Caritas Christi Urget Nos

Tag: service

  • The Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time

    The Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time

    Today’s readings
    Today’s homily was a brief one in order to provide time for Increased Offertory Commitment

    Whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant;
    whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all.

    One of the great hallmarks of the Gospel is that it proclaims things nobody wants to hear, let alone do. And the end of today’s gospel passage is a wonderful example of that. Listen again:

    Whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant;
    whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all.

    That’s a challenge to all of us, but particularly to anyone in a position of leadership. It’s an injunction that I need to take very seriously as I lead this parish in the name of Jesus. I need to lead as Jesus would lead. How did he lead? Well, listen to that part again:

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

    And if I need a picture of that, all I need to do is look up there on that cross. Dying, dying to self, giving up our lives for others, that’s what servant leadership is all about. And Jesus was all about servant leadership.

    As I said, that’s a serious injunction for me, but also for all who are in leadership positions. It applies to those who have authority over others in workplaces. Teachers in schools, community leaders, heads of families, and here’s a good one for November 5th: it applies to leaders of our nation, lawmakers, judges, and government officials at every level. That’s a serious consideration for our voting – which of these leaders will serve and not just rule?

    Servant leadership is life-changing and community-changing. Servant leaders empower others and help them to reach their full potential. Servant leaders never ask anything of anyone something they are unwilling to take on themselves. Servant leaders make decisions, but they also roll up there sleeves and get in there with everyone else to do what needs to be done.

    And that’s a particularly important part of the Gospel. Giving of ourselves in whatever way we need to in order to affect the common good and the good of those in our care is fundamental. We’re not going to be executed to pay for the sins of many, but we may have to get up in the middle of the night to tend to a sick child, or anoint a sick parishioner at the end of a long day, or help a younger sibling figure out a homework problem, or bring the neighbor’s trash bin up when you see it in the street.

    Servant leadership frees us from selfishness, and from worry about our own petty issues. It’s amazing what voluntarily working for the good of someone else does to help you realize that your own issues are not all that important, and that God can take care of both of you. Servant leadership frees us to be the best leader we can be in every situation.

    Servant leadership, of course, is a choice. We have to choose, every day, to give ourselves for others; we have to choose to live the Gospel in every moment. Being the servant of all might not seem palatable in every moment, but we do have a God who took it on himself, in a much more violent way, that we may live. He gave himself for us, so that we might have something to give to others. Servant leadership is the way, and we are all called to live it.

  • The Twenty-ninth Sunday of Ordinary Time

    The Twenty-ninth Sunday of Ordinary Time

    Today’s readings

    At the heart of today’s Gospel reading is the question of whether we as disciples of Jesus are willing to go where he’s leading us.  Much could be said about the posturing of James and John to get the good seats in the kingdom.  But as Jesus tells them, they didn’t even know what they were asking. They had no idea what the kingdom would look like. They even missed the fact that it was in some ways already there.  But their ambition is not the point here.

    The point, as Jesus illustrates, is that his kingdom is not one of honor and glory, at least not in the way that James and John were thinking.  His kingdom is about suffering and redemption, and then honor and glory.  To get to the good stuff, you have to go through the cross.  And the most honored one is the one who serves everyone else. 

    The problem is that service always sounds great to us, until we actually have to do it.  Then there are plenty of other opportunities to do something or nothing that stand in our way.  We may have the best intentions, but never get around to making them happen.  And we all live busy lives, so it’s so easy for us to put those plans to be of service on the back burner.  

    Or maybe when a service opportunity comes around, we might think, “well, that’s not the way I want to serve.”  The project might seem too hard, or too messy, or take too much time.  Service always requires something of us.  Real service might even require much of us.  But if it doesn’t, is it really service at all?

    Here’s the thing: As the disciples found out, living in the kingdom was an all or nothing proposition.  Places at the right and left of Jesus aren’t just awarded on the basis of one’s good looks or engaging personality.  Those disciples, all but one of them, would give their lives for the kingdom and for Christ.  That has to be the lens through which we view our own lives of service and discipleship.  That has the be the direction that we take our lives.

    I got to thinking about people I know who got this.  One of the ones I always think about is our family friend Mike.  Mike owned the service station that our family used ever since we moved into the suburbs from the city.  Mike was the kind of service station owner that, if you came in for a tune up, he’d call and tell you that you didn’t need one and he’d just charge you for two new spark plugs and an oil change to save you some money.  He would also often do service on cars for people in need at little or no cost when the parish called him to do it.  When he died, there were seven priests at his funeral, and the funeral home and the church were packed.  Mike always did what he could to be of service.

    I had a funeral on Friday of a man who wasn’t a regular church-goer.  But having gone through our parish school, he must have learned enough of what Jesus is calling us to do today, that he was a Navy veteran, a member of the Patriot Guard, a volunteer firefighter, spent weeks cleaning up after Hurricane Katrina, and drove a truckload of water to Saint Louis when the Mississippi River flooded.  He did what he could to help people in need.

    Jesus in our Gospel reading today is calling us all to come to the table, to put on our aprons, and help serve everyone else. That flies in the face of our entitlement, it tears down the notion of looking out for number one, it means that inconvenience for the sake of others has to become a real option in our daily lives.  Honestly, not all of us, probably none of us, will have to give our actual lives for the kingdom.  Even if we would have to, I’m not sure we are ready to get up there on the cross and die for the sake of the ungodly.  Instead, we have to find little ways of love that build up others and take them on despite the millions of other things clamoring for our attention.

    Yesterday was our “Make a Difference Day.”  It was an amazing day where over five hundred of our parishioners came together to do projects in and around the parish.  On a beautiful fall Saturday morning, there was some sacrifice involved in giving up that time to make rosaries, rake leaves, give blood, collect donations, help on the mobile food pantry, make mats for the homeless out of old plastic shopping bags, make comfort blankets for Linden Oaks, install memorial bricks on the Stations of the Cross pathway, clean the pews here in church, pray in Adoration or for the unborn at the memorial crosses, and so much more.  I’m so grateful to everyone who participated in one way or another!  Yesterday was a good start, but there are always opportunities to be of service in big and small ways in our parish and in our community.  

    Jesus told us that whoever wishes to be great among us must be the servant of all. He himself did not think he was above washing the feet of his disciples on his last night on this earth. We are called to follow his ways if we want to follow him to the kingdom. “For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  If that’s true of our Lord, then it has to be true of us who would be his followers.

  • The Twenty-ninth Sunday of Ordinary Time

    The Twenty-ninth Sunday of Ordinary Time

    Today’s readings

    At the heart of today’s Gospel reading is the question of whether or not we as disciples of Jesus are willing to go where he’s leading us. Much could be said about the posturing of James and John to get the good seats in the kingdom. But their ambition is not the point here. The point, as Jesus illustrates, is that his kingdom is not one of honor and glory. His kingdom is about suffering and redemption, and then honor and glory. To get to the resurrection, you have to go through the cross. And the most honored one is the one who serves everyone else along the way. Let me illustrate with an admittedly somewhat unflattering story about yours truly.

    When I was in seminary, there were a number of nice, fancy dinners that would follow important events in the school year. So we would have them after a class received ministries like Lector or Acolyte, or after Mass for a reunion of 25-year or 50-year jubilarians. At each of these dinners, the table would be set up very fancy, and there would be an apron draped over the back of one of the chairs at the table. The idea was, the person sitting in that seat would be expected to put on the apron and serve the others at the table.

    When I first got to seminary, when it came time for these dinners, I would rush to get to the refectory so that I didn’t have to sit in that spot and serve the others. I know, not very pastor-like, was it? But one day, I reflected on those last two lines of today’s Gospel: For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. And in that moment, I realized that it was indeed service that I was called to do, and so maybe I could get started by serving my brothers at table.

    From that day forward, things changed for me. I would still rush to get over to the refectory as soon as I could, but that was so that I could sit in that seat and serve the others. Not only did I take on the server role, but I actually found joy in it. When you let go of thinking only about yourself, you find that you can actually receive many blessings. The blessings I found were that those dinners were a lot more fun; I had some wonderful conversations not only with the people at my table, but also with the kitchen staff.

    Jesus in our Gospel reading today is calling us all to sit in that seat at the table, to put on our aprons, and help serve everyone else. That flies in the face of our entitlement, it tears down the notion of looking out for number one, it means that inconvenience for the sake of others has to become a real option in our daily lives.

    Jesus told us that whoever wishes to be great among us must be the servant of all. He washed the feet of his disciples on his last night on this earth; he died on that cross for all of us. We are called to follow his ways if we want to follow him to the kingdom. Let’s none of us be afraid of taking that seat at the table and putting on the apron.

  • Saturday of the Twenty-eighth Week of Ordinary Time: Make a Difference Day

    Saturday of the Twenty-eighth Week of Ordinary Time: Make a Difference Day

    Today’s Readings

    Anything worthwhile costs us something, most especially our faith.  If we are serious about it, if we love God and want to be caught up in his life, we’re going to have to pay for it in some way.  Jesus speaks to that in today’s Gospel.  One of the biggest costs to us, I think, is our comfort zone.  To really live the faith, we have to get out of that comfort and do what God wants of us.  In the Gospel, Jesus was telling his disciples that they would have to give witness to him.  And they understood that that would cost them something – perhaps cost them their lives.

    We disciples are also going to have to pay some price for living our faith.  Probably not something as drastic as getting dragged before synagogues, rulers and authorities, but something fairly costly for us.  For us today, perhaps that cost is giving up a Saturday to clean church pews, or trim a neighbor’s hedges, or sing songs at a nursing home.

    Today, on our Make a Difference Day, we take our give strong witness to our faith in our work. As we come together to pack meals at Feed My Starving Children, spend time in adoration praying for our community, or clean up our parish grounds, our presence and concern may be the way God is using us to get someone’s attention and see his presence in her or his life.  As Saint Therese of Liseaux used to encourage her sisters, we can make a big difference by doing little things with great love.

    Jesus tells us that we will receive gifts of the Holy Spirit that enable us to speak on behalf of our faith. As we engage in whatever we have signed up to do today, that same Spirit may give us gifts that answer prayers we didn’t even know we had in our hearts, and definitely answer the prayers of others. Our work gives witness to who Christ is in our lives; Christ who loves us first and loves us best.  Sharing that love in the work we do today is a powerful way to help others know the presence of Christ in their lives.

    Living our faith is always going to cost us something and that something could well be status or popularity, or at least the wondering glance from people who aren’t ready to accept the faith.  But the volumes that we speak by living our faith anyway might just lay the groundwork for conversion and become a conduit of grace.  We are told that we don’t have to hammer out all the words we want to say; that the Holy Spirit will give us eloquence that we can only dream of.  And it’s true, if we trust God, if we live our faith when it’s popular or unpopular, we will have the Spirit and the words.  God only knows what can be accomplished in those grace-filled moments!  I pray that you see Christ everywhere as you witness today.

  • Saturday of the Tenth Week of Ordinary Time

    Saturday of the Tenth Week of Ordinary Time

    Today’s readings

    One of the most vivid Church memories I have was of a friend who was making final vows as a Benedictine many years ago now. It was a very beautiful Mass, but what really stood out so vividly to me was that, while the assembly sang the Litany of the Saints and my friend lie prostrate before the altar, the abbot and some other monks placed the funeral pall over him.  This symbolized that he had “died” to his former life, in order to take up his new life in service to Christ.

    So when we hear today’s first reading about Elijah placing his cloak over Elisha, it calls that memory to mind.  Elisha knew immediately what the action meant: he had been called to serve as prophet to succeed Elijah.  So after protesting he was not ready, he immediately set out to put to death everything in his life that held him back: he slaughtered his oxen and burned the plowing equipment to cook their flesh to feed his people. Then he freely left it all behind to serve God.

    We too have, at some point, the mantle placed upon us.  Whatever our calling is, it involves a death to whatever has come before so that we can freely serve in whatever way God is calling us.  For most, it won’t be quite so dramatic, but there is that death. For example, for those getting married, it’s a death to the single life so that they can serve their spouse in love and fidelity.  We have to be ready to die to whatever holds us back from fulfilling God’s call, so that we can pray with the Psalmist today, “You are my inheritance, O Lord.”

  • Tuesday of the Seventh Week of Ordinary Time

    Tuesday of the Seventh Week of Ordinary Time

    Today’s readings

    In today’s Gospel, we have the disciples arguing among themselves because they find they don’t understand Jesus’ message. And then that degenerates into a further argument about which one of them was the greatest.  They’re doing an awful lot of arguing, and not nearly enough listening.

    All of this arguing betrays a real lack of growth in faith among those disciples.  They probably felt like, since they were in Jesus’ inner-circle, they should have all the answers.  And perhaps they should, but to their defense, they hadn’t received the Holy Spirit yet.  In a real sense, they were still in formation, and they shouldn’t have been so afraid to ask Jesus for clarification, rather than start petty arguments.

    Jesus’ lesson to them then comes from him putting a little child in their midst.  Receive a child like this in my name, he tells them, and you receive me.  What’s the point of that?  Well, receiving a child in Jesus’ name is an act of service, because a child can do nothing but receive at that point in their life.  So serving others in Jesus’ name, serving those who cannot serve you back, or at least in a way that they can’t return the favor, is what brings us to the Father.

    I think the take-away for us is that trying to be smarter than everyone else isn’t what shows that we are faithful people.  Instead of arguing our point, we need to ask God to help us get the point.  And we have to be ready to act on our faith, serving others out of love for God, instead of arguing or debating what Jesus is making plain as day.

  • Tuesday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time

    Tuesday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time

    Today’s readings

    ‘We are unprofitable servants;
    we have done what we were obliged to do.’

    Those words are the epitome of humility.  They recognize that our life and our calling are at the service of our God, who gives us everything we have and everything we are.  And so when we do something wonderful, it’s because God has given us the ability to be wonderful.  When we say the right things to someone who needs to hear wisdom or compassion or even rebuke or challenge, it’s because those words come from God.  When we are in the right place at the right time to be able to be present to someone who needs a friend or a parent or a teacher or a coach, it’s because God is asking us to be his presence to that person.  We are just doing what we are obliged to do.

    But it’s not like there isn’t reward for being the unprofitable servant.  If we are servants without agenda, serving in humility and gratitude, we have hope of the promise of eternity.  The wisdom writer in our first reading says:

    But the souls of the just are in the hand of God,
    a    nd no torment shall touch them.

    And being servants in God’s hands is the best place we can be – no torment can reach us there.  But if we refuse to serve, or if we insist on having all the profit credited to us, then we are outside the hand of God, and God forbid what awaits us there.  Serving our God in humility is indeed the task of all our lives; it is what gets us to the reward of being united with God for eternity.

    When we embrace the reality of service with humility, we can sing with the Psalmist today and every day, “I will bless the Lord at all times!”

  • Tuesday of the Twenty-ninth Week of Ordinary Time

    Tuesday of the Twenty-ninth Week of Ordinary Time

    Today’s readings

    Today’s Liturgy of the Word speaks to us about being ready.  And now’s as good a time for that as any, especially since we are getting so close to the end of the liturgical year.  The liturgical year ends on the feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ the King of the Universe, which this year is celebrated on November 26th.  What we are going to start noticing in the readings from now until then is a decided interest in how all of time will be wrapping up.  Theologians call that “eschatology,” which is the theology about the end times.

    Now, to be clear, we don’t know when the end of time will actually happen.  God in his providence keeps the big picture on that to himself, which I think is good, or we would be constantly worried about it.  But today’s Liturgy of the Word tells us that we can’t be complacent either.  We have to have our spiritual houses in order lest the master return and find us slacking off and give his blessings to more diligent servants.

    It’s easy to slack off on our spiritual service when things are going well.  The urgency to our prayer wanes and we’re easily distracted.  But even when things aren’t going so well, we can be bogged down in the mire of whatever we’re dealing with and forget to attend to the faith that sees us through.  So the issue is being prepared: girding our loins and lighting our lamps, so that when the Master returns, we’re ready to go.

    For us this might mean a return trip to the Sacrament of Penance if it’s been a while, or perhaps signing up for the Bible Study if we have been meaning to do that, or even just taking the Bible down off the shelf and reading a few verses each night before bed.  Whatever we haven’t been doing, whether it’s Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament or a renewed dedication to the Holy Rosary, it’s time we got on it.  It might even mean taking time out of our busy schedules to be of service to those in need.

    God wants to take us with him and he’s very patient, but we have to do our part.  We have to be diligent and ready.  We have to be eager to say with the Psalmist, “Here I am Lord, I come to do your will.”

  • The Twenty-ninth Sunday of Ordinary Time: Stewardship Sunday

    The Twenty-ninth Sunday of Ordinary Time: Stewardship Sunday

    Today’s readings

    This is indeed our home.  It can be easy to come to think of this place as a school, or an auditorium, or even as a worship space and fills a function and other than that, doesn’t mean anything different.  But as I said in the video this is our home: this is where we come to find peace when we’re struggling; this is where we go to make a difference as we did (earlier today/yesterday) and witness to our faith; this is where we gather to celebrate our faith in God and receive the grace he pours out on us through the sacraments of the church.  This isn’t just any old building, it’s a community, it’s a family, and it is us.

    And because this is our home, we have to attend to it.  We have to fix what’s broken, we have to strengthen what’s weak, we have to invest in a community so it will be here for our children and grandchildren.  And so this is one of the very few times that I will come to you and give the “money” talk.  Because I get it: I know that everyone has demands on their finances, sometimes very significant ones.  But if this is our home, then we are called to make an investment in its present and future, just as previous generations have done for us.

    Our Gospel reading today calls us to give to God what belongs to God.  This then becomes a reflection on the first commandment of the Decalogue: “I am the Lord your God; you shall have no other gods before me.” This is echoed by the prophet Isaiah in today’s first reading: “I am the Lord and there is no other, there is no God besides me. It is I who arm you, though you know me not, so that toward the rising and the setting of the sun people may know that there is none besides me. I am the LORD, there is no other.”

    Giving to God what belongs to God is foundational. Failure to do that leads to all other kinds of sin. Today, we have in our Scriptures an examination of conscience. Have we been zealous to give to God what belongs to God? Have we taken time for prayer? Have we been of service to our brothers and sisters in need? Have we made teaching the faith to our children our primary priority? Have we been vigilant to prevent anything from getting in the way of celebrating Mass as a family? If we have fallen short in any of those ways, this is the time to reverse the course and get it right. Caesar gets what’s his one way or the other. We have to be the ones who are on fire to give to God what belongs to God.

    We’ve accomplished a lot as a parish in the last year.  I hope you saw that wonderful list in the bulletin a few weeks ago when we presented the parish financial report.  It was a full and engaging year, and we should take pride that we as a parish could do so much together.  I am grateful for the way the parish came together to provide a beautiful sign out on Route 59, that we found a way to repair many of the sidewalks and other concrete around the facility, and to revamp our parish gym.  What a blessing that we could get those things done!  But, just like any home, there’s a lot to be done.  We need to repair the parking lot, the floor in Cana Hall, and the windows in the Commons, to name but a few.  We need to take care of those things and provide space in our budget for when stuff happens, like the air conditioning going out in the school office, or a leaking pipe in the narthex.

    One of the very first things I did when I found out I was coming here was to sign up for online giving.  I wanted to make sure that I was giving expression to my gratitude for all that God does in my life.  And so it is in that spirit that I ask that each of you discern how you can help us to meet our increased budget needs through your offertory support.  While we all have different resources to draw from and commitments to fulfill, we can each give something in support of our parish family.  We are doing our best to use modern conveniences to assist parishioners in their giving.  We have electronic giving options to help meet the demands presented by the fast pace of our lives.

    In the past week or so, you probably received a letter from me asking for your support.  After you have prayed about your response, I would ask that you fill out the enclosed letter of support and send it back to us.  You can mail it to the parish office, to my attention, or you can drop it in the collection basket this week or next.  Please know how very much I appreciate the support you give to our parish.  It helps me accomplish the mission we have as a parish to worship, teach the faith to people of all ages and to reach out to others in acts of service and charity.  Please know of my prayers for you every single day, and how much I love being your pastor.  May God bless us all as we continue to Make Christ Known together!

  • Saturday of the Twenty-eighth Week of Ordinary Time: Make a Difference Day

    Saturday of the Twenty-eighth Week of Ordinary Time: Make a Difference Day

    Today’s readings

    Our Gospel today warns us of coming persecutions.  At some point, we will all be dragged before synagogues and rulers and authorities of some sort, and we will have to give an account of what we believe.  Now for us, it’s not going to be so literal, obviously.  But we may have to give an account of why we believe in Christ or why we follow a religion that inconveniently speaks out against threats to life and family.  We may have to tell others why it is that we would give up such a beautiful Saturday to clean church pews, or trim a neighbor’s hedges, or play bingo at a nursing home.

    Today, on our Make a Difference Day, we take our give strong witness to our faith in our work. As we come together to pack meals at Feed My Starving Children, make blankets for Linden Oaks, or clean up our parish grounds, our presence and concern may be the way God is using to get someone’s attention and see his presence in her or his life. As we engage in whatever we have signed up to do today, God may give us gifts that answer prayers we didn’t even know we had in our hearts, and definitely answer the prayers of others. Our work gives witness to who Christ is in our lives; Christ who loves us first and loves us best.  Sharing that love in the work we do today is a powerful way to help others know the presence of Christ in their lives.

    Living our faith is always going to cost us something and that something is likely to be status or popularity, or at least the wondering glance from people who aren’t ready to accept the faith.  But the volumes that we speak by living our faith anyway might just lay the groundwork for conversion and become a conduit of grace.  We are told that we don’t have to hammer out all the words we want to say; that the Holy Spirit will give us eloquence that we can only dream of.  And it’s true, if we trust God, if we live our faith when it’s popular or unpopular, we will have the Spirit and the words.  God only knows what can be accomplished in those grace-filled moments!  I pray that you see Christ everywhere as you witness today.