Gospel - Matthew 15:21-28

Boudreaux’s daughter, T-Girl, came home from a date rather sad. She told Clotilde, "Jimmy Bob proposed to me an hour ago."

"Mai, then why you so sad, honey?" Clotilde asked.

"Because he told me he is an atheist. Mama, he doesn’t even believe in hell!"

Clotilde replied, "T-Girl, you marry him anyway. Between the two of us, we’ll show him how wrong he is."

Well, we know there is a heaven and hell. Jesus spoke about it. But even when he talked of harsh things, he did not talk harshly to people. Yet in our gospel today, Jesus' first response to the Canaanite woman sounds more like Archie Bunker than the Good Shepherd. Remember Archie? Archie's world had little room for those who were of the "wrong" color, race, or religion. The same was true for the Jews who lived at the time of Jesus. This foreign woman, a non-Jew, asks Jesus to expel a demon from her daughter. The woman is considered by Jesus' disciples as an outsider, an illegal alien, a non-member of the ethnic club of Jews. The average Jew would have nothing to do with such a person.

The apostles want Jesus to tell her to get lost. At first, Jesus seems to take the same hard-line, red-neck approach as his followers. He sounds unbelievably harsh, telling her he can't take the food reserved for the family and throw it to the dogs. You see, it was common of Jews at that time to refer to the Gentiles as "dogs." Is this the Jesus that we know and love? What is going on here? Well, plenty!

First our evangelist, Matthew, wants to make it very clear that Jesus was sent first to the lost sheep of Israel. The Good News came first the chosen people. Jesus was a Jew, a member of the House of David. Thus, he was affirming his mission to his own people and fulfilling the promise made by Yahweh to the descendants of Abraham.

But then, Jesus quickly goes on to teach that God's first choice is not God’s only choice. The point of Jesus' interaction with the Canaanite woman is clearly that God's salvation is not limited by racial or ethnic lines. God's healing mercy spills over these lines and touches the woman and her daughter, as if to proclaim that redemption is for all humanity. The obvious message for us is that we have to cut across those narrow lines of prejudice and fear with which we imprison ourselves and others.

But the exchange of words between Jesus and the woman is disturbing and one of the most misunderstood passages in all of Scripture. When Jesus announces to the woman that the family's bread should not go to the dogs, he is engaging in a kind of friendly battle of quips, which was common in the Near East at that time, and is still common today. In the exchange, each parties tries to top the other party's good riddle with a better one or a clever little insult with a snappier one. Jesus would have been familiar with such exchanges. They were quite common and part of everyday culture.

The exchange with the woman is more a display of humor and wit than any serious put-down. And the woman knew that. She, too, engaged with her response about the dogs eating the leavings that fall from their masters' tables. In fact, she was even more clever because in her response, she acknowledged Jesus as the Master.

Even the word "dogs" can be misleading to the casual observer.  Remember I told you my first week here that there are a lot of problems in translation and that I would address those problems to clear up confusion.  Well, here is a major one.

The Jews of Jesus’ time call non-Jews "dogs." They used a word which meant a mangy dirty street dog. Here, Jesus calls her a "dog." But, Jesus uses the word for "pet dog" not "street dogs." It was equivalent to saying "you rascal." This is very clever and sophisticated humor we are dealing with--not a serious put-down. By changing the word for dog, instead of saying, "It is not right to take food of the children and throw it to mangy mongrels," Jesus says, "It is not right to take food of the children and throw it to Poochie ." Jesus is putting down those self-righteous Jews who called foreigners dog by replacing the negative word with a positive version.

The woman, of course, comes back with her snappy response, "Yes, but even little Poochie gets the scraps that fall from the table."

So, let’s picture this story another way. Picture Jesus smiling and greeting people. He turns to engage in his friendly battle and the woman who catches on immediately and engages him. What the gospels never tell us is the tone of his voice, the look on his face, the mischief in his eyes. We just get the words and place our own meanings upon them. That is why it is dangerous to take a fundamentalist and literal approach to Scripture. It is places like this where we run into problems and misunderstand Jesus words, his attitude, and his message.

Jesus was an upbeat fun guy. No one would have followed a gloomy Jesus. And it should come as no surprise that immediately after this friendly exchange of clever words with the woman, in the following passages which are not read today, Jesus then rejects the narrow-minded position of his apostles because it is opposed to his message of universal salvation. We don’t get that part because we quit reading too soon.

Jesus is challenging us to be "catholic". Remember, catholic means universal. He wants us to work for the day when we can rise above our fears and defenses and become a "united family." Just as nations can be locked as enemies for centuries, because too few citizens have the Christlike courage or love to seek reconciliation or hold out an olive branch, so can two individuals--even married couples or brothers and sisters--be locked into a hatred that burdens and diminishes our lives. Jesus embodies universal love. If we can embrace that universal love, we can expel the demons in our own lives.

The Jews had no use for the Canaanites. Jesus’ disciples said, "Get rid of her." It’s an ugly utterance, once used against small people of all kinds by those in power. "Get rid of them," Hitler said of the Jews. "Get rid of them," his henchmen said of the Poles and other political and religious dissidents. "Get rid of them," Stalin said of the kulaks and Ukrainians. "Get rid of them," Pol Pot said of the Cambodians. "Get rid of them," the South American dictators said of the young people of Argentina and Chile. "Get rid of them," our own covert forces say to undermine independence movements in the Third World. "Get rid of them," Sadaam Hussein said to his Iraqi henchmen. "Get rid of them," the Taliban rulers said to their Afgan followers. "Get rid of them," American citizens say to the Mexican immigrants. "Get rid of them" has become the easiest and ugliest way of solving problems in our modern world.

But perhaps all the small people have reason to take heart today. In spite of his disciples, Jesus heard the woman. In spite of his disciples, Jesus drew her into full communion with his kingdom. This is an invitation for all the little people in the Church and in the world to keep crying after Jesus. He will hear them. They shall have their place.

This altar proves that. This one table is set up all over the world. To it Jesus welcomes the little ones of every race, every sex, every nationality, every class. All of us little ones rub elbows with each other today as this altar brings us into one with Jesus and with each other. There is only one thing to get rid of now, and that is the statement, "Get rid of her." What Jesus banished from his life and his speech we must delete also. Those whom Jesus welcomes into his life, we must welcome too. Jesus welcomed everyone. We must do the same.

Sunday, 18th Ordinary Time

Gospel - Matthew 14:13-21

Boudreaux and Clotilde were sitting on their front porch rockers watching the beautiful sunset, enjoying their golden years, and reminiscing about "the good old days." Then Clotilde turned to Boudreaux and said, "Honey, do you remember when we first started dating and you used to just casually reach over and take my hand?"

Boudreaux looked over at her, smiled and took her aged hand in his. With a little smile, Clotilde pressed a little further. "Honey, do you remember how after we were engaged you’d sometimes lean over and suddenly kiss me on the cheek?"

Boudreaux leaned slowly toward Clotilde and gave her a lingering kiss on her wrinkled cheek. Growing bolder still, Clotilde said, "Honey, do you remember how, after we were first married, you’d kind of nibble on my ear?"

Boudreaux slowing got up from his rocker and headed into the house. Alarmed, Clotilde said, "Honey, where are you going?"

Boudreaux turned to her and replied, "Mai I’m going to get my teeth!"

===

There was an elderly woman who lived in one half of a duplex apartment. She was extremely poor in this world’s goods, but rich in the things of the spirit. She prayed a great deal. In the other half of the duplex lived the owner, a man of no faith, no prayer, no religion. He often made fun of the old lady’s trust in God.

One day this woman was praying, quite loudly, telling the Lord that she had no food in the house. The godless landlord heard her and decided: "I’m going to play a trick on the old gal." He took a loaf of bread, laid it at her front door, rang the bell, and then hurried back to his apartment, to hear through the wall her cry of delight: "Thank you Lord, I just knew you wouldn’t fail me."

With a devilish grin the man came back to her front door and told her: "You silly woman. You think God answered your prayer. Well, I’m the one who brought you that loaf of bread." Undaunted the old lady exclaimed: "Praise the Lord! He always helps me in my needs, even if he has to use the devil to answer my prayers!"

In today’s scripture story the disciples told Jesus to "send the crowds away ... to buy food for themselves." Jesus replied: "Give them some food yourselves." Then Our Lord fed five thousand with only five loaves of bread and two fish--with twelve baskets left over.

Before we go any further, I want to tell you about bread and fish in ancient Palestine. A Palestinian loaf of bread was the size of a dinner roll and the fish were the size of sardines.

Oh, an by the way, those five loaves and two fish were given to him by a little boy. It was his lunch! What faith that little boy had.

Another interesting thing is that this is the only miracle of Jesus that is reported in all four gospels. And every one of the accounts mentions there was a surplus left over! So you know, there is an important message here.

Millions of people go to bed hungry every night. Oh, no, you’re thinking. He’s gonna start talking about hunger and starvation. Well, yes I am. You see, we have many social justice teachings, but they make people uncomfortable. However, my job is to "comfort the afflicted" and "afflict the comfortable." So, I’m going to afflict you this morning.

Did you know that the average person blinks his eyes 13 times every minute? Did you also know that 28 children starve to death or die from hunger-related diseases every minute in this world? That means, of course, that every time you and I blink our eyes, at least two children have died. And doesn’t count the adults! That’s pretty hard to imagine as we sit here in church this morning.

Let me put it another way. We hear from time to time about plane crashes. Imagine a Boeing 747 filled with preschool-age children. Some of the children sleep; others play and laugh; still others cry out for a little attention from the flight attendants. Just before landing, something goes wrong, and the plane plummets to the ground, killing all aboard.

Ten minutes later--even before the emergency vehicles can arrive to the runway--another planeload of children crashes right next to the first one. Ten minutes later, a third crash. And the tragedies continue: every ten minutes, a jet falls to the earth, all day and night, day after day, month after month. Planeload after planeload of children.

The number of deaths is not so farfetched. The same number of children -- 40,000 -- die each day from hunger-related diseases. 40,000 a day and millions more go to bed hungry. And you know what the sad tragedy is: the world has more than enough food to feed everyone. There is no reason for this tragedy.

Farmers produce more food than we can possibly use. A California dairy farmer was so productive that the government paid him $8 million to slaughter his herd. We are constantly paying farmers not to grow food. We got too much. We got to keep the prices high.

We really don’t have a food problem. What we have is a PEOPLE problem. You see, people haven’t gotten Jesus’ message. We heard it in today’s gospel: "Give them some food yourselves." Every time Jesus opened his mouth he talked about loving each other, taking care of each other, being one family--brothers and sisters with God as our parent.

We need to realize that we are Christians and we are accountable for the needs of our neighbors--whether they live next door or around the world. Whether they live in Haiti or in Gibson. There are hungry people in Houma. When we have functions in the hall, we need to gather up all the leftover and have them delivered to elderly and poor. There are hungry people all around us! There are people sleeping under the Highway 90 overpasses. But it doesn’t stop with just bringing food to people.

When you walk into the voting booths, do you know how your favorite candidate stands on issues of foreign aid, and social programs such as those which help give pre-natal care to poor mothers? How does he stand on minimum wage and paying a decent wage, as well as providing medical benefits? How does he stand on immigration and allowing people to come here for a better life. These are Catholic social teachings. We stand around giving a lot attention to our encyclical Humane Vitae and how people conduct their sex lives, yet many people ignore the multitude of encyclicals of Catholic social teachings. Do we make our politicians accountable for our Catholic social teachings, too? The social teachings are about the value of human life as well as the dignity of human life.

Did you know that in Honduras, instead of growing grain for people to eat, land owners graze cattle. Now the cattle are grass fed, which makes their meat far too tough for American tastes. But that’s okay, we figured that one out. You see, our cattle or overfed, with grain, hormones and even cement. So we purchase their beef and grind it up. Then we take all the excess fat and leftovers that was cut from our own over-fat beef before it is sold. Then we grind that up. We mix the two together and, presto!, we’ve got the American fast-food hamburger. And children go to bed hungry in Honduras because their farmers are producing beef for our hamburgers.

Did you know that Haiti, which is just a boat ride off of Florida, is the poorest nation in this hemisphere? Honduras is the second poorest. Even more children go to bed hungry in Haiti. And we panic when they come here by the boatload. Do you know what is engraved on the pedestal of our Statute of Liberty, what our ancestors read when they came here: "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me...." Perhaps someone forgot to tell them not to take that too literally. We don’t really mean that even though that is how we got here.

We could easily feed a dozen countries like Haiti on our table scraps from our homes and restaurants. We could probably feed a whole town with the table scraps left on the plates of people at Ryans buffet who took food and did not eat it.

Think about those planeloads of children which you discard that steak into the garbage. Did you know that it takes 40 bushels of grain to produce one pound of meat. In other words, it takes ten bushels of grain to make one quarter pounder from McDonalds. You know how much bread they could have made with ten bushels of grain as we wolf down our burger. When someone has more than they need and throws the rest away, it stands to reason that someone somewhere else will not have enough. If we are going to live on this planet together, we must get used to the ideas of preserving, conserving, and sharing.

I heard about one family that said that old saying we heard growing up: "Son, eat your food. There are children in other countries starving." His response was to push the food away and say, "Well, send them this by Federal Express."

Back to our gospel, the part of our gospel story that fascinates me is not the multiplying of the loaves and fish, it is the gathering up of the fragments. I can relate to that. Now we are not told what was done with the twelve baskets of leftovers, but you can be certain of this: it was somehow invested in people. Jesus would have seen to that. He believed that the best thing a person could do with material abundance was to invest it in people. Some of us have not learned that truth yet.

There is a wonderful old story about a missionary team in Africa. They were loading their boat to go down the Congo river. As they were preparing to start out, a native chieftain called to them from across the river: "White man, I want you to come and tell my people about your God."

The leader of the mission group answered, "We can’t come today. We have an appointment downstream this morning. We will come another day."

The chief persisted, "No you must come today and tell my people about your great God.

Again the leader of the missionaries tried to explain that they could not go with him that day, he had more important matters, but would be glad to come another day. But this did not satisfy the chief. As the mission team pushed off to leave, the chief waded out into the water calling after the missionaries, "White man, if you don’t come tell my people about your God, I’ll tell your God on you!"

I hope nobody ever tells our God that we heard that 40,000 children are dying each day from hunger-related diseases and we did nothing to help.

Each week as we gather to celebrate the Eucharist, we are reminded and challenged to renew our commitment to feed the hungry. For here at this holy mass, Jesus does again what he did in today’s gospel, namely, he takes bread, he looks up to heaven, he blesses the bread and breaks it and gives it to us. And lo and behold!--the bread he gives us is his own Body and Blood that becomes our spiritual food and drink to nourish our hearts, souls and minds. The holy bread we bless and break and eat here at the altar-table is nothing else but Jesus himself.

Sharing his body with us, Jesus also shares his compassion for the hungry people of our area and beyond. Today and every time we receive Jesus, we can be sure he has one thing to tell us:

"Give them some food yourselves."


Sunday, 17th Ordinary Time


    A missionary is doing the masses this week so there will be no homily.

Sunday, 16th Ordinary Time

Gospel - Matthew 3:24-43

Clotilde was called to serve for jury duty, but asked to be excused because being a good Catholic, she didn't believe in capital punishment and didn't want her personal feelings prevent justice from running its proper course. But the public defender liked her thoughtfulness, and tried to convince her that she should serve on the jury.

"Madam," he explained, "This is not a murder trial! It’s a simple civil lawsuit. A wife is bringing this case against her own husband because he gambled away the $12,000 he had promised to use to remodel the kitchen for her birthday."

"Well, okay," agreed Clotilde. "I'll serve. I guess I could be wrong about capital punishment after all!"

How do we tell the good from the bad? And what do we do about it? That is what our gospel is about today.

In today’s reading, Jesus is saying that the world is like a wheat field that is composed of both wheat and a fair mixture of weeds that manage to sprout up. In ancient Palestine, the wheat and weed that grew looked almost exactly alike in its early stages. In the same way it was difficult to distinguish between wheat and weed, it is also difficult to distinguish between good and evil people. Some evil people appear in sheep’s clothing when they are really wolves. Evil is very alluring and we often do not see it for what it is.

And because it is so difficult to separate the wheat from the weed, it would be disastrous to attempt to pull up the weeds. Even if they could be separated from one another above ground, the intertwined root system would caution against any over-zealous yanking.

Now, at the time of our Lord, a vengeful act similar to that of our modern terrorist bombings would be for someone to scatter weeds in a field after the farmer had painstakingly planted good seed. It actually happened quite often because there were many hostilities between people. It then took quite some time for the farmer to even realize that he was the victim of this type of vengeful animosity. But once he could clearly distinguish the weeds from the good crops, it was too late. To attempt to destroy the weeds would be to risk also destroying the wheat. And he couldn’t plow it over because it was too late in the season.

This is a realistic story of agricultural life, told vividly and naturally by Jesus. And the people understood it completely. The weed Jesus was referring to was probably the poisonous bearded darnel. It is a common weed which St. Jerome wrote about saying that in its early growth it looked just like the wheat. The Jewish Talmud calls it a "degenerate wheat" and traces its origins back to the Flood generation, when not just all flesh was corrupted but the very earth was corrupted. It is only in its later stages that it shows itself as a weed.

We are also told that the farmer recognized the work of an enemy, who had in fact sown weeds by night among his wheat. This type of thing still happens today. It is said that in villages of Palestine today it is not uncommon for a man to have a private enemy, and for his trees to be cut down and crops burned as a result of a feud.

And our farmer. Well, he’s no different that a lot of us. The Palestinian farmer would go out each morning to feast his eyes on the field, like we do with your flower gardens or vegetable gardens. But that morning, he got the shock of his life. That morning he gazed out and the deceiving weeds had begun to show themselves. There weren’t just a few weeds, they were everywhere. He was desperately disappointed. It hurt like a blow. And when he looked at the field now, all he could see were the weeds. For him, the wheat seemed to have disappeared. But the wheat was there, it was just as green and vibrant as ever. It would help if he just tried to concentrate on the wheat. And when the harvest day arrives, he will be able to separate the weeds from the wheat because when they mature, they can easily be distinguished.

What is Jesus saying to us? How does this story relate to us? Well, like the farmer we all enjoy honeymoon periods, don’t we? The wheat in our lives seems to be growing just fine. We may not even notice any weeds. Then one morning, sooner or later, we wake up and find weeds growing in our precious field – a friend on whom we were relying lets us down, a child for whom we had high hopes and have done so much goes wrong, our marriage partner proves unfaithful. The different species of weeds in our life are countless.

It’s not just a disappointment, but it is a shock. It hits us in the gut. And what makes the appearance of those weeds so hurtful is the fact, like the farmer, we are not expecting them – especially not in our field.

Now the badness of bad people comes as no great surprise to us. We expect it. But the badness of good people – well that is something different. It takes us by surprise. The treachery of a friend or relationship is much more hurtful and difficult to deal with than the treachery of an enemy.

What are we supposed to do about the weeds? To pull them up would seem sensible and many opt for this solution. They say, we need to "clean" the Church. Exclude the sinners, only saints should be admitted. That would be a small church indeed. And boy would that turn the Gospels upside down. It would make as much sense as Terrebonne Medical Center admitting only healthy people.

There are those who want to "clean" society. Naturally they are convinced they themselves would survive such a purge. They believe that evil is done by only bad people. They blame the evils of the world on a limited number of evil people. They think that if we got rid of them, we’d have a perfect world. They fail to realize that evil is done not just by evil people but also by the purest and best people. Actually, if evil was done only by evil people, the world would be a far better place to live.

And what about ourselves. We find those weeds, those weakness in ourselves and in others. But like the weeds and the wheat, we have to live peacefully with both our weaknesses and our strengths. Our shortcomings, and those of others with whom we must relate, are not something that we can easily get rid of. And when we have successfully achieved a goal, when we reap a harvest, like the weeds in our story, the weaknesses are no longer important. And they will probably appear again later. But when that happens, again, we must try to live with those weeds, those weaknesses, and be patient with them in ourselves and in others.

The weeds in life are not altogether bad and, in fact, they can even play a positive role. I’ll give you an example:

Which are the trees that grow up straightest and most shapely? You think that having freedom and everything you want is good? Look at the tree that grows up in an open field with nothing to hinder it. These trees take their time growing. They are sort of lazy in a way. And as a result, their trunks get gnarled and twisted.

Then look at the trees that grow in a forest. They are hard pressed on all sides by competitors who try to rob them of their share of sunlight. This makes them drive toward the sun with all the more determination and speed. The result is that their trunks are straight and shapely.

Who are the people that grow best? One might think it would be those who are constantly surrounded by comforts and get everything they want. But that is not so. Those who grow best are those who have had to struggle. You older parishioners who lived during the depression, or during World War II know what I am talking about. Provided you don’t go under, struggle brings out the best in people. We grow when we are challenged. Our younger parents here who want to give their children everything should pay heed to this. When you give your children everything and never say "no," they do not develop coping mechanisms that they will so desperately need later in life. You see, our very problems can become our salvation.

I don’t know. I think the existence of evil is proof of the existence of God – if the world consisted solely of goodness, truth and justice, then God would not be necessary? In fact, then the world would be God. Good and evil must exist so that we can make a choice from our own free will to choose God. God doesn’t want to force himself on us. He wants us to want him and to choose him. You know, you can’t force someone to love you. Do you think that you can walk up to someone and say: "Love me, love me, love me," and that will work?

This is a realistic parable. It is also very encouraging and hopeful. When the weeds are getting us down, we must hang on, trusting that God will see that they do not deprive us of a harvest. In the end, good will triumph. Like the farmer discovered, the healthy wheat is still there among the weeds. And the harvest is bountiful!

Sunday, 15th Ordinary Time

Gospel - Matthew 13:1-23

A priest and a bus driver both died and went to heaven at the same time. They got to the pearly gates where St. Peter greeted them. He motioned to them, and they hopped in a jeep and took off. They arrive at about 50 acres of rolling hills with a little cottage on the knoll. St. Peter turns to the priest and says, "This will be yours for eternity." The priest says, "Thank you so much. This I shall enjoy!"

St. Peter takes off with the bus driver. They arrive at a 5,000 acre stretch of land with mountains and lakes and rivers. There is a huge castle on one of the mountains with about 200 rooms. St. Peter says, "This will be yours for eternity. You can live in the castle with servants to wait on you hand and foot, and you can have everything you want.

The bus driver looks at St. Peter and says, "Well, now, don’t think that I’m not grateful, but shouldn’t the priest get all this, not me? Shouldn’t I get the cottage and 50 acres instead?"

St. Peter just laughs and says, "The reason you get all this is because when the priest preached, everyone fell asleep. Now, when you drove your bus, people prayed!"

So, I’m asking you this morning not to fall asleep on me, okay?

There was another priest who was walking along the school corridor near the pre-school class. A group was trotting by on the way to the cafeteria. One little lad of about four stopped and looked at the priest in his clerical clothes and asked, "Why do you dress funny?"

He told him that he was a priest and this was his uniform, just like policemen, and nurses, and firemen have uniforms.

Then the little boy pointed to the priest’s little plastic collar insert and asked, "Does it hurt? Do you have a boo-boo?"

The priest was perplexed until he realized that to him the collar insert looked like a band-aid. So the priest took it out to show it to him. On the back of the collar are raised letters giving the name of the manufacturer. The little guy felt the letters, and the priest asked, "Do you know what those words say?"

"Oh, yes, I do," said the lad who was not old enough to read. Peering intently at the letters he said, "It says, kills ticks and fleas up to six months!"

It’s amazing what kids pick up on television, huh? In Jesus’ time, there was no television or radio, so people told stories. That’s what Jesus did -- he told parables. And with Jesus' parables, there was always a message. But like all stories, sometimes people don't understand the message. This Bible story continues in which the apostles say they don't understand. So Jesus explains that the seed is the word. But what is the word, you might ask. Well, the word is what the New Testament and Jesus' life is all about.

Let me explain that. You see nature is based on "you or me." One animal eats another in order to survive. So it's sort of natural -- you or me. Even in our society, its you or me. Someone wins and someone loses. It is found in every area of the workplace – law, in business, in government. One person works his way up the corporate ladder at the expense of another. One person gets the job, the other doesn’t. One person wins a lawsuit, the other loses. It even seems natural. But then comes along this guy, Jesus, and tells us: "Wait a minute, I want you to do something unnatural." It's really a "you and me" world. In order to make it to heaven, you have to help everyone else make it too. Love your neighbor as yourself. Do onto others as you would have them do unto you. You know them all -- all the messages. You also know what it got Jesus. They killed him.

So, let's look at the parable. The first example is the seed on the footpath. Okay, someone is told the word -- it's a "you and me" world. The birds eat that one. They continue to live their life as "you or me." We all know people like that, right? They go through the world not worrying who gets under their boots as they tromp the sidewalks of life. That one was easy. But what about the other three examples. Well, let’s take driving. That is always a good example.

You are in a congested neighborhood--impossible to find a parking place. Lo and behold, God blesses you with this huge parking space--big enough to handle two cars. You pull into the center of it, park and get out of the car. What happened? You know the word, but that seed fell on rocky ground. The word would say, hey, pull up and leave another space for my brother or sister who will come behind me. I won and I want another person to win, too. But the seed had no root so you hog the entire parking space. It also happens a lot in parking lots, doesn’t it. Like the other day, I went to Wal-Mart and someone was hogging four spaces near the door and I had to run in the rain from across the lot. It happens when we litter and don’t care that someone after us will have to pick it up. It happens when we are driving and throw our cigarette butts out the window. It happens when we throw away food or use more than our share of the good things in life. It only stands to reason that if we are using more than our share, someone else does not have enough. Do we care about our brother or sister following us. Rocky ground.

Now let’s look at the third planting, so to speak. By the way, these are real stories I'm telling you. I don't have to make them up. You are driving along Interstate 10 in the pouring rain in the rush hour and there is a car stalled in the middle lane. This is creating havoc to the traffic which is dodging around the car while a little old lady sits terrified in the car. The word would tell you to stop behind her, put on your emergency brake, get out of in the rain, walk over to her car, tell her to put it in neutral so you can push her off the expressway, and give her a ride home. But the seed fell in the middle of thorns and died. The thorns are: "Gosh, I might get wet, or Suppose someone hits my car, or It's dangerous--I don't know that lady." No one said it was easy to be a Christian. Ask St. Stephen. So the "you and me" world flies out of the window. You, too, blow your horn, and go around the terrified woman. The seed fell in the thorns -- those considerations -- and the thorns killed it.

Finally, we have the fourth sowing. Let me tell you about a manager in a company that I know. She knew that in order for her to win, she had to make sure everyone else won. The working conditions in the company as well as the pay was pretty bad. But she loved her employees. When they did something wrong, she discussed it with them and worked it out with them. She never told management bad things about her staff. But when she did talk to management, she commended her staff for the good things, often in front of them. As a result, the staff respected and trusted her. When it came time for raises, the company could not give the staff raises but offered her a large raise because she was doing so well. She told them to take her raise, divide it up among the staff and to give it to them because they deserved it. What she got was loyalty and love from her staff. And she took care of them. She knew it was a "you and me" world.

As a result, her department had higher production and this did not go unnoticed by management. In time, not only was she promoted, but her entire staff found themselves moved up in the company. She won and everyone else won as well. The seed was planted it took root in good soil. It yielded a harvest a hundredfold as Jesus would say.

You see, Christianity is not just a religion. It's a lifestyle, a frame of mind, a way of thinking, something you operate from. It's a way of being. It's living the word. Not talking about it, not studying about it, not preaching it, not writing about it. Those things are fine. But Christianity is living the word. When we live the word, the word becomes flesh. And when you bring people to Christianity because it is a reflection of your life and your example, and they want to be like you, well, the soil will be a lot richer than if they come because they are simply afraid of going to hell. I'll tell you, personally, I don't want to go to heaven if you're not all coming with me. I want everyone else there, too. Remember, it's a "you and me" world.

And no one said it's going to be easy. Christ died for it. And if you are martyred for being a Christian -- be it socially, economically, or even physically, then you and St. Stephen have something in common. Because it takes courage to be a Christian. I have to tell you, it is harder for you than it is for me.

You see, the world is invalidating you all the time. The more your try to live out Christianity, the more our society tells you that you are a fool. If I do something nice, people say: "Oh, he is so nice and holy." If you do something nice, they say: "Why is he such a doormat." or "Look, how co-dependent she is." The world invalidates you 24/7 and bombards you with another message -- "take care of number 1." "You come first." "It’s a you or me world." "Look out for yourself." And Jesus’ voice sometimes gets lost in all that. His voice is crying out, "No, listen, it’s a you AND me world. We’re all in it together. Take care of each other." He has issued us a challenge -- to go against the flow -- to go against everything we are told.

So, we must ask ourselves, are we ready, are we willing, to accept Jesus’ challenge.

Sunday, 14th Ordinary Time

Gospel - Matthew 11:25-30

Boudreaux was driving down the street in a sweat because he had an important poker game and couldn't find a parking place.

Looking up toward heaven, he said, "Lord, take pity on me. If you find me a parking place I will go to Mass every Sunday for the rest of my life and give up whiskey."

Miraculously, a parking place suddenly appeared.

Boudreaux looked up to heaven again and said, "Never mind, Lord, I found one."

Go outside on a clear evening, and look into the heavens, you will observe that the night sky is splattered with a million stars. Study the heavens for a little while, and you will notice that some of those stars seem to outshine all the rest. For some reason, which I am sure astronomers could explain, they are endowed with an exceptional brilliance. So it is with the Bible. Certain statements seem to possess a special luster, a singular beauty.

One of those statements is found in our Gospel reading for today. Jesus was talking to a group of people who were fighting hard battles and carrying heavy burdens. He could sense their weariness. They were giving it their best shot, but they seemed to be losing. Life was simply wearing them out. To those people Jesus said, "Come to me, all of you who are weary and overburdened, and I will refresh you. Take my yoke upon your shoulders and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart. Your souls will find rest, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Those have to be some of the most encouraging words that a weary world could ever hear. It is a pity that we have paid them so little attention and have done so little with them. Perhaps it's because we get lost on the word "yoke." There is so much behind that word that it requires a little explanation.

The expression "yoke" was a common reference to the law. Rabbis spoke of taking up the yoke of the Torah. The Pharisees commonly used the image of "yoke of the law" to describe the careful obedience that faithfulness to the law required. The scribes had taken the 10 commandments and made 613 precepts of the law that every Jew had to obey, plus a host of other rituals and observances. Now that's a yoke!

There is also another meaning for the word "yoke." A yoke is a wooden harness by which the necks of two oxen are joined so they can pull a load together. Carpenters tailor the yoke to fit each animal to avoid painful rubbing or bumping. If the yoke doesn't fit well, it chafed and hurt the animal.

So we have two meanings for the word "yoke." And guess what? Jesus is using both meanings!

An ancient story says that Jesus made yokes in the carpenter's shop at Nazareth. And he made them fit the animals better than any other carpenter in Galilee. So because Jesus was a carpenter, he knew firsthand what he was talking about when he used the phrase "my yoke is easy."

As you will hear me say over and over in my homilies, our translations are a problem with scripture. Jesus uses the word "easy". That is not a good translation. The word that Jesus used for "easy" could be better translated as "well fitting." So we would translate Jesus' words as meaning "My yoke is well fitting." You see, Rabbis were often more concerned with ritual, religious practices and keeping of the laws than with each other. Jesus contrasts that burdensome yoke of law with the yoke of discipleship which he offers. Many poor and uneducated Jews were, in fact, unable to follow all its 613 statues. Jesus welcomes these weary ones into the relationship of disciple to teacher. Rather than focusing on legal principles, they are to learn from and to imitate his gentleness and humility, therein finding rest. Jesus' yoke was about loving God and neighbor.

Basically, this is what Jesus is saying: "Trust me, and yoke yourself to me. When you wear my well-fitting yoke, we can all pull together, neighbor with neighbor and the burden will be light. Take my yoke upon your shoulders and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart. Never try to carry life's burdens by yourself. And never let your neighbor carry life's burdens alone."

We find life burdensome because we carry the trappings of self-sufficiency and pride. We think we have to be right or to be first. We grab for security, honor, fame or other such burdens. Let go of it! "Come to me," says Jesus, "all you who are weary and find life burdensome, and I will refresh you."

There are some comforting words in today's reading. The yoke of Christ is not really a yoke but a bond of love, which joins us to him, and through him, to the loving Father in heaven and to each other. The rule which he asks us to keep, if we are his loyal followers, is not a series of prohibitions and don'ts. His yoke and his burden, is light because it is consoling and elevating; the commandments are few but the graces and promises are many and great. What can be sweeter than his yoke which compels us to love all people, to be free from the slavery of the world, and to enjoy God, the supreme and eternal Good.

When you find that life is wearing you out, the best way to lighten your load is to start helping someone else carry theirs. By earthly standards, it doesn't make much sense; but we know it works. When we take the yoke of Christ and start helping others, we find rest for our own souls.

St. Augustine once said, "Where there is love, there is no labor; and if there is labor, the labor is love."

Sunday, 12th Ordinary Time

Readings: Jeremiah 20:10-13; Matthew 10:26-33

Boudreaux and Thibodaux and their wives went to Audubon Zoo. They walked up to the enclosure with all the monkeys and Boudreaux nudged Thibodaux and said, "Look, Thibodaux, there’s all Clotilde’s relatives. They started laughing and laughing.

Picking up on the joke, Thibodaux teased Clotilde, "So, Clotilde, that’s your relatives, huh?"

Clotilde smiled and crossed her arms and said, "Yes, they are. I married into the family."

= = = = =

Don’t rock the boat. Leave well enough alone. Let sleeping dogs lie. Don’t stick your nose where it doesn’t belong. Those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.

There are endless adages and other folksy pieces of advice that all urge the same thing: Mind your own business. At times, this is good advice – except when truth and justice are concerned.

Truth and justice are the business of every Christian, and no Christian can remain silent or uninvolved if truth or justice suffers. Christians not only should get involved, but are also obligated to get involved. Silence puts our souls in peril!

Perhaps you remember many years ago in New York, there was an evening so shocking that we have still not recovered from it. A young woman was walking home after dark and was accosted by a rapist. She was savagely beaten. She screamed for her life. Around her were people on the streets and in hundreds of apartments. And after the attack, in full view and hearing of literally hundreds of people, she bled to death on the sidewalk. No one lifted a finger to help her. No one even bothered to call the police.

The next morning, those same hundreds of people who did nothing admitted to hearing or seeing the attack, but they did not want to get involved.

The nation was in shock, but times have not improved. Many of us still live lives of not wanting to get involved. I heard about how in a Catholic high school parents’ meeting, a particularly outraged parent blasted the principal because of the drug problem within the school.

"Why aren’t you doing anything about this? My son tells me who is doing this," screamed the parent.

"I will," responded the principal, "as soon as your son tells me who is selling the drugs."

She then snapped, "I don’t want my son getting involved."

"Then," said the principal, "the drug sales will continue."

In our first reading, God called Jeremiah to be a prophet, but he refused because he was young. God responded, "Do not be afraid . . . for I will be with you to protect you." In the gospel, Jesus tells his disciples, "Fear no one." But we do become afraid because, most of the time, getting involved comes at a price.

Jeremiah understood the price of telling the truth. At various times over his career, his own townspeople threatened his life. He was charged with blasphemy, which carried the death penalty. He was beaten and chained, considered a traitor and even thrown into a cistern and left to die. Today he tells us, "I hear the whisperings of many."

But he still stood tall and was committed to the truth. His courage came from the knowledge that "the Lord is with me, like a mighty champion." Jeremiah endured all of this – and we can’t even avoid telling "little white lies," fearing that someone may simply think bad of us.

Today we are reminded of the virtue of the phrase we hear in the Bible, "Fear the Lord." When Jews said, "fear the Lord," it did not mean to be scared. The phrase meant: to do what is right because it is right and out of love for God. It meant to practice truth and justice. Many of us forget that God is holy and his holiness is awesome. We forget that God is absolute Truth and that one day we will be held responsible for whether we upheld his truth.

A bit of Greek thought enters into our gospel today. The Greeks believed in the separation of the body and the soul. The soul (or psyche) was seen as the person’s real self. It was immortal. The body was simply seen as a shell. If we stand up for truth and justice, our shell may be attacked, but we will get over it and get on with our lives.

Jesus tells us not to be afraid of people who can throw sticks and stones and hurt our mortal body. We had better be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna."

Now a little about Gehenna. Non-Catholic Bibles translate the word Gehenna to "fiery hell." So when Jesus says Gehenna, they think it means "hell." But the Catholic Bible does not translate this word to hell. It uses the word Gehenna. The reason for this is that there really was a place called Gehenna. It was the garbage dump outside the gates of the City of Jerusalem. The dump was placed on the site that pagans had used to sacrifice their children to their false gods. The garbage dump burned day and night with its stench and smoldering flames. The place was considered vile and cursed and the flames reminded them of the past atrocities that took place there. So, when Jesus used the term Gehenna, he was referring to a real place and it brought up images of that place to the people who heard him.

Matthew’s gospel is concerned with teaching the disciples about the mission of Jesus – the same mission we are supposed to carry on. Jesus feared no one. He stood for the truth. And we love him for it.

What was the secret of Mother Teresa’s success? She fought like Jesus. She simply told the truth always and everywhere, and pitched in, one person at a time, to do justice.

Why did people so greatly admire Pope John Paul II? It is not because they all agree with him, because some did not. People admire him because he was not afraid to say what he believed despite all of his detractors.

These heroes, these examples of faith, were honestly more concerned about what God may think of them than what any one of us might think.

We spend all of our lives worrying about what others may think or what others may do. We plan our words and actions around their possible responses. We actually calculate our behavior to win friends and influence people. Today we are called to be a Christian – in all that this means.

We are called to worry about what God thinks of us. One day we will be judged by the absolute holiness and absolute truth of God. Our human fears will mean nothing then.

Truth and justice are our business. It is the business of every Christian. So we had better find the courage to stand up for what is right – and never remain silent in the face of injustice.

Sunday, 11th Ordinary Time

Gospel - Matthew 9:36-19:8

Clotilde walked Boudreaux into the dentist's office, where Boudreaux made it clear he was in a big hurry.

"No expensive extras, Doctor," said Boudreaux. "No gas or no needles or any of that fancy stuff. Just pull the tooth and get it over with."

"Wow," said the dentist admiringly, "I wish more of my patients were as brave as you. Now, Boudreaux, which tooth is it?"

Boudreaux turned to Clotilde and said, "Show him your tooth, Honey."

There are a great many societies and organizations trying to do something about the serious illnesses that afflict our society. Institutions, both public and private are waging war, to one degree or another, against heart disease, arthritis, cancer, children's diseases – even the common cold. And to the extent that we support sincere efforts to alleviate human suffering we reflect the better side of our human nature.

But to my knowledge, we have no organization doing anything about our number one crippling disease in this country. A prominent psychiatrist has called "money sickness." The love of money and possessions can cripple us, diminish us, and even destroy us more effectively than any other form of illness. It can be the cause of frustration and nervous anxiety. It can cause physical illness. It can demolish marriages, break up families, drive persons to murder and suicide.

Doctors are beginning to tell us now that often they are able to trace internal medical problems directly to patients' attitudes toward money and possessions – the economic part of their lives. As the man said to his psychiatrist: "By the time I found out that money doesn't buy happiness, I already had five million dollars. What do I do now? Where do I go from here?"

Ha. When we hear something like this, our first reaction is, "I should have a problem like that. Give me that five million dollars. I'll find a way to be happy with it. Money may not buy happiness, but if I had enough, I could rent it."

This is a most frustrating subject to preach on, but preach on it we must because we cannot, we dare not, ignore Jesus' teaching on this problem. To some degree we have become immunized against the Word of God in this matter. We tend to measure other people and ourselves in economic terms. That's the problem. Money is the status symbol for us, the way in which we try to realize our self-identity and our sense of satisfaction about life. Our culture saturates our lives with this attitude and it is difficult, really difficult, for us to stand up to that kind of pressure.

It is not too difficult for us to relate to today's Gospel Lesson in which Jesus sends the Twelve Apostles out on their mission with the words, "Cure the sick, raise the dead, heal the leprous, expel demons."

We're very much for curing the sick and healing lepers. However, when we read on through the next verse, it gets a little disconcerting for some of us. What is interesting is that they have chopped this reading off before the next line which I think is the one of the most important. How many times have I told you that we are missing part of the reading. I said that last week. Since you did not get to hear it, let me read it to you for it gets a little uncomfortable for us: "Provide yourselves with neither gold nor silver nor copper in your belts ... No traveling bag, no change of shirt, no sandals, no walking staff" (Mt.10:8-9).

In the National Gallery in Washington, D. C., there is a sixteenth century painting by Bosch of a man on his deathbed. A little angel stands beside him trying to get him to look up toward Christ. The angel wants his soul to enter the Kingdom of God. Also standing at the bedside is the devil, holding a big bag of money. The devil has baited his trap with money and you just know who is going to win, not so much because of what the artist put into the painting as what the viewer puts into it, as a creature of today's money-culture. It is a kind of autobiographical giveaway for all of us. We know who's going to win.

It reminds me of the story of the rich man who was dying and the angel of death told him he could bring one suitcase with anything in it to heaven. The man quickly filled his suitcase with all his gold. He arrived at the pearly gates and St. Peter asked him what was in the suitcase. He opened it and St. Peter began to laugh and laugh. St. Peter said, "Pavement, he brought pavement!"

There is the sad but true story of a certain Protestant clergyman from Texas. Through the early years of his ministry he was fond of saying, "If I had money I would give it to the poor. I would really take care of the poor." He made a big thing of this, trying to convince people that this was the way to go.

He had a little piece of ranch property which wasn't worth much, until they discovered oil on it. The first check that he realized from the oil totaled $90,000. The clergyman immediately went out and built a beautiful new house for himself. Then he bought a Cadillac. And when some of the men from the church reminded him of what he had said all those years about giving to the poor, he replied with a hard look in his eyes, "Yes, gentlemen, but money changes things." Indeed it does!

In spite of all our talk about God, in spite of all our talk about love for God, money changes us in the most subtle and destructive ways. Jesus, who loves us so much and wants us to have the wholeness of life God is offering us, again and again says: "Don't let money and things pull you away from God." Again and again this warning comes to us and still we build up the barrier, the immunization, so to speak.

I wonder how many of us believe a single word I've said! How difficult it is to see God through healthy eyes, to treasure God above all earthly things, to serve God as Supreme Master when we are being conditioned endlessly to see money and to treasure money and to serve money as "number one" in our lives! The money-culture presses in on us, afflicting us with "money-sickness" and often we don't recognize the symptoms until we are a terminal case.

"Money is the root of all evil." Everybody knows that tired old phrase, and most everybody thinks it comes from the Bible. It may surprise you to learn that it does not. First Timothy, Chapter Six, Verse Ten is one of the most misquoted passages in the whole Bible. It doesn't read, "Money is the root of all evil." It reads, "The love of money is the root of all evil."

Money can be, according to the Scripture, a very useful servant in our lives. Money can be used to serve God. Money can be used to do great good in the world. Go back to the life of Jesus for a moment. They brought Him that coin and they asked if it was proper to pay taxes. Jesus said, pay the taxes. It's as if He was saying, here in this life we need economic and political structures and if you have to have taxes to support them, pay the taxes. There is a place for that.

It was the same with the religious tax. Jesus sent Peter fishing to get some money to pay the temple tax. And do you remember the story of the widow's mite in which Jesus shows us that money can be used to praise and to serve God in the most beautiful way? Or the story of the rich young ruler whom Jesus told to sell his wealth and give it to the poor. Money is a means of helping other people and it can be extremely useful and, indeed, necessary to sustain and enhance life. It can be a very good thing, but also it can be a very dangerous and destructive thing.

There's a wonderful story about an elderly man who won a million dollars in a lottery. The family was worried about him because he had a bad heart. They were afraid that when they told him he'd won a million dollars he might drop dead of shock. So they went to their minister hoping that he would find the best way to break the news. The minister called on his old friend and they talked for a while as old friends do until, finally, the minister said, "What would you do if I told you you'd won a million dollars in the lottery?" The man said immediately, "I’m an old man, why would I need a million dollars? Why I'd give it all to the Church." The minister dropped dead.

The mission Jesus gives the Apostles in today's Gospel Lesson is our mission: to cure, to heal, to reconcile, to serve. The instruction Jesus gives the Apostles are our instructions: to travel light, to be unencumbered with excessive devotion to money and possessions and creature comforts.

If a large sum of money came your way, what would you do with it? Be honest! Would you use it to serve God; to bring wholeness of life to others? Would you use it to make living easier for others who struggle so desperately?

Today's Lesson is for the rich and the poor, and everyone in between. "No man can serve two masters." You cannot have it both ways. Possessions acquired and possessions desired, both can pull you away from the one true God who alone is the Source of your life and the Master of your destiny and fulfillment. Perhaps we need to check our value system and figure out what things are really important to us.

Sunday, 10th Ordinary Time

Gospel - Matthew 9:9-13

Boudreaux came home with tears in his eyes. He had gone to propose to Clotilde and his Papa, Alphonse, was eagerly awaiting to hear her response. "So what happened, Boudreaux?" the old man asked. "Did she accept your proposal?"

"No, Papa. When I told her what you told me to say, she slapped my face and sent me home."

His Daddy says: "Now Boudreaux, did you start your proposal with what I told you to say – the same thing I told your Mama when she accepted my proposal? I said: 'Honey, time stands still when I look in your eyes.'"

"I sure did Papa, I said, ‘Clotilde, your face would stop a clock!'"

We have all known persons of whom we say, "It is easy to talk to him." We have all had the experience, too, of arriving at a party or social gathering and feeling somewhat uncomfortable at first. But then we suddenly see someone whom we know. We quickly go over to that person if we know we will be at ease with him or her. As a result, we no longer feel alone.

If we reflect for a moment on why we are at ease with that person, or why he or she is "easy to talk to," it is probably because we feel they will not judge us. No matter what we say, they will remain open to us; they will not hold our past mistakes against us; they will always give us another chance; they will not relegate us to a certain negative category and keep us there. Because of this open manner, a relationship of genuine trust and freedom can grow between us, along with a deep respect for one another’s uniqueness.

This is the image we have of Christ in today’s gospel. He was known as a person one could readily sit down with and talk to, without fear of rejection or embarrassment. Our gospel tells us that many "tax collectors and sinners" came and sat with him. We often tend to label people by their jobs, or by something that we know about them. This can be quite unfair and cruel because it makes it difficult for them to relate to us. So, "tax collectors" and "sinners" were labeled this way.

What we realize about Christ is that he did not establish prior labels. He was open to everyone, especially sinners because they most needed him. We see here a subtle understanding of the notion of mercy. It is not pitying someone. Nor is it necessarily approval of what they do. It is rather a kind of "bending down," a compassion, letting one’s self open and extend out to another, and so suffer with them. The opposite of this would be to hold oneself above others, to look down on them in a kind of condescending way, as we see some of the people doing in today’s gospel.

This is the difference between empathy and sympathy. Empathy requires an investment, a willingness to suffer with the person. Sympathy requires no such investment – simply pity.

Let me explain. When someone is suffering with a problem or incident such as rejection, abandonment, betrayal and so forth, they begin to tell you their story about it. While telling their story, we have experiences of similar pain in our own lives. As the person enters into their pain, our own pain comes up. We then enter into their story and their pain from our own story and our own pain. It becomes an equal relationship: a relationship of empathy. It is empathy when we are in touch with our story and are not afraid to enter into it. You cannot minister to another if you are unwilling to suffer. You cannot be present to another if you are not willing to entering into your own pain. That is what ministry is. When we refuse to be in touch with our own experience, when we are afraid to suffer, when we refuse to look within ourselves, all we can offer is sympathy. It may be too frightening or painful to explore our own story. And frankly, most people do not want your sympathy because it tells them that you are not really present to them.

Therefore, we must relate to one another with openness, compassion, and understanding -- with a willingness to walk in their shoes for a moment. There are times when WE need someone with whom "it is easy to talk." And, we must also make it easy for others to talk to us. God says that he "desires mercy, not sacrifices" from us. How can we claim to be "righteous" in the eyes of God, if we reject one of our own in need? As we relate to each other with mercy and compassion, so can we expect God to relate to us. We can justly ask God for mercy only if we have genuinely given it to others.

The word compassion comes from two Latin words: "cum" which means "with" and "pati" which means "suffer." The word compassion means "to suffer with." Don’t be afraid of the pain in your own life. That is not your weakness, that is your strength. For it is through your own suffering that you can be present to others with true compassion and empathy, rather than sympathy and pity. Be grateful for all those good AND BAD things that happened in your life. They are really a blessing. They made you who you are today. They prepared you to minister to others.