Some
Thoughts on the Liturgy
THE
GUIDE, THE BEAM AND THE TREE
+
Many of you have had the opportunity of going to places for
a reunion
-
places and situations of a number of years ago, where you
get together with people you were with at that time, and
re-live memories
-
we have a group of people who are getting together our
eighth grade class at St. Francis of Assisi school in St.
Albans, WV
-
and as I have been thinking about that, and getting
together with some of the people
-
we talk—as we all do—about those who were in authority
over us
-
in particular with this group, we talk about the experience
of Catholic school in the 50’s, with the religious
sisters in particular who had a unique brand of discipline
-
many of you can identify with that
-
actually I had it made because I had said to one of the
sisters that I thought I might go to the seminary in the
9th
grade—which
I eventually did
-
and that was all the good sisters needed to hear
-
I was treated very well because of that
-
even received the top religious award in my 8th
grade
which I didn’t deserve but acted like I did
-
my sister was in the 6th
grade
at that time—same school, same last name, actually a lot
nicer than me
-
many of the religious sisters would bring up to her that I
was so good and therefore she should be as good as I was
-
that, of course, did not sit real well with her
-
and I remember many of our “discussions” as
children—and we recall this often
-
she would end up saying something like “if you’re
supposed to be so holy, how come you’re so mean” or
words to that effect
+
Actually, it is a very good point
-
how is it that Christians often have the ability to be
fairly good in one aspect of their Christian life—often
the worship aspect—here, going to church
-
and not so good in other aspects
-
we are so inconsistent at times
-our
young people call it “hypocrisy”
+
Jesus seems to be aware of that possibility in today’s
Gospel
-
speaking to his disciples about some rather radical ways of
living and teaching others to live that way
-
actually what we have heard the last two previous Sunday
Gospels have been very difficult words—all from chapter 6
of Luke’s Gospel
-
here Jesus tells three stories—the stories of the guide,
the beam and the tree—
-
and says in effect: learn from these stories and learn to
be consistent in your approach to following Jesus
+
The first story is that of the guide, and the question of
the story is: what are you teaching others?
-
we are all teachers in some way—if we are old enough to
think, everyone of us is a teacher of those who are younger
than us
-
in particular, what are we teaching about religion?
-
I believe one of the major philosophical sins of our
world—that is an evil that brings forth other evils
-
is the idea that religion is only for certain times, that
there are two worlds in our lives, the one where we live,
and then the one connected with God
-
it is an insidious doctrine, and when we practice it, we
teach those younger than we are that God is really not that
important
+
The second story is that of the beam, and the question of
the story is: how do you criticize others?
-
we talk about others all the time
-
it is part of life, it is what conversation is made of
-
Jesus warns us about our own glass houses as we throw
stones at others
-
we can criticize constructively
-
but often we do not
-
we are simply tearing down others
-
this is always so difficult because we usually don’t like
the people that we are hurting by our speech and those
people most probably are not going to change
-
we are still going to dislike them, and the complaining can
become chronic, and it becomes a pattern of existence
almost
-
someone—us—has to break the pattern
-
I don’t know how true this is, but I read the other day
that in one of the churches in the United States in the
eighteenth century
-there
was a parishioner called “the Pointer”
-
when the preacher stressed a particular vice, it was “the
Pointer's” job—he was paid to do it—to call out the
name of a person present who was guilty of the vice
-
many of us may have loved that assignment
-
and if we would like the job, perhaps we should study our
motivation
+
And the third story is the story of the tree, and the
question of the story is: what are your actions showing to
others?
-
I have a priest friend who says that people are either
basically good or basically bad
-
and you can tell by how they act when they are upset
-
the basically good person will generally allow the
situation to pass without referring to it too much
-
the basically bad person will consider the situation as if
it were the worst problem in the world
-
it is very interesting to study how we react to someone who
is not driving the way we think they should for example
+
Lent begins on Wednesday
-
it is a traditional time for us to ask some serious
questions about our lives
-
Jesus gives us three questions and stories in particular to
study as we prepare:
-
what are you teaching others?
-
how do you criticize others?
-
what are your actions showing to others
-
the guide, the beam and the tree—good Lenten meditation.
|