You are My Beloved…Listen to Him

Do you remember when you first felt an undeniable prompt that called you to pursue a goal or an activity?  I wonder how many of us know when we have heard and responded to God's voice. While talk of "a calling" is commonly ascribed to clergy, we don’t necessarily consider that we’re called to a career or vocation or volunteering. But, why not? I raise this question because I think that “our calling” in life is related to the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-9). Let’s face it, our attention is understandably focused on Jesus’ transformation. The visual impact of the dazzling, blinding light and brightness enveloping Jesus is unforgettable. And yet the event forces us to focus on Peter in that it signals the beginning of Peter's transformation as well.

The scene moves very quickly. We can envision Peter’s fear and confusion as a voice from heaven literally interrupts his chatter, and in virtually says, "Would you please be quiet for a minute, and just listen to him!" In fairness, we can relate to Peter which is likely what Matthew had in mind, as he falls to the ground in fright, likely covering his ears and shielding his eyes. And then it's over -- the voice, the light, the heroes of the past -- nothing is left except Jesus, who reaches out to Peter, James and John, and calms their fears, and asks them to get up.

In that moment everything for Peter, I suspect, was still...and clear...and made sense. But we know it didn't last very long. On the way down the mountain Jesus once again had to remind Peter of his impending death and destiny and while Peter struggles to listen, to follow, and to be faithful, he will fail. My guess is that each time Peter “fell down,” he would look back on this day and recall those words, "Just listen to him!"

Perhaps Peter's transfiguration begins when he repeatedly fails, falls, and is lifted up again and realizes that above and beyond everything else, he is called to listen to Jesus. Isn’t this the pattern that shapes the lives of every Christian? We too try our best and sometimes succeed and sometimes fail. We, too, have moments of insight and moments of denial. We, too, fall down in fear and are raised up again to go forth in confidence. We are called to listen, to discern God's will and in this way be transformed. Don’t we identify with Peter? Don’t we see ourselves in this story? This story is as much about Peter and Jesus as it is about us. We, too, have been called both to "listen to him" and to "be lifted up"?  We too, are called, but I wonder if we sometimes even recognize his voice.

Our transformation is what I think we've been working on these past few weeks: we are being called to be salt to the earth, light to the world, disciples of Jesus and to be the people of God.

“There have been quite a few times when I have felt the winds of God’s grace in the sails of my small boat. Sometimes these graces have moved me in pleasant and sunlit directions. At other times the requested acts of love were born in the darkness of struggle and suffering. There have been spring times and there have been long cold winters of struggle for survival. God has come to me at times with the purest kindness, at times with the most affirming encouragement, and at other times with bold frightening challenges. I think that all of us have to watch and pray, to be ready to say “yes” when God’s language is concrete and his request is specific-“yes” in the sunlit spring times and “yes’ in the darkness of winter nights.” (John Powell, S.J., The Christian Vision, The Truth That Sets Us Free, p147)

Come to me... and I will give you rest

When my first child was born, I as a young father, was overwhelmed by how much I loved him. I couldn't get over how strong my desire was to love and care for him. In those initial months and years, I was overcome with the strength of my feelings for him. Then, as we approached the birth of our second child, I was uneasy about my feelings: “how could I possible love her (it was to be a girl), as much as I loved him; there’s no way, I thought, I could have all those strong feelings? However, after she was born, I realized that my feelings for her were the same…I learned that I did not have to divide my love or love one less than the other. It was just there, already “packaged” for me in my daughter as it was in my son. Today, I reflect on those early years of parenting, in which I was only a hare’s breath from being a child myself and wonder about how much greater is the love of God.

In our Gospel (Matthew 11:25-30), Jesus prays to the Father for his disciples as a father or protectorate might: Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.
Our children can provide a unique perspective on our relationship with God. Over the years, my children would ask for many things. All requests were heard and I know all their requests were answered. In some cases they received what they asked for; in others they did not. Many times my alternate suggestion, which they resisted at the time, tuned out to be even better than what they had originally requested. I don’t remember ever not listening to their request, despite how outlandish in some cases, I thought they were. I don’t remember not answering them one way or another. Even when they were denied I listened and our love for each other never suffered despite some difficult encounters.

If you then...know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?

Hidden Treasures

Interestingly, the emphasis in this reading (Matthew 13:44-52) is not in the finding of the treasure or the pearl in the field, but in what the person does when he finds it: “he went and sells all he has and buys the field.” Taking hold of the treasure that God wants to give us involves our total commitment and surrender of our entire being. We cannot search for the meaning of our life in the kingdom with just a bit of ourselves; it’s all or nothing. Now that sounds rather ominous to us: Are we willing to give it our all to know God, to know him as a presence in our lives in all that we are and all that we do? It’s asking a lot but then the payoff is greater than anything we hold dear.

We can only imagine the joy that the man who finds the treasure in the field experiences, that causes him to sell all his earthly possessions. The joy in knowing the love of God in our lives that emanates from knowing His presence loosens the grip that our earthly attachments have and enables us to reset our life’s priorities. Our lives will be forever changed beyond anything we could have foreseen, or managed by our will alone.

The first story teaches us that we acquire God’s hidden treasure, not by our effort or plan. No, it’s a quiet thing that reveals the treasure when we are prepared to recognize it even without our searching for it. We seem to unexpectedly trip over the treasure that we realize is what we wanted all along.

In contrast, the merchant who finds the pearl of great value was already searching for pearls and while the Gospel does not explicitly say so, we assume that he must have possessed a collection of pearls. The knowledge he acquired as a collector, enabled him to recognize the prized pearl. Isn’t this what we do, we prepare for the big decisions of life by taking small steps outside our comfort zone and place our trust in our judgment.

Yet this is as hard for us as it was for the merchant. Look at all the time and energy the merchant invested in learning about and collecting pearls. Now he must let them go in order to trade them for something more important. It wasn’t as if his original collection was of no value; it’s just that the prized treasure was far more valuable. We have many things in our life that are inherently good and bring us pleasure…family, career, prized possessions. But even these good things can become distractions. The merchant, although he has found many good pearls, remains “hungry” for the one of great value. For us we ask are we willing to let go of what is good and trade it for what is better…God’s will for us?
Adapted from Taizé, http://www.taize.fr/en_article167.html?date=2011-04-01

Treasures

It’s the cutting edge of making choices,
splitting what you choose from what you don’t choose.
And making your choices will set you apart
from others, even friends and family.

 This is the work of becoming your own self.
When your choices upset those around you
it may be because you’re being foolish.
But it may be because you’re making your choices
instead of letting them. It will be like this.
Abandon that owned self, and find your own self.

Listen deeply to God.
Let God alone lead you.
Make yourself available to God
as an instrument of righteousness,
and know that even as you let go of your life
you receive life.
-Steve Garnaas-Holmes

Jesus moves on, according to Matthew (Matthew 13:24-43), from stories of God-the-Mad-Farmer who sows seed everywhere and refuses to weed the crops, to stories of choices that must be made, stories in which it is not God, but we who must do the choosing, between small seeds that can grow God-crops in the world, and all the welter of things the world wants us to choose instead.

The grain of mustard seed – the smallest of all the seeds, can grow in a weedy patch to become the largest of all the bushes and offer shelter to many birds. A small amount of yeast can grow flour into bread enough to feed a town. The priceless pearl, a small thing among fakes and baubles, has value far greater than everything we own. A great treasure, unexpectedly found in the field of your life, will require everything you have. And the full fishnet, teeming with life and trash, will best be sorted on shore, so bring it all in.

Each of these tales requires everything. And each requires just one thing. The price for the treasures of God is everything we have. And the prize, the treasure, is only one thing, one thing that must be seen and named and taken and prized. And none of them would get you a round of applause in your choosing. And most of them would get you some rolled eyes, or some catcalls, or some Damn Fool! remark, maybe muttered, maybe said to your face.

After all, who are the likes of you and I to be purchasing pearls? To be selling the farm for something you found in a field? To be wasting all your yeast to raise three barrelsful of flour into bread for strangers? To be planting mustard instead of fig trees or olive groves? And as for that fishnet, any fool can see the old boots, the broken bottles, the sea-bottom trash in that haul – throw it back, cast your net again!

What’s precious, say all Jesus’ stories, is likely to be judged as junk by most folks, and likely to require a lot from you and me. All the stories say – Make yourself available to God

(Adapted from “Treasures,” The Bite in the Apple by Nancy Rockwell, July 19, 2014

 

Do You KNow What You Want

We can relate to Jesus’ reaction to the crowd in Matthew 11:25-30 as well as in the preceding verses, as he compares his followers to a bunch of children who cannot make up their minds: For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, “He has a demon”; the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, “Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!” 

Today, Jesus may well have asked “do you people really know what you want? What else will it take for me to help you understand how much God loves you?” It is difficult to exactly pin down the emotions Jesus is expressing but to me they reveal human emotions to which we can all relate. It helps us to know that the Incarnate, whose Word we follow and live by, can experience these human emotions that are so much a part of our lives.  

We all view the world through our own prism or lens which are largely influenced by the world around us. Two people can hear an identical message and have different interpretations. This is part of our human nature. But sometimes we consciously create our own reality that serve our desired expectations and “wishes” based on what we want to hear. In most cases, our perception is unconscious and consistent with our view of reality. When we attempt to “re-write” or “re-create” our own “script” in the face of reality, we work at cross-purposes with God’s will. Philosophers tell us that “wishing” is more a fanciful dream, not based in reality while “hope,” has a factual basis based on reasonable expectations and possibilities.

“What do you want? Jesus seems to ask the crowd. Except he knows they won’t answer because they can’t, because what they want is to grow, to evolve, to improve and more. And yet paradoxically, they want to be left alone, untouched and unchanged. Why? Because to change is to lose something, and so to change can feel a little like dying to oneself. And while the followers of Jesus wanted to grow, they preferred the comfort of the status quo. Change, delves into the unknown. Change is not certain. Change implies risk and even potential loss...which is why we often stay in failed jobs and relationships. 

Thomas Keating tells us “that there are all kinds of ways in which God speaks to us—through our thoughts and/or anyone of our faculties. But keep in mind that God’s first language is silence. We must listen. We must be willing to listen. The Spirit speaks to our conscience through scripture and through the events of daily life. Reflection on those two sources of personal encounter and the dismantling of the emotional programming of the past, prepare the psyche to listen at a more refined level of attention.”