5th Sunday in Ordinary Time

In addition to being the 5th Sunday of our liturgical year, today is Super Bowl Sunday. Practically everyone I know is planning some activity around watching the Super Bowl tonight. There will be parties and barbeques (if it isn’t too cold). I imagine some people even went out and bought new TVs for the event – I know the TV manufacturers encouraged it. What I like best about the Super Bowl are the commercials. I don’t know much about American football, but I know a good ad when I see one. I suppose at eight million dollars for 30 seconds, advertisers should produce something worth watching. So, for several magic hours we will be inundated with car, tire, clothing, beer and other commercials. They will imply that we will be cool, smart, bold, safe or lovable with their particular products. None of these ads will encourage us to be better people, good examples for others, merciful, just, gracious or steadfast. What a pity.

Unlike the hype of the Super Bowl, our scripture readings today encourage us to reach beyond the glitz and glamour of our secular world, and be salt of the earth and light of the world. How ordinary! Salt is so common and yet so essential. Imagine a Super Bowl party without salted food. Today as in the time of Jesus salt is used for flavoring, preserving and healing. We need salt. And we need to be like salt – flavoring our world with kindness, compassion and faith.

We take light for granted. However, without light nothing would grow and our world would perish. Try to imagine living in a world of darkness. Jesus told his disciples and he tells us that the most valuable light is inner light – the light that shines from us. And he tells us that our “light must shine before others, that they may see [our] good deeds and glorify [our] heavenly Father."

In today’s first reading, Isaiah 58: 7 – 10, the prophet tells us how to become salt and light for our world. When we share our food with hungry people, provide shelter for those who are oppressed and homeless; provide clothing to those who have none and take care of the people in our communities, then, Isaiah tells us, our “light shall break forth like the dawn,” and our “vindication shall go before [us], and the glory of the LORD shall be [our] rear guard.” So, in addition to praying for the Atlanta Falcons, perhaps we should ask Jesus to kindle His light in us so that our light will rise in the darkness.

O God of justice,

you have called your Church

to be the salt of the earth

and the light for the world.

Let the light of your own justice

shine in our lives,

that all may see our good works

and give you the praise and the glory.

We make our prayer through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

God for ever and ever.

AMEN.

Let Go and Let God

 

Late Have I Loved You

 “Late have I loved you, beauty so old and so new: late have I loved you. And see, you were within and I was in the external world and sought you there, and in my unlovely state I plunged into those lovely created things which you made. You were with me, and I was not with you. The lovely things kept me far from you, though if they did not have their existence in you, they had no existence at all. You called and cried out loud and shattered my deafness. You were radiant and resplendent, you put to flight my blindness. You were fragrant, and I drew in my breath and now pant after you. I tasted you, and I feel but hunger and thirst for you. You touched me, and I am set on fire to attain the peace which is yours.”

~ St. Augustine of Hippo, Confessions

Take Care of Yourself

 

Prayer for Hearing

“What’s wrong, Paddy?” asked the priest.

“I need you to pray for my hearing,” said Paddy.

The priest put his hands on Paddy's ears and prayed. When he was done, he asked, “So how’s your hearing?”

“I don’t know,” said Paddy. “It isn’t until next Tuesday.”​

When Things Go Wrong

“If you spend your whole life waiting for the storm, you’ll never enjoy the sunshine.”
~Morris West

Today I watched Finding Nemo, one of my absolute favorite Disney movies. When Dory and Marlin are searching for his lost son Nemo and it seems like they’re doomed to fail, Marlin says, “I promised I’d never let anything happen to him.”

Dory responds, “Hmm. That’s a funny thing to promise. You can’t never let anything happen to him. Then nothing would ever happen to him. Not much fun for little Harpo.”

As someone who has often worried about people I love, I find this incredibly insightful. The truth is we never can know for certain when a storm is coming. We can’t fully protect ourselves or the people we love from hardship.

What we can do is choose not to cause ourselves pain by shutting down, fearing everything that might go wrong. When we hide from the worst that could possibly happen, we also close ourselves off from the best.

Today if you’re feeling fearful about things that might go wrong tomorrow, come back to the present and recognize things that are going right today.

There’s a lot of sunshine to enjoy in life, but we can only appreciate it if we’re willing to be firmly rooted in the here and now.

Basket of Water

The story is told of an old man who lived on a farm in the mountains of eastern Kentucky with his young grandson. Each morning, Grandpa was up early sitting at the kitchen table reading from his old worn-out Bible. His grandson, who wanted to be just like him, tried to imitate him in any way he could.

One day the grandson asked, "Papa, I try to read the Bible just like you but I don't understand it, and what I do understand I forget as soon as I close the book. What good does reading the Bible do?" The Grandfather quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and said, "Take this coal basket down to the river and bring back a basket of water." The boy did as he was told, even though all the water leaked out before he could get back to the house. The grandfather laughed and said, "You will have to move a little faster next time," and sent him back to the river with the basket to try again.

This time the boy ran faster, but again the basket was empty before he returned home. Out of breath, he told his grandfather that it was "impossible to carry water in a basket," and he went to get a bucket instead. The old man said, "I don't want a bucket of water; I want a basket of water. You can do this. You're just not trying hard enough," and he went out the door to watch the boy try again.

At this point, the boy knew it was impossible, but he wanted to show his grandfather that even if he ran as fast as he could, the water would leak out before he got far at all. The boy scooped the water and ran hard, but when he reached his grandfather the basket was again empty. Out of breath, he said, "See Papa, it's useless!"

"So you think it is useless?" the old man said. "Look at the basket." The boy looked at the basket and for the first time he realized that the basket looked different. Instead of a dirty old coal basket, it was clean. "Son, that's what happens when you read the Bible. You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, it will change you from the inside out."