Offering It Up (2020-09-27, Sunday - 26)

2020-09-27 _ 26^th Sunday

● Ezekiel 18:25-28  ● Psalm 25 ● Philippians 2:1-11 ● + Matthew 21:28-32 ●

Title:  Offering it up.

[_01_]   In the 1980’s, before he was an NFL football quarterback, Rodney Peete was on a track team in high school.  Rodney Peete played for USC, the Oakland Raiders and Philadelphia Eagles and other teams. But along the way, he was also a runner on his high school track team.

          Rodney told the following story of a real-life come-from-behind victory. He was the “anchor” or the 4^th runner in a 4-man relay team. By the time, he received the baton, he was almost 100 meters behind the leader and would have great difficulty catching up.

          Young Rodney was determined, however. Then, from the crowd, he heard his father’s voice cheering him on very clearly. This motivated him, energized him and so much so that he did win the race, in a dramatic come-from-behind victory for this team.

[_02_]      In his autobiography, Rodney writes in some detail about the role of his parents in cheering him on, encouraging him.

          And, I know that so many of you – as parents, grandparents, as family members and as teachers and coaches – also cheer on and encourage young people beyond what they might view as their true potential.

[_03_]        As he became a father to his own son, this moment loomed large in Rodney’s memory. But, this was not because his own was breaking records for speed. Rather, Rodney reflected on this in his autobiography because – by age 3 – his son had been diagnosed with autism and had become non-verbal and non-communicative.

          His relationship with his wife was also going downhill, deteriorating, declining …

 [Both Rodney and his wife - Holly] sought out doctors and specialists, and were told that [their son – also named Rodney or “RJ”] would never be in a mainstream school, would never speak, would never look them in the eyes, would never say "I love you."

Peete says he went into "denial," in part because of his own expectations as a man and a father.

"We believe we can fix everything," he says. "We have our own goals for our children, especially sons. I wasn't able to connect with my son, who was my firstborn son, who had my name. I was in denial about what he had, what the doctor was telling us. It was a dark time for us." 

His wife's [Holly] response, he says, was positive: "Let's roll up our sleeves."  

 [_04_]        Things began to change when a specialist asked [Rodney] to get on the floor with his son. The idea was to try to interact with the R.J. [child] on his own level.

"It was just a disaster," [Rodney] recalls. "[My son] didn't look at me. He was playing with a fire engine at the time and kept turning the wheels around and around and really didn't pay any attention to me. I got up after five minutes, disgusted and disappointed."

Then the specialist got down on the floor and [his son] started responding to her, with laughs, smiles and attempts at talking.

[NPR.ORG, Rodney Peete’s Journey to Accept Son’s Autism, April 13, 2010, https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125902387]

 [_05_]  At this point, Rodney became increasingly angry and distant. His wife told him the following:

          “I cannot do this [care for our son] without you.  But …I also cannot do this with you… with you with your current attitude. If you do not change, you have to go, you have to leave….” [Rodney Peete, Not My Boy! (autobiography)]

 [_06_]          Much of the journey of redemption is how Rodney – as a father and husband – does change his ways – does change his mind and is on board with the mother of his son who also needs him.

 [_07_]   In our reading from the prophet Ezekiel, we are told this about turning away from what is bad to what is good. This is paraphrased   “if someone who is good turns away from what is good and commits sin and dies, it is because of the sin he has committed he must die.

          Rodney Peete was, in his case, not physically dying, but he was experiencing the potentially lethal or fatal effect of sin as he retreated from his family. And, isn’t it true that our willful free choice to do wrong is not life giving?

         

 [_08_]         For example, when we have succumbed to or surrendered to anger or revenge, we later feel cut off, disconnected, we need God’s grace to bring us back to life.

          Or, in the case of Rodney Peete who admits that he sought comfort in a glass of Scotch whiskey more than a few times, he was not living up to his calling as a father, he needed to be brought back to life.

          We all need this – perhaps our “retreat” is not necessarily into drugs or alcohol. But, there are many addictive substances, habit-forming images or behaviors that can take away our lives, and certainly – at least – slow us down.

[_09_]  Paradoxically, Rodney described that once he accepted the diagnosis of autism and and started to work in partnership with his wife…. Once he made the commitment, once he accepted what he thought was impossible, then he was liberated, free ..and able to find what was possible.

          The Gospel parable of the 2 sons that we are always at a crossroads or at an intersection.

          Very few of us are 100% the stubborn son who walks away. Very few of us are 100% the “saved” son who follows his Father’s voice to the max.

          Depending on circumstances, on our own woundedness, prayerfulness, we can find ourselves in either place.

          In Catholic tradition, we also have the devotional practice of “offering it up.”

          Of, offering up our daily hardships to give them meaning. Or, perhaps offering up the hardship we know is carried by a child, or an elderly person.

          Offer up the ordinary hardship of a telephone call that went on too long, or the inconvenience of being cut off in traffic – or in a conversation.

          Offer up the misunderstanding. Offer it up, to go into the Father’s vineyard, even if we said “No” originally.

          And, recognize that Jesus could have saved the world without us, but he invited us to be his disciples and share fully the cross and resurrection. He has called you and needs your help.

          As B16 wrote, “[offering it up means that your  (my) hardships]  somehow became part of the treasury of compassion so greatly needed by the human race. In this way, even the small inconveniences of daily life could acquire meaning and contribute to the economy of good and of human love. Maybe we should consider whether it might be judicious to revive this practice ourselves.  (Benedict XVI, Encyclical: Spe Salvi, n. 40,  30 November 2007)

 [_10_]           [_fin_]

Body-Soul-Unity-Dignity (Workers in Vineyard) (2020-09-20, Sunday-25)

2020-09-20 _ 25^th Sunday

● Isaiah 55:6-9  ● Psalm 145 ● Romans 1:20c – 24, 27a  ● + Matthew 20:1-16a ●

Title:  Body-Soul-Unity-Dignity

[_01_]      A few years ago, when my parents were moving out of their home to a smaller home, it was time to evaluate what items from their home would be moved what items might be discarded, recycled or put out the curb for municipal “pick up.”

It was interesting to note who stopped by to pick up items we were putting out at curb, being discarded or recycled.

          Some people even made requests, wanting to know – in advance – what we were putting out and when. 

          One person – who was interested in collecting potentially valuable sports-related nostalgia and memorabilia asked my father: “do you have any old Major League Baseball trading cards?”

          As you may know, there is a marketplace for these MLB baseball cards, for famous stars who later made it to the Hall of Fame.

          My father responded:  “if I had any old baseball cards, I would not be putting them out at the curb for recycling.”

          I.e., he would retain what was materially valuable.

          Yet, it is not also true that a family home cannot be reduced to or measured by:   __ material objects, __ possessions, __ number of bedrooms, __ square footage, __et cetera, etc.

          The home is more than these things. And what we long for in a home also unites us, connects us, in ways that we cannot actually touch or see.

[_02_]      Now, if a home has a life that is “intangible”, so much more does a person have this…

At the very moment that child comes into the world, no one is actually comfortable, not even the baby … and he has no idea no idea what just happened.

          But, the child is…not only tangible ..but also a spiritual being.

          But this combined reality of BODY and SOUL does not start – as we profess  - when the child is born. We might say it is not even fully completed when the child is born. For a newborn child remains extremely dependent on his mother and father …and his soul/spirit are yet to be really known.

          So, the reason that we – as Catholics and Christians – are opposed to any measure – including abortion for a unborn child and also including assisted suicide for a very sick person that could take the life of a person whose life seems less tangible, visible…

          Is because we believe child exists from the moment of being conceived.  And we believe that a very sick – even terminally ill person – exists even when their strength begins to fade.

We believe that a person– body and soul and spiritual identity -  does exist from the moment of conception. That may be hard for us to understand – because one’s soul and spiritual identity are intangible. They are intangible for adults too. Yet, the exist: God’s ways are not our ways.

          God’s ways are given to us so that we can love and relate to each other not simply on a physical level but even in spiritual intangible ways.

[_03_]       God also loves and wishes to forgive / reconcile with those who have experienced abortion. Ours is a merciful God: God’s ways are not our ways. God forgives not because it is in his best interest…but because it is in ours!

If you need more information about such forgiveness, please the Rachel’s Vineyard program. There are resources and people to help nearby. You can call me or call Archdiocese of Newark confidentially.

          You are loved simply because you exist. And, you exist because you were loved.

          God is inviting us into the vineyard, into His way, His plan, at every hour of every day.

          And the last will be first.

[_04_]        This past week, I attend a memorial for a friend’s brother who had died tragically a few years ago after a cancer diagnosis in his early 40’s.

          His life remains valuable, treasured…in some ways, you could say that – even in death – his life is “viable”. God’s ways are not our ways.

          Because in death, we are “viable” and in God’s presence and certainly not forgotten.

          We cannot be eliminated.

[_05_]  This is also the lesson to the workers of the vineyard who feel cheated because they earned the same as those who had worked a much shorter interval.

          As followers of Jesus Christ, we are called to recognize that our spiritual pursuits, our prayers have value to us – an inherent value – not because they are earning us a future reward ..but because there is a reward right now in learning to pray and praying and having a life with God.

[_06_]         Doing so, it helps us to live and live more fully, it helps us to appreciate the life of someone who has died, the life of someone who is sick, the life of someone with special learning needs…

          It helps us to appreciate and pray for neighbors and friends and those we do not know who are in financial distress, though we may live at very different, separate addresses.

          As St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians about how our lives and bodies and community and Church are constructed, Paul was writing this to make an analogy between the harmony of the human person in all its separate senses and characteristics and that we are called to have the same harmony with each other:

          “God has constructed the body … [so that] the parts may have the same concern for one another. If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it; if one part is honored, all the parts share its joy.”  (1 Corinthians 12:24-26)

          Our faith in God and our love of neighbor remind us we are really all in this together.

[_fin_]

9/11 Remembrance (2020-09-13, Sunday-24)

9/11

2020-09-13 _ 24^thSunday

● Sirach 27:30-28:7 ● Psalm 103 ● Romans 14:7-9 ● + Matthew 18:21-35  ●

Title: 9/11

[_01_]        In the Gospel parable today, Jesus paints the picture of a person with such a broken pyche or spirit, one who is unwilling to forgive a small debt even after he has been forgiven a very large debt.  In the Gospel, we read this enumerated as “a huge amount.”

          In some biblical translations, this is given as “10 thousand talents”. I know what you’re thinking: if only I had 10 thousand talents, what I could do with that money! So, yes, I also had to look up the definition. 10,000 talents = about 300 million dollars.

So, that was the huge amount of mercy and forbearance shown the man. Yet, he cannot forgive another. The scales of life can never be tipped far enough in his favor.

[*** pause ****]

[_02_]     So, what is in our nature? What is natural for you and for me? What is our calling?

          What we can say was – and is – in our nature – and I think we are called to give thanks and blessing for – is the heroic initiative and march of firefighters and police officers into the buildings which were going to fall.

          While we were stunned at the loss of life… by emergency first responders…..

343 FDNY firefighters;  37 PANYNJ PD;  23 NYPD;   8 EMT private services;  1 patrolman, NY Fire Patrol.

 

[_03_]  But, they also knew – so many of them surely knew that they were not coming back from that call. They went anyway.

          That was in their nature. And, it is in our nature to accept calls of heroism, sacrifice.

 

[_04_]       It is against our nature to undermine and destroy those sworn to protect us.

          And, in this moment of thanksgiving for every Ground Zero hero, we also give thanks for the essential workers of the 2020 pandemic.  Some of you are here right now or connected to our parish in various ways. You have worked in supermarkets, at construction sites, in kitchens, in hospitals.

          You have been digging in the pandemic rubble – putting yourselves in danger – breathing the air that we need to be protected from.

         

[_05_]  Many of the heroes of the 2020 pandemic including – not only – medical doctors, nurses and medical technicians of all types  but also those who clean the floors and surface of the hospital, disinfect the building and provide essentials of food, water, medicine.

          Among our essential workers are also the first responders – the firefighters, EMT’s and police – in West Orange and elsewhere – who have done a tremendous job to support our community, not only keeping public order and peace but also giving time to restock and organize our local food pantry down the street.

          Feeding the hungry has been – for years – the work of the West Orange Police, not only feeding us with points about safety, but also feeding us with actual calories in packaged food. The police – together with EMS and fire departments – are on our side.

                   

[_06_]      To vilify – to turn into villains – police officers – in general is contrary to our own experience wrong especially given the hours and effort they have put in during the COVID 19 pandemic.

 

[*** pause ****]

 

[_07_]       9/11 and COVID 19 – which when written out seem to be opposite numbers… they are similar in that both experiences have incited in many of us the desire to do something, to offer something – and yet, many of us have felt sidelined or restricted while others do the practical digging or healing or rescuing or rebuilding or disinfecting.

 

[_08_]       Tuesday. 9/11/01.

          My phone was ringing. It was late morning. It was a co-worker.  In the year 2001, I was employed at a bank in New York. This person was asking me about a conference call telephone number and password that we had been using at the time.  We used a common telephone number and access code for people to meet who might be in different locations, other cities or at home.

          It was like a Google Meet or Zoom video conference call without the video. Usually, these “conferences” were for about 12 people. But on the morning of 9/11, our department and bank had many, many employees who needed information and needed to be accounted for.

          So, the question to me was: “how can we have 500 people call in simultaneously?”

          Feeling helpless, I said I did not know, wished her well. Everyone I worked with – knew closely survived the day. Though they were in NYC, they were not geographically at WTC or Ground Zero but 3 miles uptown.

          I felt helpless not only because I did not have the technical answer to this, but also because I was no longer 1 of the 500.

          A month earlier – in August 2001 – I had left my job to start a new path of study at Immaculate Conception Seminary at Seton Hall U. (South Orange).

          On 9/11, it was the second week of class … and I was still unsure about this path. Would I stay and last in the seminary?

          Spoiler alert. I stayed and in the end completed my studies. I’m abbreviating that whole story, of course. You’re welcome.

          But on the morning of 9/11, knowing that I had former co-workers in the middle of the action, with some serious rebuilding and digging ahead of them, I felt left out. What was my calling?

 

[_09_]    It reminded me that discovery of one’s calling does not happen in an instant…it happens over time…and sometimes after we pay some dues along the way.

          It reminded me of a conversation with 1 of my college classmates from years earlier.

          While he was working hard and doing well in school, my friends and I wondered whether his goals was really his own or those  of his father.

          He was doing well in college and in a rigorous, difficult, pre-med program so that he could go to medical school. But there were many times it seemed that he did not really want this.

          Nevertheless, he really did apply to medical school …and it was somewhat surprising to me that he absolutely excelled at medical school and did so…with even less intervention and influence by his father.

          He is now a physician/doctor.

          One day I asked him how he did it…how did he make it through?

          He said this  “I discovered that medicine – being a doctor – was my calling …. That being on call and needed by others was my calling and what I am meant to be.”

          We all have a calling. You have a calling, one that is not necessarily simultaneously marked as a career.  We all have a calling to be agents of God’s mercy as Jesus’ disicples.

          It was the calling of the man in the Gospel to be merciful – because he had already been forgiven – he could not yet hear this calling.

          It was and is the calling of police and firefighters today to be agents not only of justice but also of mercy and compassion in our community, on Main Street, no Northfield, on Pleasant Valley Way, on every street.

[_10_]  Tuesday 9.11. What was my calling?

          In the days and weeks and years since 9.11, I have often revisited that moment to recognize that my calling was simply not to be in NY that day. The world had profoundly changed that day.  Perhaps, I was not in the place I expected to be at the time.

          Perhaps, I expected the world to stay the same…while I worked on my own studies. It does not work that way.

          There is a calling for us to change, to convert, to accept God’s mercy into our “spiritual bank account” and then share that mercy with others.

          So, in fact, the world is always changing, but does not mean that we simply have to roll with the punches or go along with the crowd.

          We have a calling…to follow Jesus Christ where he leads us and recognize his mercy when it appears, to love not only our friends, but also to love our enemies, to pray for those who persecute us, and to merciful as the parable of the steward says so that we will be shown mercy.

          O-L-Q-of-P, pray for us..

          O-L-L, pray for us.  [_fin_]