where this wonderful child’s life came to its conclusion on the cross — we have to ask God — “Why did you do it, God? Why did you give us all you have and hold nothing back? Why did you give us your Son?”
From out of the stillness God is whispering a response — “I gave you all I have, because I want you to know, and never forget, how much I think you are worth; I done it for love.”
This incredible message is God’s Christmas gift to each one of us – what we do with it is our gift to God.
Let me share with you a beautiful poem, which I feel lays before us all the real challenges of Christmas — I pray we take it to heart and live it.
When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone, when the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flocks
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoners,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among brothers, sisters, and family,
To make music with the heart.
“I done it for love — I done it for love,” says the God of Creation.
What will we do Christmas 2011?
I close with a short meditation written by a former inmate at Tehachapi Prison.
The shepherd brought wooly lambs to the stable where He lay.
The Wise Men gave him gifts so rare from their own homes far away.
The keeper of the village inn lent the manger and the hay.
But what have I to offer at Mass this Christmas Day?
The blanket that I had planned to weave lies raveled and not done.
’Twas made of good intentions but I broke them one by one.
The pillow I was going to fill and place beneath his head,
held not the feathers of good deeds, but thorns of sin instead.
Time after time, I’ve promised great presents for my King.
Just as many times again, cold empty hands I bring.
Now gazing at that child with Mary standing near,
The answer comes from deep within and banishes all fear;
I give to you these eyes of mine, let them see those in need.
Accept my hands, they now are yours, for only worthwhile deeds.
My feet I give, that they may walk the right path and not stray.
Take my arms, let them support others on the way.
My heart, my mind, my will I give with the humble prayers I say,
These are the gifts I offer you; accept them all today.
What will we do Christmas 2011?
