Why we should advertise the Consecrated Life

credit: pkeleher

LK 2:22-32

Today close to 100 million people will watch the Super Bowl. Though many do watch because they enjoy football, I think that a good number secretly watch it only for the commercials. Super Bowl ads are among the most creative and pricey around. Like all advertising, however, it tries to convince you that if you purchase a product your life will be changed for the better. Today I would like to do a little advertising of my own. I do not want to advertise a product, but a way of life.  In addition to being the day of the Super Bowl, today is also the World Day for Consecrated Life. Today we pray in a special way for all those who living a consecrated life: religious sisters, brother and priests. We also pray that many young people will choose to enter this way of life.

We do not advertise Consecrated Life enough in the Church because it doesn't seem like a normal way to spend one’s life. We don’t do enough to encourage young people to consider becoming a religious priest, brother or sister. I do not want to play favorites here and suggest that one vocation is better than another. All vocations are good and beautiful: married life, religious life, priesthood and single life. The best vocation for you personally is the one that God is calling you to. That said, for various reasons, everyone considers getting married. Young people, however, will rarely consider becoming a religious sister or brother or priest unless they are encouraged to do so. This, unfortunately, is rarely done. I recently heard a priest describing an experience he had while speaking with a large group in a parish. During their conversation, some parishioners complained about the fact that the number of Masses in their parish had recently been reduced because there were not enough priests. Others remarked that they were sad because when they were growing up they used to see many religious sisters, in school, for example, and now there seemed to be so few. In response to these concerns, the priests asked the people to put up their hands if they had a son or daughter who was between the age of 18 - 25. Many hands went up. Next he asked them if they had ever encouraged their son or daughter to become a priest or religious sister or brother. Hardly a hand went up. The priest said, “so you see want more priests and religious, but you will not encourage your children to become one? Why not? After a time of silence, one woman in the front yelled out, “because, Father, my children are normal!” We do not do enough in the Church to encourage young people to become religious sister, brother or priest because it does not seem like a normal way to live.

Perhaps we need to redefine what we think a normal life is. Who shows us what it means to live a good, fulfilling life as a human being? Because He is truly God and truly man, Jesus shows us what it means to live a good life as a human being.

Jesus reveals that normal and fulfilling life is one in which we offer ourselves as completely to God as possible. In fact, in the Gospel we have heard describing the presentation of Jesus in the Temple, we learn just that. During Jesus’ time, when a first born son was presented in the Temple he would have to be redeemed. In order to do this, an animal was offered to God. The child could then be redeemed and handed over to his parents. Interestingly something different happens for Jesus. An offering is made but, instead of Jesus being redeemed and handed over to His parents quite the opposite occurs: Jesus is presented or offered entirely to His heavenly Father. Because of this total offering to God the Father, Jesus’ life will be indescribably fruitful for others. As Simeon predicts, Jesus will be the one to bring God’s salvation to the world. To accomplice this, Jesus will have to suffer and sacrifice much. He will be contradicted by many. In this short scene of Jesus’ presentation in the Temple we learn that to live a good and normal human life, we need to offer our life to God.

Though it requires sacrifice, the more generous we are in giving ourselves to God, the greater He can work in our life and the lives of others. The amount of good that God can work through our life is proportional to our generosity to Him. This principle is illustrated by the following story. In India there was a beggar sitting by the side of the road. Every so often a traveller would pass by and place a little rice in the bowl the beggar was holding. One day the beggar heard the king approaching with his entourage. This was the moment the beggar was waiting for. Surely the king would give him plenty of rice! The king did indeed stop before the beggar. But when he bent over towards him, this great king said something unexpected. The king said to the beggar, “give me some of your rice”. The beggar was taken aback! He reached into his bowl and gave the king one grain of rice. The great king calmly replied “is that all”? Furious, the beggar took out a second grain from his bowl and tossed it at the king. With this the king gathered up his entourage and was off. The beggar, filled with rage, greedily fingered the remaining rice grains in his bowl. It was then that he noticed that one grain felt different to the touch. When he brought it out of the bowl he noticed that it was a grain of pure gold! The beggar quickly checked the rest of his bowl. To his delight he found a second grain of gold. He had one grain of gold for each grain of rice he gave the king. As the king walked away, the beggar couldn't help thinking “why on earth did I not give the king everything?!”  We should ask ourselves the same question. Why do we not give God our King everything? The more we give of ourselves to God, the more wonderful things He can work in our life and the lives of others.

Consecrated Life is an incredible satisfying and fruitful way of life because it involves trying to offer your entire life to Jesus. Consecrated persons strive to give all their rice to the King. Just as Jesus was offered to God the Father in the Temple,  through their three vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, religious men and women seek to make of themselves a total gift to God and through God they become a gift to other people, especially those most in need. Far from being an abnormal way to live, it is in fact something every normal Catholic young person should consider. Since Consecrated Life involved making your whole existence a gift to God, it is an incredibly fruitful and satisfying way of life.

Now, since any good commercial requires a testimonial from a satisfied customer, here is mine. Speaking as a priest who has had some experience also in religious life, I can testify that it is an incredibly fulfilling and rewarding way to live. It is not easy. The life is full of sacrifices and challenges. At the same time it is a wonderful and exciting way of life. It has brought me much joy and happiness. For those who are called, I think there can be no better way to spend your life. I would love it if in the Church it became a normal thing that when people are considering what to do with their life, they think about becoming a religious sister, brother or priest. Everyone should at least have the opportunity to consider if this wonderful life is for them. Let us try to make this a reality by doing a little advertising for Consecrated Life.

Christians: Stronger together than alone

1 Cor. 1.10-13, 17-18 | Matthew 4.12-23

When I was in elementary school I used to play on a lot of different sports teams. I didn't play well, truth be told, but I played. Being on a team can be a struggle; the members often don’t get along and it takes a lot of coordination and commitment to make it work. In the end, however, it is worth it. Whenever I was on a team I realized that others always brought talents I didn't have. As the Superbowl is just a week away, you will forgive me for quoting the famous running back Walter Payton. He summarized well the power of working together on a team with this simple phrase: “we are stronger together than we are alone”. We have just finished the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. As Christians we are all supposed to be on the same team, working for the same goal. Unfortunately, the disunity we see among Christians shows we are not playing as a team. The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is a moment to ask ourselves: are we not stronger together than we are alone?

Disunity among Christians holds us back from fulfilling the mission we have been given by Jesus. Any team that is divided will cannot win. As we heard in the Gospel, as Christians we have all been called by Jesus and given the mission to be “fishers of men”, that is, to help all people to come to love, know and serve Jesus. Disunity hinders this mission. It is important to realize that the Ecumenical Movement, which strives to create greater unity among Christians, began among missionaries. They witnessed that not only were Christians missionaries not working as a team, they were working against each other. For example, Anglican missionaries would come to a village and share the Gospel with those who had never heard of Jesus. Soon after, Catholics missionaries would come to the same village and explain that although the Anglicans were right about Jesus, they were the wrong Christian group to be part of. The same thing happened when Catholic missionaries arrived first. The villagers, seeing this situation, would ask why they should become Christians if Christians themselves didn’t have their act together. This disunity is nothing new. In the second reading, Paul asks the community at Corinth a provocative question: “Is Christ divided?” With this question, which in fact has been the theme of this year’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, St. Paul reproaches the Corinthians for their divisions and rivalries. In his most recent Wednesday Audience, Pope Francis said the following:

“Christ has certainly not been divided. But we have to recognize with sincerity and with sorrow that our communities continue to live divisions that are a scandal … Divisions among Christians are a scandal. There is no other word for it. A scandal!”

Divisions among Christians is a scandal that harms the effectiveness of spreading the Gospel.

Since we are stronger together than we are alone, we should earnestly desire the goal of greater unity among Christians. A team will not be able to unite if its individual members are not sold on the importance of coming and working together. It is not enough that we hope that Christians just get along better or are more civil to each other. The goal of the Ecumenical Movement is very ambitious since it is the unity that Jesus wanted and prayed for: full and visible unity among Christians. This goal respects two important truths regarding the current unity that exists among Christians.

1. On the one hand, a very real unity exists among us because of our Baptism. One of the tangible fruits of the Ecumenical Movement is a rediscovered sense of brotherhood among Christians. Because of Baptism, We are truly brother and sisters in Christ.
2. On the other hand, we must acknowledge that there are real divisions that exists among Christians. It helps no one when we level off or ignore differences, whether they be doctrinal or otherwise. As the document on Ecumenism from the Second Vatican Council said, “Nothing is so foreign to the spirit of ecumenism as a false irenicism”(Unitatis Redintegratio, 11), that is, a false making of peace.

These two truths should motivate us to be earnestly committed to the goal of full, visible unity among Christians.

Just as building any team involves a commitment to different activities, there are several dimensions, or tasks, involved in furthering Christian unity. One way is through theological dialogue. The Catholic Church has trained delegations which are in official dialogue with most other Churches and Christian communities in order to discuss doctrinal differences. This work has born real fruit. In 1999, for example, the Catholic Church and the Lutheran World Federation signed Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification. In this, Catholics and Lutherans were able to agree on the main theological issue which originally sparked the Protestant Reformation. This was a historic achievement. Another way that the Church works towards building unity is through common prayer and cooperation. Though our divisions prevents us from joining in a common Eucharist, common prayer as Christians is appropriate and powerful. Additionally, Christians should cooperate in initiatives which further Jesus’ mission, such as charitable works, working to build peace and the pro-life movement. A powerful example of such common prayer and cooperation is the Taize Community in France. This is an ecumenical monastic community composed of Catholics and Protestants who through their common life, prayer and welcoming of young pilgrims are working to bring greater unity among Christians. Theological dialogue and common prayer and cooperation are two ways in which the Ecumenical movement works to bring greater unity among followers of Christ.

Though these dimensions are interesting to hear about, for most of us, these don’t seem like things we can really be involved in. How can we personally contribute to the unity and teamwork among Christians? To answer that, think of this. Is it not the case that a team is only as strong as its individual members? No matter how closely knit a hockey team may be, if the individual players are terrible the team will be terrible. On the other hand, when individual players improve their own game, the entire team will get better.

We all play a vital role in furthering Christian unity by becoming better followers of Jesus. Simply put, the holier we become individually, the greater will be the unity among Christians.  As read in the gospel, we have all received a person call to follow Jesus Christ, as did Peter and Andrew. This call is meant to change our life entirely. We are called to repent and enter into a relationship with Jesus and imitate His way of behaving. The better we are at following Jesus, the greater will be our unity as Christians. Imagine for a moment that a number of individuals have become scattered on a mountain, each on different slopes surrounding the peak. What is the best way for them to find one another again? If they each walk down the mountain, their separation will increase. If they walk horizontally around the mountain there is no guarantee they will meet as they may be at different levels and might all be walking at the same time. The surest, quickest way to find each other is if all individuals hike up to the peak of the mountain and become reunited there. As Christians, we are the people scattered on the mountain. At the peak of the mountain we find Jesus. The closer that Christians walk towards Jesus, the closer we grow towards Him, the closer we will come to each other. We all have a vital part to play in strengthening unity among Christians. The greater our holiness, the greater will be our unity.

source: Σ64

We all probably personally know Christians who are not Catholic. It is a source of joy and hope that we share so much in common. At the same time, we cannot help but be saddened by the disunity that exists among us. Today we should remember that furthering Christian unity is the job of each one of us, not just for specialists living in the Vatican or elsewhere. The closer we as individuals follow Jesus, the greater will be the unity among Christians. Jesus has called us all personally and given us the mission to be fishers of men. We are on the same team. Let us never forget that we are stronger together than we are alone.

Overcoming fear with the Cowardly Lion

1 SM 17:32-33, 37, 40-51 | MK 3:1-6

If you know the story of the Wizard of Oz, then you must remember the character of the Cowardly Lion. The Cowardly Lion feels that since he is the “King of the Beasts” he should be able to do anything that he thinks is right. The lion, however, is often paralyzed from doing what he knows is right because of fear. He is ashamed that he feels fear at all. We can experience much the same thing. We may know what the right thing to do is but we may be too afraid to do it because of fear of judgement, persecution or harm.

Because such fear is unavoidable, it is important that we cultivate the virtue of courage. The two readings today speak of the importance of having the courage to do the right thing in the face of fear. The first reading tells us the story of David and Goliath. All the soldiers in the army of Israel are too afraid to fight the enormous warrior Goliath from the opposing Philistine army. Only David has the courage to face his fear and do the right thing by battling Goliath. In the gospel we see that Jesus also has the courage to do the right thing in the face of opposition. Jesus knows that it is right to heal the man with the withered hand. He also knows that there will be consequences if He acts. He will be judged by the Pharisees who say that by healing this man Jesus would be breaking the law - as they saw it - by working on the Sabbath. Perhaps Jesus also knew that they would use His action as a reason to have His put to death. Jesus has the great courage to face these fears, do the right thing and heal the man. Without courage, we would rarely be able to do what we know is right.

Trusting in God gives us the strength to courageously face difficult situations. David is quite clear about the source of his courage to face Goliath: trust in God. David is able to overcome His fear because he is certain God will protect him. Today we are witnessing a powerful example of people facing their fears and doing the right thing by trusting in God. In Washington D.C., ten of thousands of people have gathered today for the annual March for Life. They are marching in very cold, inclimate weather. These individuals are powerfully reminding society of the dignity of all human life from conception to its natural end. They are standing up for the fact that before birth a child is human being deserving protection and that abortion is wrong because it is the taking of an innocent life. It can be difficult to speak this truth today. Speaking it can evoke a strong, sometimes hostile, reaction. Those marching today, therefore, show great courage by doing the right thing and standing up for the dignity of human life even in the face of the fear of consequences. Those participating in the march rely on God for their courage to do so. In their prayers - which is the backbone of the event - they put their trust in God, knowing that He will take care of them. When we too trust in God, He gives us the courage to do the right thing in the face of fear.

Eventually the Cowardly Lion learns an important lesson. He learns that true courage does not mean never feeling afraid. On the contrary, true courage is doing the right thing in the face of fear. Feeling fear is natural and unavoidable. The lion realizes this, and pushes himself outside his comfort zone, no longer allowing himself to be paralyzed by fear. Today we can ask ourselves a question: “is there some course of action that I know is right but which fear is preventing me from taking?” Let us ask God to give us the gift of courage to overcome our fears and do the right thing.