Judge much?

Matthew 9:32-38

When we see someone doing a good deed for someone else, you would think that our natural reaction would be happiness.  You would think that we would give thanks when we see someone going out of their way to help someone out. Unfortunately, often we do not react in this way. For various reasons - jealousy, insecurity or prejudice - we have a tendency to tear down people who do good for others.

Often we negatively judge those who go out of their way to help others.  When we see somebody doing good, sometimes we will try to tear them down by suggesting that their motivations for doing good are selfish or misguided.  In the gospel of today this is happening to Jesus.  Jesus has done a good deed in curing a man of his muteness by casting out a devil.  Most people react positively.  The Pharisees respond by trying to tear down Jesus. They say bad things about Jesus and His intentions, that He “by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons”.  We can act in the same way as the Pharisees sometimes.  In school, for example, when one student does some good deed, the other students will call him/her a “teacher’s pet” or “suck-up”.  If someone volunteers a lot of time in the Church we may say, either to ourselves or to others, that that person is just looking for attention.  When we hear about a celebrity giving a large sum of money to charity we call it a “publicity stunt” or claim they are doing it just to get a tax write-off. When we see other people doing good, we unfortunately have a tendency to try to tear them down by making a negative judgement of their intentions or motivation for doing the act.

The remedy for this kind of judging is to get out and do good deeds ourselves.  When we find ourselves falling into the trap of judging negatively those who do charitable acts, we should go and do something kind ourselves.  If we are busy doing good works, then we will be too busy for name-calling. We need to remember that God alone can judge people’s hearts and intentions. If we ourselves are the victims of negative judgement, the solution is to continue doing good works. In the gospel Jesus does not respond to the name-calling of the Pharisees. On the other hand He goes out of His way to do more for the needy. Jesus’ is more concerned to help those who suffer than the derogatory statement of the Pharisees.  Jesus recognizes the neediness of the people, that they are like “sheep without a shepherd”.  He is concerned with serving, not defending Himself from derogatory comments.  At the end of the gospel Jesus expresses His desire that we too become laborers in this work.  Whether we find ourselves the victim of negative judgement or we are the one doing the judging, the remedy is to get out and perform charitable, kind acts for the needy.

Today let us examine ourselves. If we find that we judge negatively those who do good works, let us repent. If we ourselves are the victim of such abuse, let us take heart that Jesus Himself suffered in the same way. Whatever the case, let us all ask for the grace to be good laborers at service of those in need, who do the right thing regardless of what others think or say about us.

Peace starts at home

Isaiah 66: 10-14 ; Galatians 6: 14-18 ; Luke 10: 1-12, 17-20

When I was a child my favorite part about Mass on Sunday was the sign of peace, because it meant that I got to go around and shake people’s hands.  Each Sunday we have the opportunity to offer each other the sign of peace, to say “peace be with you”.  In today’s gospel Jesus speaks much about peace.  Today Jesus sends His disciples on a mission.  The disciples are told that when they encounter others they are to offer them peace in a gesture so much like the sign of peace we offer at Mass.  As Christians, Jesus sends us to bring peace to others. Sometimes we offer people peace so casually at Mass, but we do not think about what true peace means.  What is this peace that we want to “be” with other people?  Also, it is very important to consider if, outside of this gesture on Sundays, we are offering peace to those we come in contact with on a daily basis.

True peace, the kind of peace Christ talks about in the Gospel, has a deeper meaning than we normally imagine.  The peace that we are to offer at Mass is something that is so much more than the way that peace is usually understood.  We usually think that peace is simply the absence of conflict.  We say that after World War II there was peace in Europe after the treaties.  There was peace because open conflict had ceased. But was there true peace?  Far from it.  After fighting had stopped, people in Europe were deeply wounded by the violence done.  There was anger and despair in people’s hearts.  A treaty did not obtain full, true peace.  The peace that Jesus is talking about is so much more.  True peace is peace of heart; it is consolation, joy and tranquility.  This peace is not something man-made but comes as a gift from God.  The first reading speaks vividly of the peace God brings.  He consoles us like a mother nursing her baby.  God comforts us like a parent comforts their child by putting them upon their lap.  St. Paul reminds us in the 2^nd reading that the peace that God gives us was won by the Jesus’ passion and death on the cross.  On the Cross Jesus conquered the enemies of peace: sin and death.  True peace is a gift from God and was won by Jesus on the cross.   

When we receive this kind of peace from Jesus, we need to share it with others.  If our heart is truly touched by this kind of peace we are compelled to go give it to those around us.  Picture for a moment an empty glass. Imagine that you take a pitcher full of water and begin filling the glass.  When the glass is full, you continue to pour the water so that the glass overflows and water runs down the cup and onto its surrounding.  This is what happens when Jesus fills us with peace.  In this analogy, the water is peace, our heart is the glass and Jesus is the one holding the pitcher.  When Jesus pours peace into our heart, He fills us to the brim and the peace we receive will spread to those around us.  The heart of every person thirsts for peace.  In order to spread peace to those around us we must first receive God’s peace, we must allow Jesus to fill our cup. You cannot give what you do not have.  Notice in the gospel that the disciples are only sent to bring peace to others after having been with Jesus.  They first received peace from Him.  We receive Jesus’ peace through prayer and receiving the Sacraments, especially the sacrament of reconciliation.  When we do this we become like that overflowing cup, God`s peace will flow from us to those we come in contact with.  When our heart is touched by God`s peace we transmit peace to others.

Though many will accept the peace we offer, some will reject it.  When we go bringing peace to those around us, though the majority will willingly accept it, some will not want to receive it.  In the gospel, after Jesus has sent His disciples on a mission he warns them of this reality.  Some people will welcome them, others will not.  If you are looking for an example of people rejecting Christians and their message, look no further than the Internet.  Many of you are probably aware that the past two Popes have had Twitter accounts.  If you have no idea what Twitter is, if you think that a “tweet” is just a sound a bird make, allow me to clarify.  Twitter is a program that allows you to send a short message to a large group of people.  People can share this message with others and even respond to your message.  Pope Benedict and Pope Francis have used Twitter to share short Gospel messages with millions of people.  In general their messages have been well received.  But, it you ever look at the responses people write, you would be shocked.  Many people write incredibly rude and hateful responses to the Popes.  There are a lot of broken and wounded people who respond to a well-intentioned message with outright hostility.  When we are rejected in this way, we should not get angry or stay to debate. We shouldn't “feed the trolls”, as they say in internet lingo.  We should follow the advice of Christ and “shake the dust from our feet”.  We must not allow the hate and bitterness of others to cling to us and poison us, destroying our peace.  We should shake it off.  Though many will accept the peace we offer them, some people, who are wounded and broken, will reject it.

           

Jesus calls us to bring peace to all people, but we need to start with those closest to us, our own family.  Christ’s mission to bring peace far and wide must start in our own family.  Mother Teresa often said that “peace starts at home”.  If a family is at peace, then it will bring tranquility to society.  On the other hand, if a family is at war, it will bring discord to society.  It is like when you throw a pebble in a pond and ripples are formed on the surface of the water that spread far and wide.  Such a small stone can have such a great effect.  Likewise, a family that is at peace creates a ripple-effect in society; its affect can be huge.  How then can we bring peace to our family? To quote Mother Teresa again: “works of love are works of peace”.  Through small works of love we can bring peace to our families and eventually to the world.  Something as simple as a smile or saying “good morning” can bring peace.  Helping a younger brother or sister with their homework or house chores is a work of love.  Taking the time to listen patiently to your husband or wife who has had a hard day at work is an act of peace.  Calling up an elderly relative to see how they are doing is also a work of love.  Works of love are works of peace.  Peace starts at home; from there it radiates to all of society.

Today our world yearns for the peace that only Jesus Christ can give.  Jesus sends us to bring this peace to others.  Whenever we give each other the sign of peace we can remind ourselves of this in a special way.  It is significant that shaking hands is a sign for agreeing to something, of making a deal.  When you give the sign of peace today, let it be your chance to agree to be someone who brings peace to others, starting with the members of our own family.  Let us agree to bring peace by doing simple acts of love.  Every time we offer each other the sign of peace commit to doing this.  Let us shake on it.

What pulling off a Band-Aid teaches us about the spiritual life

Matthew 9:9-13

We all know the best way to rip off a Band-Aid, you have to tear it off quickly and in one go!  More often than not we do not do this because we are a little afraid of the pain.  So we start tugging gently at the Band-Aid, thinking that it will hurt less or be easier if we take it off slowly.  In the end though, after hesitation and some false-starts, we eventually just tear it off quickly because this is simply the best way to do it.  This example of the Band-Aid illustrates an important general principle for our life: some things are best done quickly.

Sometimes we are slow to respond to what Jesus is asking of us.  In various areas of our life we know what Jesus wants from us, but we hesitate to do it.  For example we may be convinced in our heart that Jesus is asking us to give something up in our lives.  Perhaps it is a sinful behaviour.  Maybe it is something that is not of itself bad but is taking too much of our time and is leading us away from God. It could be that we know Jesus wants us to spend less time watching TV, surfing the web or gossiping with friends on the phone.  Or maybe we are convinced that Jesus is asking us to start doing some good activity in our life.  Perhaps we know we should spend more time with God in prayer, get involved in a parish group or give more money to the poor.  Though we know what Jesus wants us to do, we hesitate to do it.  It actually makes doing the thing more difficult and more painful in the end.  It is like when we take our time pulling off a Band-Aid instead of giving it one quick pull.  We are afraid to pull it off because of the pain but in the end it ends up hurting more.  For various reasons, whether it be fear, laziness or discouragement, we can often be slow to respond to what Jesus is asking us to do in our life.

Responding quickly to the call of Christ is usually the best approach.  Doing what Jesus is asking of us decisively and with determination is usually what is best for us in the long run.  In today’s Gospel we see this clearly in the life of St. Matthew.  We find that Matthew is a sitting at his custom’s post.  He is a tax collector, someone who was looked down upon by the other Jews.  Jesus passes by Matthew and asks him to follow him.  Matthew probably knew who Jesus was before, maybe he was drawn by his teaching.  At this moment Matthew knew exactly what Jesus was asking of him, that he become his follower.  He also knew the consequences of this action.  He was leaving behind a job and security for a risky, unknown future.  But Matthew takes courageous action.  He knows what Christ wants from him and he does it.  Getting back to our Band-Aid analogy, Matthew goes ahead and rips off the Band-Aid is one clean pull.  If he had hesitated, perhaps Matthew would never have left his post and followed Christ.  The decision to do what Jesus asked forever changed his life.  He came to know Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God.  He became an evangelist, helping to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ.  Matthew is a great example because he teaches us that responding quickly and decisively to what Jesus asks of us is what is best for us.

Today let us look in our life and see if there is anything that we know that Jesus is asking us to do, but we are hesitating to do it.  Examine yourself to see if you have any Band-Aids that you are hesitating to pull off.  We all have areas in our life where we are reluctant to change or do some thing even though we know that Jesus is asking it of us.  After having done this, let us ask Jesus for the grace to act quickly and decisively in carrying out what it is that He is calling us to do.