4 October 2025 - hidden from the wise and the learned

 

Today's Readings
(Audio)

I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for although you have hidden these things
from the wise and the learned
you have revealed them to the childlike.

People who were too puffed up with pride where not disposed to receive the revelation that was given freely to the childlike. On the one hand were those who exercised humility before the truth and were thus able to learn. On the other were those who believed in their own intellectual prowess above all, too whom the mysteries of the Kingdom would necessarily remain inscrutable. The seventy-two disciples revealed themselves to be childlike by taking Jesus and acting on it. By trusting Jesus they availed themselves of his protection, and already shared in his victory over Satan. In contrast with these disciples were the Pharisees and the other opponents of Jesus. They were neither open nor interested to hear what he had to say. They rested complacently in such knowledge as they already possessed. If that knowledge was inadequate, as it must be, to address the questions posed by an unknown future or their lack of perfect fulfillment in God, they would distract themselves from those lingering questions through attempts at craftiness and cunning. They did not have the answers that deep down they must have desired. But by constantly shifting the pieces of the partial truths they did possess they sought to sedate themselves and keep others enthralled. 

Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.
All things have been handed over to me by my Father.
No one knows who the Son is except the Father,
and who the Father is except the Son
and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.

It was necessary to become childlike to receive divine revelation. This was more than a precaution against further inflating the pride of those who were already too proud. It was more than a mere coincidence that the attitude of humility was uniquely suited to attain the truth. It was precisely because the highest truth Jesus desired to reveal was the life of the Trinity. The only way to truly access that revelation in a way that was anything besides confusing was to participate in it as adopted daughters and sons of the Father. Only by sharing what belonged properly only to the Son could we hope to have any sense of the true meaning of Trinity. Therefore by becoming like the Son, who expressed what it was to be childlike in archetypal fashion, we could come to share in the Son's own knowledge of the Father and experience of their Spirit. Without this participation we might even be able to accurate cite the Athanasian formulations of Trinitarian doctrine, but without them touching our hearts or lives. It is probably possible to be a Trinitarian theologian while continuing to grow in pride. But it is not possible to truly cry out "Abba! Father!" as anything other than sons and daughters in the Son. As to which is preferable, we hope it is obvious.

Turning to the disciples in private he said,
"Blessed are the eyes that see what you see.
For I say to you,
many prophets and kings desired to see what you see,
but did not see it,
and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it."

Being childlike is the starting place of supernatural faith. Only those who become like children can truly appreciate how blessed their eyes are when they behold the Eucharistic presence of Jesus. Only those who become like children can truly live Eucharistic lives, capable of contributing of nourishing the world. Jesus became for us the Eucharistic Lord because of his love for us and for his Father. It is a love that is capable is gathering the whole world as one family. Together we receive and become food that avails, not just for days or weeks, but for eternity.

Vertical Worship - Open Up The Heavens

3 October 2025 - holy people > holy places

 

 

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida!

It wasn't enough to live in ostensibly holy places. What mattered was being holy people. The fact that one could see Jesus at work nearby was not inherently confirmation that one was in the right place, that nothing more was required. Observing Jesus at a distance was not enough. A response was required. In our own day an individual could spend a lifetime in Church, witnessing Jesus minister his healing power to members of the congregation, and assume things must be fine, but without having made a personal response himself. It wouldn't matter what kind of healings were happening even to the person next to him in the pew if his own heart was never touched or transformed.

For if the mighty deeds done in your midst
had been done in Tyre and Sidon,
they would long ago have repented,
sitting in sackcloth and ashes.

The mere fact of being from a background in which it was normal to reject God and his ways by no means implied anyone is disqualified from receiving salvation. When people did not think to regard their lands as holy it sometimes meant they were less likely to be presumptuous about the condition of their souls. When they heard about Jesus they might more readily decide that he ought to be more to them than a mere confirmation that they were already in good shape. They might, as in fact some from Tyre and Sion did, desire to hear Jesus, and possibly to be changed by what they heard. They would not necessarily assume that they were in the light, that they were already able to see, and might more easily discern the true light who had come into the world when he crossed paths with them.

And as for you, Capernaum, 'Will you be exalted to heaven?
You will go down to the netherworld.'

There is nothing automatic about discipleship. One can gain much by the circumstance of being born into a devout family. But if that devotion is never embraced by an individual choice it will not profit anyone who reaches the age of reason. Jesus did not say that it was necessary to be in the crowd who heard him. He said it was necessary to listen to him, and to the disciples who spoke in his name. We may balk at that second part, at the idea that the Church can make such definite demands of those who would follow Christ. But that is only to say that Christ represents something so real and definite that a self-defined response is insufficient. He is not something we made up ourselves, or someone whose parameters we determined on our own, and we therefore need more than arbitrarily or subjectively determined response. We need true conversion and repentance. His presence nearby makes us not less accountable, but more. As is evidenced by the lives we do see Jesus touch, he has come to bring healing. But we too stand as beggars in need of this mercy. The only reason we will miss out is if we stubbornly insist on refusing his invitation, which may well happen if we persist in denying we need it. May we instead welcome all the grace he desires to give us.

Matt Maher - Heart Of Worship

2 October 2025 - guardians dear

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

 The disciples approached Jesus and said,
"Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?"

It was obvious who the great ones were in the world, the rich, and those in power. But the Kingdom was clearly different. This question from the disciples may have been another way of asking what would constitute doing their best for Jesus or what would make them the most valuable to the Kingdom he was bringing about. If that was the case then the question wasn't entirely one motivated by pride. It was at least partially based on enthusiasm for Jesus and his movement. We'd almost be inclined to say that it is better to have a bit too much ambition of this kind than no motivation at all, better to be coordinating with Jesus to build the Kingdom with imperfect motives, than to sit on our hands at home.

He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said,
"Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children,
you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven.

As we can see, however, Jesus did find the disciples drive for greatness as something in need of correction. The disciples pursuit of greatness was partly for Jesus, but also substantially rooted in what they as individual contributors could add. It was based on their inaccurate ideas about themselves, that Jesus in some way needed something from them that no one else could offer. It was also based on a desire to stand out from others in the future, to be elevated and honored for what they were able to do that others were not. The correction Jesus gave them was not one designed to decrease their motivation to pursue excellence. It was rather one that was designed to give them a new basis for self-worth. In the Kingdom it wasn't their performance or unique abilities that made them valuable. In the eyes of the world they would have as little value as the world place on children. In that sense they were to understand that their contributions were roughly similar to kids being allowed to assist in the kitchen. It was more for their sake than for that of the meal. Yet, although the world in Jesus's time tended to not value children, we do see examples where children were highly valued. After all, such children as Isaac, Samson, and Samuel, were all treasured by their parents. Jesus himself was the beloved Son of his heavenly Father. And we know the Father's love was revealed to disciples specifically by making them his children. It was this kind of spiritual childhood that was meant to be the source of the value and self-worth of the disciples. It wasn't something that could be the source of competition, for all disciples shared equally in this spiritual adoption. But it did not inherently diminish their drive or motivation. Instead it shifted the basis for it. They would henceforth wish to perform, not out of a need to feel validated, but in order to please their heavenly Father whom they loved.

And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me.

We receive Jesus more and better when we recognize the value that is inherent in others independent of their utilitarian value to us. Humans are worthy of love and respect regardless of whether or not they can add unique value as individual contributors through high levels of talent or skill. We are worthy because we are made in the image and likeness of God. We are all his sons and daughters potentially if not actually. When we recognize this fact about others it will be easier for us to see the presence of Jesus in them, and, in receiving them, to receive him as well.

See that you do not despise one of these little ones,
for I say to you that their angels in heaven
always look upon the face of my heavenly Father.

By acting like children in a spiritual sense, by trusting in the Father more than in ourselves, we become able to avail ourselves better of divine providence and heavenly protection. When we insist on relying on our smarts, strength, or skills, we put ourselves at risk of self-sabotage, at going against the provisions put in place for our own protection. It is like trying to cook with no adults in the kitchen. Their is a real risk that we may burn the whole place down. We have to be childlike to appreciate and avail ourselves of the blessings that our individual Guardian Angels are meant to be for us, those heavenly beings whom we celebrate today. No matter how much we may sometimes imagine it, we are never actually alone and left to our own devices. Let's recognize that fact and begin to live with confidence in the Father's love, and in its particular manifestation in these beings that have been given charge over us.

Newsboys - Entertaining Angels

1 October 2025 - no reservations

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

someone said to him,
"I will follow you wherever you go."

This isn't the sort of assertion that would be made by someone unless they thought that Jesus was worth following. The man didn't seem to be merely making an excuse since it appeared he said it without provocation. He may well have been sincere, not just to sound good to Jesus, to the crowd, or even to himself. He probably even intended to follow through on what he had said to the degree that he understood it. But there were some inherent assumptions that proved problematic. His "wherever" was still limited, not truly anywhere. He thought Jesus would be expedient to get him to a place he himself would find desirable. He may have assumed that the path of the messiah would lead eventually to a palace like that of Herod or that of Caesar. But the path of discipleship would not lead immediately to even comfortable lodging, much less a throne. To become a disciple one needed to be willing to let Jesus set the terms entirely, willing to prioritize following him over some eventual goal to which he might lead. Even though Jesus would eventually lead his followers to heaven it was not the right attitude for his disciples to treat Jesus as a means, to use him for the sake of some separate and selfish goal. This was why making any destination more important than Jesus himself was never going to work.

But he replied, "Lord, let me go first and bury my father."
But he answered him, "Let the dead bury their dead.
But you, go and proclaim the Kingdom of God."

The person who thus responded to Jesus did so after he was invited by Jesus to follow him. This context makes his response seem more likely to have been an excuse than a sincere request for a brief delay. It was possible that his father was already dead in which case the delay would have been short. It was also possible that he was still alive, implying that he wouldn't be ready to follow Jesus until some undetermined future time. But in either case he misunderstood the urgency of Jesus's call. The man was concerned about life and death in the natural order. But from the perspective of Jesus what mattered more was the supernatural life which could not be possessed apart from him. From that perspective, all who existed outside of the Kingdom did so in a state of spiritual death. They existed in a state that was ultimately futile and hopeless apart from him. He longed to change this state of affairs by the power of his resurrection. For those who wished to follow him this would have to take precedence even over their family relationships. Family bonds that weren't elevated to the supernatural order were still mired in the futility of the fallen world, destined toward death rather than life. Hence the urgency to follow Jesus, that the entire fallen world could be raised up and renewed.

And another said, "I will follow you, Lord,
but first let me say farewell to my family at home."
Jesus answered him, "No one who sets a hand to the plow
and looks to what was left behind is fit for the Kingdom of God."

Perhaps at a certain point the onlookers felt the need to say something to Jesus in order to excuse themselves, after seeing how the flimsy reasons of others were summarily dismissed. They were like the people who did not want to attend the wedding of the king (see Matthew 22:1-14). In this instance, the person, taking a cue from Elisha, asked Jesus for the same delay that the prophet had been allowed before he began to follow Elijah. It seemed superficially plausible. Yet Jesus detected that it was really just an excuse. The man still had concerns that were more important to him than Jesus. And these would ultimately be a liability. Perhaps with even a great prophet like Elijah such an admixture of motives could be allowed. But Jesus was one greater than Elijah, and to truly be his disciple meant having no greater priority than him, no greater goal than following him.

May my tongue cleave to my palate
if I remember you not,
If I place not Jerusalem
ahead of my joy.

Matisyahu - Jerusalem

30 September 2025 - fire fault

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

"Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven
to consume them?"

When Sodom and Gomorrah failed to show due hospitality to angelic messengers they were wiped off of the map. Elijah had called down fire to destroy his enemies. And so, when a Samaritan village failed to welcome Jesus, James and John thought that the one whom John the Baptist had said would baptize with fire ought not to stand for it. Jesus had moved into the final period of his journey, having set his face toward the final conflict in Jerusalem. Surely, if he was going to unleash his heavenly arsenal against his opposition this would have been an appropriate time to start.

Jesus turned and rebuked them,
and they journeyed to another village.

The disciples had failed to understand Jesus, when by then they should have known better. Jesus didn't respond with a complex explanation, but rather with a short rebuke that implied they could figure out the rest themselves. He had come on a mission of mercy, to spread healing and forgiveness. That mission was to culminate, not in his enemies destruction, but rather his own self-offering. Jesus was the one who had taught them to love their enemies and to pray for those who persecuted them. It proved easy to acknowledge and approve of those teachings, but harder to live. Yet Jesus himself lived them perfectly.

As he intensified his singular focus on the goal of the cross he did not become more aggressive toward those who did not yet understand or accept him. He did not let himself be distracted by such apparent insults to his honor. He could allow himself to become thus preoccupied, since he was heading, not first to victory, but to apparent defeat. He wasn't going to achieve his goal by persuasion, much less by violence. If the Samaritans failed to welcome him it was only a symptom of the larger problem that would finally result in the moment when he was rejected by his own people, and, implicitly, all of humanity. He could have mobilized his angelic forces to prevent such an occurrence. But had he done so we would not have been saved.

There would indeed come a time when those who were not gathered together in the wheat of the harvest would be burned with unquenchable fire. But this judgment was reserved for those who had obstinately rejected what Jesus had done for them to the last moment of their lives. This was a very different condition than that of the Samaritans who merely saw Jesus as part of the Jewish system of theology with which they differed, among other things, about where true worship ought to be offered. The rejection of the fully understood offer of salvation from Jesus was something quite different from a squabble about theological understanding.

What of us? How do we handle it when we experience a lack of hospitality and and acceptance? What do we think to be appropriate treatment for those who disagree with us on theology, politics, or ethics? Do we see them as enemies deserving of destruction? Or do we see them, as indeed we should see ourselves, as fallen people in need of salvation? It seems like there isn't much public discourse or conversation on social media that has any goal aside from demonizing and finally destroying those with whom we disagree. One would think this would be better in the Christian sphere but  the vitriol often seems all the more passionate since it surrounds deeply cherished beliefs. One would think it would be better in our own hearts, we who have heard the call to mercy and should know better. But we still seem to believe that any minute now Jesus will change modes and go on the offensive, and that we ought to encourage him to do so. We too need to hear the rebuke spoken to James and John, and constantly remember that Jesus came not to condemn, but to save. We ought never to be eager to see the fires of judgment burn, even if they one day must burn. We must instead fill our own hearts with the desire for mercy that fills the heart of Jesus, and to do all we can to bring that mercy to others, following the example Jesus himself gave us.

We The Kingdom - God So Loved

29 September 2025 - dragon dropped

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

"Here is a true child of Israel.
There is no duplicity in him."

Nathanael might have been suspicious that Jesus was trying to win him over with flattery. But Jesus never praised anyone unless there was a solid basis for doing so. Nathanael probably wanted to believe that what was said of him was true, that his commitments and resolve were all for the sake of Israel. He didn't want there to be any duplicity between God's concern and plan for the people of Israel and his own priorities. But, though he wanted it, it was difficult to be so focused, and to have such absolute integrity. He was no doubt aware of the struggle against conflicting priorities within him. He was probably always aware of the fact that he might at any time choose an easier path and knew himself to be capable of doing so. Thus, when Jesus affirmed the deepest sense of who he himself desired to be, he wanted to believe it, but could not do so entirely.

Nathanael said to him, "How do you know me?"
Jesus answered and said to him,
"Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree."

Jesus saw in Nathanael someone who had vested his entire life and future hope on the coming of the messiah and the age when "they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree" (see Micah 4:4). Jesus was able to affirm the deepest hopes of Nathanael because he himself had come to fulfill them. Because he had come, Nathanael would be able to become the person he most desired to be. Nathanael realized that Jesus understood him at an even deeper level than he understood himself. Jesus comprehended all of his hopes and fears, and affirmed that in him he could find true fulfillment. Nathanael found in Jesus the answer to the question of his life's meaning and purpose.

You will see greater things than this."
And he said to him, "Amen, amen, I say to you,
you will see heaven opened
and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.

Nathanael had come to understand that Jesus was the promised messiah. But he did not as yet understand all that was entailed in that fact. Jesus was more than the one who would save Israel from its enemies. He was in himself the place where heaven met earth, the one who would rebuild the bridge between God and man that sin had shattered. Even in the time of Jacob there was some interpenetration of the earthly and heavenly realms. But in Jesus the doors would be blown wide open. It is for this reason that we are now able to be close, not only to Jesus, but to his angels and his saints. It is for this reason that we celebrate the feast of the archangels, since we see that Jesus himself is the ladder that is a nexus for their activity, and it is in order to minister to him that they act for our sakes on earth.

The huge dragon, the ancient serpent,
who is called the Devil and Satan,
who deceived the whole world,
was thrown down to earth,
and its angels were thrown down with it.

We see in the book of Revelation that God sometimes chooses to act through angels as intermediaries. Even the defeat of the Devil was something he brought about through Michael, though we might have expected him to reserve the privilege to himself. But that he did so both affirms the greatness of the role of the angels shows us how the Devil was never in competition with him to begin with. It is a reminder of who is ultimately in charge. But it is also an implicit suggestion of where we ought to turn for help when we fight our own battles "against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places" (see Ephesians 6:12). Michael may once have told the armies of Israel that he was not on the side of anyone but that of the Lord (see Joshua 5:13-15). But that means that he is on the side of Jesus, and so, provided we are as well, on our side too. 

In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.

We one day hope to join the angels around the throne in singing the praises of the Lord. But really, we needn't wait. This describes the reality that happens at every mass. May we realize it and join in with our whole hearts.

Graham Kendrick - For This Purpose

28 September 2025 - at our door

Today's Readings
(Audio)

And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores,
who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps
that fell from the rich man's table.

As fallen people we are capable of egregious blind spots and shocking lack of sympathy. We tend to try to justify ourselves with knowledge that the problem of poverty, of sickness, and of oppression, is intractable, too large to ever be solved. Didn't Jesus himself tell us that we would always have the poor with us? Yet, although we not be accountable for all poverty, or for ending suffering for all times, we will be judged by what we did for those who were lying at our door. The rich man lived in such proximity to Lazarus that he had to all but step over him to continue to pursue his life of indulgence. It wasn't so much his fine clothes or sumptuous food that were problems in themselves. It was the fact that these things were chosen while Lazarus was still neglected and suffering. He was not necessarily being called to divest himself of all of his wealth for the sake of the poor. It was for his lack of actively expressed compassion for Lazarus in particular that he was judged. We can easily imagine that if he had made even a moderate effort to tend to Lazarus, one which he no doubt could have made while continuing to enjoy his standard of living, that Lazarus would have become an advocate for him in the hereafter, quick to help to ease the burden of whatever fires of purgation he faced.

When the poor man died,
he was carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham.
The rich man also died and was buried,
and from the netherworld, where he was in torment,
he raised his eyes and saw Abraham far off
and Lazarus at his side.

Jesus often spoke of a great reversal of fortunes between those who chose to selfishly enjoy the things of this world, as though they could provide ultimate happiness, who made idols of wealth, pleasure, and power, and those who were deprived during this earthly life. Those who practiced oppression could only do so for the short years of their temporal existence, before finding the power dynamics reversed and the tables turned completely. Those who used abundant wealth to pursue their own pleasure would one day, not to far hence,  find that wealth to fail. On the other hand there were who did not wield wealth in a primarily self-interested way during this life. They may have been deprived of wealth by systems of oppression or even by a choice to pursue better things. But whatever the case, the imbalance would be addressed. They seemed in this life to be the unfortunate ones. But in the scheme of eternity they would be the ones who were truly rich. 

The more we can intentionally learn to live for the love of others the more we invest in treasure we can keep, wealth that will not fail, and in coming out on the positive side of the scales when the imbalances of this world are addressed. We really want to learn to trust in God to provide for our ultimate happiness. Lazarus had no choice, really, but to hope in this. But we have many apparent alternatives we may mistakenly choose, none of which can truly satisfy. Hence we must be attentive to this warning.

Then Abraham said, 'If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets,
neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.

Concern for the poor was not something new in the Christian revelation. It was always a primary concern of God throughout the Scriptures. He sent prophets again and again to call people to care for the lowest and the least of these. A miracle might help one to come to faith, but it wouldn't necessarily provide long-term motivation for the commitment God required. If they were willing to ignore his voice speaking through the prophets of the past then they would find that they would even be able to ignore him speaking through his Son. In other words, if we're waiting for a miracle to prove to us we need to take care of for the poor seriously, it happened. If we're waiting for a word from God, he has already spoken. The time now is for us to do what Paul enjoined Timothy, to "Fight the good fight of the faith". Let us learn to imitate the Lord whom the psalmist describes as the greatest advocate for those in need:

The LORD gives sight to the blind;
the LORD raises up those who were bowed down.
The LORD loves the just;
the LORD protects strangers.

Matt Maher - Your Love Defends Me