Author: acbasile

Faith Sharing Fridays November 13, 2015

Gospel for Sunday, November 15th

It can be really important to wrestle with this passage and this particular style of scripture. With all the references to the end of time, this is part of the genre called apocalyptic literature. Often, these types of readings leave me feeling unnerved or confused. When I encounter it in the Bible my first thought is often, “oh no, this is clear evidence that Jesus was wrong. That generation has definitely passed away and the apocalypse hasn’t happened (or at the very least I haven’t been informed).”

When I read apocalyptic literature I have to remind myself that it is the genre of the disposed. It is often written by captives and exiles, people who are clinging to hope in desperate situations and yearn for a better future.

To understand and enter into this passage I need to do some soul searching. How is the current “world order” serving or not serving me? What advantages do I have over some of my brothers and sisters around the world? Depending on where I live or where I was born, I may not want a new world order. I may or may not want a complete restructuring of society.

But why?

Where am I afraid to embrace change? What privileges do I enjoy that others may be able to access? Who has been left on the margins? Who would find great hope and consolation in a restructuring of our world? Looking closely at these questions can help me to enter more deeply into the feelings and the movements of gospel passages like this one.

A Male Campus Minister

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What privileges do I enjoy that others do not? What parts of my lifestyle affect others? Are there patterns of consumption in my country that hurt others who are less fortunate?

These questions make me think about the massive flow of immigrants or exiles fleeing from violence and death as they make their way from their homeland to where it will be a safer “world order” for them and their families.  How close they must be in their struggle to the mercy of Jesus.  In turn, how can we be the hands and feet of Jesus in our response?

In the words from the Book of Daniel .. it is “a time unsurpassed in distress” …..a time when “your people shall escape” and “those who lead the many to justice shall be like the stars forever”.

This painting of Koder’s evokes images of the flight of the immigrants towards the safety they desire and the need for mercy and justice for these our brothers and sisters.

A Married Couple

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Background on artist, Sieger Koder

Faith Sharing Fridays November 6, 2015

Gospel for Sunday, November 8th

As someone who has not yet had a salaried career, I feel the burden of the woman who gave her “livelihood” instead of the others who just gave from their wealth. As I dwell on this more, I realize that while I might understand her in financial terms, when it comes to my relationship with God and my giving to the community, I would have to say I am more like the people giving just from their wealth. I hear Jesus teaching the disciples and us that it is important for us to give ourselves entirely to Christ, to give our livelihoods to Christ, and to give our lives to Christ. This could mean different things for everyone, but for me personally, I hear it as a call to action: a call to give more than just prayer now and then and mass on Sunday mornings, a call to serve those in need more than just when I have the free time and feel like it, a call to use all of the gifts that God so generously gave me to their full potential.

My contributions need to be more than just from my wealth. My contributions need to be all I have.

Imagine our God given livelihood as a bouquet of flowers: white roses and light pink peonies over top beautiful dark green leaves and with baby’s breath scattered throughout. This bouquet was a gift from God. He fashioned it just for you and expects you to use it. This bouquet has many parts. The roses might be your passionate interests and the dark green leaves your compassion for others. The peonies are your personality and the baby’s breath is a special and unique talent. Combined, this collection of flowers makes you God’s one and only beloved “you.” Now imagine trying to live out your life each day giving each person you meet your complete bouquet of flowers (of course God has an unlimited supply for you to share). How wonderful would that be to be sharing your passionate interests, your compassion for others, your personality, and your special gifts to every person you encounter? Instead I often find myself giving bouquets of just peonies or maybe just roses and a few leaves. I am only giving of my wealth and not my livelihood. I pray that we may be able to strive to give our entire bouquet of flowers to everyone we meet, to show everyone who God made us to be.

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What is in your bouquet of flowers? How can you share your entire bouquet with those around you?

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Written by an Undergraduate Woman

Faith Sharing Fridays October 30, 2015

Gospel for Sunday, November 1st, 2015

“That woman’s a saint,” you might hear someone say. But what does it mean to be a saint? Our readings today present us with a “resume” of a saint in Matthew’s rendering of the Beatitudes, and with one of the possible paths to sainthood – persecution for being a disciple of Jesus – in the Revelation reading. But in the reading from the first letter of John, we hear something different about sainthood, something that I struggle to accept.

John exhorts us to “see what love the Father has bestowed on us,” a free gift, unsolicited, and undeserved. He tells us that this love allows us to “be called the children of God,” and then seems to anticipate our unbelief as he adds, “Yet so we are.” I sense that he might want to add, if he were our contemporary, “Can you believe it?!” Accepting my identity as a child of God can feel like an onerous responsibility. What happens if I do something “wrong” like ignoring the street person asking for money? Or like not making time for someone who needs to talk? Or even something worse, like betraying a dear friend? Am I no longer a child of God?

A sense of guilt for something we’ve done or failed to do can either make us feel too ashamed to face God and ourselves, or can compel us to run to God for mercy. Which path we choose seems to depend on our belief in the “love the Father has bestowed on us,” love that is limitless and not an outcome of what we do or don’t do. While saints were not perfect in their actions, I sense they became perfect in one thing: trust in the boundless love of God. May we draw inspiration from the saints we honor today as we open ourselves more and more to God’s loving embrace.

A Woman Parishioner

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Question for Reflection:

When you have done something you’ve regretted, how did you reconcile yourself to God and to yourself?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYCJ8EvkGCs

In 1 John 3:1-3 we are told that no matter how many times we feel that we have failed God, we will always be a child of God. His love will never fail, even when we do.

An Undergraduate Woman

Faith Sharing Fridays October 23, 2015

Gospel for Sunday, October 25th, 2015

My sister Katie had the privilege of being asked to represent the United States at the Special Olympics World Games in LA this past summer. My heart burst with emotion listening to her interviews on local news outlets as she prepared to depart, watching her high five athletes from all over the world during the opening ceremonies and singing along with a stadium full of athletes and their loved ones the Game’s’ theme song, Reach Up LA.

Katie and folks with intellectual disabilities are often silenced in our society. Family members can be met with a patronizing pity.

“I didn’t know your sister had special needs. I’m so sorry.”
“Your sister doesn’t look retarded?”
“Wow, that must be so hard for your family.”

Thankfully, as was made abundantly clear this summer, there is no silencing these athletes, and there is much they have to teach the world about courage, unity, persistence and loving each person as they are.

Sunday’s gospel points to the crowd’s attempt to silence the blind beggar, the one banished to the edges of society. Refusing to allow the privileged to snuff out his voice, he ignores them and cries out the louder. There are relationships, past hurts and choices that cry out from the edges of my own life and demand to be paid attention to; however, I attempt to deaden the places where vulnerability is greatest. Too often I allow achievement, pride, ambition and busyness to dictate the pace and purpose of my day. Quieter evenings can be spent stifling the voice within with mind-numbing TV or scrolling through Facebook.

As he did for Bartimaeus, Jesus cuts through all the noise and hears our individual call for healing and wholeness.

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What is the part of me on the edge of the road demanding to be paid attention to?
How am I or have I been part of the crowd silencing or ignoring the cries of another?

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A Woman Campus Minister

Faith Sharing Fridays October 16, 2015

Gospel for Sunday, October 18th, 2015

How often do we hear the words “the first shall be last, and the last shall be first”? How often do we actually behave this way? I know I struggle with it. And yet, I don’t find myself making self-centered choices as a result of intentionally selfish decision-making, but rather, as a result of failing to actively think and live with an other-centered mindset.

Jesus reminds us in Sunday’s Gospel that “whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all.” In order to be the great disciple that I hope to become, my lens in life must be focused on the other instead of the self. Obviously, this isn’t easy. What does it really mean to be “slave of all”? What kind of time commitment are we talking about? I can’t just quit work, or school, and go around Ann Arbor asking people if I can help them with something, that’s just not… real life.

Or am I being selfish again?

I think messages like this get scary, really easily. It feels like I’m being asked to do something pretty extreme, and I’m not really comfortable with it. Oftentimes, that’s kind of the point though, right? We grow by experiencing things that we aren’t familiar with, that might make us uncomfortable.

I think this Gospel calls us to take a step back and think about our day-to-day behavior. How could I better act as a servant to those I see every day at work, or in classes? What are the ways in which I tend to think of myself, that I could instead shift to focus on others first? In a society that heavily emphasizes the importance of the self, I challenge you and myself to instead strive to be the slave of all we are called to be.

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As the cartoon above points out, in contrast to the rich man in last week’s gospel, James and John gave up everything to follow Jesus. I can clearly envision them thinking, “Look, we’ve given up everything, our reward better be great when this man comes to power.” Admittedly, I would probably respond in the very same way. Nevertheless, this is not the response Jesus was looking for. James and John’s question originated from their selfish desires and inability to comprehend Jesus teachings. Jesus’ primary lesson was for us to be selfless and to love and serve each other.

I invite you to spend time with these readings and to reflect on the areas in your life that are driven by selfish ambition and those driven by love. Peace.

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A Male Young Professional