Be humble, be happy.

Luke 14: 1, 7-14

I know a man named Bill, he is retired and lives in San Diego.  Several times a week he does something quite out of the ordinary: he drives his car across the border to Tijuana, Mexico to serve the poor.  Bill helps the needy in Tijuana in different ways, he visits a prison and cuts the hair of inmates, he gives soup to people living on the street and he goes to poor villages to deliver toys to children.  Bill does all these things in a simple and matter-of-fact sort of way.  He never draws attention to himself.  What is amazing is that he does all this work in Mexico knowing basically no Spanish.  Bill is also a bit of a character; you could say he is a little rough around the edges. Sometimes his language can be a little “colorful”.  In fact, if he knew I was speaking about him today, he would probably have some choose words for me, words I couldn't repeat here.  Bill is definitely a unique individual and among all that he is, what stands out the most is that he is perhaps the most humble man I have ever met.

In today’s gospel, Jesus speaks strongly about the importance of humility.  The virtue of humility seems to be one that is very close to the heart of Christ. It is one facet of His life we need to imitate, in fact he commands us: “learn from me for I am meek and humble of heart” (Mt. 11:29).  You can easily picture the scene of today’s gospel.  Jesus is at a banquet, perhaps He is in the back of the room, out of the way, but He is watching very attentively the behavior of the guests.  Jesus can see them trying to “one-up” each other, seeking to get the seats of honor at the table, looking for attention and in general strutting around like peacocks. Because of what He witnesses Jesus tells us a parable with a strong message: be humble, do not be puffed up or prideful, or seeking to be seen great in the eyes of other.  We are blessed to have a living witness to this message in our current Holy Father.  Through his actions Pope Francis is echoing this teaching of Christ.  A couple examples come to mind.  You might have heard that after he was elected as Pope he declined to take the waiting limousine that was to take him to dinner with the cardinals.  Instead, he chose to ride to the dinner with the cardinals in a mini-bus, he wanted to be “one of the guys”.  The next day, Pope Francis was in a car on the way back from visiting a Church.  He had the car stop at the hotel he had been staying at prior to his election, got out, went to the main desk and paid his bill.  This is something he easily could have had an aide do. His example shows us the utmost importance of humility in our lives as Christians.

In different ways, we all struggle with being humble.  I doubt that humility is an easy thing for any of us. Now, we have probably met some people whose lack of humility is all too evident.  They walk around talking about themselves all the time and drawing attention to themselves.  I doubt that any of us are like this. We lack humility in more subtle ways.  During a retreat while at seminary, the retreat director spoke to us about humility. He read out a list, written by St. Josemaria Escriva, which gave signs that you might be lacking in humility.  Listening to the list was a sobering experience for me as I found myself ticking off each point. I would like to share a few of the points with you. Here are some signs that indicate you may be lacking in humility:

1. Thinking that what you do or say is better than what other do or say
2. Always wanting to get your own way
3. Arguing when you are not right or – when you are – insisting stubbornly with bad manner
4. Giving your opinion without being asked for it, when charity does not demand you to do so
5. Speaking badly about yourself so that others may form a good opinion about you, or contradict you
6. Being hurt when others are held in greater esteem than you
7. Being ashamed of not having certain possession

I could go on, but I think we get the point.  In subtle ways, we all struggle with humility.

Perhaps one of the reasons that we struggle being humble is because we do not really understand what humility is. Oftentimes we have a mistaken notion of what humility entails. First, let’s look at what humility is not.  Humility is not walking around with your head bowed down thinking to yourself how worthless you are. A great definition of humility is “walking in the truth”. Humble people are able to honestly know and assess themselves, both their gifts and their limitations.  They know their gifts and realize that they have been given to them by God. Knowing ourselves to be unique and gifted individuals is indispensable first step to grow in humility. As the expression goes, “God does not make junk”.  Further, humble people know that these gifts are meant to be used to serve other people. In addition to knowing our strengths, to be humble we must also be aware of our weaknesses. We need to understand that we are limited human beings in need of God’s help. It important that we keep in mind what humility truly is.

Striving to live humility is a road to happiness. When you meet someone who is truly humble you will find that they are truly happy and full of joy. Bill, who I spoke about earlier, definitely fits this description.  He really knew himself. He knew his strengths and gifts: he had time, good health, knew how to cut hair and liked people.  He also knew his weaknesses, among them a bit of a tempter and no Spanish skills. Bill made the choice to use his gifts to serve people who were in need.  In doing this he did not let his limitations get in the way.  Bill loved to say: “what I lack in verb conjugation I try to make up for in love”. As a result, he was truly a happy man.  Bill’s life was not without struggle but he was filled with joy.  When we strive to live true humility we will find happiness.

In life, some people will be recognized by the world for their accomplishments.  However, for the vast majority of people, like my friend Bill, their work and efforts will be seen by few, perhaps by God alone. But, as the gospel shows us, being recognized is not important, humility is. Jesus wants us all to experience the joy and peace of heart that comes through humility. This is His invitation today. Let us begin to grow in humility.  Ask yourself today: what gifts do you have? Try to think of at least three and give thanks to God for them. In addition pray that God will show you some new way that you can put these gifts at the service of others so that you can experience the happiness of being humble.  

What is the population of heaven? Of hell?

Luke 13:22-30

What is the population of heaven? Here is a more loaded question: what is the population of hell?  In today’s gospel Jesus is asked a similar question: “Lord, will many be saved”? Some of you may have grown up with “fire and brimstone” sermons that emphasized the difficulty of winning a place in heaven.  Such sermons warned strongly about the risk of going to hell and described the situation there so vividly that we would never want to go there.  Today, on the other hand, we seem to hear less about Hell.  The idea seems outdated.  Many Catholics assume that everyone goes automatically to heaven as though all humanity is on some big conveyor belt up to God. Some assume that Hell doesn't exist. Will many be saved? Today’s gospel sheds light on this issue.

First, we need to make one point crystal clear: God wants all people to be saved.  Our heavenly Father created us in order that we could spend eternity with Him in heaven.  This is God’s desire and He has done everything to make it a reality.  When Jesus came to the earth, He died to save every human being.  It is as though each human being has been given a plane ticket.  On this plane ticket, under location it reads: “heaven”.  God wants everyone to be with Him forever in Heaven.

This being said, it is not automatic that everyone will go to heaven.  It is the teaching of the Church, and Jesus Himself, that Hell is real and that some people may go there.  This is a teaching I have found hard to accept. How could a loving God allow people to go to Hell? I once heard an explanation that helped me begin to understand. The teaching that Hell exists and that people can go there follows logically from two fundamental Christian beliefs.  The first is our belief about who God is. We believe that God is all love, goodness and beauty. The second belief is that God has given us our free will. Free will is one of the greatest gifts we have been given because means that we can imitate God: we are able to love. We must have freedom in order to love. But, the fact that we have been given free will means that we have the ability to choose not to be with God. We have the freedom not to use that ticket to heaven we have been given; in essence, we have the freedom to send ourselves to Hell.  People in Hell have separated themselves from God. Since God is love, goodness and beauty, hell is a place where there is no love, goodness or beauty.  In today’s gospel and elsewhere in the scriptures Jesus talks about the possibility of people not going to heaven. Today we hear of people who are cast out of the kingdom of God amidst wailing and gnashing of teeth. Jesus spoke often about Gehenna, a place of burning. Hell was not something the Church invented during the “Dark Ages”; we get the idea from Jesus.  Christ tells that we cannot assume that everyone automatically goes to heaven.

We need to accept God’s offer of salvation. Though we have been given a ticket to heaven, we need to take steps to claim it.  In the gospel Jesus makes it clear that this acceptance of God’s offer of salvation is not a casual thing.  Just saying that we are Catholic is not enough. When I was living in Rome I used to visit an elderly couple. In their house I saw so many pictures saints, including Padre Pio... this is Italy after-all.  I said to them once that they must be fervent Catholics.  They said of course, they were 100% Catholic! Then the old lady would come close to me, point her finger in my face, and say,“listen we are more Catholic than you!”. So I asked what Church they went to.  Their response was `oh, we haven`t been to mass in 20 years`. This way of thinking is not uncommon. In the gospel we find people demanding that the lord open the door to them because they “ate and drank” in his company.  But the lord refused to open the door.  He says he does not recognize them.  Claiming to be a follower of Jesus is not enough to get into heaven.  Accepting God’s offer of salvation is a serious and demanding choice. Jesus calls it the “narrow gate”.  The fact that we follow Jesus must transform our lives.  People should recognize that we are His follower; Jesus should see something of Himself in us. This is the way in which we claim the ticket to heaven we have been given.

In addition to ourselves, we need to encourage others to accept God’s offer of salvation. The Church in fact exists to help as many people as possible reach heaven.  As you know, this is the “Year of Faith”. During this our diocese has been promoting initiatives to evangelize, bringing people to know and follow Jesus and enter the Church.  Specific attention has been paid to “fallen-away Catholics”, which is one of the largest and fastest growing religious groups in the West. For example our Diocese launched the “Catholics Come Home” campaign. You probably saw the commercials on TV. This has born definite fruit. I myself have met people who have come back to the faith after watching the commercials.  This is a great blessing. You’ll remember that we were also encouraged to pray that God show us one or two people close to us - a family member, friend or co-worker - we could encourage to come back to the practice of their faith in a welcoming and non-judgemental way. Imagine the impact if each of us could bring one person back to Church. We still have time to make this a reality. There are many possibilities coming up in the near future that will be opportunities for us to welcome Catholics back home. On the diocesan level you will hear soon about the upcoming men’s conference on October 5 called “Man-alive”. One month later, on November 23, there will be a similar event for women. Why not consider going to one of these events and inviting someone to come with you? Here in our own parish there are many other opportunities to invite people back. You could invite them to join a parish group: RCIA, bible study, soup kitchen, CWL, Knights of Columbus, Legion of Mary – the list is long.  In this way we can encourage others to accept God’s offer of salvation.

So, what is the population of heaven? Of hell?  Will many be saved? The answer in the end depends a lot on us. Certainly we should trust in God’s love and mercy, we should hope and pray that all are saved. This is God’s own desire. On the other hand we should be filled with a sense of urgency to work with God in ensuring that people – starting with ourselves – accept this offer of salvation. During this year of Faith let us do this by taking advantage of the many events in the diocese and our parish by going ourselves and inviting a friend, family member or co-worker along with us. 

Refiner's Fire

Luke 12: 49 - 53

When you ask people about Jesus and His message, even those who are not Christians, most people’s view would be something like the following. Jesus was a kind, gentle man who taught a message of universal goodwill and brotherhood. Following His teaching should bring tranquility and peace to your life. This view of Jesus is epitomized by many movies about His life. Jesus is presented with long hair and incredibly gentle. He acts like a hippie who walked the roads of Palestine – wearing sandals of course – some 2000 years ago. Now, there certainly is a lot of truth to this image of Jesus and His message, but it is not the whole picture. In today’s gospel we see another side of Jesus. He is presented as a disruptive and rebellious figure. He tells us that He has not come to bring peace, but division. Jesus explains the affect that His teaching should have on the world: it should be like a fire. As we will see, what Jesus has in mind with this analogy is a far cry from a serene campfire around which we hold hands and sing Kumbaya.

If we are trying to follow Jesus, we should feel a certain amount of division, some burning even, within ourselves. Being a Christian should make us feel uncomfortable at times. This is because the Gospel calls us to change ourselves and change can be painful. Jesus calls us to act in a way that we would sometimes rather not act. When we say yes to Jesus and His way, we can sometimes feel like we are at war within ourselves. For example, if someone says something rude about myself or someone I care about, my first reaction is to seek revenge, to hurt them back. In such a situation choosing to follow Jesus’ example by fighting against this impulse and forgiving the person will not be easy, it may hurt us to do this. Or, for example, we all want to accumulate more and better material goods, whether it be clothes, a car, good food or entertainment. Making the choice not to buy yourself that new outfit, or the best car you can or to see that new movie and rather give some of that money to the needy, is not an easy thing to do. We feel the tension between what we want and what Jesus asks of us. When we chose to follow Jesus we discover that it brings struggle and discord within ourselves.

Being a Christian will also cause a certain amount of division between ourselves and other people.  Following Jesus will often put us at odds with current trends and popular opinion about what it means to live a good life. I experienced this strongly when I graduated from a Catholic High School and went to university. The new friends I was making often had a different world-view and set of values. Tensions could often arise because of our disagreements on different issues, whether it be regarding belief in God, the role of religion in society and a host of moral issues. Following Christ can put as at odds with other people, sometimes those very close to us. Jesus says that His message will bring division even in a family, a son against his father, for example. Perhaps you might argue that it is the normal state of affairs for a daughter-in-law to be at odds with her mother-in-law. You don’t need Jesus to have conflict with your in-laws! Now, I do not think that Jesus wants there to be division within a family. He is trying to highlight the seriousness of His message and that it demands a response, either we are for or against. This, unfortunately, can lead to tensions in a family. We see this in the lives of some saints.  For example, the fathers of St. Francis of Assisi and St. Thomas of Aquinas both put their sons under house arrest when they heard about they plans to follow Jesus. Choosing to follow Jesus with often cause a certain amount of division between ourselves and other people.

The tensions that arise from following Christ, those within ourselves and those with other people, are meant to purify us so that we become more like Jesus.  The fire that Jesus can bring to our lives will hurt at times but will transform us to be better people. Fire has many uses, it can keep us warm or it can heat our food. Fire is also used to purify metals. A woman once went to visit a silversmith to observe him in action. She noticed that in order to purge the silver from all its impurities, the silversmith would heat the silver over a fire in order to burn off all foreign elements. The woman asked the silversmith how he knew when the process of purification was over. The smith responded that he paid close attention to the silver in the fire; he would know that the silver was purified when – and only when - he could see his own reflection in the silver.  Jesus does the same to us. When we make the choice to follow Christ each day it is not easy, it causes tensions both within ourselves and with others. In a way we are held in the fire. These struggles are meant to purify and refine us, to remove all impurities so that more and more we become like Christ. The fire that Jesus brings should transform us so that more and more we reflect Him in our life.

Today’s gospel calls us to examine our understanding of what it means to follow Jesus. What are our expectations in following Christ? Should we expect a life of peace and tranquility? Yes, but not at once and not all the time. We should not let ourselves feel discouraged when we experienced struggles and divisions – both internal and external - because we have chosen to follow Jesus. This is normal. If we never felt a struggle within ourselves or experienced that we are at odds with social trends and opinions then something would be wrong. This should give us hope. Let us change the way that look at struggles and difficulties in our life. We should not see them as times when God has abandoned us or feel that something is wrong. Rather we should recognize them for what they are, necessary moments when Jesus is refining us and removing from us impurities so that we more and more reflect Him in all our words, thoughts and actions.