25th Sunday Ordinary B - Life's endless quarrels

St. James (4:1) asks us today: Why do we quarrel? What causes fights and quarrels among us?

The wife sits down next to the husband as he flips channels.

She asks, "What's on TV?" Husband says, "Dust and dirt?"

And then the fight started...

The wife was hinting about what she wanted for their upcoming anniversary. She says, "I want something shiny that goes from 0 to 180 in about 3 seconds. Husband buys her a bathroom scale. And then the fight started......

The wife was looking at herself in the bedroom mirror. She was not happy with what she saw and says to husband, "I feel horrible; I look old, fat and ugly. I really need you to pay me a compliment.' Husband replies, "Well, at least your eyesight is near perfect."  And then the fight started...

One Christmas, husband decided to buy the mother-in-law a cemetery plot as a Christmas gift... The following year, husband didn't buy mother-in-law a gift. Mother-in-law asks why, husband replies, "Well, you still haven't used the gift I bought you last year!" And that's how the war started....

Life is a never ending quarrel, they say. Let’s take a look at our readings for today:

• The godless say: Let us test him with insult and torture, so that we may find out how gentle he is, and make trial of his forbearance. (Wisdom 2:20)

• The conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from?Where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will be disorder and wickedness of every kind.  (James 3: 16)

• Jesus asked his disciples: What were you arguing about on the way? But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. (Mk 9.33) 

That is what you call life’s endless quarrels, or eternal quarreling. It’s the classic fight between the good forces on one side and the evil forces on the other. It never ends. And do you know how it all began? It all started when God created Angels… “What are all the angels? They are ministering spirits sent to serve God and those who are going to receive salvation.” (Heb.1:14) But then one of them, Lucifer whose name literally means “one who shall bear the light”, refused and said: “I will not serve.” Instead of bringing the light, he brought the darkness that is pride, the first sin.

“Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.” (Rev.12:7-9)

Pride had caused the battle between good and evil in the heavens, and because of Adam and Eve’s pride, the eternal quarrel continued in this world of ours.  Can there be a way out of this life’s unending quarrels?

Yes, it is called humility. Saint Augustine once wrote: “It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that will make men/women as angels.”

“Jesus took a little child and put it among them: Whoever welcomes the child, welcomes me. Whoever welcomes humility, welcomes me, who is the wisdom from above. (Mk 9:36) The wisdom from above is pure, peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits.  A harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.” (James 3:17)

Way back in high school (late 70’s) I read the book of Alex Haley, “Roots,” which also became a TV series. It tells the story of Kunta Kinte, an 18th-century African, captured as an adolescent and sold into slavery in the United States. It is considered one of the most important U.S. works of the twentieth century because it inspired Americans to trace their genealogy. Even at the height of his fame and fortune Alex kept a picture in his office, showing a turtle sitting atop a fence. The picture is there to remind him of a lesson he learned long ago: 'If you see a turtle on a fence post, you know he had some help.'

Humility is when we acknowledge that every good thing, every great thing we did was not done by ourselves alone. We had the help of the Guy above as well as those around us.

Finally we end with a quote from Pope Francis: “When one opts for the path of humiliation, he is necessarily opting for fighting and victory… Humiliating oneself means somehow attracting the devil’s intention, fighting, subjecting oneself to temptation, but in the end, winning.”

We are not called to put an end to life’s endless quarrels. We are here to win those quarrels with humility.

References:

Osborne, P.B. The Handbook of Magazine Article Writing.

https://bible.org/illustration/alex-haley

Bergoglio, JM. (2014). The Way of Humility. San Francisco: Ignatius Pres

24th Sunday Ordinary B - Who am I? The Russian Doll mystery

Jesus asks his disciples: "Who do you say I am?" (Mk.8.29)

When Christian Herter was governor of Massachusetts, he was running hard for a second term in office. One day, after a busy morning chasing votes (and no lunch) he arrived at a church barbecue. It was late afternoon and Herter was famished. As Herter moved down the serving line, he held out his plate to the woman who was serving chicken. She put a piece on his plate and turned to the next person in line.

"Excuse me," Governor Herter said, "do you mind if I have another piece of chicken?  "Sorry," the woman told him. "I'm supposed to give one piece of chicken to each person." "But I am starved," the governor said.  "Sorry," the woman said again. "Only one to a customer."

Governor Herter was a modest and unassuming man, but he decided that this time he would throw a little weight around. "Lady, do you know who I am?" he said. "I am the governor of this state."  "And Mister, do you know who I am?" the woman answered. "I am the lady in-charge of the chicken. So move along, mister."

In the above story, the governor and the lady in-charge of the chicken, both try to exert their authority upon the other by revealing their identity of who they are by letting emphatically the question - "Do you know who I am?" In the Gospel Reading of today from St. Mark, Jesus asks his disciples the same very question as regards his identity: "Who do you say that I am?" But here, he does not exert his authority upon them, but asks a simple and straightforward question trying to sincerely seek their opinion and to inquire what the disciples have discovered so far as to 'who Jesus is' for them. Of course it is a personal question and so it demands a personal answer too.

When we read the four Gospels, each Evangelist through his writing tells its readers 'who Jesus is' as he has experienced and discovered. Each of the four Gospels has therefore its own characteristic, its own way of presenting the message of Christ.

Matthew emphasizes Jesus as 'the Wise One, the teacher, the Rabbi.' He preaches in the synagogues, shows wisdom through healing, explains in parables.  Mark highlights Jesus as 'the Suffering One.'   “The Son of Man must undergo great suffering and be rejected, and be killed. Then after three days he will rise again in glory.” (Mk.8)  

Luke sees Jesus as 'the Annointed One” – the one who brings together Gentiles as well as Jews. In Luke Jesus is especially a friend of the poor, the handicapped, those relegated to the fringes of society.

John stresses Jesus as ‘the Divine One'.  The Word made flesh… the one sent by the Father. Different facets of Jesus, but who is he really?

Today Jesus asks - "Who am I?" Peter, speaking in the name of all, says: "You are the Christ. The Savior. The Messiah. "That is who Jesus is, that is his core, his center, his purpose, his identity.

But then, Jesus is not the Messiah they expected. Peter found it hard to accept. For him the Messiah would not, could not suffer. And yet Jesus tells all his disciples that they too must suffer and that they should deny themselves, take up their cross and follow him.

The First Reading, chosen to compliment the Gospel Reading of today is part of the "Suffering Servant" songs that Prophet Isaiah composed about the one who was to come. In this reading, the prophet describes the servant of God who will lead Israel back to God. The servant will suffer, but God will uphold him and will take care of him.

In the New Testament, these words take on a new meaning for us. The prophesy of Isaiah is fulfilled in Jesus. Jesus is the suffering servant in Isaiah, the Messiah who was destined to suffer and so, enter into his glory and in doing so save the world.

Now that you know who Jesus is, he now asks you: “Who are you?”

In the film: "Rise of the Guardians"- where we find Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, Sandman, and their newbie Jack Frost:

Santa asks: “Who are you, Jack Frost, and what is your center? If the Man up there chose you to be a guardian, you must have something very special inside.”

Santa goes and picks up a Russian doll (babushka/matryoshka doll) and shows it to Jack Frost. “Here this is how you see me right? Very big and intimidating.  But if you get to know me a little..”

And he makes Jack take off one layer. “You are jolly?” “But not just jolly…” And Santa takes off another layer… “I am also mysterious.”  And he removes another layer of the doll: “I am also caring.”

Finally only one small doll is left. And Jack says: “You are a tiny wooden little baby with very big eyes?”  And Santa says: "Yes, very big eyes, because they are full of wonder. That is my center. Eyes that see with wonder in everything.  Eyes that see lights in trees, and magic in the air.  Wonder is what I put into the world to protect  in the children. It is what makes me a guardian.  And what is yours?"

The gospels are like the Babushka doll. In Matthew we see Jesus as the Wise One. We peel another layer, and we see him in Mark as the Suffering One. Take another and we see him in Luke as the Annointed One. Then another, we discover him in John as the Divine One. And finally we see his core and center as the Christ. Savior. Messiah.

But what about you? Who are you, and what is your core… your center. Only you can answer this. This is your assignment in life.

References:

Lakra, A. (2012). Fr Albert Lakra’s Blog.

http://albee2012.blogspot.ca/2012/09/homily-24th-ordinary-sunday-year-b.html

Eastlock, K. (2003).  “A Place to Stand.”

http://www.angelfire.com/mi2/robhenderson/062903.html

Holmes, C. “Chapter 3.”

https://www.wattpad.com/11398164-once-upon-a-golden-age-rise-of-the-guardians

Hsiao, C. (2012). “Christian Spotlight: Rise of the guardians.”

http://www.christiananswers.net/spotlight/movies/2012/riseoftheguardians2012.html

23rd Sunday Ordinary B – Ephphata and the 3 Monkeys

Once there was this catechist who was teaching a group of young children on the importance of keeping quiet at Sunday Mass. The next day, the archbishop made a surprise visit and sat at the end of her class.  The catechist wanted to make an impression and show off what the children have learned.  So she asks the smartest kid in class: Why is it important to keep quiet when the archbishop is celebrating Holy Mass?” The student replies: “Duh… because people are sleeping, so we don’t wake them up?”

You know what he might be right.  When one is asleep, one does not see, one does not hear, and one does not speak.  In other words - see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. Like the three monkeys- one covering its eyes, the other covering its ears, and the other covering its mouth.

So is it really better that one cannot see, cannot hear and cannot speak? Today we hear a prophecy from Isaiah: “Be strong. Do not fear. Here is your God.  He will come and save you… the eyes of the blind shall be opened; the ears of the deaf unstopped; and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.” (Is. 35:6)

Today in the gospel we hear of the fulfilment of that prophecy. We read of the story of the deafmute who was brought to Jesus. And he begged Jesus to lay his hand on him. Jesus takes him aside in private, away from the crowd. Jesus then speaks to him: “Ephphatha: Be opened.” And the man was healed. And the crowd was astounded beyond measure and began to proclaim the news to others. (Mk.7:31-31)

The people of Decapolis saw this poor deafmute, they heard of Jesus and brought the man to him, and later they spoke of the goodness of Jesus. They took heed of James warning from the second reading: “For if a rich man in fine clothes comes into your assembly and if a poor man in dirty clothes also comes in, whom should you notice?” (James 2:2) The people of Decapolis saw rightly the poor, they heard rightly Jesus, they spoke rightly of his goodness.

And as for us, many times we tend to look the other way when we see faults or injustice, or those being abused or suffering in life. We do not want to hear about them. And many times we maintain a code of silence amidst evil.

We seem to be like those three monkeys- not wishing to see, not liking to hear, not wanting to speak. "See no evil, literally in Japanese: Mizaru." "Hear no evil, Kikazaru." "Speak no evil, Iwazaru." Concidentally, the Japanese word for monkey is saru. So the literal translation became the names of the monkeys – Mizaru, Kikazaru, Ikawazaru. In these present times, this ancient Japanese saying is applied:  to those who wilfully ignore an unwelcome truth; to those who look the other way when they encounter evil in society; to those who refuse to listen to the plight of the unfortunate like the refugees, to those who will not speak on their behalf.

But did you know that the three wise monkeys originally did not represent indifference. Instead they represented virtue. One will find the carving of these three wise monkeys in Japan in a 17^th century temple – the Nikko Toshogu. Many anthropologists and scholars believe the monkeys were carved as a visual representation of the religious principle, “If we do not see (e.g. porn), hear (e.g. gossip), or speak (e.g. curses, F and S words) evil, we ourselves shall be spared of all evil." Beautiful isn’t it! In fact, Mahatma Gandhi, who was noted for his non-possession made one notable exception to his lifestyle. He kept a small statue of the three wise monkeys. See no evil, see only the good, hear no evil, hear only what is good, speak no evil, speak only of goodness.

This deafmute of today was perhaps picked upon by many of those around him. Teased and bullied, made fun of. And all he could see, was evil. Perhaps he was already in a happier place since he could not hear evil, nor speak of it. But then he was taken aside by Jesus, and he came face to face with Goodness himself seeing its reality. Then Jesus healed him. He was able to hear Goodness… those kind words Ephphata: Be opened. And later after this episode, he could not contain himself and sought only to speak of the goodness that has been done to him.

See goodness, hear goodness, speak only goodness. See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.

"O’er the door of the sacred Temple

They sit in their wisdom the three

The little deaf Monkey,

The little dumb Monkey,

The Monkey who will not see;

With their eyes shut to evil,

Ears that hear only the right,

Lips that are dumb to scandal

They sit in their silent might."

References:

Cassaro, R. (2012). The Secret Occult Meaning of the “Three Wise Monkeys.” Richard Cassaro.com. http://www.richardcassaro.com/the-secret-occult-meaning-of-the-three-wise-monkeys-hidden-by-the-elite-2

Leach, B. (2012). “The leaflet – judge for yourself.”  The Telegraph.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/9120915/Trade-unionists-win-racist-monkey-cartoon-case.html

Meril, C. (2011).” The Speak No Evil, See No Evil, Hear No Evil”

http://cherylkicksass.blogspot.ca/2011/03/speak-no-evil-see-no-evil-hear-no-evil.html