Christ the King
Fr. Jim Deiters

This past spring, when we received the announcement of our new bishop Mike McGovern, I felt this surge of hope for our diocese and my own priesthood.  Since he began his ministry in September, I hope you have seen in our diocesan and local newspapers the many ways Bishop McGovern is showing his caring pastor’s heart as he has already visited many parishes, schools and people’s homes revealing his gentle, down-to-earth style of being among God’s people.  He is facing the challenges within our diocese and bigger Church with a most compassionate listening ear while also being a clear leader.

We know however, that being in any leadership position, whether it’s a bishop, pastor, president of the country, colonel, head nurse, or parent of a household…sets you up for criticism and failing the expectations of some.  When I teach classes to young priests preparing to be pastor, I talk about the amazing joys of parish life; but also warn them that it is very humbling…since you will quickly learn your shortcomings…and not be able to meet everyone’s expectations.

In a sense, we have to spend a good portion of our life forgiving people…for not meeting our expectations.  It starts with forgiving our parents for being less than perfect; then our siblings, a spouse, our adult children, our boss, and all the other people who simply don’t or can’t live up to what we wished they could be.   We can let our disappointment in people either turn our hearts bitter and feel like a victim…or we can accept the fact that no one, absolutely no one can truly meet all our inner longings…except Jesus Christ.

This is the purpose of today’s great feast of Jesus as King of the Universe – to recognize that there is only ONE who can save us from life’s disappointments and provide for the deeper yearnings of our heart.  While the word ‘king’ is not a term we normally use in our own culture, it takes on a rich meaning when we hear the scriptures describe Jesus’ version of kingship to be like a caring shepherd.  It is no wonder why Psalm 23 we sang today is a most beloved scripture as we chanted, “(when) The Lord is my shepherd…, there is nothing I shall want.”

What does it mean to have Jesus as the Shepherd-King of our life?  First, Jesus is the ultimate model for each situation that we are given some kind of leadership role -- either in our own home, at work, or the bigger community.  Jesus’ example of servant leadership- washing the feet of others and raising up those who are bent over in suffering – helps us check our ego at the door of every opportunity of humbly serving others.  One man recently said to me, “After 25 years of marriage, I am finally realizing what the priest meant at our wedding day when he said that for the rest of my life I will be a servant to my family.”

Secondly, with Jesus as our Christ-Savior, it makes it easier to forgive all who disappoint us…as we realize that all our relationships must come UNDER and SAVED by the Savior-King of the world.  Realizing that Jesus is the ONLY Good Shepherd, all other leaders and people in our life will fall ‘short’ of the love and care for which we long.  Each person does have a certain capacity to be a small facet of God’s love and care…but the full prism of God’s Love is only in Jesus Christ! 

Thus his title as “The King of the Universe” – an embodiment of God’s perfect love, compassion, and shepherding concern for every need we have.  Notice in our first reading God describing how ‘involved’ he wants to be in our life.  Through the prophet Ezekiel, first God recognizes that sometimes leaders and people in general… fail us.  Then God, speaking in the first person says so tenderly, “I will look after my sheep; I myself will seek them and heal them.”  This Good News means that God wants to be active even in the small details of your life, especially when it can feel like we are out in the pasture all alone.

We can apply these comforting words from God…every time we face a new challenge or fear…to hear God say in the quiet of our heart, “I will…”  In your prayer this week, let God’s words “I will” touch that troubled place which is seeking some ‘king/shepherd’ to help and guide you.  Jesus Christ is truly the ONLY leader/president/king who can get us through our messy divisions, poverty, and emptiness…to help us see our life and our world with new hope and possibilities!

In the Mass, we must recognize and admit that we are simple, frail sheep…very much in need of a shepherding kind of king…who always leads us to a future that is brighter and more beautiful than our past.

Thirty Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Fr. Jim Deiters

I shared this beautiful quote with you years ago but it is so worth repeating.  It is engraved above the portico on the back side of our wonderful St. Louis Art Museum.  You have to go out into the sculpture garden to find it above the doors.  It reads, “Art still has truth, take refuge there.”  When I was there last week for my day off, I sat and pondered those words of wisdom for a while, then decided to go upstairs to the gallery with American art to see what I might discover there that would hold some ‘truths’ for our country in such a time as we are living.  And just as the quote has promised, I found ‘refuge’ in both sculptures and paintings that depicted such things as farmers in a wheatfield, a woman carved in pure white marble representing the virtue of faith, and a striking version of George Washington, which the artist wrote that he tried to capture a General’s humanity as well as “his mental greatness.”  These and other works of art in that section brought refuge and comfort to me as I thought about the millions of Americans who have worked hard and long for the gift of democracy, voting rights, and freedoms that we have, amidst our “amber waves of grain” from “sea to shining sea.”

Last week in my preaching I walked us through scriptures that can help us when we feel ‘worn out’ or tired by life’s challenges.  The reading today from the Book of Wisdom provides another kind of ‘refuge’ when we are going through a feeling of anxiety, which can be caused by a variety of things.  For example, half our country is anxious about new leadership and many more are anxious about effects of the pandemic.  Closer to home for some, is anxiety about a health issue, a job search, or a teenager worrying about their future.

Whether we call it worry, anxiety, or fear, along comes this beautiful scripture passage from the Book of Wisdom…which brings healing balm to our restless hearts.  Listen again to some of the phrases we just heard about how God sends into the world his gift of Wisdom, which is described in the feminine: “She sits at your gate…waiting to help you be free from care; she makes her rounds…and meets you with solicitude,” a concern for your needs.  The word ‘solicitude’ dictionary definition says, “to have excessive attentiveness.”  Isn’t beautiful to know that God has ‘excessive attentiveness’ for us?

The part that stands out for me is how it emphasizes God’s Spirit as being so PROACTIVE.  SHE – Spirit Wisdom - doesn’t even wait for us to come to God first, but rather she goes out looking for US!  It says that Wisdom comes to your ‘gate,’ the entrance to your soul “…with solicitude,” with excessive attentiveness to your needs.  Just when we thought that we need to go look for God, GOD is the one who comes looking for us when our hearts are restless or we feel lost and anxious; all we have to do…is let our self “be found!”  The Book of Wisdom is a great resource for one’s spiritual journey, well worth praying over this week.   The author wants us to know that while we can gain knowledge and be pretty smart at some things, true WISDOM comes from God. The gift of making wise choices for our self, others, and staying close to God, all hinge on what we are doing when “Lady Wisdom” shows up at our gate.

Both this passage and the Gospel parable bring up the issue of “being ready” when Wisdom arrives at our door, or Jesus, the Bridegroom appears for our judgement when we die.  The reason why the Church teaches about the importance of daily prayer and the saints speak of prayer so often…is that PRAYER is the main way we ‘practice’ being ready to meet Jesus.  Prayer, as quiet time with God, helps us get our ‘gate’ ready to open…when Wisdom “makes her rounds.”  If the gate of our heart and soul is cluttered with anxiety, fear, or worrying, we may not even hear her knocking on the gate door!  The Eucharist is a time for us to thank God for all the ways Spirit-Wisdom has helped us in the past…and lay before the Altar any anxiety or restlessness we feel…as we seek ‘refuge’ in God alone.

So, think of your daily prayer, NOT as a search to ‘find’ God ‘out there’ someplace, but rather: find a quiet place, here in church or in your home, and, as Spirit Wisdom is “making her rounds” each morning to bring peace to the open gate of your soul…simply say, “here I am God, ready to be found… by you.”

All Saints Day
Fr. Jim Deiters

One of my cousins is a middle school teacher.  When I asked her recently how things were going in this difficult school year, she said with a sigh, “I’m just tired.”  I’ve heard similar exhaustive phrases from those who are healthcare workers, restaurant owners, and parents; and some of our elderly who are stuck mostly at home are also tired of being isolated.  One young woman who was scanning my groceries the other day said with exasperation, “we just gotta get through this.” Her words stuck with me…as we all have to figure out how to get a new round of patience with the limitations and renewed energy to face the various ways it is disrupting our lives.

And so I want to take a different approach to preaching about today’s feast of All Saints.  Given that many are ‘worn out’ by various things going on in their life, instead of me taking apart this Beatitude Gospel about becoming the saints we were created to be, let us reflect instead about how the saints can help us ‘get through’ whatever has us tired or weary.  Our call to holiness centers around just how we do ‘get through’ the challenges of life…and become better persons and better Christians when we ‘come out on the other side’ of the trial. 

The saints had this gift of keeping their focus on the bigger end goal…and what is on the ‘other side’ of the ‘get through this’ stage.  We hear this in our reading from the Book of Revelation in which St. John had this vision of what heaven might be like and he sees this “great multitude” of people dressed in white robes.  When someone asks, “who are these people?”  The answer is, “these are the ones who have survived the time of great distress.”  What an interesting image of a saint – “surviving distress!”

Now, at the time John wrote this for the Christians, it was indeed a time of distress…as those who professed their belief in Jesus lived in daily fear of being tortured and murdered either by the sword, burned alive, mangled by lions, or skinned alive…to name just a few forms of martyrdom at the time.  Putting our own ‘distress’ into perspective, the Christians in the first three centuries literally had to live each day as if was their last.  And they did so…by knowing, really believing, that the hand of Jesus was carrying them THROUGH their trying time…TO the Presence of God on the ‘other side’ of it all.  Actually, saints believe they already live IN God’s Presence right now…DURING the distress.  Holiness is a way of life…that requires seeing our self, others, and all God’s Creation as ALREADY being a part of heaven; and thus we look ‘through’ the distressing situation in front of me…and recognize that God is with us…IN the  moment!

When we only think of ‘getting through this…’ in terms of Covid, a health crisis, or problem at work, we can forget to seek holiness even THROUGH our distressing situation.  The saints…teach us and pray for us…to step back and remember what our real goal, the finish line, is all about.  Because in the long run, all the ‘distressing’ things of this world…all pass away; and the only ‘getting through this’ that matters is how we used our life experiences as a preparation to be with God, NOT just ‘on the other side’ of all this…but living in the Presence of God now!

Two ways to grow in holiness THROUGH our distressing situations:

The first one comes from our Revelation passage which says that we are “marked with a seal on our forehead” which claims us as belonging to God.  Through baptism, we are ‘branded’ with the Seal of the Spirit that daily reminds us that we already belong to God. “You are God’s Children NOW,” St. John tells us.  This is why our Catholic teaching tells us that we are already a part of the “Communion of Saints.”  When we remember that we are marked and sealed as belonging to God…then we can take comfort that God IS “carrying us through” our distressing time.

The second thing that helps is to choose a particular saint or two who faced similar challenges or inspire us in our vocation.  Examples are St. Rita, patroness for those with mental illness and impossible situations; St. Monica – a friend to all mothers, especially those dealing with difficult children; St. Therese of Lisieux-when dealing with someone who is difficult to love and forgive.  We each need to research, read, or watch videos on the lives of the saints…to help our children, grandchildren, and our SELF…each find a few saints to be companions on our daily path of holiness: of detachment from distress…to a life IN God.

Here in the Eucharists, we are already AT the ‘other side’ with God…surrounded with a “multitude” of saints, who are praying with and for us, and reminding us that we are marked and sealed as “belonging to God.”

Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Fr. Jim Deiters 

Based on how our country was founded and by whom, for the first couple hundred years Catholics were despised and not trusted, with fear of the pope’s influence.  Each new immigrant population that came to our shores were hated by the previous immigrants that arrived.  Some of the most hateful exclusion was toward the Irish when thousands of them fled to America during the famine in Ireland in the mid-1800’s.  One of the biggest anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic groups of that period were called the “Know-Nothings.”  This self-righteous group were so against Catholic immigrants that they took the huge block of marble donated by Pope Pius IX for construction of the Washington Monument and tossed it in the Potomac River.  Abraham Lincoln became the strongest voice against this nationalist attitude as he stood up for not only blacks, but immigrants and Catholics too. 

For over 2,600 years, different religious groups have struggled with interpreting (or avoiding!) the scripture passage we have in our first reading today from the Book of Exodus in which God commands that we are to take care of “widows, orphans, and aliens” that come from foreign lands.   These were the three main groups of people in both Moses’ and Jesus’ time who were most destitute and homeless.  This Exodus passage is also the first time in the bible that God describes himself as “compassionate;” which, about 600 years after this was written, becomes the main theme and virtue that Jesus takes on in his own ministry.  Interestingly, this Exodus passage is also the first time in any ancient religious writing that those who are homeless or poor are called “your neighbor” by God himself.

Connecting this unique Exodus passage to the Gospel, I never cease to be amazed at how much of the Hebrew-Old Testament Scriptures Jesus knew by heart.  It had to have come from his parents, but also through his own personal relationship with God, he chose to let the teachings of Moses and the other prophets profoundly influence his vision and way of life.  We hear this in his response to the trick question posed to him, when he quotes the classic Jewish law about love of God… AND combines it with the other ancient commandment from God in Exodus… about love of one’s “neighbor,” which means all those in need.

While the texts of the bible do not change, each generation has to study them and pray about what these words mean for us today.  This means that in order to put our faith into action, each day we have to actively ‘look’ for people who are my “neighbor” in need.  It begins with the needs of one’s own family, but this Exodus passage and Jesus’ words say that we must care for “neighbors” beyond our inner circle, inner color, inner creed, and our inner ‘prejudice’ about who we ‘think’ should take care of him or herself.  And Jesus asks, “do you love them as much as you love yourself?”

I personally struggle to put this into practice myself, starting with where I live in the comforts of a safe, mostly white, educated community.  Most of us have to drive a distance to actually ‘see’ a different kind of “neighbor” that struggles simply to have a next meal or be safe from violent guns and poverty.  How Jesus shocks us… is that he just got up most mornings and literally walked across borders… into real places of exclusion, where the sick were treated as cursed by God and widows had to resort to prostitution as their only source of income.  Jesus simply kept sharpening his vision… that looked at the world and every person with compassion.

As quoted by various great leaders of the past, “the success and future of a society rests in how it takes care of the most vulnerable.”  Jesus teaches by example that God keeps expanding the definition of “neighbor” by extending compassion toward those whom most of society see as unwelcomed.  

I don’t know about you…but often times…Jesus’ teaching and example… makes me uncomfortable.

And I realize…how much we need Jesus to save us.

Twenty Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Fr. Jim Deiters

Back in 2002, while attending a priest conference, I was blessed to visit and pray in the new Cathedral of Los Angeles shortly after it was dedicated.  It is a contemporary design structure but still strongly evokes the presence of God and prayer as it sort of hangs over the interstate in the heart of the city.  At that time, we were just beginning to discuss plans for our new church, so I was fortunate to visit with Cardinal Mahoney at the reception and ask about how he pulled off a $250 million dollar project.  He inspired me when he talked about the ‘privilege’ of helping build a church for God.  One thing that really stood out for me in learning about the details of the construction was that this massive cathedral was built on 200 ‘isolators’ that allow the building to ‘float’ up to 27 inches during an earthquake.  The other surprise was to learn that the Jewish Community of Los Angeles donated $3 million dollars for the main plaza and fountain out front as a sign of the close relationship between the Catholics and Jews of that area.

We Catholics have a mixed, battered history with other world religions and other Christian denominations; but that need not overshadow the times we HAVE been able to work together, especially since the Second Vatican Council in the 1960’s that called us to see other religions as our brothers and sisters created by God.  Actually, in the scriptures it is God himself who models for us the importance of working together, regardless of religious background.  We see this in a surprising way in our first reading today, when Isaiah tells us about a man named Cyrus, a PAGAN king of Persia, who was chosen by God to end the slavery of the Israelites and rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. 

We learn that God “grasps Cyrus’ right hand and appoints him” to do what God wants done -- freeing His chosen people.  Cyrus may not have known God...but God certainly knew Cyrus and used him as an instrument of salvation.  It is almost comical how God speaks to Cyrus, the non-religious, non-believing king by saying, “I AM the one who gave you your title and power…and there is no God besides me.”

The point IS that God desires to use EVERY human life for some benefit to His Kingdom!  This is why the Catholic Church has an undying stance on the value of each and every human person.  We never know how God will use each person’s life for some good purpose.  While sometimes God has used people like the famous King Cyrus in 6^th Century BC, and emperors and queens through the centuries to further His reign of justice, the majority of heroes in our Christian history book are ordinary people: from a Jewish teenage girl in First Century Nazareth to be the Mother of Jesus, to an Hispanic young man leading a bible study in our local prison.  Amazing how God often chooses the lowly to do beautiful things for his Kingdom!  And it can make us smile in wonder how God called the Jewish people of Los Angeles to help build a prayer space for Christians.

This leads us to the challenge of these Scriptures for you and me today.  Too often we exempt ourselves from getting involved in works of charity or justice, thinking we don’t have much to offer..., while depriving GOD from using our ordinary life for some purpose he has in mind!  No matter how small our faith or simple our background, through baptism, like we just heard in Isaiah, God grasps our hand and appoints us to continue the healing, compassionate ministry of Jesus.

This is echoed in our Gospel when Jesus himself, in a creative response to the Pharisee’s trick question, reminds us that our life belongs to God.  As citizens of this world we pay our taxes and follow the laws; but ultimately our citizenship is in heaven and all that we have and all that we are belongs to God.  This is also why I am so inspired by those of you who donate your best for the building of our own church.  From the person who makes sacrifices to give $100 to those who can give $100,000, to those who sacrifice personal time for volunteering at our parish, God keeps ‘grasping our hands’ and providing opportunities for us to show others that our life belongs to God!

Do we really see our life as belonging to God?  Do you know how valuable your life IS to God and the Church?!  Since we DO belong to God, how is that played out in how we use our time and money?  Are we really willing to let God use our lives, our marriages, our careers, our retirement, and our children for God’s Kingdom and glory?

We so need this Eucharist, the Body and Blood of Jesus, to help us remember who we are...to whom we belong...and how to let God use our ordinary lives to bless the lives of others.

Twenty-EIghth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Fr. Jim Deiters
 

I usually don’t remember my dreams, but lately I’ve noticed a couple of them take place in what I call “pre-Covid” times.  In the dream there are usually lots of people gathered in a room with no masks, laughing and socializing in close proximity!  Maybe I’m remembering these dreams since they seem surreal at this time in life.  But I’m glad to know that my mind has a memory of them to hopefully recreate that reality someday.  Dreaming, both in our sleep and day-dreaming, is such a gift that God wove into our human brain capacity.  And since we humans are made in God’s Image and Likeness, we often refer to God as having ‘dreams’ although not in the same way of course.  When we think of the beauty of the cosmos and the miracle of a baby being formed in the womb, it’s obvious that God ‘dreams’ in really marvelous ways.

Our reading from Isaiah and Jesus’ parable we just heard give us a glimpse into what God ‘dreams’ for us humans by using two images: a mountain feast and a wedding feast.  In both images, God is gathering people from far and wide…to be a part of his divine life.  Both “feasts” represent God’s dream for His Kingdom…and US the Church.  Both images, like dreams often do, seem unrealistic…as God shares his vision for humanity to come together for a feast.  Really?  Many of us hear such ‘big idea’ scriptures and let them go over our head as if they are just some ‘pipe dream’ of God’s.  Doubting Isaiah’s prophesy we might question, “Seriously God, you really think that you can get all people of the world to come together in unity on Your Holy Mountain, for a feast where there will be no more tears or sadness?”  And questioning Jesus’ parable, “Do you think God, that your dream for a Wedding Feast of unifying love and mercy is really going to attract people to attend?”

In the parable, Jesus expresses God’s frustration that some people don’t realize that what is ‘served’ at God’s banquet is that for which they really hunger for happiness.  Matthew is writing this in about 70 AD, when some Jewish people, God’s Chosen Ones, were not accepting Jesus as the Messiah, who IS God’s Wedding Feast.  And Gentiles were showing up at the front door!  The person who is called out for not having the correct garment on represents those who ‘say’ they are a part of Jesus’ life and claim they belong to him, but don’t really live out the tough parts of discipleship; they can show their invitation-membership card,  even with a bible in hand, but don’t really ‘dress the part’ of Christianity in the way they live and speak.  God calls out such sham.

But I want to draw us back to these ‘dream images’ from the scriptures today and see if they can evoke in us new HOPE and MOTIVATION that God’s vision for our humanity is still a possibility.  Dreams of people living in peace, with no more suffering, do indeed seem wild; especially when we learned this week that due to the global pandemic, 150 Million people in South Asia and parts of Africa will fall, from middle class, into what is called “extreme poverty,” making less than $1.90 a day.  I wonder how the Catholics in those areas will hear these ‘dreams’ of God today?  At the same time in our own country, those running for federal offices in our upcoming election, it is estimated, will spend $11 BILLION dollars to try and get elected.  A different kind of poverty indeed!

BUT here is the Good News!  Even with us humans trying to literally take down God’s Mountain through abuse of the earth’s resources…and trying to ruin God’s inclusive wedding feast by walls of exclusion and violence, GOD, the endless dreamer, keeps sending out more invitations to NEW people… to some we never imagined might be walking into the wedding hall… possibly before us!  A shocking parable.  This is one of several parables that Jesus tells that can upset our thinking about who is ‘saved’… and what might happen to anyone who thinks they have a ‘free pass’ into Eternal Life…but have not been ‘weaving their wedding garment’ through active discipleship and regular worship of God at Mass.

Listen for words in the Eucharistic Prayer about being “gathered as one by the Holy Spirit…” which connect us to God’s dreams for “all people” to come to his holy mountain and wedding feast.  We can use our prayer time this week to do some dreaming with God about what he needs us to do to help fulfill His vision for the human race.  Consider these sample questions for daily prayer-dream sessions with God this week:

Do you have a dream-plan for your path to heaven and meeting God?

How does my present way of life look like I’m ready for Heaven’s Banquet?

How prepared is my ‘discipleship wedding garment’ if I am called home to meet God face to face this week?

Twenty Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
Fr. Jim Deiters     

The first winery I ever visited many years ago was out in Oregon when visiting some friends who lived there.  I had no idea how rural and agricultural that part of our country is in the middle of its beautiful forests, some of which have been sadly lost in recent fires.  When the tour took us out into the fields, I was educated for the first time on all the intricacies that go into growing grapes for wine.  One of the things we learned was how each hillside, while planted with the same grape variety, produces a different ‘flavor’ of grape, depending on whether it gets morning or late afternoon sunshine.  The kind of hard work it takes to harvest the grapes requires different kinds of laborers depending on how steep the hill is.

I remember as the guide was talking about all this, my strange, scripture-oriented mind kept thinking of passages like we have in today’s readings that describe God’s Kingdom like a vineyard.  In the vineyard image from both the prophet Isaiah and Jesus himself, the part that sticks out for me is the emphasis on the word “tenants” and how their work in the fields determines their relationship with the actual “owner” of the land, who is God.

The first challenge this poses for us is accepting the fact that we are laborers/ “tenants” for God…and NOT the owner or the one in charge.  Much of our culture and education system is rooted in training us to be the owner, colonel, or CEO.  But then we get to church on Sunday and hear scriptures that talk about being the servant of others, the last, and the least…simple ‘workers’ for God and the Church.  We have to continue to help our young people find a way to merge their gifts and passions for ‘success’ in the world…with our Christian goal of humbly serving God and others…for a loving Kingdom of justice here on earth. When societal norms drive us to think how much money a career makes… and what ‘title’ I get, being an active “tenant”/volunteer in one’s parish or being called to the priesthood or Religious Life for God’s Vineyard won’t make much sense to a lot of people.

Applying this vineyard image to Jesus’ goal for justice and peace, the second challenge is accepting how ‘big’ God’s Vineyard-Kingdom IS in which we have to work together for a good harvest.  Sometimes in parish life we can misjudge the good work others are doing in God’s Vineyard.  The different ‘hills’ in God’s Vineyard need different kinds of skills and workers.  For example, if we look at the Church’s Teachings about the various issues of justice, we can think of them as different ‘hills’ that need tended to.  An example of a big hill in the vineyard of justice is one we focus on this weekend…and that is the area of respecting the sacred life of a baby in the womb.  I am inspired by our parishioners who keep before us keep this significant life issue, which especially requires educating young people about chastity, marriage, and the sacredness of every pregnancy…as a child of God.

As God rejoices over each new ‘grape’ that is conceived in his vineyard, He is also looking out over the other hills in his fields that need ‘tenants’ to work in as well.  Looking eastward in the vineyard, is a hill comprising the sacred lives of those in prison on ‘death row’ as God is ever grateful for those worker-tenants who are caring for these children of his.  In another direction of his vineyard, God looks out at the hillside of elderly, terminally ill, and those with severe disabilities, whom some want to terminate and ‘cut down the vine’ by euthanasia; The tenant-caregivers in this section of God’s farm labor long hours in a world that says the ‘grapes’ of that section are not very useful for society.  Hill after hill, God sees the hard work that needs done for a harvest of justice…and he asks us to keep inviting new laborers to join us in the good work of reverencing all of life.  Parents and grandparents are the first ones to recruit new ‘tenants’ for God’s fields by teaching their children both the joys and challenges of doing ‘vineyard work’ for God.

But the other challenge we face as a Christian community is how to respect and celebrate the talents of others who might be working on a different ‘hillside of justice’ than we are.  Those doing prison ministry must bow in gratitude to those working on the hillside for the unborn; and those caring for the vines on the justice hillside of the mentally ill can weep in appreciation for those caring for children in immigration camps.  Hill after hill, tenants and laborers working for God!

 Certain voices in the media try to pit us Christians against one another even though our untiring Catholic voice for each human life must forever stay united in Jesus’ own embrace of each and every person whose life is in danger.  Being a simple worker, laborer, grape gatherer, or “tenant” doesn’t have much glamour at all in this world.  But when we start each day knowing for Whom it is we are actually doing the hard work of discipleship, then with our eyes fixed on Jesus, we see all the other hillsides of laborers and realize we are part of a ‘workforce’ and Kingdom-Vineyard that has incredible rewards beyond this world.

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Twenty Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Fr. Jim Deiters

I am blessed to live right across the street from our St. Clare School, especially when I am home on a school day and get to see and hear the voices of joy and laughter on the playground.  With the difficult Covid limitations, our schoolteachers creatively have short outdoor breaks for the children to get fresh air and movement throughout the day.   From my living room window, I am entertained in seeing, to no surprise, how the little first and second-grade boys can turn a parking lot curb into an imaginary spaceship or battlefield in full drama with the other boys six feet away!   Children so beautifully live in the moment and can turn the limitations of masks and distance into opportunities for new possibilities.

But then along comes adolescence, our teenage years, and eventual adulthood, which often stifle our creativity and dreaming abilities.  Sadly, the classmate, teammate, or fellow Christian… becomes our rival and sometimes hated enemy.  And then you add in a pandemic and an election year…and one can start to wonder if the virtues and values that Jesus taught the world will survive these trying times that have even split us Catholic believers down the middle.  And so the timing of the Philippians passage we just heard is providential in how St. Paul challenges us with these specific words, “Have in you the same attitude of Christ Jesus.”  The Greek word Paul uses for “attitude” also means “how you think.”  Has my thinking the past week or month been like the “attitude of Christ Jesus?” As sort of a ‘test’ to evaluate our self on this question, St. Paul gives specific examples of Jesus’ way of thinking…that must become our own he says; and in our situation, influence how we vote as well.

Paul uses three words primarily to describe Christ’s “attitude” or way of thinking: humility, emptying (of self), and obedience.  Of course before we judge others on how they live these, we always have to start with a self-examination, beginning with Jesus’ ‘attitudes’ of humility and selflessness…which flow from the virtue of obedience to God. All three of these virtues are rooted in LOVE…which is how we began in our mother’s womb, made in God’s Likeness of pure love.

I think we can all say that we WANT to be a person of love – humble and selfless.  But the COST of living these… we usually do not want to pay.  Jesus’ “attitude” of love and selflessness require a huge sacrifice in living them out.  That is why Paul uses the strong language in describing Jesus as having “emptied himself” to become a servant of others.  To empty our self --- of pride, conceit, vanity, and self-centeredness -- is an hourly chore and a life-long process.

While our attention is drawn to the second half of this ‘hymn’ about Jesus’ example of being humble, it actually points us back to the first half in which Paul focuses on how we Christians must be an example of caring for others for the rest of the world.  Our way of life is meant to look very different from the world around us; and this Philippians passage lays out what “community life” centered in Christ looks like.  Let’s listen again to St. Paul’s phrases about virtues of Christians: “being of the same mind and same love; selfless…and regarding others as more important than yourself.”  A great scripture quote for the kitchen table!

That is why the example of the children I spoke of comes to mind in how to live with creativity, possibility, and joy… in a world of division and cynicism.  While we will always wish for some new ‘leader’ to get us out of our mess, St. Paul looks at us in the eyes today and says, “let’s start with your own attitude and way of thinking.”  Is my present thinking helping build community, the Body of Christ?

Since the bible teaches that the “mind” and “attitude” and “thinking” of Jesus…starts with emptying oneself, then a person who is vain, ego-driven, and thinks of themself as more important than others…is leading others away from Christ and his example of humility.  The Good News is that the more we Christians LIVE Jesus’ example of being humble… and regarding others as more important than ourselves, then FROM our homes and parishes we have the opportunity and responsibility of forming new leaders for our world so in need of Jesus’ example.  We are so dependent on this Holy Eucharist since it is Jesus himself coming into our heart, mind and body…to help us in the difficult process of emptying our self and taking on the “same attitude and thinking of Christ Jesus.”

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Twenty Fifth Sunday in Ordinary TIme
Fr. Jim Deiters

I was listening to a podcast the other day that was titled, “How to have HOPE in a time of upheaval.”  The speaker was responding to people who feel despair over what is happening in the world.  One young adult in the conversation expressed anxiety and hopelessness as she thought about things like the election, global warming, the pandemic, and gun violence in our cities.  The speaker challenged her listeners to look at the root cause of their thoughts and then she said, “try to make room for new thinking.”  That idea really struck me since I had previously looked over the scriptures for today and that phrase in Isaiah was already stuck in my head when God said, “my thoughts are not your thoughts.”

Like some of you, I must admit that in my own thoughts about our world and country, I have been struggling to find hope.  This week’s news story of major glaciers on Antarctica melting to pieces at alarming speed was on the same newspaper page of a story about our own US cities ‘melting’ into violence.  These words from Isaiah today can be a real ‘balm’ for our hearts as we all look for some new breath from the Holy Spirit to give us hope amidst so much darkness.

Isaiah is preaching around the year 600 BC to the Israelites who are extremely weary from their time in exile and slavery; but we can apply the message to our own troubling times.  Chapter 55 of Isaiah began with “Come to the water…all who are thirsty!” Then in the following verses we heard today, Isaiah gives us FIVE imperative verbs telling us what to do when we feel discouraged or afraid of “where this world is going.”  God knows our weariness and calls out to us with these strong, but inviting words: “Come to Him, Drink his life-giving water, Eat, Listen, and Seek.”

Basically, God sees our troubles and knows our fears…and invites us to a different way of thinking, living, and being…IN God.  It requires a special level of consciousness…in which we see our life as part of something much bigger than the world around us.  Humans have been seeking a ‘higher level of consciousness’ / a better way of life since the beginning of time.  Ancient Eastern religions honored people whose thinking rose above the common reasoning; and pyramid temples built by the Mayan cultures represented ‘levels’ of higher thinking that was more like the gods.  In the twentieth century, psychologists like Freud and Carl Rogers spoke of the human mind’s ability to rise to new levels.

The One True God of the Universe spoke though Isaiah to us humans about a ‘place’ where we could ‘go to’ when life feels overwhelming-- and that ‘place’ is God Himself.  In various ways God says, “Come to Me, you who are thirsting for some new kind of water that truly quenches your thirst for justice; Seek the Lord, you who are hungry for peace in a war-torn world; Listen…for my quiet voice of calm when your heart is restless.”

After calling us to “come, listen, and seek,” God then ‘shakes’ us from our selfishness with these words, “for my ways are not your ways, my thoughts are not your thoughts.”  What makes Jesus our Savior, is that he is God’s Very Self who reveals to the world the unique ‘ways’ and “thoughts” of God.  Therefore the ‘invitation’ sent through Isaiah in the Old Testament…is now fulfilled in the actual Person Jesus Christ!  This means that anyone who IS weary, tired, hungry, and thirsty for some new way of ‘thinking’ about how to live in this world must center him or herself IN the Person of Jesus.

Putting this into practice…we must start each day with prayer, placing ourselves INSIDE of Jesus’ heart and mind; IN Jesus, we turn over to God OUR thoughts -which can be negative, afraid, or selfish – to let them be transformed into GOD’S way of thinking – which is peace, kindness, and love of all.  While things like social media, gossiping circles, or certain narcissistic leaders can easily pull us down to lower levels of selfish thinking…, prayer and the teachings of Jesus about justice and peace…RAISE UP our thinking into the thoughts and ways of God!  This leaves us with the challenge as to who or what is forming my way of thinking? 

Where in my daily schedule… do I make time to let ‘my’ thoughts and ways be transformed into the thoughts and ways of God…with his primary care for the poor and marginalized?  In the Eucharistic prayer I chose for today, listen for the words: “In you God, we live, and move, and have our being…”  The Eucharist is a place and encounter with the very ‘thoughts’ and ‘ways’ of God.  Since we know that ‘resurrection’ only happens after we ‘die’ to our own ways of thinking, we must let Jesus raise us UP to God’s ways of thinking…where we find rest for our weary hearts.

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Twenty Fourth Sunday in Ordinatry Time
Fr. Jim Deiters

At sunset on Friday this coming week, our Jewish sisters and brother begin their New Year with the ancient feast of Rosh Hashanah.  They set aside three solemn days to be in AWE of God’s creation and all God’s blessings.  Gratitude for God’s Mercy and Love leads them to pray about those parts of their life that are sinful and need changed.  After three days they ask God to forgive their sins on what they call the “Day of Atonement.”  These religious traditions in the Jewish calendar, that go back to 600 BC, certainly influenced Jesus’ teaching on forgiveness we just heard in the Gospel… since he grew up in a Jewish culture that was steeped in self-examination and being in AWE of God’s forgiveness and love.

When Peter asked Jesus, “How often must I forgive someone?” there is a good chance he did so during this Jewish ‘atonement’ time and was doing his own self-examination on forgiving others.  What stands out for me in the parable Jesus gives is in the first sentence when he says, “the kingdom of God may be likened to a king who decided to ‘settle accounts’ with his servants.”  The two words ‘settle accounts’ really struck me…in my prayer this week, wondering what my ‘balance sheet’ looks like in my ‘account’ with God.

You may have heard it said before that every relationship is like a bank account in which you have to make more deposits than withdrawals.  Most people forget to keep making DAILY ‘investments’ and ‘deposits’ into their significant relationships, and instead, take FROM the relationship account more than they give or deposit...eventually leading to bankruptcy.  In this parable, Jesus describes our relationship with God in terms of giving an ‘accounting’ of whether we are practicing and ‘investing’ the same kind of love, generosity, and forgiveness of others that God ‘deposits’ in us.

For example, our Creator God generously gives to us each morning a new 24 hours of life…and invites us to be in AWE of his love and mercy.  Of those 24 hours, how much of that time do we give back to God in prayer, sitting quietly with the One who gives to us the very breath on which we live?  Or if we think about God’s generous blessings in our life - family, friends finances, or health..., how generous am I in giving of my time and financial support of God’s Church and those in need?  God keeps ‘depositing’ more and more into his relationship with us...and we are to express our gratitude by being as generous and forgiving with others as God is with us. 

Notice in the parable it says the king was “moved with compassion” for the one asking for help.  Compassion, really feeling what the other person is going through, is the virtue Jesus is emphasizing for us to practice.  Jesus turns the question about ‘how many times’ do I need to forgive into a bigger challenge of self-examination about our accountability before God in the way we practice compassion for those in need. 

It begs other questions like: What do I use as my ‘accounting system’ for auditing what I am doing with my life, my time, and finances for God?  Am I making daily ‘deposits’ into my ‘salvation bank account’ by spending quality time with God…and then being an instrument of God’s compassion in the way I vote and care for the poor and the outcast?  The stark reminder in Jesus’ message today is that there really WILL BE an accounting before God for how we lived our life.  Or as we heard in the first reading, keep in front of you a thought about “your death” as a reminder of how we will stand before God to explain how we practiced Jesus’ example of self-sacrificing compassion and forgiveness.

From a religious historical perspective, the Catholic Mass has themes from the ancient Jewish ‘Day of Atonement,’ in which we come here in AWE of God’s goodness, admit our sins, and let God’s Compassion and Mercy be poured into our heart.  From this Sacrament of Salvation we BECOME Jesus’ sacrament of love and forgiveness...thus changing how we think of forgiving others as a ‘burden’...into a JOY that sets them and us free!

In your prayer this week…think about your own ‘account’ with God.  Coming forward to receive Christ in the Eucharist requires an examination and ‘accounting’ of our sins, a trust in God’s mercy, and a commitment to God that we will change whatever is not holy or helping us on the road to heaven.  As we consume this Holy Bread from Heaven, try to ‘taste’ the ingredient of compassion that Jesus wants to put into our body.