Reflection for the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2019

Gut
check.

I charge you before God, who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus, who gave testimony under Pontius Pilate for the noble confession, to keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ

Today, the Holy Church in choosing its readings and Gospel, provides us with three quick punches to the gut, a real gut check.

Amos once again is prophesying against the failures of God’s people. Imagine, God Who loves His people deeply, is forced to look at the wholesale disregard, the coldness, His people live in. Their hearts grew distant, not just from Him and His love, but from their very neighbors. The world was falling to pieces around them. Leaders, faithless and self-centered. As long as they were comfortable, nothing else mattered. There was increasing disparity between the very wealthy and the very poor. God witnesses the glaring lack of social justice, a society living on corruption and the oppression of the poor and helpless. Even religion was corrupted, every belief and practice blended together to please the crowds. The wealthy and well-heeled thought that the superficial stuff they did could stave off economic failure, distress (for the rich), and invasion. They didn’t have to dedicate their whole selves to God; they only had to go through the motions. Amos points them to the natural and supernatural consequences of living that way. His words were echoed by Dr. Martin Luther King and others who call us back to covenant with God, to get out of our complacency and back to where we must be if we truly love the God who saves us. Gut check.

In Paul’s letter to Timothy, he reminds Timothy of his call in the fullness of the Apostolic Priesthood. No, the clergy are not exempt from living fully in Jesus, to being 100% witnesses to His salvation. He warns people like me to put aside all complacency: But you, man of God, pursue righteousness, devotion, faith, love, patience, and gentleness. Gut check.

Jesus’ parable of Lazarus and the rich man runs a total of 295 words, with 21% dedicated to the set-up, and 79% dedicated to outcomes. As with anyone facing up to their consequences, the bed they made, all the bargaining in eternity makes no difference. Jesus tells us that if we are His we get it. We have listened and have not put off doing. Too late? No, but our gut check time is now. Let us set to work!

Reflection for Septuagesima Sunday 2016

Time for a gut
check, really.

For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all men most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

Gut check: an evaluation or test of a person’s resolve, commitment, or priorities, typically with respect to a particular course of action.

Today we enter the Pre-Lenten season of Septuagesima. This is prime time to do a gut check. What do we believe and why do we believe it?

St. Paul confronted this with the people of Corinth.

Some people in the Church at Corinth claimed there was no resurrection from the dead. They could not reason or see how dead people could possibly come back.

They were seeing with worldly eyes and were thinking with worldly reasoning.

Paul pointed out the fact that the faith they accepted was in the Jesus that was preached to them. Eyewitnesses to the resurrected Jesus preached to them. They were lucky enough to get a first-hand account from those who witnessed the resurrection; the resurrection of the One who also raised Lazarus, the widow’s son, and Jairus’ daughter from the dead. Logically, if Christ rose from the dead, so shall we. If resurrection was impossible then Christ did not rise from the dead. If He did not rise, what’s the point of our belief? We are not saved, Jesus was nothing more than a common man, and dead is dead.

The very foundation of Christianity – the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus – is make believe and we are wasting our time believing in Him, worshipping Him, and following His good news.

St. Paul emphatically states: in fact Christ has been raised from the dead. What we believe is true as seen and reported and worthy of belief. Not just that, but what we believe is also our destiny. It is the promise we hold onto.

As we begin the Pre-Lenten season let us also do a ‘gut check.’ When we kneel, what is that about? When we receive, Who do we receive? Who gave us the promises we hold onto? Our gut should tell us God made real in our lives.

We have this chance to check in, to reflect, and to see with heavenly eyes. Getting back to basics will make our Lenten journey more fruitful. Our ‘gut check’ brings us back to the most basic message of all. Jesus is real and all He said and did is real. His reality, His victory, His joy, like the resurrection is ours too – really!