30 June 2020 - only a test

Today's Readings

(Audio)

I brought upon you such upheaval
as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah:
you were like a brand plucked from the fire;
Yet you returned not to me,
says the LORD.

What do we do in times of upheaval? Do we use them as opportunities to renew our trust in the LORD, to return to him, or do we go our own way? We are meant to have such a special relationship with the LORD that he, and not the news, not social media, helps us to understand the signs of the times.

Indeed, the Lord GOD does nothing
without revealing his plan
to his servants, the prophets.

What are the prophets of the LORD saying about our current situation? In one sense it is what he has always said:

"Yet even now," declares the LORD, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;" (see Joel 2:12).

The prophets call us to increased fidelity, which points to the reason God allows us to experience testing.

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.  And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing (see James 1:2-4).

The risk is that we will see only terrors and forget they are tests. God told us in advance that such things would happen. He made them known to his prophets.

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.  But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. (see First Peter 4:12-13).

Most of us respond to trials like the disciples in the boat. Because we didn't expect these things we give in to fear and despair and only then finally turn to Jesus at the last minute in a desperate plea to solve our problems.

They came and woke him, saying,
“Lord, save us!  We are perishing!”
He said to them, “Why are you terrified, O you of little faith?”

If we had been attentive to the prophets we wouldn't have been surprised. The fact that Jesus was peacefully asleep should have meant that he was with us and that we had nothing to fear. We did not need to give in to panic. Jesus himself would have awoken if it were needful for us. It is actually possible to meet these storms with confidence, even like that of Saint Therese:

Jesus, as was His wont, slept in my little barque. How rarely do souls suffer Him to sleep in peace! This Good Master is so wearied with continually making fresh advances that He eagerly avails Himself of the repose I offer Him, and, no doubt, He will sleep on until my great and everlasting retreat; but, instead of being grieved at this, I am glad.

Story of a Soul Chapter 8 

After all, Jesus himself is the one of whom the psalmist wrote "Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep" (see Psalm 121:4). It is only at the level of the flesh that there seems to be anything to fear. Every test and trial can serve to perfect our faith if we let grace guide our response.

But I, because of your abundant mercy,
will enter your house;
I will worship at your holy temple
in fear of you, O LORD.

First, I'll point again to what one prophet is saying about our present circumstances:

Now, back to your regularly scheduled worship music:

29 June 2020 - flesh and blood has not revealed this

Today's Readings

(Audio)

He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

This is a question that no one can answer for us. Hearing the right answer is not enough. It is no good to say, 'Lord, Lord,' just because we know that is what we should say.

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.

We are called to make the answer of Simon Peter our own. He shows us what it means to confess that Jesus is Lord by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is not enough to repeat what is true for others. The identity of Jesus must become a reality for each one of us. Simon Peter was so changed by the revelation of the Father that he himself received a new name to reflect that change.

And so I say to you, you are Peter,

We ourselves are accounted Christians because we share in this same revelation that Peter first received. Yet the Christian life comes with challenges, as Peter learned again and again. When he forgot this central truth of the identity of Jesus, or tried to control it and make it more understandable, he did not rise to those challenges. He tried to tell Jesus that he had a better plan, not involving death and so was told, "Get thee behind me, Satan!" He denied him three times in Gethsemane. But when he did remember it he was unstoppable.

They passed the first guard, then the second,
and came to the iron gate leading out to the city,
which opened for them by itself.

It was this same revelation that made Paul a powerful evangelist. He did not receive it from flesh and blood and therefore didn't need to consult flesh and blood about it (see Galatians 1:16). Paul and Peter both show us that the revelation of Jesus is not something abstract, not merely a philosophical truth, but one by which he is present in our lives, day to day, moment to moment.

The Lord stood by me and gave me strength,
so that through me the proclamation might be completed
and all the Gentiles might hear it.

In this sense Christianity is individualistic, that nothing can substitute for the personal encounter of each disciple with Christ. Yet this aspect of the Church does not render the keys given to Peter along with the power of binding and loosing as superfluous. Just as Peter accompanied Jesus for some time before he was able to welcome this revelation, so too does the Church provide a place where Jesus can be encountered with confidence, where his power can be experienced. Peter needed more than just this one experience. He needed the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. So too did Paul. It wasn't enough to hear that the one he was persecuting was Jesus. It wasn't until his three days of blindness that he was transformed by baptism and the reception of the Holy Spirit. And so for us as well. We come to the Church again and again, turning from the options provided by flesh and blood, because we are in constant need of the Spirit bringing us the revelation of the Father about who Jesus is in such a way that our lives are transformed.

Taste and see how good the LORD is;
blessed the man who takes refuge in him.

28 June 2020 - a prophet's reward

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Whoever receives you receives me,
and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.

There is a mystical reality that is present in the apostle and their descendents, the bishops, priests, and deacons of our own time. They are given the Spirit in a special way to make Jesus present to us. And so we are called to receive them, not for their own sake, but because of the office given them by Jesus.

Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet
will receive a prophet’s reward,
and whoever receives a righteous man
because he is a righteous man
will receive a righteous man’s reward.

We sometimes even receive priests and bishops in spite of their human failings because of the dignity of the office in which they share. Whenever we are able to receive them, to assist them in whatever small ways we can, we ourselves share in the work. And we are therefore promised to partake of the same reward. At first, our egalitarian tendencies make us want to resist the hierarchy of apostolic succession. But it turns out that we, in a sense, get the better deal. We get to partake in the reward of righteousness without the specific difficulties of the work. Therefore, let us learn from the woman at Shunem who did what she could for Elisha because he was a prophet and a holy man of God.

Since he visits us often, let us arrange a little room on the roof
and furnish it for him with a bed, table, chair, and lamp,
so that when he comes to us he can stay there.

Let us do what we can to share in the burden of the mission of the Church. We can't look for a reward in the short term. The descendents of the apostles will not be able to repay us, and they may not even have enough attention to spare to give us their thanks. But because God wants us to prefer his mission to all else he himself is the one to whom we look for our reward.

Elisha promised, “This time next year
you will be fondling a baby son.”

This call to welcome the righteous and the prophets goes beyond those with a specifically apostolic ministry. Saint Benedict enjoins, "All guests who present themselves are to be welcomed as Christ, for he himself will say: I was a stranger and you welcomed me (Matt 25:35)" (see RB 53). The mission Jesus wants to see accomplished is not simply the building of the hierarchical Church. This Church is always ordered to the service of her members. The mission of Jesus is precisely that he himself may be all in all (see Colossians 3:11). All rewards are aimed at motivating us to find Jesus wherever he makes himself available, in Sacrament, in Spirit, and in works of charity. All rewards are only rewards in the measure that the share in the final reward, God himself.

Whoever finds his life will lose it,
and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Because the reward we are called to is the new life of the resurrection it is only possible for us if we prefer nothing to Christ. If we cling to the old life, the way things are now, we will be unwilling to take up our crosses and follow him. We will be unwilling to make his priorities our own. And if that happens we will find ourselves unwilling to come to him for the life he offers (see John 5:40).

If, then, we have died with Christ,
we believe that we shall also live with him.

Today we are called to receive Jesus wherever he is offering himself, especially in others, and by sharing in the burden of the apostles. But we must expect that this is only possible to the degree that we share in the death of Christ. Only then can we hold nothing back. Only then are we free to experience the promised reward. Fortunately, he is given us a share in this mystery already, by grace. We must simply choose to live it.

Consequently, you too must think of yourselves as dead to sin
and living for God in Christ Jesus.

27 June 2020 - under my roof

Today's Readings

(Audio)

He said to him, “I will come and cure him.”
The centurion said in reply,
“Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof;
only say the word and my servant will be healed.

We say these words at mass to remind us that no one ever deserves to receive the Eucharist. It is a gift we could never deserve. Indeed, from the very fact of our creation we are already so indebted to the creator as to never deserve anything from him. Yet our lack of deserving doesn't slow Jesus down. In fact, it only seems to encourage him. He wants to meet us in our paralysis and our suffering and give us his mercy. It is he that stands at our door and knocks and not the other way around (see Revelation 3:20).

Our sense of unworthiness come become a problem if we make it an obstacle to Jesus. We may not be worthy to receive him, but we know that his word is so powerful that he can heal us anyway.

For I too am a man subject to authority,
with soldiers subject to me.
And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes;
and to another, ‘Come here,’ and he comes;
and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

Jesus comes to us and offers us healing just as he does for the servant of the centurion. To simply take this for granted as something owed to us will actually cause us to miss the opportunity. We are meant to realize that the offer of healing is both great and surprising. We are given the opportunity to respond in faith.

When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him,
“Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith.

Most of us try to bring Jesus into houses built on selfishness and pride. We don't even want to rearrange the furniture to make him comfortable. We insist that he stand where he can find room and do his healing work from there. The centurion on the other hand recognizes that his house isn't fit for Jesus. And neither is the soul of anyone worthy of Jesus. But the word of Jesus has such power that it can reach even inside of such places, places we could not renovate on our own, and bring healing.

“You may go; as you have believed, let it be done for you.”
And at that very hour his servant was healed.

Jesus does want to dwell in our hearts through faith (see Ephesians 3:17). As we realize his greatness and our smallness we come to understand that we can do nothing to prepare that place for him until we first welcome his healing word. Even the temple of the Old Testament could only be based on the plans revealed by God himself. How much more do we need his word if we are to be temples of his Holy Spirit.

There is no cause for sadness, no cause to despair that Jesus will leave our servant to suffer. Deserving has nothing to do with our right to receive. The motivation of the Sacred Heart is always mercy. He created us so that we could partake in the goodness of his own being. He is more than willing to make us new creations so that we don't miss out through human weakness and failings.

We can and should cry out in our need, like the author of Lamentations:

Pour out your heart like water
in the presence of the Lord;

The particular passage we see seems depressing, but the author himself was ultimately motivated by hope:

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness (see Lamentations 3:22-23).

These are the mercies the word of Jesus can bring to us, that can heal our soul, and make of us dwelling places fit for the LORD until we in turn come to dwell with him at the banquet in the Kingdom of heaven. There is no house so out of order, no disease so dire, not demon too strong, that the healing touch of Jesus cannot heal and overcome them all.

He took away our infirmities and bore our diseases.

26 June 2020 - be made clean

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Jesus teaches as one who has authority. This authority event extends over sickness. He descends from the mountain to bring his word to man. Unlike the law of Moses which merely condemned sin the word of Jesus has healing power. The leper that approached Jesus sensed the authority with which he taught. But he was unsure about his heart.

“Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.”

Why should someone so exalted and powerful care about us? This is a human way of thinking, but we often fall into it. We assume power in Jesus is like it is with other men. Power for them means they are so in control of their own destinies that they no longer need to bother much with compassion. Even the lip service to compassion they may give is aimed mostly at retaining their power. We project these broken images on God and assume that at his core his identity has more to do with power than with love. We need to remember that God is love (see First John 4:7), and nothing else about him can be separated from that truth.

He stretched out his hand, touched him, and said,
“I will do it.  Be made clean.”

The psalmist tells us that the power and the love of God are an inseparable reality.

Once God has spoken;
twice have I heard this:
that power belongs to God,
and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love (see Psalm 62:11-12).

Because the love of Jesus is powerful, rooted in God's own power, it can overcome any barrier to receiving it. Earthly love comes up against limits like leprosy and backs down. It can't enter into the isolation and pain that such people feel. It is constrained to keep itself apart, to protect itself. But the love of Jesus is not only doesn't need to isolate and withdraw from lepers, but can even and even to touch them. Rather than being contaminated himself, the entire flow is reserved, and the leper is cleansed.

Then Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one,
but go show yourself to the priest,
and offer the gift that Moses prescribed;
that will be proof for them.”

When we are changed by Jesus it means more to show it by our lives than by our words. Anything we might say about the power and authority of Jesus should be implicit in the very fact of the healing we have received. It is no longer the time for silence and we are not called to keep the source of our life a secret. But even so, like this former leper, our lives are meant to reveal him even when before we speak.

We might doubt the power of Jesus to heal our world. We might seem to be in a situation like the exile of Israel in Babylon. But we must not give in to despair.

If I forget you, Jerusalem,
may my right hand be forgotten!

We did forget the new Jerusalem. We weren't as grateful as such a gift as the New Covenant of Jesus deserved. We failed to respond with thanksgiving and fear of the LORD. Our hands did wither and we became unable to live as the city of a hill we were meant to be, unable to reach out to others. But for us, just as for the leper, the love of Jesus has power. Even though the world can seem like a lost cause, we ourselves powerless to help, doing our best to shield ourselves from it, it is not a lost cause for Jesus. His love can break down the barriers. He can heal the wounds of sin and division. He can do it, and he wills it.

25 June 2020 - raw materials

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Only by the Holy Spirit can we say, "Jesus is Lord" (see First Corinthians 12:1). Without the Spirit we can speak the words but they will be empty of meaning. They will lack transformational and salvific power they are supposed to have. Paul tells us that "if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved" (see Romans 10:9). But this is when we say his name in the power of the Holy Spirit, when we rely on his gift working in us. Saying 'Lord, Lord,' is not enough. Prophesy and mighty deeds using his name is not enough. Social action and charity using his name is not enough. We can't just stamp the name of Jesus on the top of our own initiatives and assume this is the same thing as knowing him.

‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers.’

In order to ensure our actions are worthy of his name we must begin from his words, his own self-revelation.

Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them
will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.

Building on the words of Jesus is different from building on any other words. The words of Jesus are Spirit in life (see John 6:63). They are living and effective (see Hebrews 4:12). Deciding to agree with his words, to surrender them, is not equivalent to merely deciding to do what he tells us. Truly accepting and welcoming his words effects an inner transformation as we ourselves are reordered from the inside out. We tend to try to effect the change from the outside in, by applying our own strength in our attempts at obedience. Jesus wants instead to give us in his Word new raw materials from which obedience can be built.

When we build our house on his words the result of a house worthy of his name, a place he himself (since he is the Word) helps to build, a place, finally, where he can dwell.

The authority of the words of Jesus, which astonished the crowds, remains in his Word today. By building on it we have that authority as the foundation of our lives. Our own actions are meant, more and more, to be marked by that authority. Yesterday we emphasized that we are made prophets in baptism. Today we look more closely at the fact that we are meant to be kings and queens, to reign in life through Jesus.

you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth (see Revelation 5:10).

No other raw materials are sufficient for our destiny. It isn't a matter of indifference or of slight benefit that we choose the right ones. We have been told the forecast. It isn't as though the weather threatening our house is simply a strong breeze.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places (see Ephesians 6:12).

If we want to avoid the spiritual version of the fate of Jehoiachin we know what we need to do, where and with whom we need to begin. If we don't want our houses blown down and destroyed utterly, if we don't want the sacred treasures of the LORD carried off to foreign lands, and if we don't want to endure spiritual captivity, we must begin with the words that can build us up as living stones against the storm.

you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (see First Peter 2:5).

Come Holy Spirit, help us to confess the name of Jesus. Help us to receive all of his words to us so that we can be built into a temple where the presence of God can dwell, where we are safe from all of our enemies.

Help us, O God our savior,
because of the glory of your name;
Deliver us and pardon our sins
for your name’s sake.

Before a song, this recently prophecy of Father Michael Scanlon,

 shared by Ralph Martin seemed relevant:

--

24 June 2020 - loose lips

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Zechariah's voice had been silenced when he doubted the angel's word to him. He became emblematic of all of Israel, thinking he had toiled in vain and for nothing, uselessly spent his strength.

It wasn't meant for Zechariah to remain mute, nor for the voice of prophecy in Israel to remain silent as it had for so long. Nor is it meant for our own tongues to remain silent. Our doubts, though, must come to silence so that the LORD's word can be heard more clearly. When they happens we can decide to speak in accord with that word.

He asked for a tablet and wrote, “John is his name,”
and all were amazed.
Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed,
and he spoke blessing God.

Israel doubted, Zechariah doubted, and we doubt. When we won't speak in accord with God's word we find our words lack substance and power. They are vapor that dissipates as quickly as we release them. We find ourselves frustrated and eventually, hopefully, quiet. In quietness we discover the words which God had given us. We discover words which have in themselves the power to break our silence, which have the substance and meaning to be worth speaking.

Our doubts and distractions limit the plans that the LORD has for us. That is why he desires to silence those doubts so that his own plans may come to fruition.

For now the LORD has spoken
who formed me as his servant from the womb,
that Jacob may be brought back to him
and Israel gathered to him;
and I am made glorious in the sight of the LORD,
and my God is now my strength!

The LORD wants each of us to grow and become like Isaiah, strong in the Spirit. We are each anointed priest, king, and yes, prophet at our baptism.

Jesus Christ is the one whom the Father anointed with the Holy Spirit and established as priest, prophet, and king. The whole People of God participates in these three offices of Christ and bears the responsibilities for mission and service that flow from them.

(see CCC 783)

We learn from Zechariah to trust God even when his word seems to good to be true, to impossible to believe. This trust gives birth to spirits that have the humility of John the Baptist. With him, we say "He must increase, but I must decrease" (see John 3:30). With him we can readily point to and trust in the one who came after John, whose sandals we are not worthy to unfasten.

Fear and doubt have kept the people of God silent for too long. God does abandon us to such straits. His plans for us are too big to let us pridefully stand in the way of those plans. On our own we would accept only what we could understand, undertake only what we thought we could accomplish. We must decrease that he may increase through us. When we are tempted to rely on ourselves or to trust our judgment over and against God's word we must remember, "I am not he." When we do our tongues are loosed and the plan of salvation, seeming stuck for so long, moves forward. 

I will make you a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.

It is not primarily through self-abasement that we discover this spirit of obedience and faith in us. Self-abasement and humility must be grounded in the truth of who we are in God. It is this revelation that gives us the trust that makes all else possible.

Truly you have formed my inmost being;
you knit me in my mother’s womb.
I give you thanks that I am fearfully, wonderfully made;
wonderful are your works.

23 June 2020 - swine language

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not give what is holy to dogs, or throw your pearls before swine,
lest they trample them underfoot, and turn and tear you to pieces.

Dogs and swine are those who have not yet be enlightened by faith and so cannot recognize the value of the pearls or of holy things. For this reason the early Church kept the mysteries of her liturgy and Sacraments as secrets to initiates only. For this reason the reception Eucharist is still reserved to those who are in communion with the Church. It is nothing against the dogs and the swine. They are simply creatures who, as they are, not only cannot appreciate sacred things, but also invariably bring them down by their carnal understanding.

If then you cast them to the swine, that is, to such as are grovelling in impurity of life, they do not understand their preciousness, but value them like to other worldly fables, and tread them under foot with their carnal life.- Pseudo-Chrysostom

People who do not have the faith to receive sacred things are not meant to remain that way. We keep the sacred things from them even for their own sakes, because they are too important to be taken lightly or misunderstood.

For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself (see First Corinthians 11:29).

If we ourselves were found unable to receive sacred things, unable to give them the proper honor and respect in our hearts and minds, we would not want to be left in that state.

“Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.
This is the Law and the Prophets.

It is a lack of faith that makes people unfit for sacred things. Without that faith it is not possible to give them the reverence that is their due. If we are to fulfill the command of Jesus to do for them what we would have them do for us we must desire and work so that their hearts might be opened to the truth, their eyes to the reality of the faith that makes sense of the sacred. Jesus himself gave us an example.

And he answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly (see Matthew 15:26-28).

The Canaanite woman was first only a dog in her understanding. But by inviting her to faith Jesus raised her up to eat from the masters' table.

We are called to protect due honor to sacred things not only in the hearts of non-Christians, but also and especially in our own hearts. Within ourselves we find that parts of us are still dogs, still swine. We often try to receive grace, whether in prayer or Sacrament, in a casual way, as if it were just another bullet on the to-do list of daily life. It is always the case that there is more greatness and majesty of the mysteries in which partake than we realize. This does not mean we should refrain from receiving them until we can work ourselves into some perfect state. But it does mean we should approach them as the Canaanite woman did, aware of our need for grace and mercy. The faith of the Canaanite woman is the key that can open our hearts more and more to the grace available to us in Christ, grace without limit. It is this posture, rather than an effort of our own, that can open the narrow gate to life.

Jesus came to feed the whole world with the bread of God which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world (see John 6:33). He does not want anyone to be deprived of this bread, of this life he gives. To that end, let us have hearts like that of Hezekiah. He asks the LORD to fight for him, to keep Israel safe from the dogs and swine which would devour it. And the LORD listens.

Therefore, O LORD, our God, save us from the power of this man,
that all the kingdoms of the earth may know
that you alone, O LORD, are God.”

We pray like Hezekiah not simply to preserve the Church against the world, but to save all people from the complacency of our own hearts. Again we find that we and the world share the same temptations and have need of the same salvation.

O God, we ponder your mercy
within your temple.

22 June 2020 - board with it

Image by Thomas B. from Pixabay

Today's Readings 

(Audio)

The LORD wants us to see clearly.

You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first;
then you will see clearly
to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye.

Our own sinfulness, our preconceptions, and prejudices, our darkened minds, not only make us stumble but potentially cause us to hurt others under the guise of helping. We can't see clearly the issues that other people are having when the issues we are having dominate our field of vision. Yet we often try to do that first. We don't want to deal with a whole wooden beam in our own eye so we try to help with splinters in other people's eyes. We need someone who is clear sighted to first help us. Then we will know what to do for others.

For as you judge, so will you be judged,
and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you.

Instead of bringing judgment to the table, as if that will solve anything, we first bring mercy. As we sow, so we reap, because "the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you" (see Mark 4:24). If our judgmental nature causes us to tear at the wounds in others and society we ourselves will experience condemnation. If we resist healing we won't distinguish well between the ways of the nations and the way of the LORD.

They followed the rites of the nations
whom the LORD had cleared out of the way of the children of Israel
and the kings of Israel whom they set up.

When we give ourselves over to the culture, to the secular world, we put ourselves at risk because we won't be able to see the real problems or address them in the right way. But this board in our eye is one to which we are accustomed. Who knows what we might see without it? We become comfortable to stumble because of a similar level of blindness to that of others. We become content with our ignorance because the responsibility that comes from seeing clearly is humanly too much. Yet it is not a responsibility which we can exercise or even comprehend without God. It is as he shows mercy through us that it overflows more and more both into our lives and into the world. When we become sensitive to our own need for his mercy we begin to clearly perceive the needs of the whole world, of which we find ourselves to be a part. Mercy will therefore abound, because as we realize our need for it God delights to fill that need.

“Give up your evil ways and keep my commandments and statutes,
in accordance with the entire law which I enjoined on your fathers
and which I sent you by my servants the prophets,”

The risk of healing seems great. But the risk of remaining unhealed is much greater. Let us cry out for healing, for mercy, so that we might become vessels of mercy.

Help us with your right hand, O Lord, and answer us.

21 June 2020 - more than many sparrows

Today's Readings

(Audio)

What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light;
what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.

Like the disciples we are called to proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God. Like the disciples we often receive this call with initial fear. We receive the message in a context which is safe only because it is isolated from the wider world. We do not risk condemnation when we listen in the darkness and to whispers. But when the time comes to proclaim it are we still afraid? Do we still lock the doors in the upper room for fear of the Jews (see John 20:19)?

Fear no one.
Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed,
nor secret that will not be known.

We must avoid any duplicity in our lives, because duplicity is ultimately doomed. We must strive for an integrity so intense that there is no difference between the hidden self, the Christian self, and the public self. We are meant to be the light of the world but we often keep this light concealed. We are afraid that if our hidden self is exposed we will be seen as frauds. We are afraid that if our Christian self is exposed we will be persecuted.

And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul;
rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy
both soul and body in Gehenna.

Jesus wants to give us confidence in the face of darkness. The danger is that we keep our brokenness concealed from the light that can heal it and that we will keep our message concealed from the world that needs it. It is the same light that reveals our own woundedness and mortality that makes known the gracious gift of Jesus Christ. This fact that both we and the world need the same light, that the same darkness within both resists it, is a strong antidote against the temptation to self-righteousness.

When we think of proclaiming the Kingdom our thoughts are often like those of Jeremiah:

‘Terror on every side!
Denounce! let us denounce him!’
All those who were my friends
are on the watch for any misstep of mine.
‘Perhaps he will be trapped; then we can prevail,
and take our vengeance on him.’

We are afraid for ourselves, afraid of those who can kill our bodies, and afflict all of the physical and emotional aspects of our lives associated with those bodies. If we give in to this fear it can come rule us. Yet we can't simply make ourselves so good and so strong that the fear no longer apply to us. The only way to move beyond fear is by learning to see ourselves as God sees us. 

Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin?
Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge.
Even all the hairs of your head are counted.
So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

When we know what we are worth to God we know the lengths to which he will go to protect our souls from Gehenna. We gain, even in spite of our own limitations, a great confidence that the LORD will fight for us, and indeed for everyone against our true enemy. For to God we are all worth more than many sparrows.

But the LORD is with me, like a mighty champion:
my persecutors will stumble, they will not triumph.
In their failure they will be put to utter shame,
to lasting, unforgettable confusion.

Death came into the world through sin. But this was never God's desire. His plan was always that the transgression that brought death would transformed by grace, that the necessary fault of Adam would gain us more even than was lost.

For if by the transgression of the one the many died,
how much more did the grace of God
and the gracious gift of the one man Jesus Christ
overflow for the many.

Jesus himself did not let his fear of death stop him from completing his saving work for us. And by that death he was able to "deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery" (see Hebrews 2:15). Our own fearlessness can henceforth be rooted in the fearlessness of Christ. This is why when he tells us to fear not he does not speak empty words. They are words that can change our lives even today. This is what happened to the disciples at Pentecost. It is meant to mark our lives as well.

20 June 2020 - in her heart

Today's Readings from the Feast

(Audio)

After they had completed its days, as they were returning,
the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem,
but his parents did not know it.

It was not out of disobedience to his parents that he left them. It was out of obedience to the Father. He honored his mother and his surrogate father. But he always gave precedence to his duty to his Father in heaven. This was done not only for the sake of his Father, but also for his earthly parents, that they would learn to accept this priority in his heart now, and not when he would later go forth to suffer. He was giving them a grace of preparation.

After three days they found him in the temple

We can learn from this how to respond when Jesus seems absent to us. We discover that if we diligently seek him, not according to the ways of flesh and blood (because they "looked for him among their relatives and acquaintances" without finding him), but according to the Spirit, found where God is worshipped. The absence of Jesus for us is always some share in the Paschal mystery, the days of his death and burial. Yet when we discover Jesus in the temple we learn to overcome the despair that comes when we believe that something outside of the divine plan has occurred.

“Why were you looking for me?
Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”

We ask, 'Where are you when we need you Jesus? Why do you seem to sleep in the earth, to have descended to the dead?' But as long as we seek him we learn that we consistently discover him in his Father's house. It happens reliably, and therefore gives us courage. The wisdom of his plan, which seemed like he an abandonment or a surrender of his obligations for the things of the world was actually that by which he would be revealed in a deeper way, making his divine nature more manifest. Even in the finding in the temple we see hints of the revelation of the resurrection. We gain, even from the veiled manifestation, the ability to rely on that truth and trust it even when he seems absent to us in the future. Or we can, in any case, if we respond to the situation as did his mother.

and his mother kept all these things in her heart.

Jesus astounded the teachers of the temple with his wisdom. It was clear that he was about no merely human purpose in his choosing to remain behind in the midst of the teachers. The temptation that his parents faced was to let their annoyance at the inconvenience to themselves and the difficulty they endured to conceal from them this manifestation of who Jesus was, this deeper knowledge he wanted to reveal. It is a temptation that we all face. So we must learn to have hearts like the Immaculate Heart, which can see beyond any suffering of its own to the glory of the heart of Jesus.

Mary the mother of true wisdom, becomes the scholar or disciple of the Child. For she yielded to Him not as to a boy, nor as to a man, but as unto God. Further, she pondered upon both His divine words and works, so that nothing that was said or done by Him was lost upon her, but as the Word itself was before in her womb, so now she conceived the ways and words of the same, and in a manner nursed them in her heart. -Bede

The Lord GOD made justice and praise spring up before all the nations. This happened when Jesus astounded the teachers in the temple, when he revealed the unique relationship between himself and the Father to his earthly parents. And he did so by the revelation of his resurrection. But if we are to follow him through his apparent absence to this manifestations we need hearts like that Immaculate Heart. And since our own hearts are much weaker (one is tempted to say much more maculate) it is a great grace that we can rely on Mary's heart where our own fail. She will reveal the fruits of her contemplation to us even and especially when we ourselves feel lost and can't find Christ. We learn from her to join a song which the earth could not teach, a song that is truly new, "My heart exults in the Lord, my Savior."

19 June 2020 - this heart which so loved

Today's Readings

(Audio)

you have revealed them to little ones.

Everything that the Son came to reveal was made known only to little ones. The pride of those who believed themselves to be wise causes them to stumble.

Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven (see Matthew 18:3-4).

We are tempted to want wisdom for pride and for vanity. We want to be like the great theologians who inspire us, the greater preachers who motivate us, or we want to be seen to be on equal footing with those in the world who contradict us.

Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? (see First Corinthians 1:2).

Are we willing to be the babes to whom the LORD reveals himself? If so, what does it mean if the world sees can't recognize that wisdom? It is true that from the point of view of the world the wisdom of God often seems foolish. Yet we are not called to scandalize the world by simply persisting in human foolishness. We are called to the humility that lets us so receive the revelation of the Father and the Son that, even if the world can't understand it, they are nevertheless compelled to recognize in it an inner luminosity and coherence.

Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest.

We must become like little children to heed the call of Jesus to come to him for rest. If we insist that we continue to stand and struggle by our own efforts our labor will continue and our burden will persist. The 'adult' in us has a hard time seeing things any other way. We fear that if we don't fully take responsibility, not only for the doing of our tasks, but for the worrying about them, that they will fail. Children can trust in their parents enough that they can sleep in peace without worrying about providing for themselves.

But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
like a child quieted at its mother’s breast;
like a child that is quieted is my soul (see Psalm 131:2).

We are meant to be a people sacred to the LORD, a chosen nation, a people peculiarly his own. It is precisely as small and childlike that we are chosen. Our strength and skill do not factor in.

It was not because you are the largest of all nations
that the LORD set his heart on you and chose you,
for you are really the smallest of all nations.
It was because the LORD loved you

The fullness of being chosen by God is being made sons and daughters by adoption. 

For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” (see Romans 8:15).

It is the Spirit who makes us sons and daughters. It is the Spirit who gives us the gift of humility. He himself is the strength with which we bear our burdens, the rest in whom we rest. He is given to all who acknowledge that Jesus is the Son of God, and by him we are brought to perfection.

This is how we know that we remain in him and he in us,
that he has given us of his Spirit.

After saying "everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God" we might assume that John would add that we know we remain in him by seeing whether we love or not. But he knew that saying that would only encourage us to take the burden ourselves that Jesus intended to carry. And so he reminds us of the one way to remain childlike, to abide in love. We must drink deeply from the font of life who is the Holy Spirit, given from the pierced heart of Christ.

18 June 2020 - why prayer matters

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

We are called to pray, not to change God's mind, but so that our hearts can be changed. In prayer our hearts are trained to desire what God desires. Even though God knows what we need he does not always give it to us without involving us. He desires that we share in the dignity of being causes (albeit secondary ones) in the effects of our prayer. It is this dignity, this necessary involvement without which much might be lost, that our hearts find stakes and meaning in desiring and asking. If our prayers were simply wishes without any real effect they would not help us be trained to have hearts like God's heart.

Our Father who art in heaven,

Our prayer, like our creeds after it, begin with the fact that God is Father. This is so fundamental that without it nothing that follows is clear. God is indeed all-mighty. He is indeed the heavenly King. But before we hear and speak those truths he reminds us that he is Father. His being is an eternal Act of life-giving love. It is only in that context that we speak of his power. It is only knowing it that we can hallow his name in the way he desires.

thy Kingdom come,
thy will be done,

This is the Kingdom of our Father who knows our needs. It is not the kingdom of some despotic absolute monarch. Love of the foundation of this Kingdom. Love is the driving force behind the will to be done.

on earth as it is in heaven.

More than anything, it is the goodness and love of the Father's will that makes heaven so perfectly desirable. Here on earth when that will is done earth itself becomes more and more transformed into the image of heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread;

We do not simply pray that our needs are met. It is more specific. We pray that we can rely on God for everything we need, spiritually and physically. We ask that it be given rather than that we simply get it. We pray for today only, because we have confidence in God for tomorrow. It is an interesting balance where, again, our desires have a part to play. We do not just ignore our daily bread, trusting in God who, after all, knows what we need. He makes us instrumental causes of the things we need day to day. In doing so, he shows that it is right that we desire them. But in asking us to concern our prayer only about "this day" we must still do this within a posture of ultimate trust in God. We are called to responsibility only where he shows us, and the ability to leave the rest in his hands.

If you forgive others their transgressions,
your heavenly Father will forgive you.

We see clearly in the petition for forgiveness how prayer is meant to shape our own hearts. We learn from Jesus to care about our own forgiveness and that of others from the perspective of the Father. Our very ability to truly desire to be forgiven, the test that this desire is real, is that it is not limited to ourselves alone, but part of a larger desire to see all things reconciled to God. It isn't just that we desire to be excused for the mistakes we made. Rather, we desire, with our brothers and sisters, to be united in the Father's house. This is why the Father can't honor petitions for forgiveness that are selfish, like that of the unjust steward (see Luke 16:1-13).

and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.’

We pray to be spared temptation. But we are meant to care about it. The reason, perhaps, it is not working as well as we would like as because the holiness of God does not yet matter to us as much as it should. And without this perspective we can't correctly identify the evil about which we really ought to be concerned.

And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul (see Matthew 10:28)

When our desires come into line with God's desires our prayers become powerful.

Beloved, if [our] hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence in God
and receive from him whatever we ask, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him (see 1 John 3:21-22).

The reason there are fewing prophets appearing like fire as Elijah does, the reason there are few with a twofold portion of that spirit, is because most of us can't be bothered to desire it that much. Our prayers may not lack desire entirely, but they often fall back into being simply many words. Nor is this desire something that we can simply stir up in ourselves. It is a given that is given as we open our eyes to its necessity. When we feel an emptiness let us pause and realize that this emptiness itself is the beginning, the space that the desire is meant to form and fill. Approaching the words of the Our Father with slow and deliberate attention is a perfect place to start.

The mountains melt like wax before the LORD,
before the Lord of all the earth.
The heavens proclaim his justice,
and all peoples see his glory.

17 June 2020 - reward program

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Take care not to perform righteous deeds
in order that people may see them;

We need to be aware of our motives when we're doing good deeds, giving alms, praying, or fasting. We are driven by the desire for recognition to a greater degree than we probably realize. We may be used to using earthly rewards as motivation to do these works of mercy. And in some sense, they are better done than not done. But we are called to move higher. We are called to a place of freedom from the need to be seen and approved. 

Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.

We aren't meant to chase rewards in temporary things. After all, the praise of others is fleeting. It isn't a sustainable source of happiness. Yet aren't we regularly tempted to broadcast the good things we do? On the one hand, encouraging others can be a valid reason to do things like sharing one's donation on Facebook. But how many times to we disclose our good deeds to others simply out of pride, rather than attempting to be a good example? Particularly, with fasting and other forms of penance, the temptation to tell others can seem like such a good idea. Then, when we actually do it, we realize that much of the spiritual power has gone out of whatever we are doing.

And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.

We are called to make pleasing the Father the motive of our prayer, our fasting, and our alms-giving. We need to get beyond using recognition as motivation. We need to even get beyond our own need to think well of ourselves as motivation. Rather than spending time contemplating what our right hand is doing we can seek the Father as our reward.  Prayer, fasting, and almsgiving help create space within us. We can choose how we will allow it to be filled.

And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.

When we care less about earthly rewards we are more able to ask sincerely for heavenly rewards and spiritual gifts. We become the stewards who were faithful in less and so are entrusted with more.

Elisha answered, “May I receive a double portion of your spirit.”
“You have asked something that is not easy,” Elijah replied.

Elisha was trained by his time with Elijah. He learned to be zealous for the LORD and care about him above all else. Because of this God was able to bestow great power on him, knowing that he wouldn't just use it for show, nor for his own glory.

Elisha struck the water in his turn and said,
“Where is the LORD, the God of Elijah?”
When Elisha struck the water it divided and he crossed over.

Perhaps the LORD desires to give us a double portion of his Spirit as well. But perhaps he is hesitating because if we received it at this moment we would try to show off and be impressive and thereby undermine the whole thing.

“As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live,
I will not leave you,” Elisha replied.

Let us cling to Jesus today. Let us learn from him to seek the Father as our one reward. This will make us ready for the gifts he desires to give us. And since the world is desperate to receive these gifts from us let us not hold back.

Love the LORD, all you his faithful ones!
The LORD keeps those who are constant,
but more than requites those who act proudly.

16 June 2020 - love your enemies

Today's Readings

(Audio)

But I say to you, love your enemies
and pray for those who persecute you,

Jesus calls us to have hearts like the heart of the Father and like his own heart. The Father demonstrated their love in that "while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son" (see Romans 5:10).  We learn from God that loving our enemies is something different and less passive than simply ignoring our enemies and giving them a width berth.

for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good,
and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.

Jesus was the Son who rose for the bad and the good. There were people who were exceptionally guilty sinners, but Jesus died and rose for them as much as anyone else. The Holy Spirit came in power and rained down on believers regardless of their merits or lack thereof. Jesus demonstrated an active missionary love. It was a love that overcame divisions, that sought out the isolated, and that worked to reconcile and make one. It was not content to stop only with the known, the familiar, or the comfortable.

And if you greet your brothers only,
what is unusual about that?
Do not the pagans do the same?

It is easy to hear Jesus preach about loving our enemies and think that it is good advice for someone else. After all, we aren't the ones with enemies, right? But maybe this current moment in politics can help us to see that there are people to whom we don't readily direct our love. There are certainly groups that we choose to ignore, whose sufferings we choose not to see. And we are called to be more active in our work toward unity with such groups.

However, there is another temptation now, as regards enemies. We might be tempted to see corrupt police or racists as outside the bounds of those deserving our love, outside the possibility of conversion and reconciliation. Make no mistake, people like these are definitely acting as enemies. But what that means is not that we must destroy them but rather that we must love them. We must love them too much indeed to allow them to continue to act in the manner of enemies. Even as we take bold action against the corrupt and sinful behavior we must remember that we are ultimately called to love them. If this feels like a challenge it should. We can't do it without grace.

So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.

The LORD was furious with the injustice of Ahab, furious all the more because he was a leader and the injustice he commited was also scandal, and had the result of "leading Israel into sin" by his bad example. Yet the justice the LORD decreed for Ahab was not aimed simply at punishing him in order to balance the scales. It included this, but it also created the conditions under which Ahab repented, under which his soul was saved.

“Have you seen that Ahab has humbled himself before me?
Since he has humbled himself before me,
I will not bring the evil in his time.
I will bring the evil upon his house during the reign of his son.”

We are called to love as the Father loves, to be perfect as our Father is perfect. And this means we need to ask him to make us aware of our blind spots, to show us those whom we do not treat as worthy of our love, even if we don't explicitly acknowledge it. We need his strength to go forth on a mission in which there are no enemies who aren't meant to become friends gathered around the table together.

As we strive to embrace the LORD's mission we may realize that we ourselves have been enemies of God and of others in different ways. But the good news about embracing this mission is we see that, just as much as others qualify for God's mercy and love in spite of themselves, so too do we.

Turn away your face from my sins,
and blot out all my guilt.

15 June 2020 - nonresistance

Today's Readings

(Audio)

But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil.

We are terrified of what Jesus suggests. If we offer no resistance and turn the other cheek will evil not triumph? If we give our cloak and our tunic, if we give expecting nothing in return, will we not quickly be left with nothing? And if we are pressed into service and go above and beyond will we have any time or strength left for ourselves?

Let us look at Jesus, who offered no resistance when the guards came out against him as though as were a robber. He was beaten and mocked. Soldiers cast lots for his cloak and pressed him to the ignoble service of carrying his own cross. All of this happened and he did not resist, though he could have summoned more than twelve legions of angels.

Even Jesus, however, was strategic about his self-offering. He knew when his hour had arrived and he did not surrender himself prior to that hour.

So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come (see John 7:30).

Jesus calls us to have the same Spirit that marked his self-offering. He did not simply offer himself to be abused. He offered himself in the way, in the place, and at the moment, that would achieve salvation for the world.

Like Jesus we must be able to endure violence and abuse without letting it diminish our love for others. We must be able to offer our possessions and our lives in service of the mission. And it is precisely for this reason that we cannot throw them away or treat them lightly. There is a time and a place for our own offerings, just as there is for Jesus. To have something to give we may have to first guard our possessions from the thief who will not put them to good use.

To be able to offer our lives for the sake of others we must keep our body and hearts intact until we are called to do so. Yet we are called to be ready at all times to give, to be able to welcome the hour when it comes. In guarding the treasure of the offering of our own lives we learn not to let ourselves be consumed by vengeance, by the need to see the scales balanced again in our favor. Only by always keeping this mindset which was also in Christ Jesus will we be able to meet the challenge of our own hour when it comes.

It is better to err on the side of faith than on the side of prudence. Even if we are stoned and our vineyard is taken it isn't our job to seek vengeance. Vengeance is the LORD's (see Romans 12:19). The ultimate responsibility to bring about justice on the earth does not fall to us, nor even to the government (thank goodness), but to the LORD. In a world that insists that everything can be fixed with the right structural changes we are called to remember that even in the absence of those changes hearts which entrust themselves to the LORD will be vindicated, and that vindication will overflow to all of the afflicted.

Instead of your shame you will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace you will rejoice in your inheritance. And so you will inherit a double portion in your land, and everlasting joy will be yours (see Isaiah 61:7)