Homily for February 15, 2009

As I was sitting up there thinking about leprosy and the Gospel, it occurred to me to clarify some things.
Leprosy in the Bible is not the modern disease of leprosy called Hansen's disease. Leprosy was any sore or any opening in the body. Purity laws were concerned about bodily openings, what goes in, what comes out. If your body begins to break out in openings where they're not supposed to be, then that's not the order that God intended, and it becomes ritually unclean. It has nothing to do with moral rightness or wrongness; it's a ritual thing.
Leprosy has always been frightening. Several years ago I was having dinner with some friends in Louisville, and the daughter of some friends of theirs, a young lady from Waterford in Ireland, was visiting, and she was sitting next to me at the dinner table. She casually mentioned that she had gotten leprosy when she was in India  no big deal, they cured it with penicillin. In spite of knowing that, I felt very uncomfortable during that whole meal, sitting next to her, uncomfortable beyond all reason.
I also remember the first time I visited somebody in the hospital who had AIDS. I washed my hands five times on the way out of the hospital. No reasonable reason to do so. You know what I mean, don't you?
So I thought, before talking about the readings, I would invite your reflection on who are the lepers in our midst today, the people who strike that fear, the discomfort, or that we might want to separate from ourselves.
(inaudible)
Okay. If you know you're going to somebody's house and there are roaches there.
I once knew a wonderful exterminating company who dealt with people in low income housing, had a wonderful speech: It's no disgrace to get roaches, it's only a disgrace to keep them. They would explain how very easy it is to bring roaches into your house. They also had a wonderful line. They said, "They need food and shelter. And some of you put dCON out and go away and leave steak on your table. Now if you were a self-respecting roach and had a choice between dCON and steak, what would you eat?"
So anyway, yes, things that strike us as not quite our standards, healthfulness or cleanliness.
Any others? Mike?
(inaudible)
Anybody with a beard, dark skin, and a turban.

“The saying, "Don't let the bed bugs bite." And I guess there was an epidemic of bedbugs here a few months ago, and every time now that I think of that, when I go to a hotel, I pull back the sheets and make sure there's no bedbugs in my bed.”
Good.
I did some work in homeless shelters a while back, and when we were building a new shelter in Bloomington, there was a huge debate in the neighborhood about the shelter moving into that neighborhood. And so I think within our culture, still, the homeless are lepers in some ways.
The homeless can be lepers.
By the way, that's been a big issue in our neighborhood here, of people not always being welcoming to services that want to come in for the poor or low income people. It's a very complicated issue.
A lot of patrons of the Greyhound bus station.
The people at the Greyhound bus station.
Any other examples?
Pedophiles and sex offenders.
Pedophiles and sex offenders.
(inaudible)
People with mental illness.
(inaudible)
People with AIDS.
Other examples?
(inaudible)
So, expanding that, people who are obviously gay might not always be welcome in places.
In churches, you could sometimes meet people whose lifestyle is different. I remember once being in a parish, and in a public meeting a woman stood up and said to me --she asked me this question directly,"What are you going to do about all the people coming to communion with mortal sin on their souls?"
And I said, "I don't see anybody coming to communion with mortal sin. Do you?"
"Yes."
And I said, "Do you feel qualified to make that judgment?" Well, this woman did, and she made it with relish.
Some bishops have treated politicians whose opinions they don't approve of like they were lepers. Thank God the overwhelming majority say, "Let's not politicize communion or church."
Any other examples?
(inaudible)
Lately you've noticed people who are Jewish. We forget how thoroughly Jewish we are in our faith.
Any others?
I remember as a child that we were not allowed to play with Protestant children, because for some reason we might get contaminated. And also you were not allowed to go into Protestant churches. And I remember my mother went to a wedding, and she took my sister and I with her. And we almost had to sneak into the church unless somebody would see us. I don't know what would happen if they saw us, but it was not something we should be doing.
I remember those days when I was growing up.
Any other? Yes?
(inaudible)
In some cultures and in some contexts, women. A lot of purity laws, again, were very much about boundaries.
Well, thank you. I think the examples, the thread that runs through all of them for me in the connection with healing and with pity and compassion is there is something in us that tends toward this "us and them" boundary, something in us that tends toward emphasizing difference and how people are different from us, and that, therefore, wants to isolate people who are different.
And one of the deepest sufferings of illness mental illness, physical illness, or of being different is that sense of being isolated. So imagine the Gospel today, somebody who is isolated, somebody who's supposed to muffle his beard and to keep his distance from other people. And he approaches Jesus, and he says, "If you will, you can make me clean."
And what does Jesus do? He touches him. And he says, "I do will it. Be clean."
By the way, what happens to Jesus as a result? He's ostracized. He can no longer go into a town openly, and he stays in deserted places. Interesting.
I think the call there for us, and I think it’s in all of our spirituality, is to see what we have in common with other people, to see the sameness between us and other people, and that becomes the ground of compassion and of love. And that's what so many of those healings of Jesus are about, overcoming that isolation and that segregation. How can we be instruments of helping people see the sameness?

Homily for February 8, 2009 5th Sunday of the Year

I noticed a few of you exchanging glances when it said the fever left her and she got up and waited on them. One feminist Scripture scholar quips, "He cured her just in time for dinner." And I've always been a little bothered by this Gospel, because it does seem that Jesus has a self serving motive in curing her. I'm going to ask for some help from the women, and I'm going to risk treading on dangerous water.
I'm a man. Whenever I've been sick, there has always been a woman to take care of me, to feed me warm soup, to tuck me in, to attend to my needs. What happens when you're sick and you're the one who's expected to look after everybody's needs?
(inaudible)
Okay, one answer is you don't get sick.
(inaudible)
So when you were sick, the two next to you took good care of you.
(inaudible)
They put on the tombstone "I told them I was sick."
Yes?
(inaudible)
So Audrey says she's fortunate when she's sick. She has somebody to take care of her, and she hopes that's changing.
Any other thoughts to share?
(inaudible)
After Bob died, one of the first things I thought of was I'm going to have to really be careful because I'm not going to have him to pick me up anymore.
After Bob died, Angie thought she was going to have to be careful because she won't have anybody to pick her up anymore.
Any other? Yes, Jackie?
It can be humbling because you have to ask for help that you wouldn't otherwise seek.
I have an agency that comes and takes care of me.
You can hire an agency to come.
The definition of "taking care of" might change, where we, all the men would be tucked in and have chicken soup, as you said. It changes. He may not cook dinner, but he will go out and get dinner. So the definition becomes relative.
So it becomes relative.
Neal?
(inaudible)
Women are tougher? That's dangerous territory to say.
I look to other women, to my friends if I feel down.
You look to other women, to your friends.
(inaudible)
Men don't know how to do that, till you're in a relationship, and then it's on the job training.
(inaudible)
Okay. So men are developing our feminine side more, and that's to be encouraged.
(inaudible)
In that culture that was the role of the woman.
I thought that, when I read this Gospel, too, because later this afternoon I'll be at the Women's Prison. And you know, the hardest thing about being in prison for many of the women isn't that they can't party, or that they can't do the freedom things that we would all associate with that. But the hardest thing is the sense of shame and guilt over "not being able to take care of my kids," or "not being able to take care of my family." And as I thought of that, I thought maybe what's going on in this Gospel is that to be sick, for Peter's mother in law, was to be cut off from her normal role and position within the family. So healing is not just the fever leaving her, but healing is being restored to that normal role and that normal position, and, therefore, being able to be of service for a family.
Now, in a few moments we're going to celebrate the anointing of the sick. I've noticed over my 12 years here, there's a great deal of variation in how we handle sickness. Some people, when they're sick, don't want anybody to know. And so they go to the hospital, they don't want to be on a prayer list, they don't want a fuss made over it, they don't want attention drawn to it. Others, when they are sick, will very freely ask for the prayers of the community. I don't mean to imply that one is right and the other wrong, but being able to be surrounded by the love and the care of a community is very important.
The oil that we use  well, why do we use oil? You know, in biblical times, before we had all the creams and ointments and chemicals that you can buy in the store, what did they have? They had the natural oils that were the fruit of the earth, and these were very important as the symbol of health and in healing. Remember the story of the good Samaritan? He poured oil into the wounds.
In the early days of the church, this oil was blessed with a prayer that those who were anointed with it might know God's healing power. There was a time in the church when people took this home with them. And if you had a child that was sick, you would anoint him with this oil. If you had a family member that was sick, you would anoint him. The anointing was freely done by everybody.
Now, due to a long complicated history that I can't go into now, except to say that the factors in this history are not always good, this anointing with oil got to be reserved to the priest. St. Theresa of Avila has a little poem where she says that everything is holy, and she questions why would those priests appropriate to themselves the power to declare holy what already is? So I think of that whenever I have to bless and wonder what I'm doing. But in our culture today, and in the name of the Church, we anoint with oil.
And so I want to invite those who would like to be anointed to come forward. And just, the rest of you just pray for them for whatever healing they are seeking, with the curiosity maybe that is caring but not intrusive. But just be together in prayer.

Homily for February 1, 2009 5th Sunday of the Year

I have to confess that, when I prepare for Sunday, I don't always read the second reading. How many of you listened to it today? [The second reading from Corinthians had the phrase that the married man is concerned with the world while the unmarried man is concerned to please the Lord.] How many of you had a problem with it? I don't know what to say about it other than somewhere in Corinthians Paul says, "On this I have no instruction from the Lord, but this is what I think." So Paul risked venturing into murky waters that maybe he should have stayed out of. I hope I don't get struck down for saying that.
In the Gospel, Jesus drives out demons. In last Sunday's Gospel Jesus called Peter and Andrew and James and John, and immediately they followed. In next Sunday's Gospel, people will bring all who are sick to Jesus, and he will cure them.
By the way, next Sunday we will do a communal celebration of the anointing of the sick in celebration of this reading.
I've been reading commentaries on those Gospels for 42 years, and I've never read one that satisfied me. If you believe in demon possession, then you say yeah, he drove out demons. If commentators don't believe in it, they say well, it must have been something else. If you believe in miracles, you say yeah, he worked miracles. If you don't, you say, well, something else was at work. Do you know what I mean? We tend to read into those Gospels whatever it is that we think and believe.
What can we read out of them? I think Mark says, very clearly, that Jesus mediated the presence of God in a way that was astonishing, in a way that conveyed authority, and in a way that was effective. Nobody doubted that Jesus drove out demons; they questioned in whose name he drove out demons. Nobody questioned that he worked miracles; they questioned what does it mean that he works miracles.
And it means either that God's power is in our midst in a truly remarkable way, or it means something else. I think as we live down through the ages, we, God's Church, are called to mediate God's presence in ways that are powerful and effective in people's lives.
I'm always intrigued by the question, "What does it mean to speak or to teach with authority." Who speaks with authority in our eyes? Somehow what that connected with me today is our current economic crisis.   What I want to do today is listen to what you have to say. Several things kind of led me to this point  I got a phone call a couple weeks ago from a Bill Enright at the Lake Institute asking me how the economic downturn, if that's what you call it, has affected our giving.
I hadn't even thought of it, but I'm happy to tell you  and I just want first of all to thank you for that, that our giving is ahead of what we budgeted and our income is ahead of what we budgeted. Our expenses, for the most part, are below what we budgeted. So, anyway, we're in pretty good shape, and I want to thank you for that and your part in that.
Then, also, I was asked for a comment on a seminar I went to on faith, money, and giving. And as I thought of what to say, I realized, you know, for 40 some years as a priest, when I think of money in the church, I've always thought of what the church needs from you by way of money. Do you know what I mean? And yet in this seminar I went to, the focus was on what do people need to hear from the church by way of talk about money.
So let me ask you how many of you are adversely affected by what's happening in our economy? Practically all of us, right? If you've got money in investments or retirement funds, they're suffering. We see today people who've played by all the rules and done everything right finding their jobs in jeopardy. And we see people who've gotten us into this mess getting bonuses. But I just wanted to take time today and ask, what do you think we need to hear in terms of our faith by way of talk about money and the economy? Any thoughts?
Yes?
I heard the distinctions between giving people what they deserve and giving people what they need. And it seems that in God's Kingdom we give people what they need and we do not judge. We simply say this is it.
So, focus on what people need, not what they deserve. What else might we need?
(inaudible)
We need to support education. By the way, somebody told me that somebody referred to funding for education in the economic stimulus package as pork. When did education become pork?
Anything else we need? Maureen?
(inaudible)
How to be supportive to people who've lost jobs and are looking for jobs.
Female voice:
I guess I need to hear that, as a people, we are going to support our government in its efforts to help this economy and not undermine what the government is trying to do. And maybe that translates into praying for our President and his cabinet and all of the legislators.
Thank you. Maureen?
(inaudible)
So, there's an opportunity to reexamine how we use money. What is it for and how we live?
Yes? Any other thoughts? Jackie?
(inaudible)
We need to realize as money gets tighter, there are other ways to serve, and become creative.
Thank you.
Any other? Yes?
(inaudible).
We need to remember to show mercy.
Female voice:
He knows I always ask for it. I'm not sure just how to put this, but it kind of ties in with what Margie was saying, and that's, I think what I need from the church is probably more direction on how to  I'm not saying this well  on how to prioritize what I, you know, my beliefs with support, what the church would expect of me, what God would expect of me, more guidance along that line, on prioritizing where I should be putting my money.
Male voice:
I think the thing that occurred to me was that from a spiritual based avenue, all things are possible with God, first of all. And I think there is an expectation by a lot of people to have somebody do things for them. I think there's a element of giving back to the people that need it the most, and there's also an element of advocacy and also voluntarism that I think makes a big difference in our world, and not to expect somebody to do it for you, but do as God calls us to do and know that all things are possible if we go out and act in our own right to help the people in our own communities and those nearest and dearest to us.
Thank you. Yes?
(inaudible)
What can we do to explain to the children today that as you are growing up, discounting or dismissing basic values at the expense of other people and this country are not right. So to me I want it to be simple, I want to be clear, I want to be concise, and I ask every day for God's prayer and mercy on this country so that we can see everybody's face, God's face in everybody that we meet, everybody that's in a foreign country, that they are not our enemies, that we look to find the goodness in people. And I think that's what's missing in this world.
Thank you. So return to basic right and wrong in terms of how we do things.
I just want to say that me and my husband went to the McCain rally, and his military record and everything and a man like that didn't get elected. And now we've got a man that believes in trimester abortions. I mean, it's so hard to pray, even though Senator McCain says we need to do that, support our President, it's so hard. How can you do that? I mean, I don't understand.
Thank you.
Any other thoughts?
(inaudible)
So, Melba was saying maybe an ongoing dialogue. Do you think it is important that we talk about money and where 
Male voice:
I think the point of what Melba was saying, to think of it in the cycle of the Church, with Lent coming up, which is traditionally a season of sacrifice and of reflecting on how we consume, that maybe that's an opportunity that the Church presents of framing this in a different light, of looking at the Church's traditions of thinking of our consumption and our sacrifice and our connection to others in that light.
Thank you. And we are going to try to put together a Lenten program around that theme of how do some of our traditional Catholic values  sacrifice, fasting  what other values  living simply  how do they relate to some of these questions and issues that we struggle with today, that are very important.
Well, thank you. Oh, Jay?
I think we have grown too used to making tactical changes rather than systemic changes. We need systematic change of our handling of finances. The CEO of WellPoint Insurance is paid 18.87 million dollars a year, and people seem not to be phased by that, but they are very much phased when you suggest that people who make the beds and mop the floors in our hospitals and hotels should be paid twenty dollars a hour. And there is a disconnect there, I think, and certainly not giving according to need but rather according to  desserts?
Thank you.
Well, I was going to preface this asking your opinion, by saying I really do need your help and your input on this, because I don't have a family to raise, I don't have kids to feed, I don't have their education to provide for. I don't make a lot of money, but I have pretty good job security. There's not a surplus of priests, and we're not standing in the unemployment line, and I'm a kept man in that church provides for all of my needs. So, much of the struggle that people have day in and day out I realize how much I am insulated from that. So we really do need that input from all of you about what does it mean to rethink and to sort through our values.
And the other thing, by the way, if I was a TV evangelist I would say, "Have faith, and none of the bad things you worry about will happen. But that's not the Christian message. The real message of the Gospel is many of the bad things you worry about might happen, but you'll be okay, because God will be with you and God will sustain you.
And anyway, I hope this has been helpful and maybe an invitation to think about our own priorities and what's important to us and to feel the need to be engaged in the discussion that takes place in our country about all of these things.