Steps Toward Civility

Homily for the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

7.28.24

In our churches and prayer groups, we come together often to talk about God and faith, in the midst of our daily lives. We know, as did those who went before us, that being part of a community is an important part of the Christian faith.

In the letter to the Ephesians, from our second reading today, Paul reminds us that being a member of a community can be messy and difficult. Nonetheless, community is still vital to our growth.

It goes without saying that we have different talents, beliefs, opinions, and ideas. And sometimes, we are going to clash with each other, and some days, it might not be pretty.

I think that’s why Paul urged the people of his day and urges us to live in a manner worthy of the call we have received. Then he underlines how:

...with all humility and gentleness, with patience,

bearing with one another through love,

striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace.

In a world that’s filled with division, part of living in community, and in this community, means embracing others just as they are and understanding that differences are part of what makes God’s community so rich. And while we may not, and perhaps even should not agree all the time, there is no excuse ever for mean-spiritedness or hate. We are Christians after all, aren’t we?

Some have commented that we live in a society where there is no more civility. If that’s true, it would really be terrible.

And while it may be tempting to think civility is simply another word for politeness, it is not. Civility is about our attitudes and behavior as much as it is about what we say and how we say it. Civility can be boiled down to three key steps:

1. Seeing one another for who we truly are.

This takes understanding the factors that shape our identities – which include race and gender, but also things like age, physical and mental abilities, socioeconomic circumstances, and religious and cultural beliefs. We also have to recognize the ways we have been trained, even unconsciously, always trying to appreciate the fact that each person’s story is unique, and every single one of us is created in God’s image and likeness. Therefore, we have to get to know one another as individuals in Christ.

2. Listening to one another with the intent to understand.

We are always called to listen carefully, with the humility to know we can learn from anyone, and without always thinking ahead about how we’ll respond. And we can and should ask questions so we can dig deeper together, to learn more about one another – what we have in common and what we may not.

3. Speaking to one another as people of equal value.

Our words flow from our hearts, which are influenced by how we see and hear. Our words have the power to tear down or build up, to inspire fear or hope, to pull people apart or bring them together. We are called to use our words to reflect our shared humanity.

None of these steps toward civility depend on us being the same, nor are they always easy. We come from different backgrounds and have different perspectives, but our baptism commands us to be one in Christ.

We believe we have a moral responsibility to come together, because we are called to something higher than our own self-interest. We are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers while we walk this earth.

Let's try harder this week to live up to those ideals, to our Christian ideals, because, after all, it’s what we’ve promised to do!

Blessings!

RSM

Hope for the Sheep

Homily for the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

7.21.24

In a presidential election year, politics take center stage in the United States and surely captures our attention and rightly so. Before, during, and even after the day itself, there is divisiveness, differing opinions, and surely questions, realquestions:

Which side is correct? Does a "lesser of two evils" exist?

Will the selected leader take the country in the right direction—politically, economically, ideologically, and morally?

If you have found yourself lamenting your choice of national leaders, rest assured that you join a long tradition of such lament. Did you hear what was proclaimed in the first reading from the prophet Jeremiah? The passage today is set within the larger pericope, which focuses on the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians in 587 BCE. In particular, Chapters 21-23 emphasize that the various institutional and national leaders of the time — especially the kings, the priests, and the prophets — failed the people of Judah during a time of catastrophic national crisis.

Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!

Blame clearly rests here on the shepherds, a well-known metaphor for kings in both the larger ancient Near Eastern world and biblical texts. These verses anticipate the exile, blaming the kings for "scattering" Yahweh's people because the kings-as-shepherds failed to attend to and care for the people-as-shepherds.

Yet, while our passage begins with pessimism and an ominous indictment for the shepherds, it moves forward with hope for the sheep. Yahweh promises, I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply.

Note here that only a "remnant" of the flock remains, another indication of how badly the shepherds have been tending their flock. Scholars frequently note that once the "remnant" is returned home to the land, the passage invokes the language of Genesis and promises to the ancestors that the people will be fruitful and multiply.

These verses promise rescue and deliverance and a prosperous future for the people, even as Yahweh "attends" to the kings in judgment. Moreover, these verses promise that God will act without any intercessor—without king, priest, or prophet—to bring the remaining sheep out of exile and bring them home.

In this moment, we can believe that God acts to bring the people back to him—in Jesus, his son. He sends his very best, his own son, to rescue and deliver, to bring those who have been exiled, who are on the outside, abused, uncared for, and neglected by the shepherds. He sends us Jesus, and he challenges us to be like Jesus. Jesus, the greatest leader to ever walk the face of the earth, broke the leadership mold. He was different than any leader before or after him. We need more leaders to lead like Jesus.

The other day, I was cleaning my office and came across this book, Lead Like Jesus. It's helpful and pertinent to our reflection on the Scriptures today. Do you want to lead like Jesus? Here are some tips:

1. Sacrifice Yourself

Many of today's leaders have egos so big it's a wonder they can walk through a door. But Jesus, the Son of God, humbled himself to die in our place on the cross. Leading like Jesus starts with humility and self-sacrifice.

2. Serve People

Leaders are often lured by the power and privilege of leadership. They want to lead so that people will serve them. If we are self-serving, we aren't leading like Jesus. To lead like Jesus, we must start putting others ahead of ourselves.

3. Develop Leaders

Some leaders want to hire leaders but don't want to develop them. But Jesus recruited raw leaders and invested in their development. The disciples often made mistakes, but Jesus didn't fire them when they messed up. He used their mistakes as opportunities to teach. We are called to do the same.

4. Rest Often

Too many leaders parade their work hours like a medal of honor. It's not uncommon to hear them brag about 60+ hour work weeks and pulling all-nighters. But the grueling pace of many leaders leads them to moral failure, health failure, and broken families. Jesus worked hard, but he knew when to rest. It's what the Gospel speaks of today!

5. Press On

In our modern world of viral videos, get-rich-quick schemes, and microwaved results, many leaders demand immediate success. So, when things get too hard, they bail on their team for a more promising opportunity. But Jesus persevered through suffering. Though he was sweating blood, he pressed on because he knew the mission.

6. Speak Candidly

Today's leaders can sometimes speak out both sides of their mouths. They say one thing publicly but another privately. We can be afraid to say what we think, so we soften our words and sometimes don't say what we mean. But Jesus spoke with candor. He didn't hide his true thoughts for fear of hurting someone's feelings. Candor is a lost art in our society. It doesn't mean being rude or cold-hearted; surely some thoughts are better kept to ourselves. But if we want to lead more like Jesus, don't sugarcoat conversations. Speak the truth in love, even when it stings.

7. Choose Integrity

Many leaders have a secret. They tell a lie, have an addiction, manipulate their followers, cut a corner, or live a secret life when nobody is looking. It's why there is less and less confidence and trust in leaders, and people always want to ask, what's the real story? What happens behind the scenes? But Jesus had nothing to hide. There was no scandal—no need for a coverup. Trust takes a lifetime to build and only a second to lose. We need to strive to be high-integrity leaders like Jesus.

As we ponder the big questions in life, and perhaps more specifically, even the political ones, we can and should turn to God's word for guidance... who will lead like Jesus? And more personally, how can we? RSM

Our Unique Christian Character

Homily for the Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

6.16.24

As someone who tries to follow Jesus, did you ever think that if only Jesus had provided a blueprint, a constitution, or at least some kind of brochure, it would be so much easier, perhaps at least a bit clearer?

We know that that's not the case. In a way, we really shouldn't be surprised because, for those of you who are fathers, you also know that on the birth of your firstborn, they did not come with an instructions manual either. You had to do the best you could with what you knew, and when the challenges got beyond you, you reached out to others with more experience for guidance and assistance.

That's really the nature of the Christian life: we do the best we can with what we know, and when we get into muddy waters or the unknown, we reach out to others, perhaps with more experience, for guidance and assistance. The challenge is that today, life has gotten more and more complicated, so even for the best among us, we often struggle in our attempts to follow the Lord and truly live authentically good Christian lives.

The Gospel today talks about the Kingdom of God. If we could understand precisely what he meant by the kingdom and knew where it would be found and how we could be certain to be part of it, we might have an easier go of it, but he didn't. Instead of the straight descriptive answers we often times crave, we get oblique and even startling parables–what some people call sorta-like stories. A zebra is sorta like a horse, but not really, almost, but not quite.

Today's Gospel reading features two stories pointing to the reign of God. One turns on the everyday mystery of growing seed, and the other about the mustard plant shrieks with exaggeration and incongruity. This chapter concludes with the statement that Jesus taught only in parables, but then he explained everything in private to his disciples. If only he would do the same for us!

Despite their simplicity and commonness, especially for the people of the day, these parables can leave us puzzled about how to understand the kingdom of God in light of our everyday life and the challenges of our day. I'm sorry to tell you that these parables do not offer an easy take-home message. They ask that we engage our imaginations to follow the possibilities and incongruities that distinguish a world where everything is planned, linear, and logical from one filled with mysteries and surprises into which a sovereign God invites us to live.

Our life's work is to fully develop our unique Christian character. Our faith tells us that Christ has redeemed us to conform us to His image. The end goal of the work of redemption is God's glory.

According to the Scriptures, Christian character includes the pursuit of truth, godliness, righteousness, love, joy, peace, gentleness, kindness, patience, perseverance, meekness, humility, self-control, compassion, thankfulness, forgiveness, contentment, and unity. God produces Christian character in our lives as believers through faith in Christ, in the power of the Spirit, by the Word of God, and in the sacraments. We know that suffering is also an essential part of the process of forming our Christian character.

So, perhaps in these quiet days, we can all take a breath, take a self-assessment of our Christian character, and see where we are doing well and where we need work. Authentic self-improvement of our Christian character is a lifelong journey, but it starts every day with the first step.

Blessings!

RSM