Introduction: Megan Hookey
Welcome to the PAX liturgy for the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time. The planning team was immediately taken with a line in the first reading: “every sage is a good listener.” Father Vince also shared that Pope Francis has said that “listening is the first step in pastoral care.” These two statements became the foundation for our planning – from the music to our homily. We considered how do we, individually and collectively, see and listen to: women, immigrants, the poor, the unhoused, LGBTQ and those who are marginalized. (It was also noted in the Prayers of the Faithful that a Greek philosopher, Epictetus, said we are perfectly designed with two eyes, two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.) Thus, the theme for our liturgy today is Listening: to help us see and respond to the many faces of, and paths to, human hospitality.
1st Reading: Sirach 3:17-18, 20, 28-29
2nd Reading: Hebrews 12:18-19, 22-24
Gospel: Luke 14:1, 7-14
Homily: Vince Cushing OFM (paraphrased from notes taken)
When our team gathered, we initially looked at a number of themes:
- Humility
- Hospitality
- Listening
- A New Covenant (in terms of hospitality)
Eventually, we focused on Hospitality and attentive Listening. These provide a foundation for a good pastoral way of living.
Let me begin with the question of Hospitality. It is interesting that Jesus models an expansive notion of hospitality. As a faithful Jewish person, he was keenly aware of the Jewish customs surrounding Hospitality: an opportunity for people to come together and share a meal. It certainly involved washing of hands, and because people wore sandals, it may have involved the washing of feet.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus is talking at a dinner with the leading Pharisees, the movers and shakers of his day. He choses to give them an example of hospitality: “…when you have a reception, invite those who are poor or have physical infirmities, or are blind.” I feel quite at home with today’s Gospel – I am to an extent quite lame and I don’t hear too well.
As Christians, we know what hospitality means according to Jesus. Our nation knows… (yet) The governor of Texas is shipping people as cattle to New York City, “They’re your problem not ours.” Such a callous way to deal with immigrants. Jesus talks about receiving (welcoming) people as fellow human beings looking for meaning, acceptance, and belonging in their lives – and for the future (education) of their children. (We need a) thoughtful, caring, giving approach to accepting everyone in our midst.
The universal church has an issue with the role of women in the church, which puzzles me. About 20 years ago the Bishop of Joliette, ND was charged to write (an official) church document on women. He said, “I can’t do it.” He was dealing with a church in an unhealthy way, (one with) a pernicious masculinity.
It was considered a breakthrough when Washington Theological Union allowed women to come to class about 35-40 years ago. What a patronizing approach. We found women were, in many ways, leading the classes academically. (We heard) the cry of women to be nurtured, feed, and accepted in the Church. There is also the question of women in society elsewhere: Latin America, Africa, some Community countries.
St Paul says (Galatians 3:28) we are neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, men nor women, but are all one in Jesus Christ. Pope Francis has had a good deal of anguish about clericalism in the church which is understood as something male. (What’s needed is) equal opportunity, freedom, deep human respect, acceptance of the family of the human race. Our church and the whole world still struggle with this. American is trying to change, but with difficulty. (It’s important to realize) priests have no power; the whole community (of faith) is inspired by the Holy Spirit. When we pray at PAX, we pray together.
(When it comes to) welcoming the human family – immigrants – we can’t seem to craft a good policy. Jesus was a refugee; he went to Egypt and knew the meaning of being in exile. The Church is good on issues officially, but the rubber doesn’t hit the road at the local parish. When training candidates for the priesthood, the message is: You job is to say Mass and get people in and out to clear the parking lot.
I’d like to encourage us to be people of genuine hospitality – not in the narrow sense – but as a transformative cultural experience in society seeking to remove the barrier faced by women, immigrants, and refugees.
On the issue of active listening, we see this in therapy where the therapist is really listening to us to help us understand what makes us tick. Years ago, I studied French in Quebec City and the teacher would say to me, “ecoutez”, listen how you are speaking. It was not just a comment on my New York accept but a suggestion to listen for the nuances and accents. Ecoutez is a model for all of us.
My background in in formation (education). We teach a lot of information which is good and necessary, but a lot of the education I received was not good and had to be jettisoned. We were (are) not taught to listen. We need to hear what is truly in a person’s heart so they feel accepted. Pope Francis has said listening is a key component of ministry. We were taught to preach not to listen to what people need.
Protestantism began with Martin Luther’s 95 propositions. He was deeply Catholic and correct. He was pushed out of the church because he challenged the church about indulgences and – sometimes mistakenly – authority. He said the Gospel being preached was not the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
One reason I prefer to be with PAX is you are a gathering of devout and open Christian people. You have practiced great hospitality and you’ve also listened. I had a wonderful though painful experience with Charles Schehl two weeks before he passed. I was stunned by the conversation. He called various people he wanted to talk to. He said he was happy and his Christian life in PAX had been most nourishing. Under your own grace, PAX came up with an awareness that hospitality is essential to your community, each other, the larger Christian community, and to the world. PAX is a blessing and a template of what a church should/could be. A last word of encouragement: keep doing what you do. This about life and how you live it.
Meditation: Barbara Spangler
Today’s liturgy both challenges and reminds us to listen – not only with our ears, but our eyes and heart. Here are a few reflections that we hope will inspire us to remember the power of listening:
Tom Cordaro, Pax Christi USA’s Ambassador of Peace, asks Who do you think is justified before God?
Sirach tells us that the Lord hears the cry of the poor. Should Americans hear these words as a comfort or as a warning? If God does hear the cry of these poor, what does that mean for us. Sirach warns, “The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds; it does not rest till it reaches its goal, nor will it withdraw till the Most High responds.”
Cordaro shares that Pax Christi members have been walking with our immigrant brothers and sisters in the struggle for comprehensive immigration reform for many years. Sometimes we are tempted to despair. Let’s keep our hearts focused on the promise, “The Lord hears the cry of the poor.” And let us never tire of the journey.
Pope Francis has, over the years, often spoken of the importance of listening. In 2016 at the 50th World Communication Day he said: I would like to encourage everyone to see society not as a competition between strangers but above all as a home or a family, where the door is always open and where everyone feels welcome.
For this to happen, we must first listen. Communicating means sharing and sharing demands listening and acceptance. Listening is much more than simply hearing. Hearing is about receiving information, while listening is about communication and calls for closeness. Listening allows us to get things right, and not simply to be passive onlookers, users, or consumers. Listening also means being able to share questions and doubts, to journey side by side, to banish all claims to absolute power, and to put our abilities and gifts at the service of the common good.
Listening is never easy. Many times, it is easier to play deaf. Listening means paying attention, wanting to understand, to value, to respect, and to ponder what the other person says. It involves a sort of martyrdom or self-sacrifice, as we try to imitate Moses before the burning bush: we have to remove our sandals when standing on the “holy ground” of our encounter with the one who speaks to me (cf. Ex 3:5). Knowing how to listen is an immense grace, it is a gift which we need to ask for and then make every effort to practice. “
And then again, in the fall of 2021 when Pope Francis opened the two-year synod process, he challenged our church to master the encounter. He said, “Let us ask in the church, are we good at listening? How good is the hearing of our heart?” “Do we allow people to express themselves, to walk in faith even though they have had difficulties in life, and to be part of the life of the community without being hindered, rejected or judged?” “Let us not soundproof our hearts,” the pope implored.
And so, we take that final thought – let us not soundproof our hearts – as a charge for our daily life.