Little Details Matter

There is a rule in screen writing that you never put in a detail that won’t be used later. James Bond movies are famous for this. Early on in every James Bond movie Q gives James the exact secret gadgets he will need to get out of a life and death situation later in the movie. These gadgets are never reused in any movie that follow.

Scripture is full of details that are often overlooked or are viewed simply as descriptions that have little importance later in the story. One such example is in the story of the raising of Lazarus. We are told that Lazarus was dead and in the tomb for four days. His sisters did not want the tomb opened because there would have been a stench by this time. This was to let us know that he has truly dead and not merely near death.

This scene in the story always reminds me of an Irish wake. The old tale goes that they would lay the body of a dead Irishman out on the table in his home for three days. People would come to visit but the main purpose was to make sure the person had really died and not had succumb to lead poisoning that leached into the beer from the pewter tanks it was stored in. It is probably nothing more than a wives’ tale but even wives’ tales have a grain of truth to them. I wonder how many Irishmen sat up in their coffins during their funerals.

One of the details in the story of Lazarus that is easily overlooked is the fact that Lazarus stumbles out of his tomb still wrapped securely in his burial cloths when Jesus beckons to him from outside. His sisters had to rush to his aid to free him from these cloths. Like a good Bond movie, this detail was not put into the story just to help us paint a mental picture of the scene. It points out a greater reality later in the story.

Fast forward to Easter Sunday. Peter and John enter the tomb where Jesus was laid on Good Friday. Scripture tells us that they saw the burial wrappings laying there and the cloth that covered Jesus’ head rolled up in another place. This is another place in scripture where the actual Greek text gives us a more complete understanding of what the disciples saw.

The burial cloth of Jesus was not just simply laying there as if it were taken off, folded up, and placed on the stone. It was laying there as if it were deflated, as if the body of Jesus simply disappeared from being. This is where the details of Lazarus’ resurrection become important.

If Jesus simply rose from the dead, he would have been still wrapped in his burial linens the way Lazarus was. The women who came to anoint Jesus on Sunday morning would have found him wrapped snug as a bug in a rug and would have to had freed our risen Lord. But that is not what was found.

The details we are given in scripture would indicate that the bloody and bruised body of our crucified Lord was transformed into his glorified body when he returned from the dead. His earthly body became no more when he took on his glorified body.

There are many who believe that the Shroud of Turin is the actual burial cloth spoken about in scripture. I am one of these people. The more science honestly studies the shroud the more it appears to be the genuine article. The image on the shroud is believed to be a 3D hologram of a man that fits the description of what Christ would have looked like when wrapped in his burial cloth. It is a photo negative just like the negatives we used to develop pictures from before the age of the cell phone camera. Scientists cannot explain how the image on the shroud was created and the best scientific guess right now is that the image was created by a blast of intense light that burned the image on the upper parts of the fibers that make up the cloth.

For those with unshakable faith, signs and wonders are not needed. For those without faith there is not a sign or wonder good enough to remove doubt. For those of us somewhere in the middle, we are given signs and wonders so that we may come to believe and have our faith grow.

My heart is full because the tomb is empty.

Supernatural Reality

My heart yearned to see the supernatural reality that I was part of. Then one day it happened, like a fog dissipating in the early morning light. Darkness slowly gave way to shadows as the world began to come alive. My senses heightened. My anticipation I could hardly contain.

I stood behind the Table of Sacrifice dressed in gold. The priest stood before the table. Not a priest or any priest, but every priest who had been ordained throughout all of time. They occupied the same space and the same time, both individually and together as a unity.

To their left and to their right stood the deacons. Not a deacon or the deacon, but every deacon who has ever been ordained. Like the priest, they occupied the same space and the same time, individually and together as a unity. It was with them I stood.

We were at the Sacrifice of Thanksgiving, the Mass. Not a Mass or any Mass but every Mass that has ever been said throughout all time, all happening at the same time in the same space.

As the supernatural reality came into focus my body began to tremble when it was revealed to me what I was a part of. The supernatural reality was superimposed on the veiled reality and everything appeared as two and as one.

In the altar I saw a hill and from the hill extended the tree of life. Hanging from the tree was the Christ, bloody, bruised, naked, and gasping for every breath he took. Before the tree, in the priest, I saw Jesus himself, glorified as he was during the transfiguration. His eyes were affixed heavenward as he offered that sacrifice of himself for all of humanity.

I looked right and left. Superimposed in the deacons I saw the angels of the heavenly court who assist Jesus with this sacrifice. Their wings spread wide as the deacons’ heads were bowed. Surrounding the altar was all of God’s creation, all of the heavenly hosts, and every person who has ever been created. I saw my family, those who passed long before I was born, and my heirs who would not be born until long after I pass. All gathered together in this time at this place. Calvary.

Then I did something I never have before. I looked down. Under the altar, beneath the cross there was a large hole. I crept to the edge and looked inside. It was the gateway to the abyss, to the very heart of hell itself. In the center of the abyss was a large throne and sitting on the throne was Lucifer. Surrounding him were the souls of the damned, those condemned to spend all eternity in the lake of fire.

Their hands were raised towards heaven and they cried in loud voices, “Lord, lord, save us!”

The Christ looked down from the cross and his eyes filled with tears. “You I do not know,” he said with a labored and agonizing breath.

“Through Him, with Him and in Him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is yours, almighty Father, for ever and ever.” I looked up and the priests were raising the Body and Blood of our Lord to heaven.

Jesus’ hands and gaze were raised towards heaven. “Father, I offer myself as sacrifice for the salvation and redemption of our creation. Let my blood wipe away all transgression and restore unity between us and humanity for ever more.”

With that, I heard all of creation, all of the heavenly hosts, and all of humanity throughout all time all proclaim in one great crescendo, “AMEN!”

The earth shook and Christ on the cross said, “It is finished.” His head fell limp and he breathed no more.

From the abyss came shrieks and wailing. The devil cried out in a loud voice as his defeat became final.

The veil was drawn over my eyes once more and all I could see was the priest and the altar and the Mass I was part of. As the priest raised the host in the Epiclesis, I could hear Jesus speaking directly to me.

“I did not give you this for you to keep for yourself. Give witness to others as to what you have seen and to draw as many back as you can. All will be at this. Those who are not at the altar or in the congregation will be in the abyss. It is for them I weep. It is not too late but the time is coming when repentance will no longer be possible.”

If more people understood the supernatural side of our Mass there would not be an open space in any Church throughout the world. I have the honor of standing where heaven touches the earth, in front of the cross, every time I get to assist as Mass. One day we all will get to see this reality with unveiled eyes. If you want to be looking at Jesus and not up at him come to love him now while you are given a chance. To know and love Jesus makes you want to repent of ever offending him through sin.

Casting Stones

January 20, 2021. For only the second time in this country’s history a Catholic was sworn in as our President. This happened amid cheers of joy by one half of our country and vile hatred by the other. As I watched the events leading up to this I couldn’t help but be filled with shame and disgust. We are the United States of America. We were the shining city on the hill other countries looked towards to see what freedom looks like. What they saw from us the past few months was a bunch of children throwing temper tantrums led by a President that acted more like a school yard bully than the leader of the most powerful nation this planet has ever seen.

What is happening now bothers me more than all of the shenanigans of the past election. President Biden is a baptized Catholic who attends Mass regularly. He holds beliefs that are contrary to Catholic teaching. His stance on abortion was all the reason I needed not to vote for him for President.

Everywhere I turn I see a growing demand by other Catholics that he be stripped of his Catholic identity. People demand that his bishop deny him communion while many others call for his excommunication altogether. To all of you who feel this way I only have one thing to say:

Let he without sin cast the first stone.

Every single one of us is a sinner. Every single one of us falls short of the glory of God. Cafeteria Catholic is a popular expression. It refers to any Catholic who picks and chooses which of the Church’s teachings they wish to follow. How many of those calling for President Biden’s excommunication cohabitate, masturbate, or use birth control? How many follow every Church teaching all of the time? How many are receiving the Eucharist unworthily themselves?

Many will cite Matthew 18: 15-18:

“Now if your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that on the testimony of two or three witnesses every matter be confirmed. And if he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, he is to be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”

If we applied this fairly we would have a much smaller Church. We would have to kick out my friend who has decided that her reproductive right to contraception is none of the Church’s business. We would have to kick out my son who has decided to cohabitate because, “How else do you figure out if you are compatible for marriage?” We would have to kick out every Cafeteria Catholic who chooses their own desires over the teachings of the Church.

I do not want President Biden excommunicated. I don’t want to see his bishop deny him communion. All that does is create scandal and controversy we really do not need right now, as a Church and as a country. I pray that President Biden come to the realization that his actions are contrary to the Church’s teachings and voluntarily refrain from receiving our Lord in the Eucharist.

But make no mistake, President Biden is Catholic. He became Catholic the day he was baptized. I want him at Mass listening to the Word. One day he may even hear it. As Catholics, our job is to pray for him and for every single Catholic; that God replace our stony hearts with natural hearts that turn to him in love and repentance. President Biden will have to answer to God for those things he has not repented of, as will I, you, and every person who has ever existed. He does not answer to me.

Let he who has no sin cast the first stone. I don’t see our Blessed Mother with a rock in her hand so please drop yours as well.

Be a Bean

By now many of us has heard the inspirational story of eggs, potatoes, and coffee beans. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this story allow me to summarize it for you.

An egg, a potato, and some coffee beans are all put into some boiling water.

When the egg was placed into the water it was fragile. A thin shell was all that protected its liquid center. When it came out of the water it had become hard on the inside.

When the potato went into the water it was strong and hard but after a short while it softened and became easily mashed.

The coffee was unique. The coffee changed the water and created something new.

The moral of this story is that the adversities we face in life are like the boiling water. It will change us if we allow it to. Adversities can either make us hard or soft. Instead of allowing hard times to change us we can choose to change the times instead.

That lesson is very important but I think there is even a greater lesson to be learned from this story.

How did the coffee beans change the water?

We live in an age where civil discourse has gone the way of the rotary telephone and photo huts. He who screams the loudest for the longest period of time wins the argument. We try to change hearts and minds with threats, name calling, lies, demands, intolerance, and all other forms of verbal abuse and bullying. When that fails we protest, boycott, riot, loot, and destroy. We attempt to change hearts and minds in the same way the boiling water changes the egg and the potato.

The only thing the coffee beans did to change the water was to allow that which was good within them to come out. When the goodness inside the beans came out and entered the water it changed the water to something that was equally as good. This doesn’t happen in an instant. The beans had to sit in the water for a while. The longer the beans sat in the water the more the water became like the beans.

And so it should be with us as well. Don’t counter hate with hate or yelling with louder yelling. Instead allow the goodness within you to come out. Love conquers hate. Compassion counters hostility. Love and time can heal the wounds that run so deep between us.

When faced with the lack of civility that surrounds us remember the coffee bean and allow our goodness to conquer the hate.

Mrs. Pritzker

 I once had the pleasure of listening to a priest tell a story from his childhood. He told about growing up in the city where he and the other neighborhood boys would gather to play a game of stickball. It never failed that the ball would be hit over the fence into the yard belonging to Mrs. Pritzker. Mrs. Pritzker would torment the young boys and would keep the balls that would land in her yard. She was one of those people you would cross a busy street for just to avoid walking past her house. The boys loathed Mrs. Pritzker.

Later in life this boy would go on to discern the priesthood. He learned that we all are created in the image and likeness of God and that Jesus lives in every single person. One day at Mass when the priest elevated the host he saw the face of Mrs. Pritzker superimposed on the host. In his heart he heard the voice of Jesus.

“You say you love me. Do you love me even when I look like this?”

Do you hate another person? Do you hate Trump or Pelosi or anyone in our political circus? Are you holding a grudge against a family member or another person who you believe wronged you? Do you celebrate when someone gets theirs? These things bar the gates of heaven from being opened to you. Either you learn to let go of the hate and the grudges in this life or you will carry them over to the next life where you will spend as long as it takes in purgatory to do so. If you refuse to let go of the hate in your heart it will become an all consuming fire in hell.

Hate in this world is like shackles that bind us in slavery to the devil. It blinds us so that we cannot see Jesus in another. No one wants to hurt someone they love. It is easy to hurt those we hate. This is why we are called to love one another. We are called to be merciful. Scripture tells us that we will receive mercy in the same measure that we give mercy. If you want to receive the full measure of God’s mercy you have to begin by giving the full measure of your mercy. You must learn to let go of the hate and the grudges that keep us from loving freely as God does.

We cannot begin to solve the troubles of our society until we can look at one another through the eyes of love instead of hate. If we loved those who looked differently from us we wouldn’t treat them differently. If we looked upon all people with love we would not tolerate injustice to any of them. If we truly loved our neighbor we wouldn’t let things like race, religion, sexual preference, or the voting letter behind our names separate us into groups. The devil wants to separate us into groups and then pit those groups against one another. God wants us all to be one family putting the other before ourselves.

Can you put the needs of someone you despise before yourself? That is what God requires us to do.

“I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another.” – John 3:34

The Parable of the Two Sons

 What is your opinion? That is the way Jesus begins our Gospel today. We all have our own opinions on what it means to be a disciple of Christ. We all hear the same Gospel and we all decide for ourselves how we put that into practice in our own lives. What we don’t have and what we have never had is Jesus standing up here giving us his opinion of our efforts.

The chief priests and elders also had their own opinions on what it meant to be in relationship with the one true God. Their opinions were based upon their education and their experience which led them to a strict dedication to the law, not the law maker. Unlike us, they did have Jesus standing before them. And as we heard he let them know in no uncertain terms what he thought of their efforts.

In his rabbinic style Jesus starts off with the parable of the two sons. The first eventually goes off and does as his father asks him to after he has a change of mind. The second says yes with his lips but then goes off and does as he pleases. Jesus is very critical of those who only say yes with their lips and refuse to change their minds. This was the point he was trying to make with this parable, the importance of changing one’s mind. The word used in Greek is metanoia and from that we get the word repentance. John the Baptist came preaching repentance. Jesus followed teaching that repentance is the only way to eternal life.

Imagine how that message was received by the chief priests and elders. No one would have been surprised if repentance were preached to just the tax collectors and prostitutes. But these were men who have studied the Law and had dedicated their entire lives to the practice of their faith. Now they were being told to change their minds; that sinners were getting into the kingdom of heaven before them. As the first reading goes, “That’s not fair.” But then, we don’t have a God of fairness. We have a God of love. Jesus didn’t come to say what made the people feel good, but what they needed to hear. Love is love even when it is hard to accept.

Jesus loved these people and he only wanted what was best for them. He didn’t tell them to stop what they were doing or to do something differently. He was simply trying to point out that even when they thought they were doing what God wanted that they not become complacent in doing it. He knew that in their complacency they began to exalt the law over the Law maker and to view the people around them as problems to be solved and not as people to be served. In doing this, love became a precept of the law and not the very heart and reason for it.

This parable is no easier for us to hear today. Still, Jesus is not here to tell us what makes us feel good but what we need to hear in order to have a deeper relationship with him. His voice echoes through the scriptures challenging us in our complacency, just as he challenged the chief priests and elders. This is not meant to be an insult to us, nor does it mean that everything we are doing is wrong. He is calling out to us through love alone.

In whatever we are doing, no matter how much we think we are doing what God wants, we must never grow self-satisfied or complacent. Rather, we must constantly resolve to never cease changing our minds, to never stop repenting, until that moment comes when we have the mind of Christ. Only then can we be one with him.

The Game of More.

Recently my wife bought a Nintendo Switch for the family to play with. One of the popular games out there right now is a game called Animal Crossing. In Animal Crossing you move to your very own island to live. The island is run by three raccoons. You are given a tent and allowed to pick a place to put it and start your new life. You spend your days gathering things from around the island and the sea and then sell those things to the raccoons for bells, the island form of currency. You can exchange these bells for the various things the raccoons sell. You can upgrade your tent to a house and then build rooms on your house, making it ever bigger. You also use the bells to buy stuff the raccoons sell. You fill your house with furniture, decorations,  toys, and the comforts of life. Everything comes with a price and you spend the game trying to make more and more bells to pay off your debts and buy as much as you can.

Sounds a lot like real life doesn’t it? And just like real life the game gets addicting quickly. The first day I played for fifteen minutes. The next was four hours straight. Time stands still as you run about gathering, selling, and buying things. Everyone in my family is addicted to playing and we fight for time to build our wealth. We all live on the same island together and find ourselves competing with each other to have the most or the nicest stuff.

Last night I looked at all of the stuff I had gathered in my house. I had a bed, some furniture, a freezer, and a variety of other things. Sitting there looking at it I realized that it really had no meaning in the game. I didn’t use any of it and my life on the island wasn’t affected one bit if I had the stuff or not. It doesn’t even matter if I had a house or not. I took every possession I had and sold it back to the raccoons. My bank account soared but I had no real purpose for the money either. There was nothing I had to buy to continue life on the island. Too bad there wasn’t a virtual charity I could donate it to.

And then I realized how I had been played by the devil with this seemingly harmless game that imitates real life. The point hidden in this game is that enough is never enough and there was always something bigger and better I could get if I worked for it. For example, you can fish and you can sell the fish you catch to the raccoons for bells. At first you catch little fish. Gradually they get bigger, making you want to fish more. Soon I was catching whale sharks and giant ocean sunfish. It instilled the desire to keep fishing to see what I would catch next.

That is exactly the temptation the devil presents us in real life. So many of us get caught up in the game of ‘more’. I need more; more money, more things, more sex, power, and influence. Like in the game, we trade our time for currency to get the things we thing we need. One of my favorite lines from a Jimmy Buffet song goes –

“Need is a relative thing these days
It borders on desire
The high tech world is full of bright
shiny things
We think that we really require”

– Tonight, I just need my guitar. Far Side of the World.

It has been said that you never see a U-Haul attached to a hearse. I don’t think it is said enough. We take nothing with us when we die. We go to a place that contains that which we built up for ourselves when we were alive. I may be judged in this world by the things I gather for myself. I will be judged in the next world by how much I gave away in this one.

Arthur Ashe once said,

                “From what we get, we can make a living. What we give; however, makes a life.”

A funny thing happened when I sold all my possessions back to Timmy and Tommy, the raccoon shop keepers. I suddenly lost all desire to play the game. I saw the game for what it truly was; a mindless distraction from doing the same thing in real life. I took a long look around my house and saw all of the things I have traded my time and my health to obtain. Things that seemed important at the time now sit in a corner covered in dust. I have three grown children who will one day tell people that their dad worked a lot and played with them a little. Hopefully my younger two will be able to say that in reverse. I want to be remembered as the dad who played with my children and worked only as hard enough to give them what they really needed in life. The love of a father is worth more than all of the Nintendo Switches of the world.

If by ridding myself to all of my possessions in the game broke the addiction to the game perhaps letting go of all the worthless stuff in my life will do the same there as well. There is only one way to find out. Is anyone interested in a vintage vibrating belt exercise machine from 1968?

I think Saint Francis may have been on to something.

God Wins, God Wins!

There once was a guy who has a huge Chicago Cubs fan. The strange thing about him was that he would never watch a live game. He taped every game. When he got home from work he would call his friend and ask, “Did the Cubs win today?” If the answer was no he deleted the game without watching it. If the answer was yes then he would pour himself an Old Style, plop down in his favorite recliner, and joyfully watch the game.

No matter how far behind the Cubs got the man was happy. He never cursed a bad play. He cheered for the opposing team when they did something well. He enjoyed the entire game because he knew what the outcome was before he even turned on his TV.

This is what a Christian should be like. I have read the end of the book. Spoiler alert – God wins in the end. Jesus has defeated death. It doesn’t matter what happens in this life because I know what awaits those who love the Lord. I can be joyful in the face of oppression. No one needs to be thought of as an enemy. There is no need for anxiety over anything. There is no need to worry about this culture, our society, or the direction it looks like the Church is going in some days. God wins in the end. This should be a source of great comfort and joy.

When I was in navy boot camp one of the things I feared the most was being mashed. MASH is an acronym for Make Any Sailor Hurt. If you messed up you brought down the wrath of your company commander. He would go get the company commanders from the other companies and they would harass you until you broke down. They would PT (physical training) you until you either passed out from exhaustion or puked.

I witnessed the mother of all mashing one day. I had a friend named Kevin Wood from Texas. He messed up and our company commander opened the entire can of mash on this poor fellow. He went and got three of his friends and the four company commanders went non-stop all at once on poor Kevin.

What was remarkable to all of us was as the four had him run in place holding all of his belongings in his arms, do pushups, flutter kicks, eight count body builders, and every assortment of physical torture they could devise Kevin was joyful. He was more than joyful. He was exuberant. He laughed the entire time. All that did was fuel the rage even more.

When the torture session was over and the company commanders left the company gathered around an exhausted Kevin, still with a wide smile on his face. We asked him why he laughed and brought even more punishment upon himself. He looked at us and said, “I knew that they would have to leave sometime and I would still be here. In the end I win.”

Again, this is the same attitude all Christians should have. We can be joyful in the face of opposition and persecution because we know heaven awaits us and it doesn’t matter what they do to us here on earth. Our time here is short compared to an eternity in heaven. Any sufferings we have in this life should be offered up to be united with the suffering of Jesus on the cross.

St. Paul tells us that he suffers on earth to make up for what is lacking in the crucifixion. What could possibly be lacking in the crucifixion of Christ? Our participation. We can suffer with Christ on the cross by bearing our sufferings here on earth in the same manner Jesus bore his. He prayed for those who tortured him. He asked for their forgiveness.

Do you pray for those who cause you hardship? Do you pray for those who are protesting, looting, and rioting? Do you ask God to forgive them for the evil things they are doing? Do you love those who scream and yell hateful things because of the political party you support? You should. That is what Jesus did. That is what he told us to do as well.

No matter how dark the day or the challenges you face be joyful in all things. We know the score at the end of the game. We know who flies the big blue W after the third out in the ninth inning.