The Spirituality of Subtraction - 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Father Mathew's Homily:

True disciples love God even when He annoys us!

Mother Theresa of Calcutta had a dream. She told her superiors; "I have three pennies and a dream from God to build an orphanage." "Sister Theresa," her superiors chided gently," you cannot build an orphanage with three pennies. With three pennies you can do nothing!" "I know," she said, smiling, “but with God and three pennies I can do anything."

We can see a similar scenario in today's Gospel. It is about feeding a big crowd of people. The disciples wondered how they could feed a big crowd with limited resources. Jesus took what was available. With five barley loaves and two small fishes, He fed 5,000 people and then He had some leftover.

There are many layers of meaning to this story. Two things struck my mind. First is the attitude of Jesus: When there is a humanitarian crisis in our midst, it is cruel to pretend that we don’t see it and walk away. The other important thing is that no gesture in meeting the needs of people is too small.

In contrast to the attitude of Jesus, the attitude of the disciples is very striking. Philip seems to throw up his hands saying, “How can this be possible? Jesus, are you crazy that you want to feed this multitude? Don’t you know that you cannot feed them with 200 paydays worth of salary? Let them go their way.” Many of us reflect the attitude of Philip: Everything is drastic and negative for them.

Then there was Andrew who came to Jesus and says, "There's a small boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish." He knew that it wasn't much, but for Jesus it was enough. Andrew is an optimist.

Attitude determines our success or failure." There are many people who live with a negative attitude to the world and people. They dig their own holes and perish in the hole they dig for themselves. They are more part of the problem than the solution.

What is very impressive is the attitude of the little boy. He shared everything he had. He had five loaves and two fish. He gave them all. This is exactly what we see on the cross. Look at this cross. He gave it all. Jesus even gave up His life for us. Here is a great example of the spirituality of subtraction.

I borrowed the concept of “the spirituality of subtraction” from Fr. Richard Rohr. Have you ever heard about Fr. Richard Rohr? He is a popular contemporary writer, Franciscan capuchin priest, speaker and a spiritual giant who is widely known in the United States because of his sublime thoughts about spirituality.

Let me quote and explain the spirituality of Subtraction in Richard Rohr‘s own words:

“The notion of a spirituality of subtraction comes from Meister Eckhart (c.1260 -1327), the medieval Dominican mystic. He said the spiritual life has much more to do with subtraction than it does with addition. Yet I think most Christians today are involved in great part in the spirituality of addition. (1)

Fr. Rohr continues:

“The capitalist worldview is the only world most of us have ever known. We see reality, experiences, events, other people, and things—in fact, everything—as objects for our personal consumption. Even religion, Scripture, sacraments, worship services, and meritorious deeds become ways to advance ourselves—not necessarily ways to love God or neighbor.” (2)

Fr Rohr continues:

“The nature of the capitalist mind is that things (and often people!) are there for me. Finally, even God becomes an object for my consumption. Religion looks good on my resume, and anything deemed “spiritual” is a check on my private worthiness list. Some call it spiritual consumerism. It is not the Gospel.” (Richard Rohr, OFM)

It is in this context, we have to read the news that appeared yesterday:

The news is: “The Pope’s Popularity has plummeted in the United States from 76% to 59%.” Do you know why his popularity has fallen in the US? Because he has spoken against the spirituality of addition which many of us are fond of!

Why is there more of a negative attitude toward Pope Francis? At the same time that this news came out about the pope’s popularity, I happened to read a critique about the news by Jim Denison. Jim is a faithful Catholic and profound writer. Let me quote him:

“Whether liberal or conservative, you love the pope when he agrees with you. And he's been saying things that annoy both sides." So says church historian Christopher Bellitto, explaining Pope Francis's dramatic decline in popularity among Americans.”

“In recent months, the pope has stated that climate change is largely man-made, and has criticized economic systems that he believes drive global warming and exploit the poor. Now, two months ahead of the pope's first trip to the U.S., Gallup reports that his popularity has fallen from 76 percent to 59 percent. According to one observer, the poll reflects that "many American Catholics are more closely affiliated with their political party than their faith.”

Jim Denison continues in his article with a challenging question, “….Do we love the Lord when he agrees with us, but less when His Word annoys us? (Tweet this.)”

He further elaborates it as, “Our conditional commitments to our faith” and then adds, “Conditional commitment impoverishes our souls and eviscerates our witness. (Tweet this.) Our culture loves God only when he agrees with us. True disciples love God even when he annoys us. Which are you?”

Here is a great example of the “spirituality of subtraction” in today’s gospel, a young lad who gave away all he had; he gave it all: five loaves and two fish. Look at the cross; we can see the greatest example of the spirituality of subtraction. If we follow the example of the spirituality of subtraction as we see in today’s Gospel, we can perform miracles in the world.

What is your and my spirituality? Do you follow the spirituality of subtraction or the spirituality of addition? Is it true that my faith is conditional? Our culture loves God only when he agrees with us. True disciples love God even when he annoys us. Which are you? Which am I?

(1) In our culture, the “good life” means getting more. Our self-worth is determined by how much we add to our life; how much we possess in our life. Fr. Richard Rohr’s talks challenges listeners to subtract—to release whatever hinders us from siding with the cosmic Christ, whether that be in our inner world or our outer world . Father Rohr offers a daring vision which calls us to surrender, to liberation, to making room for real freedom.

(2) Any economic system, whether it is socialism or capitalism, without compassion is a transgression against humanity. The capitalism without compassion regards everything including human beings as objects. Pope Francis is not against capitalism; he is against capitalism without compassion. You must have heard in the news that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Think about a CEO who is making 45 million a year as the head of a corporation and his preoccupation is how he can make 50 million at the cost of others in the next year.

Or in an economic system, imagine a working mother delivering a baby is forced to report to work not having enough days to nurture her baby without maternity leave is another example of capitalism without compassion.

Bibs vs. Aprons: 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time

Father Mathew's Homily:

Former heavyweight boxer James (Quick) Tillis is a cowboy from Oklahoma.  A deeply religious man, Tillis is remembered as the first boxer ever to make Mike Tyson go the distance in the heavyweight division.  Tillis had his disappointments as a boxer, but evidently they didn’t let him lose his sense of humor.

He still remembers his first day in the Windy City after his arrival from Tulsa.  “I got off the bus,” he says, “with two cardboard suitcases under my arms in downtown Chicago and stopped in front of the Sears Tower.  I put my suitcases down, and I looked up at the Tower and I said to myself, ‘I’m going to conquer Chicago.’   When I looked down . . . the suitcases were gone.”   What a way to begin a boxing career. But Tillis did not quit.

In today’s gospel we read about some of his disciples quitting.  They decided to leave him because his teaching was hard to follow.

Researchers tell us that, nationally, every week over 53,000 people leave the church never to return.  But even among those who remain, only about twenty percent are really committed to their faith.

Why is that?  For many people, it is said that the Christian faith is like an outer garment you put on at certain occasions, at funerals, weddings, Easter and Christmas.

Some time ago, I asked a young girl who was preparing for sacraments, but seldom showed up for classes and Masses why she was missing classes and Sunday masses, she said that mom decides to go to church only when there is nothing to do.

Some time ago, a researcher in church growth was curious about a dynamic and fast growing Church in Minnesota and he wanted to know the secret of their success.  He interviewed a few members of this church and one of the phrases that he heard while he was there was, “We want our members to wear aprons, not bibs.”

That’s an interesting phrase--“aprons, not bibs.”

Here’s what they meant:

·        Bibs are for people who only want to be fed.

·        Bibs are for those who are more interested in being served than in serving.

·        Bibs are for those who insist that the church exists for them and their needs.

·        Bibs are for those who are not mature in their faith.

·        Bibs are for those who haven’t caught God’s vision for the church.

·        Bibs are for those who are not yet of the faith.

On the other hand, aprons are for those who have a heart to serve others in Jesus’ name.

·        Aprons are for those who know that they are the church.

·        Aprons are for those who don’t mind getting their hands dirty.

·        Aprons are for those who take the time daily to feed their spiritual hunger.

·        Aprons are for those who are growing in faith, and hunger to help others grow.

Church growth consultant, Win Arn, interviewed thousands of Christians in America several years ago and asked them what they thought the church existed for.  Eighty-eight percent said, “The church exists to serve my needs and the needs of my family.”  In other words, 88% of Christians in America are still wearing bibs.  They believe that the church exists to serve them . . . not so they can serve the world.

On the night Jesus was betrayed, before the last supper, Jesus got up and took off his outer garments, wrapped a towel around his waist, knelt down before his disciples and washed their feet.  When he was done he said, “I have just given you an example to follow.”

In other words, Jesus calls us to wear aprons, not bibs.

The people came to Jesus to be fed, but when he challenged them to feed others, they weren’t interested. And, of course, it was Simon Peter who answered, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.  We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”

And that is why we linger here too. That is why so many of you have exchanged your bib for an apron; why you have decided that a casual involvement in the life of the church is not enough.

         

I suspect that there are some of us who have grown all too comfortable in our faith.  Even some of us who have been around the church for many years are still wearing bibs rather than aprons. Many who followed Jesus turned back.  Only his most committed disciples remained.  Are you part of that group?  Am I part of that group?