A Case for Patience and Praise

When my husband and I were first married, we attended RCIA classes.  I had been poorly catechized growing up and he was Southern Baptist and wondered WHY we had to go to my church every Sunday.  I didn’t know the answers, and thus…we took the classes.  For me it was GREAT!!  It opened my eyes to why I was claiming to be Catholic and reaffirmed my belief that I needed to be in “my” church every Sunday, not every OTHER Sunday.  At the end of the classes, he had not been swayed to convert, but appreciated the fact that I felt more convicted than ever to practice my Catholic faith.

One image I’ve always taken from that class was a married couple in their 70’s.  He was finally converting after all those years.  She didn’t seem exceptionally excited, but sat there quiet and calm.  I recognize it now as divine trust.  She just KNEW he would end up coming to the Faith one day, you could just tell.

Fast-forward a few years for us…babies coming and the journey of parenthood has begun.  We were in a town where the local Catholic church was not a good one.  My husband, used to the preacher feeding you spiritually with his words, was starving.  In desperation, I reluctantly agreed to attend church services twice on Sundays, one at the Catholic church and one at the Baptist church (which happened to be across the street from each other).  It wasn’t easy.  Church in general isn't easy when you have two little boys and you’re a new mother.  You have expectations of church behavior that just isn’t possible for a toddler and a baby.  The Baptist church had a nursery, but I hated leaving my baby with someone I didn’t know.  You couldn’t bring them into the main sanctuary because as soon as they made one little peep, the “why isn't that baby in the nursery” stares started boring through you.

That set-up didn’t last long.

Suffice it to say that we’ve been through a rocky spiritual journey in our almost-18 years of marriage.  I’ve been pushy with the Catholic faith in the past, but I learned better.  He’s never been one to be public and forthcoming with his spiritual journey, and that’s been difficult for me. (I LOVE talking religion!). I’ve fought resentment as I believed the father is *supposed* to be the spiritual head of the household.  He’s endured spiritual deserts as he accompanied me and the children week after week and year after year to Mass on Sundays and Holy Days.

He didn’t have the Eucharist to fall back on, you see.  For my husband, it was more about the man giving the homily, and most of the Catholic priests were NOOOO Baptist preacher!

As the years went by, we moved to a town and finally found a Catholic parish where there was reverence for the Holy Mass and Eucharist, the priest is a wonderful homilist, and the people automatically feel like family.  This past year, my husband’s job changed, and he worked a “normal” 8-5 M-F schedule.  We had never had this luxury for most of our marriage, and it allowed him to commit to attending Mass with us every Sunday.  I suggested that he just go to the RCIA classes while we were in Sunday school.  No pressure.  Promise.  

All through the year, I hadn’t asked him more than “How was your class?”  Sometimes he would open up and talk about the people in his class, the questions they had and even some questions he had.  I didn’t prod too much.  It wasn’t until the week before the Rite of Election that I asked him, “What’s the deal??  Are you going to do this or not?  Because it’s next weekend when you stand up before the Bishop and ask him to accept you, and you haven't told me anything yet.  And I have things on the calendar already for Saturday that I’ll need to change if you’re going to do it, so are you going to do it?”  (All that came out in about 3.2 seconds.)

“I am.  I am going to do it.”

**Cue tears and hugs from wife.**

Years ago I gave his conversion over to the Holy Spirit.  I knew that it would never be able to come from me or anything I said or pushed.  It was going to come more from how I lived my faith than anything else. (No pressure!)

If you are struggling with a similar issue, I beg you to be patient, trust in God, and leave it up to His time.

Because He is all-wise and all-good.

Please welcome Bryan Anderson…Home.  And all Glory be to God!

Sycamore View

The Gospel last Sunday (found in Luke 19:1-10) gives us the story of Zacchaeus and a very clear message and application for our lives today.  

Let's set the scene...Jesus is coming into Jericho.  There is a huge and pressing crowd.  Zacchaeus is short and cannot see Jesus and he desperately wants to see him, so he runs ahead of the crowd and climbs a tree. Zacchaeus is shocked and amazed when Jesus calls to him, tells him to come out of the tree and prepare for a dinner guest. The crowd grumbles. They are not happy with this turn of events.  They see the sinner, Zacchaeus, and cannot believe that Jesus would waste his time with such a one as this. After the meal, Zacchaeus is transformed and vows to give away his fortune and make a radical change in his life.

Zacchaeus is a short man. When he is overcome by the desire to see Jesus, he runs ahead of the crowd along the path they are following, and climbs a tree. He has to go to extreme lengths, leave his comfort zone, and climb higher. If we want to see Jesus, we need to remember to leave our comfort zone behind.  We will find Jesus in the confessional, in the soup kitchen, in the religious education class, or in any other place or ministry that causes us to stretch ourselves.

Zacchaeus is a very wealthy chief tax collector. In gathering taxes for the Romans, he took more than the prescribed amount.  He exploited his fellow Jews and lined his own pockets.  He even took a Roman name.  Imagine the worst bully on the play ground, or the most insensitive, crass, mean-spirited person you can think of...that was Zacchaeus.  If there was one person voted to be least likely to follow Christ, it was Zacchaeus.  Yet, despite his sins, on this day, he has a burning desired to know the Christ, to find out for himself what the hullabaloo is all about.  He opens his eyes and ears to the message and lets Christ into his heart.  He humbles himself and he is transformed.  We can follow Zacchaeus' lead.  We can let go of our past sins and our pride, and let Christ transform us. We can be made new, just as Zacchaeus was made new.

Zacchaeus hears the grumbles of the crowd.  They know who he is, what he is.  He turns a deaf ear to the whispers of his unworthiness, of his transgressions, of his sinfulness.  He does not let the crowd deter him from his goal and his heart's desire.  It would have been easy to slink away in shame, but he knew Jesus was there for him as well as everyone else in the crowd. When we hear the grumbling of the crowd, whether it is the voices in our head playing the endless reel of self doubting phrases, or our children or spouse complaining, or the gong of the media, turn a deaf ear and follow where Christ leads you. 

Zacchaeus hears Jesus call him out of the tree. He responds favorably to Jesus' request to come into his house and dine with him.  Zacchaeus did not have a chance to tidy up, to remove the idols or the secular decorations.  He did not clean his house and make everything perfect before Jesus came.  He could not make preparations ahead.  He did not know Jesus was coming to his house that day. Zacchaeus brings Jesus into his house as it is...in all the messiness. We sometimes get caught up in the lie of perfection or the other lie of unworthiness, that we have to do this, that, or the other thing before we can know Jesus.  Don't fall for that.  Invite Jesus into your messiness. Today. Now. Let him transfigure you to be everything you were born to be.  We are all a work-in-progress and the conversion happens, the joy happens, the new life happens after we let Christ into our house and into our life.

Finally, Zacchaeus had a radical conversion experience.  This conversion, the transformation of Zacchaeus comes after his personal encounter with Jesus.  Not before.  He vows to give away half his possessions and to repay four times the amount he exploited.  This is a radical change and above and beyond what anyone would have expected of him. Zacchaeus is a real example of a wealthy man who is saved by the grace of God.  He is like the camel that passes through the eye of the needle.  His actions reflect his conversion.  He gives more than lip service to his love of God.  He acts on that love.  We, too, must act on the love of Christ.  We must reflect His love of us onto others by whatever means we can.  

Take the Sycamore View and prepare to be transformed by the grace of God.