July 30, 2023

Dear Parishioners,

In my homily a few weeks ago on the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (don’t worry if you can’t remember it, I can’t even remember what I preached this morning), I trashed King Solomon, David’s son. Yes, Solomon built the temple in Jerusalem and put Israel on the map with its wealth and armies and cities, but he also left Israel in serious debt. He actually sold off a portion of Israel in the north to a foreign power, enslaving those people, and imposed heavy taxes on the rest of people. Who cares that the temple is pretty when you’re dying of starvation?

Solomon’s son Rehoboam was given a kingdom that looked nice on the outside, with a beautiful temple and palace and gold-plated chariots, but was bankrupt and on the brink of collapse. Rehoboam was unwise like his father and imposed even heavier taxes on the people to solve the problem. This broke the backs of the people and led to rebellion. Israel had a civil war, was split into a northern and southern kingdom, and was firmly planted on the road to extinction.

So, Solomon? Yeah, not a good ruler.

And yet in our first reading this Sunday we hear about Solomon’s goodness. Like a “genie in a bottle” situation, God tells Solomon he’ll give Solomon anything he asks. Solomon asks for wisdom — to be a good ruler. God is pleased with this. "Because you have asked for this — not for a long life for yourself, nor for riches, nor for the life of your enemies, but for understanding so that you may know what is right — I do as you requested.”

How, then, does it go wrong for Solomon? Because Solomon didn’t ask for wisdom again.

Solomon got it right in his youth. He asked for wisdom. OK, great. But it’s a long life. Prayer and petition isn’t a “one and done” deal. Solomon needed to ask for wisdom the next day. He needed to ask for wisdom ten years later, fifty years later, and so forth. He was given a gift from God, but he needed to continue the spiritual work; to keep in touch with the Lord and keep begging for that wisdom. He failed to do this, and he acted unwisely in his later years.

We can be like Solomon: great one-time prayers. We’re in a bind and we pray hard to God. We sin and run to the confessional. Lent arrives and we fast great. We have a long commute to work and we pray in the car. But what about all those other times of the day, those other days, those other seasons?

Prayer ultimately isn’t about ‘getting something.’ It’s about the relationship. It’s about God. Solomon received wisdom when he prayed, but, really, he received God. He didn’t realize that. He thought once he had wisdom that was enough.

We don’t want some thing. We want God. He is eager to receive us and help us all throughout our lives if we pray always.

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All are invited to join the Wednesday Scripture Study this Wednesday, August 2nd at 9am in the Holy Family Chapel. We will discuss the upcoming Sunday readings. Sessions are not dependent on each other, so first-time attendees are more than welcome.

Next Sunday, August 6th at 5pm will be our next Teen Mass. While the previous two Teen Masses were just for teens, we are going to open this Mass to everyone, so all are invited. The teens will be invited to stay afterwards for pizza and conversation if they are able.

The above picture was from my annual vacation with my priest friends last week (we did a day trip to Niagara Falls). The six of us studied together in seminary in Rome and are from various dioceses around the country. We keep all of our parishioners in our prayers while we are together… please continue to pray for us. And thank you again to the staff and Fr. Nick for their work while I was away.

Yours in Christ,