YOU WILL BE CRITICIZED

      

 

One of the sad but very real features of life is the criticism that you will receive if you reach out to do good for others. In one particular instance one sister in the family reached out to a cousin who was having a very difficult time getting her young life to go in a straight direction.  This young niece was making many bad decisions in her life. But when her aunt reached out to this lost soul the harshest criticism came from her own sister. 

 

There was a lot of hurt in this family over the harsh words that were thrown toward the benevolent aunt. The negative part of all this is that the criticizing sister does not reach out to help other people.

 

This Sunday’s readings offer us clear direction. If we are sent by God there will be negative criticism thrown our way. The forces of darkness do not sit silent when there is goodness afoot. 

 

Our first reading from Jeremiah (Jer. 1, 4-5, 17-19) has the assurance from God to the young Jeremiah that God will support and be with him. He is to expect trouble in bringing the message of God to a people who have wandered away from God. We know in fact that Jeremiah experienced strong opposition to the message he was sent to bring the people. He was to call the people to turn toward God and the enemies of Jeremiah worked to crush him into the earth. 

 

Jesus (Lk. 4, 21-30) was welcomed by the people of his hometown but a little later they turned on him. He made it clear that his mission embraced the people beyond the Hebrews. His own folk could not handle this. They wanted him destroyed!

 

There is a strong lesson here for all the followers of Jesus. When you reach out to do good toward the poor of this world, expect some negative feedback! Do not be surprised if the members of your own family have some of the sharpest barbs! This will hurt. This could be very discouraging. You might be strongly moved to quit!

 

We need to hear the words of God that were given to Jeremiah to brace him up in the face of such severe opposition. They are words that we need for courage. God will walk with us through this fire of criticism. God says to Jeremiah to encourage him: “I for my part I  have made you today a fortified city, an iron pillar.” (Jer. 1,17)

 

When any Christian reaches out to one of God’s little ones do not be surprised when the criticism comes. Your reaching out to do good to someone who cannot pay you back, is a challenge to your brother who works excessively to be successful in his job but does not have any time to help others. Your act of goodness is a sliver of bright light that is cutting through the darkness of indifference in your brother’s life. Do not be surprised at the negative reactions.

 

When you are listening and praying over the Word of God this Sunday hold in your hand some to the barbs of negative criticism and misunderstanding that others have thrown toward you. Now, how has the hand of God supported you and gave you strength to continue doing good? 

Where were you Jeremiah and God gave you the courage to be a ‘pillar of iron?’

A FAITH THAT EMBRACES THE WORLD

               

 

Everything has a down side.  There is nothing or no one who is perfect! If you want to know what a particular person is actually like, try living with them for a few weeks. Their not so pleasant side will emerge very naturally.

 

All religion has its down side. All religion has its shadow side! 

 

Perhaps one of the most insidious tendency is to focus exclusively on the ‘spiritual.’ The only thing that counts is when I am praying, studying the Scriptures or involved in public worship. The downside is such a concept of the spiritual/religion is that we can be in complete denial of some incredible evils. Our European ancestors have a great history of this. They prayed on Sunday but owned black slaves and beat them down into submission.  Their business life was brutal.

 

The light side of religion is that it can challenge believers into tremendous acts of charity and justice. Here religion shines a light on the broken human condition and empowers  believes to go forth and improve the lot of the poor.  

 

But the dark side of religion is to live in denial or to avoid questions of greed, violence, exploitation and neglect of other human beings. This denial is all mixed up with the power struggle between those who are on the top (with power and money) and those who are on the bottom (without power, money or education).

 

Fortunately, we are moving into a Christianity that takes the care of the earth and all peoples seriously. Our prayer leads us out into the streets. This is why the prayer of Pope Francis tnames it well. All the ministers of the Church are to be so close to the people that they “smell like the sheep.” Can you think of any image more earthy and close to the struggles and the inequalities that exist among human beings.

 

A healthy Christian spirituality is one that embraces all that is human: the joys and the sufferings, the virtues and the sin, the generosity and the greed. It goes right where human beings live. Nothing that humans do is alien to the grace of God. An honest prayer person is embraced by the grace of God and looks squarely at the evils of their own country and district. There is no room for any type of double-think in an honest Christian pray-er. 

 

Many Christian believers have been very generous toward the food banks in our larger cities. (Remember that the first food bank in Canada was founded in Edmonton in 1981). The weekly gifts of pasta and peanut butter are very good but the healthy Christian asks that hard question: “Why are people short of food in a country as rich as Canada?”  We are not afraid of tackling some very difficult questions!

 

Even if many of our Christians find it difficult to embraces that hard issues of injustice, war-making, despoiling of the earth, racism and neglect of the elderly it does not mean that the light is not trying to penetrate their fear and hesitation. 

 

Christian spirituality does not shield us from the tough questions of the day. Rather it moves us to embrace the sufferings and injustice that are inflicted on the poor. It means we are being moved by the healing hand of Jesus toward the wounded of this world.

 

 

RECOGNIZE THE LIMITATIONS OF OTHERS

               

 

One thing I hope happens in all our faith communities is that we are made aware that not everyone has had the same opportunities that we have had. Those who were blest with stable parents, a decent family income and encouragement to get educated are fortunate. Not everyone has the same opportunity as you do!

 

I would like to reconnect with a young twenty-year old who came to the door looking for some assistance. I never give out money. At that time the minimum wage was eight dollars an hour. He agreed to work for seven hours washing the chairs in the adjacent hall for eight dollars an hour. His work was satisfactory.

 

When it came time to pay him, I asked: “How much do I owe you?”

 

He did not know! He was one of those most unfortunate children who fell through the cracks and did not attend school. He did not know how to add and subtract!

 

I began the painful process: One hour….means eight dollars?? Two hours …… he had to struggle to count up to sixteen. And then we spent the next few painful moments trying to count to fifty-six dollars. I thought when we reached fifty-six, ‘I could have given you fifty and you would not have been able to come back on my dishonesty!’ 

 

What a limitation in this culture. Try to imagine going into any Tim Hortons and asking for a job but with the qualification “I can’t add or subtract!” What future for employment does such a young man have in this culture? 

 

We must be cautious that we do not look at other people through the lens of our lucky lives. Not everyone had competent and committed parents. Not everyone has had the opportunity for training and education. Not everyone had hard working parents who made the effort to train us to work and to be disciplined in all money matters.

 

Which one of our First Nations tribes gave us the wonderful piece of wisdom? Never say anything about another until you have walked a mile in his moccasins. Be silent before every passing judgment on the limitations of another.

 

If the young guy ever comes by again, I will hire him again to wash/ disinfect the chairs in the hall. He was certainly willing and competent to work, but he needed a little help with the numbers.

 

Now what would happen in his life if he had the opportunity to go to school to help adults read, write and do arithmetic?

 

 

 

 

THE SACRAMENT OF THE POOR

 

How rich it is to think about human life in the framework of sacraments. Simply put, a sacrament is any moment that the divine breaks through into life or that we, with our human spirit, reach out and touch the divine. The sacramental moment can be overwhelming or it can be very ordinary with the space of daily life. 

 

God fills the earth and every breath we take. Our responsibility is to pay attention to the many daily moments where we encounter the divine. Living a life of faith means to be attentive to the hand of God breaking through in the unexpected moments of life. 

 

We can limit the experience of what is a sacrament if we strictly limit it to what we officially do in the church building.

 

How we think about the workings of life will open or close reality to us. If we think that we will not encounter God in the mess and the muck of human life, then we probably will never meet God in the upheavals of daily life. There are limitations, but they are within us. We could miss God all the while thinking that we are giving religion our very best.

 

The most universal of all sacraments and the one that is available to everyone is the poor who live among us. It will be in the poor with their many faces that we are meant to encounter and respond to God. The definition of who is poor must not be limited to the people who have a very weak cash flow. Being poor is a much greater reality than the panhandler on the street begging for loose change.

 

Today there are countless poor people who are in our care homes. It could be the brain damaged young male of twenty-five whose own age group has dropped him. It may be the elderly grandmother who has no one but is well cared for in the nursing home. It may be the new Canadian who has no close friends or relatives.

 

Mother Theresa summed it up very well when she observed that the greatest form of poverty is not to be without money or material resources. The strongest form of poverty is not to be wanted. 

 

Poverty comes in many colors and flavours. Simply put, we must speak about the poor with their many faces. Money in our bank account does not make one a rich person. Nor does the absence of money make one a poor person. It is the one who gets pushed aside, who is no longer considered to be of much worth who is the very poor person.

 

Our Christian faith has been given much attention to the final judgment in the twenty-fifth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew. Jesus identifies with the poor. “I was hungry and you gave me food.”  We see in our daily actions the moment of encountering the divine. It is in the faces of the poor, the neglected and the unwanted that we locate God. 

 

The poor are the place where everyone can access God. The faces of the poor reveal God in new and wonderful ways. 

 

As with all sacraments it is not easy or cheap. Accepting the poor as a moment of encounter with the divine can be very difficult. It may be the patience it takes to handle our elderly mother who is so cranky and sharp of tongue. Nothing  pleases her any longer! From being a woman that you wanted to be with, she has degenerated into someone you would rather avoid. In her dementia, she is very poor. 

 

It may be the new Canadian with whom you work but she is having such a hard time learning  English. Some days the communication can be very strained as she tries to make herself understood. Is not the inability to speak English a form of poverty?

 

It may be your sister who has a child with multiple needs. She and her husband work very hard and try to give the best for their child. But your sister gets very tired. Is not her need for a break another face of poverty? 

 

Here is where we are being challenged by the way that God actually comes into life. The faces of the poor reveal and bring forth the mystery of God in new and vibrant ways. As we respond to the needs of one another we will grow in life and find our faith maturing and bearing much fruit.

 

The poor are a daily revelation of God. It will be in our compassion and care for them that we can share in the very life of God.