Reflections on Luke 12:49-53

This Gospel passage is so difficult that it has taken more than a week's reflection to find some light. Sacred Scripture is the living word of God and can give us new insights each time we read the same passage. This one has always been troubling.... Why would Jesus be the cause of division among us? I think that many of his followers today feel the pain of that division, especially in their own families, just as Jesus predicted. How many grandparents and parents are saddened as they see their children and grandchildren build their lives on totally different principles than what they tried to pass on to them. Everything we learned as the Catholic way of life is questioned and many things we thought carved in stone are repudiated publicly by famous Catholics. It works the other way, also. If a child has a real encounter with Christ and wishes to lead a radical and witnessing Christian life it is sometimes their own parents who chide them as "becoming fanatic" and suggest that they compromise and become "normal". The Holy Father speaks often of an encounter with Christ. It is this deeper knowledge and prayerful contemplation of Jesus that changes lives. I suggest that this type of division be met with love and prayer. God's grace touches us as individuals and we grow in a particular way according to a very personal timetable. Here love is primary. Jesus rejected no one. His mother is mother to all the children he commended to her care and will bring will heal the divisions as she leads all to her Son.

Reflections on Luke 12:32-48

This is a particularly difficult Gospel for the ordinary person to mine for prayer material. In parishes they might choose the shorter form which is actually the most challenging…. Jesus tells a parable about a master punishing servants. The servant who deliberately disobeys the master is severely punished but the servant who disobeys a command that he didn’t understand or hadn’t heard is also punished though not severely. We never speak today of God punishing. I really agree that we choose to walk away from God, not that God abandons us in anger. So why does Jesus compare God with the strict master? While reflecting on life I have come to think that what was called the “punishment” of God is chiefly the consequences of our actions. That is why conversion is always a turning away from sin and a return to the loving Father. I remember a time when several of us were studying at university during the summer. We became hungry during the evening and someone went to the kitchen to get several quarts of milk. There was half a quart left and I made a mental note to return it to the refrigerator. Of course, I forgot and in the morning a half quart of milk had soured and was wasted. I might have left the milk out for spite, “why should I be the one to return it?” which would have involved a whole lot of other guilt issues. That was not the case. I simply forgot. Yet, in both cases the milk was spoiled. The consequences punish us if we are negligent, even when that is unintended. We see many innocent people suffer and cry out to God asking “why?”. Often it is a natural disaster, the consequences of forces built into creation, or the result of someone else’s actions, evil or negligent…. We know that all will one day be fair and clear and we look forward to that day.

Reflections on Luke 12:13-21

Many, many years ago when I was in my early teens I had the good fortune to travel to our ancestral home in Germany with my family.  As part of that trip there was an outing to a beautiful Bavarian lake.  I remember enjoying  the sight of snow-covered mountains that bathed their feet directly in the sparkling water.   For just a moment I felt an irrational sadness that I did not "own" the lake.   I dismissed it quickly as the silly thought it was.   The Gospel passage above brought back the memory as a flashback.  I think now how instinctive is our desire to "own" and to "control"  the good and beautiful things of this world.   Even very small children must be taught to share their toys.   The rich man in Jesus' parable show us how useless it really is to hoard and to grasp.  How does God intend us to use the goods of this world.   There is so much beauty and goodness everywhere and most of it is free.   White clouds against a blue sky cannot be surpassed by any painter or photographer.  All we need do is look up and praise the Creator who designed it for our pleasure.   The poorest person in the world "owns" those clouds.  

We hear often that "we cannot take it with us".  Another piece of wisdom of the saints is that we keep only what we give away.  When our possessions become means of helping others they become an eternal "possession" of ours.   I think praise and gratitude is another way of making things eternal.   Did you ever stop to enjoy the blue chicory blossoms at the roadside?   Sometimes they are intermingled with the yellow of wild dandelion.  What a sight!   There is also the delicate blossom of the Queen Anne's Lace.   Because it is just a weed, we often overlook it.  So it is with many of God's gifts  It is because we do not stop to appreciate and enjoy and therefore do not "own"  the treasure as God intended.  It is not that we should not accumulate riches, it is that we try to grasp and hold the WRONG riches.  There is an old song that tells us "the best things in life are free"... we only have to look for them and thank the loving God who sent them.

Reflection on Luke 11:1-13

The disciples witnessed Jesus' many pauses for prayer, intimate dialogue with his heavenly Father.   They must have found his return from these times so attractive that they, too, wanted a similar experience.   They asked that he teach them to pray.  We have accounts of the Lord's Prayer in the Gospels and Christians have used this as a model of prayer for two millenia.  

Still there are people who see prayer as a recital of someone else's words, or as an urgent petition.  Prayer is really a conversation--a two-way conversation with the One who loves us in a very personal way.  Two things are very important to remember as we enter the adventure of prayer.  God is not a vending machine where we enter a certain amount of coins or words and receive a predictable product.  Also, it takes time to learn God's language.   We would not expect to go to China, for example, and immediately be able to speak and understand.  The "textbook" for God's language is the Bible.   Those who read the Sacred Scriptures every day, for however a short time, slowly begin to "hear" and understand God's part of the conversation.  He comes as a gentle breeze and night as a dramatic light and sound show.   It takes practice and a dedication of some time of quiet and solitude... again it might be only a few moments in a busy life but it must be regular and a part of a total life of love and service according to our state of life.   True prayer is so simple that it is often overlooked, but God loves us.  Jesus wants to be with us, so every small effort of our own will be richly rewarded.  The most tangible fruit of the Holy Spirit is joy which comes like a dawn and then a lovely summer day and remains with us even while difficulties and sufferings assail us.   Theologians may have far more precise insights into prayer gathered from great saints over the centuries, but many simple people know the wonderful experience of prayer.  They would all tell us that it is well worth the effort.

Reflections on Luke 10:38-42

There are many homilies on the story of Martha and Mary that define them as the worker and the pray-er.   That is an oversimplification.  In the episode recounted today in Bethany it is Martha preparing the meal and Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus.  I imagine that it is Mary who first heard Jesus somewhere in a crowd, telling her brother, Lazarus and sister, Martha about him.   It is Martha who invites him on this occasion.  Martha knows how to feed a guest and make him or her feel at home, but if we read the Gospel of John, Chapter 11 we see that she is also quite a theologian, echoing very closely the words of Peter on the plane of Ceasaria-Philipi.  

Another aspect of the story of the sisters of Bethany should encourage the many lay people who yearn to grow closer to Christ, but feel their daily duties prevent this and that they must leave holiness to those with a religious vocation.   We need to show them that their mundane tasks, done in love for family or neighbor are holy and bringing them closer to God each day.   That they may be aware of this does not require a great deal of time.   A simple dedication of their work to Christ... a moment's thought and breath... is sufficient.  If they spend every day ten minutes reading Sacred Scripture... especially the New Testament....  they are learning the language of the God who is present there in the word, and will begin to hear his voice in their daily life.   How about keeping a small New Testament in the glove compartment...  ?   There is much time spent waiting in a car.   There are also excellent scriptures in mp3 format or on CDs which can be played while driving.   A good investment is in one of the small magazines that present a reflection on the readings of the day.   As a Saint said hundreds of years ago in response to the question, "How can I become a Saint?"  "Will it!"

Reflection on Luke 10:25-37

The story of the "Good Samaritan" is so well-known that it has become an expression in our common and even legal language.  Here also we have an ancient narration that some will say does not fit our modern Western lifestyle.  We have all heard stories of people going to aid an accident or crime victim and causing more harm from not knowing the best way to handle injury.   Fortunately, there are still people who rush to help, and save lives.   In many cases it may be better to call the familiar 911 and let professionals help the victim.

The danger, however, is in a MENTALITY of letting others handle the situation.  We may lose the very human instinct of compassion.  There are many wounded and suffering people and we meet them every day.  We must keep our hearts attuned to the needs of these people.  When I hear of terrorism victims in a far country, do I take a moment to suffer for and with them, perhaps say a prayer even though I cannot do anything for them in a visible way?  There used to be a custom of praying for a patient riding in an ambulance as we move over in response to the siren, and of praying for the deceased in the hearse at a passing funeral procession.  This "exercises" our heart of compassion.   Then there are the people we encounter.  There is sometimes a chance to say a tactful, "You seem tired."  Which invites someone to share a burden of pain with us.  So much of spirituality consists in an attitude of love for our neighbor far and near.   Our society is becoming more crude and insensitive.  We can bring the love of Christ and change this society, giving joy and hope.

A Beautiful Person Goes to the Lord

Anna Levay was born into the large family of Rosalie Broun and Joseph Levay, with love among the parents and many children. This happy home life came to an end when her mother died after a short illness and five year old Anna was sent to her Aunt Julia, who raised her with her own children in Detroit, Michigan. She was there also a cheerful child whoA adopted a little chicken, nursing its broken leg. Her early religious life was divided between Sunday Mass in the Catholic Church and in afternoon services in the protestant church of Aunt Julia.



In elementary school she attended HolyCross School in Detroit and then to St. Joseph Hill Academy on Staten Island, New York. She attended College and studied early childhood education at Seton Hall University, South Orange, New Jersey.



Sister Sebastian taught in schools in Staten Island, New York, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Michigan, New Jersey and in California. This writer remembers her best there when the parish built a kindergarten in the convent to accommodate her class in St. Therese School in San Diego. She was always calm and achieved discipline by the slightest change in her look and tone of voice. The children loved the teacher who was not much taller than they and often, behind her back they would jump up and take comparison measurements. She was able to accompany the songs of the children with her own talent on the piano and voice and gestures that brought the songs to life. At one point in her life she had two parkeets and made sure that she played radio music for them too. She was conscious of spreading happiness in many ways.



During her golden jubilee year she had a chance to go to Rome and here, God granted her some wishes in an almost miraculous way. Upon arrival, she announced that it was her dearest wish to see Sister Leonore Mohl whom she remembered from her early formation. It was explained that Vienna was much too far away from Rome. We took the visitors to a pilgrims’ Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica and going out by a side door we literally “bumped into” Sister Leonore who had also attended that Mass. The other wish was to make an urgent request of the Holy Father. Again, we explained that the most she could hope from an audience was to see a white dot at the front of thousands of people. She was disappointed but God had another surprise in store for his faithful handmaid. Some days later there was a smaller celebration at which she could get close enough to whisper into his ear. Let us leave the content of that whisper to the angels, but someone must be treasuring a wonderful photograph.



In the last months of her life it was difficult for Sister to respond and to eat. Many took the effort to coax a weak smile and to have her drink some nourishment. It was decided that she would be placed for rehabilitation so that her muscles would remain functional. In the afternoon, the sisters who visited her at Carmel Richmond Nursing Home remarked about her alertness and the sister who gave her a rosary said she wound it around her hand with a smile. She nodded in the affirmative when asked if she wanted to meet Jesus. In the evening we received a call that she was taken to the hospital because of seizures. When the sisters arrived at the hospital the doctor was waiting for permission to stop all extraordinary means to revive her, saying she would never recover consciousness in any case. His beloved little sister had already slipped peacefully into the arms of Jesus.



May she rest in peace and pray for us.