Wisdom to Do Right

Parables about Treasure and Pearl of Great Price

In all decisions, we may pray to God for the wisdom to do the right thing.

King Solomon was clever with affairs of state and built a splendid temple in Jerusalem.  Tradition ascribes 3,000 proverbs and 1,005 songs to him. God appears in a dream to Solomon, saying: ask me for something and I will give it to you. Solomon wants the wisdom to know the right thing to do.

Paul in his letter to the Christian community in Rome writes: “All things work for the good for those who love God.” In light of daily news, we might surmise all things are not working for the good. But Paul, the faith-filled disciple of Jesus, urges us to fix our eyes on eternal life in relationship with God, who ultimately will transform us. Start that life now!

In the Gospel according to Matthew, Jesus continues the theme of choices. In his first parable, a farmer plowing someone else's field hits a clump that turns out to be a buried treasure. He sells everything he has to buy the field so that he can claim the treasure as his own. In the second parable, a merchant finds a pearl so magnificent that he sells all he has accumulated in life to buy that one pearl.

Jesus says to us in these parables: seize the moment. Make the right decision. “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.”

So much for right decisions. What about the decision maker? Right decisions presuppose men and women with character or integrity. Character defines who we are at the core of our inmost self. It's an ethical reality. Centuries ago, the Hebrew psalmist spoke of King David as a great (though not perfect) leader who guided his people with integrity of heart and skillful hands.

Leadership also requires courage. Whether it's starting a new business, battling a life-threatening disease, getting married, struggling to overcome an addiction, or engaging in community service, life demands courage to move beyond our fears and self-doubts to achieve something worthwhile.

The most common phrase in the New Testament is “Do not be afraid.” The most common phrase in the Old Testament is “Be not afraid.” The phrase appears more than a thousand times in both testaments, so God may be trying to get that message across to us.

Finally, leaders have a “can do” attitude. They're optimists; they get the facts; they're enthusiastic and self-confident, and their confidence instills confidence in others.

At different times in life, all of us are called to be leaders: as professionals, business people, parents, citizens in a community and volunteers in an organization.  Seek always the right thing to do — not what is fashionable, not what is merely acceptable. And having found what's right, just do it.

Our Guide to Life

Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro

This Presidents Day, you might enjoy reading a best-selling presidential biography like “Leadership in Turbulent Times,” by historian Doris Kearns Goodwin. The book highlights the true grit of Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Lyndon Johnson.

FDR has always fascinated me, primarily because he shaped, to some extent, two defining times in American history: the Great Depression and World War II. He addressed immense challenges with vision, optimism, persistence and political savvy.

Today’s scripture readings bring us wisdom about life and leadership. The Book of Sirach advises we have to choose between right and wrong, truth and falsehood, life and death. The choices will be a path either to salvation or damnation. God ultimately leads. We pray for God's grace to do the right thing.

St. Paul, in his letter to the Christian community in Corinth, writes about true wisdom, that is, Jesus Christ. The risen Christ is the revelation of God to us. Look always to Jesus and let His life and ministry be a guide.

In the Gospel according to Matthew, Jesus describes what it means to be a disciple. Jesus employs four antitheses, opposites (“you have heard...but I say”). He emphasizes the importance of attitude over legalese. Our attitudes create our behaviors. If we have bad attitudes, we surely will behave badly.

Jesus gives examples, notably: “You have heard that it was said, you shall not murder; but I say to you: you shall not be angry.” Why? Because an attitude of anger or resentment can seethe into bad behavior. Discipleship with Jesus calls for a change of heart, a change of attitude, thinking and feeling positively, not negatively.

Jesus is our exemplar, our guide, of how to live well. Jesus challenges us to be a leader for others.

Jesus communicated purpose in ways that galvanized, energized and excited people. He generated trust which bound people together in their commitments. He inspired hope, with a clear vision of life in relationship with God forever. Jesus converted vision into action.

Matthew 23:10 advises, in so many words, that there is one messiah, one life-leader: Jesus Christ. Jesus calls us to be guides and leaders in our own situations. Yes, to be called by God to influence others is an enormous privilege, but it carries with it great responsibility. We have to possess confidence and character. First and foremost, confidence in God. The psalmists had that. God was their shield, their strength, their guide. Second, the quality of our life and our soul’s destiny will be measured by our character.

Our prayer might be:
Lord, help me to live a life of integrity, authenticity, humility and focus. Help me to have a similar concern for others as Jesus had for us. Give me compassion towards those who are struggling with life's problems. Help me to fix my eyes on our true wisdom, Jesus Christ. Help us to become like Him for others: men and women of confidence and character.

With Eyes of Faith

Presentation of the Child Jesus to God in Temple by Raphael

The Super Bowl gets plenty of attention each year. But Sunday Feb. 2nd we celebrated the feast of the Presentation of the Lord.

In the readings, the author of the book of Malachi, in the fifth century BC, scolds leaders for their careless worship of God which jeopardizes the special relationship (or covenant) God made with the Hebrews centuries before. But God never reneges on his promises. God will send a messenger to prepare the way before him who will purify God’s people so that they can give true worship.

Malachi may challenge us to ask, what is leadership? I think of three ingredients, three Cs: character, courage, “can do”: Character, at our core, who we are at our core,  when no one is watching. Courage is moving beyond fears and doubts to achieve something worthwhile. Finally, leadership presumes a “can do” attitude. At different times, all of us are called to be leaders.

The Letter to the Hebrews describes how God became human in Jesus. Jesus is indeed the face of God among us. And through his death and resurrection, God gifts us with his divine life; we are brothers and sisters to one another and sons and daughters of God our Father. We are consecrated in baptism, sanctified, to be in relationship with God forever. Our faith in Jesus Christ proclaims that one day, God will transfigure us into a new heavenly life as God transfigured Jesus.

Luke’s Gospel tells us that when Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem, Simeon took Jesus into his arms, praised God and said, “My eyes have seen your salvation…a light….” Quite a recognition of a child for an old man.

At home in Nazareth, Jesus grew up--wise. His family was a vital factor in his human development. Even in his teens and “roaring 20s” Jesus prayed, studied and stayed close to family and to God.

More than two millennia later, Pope Francis urged that families develop “a healthy sense of leisure.” Yes, set aside time to do things, to communicate. Sundays are for family.  Enjoy one another's company, do things together whether is'a at a dinner table or in an outdoor/indoor activity.  Think positively about one another.

Someone wrote: “Twenty years from now we will be more disappointed by the things we didn’t do than by the ones we did.” Think about it. Don’t put off until tomorrow….

Remember, the BIBLE stands for Basic Information Before Leaving Earth. Do good now, not later. Life is not a rehearsal. It’s the “real thing.”

Jesus, and Mary, and Joseph lived a life as a family, a holy family, a life with no regrets.
May God on this feast of the Presentation of the Lord grace us: with trust in God’s unconditional love for us; with faith in Jesus Christ, as in the letter to the Hebrews, as our healer, our reconciler; and may God grace us, as He did Simeon and Anna, with the eyes of faith to see Jesus as our salvation, a light who illuminates our darkness.

A Purpose-Driven Life

Caravaggio's Conversion of Paul

The middle ages’ festive games on All Hallows evening, before All Saints Day, gradually became associated with “hallow’een.” Irish Americans popularized Halloween as we know it, asking for treats or threatening tricks. Dressing up and eating treats can be surprisingly unifying.

God’s word in the book of Sirach is about the art of living well in the best sense of the phrase. Hard work, honesty, integrity, compassion, responsibility, courage, and faith in God are the true measure of character. The author says God definitely hears our prayers. It doesn’t seem so sometimes. Yet, our faith challenges to trust in God’s unconditional love for us, his desire for us to turn all toward goodness.

In the Gospel according to Luke, we have the odd couple. The pharisee is full of himself: he thought that his laundry list of deeds made him pleasing to God. But he was ego centered. EGO stands for “easing God out.” On the other hand, the prayer of the tax collector was God centered. He is a model of prayer for us, says Jesus.

Paul, in his letter to Timothy, uses sports imagery to describe his own life and ministry: “I have fought the good fight; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.” Despite obstacles, Paul stays the course, preaching the Gospel. He urges us to do likewise.

What fascinates me is St. Paul’s reflections about his life. He was well educated in philosophy. He had been a persecutor of Christians. But Paul became one of the greatest evangelizers in Christianity. This religious genius established faith communities throughout the eastern Mediterranean, authored letters shaping the history of Christian thought, and eventually was beheaded by Nero.

Paul had keen insight into what makes human beings tick. Everyone yearns for happiness. But we often do things that we think will make us happy, only to discover that they end up making us miserable. We confuse “pleasure” with “happiness.”

Etched into Paul’s vision of human beings were Jesus’s words: “I have come so that they may have life and have it more abundantly.” For Paul, discipline is the path to the fullness of life. Think about it. When we eat well, exercise often, and sleep regularly, we feel more fully alive physically. When we love, when we give of ourselves to help others, we feel more fully alive emotionally. When we study the marvels of the human spirit in various cultures, our world expands, and we feel more fully alive intellectually. And when we take a few moments each day with God in prayer, humbly and openly, we experience more fully the transcendent dimension of our lives, the spiritual.

Discipline sets us free to attain our ultimate purpose: life with God. Freedom is the strength of character to do what is good, true, noble, and right.

Paul grasped this and preached that Christ came to reconcile us with the Father, and in doing so, Christ satisfies the craving for happiness that preoccupies our human hearts. It is ultimately a yearning for friendship and intimacy and relationship with our Creator. Christ, for Paul, is indeed “the way, the truth, and the life.”