28 February 2018 - the turning away

Today's Readings (Audio)

Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem,
and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests
and the scribes,
and they will condemn him to death,
and hand him over to the Gentiles
to be mocked and scourged and crucified,
and he will be raised on the third day.

We are following Jesus on this journey to Jerusalem. He calls each of us to take up our own cross and come after him. Sacrifice is part of this journey. Even suffering is a part of this journey. We try to give ourselves the consolation prize of religious pride to lessen our experience of sacrifice and dampen any suffering we feel. We becoming increasingly concerned with who is doing things rightly, who isn't, and charting out everyone in between.

When the ten heard this,
they became indignant at the two brothers.

We can tell this is happening because of how well it deadens our empathy for others. Jesus tells his disciples that he himself is going to suffer and die for them but immediately the subject is changed. They don't want to think about him suffering and dying. They only want to think about glory. If they can't think about his glory then, well, they'll think of their own. But the truth is that there is no glory apart from the cross.

Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?"

We only enter the kingdom of Jesus and find our place in it by first passing through the cross, through pain and death, before finally coming to the resurrection. We must first be the servants of all if we truly wish to reign with Christ.

Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant;
whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave.
Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve
and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Let's not close our eyes to suffering this Lent. Even if there is nothing to be done about it at a human level we can bring it to Jesus and offer it to him. We can rely on him instead of on ourselves to change suffering into glory and pain into life.

When we don't ignore suffering we become more free to love as Jesus loves. We become able to love even our adversaries who try to dig a pit for our life. We no longer simply place them in our hierarchy of religious performance. We speak on their behalf before the LORD, to turn his wrath from them. And in showing mercy at last we find it for ourselves as well.

But my trust is in you, O LORD;
I say, "You are my God."
In your hands is my destiny; rescue me
from the clutches of my enemies and my persecutors.

27 February 2018 - obscured by proudness

Today's Readings (Audio)

All their works are performed to be seen.

Are our works performed for love of for our own vanity and pride? One way to test this is to see whether we take pleasure when other people fail to live up to our standards.

They tie up heavy burdens hard to carry
and lay them on people's shoulders,
but they will not lift a finger to move them.

The Pharisees don't actually care so much about love and goodness as they do about feeling superior to others. Even if they could help others to carry the burden of the law they would not do it, because then they wouldn't have this perceived advantage over others. It's extreme enough that it impacts their own ability to keep the law. They preach but do not practice because as long as they seem holy and righteous that is good enough. They don't feel a strong need to actually be such.

Do we take secret pride in being Christians who check all the boxes? Are we proud when we know more about the mass or about Scripture or the Church than others? Secretly, of course. We would never say so. But isn't it something we feel as an affirmation first, and only then, after as a desire to share what we have?

As we are called to be virtuous day after day do we forget why and for whom we are called? Does it becoming more upkeep of our image rather than a fresh opportunity to be loving and just?

Wash yourselves clean!
Put away your misdeeds from before my eyes;
cease doing evil; learn to do good.
Make justice your aim: redress the wronged,
hear the orphan's plea, defend the widow.

Let us get reconnected with what should have been our motivation all along.

The greatest among you must be your servant.

Let us choose to serve, in practical ways, for the sake of others. If we can do this in hidden and unrecognized ways so much the better. The more we fade into the background the more we let God into the foreground to show his saving power.

To the upright I will show the saving power of God.

26 February 2018 - a people of mercy

Today's Readings (Audio)

Stop judging and you will not be judged.
Stop condemning and you will not be condemned.

We do judge others. Even though we know we shouldn't we do. Even though it is the one thing which the culture still admires about Christianity we still judge other people. We do it even though we would hate to be thought of as bigots. We don't imagine ourselves that way. And yet every single time we seem to succeed by our own effort, every time we don't acknowledge and thank God for our blessings, we risk judging people who choose not to act well.

The illusion is that there is anything good in us that we do not receive from God. It is the taking of the fruit for ourselves rather than the willingness to receive it from him. The fact of the matter is that apart from his power all of our best efforts still come up short.

Justice, O Lord, is on your side;
we are shamefaced even to this day:
we, the men of Judah, the residents of Jerusalem,
and all Israel, near and far,
in all the countries to which you have scattered them
because of their treachery toward you.

When we learn to accept that all righteousness is from God we become thankful whenever it appears in our own lives. When we fail we turn to God for help. We do not judge because we see how without God we are no better than any other person.

Forgive and you will be forgiven.

When we stop judging and start thanking we finally learn to be merciful. We have nothing of our own to which we cling. We are able to selflessly offer ourselves to others.

For the measure with which you measure
will in return be measured out to you.

The paradox is that this is how we ourselves receive that which truly lasts. It is mercy and righteousness from God which themselves are the gifts that matter most.

Give and gifts will be given to you;
a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing,
will be poured into your lap.

So let us look to the LORD for help. Without him our best efforts are tainted. But he delights to show us his mercy. As we receive it, let us consciously recognize it and be thankful so that we can truly be transformed into a people of mercy.

Let the prisoners' sighing come before you;
with your great power free those doomed to death.
Then we, your people and the sheep of your pasture,
will give thanks to you forever;
through all generations we will declare your praise.

25 February 2018 - brighter than our darkness

Today's Readings (Audio)

And he was transfigured before them, 
and his clothes became dazzling white, 
such as no fuller on earth could bleach them.

Let's go up the mountain with Jesus. He invites us to behold his glory. He wants us to listen to what the Father has to say about him. He wants those words planted deeply in our hearts. He wants the vision of his glory so deep in our memories that it can be a source of strength no matter what else is going on in our lives.

This is my beloved Son. Listen to him."
Suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone
but Jesus alone with them.

Hard times will come. We'd like to believe that these mountaintop experiences will keep us from failing. But if it didn't work for Peter it may not work for us. Consolations do help us avoiding falls. But when we fall anyway they help us to return. They assure us, even in the depths of our own despair, of the goodness and love of Jesus.

If God is for us, who can be against us?
He who did not spare his own Son 
but handed him over for us all, 
how will he not also give us everything else along with him?

We have a God who does not demand Abraham's firstborn son. Instead, he provides us his own. This is a God who loves us beyond measure. He wants the revelation of that love to transform us today.

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (see Second Corinthians 3:18)

Transfiguration reveals the truth of the identity of Jesus to us. It is a truth that we to which we can hold fast no matter what winds may blow. It is a truth which not only sustains us in hard times but actually makes us more and more like the one whom we behold.

Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears[a] we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. (See First John 3:2)

So let us go and bathe in the radiant light of Jesus. Let us rejoice in the depths of our hearts to hear the Father speak. And then let's move on toward Jerusalem with new and limitless strength.

My vows to the LORD I will pay
in the presence of all his people,
In the courts of the house of the LORD,
in your midst, O Jerusalem

24 February 2018 - meant for more

Today's Readings (Audio)

But I say to you, love your enemies,
and pray for those who persecute you,
that you may be children of your heavenly Father,
for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good,
and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.

We're decent at loving those who love us. We even succeed at loving those with whom we have a neutral relationship. We manage to make concrete acts of charity toward our loved ones and even to strangers throughout the world. But we are lousy at loving our enemies. Of course, we imagine ourselves too perfect to have enemies. But there are those who persecute us, even if only to cut us off in traffic. There are people who don't want to listen to us or take our concerns to heart. We may not call these people enemies. Regardless, we find a challenge in praying for them. Our prayers may involve them. We may pray that they change so that our own lives can go more smoothly. But do we pray for them for their own sake?

The standard we are called to live isn't a human standard. It isn't the way the world normally works. Enemies don't love enemies, in general. We are called to more.

Do not the tax collectors do the same?
And if you greet your brothers and sisters only,
what is unusual about that?
Do not the pagans do the same?
So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Every time we manage to love someone who did everything he could to alienate himself from our love we are witnessing the love of the Father to him. Let us listen to what the LORD commands. He is making us a people peculiarly his own, perfect as he is perfect. He is making a people of those who were once enemies of God and of one another. He is making them friends, brothers, and sisters.

Blessed are they whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the LORD.
Blessed are they who observe his decrees,
who seek him with all their heart.

23 February 2018 - inside and out

Today's Readings (Audio)

I tell you, 
unless your righteousness surpasses that
of the scribes and Pharisees,
you will not enter into the Kingdom of heaven.

We are called to a righteousness that comes from within. The scribes and Pharisees put on a decent show. People probably look at them and think they are holy people. But the things that go on in their hearts are not holy and not beautiful. Jesus wants us all to be more one piece, defined by integrity. We can't simply avoid killing while dreaming of killing. We can't not kill and then let the evil the stems from the desire to kill overflow into other actions which seem less than that great sin, but which stem from the same source.

But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother
will be liable to judgment,
and whoever says to his brother, Raqa, 
will be answerable to the Sanhedrin,
and whoever says, 'You fool,' will be liable to fiery Gehenna.

Righteousness is indeed about more than passing feelings. It is about how motivation influences action. We can't simply suppress or ignore a broken relationship. We have to actually seek to repair it. Actually repairing it is out of our hands, but simply seeking to do so transforms us. We gain freedom from the motivations which caused the relationship to break down in the first place. We begin to act out of a genuine desire for the life and well-being of our brother. When we find our thoughts shaping our actions in ways that do not please God we take these thoughts captive to Christ (see Second Corinthians 10:5). We act and pray as Jesus would have us pray for the reasons Jesus would have us do so. When we first begin this practice we may feel as phony as Pharisees. But if we keep our eyes on Jesus and ask his Spirit to fill us he really will begin to put his own love into our hearts. The one who prayed for those who crucified him prays for us. And he prays in us for everyone in the world. No one, no matter who guilty, is ineligible for his lavish love.

The LORD does not delight in the death of sinners. He hates to see us suffer. He wants us all to come to him for life.

Do I indeed derive any pleasure from the death of the wicked?
says the Lord GOD. 
Do I not rather rejoice when he turns from his evil way
that he may live?

Life and flourishing can only happen when our inner life and outer life are unified by the transforming power of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

For with the LORD is kindness
and with him is plenteous redemption;
And he will redeem Israel
from all their iniquities.

22 February 2018 chair-ity in all things

Today's Readings (Audio)

"Who do people say that the Son of Man is?"

As we move into the desert with Jesus we are more and more able to understand who he truly is. The distractions of the world distract us less. Those who speak falsehood and partial truth about Jesus are harder to hear and hold less sway. We are more open to the voice of the Father speaking to us. Jesus is not asking what we learn about him from the world. He is asking us who is. He wants us to answer with revelation.

Jesus wants his Church to be built on this revelation of who he is.

Simon Peter said in reply, 
"You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
Jesus said to him in reply, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah.
For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.
And so I say to you, you are Peter,
and upon this rock I will build my Church,
and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.

Jesus builds his Church in a way that protects it from human deception and error. He establishes the Chair of Saint Peter so that the faithful always have a true north toward which they can orient themselves. We can test the truth or falsehood of our own revelations of who Jesus is against what we are told from the Chair. The Chair cannot replace the revelation to each one of us. But neither can we, without error, fully know who Christ is without the guidance of the Chair. It is not a substitute for revelation. It is a reliable guide to the truth of revelation.

I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven.
Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven;
and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

The revelation of who Jesus is prevents us from becoming people who preach but do not practice. It prevents us from tying up heavy burdens hard to bear but doing nothing ourselves to help. That was the indictment of those who sat on the Chair of Moses, the predecessor to the new and more perfect Chair of Peter. When we know who the chief Shepherd is, and what he suffered for us, we tend the flock for the sake of the flock. We use the truth for the sake of building up others and not tearing them down. We and they walk together toward the kingdom.

And when the chief Shepherd is revealed,
you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

The LORD is a shepherd who wants his sheep to know and believe in the love he has for them. He gives us shepherds after his own heart to watch over us and keep us safe. He spreads before us the table of his body and blood and anoints us with his Holy Spirit. Let us receive the revelation of who Jesus is so that we may follow him and his appointed shepherds into his house. There will shall rejoice forever.

Only goodness and kindness follow me
all the days of my life;
And I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
for years to come.

21 February 2018 - speaking life

Today's Readings (Audio)

Jonah was a witness for the people of Nineveh. He spoke to them without self-interest. He gave them undiluted truth about the possible consequences of their choices.

"Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed,"

Let us be cut to the heart by preaching greater than that of Jonah. The preaching of Jonah moved a whole nation to repentance.

Man and beast shall be covered with sackcloth and call loudly to God;
every man shall turn from his evil way
and from the violence he has in hand.

The preaching of Jesus is purely selfless. He gives full knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of God entirely out of love for us. He is born into this world, not of necessity, but for us. He does, not because he must, but because he wills it out of love for us. Solomon's words helped Israel to prosper and people to live in harmony. Jesus words give us wealth beyond this age and put us in right relationship with his Father. Let us recognize in him the one who has greater wisdom than Solomon.

At the judgment 
the queen of the south will rise with the men of this generation 
and she will condemn them,
because she came from the ends of the earth
to hear the wisdom of Solomon,
and there is something greater than Solomon here. 

We're always suspicious of calls to repentance. But there is no ulterior motive here for Jesus. When he calls us to choices that seem difficult we can be assured that he does so out of love for us. However much repentance meant life for Nineveh, however much heeding the wisdom of Solomon meant prosperity for Israel, how much more does heeding the word of Jesus mean life for us.

A clean heart create for me, O God,
and a steadfast spirit renew within me.
Cast me not out from your presence,
and your Holy Spirit take not from me. 

20 February 2018 - heard by the Father

Today's Readings (Audio)

God gives us promises to claim and words to pray. His words are not like the words of men.

And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers (see First Thessalonians 2:13).

The word of God is actually powerful. It is living and active (see Hebrews 4:12). It is never without effect.

So shall my word be
that goes forth from my mouth;
It shall not return to me void,
but shall do my will,
achieving the end for which I sent it.

This is different from our words. Multiplying our own words in prayer tends to be unhelpful.

And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words

Instead, we do better to pray as close as possible in conformity with the promises of the word of God. We pray for peace because the word of God promises us peace beyond all understanding. We pray for joy because the word of God tells us that Jesus came to give us his own joy. Most perfectly, we pray the very prayer which Jesus himself teaches. We pray to God in words he himself gives us.

Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name,
thy Kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.

Of course, the Hail Mary is filled with phrases from the word of God as well. Availing ourselves of the power of the word of God can work in spontaneous prayer based Scripture. It can also work in formulaic prayers like the rosary. But to truly avail ourselves of the power of the word of God for prayer we must return to engage the Our Father with our entire hearts and minds. When possible, we should pray it slowly, deliberately, allowing God to fill our minds with the meaning and the desire each part is meant to contain.

When the poor one called out, the LORD heard,
and from all his distress he saved him.

19 February 2018 - getting our goat

Today's Readings (Audio)

When did we see you a stranger and welcome you,
or naked and clothe you? 

The LORD is calling us to see him in our neighbor. He is calling us to be holy as he himself is holy.

Whereas we hear the law and think only of obligation and effort, Jesus speaks the law with compassion in mind. Every think we are asked to do and to not do is in service of God and neighbor. None of it is arbitrary.

God tells us, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." This, and loving God himself with our entire heart, mind and strength are the fulfillment of the whole law. This is a significant test for whether what we pursue is primarily about relationship or whether we only have the form of religion without the it's power.

To love God and neighbor is the basis of judgment. If we want to be welcomed into the kingdom we need to ask for the grace to do this. There can be no shared life which we would call blessed that is selfish and without love.

Come, you who are blessed by my Father.
Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

This is what the psalmist realizes. He sees freedom in the law and not oppression. He feels his own heart made more loving. He feels his very eyes lifted up to the source of love itself.

The precepts of the LORD are right,
rejoicing the heart.
The command of the LORD is clear,
enlightening the eye.

18 February 2018 - water from the rock

Today's Readings (Audio)

Baptism makes us new creations. 

I will establish my covenant with you, 
that never again shall all bodily creatures be destroyed
by the waters of a flood; 

Now, even the place that seems like the embodiment of old creation, the desert cannot prevent us from receiving the covenant blessings of God. Deserts become, for us, springs of dry land. We have access to the water from the rock, Christ, even as we journey through the desert.

The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert, 
and he remained in the desert for forty days,
tempted by Satan.
He was among wild beasts,
and the angels ministered to him.

To our normal way of looking the desert seems dry. It seems like our very lives are at risk here. But in the desert with Jesus, infused with the new life of baptism, we find increasing strength, deeper wells of joy, the path away from ourselves and toward eternal life.

Good and upright is the LORD,
thus he shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble to justice,
and he teaches the humble his way.

Let's not go into the desert alone. Let's follow Jesus there. Let's go at the prompting of the Spirit, relying on the life given to us in baptism. Only in this way do we escape starvation. Only in this way do we learn just how much we can rely on God when nothing around us seems to indicate that we can. If we let the Spirit manifest our baptismal grace within us we will go through the desert but we will not be thirsty.

This prefigured baptism, which saves you now.
It is not a removal of dirt from the body 
but an appeal to God for a clear conscience, 
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
who has gone into heaven
and is at the right hand of God, 
with angels, authorities, and powers subject to him.

17 February 2018 - what defines us

Today's Readings (Audio)

Jesus saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the customs post.
He said to him, "Follow me."
And leaving everything behind, he got up and followed him.

Let us follow Jesus this Lent. Let us learn from the example of Levi who is ready to get up and leave everything behind that would keep him from being near to Jesus. Levi doesn't analyze whether he is worthy of this call. The Pharisees think he isn't but Levi knows that the fact that Jesus calls him is what matters. He may be a sinner with friends who are sinners but this does not make him any less eligible for Jesus's love. In fact, it makes him the perfect candidate.

Jesus said to them in reply,
"Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do.

Jesus calls us to him because he is able to see something deeper in us than our sins and our failings. He loves us more than we can ask, imagine, or deserve. This is what defines us. And this means that transformation is always possible. Sinner isn't an identity with which we are stuck forever. The Divine Physician is able to heal us, to sanctify us, and to make us holy.

He heals us by placing his own love inside of us. When we let it out we see his own light shining.

If you bestow your bread on the hungry
and satisfy the afflicted;
Then light shall rise for you in the darkness,
and the gloom shall become for you like midday;
Then the LORD will guide you always
and give you plenty even on the parched land.

So we ask Jesus to teach us his ways. Then we can walk in the truth that we are not stuck as sinners. We are God's children now, being transformed from one degree of glory to another. All we have to do is follow him.

16 February 2018 - fast things first

Today's Readings (Audio)

Jesus answered them, "Can the wedding guests mourn
as long as the bridegroom is with them?
The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them,
and then they will fast."

We aren't called to simply fast as hard as we can. We are called to something more dynamic, more personal, and more relational. Jesus knows that it is not only his disciples that experience him being taken from them, but also us as we liturgically relive this part of his life during Lent and the Triduum.

Is this the manner of fasting I wish,
of keeping a day of penance:
That a man bow his head like a reed
and lie in sackcloth and ashes?

Christian fasting isn't done for the sake of self-mastery so much as it is about putting first things first. 

This, rather, is the fasting that I wish:
releasing those bound unjustly,
untying the thongs of the yoke;
Setting free the oppressed,
breaking every yoke;
Sharing your bread with the hungry,
sheltering the oppressed and the homeless;
Clothing the naked when you see them,
and not turning your back on your own.

Experiencing these difficult and painful mysteries of the life of Jesus invites us to draw as near to him as we can. We do this by expressing our longing for him in prayer and by loving him as we love our neighbor. These are done precisely because he seems more distant right now and we long for him to be closer. This isn't about appearing spiritual or achieving anything for ourselves. It is not a season of self-improvement nearly so much as a season of self-forgetting. It is all about expressing our love for Jesus in a way uniquely appropriate to the Lent.

For you are not pleased with sacrifices;
should I offer a burnt offering, you would not accept it.
My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit;
a heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.

15 February 2018 - life without limit

Today's Readings (Audio)

Choose life, then,
that you and your descendants may live, by loving the LORD, your God,
heeding his voice, and holding fast to him.

It seems like the obvious choice. Yet, people prefer darkness and death. We prefer darkness and death. We often fail to choose life. Why? Choosing life means obeying the commandments which the LORD enjoins on us, loving him, walking in his ways, and keeping his commandments, statutes, and decrees. This means life! But our minds are darkened. It does not seem to us that obedience could mean life. It seems oppressive. It seems like anything less than absolute unrestrained and arbitrary exercise of freedom is something less than life. But we find that freedom like that is emptied of meaning, emptied of order, and cannot manifest life.

If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself
and take up his cross daily and follow me.

Following the LORD means putting the flesh to death. This means that every time we are tempted to choose the false promises of idolatry we choose the LORD instead. Even though idols promise us pleasure, power, and security, they cannot deliver. Yet to choose against them means often means foregoing a short-term and short-lived pleasure in favor of the lasting joy of Jesus Christ. But ultimately, only the joy Jesus gives us matters. Only his joy lasts.

For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.
What profit is there for one to gain the whole world
yet lose or forfeit himself

Keeping the commandments of the LORD is our best strategy for a life well lived. We can't do it on our own. But he wouldn't ask us to do the impossible. He plans to help. With him all things are possible. With him, commandments which seem to merely limit us become the source of limitless life.

He is like a tree
planted near running water,
That yields its fruit in due season,
and whose leaves never fade.
Whatever he does, prospers.

14 February 2018 - not deserted

Today's Readings (Audio)

Even now, says the LORD,
return to me with your whole heart,
with fasting, and weeping, and mourning;
Rend your hearts, not your garments,
and return to the LORD, your God.

We are called to remember our dependence on God. We are called to rely on the LORD absolutely. We are to turn aside from everything we cling to apart from him.

Let the bridegroom quit his room
and the bride her chamber.

The LORD asks us to fast from the temporary fulfillments that keep us from finding our joy in him alone. He asks us to turn toward him in prayer and works of love. Now more than ever, these can't be done so that we can feel good about them, but rather, for the sake of the other, the one to whom we pray, and for the people we serve.

But when you give alms,
do not let your left hand know what your right is doing,
so that your almsgiving may be secret.
And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.

There is a reward for charity. It comes when we can forget ourselves in the service of others. When our limited ego diminishes and the Spirit within us increases we receive repayment.

There is more to be done in each of our hearts. Accepting Jesus is not a one and done thing. Conversion is an ongoing process. We are being made ready for heaven. We are given the opportunity to live more of the life of heaven even here on earth beginning today.

In an acceptable time I heard you,
and on the day of salvation I helped you.

Behold, now is a very acceptable time;
behold, now is the day of salvation.

We often don't see the call to fasting, prayer, and almsgiving as an opportunity. Yet this call is filled with grace. Just as the Spirit leads Jesus into the desert so too does he lead us. The Spirit is ready and willing to bring about remarkable transformation in each one of us if we but follow one step at a time. This transformation is the gift of Jesus to us this season.

For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin, 
so that we might become the righteousness of God in him

It is united to Jesus himself, following the Spirit, that we can live the call of Lent. On our own, sure, it is a burden, but with Jesus the yoke is easy and the burden light. 

Give me back the joy of your salvation,
and a willing spirit sustain in me.
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.

Though we go to the desert we do not go alone. We go together as the people of God, supporting one another, and praying for one another. We go under the protection of the Spirit of God in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. Onward!

13 February 2018 - not leaven out what matters

Today's Readings (Audio)

Blessed is he who perseveres in temptation,
for when he has been proven he will receive the crown of life 
that he promised to those who love him.

In order to persevere we must avoid the corrupting influences that come at us from the world, the flesh, and the devil. We must guard against the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod. Herod commits many sins because of his fear of death and the desire to protect his throne. The Pharisees frequently fail to be compassionate and are ultimately complicit in the death of Jesus because of their spiritual pride, their need to always be right, and to be known to be right.

The leaven of Herod and the leaven of the Pharisees are subtle. The initial motivation doesn't seem like it would lead to the eventual crime. But it can, if we are not on our guard. This is because leaven is something that we manifest from the inside out. When we let it in it is a corruption in our will and in our motivation rather than merely something in the world around us.

Rather, each person is tempted when lured and enticed by his desire.
Then desire conceives and brings forth sin,
and when sin reaches maturity it gives birth to death.

How can we avoid deception at so fundamental a level?

Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers and sisters:
all good giving and every perfect gift is from above,
coming down from the Father of lights,
with whom there is no alteration or shadow caused by change.

It isn't by correctly cataloging every negative influence on us. It is rather being so focused on the gifts given to us by God that we don't need the leaven of the Pharisees. It is being so filled by the bread of heaven that we do not turn to the bread of earth in desperation.

The most perfect of the gifts of God is the bread from heaven, Jesus Christ, present in the Eucharist. If we can make him truly the source of our life and our joy we won't be fooled by the substitutes the world offers. We ourselves will be transformed and made able to help fill that same hunger in the world.

He willed to give us birth by the word of truth
that we may be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

It begins with a simple act of trust in the LORD.

When I say, "My foot is slipping,"
your mercy, O LORD, sustains me;
When cares abound within me,
your comfort gladdens my soul. 

So perhaps that can become our prayer for today.

"When cares abound within me, your comfort gladdens my soul."

And then once more, meaning for ourselves what the words say:

"When cares abound within me, your comfort gladdens my soul."

12 February 2018 - criteria rejection

Today's Readings (Audio)

Why does this generation seek a sign?
Amen, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.

We do not set the criteria necessary for Jesus to prove himself. Jesus does reveal himself to the world. He acts so that we might believe. But he does not engage in wish fulfillment to that end. We can't say that we will believe if we get the car or the raise or whatever else we want from him.

Becoming so focused on our own terms and conditions causes us to miss the significance of the real ways in which Jesus reveals himself. Pre-eminent among these are his preaching and his death and resurrection.  Even his preaching is enough to reveal him. No one has ever spoken like this man. His words cut to the heart. His words are Spirit and life. He alone has the words of eternal life.

In making demands of Jesus we set ourselves up to miss the testimony of his resurrection. We look away at the first signs of trouble. We turn our backs on pain assuming that this couldn't be related to the self-revelation of Jesus. After all, the signs we desire have no trace of pain. Yet it is first and foremost by transforming pain and death into new life that Jesus reveals himself to the world.

Only when we are willing to put aside our own desire for signs can we learn true wisdom.

Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters,
when you encounter various trials,
for you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
And let perseverance be perfect,
so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

True wisdom does not guarantee we won't suffer. It most certainly assures us that we will. Yet wisdom alone gives true meaning to that suffering. Wisdom alone shows how suffering can lead beyond itself to perfection. In order to seek this wisdom from God we can't allow the doubts that arise from selfish ambition to influence us. Wisdom comes from truly witnessing the resurrection of Christ. It comes from turning away from our selfishness and doubts and toward the cross.

Before I was afflicted I went astray,
but now I hold to your promise. 

11 February 2018 - hand helping

Today's Readings (Audio)

As long as the sore is on him he shall declare himself unclean,
since he is in fact unclean.
He shall dwell apart, making his abode outside the camp.

Jesus has compassion on the suffering. He is moved with pity for those who are driven apart from community by physical, mental, and spiritual challenges.

A leper came to Jesus and kneeling down begged him and said,
"If you wish, you can make me clean."
Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, 
touched him, and said to him, 
"I do will it. Be made clean."
The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean.
Then, warning him sternly, he dismissed him at once. 

Jesus heals this leper as a sign of the greater work he accomplishes on the cross. He heals the sin sick condition of our hearts that keeps us from entering his eternal kingdom. He sees us cutoff from true life, decaying, and dying, and he refuses to leave us there. He is so full of compassion that we can trust him. We can be confident in his power. We can reach out to him for the healing we desire trusting that Jesus will give us what we need.

Whatever afflicts us, physical or spiritual, let us bring it to Jesus. Let us, in humility, extend it toward him, exposing ourselves, yet trusting in mercy. Right now we probably can't say with Paul, "I try to please everyone in every way, not seeking my own benefit but that of many, that they may be saved." And we probably cringe even hearing about it, so self-willed are we. This is our deepest leprosy. It is a condition from which Jesus delights to heal us. 

Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.

We can't do it without the healing hand of Jesus. But he does not ration his gift of the Spirit (see John 3:32). So let us turn to him with great confidence in times of trouble so that we can experience the joy of salvation. We experience not just the success of doing good deeds when we'd rather do something else, but the full joy of salvation that hand of Jesus brings.

Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you just;
exult, all you upright of heart.

10 February 2018 - accept no substitutes

Today's Readings (Audio)

Idolatry breaks down unity. Jeroboam knows it. He actually encourages it. He doesn't want to see the Kingdom return to David's house. He creates different idols and feasts to ensure that the unity he fears does not come about. Idolatry temporarily fills a vacuum that would otherwise draw us toward God. It eases a need in a temporary way but does nothing for us that lasts.

Jesus knows of the hunger that can cause the crowds to scatter. He knows that if he leaves the crowd with nothing they will inevitably go off on their own.

My heart is moved with pity for the crowd,
because they have been with me now for three days
and have nothing to eat.
If I send them away hungry to their homes,
they will collapse on the way,
and some of them have come a great distance.

Jesus refuses to leave the crowd to deal with their hunger on their own. The way he does deal with the hunger seems more impractical than people going out to various towns to fend for themselves. In fact, what Jesus offers, humanly speaking doesn't seem to be enough.

Still he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?”
They replied, “Seven.”

No matter how hungry we are, no matter how impossible it seems, Jesus is able to give us the bread that we desire. He is able to quench our thirst with streams of life-giving water. When we hunger, or have any desire in life, either toward or away from anything, let us be sure that we turn to Jesus. He should be the one to ultimately satisfy us. Let us be on guard for false substitutes, feasts of the world that in some ways try to duplicate the feasts of the LORD, but which ultimately leave us more hungry than ever. God alone satisfies. He alone is enough.

Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.

9 February 2018 - free speech movement

Today's Readings (Audio)

And people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment
and begged him to lay his hand on him.

How is our speech? Do we speak up for the LORD? Do we say only things which are good and helpful for building up others (see Ephesians 4:29)? Or do we use our mouths for gossip and slander? Do we use them to judge others rather than to show mercy? We have a speech impediment that is more serious than the man in the gospel reading. Even so, the LORD offers us the same mercy.

He put his finger into the man's ears
and, spitting, touched his tongue;
then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him,
"Ephphatha!" (that is, "Be opened!")

First our ears are opened so that we can hear. Then our mouths are opened so we can speak. Jesus asks the crowd not to announce that particular miracle. But he asks the opposite from us. We are to shout this healing from the mountains. People will be amazed at the newfound freedom we have. They will see us and say of Jesus, "He has done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak."

Listening to the LORD is our guarantee of unity and peace. It prevents our lives from becoming divided kingdoms. In the face of the forces set against us it is our only power and authority. In order not to collapse entirely we need the integrity that comes from hearing God's word, speaking it, and living it. We don't have to look far to find it. Because "the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it" (see Deuteronomy 30:14).

All that is asked of us is to listen with faith.

"If only my people would hear me,
and Israel walk in my ways,
Quickly would I humble their enemies;
against their foes I would turn my hand."

And even the listening and the faith is a gift freely given.

8 February 2018 - wholehearted approval

Today's Readings (Audio)

So the LORD said to Solomon: "Since this is what you want,
and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes
which I enjoined on you,
I will deprive you of the kingdom and give it to your servant.

Solomon makes it clear what he wants. He prefers to please his many wives and their strange gods rather than being entirely for the LORD, his God. We should take warning. We can serve idols even while the LORD has some place in our life. Who are we trying to keep happy at the LORD's expense? Where do we fail to honor the LORD in order to seek pleasure or to make our relationships go more smoothly? We must remember that when we choose against the LORD we choose to stand outside of his protection, his blessings, and his gifts.

We can avoid the risk of idolatry by a humility that recognizes our utter dependence on the LORD.

“Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s scraps.”
Then he said to her, “For saying this, you may go.
The demon has gone out of your daughter.”

When this woman sought the LORD he did not immediately grant her request. The temptation would be to give up and then go and find another way to achieve her goal apart from the LORD. But she did not do this. She bore the initial refusal with humility, patience, and faith that led to her receiving what she asked.

When the woman went home, she found the child lying in bed
and the demon gone.

Even if we fail the LORD does not give up on us. His promises to us precede our fidelity to him. He is able to bring about the Kingdom he desires. Any part of our heart that remains with him is a part which he can bless. To be a part of the Kingdom he is building, we should find that solid ground and turn back to him, to serve him with our whole hearts.

Blessed are they who observe what is right,
who do always what is just.
Remember us, O LORD, as you favor your people;
visit us with your saving help. 

7 February 2018 - in season and out of season

Today's Readings (Audio)

“Hear me, all of you, and understand.
Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person;
but the things that come out from within are what defile.” 

Jesus tells us to correct our focus. Worry more about what is going on in our hearts, he tells us, than what is going on in the world. To be sure, there is a lot of badness in the world. But we can remain undefiled and unsustained, pure of heart before God, if we make it our aim to please him, to make things that come out from us pleasing.

Rather than worrying about the world, over which we have no control, we make it our firm resolve to avoid "thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly." There is still the tendency, in each of us, toward all of these things. Usually it manifests in small ways. Murder becomes merely harmfully ignoring someone and so on. Yet they are all within us. And to the degree that we let them out they defile us.

If the tendency toward sin is so deeply ingrained within us what can we do? We need the wisdom that comes from God. Just as Solomon trusts in God for wisdom and is thereby able to judge justly so to if we trust in the LORD for wisdom he will tell us how we can bear good fruit in any situation, at any time, no matter what is happening around us.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (see Galatians 5:22-23).

This sort of thing amazes the world. They see how bad things are and expect the circumstances that surround us to determine how we behave. But this is not how it should be for Christians. When the world sees love in the face of hate it is able to believe us when we proclaim the Gospel message.

Commit to the LORD your way;
trust in him, and he will act.
He will make justice dawn for you like the light;
bright as the noonday shall be your vindication.

6 February 2018 - all about you

Today's Readings (Audio)

This people honors me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me;
In vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines human precepts.

Let's honor God with our lips and also with our hearts. Let's not hide behind the veneer of ritual when the world needs our love. What would this failing look like? It is when are more interested in showing off our membership in the Church than in living it out. We retweet funny memes or have clever bumper stickers. But are these things really oriented toward dialogue and evangelization? If so, great! If not, let's not celebrate our in-group membership at the expense of the souls of others. People should know that we are Christians, not by the boundaries we create, but by the boundaries we bridge. They should know we are Christians by our love. If we keep our lips in sync with our hearts we have nothing to worry about.

We need to make the presence of God the primary thing.

If the heavens and the highest heavens cannot contain you,
how much less this temple which I have built! 

When God is central and not ourselves we worship rightly and love with the love that he himself gives us, impelled by the Spirit he places in our hearts. The world cannot contain him, much less our words or our worship. But when we give him room at the center of our hearts he does transform us. He gives us integrity and puts our words and our lives into harmony.

Listen to the petitions of your servant and of your people Israel
which they offer in this place.
Listen from your heavenly dwelling and grant pardon.

If it is all about us our words become empty, meaningless, vapid, and powerless. When it is all about God it is all about his words, and his words contain within themselves the power and the love for which the world is longing.

I had rather one day in your courts
than a thousand elsewhere;
I had rather lie at the threshold of the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

5 February 2018 - what you don't see is

Today's Readings (Audio)

Whatever villages or towns or countryside he entered,
they laid the sick in the marketplaces
and begged him that they might touch only the tassel on his cloak;
and as many as touched it were healed.

Do we truly value the presence of the LORD? Or do we grow accustomed to it and take it for granted?

When the priests left the holy place,
the cloud filled the temple of the LORD
so that the priests could no longer minister because of the cloud,
since the LORD's glory had filled the temple of the LORD.

When the presence of the LORD is new to us it often feels as impressive to us as it truly is in reality. Yet, over time, our hearts grow dull. We are invited to remember that the LORD's presence in the tabernacle is no less than it was in the temple of Solomon. It is in fact much greater. The cloud of his glory does indeed spiritually fill the churches where he dwells. We are invited by Jesus to rediscover his presence in our midst.

Let us enter into his dwelling,
let us worship at his footstool.

We are invited to draw near. We need to open the eyes of our hearts. Only in this way can we know the hope of our calling and the riches of our glorious inheritance (see Ephesians 1:18). Then we, like the sick laid in his path, are not only in his presence.  We touch him and are transformed.

and as many as touched it were healed.

4 February 2018 - the hearts of the matter

Today's Readings (Audio)

Remember that my life is like the wind;
I shall not see happiness again.

We can always see happiness again if we turn to the one who heals the brokenhearted. 

Praise the Lord, who heals the brokenhearted.

It is for this purpose, to heal the brokenhearted, that Jesus comes. He cures many and drives out demons. But the main reason he comes is to preach the good news. He is the one who knows the number of the stars and calls each by name. To heal our hearts is the priority of Jesus. He goes from town to town. He heals and casts out demons. But he has to keep moving because there is a message to be proclaimed. There are other hearts that need access to the message. Healing springs up in his path. But the salvation of souls is the lasting impact which the visitation of Jesus imparts.

The importance of the message is something that Paul understands too. He has seen too many people dwelling in the hopelessness of Job. He knows that only Jesus can help.

If I preach the gospel, this is no reason for me to boast,
for an obligation has been imposed on me,
and woe to me if I do not preach it!

He is willing to do whatever it takes, no matter the cost to himself, to proclaim the message. He does this because he knows how essential it is.

I have become all things to all, to save at least some.
All this I do for the sake of the gospel,
so that I too may have a share in it.