31 July 2018 - for you are good

Today's Readings (Audio)

We sympathize with those in Judah at the time of Jeremiah who suffer so profoundly. People are slain, consumed by hunger, and in exile. It is very easy at such times to pray from the motivation of deserving better. This isn't such a bad thing to do. But there is a better option. We consider ourselves as undeserving.

We recognize, O LORD, our wickedness,
the guilt of our fathers;
that we have sinned against you.

We pray using the LORD's own goodness, as it were, against him. 

For your name's sake spurn us not,
disgrace not the throne of your glory;
remember your covenant with us, and break it not.

God, you are not the way worldly circumstances make you seem to be. Change the circumstances and show the world who you really are. Show them that you don't delight in death or suffering but long to heal and restore. 

Of course he won't force people to act one way or another. He won't change the children of the Evil One to be his children without their consent. This means that circumstances will never be quite as good as we hope. They will never fully reveal God's goodness in this age and this life. But God does choose to intervene miraculously precisely to make the point that he is over and above these circumstances. He is the deeper truth toward which all things are heading. He heals in this life precisely so that we see more of what the life to come is meant to be. And it is through this that many who seemed to be mere weeds prove to be wheat after all. His mercy and his mighty deeds steer the ages onward toward the Kingdom.

Then the righteous will shine like the sun
in the Kingdom of their Father.
Whoever has ears ought to hear.

30 July 2018 - branching up

Today's Readings (Audio)

For, as close as the loincloth clings to a man's loins,
so had I made the whole house of Israel
and the whole house of Judah cling to me, says the LORD;
to be my people, my renown, my praise, my beauty.

The LORD made us to be intimately united with himself. We fulfill our purpose when we allow him to have his way with us. This is when we feel the most fully human, the most on fire with purpose, and the most loved. But we often forget our purpose. We bury ourselves in other things unrelated to our purpose in God.

Take the loincloth which you bought and are wearing,
and go now to the Parath;
there hide it in a cleft of the rock.

When we are apart from God we can't fulfill our purpose. We tend to become filthy. And we can't be immediately reunited to him in that way that he wants until he first cleans us. We, like the prodigal, constantly wander away from full commitment to the LORD.

What a fickle race they are,
sons with no loyalty in them!

God, like the prodigal's father, waits to welcome us back. Our pride may cause us to rot but he is the one who can make us as white as snow once again. Like the prodigal's father he gives us new robes and makes us fit to dwell in his house once again. This experience is one we must treasure. We are meant to live for our Father who loves us. All other ambition will ultimately leave us empty.

We are called to intimate union with God. To the degree that we embrace it even very small things begin to have very large and transformative ripple effects.

It is the smallest of all the seeds,
yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants.

To fulfill our purpose in the Kingdom we must first know the King. The purpose he has for each of us is not burdensome. It is not onerous. We do tend to prefer other things to him. This is because we believe lies about what will make us happy. It is not because there is anything besides him that will satisfy. There is nothing better. There is no other tree big enough for all the birds of the sky. Without this yeast the dough will not be leavened and the hungry will not be fed.

29 July 2018 - what use is so little

Today's Readings (Audio)

Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him,
"There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish;
but what good are these for so many?" 

Don't we often feel this way? Isn't there often too much to be done while we have too few resources to do it? No matter whether we think of physically our spiritually hungry the task of feeding them seems monumental when we consider what we have to offer.

But his servant objected,
"How can I set this before a hundred people?" 

We cannot magically change our deficiencies to excesses. This process always, by design, passes through humility where we realize our poverty as well as that of others. We experience that poverty and yet the Spirit pleads with us to not give up. He shows us to bring what little we have before Jesus.

Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks,
and distributed them to those who were reclining,
and also as much of the fish as they wanted. 

Jesus transforms our deficiencies. He uses what we have, even though it is too little, so that there is more than enough to go around. This is how the Church is built.

So they collected them,
and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments 
from the five barley loaves
that had been more than they could eat. 

There is always more than enough, even though humanly there is never enough. It only works if we bring our meager efforts before Jesus.

We are called to feed the crowds. We are called to recognize and sympathize with their hunger. But we cannot do it on our own. Only humility enables us to work together.

I, a prisoner for the Lord,
urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received,
with all humility and gentleness, with patience,
bearing with one another through love,
striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace:

Just as it is the Spirit who gives each of us gifts so too does he have a plan for how all the gifts are meant to work together in the building up of the body. If we secretly believe we have enough on our own we won't care to listen to his direction. So we must be humble. Only then is the hope of our call realized.

The eyes of all look hopefully to you,
and you give them their food in due season;
you open your hand
and satisfy the desire of every living thing.

28 July 2018 - work in progress

Today's Readings (Audio)

'Master, did you not sow good seed in your field?
Where have the weeds come from?'
He answered, 'An enemy has done this.'

Jesus plants good seeds in our hearts. But unfortunately he is not the only one at work in our soil. The enemy too is at work within us. Within each individual, within the Church and the world, these plants grow up together. It isn't possible for wheat to live in complete isolation, sealed off from all possible evil or temptation. Our free will used well embraces the wheat. Used poorly it embraces the weeds. But we all do both. And we can't simply exclude one while preserving free will. We sometimes feel like it would be better if our free will could be taken away so that we don't sin anymore. But this makes us less than we are meant to be. It is pulling up the wheat with the weeds.

The parable means it isn't enough to simply grow in the field of the LORD. If we are more weed than wheat that isn't going to save us.

Put not your trust in the deceitful words:
"This is the temple of the LORD!
The temple of the LORD! The temple of the LORD!"
Only if you thoroughly reform your ways and your deeds

We have all we need to grow given to us from the good seed we receive from God. Let's stop colluding with the enemy and allowing the weeds to grow. Just because we seem to get away with the weeds we currently have does not mean that the LORD doesn't see them.

"We are safe; we can commit all these abominations again"?
Has this house which bears my name
become in your eyes a den of thieves?
I too see what is being done, says the LORD.

We can be thankful to God that he looks on us in mercy, giving us time to repent and reform. This morning the LORD is asking us to wake up from complacency. He is asking us to turn more toward him that more and more of our soil may bear fruit for him.

Blessed they who dwell in your house!
continually they praise you.
Blessed the men whose strength you are!
They go from strength to strength.

27 July 2018 - go deep

Today's Readings (Audio)

Jesus said to his disciples:
"Hear the parable of the sower.

The seed is a free gift, "since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God" (see First Peter 1:23). The soil, however, is something over which we have some control. The point of the parable is not that some people just aren't fit to receive the word of the Kingdom. To understand the point of the parable we need to realize that within our souls we tend to have some mix of the path, the rocky ground, the thorns, and the rich soil.

But the seed sown on rich soil
is the one who hears the word and understands it,
who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.

The stones and thorns are often problems we cause ourselves. They are habit patterns of sin that resist the word of God. And the path, business as usual, our low expectations, is also not the place where we can receive God's word. But within us, if we are attentive, we do find rich soil. We must discover this deep and receptive place within us and reserve it to the word of God. Being as deep and safe within us as it is, we may think to store something else there, family, lovers, or other deep desires. But the best soil we must reserve to God's seed.

The seed we receive from God seems like a big investment precisely because of how deep it must be planted. But it is worth it. 

When you multiply and become fruitful in the land,
says the LORD,
They will in those days no longer say,
"The ark of the covenant of the LORD!"
They will no longer think of it, or remember it, 
or miss it, or make another.

The LORD has given us shepherds to help us discover the way to the Kingdom. He is showing us the path to Zion. He is showing us the way to fields where all rocks and thorns are forever forgotten. Let us heed the shepherds who shepherd after his own heart. As they give the word of God to us let us receive it, not just once, but continuously. Let us expose our deep soil to the word whenever it is offered.

Hear the word of the LORD, O nations,
proclaim it on distant isles, and say:
He who scattered Israel, now gathers them together,
he guards them as a shepherd his flock. 

26 July 2018 - hidden in plain sight

Today's Readings (Audio)

"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."

Jesus speaks to the crowd in parables. He speaks in a way in which, if they choose, they can receive his message. They have to use their eyes to see, their ears to hear, and their hearts to understand. Jesus doesn't use logical argumentation that will just overwhelm their minds and force them to agree. The parables draw on simple enough imagery that they are open to those who will receive them. But at the same time the simplicity itself is a stumbling block to the proud.

Jesus does not desire to exclude, but to invite. The disciples have accepted the invitation already and so Jesus is able to offer them explanations of the parables. So too with us whenever we go to mass and the wisdom of the Church is offered to us. This is of course predicated on us accepting Jesus and his Church, the successors of the disciples of first received the explanation. It depends on us not ignoring the parables because they seem simplistic or trite or because we think we already know what they contain.

Let us never close our hearts to receiving the revelation Jesus wants to give us. It is a real risk that we get so used to the way things are that we close our minds to anything new.

Two evils have my people done:
they have forsaken me, the source of living waters;

Then, perhaps, we feel the need to go off and seek wisdom elsewhere, from other traditions, apart from Christ. This is an illusion that may offer distraction but cannot ultimately satisfy.

They have dug themselves cisterns,
broken cisterns, that hold no water.

Jesus wants us to accept his invitation to see what prophets and righteous people longed to see and to hear what they longed to hear. He wants us to open our hearts even if just a little. For when someone can receive a little, "more will be given and he will grow rich".

There is a sense in which the truth of Jesus is hidden. But it is hidden in plain sight. It is ready and waiting for all with eyes to see. May Jesus himself open our eyes to see ever more clearly.

For with you is the fountain of life,
and in your light we see light.

25 July 2018 - right desire

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."

This desire is part good and part bad, like all our desires tend to be. It is representative of our spiritual aspirations in general. On the way hand, it is good to be near to Jesus, on the other hand, the desire to be seen as better than others comes from pride. If we do not get free from the lesser of these desires we will only follow Jesus in the good times. We will be fairweather friends of God. Jesus wants friends who will stay near to him in good times and bad.

Jesus said in reply,
"You do not know what you are asking.
Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?"
They said to him, "We can."

We don't have to fully understand exactly to what we are agreeing. We just need to agree. We don't need our motives to be perfect. We just need to be willing to act based on the higher motives. These are sometimes the ones that stem from obedience rather than emotion. They come from following Jesus rather than following our bliss.

When we put following Jesus as priority one and everything else below it we gain the freedom of Paul. We become dynamic and powerful in our ability to show God at work in us.

We hold this treasure in earthen vessels,
that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us.
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.

Even if we begin by obedience and sometimes by pain it is the only path to lasting joy.

Although they go forth weeping,
carrying the seed to be sown,
They shall come back rejoicing,
carrying their sheaves. 

The secret is that we can actually desire the will of God in all things. We don't have to merely accept it. To do so calls for discernment, because the will of God often brings with it many things which we do not desire. But to be near Jesus, to love him, and to live for him, are things we can desire no matter what. This is how his yoke is easy and his burden is light. When first things are not only first but are our true desire we experience joy even in the midst of suffering. In those who are able to do this the cross bears fruit. It is the fruit we receive from Jesus through the Spirit. It is fruit we are meant to share.

Everything indeed is for you,
so that the grace bestowed in abundance on more and more people
may cause the thanksgiving to overflow for the glory of God.

24 July 2018 - all we're meant to be

Today's Readings (Audio)

Sin is such a big problem. It is the source of so much pain and unhappiness. When we sin we thumb our nose at our creator. We choose ourselves before God and others. Relationships are broken. People are hurt and become bitter.

Sin is such a problem that we might think of God as fixated on it. So much in the Church is meant to deal with sin we might think of God as someone who, as it were, always has sin on his mind. But this is not the right way to see it. God wants to heal, move on, and forget. He delights in mercy. The Church only mentions sin so that people can get free and receive mercy. 

Who is there like you, the God who removes guilt
and pardons sin for the remnant of his inheritance;
Who does not persist in anger forever,
but delights rather in clemency,
And will again have compassion on us,
treading underfoot our guilt?

It does hurt God to see us remain in sin. It hurts him because he'd rather only see from us all that he knows we can be. He wants to see us living in the fullness of the victory Jesus died to give us. He wants to see us full of and overflowing with the gifts of the Spirit. We only see condemnations for where we have failed before and a watchful eye for where we might fail next. God, however, is not interested to see us keep walking on these eggshells. He is trying to find just the right way to nudge us closer to him.

"Here are my mother and my brothers.
For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father
is my brother, and sister, and mother."

We see that avoiding sin and doing the will of God is about more than avoiding the watchful eye of someone who wants to condemn us. It is the condition of our fulfillment in life. When we do the will of the Father we become the people God knows we can be. It is even beyond being our best self. We are new creations by grace, living the very life of the family of God. 

Will you not instead give us life;
and shall not your people rejoice in you?
Show us, O LORD, your kindness,
and grant us your salvation. 

God genuinely longs for the reality of grace, the resurrection, and the new creation to be the primary reality from which we live. He is willing to have mercy and forget our past.

put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness (see Ephesians 4:22-24).

Let us live this as the deepest truth of who we are: the new self as part of the family of God. This is what faith attains. This is the victorious life!

23 July 2018 - simple faith

Today's Readings (Audio)

“Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.”

Jesus does want us to know who he is and to trust him. He does reveal himself to lost sheep. He does do signs that cause people to be amazed and to follow him. But all too often we, with the scribes and the Pharisees, ask for signs to prove things for which we already have proof. We ask for revelations of things that have already been revealed. Jesus doesn't give us signs as simple entertainment. Neither do we set the conditions by which he will prove who he is to the world, though he does in fact prove it. If we feel doubts and start demanding signs this can become dangerous. Jesus gives us what we need for faith. To insist on more draws us, little by little, away from him.

An evil and unfaithful generation seeks a sign,
but no sign will be given it
except the sign of Jonah the prophet.

Our walk of faith is meant to be simple. It is we ourselves who are complicated. We look for God to do elaborate special effects to prove himself to us. We in turn look to perform complex acts in order to appease him.

Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams,
with myriad streams of oil?

But none of this is meant to be as complicated as we make it.

You have been told, O man, what is good,
and what the LORD requires of you:
Only to do the right and to love goodness,
and to walk humbly with your God.

If we walk in humility with God we are shielded from doubt. God is able to satisfy the mind that is humble to the full. We no longer need to do great things to prove ourselves to God. We accept that his love is primary and that our part is to respond in humility.

Mary is our model in this as in everything. It isn't that she is naively trusting. She does ask, "How can this be?" But she asks in humility, genuinely desiring the explanation. She responds, not with any great actions, but with humble faith.

And Mary said: My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior, because He has looked with favor on the humble condition of His slave. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed, because the Mighty One has done great things for me, and His name is holy (See Luke 1:45-49).

Let's love goodness anywhere and everywhere we find it. Let us do the right even though the right is often simple and unexciting. And let us walk in humility in the presence of our God.

He that offers praise as a sacrifice glorifies me;
and to him that goes the right way I will show the salvation of God.

22 July 2018 - one flock

Today's Readings (Audio)

When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd,
his heart was moved with pity for them,
for they were like sheep without a shepherd;
and he began to teach them many things.

How moving it is to see the selfless heart of Christ! There are two things that this shows us. The one is how much is he loves us and feels sorry when we don't receive the care and guidance we need. He himself intervenes in such situations. When we don't have the shepherds we need we can look to Jesus to provide. The other is that we too need to have hearts for the abandoned, for the lost, for the sheep who do not know their shepherd.

How does Jesus resolve the problem from lost sheep? At first, "he began to teach them many things." Jesus himself is the truth from the Father. Being lost and not knowing the truth are the same. Feeling abandoned and not knowing the Father are the same. The word of Jesus heals our minds and our hearts. It heals the division between us and God and between us and the world. The truth leads, by necessity, to the cross. The cross is the truth of God's love for us. It is the truth of the union between God and man that God himself desires.

For he is our peace, he who made both one
and broke down the dividing wall of enmity, through his flesh,
abolishing the law with its commandments and legal claims,
that he might create in himself one new person in place of the two,
thus establishing peace,
and might reconcile both with God,
in one body, through the cross,
putting that enmity to death by it. 

The truth which Jesus proclaims, which is also an action, is the condition of unity. Without it we can't abide in God and he in us. Without it there will always be dividing walls between peoples. But through the cross itself Jesus preaches the peace of God. On the cross Jesus declares a new and eternal peace.

Jesus teaches us. He brings us peace by dying for us. Because of the cross he can be the shepherd that the whole world needs and for which the whole world longs.

Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD,
when I will raise up a righteous shoot to David;
as king he shall reign and govern wisely,
he shall do what is just and right in the land.
In his days Judah shall be saved,
Israel shall dwell in security.
This is the name they give him:
"The LORD our justice."

We must in turn follow the example of Jesus. We hear shepherd and probably think priest. But there are ways in which all of us our shepherds. Little children can enter into this truth. The aged can as well. No one is excluded. We are all called to have hearts for the truth, hearts that desire unity and peace, and hearts that are willing to endure hardship that these things may come about.

I will appoint shepherds for them who will shepherd them
so that they need no longer fear and tremble;
and none shall be missing, says the LORD.

All shepherds must rely on the Good Shepherd if they don't want to mislead and scatter the flocks in their care. But we need not fear. Even if we feel lost or abandoned our shepherd is not far from any of us. He is near at hand and offers us the sweetness of his guidance.

He guides me in right paths
for his name's sake.
Even though I walk in the dark valley
I fear no evil; for you are at my side
with your rod and your staff
that give me courage.

21 July 2018 - loosening our grip

Today's Readings (Audio)

For the wicked man glories in his greed,
and the covetous blasphemes, sets the LORD at nought.
The wicked man boasts, "He will not avenge it";
"There is no God," sums up his thoughts. 

We often approach life in terms of what we can get away with. We think about doing the minimum required to keep God happy and then taking a larger chunk of our lives and living for ourselves alone. Our mindset implicitly says that if we go to Church on Sunday, pray occasionally, and give some money to charity God won't notice how we decide to spend the majority of our time. But God does see the things we do that aren't specifically religious. He sees the things we do that aren't blatant mortal sins. He sees the motives hidden in our apparently innocent me time, both the good and the bad.

God's way in to our lives when we've got him off in his own walled garden is often to upset business as usual.

Therefore thus says the LORD:
Behold, I am planning against this race an evil
from which you shall not withdraw your necks;
Nor shall you walk with head high,
for it will be a time of evil.

He shakes the shakable so only what is rooted in him remains. He works with our hard hearts so that we can gradually relinquish more and more or the control we hold over our lives into his hands.

For thus says the LORD of hosts: Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of hosts. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the LORD of hosts. 9The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the LORD of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the LORD of hosts (see Haggai 2:6-8)

So let's loosen our grip on the parts of life that we secretly believe that God doesn't see. Whether or not what we our doing in those parts of our lives needs to change our relationship to it definitely does need to change so that God can be first in all things. 

Jesus withdraws from places where he is not welcomed. He cannot bless those parts of our lives over which he is not LORD. But he does draw near to those who seek him. Those who make room for his gentle presence experience his healing touch.

When Jesus realized this, he withdrew from that place.
Many people followed him, and he cured them all,
but he warned them not to make him known.

20 July 2018 - mercy, not sacrifice

Today's Readings (Audio)

If you knew what this meant, I desire mercy, not sacrifice,
you would not have condemned these innocent men.

The LORD is asking us to see things in their proper perspective. Sacrifice for its own sake isn't so important. Sacrifice exists and is required because it helps to free us to be merciful. We can't become so fixated with the finer points of religious adherence that we forget the people that the religion is given to save. We are probably thinking of examples right now of people who hurts others for the sake of legal or religious correctness. But what about when we do it? What about when we drive others further from God because we start off by criticizing specific actions of theirs rather than first introducing them to Jesus. When the Pharisees insist on the Sabbath law without care for Jesus and his disciples they demonstrate that they missed the point of the sabbath in the first place.

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 LORD warns us about these temptations in order to lead us to repentance. He does not desire to condemn us nor does he delight in the death of the sinner. Just as the sabbath is meant to provide an unbreachable space in which our relationship with God can thrive so is his action of convicting us our sins meant to lead back toward relationship.

I have heard your prayer and seen your tears.
I will heal you: in three days you shall go up to the LORD's temple;
I will add fifteen years to your life.
I will rescue you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria;
I will be a shield to this city.

Let us put first things first. Let us seek first the kingdom. Let us not try to lead others with condemnation. Only conviction that is actually invitation can provide the path the world needs. And that sort of conviction can only be grounded in an experience of the one who is greater than the sabbath.

The LORD will help us. He knows we get wrapped up in what we're working on and try to impose it as a universal law on others. He sees the ways in which we are guilty. He sees, in fact, many more ways than we do. But he reveals only some of them to us at a time in order that we might change. And change is possible, for us and for all, because God makes it possible.

Those live whom the LORD protects;
yours is the life of my spirit.
You have given me health and life.

19 Jule 2018 - yoked

Today's Readings (Audio)

Our effort and desire apart from the LORD leaves us feeling empty.

We conceived and writhed in pain,
giving birth to wind;
Salvation we have not achieved for the earth,
the inhabitants of the world cannot bring it forth.

The positive aspect of this frustration is that it teaches us to trust in the LORD.

Yes, for your way and your judgments, O LORD,
we look to you;
Your name and your title
are the desire of our souls.

We are so set on doing things on our own that it has become a habit. We are called to change this. We are called to do everything in Christ.

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him (see Colossians 3:17).

Practically speaking, what are some things from which we've already excluded God today? Reading the paper? Drinking our coffee? There is nothing too small or too trivial. If we occasionally forget, that's OK. We spent a long time building our habit of exclusion. It might take a while to build habits that remember him in all that we do. Yet this is his call to us.

"Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am meek and humble of heart;
and you will find rest for yourselves.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden light."

We are called to do everything in Christ. We are called not to the yoke of our own effort, effort that gives birth to the wind, but the yoke of Christ which is easy and light. So let's be more intentional about this. A prayer like the Morning Offering is a good place to start.

We are not all that we are meant to be, because we have not yet received all that God desires us to have. He wants to restore us so much that he makes his prophet say, "your dead shall live, their corpses shall rise". We, apart from Christ, to the degree that we are apart from him, are the corpses. Our works are dead works. But he will give us life again and make us see the dew of light.

"The LORD looked down from his holy height,
from heaven he beheld the earth,
To hear the groaning of the prisoners,
to release those doomed to die."

7/18/18 - revealed to the childlike

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.

Wise and learned people have the handicap of being accustomed to figuring things out for themselves. This is very different from receiving revelation from Jesus. It is can be frustrating for the wise and learned among us that there is no credit we can take for figuring out what Jesus is try to tell us. In fact, the more we complicate matters, the more his revelation eludes us. 

Yes, theology can be built on that which is revealed to children. Sometimes that theology as complicated. Ask most seminarians and they'll be happy to agree. But the core revelation, the kerygma, is a revelation received through faith. Think of Peter. Flesh and blood did not reveal to him the identity of Jesus. It was revelation by faith. Think of great saints throughout history, who, though illiterate, instructed popes. Even the science of theology must be approached by a little way, in humility, like a child, or else all progress will be illusory.

No one knows the Son except the Father,
and no one knows the Father except the Son
and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.

When we approach God as little children we avoid the dangers of pride. 

For he says:
“By my own power I have done it,
and by my wisdom, for I am shrewd.

Unlike Assyria, we have no illusions. Children trust in their Father. They see that it is his goodness at work in their lives. Like good children, let us be thankful for the power of the Father at work in us.

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).

This also means we have no excuses when it comes to understanding our faith. If we have struggled in the past let us approach God's word with a new humility. Let us receive his revelation with a new and greater trust.

The Lord will not abandon his people.

17 July 2018 - firm faith

Today's Readings (Audio)

Jesus began to reproach the towns
where most of his mighty deeds had been done,
since they had not repented.

When we see the power of Jesus we are obligated to respond. We can't go on eating, drinking, and being merry as if nothing is different. It is not business as usual anymore. Jesus calls for more than a mere course correction. He changes the destination entirely. He is not just another piece of information, or another episode of the same show we are watching. He is new. But the fact is even the faithful get used to Jesus. We become accustomed to the mighty deeds he does. It seems normal to us that people can live in the freedom of the Holy Spirit. We forget that it is only by his touch that we receive that freedom.

When word came to the house of David that Aram
was encamped in Ephraim,
the heart of the king and the heart of the people trembled,
as the trees of the forest tremble in the wind.

When we find ourselves shaken by the world we realize that we haven't really responded to Jesus as fully as we should. We haven't fully appreciated what we have in him. Jesus conquered the ruler of this world. He made a show of the principalities and powers. He himself lives inside us. What can man do against us? Yet we fear. From fear we are called to look again to Jesus. We are called to look and to not look away. We must look at him and not the waves. Then we shall stand firm.

Unless your faith is firm
you shall not be firm!

Faith is our response to who Jesus is. It is the secret to having peace no matter the circumstance. It is the secret to answered prayer.

But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways (see James 1:6-8).

When we trust in the LORD he is completely and utterly reliable.

God is with her castles;
renowned is he as a stronghold. 

16 July 2018 - overflow

Today's Readings (Audio)

Though you pray the more,
I will not listen.

There is the possibility that external observance can be self-deceptive. We can just fool ourselves, going through the motions while our lives are not transformed.

If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen (see First John 4:20).

If love of God is real it doesn't mean we skip the external observances. It means the love we share at such times, mass, confession, and the like, is meant to overflow to others. If it is real it cannot be contained. Real love is too lively, too dynamic, and too vital to keep to ourselves.

He that offers praise as a sacrifice glorifies me;
and to him that goes the right way I will show the salvation of God.

We can't separate any of this. Love of God, love of neighbor, keeping the commandments, and practicing our faith are all essential. If we think that we can do any of these without doing all of them we are wrong. The LORD calls us back.

Make justice your aim: redress the wronged,
hear the orphan’s plea, defend the widow.

A good place to start is love of neighbor. It is in some ways harder to fool ourselves with this. We know when we are doing the work. And though our motivation for doing it can always be improved, it is nevertheless a good place to begin to focus. Then again, we can't love our neighbor in the way we are supposed to love them without divine grace. So we look for opportunities to be patient, to be kind, to smile, and to help. But we do these things for God and through his strength. That is when love begins to have power in our lives.

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;
and whoever does not take up his cross
and follow after me is not worthy of me.

Putting Jesus first is necessary. It is necessary precisely because he won't accept any love that is simply a mask for selfishness. Because he himself champions the orphan, the widow, and family more than anyone else, putting him first also means doing the most we can do for others. Trying to place Jesus as a mere bullet point on a program of social reform is not enough. We must let him write the program.

Are we able to receive this message? Are we able to put Jesus in first place in our hearts? He is speaking this invitation to us. It is an invitation to come to him, to receive him, to receive in turn the love he brings, and finally to let that love overflow.

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

15 July 2018 - chosen before time

Today's Readings (Audio)

Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two

'Why me?' We think. We think that we don't have the training for this call. We don't feel ready for it. We're so used to doing what we choose that we don't really understand what it is like to be chosen for this task.

as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world,

Just as the twelve are given authority for their mission so too are we.

and gave them authority over unclean spirits. 

We are called to spread the kingdom in different ways according to our gifts. But feeling like we aren't gifted isn't an excuse. It's more of a cop-opt.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us in Christ
with every spiritual blessing in the heavens [emphasis added]

We have every spiritual blessing. We have authority. Even if we aren't confident, God chose us and we can trust him. In Jesus we experience the love of the Father, the favor of his will, and the glory of his grace. In Jesus we receive redemption. In little ways in big ones we are called to "sum up" or "recapitulate" this love in our daily lives. Now we see that we must do this not only where we choose to do it, not only where it is comfortable to do it, but where we are called to do it.

I was a shepherd and a dresser of sycamores. 
The LORD took me from following the flock, and said to me,
Go, prophesy to my people Israel.”

Going out two by two makes it harder to make excuses it keeps us motivated and accountable. We say, 'I don't feel up to it.' They remind us, 'You are chosen, gifted, and given authority for this. You are ready for it.' Let's encourage one another today to heed the call and spread the Kingdom. 

I will hear what God proclaims;
the LORD —for he proclaims peace.
Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him,
glory dwelling in our land.

14 July 2018 - from the rooftops

Today's Readings (Audio)

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying,
“Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?”

The LORD is looking for people who will go for him.

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

He is looking for people who will proclaim his message from the housetops. He knows that the main thing holding us back is fear. We fear physical consequences to our bodies more than spiritual consequences but this is backwards. We need to learn that suffering does not mean we are abandoned or that the LORD has forgotten us.

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

We fear that we aren't the ones who should be proclaiming the message. It should, we think, be someone qualified. After all we are men of unclean lips. But the LORD himself qualifies us (see Romans 8:30). He himself purifies our lips. The ember from the altar has given way to the Eucharistic bread. This bread touches our lips and heals us. As we heard yesterday, the Holy Spirit himself will give us the words we are to proclaim.

The thing that matters the most is we realize the urgency of the proclamation. This can only happen when we know the majesty of the one we proclaim. This is why the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom (see Proverbs 9:10). It is this holy fear which gives life to our faith. It is an experiential reverence and awe before God. It casts out fear. And yes, it does give us a sense of our unworthiness. But this is only so that we can rely completely on grace.

I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne,
with the train of his garment filling the temple.

Let us seek revelation of the glory of the LORD. Let us open our hearts so that he can reveal himself to us. May that revelation motivate us to shout from the rooftops how great is our God and LORD Jesus Christ.

13 July 2018 - at that moment

Today's Readings (Audio)

Return, O Israel, to the LORD, your God;
you have collapsed through your guilt.

Let us not tire of returning again and again to the LORD. Humanly, we grow tired of working on the same flaws with little apparent progress to show for it. But here success is not the main thing. The main thing is to rely on the LORD and to pursue him for the grace we need for holiness. If we fail, we remain humble. If we succeed, we give thanks to God. He does not long to see us struggle.

I will heal their defection, says the LORD,
I will love them freely;

The LORD does allow us to experience the humility of our own poverty. But it is precisely so that we learn to trust in him alone for strength. He teaches us to pray with the psalmist:

Give me back the joy of your salvation,
and a willing spirit sustain in me.

The LORD does not desire our frustration. He desires to be our dew so that we can grow like Lebanon cedars, splendid as olive trees. On our own we dwell in the scorching sun. We quickly wither. But when we turn to the LORD we dwell in his shade. He makes our fruit not just good, but famous wine.

The LORD wants us to have peace and joy. So why does he allow us to experience failure in the same areas again and again? Perhaps he is really working on our pride. We think if we just do certain things and pray in certain ways we'll finally succeed. And doubtless those things are helpful and important. But more important is the humility that trusts in the LORD above any initiative we can take. 

When we learn to trust in the LORD completely he is free to use us as he desires:

When they hand you over,
do not worry about how you are to speak
or what you are to say.
You will be given at that moment what you are to say.

We don't have to solve our problems. We don't have to find the words. We have to ask the Spirit for the joy of salvation. He gives us words, not forever, but for the moment we need them. This is true trust. It does not fall back on any strategy of our own. It falls back on God himself. His arms of mercy will surely catch us.

My mouth will declare your praise.

12 July 2018 - the source of blessings

Today's Readings (Audio)

Yet, though I stooped to feed my child,
they did not know that I was their healer.

Let us recognize our healer. Let us give thanks to the one from whom all blessings flow. Only when we know the source can we ourselves heed the call.

“As you go, make this proclamation:
‘The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.’
Cure the sick, raise the dead,
cleanse the lepers, drive out demons.

We are called to be agents through whom God heals the nations. Through us he wants to take all people in his arms and draw them with human cords, with bands of love. We have no ability to do this on our own. That is why grace is so important.

Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.

We need to recognize all that God has freely given to us. Then we will be open to him using us to give to others. When we recognize the deeply miraculous things that he did and still does in our own souls we won't be shocked to see the sick cured and the dead raised. We learn to rely on Jesus and not on our own preparations, be they belts, sacks for the journey, second tunics, sandals or walking sticks. It isn't about what we can do because we don't have to earn it. We didn't earn it for ourselves and we don't have to earn it for others.

Whatever town or village you enter, look for a worthy person in it,
and stay there until you leave.
As you enter a house, wish it peace.
If the house is worthy,
let your peace come upon it;
if not, let your peace return to you.

This offer is not made where we shirk our duty. People remain anxious and fearful. Let us seek the places that are able to receive the peace of Christ. This is a great gift that Jesus offers the world through us. Because it isn't about us we are able to let go when someone can't receive what we're offering.

Whoever will not receive you or listen to your words—
go outside that house or town and shake the dust from your feet.

We don't have to keep turning over arguments in our heads at that point. If we were faithful to what the LORD was asking we are free to move on.

Take care of this vine,
and protect what your right hand has planted,
the son of man whom you yourself made strong. 

11 July 2018 - forgetting getting

Saint Benedict and the miracle of the poison bread 

Today's Readings (Audio)

The more productive his land,
the more sacred pillars he set up.

How do we respond when we are blessed? Do we give thanks to God? Or do we fail to recognize the source of our blessings and pursue idols instead? If we are able to experience something nice because we had the money for it do we thank God for that or do we rather seek to increase our wealth so we can create more blessings on our own apart from him? It is easy to forget the one who blesses us and to spend our effort in the mechanisms of this world which, at best, are merely used by him.

Sow for yourselves justice,
reap the fruit of piety;
break up for yourselves a new field,
for it is time to seek the LORD,
till he come and rain down justice upon you.

We get so distracted trying to bless ourselves that we forget what the LORD is asking of us. We are called to "seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you" (see Matthew 6:33). We experience the most blessing when the blessings aren't the primary motives. The more we try to grasp blessings themselves the more they slip through our fingers.

We give thanks for the blessings we do receive. This helps us to be free to seek God and to follow his direction.

Jesus summoned his Twelve disciples
and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out
and to cure every disease and every illness.

Many of us would prefer to remain at home to answering this call. It isn't easy to see how a selfless journey like this can compare to the our normal life of comfort. But if we have been thanking God for all that Jesus has done for us thus far we are able to trust that this too is the best thing for us, or else he wouldn't be calling us to it.

Look to the LORD in his strength;
seek to serve him constantly.
Recall the wondrous deeds that he has wrought,
his portents, and the judgments he has uttered.

The world is full of lost sheep. The commission now extends into pagan territory (after all there isn't much else). We need the freedom to answer the call.

As you go, make this proclamation: 'The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.'

If we double down on earthly blessings we are building on sand. But if we do heed the call we build on rock and store up treasure in heaven.

In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you (see First Thessalonians 5:18).

10 July 2018 - freed speech

Today's Readings (Audio)

They made kings in Israel, but not by my authority;
they established princes, but without my approval.

When we try to run the secular sphere without reference to God it doesn't work. We become so convinced that our systems and philosophies of politics are correct that we don't even bother referring them to the more fundamental truths of our faith. This isn't a problem that affects only one political party. It is a human problem.

How long will they be unable to attain
innocence in Israel?

Like Israel, we must turn from false idols to the living God. When we don't test our political ideas against revelation we are setting up those ideas as idols. We serve these idols. As they themselves are less than human so too are we drawn down into lesser things.

They have hands but feel not;
they have feet but walk not.
Their makers shall be like them,
everyone that trusts in them.

Humans and family are no longer our greatest concern, but power and wealth instead. Lest we need to "return to Egypt" we must repent. This is not a license to critique anyone but ourselves. It is a reminder for each of us that we must not try to solve any of the worlds problems, great or small, without turning to the LORD for his wisdom and knowledge. We need to realize that in politics we aren't warring against the other party. We're warring together against the rulers of this present darkness that, assuredly, have strongholds in both parties.

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

Jesus has the power to set free those who serve idols. Those whom demons have made mute he can make to speak again. Imagine political speech that actually means something, that isn't simply to appease donors and voting blocks. Jesus has the power to do this.

To many of a Catholic mindset it may seem too late to save our nation. Indeed other mindsets for their own reasons are inclined to despair as well. But as Catholics we know the problem. By faith we see the solution.

A demoniac who could not speak was brought to Jesus,
and when the demon was driven out the mute man spoke.
The crowds were amazed and said,
“Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.”

If it were really just a matter of humans and politics we might be done for. But it is darkness versus light and Jesus has already overcome the world. Let us learn to recognize good where we see it, on both sides of the political aisle, lest we become like Pharisees who said, "He drives out demons by the prince of demons."

We are asked to pray for more laborers for the harvest. These laborers, whether priests or politicians, sent by the LORD, are just what the world needs.

9 July 2018 - heart speaks to heart

Today's Readings (Audio)

I will allure her;
I will lead her into the desert
and speak to her heart.

We need to come to the desert. There are too many distractions all around us. The LORD wants to love us and to convince us of his love but we are too distracted. We have too many idols that distract us. In the desert we realize that there is nothing else that can make us truly happy besides our relationship with the LORD.

I will espouse you to me forever:
I will espouse you in right and in justice,
in love and in mercy;
I will espouse you in fidelity,
and you shall know the LORD.

So let us enter into our own small deserts when we can find them. Let us turn aside from our normal pursuits, even just for a little while, and let the LORD speak to our hearts. The desert teaches us to turn to Jesus in our time of need.

My daughter has just died.
But come, lay your hand on her, and she will live.

In times of sickness and suffering our worldly idols fail us. Jesus is the only one who can make a difference.

She said to herself, “If only I can touch his cloak, I shall be cured.”
Jesus turned around and saw her, and said,
“Courage, daughter! Your faith has saved you.”
And from that hour the woman was cured.

The desert trains us for these harder times. Let us go there today, in whatever way we can find it, so that the LORD can speak to our hearts. He wants to teach us to depend on him alone. He wants us to see that he loves us enough that we can trust him.

The LORD is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and of great kindness.
The LORD is good to all
and compassionate toward all his works.