November 28, 2007
Focus: Preparing to Leave for the Monastery
Dear Friend,
It is no secret by now that I will be leaving Our Lady of Grace on January 1, 2008 for three months at the Trappist Monastery of Mepkin Abbey in South Carolina. Because I will be admitted to the cloister, I will follow the life of the monks the entire 90 days. Thus my day, which begins at 3:00am and ends at 8:00pm with lights out, will be comprised of seven times to gather for prayer, several hours of meditation, five hours of work, silence (they take a vow of silence), fasting each day, and living as a vegetarian. I spent a week there on retreat last July and fond it to be the place for me.
During those three months I will be virtually incommunicado, not receiving emails, letters, phone calls or visits.
There are two things I have decided to do and list them below:
➢ Beginning January 1, 2008 I will permanently discontinue these weekly mailings to my 330+ folks, of which you are one. When I return on April 4, 2008, Sunday homilies alone will be posted on both the parish homepage www.olgrace.com) and on my personal blog (http://frnickamato.blogspot.com/) for those of you who would like to continue having access to them.
➢ As a way of simplifying my life, I will also be dropping the monthly newsletter I have been writing the past 18 ½ years, six years at my former parish and 12 ½ years since coming to Our Lady of Grace.
The remaining “installments” of my weekly message, This and That, and homily will be today, December 6, 13, 20, and my last on December 27, 2007.
I am sure I will miss the weekly contact with you and the many comments these writings have elicited over the years.
Fondly,
Father Nick Amato
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Weekly THIS AND THAT for December 2, 2007: Scripture Passages for a College Pilgrim
This and That:
Scripture Passages For a College Pilgrim
Dear Family,
I prepared the following scripture quotes around items given me by one of our parishioners who is away at college and wanted some scriptural guidance. I thought you might find them helpful.
Fondly,
Father Nick Amato
ON GOOD HEALTH
Gospel of Matthew
• 9:12 who are in good health do not need a doctor
• 9:22 your faith has restored you to health
• 14:36 as touched it were fully restored to health
Gospel of Luke
• 7:10 house, they found the servant in perfect health
• 15:27 calf because he has him back in good health
Gospel of John
• 4:47 him to come down and restore health to his son
• 5:13 been restored to health had no idea who it was
Epistle of James
• 5:15 is ill, and the Lord will restore him to health
ON KNOWLEDGE/INTELLECT/MEMORY
Gospel of Matthew
• 13:11 a knowledge of the mysteries of the reign of God
Gospel of Luke
• 1:77 knowledge of salvation in freedom from their sins
Letter to the Romans
• 1:21 They certainly had knowledge of God
• 11:33 the riches and the wisdom and the knowledge of God
• 15:14 with goodness, that you have complete knowledge
First Letter to the Corinthians
• 1:5 endowed with every gift of speech and knowledge
• 8:1 But whereas knowledge inflates, love upbuilds
• 8:7 Not all, of course, possess this knowledge.
• 12:8 to another the power to express knowledge
• 13:2 the gift of prophecy and, with full knowledge
• 13:9 Our knowledge is imperfect and our prophesying is
• 13:12 My knowledge is imperfect now;
Letter to the Ephesians
• 3:19 this love which surpasses all knowledge
• 4:13 one in faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son
Letter to the Philippians
• 3:8 the surpassing knowledge of my Lord Jesus Christ
Letter to the Colossians
• 1:9 asking that you may attain full knowledge of his will
• 1:10 of every sort and grow in the knowledge of God
• 2:2 by their knowledge of the mystery of God
• 2:3 every treasure of wisdom and knowledge is hidden
• 3:10 one who grows in knowledge as he is formed anew in
2nd Letter to Timothy
• 3:7 but never able to reach a knowledge of the truth
2nd Letter to Peter
• 1:2 through your knowledge of God and of Jesus
• 1:3 through knowledge of him who called us by his own
• 1:8 fruit in true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ
• 3:18 the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
1st Letter to John
• 2:3 our knowledge of him is to keep his commandments
• 4:7 loves is begotten of God and has knowledge of God
ON SAFTEY
Psalms
• 12:6 I will grant safety to him who longs for it.
• 31:1 rock of refuge, a stronghold to give me safety.
• 62:8 With God is my safety and my glory,
• 71:3 rock of refuge, a stronghold to give me safety
ON COURAGE
Psalms
• 3:4 your rod and your staff that give me courage
• 27:14 Wait for the Lord with courage
• 31:25 Take courage and be stouthearted
• 118:14 My strength and my courage is the Lord
Gospel of Matthew
• 8:26 Where is your courage?
• 9:2 faith he said to the paralytic, “have courage…”
• 9:22 turned around and saw her and said, courage
Gospel of John
• 16:33 But take courage! I have overcome the world
Acts of the Apostles
• 23:11 Keep up your courage
• 27:22 I urge you now to keep up your courage
• 27:25 So keep up your courage, men
• 27:36 This gave them new courage
• 28:15 saw them, he thanked God and took fresh courage
Letter to the Romans
• 5:7 a good man someone may have the courage to die
Letter to the Ephesians
• 6:20 I may have courage to proclaim it as I ought
Letter to the Philippians
• 1:14 in Christ, taking courage from my chains
• 1 Thessalonians
• 2:2 we drew courage from our God to preach his good
ON LUCK
Book of Genesis
• 30:11 Leah then said, “What good luck!”
Letter to James
• 2:16 and you say to them, “Good-bye and good luck!”
ON SELF-CONFIDENCE
Acts of the Apostles
• 4:31 and continued to speak God’s word with confidence
• 312 Our hope being such, we speak with full confidence
• Philippians
• 1:20 I have full confidence that now as always Christ
• Hebrews
• 3:6 to our confidence and the hope ofwhich we boast
• 10:22 near in utter sincerity and absolute confidence
• 13:6 Thus we may say with confidence
• 1 John
• 4:17 we should have confidence on the day of judgment
• 5:14 We have this confidence in God
Scripture Passages For a College Pilgrim
Dear Family,
I prepared the following scripture quotes around items given me by one of our parishioners who is away at college and wanted some scriptural guidance. I thought you might find them helpful.
Fondly,
Father Nick Amato
ON GOOD HEALTH
Gospel of Matthew
• 9:12 who are in good health do not need a doctor
• 9:22 your faith has restored you to health
• 14:36 as touched it were fully restored to health
Gospel of Luke
• 7:10 house, they found the servant in perfect health
• 15:27 calf because he has him back in good health
Gospel of John
• 4:47 him to come down and restore health to his son
• 5:13 been restored to health had no idea who it was
Epistle of James
• 5:15 is ill, and the Lord will restore him to health
ON KNOWLEDGE/INTELLECT/MEMORY
Gospel of Matthew
• 13:11 a knowledge of the mysteries of the reign of God
Gospel of Luke
• 1:77 knowledge of salvation in freedom from their sins
Letter to the Romans
• 1:21 They certainly had knowledge of God
• 11:33 the riches and the wisdom and the knowledge of God
• 15:14 with goodness, that you have complete knowledge
First Letter to the Corinthians
• 1:5 endowed with every gift of speech and knowledge
• 8:1 But whereas knowledge inflates, love upbuilds
• 8:7 Not all, of course, possess this knowledge.
• 12:8 to another the power to express knowledge
• 13:2 the gift of prophecy and, with full knowledge
• 13:9 Our knowledge is imperfect and our prophesying is
• 13:12 My knowledge is imperfect now;
Letter to the Ephesians
• 3:19 this love which surpasses all knowledge
• 4:13 one in faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son
Letter to the Philippians
• 3:8 the surpassing knowledge of my Lord Jesus Christ
Letter to the Colossians
• 1:9 asking that you may attain full knowledge of his will
• 1:10 of every sort and grow in the knowledge of God
• 2:2 by their knowledge of the mystery of God
• 2:3 every treasure of wisdom and knowledge is hidden
• 3:10 one who grows in knowledge as he is formed anew in
2nd Letter to Timothy
• 3:7 but never able to reach a knowledge of the truth
2nd Letter to Peter
• 1:2 through your knowledge of God and of Jesus
• 1:3 through knowledge of him who called us by his own
• 1:8 fruit in true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ
• 3:18 the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
1st Letter to John
• 2:3 our knowledge of him is to keep his commandments
• 4:7 loves is begotten of God and has knowledge of God
ON SAFTEY
Psalms
• 12:6 I will grant safety to him who longs for it.
• 31:1 rock of refuge, a stronghold to give me safety.
• 62:8 With God is my safety and my glory,
• 71:3 rock of refuge, a stronghold to give me safety
ON COURAGE
Psalms
• 3:4 your rod and your staff that give me courage
• 27:14 Wait for the Lord with courage
• 31:25 Take courage and be stouthearted
• 118:14 My strength and my courage is the Lord
Gospel of Matthew
• 8:26 Where is your courage?
• 9:2 faith he said to the paralytic, “have courage…”
• 9:22 turned around and saw her and said, courage
Gospel of John
• 16:33 But take courage! I have overcome the world
Acts of the Apostles
• 23:11 Keep up your courage
• 27:22 I urge you now to keep up your courage
• 27:25 So keep up your courage, men
• 27:36 This gave them new courage
• 28:15 saw them, he thanked God and took fresh courage
Letter to the Romans
• 5:7 a good man someone may have the courage to die
Letter to the Ephesians
• 6:20 I may have courage to proclaim it as I ought
Letter to the Philippians
• 1:14 in Christ, taking courage from my chains
• 1 Thessalonians
• 2:2 we drew courage from our God to preach his good
ON LUCK
Book of Genesis
• 30:11 Leah then said, “What good luck!”
Letter to James
• 2:16 and you say to them, “Good-bye and good luck!”
ON SELF-CONFIDENCE
Acts of the Apostles
• 4:31 and continued to speak God’s word with confidence
• 312 Our hope being such, we speak with full confidence
• Philippians
• 1:20 I have full confidence that now as always Christ
• Hebrews
• 3:6 to our confidence and the hope ofwhich we boast
• 10:22 near in utter sincerity and absolute confidence
• 13:6 Thus we may say with confidence
• 1 John
• 4:17 we should have confidence on the day of judgment
• 5:14 We have this confidence in God
Weekly HOMILY for December 2, 2007: The Warnings of Advent
1st Sunday of Advent, Cycle A
Our Lady of Grace
December 2, 2007
The Warnings of Advent
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato
Focus: Advent Has Two Warnings to Offer Us
Function: If We Heed Advents Warnings We Can Experience a Fuller Coming of the Lord Jesus into Our Lives
Form: The Lesson
Alexander Solzhenitsyn
Most of us have heard of the Russian novelist and historian Alexander Solzhenitsyn.
Solzhenitsyn was very critical of the Communist system of government, and because of that, he was very much disliked by the Russian authorities. He also expressed some critical insights about the West, including the United States.
This past week, I came across an article by Solzhenitsyn entitled Warning. It was originally a lecture that he had given at Harvard University and his insights are very pertinent on this First Sunday of Advent.
Solzhenitsyn’s Warning
Solzhenitsyn says that since the time of the Enlightenment, we’re talking about the year 1750 or so, there has been an unfortunate shift of thinking in the Western world.
The shift has been away from a God-centered universe and toward a human-centered vision of things. Little by little, humanism has led us to see ourselves as completely independent, even independent from God.
Such a mindset holds that nothing is to interfere with our freedom.
Alexander Solzhenitsyn says that when American Democracy was established, our understanding of human freedom and human rights was that they were granted on the grounds that we also had responsibilities, especially to God.
Solzhenitsyn says that unfortunately this assumption has eroded in the Western world. Now, we accept no limitations on our freedom. None!
There is no longer any linking of freedom or rights to responsibility to God and the community. The result is that we human beings have become our own moral authority, with no objective basis of morality beyond ourselves.
Solzhenitsyn goes on to say that the spiritual life was indeed trampled by Communism in the East. And to that he adds, it is now being trampled by materialism and commercialism in the West.
Solzhenitsyn so correctly says that the very fact that our physical body dies is an indication that living only for material things or for the body is cannot the real purpose of life.
The real purpose of your life and mine is moral or spiritual growth, growth in our relationship with God.
Advent’s Warning
Solzhenitsyn’s article – Warning – is very appropriate for us today.
The Advent Season begins with Jesus’ warning in today’s Gospel. He calls us to be alert and ready for the coming of the Lord.
Jesus warns us to be God-centered in a way that is very similar to Solzhenitsyn’s warning. The question is: what might we do to heed Jesus’ warning?
What directions might we take? I see two actions in today’s readings.
Heeding the Warning
First, we need to check just what our focus is on the material and on the body. In the GOSPEL, Jesus talks about people who are “eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage right up to the day of the flood.”
Obviously, there is nothing wrong with any of these activities in themselves. Scripture scholars tell us that Jesus is more concerned about those who are totally absorbed in the material world, in the here-and-now, as if there were nothing beyond this moment, this “stuff.”
In the SECOND READING, ST. PAUL tells us to avoid promiscuity and lust and to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ.” In our society today, there seems to be an excessive emphasis on the body and an absence of limits on our freedom with regard to sexual activity.
In response to all of this promiscuity, we need to heed Jesus’ and St. Paul’s words today to cultivate the inner, spiritual life. A life grounded on the Word of God and the Eucharist and on personal prayer will keep in check the exaggerated emphasis on the material and on the body.
And second, we also need to check the tendency to violence and lack of respect for others. In the first reading, Isaiah associates God’s presence with an experience of utter peace.
ISAIAH foresees a time when “Swords will be turned into ploughs and spears into rakes.” At first thought, we may not think that we engage in violent or even disrespectful behavior.
But we have to get in touch with the violence of road rage or supermarket rage or four- letter words or put downs of one another. We need to see others as persons and not as things that may or may not satisfy us.
We need to understand and empathize, instead of being judgmental and demeaning. This will check the tendency to violence and lack of respect toward others in our society.
Conclusion
So, we have some very clear warnings on this First Sunday of Advent.
(1) Check the focus on the material and the body and cultivate an inner, spiritual life.
(2) Check the tendency to violent and disrespectful words and actions and work at understanding and empathy.
If we heed these Advent warnings, we will be ready for the Lord to come more fully to us even right now.
Our Lady of Grace
December 2, 2007
The Warnings of Advent
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato
Focus: Advent Has Two Warnings to Offer Us
Function: If We Heed Advents Warnings We Can Experience a Fuller Coming of the Lord Jesus into Our Lives
Form: The Lesson
Alexander Solzhenitsyn
Most of us have heard of the Russian novelist and historian Alexander Solzhenitsyn.
Solzhenitsyn was very critical of the Communist system of government, and because of that, he was very much disliked by the Russian authorities. He also expressed some critical insights about the West, including the United States.
This past week, I came across an article by Solzhenitsyn entitled Warning. It was originally a lecture that he had given at Harvard University and his insights are very pertinent on this First Sunday of Advent.
Solzhenitsyn’s Warning
Solzhenitsyn says that since the time of the Enlightenment, we’re talking about the year 1750 or so, there has been an unfortunate shift of thinking in the Western world.
The shift has been away from a God-centered universe and toward a human-centered vision of things. Little by little, humanism has led us to see ourselves as completely independent, even independent from God.
Such a mindset holds that nothing is to interfere with our freedom.
Alexander Solzhenitsyn says that when American Democracy was established, our understanding of human freedom and human rights was that they were granted on the grounds that we also had responsibilities, especially to God.
Solzhenitsyn says that unfortunately this assumption has eroded in the Western world. Now, we accept no limitations on our freedom. None!
There is no longer any linking of freedom or rights to responsibility to God and the community. The result is that we human beings have become our own moral authority, with no objective basis of morality beyond ourselves.
Solzhenitsyn goes on to say that the spiritual life was indeed trampled by Communism in the East. And to that he adds, it is now being trampled by materialism and commercialism in the West.
Solzhenitsyn so correctly says that the very fact that our physical body dies is an indication that living only for material things or for the body is cannot the real purpose of life.
The real purpose of your life and mine is moral or spiritual growth, growth in our relationship with God.
Advent’s Warning
Solzhenitsyn’s article – Warning – is very appropriate for us today.
The Advent Season begins with Jesus’ warning in today’s Gospel. He calls us to be alert and ready for the coming of the Lord.
Jesus warns us to be God-centered in a way that is very similar to Solzhenitsyn’s warning. The question is: what might we do to heed Jesus’ warning?
What directions might we take? I see two actions in today’s readings.
Heeding the Warning
First, we need to check just what our focus is on the material and on the body. In the GOSPEL, Jesus talks about people who are “eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage right up to the day of the flood.”
Obviously, there is nothing wrong with any of these activities in themselves. Scripture scholars tell us that Jesus is more concerned about those who are totally absorbed in the material world, in the here-and-now, as if there were nothing beyond this moment, this “stuff.”
In the SECOND READING, ST. PAUL tells us to avoid promiscuity and lust and to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ.” In our society today, there seems to be an excessive emphasis on the body and an absence of limits on our freedom with regard to sexual activity.
In response to all of this promiscuity, we need to heed Jesus’ and St. Paul’s words today to cultivate the inner, spiritual life. A life grounded on the Word of God and the Eucharist and on personal prayer will keep in check the exaggerated emphasis on the material and on the body.
And second, we also need to check the tendency to violence and lack of respect for others. In the first reading, Isaiah associates God’s presence with an experience of utter peace.
ISAIAH foresees a time when “Swords will be turned into ploughs and spears into rakes.” At first thought, we may not think that we engage in violent or even disrespectful behavior.
But we have to get in touch with the violence of road rage or supermarket rage or four- letter words or put downs of one another. We need to see others as persons and not as things that may or may not satisfy us.
We need to understand and empathize, instead of being judgmental and demeaning. This will check the tendency to violence and lack of respect toward others in our society.
Conclusion
So, we have some very clear warnings on this First Sunday of Advent.
(1) Check the focus on the material and the body and cultivate an inner, spiritual life.
(2) Check the tendency to violent and disrespectful words and actions and work at understanding and empathy.
If we heed these Advent warnings, we will be ready for the Lord to come more fully to us even right now.
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Weekly MESSAGE for November 25, 2007: Thanksgiving Greetings
November 22, 2007
Focus: Thanksgiving Greetings
Dear Friend,
May your stuffing be tasty. May your turkey be plump.
May your potatoes 'n gravy have nary a lump.
May your yams be delicious. May your pies take the prize.
May your Thanksgiving dinner stay off of your thighs (or wherever else it may settle.)
May you all have a blessed Thanksgiving!
Fondly,
Father Nick Amato
Focus: Thanksgiving Greetings
Dear Friend,
May your stuffing be tasty. May your turkey be plump.
May your potatoes 'n gravy have nary a lump.
May your yams be delicious. May your pies take the prize.
May your Thanksgiving dinner stay off of your thighs (or wherever else it may settle.)
May you all have a blessed Thanksgiving!
Fondly,
Father Nick Amato
Weekly THIS AND THAT for November 25, 2007: The Need to Pray Always
This and That:
The Need to Pray Always
It struck me that with Thanksgiving just two days behind us, most families took a moment to give thanks in prayer around the table on that special day. Many were perhaps families that rarely pray. In a recent Gospel Jesus told his disciples a parable on the necessity of praying not just on Thanksgiving, or even daily, but always and not losing heart. The parable is the one about the troublesome widow. In answer to the question “How often must we pray?” Jesus answers, “Always!”
Prayer, like love, does not put up with calculation. Does a mother ask how often she should love her child, or a friend how often he should love a friend? There can be different levels of deliberateness in regard to love, but there are no more or less regular intervals in loving. It is the same way with prayer.
This ideal of constant prayer is realized in different forms in the East and West. Eastern Christianity practiced it with the “Jesus Prayer”: “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me!”
The West formulated the principle of constant prayer in a more flexible way so that it could also be proposed to those who do not lead a monastic life. St. Augustine teaches that the essence of prayer is desire. If the desire for God is constant, so also is prayer, but if there is no interior desire, then you can howl as much as you want – to God you are mute.
Now, this secret desire for God, a work of memory, of need for the infinite, of nostalgia for God, can remain alive, even when one has other things to do: “Praying for a long time is not the same thing as kneeling or folding your hands for a long time. It consists rather in awakening a constant and devout impulse of the heart toward him whom we invoke.”
Jesus himself gave us the example of unceasing prayer. Of him, it is said that he prayed during the day, in the evening, early in the morning, and sometimes he passed the whole night in prayer. Prayer was the connecting thread of his whole life.
But Christ’s example tells us something else that is important. We are deceiving ourselves if we think that we can pray always, make prayer a kind of respiration of the soul in the midst of daily activity, if we do not set aside fixed times for prayer, when we are free from every other preoccupation.
The same Jesus whom we see praying always, is also the one who, like every other Jew of his period, stopped and turned toward the temple in Jerusalem three times a day, at dawn, in the afternoon during the temple sacrifices, and at sundown, and recited ritual prayers, among which was the “Shema Yisrael!” – “Hear, O Israel!” On the Sabbath he also participated, with his disciples, in the worship at the synagogue; different scenes in the Gospels take place precisely in this context.
The Church – we can say, from its first moment of life – has also set aside a special day dedicated to worship and prayer: Sunday. We all know what, unfortunately, has happened to Sunday in our society: Sports, from being something for diversion and relaxation, have often become something that poisons Sunday. We must do whatever we can so that this day can return to being, as God intended it in commanding festive repose, a day of serene joy that strengthens our communion with God and with each other, in the family and in society.
We modern Christians should take our inspiration from the words that, in 305, St. Saturnius and his fellow martyrs addressed to the Roman judge who had them arrested for participating in the Sunday rite: “The Christian cannot live without the Sunday Eucharist. Do you not know that the Christian exists for the Eucharist and the Eucharist for the Christian?”
Fondly,
Father Nick Amato
The Need to Pray Always
It struck me that with Thanksgiving just two days behind us, most families took a moment to give thanks in prayer around the table on that special day. Many were perhaps families that rarely pray. In a recent Gospel Jesus told his disciples a parable on the necessity of praying not just on Thanksgiving, or even daily, but always and not losing heart. The parable is the one about the troublesome widow. In answer to the question “How often must we pray?” Jesus answers, “Always!”
Prayer, like love, does not put up with calculation. Does a mother ask how often she should love her child, or a friend how often he should love a friend? There can be different levels of deliberateness in regard to love, but there are no more or less regular intervals in loving. It is the same way with prayer.
This ideal of constant prayer is realized in different forms in the East and West. Eastern Christianity practiced it with the “Jesus Prayer”: “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me!”
The West formulated the principle of constant prayer in a more flexible way so that it could also be proposed to those who do not lead a monastic life. St. Augustine teaches that the essence of prayer is desire. If the desire for God is constant, so also is prayer, but if there is no interior desire, then you can howl as much as you want – to God you are mute.
Now, this secret desire for God, a work of memory, of need for the infinite, of nostalgia for God, can remain alive, even when one has other things to do: “Praying for a long time is not the same thing as kneeling or folding your hands for a long time. It consists rather in awakening a constant and devout impulse of the heart toward him whom we invoke.”
Jesus himself gave us the example of unceasing prayer. Of him, it is said that he prayed during the day, in the evening, early in the morning, and sometimes he passed the whole night in prayer. Prayer was the connecting thread of his whole life.
But Christ’s example tells us something else that is important. We are deceiving ourselves if we think that we can pray always, make prayer a kind of respiration of the soul in the midst of daily activity, if we do not set aside fixed times for prayer, when we are free from every other preoccupation.
The same Jesus whom we see praying always, is also the one who, like every other Jew of his period, stopped and turned toward the temple in Jerusalem three times a day, at dawn, in the afternoon during the temple sacrifices, and at sundown, and recited ritual prayers, among which was the “Shema Yisrael!” – “Hear, O Israel!” On the Sabbath he also participated, with his disciples, in the worship at the synagogue; different scenes in the Gospels take place precisely in this context.
The Church – we can say, from its first moment of life – has also set aside a special day dedicated to worship and prayer: Sunday. We all know what, unfortunately, has happened to Sunday in our society: Sports, from being something for diversion and relaxation, have often become something that poisons Sunday. We must do whatever we can so that this day can return to being, as God intended it in commanding festive repose, a day of serene joy that strengthens our communion with God and with each other, in the family and in society.
We modern Christians should take our inspiration from the words that, in 305, St. Saturnius and his fellow martyrs addressed to the Roman judge who had them arrested for participating in the Sunday rite: “The Christian cannot live without the Sunday Eucharist. Do you not know that the Christian exists for the Eucharist and the Eucharist for the Christian?”
Fondly,
Father Nick Amato
Weekly HOMILY for November 25, 2007: It's All a Matter of Perspective
Thanksgiving Day, Cycle C
(Isaiah 63:7-9 / Colossians 3:12-17 / Mark 5:18-20)
Our Lady of Grace
November 22, 2007
Focus: Perspective counts in our spiritual life
Function: To teach folks how they can choose to be pessimistic or optimistic when it comes to looking at our past, present, and future
Form: Story / Reflection
It’s All a Matter of Perspective
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato
Different Outlooks
There is a story about identical twins who had very different outlooks on life.
The one was a hope-filled optimist. He thought everything was always fine and, if it wasn’t, he believed it would turn out fine.
The other was a rather sad pessimist. He always saw the bad side of things.
The parents of these identical twins were worried and brought them to a psychologist. The psychologist offered the desperate mother a plan that was sure to balance the personalities of the two boys.
She said, “On their next birthday, put them in separate rooms to open their gifts. Give the pessimist the best toys you can afford, and give the optimist a box of manure.”
So, when the next birthday came for the boys, the parents carefully followed the psychologist’s instructions. They gave the boys their gifts and sent them to their rooms to open them.
The parents first peeked in on their little pessimist and heard him complaining. “I don’t like the color of this computer… My friend has a bigger toy car than this… This Ipod doesn’t have enough memory” and on and on it went.
The parents then tiptoed across the hallway and peeked in on their little optimist. He was giggling and jumping up and down and saying: “You can’t fool me. Where there’s this much manure, there’s got to be a pony close by.”
Thanksgiving: Our Outlook
That story highlights an important issue for us, especially on Thanksgiving Day.
We have the choice of being optimists or pessimists, like those twins. We can be hopeful or hopeless, grateful or ungrateful.
We can choose to look only at the negative aspects of life – at sicknes, failure, disappointment, and personal loss. And if we do that, we limit ourselves greatly.
On the other hand, we can look at the positive aspects of life – at the basics of food and clothing and housing, at family and friends, at our opportunities for education or travel, at our health and religion, and maybe even at some comforts we enjoy.
If we look at these things, then we can more easily come to peace with our past, even if it had some sadness and hardship.
We can also more easily deal with the present and see what God is calling us to do right now.
And we can more easily look ahead to the future with trust in the presence and love of God. In other words, we can be grateful to God for whatever has been and is and will be.
The Calling of the Scripture
This is what our Scripture passages convey to us this evening.
The prophet Isaiah in the first reading recalls the “glorious deeds of the Lord and all that the Lord has done for us.” He looks back to the past with gratitude even though the Scripture tells us that there had been a fair degree of hardship.
St. Paul in the second reading calls us to “dedicate ourselves to thankfulness and to sing gratefully to God from your hearts.” He sees a thankful, appreciative heart as leading us to live the present “with kindness, humility and patience.”
And finally, in the Gospel, Jesus tells the man he has healed how to live in the future. Jesus tells him to “go forth and tell others how much the Lord has done for you” because that will help this man and others to live the future well.”
Conclusion
So, the Word of God gives us both a calling and a choice.
On this Thanksgiving Eve, it calls us to be appreciative and grateful and thankful and these optimistic attitudes will open us more fully to the Lord’s presence as we gather with loved ones around our Thanksgiving table.
(Isaiah 63:7-9 / Colossians 3:12-17 / Mark 5:18-20)
Our Lady of Grace
November 22, 2007
Focus: Perspective counts in our spiritual life
Function: To teach folks how they can choose to be pessimistic or optimistic when it comes to looking at our past, present, and future
Form: Story / Reflection
It’s All a Matter of Perspective
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato
Different Outlooks
There is a story about identical twins who had very different outlooks on life.
The one was a hope-filled optimist. He thought everything was always fine and, if it wasn’t, he believed it would turn out fine.
The other was a rather sad pessimist. He always saw the bad side of things.
The parents of these identical twins were worried and brought them to a psychologist. The psychologist offered the desperate mother a plan that was sure to balance the personalities of the two boys.
She said, “On their next birthday, put them in separate rooms to open their gifts. Give the pessimist the best toys you can afford, and give the optimist a box of manure.”
So, when the next birthday came for the boys, the parents carefully followed the psychologist’s instructions. They gave the boys their gifts and sent them to their rooms to open them.
The parents first peeked in on their little pessimist and heard him complaining. “I don’t like the color of this computer… My friend has a bigger toy car than this… This Ipod doesn’t have enough memory” and on and on it went.
The parents then tiptoed across the hallway and peeked in on their little optimist. He was giggling and jumping up and down and saying: “You can’t fool me. Where there’s this much manure, there’s got to be a pony close by.”
Thanksgiving: Our Outlook
That story highlights an important issue for us, especially on Thanksgiving Day.
We have the choice of being optimists or pessimists, like those twins. We can be hopeful or hopeless, grateful or ungrateful.
We can choose to look only at the negative aspects of life – at sicknes, failure, disappointment, and personal loss. And if we do that, we limit ourselves greatly.
On the other hand, we can look at the positive aspects of life – at the basics of food and clothing and housing, at family and friends, at our opportunities for education or travel, at our health and religion, and maybe even at some comforts we enjoy.
If we look at these things, then we can more easily come to peace with our past, even if it had some sadness and hardship.
We can also more easily deal with the present and see what God is calling us to do right now.
And we can more easily look ahead to the future with trust in the presence and love of God. In other words, we can be grateful to God for whatever has been and is and will be.
The Calling of the Scripture
This is what our Scripture passages convey to us this evening.
The prophet Isaiah in the first reading recalls the “glorious deeds of the Lord and all that the Lord has done for us.” He looks back to the past with gratitude even though the Scripture tells us that there had been a fair degree of hardship.
St. Paul in the second reading calls us to “dedicate ourselves to thankfulness and to sing gratefully to God from your hearts.” He sees a thankful, appreciative heart as leading us to live the present “with kindness, humility and patience.”
And finally, in the Gospel, Jesus tells the man he has healed how to live in the future. Jesus tells him to “go forth and tell others how much the Lord has done for you” because that will help this man and others to live the future well.”
Conclusion
So, the Word of God gives us both a calling and a choice.
On this Thanksgiving Eve, it calls us to be appreciative and grateful and thankful and these optimistic attitudes will open us more fully to the Lord’s presence as we gather with loved ones around our Thanksgiving table.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Weekly MESSAGE for November 18, 2007: How Dry Was It in North Carolina?
November 15, 2007
Focus: How Dry Was It in North Carolina?
Dear Friend,
We have been having some much-needed rain here in Maryland. It reminded me of a chat I had with my sister a while ago. She lives in North Carolina and was complaining of the terrible drought they had this past summer.
“How dry was it?” I asked.
She said is was so dry …
That the Baptists are starting to baptize by sprinkling,
That the Methodists are giving out wet-wipes,
That the Presbyterians are giving out rain checks,
And that the Catholics are praying for the wine to turn back into water!
Now that’s dry!
Fondly,
Father Nick Amato
Focus: How Dry Was It in North Carolina?
Dear Friend,
We have been having some much-needed rain here in Maryland. It reminded me of a chat I had with my sister a while ago. She lives in North Carolina and was complaining of the terrible drought they had this past summer.
“How dry was it?” I asked.
She said is was so dry …
That the Baptists are starting to baptize by sprinkling,
That the Methodists are giving out wet-wipes,
That the Presbyterians are giving out rain checks,
And that the Catholics are praying for the wine to turn back into water!
Now that’s dry!
Fondly,
Father Nick Amato
weekly THIS AND THAT for November 18, 2007: The Mystery of Life Fulfilled
This and That:
The Mystery of Life Fulfilled
The month of November is traditionally has been called the “Month of the Poor Souls.” We pray for our loved ones who have gone before us. I was reading the following meditation on the month of November by Joan Chittister, a Benedictine Sister, who is a theologian who has written many books and tons of articles.
Fondly,
Father Nick Amato
The sunflowers seemed to go to seed early this year. Thomas–-potter to the world, brother to us–-died in the quiet way he’d always lived and will be buried soon in the urn he made for himself after the surgery proved futile. And in the midst of it, another friend struggles with a diagnosis that defies itself at every turn. No doubt about it. The signs are clear everywhere: The shadows of life are longer now. Even the grass has sered a bit. And with the changing of the climate and the dulling of the sun and the lengthening of the nights, something inside ourselves slows and changes and turns, as well. With the turning of the seasons of our lives, life takes on a far more precious hue.
It is the season of memories now. It is the time of year that piques hope and prods it to doubt. It is, then, the time of the year in which resurrection takes on a new kind of meaning. Yes, things die and no, nothing ever dies because yes, it goes on living again in us.
Death seems so cruel, so purposeless at times. But it’s not. Death is what alerts the rest of us to life–-just when we have grown tired of it ourselves, perhaps, or worse yet, simply unaware of it at all.
Death is the call to look again at life–this time with a wiser eye. Life, for the likes of us, is not a series of struggles and irritations. That, it seems, is reserved for refugees and farm families on hard soil and peasant types on mountaintops and peons in barrios. Our life, on the other hand, is a panoply of opportunities. It does not depend on “luck.” It depends on what we do with it, how we approach it, what we make of what we have, how we distinguish between wants and needs–and, most of all, how much of ourselves we put into making it better, not only for ourselves, but for those who lack the resources even to begin to make it better for themselves.
Death, the awareness of its coming, the sounds of it around us, is what calls us to a life beyond apathy, beyond indifference, beyond unconcern. Death reminds us to live.
This is the period when the parts of us that died with the death of those we loved rise again in the recollection of past moments and the tears of past tendernesses. This is when we know for certain that every deed we ever do lives on somewhere in someone who remembers it. This is when we are made to see death as a prod to life.
The death of the year, the death of the past begins to bloom again in old memories and the lessons we learned from them, in long-known truths and newly realized loves, in new perceptions of past obscurities.
The time is short for all those things. The time is now. The time is for reflection on what we’ve lost in life, yes, but for what we have left in life, too. It’s time to begin to live life fuller rather than faster.
Death give us all the gift of time. Our own and the time of those around us. It calls us to stop and look at sunflowers next time, to care for the grass always, to embrace the planet forever, to pay attention to our friends, to take comfort in the dark, to remember that the daffodils will unfold again. It is time to plant spring in our own hearts, to remember “the light that no darkness can take away.”
Then, when death comes for us, as it surely will, we will know that it is only prelude. “I don’t know what’s there,” the dying old woman said to her grieving friend. “I only know that God is there. So, don’t worry. That is enough.”
The Mystery of Life Fulfilled
The month of November is traditionally has been called the “Month of the Poor Souls.” We pray for our loved ones who have gone before us. I was reading the following meditation on the month of November by Joan Chittister, a Benedictine Sister, who is a theologian who has written many books and tons of articles.
Fondly,
Father Nick Amato
The sunflowers seemed to go to seed early this year. Thomas–-potter to the world, brother to us–-died in the quiet way he’d always lived and will be buried soon in the urn he made for himself after the surgery proved futile. And in the midst of it, another friend struggles with a diagnosis that defies itself at every turn. No doubt about it. The signs are clear everywhere: The shadows of life are longer now. Even the grass has sered a bit. And with the changing of the climate and the dulling of the sun and the lengthening of the nights, something inside ourselves slows and changes and turns, as well. With the turning of the seasons of our lives, life takes on a far more precious hue.
It is the season of memories now. It is the time of year that piques hope and prods it to doubt. It is, then, the time of the year in which resurrection takes on a new kind of meaning. Yes, things die and no, nothing ever dies because yes, it goes on living again in us.
Death seems so cruel, so purposeless at times. But it’s not. Death is what alerts the rest of us to life–-just when we have grown tired of it ourselves, perhaps, or worse yet, simply unaware of it at all.
Death is the call to look again at life–this time with a wiser eye. Life, for the likes of us, is not a series of struggles and irritations. That, it seems, is reserved for refugees and farm families on hard soil and peasant types on mountaintops and peons in barrios. Our life, on the other hand, is a panoply of opportunities. It does not depend on “luck.” It depends on what we do with it, how we approach it, what we make of what we have, how we distinguish between wants and needs–and, most of all, how much of ourselves we put into making it better, not only for ourselves, but for those who lack the resources even to begin to make it better for themselves.
Death, the awareness of its coming, the sounds of it around us, is what calls us to a life beyond apathy, beyond indifference, beyond unconcern. Death reminds us to live.
This is the period when the parts of us that died with the death of those we loved rise again in the recollection of past moments and the tears of past tendernesses. This is when we know for certain that every deed we ever do lives on somewhere in someone who remembers it. This is when we are made to see death as a prod to life.
The death of the year, the death of the past begins to bloom again in old memories and the lessons we learned from them, in long-known truths and newly realized loves, in new perceptions of past obscurities.
The time is short for all those things. The time is now. The time is for reflection on what we’ve lost in life, yes, but for what we have left in life, too. It’s time to begin to live life fuller rather than faster.
Death give us all the gift of time. Our own and the time of those around us. It calls us to stop and look at sunflowers next time, to care for the grass always, to embrace the planet forever, to pay attention to our friends, to take comfort in the dark, to remember that the daffodils will unfold again. It is time to plant spring in our own hearts, to remember “the light that no darkness can take away.”
Then, when death comes for us, as it surely will, we will know that it is only prelude. “I don’t know what’s there,” the dying old woman said to her grieving friend. “I only know that God is there. So, don’t worry. That is enough.”
Weekly HOMILY for November 18, 2007: Content of a Dead Man's Pocket
33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Cycle C
Our Lady of Grace
November 18, 2007
Focus: The content of the pocket of a dead man
Function: To have listeners reevaluate what they live for.
Form: Whole story as a modern day parable
Content of a Dead Man’s Pocket
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato
Contents of a Dead Man’s Pocket
One of our American authors named Jack Finney has written a short story entitled Contents of a Dead Man’s Pocket.
In the story, a man named Tom has started working on a proposal for the supermarket chain he works for. He has put an outline of his proposal and some critical data on a yellow sheet of paper.
Tom’s idea could lead to a big promotion for him. Then, one evening, his wife Clare leaves their New York apartment to go out to movies.
Tom stays home to write up his full proposal. But then, a draft of cold air blows the yellow piece of paper off of the desk and out the window.
The paper becomes lodged on the brick ledge just below Tom’s reach – eleven stories up. Tom convinces himself that he can retrieve the paper.
So, he carefully makes his way out the apartment window and onto the ledge. He moves slowly along and then manages to stoop down, grab the yellow paper and stuff it into his pocket.
Tom carefully shuffles back to the window, but the old window has slipped close and he cannot pry it open. He is trapped on the narrow brick ledge, eleven stories above Lexington Avenue in New York City.
Tom’s calls for help are not heard and Clare won’t be home for several hours. He starts to think about dying and becomes filled with both fear and anger.
Tom realizes that they will find just one thing in his pocket – that yellow sheet of paper. His notations and abbreviations will be incomprehensible to others.
Tom thinks of the hours and days he has spent away from his wife Clare. He thinks of his ambition and career and his lack of attention to other things – things that now seem so much more important.
Tom is afraid and also angry. He judges that he has wasted his life.
The Scriptures and Our Contents
That short story, Contents of a Dead Man’s Pocket, is a kind of modern-day parable.
It is something like the stories Jesus tells in the gospels. In a way, it needs little explanation.
Here, in the month of November, we are entering the death of winter and we in our Catholic tradition are also remembering all of our loved ones who have died. And now, on this third weekend of the month, the Scripture passages focus us on the end or end of time.
The prophet Malachi in the first reading foretells the coming of a day of judgment. Jesus in the Gospel speaks of various kinds of natural disasters and human hardships that will accompany the end time.
In truth, Jesus is trying to shake us so that we will be ready today and every day – as if it were our last. It is as if Jesus is saying, “What will be the content of your pocket that defines your life when that end day and end time comes?”
The Contents of Our Pockets?
In other words, can we see ourselves in the person of Tom standing on that ledge eleven stories above street level?
Will we feel angry or disappointed with ourselves for wasting too much of our lives? Will we see ourselves as so absorbed in our own agenda or in the good life that we neglected the really important things?
Or, will we feel reasonably satisfied? Will we see ourselves as having given our best human effort to draw close to Jesus through prayer and the reading and study of the Scripture?
Will we see ourselves as having made time and given ourselves as persons to our loved ones? Will we see ourselves as having done something to make a safer, more peaceful and more just future for our children and grandchildren?
Will we see ourselves as having done our best to reconcile with those with whom we were at odds?
Conclusion
I think that today Jesus may be asking us the question of that short story: “What will be the contents of our pockets on that last day and end time?”
Our Lady of Grace
November 18, 2007
Focus: The content of the pocket of a dead man
Function: To have listeners reevaluate what they live for.
Form: Whole story as a modern day parable
Content of a Dead Man’s Pocket
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato
Contents of a Dead Man’s Pocket
One of our American authors named Jack Finney has written a short story entitled Contents of a Dead Man’s Pocket.
In the story, a man named Tom has started working on a proposal for the supermarket chain he works for. He has put an outline of his proposal and some critical data on a yellow sheet of paper.
Tom’s idea could lead to a big promotion for him. Then, one evening, his wife Clare leaves their New York apartment to go out to movies.
Tom stays home to write up his full proposal. But then, a draft of cold air blows the yellow piece of paper off of the desk and out the window.
The paper becomes lodged on the brick ledge just below Tom’s reach – eleven stories up. Tom convinces himself that he can retrieve the paper.
So, he carefully makes his way out the apartment window and onto the ledge. He moves slowly along and then manages to stoop down, grab the yellow paper and stuff it into his pocket.
Tom carefully shuffles back to the window, but the old window has slipped close and he cannot pry it open. He is trapped on the narrow brick ledge, eleven stories above Lexington Avenue in New York City.
Tom’s calls for help are not heard and Clare won’t be home for several hours. He starts to think about dying and becomes filled with both fear and anger.
Tom realizes that they will find just one thing in his pocket – that yellow sheet of paper. His notations and abbreviations will be incomprehensible to others.
Tom thinks of the hours and days he has spent away from his wife Clare. He thinks of his ambition and career and his lack of attention to other things – things that now seem so much more important.
Tom is afraid and also angry. He judges that he has wasted his life.
The Scriptures and Our Contents
That short story, Contents of a Dead Man’s Pocket, is a kind of modern-day parable.
It is something like the stories Jesus tells in the gospels. In a way, it needs little explanation.
Here, in the month of November, we are entering the death of winter and we in our Catholic tradition are also remembering all of our loved ones who have died. And now, on this third weekend of the month, the Scripture passages focus us on the end or end of time.
The prophet Malachi in the first reading foretells the coming of a day of judgment. Jesus in the Gospel speaks of various kinds of natural disasters and human hardships that will accompany the end time.
In truth, Jesus is trying to shake us so that we will be ready today and every day – as if it were our last. It is as if Jesus is saying, “What will be the content of your pocket that defines your life when that end day and end time comes?”
The Contents of Our Pockets?
In other words, can we see ourselves in the person of Tom standing on that ledge eleven stories above street level?
Will we feel angry or disappointed with ourselves for wasting too much of our lives? Will we see ourselves as so absorbed in our own agenda or in the good life that we neglected the really important things?
Or, will we feel reasonably satisfied? Will we see ourselves as having given our best human effort to draw close to Jesus through prayer and the reading and study of the Scripture?
Will we see ourselves as having made time and given ourselves as persons to our loved ones? Will we see ourselves as having done something to make a safer, more peaceful and more just future for our children and grandchildren?
Will we see ourselves as having done our best to reconcile with those with whom we were at odds?
Conclusion
I think that today Jesus may be asking us the question of that short story: “What will be the contents of our pockets on that last day and end time?”
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Weekly MESSAGE for November 11, 2007: The Virture of Being a Crackpot
November 8, 2007
Focus: The Virtue of Being a Crackpot
Dear Friend,
An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole which she carried across her neck. One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water.
At the end of the long walks from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full. For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do.
After two years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the woman one day by the stream, “I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house.” The old woman smiled, “Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot’s side?” “That’s because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water them.”
“For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house.” Each of us has our own unique flaw. But it’s the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding. You’ve just got to take each person for what they are and look for the good in them.
So, to all of my “crackpot” friends, have a great day and remember to smell the flowers on your side of the path! And don’t forget the “crackpot” that sent it to you!
Fondly,
Father Nick Amato
Focus: The Virtue of Being a Crackpot
Dear Friend,
An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole which she carried across her neck. One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water.
At the end of the long walks from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full. For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do.
After two years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the woman one day by the stream, “I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house.” The old woman smiled, “Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot’s side?” “That’s because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water them.”
“For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house.” Each of us has our own unique flaw. But it’s the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding. You’ve just got to take each person for what they are and look for the good in them.
So, to all of my “crackpot” friends, have a great day and remember to smell the flowers on your side of the path! And don’t forget the “crackpot” that sent it to you!
Fondly,
Father Nick Amato
weekly THIS AND THAT for November 11, 2007: Nature Has an Alliance with Humanity
This and That:
Nature Has an Alliance With Humanity
Protecting the environment implies an alliance with humanity, meaning that the latter should not be automatically considered a threat to the former, says the Holy See.
Archbishop Celestino Migliore, permanent observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, affirmed this during an address delivered in late October to the 62nd UN General Assembly, on the topic of sustainable development.
He said: “Protecting the environment implies a more positive vision of the human being, in the sense that the person is not considered a nuisance or a threat to the environment, but one who holds oneself responsible for the care and management of the environment.
“In this sense, not only is there no opposition between the human being and the environment, there is established an inseparable alliance, in which the environment essentially conditions man’s life and development, while the human being perfects and ennobles the environment by his or her creative activity.”
Archbishop Migliore affirmed that all people share responsibility for the protection of the environment, and “while the duty to protect the environment should not be considered in opposition to development, it must not be sacrificed on the altar of economic development.”
The archbishop affirmed, in fact, that the “environmental crisis” is, at its core, a “moral challenge.”
“It calls us to examine how we use and share the goods of the earth and what we pass on to future generations. It exhorts us to live in harmony with our environment. Thus the ever-expanding powers of the human being over nature must be accompanied by an equally expanding responsibility toward the environment,” he said.
Archbishop Migliore drew attention to the role of extreme poverty in the environmental question.
“We must consider how in most countries today, it is the poor and the powerless who most directly bear the brunt of environmental degradation,” he stated. “Unable to do otherwise, they live in polluted lands, near toxic waste dumps, or squat in public lands and other people’s properties without any access to basic services. Subsistence farmers clear woodlands and forests in order to survive.
“Their efforts to eke out a bare existence perpetuate a vicious circle of poverty and environmental degradation. Indeed, extreme want is not only the worst of all pollutions; it is also a great polluter.”
However, the prelate contended, “All is not gloom.” He explained: “Encouraging signs of greater public awareness of the interrelatedness of the challenges we face have been emerging. A more caring attitude toward nature can be attained and maintained with education and a persevering awareness campaign. The more people know about the various aspects of the environmental challenges they face, the better they can respond.”
Fondly,
Father Nick Amato
Nature Has an Alliance With Humanity
Protecting the environment implies an alliance with humanity, meaning that the latter should not be automatically considered a threat to the former, says the Holy See.
Archbishop Celestino Migliore, permanent observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, affirmed this during an address delivered in late October to the 62nd UN General Assembly, on the topic of sustainable development.
He said: “Protecting the environment implies a more positive vision of the human being, in the sense that the person is not considered a nuisance or a threat to the environment, but one who holds oneself responsible for the care and management of the environment.
“In this sense, not only is there no opposition between the human being and the environment, there is established an inseparable alliance, in which the environment essentially conditions man’s life and development, while the human being perfects and ennobles the environment by his or her creative activity.”
Archbishop Migliore affirmed that all people share responsibility for the protection of the environment, and “while the duty to protect the environment should not be considered in opposition to development, it must not be sacrificed on the altar of economic development.”
The archbishop affirmed, in fact, that the “environmental crisis” is, at its core, a “moral challenge.”
“It calls us to examine how we use and share the goods of the earth and what we pass on to future generations. It exhorts us to live in harmony with our environment. Thus the ever-expanding powers of the human being over nature must be accompanied by an equally expanding responsibility toward the environment,” he said.
Archbishop Migliore drew attention to the role of extreme poverty in the environmental question.
“We must consider how in most countries today, it is the poor and the powerless who most directly bear the brunt of environmental degradation,” he stated. “Unable to do otherwise, they live in polluted lands, near toxic waste dumps, or squat in public lands and other people’s properties without any access to basic services. Subsistence farmers clear woodlands and forests in order to survive.
“Their efforts to eke out a bare existence perpetuate a vicious circle of poverty and environmental degradation. Indeed, extreme want is not only the worst of all pollutions; it is also a great polluter.”
However, the prelate contended, “All is not gloom.” He explained: “Encouraging signs of greater public awareness of the interrelatedness of the challenges we face have been emerging. A more caring attitude toward nature can be attained and maintained with education and a persevering awareness campaign. The more people know about the various aspects of the environmental challenges they face, the better they can respond.”
Fondly,
Father Nick Amato
Weekly HOMILY for November 11, 2007: Resurrection: Past, Future, and Present
32nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Cycle C
Our Lady of Grace
November 11, 2007
Resurrection: Past, Future, and Present
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato
Focus: Resurrection As Past, Future, and Present
Function: To have those present see their daily dyings as ways of entering into a presently experienced resurrection of their own
Form: The Diamond
The Mystery of Resurrection
In today’s first reading, seven brothers and their mother are martyred for their faith.
They are good Jews, living about 200 years before the birth of Jesus, and they refuse to abandon their faith when the king threatens them. As the passage says, they give up their lives “with the hope God gives of being raised up by him.”
In today’s Gospel, Jesus responds to a question about what marriage will be like in the future life. In his response, he is not denying the wonderful gift of marriage, but he is affirming that rising from the dead to be with God is what really matters.
So, these two passages rivet our attention on our belief resurrection.
The Dimensions of Resurrection
For us, the mystery of resurrection is a great source of hope.
It has first a historical dimension to it. It is rooted in the event of Christ’s resurrection and being seen as risen by the apostles.
The resurrection also has a future dimension to it. We hope for the fullest experience of life after death and for all eternity.
Finally, there must also be a present dimension to resurrection. It is also a reality that gives meaning to all of life, here and now.
But, before resurrection can be explained in any of these dimensions, past, future or present, there must come dying. In following Jesus, we too must die, not just at the end of our time here on earth, but as part of the present process of becoming more and more like him.
It is through our present dyings that we rise to new life in the present and that we prepare to enter the fuller experience of resurrection.
Our Present Dyings
For example, those who marry begin a new life together, but not without some dying to themselves.
Marriage means dying to “I” and rising to “we.” My self and my preferences must yield or blend with those of the other.
With parenthood, there comes a dying to my own free time or time alone. It’s a dying to my expensive hobbies. And parents do this out of love and for the new life and joy of their children.
As children grow and mature, there are the dyings of allowing them more and more their own choice and independence. And these dyings of parents usually lead to new life for the children and eventually for the relationship of parent and child.
There is a dying inherent in growing older, as illness or aches sap some of our strength. There are dyings when our career or work plans do not work out as we had hoped.
And there are dyings when our parents grow old and cannot be there for us as they once were. There are dyings when a friendship or marriage ends.
Love as the Basis of Resurrection
All of these dyings will test our faith in resurrection.
But it is that belief that we see in today’s readings that sustains us and gets us through these daily dyings. One writer says that faith in the resurrection is really faith in a miracle.
And that miracle does not lie solely in the belief that Jesus rose from the dead. The true miracle is what the dying and rising of Jesus reveals to us. What it reveals is the unconditional love of God.
In spite of all the pain and darkness of the world, in spite of our failures to love, our faith in the resurrection is a faith that love is the deepest of all realities, that love is the ground of being, that love is at the center and very heart of the universe.
Pope Benedict has entitled his fist encyclical, his fist letter to the Universal Church, Deus Caritas Est – God is Love.
Conclusion
Jesus reveals this love and he is this love, and is God here on earth. The seven brothers and their mother in today’s first reading die in response to this love.
And we are invited to do the same. That is the faith, the hope and the love that resurrection is all about.
Our Lady of Grace
November 11, 2007
Resurrection: Past, Future, and Present
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato
Focus: Resurrection As Past, Future, and Present
Function: To have those present see their daily dyings as ways of entering into a presently experienced resurrection of their own
Form: The Diamond
The Mystery of Resurrection
In today’s first reading, seven brothers and their mother are martyred for their faith.
They are good Jews, living about 200 years before the birth of Jesus, and they refuse to abandon their faith when the king threatens them. As the passage says, they give up their lives “with the hope God gives of being raised up by him.”
In today’s Gospel, Jesus responds to a question about what marriage will be like in the future life. In his response, he is not denying the wonderful gift of marriage, but he is affirming that rising from the dead to be with God is what really matters.
So, these two passages rivet our attention on our belief resurrection.
The Dimensions of Resurrection
For us, the mystery of resurrection is a great source of hope.
It has first a historical dimension to it. It is rooted in the event of Christ’s resurrection and being seen as risen by the apostles.
The resurrection also has a future dimension to it. We hope for the fullest experience of life after death and for all eternity.
Finally, there must also be a present dimension to resurrection. It is also a reality that gives meaning to all of life, here and now.
But, before resurrection can be explained in any of these dimensions, past, future or present, there must come dying. In following Jesus, we too must die, not just at the end of our time here on earth, but as part of the present process of becoming more and more like him.
It is through our present dyings that we rise to new life in the present and that we prepare to enter the fuller experience of resurrection.
Our Present Dyings
For example, those who marry begin a new life together, but not without some dying to themselves.
Marriage means dying to “I” and rising to “we.” My self and my preferences must yield or blend with those of the other.
With parenthood, there comes a dying to my own free time or time alone. It’s a dying to my expensive hobbies. And parents do this out of love and for the new life and joy of their children.
As children grow and mature, there are the dyings of allowing them more and more their own choice and independence. And these dyings of parents usually lead to new life for the children and eventually for the relationship of parent and child.
There is a dying inherent in growing older, as illness or aches sap some of our strength. There are dyings when our career or work plans do not work out as we had hoped.
And there are dyings when our parents grow old and cannot be there for us as they once were. There are dyings when a friendship or marriage ends.
Love as the Basis of Resurrection
All of these dyings will test our faith in resurrection.
But it is that belief that we see in today’s readings that sustains us and gets us through these daily dyings. One writer says that faith in the resurrection is really faith in a miracle.
And that miracle does not lie solely in the belief that Jesus rose from the dead. The true miracle is what the dying and rising of Jesus reveals to us. What it reveals is the unconditional love of God.
In spite of all the pain and darkness of the world, in spite of our failures to love, our faith in the resurrection is a faith that love is the deepest of all realities, that love is the ground of being, that love is at the center and very heart of the universe.
Pope Benedict has entitled his fist encyclical, his fist letter to the Universal Church, Deus Caritas Est – God is Love.
Conclusion
Jesus reveals this love and he is this love, and is God here on earth. The seven brothers and their mother in today’s first reading die in response to this love.
And we are invited to do the same. That is the faith, the hope and the love that resurrection is all about.
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Weekly MESSAGE for November 4, 2007: Saints Gone Before Us As Well As Present
November 1, 2009
Focus: Saints Gone Before Us As Well As Present
Dear Friend,
For some time now, scientists have been sending signals into the cosmos, hoping for a response from some intelligent being on some lost planet. The Church has always maintained a dialogue with the inhabitants of another world – the saints. That is what we proclaim when we say, “I believe in the communion of the saints.” Even if inhabitants outside of the solar system existed, communication with them would be impossible, because between the question and the answer, millions of years would pass. Here, though, the answer is immediate because there is a common center of communication and encounter, and that is the risen Christ.
Perhaps in part because of the time of the year in which it falls, the feast of All Saints’ Day has something special that explains its popularity and the many traditions linked to it in some sectors of Christianity. The motive is what John says in the second reading. In this life, “we are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed.” We are like the embryo in the womb of a mother yearning to be born. The saints have been “born” (the liturgy refers to the day of death as “the day of birth,” “dies natalis.”) To meditate on the saints is to meditate on our destiny. All around us, nature strips itself and the leaves fall, but meanwhile, the Feast of All Saints invites us to gaze beyond the season; it reminds us that we are not destined to wither on this earth forever, like the leaves.
The saints, that is, the saved, are not only those mentioned in the calendar or the Book of the Saints. The “unknown saints” also exist – those who risked their lives for their brothers and sisters, the martyrs of justice and liberty, or of duty, the “lay saints,” as someone has called them. Without knowing it, their robes have also been washed in the blood of the Lamb, if they have lived according to their consciences and if they have been concerned with the good of their neighbor.
Fondly,
Father Nick Amato
Focus: Saints Gone Before Us As Well As Present
Dear Friend,
For some time now, scientists have been sending signals into the cosmos, hoping for a response from some intelligent being on some lost planet. The Church has always maintained a dialogue with the inhabitants of another world – the saints. That is what we proclaim when we say, “I believe in the communion of the saints.” Even if inhabitants outside of the solar system existed, communication with them would be impossible, because between the question and the answer, millions of years would pass. Here, though, the answer is immediate because there is a common center of communication and encounter, and that is the risen Christ.
Perhaps in part because of the time of the year in which it falls, the feast of All Saints’ Day has something special that explains its popularity and the many traditions linked to it in some sectors of Christianity. The motive is what John says in the second reading. In this life, “we are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed.” We are like the embryo in the womb of a mother yearning to be born. The saints have been “born” (the liturgy refers to the day of death as “the day of birth,” “dies natalis.”) To meditate on the saints is to meditate on our destiny. All around us, nature strips itself and the leaves fall, but meanwhile, the Feast of All Saints invites us to gaze beyond the season; it reminds us that we are not destined to wither on this earth forever, like the leaves.
The saints, that is, the saved, are not only those mentioned in the calendar or the Book of the Saints. The “unknown saints” also exist – those who risked their lives for their brothers and sisters, the martyrs of justice and liberty, or of duty, the “lay saints,” as someone has called them. Without knowing it, their robes have also been washed in the blood of the Lamb, if they have lived according to their consciences and if they have been concerned with the good of their neighbor.
Fondly,
Father Nick Amato
Weekly THIS AND THAT for November 4, 2007: Why Technology Needs Ethics
This and That:
Why Technology Needs Ethics
Dear Family,
It has been said that technology without ethics is like a Ferrari without a steering wheel, according to Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragán. The Cardinal is the president of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Ministry, which recently co-sponsored a congress with the Acton Institute titled “Health, Technology and the Common Good.” In a recent interview, the 74-year-old cardinal comments on the definition of health and the development of health care technologies. I thought you might find it interesting.
Fondly,
Father Nick Amato
Q: Today there is a lot of confusion about the concept of health. In your opinion, what is the right definition?
Cardinal Barragán: The “Declaration of Alma Ata” on primary health care says that health consists in a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not simply care for sickness or infirmities. This state of perfect well-being is utopian, based on nonexistent foundations. Pope John Paul II, in the “Jubilee Message for the World Day of the Sick” in 2000, says that health is a process toward harmony, not just physical, mental and social, but also psychological and spiritual. It is, therefore, that which enables a person to fulfill the mission that the Lord has entrusted to him or her, according to the stage in life they are in. A person is truly healthy when he is harmonic. A society is healthy when it is harmonic. This is a very important aspect to develop and one in which eternal health can be found, because earthly health is not distinct from eternal health in that sense.
Q: What are the opportunities and challenges caused by the rapid development of technologies in the field of health care?
Cardinal Barragán: The challenges for the new technologies lie in the fact that their end is not the true promotion of health. This is the very destruction of health! And we can see this in all of the biogenetic technologies that are often directed toward the killing of the human person. Life is being ended with euthanasia and with the murder of children in the womb, calling them fetuses, which is just a way to camouflage the killing of human persons. These are the fruits of the Malthusian mentality that disguise killing under various names. John Paul II – and Benedict XVI as well – spoke of this when speaking about the “culture of death.”
Q: Today’s culture defines health as a perfect state of wellbeing, but paradoxically fights life itself through abortion and euthanasia. What conditions are needed to promote the person’s wellbeing and the common good?
Cardinal Barragán: Perfect wellbeing does not exist on this earth because the Lord promised us happiness, not wellbeing. Therefore, the basic error of this type of postmodern concept is the confusion between well-being and happiness. The person cannot be well and still be happy, or be very well and yet be very unhappy, as the high suicide rate in highly developed countries shows.
Q: What are the consequences of the “culture of death” that humanity today refuses to see or recognize?
Cardinal Barragán: The “aging” of certain countries, of the world. For example, Italy’s population is the oldest in the world, and that’s because there are very few births.
Q: What link exists between the promotion of health, the development of technologies, and the promotion of the common good?
Cardinal Barragán: There should exist a very close link, in the sense that technology should be based on ethics: Technology as such has, in fact, possibility as its law, while ethics has an aim, a goal. If we leave technology as only possibility, it remains neutral. It can destroy or build up. Ethics gives it direction. Therefore, highly developed technology without ethics is like a Ferrari without a steering wheel.
Q: What are the priorities in your work at the Pontifical Council for Health Care Ministry in this regard?
Cardinal Barragán: To give the world, as spokesmen of Papal Teaching, the meaning of suffering, the meaning of pain, and the meaning of the death and resurrection of the Lord.
Why Technology Needs Ethics
Dear Family,
It has been said that technology without ethics is like a Ferrari without a steering wheel, according to Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragán. The Cardinal is the president of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Ministry, which recently co-sponsored a congress with the Acton Institute titled “Health, Technology and the Common Good.” In a recent interview, the 74-year-old cardinal comments on the definition of health and the development of health care technologies. I thought you might find it interesting.
Fondly,
Father Nick Amato
Q: Today there is a lot of confusion about the concept of health. In your opinion, what is the right definition?
Cardinal Barragán: The “Declaration of Alma Ata” on primary health care says that health consists in a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not simply care for sickness or infirmities. This state of perfect well-being is utopian, based on nonexistent foundations. Pope John Paul II, in the “Jubilee Message for the World Day of the Sick” in 2000, says that health is a process toward harmony, not just physical, mental and social, but also psychological and spiritual. It is, therefore, that which enables a person to fulfill the mission that the Lord has entrusted to him or her, according to the stage in life they are in. A person is truly healthy when he is harmonic. A society is healthy when it is harmonic. This is a very important aspect to develop and one in which eternal health can be found, because earthly health is not distinct from eternal health in that sense.
Q: What are the opportunities and challenges caused by the rapid development of technologies in the field of health care?
Cardinal Barragán: The challenges for the new technologies lie in the fact that their end is not the true promotion of health. This is the very destruction of health! And we can see this in all of the biogenetic technologies that are often directed toward the killing of the human person. Life is being ended with euthanasia and with the murder of children in the womb, calling them fetuses, which is just a way to camouflage the killing of human persons. These are the fruits of the Malthusian mentality that disguise killing under various names. John Paul II – and Benedict XVI as well – spoke of this when speaking about the “culture of death.”
Q: Today’s culture defines health as a perfect state of wellbeing, but paradoxically fights life itself through abortion and euthanasia. What conditions are needed to promote the person’s wellbeing and the common good?
Cardinal Barragán: Perfect wellbeing does not exist on this earth because the Lord promised us happiness, not wellbeing. Therefore, the basic error of this type of postmodern concept is the confusion between well-being and happiness. The person cannot be well and still be happy, or be very well and yet be very unhappy, as the high suicide rate in highly developed countries shows.
Q: What are the consequences of the “culture of death” that humanity today refuses to see or recognize?
Cardinal Barragán: The “aging” of certain countries, of the world. For example, Italy’s population is the oldest in the world, and that’s because there are very few births.
Q: What link exists between the promotion of health, the development of technologies, and the promotion of the common good?
Cardinal Barragán: There should exist a very close link, in the sense that technology should be based on ethics: Technology as such has, in fact, possibility as its law, while ethics has an aim, a goal. If we leave technology as only possibility, it remains neutral. It can destroy or build up. Ethics gives it direction. Therefore, highly developed technology without ethics is like a Ferrari without a steering wheel.
Q: What are the priorities in your work at the Pontifical Council for Health Care Ministry in this regard?
Cardinal Barragán: To give the world, as spokesmen of Papal Teaching, the meaning of suffering, the meaning of pain, and the meaning of the death and resurrection of the Lord.
Weekly HOMILY for November 4, 2007: Jesus and Zacchaeus: Three Lessons for Our Time
31st Sunday of Ordinary Time, Cycle C
Our Lady of Grace
October 31, 2007
Focus: The Story of Zacchaeus has three lessons to teach us
Function: Through the stature of Zacchaeus and how Jesus treats him there are concrete things we could do to make better choices
Form: Story/Reflection
Jesus and Zacchaeus: Three Lessons for Our Time
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato
Jan Leno is Short
Back on September 18, 2001, after a full week’s absence after the terrorist attacks, Jay Leno returned to host NBC’s Tonight Show.
Leno opened that show very reflectively. He said, “In a world where people fly airplanes into buildings for the sole purpose of killing innocent people, a job like mine seems irrelevant.”
Leno then told a story from when he was a 12-year-old Boy Scout in his hometown of Andover, Massachusetts. He was not a very skilled scout, but his scoutmaster believed that every scout should get something special to do in the troop.
So one day the scoutmaster said, “Leno, you’re going to be the troop’s cheer master. When you see another Scout who’s down or upset, your job is to go over and tell that Scout a joke and make him feel better.”
Leno went on to say that he liked doing that and, of course, he still has that job. He said, “I don’t see it as the most important job, but we can all help one another in some way.”
Jay Leno’s reflection is a good introduction to what I want to say about the story in today’s Gospel. I see three insights in this touching little story about a man named Zacchaeus.
1. We Are All Short
First, Jay Leno sees himself as small, as short in stature, in relation to the big picture of life.
Today’s Gospel carefully notes that this Jewish fellow Zacchaeus is “short in stature.” That is why he climbs a tree to see Jesus.
The insight here is that we are all “short in stature,” at least in relation to God. We all need to climb a tree to see God; we all need to do something to see beyond whatever is blocking our vision, our horizon.
We may need to shut out the music, the news, or the talk shows for a few minutes every day – just to think, just to get in touch with ourselves, just to be alone with God.
It may be relating more closely to a “wisdom figure” in our lives, an older trusted friend, a priest or counselor, a support group of some sort.
Yes, we are all short in stature and like Zacchaeus we need to make some extra effort to welcome Jesus into our lives.
2. Accept; Don’t Judge
The second insight is that we notice that Jesus accepts and does not judge Zacchaeus.
Like most tax collectors of his day, Zacchaeus was probably guilty of greed and extortion. Because of this, his fellow townspeople were shocked that Jesus would even go to his home, much less dine with him!
One Scripture scholar says that Jesus does not expect a change of heart from Zacchaeus, without first sharing conversation or communicating with him.
So Jesus uses this communion, this being in-union-with-others, to draw them closer to himself and to God.
There is a great lesson here for us in our own relationships, maybe in dealing with sons or daughters who do things that we cannot approve.
There may also be a modeling on Jesus’ part when we’re tempted to stand apart and even cut off others who are not following the Lord in the way that we think is important.
3. Seek Out the Short
The third and last insight: Jesus reaches out to this man Zacchaeus as one who is short of stature.
We too need to reach out to those who are “short of stature” in terms of their social standing, be they immigrants or folks making minimum wage.
As we find ourselves in the midst of a presidential campaign, we need to be careful to let all those whom we judge “short in stature” to speak their mind and to listen with respect to their views.
And we need a politics of care for those who are short of stature in our country: for example, for the millions who live below the poverty line, for the 44 million who have no health insurance, for the women and children who are victims of domestic violence.
We even need to reach out – and it is risky to say this – even to the Islamic world.
Apparently they feel that they are short in stature and our reaching out to them in the long run will be the only way to resolve the hostility between our culture and theirs.
Reaching out to the short in stature, as Jesus did, is not an easy task.
Conclusion
So, a short man, Zacchaeus, a little Bible story, but a man and a story with powerful lessons and insights for us today!
Three great lessons for our times: (1) We are all short in stature in relation to God, (2) We need to welcome and not reject those who are spiritually short, and (3) we need to reach out to those who are socially short.
Our Lady of Grace
October 31, 2007
Focus: The Story of Zacchaeus has three lessons to teach us
Function: Through the stature of Zacchaeus and how Jesus treats him there are concrete things we could do to make better choices
Form: Story/Reflection
Jesus and Zacchaeus: Three Lessons for Our Time
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato
Jan Leno is Short
Back on September 18, 2001, after a full week’s absence after the terrorist attacks, Jay Leno returned to host NBC’s Tonight Show.
Leno opened that show very reflectively. He said, “In a world where people fly airplanes into buildings for the sole purpose of killing innocent people, a job like mine seems irrelevant.”
Leno then told a story from when he was a 12-year-old Boy Scout in his hometown of Andover, Massachusetts. He was not a very skilled scout, but his scoutmaster believed that every scout should get something special to do in the troop.
So one day the scoutmaster said, “Leno, you’re going to be the troop’s cheer master. When you see another Scout who’s down or upset, your job is to go over and tell that Scout a joke and make him feel better.”
Leno went on to say that he liked doing that and, of course, he still has that job. He said, “I don’t see it as the most important job, but we can all help one another in some way.”
Jay Leno’s reflection is a good introduction to what I want to say about the story in today’s Gospel. I see three insights in this touching little story about a man named Zacchaeus.
1. We Are All Short
First, Jay Leno sees himself as small, as short in stature, in relation to the big picture of life.
Today’s Gospel carefully notes that this Jewish fellow Zacchaeus is “short in stature.” That is why he climbs a tree to see Jesus.
The insight here is that we are all “short in stature,” at least in relation to God. We all need to climb a tree to see God; we all need to do something to see beyond whatever is blocking our vision, our horizon.
We may need to shut out the music, the news, or the talk shows for a few minutes every day – just to think, just to get in touch with ourselves, just to be alone with God.
It may be relating more closely to a “wisdom figure” in our lives, an older trusted friend, a priest or counselor, a support group of some sort.
Yes, we are all short in stature and like Zacchaeus we need to make some extra effort to welcome Jesus into our lives.
2. Accept; Don’t Judge
The second insight is that we notice that Jesus accepts and does not judge Zacchaeus.
Like most tax collectors of his day, Zacchaeus was probably guilty of greed and extortion. Because of this, his fellow townspeople were shocked that Jesus would even go to his home, much less dine with him!
One Scripture scholar says that Jesus does not expect a change of heart from Zacchaeus, without first sharing conversation or communicating with him.
So Jesus uses this communion, this being in-union-with-others, to draw them closer to himself and to God.
There is a great lesson here for us in our own relationships, maybe in dealing with sons or daughters who do things that we cannot approve.
There may also be a modeling on Jesus’ part when we’re tempted to stand apart and even cut off others who are not following the Lord in the way that we think is important.
3. Seek Out the Short
The third and last insight: Jesus reaches out to this man Zacchaeus as one who is short of stature.
We too need to reach out to those who are “short of stature” in terms of their social standing, be they immigrants or folks making minimum wage.
As we find ourselves in the midst of a presidential campaign, we need to be careful to let all those whom we judge “short in stature” to speak their mind and to listen with respect to their views.
And we need a politics of care for those who are short of stature in our country: for example, for the millions who live below the poverty line, for the 44 million who have no health insurance, for the women and children who are victims of domestic violence.
We even need to reach out – and it is risky to say this – even to the Islamic world.
Apparently they feel that they are short in stature and our reaching out to them in the long run will be the only way to resolve the hostility between our culture and theirs.
Reaching out to the short in stature, as Jesus did, is not an easy task.
Conclusion
So, a short man, Zacchaeus, a little Bible story, but a man and a story with powerful lessons and insights for us today!
Three great lessons for our times: (1) We are all short in stature in relation to God, (2) We need to welcome and not reject those who are spiritually short, and (3) we need to reach out to those who are socially short.
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