31 July 2023 - humble beginnings

Today's Readings

(Audio)

The Kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed

The Kingdom of heaven starts out from what appears to be a disadvantaged seed. It is the smallest of all seeds leading one to naturally assume that a small plant would be the result. One would assume that a large plant would need a large seed from which to grow. How comforting that what is seen in early stages of Kingdom growth is not expected to look impressive or competitive.

It is the smallest of all the seeds,

yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants.

We might imagine that the disciples took this to heart. Their little movement did appear after all to be only a very small seed in a very large world. Romans, Herodians, scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, and others already filled the fields with seeds that were large and promising. But what of those seeds today? And what of that small seed planted by Jesus in the heart of those first disciples? The former have more or less vanished while the later has become the promised "large bush" that now supports "the birds of the sky" "in its branches". 

The Church is now this large bush that supports a vast diversity of life within her auspices. But she seems to sometimes forget her small origins and humble beginnings. As she seeks to grow and spread she often insists on mimicking the growth strategies of the world, insisting that early visibility and success are a necessary part of the strategy. She is not always able to invest in the hidden or to be patient with slow growth when she feels at risk of being outcompeted by hostile plants that spring rapidly from seed to plant. She doesn't always feel at liberty to nourish that which is beneath the soil because she fears that which surrounds her. But the Church will only grow when she follows the program Jesus laid out for her. And while this may describe the hierarchy to some degree it is even more indicative of lay activity in the world. Insofar as we try to help spread Kingdom growth in our own spheres we seem to only want to pursue proven programs that can demonstrate immediate results. We want to have great confidence at the beginning before anything is even attempted. And here is the lesson for us: Christian beginnings almost always look tenuous and risky. 

He spoke to them another parable.

"The Kingdom of heaven is like yeast

that a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour

until the whole batch was leavened."

The Kingdom of heaven is able to exert a positive influence even when it is acting as a creative minority in the world. But does this seem to be the case for us today? Is the Kingdom acting as leaven, causing favorable growth for the whole society? Or are we rather insistent that if we can't have everything our way we might as well spoil the whole batch? In past societies Christians were able to make positive contributions even to societies that persecuted them. And the positive cultural heritage of Christendom continues to provide some benefit even in our own time to people who have no idea that they are drawing upon that source. Yet the ways in which Christians are now willing to contribute to society at large seem narrow and constrained. They must be obviously labeled 'Christian' and follow very specific formulas, having control over the process from beginning to end. This parable of the yeast and wheat flour seems to call us to a more creative form of cooperation with the world around us. Which is not to say we are free to allow our energies to be repurposed to give growth to the evil in our world. But it seems certain that there must be more ways in which we can contribute to nourishing and sustaining the world by our presence in it. But then again, perhaps this is still happening to a greater degree than we realize. It is, after all, often quite hidden. It may be that those Christians that are bold and loud on our news feeds are not the ones causing this kind of growth but rather those hidden and humble members of society who simply try to live the Gospel in their daily lives.

I will open my mouth in parables,

I will announce what has lain hidden from the foundation of the world.

The parables are meant to open up important truths to those who are willing to receive them while remaining closed to those whose hearts are closed. But this probably means that the parables have greater significance than we assume, even we who have heard and read them time and again. On the surface they too look like small seeds. But if we plant them, they grow beyond our expectations.

Then he spoke of exterminating them,

but Moses, his chosen one,

Withstood him in the breach

to turn back his destructive wrath.

Moses was an example of being a positive sustaining influence when the almost the whole of his small society of Israel seemed to have succumbed to corruption. May we become like him, advocates for those who are deceived and who have gone astray, rather than their antagonists.

Sonicflood - In The Secret

30 July 2023 - hidden treasure

Today's Readings

(Audio)

The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field,

which a person finds 

The person passing through the field had eyes to see what others did not see. The treasure was hidden, lest it be trampled by those who did not appreciate its value. It was found only by a heart that was open to the possibility of its existence. 

In our own day the way people think about treasure has two common types or poles. One is to think of treasure in a shallow way, considering money, cars, riches, fame, or other temporary pleasures as treasure. But such treasure is obvious rather than hidden. It is the of the sort that people desire to display ostentatiously to others. Or if they hide it they don't do so because it is precious but rather because they know how easy it is to lose. This was not the sort of treasure about which Jesus spoke, not the sort that was worth trading all one had in exchange for it. The other way people think of treasure is to believe that there could be nothing worthy of the name, to flatten the value of all things to so that none rises above the level of the merely commonplace. We often do this when we become jaded and skeptical about the first class of treasure and don't know where else to look. Without being open to the transcendent these are probably the only two options. And neither is satisfactory. Neither can give life direction or orientation.

The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field,

which a person finds and hides again,

and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

The treasure of the kingdom is hidden precisely because it is too precious to be regarded as commonplace and because the riches of this world cannot compare with it. Treasures of this world are destroyed by moths and rust and stolen by thieves (see Matthew 6:19). But such threats will never find or touch treasures stored up in heaven. Only such treasure as this is worthy of one exchanging all she has and all she is in order to possess it. She hides it again once she initially possesses it because it is like a seed that needs to be nurtured and take root in order to be securely possessed. If she flaunts it too soon, exposing it to the danger of those who do not appreciate it, she risks losing it. But the more secure she becomes in her possession of the treasure the more it can become a resource that enriches not only herself, but also others. In fact it is the nature of this treasure to make those who possess it desire to enrich others as well. It is a fact that once it is possessed it is not diminished when it is shared. This is accounts for Paul's desire, "that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (see Colossians 2:2-3).

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant

searching for fine pearls.

Are our own hearts open to the fact there does exist a very precious treasure? It can only be found by hearts wise enough to despise worldly treasure and yet still sufficiently full of desire in order to seek something greater. It is ultimately a treasure that is found by faith before it is possessed in substance.

your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ (see First Peter 1:7).

Our faith is what first possesses the treasure of his promises. But we hope to one day have them in fullness. They are more than worthy anything we could possibly offer in exchange for them. 

he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire (see Second Peter 1:4).

May we prize wisdom and discernment above riches as did Solomon. For it is this wisdom that attains to that which is eternal, which alone can satisfy, and for which all of us were made.

Give your servant, therefore, an understanding heart

to judge your people and to distinguish right from wrong.

When we learn to treasure what matters to God we will begin to experience the reality of his promises even here and now because "all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose".

Dan Schutte - I Found The Treasure

Newsboys - Secret Kingdom

29 July 2023 - one thing necessary

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Lord, if you had been here,

my brother would not have died.

But even now I know that whatever you ask of God,

God will give you.

How often we seem to experience something similar to this "Lord, if you had been here". Like Martha it doesn't necessarily crush our faith entirely. We still confess the power of Jesus after, saying "even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you". But we are no longer entirely sure what that has to do with us.

Jesus said to her,

"Your brother will rise."

Martha said to him,

"I know he will rise,

in the resurrection on the last day."

We know that there is a general plan for everyone. We are less certain that God's providence extends to us as individuals. There may be some distant resurrection for all humanity. But does God care about those who have lost others, who weep and need comfort now? Or are we only part of a generic plan, and a faceless mass? 

Jesus told her,

"I am the resurrection and the life;

whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live,

and anyone who lives and believes in me will never die.

Jesus did indeed know his own, did indeed sympathize with those who felt troubled and abandoned, did indeed weep over the death of his friend Lazarus. But he desired his own to discover that the solution to their suffering and the comfort to their sorrow was to be found in him. He knew of the deepest longings of their hearts more than they themselves did. This is why he provided something more than the prolongation of the life of Lazarus. He did bring Lazarus to life again, reunited to his sisters. But in doing so he revealed that he himself was the source of that life. Only the life that was found in him was the sort of life that could endure eternally. It was as though he wanted to show them the the temporary goods found in earthly human relationships were meant to point toward and be taken up into the friendship with God found in Jesus himself. They lost Lazarus once and would in one sense have to part again at the end of the earthly lives. But now that they had him back through their relationship with Jesus there was a sense in which their relationship with him was included in "anyone who lives and believes in me will never die". They lost Lazarus once but had him back in a new and deeper way, a way that can be paradigmatic for all of our Christian relationships in this life.

Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things.

When Martha was serving the problem wasn't her service. The problem was that it was scattered and not given a unified form by the service she was doing for Jesus himself. She was at the very least serving while comparing herself to others and probably also wondering about her own value and worth. As with her relationship to Lazarus she was meant to lose this old form of service to receive it back in a new way that was centered around the one thing necessary. As with Lazarus, when it was established in the one who was himself the resurrection and the life and the one thing necessary it was no longer subject to death and could not be taken away.

There is need of only one thing.

Mary has chosen the better part

and it will not be taken from her.

The promise of Jesus to us is entirely unshakable, strong enough for it to be the firm basis for our entirely lives. It is promised not through burnt offerings and the sacrifice of young bulls, but through the blood of Christ, the new and everlasting covenant. What we receive in the mass is meant to be the source of our strength and our confidence, the anchor of our hope, the thing that unites us, along with our brothers and sisters in Christ, here, in purgatory, and in heaven, with him who is the origin and destiny of us all.

This is the blood of the covenant

that the LORD has made with you

in accordance with all these words of his.

Nichole Nordeman - You Are My All In All

Trip Lee featuring Thi'sl - Lazarus

28 July 2023 - free thinkers

Today's Readings

(Audio)

The seed sown on the path is the one who hears the word of the Kingdom

without understanding it,

and the Evil One comes and steals away

what was sown in his heart.

There are several points to take away from this seed that falls on the path. The first is that we have an enemy who will not calmly sit back while we receive the word that has the power to save us from his dominion. The second he works chiefly through our lack of understanding. Does this mean we have to be theological geniuses in order to withstand his assault? We would argue that it doesn't mean that at all. The understanding to which we are called is that of children, that of those able to open their hearts and minds to the parables of Jesus precisely because they are humble enough to allow themselves to be taught, not prideful enough to think they need not be taught or that they know everything already anyway. The enemy is known as the father of lies (see John 8:44). We are called to know, not merely truths in the abstract, but Jesus, who is himself the truth (see John 14:6). If we cling to his words and his promises we will be able to resist the lies of the enemies. But we must know what those promises are, and in what our hope consists. The more we do, and the more we learn to think in accord with the truth taught by Jesus, in a process called the renewing of our minds, the less access to us the enemy will have.

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God (see Romans 12:2).

A related concept to understanding is that of putting down roots. It is a related concept because the opposite of both is to have only a shallow relationship to our faith. If we don't understand it in the sense described above then our faith won't be enough to fill our whole lives. It might fill an hour on Sunday but that will hardly be enough to sustain us in the face of "some tribulation or persecution". As our minds our renewed we must let our behavior change as well, until it befits sons and daughters of our Father in heaven, children of the Kingdom. We cannot force this growth, for it is God who gives the growth (see First Corinthians 3:7). But we can let ourselves be grown, both by not resisting the work of God, and also by not spending our efforts in other ways that are opposed to his work.

The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word,

but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word

and it bears no fruit.

We know that our world is full of such thorns, that pressures that could choke our life in the Kingdom are all around us. But this does not mean we have to allow them to choke the life of God within us that is making us grow. If we learn to understand in the sense to which we are called by Jesus, and to think rightly about these thorns with our renewed minds, and act rightly when confronted by them, we will not give them a foothold within us. Our minds can be so filled with conviction about the promises of God that these thorns can't affect us. When our human mind is alone and unaided in a field of thorns there is little it can hope to do. But when our minds cling to the words of Jesus we can rest in the peace of his promises.

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? (see Matthew 6:25).

Understanding that leads to actively using our renewed minds is key. When we do so we realize that the commandments are not designed to restrict us in arbitrary ways. Rather they are designed for former slaves to ensure their future freedom. They are meant to keep us from falling back into acting as those who do not know the God of Israel, because to know him is life and freedom.

I, the LORD, am your God, 

who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery.

You shall not have other gods besides me.

27 July 2023 - divine pedagogy

Today's Readings

(Audio)

"Why do you speak to the crowd in parables?"

We may imagine that some of our Dominican brothers and sisters might feel this way. Why not a Summa with all questions answered and all alternatives refuted? Why not state in syllogisms the points Jesus wanted the disciples to receive? Without at all devaluing the worth of such a Summa we may still believe that the way Jesus taught was purposeful, and more than a mere concession to a specific audience at a specific time.

Because knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven

has been granted to you, but to them it has not been granted.

It was true that the parables did allow uneducated people to perceive his meaning. But it seems they also allowed those who leaned instead on their own understanding to go away frustrated. Because we are used to hearing the parables we might make the mistake of thinking that their meaning is obvious. But the parables require us to engage with them on not only an intellectual level but a moral one as well. We stand exposed by them as they reveal both the light and the darkness that is within us. If we refuse to look at this illumination we will not grasp the parables at all.

To anyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich;

from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away.

The parables grow more rich the more we allow ourselves to fully engage with them. They have not just one meaning, but layers of meaning, applying to our life in the Kingdom in a variety of ways. They are able to speak to us at every stage of our growth as disciples. They are resistant to becoming causes of argument or division, not easily wielded as weapons with which to bludgeon others, unlike the Law or the maxims of philosophy. 

they have closed their eyes,

lest they see with their eyes

and hear with their ears

and understand with their hearts and be converted

and I heal them.

Although the parables are not easily argued with they are still easy enough to dismiss as too simple or irrelevant. We need grace to open our hearts to perceive in the parables the great gift that they truly are. When we find ourselves described by them, say, choked by thorns and weeds of cares and anxieties, we must resist the urge to make excuses and continue to pay attention to the hope to which they finally direct our attention. We can be good soil and bear fruit.

There is not a vast literature of anti-parable apologetics. But there are many who close their hearts to the parables as irrelevant. Even those of us to whom the mysteries of the Kingdom is granted tend to assume that we've heard them all before and have nothing new to learn. But if instead we approach them like children, with fresh eyes, we can experience the blessing described by Jesus not just once, but every time we let them speak to us.

But blessed are your eyes, because they see,

and your ears, because they hear.

Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people

longed to see what you see but did not see it,

and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.

The parables are both veiled, like Sinai wrapped in smoke, and unveiled, like a new Moses coming from the mountain to teach. We must not run from the smoke, but wait for the coming of the Teacher.

Newsboys - Secret Kingdom

26 July 2023 - bread from heaven

Today's Readings

(Audio)

A sower went out to sow.

The sower sowed abundantly, even with apparent reckless disregard to circumstances. The abundant availability of seed tends to have a consequence which the sower did not intend, that the seed be taken for granted. For example, we could consider this parable as a seed, one which is commonplace all over, especially in the Church and the memories of those who have heard it time and again from the pews. But this very attitude, that we have heard it before and know it, causes us to run the risk of becoming path rather than soil, and of not letting it at all penetrate our hearts this time. And if we let ourselves become a people who only truly listen the first or second times that we hear the word of God it will never penetrate very deeply into the soil of our hearts. It will be very easy for the birds to come and take it from us, convincing us that it was never anything substantial or significant in the first place.

Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil.

Rocky ground is a bit better than the path. There are at least cracks between the rocks where soil is found. But this kind of partial receptivity is apparently insufficient. If we approach the word with a 'take it or leave it' attitude, only paying attention when it happens to captivate and entertain there may initially be some response, some springing up from the shallow soil, but not nearly enough to sustain us during the heat of the day. We ought instead try to be more completely and actively receptive to the seed.

Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it.

Even once we receive the seed we ought not expect it to out compete the world at emotional immediacy. Anxieties and riches and the cares of life in this world will still choke the seed if we don't provide a private and privileged space of silence in the depths of our hearts for the word to grow. If we try to set the word alongside our anxieties and fix our attention on both together equally it will be hard not to focus on our fear and forget the word. We are meant, then, as much as we are able, to give precedence to the word, to trust what it says about our fears, and our anxieties, to imagine what it promises as rewards rather than what the world promises. It isn't is hard as it sounds. When we find thorns springing up from our soil we might simply try speaking the promises we find in the word of God and see if this isn't an effective weedkiller. Jesus himself exposed the vanity of riches, the shortsightedness of worldly fears, and gave us something better and more certain in which to hope.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid (see John 14:27).

We can learn a lesson from the manna in the desert. The Israelites were only able to gather enough for the day. Any extra would not keep overnight, except before the Sabbath when they were able to store enough for the following day. We think of the Eucharist as our daily bread. And this is true. But the word of God must also be nourishment to which we constantly return. It isn't possible to learn some lessons in childhood and take away enough to sustain us for life. The Lord has new things to teach us all the time. His word has the power to speak to the specific circumstances of our daily life. This is what it means when we say that the word is living and active (see Hebrews 4:12).

Let us gather the bread from heaven, both in the word and in the Eucharist. Let us learn to rely on it for strength, for counsel, and for wisdom, as it becomes for us the very source of our life.

Kutless - Word Of God Speak

25 July 2023 - seating disorder

Today's Readings

(Audio)

She answered him,

"Command that these two sons of mine sit,

one at your right and the other at your left, in your Kingdom."

If this was a normal kingdom this sort of logic of self-promotion would apply. To be fair, they had just heard Jesus say, "you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel" (see Matthew 19:28). Yet the Kingdom Jesus came to establish was not one of domination by those at the top over those at the bottom, but rather of service, because "the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many". To be near to Jesus in his Kingdom was actually a good goal, but to enjoy it, the reason for desiring had first to be purified before it could be enjoyed.

Jesus said in reply,

"You do not know what you are asking.

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

The throne of Jesus was intimately tied up with the chalice which he chose not to avoid in the Garden of Gethsemane, and therefore with his cross and with the Eucharistic chalice, all of which represented the gift of his very self to us. If this was the sort of chalice that the king himself chose to drink, then those who wished to sit near him and rule with him would need to share it as well.

They said to him, "We can."

He replied,

"My chalice you will indeed drink

We are somewhat like the sons of Zebedee, pursuing God at first for the benefits that accrue to us. But over time our desire to be near him causes us to take upon ourselves those goals which matter most to the heart of Jesus. Jesus is patient with us, working with our freedom, offering us more of the chalice of his own love as we become increasingly ready to offer that love to others. He does not force us to confront the cross immediately and all at once because he knows that would usually make us run for the hills. Rather, he gradually and gently leads us. We increasingly come to love the gift of his own self-oblation on the cross and desire to reciprocate his love for us by sharing his love with others. Many of us are still at early stages of this process. But the point that is to be patient as Jesus works with us and our process. He will give us more as we are able to handle more. And, "I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ" (see Philippians 1:6).

but to sit at my right and at my left, this is not mine to give

but is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.

The positions of honor in the Kingdom of heaven are found by those who seek not the honor, but the Kingdom itself. This means that our own approach should that of those willing to take the lowest place, happily surprised if we are called to come nearer. After all, what God crowns in us is chiefly his own goodness.

We hold this treasure in earthen vessels,

that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us.

All of this together means that we need not be shaken if our lives are not like that of those dwelling the kingdoms of fairytales. The chalice of love does not, as we are sometimes tempted to think, represent a problem a roadblock. The lack, on a human level, of success, health, honor, or riches, does not mean we have failed. God's power is not constrained by our weakness, but rather is manifested most perfectly therein. So too, then, the Kingdom itself.

We are afflicted in every way, but not constrained;

perplexed, but not driven to despair;

persecuted, but not abandoned;

struck down, but not destroyed;

always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus,

so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body.

Hillsong - Trading My Sorrows

24 July 2023 - you have only to keep still

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.

They claimed to want a sign, but signs had been given and it had only caused them to harden their hearts:

And the crowds marveled, saying, “Never was anything like this seen in Israel.” But the Pharisees said, “He casts out demons by the prince of demons.” (see Matthew 9:33-34).

They were thus called an "evil and unfaithful generation" like the one led by Moses through the wilderness that time and again saw God's faithfulness and power and yet consistently gave in to grumbling, doubt, and idolatry. They might have actually convinced themselves that the right sign at the right place and time in the right circumstances would have been persuasive. But Jesus knew better. He knew that such a sign would only result in a further hardening of heart, in them finding more desperate and clever ways of insulating themselves from the truth of who Jesus was.

At the judgment, the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation

and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah;

and there is something greater than Jonah here.

The call of Jonah to the Ninevites was powerfully persuasive, and that in spite of the fact that Jonah's heart wasn't in it. How much more could the preaching of Jesus, which issued from his genuine mercy and compassion, have captivated and converted the scribes and the Pharisees, those who ought to have been in a better position to hear and accept it than those of Nineveh.

At the judgment the queen of the south will arise with this generation

and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth

to hear the wisdom of Solomon;

and there is something greater than Solomon here.

The wisdom of Solomon was such a draw that even the queen of the south "came from the ends of the earth" to heart it. Jesus not only spoke with wisdom but was himself "the power of God and the wisdom of God" (see First Corinthians 1:24). Yet it was as though the scribes and the Pharisees were actually at a disadvantage because they weren't from these further distances. They were loaded down from expectations and preconceptions, ones which were in fact of their own devising although they knew it not. The signs of Jesus were unable to penetrate their dense self-protective world views. Only those able to experience Jesus with relatively fresh and unencumbered vision, those who became like children, were able to recognize him. But Jesus was not speaking to the Pharisees and scribes only to condemn them. It was rather as though he were inviting them to step back and take another look. He invited them to let go of their need for a sign with certain specific parameters and to instead see the compassion and wisdom with which he spoke, which were self-evidently divine.

Just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights,

so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth

three days and three nights.

There was also, we might say, a contingency plan, for those whose hearts remained hardened and failed to recognize the one who was both greater than Jonah and Solomon. That plan was to absorb all of their animosity upon himself on the cross, to forgive them, and allow himself to be killed by them, and yet return alive as a great invitation to receive the peace and the new life of which he now became the source. If the signs he performed and the wisdom he spoke were not enough, this was the maximum he could do to woo and to persuade hearts as hardened as theirs. 

Yet are we not in some measure like the scribes and Pharisees? Don't we too persist in doubt, like an evil and unfaithful generation, in spite of God's constant faithfulness to us? Don't we define the signs by which he might prove himself to us, once and for all? And isn't this to miss all the while his immense wisdom and compassion? Let us stop with this struggle against him and return to his cross, to his sign of Jonah, and learn to be still. When we stop fighting against him we will instead experience the truth of the fact that he never ceases to fight for us.

These Egyptians whom you see today you will never see again.

The LORD himself will fight for you; you have only to keep still.

Exodus 15: Let Us Sing To The Lord

23 July 2023 - weeds and wheat

Today's Readings

(Audio)

The kingdom of heaven may be likened

to a man who sowed good seed in his field.

Everything that comes from God is good, as we see in the constant refrain of the story of creation that, "God saw that it was good" (see Genesis 1:10). So too his work of tending the field, the ways of his providence that make the sun to shine and the rain to fall on the just and the unjust (see Matthew 5:45). So too his work of sowing the seed of his word, the good news of his Kingdom. 

While everyone was asleep his enemy came

and sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went off.

The question of evil in the world makes us come to householder and say with the slaves "Master, did you not sow good seed in your field?", and if so, whence evil? To be sure, we slept and our guard was down. But we expected an eternal vigilance from the Lord who never slumbers nor sleeps (see Psalm 121:4). So even if this intrusion of the enemy does in some measure represent our own lack of wariness we are still tempted to doubt the master whom we rightly believe does not share our limitations. Yet his slumber seemed to be a little like that of Jesus in the boat during the storm. He was unconcerned about the storm because he was more the able to protect the boat and guarantee the peace of those within. So too this householder did not fear for the wheat even in the presence of the weeds. They represented a blight and an eyesore, something repulsive to the perfectionist spirit many of us tend to possess. But the actual level of threat to the wheat, we can tell from the master's response, was zero.

'Do you want us to go and pull them up?'

He replied, 'No, if you pull up the weeds

you might uproot the wheat along with them.

The slaves had a short term view based on appearances. They were impatient with those appearances and ready to go in aggressively and in ways that would damage that which is hidden beneath the surface. It is against this overreaction that we are chiefly cautioned. Yet carrying this response of the master to the extreme would seem to mean that evil would never be addressed, that there would be no excommunications within the Church, no just wars to defend the weak and the innocent in the world. It would seem that we were never to forcibly separate the bad from the good in the world. But we know that this cannot be the precise meaning of Jesus because.

And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector (see Matthew 18:17).

We know that the Church is in fact a vine the is pruned in order that it might bear fruit. The problem against which Jesus warned was an aggressive overreaction based on superficial appearances. We need to hear this because, more often than not, even our best efforts at weeding the fields will be mostly unsuccessful. Yes, sometimes such efforts may be necessary to address something particularly toxic. But if we try to purify the whole field in this way that is when we run the great risk of ruining much where our master is still at work. 

First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning;

but gather the wheat into my barn.

A much better approach for us when we see the blight of evil is to focus insofar as we are able on nourishing the good seed planted by the master. This will force us to learn humility as we contend with the imperfections present in the field, the appearance of weeds that chafes against our need to be in perfect control. But maybe this was a part of why the master's sleep was not disturbed by the enemy, part of the goodness he knew he himself would bring from it. Dealing with weeds is any case, more often than not, above our paygrade. And so spending attention on them that could be used to nourish good seeds is playing into the enemies hands. Rather than the attitude of fear, doubt, and urgency that the enemy wished to sow along with his weeds, we would do better to trust in our master, to have peace because we see that his peace is undisturbed, and because we trust in him and his goodness.

Then the righteous will shine like the sun

in the kingdom of their Father.

We aren't going to achieve perfection until the harvest. It is then that God himself, and not our meager efforts will crown the goodness of the work which has all along been his own. His seeds will bear rich fruit and his children will shine like the sun. As slaves tasked with diligence in the field, with not neglecting our duties, this wait may seem long and difficult to bear. But clearly, it is worth it.

And you taught your people, by these deeds,

that those who are just must be kind;

God waits with mercy to until the harvest because he "is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance" (see Second Peter 3:9). But we have trouble waiting as God waits, as pain seems to make our sense of time slow and grind to halt, seeming unable to advance toward that harvest. At such times we may not know what to do, unable to take any helpful action to address our duties in the field. But at such times we can pray. And though we may not have the words, nevertheless, we can pray.

The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness;

for we do not know how to pray as we ought,

but the Spirit himself intercedes with inexpressible groanings.

Craig Musseau - Good To Me

22 July 2023 - apostle to the apostles

Today's Readings

(Audio)

On the first day of the week,

Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early in the morning,

while it was still dark,

and saw the stone removed from the tomb.

Mary Magdalene's love for Jesus caused her to desire to be near even to his body. Her love was so ardent and intense that it was like that of the Bride from the Song of Songs. She sought him whom her heart loved- She sought but did not find him. But neither the darkness of the night nor the absence of the body dissuaded her. Even in the midst of crushing sorrow her search continued, enlisting Simon Peter and the others to help.

So she ran and went to Simon Peter

and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them,

"They have taken the Lord from the tomb,

and we don't know where they put him."

Her tears did not seem to be tears of despair. She did not seem to have entirely surrendered her claim on Jesus nor her certainty of his upon her even in spite of his death. It was as though she somehow intuited that she could still be near to not only his body but Jesus himself is she just persisted. Hers seemed to be the tears of a lover who felt herself momentarily shunned but hoped to be embraced once more. 

"For a brief moment I deserted you,

but with great compassion I will gather you.

In overflowing anger for a moment

I hid my face from you,

but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,"

says the LORD, your Redeemer (see Isaiah 54:7-8).

Her unwillingness to abandon her search made her notice the angels sitting where the Body of Jesus had been. Her love kept her in position to be present and hear those words of Jesus, "Woman, why are you weeping?" But her love was not enough to reach through and recognize that voice immediately. She was for a moment, a stand in for the first woman and all of humanity, weeping for goodness lost, and all that might have been. Her tears were those of one who knew that God was good, and that Jesus was good, but could not see a way beyond her present sorrow and loss. No human love, however, ardent, could cross that threshold and restore what had been broken. It had rather to be first crossed from the other side.

Jesus said to her, "Mary!"

She turned and said to him in Hebrew,

"Rabbouni," which means Teacher.

She had been called woman. But now she was called by name. Her heart was not to be healed merely generically with, but as an individual. The ways in which she had been hurt by the world, by her own sin and those of others, by disappointments that were not sin, for all the hopes unrealized, all of these were taken up in the healing and restoration that Jesus brought to her in his risen flesh. He healed the wound of original sin, but also brought healing that had the power to wipe away every tear. It was in the way that Jesus knew her so deeply and so entirely that she was able to recognize him. Only Jesus himself could know her in this way. And the more she let herself be known by him the more her own sorrows were transformed, the more she became all that Jesus himself knew she was meant to become.

I am the good shepherd. I know My sheep and My sheep know Me (see John 10:14).

She tried to cling to Jesus, but he would not be held. There was still work to do, still more who needed to hear the joyful tidings of the resurrection. She longed for the consummation of her love when she could finally rest entirely in the beloved. But the mission remained. The Gospel had to go forward to the world. And she was to be the very point from which that spread would begin as Jesus made her the Apostle to the Apostles.

Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples,

"I have seen the Lord,"

and then reported what he told her.

David Haas - You Are Mine

Newsboys Go (I Wanna Send You)

21 July 2023 - loss or grain?

Today's Readings

(Audio)

When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him,

"See, your disciples are doing what is unlawful to do on the sabbath."

Jesus did not engage in argument about the technicalities of whether picking grain in a field really counted as the sort of harvesting prohibited on the sabbath. But neither did he minimize the importance of keeping the sabbath. What he did instead was to show that there was a more important priority in play, one which was in fact in keeping with the spirit of the sabbath.

Have you not read what David did

when he and his companions were hungry,

David was the prototype of the Messiah. Saul was trying to put him to death in order to prevent him from asserting his rightful claim of kingship. The mission of David and his companions was a sort of messianic mission that took precedence over the ordinary demands of the law. Thus Jesus was saying that the urgency of the proclamation of the good news of the Kingdom must also take precedent over such ordinary demands when necessary.

how he went into the house of God and ate the bread of offering,

which neither he nor his companions

but only the priests could lawfully eat?

David and his companions were permitted to share in the priestly privilege of eating bread of offering, a privilege granted to priests because of the importance that service in the temple continue even on the sabbath. David, though not a Levite, nevertheless had a priestly role, because his authority was meant to assure that Israel was established in the right praise of God. He thus prefigured Jesus who was priest, prophet, and King, in the order, not of the Levites, but of Melchizedek.

Or have you not read in the law that on the sabbath

the priests serving in the temple violate the sabbath

and are innocent?

I say to you, something greater than the temple is here.

The work performed in the temple was justified by the importance of continuing the function of the temple, even on the sabbath. But Jesus suggested that the importance of the work his disciples performed in picking grain on the sabbath was in service of something greater than the temple. The temple signified the presence of God but it was well established that it could not truly contain the almighty. The sacrifices offered there provided some benefit but could not truly set the people free. But Jesus contained in himself the fullness of the presence of God. And his sacrifice, in which he was both the one offering and the one offered truly had the power to set his people free. Jesus was the one who was finally and truly able to establish the new Israel in the chorus of right praise, that which had always been God's deepest desire for his people.

If you knew what this meant, I desire mercy, not sacrifice,

you would not have condemned these innocent men.

The Pharisees seemed to not regard the intended end of sacrifice, seemed to desire sacrifice for the sake of sacrifice, for the sake of the destruction entailed. Thus they had the priorities all eschew such that they got caught up in what the small apparent transgressions they perceived and failed to realize and celebrate Jesus' mission of bringing mercy to the world.

For the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath.

That the Son of Man was Lord of the sabbath was a clear claim of his divinity and of his equality with the Father. For who but God could claim to be Lord of the sabbath? God established the sabbath and himself defined the law that required its observance. He himself brought blessing on those who celebrated it and allowed evil to befall those who presumed to have better things to do. But God's own purpose for the sabbath was to ensure that his relationship to mankind and ours to him would always take priority over merely worldly work. Hence the work of Jesus on the sabbath to reunited man and God was not a violation but a celebration of his own purpose in creating the sabbath in the beginning.

This day shall be a memorial feast for you,

which all your generations shall celebrate

with pilgrimage to the LORD, as a perpetual institution.

The priesthood of Jesus established a new and definitive passover sacrifice that truly set humanity back in right relation to God, a sacrifice that was in itself the right praise God desired. The modern day companions of Jesus still offer this sacrifice on the Lord's day and every day, from the rising of the sun to its setting. We too, in some way, are granted a priestly privilege in offering ourselves along with this sacrifice and in receiving the priestly bread. Let us grow in our appreciation for all the blessings bestowed on us by the Lord of the sabbath and let us enter more deeply into the relationship with him that has always been his purpose for us.

Songs In His Presence - Psalm 110: You Are A Priest Forever

Matt Redman - Let Everything That Has Breath

20 July 2023 - where rest is found

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,

Jesus desires that we come to him with our burdens, "casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you" (see First Peter 5:7). He himself is the living water that can alone satisfy our deepest desires.

Come, everyone who thirsts,

come to the waters;

and he who has no money,

come, buy and eat! (see Isaiah 55:1).

Yet we continue to resist, spending our effort "for that which is not bread" and we continue to "labor for that which does not satisfy" (see Isaiah 55:2). Rather than the yoke of Jesus we seem to prefer "a yoke … that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear" (see Acts 15:10). Why do we insist on this unbearable yoke? Why do we persist in the effort of dead works that do not work when the blood of Christ will "purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God" (see Hebrews 9:14)?

We seem to prefer to attempt to rely on ourselves, even when it only leads to frustration and failure, rather than come to accept that we were made to live in relationship with Jesus and to do our work in partnership with him, sharing in his strength by sharing in his yoke. But sharing the yoke of Jesus means no more wandering in whichever direction we choose. Yoked to Jesus there is still only one direction that holds peace and rest for us, and that is his direction. 

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,

for I am meek and humble of heart;

and you will find rest for yourselves.

Sharing a yoke means we ought not strain ahead in anxiety about the future nor dig in our heals in excessive preoccupation about the past. We ought to keep pace with Jesus. "If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit" (see Galatians 5:25).

Sharing a yoke with Jesus will eventually make us like him, teaching us to respond to life as we first experience he himself responding to it. We will come to learn the truth that we will only find peace in the traits that define Jesus himself, meekness and humility, as we also learn the contrary truths that pride and self-will only lead to frustration and pain. 

In life we tend to prefer to get our own way. We are wont to indulge in self-pity when we do not. But there is only one way that leads to rest, and it is not our own, but that of Jesus himself. This is a paradox that our minds tend to push back against. Our egos scream that they must lead the way and set the path or else. But our egos, assuredly, are leading us off a cliff. Whereas surrender to Jesus, though it leads to a cross, leads through that cross to resurrection.

Permit us, then, to go a three-days' journey in the desert,

that we may offer sacrifice to the LORD, our God.

Our God is still leading us out of slavery and into freedom just as he led those of ancient Israel in the time of Moses. He knows that this freedom is to be most truly and deeply found in right praise, in lives lived as acts of worship. When we get this right, circumstances cannot hinder us from taking possession of the promised land.

so I have decided to lead you up out of the misery of Egypt

into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites,

Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites,

a land flowing with milk and honey.

Matt Maher - Come To The Water

19 July 2023 - empty your cup

Today's Readings

(Audio)

I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,

for although you have hidden these things

from the wise and the learned

you have revealed them to the childlike.

The disposition to receive the revelation of the Father was more like that of children than that of the wise and the learned. But in our own day the docile receptivity of the childlike is seen as a character flaw, a dangerous form of credulity. We tend to imagine that if we fail for a moment in our wisdom or learning that we will succumb to manipulation of others and come to believe all manners of falsehood. We value wisdom and learning that seemingly keeps our beliefs and decisions independent and informed. We look down on those who do not do so as childlike.

For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe (see First Corinthians 1:21).

We are a little misled if we believe that we ourselves have verified every detail of every belief about the world around us. We have actually confirmed for ourselves very little. Most depends on trust. Even in learning about the world the beginner's mind of a child is a better attitude. Yet regarding the world some wisdom is required in order to avoid liars and those who would mislead us, intentionally or not. But the way we come to know God is not the same, for "God is not a man, that he should lie" (see Numbers 23:19). Before him we are called to be entirely childlike and receptive. The way we use wisdom as self-defense in the world must not be employed to protect ourselves from the Lord and what he would teach us.

you have hidden these things

from the wise and the learned

It wasn't so much that wisdom or learning themselves were problems as that when people came to identity themselves as wise and learned they became closed to revelation. They became cups that were already full and could hold nothing new. There was always the risk that such wisdom and learning would lead to pride as it seemed to with many Pharisees. This gave them an easy out, a way to cling to control of their lives, when Jesus arrived on the scene and threatened to turn everything upside down. 

you have revealed them to the childlike.

There were exceptions, those who were wise enough to become childlike, learned enough that they were willing to unlearn in the face of divine revelation. The childlike referred to be Jesus were initially represented by his disciples. But there were also Pharisees who recognized that he taught truth and chose to follow him. The most famous of these, of course, was Saint Paul. But Paul was able to become childlike because he didn't insist on defining himself by who he had been or his past accomplishments.

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ (see Philippians 3:7-8).

We go on to read that Jesus invites us into the mystery of the divine life he shares with the Father. But if we try to navigate here by means of wisdom we will come up short. We must instead remove the sandals of wisdom and learning and come before the revelation of God with the humility of children.

God said, "Come no nearer!

Remove the sandals from your feet,

for the place where you stand is holy ground.

In modernity we feel like we are putting ourselves at risk if we become docile and receptive as children. But these are defenses that we must lower in the presence of God himself. To navigate life we feel obligated to pursue a responsible degree of wisdom and learning. But we must be ready to lay it down and even count it as loss as Paul did, that we too may gain Christ. 

It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ (see John 6:45).

God desires all to be saved and come to knowledge of the truth (see First Timothy 2:4). We can be assured therefore that the Father himself desires to reveal his Son and that the Son wishes to reveal the Father, not just to some, but to all. Therefore Jesus was not simply condemning the wise to their ignorance. Rather, he was inviting everyone to become what he was: children of the Father, ready and receptive for the infinite goodness that is found in him.

Bless the LORD, O my soul;

and all my being, bless his holy name.

Bless the LORD, O my soul,

and forget not all his benefits.

Matt Maher - Run To The Father

18 July 2023 - hard lessons

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Jesus began to reproach the towns

where most of his mighty deeds had been done,

since they had not repented.

Much is expected of those to whom much is given (see Luke 12:48). Jesus was not about the business of providing entertainment by means of signs and wonders. Rather he was seeking faith in himself, and the conversion of life that must accompany such faith. Those places where Jesus ministered might have been considered privileged to receive the presence of the Son of God, and certainly they were privileged. But they were also especially on the hook in regard to their response. Other lands that had not seen Jesus, even though their sins may have been greater, were held to a lesser standard of judgment.

But I tell you, it will be more tolerable

for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you.

Sometimes, mysteriously, by not revealing himself fully and immediately Jesus was leaving the door open for mercy. In the face of the mighty deeds of Jesus those who saw and received them were supposed to change, to repent, to sin no more, and to make of their very lives offerings of thanksgiving to God. But it was frighteningly possible to see such mighty deeds and be unmoved. Exposure to Jesus of this sort did not leave a neutral or unchanged situation behind. Rather, the only way to resist his self-revelation was by allowing one's heart to be hardened.

We may imagine that many of the times we have not received a sign or an answer in just the way we wanted that Jesus was showing mercy in advance, protecting us from an inevitable inadequate response. Such a 'no' from Jesus would not be definitive, but a marking of his providential timing, so that he could give it to us when it would bear the fruit he desired.

For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Sodom,

it would have remained until this day.

Jesus did not always hold back because he knew he would not receive the full response he desired. Even in places such as Chorazin and Bethsaida where the response was lacking he still made himself known. But even when he allowed the hardening of hearts of those who heard him, even this was somehow still a part of a plan leading to salvation. Even his reproaches were meant to kindle the response to his love that was initially lacking. It was as though he said, 'Look at the lengths my love has gone for you. Will you not respond?' We see this same sort of hidden wisdom described by Paul:

I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And in this way all Israel will be saved (see Romans 11:25-26).

We must ask ourselves, what are the mighty deeds that have been done in our midst, and what has been our response? We have been drawn from the waters of baptism as Moses was once drawn from the waters. But it is not enough to presume that we are positioned well because of something we once witnessed or experienced in the distant past. We are called to a living faith that makes of our lives, moment to moment, a response of love to the love which Jesus first showed us. Each day that we go to mass and receive him we are in some sense making ourselves increasingly accountable. But it is he himself within us, and he alone, that can produce the response he desires, and make us fruitful with the fruits of the Spirit. Our part is not to struggle, not to resist, not to harden ourselves, not even in the face of his reproaches. Let us learn to recognize that all that Jesus does is ordered toward love and to our salvation.

DC Talk - The Hardway

17 July 2023 - looking sharp

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth.

I have come to bring not peace but the sword.

Jesus came to bring a sword because the he brought "the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (see Ephesians 6:17), which is "living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart" (see Hebrews 4:12). The words of Jesus were so sharp because they were in no way compromised with falsehood or sin. His words were divisive because Jesus, who was himself the truth, inescapably prompted those who encountered him to make a decision about him. They could choose him or choose instead to put some other lesser good ahead of him, but there was no way to escape the choice. Even hesitating or not responding in the face of the urgency of his kingdom were in fact choices of a sort as well.

Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me,

and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me;

After all, God first loved us with a greater love than that of parent for child or child for parent. He said, "Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you" (see Isaiah 49:15). Merely natural relationships were good, but less good than our relationship with God himself. To love anyone more than Jesus, God himself, was to love them in a way that did not sufficiently regard the fact that Jesus himself was meant to be their last end and greatest good. Loving father or mother, son or daughter, in this light, willing for them only temporary and lesser goods, would not only be a disservice to God, but also to the relatives whom we imagined ourselves to prefer. The solution to this conundrum was not meant to be severing ourselves from all of our natural family ties but rather to elevate and spiritualize them by centering them in our faith in Jesus himself. Thus Jesus said:

Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother (see Matthew 12:46-50).

When we are related to others not just by blood but by faith we are able to love them well and do not risk creating a conflict but what we wish for them and the will of God. This was why there was never a conflict between the Blessed Mother and her divine Son. They were united in what they willed, and never insisted on merely natural goods when the salvation of the world was at stake.

Whoever finds his life will lose it,

and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Not only must we not prefer the natural goods of others for them, we also must not prefer the lesser goods of this world for ourselves over the path of love revealed by Jesus himself. This path is not abstract or ambiguous because Jesus himself is always at the very center. It is only for his sake that true life can be found.

And whoever gives only a cup of cold water

to one of these little ones to drink

because he is a disciple–

amen, I say to you, he will surely not lose his reward.

Jesus began our passage with many hard words about how he himself must have our allegiance over any other possible options. He went on to call us to take up our own crosses to follow him on the path of self-emptying love. But it is comforting that he concluded the teaching by showing that what he asked of us was not so difficult as to be impossible or unattainable. To receive the rewards of life we can begin in small ways and seemingly insignificant ways, by welcoming those who are themselves committed to the kingdom. We don't necessarily have to be prophets or perfectly righteous men to receive the rewards promised to them. It is enough to associate ourselves with them by our love. Even little acts, like a cup of cold water for a little one, become disproportionately significant when done for the sake of the kingdom.

A new king, who knew nothing of Joseph, came to power in Egypt.

This situation in Egypt can be an analogy for our own in present day. People once knew that goodness that Christendom brought to civilization but now often see it as a negative force that must be resisted and even oppressed. This may mean that we are sometimes called to be more explicit in choosing Jesus over other options than past generations. Let us prepare ourselves in advance to cast our lot with Jesus, with his prophets, righteous men, and little ones. If we choose him we can't lose, at least not anything of truly lasting value.

Francesca Battistelli - Lead Me To The Cross