31 August 2018 - crazy wisdom

Today's Readings (Audio)

The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing,

Understanding and accepting the message of the Kingdom is a gift of grace. It is revealed to us through the oil of the Holy Spirit. This oil is the light that allows us to welcome the bridegroom when he comes. Without it we are unprepared and even when the bridegroom appears all is darkness to us. That is why we must not only have the oil but we must have a supply enough to wait for him to come.

Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps. 
The foolish ones said to the wise,
'Give us some of your oil,
for our lamps are going out.' 
But the wise ones replied,
'No, for there may not be enough for us and you.

The bridegroom is indeed coming. He is going to appear to each one of us in our lives today, perhaps not in a full second coming, but certainly in his many intermediate visits to our hearts, and especially at mass if we have that opportunity. He himself is the power of God and the wisdom of God. But without oil in our lamps it is entirely possible the miss his appearing. We call foolishness or a stumbling block what is actually God's activity in our lives. We desperately need the Holy Spirit to shed his light, not only once, but throughout our days.

For since in the wisdom of God
the world did not come to know God through wisdom,
it was the will of God through the foolishness of the proclamation
to save those who have faith.

No cleverness on our part, no religiosity, is enough to be figure out what God is doing in our midst. It is the Spirit who gives life, as Jesus tells us, the flesh is of no avail (see John 6:63).

To what is the bridegroom calling us today? The answers vary but the direction of the call is always the same: the wedding feast of the lamb.

While they went off to buy it,
the bridegroom came
and those who were ready went into the wedding feast with him. 

We are humans and we sometimes do fall asleep. Even the wise virgins do this. But they are still sufficiently prepared by the oil they have with them. This means that we don't ultimately need to depend on ourselves. The Spirit will sustain us even in spite of our weaknesses.

But the plan of the LORD stands forever;
the design of his heart, through all generations.
The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing

30 August 2018 - woke

Today's Readings (Audio)

Stay awake!
For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.

For those of us who await his coming this should not be a threat. It is rather a call to be attentive. It is a call to live if life such that if Jesus returns at any moment he will find welcome in our hearts.

But if that wicked servant says to himself, 'My master is long delayed,'
and begins to beat his fellow servants,
and eat and drink with drunkards,
the servant's master will come on an unexpected day
and at an unknown hour and will punish him severely
and assign him a place with the hypocrites,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.

In those periods where we aren't practicing the specifically Christian external observances of our faith do we still live in the awareness of the nearness of Christ? We can and we should. If we do not maintain this awareness we become lazy and even abusive. We impose of those around us, concerned mostly with our own needs and wants.

The call is to stay awake. Paul reminds us that the time is now.

And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed (see Romans 13:11).

We can't just listen to the word and call it waiting. We can't just passively take what our neighbors are willing to give. We must actively go out to welcome the word, like the wise maidens, with our lamps lit by the oil of the Holy Spirit (see Matthew 25:1-13).

As we "wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ" we must count on the one who will keep us "firm to the end, irreproachable on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ." We can truly count on him. He has promised and he is faithful. To this end he enriches us with discourse and knowledge and spiritual gifts and with the fellowship of the Church. To truly be waiting to welcome him, we must take full advantage of all the blessings he provides.

Generation after generation praises your works
and proclaims your might.
They speak of the splendor of your glorious majesty
and tell of your wondrous works.

29 August 2018 - voice of truth

Today's Readings (Audio)

When he heard him speak he was very much perplexed,
yet he liked to listen to him.

There is something about the voice of God that makes us want to listen even when it is saying things that are difficult to hear. We need to honor that instinct and pursue that voice. It is not a voice of condemnation because no one likes to feel that. It is a voice that, by what it says, shows the hope of something better. 

The risks to that voice are many. We might let our own self-protective ego silence it. We might also allow it to be deadened by our trying to please those around us more than we should. Simply hearing it again and again without going deeper puts us at great risk. We are being invited to grace by the words the voice speaks. We are being invited to deeper lives and renewed minds. We should respond.

In fact, when we were with you, we instructed you that
if anyone was unwilling to work, neither should that one eat.

It is important to not simply be passive. It is not enough to be around the word. In such a state we are actually presuming upon the good graces of the community. We must allow the word to transform us as well, including our thoughts, minds, and actions. If we do not we won't have anything of true value to offer others. We will be willing to give away half of our kingdom to them. But it won't amount to anything if we are not transformed. The thing of value which we did have we kill. The things of seeming value turn out to not be valuable on the scale of eternity.

May the Lord of peace himself
give you peace at all times and in every way.
The Lord be with all of you.

Let us allow the word of Christ to transform our hearts. Let us listen again to the Baptist's cry to behold the lamb of God who takes away our sins. Let us repent and be renewed.

Behold, thus is the man blessed
who fears the LORD.

28 August 2018 - deep work

St Augustine of Hippo

Today's Readings (Audio)

Blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup,
so that the outside also may be clean.

We tend to focus on the superficial and the exterior more than the deep and interior. After all, what is visible is easier to control. Even just from our perspective it is easier to know we are 'doing things right' when it is just a matter of external observance.

The LORD wants us to go deep. He wants us to notice if we are neglecting the weighty things of the law, judgment and mercy and fidelity, but contenting ourselves with a focus purely external and not overly demanding practices. He wants to see if the face we put on for others really represents the truth of who we are or if it covering for a life that is fundamentally selfish.

The weighty things of the law are intimidating. We might prefer to just wait for the end of the world for God to set them right. It seems like are able to even impact the things that truly matter is limited. But God says to us that the time is now. He gives us the tradition of the Church to guide us and show us how to be sure that we are living lives of integrity. He gives us grace to actually live and endure in this renewed way of life.

May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father,
who has loved us and given us everlasting encouragement
and good hope through his grace,
encourage your hearts and strengthen them
in every good deed and word.

The transformation God works in us does impact the surface and external aspects of our lives. But it goes deep into our hearts as well. To keep that transformation on the surface is to keep God on the outside. Putting it off until later is saying no to God in the moment. But refusal of God stems from a fear which is unfounded. Let us instead learn to trust in him to renew us from the inside out with his everlasting encouragement and good hope through his grace. Then we'll be strong enough for every good word and deed. Let's do it now and not later, while the time for mercy remains

Before the LORD, for he comes;
for he comes to rule the earth.
He shall rule the world with justice
and the peoples with his constancy.

27 August 2018 - the throne of God

Today's Readings (Audio)

The throne of God is a dangerous thing.

one who swears by heaven swears by the throne of God
and by him who is seated on it."

We may know better than to treat God casually. But this is just what the scribes and Pharisees offer. They guide people with bad practice about oaths where they can supposedly swear on less important things so as to not be wholly obligated. In this way, they think, they can receive the benefits of credibility from swearing without the fearfulness of making a promise before God.

If oaths aren't a common concern for us today in what other ways are trying to engage God only indirectly in order to avoid his full fearful and awesome presence? When are we afraid to fully involve his name and his title in our lives, yet still seek the benefits of his blessings just the same?

The LORD doesn't want to be only partially involved in our lives. He doesn't want to be only hinted at or implied. He wants us to engage him directly. We're reluctant because we see the commitment this entails. It is not that it takes a certain amount of time, necessarily. But it does take a certain amount of focus. It takes a certain amount of disconnect from everything else around us. It can be legitimately frightening to give the LORD this much room within us.

Only when we engage our awesome God directly, responding to the invitation he gives, do we discover a faith that endures in persecutions and afflictions. When we do more than hint at God we can truly rely on him. When he is more than implied in our thought we can trust him. In faith we are entirely careful about the things with which we associate his name.

When we abandon the need to sustain our own poorly devised oaths we become free to stand on the promises God gives us.

We always pray for you,
that our God may make you worthy of his calling
and powerfully bring to fulfillment every good purpose
and every effort of faith,
that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you,
and you in him,
in accord with the grace of our God and Lord Jesus Christ.

26 August 2018 - Spirit and life

Today's Readings (Audio)

Simon Peter answered him, "Master, to whom shall we go? 
You have the words of eternal life. 
We have come to believe
and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God."

We are called to trust in the LORD and in his words and not to lean on our own understanding (see Proverbs 3:5-6). If we rely too much on our own understanding than the words the LORD speaks become incomprehensible. We need to be cautious every time we feel like saying, "This saying is hard; who can accept it?" At such times we need discernment. Not all hard sayings are true. Not all true sayings are hard. But some saying are both difficult to understand and emphatically true. And they are often among the most important. Rather than trying to figure it what's what on our own we should rely on the Spirit.

It is the spirit that gives life,
while the flesh is of no avail.
The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and life.

We who have accepted, to some extent, the truth of Jesus, may think we are free to ignore this point. But to what extent have we accepted him? To what degree has he transformed our lives by this belief? Even if it is a great deal there is always more. And it is more that can only be received by hearts open to the Spirit.

"The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned" (see First Corinthians 2:14).

When we rely on the Spirit for discernment we find a new freedom that we cannot know when we rely on our own understanding.

The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one (see First Corinthians 2:15).

The LORD wants to ask again, "decide today whom you will serve". He wants to know if we will ultimately choose the path of the natural man who cannot accept the wisdom of God. He says, "Do you also want to leave?" Or will we instead choose the path of the Spirit, understanding the truths of God by the power of the Spirit he gives us, even when the flesh is of no avail?

Jesus wants to cleanse the Church by water and word so that together we can be without spot or wrinkle, holy and blameless, completely united to him. This is why he has come. It is a spiritual truth. May his Spirit impart it to our hearts today.

For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother
and be joined to his wife,
and the two shall become one flesh.
This is a great mystery,
but I speak in reference to Christ and the church.

25 August 2018 - practicing chair-ity

Today's Readings (Audio)

We are called to obedience to the truth even if those speaking it preach but do not practice. Hypocrisy does not exempt us from following those with the authority of the chair of Peter any more than it did the disciples toward those on the chair of Moses.

Obedience even in the face of hypocrisy is part of a bigger picture. That picture is consistent humility. We are called to be able to be servants to others not simply because they are greater than ourselves but even when they are not. Obeying people who are actually spiritually superior is perhaps less of a challenge. But there is much to learn in the humility that allows us to obey those who aren't obviously holier than ourselves. This does not mean ever obeying a command to sin.  It does mean that the burden of obedience is often much more difficult.

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

Such difficult commands can be deeply unsettling for those tasked with them. But when we ourselves learn true humility even commands like that become effortless. Our feelings aren't hurt when we are called to act as servants. Even as we obey the command the one we are actually trying to please is actually our one Father in heaven. We no longer need to preserve the mystique of our imagined titles as Rabbi, teacher, or Master, because there is only one who can truly live up to any of those titles.

Fortunately, the LORD wants to be so present to us that we can rely on him directly and satisfy ourselves in his presence. As we put into practice humility and obedience in ways that are at times bitter and that often yield no direct rewards yet can we content ourselves in the presence of the LORD, the one whom we truly serve.

And I saw that the temple was filled with the glory of the LORD.
Then I heard someone speaking to me from the temple,
while the man stood beside me.

The glory of the Lord dwells in our land. He dwells in each and every tabernacle of every Catholic Church throughout the world. He is waiting to welcome us. He himself desires to be our reward and our exultation.

The LORD himself will give his benefits;
our land shall yield its increase.
Justice shall walk before him, 
and salvation, along the way of his steps.

24 August 2018 - though the mountains may fall

Saint Bartholomew

Today's Readings (Audio)

But Nathanael said to him,
"Can anything good come from Nazareth?"

We may be like Nathanael, ready to dismiss Jesus simply because of the baggage surrounding him and where he comes from. With the Church in her present condition, people are justified in wondering if anything good can come from the Church. Can she really have anything to offer the world? Still, in spite of everything, there seems to be something more to Jesus.

Nathanael said to him, "How do you know me?" 
Jesus answered and said to him,
"Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree."

He knows us. Christianity is no longer a merely impersonal movement, ideology, or philosophy. Jesus knows us. Even our best friends and lovers sometimes fail to understand us perfectly. But by Jesus we are perfectly known. It is scary to be so completely known, so exposed. Won't he reject us if he knows the truth? But no, somehow we see only love in his eyes. We respond to this acceptance with belief.

Nathanael answered him,
"Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel."

Nazareth may have its problems. But we ought not circumstances prevent us from finding the one on whom angels ascend and descend. We are called to discover the one who bridges heaven and earth. And the place heaven and earth is bridged is the Church, the bride.

The angel spoke to me, saying,
"Come here.
I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb."
He took me in spirit to a great, high mountain
and showed me the holy city Jerusalem
coming down out of heaven from God.

Not all of the successors of the Apostles of the Lamb will find their names inscribed anywhere in the heavenly Jerusalem. But to it, in spite of themselves, they still bear witness even as it condemns them. We should follow Nathanael's lead. In Jesus we discover the love for which we long. Though his bride is wounded and broken he still longs to lead us to see the beauty of the heaven through her. Though men may fail, though Nazareth may indeed lack much to recommend it, even so the Kingdom will never fail.

Your Kingdom is a Kingdom for all ages,
and your dominion endures through all generations.

23 August 2018 - hearts for feasting

Today's Readings (Audio)

God has prepared a feast for us. He constantly invites us to join the wedding feast of the lamb. He stands at the door and knocks, ready to dine with us (see Revelation 3:20).

Often when God calls us we have an excuse ready at hand.

Some ignored the invitation and went away,
one to his farm, another to his business.

Or perhaps we get angry. His invitation is a threat to our normal routine. We simply don't have time for it and refuse to even listen.

The rest laid hold of his servants,
mistreated them, and killed them.

It seems that the more pride we have the less likely we are to realize what a wonderful and gracious offer it is to come to the feast.

Then the king said to his servants, 'The feast is ready,
but those who were invited were not worthy to come.
Go out, therefore, into the main roads
and invite to the feast whomever you find.'

We need the perspective of those for whom the invitation comes as an unguessed surprise. We are not invited because of our goodness. Nor does badness necessarily exclude us. It is nothing about us and everything about our host that causes him to invite us. The wedding feast of the lamb is a cosmic event where we gather around the table of the LORD. We are not worthy to receive. Even the gifts we bring are things which we ourselves are first given.

Let us prefer nothing to this invitation of Christ. Let us stay wrapped in the wedding garment of faith and good works. These, after all, are things which none of us need to be without.

I will sprinkle clean water upon you
to cleanse you from all your impurities,
and from all your idols I will cleanse you.
I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you,
taking from your bodies your stony hearts
and giving you natural hearts.

God himself cleanses us so that we can come to the feast in proper attire. He himself baptizes us with clean water and fills us with a new Spirit at confirmation. Every time our hearts begin to become stony he miraculously changes them to natural hearts in the sacrament of confession.

If we embrace the changes which the LORD wants to work in us we are well disposed to accept and to respond to his invitation. We then realize why the King is so eager to invite us. His joy is to see our joy in his feast.

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

22 August 2018 - the joy of the work

Today's Readings (Audio)

'Why do you stand here idle all day?'
They answered, 'Because no one has hired us.'
He said to them, 'You too go into my vineyard.'

Jesus invites us into his vineyard. It is meant to be a privilege.

My friend, I am not cheating you.
Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage?

Our work in the vineyard is not ultimately about the pay. It is about the intrinsic value of building the Kingdom. The LORD pays us what we need, not what we deserve. Our work for God earns us nothing. But he is generous and still gives us enough to meet our needs. This means we can't compare our blessings with those of others.

'These last ones worked only one hour,
and you have made them equal to us,
who bore the day's burden and the heat.'

If we compare we will always find cases that make it seem like we aren't getting enough. The important thing is to trust in God regarding what we ourselves receive from him while still helping others to get what they need. It's tricky. When we start actually trying to bless others and we see them blessed we may feel a lack ourselves. But this is because our focus has become internal and we are comparing ourselves with others. Rather, we must learn the generosity of the one who sends us into the vineyard. We can take joy in giving purpose to the idle and true riches to those who still only know worldly wealth.

We are called to learn the compassion for sheep like that of the good shepherd. We can see how he might not choose to allow us to help, just to ensure it is done rightly. In fact, it is done wrongly so often, so obviously, and so grievously, that we might wonder if he is making the right choice.

You did not strengthen the weak nor heal the sick
nor bind up the injured.
You did not bring back the strayed nor seek the lost,
but you lorded it over them harshly and brutally.
So they were scattered for the lack of a shepherd,
and became food for all the wild beasts.

In the Kingdom God wants everyone to experience the green pastures and tranquil waters of his care. He wants everyone gathered around his table. He wants his sheep to have this same heart for one another that he has for us.

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
In verdant pastures he gives me repose;
Beside restful waters he leads me;
he refreshes my soul.

Let us pray that we receive a heart for the sheep so that the LORD can, to mix metaphors, permit us to remain in his vineyard. If he takes matters into his own hands it will only be because we have not allowed him to love through us enough. But it is still reassuring to know he won't let anything come between him and his sheep.

For thus says the Lord GOD: 
I myself will look after and tend my sheep.

21 August 2018 - true riches

Today's Readings (Audio)

Amen, I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich
to enter the Kingdom of heaven.

What is it about being rich that makes it hard to follow Jesus? We risk becoming so apparently self-sufficient that we forget about the God from whom all blessings flow.

Because you are haughty of heart,
you say, "A god am I!
I occupy a godly throne
in the heart of the sea!"—
And yet you are a man, and not a god,
however you may think yourself like a god.

When blessings come and go we are more likely to be thankful. Riches become a baseline. They become something we take for granted. Once this happens we stop being thankful we become prideful. If we have riches it must be because of our own greatness and wisdom. And if we are this good at looking after ourselves for what do we need God? We're good, or so we imagine.

We need to put Jesus first.

Then Peter said to him in reply,
"We have given up everything and followed you.

We don't necessarily need to get rid of every possession. But we do need to make a clean break with anything that is keeping us from following him. The places he leads us are all different. He directs us to use our gifts for his glory. But sometimes we prefer entertainment or lesser and less intimidating forms of service. These are riches we cannot afford. When we choose them we are investing in temporary things which cannot last. We should leave them and follow Jesus. The right place is always the place to which he calls us.

What will there be for us?

Riches draw us for a reason. Jesus himself is the only one who can fulfill the deepest impulse underlying those desires. The secret is to seek true riches by storing up treasure in heaven.

And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters
or father or mother or children or lands
for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more,
and will inherit eternal life.

Jesus became poor so that through his poverty we might become rich (see Second Corinthians 8:9). The deepest truth of true riches is the divinity in which he longs for us to share. Let us cast aside all that does not draw us toward this goal.

Surely, the LORD shall do justice for his people;
on his servants he shall have pity.

20 August 2018 - what we still lack

"“What we love we shall grow to resemble.” 
― Bernard of Clairvaux

Today's Readings (Audio)

"All of these I have observed. What do I still lack?"
Jesus said to him, "If you wish to be perfect, go,
sell what you have and give to the poor,
and you will have treasure in heaven.
Then come, follow me."

Most of us have some baseline discipleship. We typically follow the commandments and avoid grave sin. This is probably sufficient to gain eternal life if we persevere. But perhaps we have a sense that something is still missing. We intuit that more is possible.

What do I still lack?

We realize dimly that there are things in our lives that keep us from following Jesus as closely as he wants us to follow him. We suspect that true fulfillment can only be found when we follow him with abandon.

Then come, follow me.

We need to figure out what are the "possessions", physical or otherwise, that keep us from following Christ. It is better to consciously recognize these things and surrender them to God. If we do not, circumstances eventually conspire to force our choice. Will we prefer anything whatever to Christ? (see Rule of Saint Benedict Chapter 22) When it comes to this question we have the option to either make an idol of our distractions or to cast them down. We often choose to get lost in the good things God has made without remembering the God who blesses us with them.

You were unmindful of the Rock that begot you.
You forgot the God who gave you birth.

Lest our sins cause us to rot away let us cast off anything that hinders us from following Christ. When we see backsliding or a lack of progress these attachments are often part of the problem. When we do try to make changes we may feel resistance in our response to Jesus. At such times let us ask him for grace. We'll never be free unless he himself gives us the freedom. We'll never be able to surrender control unless we surrender it in trust to him. Jesus sustains all things. In him we have all riches. There is nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Then come, follow me.

19 August 2018 - true food

Today's Readings (Audio)

For my flesh is true food,
and my blood is true drink. 
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood
remains in me and I in him. 

The honest question is, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" We're used to it and accept it, but we often don't realize the magnitude of what Jesus gives us. This is not a gift that anyone but Jesus can give. But why this gift? He is our sacrifice. We share in the sacrificial meal to return to unity with God. And so Jesus is our peace. But even then we might ask why sacrifice works this way.

Food is integral to the created order we experience. From food we receive strength and life. Without it we don't last long. Societies and cultures are built around the production and distribution of food before all else. It is the basis necessary for them to last. A famine can quickly wipe out a people unprepared for it. Families too organize around food.

Jesus himself wants to fulfill our hunger and thirst. He is showing us by this gift that spiritual hunger and thirst matter even more than our physical hunger. We can't do without the spiritual strength he gives. Normal food is both essential and yet ordinary. The bread which Jesus gives is even more essential and meant to form the basis around which we build our lives.

Wisdom has built her house,
she has set up her seven columns;
she has dressed her meat, mixed her wine,
yes, she has spread her table.

Jesus wants us to learn to make him our true desire even more than any physical desires we have. It is not that we shun all fulfillment of desire in the Christian life. It is rather that we choose higher things that can truly satisfy.

And do not get drunk on wine, in which lies debauchery,
but be filled with the Spirit,
addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
singing and playing to the Lord in your hearts,
giving thanks always and for everything
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father.

So let us taste the sober intoxication of the Spirit. People around us should be genuinely surprised by how deeply the LORD wants to penetrate our hearts and satisfy us. They may say without comprehending, "They are filled with new wine." But no, "For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day" (see Acts 2:14-15). We are drunk not with wine, but with the Spirit.

He who eats it with faith, eats Fire and Spirit 
- Saint John Paul the Great.

Jesus humbles himself to be bread and wine because he wants to be everything to us. He wants us to see that we are meant to find our fulfillment in him. We are made for him.

Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

18 August 2018 - simple trust

Today's Readings (Audio)

"Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them;
for the Kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

Children show us the way to the Kingdom. We are called to trust in our Father like children. We are called to become more simple in every way. Our reasoning tends to become complicated to the point of convolution. Adults have much more of a problem with overthinking things than do children. We're get lost in the endless chains of cause and effect.

"Fathers have eaten green grapes,
thus their children's teeth are on edge"?

Like children we must be simple. Our deepest problems cannot be solved through reasoning, no matter how deeply we look. We won't discover something wrong with our parents that finally enables us to change. We won't discover something wrong with our genetic lineage that unlocks the final secret. Such investigations may have their place. But the ought not have a bearing on our relationship with God. They are not necessary to experience his joy.

if he lives by my statutes and is careful to observe my ordinances,
that man is virtuous—he shall surely live, says the Lord GOD.

Our joy and our peace are meant to come directly from the LORD. They are not meant to be mediated by circumstance or history. And so there is nothing but ourselves that can stand between us and the blessings of the LORD. We try to reason our way to joy and peace and it just doesn't work. We only end up further and further away. It isn't a problem with reasoning per se. It is a problem because we aren't acting as children who are willing to entrust our lives to the Father.

Let us recognize when our reasoning is getting carried away and becoming unhelpful. Let us turn to the LORD to find our joy in him.

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 August 2018 - selfieless

Today's Readings (Audio)

But you were captivated by your own beauty,
you used your renown to make yourself a harlot,
and you lavished your harlotry on every passer-by,
whose own you became.

Here is a verse for the generation of Instagram and the selfie. Yet it turns out that the risk of becoming overly self-involved is perennial. It is a risk particularly if we forget that great mercy and favor we have already received.

You were renowned among the nations for your beauty, perfect as it was,
because of my splendor which I had bestowed on you,
says the Lord GOD. 

When our thanksgiving lapses the void is quickly filled by pride. We become ineffective disciples in this condition, too concerned about what others think. We find value in the opinions of others and not in the love God has for us. We end up stagnant, unable to love others or even open ourselves to receive love from them. What does God do to wake us from such slumber? He loves us in spite of ourselves. He loves us when we are the least deserving. He embraces us when we have done nothing whatever to earn it.

Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you when you were a girl,
and I will set up an everlasting covenant with you,
that you may remember and be covered with confusion,
and that you may be utterly silenced for shame
when I pardon you for all you have done, says the Lord GOD.

God leads us out from the self-hypnosis that results from being captivated by our own beauty. He leads us back to our original purpose, to relationship, and to love.

He said in reply, "Have you not read that from the beginning
the Creator made them male and female and said,
For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother
and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh?

Unless we rely on God we will definitely fall back into the hardness of heart wherein the relationships to which we are called are impossible. But with God our gaze remains directed outward from self. We find that we have nothing to fear and more confidence than we could ever draw from our own resources.

God indeed is my savior;
I am confident and unafraid.
My strength and my courage is the LORD,
and he has been my savior.
With joy you will draw water
at the fountain of salvation.

16 August 2018 - not just justice

Today's Readings (Audio)

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

The LORD calls us to forgive one another. This forgiveness is the basis for our life together. It is meant to be a distinguishing characteristic of the Christian people. We are able to forgive others precisely because we are first forgiven a much larger debt. We in turn are called to have pity. Having been shown mercy we must be ready to offer it. 

Our starting place must always be the forgiveness we receive from Jesus. As we crucified him he prayed that our sin would not be held against us. Yet are we not ready to hold much smaller sins against our brothers and sisters?

'Pay back what you owe.'

Are we not all too ready to insist on our rights and what we perceive to be justice? It isn't justice for which we really look, although we tell ourselves it is. It is self-satisfaction. It is pride. It is one thing to refuse to be a doormat. This is typically healthy and appropriate. It is one thing to uphold the civil order. What we see in this wicked servant is something else. We can tell that it different because of his unwillingness to listen to the pleas for mercy that his fellow servant makes.

Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him,
'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.'
But he refused.

This behavior of the wicked servant masquerades as justice. But we can see that it is merely the guise of a hard heart seeking its own advantage. Jesus is the justice of God but he is always willing to listen to pleas for mercy. Any true justice will follow this pattern.

Even if our justice is perfect the LORD is not impressed. It must be tempered with mercy to move his heart. Let us not close our hearts to him lest we find ourselves forced further from his presence. Exile is an option that the LORD's mercy will allow in order that we might remember and relearn his priorities.

And he surrendered his strength into captivity,
his glory in the hands of the foe.
He abandoned his people to the sword
and was enraged against his inheritance.

Yet even in exile there is hope. The LORD never forgets his mercy. 

15 August 2018 - firstfruits

Today's Readings (Audio)

Christ the firstfruits;
then, at his coming, those who belong to Christ;
then comes the end,
when he hands over the Kingdom to his God and Father,
when he has destroyed every sovereignty
and every authority and power.

It is fitting that Christ rose first. He is the resurrection and the life. He himself is the way, the truth, and the life. He shows us the way which we ourselves will tread. Since he is the new Adam it is similarly fitting that the new Eve, Mary the mother of God, should precede us into the life of the blessed in heaven. We ourselves cannot immediately follow. We are still tainted by impurity and sin. But Mary is always held out to be an example of the best possible response of a creature to God.

Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb.

She does not exult herself. Rather she is herself humble and ever singing God's praise.

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.

Mary shows us the way in her own life. As creatures ourselves we look to Mary our mother, also a creature, to see all that we can hope to be and how. She reveals the great hope in store for all of us. 

God's temple in heaven was opened,
and the ark of his covenant could be seen in the temple.

Because Mary is the ark of the New Convenant it is not fitting that anything impure touch her, just as with the old ark (see Second Samuel 6:1-7). If Uzzah is struck down for accidentally touching the old ark how can we imagine that God would allow corruption to touch Mary?

A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun,
with the moon under her feet,
and on her head a crown of twelve stars.

Jesus chooses his mother in advance to be a blessing for all humanity. Mary is in heaven now, body and soul. She intercedes for us that where she is we also might be just as where her Son first goes she new is as well.

The queen stands at your right hand, arrayed in gold.

14 August 2018 - at table

Today's Readings (Audio)

Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children,
you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven.

We are called to become like little children. This is not an endorsement of our present condition of immaturity if that be the case. It is rather a call to a fresh appreciate of our relationship to God. God is our Father and we can depend on him. He is strong and we can rely on him. 

As a Father he feeds his family.

Son of man, he then said to me,
feed your belly and fill your stomach
with this scroll I am giving you.

He gives us his word to eat. We need to receive what is set before us. In this sense we must be good children who don't only want dessert. We need to be willing to receive meat as well as milk. We need to be mature in this sense. But we need to be childlike in relying in God and trusting him. 

We see that God feeds his family by his word and by his own body and blood. It is precisely in gathering around his table that we are most truly his family. This means we can't simply accumulate the doctrine we like and ignore the teachings that don't agree with our political ideology. Nor can we choose immorality along with the Eucharist. We need to eat what God sets before us and ignore completely the table with which the world tries to tempt us. "You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons" (see First Corinthians 10:21).

We sometimes get lost. Life throws us and we can't easily find our way back to the family table. At such times we can count on our Father to seek us out. At such times we are fearful that we won't find our way back to the blessings we once knew. But though we are trying to find our way home the Father is even more so looking for us and trying to bring us back.

If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray,
will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills
and go in search of the stray?

Even when things seem confusing and we don't know the next step to take we need not despair. It is not hopeless. God will find us. And in finding us he will rejoice.

As God's children we want to become like our Father. We too want to have hearts that want to seek and to save the lost. 

In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father
that one of these little ones be lost.

God's table sometimes includes medicine which tastes bitter to us. But this bitterness is temporary. It is an aid to growth. It leads more and more to the bread which contains all sweetness within it. May the LORD help us to desire, to appreciate, and to depend on being gathered at his table.

How sweet to my palate are your promises,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!

13 August 2018 - cease your insist

Today's Readings (Audio)

Then the subjects are exempt.
But that we may not offend them, go to the sea, drop in a hook,
and take the first fish that comes up. 

Jesus sets an example of not insisting on his own rights. The Son of God he is not a foreigner to the King of Kings. As his Son he is exempt from the temple tax. But rather than insist on his rights Jesus pays the tax to avoid giving offense. Why was he eager to avoid giving offense? He certainly insisted on other teachings of his in a way that did offend. Here, apparently, it wouldn't help. No one would learn. It would only cause problems. Yet we often choose to give offense rather than forego our rights. We do it not because we need the money that the temple tax costs but because our pride requires that we insist on our own way. Perhaps, at least occasionally, we can intentionally follow Jesus in this regard in our that we might learn humility.

Jesus seldom insisted on his own way. He didn't break a bruised reed or quench a smoldering wick (see Matthew 12:20). He is equal to God but never grasped at equality with God. He is innocent but allows himself to be put to death for us.

The Son of Man is to be handed over to men,
and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day."
And they were overwhelmed with grief.

We are free to decide how to respond to Jesus now. But one day every knee will bow before him. This desire to not give offense is actually a willingness to patiently wait in mercy. He himself gives the example now of how we can lay down our own pride and surrender or own will to him. For Jesus it is a free gift to us. He longs for us to return it in freedom. Let us do it now in freedom while his patience and mercy allow. When he reveals his glory on the last day every knee will bow. To the willing, to those who follow in the footsteps of Jesus, it will be a great delight and joy.

Upon it was seated, up above, one who had the appearance of a man.
Upward from what resembled his waist I saw what gleamed like electrum;
downward from what resembled his waist I saw what looked like fire;
he was surrounded with splendor.
Like the bow which appears in the clouds on a rainy day
was the splendor that surrounded him.
Such was the vision of the likeness of the glory of the LORD.

May the vision of the glory of God wash over us today. Let us not insist on any pride or self will in the face of that glory. Let us surrender completely and cry out, 'Maranatha!'

Praise the name of the LORD,
for his name alone is exalted; 
His majesty is above earth and heaven.

12 August 2018 - heavenly bread

Today's Readings (Audio)

"This is enough, O LORD! 
Take my life, for I am no better than my fathers." 

To one degree or another we probably all experience this exhaustion at times. We feel like we've been trying and putting in effort for so long with nothing to show for it. We may have had successes in the past as Elijah did but none of that seems to matter in light of the darkness of our present circumstances. We let bitterness and anger creep into our behavior in small ways. Whereas before we could have responded to criticism with patience now we are tempted to let our smart remark fly. We have a greater need to shout and insist on our own way. This is not surprising. But we are called to more.

Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God,
with which you were sealed for the day of redemption. 

We can't give in to spiritual exhaustion. Moreover, there is a better choice. We become exhausted, ultimately, by relying on ourselves and not receiving strength from God each week, each day, and each moment. We rely on the food which leaves us hungry rather than the food God gives that makes us strong.

"Get up and eat, else the journey will be too long for you!" 
He got up, ate, and drank;
then strengthened by that food,
he walked forty days and forty nights to the mountain of God, Horeb.

We need to taste and see God's goodness. When we do we find strength for the journey. When we eat the bread Jesus gives we receive an eternal life that cannot be conquered by worldly circumstance.

I am the living bread that came down from heaven;
whoever eats this bread will live forever;
and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.

So let us allow God to teach us. Let us allow the Father to draw us. The angels stand ready to feed us with food that will make us strong. We will be so strong that even when we are called to make of our lives a sacrificial offering to God for a fragrant aroma we will be undaunted.

The angel of the LORD encamps
around those who fear him and delivers them.
Taste and see how good the LORD is;
blessed the man who takes refuge in him.

11 August 2018 - clarity of faith

Altarpiece of St Clare

Today's Readings (Audio)

Then the disciples approached Jesus in private and said,
"Why could we not drive it out?"
He said to them, "Because of your little faith.

Why are we powerless before the mountains of life? There is sickness. There is corruption. There is hardheartedness. These things exist in ourselves and others. We see the way our nation is going and lament it. But we lament it as though we are powerless. And, in our present condition, we are powerless. But we are not meant to be.

Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed,
you will say to this mountain,
'Move from here to there,' and it will move.
Nothing will be impossible for you."

The situation into which Jesus and his apostles after him brought there message had nothing to recommend it as an ideal time for world changing. The corruption of the world and of individuals was on full display. The world tried to speak the final word when it put Jesus to death. But that didn't work. He rose again. The world tried again, by putting most of the apostles to death. But that didn't work either. Their blood is the seed of the Church. We see in their example faith lived out. It is this sort of faith that moves mountains. It is faith that doesn't count the cost for oneself. It puts others first. It longs to see the whole world healed, physically and spiritually.

Faith is not an abstract positive thinking principle. Our faith has an object: God. It can only be used to further his Kingdom. This emphatically does not mean that he only wants to heal us spiritually and has no care for the physical. The main reason we lack physical healings in the world is not because God doesn't desire them but because we don't believe for them. And when we think we are believing for them it is often entirely disconnected from the Kingdom. If we received a healing like that everything would revert to business as usual with our hearts no closer to God. In fact, we'd be further from him than ever.

So let us learn true faith. If we perceive that God is looking on the faithless in silence we need to wait in faith like Habakkuk. Like him, we need to put our request in the perspective of the Kingdom which we know God wants to establish among us.

I will stand at my guard post,
and station myself upon the rampart,
And keep watch to see what he will say to me,
and what answer he will give to my complaint.

If we wait and faith we will receive an answer.

If it delays, wait for it,
it will surely come, it will not be late.
The rash man has no integrity;
but the just man, because of his faith, shall live.

We can trust in the one who does not forsake those who seek him. He is a stronghold for us. We need to ask and keep asking, as Scripture says, to knock and keep knocking. We tend to have faith for a moment until we encounter some brief resistance in terms of what seems to actually be happening around us. We need to set our minds and keep them set on the Kingdom.

Sing praise to the LORD enthroned in Zion;
proclaim among the nations his deeds;
For the avenger of blood has remembered;
he has not forgotten the cry of the poor.

10 August 2018 - deeds well done

Today's Readings (Audio)

Whoever loves his life loses it,
and whoever hates his life in this world
will preserve it for eternal life.

We need to learn to follow Jesus all the way to the cross. We must hate our lives in this world the way he did. By that we understand that we must prefer God's will and life eternal to this life. It isn't about being miserable. It isn't that the harder we work and the worse we feel the happier God is. Quite the contrary.

Each must do as already determined, without sadness or compulsion,
for God loves a cheerful giver.

We plant the seed not because we long to see the seed destroyed by the soil but because we love the plant which grows from it. We delight in the fruit of that plant.

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.

We are called to go cheerfully to the cross. Saint Lawrence proves that even this is possible by grace. After he suffered a long time on a gridiron over coals he said, "It is well done. Turn me over!"

The next time the LORD calls us to plant our seed for the sake of the kingdom let us not complain. Let us ask for the grace to be cheerful givers. We obviously can't do this on our own. We can't give away the smallest thing or the least amount of time without seeming to ourselves to be the most pitiable of men. Only grace makes the yoke easy. Only God's strength makes the burden light.

Moreover, God is able to make every grace abundant for you,
so that in all things, always having all you need,
you may have an abundance for every good work.

God wants to make every grace abundance for us. If we don't feel that we have an abundance for every good work this is the grace that the LORD offers us today.

An evil report he shall not fear;
his heart is firm, trusting in the LORD.
His heart is steadfast; he shall not fear
till he looks down upon his foes.
Lavishly he gives to the poor, 
his generosity shall endure forever;

9 August 2018 - key framing

Today's Readings (Audio)

But this is the covenant that I will make 
with the house of Israel after those days, says 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.

The promise of God to us is that he will be personally involved with every person. He himself will be within us and will guide us. Our approach to the law changes from one of flesh to one of Spirit. The written letter remains but our hearts are changed. It is no longer simply an unattainable external standard. More and more it becomes our internal motivation and desire.

No longer will they have need to teach their friends and relatives
how to know the LORD.

To know the LORD used to be quite an external thing. It was a matter of correct observance. But here the paradigm shifts. It isn't typically that people become aware of the LORD or enter into relationship with him without guidance. But it is no longer a matter of explaining a set of behaviors, rules, or ways or worship. We invite people to meet Jesus knowing he is there to be met. We are all meant to know Christ the way the Father reveals him to Peter:

"You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
Jesus said to him in reply, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah.
For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.

Jesus wants us to know that this revelation is fundamental. Yet he still gives us the Church to safeguard us from our own ability to misunderstand. Just because we come to know the LORD personally does not qualify us to expound every aspect of dogma. If this were true there would be no dissension in the Church. Nor is this to the point of the relationship he desires to have with normal everyday Christians. He gives us the Church so that we can trust and be confident in every aspect of what we believe.

And so I say to you, you are Peter,
and upon this rock I will build my Church,
and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.
I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven.

We could, for instance, know Jesus, but still try to talk him out of the cross. Perhaps we do in fact do this at times. But Jesus is there, in his Church, to remind us of the truth again and again, to show us why it is necessary and why it is good.

From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples
that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly
from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed and on the third day be raised.