The Father s Authority is the Treasure of The Field Men of Prayer - St. Peter's Men's Conference #1 "The kingdom of Heaven is like A TREASURE HIDDEN IN THE FIELD that a MAN has found. He then hides it again, goes off, and in his joy he sells everything he owns and buys that field! (Matthew 13:44) This parable, a short as it is, touches something deep inside every man. It's almost as though there's something within us that desires to cry out: "YES!! Yes, that makes sense to me! On this, the first of a 4- part series of talks designed to STOKE THE FIRES OF FAITH within men's hearts, we re going to take a good look at the structural blocks that make up the essence of who we are as men so that we can come to understand why these few words from Jesus move something deep within us... To start off on the right foot, we need to become consciously aware that when the Son of God walked this earth some 2000 years ago, he did so as THE NEW ADAM the NEW MAN re-created by the Spirit." In other words, his very presence on earth reveals a very specific message for men: that message being an invitation to reclaim the Image of God the Father within our fallen nature and to EXERCISE THAT AUTHORITY within the context of our own lives. Get this; the MYSTERY OF THE FATHER is that of being a Creator. I mean we bump into this reality as the first image given to us on the first page of the Holy Scriptures. In the beginning, God created heaven and earth. Next comes the pronouncement of a command being issued forth from his voice: " LET THERE BE LIGHT - and there was light. After his commanded word: ACTION follows: "God divided the light from darkness St. Augustine picked up on this and wrote about how the Creator s action of separating light from darkness is all about how He separated GOOD from Evil, the good angels from the bad angels Creation was set in motion by a Creator, and what's made crystal clear in all of this, is that THERE S AN ISSUE RIGHT FROM THE START OF THE MYSTERY OF CREATION!! It is the issue of light and darkness - of good and evil an issue that needs to be discerned by SOMEONE IN AUTHORITY who then goes on to exercise action in separating the two one from the other. Here is where I want to introduce something of the mystery that goes into the genetic makeup of a man in general. Once man has been formed from the dust and God's Spirit has been breathed into him, immediately he becomes A CO-OPERATOR WITH THE CREATOR IN CONTINUING HIS WORK OF CREATION. The first job given to men was that of tilling the soil - this shows his participation with God in bringing about excellence through that which exists around him. Next, he was GIVEN THE TASK OF NAMING ALL ANIMALS. While it might seem like a small thing it, it nonetheless expresses Man s Dominion over all created things. Finally, he is given the task of battling good and evil / of separating light from darkness as God the Father clearly tells him what he should do and what he should not do. Ever since those days, herein lies the inner depths of man s existence VIS-A-VIS his Creator: "Between Heaven and Earth, BETWEEN LIGHT AND DARK, between Faith and Sin: LIES only my heart Lies God and only my heart My heart, your heart, is the sacred meeting ground between the living Spirit of God and the inner depths of your life's journey and that needs to be respected, honored, and treasured. Now, before we go any further, we have to pick up the pieces of our fallen nature following THE FALL of Adam and Eve For on that day, the human race found itself being violently ruptured away from our Creator's Favor, and we ve gone on to pass the OPEN WOUND of ORIGINAL SIN down throughout the ages simply by means of propagation. 1
I know we re all familiar with tales that describe how the blame for the fall of humanity has fallen on the woman because after all: Scripture says, she ate of the fruit first. First off, the book of Genesis is not meant to be taken literally! The point of the fall is not who did what first, the point of the fall is this: there was a moment in time when humanity existed in harmony with all of creation and with God. Through a temptation introduced by means of an active personage within the drama of salvation, namely Satan / the Adversary, humanity chose disobedience rather than obedience to their Creator. And in turn, we inherited the lot of death. That's the point of the story!! However, if we do want to play THE BLAME GAME, then let's do it this way: BOTH OF THEM are to be blamed EQUALLY for the fall because through their UNION / their MARRIAGE: the TWO FORMED ONE FLESH. And if we want to go even further down the road of laying blame on one of them then I stand before you as a man claiming that the entirety of the fault lies on ADAM! WHY???? Because where WAS HE?? Where was he while His Wife was being SEDUCED BY THE VOICE OF ANOTHER? For as HER man, her LOVING HUSBAND, he ought to have been RIGHT THERE PRESENT when that silver tongued serpent showed up in the first place! No, it wasn t Eve who dropped the ball on that day, it was Adam who failed to protect and defend his bride before the seductive voice of another. And yet, that's not even the worst of it: once again, as THE MAN, when the cards were finally laid out on the table, he ought to have stepped forward and taken full blame and responsibility for the decision they made together before God. He ought to have said something like this: "LORD, I m sorry I was too busy being entranced by my own desires and looking after my own needs and so I failed I failed in my duty as MAN to notice how the voice of another had captured the heart of my beloved." But that's not what he said now is it? When God called both of them to task, what s the first thing the man does?? "SHE DID IT! You put her with me and she gave me the fruit." SSSSooooo USELESS!!!! And that s not the worse of it the worse of it is that Adam even goes so far as to PUT THE BLAME ON GOD! Listen to him: YOU PUT HER WITH ME. It doesn't get much more pathetic than that And let's not forget this, the kind of reasoning that we ve just heard emanating out of Adam's fallen brain is the same kind of reasoning that has been emanating out of man's brain ever since the time of the fall. That KIND OF REASONING that of not taking full responsibility, that of blaming it on others, that of not stepping up to the plate, is the same kind of reasoning that, WITHOUT THE ASSISTANCE OF GRACE FROM ABOVE, naturally bubbles out of every man s wounded, fallen nature each and every day What we learn from Adam is this, WITHOUT THE HELP OF SUPERNATURAL GRACE from Above, without the Gift of the Spirit from the God Man, The NEW ADAM Jesus Christ, active in our lives, we as MEN are destined to False Reasoning Bottom line: The first man, Adam: HE FAILED AT obedience, responsibility, and accountability and that weakness is one which is stamped within each and every one of us Thankfully the second Adam, Jesus Christ: HE FULFILLED and completed everything that the First Adam had failed in And that strength, that honor, that love is one that is made available to each and every one of us so long as we unlock the graces that await us by means of the Church s Sacraments. 2
Especially in the grace that's made available to us by means of the Holy Eucharist! For when we eat the flesh and drink the blood of Jesus during the Holy Mass, what we are doing IS receiving the new version of ourselves as a people of hope awaiting the future of THE RESURRECTION. And it s precisely thanks to the graces made available to us through the church that we, as men, ought to STRIVE TO NO LONGER BE the SELVES that WE ARE wounded, fallen, and limited But the selves that we should be: that is completely united in love with God and with one another going back into the old world with a new mindset one that inspires us to live differently! But do we REALLY live our lives as men baptized re-fashioned, and re-created with His Spirit consciously aware of this dynamic at work within us? Are we consciously aware that truly, "The kingdom of Heaven is like treasure hidden in the field that a MAN has found; he then hides it again, goes off in his joy and sells everything he owns and then he buys that field! (Matthew 13:44) What does a life of a man who has rediscovered who he is as man re-created in the New Adam, in Christ, look like? I mean WHO ARE WE REALLY? and where DO WE GO FROM HERE? We have to go back to the origin of our story of creation in order to understand and appreciate what it means to RADIATE THE CREATIVE AUTHORITY of God the Father through the vehicle of our manly nature. My brothers, we have it stamped within the DNA of our very being to emanate here on earth that which the Creator emanated at the time of creation! A real man is one who, like God the Father desired to CREATE A BEAUTIFUL ATMOSPHERE ORDERED TO LIFE FOR THOSE WHOM HE LOVES MOST: NAMELY HUMAN BEINGS, likewise this dynamic is imprinted within the very fiber of our being: the RAW DATA of who we are has men emanates this archaic urge to be a provider, to create, to fix, and to do things for those we love most: namely the wives you have chosen and the children entrusted to your care. St. John Paul II wrote in Familiaris Consortio: "Men relive and reveal on earth the very Fatherhood of God by using their authority to rationally order creation to life. 2x I'll forever remember growing up as a teenager at home when one day, some so-called "family friends" went on to suggest to my parents how they should change certain practices, certain Traditions in their lives so as to become more: "politically correct". I remember how my dad thought about this suggestion for a couple of days until he finally gave this response: "This home is my Kingdom: and I AM THE KING IN MY CASTLE..." In the same way, each one of you men are Kings and you have a kingdom to rule. Your Castle is your home whereby your queen and your children are supposed to be kept safe from the evils of this world. As St. JP II reminds us in FAMILIARIS CONSORTIO: "The Family is the first school of following Christ the family is the First Church As such, within the walls of your Castle and under the rule of your kingdom, little princesses and little princes are to be shaped and formed under the authority, the protection, the wisdom, THE LOVE of their KING. 3
If we go back in time about 60 years, we bump into the life story of a young father back in the 50s who once found himself being intrigued with the personality of A STRANGER he'd just met. And so, he invited the stranger to come and stay within the walls of his Castle: his family home. As soon as the stranger crossed the threshold of the man's Castle, he fascinated the Queen along with their children. So attached to this family did THE STRANGER become that they actually asked him to stay for good... THE STRANGER was a great storyteller! He kept everyone spellbound for hours on end with adventures, mysteries, and humor. No one ever questioned where THE STRANGER got his information from... As the years went by, THE STRANGER began to feel more at ease within the walls of the Kings Castle, and so he started talking a little too much: he even dared to bring up taboo topics like sex and violence but no one in the family asked him to leave. And so he started using foul language and promoting the use of alcohol and other substances. At one time, he even began discussing and celebrating HOMOSEXUALITY, ADULTERY, PREMARITAL SEX... Today, more than 60 years after the day when the King first invited THE STRANGER into his Castle, the King finds himself as an old man on his deathbed eating crushed ice. His children have all moved out and are now building up Kingdoms of their own and yet THE STRANGER still lives in the Kings Castle. THE STRANGER'S NAME IS TELEVISION... In 1957, Pope Pius XII released an encyclical letter entitled Miranda Prorsus, which is Latin for wonderful invention." It's a letter which addresses the Apostolic See s praises of and concerns for movies, radio and television. Under the section entitled "Duty of the Listener" Pope Pius XII states the following: "THE FIRST DUTY of the LISTENER is that of choosing carefully and deliberately from the programs offered; these must not be permitted to enter the home indiscriminately, but access should be given them on the same principles as are observed in a deliberate and prudent invitation to A FRIEND. A person would act wrongly if he made no selection in introducing friends into his home..." My fellow rulers of EARTHLY KINGDOM'S how many of us here this evening would walk down the streets of downtown Calgary and invite a complete stranger to come and dwell within the walls of our Castles? To sleep in the same room as your little princesses and princes?? Nowadays, the AVERAGE YOUTH watches at least 25 hours of television per week. Thing is, that's not the only stranger shaping, influencing, and motivating them in life. Your children are spending so much time watching television or chatting online that our youth have been labeled "generation M for MEDIA." Favorite shows out there are no longer LEAVE IT TO BEAVER or the LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE. Back in the year 2005, the most popular show among 9 to 12 year old girls was ABC's Desperate Housewives. Your little princess is sitting there being filled with messages on network television that describe how a family is supposed to be a DYSFUNCTIONAL UNIT. And then what about fatherhood?? What are your children being taught concerning how they are to understand and respect the AUTHORITY OF THE KING OF THE CASTLE??? The FAMILY GUY, AMERICAN DAD and THE SIMPSONS, consistently portray fathers as being idiotic buffoons! Over the last 30 years or so the model television father, the model king of the castle, is one that is overweight, underachieving, sexually obsessed and racist... 4
The breakdown of our society as a whole is merely but the reflection of an even greater problem: the breakdown of the family unit... The fracturing and tearing asunder of the kingdom entrusted to your care as men made in the image of the KING OF KINGS and Lord of Lords... ADD onto all this the influence of all the other media outlets like the Internet, cell phones, ipods, the ipads, and video games around us and you end up having to face the fact that at the very least, your children and grandchildren now spend more than a QUARTER OF THEIR VERY EXISTENCE EVERY WEEK being brought up by some form of isolated media! Here s a question to think about: HOW DOES IT HAPPEN?? How did it happen that the remembrance of our Lord's coming among us in order to save us, that the remembrance of GOD'S SON, of he who experienced a horrific death followed up by a glorious resurrection a resurrection that serves to reveal how humanity will at some point go on to live for all of eternity as divinized beings how did that which was once SO SACRED become an occasion for SIN and FALSE REASONING?? For every day, we are making our way across a land where there sure seems to no longer exist "Objective Truth." We walk among a land where man boasts that he is God while God is dead and if not dead, then at the very least an ideology to ridicule by way of TURNING HIS FEASTS, his sacred days of remembrance, into secular festivals... Hallows Eve into Halloween, Christmas into Happy Holidays, Easter into The Easter Bunny and Chocolate My fellow Kings, the EDGING AWAY OF TRUTH has happened in society because in our families, we have allowed for many STRANGERS to influence and shape our lives and the lives of your Queen... We have allowed for STRANGERS to strip away the Truth from our hearts one lie at a time with whip-like strokes of false reasoning. In John chapter 10 verse 10, Jesus Christ says this: "I have come that they may have life and have it abundantly." Through Christ rising from the dead, all of creation has been free from its bondage to sin and we live during an in between time when the old is being reordered to the New. WHEN TEMPORAL LIFE IS BRIDGING WITH ETERNAL LIFE. Just like there has always existed an incredible unity between the Father and the Son and their work of Redemption likewise there will always exist an incredible unity between you as fathers going about doing what you need to do to FACILITATE REDEMPTION for your wives and your children. You as a man, as a father exist to create and build a home for your loved ones not just for life on earth - but for Eternal Life in the Kingdom. One of America's founding fathers, Thomas Paine once wrote, "THE REAL MAN smiles in trouble, gathers strength from distress, and grows brave by reflection." And so what are you doing then as Kings to take charge, to take hold, to rule over the earthly kingdom entrusted to your care? For you ve bought the Field already so don t forget about the treasure!!! Separate Light from Darkness, Good from Evil from within the confines of the FIELD of YOUR EXISTENCE that you have decided to purchase with your time on earth. BROTHERS - This IS our dignity and Grace as MAN: You and I exist for the sake of CREATING, REVEALING and RELIVING the Fatherhood of God 5
For TRULY: "The kingdom of Heaven is like treasure hidden in the field that a MAN has found; he then hides it again, goes off in his joy and sells everything he owns and then he buys that field! (Matthew 13:44) How are you protecting your queen, your little princesses and princes from THE STRANGERS that so ardently desire to influence their every thought? Sowing seeds of lies and falsehoods It all begins and ends with the little things: TRADITIONS teach THE HOUSEHOLD OF YOUR KINGDOM to keep that which is sacred - SACRED!! FOR YOUR HOME IS YOUR KINGDOM AND YOU ARE THE KING IN YOUR CASTLE!! 6