31 March 2018 - we wait in silence

Something strange is happening—there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness. The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who have slept ever since the world began. God has died in the flesh and hell trembles with fear.

He has gone to search for our first parent, as for a lost sheep. Greatly desiring to visit those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, he has gone to free from sorrow the captives Adam and Eve, he who is both God and the son of Eve. The Lord approached them bearing the cross, the weapon that had won him the victory. At the sight of him Adam, the first man he had created, struck his breast in terror and cried out to everyone: “My Lord be with you all.” Christ answered him: “And with your spirit.” He took him by the hand and raised him up, saying: “Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”

I am your God, who for your sake have become your son. Out of love for you and for your descendants I now by my own authority command all who are held in bondage to come forth, all who are in darkness to be enlightened, all who are sleeping to arise. I order you, O sleeper, to awake. I did not create you to be held a prisoner in hell. Rise from the dead, for I am the life of the dead. Rise up, work of my hands, you who were created in my image. Rise, let us leave this place, for you are in me and I am in you; together we form only one person and we cannot be separated.

For your sake I, your God, became your son; I, the Lord, took the form of a slave; I, whose home is above the heavens, descended to the earth and beneath the earth. For your sake, for the sake of man, I became like a man without help, free among the dead. For the sake of you, who left a garden, I was betrayed to the Jews in a garden, and I was crucified in a garden.

See on my face the spittle I received in order to restore to you the life I once breathed into you. See there the marks of the blows I received in order to refashion your warped nature in my image. On my back see the marks of the scourging I endured to remove the burden of sin that weighs upon your back. See my hands, nailed firmly to a tree, for you who once wickedly stretched out your hand to a tree.

I slept on the cross and a sword pierced my side for you who slept in paradise and brought forth Eve from your side. My side has healed the pain in yours. My sleep will rouse you from your sleep in hell. The sword that pierced me has sheathed the sword that was turned against you.

Rise, let us leave this place. The enemy led you out of the earthly paradise. I will not restore you to that paradise, but I will enthrone you in heaven. I forbade you the tree that was only a symbol of life, but see, I who am life itself am now one with you. I appointed cherubim to guard you as slaves are guarded, but now I make them worship you as God. The throne formed by cherubim awaits you, its bearers swift and eager. The bridal chamber is adorned, the banquet is ready, the eternal dwelling places are prepared, the treasure houses of all good things lie open. The kingdom of heaven has been prepared for you from all eternity.

From an ancient homily.

28 March 2018 - not selling out

Today's Readings (Audio)

"Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me."

What are we to make of a man who knows this and does nothing? We realize that his life is not taken from him. He is not taken by surprise. Rather he is the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep. He does not run even though he knows exactly what is coming. This Passover must be celebrated. That is his concern.

It is easy to meet suffering and turn back. But Jesus presses on, because he knows the joy set before him.

And I have not rebelled,
have not turned back.
I gave my back to those who beat me,
my cheeks to those who plucked my beard;
My face I did not shield
from buffets and spitting.

Jesus has his hope firmly anchored in the Father. It pulls him onward and upward when others would turn aside.

The Lord GOD is my help,
therefore I am not disgraced;
I have set my face like flint,
knowing that I shall not be put to shame.

This gives Jesus the unique authority to speak a word to others who are suffering and persecuted, weary from the struggles of life, in order to rouse us and keep us on the path. When we're wearing keeping watch with Jesus in the garden we hear him tell us to stay awake. Our hope is near at hand.

"See, you lowly ones, and be glad;
you who seek God, may your hearts revive!
For the LORD hears the poor,
and his own who are in bonds he spurns not."

Let's receive the word Jesus speaks to rouse us. Let us keep watch through the garden, during the Cross, and all the way to Easter.

27 March 2018 - spy day

Today's Readings (Audio)

It is not easy to remain with Jesus during Holy Week. We often choose the silver when the mission of Jesus becomes too impractical for our taste.

So Judas took the morsel and left at once. And it was night.

We say we'll stay near to him no matter what. But when that leads us to suffering we are quick to deny him.

Jesus answered, "Will you lay down your life for me?
Amen, amen, I say to you, the cock will not crow
before you deny me three times."

Yet in all this Jesus is neither surprised nor defeated. He knows the plans of Judas. He knows the shortcomings of Peter. He knows our shortcomings too! Even so, he continues on toward the Cross because of his love for us.

And I am made glorious in the sight of the LORD,
and my God is now my strength!
It is too little, he says, for you to be my servant,
to raise up the tribes of Jacob,
and restore the survivors of Israel;
I will make you a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.

It is precisely in this dark hour when all seems hopeless that God shows his glory through Jesus. 

"Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him.
If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself,
and he will glorify him at once.

This hour of darkness precedes the eternal day when the light will never again waver or go out. Jesus knows this and so he persists. He asks friends to keep watch with him. It isn't so much something we need to do. He is rather asking us to be with him and to be attentive to him. We need to see and receive the love he displays even on those who deny him. If we have betrayed or denied Jesus we can return to him. It is not too late to keep watch. He knows our flaws and loves us no less because of them. When we fail he gives us the opportunity to return to him. And when we return, knowing our own weakness, we are more able to strengthen our brethren.

In your justice rescue me, and deliver me;
incline your ear to me, and save me.

26 March 2018 - fragrant offerings

Today's Readings (Audio)

Mary took a liter of costly perfumed oil
made from genuine aromatic nard
and anointed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair;
the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. 

Let us find extravagant ways to love Jesus this week. Let us do things that fill the holy house of the Church with the fragrance of our devotion. After all, his love for us is extravagant. He himself is "a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God" (see Ephesians 5:2). We can learn from Mary the importance of devotion, of affection, of time spent near Jesus. We have many obligations in the world. But this Holy Week comes only once a year. We do not always have the chance to experience the presence of Jesus in this way. Let us fully avail ourselves of the blessings God makes available to us this week.

I, the LORD, have called you for the victory of justice,
I have grasped you by the hand;
I formed you, and set you
as a covenant of the people,
a light for the nations,

As we approach Holy Week we may be tempted to let our confidence or courage waver. We may be tempted to enter into the sufferings of Jesus as mere sympathy and forget about the victory that lies ahead. Jesus never forgets this victory. He endures the shame of the cross for the joy that is set before him (see Hebrews 12:2).

Let's not slip back into a mindset that is content with the way things are as long as we don't have to suffer alone. Let us see our suffering as ennobled, filled with meaning and light. We may have many tears to shed. This world is indeed filled with pain. But in the love and tenderness with which we join Mary in washing the feet of Jesus we do not indulge the pain or dwell on it. Neither, however, do we avoid it. We embrace it, but not for its own sake. We embrace the one who embraces pain for us. We do this, not in hopelessness, but in confidence.

I believe that I shall see the bounty of the LORD
in the land of the living.
Wait for the LORD with courage;
be stouthearted, and wait for the LORD.

25 March 2018 - all the way

Today's Readings (Audio)

Those preceding him as well as those following kept crying out:
"Hosanna!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that is to come!
Hosanna in the highest!"

We welcome Jesus. We celebrate him. His glory moves us to praise! This instinct is good. But can we stay with him?

Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
something to be grasped.

Our worldly minds have trouble with this. We have a hard time celebrating the condecension that brings Jesus to us. We have difficulty with his humility and even his humanity. Seeing this verison of Jesus, suffering and obedient, cuts us to the heart.

Rather, he emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
coming in human likeness;
and found human in appearance,
he humbled himself,
becoming obedient to the point of death,
even death on a cross.

Let us look upon Jesus on the cross. Here is a greater victory than the mere entry of the king into the royal city. Here is the victory of love over hatred. If the tone of our praise changes as we follow the way of the cross lot us not cease to praise. Let us recognize that what we are witnessing is not a failure but the ultimate and everlasting success. This isn't as easy as it sounds.

And at three o'clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice, 
"Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?"
which is translated,
"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

Yet it is true. It is essential. Let us not abandon him as his disciples do. Let us follow him all the way to the end. Let us praise him to the very end.

Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last.

From this vantage point we will be well positioned to behold the glory that comes next. Assuredly, our praise then will be with greater fervor than ever before.

24 March 2018 - one flock

Today's Readings (Audio)

My servant David shall be prince over them,
and there shall be one shepherd for them all;
they shall live by my statutes and carefully observe my decrees.

Jesus is the one Shepherd that unites his flock. We were scattered, separated and without unity. We were alone, isolated, hurting others and being hurt ourselves. There were many shepherds offering to lead us, but they led us selfishly for their own gain. In this condition of feeling abandoned we hear Jesus calling his sheep by name. We discover the one who truly knows us. We flock toward him and find good pastures.

Shouting, they shall mount the heights of Zion,
they shall come streaming to the LORD's blessings:
The grain, the wine, and the oil,
the sheep and the oxen.

We can trust him completely. He is the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep.

But one of them, Caiaphas,
who was high priest that year, said to them,
"You know nothing,
nor do you consider that it is better for you
that one man should die instead of the people,
so that the whole nation may not perish."
He did not say this on his own,
but since he was high priest for that year,
he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation,
and not only for the nation,
but also to gather into one the dispersed children of God.

When we come to Jesus we discover new identities as children of God. Now we are free to truly love others without counting the cost. As Jesus follows the way of the Cross we see the example we should follow. We are free to give all that we are, knowing that God will sustain us, and finally to raise us up.

I will turn their mourning into joy,
I will console and gladden them after their sorrows.

Jesus is the very presence of God among us. He is the temple, which though destroyed, is raised again in three days. He is the place where the nations gather to offer worship in Spirit and in truth to the Father. There are no longer divisions here. No more must there be divisions between one and another. There need no longer be any divisions between God and his people. This is why he is always calling us deeper. We haven't yet scratched the surface.

Thus the nations shall know that it is I, the LORD,
who make Israel holy,
when my sanctuary shall be set up among them forever.

23 March 2018 - public works projects

Today's Readings (Audio)

No one has ever spoken like Jesus. Some begin to believe because he speaks this way. But for the Pharisees it is not enough. Maybe they're too invested in being right. Maybe they're too prideful to acknowledge that someone like Jesus could matter. Whatever the reason, his words alone are not enough to persuade them. But Jesus doesn't stop with words. He does everything he can to make his case.

If I do not perform my Father's works, do not believe me;
but if I perform them, even if you do not believe me,
believe the works, so that you may realize and understand
that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.

When the LORD needs to penetrate into stubborn hearts he is willing to use "demonstration of the Spirit and of power" (see First Corinthians 2:4). Yet neither Jesus nor Paul rely on themselves when it comes to showing force the presence and the power of God to the world.

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.

Jesus tells the world who he is. But he does it precisely because it is the will of the Father for us to know him. He does not do it merely out of pride, but out of obedience and love. The works he gives us our the same. Even though the works he does vindicate him they are not done for his sake but for ours. There are many people who are ready to believe without seeing, those for whom the power of the word of God alone is enough. This should not be a point of pride if that describes us. It is only by grace ("Blessed are they") that we believe without seeing. But Jesus wishes to allow some who need to see to see. Works are one way that Jesus often works. Jesus is able to reveal the Father even in these works because of how completely open he is to him.

In my distress I called upon the LORD
and cried out to my God;
From his temple he heard my voice,
and my cry to him reached his ears. 

We are called to trust God as our mighty champion. Even when we have trouble making the case for Christ we know that his words are unlike those of others. We must be ready to do the works of the Father, the demonstrations of the Spirit to which we are called. For us, great humility is needed. We know we are not worthy of such things being worked through us. Even so, God does not call the qualified, but qualifies those whom he calls. We really can trust him. The LORD is more than able to accomplish that which he desires through us.

"John performed no sign,
but everything John said about this man was true."
And many there began to believe in him.

22 March 2018 - beyond compare

Today's Readings (Audio)

Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever keeps my word will never see death.

No one else but Jesus can make this claim. Only his words are living and effective. No one else has ever spoken like this man. The Pharisees quickly realize what this claim entails.

Now we are sure that you are possessed.
Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say,
'Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.

Death has, until now, been largely unavoidable. Sure, there are a few exceptions, like Enoch and Elijah who have been taken directly into heaven. But it is a fact that some of the holiest heroes of Israel still suffer death at the end of their lives. It might have been one thing to claim that Jesus himself would escape death. But to make his word the condition by which anyone in the world can escape death? This is radical. It is new. Yet it is the fulfillment of the promise made to Abraham.

I will maintain my covenant with you
and your descendants after you
throughout the ages as an everlasting pact,
to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.

This promise was fulfilled in the past only partially. The reason is because we could only partially do our part

God also said to Abraham:
"On your part, you and your descendants after you
must keep my covenant throughout the ages."

Now finally, in Jesus, our part is performed perfectly. Finally the true blessings of the promise are unlocked. The covenant is unleashed.

But I do know him and I keep his word. 
Abraham your father rejoiced to see my day;
he saw it and was glad.

Jesus exists when the promise is first made to Abraham. But Abraham dies before the blessings of the promise are received. Yet, somewhere, he still is able to see this day of Jesus that is at hand. He rejoices to know that the promise is not forgotten. He is glad that the day of salvation has finally come. 

He remembers forever his covenant
which he made binding for a thousand generations –
Which he entered into with Abraham
and by his oath to Isaac.

Neither Abraham, nor Moses, nor David, nor Elijah could be the one. Only Jesus can give the words which allow us to never see death.

Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you,
before Abraham came to be, I AM."

21 March 2018 - through fire and flood

Today's Readings (Audio)

"If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples,
and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

We can have freedom even when the world binds us and throws us in the furnace.

"But," he replied, "I see four men unfettered and unhurt,
walking in the fire, and the fourth looks like a son of God." 

It is not a freedom from challenges. It is a freedom in the midst of them. It is a freedom to pass through them untouched so that "not a hair of their heads had been singed, nor were their garments altered; there was not even a smell of fire about them" (see Daniel 3:94).

We need to recognize that the freedom which tend to value isn't the deep and true freedom that we truly need.

Jesus answered them, "Amen, amen, I say to you,
everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.
A slave does not remain in a household forever,
but a son always remains. 
So if the Son frees you, then you will truly be free.

The freedom we need is not freedom from circumstance or oppression. It is not even freedom from temptation. It is freedom such that we are no longer slaves of sin. It is a freedom where circumstances no longer control us. All of those fires may burn all around us but we ourselves remain untouched.

There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it (see First Corinthians 10:13).

The freedom Jesus offers is not a freedom from. It is a freedom through and in the midst of trials.

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you (see Isaiah 43:2).

How much time do we spend convincing ourselves that the freedom that truly matters is the freedom to avoid trials in the first place? How much time do we spend trying to get around them? Perhaps this will be possible, but if not, it should be no great thing to us. We should be always ready to go through knowing that God will bring us out the other side. 

What is in front of us is less important than he with whom we face it.

So if the Son frees you, then you will truly be free.

So let's go boldly forward today, with the Son at our side, as children of the Father.

Blessed are you on the throne of your kingdom,
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.

20 March 2018 - love on display

Today's Readings (Audio)

When you lift up the Son of Man,
then you will realize that I AM,
and that I do nothing on my own,
but I say only what the Father taught me.

When Jesus is lifted up the world is drawn to him. We realize the truth that he does everything out of obedience to the will of the Father who sent him. It is both easy and difficult to look upon Jesus on the Cross. It is easy because we feel the sweetness of his love for us, that he would endure the cross for our sakes. It is hard because we know that we ourselves make the suffering necessary. Jesus would have endured this pain for just one person. And the condition of that one person after the fall left no recourse but this.

In punishment the LORD sent among the people saraph serpents,
which bit the people so that many of them died.

We have all been bitten by the saraph serpents of sin. We have not been perfect pilgrims on our way through this desert. We grumble and complain even about the supernatural help God provides. We have to see this lifted up when sin is put to death on the Cross. We need our hearts to realize how serious sin is so that we can be converted.

Looking upon the cross isn't about feeling guilty, condemned, or sorry for ourselves. It is rather recognizing our terminal diagnosis so that we are willing to accept the full treatment for the disease. We need to recognize who Jesus is so that we can trust him. We need to believe Jesus about what our problem is if he is to help us. 

For if you do not believe that I AM,
you will die in your sins.

Somehow it is precisely on the Cross that his full divinity is made manifest. His power is displayed no more perfectly than when he surrenders everything to the Father. If we really look upon Jesus on the Cross we are drawn by the inexorable gravity of his love and his connection to the Father. Only in this context can we ever hope to loosen our grasp on our own lives enough to helped. Let us gaze upon the love poured out for us. Let us surrender to the one whose love for us knows no limits.

O LORD, hear my prayer,
and let my cry come to you.
Hide not your face from me
in the day of my distress.
Incline your ear to me; 
in the day when I call, answer me speedily.

19 March 2019 - readiness of faith

Today's Readings (Audio)

Let's be like Joseph. He does his best with prudential judgment.

Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man,
yet unwilling to expose her to shame,
decided to divorce her quietly.

But when God intervenes he is ready to drop all of that and do what God commands. He is not so invested in his own plans that he fails to hear God. These are plans made by a righteous man. They're probably the best he could do without revelation. So we must always be ready for revelation. If Joseph needs revelation to do the will of God than ought not we need it as well? We need to be listening for angel revelation, for messages of the Spirit, for words of knowledge and of wisdom. Without these, it is not possible to fully live the life God has planned for us. Listening to the angel was necessary for Joseph to welcome Jesus into his life and family. So too for us.

Our ability to wait for God and to listen to him comes from our willingness to trust in his promises.

Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever before me;
your throne shall stand firm forever.

It is only this faith that leads us beyond our limited expectations of what is possible. Our expectations limit us. If they were accurate, prudential judgment and human wisdom would be all we need to get by in life. But when we set our expectations in accordance with the kingdom, we realize that those expectations will never be fulfilled without hearing the voice of God speaking.

He believed, hoping against hope,
that he would become the father of many nations,
according to what was said, Thus shall your descendants be.

Joseph has this faith and this readiness. May he teach it to us today.

Forever I will maintain my kindness toward him,
and my covenant with him stands firm.

18 March 2018 - heart attracts

Today's Readings (Audio)

Jesus wants to write the law in our hearts. He wants to make it so central to us that we won't have to spend much time thinking or debating about it. Rather it will be the impulse of love that, when followed, leads to ever deeper relationship with the LORD.

I will place my law within them and write it upon their hearts; 
I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
No longer will they have need to teach their friends and relatives
how to know the LORD.
All, from least to greatest, shall know me, says the LORD, 

Have we fully received this transformation? More likely the law is still an external motivator to some degree. We try to keep it because of obligation and fear. And while this better than nothing, it is not enough. It is not what Jesus intends for us. It is not what he dies to give us. How can we be more deeply inscribed with the law of God?

Amen, amen, I say to you, 
unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, 
it remains just a grain of wheat; 
but if it dies, it produces much fruit.

Jesus dies for us. And the fruit of his death is that the Holy Spirit is unleashed upon the world. The Holy Spirit is the one who lives within us and gives us the power and desire to love and therefore to keep the law. There is a direct correlation between receiving from Jesus the gift of his loving death for us, for realizing the depth of that love, and being open to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. We must open ourselves completely to one who loved us even though we could do nothing to deserve it.

And when I am lifted up from the earth, 
I will draw everyone to myself."
He said this indicating the kind of death he would die.

Only realizing his love will allow us to surrender as deeply as must. He wants to make us perfect so that we can be sources of salvation to others. Only his love proves that all the suffering we experience along the way is worth it.

Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered; 
and when he was made perfect, 
he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.

LORD Jesus, you are the grain of wheat that is broken to sow the harvest of the Holy Spirit. Let us see in your death the depths of your love. Let us receive the fruit of the Spirit in our lives and be filled with the love that fulfills the law.

Give me back the joy of your salvation,
and a willing spirit sustain in me.
I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners shall return to you.

17 March 2018 - life talk

Today's Readings (Audio)

The guards answered, "Never before has anyone spoken like this man."

No one speaks like Jesus. If we just listen with open hearts we will be converted and transformed. But there is always a risk when God speaks to us. We can choose to hear his voice. But we can also choose to harden ours hearts.

So a division occurred in the crowd because of him.

How do we listen in such a way that we are converted? How do we prevent ourselves from hardening our hearts? The voice heard is the same voice. The receptivity is the difference. We should be on guard against second guessing what Jesus tells us.

But others said, "The Christ will not come from Galilee, will he?

When we're listening to Jesus we don't need to evaluate or find loopholes. We often try this so that we don't have to respond with our whole hearts. We're afraid of what might be asked of us. We want to keep things in our own control. So we find reasons to not make that complete surrender. Jesus calls us to use prudential judgment in planning and acting in our daily lives. But this isn't necessary or helpful in listening to Jesus himself. He only speaks life. Whatever he asks, it is for our good. The more of it that we can receive the better. Prudential judgment has its place in our lives. But that place is not in filtering the things we hear from Jesus. We use discernment to make sure that what we are hearing is in fact from him. But if it is from him, we must receive it completely.

Yet I, like a trusting lamb led to slaughter,
had not realized that they were hatching plots against me:
"Let us destroy the tree in its vigor;
let us cut him off from the land of the living,
so that his name will be spoken no more."

Even if listening to Jesus makes us feel as exposed as lambs led to the slaughter we know that we can trust him. He himself was led to the slaughter for us. But that was not the end. The resurrection proved his trust in the Father. Our trust in him will also be vindicated if we hold fast to his word.

A shield before me is God,
who saves the upright of heart;
A just judge is God,
a God who punishes day by day.

16 March 2018 - beyond expectation

Today's Readings (Audio)

We set false expectations of Jesus based on incorrect interpretations of what he did in the past.

Could the authorities have realized that he is the Christ?
But we know where he is from.

We see someone who is apparently limited. We believe this because in our pride we judge him by the standard of what we would do if we ourselves were God. He does not do these things and so we invariably see him with more human limitations than he actually has. Yet we do not recognize his full humanity either. We see him rather as a threat.

To us he is the censure of our thoughts; 
merely to see him is a hardship for us,
Because his life is not like that of others,
and different are his ways.

He is too like God to receive our sympathy. But he is too unlike our expectation of God to receive our worship. How can this be fixed? Let us listen to Jesus tell us who he is.

Yet I did not come on my own,
but the one who sent me, whom you do not know, is true.
I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me.

Let us look to the proof he has already given. It is proof both of his absolute divine power and of his total shared humanity.

With revilement and torture let us put him to the test
that we may have proof of his gentleness
and try his patience.

Looking upon the Cross we learn both worship and love. We finally see why only in Jesus can we find the recompense of holiness and the innocent souls' reward. May we allow ourselves to be pierced to the heart as we gaze upon the Cross. May Jesus transform us and may we let ourselves be transformed.

The LORD is close to the brokenhearted;
and those who are crushed in spirit he saves.

15 March 2018 - breach insurance

Today's Readings (Audio)

Then he spoke of exterminating them,
but Moses, his chosen one,
Withstood him in the breach
to turn back his destructive wrath.

Jesus stands in the breach for us. We need him to do so for we have become depraved and chased after idols.

Go down at once to your people
whom you brought out of the land of Egypt,
for they have become depraved.

Golden calves are obvious to us. Our idols tend to fly a little under the radar. But when Moses is up the mountain with God and we feel like we're on our own, or like no one is holding us accountable, do we continue to do what is right before God? Is it only external pressure like this that keeps us in line? God wants more from us than that. He doesn't want us to show in public that we prefer him and then when we are hidden and we think no one sees to choose other things instead. He wants the idols removed even from their places in our hearts.

Jesus knows that we need mercy. He knows, too, that we don't always want it to the degree that we need it. This is why he is so strong in asserting who he is. John the Baptist testifies to him. The mighty deeds of Jesus testify to him. The Father himself speaks his testimony over the Son. We need to recognize this testimony because if we do not accept who Jesus is we cannot receive the mercy he offers.

You search the Scriptures,
because you think you have eternal life through them;
even they testify on my behalf.
But you do not want to come to me to have life.

The promise of God saved the people of Israel in the Old Testament. It kept them alive and granted them mercy when they failed in the desert. Even now that same promise, most perfectly fulfilled, gives us life in Jesus Christ. Let us recognize in him the one who always keeps his promises, who delights, always to show mercy.

For if you had believed Moses,
you would have believed me,
because he wrote about me. 
But if you do not believe his writings,
how will you believe my words?

14 March 2018 - an unearned raise

Today's Readings (Audio)

I cannot do anything on my own;
I judge as I hear, and my judgment is just,
because I do not seek my own will
but the will of the one who sent me.

Jesus does nothing out of selfish ambition. With us it is quite different. Our own desires cloud our judgment. When we judge it is hard to ignore how we ourselves are impacted. Consequently, mercy is difficult for us. But Jesus judges only as the heart of the Father leads him to judge. Therefore, he is able to show mercy even to his enemies. The Father, seeing the complete transparency of the Son to his will, makes Jesus the focal point of judgment. It is how we relate to this one who perfectly carries out the Father's will that determines how we ourselves are judged. If we can welcome someone so completely full of love and selfless we can receive mercy. But it is not as easy as it sounds. In contrast to him are hearts are dirty and full of sin. Accepting Jesus diagnoses our sin at the same time. It is only in this diagnosis that we ourselves find mercy.

Why does the LORD tell us this? Why do we need to understand the how and why of judgment and mercy? He is concerned that when we see ourselves in the light of the perfect man we will feel condemned. He is afraid that in that condemnation we will flee from his presence just as Adam and Eve once did. He doesn't want us to flee. Neither does he want us to remain as we are. The thing for which he truly longs is that we be healed, made new, and find comfort in him.

Sing out, O heavens, and rejoice, O earth,
break forth into song, you mountains.
For the LORD comforts his people
and shows mercy to his afflicted.

Sometimes when our gaze is a bit too inward focused we will forsaken. Yet this is impossible.

But Zion said, "The LORD has forsaken me;
my Lord has forgotten me."
Can a mother forget her infant,
be without tenderness for the child of her womb?

Everything in the world works together for those that love God and are called according to his purpose (see Romans 8:28). He longs for the whole world to pass from death to life and not come to condemnation. The one thing necessary for this is to hear his word and believe.

Amen, amen, I say to you, the hour is coming and is now here
when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God,
and those who hear will live.

It's a long game. It involves self-knowledge. But we can be confident that it is not the approach of someone who seeks our condemnation. The one who is more tender in his love to us than a mother to her child can love us no more than this. Let us hear Jesus and live.

13 March 2018 - spirit irrigation

Today's Readings (Audio)

"Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool
when the water is stirred up;
while I am on my way, someone else gets down there before me."
Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your mat, and walk."

The man no longer needs the pool because Jesus is the true source of living water.

Whoever believes in me, as scripture says:
'Rivers of living water will flow from within him' (see John 7:38).

These are the waters that flow forth from the side of Jesus on the Cross. These waters refer to the Spirit poured out by Jesus, through his Passion, upon the world at Pentecost. They are the waters that power baptism and make us new creations in Christ.

I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols.  I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.  And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws (see Ezekiel 36:25-27).

Jesus himself is the new temple (see John 2:21). Therefore the waters that flow from the temple in the reading from Ezekiel are the waters flowing from Christ himself.

Then he brought me to the bank of the river, where he had me sit.
Along the bank of the river I saw very many trees on both sides.
He said to me,
"This water flows into the eastern district down upon the Arabah,
and empties into the sea, the salt waters, which it makes fresh. 

We are in desperate need of more of this water in our lives. But there is no shortage! Jesus delights to pour it out upon us. He longs to drench us in the healing rain of the Spirit. Let's not look for reasons to doubt or reasons to condemn. Instead, let us look to the action of Jesus in our world so that we can see it more clearly as done by him. Let's not be like the antagonists of today's gospel reading.

Therefore, the Jews began to persecute Jesus
because he did this on a sabbath.

Rather let us learn that Jesus is the source of living water. Let us come to him, realizing our thirst, and drink!

There is a stream whose runlets gladden the city of God,
the holy dwelling of the Most High.
God is in its midst; it shall not be disturbed;
God will help it at the break of dawn.

12 March 2018 - good signs

Today's Readings (Audio)

Jesus said to him,
“Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.”

If this were a criticism we might expect Jesus to withhold the signs and wonders. He withholds from the Pharisees all signs but the sign of Jonah. But he does not do so here. This man needs this sign to believe. Jesus wants him to come to faith in him so he grants him the sign. Maybe he would rather that he not see but believe. But for Thomas as well he was willing to go to whatever lengths Thomas needed in order to reveal himself to him. For those of us who are weaker in faith, and let's be honest, that is most of us, Jesus guides as little by little. There is a gradient of increasing faith.

Jesus said to him, “You may go; your son will live.”
The man believed what Jesus said to him and left.

The royal official still isn't all the way there. Something about Jesus causes him to trust enough, even having not seen, to return to his son. Yet he still isn't fully convinced, can't be fully convinced, of the identity of Jesus as messiah until he sees the sign.

He asked them when he began to recover.
They told him,
“The fever left him yesterday, about one in the afternoon.”
The father realized that just at that time Jesus had said to him,
“Your son will live,”
and he and his whole household came to believe.
Now this was the second sign Jesus did
when he came to Galilee from Judea.

Jesus does give the man the sign he needs. But he draws from him a little bit of faith without sight first. He is helping him to trust and obey first, to have faith first, and to see the results only after. The royal official comes to believe that Jesus can be trusted, that he has his best interest at heart. He comes to learn in this way that God is for him, not against him. He can act on God's word without seeing the whole contract or without holding collateral blessings to assure his compliance.

Jesus wants to convince us how much he loves us. He uses signs when we need signs. But the point is the same with or without them. We are called to faith in him. He wants to show us that he makes everything work together for our good.

For I create Jerusalem to be a joy
and its people to be a delight;
I will rejoice in Jerusalem
and exult in my people.

Jesus wants to continue to make this appeal to the world through us. We who already believe must be willing to keep trusting before we see. Jesus may choose to work mighty deeds through us for the sake of others. This will be more difficult if we insist on the conditions in which we believe him for those mighty deeds. Rather, we must trust and let him work. He may call us to speak his appeal even when there seems to be no fruit. We must trust, then, and speak.

Sing praise to the LORD, you his faithful ones,
and give thanks to his holy name.
For his anger lasts but a moment;
a lifetime, his good will.
At nightfall, weeping enters in,
but with the dawn, rejoicing.

11 March 2018 - just deserts

Today's Readings (Audio)

We journey through the desert with Jesus. He wants to bring us to the promised land, to the new Jerusalem, where we can worship him in Spirit and truth, in the new temple of his own body.

Rather than following Jesus we often turn aside to idols, adding infidelity to infidelity, and practicing all the abominations of the nations. Yet even when we turn from him he does not abandon us. He does not want to condemn us. The Father lifts up the Son so that we can turn from idolatry and see the love which God has for us. The Father longs for this love to draw us back to him.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, 
so that everyone who believes in him might not perish 
but might have eternal life.

We are in the desert now. This explains why we're so ready to look for any consolation we can find. Yet aside from God all consolations are empty. We must look to the promised land. We must look to the LORD's love raised on high. Only then can we hope to make it safely home to the heavenly Jerusalem.

Whoever, therefore, among you belongs to any part of his people, 
let him go up, and may his God be with him!

God is so rich in mercy and love that he brings us to life when we collapse in the desert because of our sins. He does not leave us where he finds us. But just as Christ is raised up we too are raised up in Christ. 

even when we were dead in our transgressions, 
brought us to life with Christ — by grace you have been saved —, 
raised us up with him, 
and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus, 
that in the ages to come 
He might show the immeasurable riches of his grace 
in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

The raising up of Christ happens on the Cross but it does not stop there. It continues as he is exulted into heaven. So too for us if we just keep our eyes on him. This is the free grace we are offered today. Let's not look away even though our own sinful hearts are exposed as we gaze. The desert is not our destiny. Let us prize the heavenly Jerusalem above all our joys.

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

When we do this we live the life God intends for us even in the driest deserts of life.

For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works 
that God has prepared in advance,
that we should live in them.

10 March 2018 - unconvincing ourselves

Today's Readings (Audio)

Jesus addressed this parable
to those who were convinced of their own righteousness
and despised everyone else.

Are we convinced of our own righteousness? Maybe we are to a greater degree than we realize. The reason for this is that we want righteousness to be a solved problem. We want to be able to check certain boxes and know that we are therefore good.

O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity — 
greedy, dishonest, adulterous — or even like this tax collector.
I fast twice a week,
and I pay tithes on my whole income.

We want to be able to say, for instance, 'I'm baptized and I've recently been to confession. I always go to Sunday mass and give regularly to the poor.' Someone who can say all that is good right? If they are not depending on God now in this moment, maybe not. Without the humility of the tax collector we run the risk of being closed to the help we need when we are faced with a new temptation or trial.

Your piety is like a morning cloud,
like the dew that early passes away.

Let's change our attitude. Righteousness should no longer be about self-image. It isn't something we have so that we can feel safe. Righteousness is something for which we need to depend on God at each moment. It is only secondarily about what we do and do not do. In the first place it is an attitude to depend entirely on God.

‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’
I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former

This is why God tells us he desires mercy more the sacrifice. Sacrifice can be a performance piece, done more for us than for God. Mercy can only come from the humility that first receives the mercy of God.

9 March 2017 - life on the vine

Today's Readings (Audio)

Jesus is the vine and we are the branches. Without him we can do nothing. With him all things are possible. The call is simple enough.

Jesus replied, "The first is this:
Hear, O Israel!
The Lord our God is Lord alone!
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, 
with all your soul, 
with all your mind, 
and with all your strength.
The second is this:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Yet within this simplicity we discover how complicated our own issues really are. We see just how strongly we are predisposed toward sin. We experience the frustration of not being able to manage our love priorities. We love ourselves, our comfort and entertainment, our power and pleasure, and myriad other things first. We love others second. And God, well, hopefully he factors in. But certainly what we're willing to do for him, the time we are willing to spend in his presence and pursuing his friendship, is trivial compared to what we do for every other area of life that is important to us. Knowing this places us close to the Kingdom of God. But there is only one way in.

I will heal their defection, says the LORD,
I will love them freely;
for my wrath is turned away from them.
I will be like the dew for Israel:
he shall blossom like the lily;
He shall strike root like the Lebanon cedar,
and put forth his shoots.

Our roots must drink deeply from the vine of Jesus Christ, his Sacraments, his Spirit, and his Church. If we plant ourselves where these things feed us we find life. It isn't necessarily an obvious process. The process of pulling in moisture and minerals through our roots is almost transparent to us. Yet without it we wither. With it we blossom and thrive. We not only put forth fruit, but the fruit is made into a wine that can draw the whole world into the joy of the Kingdom of God.

If only my people would hear me,
and Israel walk in my ways,
I would feed them with the best of wheat,
and with honey from the rock I would fill them.

8 March 2018 - discipline disposition

Today's Readings (Audio)

This is the nation that does not listen
to the voice of the LORD, its God,
or take correction.

How do we take correction from the LORD? Do we understand it as what it truly is, compassion that God only shows toward those whom he considers sons and daughters?

For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives (see Hebrews 12:6).

Or do we instead take it to be condemnation? Do we see the power of God and take it more as the action of demons?

Some of them said, "By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons,
he drives out demons."

We need to learn the welcome the healing touch of the finger of God even when it is correcting us and calling us to new life.

But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons,
then the Kingdom of God has come upon you.

Only when we learn to be well disposed under discipline can we truly grow. If we harden our hearts even a little bit we risk missing some of the benefit. Instead, with humility, we need to learn to see the discipline of God as a way in which he shows us his love.

If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

The LORD is calling us closer. He may be telling us to let go of some of our old ways. He may even be calling us to the Confessional. But he is calling us, however he is calling us, because he loves us even more than we love ourselves. Let's trust that and turn to him with our whole hearts.

Listen to my voice;
then I will be your God and you shall be my people.
Walk in all the ways that I command you,
so that you may prosper.

7 March 2018 - law abiding citizen

Today's Readings (Audio)

Observe them carefully,
for thus will you give evidence
of your wisdom and intelligence to the nations,
who will hear of all these statutes and say,
'This great nation is truly a wise and intelligent people.

This isn't what the nations think they will think about moral law. They think they will find a people subjugated and mindless, not able to think for themselves. But what they think they will find is not actually what they find. If we walk off a cliff to express our freedom from gravity it makes gravity no less real. If we walk off the cliff of sin in protest of the limits of morality we find that the realities and consequences it describes are no less real. Defying moral laws, just as with physical laws, does not give us more freedom but less. Keeping the laws allows us to stand firm as the forces of society press against us. Just as knowledge of the structures of chemistry and physics allow us to build better, stronger, and more efficient technology, so too does the law of God allow us to build better, stronger, and more efficient lives in this world.

Jesus did not come to take away the law.

Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.
I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.

He came to perfectly fulfill the law. We ourselves learned the rules but could not keep them by our own strength. All of our moral technology was being overwhelmed by the forces of the world, the flesh, and the devil. But not Jesus. Jesus overcomes the world! He conquers the devil. He puts sin to death in his own flesh. And he offers us union with himself so that we can share in his victory.

But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments
will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.

Jesus is the greatest in the Kingdom. Our only greatness is found in union with him!

Glorify the LORD, O Jerusalem;
praise your God, O Zion.
For he has strengthened the bars of your gates;
he has blessed your children within you.

6 March 2018 - mercy flow

Today's Readings (Audio)

Do not let us be put to shame,
but deal with us in your kindness and great mercy.
Deliver us by your wonders,
and bring glory to your name, O Lord.

If we want mercy we must be open to mercy. We must be willing to let mercy flow through us to others. We would prefer a version of mercy where we are forgiven the sins of which we are guilty but which still allows us to live a self-centered exist. The mercy of God is not like that.

His master summoned him and said to him, 'You wicked servant!
I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to.
Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant,
as I had pity on you?'

How can we receive the mercy of the King and remain unchanged? How can he forgive us a debt we can never repay and still harden our hearts? How can we ever hold a grudge against anyone after being forgiven so much at so great a cost? Let us ask the LORD for the humility to receive his mercy and be transformed.

But with contrite heart and humble spirit
let us be received;

This means that forgiving others who trespass against us is serious business. Each time we do we say yes to the mercy of the Father. Each time we don't we close our heart to that mercy.

So will my heavenly Father do to you,
unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart.

The LORD knows that we struggle to show mercy as wrecklessly and selflessly as he does. He is able to do it precisely because of his absolute humility which does not count wrongs nor seek self-interest. He wants to guide us to be like him.

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