Deacon Joe

In the verses just prior to where today’s Gospel starts, Jesus was teaching how to be a disciple.  He said “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”  Jesus ended with the statement “Truly I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.”

Jesus always found time to pray and talk with his Father.  This was especially true when the burden of dealing with the crowds and religious leaders grew heavy.  Eight days after Jesus’ statement that some of them would see the Kingdom of God before they died, he took Peter, John and James up the mountain to find a quiet place to pray.  While he was praying, he took on the glorified body that he would have after his resurrection.  Moses and Elijah appeared in the same glory.  The disciples recognized each of them.

Moses represents the Law.  The first reading describes the covenant; “It was on that occasion that the LORD made a covenant with Abram….”  But the Israelites struggled to keep the covenant with God.  The Ten Commandments were given to Moses to help the Israelites keep the covenant with God.

Elijah represents the Prophets.  The prophets were sent to remind the Israelites that God still loved them and would keep the Covenant even though they did not.  God wanted them to know that his love and mercy were always there for them.  If they would only turn from their sinful ways and keep the covenant, God would bless and protect them.

Peter wanted to dwell on the top of the mountain.  He wanted to build three tents, one for each to transfigured people on the mountain.  And wouldn’t we want to do the same if we saw what Peter just experienced?  But then, a cloud covered them and they were afraid.  After God said “This is my chosen Son; listen to him.” they were alone with Jesus.  And they fell silent.  How many times have we experienced the same feelings?

Peter, John and James just had a glimpse into the Kingdom of God!  All of the scriptures in the Bible describe God and the angels as beings of bright light.  In the Book of Revelation, John wrote that there was no need for the sun or the moon because heaven was filled with the light of God’s love.

It’s a great opportunity to be able to get away on a retreat for a weekend or even a week.  We have a great experience; feel close to God because we made time be quiet and pray; quiet to listen for God’s direction and strength.  Like Peter, John and James, we get a glimpse into the Kingdom of God.  Then we go home and the whole world crashes in on us.  We have to get ready for work the next day, we have to prepare school lunches for the children and there are twenty more tasks to get done before we can go to bed.  The closeness to God is gone.  The quiet and peace are gone and there is just the silence in our hearts.

God said “This is my chosen Son; listen to him.”

Listen to him!

How often do we really “listen” anyone?  There is so much noise and distraction around us that we never have time to be quiet and listen.  Think about it?  When was the last time you sat in a quiet place for any amount of time?  The television or the radio is blaring in the background.  The phone is ringing, the smart phone is beeping to tell you that e-mail or a text message arrived.  The sound of people talking or traffic or doors shutting – noise is all around us.

Besides the noise, there are things to do.  We have to get the children to soccer practice, pick up the laundry at the cleaners, get a gallon of milk and stop for a latte at Starbucks.  We are always multitasking even though the experts tell we are incapable of doing that.  And how can we stop and listen when we have twenty more tasks to get done today?

But that is exactly what we need to do.  Follow Jesus’ example; retreat to a quiet place to pray and communicate with our Lord.  It is hard, and at times, it is almost impossible.  Think about Jesus’ life and ministry for moment.  The crowds were always around him pushing, trying to touch him.  They wanted healing for themselves, a member of their family or a friend.  And the religious leaders were always there in the background ready to criticize every word or act.  Was Jesus’ life really any different?  Talk about stress and anxiety.  Jesus took it all in stride because he was at peace within.  This peace and strength came from the times he spent with his Father in prayer.

If Jesus could make the time to find a quiet place to pray and talk with his Father in the extremely hectic life he lived, why can’t we do the same?  We let too many distractions into our lives.  It’s easy to put pray time off.  We watch a television show, or two, or we get on the computer or smart phone to check e-mail, text messages and Facebook.  Just taking care of our family takes a lot of effort and time.

So how do we find the time to “Listen” to God?  It’s difficult in our fast paced world.  It requires us to schedule the time, to make the time to be quiet, to read the scriptures, to pray and to listen.  The Law and the Prophets are there to guide us and point us to Jesus.  The transfiguration miracle in today’s Gospel gives us a glimpse into the glory of the resurrection and eternal life.  In the Eucharist, the breaking of the bread and the wine, we are reminded of the promise of the Kingdom of God that Jesus gave us.  Through his resurrection we too will have a glorified body and worship God in heaven.

This Lent, will we schedule fifteen or twenty minutes for prayer at least once each day?  Will we listen for God’s guidance through the Holy Spirit?  Will we listen for the Holy Spirit leading us to help a person in need?  Will spend some of that time praying that God will help us to forgive those who have trespassed against us during this Year of Mercy?  Will we pray that God will give us the courage to ask a person to forgive us that we have trespassed against in this season of penance and preparation?  Will we stop our busy lives to spend a few quiet minutes to “Listen to him”?

Let’s review what happens just before the start of today’s Gospel.  You may remember it from last Sunday.  Father Jay said that this was Jesus’ Mission Statement.  That thought has stuck with me all week.  What is a Mission Statement?

Wikipedia tells us that “A mission statement is a statement of the purpose of a company, organization or person, its reason for existing.  The mission statement should guide the actions of the organization, spell out its overall goal, provide a path, and guide decision-making.

A mission statement is a statement which is used as a way of communicating the purpose of the organization.  Although most of the time it will remain the same for a long period of time, it is not uncommon for organizations to update their mission statement and generally happens when an organization evolves.  Mission statements are normally short and simple statements which outline what the organization’s purpose is and are related to the specific sector an organization operates in.

Properly crafted mission statements serve as filters to separate what is important from what is not, and communicate a sense of intended direction to the entire organization.”  Let’s listen to Jesus’ Mission Statement again.  Jesus read from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah.

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring glad tidings to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.”

He rolled up the scroll, handed back to the attendant and sat down.  Everyone was watching him to see what he would say or do.  Jesus said “Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Let us examine Jesus’ Mission Statement to see how it applies to our lives.  The Mission Statement starts with “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.”  We must be willing to let the Spirit of the Lord come upon us, to change our lives and the lives of those we meet.  The Spirit of the Lord called the prophets to speak for God to the people, to admonish them when they sinned and to direct them to path that would lead them back to the God who loves them and wants to protect and care for them.

Anointing is an act that empowers a special position or power on an individual or object.  The first time the word anointing appears in the Bible is in the book of Genesis.  Kings, Priests and Prophets were anointed with oil to serve the people and God.  Jesus is all of these: King, Prophet and Priest.  The word Messiah means Anointed One in Hebrew.  Christ is derived from the word Greek for “anointee”.  We too are anointed at our baptism and again at Confirmation with oil marking us with the seal of the Holy Spirit.  This anointing helps us to understand our faith and live a life of service for God.

The religious leaders and the social elite considered poverty something to be avoided.  Many of the ancients believed that poverty was caused by a person’s sin or the sin of their parents.  If you were poor in ancient times, life was very harsh.  Many became slaves if they were unable to pay their debt to person who loaned them money.  A person could be a slave for six years and then in the seventh year, the slaves were set free.  The poor only wanted relief from the oppressive burden of living.

Whenever the Israelites sinned, they were conquered and taken into captivity.  Oppression and captivity by their enemies left the Israelites wanting liberty more than anything else.  Eventually, they would repent and God would return them to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple and serve him again.

Blindness was a big problem in ancient times.  Blindness was considered to be caused by the sins of the parents.  Jesus performed many miracles by healing people who were blind.  Many children were blind as a result of poor hygiene or disease transmitted by flies.  Today all newborns are given antiseptic eye drops to prevent blindness.  In the poorer parts of the world where medicine is not available or customs prevent the mothers from taking precautionary measures, physical blindness is still an issue today.

Oppression by a conquering army or the social leaders was common.  Life was difficult at best and in many cases almost impossible due to the oppression of captors or debtors.

The last phrase is “to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.”  The year acceptable to the Lord refers to the Jubilee Year that was decreed in the book of Leviticus.  Every forty nine years, the books were wiped clean.  If you could not pay your debts, you, and in some cases, your family, became slaves to the debt holder until the debt was paid off.  In the Jubilee Year, those who were slaves returned to their families as free individuals.  Those who pledged their land as collateral had their land returned to them if it was farmland.  (This was not true for urban property.)  The Jubilee prevented the permanent sale of farmland so the value of the land was determined by the number of harvests until the Jubilee Year when the ancestral land was returned to the family.

If we look at the original reading in Isaiah, it reads: “To announce a year of favor from the LORD.”  The year of “Favor” was a time of renewal for everyone; the Gentiles as well as Israelites.  It was a time of forgiveness.  Jesus referred to the Jubilee years when he answered Peter’s question: “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?”  Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.”  Peter thought that he was being really generous by forgiving the other person seven times.  But Jesus said that he must forgive seventy-seven times.  This is an odd way of writing it but it really means seventy times seven or four hundred and ninety which is ten Jubilee years or would in essence is forever.  In other words, we are to forgive a friend as many times as they ask us to forgive.  We too must forgive as Jesus commanded us.

While we have talked about the physical aspects of these conditions, there is also a spiritual aspect for each one.  We can be poor in spirit and captive to sin.  We can be blind to God’s ways and teachings.  Sin and despair can oppress us to the point that we wonder if there is any reason to live.  Bitterness and revenge destroys us as well as the other person.  In spite of all this gloom and sadness, there is hope.  Jesus came to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord, a time to redeem us from our spiritual and physical chains that hold us captive.

Jesus came as the anointed one to free us from all the things that bind us, from all the weight of sin that oppresses and overcomes us, from all the bitterness and hatred for people who have wronged us.  He came to free us from Satan, sin and even death.  Jesus came to show us the way back to God the Father and our heavenly home to live with him forever.

Jesus’ Mission Statement is really a guide for all Christians.  The goal for all Christians is to live as Jesus lived.  Are we willing to accept it as our own?  Are we willing to forgive as Jesus taught us?  Are we willing to forgive as Jesus forgave us?  Are we willing to live our lives as Jesus taught us?  Will we serve those we meet in love to help the poor, the blind, the oppressed?  Will others know that the scripture passage was fulfilled in their presence by the way we live our lives?

The people of Israel wanted a king so they could be like everyone else.  Samuel was displeased when the people told him that they wanted a king to judge them.  Samuel knew that following God was the only way that the people could be happy.  Even though God punished them for their sins, God had a covenant with them that he would provide all their needs.

Maybe they wanted a king like all the other kingdoms; “We want one too so we can be like them.”  Maybe the people thought that a human king would be more lenient with them than God.

Samuel, in his dismay, took the people’s request to the Lord in prayer.  God told Samuel to grant the people’s request.  God told Samuel that the people were not rejecting Samuel but God as their king.  This is the history of all peoples throughout all ages.  We reject God and try the ways of the world.  After a while, we realize that the world made us worse off than we were serving God so we turn back to God for salvation.

God told Samuel to grant the people’s request.  So Samuel gave the people a lengthy dissertation on the woes and pitfalls of having a king.  Samuel told them how they would pay taxes and send their young men off to fight for a king; how the king would demand tithe and service for the king’s and the nation’s needs.  But the people cried out that they wanted a king.  God told Samuel to appoint a king over them, so he did.

How many times do we decide that we want to be like others?  How often are we tempted to look and act like the world to be accepted by others?  What was the outcome every time the Children of Israel turned from God to serve the gods of their neighbors?  Do we really want to be like that?

Those who come to daily mass regularly are unlikely to want to be like the world.  But little things creep into our lives that separate us from God.  For our young people it is a different situation.  The loneliness of being an outcast at school is too much for some of our young people so they give in and look and act like everyone else.  Please pray for our youth that they might remain true to God each day.

Let us also pray that God will guide us in our journey of salvation that we will always bring praise, honor and glory to God by our actions here on earth.