Father Lasch: Weekly Message

Article Categories

Links

Archangel
Msgr. Byrne is a retired priest of the Archdiocese of New York, a kindred spirit of many and well respected by most Catholics in diaspora who yearn for a more collaborative church in line with the thinking of Bishop Geoffrey Robinson, Retired Auxiliary Bishop of Sydney, Australia.

Liturgy
This link will keep 'parishioners-at-large' in touch with current creative liturgy sources and resources that respect a variety of 'traditions' within the Church.

COMMONWEAL Magazine
A 'lay' Catholic weekly publication with an accent on an intelligent analysis and commentary on curent issues, trends and concerns of interest to Catholics.

National Catholic Reporter
A national Catholic lay newspaper covering events not usually covered or presented with a clerical bias in the local diocesan press or but of concern and interest to Catholics.

Survivos' Network for those Abused by Priests or Religious
A National Network of self-help support groups for people abused by clergy or religious.

Bishop Accountability
Vital information about the disclosure of sexual abuse and related issues affecting Catholics in the pew and the manner in which Bishops continue to exempt themselves from accountability

Voice of the Faithful
A 'movement' of lay Catholics 'inspired' by the abuse scandal calling for greater accountability of bishops to 'Catholics in the Pew.'

Search

Daily Scripture

Thursday July 24, 2008

+ 16th Week in Ordinary Time

The obvious is not always so obvious.

Readings: Jeremiah 2:1-3, 7-8, 12-13 Psalm 36:6-11 Matt 13:10-17

To those who have, more will be given and they will have abundance. As for those who do not have, even what little they have will be taken away. [Matt 13:12]

I have never been comfortable with this text. I simply cannot imagine God deliberately disabling people, especially the poor and disenfranchised. Toward the conclusion of this passage, Matthew references Isaiah 6:9-10 in which the prophet expresses God’s frustration with those who had hardened their hearts.

Ultimately it was Isaiah’s task to ‘soften’ the hearts of the people, to dispose them to hear God’s word.

There is an additional problem with Matthew’s text. It appears that Jesus cultivated ‘insider trading’ by showing favoritism toward his disciples. This is an oversimplification, to be sure. Matthew was holding the outsiders – those who missed the connection between Jesus and the prophets and thus failed to appreciate the day of visitation.

But we ‘insiders’ are not always so open to God’s word and Jesus presence in our midst. Our biases and prejudices often blind us to the reality of God’s presence and the connection of the Gospel to our daily agenda. In fact, we are more prone to pursue our own agenda rather than God’s.

The ‘bottom line’ refers not to money or financial security assets but rather to faith and our commitment to ‘invest’ in our faith through good works. These good works in turn reap the reward of additional graces that sustain our faith.

Daily Scripture Archive»

Articles in the category "weekly message"

Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time 'A'

Sunday July 20, 2008

Saint or Sinner or Both? My maternal grandfather was a farmer—of sorts. Born in Brooklyn when farmlands could still be…Read full entry

Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time 'A'

Sunday July 13, 2008

“Thanks Be To God; Praise To You, Lord Jesus Christ!” Whenever I am exposed to these readings, I think about a…Read full entry

Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time 'A'

Sunday July 6, 2008

Shabbat Shalom For many years, a Jewish Memorial Home in Brooklyn, was the sponsor of a music segment on WQXR, the…Read full entry

Feast of Saints Peter and Paul

Sunday June 29, 2008

Many voices but one witness. It is amazing how with the help of scripture scholars and ordinary human insights we continue…Read full entry

Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time 'A'

Sunday June 22, 2008

Not to Worry! It’s an interesting word—“fear.” It is used to convey very different moods, emotions and cautions. On…Read full entry

Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time '08'

Sunday June 15, 2008

Love as you are loved. “Go in peace to love and serve the Lord… ” But don’t go yet! Life is a…Read full entry

Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time 'A'

Sunday June 8, 2008

“It is love that I desire, not sacrifice.” It was an expression used by priests and seminarians ‘back in the old…Read full entry

Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time 'A'

Sunday June 1, 2008

“From Sand to Solid Ground” “We are living through the greatest shift ever in Christian thought. New images of our universe…Read full entry

The gift that keeps giving

Saturday May 24, 2008

It may seem trite but it remains true that the family table is where stories are kept alive. Indeed it…Read full entry

Feast of the Holy Trinity 'A''

Sunday May 18, 2008

De Deo Uno et Trino When I was a seminarian almost fifty years ago, the treatise on the Trinity was the…Read full entry

Feast of Pentecost

Sunday May 11, 2008

In real time. I celebrate Mass every Thursday for the residents of Care One Health Care Center in Morristown. In as…Read full entry

Sixth Sunday of Easter 'A'

Sunday April 27, 2008

I Will Be With You “I was a revolutionary when I was young, and all my prayers to God were, ‘Lord,…Read full entry

Fifth Sunday of Easter 'A'

Sunday April 20, 2008

From Easter to a New Pentecost Over the past several years, we have witnessed extraordinary events that rival any in modern…Read full entry

Third Sunday of Easter 'A'

Sunday April 6, 2008

“There is a joy in the journey.” Before embarking on a journey, it is normal for travelers to become preoccupied not…Read full entry

Second Sunday of Easter 'A'

Saturday March 29, 2008

There are no proofs but you and me. I assume you have in your home as I have in mine, a…Read full entry

The latest article in category weekly message

Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time 'A'

Sunday July 20, 2008

Saint or Sinner or Both?

My maternal grandfather was a farmer—of sorts. Born in Brooklyn when farmlands could still be found, his mother abandoned his father and their children when ‘Pop’ was still a young boy. He was sent by his father to an orphanage operated by a Methodist minister in Millstone New Jersey where farmlands were a-plenty. At the age of emancipation he moved to Jersey City for more gainful employment as a plumber. Even in those days, farmhands didn’t earn enough to support a family.

A victim of the depression, he lost his home in Jersey City and moved to Morristown with a quarter in his pocket got a job at Picatinny Arsenal. Although he never became a professional farmer in the green pastures of Morristown, Pop Mooney’s boyhood days on the farm in Millstone gave him unique instincts and talents enjoyed only by authentic growers. He could uproot trees and move the earth around with the strength of a man twice his size. His backyard gardens were worthy of any in the garden state. They were his pride and joy—tomatoes, corn, string beans, carrots, beets, peppers, radishes, parsley—a veritable victory garden. But he didn’t grow wheat! It’s not a native New Jersey crop. But I do remember his pointing to the winter rye which, like wheat in its early stages, looks like rich green wide-blade grass but weeds tend to camouflage themselves among the rye. Pop knew the difference!

Although ‘Pop Moon’ as he was affectionately called, remained Catholic to the core, thanks to his Methodist foster father he was quick to weave Bible passages into his daily commentaries on life’s events and was alert to see the creative hand of God in nature and in all the circumstances of his life.

Somehow, I never inherited his garden instincts. I can still remember giving potted weeds to my mother to be placed among her treasured plants, which she accepted graciously despite her hay fever. A sacrificial gesture on her part for sure.

Matthew’s rendering of Jesus’ parable of the wheat and the weeds is a simple but meaningful allegorical image of the reign of God. The parable has two lessons:

First, there is room in God’s garden for everyone, saint and sinner and sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference. I think it is fair to state that there is a saint and sinner in all of us. In the final analysis, judgement must be left to God.

Secondly, there is evil in the world. People are not inherently evil but people—sometimes good people—do evil things for a variety of reasons. Some because of the evil done to them; others because they were never affirmed in their inherent goodness—“God does not make junk!” Still others deceived by evil have adopted a warped view of the world. Some of these present themselves as ‘religious people,’ but their religion is distorted. They have never really grasped the full revelation of their God, whoever that God is for them.

There is indeed evil in the world but the worst kind of evil is disguised—the wolf in sheep’s clothing. This is the evil that has penetrated the most noble of religious ideals evidenced in the racism that pervaded Christian Europe centuries ago and in our own country to this day. We see it once again in the distorted thinking of terrorists. We see it in the rape of children and the greed of those who through trickery and deceit, rob employees and investors of their just compensation and future security. We have witnessed it in the greed of those sub-prime lenders who under false pretenses exploited unwary elderly borrowers who had no ability to pay back what they borrowed in equity loans.

”’Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?” He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’”

But sometimes the enemy is within and goes unrecognized, thus Jesus’ response to the servant’s request, ”’Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ … ‘No; for in gathering the weeds you might uproot the wheat along with them. Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned but gather the wheat into my barn.’”

In other words, time will tell where virtue lives and truth flourishes and God will be the final judge and God will not be exploited or mocked.

There is yet another lesson in the second parable about the mustard seed. Although it is not really the smallest of all seeds that grows into the largest tree—the Cypress seed is smaller and the Cypress tree is larger—nevertheless, Jesus’ intent was to stretch the simile to challenge the Pharisees who considered the strength of the Jews equal to the Cypress trees of Lebanon.

The mustard tree is really a large bush and not all that attractive but it attracts all kinds of birds who come and nest in its branches to feast on its seeds. This is what the reign of God is like. Get the point?

We Catholics are a diverse group of every race and nations, saint and sinner—here comes everybody ~~- messy at times but which attracts all kinds of birds (present company included) who nest within its branches to feed on the seed of God’s word.~~

Those who persevere in faithfulness are those who commit themselves not to be great but to be faithful and grateful.

An idea that begins with one person can change the direction of civilization. A witness to truth must begin with one individual but can spread very quickly to thousands. But words are not as strong a witness as the actions people of good will. A speaker at a church missionary conference on evangelization put it this way:

“When we want to take Christianity to one of our villages, we don’t send them books. We take a Christian family and send them to live in the village.” Isn’t it true that in any group-school, commercial/corporate, or society at large, one person filled with the Spirit of Christ can kindle the hearts of thousands.”

It may take a long time to distinguish one voice from another and separate the good from the bad, but eventually we find our call and at St. Paul assures us in his letter to the Romans, the Spirit intercedes for us with God until we finally get it right.

“Write thy blessed name, O Lord, upon my heart, there to remain so indelibly engraved, that no prosperity, no adversity shall ever move me from thy love. Be thou to me a strong power of defense, a comforter in tribulation, a deliverer in distress, a very present help in trouble, and a guide to heaven through the many temptations and dangers of this life.” [Thomas a Kempis, c 1380-1471, quoted in The Complete Book of Christian Prayer, Continuum, New York, 1996]
And I would add, let us live joyfully and gratefully even amidst the mess and the weeds.