Imagine with me all of God's great creations, close your eyes if you wish, and recall some of the most beautiful, amazing, and majestic creations of God:
> the Sun, the Moon, the Stars, the galaxies and nebulae of space
> the blue whale, thoroughbred horses, the Serengeti Plains filled with lions, zebra, elephants, and beasts of various kinds
> Mount Everest, the Rocky Mountains, the most magnificent coral reefs
* Whatever you can imagine
* Close your eyes, remember them think on them for a moment
Now, realize this truth:
> None of them are as beautiful, amazing, and majestic as you
* You are a human person, a human body, endowed with a rational, personal soul, the highpoint of God's creation
* and NO OTHER CREATION is greater than you or me, because our body - the human body - is the only one capable of communion with the Creator, and NO OTHER CREATION is destined for eternity with Him
God desired this communion and created us for communion from the beginning
> But as the book of Revelation reminds us this weekend, Satan is at war
* He attacked the woman and her offspring in the Garden of Eden and succeeded in deceiving Adam and Eve
* Yet, even at the moment of original sin, which ruptured that original relationship, His plan of redemption was already in place
* In Genesis Chapter 3, he promises that the woman and her offspring would crush the head of Satan
> He eventually called Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob seeking to establish a people who were uniquely his own, a people who would be the cause of salvation for the entire human race
> Then he called Moses who oversaw the development of worship after he lead the Israelites out of Egypt
* Central to their worship was "The Ark of the Covenant"
* a wooden chest made, covered with gold and adorned with angels
* In this ark, the Israelites placed the Stone Tablets containing the word of God, The Staff of Aaron who was their first high priest, and Manna "The bread from heaven" which God provided to sustain them in the desert of Sinai before they reached the Promised Land
* This ark was a sign of God's presence and their communion because the Lord would descend upon in the form of a cloud and speak to Moses as a friend
But these Old Testament artifacts, were only shadows of what was to come
> they could never completely satisfy the desire for communion because they were for the most part, external to the human person
* They served to point to something greater in God's plan of salvation
> Only God Himself could bring satisfaction
* You see: Jesus had to become the Word of God made Flesh
* He had to be the Great High Priest, ministering in a heavenly tabernacle, a heavenly temple, not an earthly one
* And he had to be the True Bread from Heaven by which His people could have more than a merely nutritional supplement for their bodies, but one by which he nourished their very souls
> This being the case, to whom would God entrust His Son? Into what Ark could he place himself for the salvation of the human race?
At the fullness of time, God prepared a woman to bear His Son and together they would fulfill what God promised so long ago
> Our catechism states:
* 721 "Mary... is the masterwork of the mission of the Son and the Spirit in the fullness of time."
* 722 "...by sheer grace, [Mary was] conceived without sin as the most humble of creatures, the most capable of welcoming the inexpressible gift of the Almighty."
* By welcoming the conception of the Lord in her womb, Mary became the "Ark of the New Covenant" holding within herself the Word of God, the Great High Priest, and the Bread of Life
* She also crushed the head of Satan and became the Mother of God, the first disciple, the model and prototype of the Church, and the cause of our salvation
> Many people have wondered where the Old Testament Ark of the Covenant is today
* Some Archaeologists have gone to great lengths to find it
* And despite what we see in Raiders of the Lost Ark, no one really knows what happened to it after the Babylonian invasion in 586 B.C.
> There is no question as to where the Ark of the New Covenant is today
* Revelation chapter 12 makes it clear that as the New Ark, Mary, the woman, is already in the heavenly temple body and soul, clothed with the sun with the moon under her feet, and crowned with 12 stars
* She is the first among Christians to be granted that great victory over death in her body spoken of by Saint Paul
* As prototype of the Church, she is what we will be
* Truly, because of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, we too have hope of complete redemption of our bodies and souls
> In the face of every pain and suffering we declare with the Great Apostle:
* WHERE, O DEATH, IS YOUR VICTORY?
* WHERE, O DEATH, IS YOUR STING?
But we must never take our victory over death for granted
> The Gospel tells us that one of the primary reasons Mary was blessed is because she heard the word of God, believed it, and obeyed it
* One of the biggest errors Christians can make today is to think that faith is comprised only of those matters they can understand or matters that are in line with their own opinions
* Even the truth of Mary's Assumption into heaven is called into question and has been made a matter of opinion by some
> So, let us be clear a to what faith is:
* Although faith must involve reason, faith is not believing only in what we can already accept and understand
* As Mary demonstrates, faith is saying yes to God even when we are afraid of the circumstances and even when we cannot completely understand His ways
Revelation Chapter 12 also makes clear that the last thing Satan wants is for us to become like Our Lady
> With an irrational hatred and jealously he continues to make war on the woman and her offspring
* Satan's primary strategy is to rupture our communion with God by promoting offenses against the human body:
* like murder, human trafficking, physical abuse, substance abuse, gluttony, laziness, adultery, sodomy, abortion, euthanasia, contraception, cohabitation, and modern technology which attacks the embryo for research or exploits it for in vitro purposes
> Accepting Church teaching on some of these matters can be difficult
* We are roundly mocked for our teachings and considered backward because of our beliefs about such things
* but the Church is obligated to bring both faith and reason to bear even on our modern circumstances
* Because if we are to join Our Lady where she is, we need to make every effort to thwart the attacks of Satan with the Truths of the Catholic Faith and make every effort to be more like her for the glory of Her Son and the salvation of all
Today we have received the Word of God - we heard it proclaimed from this Ambo and with our own lips praised and thanked God for it
> Very soon, we will be offered a true communion with Jesus, our Great High Priest, we will receive Him as the Bread of Life and the Cup of Eternal Salvation and take Him into our own bodies
> Thus each of us becomes, in an way, an ark of the new covenant and in our bodies we realize this communion is what we were created for
> And we look forward to a new day when like our Blessed Mother, we are carried into the heavenly Jerusalem, into eternal communion with God and all the saints with a new and glorified body
Monday, August 16, 2010
Monday, July 19, 2010
Mary and Martha Revisited
1) Today’s readings lead me to ask three questions as a disciple
a) Do we recognize whom we are serving?
b) Why do we serve?
c) What is our first priority as disciples?
2) In our culture, technology allows us to screen the various encounters we may have during a day.
a) With the aid of caller id, answering machines, receptionists, and security cameras, we can make judgments about an encounter and choose whether or not we want to have it.
b) Understandably, we assume we know what an encounter may bring based on previous experience
i) Making such judgments is not necessarily a bad thing, but we must be careful that we do not therefore miss an opportunity to bless someone by being present to them when they need us
ii) Abraham did not have luxury of screening his encounters as we do today, but perhaps that was a blessing in his case.
c) When his mysterious guests arrived, Abraham was sitting in the entrance to his tent (perhaps enjoying a breeze in the shade on a hot day)
i) he put aside his own comfort and “he waited on them”
ii) great effort in serving the strangers, a meal made with “fine flour”, a “tender, choice steer”, and “curds and milk”
iii) Even at this point in the passage it is not apparent to us or to Abraham who these strangers are
iv) Context is always important. From the second part of this chapter which you can read in Chapter 18 of Genesis, we know that one of visitors is the Lord, and the others are angels who enact judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah.
d) Let us couple Abraham’s example with the teachings of our Lord and the Apostle Paul:
i) Matthew 25: “Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.”
ii) Colossians 3: “do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus. Whatever you do, do from the heart, as for the Lord and not for others”
e) In the light of Christian revelation, the answer to the question, “Do we know whom we are serving?” is clear:
i) regardless of whom we encounter we are serving the LORD;
ii) therefore, every encounter is an opportunity to receive the Lord as our guest and an opportunity to present the Lord to another and be Christ for another
3) Why do we serve?
a) Turning back to our second reading from Colossians, we find the very reason we seek to serve and suffer anything on behalf of or for the sake of anyone in the name of Christ
i) The Apostle Paul states: “in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, the church, to bring to completion for you the word of God”
b) With Saint Paul, we rejoice in our suffering because we know and believe that the Christian revelation is the Truth, not just one truth among many equally valid truths
c) we desire to see more and more people enter the Church because we know and believe that Christ is not just any man
i) The son promised to Abraham in today’s first reading was just the beginning of the plan of salvation, a foreshadowing
ii) Jesus is the true SON, the completion of that promise for the salvation of the whole human race, not just the people of Israel
d) as Paul says, that which was hidden is now revealed for us.
i) It is a mystery that is revealed not only FOR us and TO us, but by our participation in the Church and the sacraments, that salvation, our Lord and God, now dwells IN us!
e) And that indwelling is our hope of glory!
i) A hope which compelled Saint Paul and compels us to “proclaim Him, admonishing everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom that we may present EVERYONE perfect in Christ” (NOT just ourselves)
ii) WHAT A MOTIVATION we have!
4) Proper motivation and enthusiasm come from the regular practice of our first and foremost priority as disciples of Christ
5) So, THIRDLY, What is that priority?
a) In today’s Gospel, we first meet Martha, who welcomed Jesus into her home and began serving, preparing a meal and waiting at table
b) Then we are introduced to her sister Mary “who (taking the posture of a disciple) sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak”
c) It appears that Martha, as a good Jewish woman, is doing exactly what her Father Abraham had done in our first reading; and strangely, the Lord rebukes her.
d) Jesus’ gentle rebuke to Martha reminds us of two things:
i) that our service must first be formed with the proper motivations
ii) that we risk missing the divine in the everyday demands of life
e) If we contrast Martha’s behavior to that of Abraham we will notice that while Abraham is concerned only for the well-being of his guests, Martha speaks only of herself: “Tell her to help me,” she says
i) I want to avoid reading too much into Martha’s motivations, but as we ought to do when reading scripture, I allowed it to provoke a question within me: What might my motivations be in the same situation?
(1) Desire for notoriety, of having a famous prophet in my home?
(2) Pride of being an excellent host a good chef, of being complimented for my service?
ii) In my meditation I also wondered, “How many of us have embarked upon a project without fully estimating the cost and then sought to be bailed out like Martha?” Crying to God and demanding help.
f) How often do our days and weeks go by with school, with work, with family, housework, and activities and we wonder, “Where did that day go? Where did that week go?”
i) We find ourselves at Church on Sunday and we may discover it is the only hour of the week we spend in the presence of God.
(1) Even while we are here our minds may be anxious about many things
(2) With all that is going on, it’s not difficult to be distracted at mass – I have found myself planning the day, preparing for an event, thinking about work; and I have to bring myself back to what I am to be doing here, sitting at the feet of Jesus
ii) At times like these we must listen to the words of Jesus again, but let us substitute our own names for Martha’s name:
(1) “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things.
(2) (Pause)
(3) “GREGORY, GREGORY, you are anxious and worried about many things.
(4) There is need of only one thing.”
g) When Jesus tells Martha that Mary has chosen the better part (portion) he is telling all of us, that the first and best priority in our lives is a real and intimate relationship with God.
i) Jesus is the really the host in Martha’s house – recall how in Matthew 20 he tells us that he came “not to be served, but to serve"
ii) Remember our first question: DO WE RECOGNIZE WHOM WE ARE SERVING? WHO IS IN OUR PRESENCE?
(1) Ultimately, to be a disciple we must be both Mary and Martha, but in the right order
(2) First, with Mary, we sit at the feet our Lord, the Master Servant
(3) We listen, learn, worship, and prepare
(4) Properly prepared, we then serve in His presence with the proper motivations, so that others may take their turn at his feet
iii) Martha has an opportunity here: Her service allows Mary to rest at the feet of Jesus.
iv) When we serve, do we see that same opportunity?
(1) When we agree to be greeters at mass, or lectors, cantors, and extraordinary ministers; when children become altar servers and when parents volunteer to work with Children’s Liturgy;
(2) when we cook a meal for someone, or care for the needs of other,
(3) we do so because we have spent time at the feet of Christ and we desire to allow and enable others to sit His feet, that they may have rest and fellowship with God and others.
6) Christians!
a) Let us recognize whom we serve
b) Remember why we serve
c) And may we always choose the better part
a) Do we recognize whom we are serving?
b) Why do we serve?
c) What is our first priority as disciples?
2) In our culture, technology allows us to screen the various encounters we may have during a day.
a) With the aid of caller id, answering machines, receptionists, and security cameras, we can make judgments about an encounter and choose whether or not we want to have it.
b) Understandably, we assume we know what an encounter may bring based on previous experience
i) Making such judgments is not necessarily a bad thing, but we must be careful that we do not therefore miss an opportunity to bless someone by being present to them when they need us
ii) Abraham did not have luxury of screening his encounters as we do today, but perhaps that was a blessing in his case.
c) When his mysterious guests arrived, Abraham was sitting in the entrance to his tent (perhaps enjoying a breeze in the shade on a hot day)
i) he put aside his own comfort and “he waited on them”
ii) great effort in serving the strangers, a meal made with “fine flour”, a “tender, choice steer”, and “curds and milk”
iii) Even at this point in the passage it is not apparent to us or to Abraham who these strangers are
iv) Context is always important. From the second part of this chapter which you can read in Chapter 18 of Genesis, we know that one of visitors is the Lord, and the others are angels who enact judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah.
d) Let us couple Abraham’s example with the teachings of our Lord and the Apostle Paul:
i) Matthew 25: “Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.”
ii) Colossians 3: “do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus. Whatever you do, do from the heart, as for the Lord and not for others”
e) In the light of Christian revelation, the answer to the question, “Do we know whom we are serving?” is clear:
i) regardless of whom we encounter we are serving the LORD;
ii) therefore, every encounter is an opportunity to receive the Lord as our guest and an opportunity to present the Lord to another and be Christ for another
3) Why do we serve?
a) Turning back to our second reading from Colossians, we find the very reason we seek to serve and suffer anything on behalf of or for the sake of anyone in the name of Christ
i) The Apostle Paul states: “in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, the church, to bring to completion for you the word of God”
b) With Saint Paul, we rejoice in our suffering because we know and believe that the Christian revelation is the Truth, not just one truth among many equally valid truths
c) we desire to see more and more people enter the Church because we know and believe that Christ is not just any man
i) The son promised to Abraham in today’s first reading was just the beginning of the plan of salvation, a foreshadowing
ii) Jesus is the true SON, the completion of that promise for the salvation of the whole human race, not just the people of Israel
d) as Paul says, that which was hidden is now revealed for us.
i) It is a mystery that is revealed not only FOR us and TO us, but by our participation in the Church and the sacraments, that salvation, our Lord and God, now dwells IN us!
e) And that indwelling is our hope of glory!
i) A hope which compelled Saint Paul and compels us to “proclaim Him, admonishing everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom that we may present EVERYONE perfect in Christ” (NOT just ourselves)
ii) WHAT A MOTIVATION we have!
4) Proper motivation and enthusiasm come from the regular practice of our first and foremost priority as disciples of Christ
5) So, THIRDLY, What is that priority?
a) In today’s Gospel, we first meet Martha, who welcomed Jesus into her home and began serving, preparing a meal and waiting at table
b) Then we are introduced to her sister Mary “who (taking the posture of a disciple) sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak”
c) It appears that Martha, as a good Jewish woman, is doing exactly what her Father Abraham had done in our first reading; and strangely, the Lord rebukes her.
d) Jesus’ gentle rebuke to Martha reminds us of two things:
i) that our service must first be formed with the proper motivations
ii) that we risk missing the divine in the everyday demands of life
e) If we contrast Martha’s behavior to that of Abraham we will notice that while Abraham is concerned only for the well-being of his guests, Martha speaks only of herself: “Tell her to help me,” she says
i) I want to avoid reading too much into Martha’s motivations, but as we ought to do when reading scripture, I allowed it to provoke a question within me: What might my motivations be in the same situation?
(1) Desire for notoriety, of having a famous prophet in my home?
(2) Pride of being an excellent host a good chef, of being complimented for my service?
ii) In my meditation I also wondered, “How many of us have embarked upon a project without fully estimating the cost and then sought to be bailed out like Martha?” Crying to God and demanding help.
f) How often do our days and weeks go by with school, with work, with family, housework, and activities and we wonder, “Where did that day go? Where did that week go?”
i) We find ourselves at Church on Sunday and we may discover it is the only hour of the week we spend in the presence of God.
(1) Even while we are here our minds may be anxious about many things
(2) With all that is going on, it’s not difficult to be distracted at mass – I have found myself planning the day, preparing for an event, thinking about work; and I have to bring myself back to what I am to be doing here, sitting at the feet of Jesus
ii) At times like these we must listen to the words of Jesus again, but let us substitute our own names for Martha’s name:
(1) “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things.
(2) (Pause)
(3) “GREGORY, GREGORY, you are anxious and worried about many things.
(4) There is need of only one thing.”
g) When Jesus tells Martha that Mary has chosen the better part (portion) he is telling all of us, that the first and best priority in our lives is a real and intimate relationship with God.
i) Jesus is the really the host in Martha’s house – recall how in Matthew 20 he tells us that he came “not to be served, but to serve"
ii) Remember our first question: DO WE RECOGNIZE WHOM WE ARE SERVING? WHO IS IN OUR PRESENCE?
(1) Ultimately, to be a disciple we must be both Mary and Martha, but in the right order
(2) First, with Mary, we sit at the feet our Lord, the Master Servant
(3) We listen, learn, worship, and prepare
(4) Properly prepared, we then serve in His presence with the proper motivations, so that others may take their turn at his feet
iii) Martha has an opportunity here: Her service allows Mary to rest at the feet of Jesus.
iv) When we serve, do we see that same opportunity?
(1) When we agree to be greeters at mass, or lectors, cantors, and extraordinary ministers; when children become altar servers and when parents volunteer to work with Children’s Liturgy;
(2) when we cook a meal for someone, or care for the needs of other,
(3) we do so because we have spent time at the feet of Christ and we desire to allow and enable others to sit His feet, that they may have rest and fellowship with God and others.
6) Christians!
a) Let us recognize whom we serve
b) Remember why we serve
c) And may we always choose the better part
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