The Good Sanitation Worker (Fourth Sunday of Easter, Year C)

Today is often referred to as Good Shepherd Sunday, a time to pray for vocations and also for those who currently shepherd the flock. There are some problems with this image, at least for me. First of all, my guess is that most of you have never seen or touched or smelled a real, live sheep, much less a real shepherd. Our holy cards have sanitized what shepherds were really like.

In Jesus’ time, shepherds were looked down upon. They performed an essential task for the community, but their job made them highly unpopular. They smelled funny. They were uneducated and ill-mannered. Their job did not allow them the luxury of keeping the Sabbath and therefore, in addition to being unwashed, they were ritually unclean.

On the other hand, they were strong, dedicated and brave. They could easily flatten a wolf. They were tireless in their search for lost sheep. They acted as living gatekeepers, literally lying down at the entrance to the sheep pen at night so no sheep could escape and no wolf get in. My main objection to the image of shepherd, however, is not to how bad a shepherd smells but what his ultimate goal is: he protects the sheep until he can fleece them. Or worse.

I think a more appropriate image would be to think of Jesus as the Good Sanitation Worker. Think about it. Like shepherds in years past, the sanitation worker performs an essential function for our society. Nevertheless, most people look down on garbage collectors because, like shepherds, they also smell funny. But think of what a mess we would have if we had no sanitation workers.

Jesus, our good sanitation worker, takes away our spiritual garbage. But best of all, he helps us recycle. He looks at what is broken and worn out in our lives and shows us ways to repair and renew ourselves and our relationships.

Today’s priests follow in Jesus’ footsteps, more as spiritual sanitation workers than as shepherds, even though the word “pastor” originally meant shepherd. Through confession and the sacrament of reconciliation, priests help us unburden our souls of the garbage we have collected over time. Through counseling they help us recycle our lives.

These days, because of the scandals that continue to rock the Church, the priesthood has probably fallen lower in many people’s eyes even than sanitation workers. Power, privilege and prestige no longer mark the priesthood. Good. The only thing worse than a priest shortage would be for young men to want to become priests for the wrong reasons.

But the People of God still need men of courage, humility and sacrifice willing to take on the essential role of helping Christ clean up his church. We need good, Catholic parents who, though mindful of the faults of too many churchmen, are still proud to be known as Catholics and are willing to encourage their sons and daughters to enter religious life.

With fewer men entering the priesthood, is it any wonder the garbage is starting to pile up? Yet despite all its current problems, despite all its past sins, the Roman Catholic faith is still capable of great holiness and goodness and has the potential to once again bring the light of Christ to our wounded and broken world in dire need of healing, justice, peace, hope and love.

Perhaps as you listen to me this morning, some of you young people feel the stirrings of the Holy Spirit calling you to follow Christ by becoming a spiritual sanitation worker. We need you. We are counting on you. With you, the Church may once again become a shining example of sacred service to the Gospel of Christ and the Reign of God. Without you, what was once beautiful about Catholicism will be hidden by so much trash.

Whom shall I send? (Fifth Sunday, Year C)

What do Isaiah, St. Paul and St. Peter have in common? They each had an experience of God that changed their lives.

Isaiah had his vision of God while worshiping in the Holy of Holies inside the Temple in Jerusalem. He describes God seated on a high throne, the train of God’s robes filling the Temple. Clouds of incense rise up and the Temple shakes as angels call out, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts! All the earth is filled with God’s glory!” You might recognize what the angels said, as we use similar words to mark the holiest part of the Mass. They warn us we are about to enter into the very presence of God.

Isaiah’s reaction to seeing God bears noting. He was filled with fear. He thinks he is doomed to die. “Woe is me! I am doomed!” he cries, for no one can look at the face of God and live. He is overcome by his own sense of unworthiness. “I am a man of unclean lips from a people of unclean lips!”

But instead of striking him dead, God sends a seraph angel with tongs to take a red-hot coal from the incense burner and touch Isaiah’s lips to purge away any sin, any evil, any uncleanliness.

“Whom shall I send? Who will be go for us?” God then asks. Purified by fire, Isaiah answers, “Here I am Lord, send me.” In taking away Isaiah’s sin, God also took away his excuses.

Unlike Isaiah, Paul wasn’t worshiping in the Temple when the Risen Christ appeared to him. In fact, he was actually persecuting the Church, arresting Christians and putting them in prison. He believed he was doing the work of God. Paul was so determined to wipe out followers of Christ he even held the cloaks of the men who stoned St. Stephen to death.

After Jesus appeared to him, Paul became conscious of his own unworthiness to be a disciple, much less an apostle, of Christ. But this experience convinced him we are not saved by our own efforts; we are saved by God’s grace. Paul wrote in Romans 5:8 “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” If he, Paul, could experience God’s grace while trying to destroy the Church, than anybody can experience God no matter what they are doing.

And Peter wasn’t even doing God’s when he became aware of Jesus. He wasn’t in the Temple praying; he wasn’t going about fanatically following his interpretation of the Law. He was fishing. He was just doing his job, trying to make a living. He was literally minding his own business. To be sure, he wasn’t having a very good day (or night) fishing. In fact he caught nothing. You might say he was a failure.

Then along comes Jesus, a carpenter, telling him to try one more time, cast out into the deep and lower his nets for a catch. I mean really. What does a carpenter know about fishing? But I guess to humor Jesus who seemed like a well-meaning fellow, Peter and his companions launch their boats again. They lower their nets and so many fish fill them that the nets were in danger of breaking and the boats of sinking.

Peter, like Paul, like Isaiah, is overcome by his unworthiness and asks Jesus to go away. Jesus dismisses Peter’s painful humility and instead calls him to be a fisher of men and women. Use your experience, use your skills to spread the kingdom of God and let your humility constantly remind you it is not your business you are doing but mine.

But Isaiah, Paul and Peter not only experienced God and were overwhelmed by their own unworthiness, they also shared something else: a willingness to do God’s will.

What about you? Today, February 7, 2010 it’s your turn. Have you ever experienced God while at prayer or while sinning or while minding your own business? Whatever you are doing, God is calling you today to get over yourself.

Do you trust that the one who is calling you will give you the strength and grace you’ll need to answer God’s call? Your protestations of sinfulness or unworthiness are futile. God knows who you are. God knows what you did. He calls you anyway. Not because you are worthy. Not because you are holy. But because God loves you. So, are you willing to use your experience, use your talents, use your skills to spread the kingdom of God. God still asks, “Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?”

Who will answer, “Here I am , Lord, send me”?