Amazed but not comprehending

25^th Week OT (S)

Fr. Philip Neri Powell OP

St. Albert the Great, Irving

So, everyone is amazed. But no one understands. Just yesterday, a bereft father brought his demon-possessed son to Jesus for an exorcism. He tells Jesus that the disciples were unable to cast out the unclean spirit. Jesus responds, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long will I be with you and endure you?” You can almost feel the disciples hanging their heads in disgrace, looking around for a hole to crawl into! Jesus casts out the unclean spirit, and all were astonished. Astonished yet uncomprehending. What were the Amazed failing to understand? The Big Picture; that is, the divine plan for humanity's salvation. So, Jesus prophesies for them – again, “Pay attention to what I am telling you. The Son of Man is to be handed over to men.” For the second time, the Son of Man reveals his end. And they still don't understand. Why? Because the meaning is hidden from them. AND b/c they were afraid to ask. They feared knowing the truth, knowing the meaning of Jesus' cryptic prophecy. Think about it: the disciples have left everything and everyone behind to follow Christ. Everything they have and are is directly tied to Jesus and his ministry. He's a relatively young man, so they figure they have a good thirty years with him to develop the ministry and establish themselves as religious leaders. Jesus is their bread and butter and he's running around prophesying about being handed over to the authorities! That's not a good look for long-term investment and growth. IOW, they are thinking as men do, not as God does. We know how things turn out. Jesus is handed over. He dies on the Cross and rises from the tomb. The HS enlightens the disciples. And they evangelize the known world, growing the oldest living human institution on the planet, the Church. Here we all are 2,000 years later. Yes, we are astonished, but are we comprehending? God's plan for our salvation was accomplished on the Cross. Our human nature is healed. We are free to receive the gift of divine love and participate fully in the life of Christ as heirs to his kingdom. We are sons and daughters of his household. Beloved children. Partakers in the divine nature. God's plan for you, for me, for all of us together is the same as it has always been: to liberate us from sin and death so that we are able to return to Him like Christ did – fully human, fully divine. That should astonish everyone!      

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Broken elevator, gimpy knees, whiney novices

HELP!

The Priory elevator is broken. The motherboard melted and damaged most of the parts near it. Parts will cost approx. $11,000 and labor another $6,000. Needless to say, as mendicant friars, we don't have $17,000 hidden in a jar or under the Prior's mattress. Or anywhere else for that matter.

The novices have been carrying me up and down the stairs three or four times a day, and they've started complaining about back pain, turned ankles, and psoriasis for some reason.

So, if you can help us out, go to St Albert the Great Priory and send us some $$$.

My gimpy knees and the whiney novices very much appreciate it!

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Denying, carrying, suffering well

NB. For me, writing is thinking. . .meaning, I don't know exactly what I think until I start writing. This homily is an example of what happens when I trust my process. . .and run out of time for editing/revising. Oh well.

St. Andrew Kim

Fr. Philip Neri Powell OP

St. Albert the Great, Irving

Gain the world and lose your soul! Obviously, a bad bargain. But many make this bargain everyday. In small ways and large, we all go to this negotiating table daily and haggle over the details. Whether the sticking point is to sneak a twenty out of the till at work or sell dirty bombs to terrorists; to lie in an uncomfortable social situation or cheat on one's spouse, we are – consciously or not – forming the vice of putting ourselves near an occasion of sin. The impulse to cultivate this bad habit is at once social, cultural, psychological, physiological, and spiritual; that is, it's human. We want, and we are motivated to acquire. Jesus knows this better than anyone. So, he says, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” What better way to lose the world and gain your soul than to follow the One who gives his life for the eternal life of the world? How do we do this? We have to notice something fundamental here: the way Jesus carefully balances on the line btw the personal/universal, btw the subjective/objective. I must deny MYSELF. But I still have to pick up MY cross. Having denied myself and picked up my cross, I must follow him. Even after denying myself, there's still a personal cross for me to carry while following him. I'm not carrying your cross or his cross. I'm carrying my own cross. But I'm carrying it beside you and your cross in line behind Christ. Each one of us is bearing his/her unique cross behind a universal savior. And we're doing it side-by-side in the universal Church. The crosses we bear are both a burden to suffer and the way we participate in our own redemption. IOW, The Cross is the altar upon which Sin is crucified – once for all. My cross is the altar upon which my sin is crucified – repeatedly for me. But – my cross and your cross only works for the crucifixion of our sins b/c Sin itself was crucified on The Cross. When we do all this denying, carrying, suffering well, we're bearing witness to the power of the Father to liberate us from our sins and bring us more fully into His divine life. That's martyrdom. That's bearing witness. So, we show the world that we are both wounded and healed, fallen and lifted up, lost and found. That we are both sinful and forgiven, unlovable yet loved by Love Himself. 

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