Fr. Leo's Spiritual Reflections

By Fr. Leo Schneider (9/6/2009)

Dear People of Holy Name,

In our culture we give more respect and deference to those who are wealthy. They have a certain clout in public situations. Years ago I was flying back from London and decided to wear a new suit I had just purchased as a way of getting it home. To my surprise, I was bumped up to business class and I am sure the reason was because of the way I was dressed. So it was a bit startling for the high-class business woman next to me on the plane to learn that I was a priest. She didn’t believe it at first.

We tend to think that people who have money have it all and quite honestly we envy them. Haven’t we all said, “Wouldn’t it be nice to have that kind of money?” And we think of the things we would do if we had it. We would do some good things for ourselves, but of course we would also do great things for other people too. I think it is this same desire that sells lottery tickets. We would all like to get ‘there,’ to have more money than we need.

Our second reading from the Letter of Saint James addresses the distinction we are tempted to make between the haves and the have-nots; how those with money are more deserving of privilege, power and respect. With the Lord all are important and it is those who love the Lord who are the rich, regardless of their financial status. This is one thing I love about the Catholic Church, that when we come to pray we know that no one is more important than another. All the pews are the same and before God one person isn’t more powerful than another.

I was attending mass at the Basilica many years ago and I loved looking around and seeing the mix of people. One man in a three piece suite, a woman in African garb, young people casually dressed and people of every age, shape, size, color and social-economic standing, all standing together as one body before the Lord, all united in the one who created all of us to be one family, one church. It felt great. Together we were all rich in the Lord who blessed us.

Our culture also teaches us to seek wealth, position and power, all things that are false in the kingdom of God. We are reminded by the same words of today’s second reading that blessing and riches are God’s gift to all of us and that we can seek these riches and receive them from God regardless of our social standing. As followers of Christ or perspective changes when it comes to material possessions, it is still great to have things, but we know that our happiness doesn’t come from them, but in how we use them and share them with others.

Jesus in the Gospel bestows good health on the deaf man with a speech impediment, a man who was not a Jew, indi- cating that his blessings are for all people who place their faith in him. Our faith, our willingness to seek the Lord’s will, is what makes us rich and it is this perspective that we bring to others through what we say and do. As others can inspire us with their sense of values and goodness, we too can inspire others.

This week we buried Vivian Danneker who was 94 years old. She was rich in goodness and always wore a welcoming smile regardless of the challenges of her life. Her life is an inspiration to all who knew her, especially her family. In the words of a grandson, “Their greatest treasure is being family and being together.” For me that is rich, that is blessing, a blessing the Lord holds out to all of us through the family of the Church.

May the Lord continue to bless us and help us know how blessed we are in all that God has already given us, especially the gift to be able to call upon his Name!/p>

In Christ’s peace, Fr. Leo