Category Archives: Uncategorized

No Room in the Inn for Jesus

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How ironic!  Jesus experienced rejection even before he was born. “She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” (Luke 2:7)  There was no room for Jesus in the inn, so Mary and Joseph had to settle for a cave that was used as a stable for animals.

While these circumstances may have served God’s purpose in taking on our humanity in the humblest of settings, you have to wonder what the innkeeper might have done had he known who Mary and Joseph were and what was about to happen.

We should not be too harsh in judging the innkeeper, for how often have we failed to make room for Jesus in our lives?  There have been times in my life when I made more room for my career than I did for Jesus.  There have been other times, when, like the innkeeper, I did not recognize Jesus in a colleague looking for someone to talk to or the street person looking for help on the streets of New York.

Let me share a story to illustrate, and I apologize that it will extend the usual length of this blog.

When we lived in New York and I was commuting on the trains into Manhattan each day, I would sometimes attend daily mass at St. Matthews just a half block east of Grand Central station.  Since my train did not arrive until 7:32 and mass started at 7:30, I would always be rushing to get there by the time of the first reading.  One day as I was rushing to get into the church, there was a man standing on the church steps who asked me to help him, but because I was so programed to get into the church by the time of the first reading, I ran right by him.  

As I sat down in the pew, I thought to myself, “What did I just do?”  Here someone was asking me to help him and I ran right by him, ignoring his request so I could get into the church at a given time.  I was just like the innkeeper.  I had no room or time for this guy.   

I committed to myself that if he was still there when I walked out, I would see what he needed.  When I came out of the church, he was no longer on the steps, but leaning over the front bumper of a car on the street, vomiting.  “No way,” I thought, and started to walk across the street through a revolving door of a building that would take me to my building.

But the Spirit kept me in that revolving door and back around I went to exit where I entered to check out this guy one more time.  I walked over to him and said, “Pretty sick, uh?”  He was too sick to speak.  He just nodded his head.  I asked if he wanted some breakfast and we went into a little diner next to the church.

It turns out that his name was Richard.  He had been a trumpet player for a band, but lost his job, started drinking, got rolled, beat up, and lost everything he had.  After connecting him up with the Salvation Army, I saw him about a week later.  He was all cleaned up with new clothes and suitcase.  He said he was going to Hartford, Ct., which was his home.  I congratulated him and was delighted to see what had happened.

Then a couple of days later, there he was again, all beat up, his clothes torn, looking awful.  I asked Richard, “What happened?”  He couldn’t say.  He just looked at me with his hollow eyes and shook his head.  I told him to meet me at 10 o’clock, at 43d & Lexington; that I was going to buy him a train ticket to Hartford and put him on the train.  I bought him the ticket, went to 43rd and Lexington, but Richard never showed up and I never saw him again.

The good news is that God never ceases to give us opportunities to make room for him through his son, Jesus.  He is always inviting us to open the door of our hearts so he can reproduce himself in us through the power of the Holy Spirit.  He is always inviting us to love, to forgive, to serve — to build his Kingdom on this earth in the daily circumstances of our lives.

So let us ask ourselves, am I making room for Jesus today in how I relate to the people in my life — my spouse, my children, school friends, work colleagues and the stranger for whom there is no room in the inn?

 

 

 

Why We Celebrate Christmas*

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After hearing the Christmas story over and over, year after year, we might be tempted to take it for granted.  Yet, if we think about it, God’s willingness to become one of us is the greatest act of humility and love in all of human history.  “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” John 1:14

Here we have God, the Father, creator of all that exists; creator of the millions of galaxies and billions of stars whose distance is measured in light years; this God who created the atom and molecule whose size is measured in nanometers – that’s one billionth of a meter; this God who created the human being with a body, soul, spirit and mind, became one of his created in order to free each of us from our sins and the world from its bondage to sin – to reconcile us to him and to one another.

Father William Barry, in his book, A Friendship Like No Other, says, “God took humanity seriously enough to become one of us, and we do God no service if we downplay what God has done in becoming human.”

God in Jesus was a real human being, born of Mary in the humblest of circumstances, in a cave used as a stable with animals nearby.  He had to be toilet trained, learn a language, be raised by real parents, work out his vocation and discern the will of the Father just as we do.  His family was forced into exile to Egypt to escape the sword of Herod.  After assuming his public ministry, the leaders of his own religion handed him over to the Romans to die a horrible death.  God is no stranger to suffering, persecution and injustice.  God in Jesus knows what human life is like from the inside.  His desire for friendship and to dwell with us and in us knows no bounds.

A cobbler does not become a shoe; a cabinet maker does not become a cabinet; but God the Father, creator of all that exists, became one of us.  Little wonder that history’s calendar is measured in terms of before and after this event.

Let us celebrate the birth of Jesus for what it is – the greatest act of humility and love in all of history! 

* Reposted from Christmas, 2014

Unlikely Heralds

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Are we following the example of the shepherds in telling people about Jesus? 

The Gospel of Luke reports that at the time of Jesus’ birth, shepherds nearby were told by an angel that a Savior, the long awaited Messiah, was born. They were told where they could find him and how they would recognize him — in Bethlehem, tightly wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in an animal’s feeding trough.

God chose shepherds, one of the humblest of occupations at the time, to be the news media of the day to spread the word about God becoming one of us. 

“When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.” (Luke 2: 17-18)

We can only imagine the reaction of Mary and Joseph to having some complete strangers visit them and share a story that confirmed what they, too, had been told by an angel – that the son born to Mary was the son of God, Savior and Messiah.

The news of a savior of the world being born is of course pretty amazing.  The good news the Shepherds first proclaimed 2000 years ago is just as important to the world today as it was then.   A savior has been born!  The creator has become one of his created!  An anointed one has come to reconcile God and mankind, and be an example in reconciling each of us to one another.  Through the power of the Holy Spirit, this savior offers to dwell in us and enable us to be and bring his presence to the people and circumstances in our lives.   

Like the shepherds, we may consider ourselves unlikely heralds that Jesus is still present in the world today, but he is present to all who accept his offer to dwell in them.  We have the same opportunity as the shepherds to spread the word about Jesus in what we have seen, heard, and experienced.

Over the past year, I have been participating in a Christian ministry to the local jail.  The venue of the jail has certainly taken me outside my comfort zone.  But last month I found myself sharing about how in between the first and second coming of Jesus, there is a third coming – when we invite Jesus to come and reside in our hearts. Sharing how Jesus changed my life prompted three of the inmates to share how Jesus had changed their lives.  This was remarkable because inmates are very cautious about sharing anything personal in front of one another.  

As with the shepherds, I was an unlikely herald in the venue of a jail, but telling others about Jesus is part of God’s plan for us.  All who hear will be “amazed!”    

 

The Blessing of Burdens

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When are we most likely to experience the closeness of God – in our trials or in our victories?  St. John of the Cross said, “When you are burdened you are close to God.  When you are relieved of your burden you are close to yourself.” (Sayings of Light and Love, No. 4)

In this proverb-like statement, he proclaims a truth that captures our human nature intersecting with the ways of God.  When things are going well for us we tend to focus more on ourselves than God.  Remember the ten lepers who were healed by Jesus.  Only one returned to thank him and praise God. (Luke 17:17-18)

When we are burdened beyond our capabilities or unable to envision the solution to our needs, we are more open to turn to God.  We are more open to acknowledge the humble state of our need.

When our youngest daughter was facing open heart surgery at six months to correct openings between the auricle and ventricle chambers of her heart, some dear Christian friends came to pray over her and us.  After praying with us, one of them said, “God has never been closer to you than right now.”  He was right.  We experienced both God’s presence and his peace.  During a subsequent pre-surgical catheterization, we learned that the most critical opening had been healed, and the surgery on the less serious opening could be postponed until she was four, when she was much stronger and the surgery would be less risky.

The liturgical readings for this past Sunday from Daniel and the Gospel of Mark were about the tribulation of the end times and the signs preceding the second coming of Jesus.  The overall message was that we need not fear these events for we have the hope of the coming of Jesus who will set all things right.

We should have the same hope when faced with various burdens in our lives, for they are opportunities to experience Jesus and his mercy, love, forgiveness, renewal, and restoration.  The burden could be a sin, the alienation of a friend, an illness, the loss of a loved one, the loss of a job, or a personal financial crisis.

Whatever it is, Jesus says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Mt. 11:28-29) 

This past week, at a Christian ministry for the local jail, I listened to three different men share how the tribulation of their imprisonment had led them to be open to listening to God and his invitation to become a part of their lives through Jesus Christ.  One literally said that he would be dead now if he had not been imprisoned, which caused him to listen to God and come to know Jesus.  

His burden has become his blessing. 

Where Do You Look for Meaning and Purpose?

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When Mary Magdalene and the other women went to the tomb to anoint Jesus’ body after his crucifixion they encountered two men described by Luke as angels who asked, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?” (Luke 24:5)

To their astonishment, these men told them that Jesus was alive!  He was not dead, though he had been put to death on the cross.  How incredulous the whole scene must have appeared to them.  Two days earlier, they saw him die and taken down from the cross.  They saw his dead body embraced by his mother as she wept.  They saw his body placed in the tomb.   How could he be alive?

Our God is the author and creator of life.  He is not confined by the boundaries of our perceptions. 

How often do we look for the living among the dead?  How often do we search for Jesus where he is not present?   How often do we look for real meaning, purpose or happiness in life where they are not to be found – in that next job, promotion or the ever-changing notion of success; in a particular friend, group of friends or organization; in a sports team, sports hero or celebrity entertainer; in that new house, boat or car; in breaking 80 in golf, achieving a perfect 300 game in bowling or completing a full marathon in record time; in food, alcohol, drugs or other unique experience?

I know a friend who was looking for meaning and purpose in life and tried all kinds of things, even traveling to the Himalayas in India, searching for the “Living Master.”  He did not find him.  Only later, after attending a weekend retreat in his hometown conducted by a Christian outreach to the business community, Christians in Commerce, did he find the true living master, Jesus, the Messiah.  This friend found that Jesus had been waiting for him all along.  “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” (Rev. 3:20)

Jesus became alive and present to my friend, providing the meaning and purpose he had long sought.  Ever since, he has been operating a construction business, bringing God’s presence to his employees, customers and community in how he relates to others, does business with integrity and seeks excellence in all that he does.

Where do you look for Jesus – among the living or the dead?  He is present to you this very moment. 

Tending Sheep, Employees, Family and Friends

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Am I a good shepherd of the people and responsibilities entrusted to me?

Jesus says that he is the good shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep. (John 10:11) Most of us have never been around sheep, nor would we think of ourselves as shepherds. We may view the analogy appropriate for pastors or bishops, but not for ourselves. Yet, many of us are responsible for people or work just as a shepherd is of sheep. The people may be our families, employees who work for us, customers who we are expected to serve, or even friends who may have an expectation of support. The work can be our job responsibilities, family responsibilities, or expectations flowing from our volunteer activities. As the good shepherd, Jesus distinguishes himself from the hired hand who abandons the sheep when he sees the wolf coming because he neither owns the sheep nor cares for them. (John 10:12)

Shepherd or hired hand? John was a county prosecutor in Duluth, Minnesota for many years. In one of his early cases he was surprised to discover that a former high school friend, Jim, was the defendant. Over the next 26 years John would prosecute Jim a dozen times for theft related crimes to support a chemical dependency.

For a number of years John thought Jim was just another hopeless habitual criminal. Then John recommitted his life to Jesus Christ and experienced the baptism in the Holy Spirit. The next time he saw Jim in court he told him that he would pray for him. Jim said not to waste his time. In subsequent cases Jim would thank John for his prayers and said that he in turn would pray for John.

Then Jim was again caught with a cache of stolen goods, sentenced to prison, but learned that he was terminally ill with sclerosis of the liver. His lawyer arranged for him to be assigned to a hospice. Jim asked his lawyer to let John know his condition and to request his prayers.

Over the next six months John did more than just pray for Jim. He visited him two to four times a week. They reminisced about growing up in the 1950s and talked about their favorite baseball players. They also read the Bible together. That fall, Jim repented of his sins and surrendered his life to Jesus Christ. He died in November. “Jim loved reading and praying the psalms,” said John. “God used Jim to teach me about acceptance of suffering and perseverance, and he showed me that it’s never too late to say yes to the Lord, no matter what we have done.

John concludes, “Because God answers prayers, Jim said, ‘yes’ to Christ before he died, and I know he is in paradise today – just like another thief who died on the cross next to Jesus 2000 years ago.” (Excerpt from Hope for the Workplace, p. 46, www.zacchaeuspublications.com.)

Good Shepherd. John was a good shepherd of his responsibilities as a prosecutor and of even the people he prosecuted. Before every trial, John says, “I pray for the truth to be known, for a just result, and that everyone involved would come to know Christ.” John sacrificed his time in supporting Jim and leading him to Christ before he died. He did not run like a “hired hand” in the face of a challenge as Jesus mentioned. He persevered in going after a lost sheep in the person of his former high school friend Jim. He was faithful until he brought him home to the Father, just like “the good shepherd [who] lays down his life for his sheep.”

Lift up the Gates of Your Heart

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Does the Spirit of God reside in you?  

At the time of Moses, God would reside in the Tent of Meeting. (Exodus 33:7-11) Later, the Israelites built a temple for him in Jerusalem. In Psalm 24, we read, “Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift them up you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is he, this King of glory? The Lord Almighty – he is the King of glory.” (Psalm 24:9-10)

The psalmist was declaring that the gates of the city be opened so that the people could experience God’s visitation and presence. A millennium later, Jesus tells the Samaritan woman at the well that “a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem…true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.” (John 4:21, 23) He would also declare that the “the Kingdom [of God] is within you.” (Luke 17:21) St. Paul would add, “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?” (1 Cor. 3:16)

God’s desire is not to reside in a Temple of bricks and mortar, but in the temple of our hearts.

Beverly who is an oncology nurse in Gilroy, California, says to her patients as she begins an IV, “Let’s pray that this IV will be painless.” At some point she will ask her patients if she can pray with them. They always say okay. At a time when medical care can become quite impersonal, Beverly says, “We get very close to many of our patients. I went to Pat’s house to help her out before she died. We’ll go to the hospital and pray with patients, even in a coma. People tell me, ‘You shouldn’t get so close to your patients,’ but I tell them that ‘this is my God job.’”

Beverly is bringing God’s presence to the patients that come to her clinic. She cares for them; she intercedes for them; as a Gospel singer and concert violinist, she sings and plays for them – she loves them just as Jesus would love them if he were physically present. He is present to them through Beverly. Read more in Hope for the Workplace – Christ in You, p. 37, www.zacchaeuspublications.com.

When we open the gates of our heart to his presence, God shares his own Holy Spirit with us. The Spirit of God comes to dwell in us and empower us to do the same things that Jesus did and even greater things. God’s love becomes our love, his strength becomes our strength and his word becomes our word – all for the purpose of bringing about his Kingdom through us to the people and circumstances of our lives.

Lift up the gates of my heart, O Lord that the love and mercy of your presence may be manifest to all whom you place in my path – my wife and family, friends, colleagues, bosses, subordinates, customers, suppliers and strangers.

Amazing!

The High Cost of Lies

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It takes a lot of effort to support a lie. Can you remember a time when a little “white lie” led to another lie and then another?

The chief priests and elders of Jesus’ day did not know how to deal with an empty tomb and the possibility that Jesus, whom they crucified, was raised from the dead. Most everything that Jesus said and did was outside their paradigm for a Messiah. His resurrection was untenable to them. So, they devised a lie and paid those who were guarding his tomb a large sum of money to testify to the lie.

Matthew reports, “When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, ‘You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep. So the soldiers took the money and did as they were told.’” (Mt. 28:12-13, 15)

Providing cover for a lie can get complicated, taking time, creating anxiety and exacting an emotional toll. How often have we seen a public figure pay a high price for living a lie, sometimes costing them their marriage, family, career and, like the chief priests, even hush money?

In Hope for the Workplace – Christ in You, www.zacchaeuspublications.com), there is the story of Pat who had struggled to get a job after completing her master’s degree. She obtained temporary work at a small university to write a report about the effectiveness of a federal grant for a media center to improve teaching methods. When her report included survey data about the lack of use of the media center by the faculty, she was asked by the department chair to alter the data so that he and the university would not look bad. He implied that a permanent job would be in the offering if she acceded to his request, but probably not if she refused. Pat refused to go along with the lie. The job was not offered. But Pat’s conscience was clear, and her response helped her get a better job elsewhere several months later.

Truth is less complicated than a lie. It is liberating. It is cleansing. The lack of truth is an obstacle to the Holy Spirit acting in our lives, while its presence testifies to the power of God. Truth is the pearl “of great value.” (Mt. 13:46) Paul says love rejoices in the truth. (1 Cor.13:6)

Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life.” (John 14:6) “If you hold to my teaching…then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32)

How much do we value the truth? How much is a lie costing us? Let us pray for the courage not to exchange the truth of God for a lie. (Romans 1:25)

Do You See the Risen Jesus?

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Jesus was dead. They saw him die, and they saw the tomb where he was buried. The trauma was indelibly printed on their minds and would not be easily removed.

Now he was appearing before them, but they did not recognize him. Mary Magdalene did not recognize him until he said her name, “Mary.” The disciples on the road to Emmaus did not recognize him though he walked with them until nearly dark. Only at the breaking of the bread as they began to eat were their eyes opened.

To overcome the trauma of seeing Jesus’ torturous death they needed proof to confirm what their eyes were now seeing. After offering them his peace, Jesus “showed them his hands and side.” (John 20:20) Later he eats fish to show that he is not just spirit but also flesh. (Luke 24:42-43) On another occasion, he confirms his presence with a miracle catch of 153 fish. (John 21)

Overcoming our paradigm of death and its irreversible nature is no small matter. It was true for the disciples and it is true for us. Yet, that is exactly the hope that God offers on Easter morning in the person of his son, Jesus. God became one of us to show that life does not end with our physical death. Who we are has less to do with our physical nature than with our soul and spirit, which are a created by God and mysteriously joined with our physical nature at conception.

Jesus bequeathed to both the disciples and us something to take the place of his physical presence – the Holy Spirit, which he described as giving us the power to be his witnesses to the ends of the earth. The Holy Spirit enables the words of Jesus to become a reality in our lives — he is in us and we in him just as the Father is in him and he is in the Father. He says the result is that, “Anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these…so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.” (John 14:12-13)

With the power of the Holy Spirit, we can experience Jesus’ personal presence in our daily lives. For me, it first happened on an October evening many years ago when I met him in a personal way and he took the sin and disorder from my life. We now meet for coffee and prayer every morning. I also see him every day in the big bright smile of our daughter with Down syndrome whose many hugs reflect her natural inclination to love.

I see him in the love of my wife and all or our children and grandchildren as they respond to his love for them. I see him in the inmates of the local jail who accept the humility of their present circumstance and seek the sacrament of reconciliation. I see him in the teenagers and college students we know who postpone career decisions to serve him on college campuses and impoverished areas.

Where do you see the risen Jesus?

A Life Pleasing to the Crowd

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Who do we seek to please – the crowd or God?

After questioning Jesus, Pontius Pilate concluded that he had committed no crime and offered to release him in accordance with the custom to release one prisoner at the feast of the Passover. The chief priests stirred up the crowd to demand the release of an insurrectionist named Barabbas instead of Jesus and have Jesus crucified. Pilate resisted at first, but then Mark reports, “Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas…He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.” (Mark 15:15)

The crowd seldom gets it right. How often do we see conventional wisdom that is not wise, popular opinion that does not reflect the truth, and consensus that leads to the wrong result?

Cynthia Cooper, the vice president of Internal Audit for WorldCom who discovered the massive fraudulent accounting in 2002, says in her book, Extraordinary Circumstances, “Most of the people who participated in the WorldCom fraud were ordinary, middle-class Americans. They had no prior criminal records and never imagined they would be confronted with such life-altering choices. They were mothers and fathers who went to work to support their families, spent weekends going to their children’s activities and church, and were respected within their communities.” In speculating on the motivation of the mid-level employees who participated in the fraud, she said they simply “felt pressured and afraid that they would lose their jobs if they didn’t go along.” (See Hope for the Workplace – Christ in You, p. 11, www.zacchaeuspublications.com)

One of the few things Jesus did say when questioned by Pilate was that he had come into the world to testify to the truth. Ironically, Pilate asked, “What is truth?” though the embodiment of all truth was standing before him in the person of Jesus. (John 18:37-38)

Like Jesus, our decisions and actions should testify to the truth. Unlike Pilate, we should not be governed by what the crowd or others want, but rather should be seeking the truth which is what God wants.

The crowd yelled, “Crucify him!” But the crowd got it wrong. God redeemed the wrong and took the cross, a symbol of Roman cruelty and oppression, and transformed it into a symbol of love, sacrifice and hope.