 Nicholas A. Danze Deacon |
(Deacon Nicholas A. Danze) IT IS SAID, "TO A BELIEVER NO EXPLANATION IS NECESSARY; TO A DOUBTER NO EXPLANATION IS POSSIBLE." WHICH ONE ARE YOU? DO YOU REALLY PLACE YOUR TRUST IN JESUS? THE STORY IS TOLD, OF A WOMAN WHO WAS SITTING IN THE PASSENGER SECTION OF AN AIRPLANE QUIETLY READING HER BIBLE. THE MAN SITTING NEXT TO HER SAW WHAT SHE WAS DOING, AND HE SNICKERED. HE SAID, "YOU DON’T REALLY BELIEVE ALL THAT STUFF IN THERE DO YOU? THE PARTING OF THE RED SEA…THE MULTIPLICATION OF THE LOAVES AND FISHES, THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS…YOU CAN’T POSSIBLY TAKE ALL THAT SERIOUSLY."SHE SAID, "YES, I DO. IF IT’S IN THE BIBLE, I BELIEVE IT." HE SAID, "WHAT ABOUT THAT GUY WHO WAS SWALLOWED BY THAT WHALE? YOU THINK THAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED? SHE REPLIED, "YOU MEAN JONAH. YES, I BELIEVE THAT HAPPENED… THE MAN SAID, "THAT’S PURE FOOLISHNESS. HOW COULD ANYONE SURVIVE FOR THAT LONG…INSIDE A WHALE’S STOMACH?" THE LADY RESPONDED, "TO BE PERFECTLY HONEST, I DON’T KNOW. I GUESS WHEN I GET TO HEAVEN, I’LL ASK JONAH." THE MAN REPLIED SARCASTICALLY, "AND WHAT IF HE ISN’T IN HEAVEN?" THE LADY ANSWERED, "THEN YOU CAN ASK HIM! YOU SEE…"TO A DOUBTER NO EXPLANATION IS POSSIBLE." "TO A BELIEVER NO EXPLANATION IS NECESSARY"! |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| THE GOSPEL READING FOR TODAY TAKES ALL OF OUR EASTER JOY IN THE RISEN SAVIOR, AND GIVES US A DOSE OF DOWN TO EARTH REALITY …ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING OUR CURRENT WORLD SITUATION…TALK ABOUT CRISES…AND FAITH SHATTERING DOUBTS. MY FRIENDS, IT IS VERY, VERY EASY TO BE A PERSON OF FAITH WHEN ALL GOES WELL. BUT WHEN A CRISIS RIPS THE HEART…LIKE WHEN A YOUNG SPOUSE DIES OR, WORSE STILL, A CHILD DIES, OR A MARRIAGE IS ON THE ROCKS… SEPTEMBER 11… ISN’T IT…AT TIMES LIKE THESE…THAT WE FEEL OUR FAITH LESSEN…WE DOUBT…AND GET ANGRY AT GOD… CERTAINLY, A NORMAL HUMAN REACTION WHICH DOES NOT MEAN THAT WE HAVE LOST OUR FAITH…BUT SIMPLY…THAT WE ARE BEING CALLED TO A DEEPER FAITH. UNFORTUNATELY FOR MOST OF US ITS ONLY WHEN WE EXPERIENCE RELIEF FROM A CONDITION OR A SITUATION THAT OUR FAITH IS INCREASED AND WE FEEL THAT WE’VE "SEEN" THE LORD. NOW…THIS IS ALL WELL AND GOOD, BUT "HOW MUCH GREATER IS OUR FAITH…WHEN WE HOLD ONTO THE LORD EVEN…WHEN OUR PRAYERS ARE NOT ANSWERED." THOMAS RAN THE RISK OF SEPARATING HIMSELF FROM JESUS' COMMUNITY, BOTH BY HIS ABSENCE AND BY SETTING UP HIS OWN "RULES" OF BELIEF. WE TOO MUST ASK OURSELVES IF WE HAVE BECOME A "CAFETERIA CHRISTIAN" SETTING UP OUR OWN LIST OF BELIEFS AND IGNORING WHAT THE CHURCH TEACHES…PERHAPS WE CAN TAKE A HINT FROM THOMAS! YOU SEE THOMAS WAS IN FACT BOTH BRAVE AND HONEST IN REFUSING TO COMPROMISE HIS INTEGRITY…BECAUSE HE REMAINED AN HONEST DOUBTER RATHER THAN A DISHONEST BELIEVER. WHICH ONE ARE WE? ITS TRUE THOMAS WOULD NOT BELIEVE…THAT JESUS HAD REALLY RISEN FROM THE TOMB UNLESS HE COULD PUT HIS OWN FINGER AND HAND INTO THE SIDE OF JESUS. BUT I DON’T SEE HIM AS A DOUBTER…INSTEAD, I SEE HIM AS A PERSON WHOSE FAITH IS TRULY STRENGTHNED BY HIS VISIBLE, TANGIBLE EXPERIENCE OF GOD. I KNOW THAT I WOULD MOST LIKELY HAVE BEEN EVERY BIT AS SUSPICIOUS AS THOMAS WAS… WHAT HAPPENED TO THE SON OF GOD WASN’T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN…WOULDN’T YOUR FAITH IN JESUS BE SHATTERED AS WELL? |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| I BELIEVE THAT WE HAVE THE SAME SORT OF CRISIS OF FAITH TODAY BUT MANY CATHOLICS SHOW THAT THEY HAVE LEARNED THE LESSON OF THOMAS. WHEN THERE IS SCANDAL IN THE CHURCH, FOR EXAMPLE, IT IS DIFFICULT TO BELIEVE THAT THE CHURCH REALLY IS CHRIST PRESENT ON EARTH. WE SEEM TO GET SO CAUGHT UP IN THE EARTHLY FAILURES OF THE CHURCH THAT WE BEGIN TO SEE THE CHURCH AS SIMPLY A HUMAN INSTITUTION. BUT THOSE OF US WHO BELIEVE AND WHO REFUSE TO GO ALONG WITH CERTAIN THINGS SIMPLY BECAUSE THOSE AROUND US DO, KNOW THAT ALL HUMANS ARE SINNERS AND THAT "THE CHURCH IS CHRIST PRESENT AMONG US IN THE FORM OF A SINFUL HUMAN RACE." DOUBTING THOMAS…WORDS THAT FORM A NEGATIVE IMAGE IN OUR MIND. MANY OF US, I’M SURE, HAVE GROWN UP THINKING THAT IT IS NOT GOOD TO BE A DOUBTER… AND ALMOST EVERYONE IS HARD ON THOMAS BECAUSE OF HIS INDECISION TO BELIEVE. BUT, WHEN THE RISEN LORD AGAIN RETURNED AND THOMAS WAS THERE, CHRIST DID NOT CRITICIZE HIM FOR HIS DOUBT. INSTEAD, HE HELPED HIM MOVE BEYOND IT…TO FAITH. |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||\ CONSIDER THIS …LITTLE ROBERT HAD BEEN PUT TO BED. AS FOUR-YEAR-OLDS ARE IN THE HABIT OF DOING, HE FIRST CALLED FOR A DRINK OF
WATER…THEN HAD TO GO TO THE BATHROOM. GOD IS WITH YOU, TAKING CARE OF YOU." |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||\ IN FACT…POOR THOMAS…ALSO…GETS
BLAMED FOR UNBELIEF … WHEN ALL HE ACTUALLY WANTED WAS "SOMEONE WITH
SKIN ON." YOU SEE…OUR GOD DOES NOT REQUIRE US TO BE DOUBT-FREE. BUT HE IS CALLING US TO BE PEOPLE WHO WILL STOP TO LISTEN, TO QUESTION, TO LEARN, TO GROW AND DISCOVER WHAT IT IS THAT WE DON’T KNOW. AND SO, THOMAS CAN BE THE PATRON SAINT WHO CAN GIVE US COURAGE TO FACE OUR DOUBTS HONESTLY AND OPENLY… TIMES OF DOUBT DO COME AND WILL COME FOR ALL OF US. AND JUST AS SURELY…AS GROWTH CAN COME THROUGH PAIN… SO FAITH CAN COME THROUGH DOUBT. MY PRAYER IS THAT EACH OF US…CHRISTIANS, MAY HAVE THE COURAGE TO FACE OUR DOUBTS…SO THAT LIKE THOMAS, WHEN THE TRUTH IS REVEALED…WE CAN…HONESTLY AND WITH HEARTFELT CONVICTION BE ABLE TO SAY…AND TRULY BELIEVE…THOSE WONDERFUL, FAITH-FILLED WORDS: "MY LORD AND MY GOD." AND SO… MY FRIENDS, LET US WALK BY FAITH AND NOT BY SIGHT…REJOYCING IN THE LORD…PLACING OUR TRUST AND HOPE IN HIM EACH AND EVERY DAY…BY BECOMING HIS FAITHFUL FOLLOWERS. SUCH A CONVERSION ABOUT WHAT IT MEANS TO FOLLOW HIM AS… A BELIEVER…WHO NEEDS NO EXPLANATION…COMES QUICKLY FOR SOME… BUT FOR OTHERS TO WHOM NO EXPLANATION IS POSSIBLE…IT WILL TAKE A LIFETIME! WHICH ONE ARE YOU? MAY GOD OUR FATHER GIVE YOU GRACE AND PEACE! J J JHow can we get our priorities straight in our Daily Lives? As always, Jesus provides the way by His own example! Our Lord, Scripture tells us, sought out a lonely place to pray. In solitude and in fellowship with the father, Jesus found renewal and the direction for that which awaited him. to be alone with God is to find renewal and strength for the challenges we will meet from hour to hour.V I don't know that anyone of us can overstate the importance, indeed the need, of seeking a quiet, lonely place so that we can hear God speak to us. And to help us understand more clearly how we can get our priorities straight in our daily lives. Within our busy and very noisy world we can accomplish this by being away from a blaring television or radio. And, apart from chattering folks trying to gain our attention..V A woman was the mother of 10 children ---- the wildest kids you could imagine. The father traveled extensively in his work, so she was, for all intense and purposes, raising these rascals alone. The poor woman's life was unbearable. A sister from the local parish heard of her plight and called her. Seeing their small house and the behavior of the children, the nun's heart went out to the poor woman. She tried to provide what little help and support she could. Sister offered the woman a playpen that someone had donated to the church. The distracted woman, who had never heard of a playpen, nonetheless welcomed the gift. Sometime later, Sister met the woman at church. With tears in her eyes, the mother thanked her for the gift. "That playpen has saved my life!" she said to sister. "It's marvelous. Every afternoon at three o'clock, I jump into the playpen with a book and the children can't get to me!" V I'm sure in some way, we can relate. And, like the harried mother, we all need that "out of the way" place to re-center our lives on the things of God. How wonderful it would be it you and I can truthfully say that we imitate Jesus in our daily lives. That even in the midst of our harried lives we take time, in our own playpen, for prayer..V Sisters and Brothers! When you are hurting; when you are totally disillusioned.. when unhappiness hangs over you like a shadow, know that Jesus is there for you, just as God was there for Job. There is hurting and there is healing in the scripture readings. There are two people who are healed and they are the same two people. One is Job and the other is the mother-in-law of Peter. These two people speak to us of hurt and service. They show us that love brings trust and trust opens our hearts to service.V The scriptures underscore that no matter how deep the pain.. no matter how sorely tempted to despair.. no matter what trial or tribulation abounds, God will be there for you.V A Deacon friend of mine told me this story..... A two-story house had caught fire. The family -- mother, father and several children, were on their way out of the burning house when the youngest boy became terrified and tore away from his mother. he ran back upstairs. Suddenly he appeared at a smoke-filled window crying and screaming for help. His father, now outside, shouted to him, "Jump, son, jump! I'll catch you." The little boy cried, "But, daddy, I can't see you." "I know", his father called, "I know. But I can see you."V Whenever you and I are in need of healing, whether it be physical, emotional or spiritual healing, all we need do is open ourselves to Jesus. He will reach out to us and grasp us by the hand and heal each one of us. The question is what do we do when God heals us or blesses us? I know that sometimes we may take God for granted. We turn to God when we need something. Then, once we get what we need, we get busy again with everyday life.V God has done so much for us. Shouldn't we use the health and healing God gives us in order to do his work? We need not look far to find the reality of chaos and dissension in our world today. In fact, the forces of chaos seem, at times, to have the upper hand. As nations are consumed by ethnic hatred, communities are divided by strife and families are often torn apart by sibling rivalries. Sometimes the chaos enters our own psyches as we struggle to see the meaning of our lives. God is fully aware of these troubles and he has sent Jesus to give us the wisdom which alone can bring us peace and happiness. Life may be drudgery and be over with quickly, but there is still work to do in this life. For Jesus and for us that work is to proclaim the Good News. We are, each one of us, Good and that cannot be taken, but only shared. We can easily forget our goodness ... and that after all.. is why we PRAY!. V My friends, prayer truly is a powerful guide that can most surely lead us toward getting our priorities in order so that our lives can be lived in loving relationships, harmony and peace. We can begin to give our lives new direction by being faithful to the jubilee pledge. We can Pray....reach across boundaries..live as people of justice and peace.. serve the needs of others. give of what we have been given..and then encourage others to do all these things. Be "Disciples in Mission" as it were... opportunities to do all these things will present themselves. Let's be ready and have our priorities in order! May God our Father give you grace and peace. VVV FOOD, Whenever it is mentioned, to a food-loving Italian like myself, my attention is quickly attracted. Not that my life revolves around food, well, maybe .... it's a cultural thing. My family's focal point, the place where I learned early on, the value of family centered around meals. And that my mother, often having very little, performed miracles every time she cooked her special meals.V Invariably, no matter how many relatives or friends dropped by the house at dinner time, that one very miraculous pot seemed to be bottomless. It could literally feed an army. And so every time I reflect on the miracle of the loaves and fishes, I seem to get a clearer understanding or at least the point, when I compare the extraordinary event in Jesus' time, to the ordinary event in my mother's kitchen.V You see, my mother would never have thought of sending those who dropped in away without first offering to feed them and sending them home with a "goody bag" as well.V What is Jesus' message to us? As Christians, we are being confronted with the challenge to step out of ourselves and become daily loaves and fishes to one another AND to bring God's nourishing presence into a world that hungers for His healing and forgiving touch.V Our Scriptures provide another rather astounding miracle, more astounding than Jesus' feeding of the crowds with a few pieces of bread and fish. It is Jesus' transformation of the crowd into a community. A community united in their need for one another in the bread they share, in the love of Christ who has brought them together... Our Eucharistic Meal.V Many years ago there was a woman who lived in a small village in France. Trained as a nurse, she devoted her life to caring for the sick and needy. After many years of kind and selfless service to the village's families, the woman died. She had no family of her own, so the townsfolk planned a beautiful funeral for her, a fitting tribute to the woman whom so many owed their lives.V The parish priest, however, pointed out that because she was a Protestant, she could not be buried in the town's Catholic cemetery. The villagers protested, but the priest held firm. It was not easy for the priest either, because he, too, had been cared for by the woman during a serious illness. But the canons of the Church were very clear; she would have to be buried outside the fence of the cemetery. The day of the funeral arrived. The whole village accompanied the woman's casket to the cemetery, where she was buried -- outside the fence. But that night, a group of villagers, armed with shovels, sneaked into the cemetery. They then quietly set to work ...... moving the fence.V In Matthew's account, we encounter many examples of Jesus' compassion for others. Even though, understandingly, Jesus would much rather be alone with his sorrow following the news of John the Baptist's death, he instead, shows great pity for the huge crowd that followed him. He cures the sick among them and provides physical nourishment to fill their need .. and then some! V In essence, however, Jesus was preparing to give them something much greater than satisfying their daily need for food. He was going to give them something that would sustain them for eternity ... the bread of complete satisfaction.. FAITH.V FAITH, is God's gift that enables us to go beyond our own wants and needs and extend ourselves to others .. for HIS sake. It is also the ability to see that we are all part of the family of God.V Jesus challenges us to live out our faith. We need to ask ourselves, what is the depth of our faith?V Is is a crisis oriented Faith where I call upon God only when I am in a great deal of trouble?..V Do I have a Faith of convenience and seek a relationship with God only to achieve a physical gain? OR...V Do I seek Faith to satisfy my hunger for eternal life? V Each of us needs to understand that Faith not only moves mountains..it moves people as well.V What is Jesus' message to us? He is giving us an example of how each of us are to be nourishment to one another by using our God-given talents and abilities, no matter what size or shape or how many or few they are .. to feed and heal the hungry and wounded in our lives.V If we do this we can be sure of one thing. He will multiply them beyond anything we ever imagined possible. V The hungers of our human family are all around us. Their hunger for; Bread, Justice and Peace, for forgiveness and yes, hunger for God. What we must always keep in mind is that God feeds the hungry and heals the wounded through us. V Christ empowers each one of us to perform our own miracles of creating community when we "move the fences" to include outsiders. When we welcome the rejected and forgotten to our tables.. when we give of what little we have, joyfully and gratefully, for the sake of others... when we welcome one another as we would welcome Jesus. V We must do what the Apostles did, we must give Jesus our five loaves and two fish and let him do with them whatever he will. V May God our Father give you grace and peace! VVV |
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