My friends, I don’t know about you, but I have always appreciated having a new start.  I love the change of seasons that we experience here in Minnesota – the new life that spring affords us – I never quite get over the mystery and miracle of how each year, new, little, green buds pop out of ground just very recently frozen.  Then the continued growth of flowers and vegetables to labor over, and to enjoy – the harvest, and then the shutting down of all growing things, and a much-needed rest, of which we are upon now.  

   The Church Year follows a somewhat same journey through time which I likewise appreciate and am grateful for.  With today, the last Sunday in Ordinary Time, and next week, a feast to celebrate Jesus, the Christ, our brother, friend, and model, hopefully, that we pattern our own lives after, we will end another Church Year of grace. 

   The holy season of Advent begins then on November 30^th, and we are into a new Church Year.  But I am getting ahead of myself…Let’s look then at today’s readings.  There seems to be an urgency in all of them, to, simply put, as I always say, “be our best.”  We are encouraged to basically, “take a look,” to see how we are doing.  We might ask, “could we be accused and convicted, for being a Christian? – would there be enough evidence?  Not to be too dramatic though, we  are encouraged to look  into our lives to see where possible change may be needed. Perhaps we may not be doing “anything wrong,” but again, would others be able to know, looking at our actions, that we are Jesus’ followers? Not an easy task, and in our present day world, so much injustice to address.

   A very good friend to Robert and I over the years since I was ordained started out as my religion instructor in my freshman year at Cotter High School, Jim Fitzpatrick, who was then an active diocesan priest.  After ten years in ministry, he became aware of the sexual abuse of minors that was happening among some of his brother priests.  He took his knowledge to the bishop, who basically did nothing.  Jim, being the moral person that he was, left active ministry over this issue and through the rest of his life, along with his wife, Karen, was “active” in new and different ways, being true to his call to follow his brother Jesus.  I think he and she could be accused and convicted of being Christians. 

   Sometimes, many times, our faith calls us to being, “more than,” “just good.”  Sometimes, we must be about “good trouble,” as John Lewis said. 

   When I think of Jim Fitzpatrick, who stood not much more than 5 feet in height, I marvel at the attention he was able to get in our lowly group of beginning high schoolers.  When we didn’t seem to produce the answers quick enough or with enough interest, he used to exclaim, “C’mon, catch fire!” 

   Our national group of bishops “caught fire” this past week in their quite strong statement against the treatment of immigrants by the powers-that-be in our country. Now, if they just continue the “good words” with sustained action demanding change, that will be good!  The past couple of days, I was with a group of my sister and brother Cojourners at Assisi Heights in Rochester, home of the Franciscan Sisters there. Cojourners are lay folks who attempt in their lives to live Franciscan values alongside the sisters. We spent many good hours trying to understand, and decide, how we may continue to not only exist, but be vibrant in our world, once the sisters have all gone home to God.

   So, my friends, these readings today, as we are winding down another Church Year, are instructing us as Paul did the Thessalonians in today’s 2^nd reading, “to be concerned about giving good example.”  Paul puts it rather bluntly today, “If you do not work, you should not eat.” Now there are those in power today who would agree with that,but that is because they and Paul are applying a black and white solution to an often very gray problem.  If someone is lazy, well then fine, but if someone is incapable of work, that is another thing. I would probably soften Paul’s words to say, rather, “get your heart in the right place!”  None of us can do all, but all of us can do something to make our world better. 

   Our brother Jesus gives us some pointers in today’s gospel from Luke at what “our walk in his footsteps” will be like –words good to heed, I think:  “Take care not to be misled,” you will suffer for my name.”  In speaking with many of you, I know you suffer the estrangement of family members ands friends, because your morals don’t allow you to accept the rhetoric and tone of many in our country today – if your heart won’t allow you to agree and those who may have supported you in the past, no longer do, our brother Jesus understands that from personal experience in his world,  and he encourages, “patient endurance” or we might say, “keep on keeping on.”

   When our friend Jim Fitzpatrick died, many, including us attended his Celebration of Life, now 6 years ago.  Another of his students, a religious sister who gave the homily, spoke of Jim’s favorite Scripture passage – that of the Transfiguration wherein Jesus takes his apostles, Peter, James and John up a mountain and he shows himself to them in a different way as he appeared alongside Moses and Elijah. 

   What Jim loved about this passage were Peter’s impetuous and spontaneous words, to what he was seeing, “It is good for us to be here!”  Evidently, the only time in Scripture that we hear these words about “it being good that we, each of us, is here!   Jim Fitzpatrick took these words, “the goodness of his being here” to heart, knowing that Jesus was calling him to make a difference. 

   At the beginning of November, the Church celebrated, “All Saints Day,” a day we remember so many who have gone on before us, who made a difference.  Perhaps you have a favorite saint or two.  I always take great joy in thinking of my patron saint, Catherine of Siena, who took issue not only with bishops, but with the pope too for not being their best. An aside, if you don’t know how to find your patron saint, and perhaps there is more than one, as in my case, with Catherine, you would take the one closest to your birthday.  If there is only one saint with your name, then it is easy.  I also like to add, every day, ordinary people, like many in our own personal lives, are saints too, uncanonized, but saints just the same. 

   So, my friends, tying this all together, being a follower of our brother Jesus, is far from an easy task if we are truly “walking” with him, but the hope is always, with each passing day, each passing Church Year, we can begin again, making a difference.

   And when it comes right down to it – it really is, “all about love!”  Most Monday evenings since March of this year, I have stood on the corner of Main and Broadway along with approximately 100 or more others advocating for a better world. Robert is on my left, and two older, sweet ladies are on my right somewhat comfortably seated, doing the same.  This past week, one of them said, “being here maybe doesn’t make much of a difference, but I get hope that I am doing something,”  especially when cars go by honking approval. I told them, “Ladies, we are walking the talk!”  We don’t always know what seeds we are planting…

   Teilhard de Chardin said it better and even though I have shared these words before, I think they are a fitting way to end today:   “Someday, after we have mastered the winds, the waves, the tides, and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love.  Then, for the second time in the history of the world, we will have discovered fire.”  And again, Jim Fitzpatrick would say, “C’mon, catch fire!”  Amen? Amen! 

My friends, if you follow the Sunday Scriptures closely, you may have noticed that again this week I didn’t use the chosen feast, that of, The Dedication of the Lateran Basilica, which we celebrate about every seven years on a Sunday, when November 9^th falls on a Sunday.  As I looked at the chosen Scriptures for this feast, which calls us through readings from the prophets, Ezekiel, Saint Paul in his letter to the Corinthians, and Jesus in the gospel of John, to respect and treasure the temple, with our brother Jesus clearly telling us in John that he, Jesus, basically, “is the only temple that we should treasure,” I felt that clear idea could be woven into the Scriptures for the 32^nd Sunday in Ordinary Time and added upon, as Jesus always wants us to go deeper.

   So, turning to the 32^nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, we see the virtue of faith being uplifted in the Old Testament reading from Maccabees, where we come face-to-face with what seven brothers are willing to endure to remain faithful to their God at the hands of their Greek captors. 

   At first glance this reading may seem to some as an unusual choice because of the violence that it depicts, and we may ask why?  The “good,” if we can use that word, comes when we take the next step, beyond the violence, to understand why the brothers are willing to endure what they do.  Because they – each, believed so strongly in the God who made a covenant with their people, “to be their God, and they would be God’s people,” they received the courage to stand strong in the face of ignorance, and cruel violence.  These brothers knew that there was more than this life, and that basically, God would more than give back anything they may have lost in their earthly journeys.

   The times in which we live my friends, have shown us an uptick in this same kind of ignorance and cruel violence around our world.  Many days for me, and I know this is true for you as well, I wonder how much more evil that shows itself in the form of greed, selfishness, and lack of concern for the common good, we can endure. 

   One of the lessons of the Maccabees’ reading that we should see, and lay upon our hearts, is the counsel, “to not become what we abhor.”  Those of you who demonstrate on Monday evenings with placards asking for better in our country than what we are seeing at present, are sometimes abused by violent reactions from some driving by  — loud cars and other abusive gestures. We must always remember not to react in like manner. 

   Paul, in his letter to the Thessalonians encourages his converts to pray that they be “delivered from confused and evil persons” – a worthy prayer for all of us too, it would seem.  Paul goes on to pray, “may the Spirit rule in your hearts.”  This reminds me of the Christian Brothers’ Prayer that Jim Hanzel, a former Christian brother, and member of All Are One pray each time we are together – “Live Jesus in our hearts forever.”  In my years as a chaplain, and now as a pastor, I routinely encourage people in times of trouble, when seemingly the path forward doesn’t appear clear, to simply utter the name of “Jesus” – there is, I know from personal experience, great strength in his name. 

   The story we heard today in Luke’s gospel about another seven brothers who attempt to “give” the same woman children, in turn upon the death of a previous brother who failed, is one that ties together well, I think, the two feasts we are considering today, that of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica and the 32^nd Sunday in Ordinary Time.  As with so many issues that Jesus comments on in Scripture, encouraging people to see “a bigger picture,” this gospel from Luke is no exception. 

   The teller of the story wonders out loud whose wife the woman will be in eternity as all have married her.  And even though we may smile at this story, having off spring was of great importance in Jesus’ time, especially for women, and here it would be to have a son who could care for and support a mother if widowed, who had no power in this society, but that she was connected to a man.   But again, Jesus must direct his hearers to a greater message – life in eternity will be different – all will be cared for, all will be equal, somehow, in the embrace of a Loving God. 

   You may be wondering why an annual feast celebrating a basilica that sometimes falls on a Sunday, and when it does, is so important that it takes precedence over the regular Sunday feast.  When Constantine made Christianity the state religion in 312 CE, Christians received, through the gift of this basilica, which has grown over time, a place to publicly worship, and pray, which in the first few centuries, they didn’t have.

   There is, always, as we all know, the danger of making material things more important than spiritual things and I believe it is for this reason that all the readings for this Dedication of the Lateran Basilica point not to the “material building,” but to the temple, which is Jesus, the Christ, living within each of us.  Again, when too much emphasis is placed on the “material” temple, there is the danger of losing sight of the spiritual temple that exists within each of us, within all of creation, really.  Paul said it in the letter to the Corinthians – “Don’t you realize that you are God’s temple”?!  He says further, “Jesus, the Christ” lays the foundation” [!]

   The seven brothers in the Maccabees reading, even well before our brother Jesus lived, had a sense of this awesome reality – that they were God’s temples, and that is why they had the strength to give their lives to uplift the importance of answering to a higher power. 

   So my friends, when times are tough in our own lives, we need to realize that life brings both good and not so good, tyrants come and go, but by holding onto our core values, attempting each day, to be our best, we will be true to our baptisms, saying, “yes” to who we follow, not merely the “material” temples of this world, but more so, the temples that exist in each person, in all of creation. 

   And because we all love a good story, I will end with one. Steve Hartman, CBS commentator and producer of the On the Road series this past Friday shared the story of a 6-year-old girl named Marion from Springfield, Massachusetts, who took it upon herself to help save an endangered salamander, the axolotl. She felt, it was her responsibility to do so . The axolotl, it turns out, can reproduce its limbs, if for any reason, it loses them.  Scientists from Harvard have been studying how axolotls do this in the hopes that we humans can learn how to do the same when they lose limbs. Harvard sadly, lost its funding for this project in the spring, so enter 6- year-old Marion to help—she made a power point and established a fundraiser, which brought in $1,000. Steve, in talking to Marion, wanted to know why this was important for her to do. She said, it wasn’t just because the axolotl “is cute,” but because it can grow again any of its body limbs! –she felt that even though many animals are endangered, “it was her destiny” to save this one.  The female scientist at Harvard interviewed, and her colleagues were given great hope not in the amount of the gift (and their funding was later reinstated), but in the size of the giver—that someone so small could care so much!

   So, there you have it friends, each of us doing our part, recognizing the “temples” where we find them, and as we heard here, even in an animal, one, I had never heard of   before! Amen? Amen!

    My friends, as I said in the bulletin, I opted for the readings from the 31^st Sunday in Ordinary Time rather than those for All Souls’ Day which falls on this Sunday, because I felt the readings would serve both All Saints’ Day which was yesterday and All Souls’ Day well.  In that context, it is good for us, right off, to remember that we are all saints and souls journeying within our humanity, back to God, in a more complete way, because, as we know, our God is always with us.  On this day then, it is good to remember all the saints from our parish who have gone before us, Cathy and Eric Bartleson, Shannon Hanzel, Mike Maher, Warren Galbus, Bob Sherman, Giles Schmid, Mary Paszkiewicz, and from our respective families and being grateful to God for their presence and example to us. 

   Looking then at the readings from Wisdom, 2 Thessalonians and Luke, for today, we can recognize with a deeper look that each is about salvation.  And here I mean something other than Jesus coming to die for us, but more so, “to live for us,” “to show us the way. 

   The beautiful story of Zacchaeus today is a grand case in point of this truth.  Zacchaeus, a man, short in physical stature, climbs a tree to see the famous man, Jesus, who has come to his town.  He like others wants to get a view and “up a tree” will give him that view, plus he will be, “out of sight” and safe, or so he thinks. 

   But, as we see, and Zacchaeus also sees, Jesus finds us where we are at and then loves us to more.  So, what do I mean by that?

   In order to understand Zacchaeus better and how Jesus calls him to a better place, we have to look at how Zacchaeus makes a living – he basically works for the Romans collecting taxes from his neighbors.  Tax collectors were generally looked down upon because not only did they collect the needed amount, but an extra portion for themselves and apparently there was no limit on what they could ask for, and we know that this was the case with Zacchaeus because the Scriptures say, “he was wealthy.”

   The human tendency, which each of us is probably guilty of to some degree, is to look down on those whose actions we don’t approve of.  With our brother Jesus, we see a different example to follow – Jesus “sees” people first, then their actions.   Zacchaeus no doubt knew that people despised him and that would explain the additional reason that he was “up a tree” – “to be safe.”

   Jesus, in the great heart of God, knows and understands Zacchaeus—he knows what he does for a living, and he knows why he does it—he knows all that makes up Zacchaeus’ life.  He doesn’t judge but moves to the next step — he respects Zacchaeus and loves him to be more than Zacchaeus thought was possible.  When we talk about salvation then, this is what it is really all about — finding the strength to be all we were created to be.

   There is an interesting twist in the story of Zacchaeus that Jesus ultimately calls “the lie” to.  In the time in which Jesus lived, any ailment that a person acquired and lived with was thought to be caused by a person’s sins – and “shortness of stature” would be seen in this way. 

   By the action that Jesus took, meeting the tax collector “where he was,” he showed that such “narrow” thinking could not be right, just or compassionate.  And Jesus’ response comes right out of the 1^st reading today from the Wisdom literature, “You love all things that are created and loathe nothing.” 

   Looking at this tendency of people despising what they don’t understand, we might feel inclined to judge such actions as less than good, but the truth is, we may be guilty of the same.   In our times a very unchristian tendency seems to be afoot in the thinking that we don’t want to remember, or take blame for the sins of previous humans because, we are told, “it might make us feel bad.”

   The solution: deny that such sins as the Jewish Holocaust, or Shoah, attempts at extermination and assimilation of Native peoples in our country, and our deep-seeded racism ever happened or exists, still today.

   And yet, we have the memory of Jesus of Nazareth, who we are told in many other places in Scripture besides the story of Zacchaeus today, that Jesus wants to “know” us – a great truth that we should not miss for ourselves in this story. 

   For each of us friends, Jesus is on the look-out every day of our lives to enter in through the sorrows, the joys, the “ah-ha” moments.  We try to hide,  in safe places too, up our own “trees”—behind our names, our situations—our pain, the people we know—thinking that God won’t find us or probably doesn’t care.  And if we think that, we would be wrong.  Let me say that again—if we think that our God doesn’t care—WE WOULD BE WRONG!  All we have to do is reflect on all the Scriptures where Jesus goes out of his way to make a difference in people’s lives like today with Zacchaeus.    Because Jesus looked into Zacchaeus’ heart, Zacchaeus found the strength, the grace to change his life. 

   The easier choice is always to judge people, considering them wrong, and us right, put them in a box, and expect no more.  Jesus shows us how loving someone that we don’t agree with, can call them “to more.”

   Friends, I know for most of us, myself included, we are daily frustrated with those so-called leaders in Church and state who seem to be absolutely, “clueless” about moving out of their “safe trees” and speaking the truth about the wrongs they see as Jesus did in today’s gospel through his actions with regard to Zacchaeus.  Too many today, claiming to be “Christians,” and shame on any of us who do claim this awesome title, but play it safe by never following through in our actions!

   Paul, in his letter to the Thessalonians in today’s 2^nd reading, says it well, “We pray constantly that our God will make you worthy of the call.”  In a homily from last Sunday, Pope Leo gave us some pointers toward being more “Christian” in our world:

• No one is called to dominate, but all are called to serve.
• [Act] “not [with] power, but with love.”
• [We need] “a more humble Church.”
• [restless hearts should be] “in love with LOVE”

   So, friends, let us each pray that we might be, every day, more worthy, through our actions, of being labeled, “a Christian” in our world.    Amen? Amen!

My friends, Ordinary Time is beginning to wind down and within a few short weeks, the end of the Church Year will be upon us and the beginning of a new Church Year with the coming of Advent the end of November.  But before that happens, we will continue to be challenged to “be our best,” as we are today. 

   Let’s begin with the 1^st reading from the Old Testament Book of Exodus, which I think you maybe would agree, we could have skipped because of its theme of the Israelites waging war on their neighbors and the fact that our God appears to be supporting this action.  And upon reflection, we might be thinking that “this God” doesn’t sound like the God of our brother, Jesus, who in fact, we believe, becomes “the Christ,” Jesus that is – a God big enough for all, a God surpassing all religions. 

   Even so, exegetes tell us not to skip this 1^st reading, but to look deeper than just the surface story of humans going to war against each other.  And, in our own reality, we are aware of too much war and fighting in our world today, among the Israelites and the Palestinians – not yet fully settled, among the Ukrainians and the Russians, and we long for the ability among all these humans to seek after peace. 

   I mentioned exegetes telling us, “Not to skip this 1^st reading, and to “cut the people writing this story, a break” because they didn’t yet “know Jesus as we do, to show them the way.”  Thus, my friends, going deeper, the psalm refrain for today is a better, higher perhaps message to hold onto, “Our help is from God who made heaven and earth” – and that coupled with our knowledge of Jesus’ life among us, does more clearly, show us the way.  In other words, no matter what life brings, God will be there for us! 

   And this notion then moves us nicely into Paul’s letter to Timothy in the 2^nd reading, “preach the Word…stay with the task whether [it is] convenient or inconvenient…never losing patience.” 

   And finally, in Luke’s gospel, Jesus’ words are both an encouragement and a challenge, “[pray] always and [do not] lose heart,” – persist – persevere.  It seems that Jesus is saying, in the story of the unjust judge, “if a person who cares little can do good, how much more will our God do, for those who ask?” – this God who loves us beyond all imagining!

   So then, if we were looking for an overall theme in the readings, “persistence,” exegetes say should be the theme that unites all of the Scripture choices today. Along with persistence, perseverance is a quality we Christians should strive after.  While the two words are similar, perseverance is a “step up” in that it comes into play when what we strive to accomplish, like “justice for all,” becomes very difficult. 

   “Persistence,” is continuing an action consistently, for whatever purpose.  A recent article in the Winona Daily News about the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration who have been praying in Lacrosse, Wisconsin for 147 years all day and all night for the rest of us would be an example of persistence. 

   An example of “perseverance” would be the Monday night demonstrations in Winona, Minnesota asking for “justice for all,” in a climate that at times is quite depressing.  The postcard writers on every Thursday morning in Winona is also an example of this “perseverance” in troubling times. One could perhaps argue that the FSPAs in Lacrosse are not only persistent, but that they persevere in praying for all of us humans that we will one day strive more wholeheartedly toward being our best selves. 

   Along these lines, I would like to lift up Clarissa Pinkola Estes, author of Women Who Run With the Wolves, whom I consider her to be “a friend for the journey” even though I have never met her, because she was the 1^st woman writer that I discovered back 30 years ago in my own personal journey, who was putting into words what I had believed for so long about the equal natures of women and men, and that the voices of women were simply not being heard. 

   Clarissa names our perseverance to stay at a task until it is completed, especially when it is about, “justice for all,” “soul-showing.”  She has this to say about becoming “disappointed/discouraged” by the meanness, selfishness and greed that we may see in our world:

    “There will always be times when you feel discouraged.  I too have felt despair many times in my life, but I do not keep a chair for it.  I will not entertain it.  It is not allowed to eat from my plate.  The reason is this: In my uttermost bones, I know something, as do you.  It is that there can be no despair when you remember why you came to earth, who you serve, and who sent you here.  The good words we say and the good deeds we do are not ours.  They are the words and deeds of the One who brought us here.” I too,  often find myself feeling, very humbly, that the words I give you each week are not mine alone, but given me by the Spirit of our good God.

   My friends, I am not sure I could have said from my heart all that Clarissa Pinkola Estes said here from hers, but I know that I am mightily challenged by her words!  In that spirit then, in a world that needs each of us every day to persevere in good, truth and justice—basically, love, in broad strokes, I invite us all to consider these final words from her: “When a great ship is in harbor and moored, it is safe, there can be no doubt [and most of us want to be here – safe].

 “But [she says], that is not what great ships are built for!”  Perhaps when we are most discouraged, and we can’t see, as the psalmist says today, that “our God is with us,”  maybe the “gift we get” is simply the strength to “hold on,” doing the good we do. And friends, whatever good we can do is so very important – not just for us and the people we can help, but as an example to others to know they are not alone, and to do the same!  Amen? Amen!

My friends, the readings this week from the prophets, Elisha, Jesus and Paul, call us to consider the virtue of faith, what it is, what it is not, and what it personally means to each of us.  We all come out of somewhat the same experiences, given our ages, as far as faith goes.  Prior to the 2^nd Vatican Council when Pope John XXIII was about, “opening windows and doors,” speaking poetically about letting, “fresh air” into our beloved Church that hadn’t known any significant changes in belief or practice in hundreds of years, we all were trained to be “black and white” believers – that is, if Father said it, it was so – “Father,” the priest, was pretty much synonymous with God.

   Then came Angelo Roncalli – “Good Pope John” who wanted our beloved Church to be more open, inviting, and compassionate, where basically “love” would supersede law.  And history tells us that this was no simple fix – we humans very easily get stuck in our ways and find change hard, even if it is for the best.  In fact, we see a concerted effort at present within our Church, among some of the bishops, our own especially, to back track to pre-Vatican II times.

   So, that brings us to today’s readings which I said in the beginning revolve around our faith.  So, what is faith anyway?  If I were to ask each of you, the answers may be somewhat the same, yet somewhat different.  I will jump into the middle here and say first what I believe faith is not.  It is not “lack of doubt, but really the opposite.   So, to give us a working definition, I would say, “faith is believing in something or someone that we don’t have all the answers about, yet we believe, and trust in that “truth” anyway. 

   Think of the articles of faith that you have believed in, or perhaps accepted all your life that we really don’t have proof of:  creation of our beautiful world by a benevolent God who supposedly wants good and not bad for us; that this benevolent God became one-of-us in Jesus, to show us the way, that this same Jesus lived, died and rose from the dead, to give us a path to follow, and so on.  Now, we don’t have proof of any of this, except that if we look historically, there was a man, Jesus, from, as some have said, “the little backward town of Nazareth,” that did indeed live, but beyond that, the rest we take on faith from those who first believed.  And, without a doubt, our human ability and willingness to believe, has been abused over the years and centuries by those with power, to write the story for their own benefit. 

   In the past I have shared the untruth around the belief in our mother and sister Mary’s immaculate conception, which would have us believe that she was conceived and born without the “original” sin that the rest of us were supposedly “stained” with.  Now, it must be remembered that to be “human” means that we are “imperfect.”  If Mary was without sin at birth, or ever, then she was not human, which was why supposedly Mary was needed – to give Jesus the human component. 

   My friends, this is just one example of how those with the power in our Church decide what the narrative that they want to promote will be, and then they back track, to basically make it so.  And that chosen narrative was that we humans really “blew it,” God became angry with us, and only the death of his beloved son could make up for our sins, and make us right with God again. 

   Now, if you have ever doubted that such a story could be true, I would submit that your faith is intact!  Because you see, faith does not mean that we have “certainty” about a given thing, but in fact, we may doubt because we just don’t know, but yet, we can believe perhaps in a bigger concept, such as, that our God loved us enough to become one-of-us, and live-with-us.  If we have “certainty,” then there is no need for faith. Let me repeat that: If we have “certainty,” then there is no need for faith.

   So then, let us turn to today’s Scriptures for the ways they can enlighten us.  In the 1^st reading, Naaman, a man with leprosy is asked to believe in the prophet Elisha who tells him to wash in the river Jordan in order to be “made clean.”  He takes the prophet’s word on faith, not knowing if what he hopes for will come to pass.

   Paul, in his 2^nd letter to Timothy tells us that, “there is no chaining the Word of God,” unlike the chains that imprison Paul as he writes to Timothy.  My friends, when our “faith” is based simply on “black and white” rules – do this, don’t do that, no questions asked, and often set in place by those, as I said earlier, who want to control the story, so as to control the people, then “faith” ceases to exist.  Faith, grownup faith that is, shouldn’t necessarily come easily –ideally, it is something that we should struggle with. 

   Jesuit priest and musician, Dan Schutte has rightly stated that our faith must be approached through both our hearts and minds, beginning with our hearts.  Using this approach, of starting with the heart, allows us to apply love, compassion, and understanding, to a situation which can really “open us up” to much more than just beginning with our minds – basically, the law says no, therefore it must be wrong. 

   Naaman’s cure from leprosy was about believing in something he couldn’t fully understand, yet trusted in – somehow…  Paul’s counsel to his student Timothy, was, “the Word of God couldn’t be chained” – boxed in, that is. 

   I have shared many times over the years that my personal call to priesthood moved outside of a man-made law that said, “this couldn’t happen” in order that I could hear, “the Word of God,” that wasn’t, “chained,” that could move beyond the law, in order that love, compassion, and understanding could happen.

   Finally, the story in Luke’s gospel today about the one man with leprosy, now cured, who returned to “thank” Jesus is compelling for us simply because of the more expansive reaction (love-gratitude) that his faith brought forth.  We see this same reaction in the response of Naaman to the prophet Elisha in the first reading today, who cures him from leprosy. Naaman wants to gift Elisha for what has been given to him, but Elisha won’t accept a gift for what he feels God has done through him. Still, Naaman takes the next step, which you may have wondered about, asking Elisha to give him “two mule-loads of earth” to take to his home – Naaman’s purpose was that he would kneel on that earth each day to pray to, and show gratitude to the God of Elisha.

   Jesus’ reaction to the man – a Samaritan in fact, who most Jews at the time looked down on, “your faith has been your salvation,” could no doubt be discussed at length as to what Jesus actually meant, and I would simply suggest that he meant more than physical salvation, but “heart and mind” salvation too, that ability then, going forward toward  becoming more open, more loving , more understanding – of all that he would meet. Amen? Amen!