Revival. Survival. Service (2021-10-17, Sunday - 29)

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Homily – Oct.  17, 2021  /  29^th Sunday (Year B)

● Isaiah 53:10-11 ●   Psalm 33 ●  Hebrews 4:14-16 ●  + Mark 10:35-45 ●

Title:  . Revival. Survival. Service.

[__01_]   At Los Angeles Int’l Airport – at LAX –  one day – a few years ago, my sister was returning back home, back east, to the east coast, and she bumped into, saw, someone she knew. And, it’s always great to bump into someone you know far from home, and someone you like.

          This person had no idea who my sister was, but my sister knew him.

          This was Steve Carrell, TV and movie star, Steve Carrell from the TV show, The Office as the fictional “Michael Scott” the outrageous boss.

He was in the LAX terminal and would soon be on the plane with them.   Telling us the story, we were recounting all the coincidences:

1.      Steve C.  went to L.A. (my sister went to L.A.)

2.      Steve C is from the state of MA (my sister is from the state of MA where she now lives).

3.     On the airplane LAX to Boston, Steve C was sitting in 1^st Class (NO MORE COINCIDENCE – my sister and family were not sitting in 1^st Class)

[__02_]  My sister and family didn't expect to be in 1^st class. They didn't expect to be in first class just because they recognized a TV / movie star – Steve Carrell. However, that that would have been nice.   For example, imagine this lottery-prize: “whoever is the first person to recognize Steve Carrell gets to sit in 1^st Class and near him….”

[__03_]  That is similar to the way James and John seem to be thinking.

Why do James and john think that they should be in 1^st class seats in the Christ’s Kingdom?  James and John say this:

 “Lord, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you… grant that in your glory we may sit one at your right and the other at your left.” (Mark 10:35, 37)

Why do J+J expect this? They expect this because they have had  exceptional access to Jesus. Together with Peter, they have been the inner circle or principal witnesses to certain miracles and Peter-James-John were the only 3 disciples on the mountain of the Transfiguration. They went  up, but not in a plane, and observed Jesus’ glory at the high altitude

J+J expect this access to continue.

Christ, however, speaks to them and to us about 3 phases of their journey to the kingdom. J+J seem not interested in “phases” or waiting.. they are anxious passengers who have run up to the front of the line (queue).

J+J treat Christ not as the Lamb of God and servant of all …but as a celebrity or politician who's going to win everybody over with a smile or a look or a YouTube video, is going to make everything OK. Thus, they do not expect to serve but simply to stand at the gate and wait for priority boarding into their 1^st class seats.

[__04_]  The journey – according the Gospel and to Christ – is something else and involves:

[ 1^st. BAPTISM / our “REVIVAL”

2^nd.  CUP / our  “SURVIVAL”

3^rd.  CROSS / our “SERVICE” ]

 

[__05-01_]  [ 1^st. BAPTISM / our “REVIVAL”]

          Baptism. Revival. Birth

It's ironic that the most important physical event that happened to you, you have no recollection of it.

That is the day or moment you were born, or came into this world.

Also, the moment of our birth and before that being conceived as a new life – is not just a stage of development of new life, but “new” and “binary” from  ZERO to ONE. CREATION from nothingness to something.

Every other “life experience” is a development from something else, such as learning to walk is a development from mobility and balancing. Learning to talk is a progression from hearing and listening.   Learning to talk and walk does not come from nothingness but from something.

But life comes from nothingness.

          And, while our parents gave us life by procreation, before them, were nothing. God creates life out of nothingness. And, with God we are something. With God – who is love – we are truly a child and beloved child.

To be born reminds us that you are one who has never existed before and will never exist again.  For this reason, we mourn very deeply when someone dies. We know that the person will never exist again.

Your baptism is also a moment of birth of being born again. Baptism is our REVIVAL. You are a disciple who will never exist again, you have gifts that no one else has.

What is your understanding of your baptism as  REVIVAL?  It's true that our prayers and celebration of baptism, especially baptism, infants, encompasses so many of our hopes and dreams:  we pray for strength, for health, for prosperity on the day of baptism and afterwards.

Yet baptism is not simply a continuation of life as we know it, but a separation from life as we knew it.  It is about something new.

It is REVIVAL and forgiveness of original sin of personal sin. And remember that Jesus has power over sin and death, over sinfulness and over dying.

In our Catholic tradition of confession, penance, reconciliation, to be forgiven is also to be given a new birth, a new lease on life.  This is REVIVAL.

Mercy brings revival.

And, sin and evil – whether vanity, greed, lustfulness, dishonesty – have a way of drawing us in, being attractive – but after we are done with it, we may feel that we are NOTHING, that we are a ZERO again.

But, it is God’s mercy that pulls us out of nothingness and revives us.

Mercy brings revival.

 

We are also called to instruments of God’s mercy. We cannot do this alone.

When you forgive someone from your heart, someone who has hurt you, you participate – with God’s grace – in this revival.

When someone forgives you for your action – even a willful intentional action – this person helps to participate in a revival for you.

God’s mercy is our REVIVAL.      Baptism is our REVIVAL.

[__05-02_]  [ 2^nd.  CUP / our  “SURVIVAL”]

The cup as our SURVIVAL.

Jesus says to James and John, “can you drink the cup?”

Their response, “Sure, we can drink the cup” as though they are being served something in 1^st Class – champagne, Cabernet Sauvignon, mineral water….

.

Jesus is communicating to James and john that what is being poured into their cops is not fine wine or spring water, but a cup of suffering, similar to the Garden of Gethsemane. Recently, I learned that Gethsemane  means the place where the olives are “pressed” or “crushed” and thus remade. It is an olive press.

Christ is crushed in Gethsemane. And, Christ expresses it this way:  “Father take this cup from me but not my will but thine be done.”

Jesus’ suffering is our SURIVAL.

And, the fact we know we can suffer for Christ and with Christ is also our survival. We are not alone in suffering.

Also, a great service to our children by showing them that we – as grown-up’s – do not avoid all inconveniences. Suffering teaches us something about survival.

 

So we talked about BAPTISM and our REVIVAL, about SUFFERING and SURVIVAL.

Why did Jesus revive us with baptism? Why does Jesus help us to survive with the his death and resurrection?

It is not simply to give us seats in 1^st Class, but to make us his servants.

[__05-03_]   [3^rd.  CROSS / our “SERVICE” ]

When I was in college, I applied for a summer job to wait tables at a fairly expensive restaurant near where I lived. I had never been to this restaurant as a customer. And, given that it was expensive, I thought the tips would be good.

When I met the owner, I recall him telling me that he before he ever worked where the people were eating or went into the kitchen, he was made to polish the silverware for 6 months.  

I was like, “so ..are you giving me the job or not…I was confused by that.”

His “silverware” task seemed an exaggeration. But, I never forgot it. Also, I learned at that restaurant that there was a clear differnce between the real table “waiter” in charge and the person busing tables.  There is nothng wrong with busing the tables.

I was not the waiter. I was just busing tables, bring plates back and forth. I had not then  - and would never during my summer time there – rise to the level of being a real waiter.

It was a sign of experience and competence to be a waiter at this restaurant. I simply did not have that yet.

[__06_]   Jesus is asking us to be his servants. He is not handing out seats in first class like complimentary chocolate or mints on the pillow. That’s too bad (some days!) because way, I really like complimentary chocolate and mints on the pillow. So I will admit that I can sometimes lose focus on Christ’s mission for me., when I am called to suffer and sacrifice.

As Jesus himself said in the Gospel today: “the Son of Many came not to served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:___)

Do you and I want security and stability?  Of course, we want security stability. Maybe we even want 1^st class seats. These are good things. They're not bad.  But, Jesus is asking us not to put those things ahead of him.

When you allow yourself to be least or to be last for the good of a child, you are taking a seat of honor.

It is a seat of honor to care for someone who is will, to be at someone’s bedside, this is a seat of honor. When you are speaking the truth in love to someone who cannot yet hear it, and perhaps also rejects you for speaking the truth, that is a seat of honor.

We are not waiting at the gate for seats in 1^st Class, we are waiting to go unto eternal life. And, that’s not bad … for a servant.

And, it’s not a coincidence. It is Christ’s plan for us.  [__fin_] 

What's in the way?. (2021-10-10, Sunday - 28)

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Homily –  Oct.  10, 2021  /  28^th Sunday (Year B)

● Wisdom 7:7-11 ●   Psalm 90 ●  Hebrews 4:12-13 ●  + Mark 10:17-30 ●

Title:  What ‘s in the way?

[__00_]      The headline here friends is that things or objects can get in the way, sometimes between ourselves and God, they can possess us. This is based on our gospel reflection of the rich young man who approaches Jesus and he's asked to detach himself from his possessions.

[__01_]     When I bought my first car, my first vehicle - the car itself became something of an idol – or a substitute for god –  for me. This was kind of ironic because it was not – visually or aesethetically speaking – a very nice looking car.

It was all scratched up, with old bumper stickers including one of the

Roman mythological god “Hercules” on the back.   If you owned a car with a Hercules bumper sticker and traded in at a Hudson County dealership, I may have bought your car.

                            

I could not bring myself to remove any of these markings as they gave the  car a certain character and history.  It also made the car fit in well in an urban neighborhood in Hudson County a short distance from NYC where I lived at the time. I had no garage or private off-street parking. I could only park on the street.

So, a  car that was less shiny and less new was perfect such a use.

It was not, to many people, nice looking. But it was my own “not-very-nice-looking” car.

[__02_]     In this case, there was at least one instance where not my very nice looking car became a source of sin, pride,  and temptation.

But, was I wiling at the time to trade in or "sell off" this personal asset so as to gain real treasure in heaven. Absolutely not!  I still had some growing up to do, some hearing of the Gospel  to do, some praying to do...and by the way, I am still a work in progress, I still have some growing up to do, some praying to do, and I am still a work in progress. You are a work in progress.

[__03_]     I am sharing this episode with you because it does highlight for me how an object of my own possession could come to possess me or lead me astray. 

In the Gospel, there is a man in who is being asked to sell his possessions to follow the Lord, but he is unable to do that because he is attached to his possessions.

[__04_]     I was very attached to that car, to my first car. As you might imagine, since it was my first car, I did not have a car before that. I rode my bicycle to the dealership several miles across town ... took my bicycle home in "pre-owned" car with the old bumper stickers.

I was absolutely determined to buy a car on my first day of shopping. This was, perhaps, error  and sin # 1. It was my absolute hastiness.  I did not really know what shopping around for a car meant, but I was not into that at all. I just wanted a car, and I wanted it right then and there.

And, I wanted something used - not too nice - that I could park on the street in a neighborhood full

of apartment buildngs and parallel parking. 

I was shown a car with 103,000 miles, 2 door compact Nissan and it was 5 years old...and the dealer wanted 6,000 for it. This was 25 years ago. That would be about 10,000 today for a small car that's 5 years old and with 103,000 miles.  (It was really 5,995 “sticker“ for the car in 1998)

Not knowing much better, being hasty, I talked him down to about 4,000 and signed on the dotted line.

I was pretty proud of myself. I had a car.  Then, when I got the car home, I realized that the car needed about 4,000 worth of work, so I had

to pay almost as much to fix the car as it was to buy it.

[__05_]     A few months later, I had to leave the car at my parents' house for about a week. They were appalled at the appearance of the car with the bumper stickers and it did not look very nice in their driveway.

One day, my father had to go out and move the car and he noticed some receipts that I had  absentmindely left  folded up in the car. That was the 4,000 in repairs.

He asked me about them - "did you really pay 4,000 to get this particular car repaired?"

I was stunned and really did not want to answer the question, feeling I was being interrogated.

I am ashamed to admit that I was tempted to lie... but did not actually lie to my father.

How could I lie to him?

My response was, "Dad, can we talk about this later?"

When was "later". Later was was about 10 or 15 years before I "came clean" and told him the whole story.

The car was an object in the way of living in a completely truthful, honest way toward my father.

What are the objects in the way for you, for me now ?  for you ?

What gets in the way of our relationship with Jesus, in the way of love of God and love of neighbor.

Sometimes we idolize things that are not things per se. For example, I can idolize praise. Praise can be very important to me, or perhaps being praised by one particular person is so important to me that if that one or particular person does not praise me, the praise from everybody else doesn't matter. Praise can be an idol. Secondly, punctuality can be an idol. It's good to be on time, but sometimes, I am so attached to being punctual and sometimes I'm my own worst enemy. I cause myself not to be punctual. Yet, I end up unhappy due to my attachment. Punctuality becomes an idol that cannot satisfy me, only God can satisfy.

 

[__06_]     Until 2 years ago, I had a really simple cell phone. It was almost an “analog rotary dial phone.” I noticed I could run that phone for 3 or 4 days without charging it. It had no features.

          I also could get neither video nor internet, nor email, nothing.  I could not take photos or video or record myself.

          I enjoyed that phone. All I could do was text and call.

I enjoyed that. Now, I have a smart phone.  I cannot seem to disconnect from my email and all the other so called “advantages” or perhaps they are disadvantages. I check my email in the sacristy sometimes.

When I am in church by myself, I will try to make a conscious effort not to answer my phone or even

look at my phone "inside the altar rail".   I will go out to the lobby or sacristy.   But, even this, I fear

is not really a sufficiently reverent behavior or response to the presence of God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The phone can also be idol for me, a god for me.

What is the idol for you or the object for you? What is the item on your calendar or the entertainment

that you never ever want to miss?

It does not have to be anything big but even the little things can get in the way.

 

[__07_]     And, how do you feel when someone else calls you “out” or notices these idols? Or, you think they notice. Do you feel good?

          I do not feel good. I feel uncomfortable.  But that’s what the Gospel often arrives – as a comfort to the afflicted and affliction to the comfortable.

My father, noticing these 4,000 in receipts on the car was not trying to afflict me. He was just naturally asking a question.

But I experienced this as an “accusation”  or an affliction.

Because those repairs were a source of pride and vanity.

I was called to let them go.

I am called to let other material things go and to recognize that, right now, or very soon,  I could start shopping around for something else that might  get in the way between me and Jesus Christ. I might even want it, right away !

[__fin_]   

Marriage / Serious + Sleepless Servant (2021-10-03, Sun.-27)

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 Homily – Oct.  3, 2021  /  27^th Sunday (Year B)

● Genesis 2;18-24   ●   Psalm _128__ ● Hebrews 2:9-11 ●  + Mark 10:2-16  ●

Title:  . Marriage / the serious and sleepless servant   (Genesis, 2, Mark 10)

[__01_]       I’d like to touch on 3 aspects of a wedding and marriage and our own desire for a perfect day, in terms of Christian marriage being the perfection of marriage calling us each us to be…

[SERIOUS / SOLEMN]  /

[SLEEPLESS]  /

[a …SERVANT…] 

          I know that “sleepless” sounds like something really bad…but I think it could be something hopeful.

[__02_]      [1^st. SERIOUS, SOLEMN] 

We read in the Gospel today about the SERIOUSNESS or SOLEMNITY of marriage:

“From the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. For this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” (Mark 10:7-8)

It is an serious point of Judeo-Christian doctrine that every  woman is a of a nature equal to every man … that the feminine nature is equal the masculine nature.

As a grown-up, I can appreciate the solemnity and seriousness of this message about marriage.

I also have these early memories – at about age 12 of the SERIOUSNESS of marriage because I was one of the altar servers at my church helping with weddings.

Yet, as a kid, at the earliest weddings I attended -- I was very impressed that at such a moment, bride and groom could hardly pronounce their own names and say the words and then they might burst into tears. That was weird! I was 12, what did I know? Was this serious?

My impressions – at age 12 – came when I was an altar server at my church at church weddings, at our parish church in St. Catharine’s Glen Rock.

And, this was so long ago that there was nobody doing any video or a livestream, but I have a TikTok / YouTube in my mind about the event and then the nervous bride and groom.

And, the true seriousness was now personified – IRL (in real life) – to me and was more dramatic than any fictional or TV wedding.

It is is a daunting, solemn commitment to give yourself away in this manner.

As a total gift of self, marriage has two purposes in God’s plan. First, it is meant for “the good of the couple,” building each other up and helping each other to learn to love as God loves. Second, it is meant for the “generation and education of children.” The total, unconditional love between husband and wife is meant to be the usual way that new children are welcomed into the world and taught to love as God loves.

This is the seriousness of marriage.

 [__03_]   [2^nd. SLEEPLESSNESS]    

Marriage also teaches us about being “sleepless”.

I know that “sleepless” sound bad and foreboding and unhealthy, but I suggest that in a marriage the wife and husband are constantly vigilant for each other. St. Paul summarizes it this way, noting that those who are married are not only concerned for themselves and for God but also concerned for the other. (cf. 1^st Corinthians 7)

In the Gospel, we read today a hopeful statement, a challenging statement, but also a hopeful statement, the two shall become one flesh, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined, man must not separate or in the older translation, what God has joined man must not put asunder.

And…if couples can face many perils or dangers – material things, social pressures… the death of a loved one…the illness of child, the illness or health of each other… any 1 or more will keep them up at night…will make them “sleepless”

For this reason, married couples really need the prayers and sacrifices of those around them. Couples get married in church because of their need for our prayers … we are also called to burn the midnight oil to pray for them.

          In a marriage, there will be days when the spouses will hang on for dear life to the words / vows they made. They may not feel very loving to each other. They may not have the sentiment of gentleness or compassion. They may wish the other person would change his ways or her ways. They may wonder what life would be like if they were not married. Either or both may even feel “alone” and unable to communicate.

They may be SLEEPLESS.

Yet, none of this changes the fact that they have entered into the solemnity of marriage, by a vow before God, and this has an invisible reality.

 

[__04_]      Also, the sacrament of matrimony – marriage – shows us the way in which God wishes to love us and live for us. God is SLEEPLESS for you, for me…

          Due to our own struggles and difficulties in life, how do we feel toward God? Are we sleepless for him?

Do you feel not very loving toward God and neighbor on some days? Do you fear or feel God is out to get you or has become your enemy?  Do you wish God would change his ways?  Do you wonder what life would be like if God did not exist? Do you feel alone?

          And, amid all of this frustration and anxiety on our part, God does not give up on you or us. Marriage is a gift and sacramental relationship which shows us the way God wishes to live for us and love us. He sleepless. 

 

[__05_]   [3^rd. SERVANT / service] 

          I’d like to touch on the “service” of marriage. Service and servitude is the mark of Jesus’ work and example.

          On the day of a wedding, the groom sometimes takes a somewhat humble place…

          The groom is expected to be the servant in a particular way to his bride. This is good news.

          Jesus is also the groom and bridegroom of the church who takes a humble place, the Son of God who joins himself to our humanity.

          The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for the many. 

But, first just an example / reminder of our own local-earthly weddings and “grooms”.

On the day of an actual wedding, I ask the groom and the best man come here to the center aisle of church, at least 5-10 minutes before the bride enters, and the groom gets his picture taken, everyone's happy.

But I also remind you that we are called to reflect and remember that that this is also the Christian life.

Our salvation is based on Jesus being the groom and also entering first, going ahead of us to the cross.

Marriage is a gift and sacramental relationship, which shows us the way and God wishes to live for us and love us.

In the letter the Ephesians, ch. 5, we read the exhortation to husbands. “Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church who died and gave himself up for her.”

And so to all young women and girls, those who are thinking about marriage now or in the future, and all you young men to remember this Ephesians 5 is your criteria. The calling of a husband is not only to live for his bride, but to die for her. Nothing less.

Jesus is our Savior and as the groom and the church is his bride.

He has been born through the Incarnation to cling to us to stay with us. And in this regard, our prayer and desire for him is the solution to our own being alone.

[__06_]         [R.F / G.R.]

          I’d to close with this example of being SERIOUS, being SLEEPLESS, being a SERVANT in marriage.

About a week ago, a friend of mine – Robert - told me about how he happened to bump into my father and mother in the past several months. Robert told me he was very impressed by my father.  That is, my father was walking with my mother in her wheelchair. Because my mother, my mother can walk but she's and my mother is ambulatory. But the wheelchair helps her in certain circumstances. And because my father likes to maintain a certain average speed, miles per hour, even on the sidewalk, the wheelchair helps them move a little faster.

And Robert affirmed how wonderful this was he gave my father a hug because of this, because it reminded him of what was his calling during his wife’s illness a few years earlier. At this time, Rob took her everywhere and did not care what anybody thought.

Robert knew it was his calling to love her in sickness and in health and until death. Jesus is our bridegroom and loves us, till death, and even after death.

God does not leave us alone, but dies to give us himself completely through the Holy Spirit.

Jesus is sleepless, vigilant for you and for me.

In the example of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, when we remember today, as we anticipate this month of the rosary, the feast of the Our Lady of the Rosary, Mary the mother of God, we also see one who was at first pictured being alone.

Mary is always by herself in the moment of the amongst the nation at the moment of the Annunciation from the angel, but she is also waiting for a moment of betrothal.  Mary is sleepless

This is a moment of sleeplessness that is also based SOLEMNITY and SERVICE, by her prayer and openness, she had a solitude which gave her peace. Mary's yes was the solution to our being alone. And our yes to God is the solution to being alone. We are called to welcome Jesus in His Word so that we might know him and his wisdom as the solution so that we might know his love and know that we are not alone, so that we – in fact – can rest, we can hope for a peaceful life and death and to live and sleep in his peace.

 [__fin__]  

Temptation. Foot. Hand, Eye (2021-09-26, Sunday-26)

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 Homily – Sept.  26, 2021  /  26^th Sunday (Year B)

●    ●   Psalm ___ ● ●  + Mark 9:38-48  ●

Title:  Foot. Hand. Eye.  / Motivation. Generation. Imagination

 [__01_] [IDEAL DAY] 

Imagine you have an ideal day a perfect day planned for yourself, which would allow you to do what you ACTIVITIES want, and when you want, and with whom you want for a 24-hours span.  

This past Thursday, I had such an ideal day ahead of me. And I'm blessed and fortunate to say that nothing was standing in my way, and nothing did stand in my way. For this 2021 reunion I had with some old friends, we were outside most of the day on a beautiful day. And then we had a meal together. We talked into the night about old times. In fact, we told the same stories that we told last year at this time.

And I expect we are going to do the whole thing again next year with some of the exact same stories. I’m I'm going to mark my calendar and save the date.

This ideal day was a very good day.  Have you noticed that when you have such an ideal day, a perfect day, certain things either go a little bit more smoothly or you just make them go a bit more smoothly.  Because on my “ideal” day, I am less worried about minor details … as long as I get to my destination.

I think this also relates to the Gospel message about our response to temptations..in this Jesus our Lord wants to reach our final destination with him.

[__02_]      [3 ASPECTS]   I would like to touch on 3 aspects of an ideal – or perfect – as they relate to the Gospel.  These are:

(1) What “MOTIVATES” me on an IDEAL day?

(2) What do I “GENERATE” on ideal day?

(3)  What is my “IMAGINATION” on ideal day?

So, this is about MOTIVATION – GENERATION – IMAGINATION.

 

I’d like to connect each of these to the 3 warnings about SIN / TEMPTATION in the Gospel, in other words to the FOOT  -- HAND – EYE in the Gospel.

 

[__03_]      Have you heard this Gospel before?  Have you heard this and perceived this as an outdated / ancient statement of some ancient code of law in a far-off culture, or a galaxy far far away …  that this is no longer applicable to our modern sensibility.

 

[__04_]      [DISCLAIMER]   I believe we can and should be careful about what Jesus is saying. There are people in our community – or family – who struggle with terrible temptations, self-harm, self-mutilation, harming themselves.

And this is not of the gospel, the gospel is not endorsing self harm or self-mutilation or cutting in any way.

 

[__05_]      [DEFENSE / OBEDIENCE] Nevertheless, using language related to the FOOT – the HAND – they EYE – He is urging us to meet the “OFFENSES” of temptation and sinfulness with a spiritual “DEFENSES” that are proportional to the offense coming against us.

 

Jesus Himself gives us the example of a “PROPORTIONAL” response to sinfulness in that he does become a person both human and divine, and as such a person he is perfect in his obedience to our Heavenly Father.

So…just as we have been -  in our own sinfulness – disobedient to God ..he is obedient. So, even before there was the cross as a punishment imposed by Pontius Pilate, he was already willing to carry for and serve a much higher divine authority.

He is giving us a model to follow so that we will not just be  selectively “on guard / defense” when it’s convenient but that will be “sacrificially” defensive when it is difficult.

Jesus teaches us about these temptations – referring to the FOOT – HAND – EYE –  so that we can be on guard against temptation.

 

[__06_]       [FEET / MOTIVATED] 

1^st the FEET. And being ‘motivated’ motivation. One of the memories of my ideal day was I was really motivated to get out of bed in the morning, I woke up earlier, like a full hour earlier than I normally wake up because I was going to have a perfect day. My feet were motivated. My feet were moving. Because I was going to do what I wanted to do.

the next day, 24 hours later, not so much.

           How did I feel the very next day? Was I similarly motivated? I must admit: No !

I am I am more motivated when I get to do what I want to do when things go my way. I am attached to that. I don’t have to be … but allow myself to be. So, that is part of my sinfulness.

I am so much more motivated when things are going my way. I sometimes have to do things that I don't want to do or see people that I don't want to see.

But, on such I day, I could be praying – should be praying – the 119^th psalm:  “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”

But, sometimes, it is quite the opposite… the motivation does not come from God but comes from elsewhere.  Do I – do you – walk with hang out with people – online or in person – who are not genuinely not This happens to both young people and grown-up’s who may give in to peer pressure.

Have you ever given into peer pressure? Have you allowed this to be draw you to walk or go someplace?

There are people that we hang out with who are not good for us. And sometimes we're called to take a stand against them to stand up to them with our feet. That's hard to do.

It means we're cutting ourselves off from not only a person but also a “MOTIVATION”

Jesus is saying it's better for us to find our way into heaven without our feet. In other words, it's better for us to find our way into heaven without our motivations without all our personal motivations than to go to hell with all of our motivations.

 

[__07_]        [HANDS / GENERATED]     2^nd. Hands. What is generated.

 Jesus says better for us to enter into heaven, free of all the things we have generated by our hands.

I myself can be very proud of what I generate by my hands. I can dig with my hands, I can send text messages with my hands.  I can even send emails to other people – who work on the parish staff and team and work here…and ask them to do things. I can be very “proud” and connected to what my hands can do.

My desire to generate and to do often overwhelms my inclination to give thanks to God.

I fail to render unto God what belongs to God, I render what belongs to me.

And I fail to recognize what God has generated, I fail to give thanks to God for my talents. I don’t even give thanks to Caesar. I want it all ! And while God doesn't want to remove my hands, actually, he just wants me to give thanks for the work of his hands. And this is difficult because I want to give credit to myself, but it will heal me and help me to stand up to temptation, when I'm not so focused on what I generate, when I will cut off my connection to my hands.

[__08_]       [EYE / IMAGINATION] 

          The eye equals imagination. That is, the eye represents what we gave at, what we look at.

Each of us has a gaze each of us has a vision of the world and sometimes we see the world in ways that can lead us into sinfulness can lead us into sins of greediness, vanity, lustfulness.

What am I looking at? I'm not suggesting that you would disfigure your eye, but we can all be changed for the better by turning our gaze away, or making a concerted effort to turn our gaze away from things that may seem to possess us.

Do an excessive imagination about things I want to buy? Or own? Do those things possess me?

Do I have an excessive imagination about even my own desire for wealth? Does that possess me?

Do I have an excessive imagination about my opinions? do those opinions possess me?

The eye – the imagination – also a place where the OFFENSE of temptation is strong because of our many electronic devices – phones, tablets, computers…wi-fi everywhere.

To you, young adults, teenagers especially. You are at a tender age where you will receive many images and impressions which can inform or form – even deform – your imagination.

Yes, the Gospel is your DEFENSE …but your own family can also be your DEFENSE.

I implore you to disconnect yourself from your devices, your tablets, your phones, your computer completely – every night.

Putting your phone on airplane mode for a few hours at night is not enough. It is a proportional response to the temptations of all the indecent images, all the things that are roaming around the internet, right now. It is not a proportional response because you can easily swipe in and out of airplane mode.

What is the proportional response?  It is the removal of your phone for several hours, for all of your night time and sleeping hours. The proportional response to the temptation would be to turn your phone over to your mother or your father or your grandparents or to some grown up for the entire night. This is the proportional response to temptation that will help you to get a good night's sleep. That's what you need. That's what we all need.

Friends, this is the gospel. And Jesus is simply giving us these messages, not as an ancient code of law that doesn't apply anymore, but as a message that can apply to us in our own general understanding of what do we generate? What am I attached to? What is motivating me? Is it really the things of God that motivate me? And what am I imagining because sometimes my imagination can lead me into temptation.

We come to church to pray so that our hearts may be at rest and at peace. But, our hearts are not at peace if that peace is determined by my personal “generation” or productivity …or by my personal motiviation.

Our hearts will be at peace with a new sense of imagination and the image of God in the Gospel. As St. Augustine wrote – about the sure defense which is ours – “our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”  (Confessions, ch. 1)

 [__fin__]