Sunday Inbox Inspiration: April 23, 2021: Friday of the 3rd Week of Lent, April 23 Cycle B

 (This weekend, deacons are preaching at the two parishes where I assist. Therefore, I am sending a weekday homily which I gave this past Friday.)

 

 

Friday of the 3^rd Week of Easter

April 23, 2021      11:00am

Bon Secours Retreat and Conference Center

 

Readings:   Acts 9:1-20

                  John 6:52-59

 

This week we have been hearing from the sixth chapter of Saint John’s Gospel. 

This entire chapter is about the bread of life, the Eucharist.

I think we hear this during the Easter season, because the Eucharist is so intimately connected is with the resurrected life of Jesus.

He gives us that life in this sacrament. 

If we dig into today’s passage, we can see a beautiful progression of thought that is very enriching for us. 

I see a four-step progression. 

 

First, Jesus declares that he has received his life from the Father. 

He says: “Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father…”

Second, Jesus says that it is this life that he now gives to those who feed on his flesh and drink his blood.

He says: “Just as… I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me.”

Third, Jesus explains that it is through this common sharing of life that he remains in us and we remain in him.

There is an abiding presence.

He says: “Whoever eat my Flesh and drinks my Blood remain in me and I in them.”

And fourth, this life that Jesus gives us is both a present and a future reality. 

He says: “Those who eat my Flesh and drink my Blood have eternal life.”

So, we have eternal life, God’s life right now – in the present moment.

But still, Jesus goes on to say, “I will raise them on the last day.”

So, there is a future, a perfection or fulfillment to the eternal or divine life that we already share.

There will be a resurrection for us as there was for Jesus.

 

So, I find it to be a packed passage, packed with teaching or revelation from Jesus.

I hope we find this enriching this morning.

 

 

Father Michael Schleupner

Sunday Inbox Inspiration: April 18, 2021: Second Sunday of Easter, April 18 Cycle B

 Sunday Inbox Inspirations

Third Sunday of Easter 

Cycle B

April 18, 2021

 

Great Expectations

 

When I was in high school, I remember reading the classic novel Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens.  

 

I imagine that many of us have read this somewhere along the way. In the story, a young woman named Miss Havisham is about to be married.  

 

All the preparations for the wedding have been made. On the day of the wedding, the guests arrive.  

 

They wait, and they wait. But the groom never shows up.

 

Miss Havisham is devastated. When the guests have all left, she draws the shades on the windows, stops the clocks, and leaves the table exactly as it has been set for the wedding breakfast.

 

And, from then on, for the rest of her life, Miss Havisham never leaves her little house. She just sits in her loneliness – dressed in her wedding gown.

 

Miss Havisham and the Risen Christ

 

Miss Havisham is a tragic figure.

 

She never realizes that in some way, we all have to deal with life’s injustices, disappointments, and losses. She never realizes that we have to deal with these sufferings and live through them, as painful as they are. 

 

In today’s gospel, the risen Christ reminds the disciples of what he has tried to teach them. He wants to help them with the sufferings that are part of life.

 

He wants us to know that we can learn and grow from suffering. We can even come to fuller life through this.

 

Our Expectations

 

Let’s just look at our own experience.

 

There are injustices in life. Like being unfairly evaluated by your boss, being misunderstood by your family, or being discriminated against because of racial prejudice, and on it goes.

 

There are disappointments in life. Like failing an exam, not getting a job, not making the first string on the school baseball team, and on it goes.

 

And there are losses in life. Like the death of a parent, the loss of a close relationship as happened to Miss Havisham, the loss of eyesight or hearing, and on it goes.

 

The Risen Christ

 

Jesus, as the Risen Christ, wants to help us to deal with these sufferings. 

 

The Risen Christ calls us to accept what is and what we cannot change. Notice that I keep saying “Jesus as the Risen Christ” because he, as risen, gives us hope.

 

The Risen Christ gives us the hope of resurrection after physical death. And with this hope, he also empowers us for living right now. 

 

He empowers us not just to turn in on ourselves in our suffering and remain a victim. He empowers us not to give up when injustice or disappointment or loss comes our way.

 

Instead, the Risen Christ empowers us to look at what else God may want us to do. He may empower us to use the suffering we have experienced as a way to grow in wisdom about life.

 

And he may empower us through our suffering to grow in compassion for others who also suffer. Sometimes our sufferings require physical or psychological therapy, and sometimes we know we will not get back to where we were.

 

But even here, the Risen Christ offers us hope. It is the hope of the Easter mystery, of new life coming from suffering and dying.  

 

Conclusion

 

Our American author Pearl Buck has a great insight here. 

 

I want to conclude with this. I will read it slowly – just one sentence. 

 

Pearl Buck says: “We learn as much from sorrow as from joy, as much from illness as from health, as much from handicap as from advantage – and indeed, perhaps more.”  

 

 

Fr. Michael Schleupner

Inbox Inspiration: April 14, 2020: Hate?

  Hate? - 1   

 

Dear Friends,  

On two occasions, Jesus tells us to “hate” and we have to understand his words very carefully

“Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life.” (John 12:25)

The word “hate” in this passage really means to prefer or prioritize.

So, Jesus is really saying here: if we make his way and not our own earthly comforts our priority, then we will be living God’s life and someday we will enter fully into that life.

And then, Jesus also says: “If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” (Luke14:26)

Scripture scholars tell us that this is one of the places where Jesus exaggerates to make a point.  

And again, his point is that we make him and following him our priority in life.

So, let’s be clear: Jesus never tells us to hate anyone – and that means anyone!

Instead, he commands us to “love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:39) 

As if that isn’t enough, he also teaches us to “love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you.” (Matthew 5:44)

Jesus doesn’t give us any wiggle room here.

There is never a situation where it is okay to hate others.

We are, in some way, to love all persons.

We are to be neighbor to others and not try to determine who is and who is not my neighbor.

We are to be neighbor regardless of whatever differences there are. (Luke 10:36) 

I am getting into this topic because of the hateful words and expressions and the number of hate crimes in our country.

We as baptized persons, as disciples of Jesus Christ, are to bring our faith to bear on this problem.

More on this next week, in the Inbox of April 21.

 

Father Michael Schleupner

 

Scriptural translations from The New American Bible – Including the Revised New Testament.

Hate? - 2
 

Dear Friends,  
If you have not already done so, before reading this Inbox Inspirations, please try to read last week’s, the Inbox of April 14.  
We can define hate as an intense hostility directed at a person or a group of people.
I suppose we can say that feelings of hate in themselves, like other feelings, are okay.
It is when we fail to examine and deal with these feelings that they can become a problem, even a dangerous problem.
These feelings can easily spill over into harmful, maybe seriously wrong or immoral and socially disruptive behavior. 
A hate crime is defined as “a criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity.”
We have all seen reports of hate crimes in our country, especially against Jews and Muslims, against African, Hispanic, and Asian Americans, and against persons with same-sex attraction.
One report says that there are 917 hate groups in the United States.
In 2019, 7,314 hate crime incidents were reported.
The assumption is that there were other hate crimes that went unreported. 
Because of harassment and physical violence, many minority Americans now live with some apprehension.
I have personally listened to the anxiety and fear felt by members of several minority communities.
These are good, contributing, and law-abiding American citizens. 
We need to look at this problem of hate, try to understand it, and examine how Jesus calls us to respond as persons of faith.
This, for us, is a living-the-faith issue.
It is a human life issue and needs to rank with other human life concerns.
In next week’s Inbox, that of April 28, I will look at some of the likely causes of hate. 
 
Father Michael Schleupner
 
Definition of hate crime and statistic from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Number of hate groups from the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Hate? - 3
 

Dear Friends,  
Maybe if we understood some of the factors that lead us to hate another person or group, it would help us to work through those feelings and to respond more fully to Jesus’ calling.
Remember: Jesus says: “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39) and “love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you.” (Matthew 5:44).
He leaves no wiggle room for hating others.
So, what might cause us to hate?
Maybe we fear those who are different, and we feel threatened by outsiders.
And so, we get aggressive and even hateful toward them.
Maybe we hate others because we see and dislike the inadequacies in ourselves.
We try to make others look bad or we turn them into objects of disdain as a way to make ourselves look better.
Maybe we affiliate with persons who have hateful feelings or even with hate groups. 
We might think that this connection will strengthen our own identity. 
Maybe we think that our culture demands a war-like or violent approach to things. 
We may think that we have to hate those whom we identify as enemies or as different for the sake of our own survival or success.
One author says: “Acts of hate are attempts to distract oneself from feelings such as helplessness, powerlessness, injustice, inadequacy and shame…. 
It is an attitude that can give rise to hostility and aggression toward individuals or groups. 
Like much of anger, it is a reaction to and distraction from some form of inner pain.
The individual consumed by hate may believe that the only way to regain some sense of power over his or her pain is to preemptively strike out at others.” 
For more on this topic, see the Inbox Inspirations of April 14 and 21 and for next week, May 5.
 
Father Michael Schleupner
 
Quotation above from Overcoming Destructive Anger: Strategies That Work by Bernard Golden, psychologist. 
Some of the other thoughts above are developed from The Psychology of Hate by Allison Abrams, LCSW-R.

Hate? - 4
 

Dear Friends,  
Maybe we need to recall that Jesus tells us to love ourselves – “love your neighbor as yourself.”
One thing that this means is to accept ourselves as we are, with our strengths and weaknesses, with our abilities and limitations. 
This is really step one in moving toward compassion and away from hate and hateful aggression towards others.
If I can be compassionate with myself, I am much more likely to be compassionate with others.
I don’t mean a sentimental, necessarily warm and fuzzy compassion. 
Rather, I mean a compassion that leads me to take others as persons, with their own unique background, needs, and hopes.
However, if I find that I am not able to be compassionate with myself,
if I feel unsettled and not at peace with myself, 
or if I feel hate for a person,
if I am in agreement with a hate group or even belong to one – 
then it is time to talk with someone whom I trust, maybe a professional. 
It is time for me to look not at the other person or group, but at myself.
It is time first to learn to be accepting of myself, and eventually the hate directed at others will probably dissipate. 
One author writes of “our need to recover an older tradition…that spoke of human solidarity, of justice and compassion, and of non-negotiable dignity of human lives.”
He says that the challenge is to find a “fragment of the Divine ‘Thou’ in the human ‘thou’…to recognize God’s image in one who is not in my image…in the face of the stranger.”
We believe that the divine is present in each person, regardless of race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or gender.
This is part of our faith; this is the way and model of Jesus Christ.
Jesus can lead us away from hate and toward respect and compassion for all.
For more on this topic, see the Inbox Inspirations of April 14, 21, and 28, and for next week, May 12. 
 
Father Michael Schleupner
 
Quotation above from The Dignity of Difference by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks. 

Hate? - 5
 

Dear Friends,  
In last week’s Inbox Inspirations, that of May 5, I reflected on the need to look within, to look at ourselves.
We need to do this if we find ourselves unsettled within and not fully at peace with who we are as a person.
We need to do this if we feel hateful toward someone or some group.
Being compassionate with ourselves is probably essential before we can become compassionate with others and get away from hateful feelings, words, and behavior.
The final thing I want to say in this series on Hate? deals with how we view others.
Yes, they may be very different from us.
Nevertheless, our faith calls us to see everyone, and that means all persons in our country and in our entire world, as sons and daughters of God.
Jesus Christ calls us to see all as brothers and sisters.
This is to be our default; it is to be our stance toward each person.
Will this take work and effort from us? Definitely.
But our relationship with God takes work and effort.
To live the way of Jesus Christ authentically takes work and effort.
One author says it this way: 
“’See no stranger’ has become a practice that defines my relationships….
Seeing no stranger begins in wonder.
It is to look upon the face of anyone and choose to say: ‘You are a part of me I do not yet know.’
Wonder is the wellspring of love…. 
Out in the world, I notice the unconscious biases that arise in me when I look at faces on the street or in the news.
To practice seeing each of them as a sister or brother or family member, I say in my mind: ‘You are a part of me I do not yet know.’
Through conscious repetition, I am practicing orienting to the world with wonder and preparing myself for the possibility of connection.”  
For more on this topic, see the Inboxes of April 14, 21, and 28, and May 5. 
 
Father Michael Schleupner
 
Quotation above from See No Stranger: A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love by Valerie Kaur. 

Sunday Inbox Inspiration: April 11, 2021: Second Sunday of Easter, April 11 Cycle B

 Sunday Inbox Inspirations

Second Sunday of Easter 

Cycle B

April 11, 2021 

 

A Transformed Body 

 

One of the gospels tells the story about the risen Christ appearing to Mary Magdalene.

 

Mary does not at first recognize Jesus. She actually thinks that he is a gardener.

 

It is only when Jesus calls her by name – Mary” – it is only then that she realizes that this man is Jesus, alive. A similar thing happens several other times after Jesus’ resurrection.

 

The disciples do not at first recognize him. Why?

 

Because Jesus has what is called a transformed body. His body, his human appearance is different.

 

We use the word transformed to try to express this. But there is one thing about the transformed body of the risen Christ that is still pretty much as it was.

 

His wounds. We see this in today’s gospel. 

 

Jesus’ Wounds

 

The passage tells us that Jesus appears to the disciples and shows them his hands and his side.

 

Remember: when he was crucified, they hammered nails through his hands to attach him to the cross, and, at the end, they stuck a spear in his side to make sure he was dead. So, Jesus shows his wounds to the disciples, and they believe. 

 

One of them, Thomas, is absent. He says he won’t believe unless he touches the wounds.

 

And sure enough, a week later, Jesus appears to them again, and Thomas is with them. Jesus invites Thomas to touch the wounds, and the passage doesn’t say whether he actually does this or not.

 

It simply tells us that he speaks that great declaration of faith: “My Lord and my God!” So, the wounds lead Thomas to believe in the risen Christ.

 

Our Wounds

 

The message that comes to me here is that Jesus wants us to show our wounds to him, just as he does to us.

 

I am not talking here so much of our physical wounds. We do have them – like a wound on our leg that won’t heal because of poor circulation, or a stomach ulcer, or any number of physical problems.

 

We do have physical wounds, and we are to bring them to Jesus in prayer. We can also seek out the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick.

 

But here, today, the passage leads me to think of spiritual wounds. We are invited to bring our spiritual wounds to Jesus, just as Thomas very openly brings his wound – a lack of faith.    

 

Maybe our wound is doubting the presence of God in my life. Maybe it’s being alienated from the Church because we disagree on some things. 

 

Maybe our wound is feeling guilty for something we have done. Maybe it’s having low self-esteem because of something that has been done to us.

 

Jesus wants us to show our wounds to him with trust. And, if we do that, little by little, he can transform us.     

 

Transformed Wounds

 

Our skepticism can be transformed into a peaceful acceptance of the mystery of faith. Our alienation from the community can be transformed into a sense of belonging.

 

Our guilt can be transformed into an experience of forgiveness. And our self-rejection can be transformed into an assurance of being beloved by God.   

 

So, the gospel tells of the transformed body of Jesus with his wounds. And it also tells us of the transformation of the spiritual wound of Thomas. 

 

One of our Catholic theologians makes the observation here that our faith is not about transaction. Instead, it’s about transformation.

 

So, my coming to Mass and receiving the Eucharist is not a transaction. It’s not my doing this for God so that I get a stay-out-hell-card or something like that.

 

Instead, Mass, the Eucharist, and all prayer is about transformation. It’s about a process, a process of gradual transformation of my wounds, healing me and making me whole and holy. 

 

Yes, I have wounds, and the scars from those wounds will probably remain, much as they did with Jesus. But in and through the risen Christ, my wounds and I myself are transformed.

 

I am brought alive or more alive in God. That’s my take on this great passage of Scripture today.

 

 

Fr. Michael Schleupner

Sunday Inbox Inspiration: April 4, 2021: Easter Sunday, April 4 Cycle B

 Sunday Inbox Inspirations

Easter Sunday 

Cycle B

April 4, 2021 

 

“For the Living among the Dead?”

 

“Why are you looking for the living One among the dead?”

 

We hear this question in today’s gospel. Maybe it’s a good idea to allow it to be asked directly to ourselves: “Why are you looking for the living One among the dead?”

 

Could it be that sometimes we do that? And could this be a reason why some of us struggle with our faith in the resurrection of Christ and in the promise of our own resurrection?

 

I wonder if we are, in effect, “looking among the dead” when we are always picking at the negative things in others or in life itself. I wonder if we are “looking among the dead” when fear leads us to do harmful things.   

 

Do these attitudes and actions keep us from experiencing “the living One” – the risen Christ?

 

Messengers of Life…of God

 

We see this in today’s gospel.

 

Some of Jesus’ friends find the tomb empty, and they are bewildered. Then, two persons appear.

 

Our tradition sees them as messengers of God or angels. And these two messengers speak those pointed words: “Why are you looking for the living One among the dead?”

 

I believe that you and I have similar divine messengers or angels who steer us in the right direction for finding the living One.

 

Angel of Trust

 

So, we may have an angel of trust in our lives.

 

I think back to when I was twenty-six years-old – a newly ordained priest. I wanted to develop a different kind of youth program – a program to reach a lot of young people in our community who were on the streets, drifting into trouble, and getting into drugs.

 

The program had risks, but my pastor gave me the green light to try it. He trusted me, and this gave me confidence in myself and in the potentials of life.

 

Today, try to remember an angel of trust in your life – maybe your mother or father. See if that divine messenger is really reassuring you about yourself. 

 

And see if that leads you to say with trust: “Christ is risen!”

  

Angel of Hope

 

And then, we may have an angel of hope in our lives.

 

Maybe we have seen someone refuse to get down in the dumps, no matter what. As a priest, I have seen this even with some people who were dying.

 

I have seen some people refuse to get down.  They see even their illness as eventually leading them home – home to God and to loved ones who are with God. 

 

Today, try to identify an angel of hope in your life – maybe a teacher or a coach. See if that divine messenger is really moving you to keep on trying no matter what. 

 

And see if that leads you to say with hope: “Christ is risen!”

 

Angel of Humor

 

And finally, we may have an angel of humor in our lives.

 

I remember the time of my father’s funeral in 1999. My father really liked good food – I mean, he really enjoyed eating. 

 

So, we were at the cemetery, I was leading the prayers and came to the part about the heavenly banquet, and we all just spontaneously laughed because we imagined dad enjoying God’s banquet in heaven. I think that our humor is a sign that death is not the last word and that life ultimately wins out. 

 

Today, try to identify an angel of humor in your life. See if that divine messenger is really drawing you more fully into life.  

 

And see if that leads you to say with joy: “Christ is risen!”

 

Conclusion

 

So, look for the living One among the living! 

 

Look for the living One in our own divine messengers, in our angels of trust and hope and humor. If we do this, then, I think, we will be better able to really believe in the risen Christ and in our own future resurrection.  

 

 

 

Fr. Michael Schleupner

Inbox Inspiration: March 31, 2020: Paschal Mystery

 Paschal Mystery - 1   

 

Dear Friends,  

The faith formation that I received beginning as a child deeply impressed me with the significance of the week we are now living.

As you know, we name it Holy Week.

Why? Because in these days, we remember the core of our faith: the paschal mystery.

Our word paschal is the adjective for the noun Passover.

Our Jewish brothers and sisters are celebrating Passover right now – from March 27 to April 3.

Passover is their remembrance of the event in the Book of Exodus – the passing over of God’s people from slavery in Egypt to freedom in a new land.

We Christians believe that this passing over event was a kind of foretelling or preliminary to a new Passover. 

This happens with Christ and his passing over from death to resurrection.

We also believe that what Christ experiences is a promise of our own passing over from death to resurrection.

This is for us the paschal mystery, the heart of our faith, the lens through which we view, understand, and interpret all of life.

“Christian spirituality does not apologize for the fact that, within it, the most central of all mysteries is the paschal one, the mystery of suffering, death, and transformation.

In Christian spirituality, Christ is central and, central to Christ, is his death and rising to new life so as to send us a new Spirit.”

So, on Good Friday, we are absorbed in the suffering and crucifixion of Jesus.

On Easter Sunday, we celebrate his passing over from death to new life and the hope that this gives us. 

And, back to Holy Thursday, this day is about the way that Jesus gave us to remember and to be one with him in the mystery of dying and rising: the Eucharist.

So, Holy Week is all about the paschal mystery, the heart of our faith.

More reflections on this next week, in the Inbox of April 7! 

 

Father Michael Schleupner

 

Quotation above from The Holy Longing by Father Ronald Rolheiser, O.M.

 Paschal Mystery - 2   

 

Dear Friends,  

The paschal mystery is not just a one-time event at the end of our earthly life. 

Rather, it is even an everyday experience – 

There can be daily, personal dyings-to-self and risings-to-new.

For example, children, teens, college students die to their desire to play computer games all day and, instead, apply themselves well to their studies.  

They do this as a way to rise – to come to fuller life now and eventually as adults.

We die to our pride or ego and choose to forgive someone who has offended us or to ask for forgiveness for something we did.

In doing this, we rise – we come to more fullness as persons and maybe even come to a fuller relationship with another.

Again, we die to our need to be accepted as one of the group by remaining silent or speaking up to counter racist remarks.

Here, we retain our integrity and come more fully alive in the love of Christ. 

And again, we may suffer physically with illness, we pray to God for healing, and we try to join our suffering to the redemptive suffering of Christ on the cross.

As difficult as this may be, we become more one with God who is life itself. 

So, the paschal mystery is something we can experience often in the course of our earthly journey. 

“The paschal mystery is the mystery of how we, after understanding some kind of death, receive new life and new spirit. 

Jesus, in both his teaching and in his life, showed us a clear paradigm for how this should happen.”

Maybe we can say that the paschal mystery is a process.

It is a process of becoming more and more the person God created us to be by following the way of God’s Son, Jesus.

Our engagement in this process prepares us for the final experience of the paschal mystery at the end of our journey in this world. 

Please also note the Inbox Inspirations of last week, March 31, for more reflections on the paschal mystery. 

 

Father Michael Schleupner

 

Quotation above from The Holy Longing by Father Ronald Rolheiser, O.M.I.