God hates... God Hates No One. The 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time.

There is a group of people, a worship community actually, that goes around from city to city, town to town, even leaving the country to go abroad to preach their message of God.  You might see them in certain cities, near schools, in parks. Very, very often they show up at military funerals. 

It is hard for me to even use them as the launchpad for this post, so I won't call them by name or link to them. Their signature sign and chant might point out to you who they are - and even then, I present you with a parody of their sign.

Do you find it hard to conceive of God hating anyone or anything? It seems antithetical to all that our Church teaches us about the Lord. And even if God was displeased, do you think that God would encourage us to call people names?

In the first reading this week, from the Book of Wisdom, we hear this (emphasis mine):

For you love all things that are
and loathe nothing that you have made;
for what you hated, you would not have fashioned.
And how could a thing remain, unless you willed it;
or be preserved, had it not been called forth by you?
But you spare all things, because they are yours,
O LORD and lover of souls,
for your imperishable spirit is in all things!

Yes, God loves all things that are and loathes nothing that God has made. Our God is a lover of souls and God's imperishable spirit is in all things.

All things.  That is the inherent dignity of each and every human person... No matter what.

In the second reading, a letter to the Thessalonians, St. Paul offers the reminder:

...not to be shaken out of your minds suddenly, or to be alarmed either by a "spirit," or by an oral statement,
or by a letter allegedly from us to the effect that the day of the Lord is at hand.

God hates who?

Again, so many claims can be made in the name of God, but we can't be thrown off or alarmed by what is not of God. Yet we are given so many conflicting messages about how we are rejected by this all gracious and loving God that is is hard to not be "shaken out of (y)our minds" at times.

Of course God reaches out to us and through Jesus Christ offers us new life. And yes, response to that outreach makes some demands upon us to conform to the life Jesus gives us. The love of God is not conditional and it is very hard for most of us to really internalize and appropriate that in an integrated way. The only condition is that we respond and be transformed. God's love is always there, our choice to be in that love is our own condition.

God hates who?

Earlier today I watched a video by Father James Martin, SJ.



In this video, Fr. Martin was reminding our LGBT brothers and sisters, who feel very rejected by organized religion in general, and whose lives may be at risk, that we are all beloved. I liked that in this video he said that Jesus was "always inviting people into community." That's kind of where we are headed with today's Gospel.

In today's Gospel from Luke we are treated to a compelling parable about Jesus and Zacchaeus. It seems that Zacchaeus was not just any tax collector. He lived in Jericho, a pretty rough and tumble town by many accounts, and he was one of the most reviled tax collectors there. That is quite a designation, the most hated of those who are hated. Not only did he collect taxes, he was quite wealthy himself, perhaps because he was collecting some taxes of his own. He seemed to serve not only the occupier, Rome, but also himself as he skimmed off the top. Who knows exactly what happened - what we know is that he was a real outsider.

Now it appears that he was short and as such, he had to climb up a sycamore tree in order to even see Jesus that day. An aside, Fr. Pat mentioned this in his homily - the prophet Amos was the dresser of Sycamore trees and Amos brought a message of repentance. In any event, Zacchaeus did seem determined to see Jesus, so he scrambled up that tree. And Jesus - being Jesus - did not say "God hates tax collectors," nor did he wave any signs. No, he simply looked up at the right moment and said,

"Zacchaeus, come down quickly,
for today I must stay at your house." 

This is not a casual "let's get together" remark but an imperative. Jesus says he must stay at Zacchaeus house. Now people are unhappy because not only is Z an unpopular guy, he is thought of as a real sinner.

God hates who?

Here is Jesus - calling Zacchaeus by name and insisting that he stay at Zacchaeus house.  That's a pretty big deal and not done lightly - God knows your name, you have been called by name.

God hates who?

Of course, the good people of Jericho - you know, the ones that follow all the rules - are scandalized.... Once again Jesus does the unthinkable, he calls the outcast into the light. Imagine that, instead of Jesus going to the most upstanding citizen's house he does the opposite by interacting with the man that Jericho loves to hate by getting him out of that tree.

After scrambling down the tree, Zacchaues does what? He makes good. His transformation is set into motion. He offers restitution and fourfold restitution at that. Can you imagine Bernie Madoff or someone like that saying that not only would he repay the people that he frauded, but pay them back at four times the rate?

Jesus is glad to point out what this means:

And Jesus said to him,
"Today salvation has come to this house
because this man too is a descendant of Abraham.
For the Son of Man has come to seek
and to save what was lost."

This man too is a descendant of Abraham. Jesus has come to seek and to save what was lost and once again, Jesus has done so.

God hates who?

Perhaps the next time we are about to revile someone - a relative, a friend, a neighbor, a politician, a societal outcast, a person of a different orientation, a person of a different faith or of no faith at all, we should stop and consider the parable Zacchaeus.

And then we might know that it is Jesus calling our name, asking us to come down quickly, demanding to stay at our house, asking us to be transformed.

Zacchaeus stands for anyone who we might believe God hates. And God clearly hates no one.

Persistence and Grace - The 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time

I come late to this reflection, but here I am. Maybe that is part of the persistence theme in today's readings? Perhaps. More likely I am just far, far behind after a busy week and after having been away last weekend!

Honestly, I didn't have something for today; no time to really prepare the right way. Then I went to mass this morning and I can't help but use the story that Fr. Turbull told us in his homily.

There was an elderly and childless orthodox Jewish couple in Albany; they owned a store on Central Avenue. Each day they would be in the store, but not before the woman went to shul each day to pray. In Orthodox Judaism, men and women largely remain segregated and at the time this woman was alive, I'm guessing this story took place in the 40's, it was definitely so!

The men would pray in the main sanctuary and the women would sit in an upper balcony, where they could pray silently, as if observers. In Judaism, 10 men are required for a minyan, the minimum number for prayer. This is interesting to me because it relates to the "us" of prayer and not the "me" that is so common in many prayer practices. It is another reminder of the similarities, and there are so many, between Judaism and our Catholic Christian faith which has grown from that root.

In any event, if there are not 10 men, there is no prayer.

One day the women went to the synagogue and lo and behold there were only 9 men present. What would they do? Them men spoke and then looked up... would she come to pray with them to make the minyan? (This was a huge breech of what was acceptable, but good for those men to witness the woman's faithful daily presence with such respect and inclusion, no matter what their motivation.)

Apparently this woman was over the moon with joy and her life was probably never the same after that day. Her faithful present brought forth an unexpected bout of grace that one day.

Perhaps she was like the woman in Luke's Gospel, petitioning the unjust judge. Her regular and faithful, persistent and hopeful presence finally wrought her the judgment that she sought.  Now who knows if the woman that Father spoke of this morning felt like she was petitioning, but she did go to God daily, in prayer and with her presence. This brings the reminder of what St. Paul says to Timothy in today's second reading; "be persistent, whether it is convenient or inconvenient."  We live in a culture of convenience, what would St. Paul say about us!

Which brings me back to the first reading from the Book of Exodus and the thought that we do not pray the prayer if I, we do not carry the Cross alone; we are in community and are one in Christ. Just as Moses could not keep his arms aloft without the help of Aaron and Hur, just as Christ could not carry the cross alone and just as we are all part of something bigger by virtue of our faith... we pray a prayer of we, not of me.

When we pray we may not ever hear what we want, when we pray we may end up getting what we want - far beyond any time boundary that we set for it. We wait in joyful hope- at least that is the thought.

However, even that waiting is not a solitary act, and it is certainly not always convenient and it is not passive... Persistence yields grace.

Asking and Waiting - The 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

It is my practice to attempt to put up some sort of reflection on the Sunday readings every week. This is the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time and while we have some great Scriptures, I found myself floundering around for what to write about.

One thing I got to thinking about was all the many things that might cause us to make a fist to shake at God... It could be a family situation, it could be a financial or health situation. Maybe it is that most toxic places - politics, which could include war, poverty, the economy. Maybe you are in a marginalized community and you are tired of being nice and waiting to reconcile or be heard. Maybe you are not marginalized and you grow weary of those who should just "buck up" and get with the program. There are zillions of scenarios to consider.

The Prophet Habakkuk

In my waiting and praying about what to write about, two things emerged for me... One was the message, so profoundly heard in our first reading from Habakkuk:

How long, O LORD? I cry for help
but you do not listen!

Who has not felt that way?!

The second was when I came across something on the internet which said that it was unusual that our first reading and Gospel today, were not related. That struck me because I see a connection... So, that is how I came up with this reflection.

In our first reading Habakkuk, who is considered a minor prophet who lived around 620 B.C., really lets it fly with God. How long? Seriously God - what is up with this? We're tired of waiting! I think of how you can buy an express pass for any big amusement park - lines are so bo-ring! We're busy, got places to go and things to do!

I do not think that Habakkuk is asking for an express pass, but he is expressing his frustration directly to God. And that is a good thing. If you are afraid to do the same - take note please... God answers Habakkuk. More about that in a minute. By the way, it is worth noting that the name Habukkuk means "to embrace or wrestle." I like that.

The second reading is from the second letter of Saint Paul to Timothy. Listen to this for a moment:

For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice
but rather of power and love and self-control.
So do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord,
nor of me, a prisoner for his sake;

God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, says St. Paul. Then why do we as a culture so often mistake humility with weakness? And we mistake piety as cowering? And then we mistake power with domination? It is worth pondering. Habakkuk understood some of that power as mentioned by St. Paul and faced God with his frustration.

The other thing interesting about this part of the passage is that we are not to be ashamed. Again, another cultural issue is that of being either too politically correct by not being seen as "too religious," or perhaps as being too individualistic and thus not being who you are.

So what does that have to do with the Gospel... Sorry, I am slow, I am getting there!

Today's Gospel from Luke reminds us that the apostles asked plainly:

The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith." 

What person of faith has not uttered that? This is where perhaps the first reading intersects with this Gospel, and the second reading too. Is Habakkuk not in a sense asking for more faith? And while we can't know what Timothy was thinking, we can see that Paul was encouraging him and others to accept the gift of faith, without shame.

All of this points to one thing perhaps and that is that we keep looking outside for faith. This is understandable as our faith is a gift. That said, the gift is here within and all around us, we simply must accept and open the gift.

Now to circle back to Habakkuk and to bring this back to the Gospel... In Habakkuk, God instructs the prophet to:

Write down the vision clearly upon the tablets,
so that one can read it readily.
For the vision still has its time,
presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint;
if it delays, wait for it,
it will surely come, it will not be late.
The rash one has no integrity;
but the just one, because of his faith, shall live.


Write it down. Clearly. The vision still has its time and is unfolding. It it delays, well then wait. Have the faith to know that it will come. And in the Gospel, isn't Jesus saying the same thing when he advises the apostles:

"If you have faith the size of a mustard seed,
you would say to this mulberry tree,
'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

Be patient, wait - but have the faith. Have the faith. And St. Paul underscores this with his admonition to accept the power and responsibility of the faith that has been given to us all of us.

It is always worth asking, it is always worth wa