Inviting the Poor to Dinner

It occasionally happens that I have an inspiration for a homily the very first time I read the scriptures for that Sunday. In this case, the gospel (Luke 14: 1,7-14) immediately reminded me of the person I describe below, which naturally led into the suggestions I talked about afterwards. That didn't keep me from sweating & straining to get the words down, but that's just the limitation of the homilist showing itself...

22nd Sunday, Ordinary Time C, August 29, 2010

When I first read today's gospel I couldn't help but think of a former parishioner of ours, a lady by the name of Maggie McKenna. How many of you remember Maggie? If you're as old as I am you might remember a regular Readers' Digest feature called "The Most Unforgettable Character I Have Ever Met." Well, if I had to choose a "most unforgettable character," that person might well be Maggie McKenna. I told Maggie once that once that she was a character, and she just laughed and laughed, because you see, she knew she was a character, and a rather unpredictable one at that. I don't have time to regale you with Maggie stories, but I do want to tell you why today's gospel reminded me of her.

You see, every once in a while, Maggie would host a dinner at her house, in some ways like the dinner in our gospel today (and in some ways different). I had the memorable experience of being there for a few of those dinners. You never knew what you were going to eat, or when, except that you could be sure it wasn't going to be right away. I know that one time I even arrived and found out I was supposed to cook! That's a true story; Maggie had a whole platter of steaks -- I don't know where or how she got them, because she didn't have much money -- but I wound up cooking them all on a small grill just outside the back door. And there would usually be anywhere from 15 to 30 people at her dinners, a fair number of them parishioners. Sadly, I know she often invited parishioners who did not come, but then ... Maggie was a bit of a character, as I said.

But what always intrigued me was that at Maggie's dinners there would also be other invited guests that Maggie had just met somewhere. You see, Maggie was not one to care about class. Once I met a street musician at one of her parties…once, a clerk from a used book store…once, a handicapped person in a wheelchair. Often people were a bit oddly dressed. It was clear that Maggie made friends in unusual places. We would all introduce ourselves, socialize, enjoy our meal, and afterwards Maggie always wanted her guests to play some crazy parlor game together. What an experience! And always lively.

So here's the question: how much of our life revolves around what is comfortable and familiar to us? How often do we really do what Jesus said, and invite the poor, the outcast, the lame directly into our lives? The invitation in today's gospel is not an isolated one, we all know that. You remember that Last Judgment scene near the end of Matthew's gospel, when the king separates the nations on his right and his left, because when we feed the hungry or tend the sick or house the homeless or visit the prisoner... we encounter Jesus. In a couple of weeks we'll hear again the story of the rich man and the beggar Lazarus, and how throughout the rich man's whole life, Lazarus lived on his doorstep, but he never paid him much attention. And over time a great chasm grew between himself and Lazarus; only, Lazarus wound up close to God heart, and so the rich man found himself separated from God by that same great chasm.

How do we include the poor in our lives? That's the question. It is not so easy, because life is so segregated -- we don't live in Africa, or in Jonestown, Mississippi, or in a homeless shelter. But besides that, it seems too often that our lives are full already. If we're young, we have school, or we're deciding who we are or what we want to become. If we're a little older, it seems we're busy enough with our own marriage, our children, our careers, our parents. If we're still older, well, we have grandchildren, or health issues. But Jesus calls us to invite the poor into our lives nonetheless, to live in Solidarity -- that's a great Catholic word. It's not just about eternal life, it's really about the fullness of life right here on earth, right now. So I'd like to suggest a few answers, and those suggestions might inspire you to find what works for you.

My first suggestion is to do something that "breaks the mold" in your life. One of those things is something I'm recruiting for right now, called JustFaith. Some of you got invitation letters or calls about it, and it's been in the bulletin. Quite simply, the participants in JustFaith read and discuss books together about poverty, or racism, or violence, or a more simple lifestyle... and look at videos together, listen to guest speakers, take field trips where we meet and talk with the homeless, the poor, the immigrant... and we pray about it all together, as a small faith community. It's like an extended retreat. Sometimes to make deep changes, we need deep experiences. How often do we try to break the mold?

My second suggestion is to do something that brings you in regular personal contact with the poor. I know we have a lot of parishioners that regularly provide food for the hungry -- parishioners cook for the Orion Center, our St. Vincent de Paul visits families, we have a group of ladies once a week who make sandwiches for the Francis House...but some of these efforts need more help. Cay McVicar, one of our Sacred Heart Shelter coordinators, contacted me this past week and said they needed another coordinator for the Sacred Heart Shelter meals, and they also just need more people to help provide the meals. Whatever it is … find something that will enable you to regularly make personal contact with the poor, to talk with them, to understand their lives, to let those lives touch yours.

Finally, do something important for a particular person in need. I'd like to make a little plug for our friends in Namitembo, and for this year's Elephant Stampede. I actually think this year's Stampede needs help. I also felt that I needed to take my own advice here, to figure out what else I could do to connect with the poor. So I would like to announce today that I'm “coming out of retirement!” In spite of the 25 pounds I've put on since I had knee surgery & gave up running a couple of years ago... well, I made a commitment several weeks ago to start training again, to run in this year's Stampede. And IT’S HARD! Much harder than I thought it would be. But I’d like you to join me, first by coming to the Stampede and seeing if I can make it across the finish line! But I’m also making a general appeal to the parish -- for parishioners or families or classes at either of our schools -- to sponsor me in the Stampede by joining me in sponsoring a student in the Trade School. These students already pay tuition -- this would be for the unmet costs of that education. Pick one individual student -- we'll show you the student's picture, what they're taking... and you can change that one individual student's life by giving that student a skill. You can find one of these brochures on our “Sponsor a Student” idea on the table after Mass.

Or ... do none of these things. But heed today's gospel! Do something to personally connect your life, & your family's life, with the poor, the lame, the sick, the prisoner, or the immigrant. Trust me -- it will make bring your life so much more abundance.

Deacon Denny Duffell

Still Gasping...

OK -- the total for today was 2.8 miles jogging, broken into 4 segments, with walking in between. I know, that doesn't sound very hard... but it's REALLY tough... I need to trick myself constantly, as in "just go two more blocks, then you can quit" and then "just go 5 more blocks and then decide," & all the while my lungs & heart alternate between whimpering and screaming. AARGH!

I'm glad I don't have a photo of how this looks, because I'm sure it's not pretty! I'm sure I look really old and out of shape... But I do keep thinking about September 19th and the Elephant Stampede. And I think of the Trade School dedication in April, which keeps me going. Here are a couple of pictures of that event, and a short, 40 second clip...

This is a shot at the main Administrative block:

This is a picture of Fr. Phillip Mumbulu, who will be our honored guest at this year's Elephant Stampede. In this shot he's assisting the Malawi Minister of Education, who came to Namitembo for the dedication.

And now here's the short video to give you a flavor of the event:


Ahh, after I remember that, something perverse in me says that I'll feel really good about this once it's all over. I sure HOPE so.

On the Run

Ok, I think I'm ready to post on this.

A few weeks ago, I decided I wanted to try jogging again. What got me going, besides a growing dissatisfaction with the condition my body is in, was the realization that this year's Elephant Stampede at St. Bridget needs some kind of "shot in the arm" in order to make it, financially.


The Elephant Stampede is a parish 5K walk/run and picnic for our sister parish in Namitembo, Malawi. It's been an annual event since 1997, and we've raised lots of money and lots of awareness on behalf of our friends there. We've raised funds to build teacher housing & elementary school classrooms for 7 different elementary schools, renovate one high school and build another from scratch, and we have just completed construction of the Namitembo Trade and Agriculture School in April. We've purchased vehicles and other kinds of equipment, helped with three famine/food shortages, and more. Two parish families have even started ambitious agricultural projects on their own within the Namitembo area, and several others have quietly assisted "penpals." Every year we host a visitor or two from Namitembo, and we've had maybe 75 visitors go over there from St. Bridget, many of them multiple visits (I've been there 5 times). Some of us have stayed... Ann and Chet Nachtigal stayed for four months, and my son John stayed for two and a half years.

Our two communities are truly sisters...and they're the elder sister, having celebrated their 50 year anniversary about 6 years ago (St. Bridget is a comparative youngster at a mere 42 years old). There are several different articles on our parish web page -- HERE.

So, what's this about my running? After 13 years, and with the pressure of the financial slowdown, the Stampede needs a boost. So I've decided to try to get in shape, and ask friends, family, and parishioners to sponsor me by "sponsoring a student" in the Trade School. The cost to sponsor a student is about $350 -- the unmet per student operating cost of the Namitembo Trade and Agriculture School. An individual or family can raise or donate that amount themselves, or partner with someone else. For this amount, a student will learn a skill that will enable him/her to get an actual income-producing job. This is HUGE if you live in rural Malawi!

So... between now and September 19th, I'll be chugging away, getting ready, 3-5 times a week, pushing my extra weight and my extra years... so won't you help me? See that guy with the megaphone (last year's Stampede) -- get him out on the trail!

Another Vatican Disconnect

I was away last week to Priest Lake, Idaho, on an annual camping trip and family reunion. It was beautiful, really, even though we had to endure a nightly worry -- bears coming down into the campgrounds to forage for food and garbage. Worse, there was one camper across the road from us who shot off his gun a couple of times to scare one away. (It was a "retired sheriff" -- which shows you that even professionals can be stupid. The bears were indeed scary, but not as scary as someone nearby shooting off a gun in the dark.)

I managed to get my morning newspaper fix, even if it was only the Spokane daily paper, and I had to race up to the camp store early, before copies ran out. I kept up on the Seattle Mariner's progress (ok, that was a totally inaccurate word) and worked on my daily crossword puzzle. However, one item that caught my eye was a short little notice that the Vatican had declined the resignations of two Irish bishops, who had submitted them last December because of their publicized failures to deal with the priest sexual abuse situation in their dioceses.

I actually was surprised -- two other Irish bishops had already stepped down last November. Why not these? More, though, I was stunned, and angry. But I managed to hold off sharing this news with any other family members ... I didn't want to set off a "group rant" within the family -- which is unfortunately something that happens all too often with us Catholics these days, when we see news like this.

When I got back home, I sought out a broader perspective, so I looked up my favorite Vatican correspondent, NCR columnist John Allen, who writes a column called All Things Catholic. He indeed had posted on this story, last Friday, and you can read his entire column here.

Allen cites four likely reasons for the Vatican's refusal to accept the latest two resignations, and I found the fourth reason the most interesting:

"Fourth, and perhaps most fundamentally, the Vatican does not like the idea of a bishop resigning for poor performance because, in their view, it's bad theology. As they see it, a bishop isn't a corporate CEO or a football coach, who should be sacked when profits sag or the team goes on a losing streak. The episcopacy isn't a job but a sacramental bond akin to marriage, with the bishop as the father of the diocesan family. In the early centuries of the church, it was considered almost heretical for a bishop to move from one diocese to another on precisely this basis.

"That's the core ecclesiological reason Rome favors a bishop staying put in times of crisis: Like a father, or so the traditional reasoning goes, a bishop shouldn't abandon his family if he's let them down and they're feeling angry and betrayed. Instead, he should 'man up' and make things right."

Allen does go on to add this qualifying note:

"Of course, none of this means the bias against removing bishops is always correct; even if one accepts the sacramental view, there are times when an abusive father needs to be removed from a household. It does, however, suggest that the Vatican sometimes may have reasons beyond denial or arrogance for being reluctant to act."

Intersting, yes, but only in a somewhat detached sort of way. Of course, Allen doesn't actually know the reasons why the Vatican decided not to accept the resignation. No one does, because the Vatican isn't saying what the reasons are. Which really brings me to my point: isn't there a huge disconnect here? Why can't my Church speak plainly to us about things like this? I certainly hope that El Papa has made it clear to these bishops that he expects them to "man up and make things right," but why does Benedict not say so publicly? Why can we not change the culture of silence on this? In fact, why does he not say this publicly to all the bishops in the world, that he expects bishops to act as "fathers" instead of princes? Beyond the Church expressing public remorse for the thousands of victims of priests, how about public outrage for their enablers? For many of us, THOSE failures have been the greater ones, because they were systemic.

Let's take that "father" analogy a lot further.

A Living Faith

I haven't written anything on my blog in the last couple of weeks, but I've been busy! Today I'm stuck at home while some workmen are cleaning and re-insulating the crawl space under the house... so it's a good time to add a couple of posts.

This first is the homily from the weekend before this past one. I left town immediately afterwards, to head to Priest Lake, Idaho, for our annual family reunion. It was great fun -- except for the bears, which came into the camp almost every night. THAT was a little scary... one camper across the way even shot off his gun a couple of times one night, to scare them away...only to succeed in scaring all the campers around him.

In any event, this homily was a takeoff on Hebrews 11, which is a really great passage. And of course I had to add a comment on those two short bits from the gospel, which have always been favorites of mine.


Sunday, August 8th, 2010

Good morning. I haven't shared a homily with you since mid-June because I've been away a few weekends -- I miss it!

Today's gospel includes a short piece of wisdom that for me perfectly introduces what I would like to share about today. It is very simple, and it's right at the beginning: "Do not be afraid, my friends, your Father is pleased to give you the Kingdom! Sell your belongings, give to the poor -- for where your treasure is, there also will your heart be." It's very direct, and the message is clear: don't be afraid, trust in God, who has given you everything you have and everything you need; so go ahead and give your treasures to the poor, that way your heart will also be with them. That calls for a leap of faith, doesn't it?

What is so fortuitous is that this little gold nugget of wisdom is placed right next to our second reading, from Hebrews, chapter 11, which is absolutely one of the most classic passages in the Bible, about faith. I urge you to read it over -- it's only about a page and a half: Hebrews, chapter 11. And the particular Christians to which today's words were addressed were in danger of falling away from following Jesus Christ, perhaps because of the rigors of the Christian life. And so this letter reminds them of their great faith heritage -- It reminds them that in the past they had known all kinds of difficulties, even severe persecution -- and they had endured admirably, nobly. And it was a living faith that made this possible.

The actual passage we read today refers primarily just to Abraham and Sarah and their son Isaac, but it also touches on the lives of others -- Jacob, Joseph, and Moses. Finally the passage ends in a rush this way, and I want to read it to you:

“What more shall I say? I have not time to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, who by faith closed the mouths of lions, put out raging fires, escaped the devouring sword. Some were tortured but would not accept an easy way out of their torture, so as to receive a better reward. Others endured mockery, scourging, even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, sawed in two, put to death at sword’s point. The world was not worthy of them.

“Yet all these, though approved because of their great faith, did not receive what had been promised.
For God had foreseen something better ... for us. Namely, the coming of the One who was Promised, the Messiah, our Lord, Jesus Christ.”

I find those to be really stirring words. Think of those generations of people who lived by faith -- simple people as well as kings, servants as well as prophets – living with a faith that was finally complete in Jesus Christ.

Now we could add to that list of faith-filled people today, couldn’t we? For we have the example of Jesus, and 2000 years of Christians who have followed in his footsteps.

We might well start with the first century roll call, with the apostles, the holy women, and the early martyrs, beginning with Stephen, one of the original deacons. We could list all those in the early centuries who braved the many persecutions of those times, being put to death by lions or fire, or by other tortures. We could name the missionaries, who in spite of great hardship spread the gospel all over the earth, beginning with St. Paul himself, the apostle Thomas who went to
India, to Francis Xavier who went to China, to the Jesuit North American martyrs tortured to death by the Iroquois in the mid 1600's, to Mother Cabrini who came to the United States opening orphanages and schools and hospitals, 67 different institutions, who lived and died right across the street at the Villa.

We could remember mystics, or poets, great philosophers and teachers like Augustine and Thomas Aquinas. We could recall those who changed the course of Western Civilization, like Pope Gregory the Great, and as well as those simple beautiful souls who have changed the course of so many hearts, like Francis of Assisi, or Therese, the little flower. And we could end with the soaring souls of the 20th century, people like Thomas Merton, Dorothy Day and Mother Teresa with their love for the poor, Archbishop Oscar Romero who was assassinated as he celebrated Mass with the poor in El Salvador.

These aren’t fairy tales. These are real people. And these are all people who lived by faith. A living faith. As our reading from Hebrews says, “They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth.” By their lives they were “people who made it clear they were seeking another homeland… a heavenly country.”

This passage stirs me up. Why? It makes me ask, How deep does my own faith go? How deep does yours go? How regularly do we exercise our faith?

You know, too often I think people make faith a compartment in their heads, a little place where beliefs are kept. As in, "I believe in God; I believe in Jesus Christ, true God and true man." But is our “faith” mostly the collected sum of our religious beliefs? I think a living faith is something much more. Or sometimes I think people locate faith in their hearts, the place where trust is kept… an internal resource to turn to in times of doubt or trouble. As in, "Keep the faith, hold on." And certainly faith as trust is important for our lives; but a living faith is more still.

A living faith is a WAY. This way has direction and purpose, not only internal but external too. A living faith is a way of moving, a way of doing. This faith is as much in the hands and feet as it is in the head and heart. Sometimes it's a way that carries risks, sometimes it's even a way that brings us trouble.

But Jesus did not ask people simply to believe something about him, and he didn’t call on them merely to feel good about God in their hearts. Jesus challenged people to follow him. He said those words, “Follow me,” over and over again. “Follow me!” In following him, those first believers came to know him as “the way, the truth, and the life.” Through all these holy people we have invoked today, down through the centuries, Christ’s call reaches right through to our own time and our own place -- to you and me. Don’t we see in all these holy people that a living faith is a way for US to follow as well?

And one final thing. Small, but big. Our gospel today ends with words that I find haunting, and I don't like to be haunted alone, so I'll repeat them to you. "Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be expected of the person entrusted with more." I know God has been very generous and gracious to me. How about you? So, what more does God hope for, from us?

Deacon Denny Duffell