Hosanna Blessed is He who comes

“Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes!”
Jn 12:13

A Strange New God Who Weeps

Palm Sunday, March 28, 2010
The gospel reading for the blessing of palms.
Luke 19:28-40

The Lord be with you
And also with you.

Jesus proceeded on his journey up to Jerusalem. As he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany at the place called the Mount of Olives, He sent two of His disciples ahead with instructions to go to the next village, and as they entered they were to look for a donkey tied beside the road. It would be a colt, not yet broken for riding. “Untie it,” Jesus said, “and bring it here. And if anyone should ask you why are you untying it, tell them that your master needs it.” So they went off and found everything just as Jesus had told them. And as they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying this colt?” They answered, “Our master needs it.” So they brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks over the colt, and helped Him to mount.

As He rode along, the people were spreading their cloaks on the road before Him. When they approached the place where the road went down the Mount of Olives, the whole procession began to shout and sing as they walked along, praising God for all the wonderful miracles Jesus had done. “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” Some Pharisees in the crowd said to Him, “Master, tell your followers to be silent.” He said in reply, “If I tell them to be silent, the very stones will shout out!”

The gospel of the Lord
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ
-------------------------
The second reading from Palm Sunday Mass
Philippians 2:6-11

Have this mind in you which was in Christ Jesus: though He was very God, He did not cling to His equality with God but emptied Himself and took the form of a servant. He became a human being like the rest of us, and He became obedient to death, yes, even to death on a cross. Because of this, God greatly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

The word of the Lord
Thanks be to God
----------------
Introduction
Palm Sunday & Passover 2010

Today, March 28th 2010 is the Feast of Palm Sunday and the beginning of Holy Week for the Christian community. For the Jewish community this Tuesday, March 30th 2010 is the Feast of Passover (or the Feast of Unleavened Bread). For Jews, it is the beginning of a seven- day celebration lasting till Monday April 5. Passover commemorates the deliverance ( circa 1450 BC) of the children of Israel from slavery to the Pharaoh of Egypt. The Israelites were instructed to mark the doorposts of their homes with the blood of a spring lamb. Upon the unmarked homes of the Egyptians the avenging Lord God rained death. But He passed over the homes of the Israelite marked with the blood of the lamb. Hence `The Feast of Passover.’ That changed the Pharaoh’s mind, who let the Israelites go free. They left in such a hurry that they could not wait for bread to rise. Hence `The Feast of the Unleavened Bread.’

Especially at this sacred time of the year Catholics remind themselves of the context of the Last Supper and of the very Mass itself. And they feel united to the Jewish community, as it celebrates Passover 2010.

An old god who makes people suffer

On September 11, 2001, Islamic terrorists brought down two signature towers and three thousand innocent human beings in the World Trade Center in New York City. Christian preacher Jerry Falwell pointed his finger at “pagans, abortionists, feminists, gays and lesbians, and ACLU people” and declared, “You helped this happen!” For Falwell the horrific event of 9/11 was God making people suffer for their immorality.

On December 26, 2004, the worst tsunami in recent memory inundated southeastern Asia, ruthlessly sweeping away 140,000 people. Fast upon that calamity, clerics in synagogues, churches and mosques declared the tsunami was God venting His anger at sinful human beings, or God simply letting people know who’s boss! Like Falwell’s God, the God of those clerics was making people suffer for their immorality.

On January 12, 2010 at 4:53 p.m., a 7.0 catastrophic earthquake struck Haiti. 245,000 structures were ruined, 400,000 people were left homeless, and 230,000 people were killed. On that occasion, another Christian preacher, Pat Robinson, declared, ”The earthquake was God making Haitians suffer because of their voodoo1 pact with the Devil.”

A strange new God who feels the suffering of His children.

Into such a god-awful theological world (where God makes people suffer) comes a strange new God. The old gods of ancient Greece and Rome made people suffer, but they themselves never suffered. The Christians’ God is a strange new God: He not only does not make His children suffer, He, in fact, actually weeps when they suffer! Mystic theologian Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, writes, “It is fully in accord with the Gospel to regard God as a Father weeping across the ages over the sufferings of his children, constantly trying to heal their wounds.” (Divine Milieu)

God wept when 3,000 innocent people were pulverized in the attack on the World Trade Center on 9/11/ 2001. God wept when 140,000 innocent people were swept away by the tsunami of December 26, 2005. In recent days, God wept again when 230,000 innocent people were entombed in the rubble of the Haiti earthquake of January 12, 2010.

A strange new God who feels His very own suffering!

Into a god-awful theological world comes a strange new God who not only weeps when His children suffer, but who also wept when He Himself suffered, especially in His crucifixion. In the second reading from the Palm Sunday Mass St. Paul writes eloquently about nothing less than a strange new God who suffered:

Have this mind in you which was in Christ Jesus: Though He was very God, He did not cling to his equality with God but emptied Himself and took the form of a servant. He became a human being like the rest of us, and He became obedient to death, yes, even to death on a cross. (Phil 2: 5-8)

A very unique God

Yahweh, the God of Jews, does not suffer. Allah, the God of Muslims, does not. The God of Christians, however, is a very unique God: He suffers! The crucifix which hangs from the neck of Christians proclaims nothing less than that: the Christians’ God suffers! That’s such strange news that St. Paul declares it to be “offensive to the Jews and nonsense to the Gentiles.” (I Cor. 1: 23) Herein lies the very singular uniqueness of the Christians’ God: He weeps when His children suffer, and He wept when He Himself suffered on the cross.

Conclusion
I, too, was weeping

Some time ago two spokespersons from the War Department drove to a home, knocked at the door and announced to a father that his marine son (a very beloved man in whom the father was well-pleased) had been killed in Iraq. Overwhelmed with rage and grief, the father tore out of the house and torched their car! Then he turned to the utterly surprised spokespersons and fired angry words at them. “Where was God,” he asked, “and what was He doing when my son died in Iraq?”

After the Incarnation in which God the Father begot an earthly and mortal Son, God can now fire back at the grieving father: “Dear man,” God can say, “I, too, am a Father, and I was doing just what you are doing now: I, too, was weeping over a beloved Son in whom I was well-pleased, but whom men nailed to a cross.” (Mt 17: 5)

"Caught in the Very Act of Adultery"

“He started to write with His finger
in the dust on the Temple floor.”
(Jn 8:6)

“Caught in the Very Act of Adultery”

March 21, 2010, 5th Sunday of lent
Isaiah 43:16-21 Philippians 3:8-14 John 8:1-11

Alleluia, alleluia.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John
Glory to you, Lord.

Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. But early in the morning He arrived again in the Temple area, and all the people started coming to Him, and He sat down and taught them. Then the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees dragged in a woman who had been caught in adultery and made her stand in the front of everyone. They said to Him, “Master, we caught this woman in the very act of committing adultery. Now what do you say about that?” They said this to trap Him, so they could have some charge to bring against Him. Jesus bent down and wrote with His finger in the dust on the Temple floor. But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up and said to them, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to cast a stone at her.” Again He bent down and continued to write on the Temple floor. And in response, they went away one by one, beginning with the elders. So he was left alone with the woman before him. Then Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She replied, “No one, sir.” Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.”

The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

----------------
Introduction
A man’s world

The teachers of the Law and the Pharisees dragged a woman into the Temple, whom they had caught in the very act of committing adultery. They were fixing to stone her to death in accordance with the Law of Moses. (Lv 20:10) (Since the Temple was always in a state of repair, there was always plenty of masonry stone lying around to accommodate them.) If the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees caught the woman “in the very act of adultery,” they must have caught her partner as well, for it takes two to commit adultery.

The poor woman’s partner, however, wasn’t dragged into the Temple with her. (Jn 8:4) Though Leviticus says that both the adulterous woman and man were to be stoned (Lv 20:10), culturally and historically it’s always been the woman who gets singled out for stoning. It was a man’s world in those days. It isn’t anymore; in the daily news these days, we now see men also (John Edwards, Mark Sanford, Tiger Woods, etc.) being caught in the very act of adultery and dragged in for public stoning.

A wonderful but wandering Scripture

Strange to say, this Scripture passage about a woman caught in adultery and rescued from stoning by Jesus has had to wander down through the centuries in search of a fixed and rightful place in the canonical gospels. A few editions of the New Testament do not contain this wonderful passage at all! When editions do contain it, they betray an ambiguity or a misgiving about it. The New American Bible, for example, puts the story of the woman caught in adultery in brackets (because it’s not included in the best and oldest Greek manuscripts). Other Bibles place the story of the adulteress in the 7th chapter instead of the 8th chapter (as in today’s reading) or even in the 21st chapter of John. Some even place the passage not in John’s but Luke’s gospel, in the 21st chapter after the 38th verse (because the vocabulary, style and theology of the passage, they say, are not John's but Luke’s). Nevertheless, this wonderful but wandering Scripture has been around for centuries, comforting us whose consciences are burdened with physical and/or spiritual adultery.

Sexual moralism

Why did this passage about the adulteress (rescued from stoning and forgiven by Jesus) have to wander down the centuries in search of a fixed and rightful place in the canonical scriptures? Was it because sexual moralism was alive and well in the early church, as it is alive and well in every age? (Sexual moralism is that aberration which makes sexual `purity’ the height of all morality and sexual `impurity’ the depths of all immorality.) Did that moralism cause the early the church to feel uncomfortable and even ashamed of this passage which portrays Jesus dealing forgivingly and lovingly with an adulteress? Did that behavior of Jesus directly clash with the Law of Moses? (Lv 20:10; Dt 20:22ff)

Nowhere do we find sexual moralism (with its peculiar frame of mind) in the words of Jesus. It’s not in His words to the chief priests and Jewish elders: “I tell you tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you.” (Mt 21:32) It’s not in His words to the teachers of the Law and Pharisees: “Let the one among you who is without sin cast the first stone.” (Jn 8:7) It’s not in His words to the woman caught in adultery: “Neither do I condemn thee.” (Jn 8:11)

Jesus knew that not one among them was without sin; He knew they were all sinners. St. Paul, too, knew that every man is a sinner. To the question who is without sin, Paul writes, “Not one of us. We have all fallen short of the glory of God.” (Rom 3: 23) We, too, know that every one of us is a sinner. None of us wakes up in the morning clean. We all wake up to the knowledge of our failure: to what we should have done but didn’t do and to what we’ve done amiss. We all wake up to our deceit and indolence. We all besmirch our record every day. Some of our sins might be less harmful or less public than those of John Edwards, Mark Sanford and Tiger Woods, but sins they are nevertheless.

A trap

When the teachers of the Law and Pharisees asked Jesus how He felt about the Law commanding that an adulteress be stoned to death, they were setting a trap: they were hoping to impale Jesus on the horns of a dilemma. If He said she should be stoned, He’d be contradicting the Roman occupiers who took away the right of capital punishment from the Jews. If He said she shouldn’t be stoned, He’d be contradicting the Law of Moses.

He refused to fall into their trap; He did not answer them. Instead He bent down and started to write with his finger in the dust on the Temple floor. (There was a lot of dust around because of construction in progress in the Temple.)Then He straightened up and gave their tricky question a tricky answer which bypassed Rome and the Law of Moses: “Let the one without sin among you cast the first stone.” Bending down again He continued to write with his finger on the Temple floor.

What did He write in the dust? Some guess He wrote `Ho-hum.’ Others guess He wrote the names of all the men who had her. A mystical guess is that in the dust on the Temple floor Jesus wrote the Law of Moses commanding adulterers to be stoned. Then the winds of Pentecost came and swept through the Temple and blew away the dust and the Old Law with its 613 major laws (and a whole constellation of minor rules and regulations). And the flames of Pentecost came and enkindled in the hearts of the faithful a New Law with only one great commandment: Thou shalt love the Lord your God with your whole heart, soul and mind, and thou shalt love your neighbor as you love yourself. (Mt. 22:37-39)

Whatever it was that Jesus wrote with His finger in the dust, the teachers of the Law and Pharisees got the point: one by one they left. Standing there alone with the adulteress Jesus asked, “Woman, there is no one left to condemn you?” She answered, “No one, sir.” Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.”

“Neither do I condemn you.”

That great spiritual leader and Bishop of Saginaw, Michigan, Kenneth Untener (1937- 2004) without any doubt preached that marriage was a life-long commitment. But he asked, “What if, for some reason, it all falls apart? I like the distinction Jesus carefully used upon the woman caught in adultery. He said, `Neither do I condemn you.’ But some people think the opposite of condemn is condone. Condemn comes from the Latin word `to damn.’ And the opposite of damning someone is helping someone.” Bishop Untener said, “I am not here to condemn divorced people nor am I here to condone them. I am here to help them.” Jesus did not come to condemn or condone the woman caught in adultery; He was there to help her.

Our religiosity `wires’ us…

The Parable of the Good Samaritan would, indeed, be a very appropriate gospel reading for Lent. And yet, it’s not prescribed for any Sunday of Lent, whether in Cycle A, B or C. The parable is about a gross act of immorality which a Jewish priest and Levite committed on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho. A man journeying on that road was waylaid by thieves who beat him to a pulp, robbed him of his money and left him half-dead. Along came a Jewish priest and Levite who saw the poor man, didn’t lift a finger to help him, and passed him by. How much more immoral than that can one get!

Then along came a Samaritan who, though he had the reputation of being a `rounder’ in that district, stopped to pour the oil of compassion into the poor man’s wounds. Then he hoisted him on his beast of burden and hurried him off to the nearest inn, where he paid for the man’s care and cure. How more moral than that can one get! (Lk 10:25-37)

The Scribes and Pharisees said to Jesus, “Teacher, we caught this woman in the very act of committing adultery.” Like the Scribes and Pharisees, our religiosity `wires’ us to catch people “in the very act of adultery.” First, we caught the former presidential candidate John Edwards in the very act of adultery with Rielle Hunter during his 2008 run for the presidency. Then we caught South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford in the very act of adultery with Argentine beauty Maria Belen. In recent days we have been catching Tiger Woods non-stop in multiple acts of adultery.

Our religiosity `wires’ us to catch people in the very act of adultery. Unfortunately, it doesn’t `wire’ us to catch people like the Jewish priest and Levite “in the very act” of walking right by someone in need. Most of us by all means would confess adultery. Few of us would think of confessing not having stopped to pour the oil of compassion upon someone in need.

Conclusion
Side by side with the adulteress

Unlike the early church we’re not ashamed of the Scripture passage which portrays Jesus dealing lovingly and forgivingly with the woman caught in the very act of adultery. We happily remove the brackets around this wonderful passage, and we give it a rightful and undisputed place in the Gospel. What’s more, we’re not only not ashamed but we also glory in this Scripture which has Jesus neither condemning nor condoning but forgiving the adulteress. That’s a comforting Scripture, for side by side with the adulteress stand John Edwards, Mark Sanford, Tiger Woods and all of us, “For none of us is righteous. No not one. We have all sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God.” (Rom 3:23) To all of us Jesus says, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to cast a stone at her.”

The Fall into Grace

The father wrapped his arms around his prodigal son

The Fall into Grace

March 14, 2010, 4th Sunday of Lent
Joshua 5:9a, 10-12 II Corinthians 5:17-21 Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke.
Glory to you, Lord.

One son took off.

Then Jesus told them another parable. A man had two sons, and the younger son said to his father, “Father, give me the share of your estate that should come to me.” So the father divided the property between them. After a few days, the younger son collected all his belongings and took off for a distant land, where he squandered his inheritance on parties and prostitutes. When he had run out of money, a severe famine struck that country, and he found himself in dire need. So he hired himself out to one of the local citizens who sent him out to his farm to slop the pigs. He longed to eat his fill of the pods on which the pigs fed, but nobody gave him any.

He returned.

Coming to his senses he thought about his father’s many hired hands who had more than enough to eat while he was starving. He said to himself, “I shall arise and return to the house of my father. And I shall say to him, `Father, I have sinned against heaven and thee. I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as you would treat one of your hired workers.’” So he got up and started home to his father.

The father embraced the son.

While he was still a long way off, his father spied his son on the horizon. Filled with joy he ran out to greet him whom he embraced and kissed. The son remorsefully said to the father, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son.” But the father ordered his servants, “Quickly bring our finest robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Take the fattened calf and slaughter it. Then let us celebrate with a feast because this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found.” Then the celebration began.

The other sons pouted.

Now the older son had been out in the field and, on his way back, as he neared the house, he heard the sound of music and dancing. He called one of the servants and asked what this might mean. The servant said to him, “Your brother has returned and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.” The older son began to pout and refused to enter the house. His father came out and pleaded with him. He said to his father in reply, “Look, all these years I served you and not once did I disobey your orders; yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends. But when your son who has wasted all your money on parties and prostitutes returns, you go and slaughter the fattened calf for him.” The father said to him, “My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours. But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.”

The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

---------------

Introduction
Two precious gems

This parable of the Prodigal Son together with the parable of the Good Samaritan are the New Testament’s two most precious gems. What Jesus said of the two greatest commandments can be said of these two parables: “On them depend the whole Law and the Prophets." (Mt 22:40) Both parables are found only in Luke, and that’s what makes him the most favored evangelist for many. The parable of the Good Samaritan is read on 15th Sunday of Ordinary Time Cycle C. The parable of the Prodigal Son will be read again on the 24th Sunday of Ordinary Time Cycle C. Then this parable, so beloved by sinners (which is all of us), will fall silent again at Sunday Mass for two whole years! What a waste!

Delight in the repentant sinner

Both Judaism and Islam delight in the observance of the law, and are, therefore, much closer to each other than they are to Christianity which delights especially in the repentant sinner. The Orthodox Jew embracing the yoke of the Law (Gal. 15:1) is matched by the Muslim embracing the yoke of Shari’ah.[1] Christianity (inspired by St. Paul) is uncomfortable with religious law; it is, in fact, laced with an` antinomian’ (anti-law) spirit. Paul writes, “Christ has freed us from the curse of the Law[2].” (Gal 3: 13) In the same letter he writes, "Christ has come to set us free from circumcision and the Law. So don't ever take that yoke upon yourself again.” (Gal l5: 1)

Judaism and Islam are dismayed by the transgressor of the Law. Christianity, on the other hand, delights in the repentant sinner. It delights in Jesus’ parable about a shepherd who leaves ninety-nine obedient sheep in the pasture and goes looking for the one that has strayed, and finding it tosses the bleating animal on his shoulders and heads for home to celebrate with neighbors. It delights in Jesus’ parable about a prodigal son returning home to a father looking off into the horizon, in prayerful hope that his wandering son would return. Christianity glories more in the forgiveness of a transgressor than in one who has kept the Law.

A diamond with many facets

The parable of the Prodigal Son is a diamond with many facets. It’s traditionally called the Parable of the Prodigal Son. It’s also called the Parable of the Prodigal Father who squanders heaps of love and forgiveness upon a wayward son, as he bedecks him with robe, ring and sandals on his return home.

Furthermore, it’s a parable not of one but of two sons: one is disobedient and the other obedient. By a strange twist, the `disobedient’ son is `obedient’ to the Law of Growth, which beckons all of us to leave the nest of the mother, get out on our own, and fly away as baby robins in late spring. On the other hand, the "obedient" son is `disobedient’ to the Law of Growth, as he sticks close to home, plays it safe, never matures and ends up as a pouting kid.

Finally, the parable begins with the father opening his arms and letting go of the son he loves very much, but whom he doesn’t want to let go. Instead the father puts his trust in an ancient wisdom which bids us to let go of our firm grip on the ones we love. If they return to us, they’re ours. If they fly away for good, they were never ours in the first place. The parable, which begins with the father opening his arms and letting go, ends with the father closing his arms around “a son who was dead but has come to life, and who was lost but now has been found.”

A prodigal Archbishop

The Milwaukee Sunday newspaper for May 23, 2002 exploded with a story about a prodigal son: the Archbishop of Milwaukee and his liaison with a young man. In the first public service after the story broke, the celebrant at Mass in the Milwaukee cathedral `comforted’ the faithful in his homily, as he spoke of the Archbishop’s `fall from Grace.’ His words piqued Anglican theologian William Coats, and made him exclaim, “This is really too much for me! There is a strain in Roman Catholic theology which sees us human beings as naturally good, but who `fall from Grace’ when they commit certain sins. It’s all so much nonsense!”

The Archbishop, he said, did not fall from Grace. He didn’t fall from some pristine pure state. He started out as we all start out—with the possibility of obedience and waywardness. Coates quoted St. Paul: “There is none who is righteous. No not one. All have sinned and all have fallen short of the glory of God.” (Rom 3: 11, 23) Even the `obedient’ older son, who safely stayed home and didn’t indulge in “parties and prostitutes,” sins and falls short of the glory of God.

Coates took a parting shot at us Catholics: “The Roman Catholic Church certainly has a right to preach and practice whatever theology it wants to, but as the dominant religion in this country it often gives the impression that its view is the Christian point of view. As a child of the Reformation and as an Anglican I say, No, it is not!”

A prodigal golfer

In recent days the news has focused non-stop on another prodigal son – Tiger Woods - the world’s wealthiest and most famous athlete. He had “taken off for a distant land where he squandered his inheritance on parties and prostitutes.” On Friday, Feb. 19, 2010, Woods, returning home like the Prodigal Son, delivered one of the most awaited apologies in sports history. As the prodigal son returning home confessed to his father for having ”sinned against heaven and thee,” Tiger Woods returning home confessed to multiple adulteries before his wife Elin, his Buddhist mom, his fans and fellow-golfers, for having sinned against heaven and them.

A Buddhist act of contrition

A month before in January Brit Hume on Fox News Sunday, urged Woods, a Buddhist, to "turn to the Christian faith.” Hume said, "I don't think that faith [Buddhism] offers the kind of forgiveness and redemption that is offered by the Christian faith." In his apology on Friday, Feb. 19, Woods in effect told Hume “Thanks but no thanks.” He spoke of redemption not in Christian but Buddhist terms. He didn’t mention Jesus; he didn’t quote Christian Scripture or theology.

Instead he made a Buddhist act of contrition. “I was unfaithful. I had affairs. I cheated. I am deeply sorry for my selfish behavior which I engaged in.” In his apology Buddhist Woods told a Christian nation, “Buddhism teaches that a craving for things outside ourselves causes an unhappy and pointless search for security." Tiger was obviously talking about his craving for sexual encounters with beautiful women. But he was also describing all our obsession with the next new thing. We Americans are driven at least as much by consumer capitalism as by Christian faith. Our cravings are endless good news for big business, but not such good news for human happiness.

Buddhism says that the root of suffering arises especially from craving. We crave this woman or that car because we think that getting her or it will make us happy. But there is no end to craving. If we get what we want, there is always something more to crave — another woman or another man, a faster car or a bigger house. Craving gives rise to suffering and unhappiness. When Woods said he "stopped living by the core values” he was "taught to believe in,” he was referring to the Thai Buddhist values instilled in him by his mother (who was in the room as Woods was confessing his sins). When he vowed to change his life, he didn’t mean he was going to turn to Christianity but that he was going to return to Buddhism.

Both Buddha and Christ

If Brit Hume believes the only path to redemption is Christ, he’s probably wrong. (That might be hard for triumphalist Christians to take.) If Tiger Woods believes the only path to redemption is Buddha (which he very probably doesn’t believe), he, too, is wrong. At the end of the day, for both Hume and Woods it should not be a matter of either Christ or Buddha, but of both Christ and Buddha. They don’t exclude each other. They, in fact, reinforce each other. The Buddha, who says that craving causes unhappiness, sounds like Jesus who says, “Unless a man denies himself [his cravings] and takes up the cross, he cannot be my disciples.” (Mt. 16:24)

It’s not necessary to choose between the two. Trappist monk Thomas Merton didn’t. He, who was a poet, social critic, mystic and the most famous Roman Catholic monk of the twentieth century, said at the end of his life, “I want to become as good a Buddhist as I can.” (Steindl-Rast, 1969). Neither did Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh choose between the two. Hanh is a mystic, a scholar, activist and one of the most beloved Buddhist teachers in the West. Thomas Merton said of him, “He is my brother.” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., nominated Hanh for the Nobel Peace Prize. Hanh is author of twenty-five books. In his book Living Buddha, Living Christ he writes, “On the altar in my hermitage, are images of Buddha and Jesus, and I touch both of them as my spiritual ancestors.” We wish that both Hume and Woods (and also ourselves) could do the same.

Conclusion
The fall into Grace

The Archbishop didn’t fall from Grace – didn’t fall from the forgiving kindness of God our Father. The world’s most famous golfer didn’t fall from the forgiving kindness of Buddha. The Prodigal Son didn’t fall from the forgiving kindness of his father. None of us (“who have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”) falls from Grace. Instead we fall into Grace. We all fall into the arms of an incredibly prodigal Father who wraps our skeletal body in a rich robe, sooths our calloused feet with soft sandals and adorns our boney finger with a ruby ring. Then He prepares a great feast with a fatted calf, because we who were dead have come back to life, and we who were lost have now been found.

[1] Shari’ah is the entire corpus of commandments and prohibitions in Islamic religious law.
[2] The Law wasn’t a law; it was 613 major laws plus a whole constellation of rules and regulations.

The Hoe Is Mightier Than The Ax

“Three years and not a single fig from it!”

The Hoe Is Mightier than the Ax
March 7, 2010, 3rd Sunday of Lent
Exodus 3:1-8, 13-15 1 Corinthians 10:1-6, 10-12 Luke 13:1-9

Alleluia, alleluia.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke
Glory to you, Lord.

About this time some people arrived and told Jesus that Pilate had butchered some Jews from Galilee while they were offering sacrifice to God at the Temple in Jerusalem. Jesus replied to them: “Do you think these Galileans were worse sinners than any other men of Galilee just because this happened to them? I assure you that it is not so. You will all die just as miserable a death unless your hearts are changed! And take the case of those eighteen men who died when that tower in Siloam[1] fell on them. Do you think that they were worse offenders than any of the other people who lived in Jerusalem? I assure you they were not. You will all die as tragically unless your whole outlook is changed!”


Then Jesus told a parable which pointed out God’s disappointment with the barren people of Israel, but which also indicated God’s willingness to be patient with them.

Once there was a farmer who planted a fig tree in his garden, and came again and
again to see if he could find any fruit on it, but he was always disappointed. Finally he ordered his hired-hand to lay the ax to it. “I’ve waited three years and haven’t got a single fig from it,” he exclaimed. “Why bother with it any longer? It’s taking up space we can use for something else.” The hired-hand replied, “Sir, leave it be for another year, and I’ll hoe diligently around it and give it plenty of fertilizer. If we get figs next year, fine; if not, then I’ll give it the ax.”

An old manuscript of unknown origin finishes off the parable of the three-year-old barren fig tree with these words:

The hired-hand persuaded the impatient farmer to put aside his impatient ax. Then he diligently hoed around the fig tree, fertilized it and waited patiently. In due season the tree burst wonderfully into blossoms and then into a rich harvest of figs. -- Now learn this simple lesson which all good farmers know: mightier than the impatient ax is the patient hoe.

The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

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Introduction
Fig trees: a frequent figure

Figs trees figured in frequently in the life of Jesus and his companions. “On the way to Bethany one day, Jesus felt hungry and noticed a fig tree in full leaf, so he went over to see if He could find any figs on it, even though it was too early in the season for fruit.” (Mark 11:12-13) Jesus told parables about fig trees. On one occasion He said, “Look at the fig tree and other trees. When you see their leaves beginning to sprout you know that summer is near.” (Luke 21:29-30) In today’s gospel He tells another parable about a fig tree. “Once there was a farmer who planted a fig tree in his garden, and came again and again to see if he could find any fruit on it, but he was always disappointed.” (Luke 13:6-9)

Disasters as God’s punishment

The Gospel today makes references to two disasters. The first: Pilate had butchered some Jews from Galilee, as they were offering sacrifice to God in the Temple. That event is not recorded in any historical document, but it quite likely happened. According to Josephus,[2] Galileans were especially prone to revolt, and that was a problem for Pilate. The second disaster refers to a tower in Siloam (a suburb of Jerusalem) which fell and killed eighteen people. Because of a lack of detail and the singular nature of that disaster, it very likely happened not too long before Jesus mentioned it. Both events were evidently news-stories of the day.

The Jews of old believed that disasters were God’s punishment for people’s sins. Many, like televangelist Pat Robinson, still believe that God works His revenge on sinners. Robinson recently uttered a pontifical statement that the earthquake in Haiti was God punishing sinful Haitians for their “voodoo pact with the devil.[3]” Jesus corrects that way of thinking: the two disasters were not God’s punishment for people’s sins. On the other hand, the absence of disasters doesn’t mean that people do not need repentance. Jesus affirms the need for everyone to repent and bear fruit.

Parables about patience

So He tells a parable about a fig tree which isn’t bearing any figs. The farmer becomes impatient with the barren tree and tells his hired-hand to give it the ax, and make room for something more fruitful. But the hired-hand, who proves to be a better farmer than his boss, pleads, “Sir, be patient. Let me diligently cultivate around the tree and fertilize it. Then if it yields us no figs, I’ll give it the ax.” (Lk 13:6- 9) It’s a parable about repentance and bearing fruit. It’s also a parable about patience – about giving the barren tree a second chance.

It calls to mind another parable about patience. A farmer sows good wheat seed in his field, only to find a bumper crop of thistles growing side by side with the wheat. The farmer’s hired-hands want to rip up the thistles without further ado. But the farmer, who in this case is a better farmer than his hired-hands, says, “Be patient, you guys! If you pull the thistles out now, you’ll rip up the wheat as well. For the time being, let the wheat and thistle grow side by side till harvest. Then we’ll separate the two and gather the wheat into the barns." (Mt 13:24-30)

Patience is power.

Patience isn’t a shabby word. It derives from the Latin verb patior, meaning `to suffer.’ Patience is the power to suffer! It’s the power to suffer a fig tree which isn’t bearing any fruit. It’s the power to actively suffer the barren tree – that is to say - to diligently hoe around it and fertilize it, and then to wait for figs. Patience is the power to put off presto `solutions’ that really don't solve problems, and to wait actively with solutions which, God willing, do solve problems. Rushing out to ax down a barren fig tree really doesn’t solve a problem; it merely destroys it. Just as rushing out to rip up thistles in a wheat field doesn't really solve a problem; it merely destroys it. Patience is the power to suffer the process of growth -- to wait actively for it in our kids, in our spouses, in the people around us, in ourselves and, yes, in our church.

Tiger Woods begging for patience

On Friday, Feb. 19, 2010, Tiger Woods, the world's wealthiest and most famous athlete, in a fairly brief but tightly orchestrated and choreographed speech, delivered one of the most awaited apologies in sports history. He apologized for multiple acts of adultery: “I was unfaithful. I had affairs. I cheated. I am deeply sorry for my irresponsible and selfish behavior which I engaged in.” He begged for forgiveness from his wife Elin, his mom, his fans and fellow golfers. And he asked for patience from all of them as he continues inpatient therapy for his problem: “Starting tomorrow, I will leave for more treatment and more therapy.”

He, who deposited “one billion bucks in his bank book,” had not deposited any fruits of the Spirit in himself. “The fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Gal.5:22-23) Commenting recently on Wood’s sex scandals the Dalai Lama spoke of self-control as “among Buddhism’s highest values.” In his apology Tiger Woods confessed, “I was raised a Buddhist, and I actively practiced my faith from childhood until I drifted away from it in recent years. Buddhism teaches that a craving for things outside ourselves causes an unhappy and pointless search for security. It teaches me to stop following every impulse and to learn restraint.”

In the context of today’s parable Tiger Woods is a fruitless fig tree begging for patience - begging for a second chance – begging for the hoe in place of the ax.

Divine & human patience

Divine patience is God’s power to actively suffer us, when we aren’t bearing any fruit. That means that God doesn’t sit on His hands; rather, in His own way He hoes the ground around us and fertilizes it. And then He retires to a center down deep within Himself and waits.

Human patience is our power to actively suffer a daughter or son or spouse, who isn’t bearing any fruit. That, of course, means we don’t sit on our hands; rather we hoe the ground around the one we love and fertilize it. We do what we can. But after that, human patience is our power to retire to a center down deep within our self. There we summon faith, and let go and let God. There we stop talking with anger and frustration to a fig tree that isn’t bearing any fruit, and there we start talking prayerfully to God.

Conclusion

The hoe is mightier than the ax
A farmer asked his fig tree:"Have you no fruit for me?"
The tree said in reply, "How impatient you can be!"

The farmer put down his anxious ax, and took in hand his hoe.
And soon the grateful fig tree began to bloom and grow.

When at last the harvest came, to his delight he found
branches laden with lush figs, and bowing to the ground.

Now learn this simple lesson, surely proven by the facts:
the farmer’s patient hoe is mightier than his ax.

[1] A district in south Jerusalem
[2] A first-century Jewish historian
[3] Voodoo, a religion originating in Haiti, merges the beliefs and practices of West African peoples with Roman Catholicism.