Category Archives: Sunday Morning

On that day

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Across time and place, the mountains are the place where revolutions begin and from where they emerge to overthrow kingdoms. Just consider the last 100 years: the Communist Chinese movement began in the Jing’gang Mountains; the Cuban revolution descended from the Sierra Maestra mountains; the Afghan Mujahideen’s power base was always in the Hindu Kush mountains – and other examples are plentiful. In today’s gospel, another revolutionary, Jesus of Nazareth, comes down from the mountain to a “stretch of level ground.” A divine revolutionary whose goal was to overturn a kingdom.

One way to look at kingdoms is to understand their patterns of values, power, and product. When Herb Brooks took over the US Olympic Hockey Team before the 1980 Olympics he brought a new set of values to the team. He knew that the Russians were the most skilled hockey players in the world and were essentially paid professionals in an amateur world. Coach Brooks brought the value of conditioning, he trained his players in the power to outskate the Russians, and the product was the Miracle on Ice gold medal. Kingdoms can be understood by their patterns of values, power, and product.  Old kingdoms are overthrown with new values, new power, and new results.

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Into the Deep

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“Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.”(Luke 5:4)

My tale begins during my first summer at the US Naval Academy. There are two kinds of people who come to plebe summer – them’s that can swim and them’s that can’t.  I was one of the former. I had swum competitively since I was 12 years old, surfed since about the same age, and so swimming and water was as natural to me as breathing.  I had two classmates in my group. Jack was from Chicago’s south side and had never been in a pool, much less Lake Michigan nor the ocean.  Joe was from the Great Plains of the Midwest – and he had at least seen the ocean once.  Jack and Joe had two months to learn how to swim.  They were assigned to the group known as the “sub squad” [sub = substandard] which given their propensity to sink and sink quite suddenly, was a group aptly named. Over the next four years at the Naval Academy I was often asked to mentor folks on the swimming “sub squad” and it seems to me that there were four stages of progression:

  • Stage 1 – the on-shore talk where our erstwhile swimmers could hear the word, some basic do’s and don’ts.  Then moved by inspiring and spiriting words we moved (hopefully) to… 
  • Stage 2 – clinging to the side of the pool where there was some measure of safety, where one could get one’s feet wet – so to speak.  Maybe put a face in the water, practice blowing bubbles, kicking, and all sorts of preliminary things. Eventually came…
  • Stage 3 – Those tentative movements of arms and limbs resembling the near occasion of swimming, the gasping for air, stopping to put one’s feet on the sure ground of the shallow end, and then repeating it all again – encouraged by empathetic and compassionate instruction.

Some never left Stage 1 and soon enough they concluded that a naval career was not for them, forever staying on the shore.  Chicago Jack was one of those folks.  Some never graduated from Stage 2.  There was never enough trust to let go and believe in the word.  Stage 2 folks left within a year.  Most people made it to stage three – the near occasion of swimming – and were destined to complete the training marked by a 40 minute swim in uniform.  But none more interesting than Jack from the Great Plains.

Jack seemed to linger in the shallow end.  Plebe Summer was coming to an end.  Our upperclass squad leader was threatening him with unnamed and unspoken dire consequences – and berating me for some perceived lack of swimming acumen. Well it was a desperate time. Empathy and compassion were out. It was time for questioning his fortitude and courage. Yes… time for nautical trash talk.

In Naval Academy slang, a Puddle Pirate is a dismissive term for wanna-be sailors who spend their days on closed waters within sight of land, and their nights in bars telling sea stories of their exploits on Lake Right-Outside-of-Town.  The shallow end of the Naval Academy swimming pool was pure Puddle Pirate territory.  Destiny, courage, fortitude – all these things lay in the deep end where one was transformed from mere mortal to Blue Water Sailor.  Those mythic iron men in wooden ships who plowed the uncharted water far and wide.  Who ventured out where the navigation charts stopped and were simply marked “beyond here be sea dragons, denizens of the deep, and all kinds of creatures fearsome and deadly.”  Jack, invited into the deep waters, was transformed. He learned to swim and even joined the Academy sailing squadron, crewing the large yawls that ventured out to open water.  From Puddle Pirate to Blue Water Sailor.

There are two kinds of people in today’s Gospel – the crowd, who at the beginning of the Gospel press in upon Jesus, eager to hear the Word – but they never leave the shore. They never leave the known for the unknown.  They never trust.  The moment passes.  And then there is Peter, Andrew, James and John – who heard the challenge to “Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.”  No passive hearers of the Word, they put out into the deep – and lives were changed.

Each one of us has our own moment when the Call comes. When we are called to put out into the deep.   Growing up in Florida led me to the water and the ocean. The Naval Academy led to the submarine service, into the uncharted blue waters of the world’s oceans. But it was always known territory.  But the call comes – it is different for everyone, but as we have heard in the last two weeks of readings, we have all been gifted by God. And God comes a calling, calling us to “Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.”

For me it was into the blue waters called mission and the slums of Kenya where water was scarce and anything but blue.  And all my tentative movements of what I thought was faith and Christian life, was cast away as so much flotsam and jetsam.  I had to unlearn what I knew and trust in God – trust in a people whose language I did not yet speak. I was in over my head. But time and the tides have their own way of sweeping one into the rhythms of God.  My life changed. Now I see what plan God had for my gifts – but I never would have seen them from the shore or the shallows. Only in the deep water does it become clear.

I can’t tell your story. But I can shed the light of the Gospel upon it. And let you hear what so many before you have heard “Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.”  Be seized by grace and dive into the unknown. Like Isaiah in the first reading, like Paul the second, and like the Apostles in the Gospel – do not be afraid, leave everything and follow Jesus.  Puddle Pirate or Blue Water Sailor.  The hearer of the Word who never leaves shore or the one who casts off for the deep at the command of Jesus. Your call will come. Venture beyond the charts and be transformed. It is the adventure of one’s life.

The First Light of Revelation

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“Make America Great Again” – think what you will, but it is a fantastic slogan – easy to remember, tells a story of what is possible, and it is three election cycles old and we all know it. Marketing and advertising experts will tell you it hits all the marks. And stop for a moment…does anyone remember the slogans of the opponents in the last three elections? Think what you will of MAGA, it is a masterpiece in sloganeering. And we have the spinoffs: for example, Make America Healthy Again. I asked Chat-GPT for some other suggestions along the same lines and got: “Make America….” Safe Again, Energy-Independent, Strong, First, Free, Bold… “Again!”  Maybe I should copyright some of these ideas? I thought about “Make American Moral Again” or “Make America Mighty Again” – not bad, but then the slogan would be MAMA and I am not sure what that would say if I walked around with a MAMA hat.

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The Tapestry of Scripture

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How about that first reading? “Pretty good stuff, huh? Ready for a pop quiz? Any volunteers?” About this time everyone begins to look down in the hopes that if we don’t make eye contact I won’t call on them. The first reading was from the Book of Nehemiah – just the title tells you a lot – fills in the who, what, when and where of the reading we just heard. It is the people of Jerusalem, returned from Exile in Babylon some 40 years after the destruction of Jerusalem and its beloved Temple. The people are rebuilding as best they can. Life is hard. The neighbors are making it difficult. The complaints and grumbling are many. What began in joy is wilting in the hot sun of their reality. They are forgetting who they are and to whom they belong.  And so they are all brought together in one place. The sequence of events that unfold are this: Continue reading →

A changed life

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The Gospel of John offers each reader with choices. One can take the easiest, the most obvious paths through it, perhaps the one that will not require much from you, not ask for a change in heart or life. For example, a Pharisee, Nicodemus, meets Jesus and has the choice to be born “anothen.” He can understand the choice as being born again or being born from above.  Nicodemus never grasps the higher choice: to be born from above – perhaps it is too risky for him. Life doesn’t change for Nicodemus (at least not yet). The Samaritan woman Jesus meets at the well has a choice between flowing waters or living waters – she asks about the living waters and enters into a new life, immediately returning to her town and proclaiming the good news of the gospel. Her life has changed. This is a recurring theme in John’s Gospel. What about Cana?

When Holy Land tours reach Cana there is generally an opportunity for the married couples to receive a blessing. It is a wonderful and touching moment. The tours don’t linger there because there is a busy schedule of visiting other sacred sites. I remember the first time I was in Cana and as we moved off to the next stop, I remember thinking “the story of Cana has more to offer.” I wondered “whose life has changed?” Mary or the Apostles? You could certainly make that argument. There is certainly a stronger case that Cana is the “life changer” for Jesus. This we already know: Jesus was truly born from above and came to dwell among us. He has been anointed in the Spirit on the banks of the Jordan River. Perhaps now the question is will he unleash the living waters into the world? Has that hour arrived? Jesus is clear: “My hour has not yet come.”

“The hour” – an expression in John that points to the Cross, the ultimate and great sign of our redemption. True, that hour has not yet come, but I think Mary, in her gift of wisdom, understands the deeper story that is unfolding. Think about it this way: over the timeline of meeting, dating, becoming engaged, the wedding, building a common life, starting a family, and all that fall between and is yet to come – what is “the hour?” Some things play out over the course of time and all are part of “the hour.” I think Mary understands that and actually kind of ignores Jesus’ response, turns to the servants and says: “Do whatever he tells you.” She understands that “the hour” has already begun and the clock is ticking.

In the Cana story there are six water containers – all empty.  They are not containers for drinking water, they are set aside for the Jewish rituals of purification, being made ritually pure, able to enter the wedding feast.  Jesus orders them filled and then changes the water to wine.  The best of wines, in abundance, about 150 gallons.  Wine in superabundance – the OT sign of the kingdom of God, the great banquet of God.  The great in-gathering when all the faithful will be made clean – not with the ritual waters of Jewish custom but with… with… well, the OT never says.  

Here at Cana the water becomes wine – a sign of the coming kingdom, a sign giving us a glimpse of the Eucharistic wine at the Last Supper – but even more importantly pointing to when the wine of the last supper will become the blood of the cross. When the OT water rituals are replaced with Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross, when we are washed clean in the blood of the Lamb, and redemption is complete.

I think Mary’s gift to her Son is this: “This is when the hour begins. When is it complete? You will know. The choice you make now is part of the choice you will make all along the way, right up to the hour’s end.” Jesus chooses and the living waters of the Gospel begin to flow into the world with the first sign of God’s power now in the world.. At the end Jesus will choose that the will of the Father be done – and redemption will be complete. 

At this point in the story, how could anyone know all of this? They couldn’t. It is only in the larger narrative of the entire Gospel of John that the simple sign of water changing to wine is fully revealed and made known.  But we are in the here and now, and knowing what we know – we know the story. We are called to choose. To choose how we are to be in the world – born again, or born from above.  Seeking flowing waters or living waters.  Seeing the simple miracle or seeing the fuller glory of the Lord. And in the fullness of the Glory of God to know that we are gifted to be in this time and place to show the glory and preeminence of God. We are baptized in the sanctifying waters of Baptism. We are anointed and gifted by the Holy Spirit: “There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; there are different forms of service but the same Lord; there are different workings but the same God who produces all of them in everyone.” (1 Cor 12:4)

In the story at Cana, Mary, the woman filled with grace, uses the Spirit-given gift of Wisdom. Whose life was changed? Jesus, the Son of God, anointed in the Spirit, unleashing the beginning of the hour when all will be redeemed? Whose life was changed? Everyone who believes into the Son of God.

The story of Cana gives one context to this life. You meet the love of your life; the hour begins. How will the story unfold? You bring your gifts to the marriage. You include the wisdom of God so that your marriage and life are fonts of living water nourishing those around you. The hour ends as you enter the bright glory of God in everlasting life. 

You come to St. Francis in Triangle.You whose hour began in the waters and anointing of Baptism. We are one chapter in your unfolding story. Our story joins with yours; our gifts join with yours. Bring your gifts to the life and ministry of this parish, in this time and place. Whose life will be changed? We can’t begin to imagine all the souls that will be touched. Choose the life from above. Choose the living waters. The hour is already upon us…and we know the ending – the eternal wedding feast of heaven.

Image credit: The Marriage Feast at Cana | Bartolomé Estebán Murillo, 1672 | The Barber Institute of Fine Art | PD-US | Photograph by DeFacto – Wiki Commons | CC-SA-4.0

Beginnings and Belonging

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One of my seminary classmates told me of a nice tradition his religious community maintained. Each priest had his own copy of The Rite of Baptism of Children. Written on the front inside cover was the name of the priest and the first child that he baptized. The simple notation in the Rite book was the start of two stories: a priestly vocation and a story of Christian beginning.  Stories that unfold as the weeks become months become years. Continue reading →

Rise Up!

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“Rise up in splendor! Your light has come, the glory of the Lord shines upon you.” So proclaims the opening of our first reading from the Prophet Isaiah, chapter 60. Earlier in Isaiah, the prophet spoke to the people returning to Jerusalem from more than 40 years in exile in Babylon. Then his words were to give praise and glory to God for they had been redeemed and delivered from the sins that led to their exile. But now, the prophet tells them it is the time to rise up because the glory of the Lord is radiating from them to the whole world. They are like a city gleaming in the light of the newly risen sun, shining with a beauty that is not their own. And the world is responding: “Nations shall walk by your light, and kings by your shining radiance.”  The reading paints a vivid picture of people coming from the four corners of the world, drawn by the light and glory of God, bringing their riches – not to the people of Jerusalem – but as gifts to the Temple where they can proclaim “the praises of the Lord.”

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Family Holiness

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Is your family holy? What makes a family holy?

Most often when we think of families, we think of what makes them healthy – and that’s a good question, a good goal, and something worth time and energy to ensure. A family should want to be a place where its members feel welcomed, warm, embraced, safe, supported, loved and so much more.  But do all those things – as good as they are – make a family holy?

Is your family religious? Of course one answer is – “why sure…we are here at church.”  And if you are here to give praise and worship to God, then St. Thomas Aquinas would hold that your family is religious in that you possess the virtue to give God that which is fitting worship and praise.

Is your family holy?  Aquinas makes a distinction between being religious and being holy. Holiness is the virtue by which we make all our acts in accord with the will of God. 

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Anything but ordinary

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We live in a world of email, text messaging, tweets, instagrams, and all manner of connectivity in social and electronic media. It has become all very ordinary. Yet, each day, I am more than a little curious about what comes “old school” via USPS into my mailbox. There is correspondence from the Diocese, advertisements for one thing or another, bills and invoices, catalogues, and “ta-da!”… Christmas cards. Continue reading →

Gaudete in Domino semper

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The prophets Zephaniah and John the Baptist are not the two most joyful characters in all of Scripture, yet we hear from them both today. They are paired with the great Advent refrain from the Letter to the Philippians: “Gaudete in Domino semper,” –  “Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice!” This is Gaudete Sunday. Everything about today’s readings call to the people of God to get excited, be demonstrative, and above all be joyful, celebrate, and rejoice. Even the dour, prophet of doom, Zephaniah can’t restrain himself and tells us “Shout for joy…Sing joyfully… Be glad and exult with all your heart!” The book of Zephaniah is only three chapters long, filled with death, doom, fire, flood, pestilence and plague – yet even he tells us to shout for joy!

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