Never Forget

HML  • 2019 August 25 •  21^st Sunday

• Isaiah 66:18-21  • Psalm 117  • Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13 •  Luke 13:22-30   •           

Title:   Never Forget

[_01_]    “Never forget.”

Never forget. Jesus reminds us, telling us that the first will be last and the last will be first that he will never forget us, also giving us a stern caution about following in his ways, that he always wants us never to forget to turn back to him, as difficult as that might be each day. Never forget.

[_02_]    In technology and technical ways, we know that things are never forgotten, always retained, always being recorded.

          AMZN. Amazon technology. About a year ago, there was an Amazon advertisement for its Alexa product, the Alexa smart speaker in which the actors in the commercial are Amazon employees talking to each other about the Alexa product’s technology.

The AMZN employees whisper to each other that there are a lot of technical Alex problems, a lot of failures with the “smart speaker”Alexa (similar to Siri on Apple). This is ironic that AMZN should actually put this in their ad, because there are a lot of privacy concerns, and possibilities of your voice being recorded in your own home by Alexa.

          So, that statement – that Alexa may have failures - is not “out in left field.” That’s true.

Then, there follows this humorous fictional example and exaggeration that Amazon gives that highlights something. Regarding “Alexa fails ”  the employee says… “you know we tried to make an Alexa dog collar” – so that dogs can communicate to the smart speaker -- and you see a little dog with a collar that lights up in blue every time the dog barks…and you hear Alexa’s computerized voice responding… “ordering dog food” … “ordering gravy”….. “ordering beef sausages….”

          The dog keeps barking until finally an Amazon warehouse responds fills the order, then an Amazon truck pulls up to the door to deliver, you guessed it, all the tasty treats for the canine.

Never forget.  Alexa never forgets. Records everything.

[_03]   We are called to remember that our lives are not defined by the convenience and comforts around us. We are called to never forget that suffering and pain have value and a redemptive value.

          Thomas Merton wrote …and this is also in line with St. Augustine on the value of human suffering … “that a society whose whole idea is to eliminate suffering and bring all its members the greatest amount of comfort and pleasure is doomed to be destroyed.” (Merton, c. p. 79 No Man is an Island__??__)

          Suffering has value. Never forget.

 [_04_]    Several years ago, a friend of mine never forgot.   She was in the hospital with her husband and he was dying of a terminal illness.  And, she used all of her powers of remembering and recall on his behalf. Do you not do the same going to hospital, to doctor’s appointments with your loved ones at hospitals, at emergency rooms, to help them to remember.

She used all of her very refined and developed interpersonal skills in business, all of her business acumen and indeed all of her human compassion on behalf of her husband. By the end, the physicians told her that she was so well educated on the illness, on the respiratory system that she knew more than the medical students. Never forget. We use those powers of remembering for others.

           [** pause **]

[_05_]   “You said you would never forget. I am here to make sure that you will not forget…”

          These were the words in Washington D.C. at the Congress/Senate of TV comedian and activist Jon Stewart to members of Congress, elected lawmakers.

          We read headlines such as….

          “Jon Stewart shreds

Congress ….”  / “Jon Stewart blasts Congress…”/ “Jon Stewart excoriates lawmakers…”

          “Jon Stewart lashes out at empty chairs ...” [ apparently, no one was there that day…]

[_06_]       In the Gospel this Sunday, Jesus is repeating himself,  over and over again to us, to his disciples and while Jesus also had an audience  of assembled  listeners for  whom the attention span was also short.

          Jesus  is  also trying to remind us that our moments of suffering and difficulty can also be  our greatest triumph.

          This was Mr. Stewart’s message to Congress/Senate about the importance of health care for them for the coming years, for those who suffered that we are called to give back and share in the sacrifice.

[_07_]    None of us wants to re-live or re-experience the destruction of Tuesday 9/11/2001. In fact, one of the challenges of parents and teachers on September 12, September 13 and the days following the terrorist attacks was how to protect/shelter children from what happened… to tell them in age-appropriate ways and at the age-appropriate time.

          None of us want to forget what happened.

          The reason that Jon Stewart was in Washington D.C. … speaking loudly to empty chairs and “excoriating lawmakers” was not because that’s the popular thing to do these days…

          But also because it is a triumph, a victory, and act of true love and fidelity what the workers, firefighters of NY, NJ, CT and beyond, police officers, volunteers, workers paid and unpaid performed by digging in the rubble after 9/11.

          It was truly a corporal work of mercy, to bury the dead.

          The reason that we have the Stations of the Cross – on Lent. Good Friday or any time is showing our respect for the abandoned person and body of Christ.  In the Easter tradition, we never forget and we receive back what we have lost, the body of Christ. 

[_08_]    Jesus speaks to us here also so that we will never forget his love for us and to remember that our suffering has value.

Yes, the loss of human lives in the plane crashes and the destruction of the World Trade Center towers is tragic. The lives cannot be replaced.

Yet, the willingness to dig in the rubble, to breath the toxic air shows us we gain salvation not by what is given to us but by what is taken – health included – and only God can replace what is taken.  Never forget. [_fin_]    

Nothing Left to Lose ? (2019-08-18, Sunday-20)

HML  • 2019 August 18 •  20^th Sunday

• Jeremiah38:4-6 • Psalm 40 • Hebrews 12:1-4 •  Luke 12:49-53  •           

Title:   Nothing Left to Lose?

[_01_]    When my grandfather was about 100 years old, he was alive, living in his own home with one son and another son nearby and as you might imagine required attention and attentiveness.

          If there is anything that can create “division” or difficulty in a family, it is the care of a loved one. It can create division and difficulty but is also an opportunity for love and charity.

          Jesus says in the Gospel this Sunday …”father against son”….”mother against daughter…”

          In the case of my age 90+ grandfather, it was sometimes a struggle between the elder and younger generation.

[_02_]     But this struggle also brought about important conversations in our family about forgiveness, mercy, coming to terms with our lives…

It was good death not just for my grandfather but for all of us.

[[ USCCB.ORG:  “From the perspective of Catholic thought, the process of dying should not be viewed as a useless experience. A death that allows us the time to come to terms with our lives and those with whom we have lived it—to thank and be thanked, to forgive and be forgiven—is a good death. It can allow us time to deepen our relationship with God.

The process of dying can be a graced experience, not only for the persons undergoing it, but also for the persons called to care for them. The Catholic tradition has long considered the practice of caring for the sick and dying a corporal work of mercy, like feeding the hungry and visiting the imprisoned. It expresses our solidarity with the most vulnerable in our midst, vividly revealing that neither their fundamental dignity nor our own depends upon worldly power or independence. The dignity of each of us rests in the fact that we are created in God's image and likeness.” ]]

[_03_]    My grandfather, however, did not always profess this faith that he was “dying well”…

          It took a family as a community to communicate this and engender this. He frequently focused on the fact that he was dying…His lament, complaint:

he could lament out loud… to, “I’m dying …”

          My father’s response to my grandfather: NO DAD,  YOU ARE LIVING. You are alive !

          We are called to tell the good news wherever we are in, in season and out of season.  We are alive.

[A3* à ]  [A3*]         My grandfather lived to be 101 and half. But, I think his life and our care for him, our experience of caring for him was more about the sanctity or sacredness of life than about the quality of life.

[** pause **]

          When we speak of the QUALITY OF LIFE or the QUALITIES OF OUR LIVES, we can sometimes lose sight of something else which is the SANCTITY OF LIFE or the inherent value of life.

 [_04_]   I bring this up because our Gospel value about the sanctity of life – the sanctity of life applies to a person with an illness – can cause us division.

          In the Gospel Jesus promises that the Gospel is going to cause division.

          Recently, a law was passed in New Jersey that is called the Medical Aid in Dying Act.

          And, the law is           

that it would seem is meant to bring peace, to bring consolation.

          To quote the old Kris Kristofferson song which surely must be on the lips and minds of so many people who die in excruciating pain… “freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose.”

          And, this is, I suggest, the gist of the “aid in dying law”. That this is our ultimate freedom or right or

          But, there is in fact something to lose…

n  Doctors, medical professionals are asked to “lose” their focus on the dignity of the patient.

n  The patient may “lose” his or her rights to stand up to insurance companies. Could an insurance company in the future take a more extreme view about whether somone is dying “fast enough”?

n  And, young people – who encounter the taking of life with outstanding frequency may “lose” the idea that their lives – every life has inherent value.

(source: Arlington Catholic Herald, 2018.10.03,  https://www.catholicherald.com/ Faith/Your_Faith/Straight_Answers/The_church_and_assisted_suicide/)

[_05_]    When my grandfather was about 99 years old, he went to the doctor.

          Or, rather, the doctor, the physician came to see him, made a house call to his home in the Bronx.

          My grandfather was not inclined for seeing doctors much during his life and was fortunate to be in good health. He was even getting by without hearing aids… which really was a stretch, because he could hardly hear anything.

          Nevertheless, he did not rely much on what you would call modern medicine or technology.

          So, this doctor comes to see him.  At the end of the visit, the doctor asked my uncle for a list of of my grandfather’s prescription medications.

          Normal question, right.

          The doctor almost forgot to ask – and my no one volunteered the information to the doctor, because at age 99, my grandfather was not taking any prescription medications of any kind.

          We all saw the humor and irony in this… recognizing that my grandfather was extremely blessed and perhaps because he was taking NO medication… that this was one of the reasons for his outstanding longevity, and “quality of life”

          What enabled my grandfather to live was not the medicine that he was not taking … but the love of his family.

          What enables any of us to love is the love of both neighbor and God.

          At times, my grandfather perhaps felt he had “nothing left to lose” … in his late 90’s he was frequently complaining and justifiably about his inability to sleep at regular hours, to walk, to have an appetite, to hear and to speak clearly but

          Also, shall we not keep in mind the idea and teaching that it is love that keeps us alive.

          Pope Benedict XVI summarized this good news as:

          “it is true that the day will come when everyone of us will die and …sadly…everyone who even knows us will also have died… [when we have nothing left to lose… in an earthly sense] … but it will only seem that our existence has come to an end.  God never forgets us and we all have being because he loves us and because he has thought of us creatively, so that we exist.  Our eternity is based on his love. Anyone whom God loves never ceases to be. In him, in his thinking and loving, it is not just a shadow of us that continues in being; rather, in him, and in his creative love, we ourselves totally and authentically are preserved and immortal…. ” (Benedict XVI, Dogma and Preaching, p. 359)

          That’s Gospel, the good news, the evangelist’s message.  It may cause us some division in the short run, but in the long run, it our hope of unity and heaven.  [_fin_]   

Catch Me If You Can (Assumption 2019)

HML  • 2019 August 15 •  Assumption BVM

• Revelation 11:19a, 12:1-6a, 10ab  • Psalm 45  • 1 Corinthians 15:20-27 • +Luke 1:39-56 •           

Title:    Catch Me if You Can     [_01_]   This feast day, the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, starts with this Gospel of the Visitation, the Good News acknowledged by Elizabeth that the Messiah – Jesus – is to be born of Mary as his mother and Mary as our Blessed Mother as well.

          This is called the mystery of the Incarnation that Jesus comes to us as human and divine person. And, in a sermon of many years ago, Cardinal John Henry Newman observed that God did not have to save us in this way, through this birth and Incarnation of God.

          We might imagine that Jesus could have descended directly from heaven, similar to an astronaut splashing down in the ocean, such as after Neil Armstrong and the other astronauts landed on the moon.

          Jesus, the Son of God, could have just come down to earth, already a hero …and been welcomed with a parade in lower Manhattan, like he just landed on the moon or won the World Cup or something.

          But, Jesus comes in a humbler, quieter way – born of our blessed Mother and turns what is fragile into something strong.

          And, to take what may seem to be only private and personal into something public…

            Father Ronald Knox wrote that Joseph and Mary come to understand that that their child – Jesus - belongs not to them but to the whole human race.  He came to gave his life as a ransom for many. And, he came to live and be among us.

          And, in our journey of conversion, to transform what is evil into something that is good.

          Example ? St. Paul who was a persecutor of Christians and then becomes the greatest promoter of Christianity in his day.

                  

[_02_]   I’d like to give an example of this – this transformation, this conversion. This is from a non-fiction and true story – which became a movie – several years ago. The movie was entitled: Catch Me if You Can.

          This is the true-life story line.

The central person in the movie is Frank Abegnale and the young Frank who is a teenager when the movie opens is a con man, criminal and the target of an FBI federal investigation.  Frank is played by Leonardo DiCaprio.

          The young Frank is a teenager when he runs away from home, from a troubled home and while he is away, he learns to survive on the street by stealing money, by impersonating other people, by pretending to be an airline pilot, among other people that he impersonates.

          And, while he is stealing and cheating his way through life, he even buys a Pan Am airline pilot’s uniform so that he can fly for free as an apparent employee of the airline. He also gets a lot of free food and free hotel rooms. Do not try this at home ?

          So everyone think that this kid – who knows nothing about taking off or landing – worked for Pan Am.

          After a while, the FBI and federal agents – and Pan Am – start to notice money being stolen.

          So, they are after him. And the young Frank becomes one of, shall we say, “America’s Most Wanted”.

          But, Frank who is played in the movie  by Leonardo DiCaprio – is such an excellent con man – that he is so “good” at being “bad”, so ingenious at being an impersonator, that the FBI keeps missing him, failing to arrest him.

          Thus the title of the movie: “Catch Me If You Can”.

          Spoiler alert: the FBI does finally catch him in the movie. I must admit that while watching this.. I was rooting for the “bad guy”. If you watch this movie, you might end up rooting for the bad guy.

          In other words, turning what is evil into something good.

[_03]   What happens next is remarkable, after Frank Abegnale is caught, arrested.

          What happens next is an analogy of our own hope of redemption, of conversion.

          We might ask – we are we forgiven of our sins? Why are we redeemed? Why do we receive mercy? What is God’s plan?

          [** pause ** ]

[_04_]    This question is summarized by Elizabeth the mother of John the Baptist in the Gospel today: this “why”    “how does it happen that the mother of my Lord should come to me?”

          When we receive a very special guest or some special access, we might ask the same: WHY?

          Or, do I deserve this? Am I receiving what I deserved?

          On the other hand, when we do not receive the access or affection we expected, we might also ask à WHY?

          Why am I not getting what I think that I deserved?

[_05_]    Jesus does not simply give himself up for our sins so that we can be “excused” or given a free pass. Rather, he gives himself up for our sins so that we will also willing to sacrifice ourselves.

          The analogy would be that a mother/father recognizes that children who very small and tiny are innocent are to be protected, sheltered from “sin” and that the parents would do anything – even giving up their lives – to protect a child from anything harmful.

          In a way, the parents are taking additional responsibility..they did not create the sinful world..but they want to protect the child from it.

          And, as the child grows up, a parent does not simply want to excuse or cover over every sin …but to teach the child about love and sacrifice, to replace what is “evil”  with something that is good.

          As grown-ups, we might ask also – if for example the evil of anger can be replaced or transformed into something good, into a desire of true justice, a justice that is not vengeance, or a prayer…and a prayer that is not a fantasy but rooted in reality.

         

[_06_]     What happens next is remarkable, after Frank Abegnale is caught, arrested by the FBI, when he is around 20 years old

          What happens next is an analogy of our own hope of redemption, of conversion.

          After some time in jail, the FBI offered Frank to redeem himself and to avoid more jail time , if only he turn what is evil into something good.

          Specifically, the FBI want him to work for the FBI. He gets a job with the FBI, he becomes an FBI agent and teaches them about his own methods of stealing and deception.

          He later retires from the FBI

          It’s not a traditional jail sentence, it’s really a convergence of JUSTICE and MERCY. Perhaps, it’s also a great example of the punishment fitting the crime.

[_07_]     Ultimately, Frank works for the FBI. But, more remarkable than this is his personal life and witness to the importance of

          FAITHFULNESS and FAMILY.

          Frank Abegnale’s wrote:

“People say… "Well, you know, you were brilliant." "You were a genius." I was neither. I was just 16 years old. Had I been brilliant, had I been a genius, I don’t think I would have found it necessary to break the law in order just to survive. I know that people are fascinated by what I did as a teenager but what I did was immoral, illegal, unethical, and something that I am not proud of -- nor will I ever be proud of. Only a fool would believe that you can continually break the law and not get caught. The law sometimes sleeps, but the law never dies. It was just a matter of time. I was caught, I went to some very bad places.”

[_08_]     Why did Frank Abegnale go on the run, run away?

          This is his testimony:

“When I was 16 years old I was just a child. All 16-year-olds are just children. And like all children I needed my mother and I needed my father. All children need their mother and their father. All children are entitled to their mother and their father. And though it is not popular to say so, divorce is a very devastating thing for a child to deal with, and then have to deal with the rest of their natural life. For [Frank], a complete stranger told [Frank] …that he had to choose one parent over the other parent. I’ve never made that choice. It was a lot easier to turn and run.”

          Frank continues: “SUCCESS… has absolutely nothing to do with money, achievements, skills, professions, degrees, accomplishments. A real man loves his wife. A real man is faithful to his wife. And a real man, next to God and his country, put[s] his wife and his children as the most important thing in his life. Steven Spielberg made a wonderful movie, but the truth is I’ve done nothing greater, nothing more rewarding, nothing more worthwhile, nothing has brought me more peace, more joy, more happiness, more content in my life than simply being a good husband, a good father,”

[_09_] The feast of the Assumption reminds us that we have both a mother and father       in heaven. A father who also sent his Son to us not just once but every day in Holy Communion, the Body of Christ, a father who has blessed us with our mother, Mary, our connection between the Holy Spirit and Jesus.

          This feast reminds us Mary, our mother, falling asleep, her assumption into heaven where we also hope to be caught up one day.

[_10_]     [_fin_]   

Waiting. Anger. El Paso, Dayton, Gilroy. (2019-08-11, Sunday-19)

HML  • 2019 August 11 •  19^th Sunday

• Wisdom 18:6-9  • Psalm 33 • Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19 • +Luke 12:32-48 •           

Title: Waiting. Anger. El Paso, Dayton, Gilroy.

[_01_]   Jesus is waiting tables in this Gospel. He is waiting -- on the servants.

          The best summer job – the most superior summer job – I ever had was waiting tables because it involved several friends of mine, we all worked at the same place, our boss was someone we knew. And, we still tell stories about that summer, as though we graduated from some training program together. Nevertheless, we still tell stories about that summer.

          So, when I was about 19 years old, I took this job as a banquet waiter at a Marriott hotel and thought I had other summer jobs before, this experience was different because every banquet – every dinner – was big project, a big undertaking with 100 or more people, 300, 500 guests where something always went wrong. And, there was a need to be cool and calm under pressure.

          I’m not sure that the experience has made me cool and calm under pressure but at least it was a lesson to me – as a young person – about the value of patience, the value of taking your time.

          At one event, at this Marriott banquet dinner, we had to uncork 50 or more wine bottles – in like 30 seconds (so it seemed).  Because we were hasty and rushing and not taking our time, at least 10 bottles were totally ruined. You know, the cork is supposed to come out of the bottle, not go into the bottle.

[_02_]    Many of my co-workers were friends and former teammates of a youth / CYO basketball team on which we played.

          And, our boss – the head of banquets and maitre’d – was our former coach. His name was Dave.

          And, in some ways, every banquet was like a basketball game in which the maitre’d was still calling the plays.  The objective was the same:  world domination !  I’m kidding …

          But, the problems of the hotel kitchen or banquet back room or dining room were a microcosm of what happens in real life, or in sports.

That is, people disagree, people forget stuff, people get impatient, get displeased or even angry.

And, I’m not talking about the guests and clientele sitting at their tables. They -- were -- nice !

I spilled heavy cream (or Caesar salad dressing?) on a well-dressed gentleman in a blue suit at a wedding and he was much more understanding than I would have expected.

          No, the problem – often what you had to anticipate – watch out for – were the other waiters or hotel staff who might get angry or upset at each other.

          We had to work together, so our relationships were important for us to be effective, not all of Dave, maitre’d, and basketball coach whom I knew to be excitable and particular. Some people called him the “general”…. Like an “army general.”

[_03_]   I thought Dave really cared about us…and this reflection will end with an important encounter I had with him, an important life lesson.

[_04_]   When something has gone wrong, terribly wrong we naturally ask – who did this? Who is responsible? How did this happen and, by the way, is the person who did this on “my side” or on “the other side”?

          This is true when we read about the tragic events in Gilroy (California), El Paso (Texas), and Dayton (Ohio).

          And, while we justifiably and fittingly honor the police and law enforcement who protect us, the civilians who jumped into action, the off-duty law-enforcement who jumped into action, we also ask – often we ask:

What more could be done, legally, politically, to avert such a disaster?

I don’t have answers to those questions. We don’t have the answers to those questions right now.

[_05_]   But, I only suggest that – all of us recognize - there are moments so heated, so contentious, so anxiety-producing that we could lose our cool or our confidence.  All of us are called to patience in times of difficulty.

          On the other hand, are there not times when you (or I) have demonstrated patience or cool (under pressure)  or restraint when we could have let our anger rule us or conquer us, because we recognize that anger/wrath is one of the deadly sins, not only for the target of our anger, but for the person who is angry.

          Anger can consume us. Anger could destroy the person who is angry.

          And, we recognize this also in our respect for life, the sanctity of life that we do not want to take the law into our own hands.

[_06_]   Pope Benedict XVI (Letter April 10, 2019, paraphrased) wrote:  “There are some goods that we can never trade, trade in, buy or sell.  For example -- [meaning you cannot trade one for a newer better one… you cannot trade in your family or life… though you may compare your family or life to another]”

          These are values which must never be abandoned for a greater value and even surpass the preservation of physical life.  For example, There is martyrdom.

          Martrydom is greater than physical life.  So, why would an ordinary  customer and man in an El Paso Wal-Mart surrender his life willingly for people he did not know? Because love of life and love of God are about more than physical survival.       

          A life that is bought by the denial of God, a life that is based on a final lie is not really a non-life.  (Pope Benedict XVI, Letter April 10, 2019, paraphrased)

[_07_]      Our lives both in a spiritual and even a U.S.-Declaration of Independence sense are based on more than personal-self-preservation.

          Love your enemy, pray for those who persecute you. Yes, that might hurt. 

          The belief that all men, women and children are created equal and have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, that also could involve sacrifice, the cross, even in the face of anger.

[_08_]     In the recent tragedy in El Paso, the perpetrator and author of the “manifesto” was so misguided that he lived this kind of non-life. May God have mercy on his immortal soul.

          To take another person’s life by our own volition, our own act of  ourselves as judge and jury is a denial of God. We believe differently.  (Pope Benedict XVI, Letter April 10, 2019, paraphrased)

 [_09_]       One night, we had this banquet in the Marriott hotel dining room, with 200+ guests. And, Dave our maitre’d and and play-caller for the evening got us together beforehand to explain things told us:

“OK …people … Tonight is different because normally you come out with the dinner plates, you provide silverware if it is misplaced, you fill up water glasses and you hang around the table where the people are eating.  But, tonight is different.

Tonight is different. Do not hang around the table where people are eating.  That’s what he’s telling us, don’t hang around, because we have a stage set up for a singer who is going to wear an 1980’s tuxedo and sing Frank Sinatra Summer Wind, Fly Me to the Moon, … [well he did not say that the guy would wear an ‘80’s tuxedo… it was the ‘80s so that was the deal.]

 Dave was very specific about the singer and stage and what we were to do. I forgot. This instruction went in one ear and out the other.

So, I served the dinners and stayed and hung around the table filling water glasses while the tuxedo guy was singing Sinatra

Then, out of the corner of my eye, I see Dave – maitre’d – walking towards me.  Then, I remembered, “I am not supposed to be here.”

I will admit that Dave was displeased, he told me what I had done wrong. I would not say he was angry.  That would take it too far. He was frustrated and even raising his voice. But, he was not angry, because anger is something we hold on to and dig into ..and I could tell that he just wanted to tell me, let it go…and then it was over.

And, we both moved on.

Recently, I saw him and told him. We are both older now and thanked him, for it is a moment I recall that displeasure or discontent does not have to lead to anger.

(Also: the importance also speaking one-on-one – personally – to someone when I might be distressed or displeased myself.)

It does not have to be destructive. It does not have to lead to death.  Jesus wants to lead us to life.[_fin_]  

Going Places ? (2019-08-04, Sunday - 18)

HML  • 2019 August 4 •  18^th Sunday

• Ecclesiastes 1:2, 2:21-23    • Psalm 90 • Colossians 3:1-5,9-11  • +Luke 12:13-21 •           

Title:    Going Places?

[_01_]   We have placed these flowers – red and white roses – here in front of the altar – to pray for healing, for strength for the West Orange Firefighters who were injured in a serious accident on Interstate-280 this past Tuesday (July 30, 2019). There was an accident that involved West Orange firefighters, New Jersey State Troopers, and 1 firefighter is still at University Hospital and one has been released. Both have serious injuries, so we pray – that they who help us to GO PLACES – who help us to have safe journeys and protect us that they will healing and strength in the coming days and weeks and months.

          Are we GOING PLACES?

[_02_]   If you say that someone is “going places”, you mean that he or she is shows a lot of talent or technique. For example, in sports, Serena Williams was going places, she was different, and even defeating her very talented elder sister – Venus Williams – at Wimbledon and the U.S Open tennis tournaments.

 [_03_]   It is common, colloquial expression to say that someone is “going places.”

          The man in the Gospel parable, the financially successful and materially wealthy central character of the parable believes he is going places. He has money, a “bountiful harvest”, or in the lyrics of Frank Sinatra: “it was very good year.”

          Thus, he will “tear down” his barns and build larger ones. He believes he can flip his barns into bigger barns.

          His barns (“warehouses”) – his storage containers – have become an extension of himself.

          Is this not true for any of us, that what we have is sometimes difficult to discern/separate from who we are?

          Example: have you have ever gone searching for your eyeglasses or reading glasses or sunglasses, or headphones.. you are (or I am) furiously searching for the glasses or headphones … then you (I) realize you are (I am) wearing them. They already on you.  They are so close to me that I cannot distinguish them from myself.

          Sometimes, we do this with more valuable possessions. But more important than any possession is our human dignity which is not anything we buy or sell but a gift of God.

          And, it is a gift that we rely on others to respect, uphold. I’d  like to give an example.

 [*** pause ***]

[_04]   FOR EXAMPLE – in 1995, I traveled with some friends to upstate New York, to Rochester for the weekend. And, while in the area, we went over to Niagara Falls, the big waterfall of Niagara Falls which is on the border of the U.S. and Canada for the afternoon.  We would leave New York, go to Canada, be back for dinner. Not so fast...

          One person in our group – my friend Paul – had been living and working in Virginia. He had permanent residence, a green card and his wallet, but he did not bring his European/Dutch passport with him. The rest of us were U.S. citizens.  We did not at need passports to go into Canada and back again.

          It seemed not to matter to the customs and border official that my friend had been outside the U.S. of A. for only about 3 hours and travelled no more than 1.5 miles.

          Paul believed – we believed – he was going places. Hey, not so fast. You need papers.  It took a little while… maybe 45 to 90 minutes, we were shortly on our way.

          We were going places, together.

[_05]   I recognize and I believe

… you know, right now, immigration is a big topic and I urge you to pray for our lawmakers.

The government has the right and responsibility to regulate the border, the southern border, the northern border, the border/passport control at Newark EWR airport, Kennedy JFK airport, and every border crossing.

          That’s how we “go places”.

          In our Catholic faith tradition, we read the same about the integrity and importance of national borders in the Catholic Catechism:

          It is the view of the Church – and of Pope Francis or every Pope – that the nation is an extension of the human family.  Families have borders and boundaries; nations have them.

          But, it is also in families that we learn to respect and hold and up and not denigrate others, but rather to acknowledge their existence and their dignity, the dignity of our neighbors.

          We denounce any violence that comes outside of our families that may afflict other families, or any violence to a stranger, to someone whom we do not know.

          I’m sure you I am preaching to the choir, telling you this.

          Pope St John Paul II – in 2001 – also reminded us that human migration and immigration needs the assistance of the government. It is not an absolute right.

“The exercise of such a right [that is, the right to immigrate to a particular country] is to be regulated – it is NOT ABSOLUTE - , because practicing it indiscriminately may do harm and be detrimental to the common good of the community that receives the migrant.”  (Pope John Paul II, 87^th World Day of Migration 2001).

And, we read in the Catholic Catechism this principle that the more prosperous nations are called to help and to welcome:

The more prosperous nations are obliged, to the extent they are able, to welcome the foreigner in search of the security and the means of livelihood which he cannot find in his country of origin. Public authorities should see to it that the natural right is respected that places a guest under the protection of those who receive him.   (CCC Catechism 2241).

          So, if you have been in arguments among family and friends – if you are afraid to bring up certain topics – or afraid to share opinions especially after everyone has had a few “ginger ales”, then we might re- consider that these rights to regulate the border, and to immigrate, are not absolute, both are part of our Catholic faith.

[_06_]    There is one absolute right. And, this is the right to life, the right to live, which we testify to in our care and respect for persons, life at all stages… that the West Orange firefighters testified to the right to life, for the 9-1-1 call to which they were responding and the 9-1-1- call to which they were about to be a part of.

          Whether I wear glasses or do not wear glasses. Whether I have money or do not have money, these things do not define me as a person.  I am misguided if I believe that my personhood – my “self” – is determined by material things. (Yes, I have been misguided or misled in this way … we all have.)

          And, I just suggest that by extension – our country – is not defined by how wealthy it is.

          It is defined by the fact that it has a border, that it has a beginning and an end. That’s what a country is:  [lexicon] = a large body of people united by common descent, history, culture, or language, inhabiting a particular territory. So, that last word “territory” is important.

          Just as a family has “territory”… so does a country.

          Nevertheless, a family – and a country – and individuals are called to have mercy on their neighbors. This is what we learn in our families.

[_07_]    It has long been the case that our country – the United States of America – has been enriched & continues to be enriched by workers & people – of India + Ireland / Haiti + Hungary  / Malaysia + Mexico.

          Workers and people from many countries have come to our country to perform necessary work in agriculture, in the fields, in sowing and harvesting, in construction, underground and above ground, constructing bridges and roads and homes, and doing both menial and technical tasks that we as citizens have bene unable or unwilling to perform.

          We go places together.

[_08_]     These folks live everywhere. They live among us.

          But, they live everywhere.

          I urge you to pray for our lawmakers …. [our Congress, Senators, President and Vice President]  that they may find just and harmonious solutions to the problems that beset us in immigration, migration, family unification and separation.

          There is good work being done by civil official and government officials and charitable organizations, Catholic charities and many charities who face monumental difficulty due to inaction in the District of Columbia. They need our prayers.

          In the Gospel, we read about a man who wants to flip his barns and build bigger containers, then walk away.  We cannot simply build bigger containers and walk away.  We are going places, together.  [_fin_]