30 November 2018 - Saint Andrew's Call

Today's Readings (Audio)

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord
and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,
you will be saved.

Like Andrew we need to recognize that Jesus is the Lamb of God that John proclaimed. Faith in Jesus is the way to righteousness and salvation. Only he can bring true peace. He welcomes and unites all peoples, Jew and Greek, slave or free, male or female to be one people under one Lord. There are many lords in the sense of worldly power but only one true LORD. His divinity uniquely qualifies him to be universal and therefore to be "Lord of all", that is, LORD for each manifestation of the diversity of the world. This ability to embrace all the manifold variation of creation is something which must not stop with Jesus. It must spread through his disciples as we invite others to follow Christ.

But how can they call on him in whom they have not believed?
And how can they believe in him of whom they have not heard?
And how can they hear without someone to preach?

We, like Andrew, are called to invite others. We do not impose. Rather, we simply propose, just as does Andrew. And we needn't venture to far corners of the club. We can start close to home. There are many around us who aren't following Jesus. There are many in our lives who would benefit from a gentle nudge (and not a violent shove) in his direction.

He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (see John 1:41).

It is not just the clergy who are called to be fishers of men, although the way in which they are called is unique. For instance, we read from Pope Paul VI:

We cannot but experience a great inner joy when we see so many pastors, religious and lay people, fired with their mission to evangelize, seeking ever more suitable ways of proclaiming the Gospel effectively (Evangelii Nuntiandi 73).

Or, as Saint John Paul the Great writes:

The mission ad gentes [to the nations] is incumbent upon the entire People of God (Redemptoris Missio 71)

Let us practice now by confessing that Jesus is LORD. Let us make an act of faith, from the heart, that God raised him from the dead. This faith, if we let it have it's full effects of hope and love, is more than enough to equip and send us out as fishers of men.

The decree of the LORD is trustworthy,
giving wisdom to the simple.

29 November 2018 - to the mountains

Today's Readings (Audio)

Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great.
She has become a haunt for demons.

Worldly permanence is an illusion. Rome certainly seemed like an empire that would last forever but now even it was thrown down. Judgment was harsh on Rome because it did not use its influence over the great ones of the world but instead led them astray. This may make us realize just how precarious our situation in America actually is. We need to trust in the LORD and follow his word or we risk encountering the same sort of destruction for which the moral decay of Rome was the trigger.

When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies,
know that its desolation is at hand.
Then those in Judea must flee to the mountains.
Let those within the city escape from it,
and let those in the countryside not enter the city,
for these days are the time of punishment
when all the Scriptures are fulfilled.

The temptation, then, would be to be afraid. We risk throwing in our lot with the sinful world around us, struggling as they struggle to preserve the status quo. But we need to be ready to be a remnant God preserves. We need to be ready to leave the areas of destruction and go as Church to gather at the mountains. If we are all destroyed than Christians can be of no help as society rebuilds. This, perhaps, is what people mean when they speak of the Benedict Option. Flying to the mountains can be more or less literal but there is nevertheless a call to be more of a separate and definite community apart from a society which is self-destructing. After all, we are called to be a city on a hill (see Matthew 5:14), set apart as an example and as a refuge.

If we listen to Jesus we have nothing to fear. He knows his plans for his people and they are good (see Jeremiah 29:11). Perhaps we are being led toward former Pope Benedict XVI's vision:

"She will become small and will have to start afresh more or less from the beginning. She will no longer be able to inhabit many of the edifices she built in prosperity. As the number of her adherents diminishes, so it will lose many of her social privileges. In contrast to an earlier age, it will be seen much more as a voluntary society, entered only by free decision. As a small society, it will make much bigger demands on the initiative of her individual members. "

If we follow the LORD when he tells us to flee to the mountains we may become a remnant. We may be able to take less for granted. But we will see deliverance. 

And then they will see the Son of Man
coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
But when these signs begin to happen,
stand erect and raise your heads
because your redemption is at hand.

When the world begins rebuilding from the ashes of its failures the remnant, by definition, remains. We are able to make known the Son of Man. He is the only firm foundation on which renewal can begin.

Know that the LORD is God;
he made us, his we are;
his people, the flock he tends.

28 November 2018 - totally lamb

Today's Readings (Audio)

Remember, you are not to prepare your defense beforehand,
for I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking
that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute.

It is really hard not to prepare a defense beforehand. We love to rehearse what we will say and imagine all the different directions a conversation might go. But Jesus tells us that even for the hardest conversations being open to the activity of the Holy Spirit in the present moment has more value than any clever arguments we might prepare. Our arguments remain fundamentally limited human words. Our perspective is limited. We don't know the hearts of the people to whom we speak. But if we listen to Jesus, "it will not be you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you" (see Matthew 10:20).

We hear about the radical trust to which Jesus calls us and tend to assume it must be primarily for special saints. We can then apply it to ourselves in some limited way wherein we still rely on ourselves but try to reference God occasionally. But this is not the call! We are called to trust in the Spirit and to rely on his guidance as much as any member of the clergy or professed religious. It is not to special saints only, but to "each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good" (see First Corinthians 12:7, emphasis mine).

Trust is the way to victory over the beast. It precisely this attentiveness to the Spirit that allows us to learn the song of the Lamb and makes us to sing it in harmony together with the whole people of God.

Great and wonderful are your works,
Lord God almighty.
Just and true are your ways,
O king of the nations.
Who will not fear you, Lord,
or glorify your name?
For you alone are holy.
All the nations will come
and worship before you,
for your righteous acts have been revealed.

When we learn to put this level of trust into practice fear will no longer control us. It won't be gone entirely, but it will have transformed into easily ignored background noise in the face of the love of the Father given to us in the Holy Spirit. We will know that the one in whom we trust is greater than any opposition we face.

You will be hated by all because of my name,
but not a hair on your head will be destroyed.
By your perseverance you will secure your lives.

So let us trust and listen. Let us sing the new song God is teaching!

Sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done wondrous deeds;
His right hand has won victory for him,
his holy arm.

27 November 2018 - the ripe time

Today's Readings (Audio)

"Use your sickle and reap the harvest,
for the time to reap has come,
because the earth's harvest is fully ripe."

There is time while the harvest grows. The weeds and the wheat grow alongside one another. There is a period of mercy where each thing becomes more and more fully what it is on a fundamental level. Good fruit abounds or bad fruit dominates. This time of mercy will not last forever. The time of the harvest will come.

And what sign will there be when all these things are about to happen?" 
He answered,
"See that you not be deceived,
for many will come in my name, saying,
'I am he,' and 'The time has come.' 
Do not follow them! 

The point of knowing that there is an end is not so we can waste a lot of time speculating about it, or worse, fearing it. It is rather so that we can be ready when it comes. The world seems to continue moving forward more or less as it always has. And that can lull us into complasence. Or disasters can shake us up so much that we lose our orientation. But if we are truly prepared for the harvest neither danger will affect us.

The Lord comes to judge the earth

We want to be ready to greet the king when he comes. We should avoid letting what is only temporal take up our whole perspective. Thinking that this life is all there is, or that the way it is unfolding is the old possible way it can unfold, these are real dangers we face. Both miss the point of why there is a time of mercy at all. It is precisely so that what sort of fruit we are can become evident. Both dangers fail to realize the goal-directed nature of the universe which itself longs to bear its fruit for the king.

Then shall all the trees of the forest exult.
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.

26 November 2018 - trust fund

Today's Readings (Audio)

He said, "I tell you truly,
this poor widow put in more than all the rest;
for those others have all made offerings from their surplus wealth,
but she, from her poverty, has offered her whole livelihood."

The poor widow gives out of her need rather than out of her surplus. But just what is it about a gift like this that Jesus praises? Superficially, it seems obviously heroic. But if we think about it more it begins to seem imprudent. Wouldn't there, we wonder, be a better long term strategy? Surely Jesus is not praising brash decisions.

Yet Jesus calls those who follow him to leave all that they have. He calls them to choose for him and his kingdom and to close the door on other options. 

These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever he goes.

And herein lies the key to the widow's greatness. She could have kept those last two small coins to try to preserve whatever options she had left. Most likely, it wouldn't have amounted to much. Instead, she gave all she had. We can see in this choice more than simply an impressive charitable act. It was rather a vote of complete confidence in the LORD and his ability to sustain her. Once she gave all she knew that she could rely completely on the LORD. Would he meet her needs? Would he bring her home to himself? She did not know. But she trusted nonetheless.

It is only people who can close the door on some possibilities and choose Jesus who are able to follow him, the Lamb, wherever he goes. Others go part way, but want to keep their options open. They don't want to spend their options in order to continue walking with him. But for those who are able to give away the old in the hope of the new there is a reward kept in store.

They were singing what seemed to be a new hymn before the throne,
before the four living creatures and the elders.
No one could learn this hymn except the hundred and forty-four thousand
who had been ransomed from the earth.

These, like the widow, have traded old coins, old options, and old lives, for a new song of praise to God.

Such is the race that seeks for him,
that seeks the face of the God of Jacob.

25 November 2018 - true king

Today's Readings (Audio)

Jesus is the King of kings and the LORD of the universe. That being the case, why isn't the universe in better order?

Jesus answered, "My kingdom does not belong to this world.
If my kingdom did belong to this world,
my attendants would be fighting
to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. 

Jesus is a king. But he is not a king like any other. His kingdom is not something he will simply impose with his power, although he certainly could if he chose. Most kings and kingdoms as we think about them are in fact about power. But with Jesus this is not the primary thing.

For this I was born and for this I came into the world,
to testify to the truth. 

The kingdom of Jesus is first about truth. Because of this it can outlast any worldly exercise of power. It can be crucified only to rise again. It is true, and the truth, unlike worldly power, cannot be destroyed. It is for this reason that the kingdom Jesus proclaims is already in our midst (see Luke 17:21). It is within us and within the Church that gathers around Jesus. It is truth, but it is not dead letter. It does have a real and tangible effect in the world. But it is without the violence of pure exercise of power.

The question for us today is simple. To what degree does this kingdom hold sway in us? To what extent does the truth of Jesus define our lives? Are we really living the way that we know Jesus calls us to live? This is something that it is to our benefit to straighten out now and not put off until later.

Behold, he is coming amid the clouds,
and every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him.
All the peoples of the earth will lament him.

Truth, in mercy, gives us room for free response. But we will not be able to hold onto falsehood forever. There will come a day when Christ returns to judge us and the world. At that time the power of God will be made manifest. Enemies of God, choosing to live lies will find that they do not truly possess the good their hearts desire. And this choice can define their eternity if they do not repent. Servants of the King of kings who have lived for Jesus in this life find their choices vindicated as he brings his kingdom on earth just as it is in heaven.

We tend to get sidetracked by getting lost in our own personal projects. But there is nothing more important than awaiting this coming kingdom. We begin to live in it even now to the degree that the truth of Jesus is manifested in our lives. As our desires gradually conform to this truth we draw forth the kingdom into our world, praying "Even so come" (see Revelation 22:20).

The vision of Jesus as the Son of Man can help us to keep the kingdom in mind. Let us meditate on it and be transformed by it.

when he reached the Ancient One
and was presented before him,
the one like a Son of man received dominion, glory, and kingship;
all peoples, nations, and languages serve him.

He really is King! In our hard moments today let us realize that he still reigns!

24 Novembers 2018 - not just more life

What do martyrs like Saint Andrew Dung-Lac and Companions understand that we don't?

Today's Readings (Audio)

We can witness to the LORD without fear. This is because the whole point of our witness is that it is directed toward the resurrection. Jesus tells us that we need not fear those who can kill the body. And we see just that in the book of revelation.

But after the three and a half days,
a breath of life from God entered them.

We don't rise immediately with Jesus on the third day. He is the first fruits. But the resurrection will give life to our bodies again as well. We arise to reward or we arise to judgment but we all live again. And yet, do any of us truly live like this? Do we not rather live as though death is the end, as though we need to get everything done that needs to be done beforehand, as though it is the greatest tragedy we can imagine?

There was a time when fearing death was justified. It was the time before the resurrection was revealed. But listen to the gospel antiphon: "Our Savior Jesus Christ has destroyed death and brought life to light through the gospel." This itself is taken from Second Timothy verse 10 which says that "our savior destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel".

The Sadducees aren't necessarily being sincere when they ask about the resurrection. But be that as it may they betray their ignorance. They want to sort out things here below as if all must be arranged and accounted for at this present moment. What of the seven brother? What of the wife? Given that it wasn't fixed in this lifetime how could the resurrection neatly fit the pieces together?

Jesus said to them,
“The children of this age marry and remarry;
but those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age
and to the resurrection of the dead
neither marry nor are given in marriage.
They can no longer die,
for they are like angels;
and they are the children of God
because they are the ones who will rise.

The resurrection isn't just more of the same thing. It is a different sort of life. The symbols of fulfillment, of which marriage is one, give way to truly resting in God. Why do we and the Sadducees both get this wrong? Jesus explains in the parallel verse in Matthew, "You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God" (see Matthew 22:29). We may be acquainted with the words. But their true profundity hasn't yet sunk in.

even Moses made known in the passage about the bush,
when he called ‘Lord’
the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob;
and he is not God of the dead, but of the living,
for to him all are alive.” 

This isn't a reading we would naturally infer without the help of the Holy Spirit revealing it to us. But now that we see it we see the great ones of the dead not reprising earthly life but precisely living to God, so that it can be said that "all are alive" and that their direction is now completely "to him".

As Christians, though we are still living in this world, we are called to begin to live toward heaven, to live more 'to God' than 'to the world'. May the Holy Spirit reveal this to our hearts.

O God, I will sing a new song to you;
with a ten stringed lyre I will chant your praise,
You who give victory to kings,
and deliver David, your servant from the evil sword

23 November 2018 - scroll down

Today's Readings (Audio)

Jesus entered the temple area and proceeded to drive out
those who were selling things, saying to them,
“It is written, My house shall be a house of prayer,
but you have made it a den of thieves.”

In what ways do we make our churches and our hearts into dens of thieves? We are meant to have and to be places that are inviolably for God. We see how easily things can get sidetracked. We start off concerned about the sacrifices we want to be able to offer. But eventually we are more concerned with buying and selling (and the million other ways in which worldly concerns distract us). God is calling on us to put him first.

Given our unfortunate ability to subvert even spiritual things to lesser ends what should we do? How can we prevent that or at least reduce the risk? The secret is found in the word of God.

So I went up to the angel and told him to give me the small scroll.
He said to me, "Take and swallow it.
It will turn your stomach sour,
but in your mouth it will taste as sweet as honey."

When God's word becomes our daily bread, something that actually gives us strength, we learn to rely on it in a way that makes us less needy for the things of this world. This is true even when the word is sour in our stomachs. Even when the worldly ramifications aren't always what we would like the sweetness of the word itself still compels us.

The word of God is meant to be our food in such a profoundly satisfying sense that we really do develop a taste for it. His promises turn out to be more than mere words on a page. They are true and reliable. We can taste their sweetness in our own lives.

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

Are we still more concerned with the buying and selling than the sacrifices themselves? Let us turn to the LORD who gives us his word. Let us turn to the LORD who gives us himself in the Eucharist, containing all sweetness within. When we do we watch our hunger for lesser things diminish.

22 November 2018 - the return

Today's Readings (Audio)

"Ten were cleansed, were they not?
Where are the other nine? 
Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?" 
Then he said to him, "Stand up and go;
your faith has saved you."

Let us return to Jesus with the Samaritan who was cleansed. We too we cleansed in baptism. We too our diseased. Our disease is sin. It keeps us separated from one another. Even within our own hearts we find ourselves lacking the integrity that only Jesus can give us.

We have received even more than the Samaritan. We have not only been cleansed and healed but we have received from Jesus grace upon grace (see John 1:16). We have been made able to call God our Father (see Romans 8:15) and to truly be his children (see First John 3:2). As children we receive the same inheritance that Jesus receives, the very Holy Spirit himself. Because we receive him we can be sure that we lack nothing

that in him you were enriched in every way,
with all discourse and all knowledge,
as the testimony to Christ was confirmed among you,
so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift
as you wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Do we feel like we do lack some of the spiritual gifts? Scripture disagrees. This isn't an isolated verse that tells us so. In chapter one of Ephesians we read that Jesus "has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places".

Step one is to realize how richly we've been blessed. First we should put things in perspective. We ought, if we can, to realize that the spiritual blessings matter even more than the material. But either way, once we take a look at everything with which we have been blessed we may well find ourselves breathless. Step two is profound thanksgiving.

And now, bless the God of all,
who has done wondrous things on earth;
Who fosters people's growth from their mother's womb,
and fashions them according to his will!

Even in difficult moments let us search for the blessings we are never truly without. Thankfulness can transform even more than our perspective in hard times. By being thankful for blessings received we show God that we are mature enough for him to continue blessing us.

21 November 2018 - free gifts

Today's Readings (Audio)

I kept it stored away in a handkerchief,
for I was afraid of you, because you are a demanding man;
you take up what you did not lay down
and you harvest what you did not plant.

We all receive gifts from God. "To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good" (see First Corinthians 12:7). But if we're honest we must admit that we often stifle our gifts out of fear. We place the light under a bushel basket so that no one notices. We imagine ourselves to be acting in humility. But in actuality it is a kind of reverse pride that assumes that our limits impose limits on what God can do through us.

Whether we have been given gifts is not the question. The question is rather what are they and what are we doing with them. The LORD even assures us that it is OK to start small, as long as we start at all.

why did you not put my money in a bank?
Then on my return I would have collected it with interest.

To the degree that we rely on ourselves and have any kind of realistic appraisal of the situation we will be tempted to hide our light and to bury our gifts. The Kingdom will not be built until we choose to trust God and act from faith in him rather than fear about ourselves. It isn't that we will suddenly experience profound competence as investors, sure of our ability to get results. It is rather that we know that God himself gives us the ability we need. We can trust that we have it even when we cannot feel it. This means that we may be surprised to discover gifts we didn't think we had. 

One such gift we are given is the ability to enter profoundly and deeply into worship. We can do this even if we don't know how. We can do it even if it doesn't feel like we can do it. It isn't something we can or should work up in ourselves. We are, rather, invited to enter in.

"Come up here and I will show you what must happen afterwards."
At once I was caught up in spirit. 

A great treasure we are given is the mass, with the Word proclaimed and the Eucharist received. This is God giving us himself, literally of infinite value, far more than any coin. As he does so we can respond by being fully, actively, consciously present as he does so. We recognize that we are in heaven surrounded by angels. We do not worship alone or even just in our local church building. It is a cosmic unity of creation receiving itself from the creator and offering all of itself back to him.

Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks
to the one who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever,
the twenty-four elders fall down
before the one who sits on the throne
and worship him, who lives forever and ever.
They throw down their crowns before the throne, exclaiming:

"Worthy are you, Lord our God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things;
because of your will they came to be and were created."

Worship is just one gift of many that each of us have been given. Let us listen to God in the manifold ways he speaks to us, including through his Word and through our brothers and sisters, in order that we might discover all of the rich ways in which we have been gifted. Let us not fear to put those gifts to use.

Let everything that has breath
praise the LORD! Alleluia.

20 November 2018 - come down quickly

Today's Readings (Audio)

Those whom I love, I reprove and chastise.
Be earnest, therefore, and repent.

The letters to the Churches in these readings from Revelation are not given in condemnation. They are given that the Churches might repent because "the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives" (see Hebrews 12:6). God wants to help us go deeper. We may be doing works that look complete to the world but which are still missing some essential element. We may look like Christians who have it all together and still be living out of our flesh. This is a fairly high risk situation. It is something about which we could easily fool ourselves. How fortunate that God won't leave us in this error. The LORD's voice can be known from the voice of the accuser because the LORD always speaks hope to us, always tells us how to return to him.

Remember then how you accepted and heard; keep it, and repent.

The LORD wants complete works from a heart of faith. He insists that we not be lukewarm. We need to know that apart from Christ we do not have true riches. The trouble is that we often think we do. We think the worldly comfort we have, balanced by the occasional forays into religion, is all we need.

For you say, 'I am rich and affluent and have no need of anything,'
and yet do not realize that you are wretched,
pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.

The LORD invites us to discover the limits and flaws of ourselves apart from him. He does so in order that we might turn to him and receive truly things which we only wrongly believed ourselves to already possess.

I advise you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may be rich,
and white garments to put on
so that your shameful nakedness may not be exposed,
and buy ointment to smear on your eyes so that you may see.

We don't always readily see what we need, even when we're trying. The crowd is large and we are spiritually short in stature. Fortunately Jesus comes to us just as he does to Zacchaeus. It is a meeting of our deepest desires on the one hand and the fulfillment of those desires on the other. Apart from Jesus we content ourselves with lives marked by sins and a lack of love that both seem to be beyond our control. We are chief tax collectors and we extort from those around us. But when Jesus meets us true and profound conversion is possible. Our lukewarm lives and incomplete works can be completely changed. 

Let us seek Jesus as does Zacchaeus. If we can't make it to him he will still not leave us in our sin. He will delight to enter into our houses, to make our works complete, and to set us on fire with love for him.

I will seat the victor beside me on my throne.

19 November 2018 - first things last, too

Today's Readings (Audio)

Yet I hold this against you:
you have lost the love you had at first.

Most of us can remember a time when our love for the LORD was more inflamed. Perhaps there was some profound moment of encounter or conversion which made us feel more near to God than we had ever felt. It might have felt to us as though we were blind but given sight again.

"What do you want me to do for you?"
He replied, "Lord, please let me see."
Jesus told him, "Have sight; your faith has saved you."

We take it as a foregone conclusion that we can't keep such love with the same strength and vitality that we had during our peak experiences. And yet Jesus himself challenges us to love with the love we had at first. 

Realize how far you have fallen.
Repent, and do the works you did at first.

How far have we fallen since those peak experiences? Jesus isn't asking us so much about how we feel, our subjectivity, or our experience of consolation. He is asking more about the sustained quality of our response. Was our first love marked with more zeal, greater love for God and for neighbor? And has it fizzled out since? This is the love he wants to see renewed.

Moreover, you have endurance and have suffered for my name,
and you have not grown weary.

We have not grown weary. We still walk with Jesus. But our love is not the same as it was at first. Jesus believes that it can be. He is inviting us to experience that love. We seem to run dry when we rely on ourselves. But our love comes from his love in us. It is possible when, no longer we, but he himself lives within us.

But delights in the law of the LORD
and meditates on his law day and night.
He is like a tree
planted near running water,
That yields its fruit in due season,
and whose leaves never fade.

The man born blind didn't return to his old life. Now that he could see he knew better than to go back to begging by the roadside. He did the one thing necessary to keep his love and thankfulness to Jesus fresh. He followed him.

He immediately received his sight
and followed him, giving glory to God.
When they saw this, all the people gave praise to God.

Probably we've turned back toward begging to one degree or another. Jesus wants us to remember our first love, to head out to follow him, giving glory to God as much as ever before.

18 November 2018 - battle plans

Today's Readings (Audio)

now he waits until his enemies are made his footstool. 

This battle is happening now. It is playing out in our lives. We know we are in a battle, "[f]or our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms" (see Ephesians 6:12). There are real enemy forces against whom we fight. We take these forces captive for Christ. 

"For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ" (see Second Corinthians 10:3-5)

The reward to those who compete well is eternal glory. It is a crown of righteousness (see Second Timothy 4:8). They shall "shine brightly like the splendor of the firmament". Failure is not an option we want to consider. It is everlasting horror and disgrace.

Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake;
some shall live forever,
others shall be an everlasting horror and disgrace.

We do not fight with our own weapons. We do not fight with our own strength. And we do not fight alone.

At that time there shall arise
Michael, the great prince,
guardian of your people

Hence there is nothing at all for us to fear. None of this relies on us. We just need to choose the winning side and avail ourselves of the resources freely offered.

Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world (see First John 4:4).

Let us welcome the help of our mighty allies like Saint Michael. Let us use our weapons, especially the Scriptures, the sword of the Spirit to cut the enemy to shreds when he tries to claim our hearts for himself. And let us rejoice in Christ. For in him, especially in the Eucharist, we already have a foretaste of victory.

You will show me the path to life,
fullness of joys in your presence,
the delights at your right hand forever.

If we already begin to experience his victory than we have nothing to fear from its consummation.

And then they will see 'the Son of Man coming in the clouds'
with great power and glory,
and then he will send out the angels
and gather his elect from the four winds,
from the end of the earth to the end of the sky.

At a certain point, I should just offer playlists..

17 November 2018 - waiting room

Today's Readings (Audio)

There was a judge in a certain town
who neither feared God nor respected any human being. 

God is not like this judge. We have a Father who knows what we need before we ask (see Matthew 6:8). He delights to give good things to his children (see Matthew 7:11). Yet there is one thing that makes the comparison worth making.

Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones
who call out to him day and night?

Jesus tells us that if we ask we will receive. But what he specifically says, grammatically is that if we ask and keep asking we will receive. James reminds us that these petitions can't come from unstable and doubting flesh but must issue forth from our faith. We all have moments of faith. What God seems to be doing in calling us to persevere is to try to make the moments more the rule than the exception.

God knows that it is difficult for us when he doesn't meet all of our desires immediately. Therefore he willingly lets himself be compared, humorously, to an unjust judge so that even our waiting can go from being tedious to being playful. Unlike the widow, we aren't always asking for justice. We aren't always acting in faith. But if we keep coming back to God again and again with our prayers we will get it right more consistently. Then he won't be slow to answer us. 

Please help them in a way worthy of God to continue their journey.
For they have set out for the sake of the Name
and are accepting nothing from the pagans.

As we try to live this life for the sake of the name we need help. We need co-workers in the truth. We need people who will remind us to keep going back to God when we are ready to give up on him. We need people who remind us to continue being faithful in our care of strangers even when it seems to have no effect. They remind us to keep loving when our love is at risk of growing cold. If we keep such people around us, if we ourselves are such people, the Son of Man will find faith when he comes to us.

Light shines through the darkness for the upright;
he is gracious and merciful and just.

16 November 2018 - ready or not

Today's Readings (Audio)

Remember the wife of Lot.
Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it,
but whoever loses it will save it.

What does Jesus mean by seeking to preserve our lives? He means that if we are too attached to things like "eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building" we will be unable to follow him. And if we are unable to follow him into the ark or out from the city of Sodom we will end up swept away with that destruction. 

People who are ready for the LORD are so ready that they seem to have simply vanished when the LORD calls them. The world looks up from its commitments expecting to see us and we are already on our way with Jesus. This is how it is meant to be.

I tell you, on that night there will be two people in one bed;
one will be taken, the other left.

We should be so ready to be taken from the plight of destruction, whether flood or fire, that we move without a moment's notice. The more invested we are in this world, as if it were the only world, the more likely we will delay. The more we are reluctant to move the longer the tempter has to work. Delay moves us ever closer to disaster.

There is nevertheless a certain stability we have because of our readiness to follow Jesus. It is not the kind of stability that the world can offer. It is the infinitely greater stability of the truth.

I ask you,
not as though I were writing a new commandment
but the one we have had from the beginning:
let us love one another.

Sometimes to stay in place in our worldly lives we are called to act in ways that aren't loving. To prefer the world in these circumstances is very much to prefer Sodom. We are called to remain, not in situations of sin, but in the teaching of Christ.

Anyone who is so "progressive"
as not to remain in the teaching of the Christ does not have God;
whoever remains in the teaching has the Father and the Son.

The trick to this is that so much of our daily experience is filled with this world and the things of this world. We become disoriented and lose our sense of true north. We need to recalibrate. We need to fix our eyes on Jesus (see Hebrews 12:2) remembering our true citizenship is in heaven (see Philippians 3:2).

Open my eyes, that I may consider
the wonders of your law.

15 November 2018 - not flashy

Today's Readings (audio)

Jesus said in reply,
"The coming of the Kingdom of God cannot be observed,
and no one will announce, 'Look, here it is,' or, 'There it is.'
For behold, the Kingdom of God is among you."

When we look at the world we often miss the Kingdom already present among us. We expect something different, just as the Jews in the days of Jesus expected a military Kingdom. We too expect a Kingdom that is of this world in one form or another and miss the key fact: "the Kingdom of God is among you."

We read that the "commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off." It is rather "very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it" (see Deuteronomy 30:11 and 14). Jesus himself is the word and he is with us always, even unto the end of the age (see Matthew 28:20).

Because Jesus himself is the Kingdom and because he is so near we need not run off looking for substitutes.

There will be those who will say to you,
'Look, there he is,' or 'Look, here he is.'
Do not go off, do not run in pursuit.

The day is indeed coming when the Son of Man will be even more visible just as lightning lights up the sky from one end to the other. But we do not need to wait for that day to live in the Kingdom of God. Jesus is here. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords and his kingdom rules over all. 

The LORD shall reign forever;
your God, O Zion, through all generations. Alleluia.

This perspective should enliven our worship. If we are truly entering into the presence of the King let us give our hearts the time they need to recognize the royalty of the One into whose presence we are so privileged to come.

The Kingdom of God changes everything. It changes how we see and relate to one another.

Perhaps this is why he was away from you for a while,
that you might have him back forever,
no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a brother,
beloved especially to me, but even more so to you,
as a man and in the Lord.

So let us realize today that God is King. Because that is true, let us learn to seek first the Kingdom, knowing it is in our midst.

Yes, brother, may I profit from you in the Lord.
Refresh my heart in Christ.

14 November 2018 - returners

And one of them, realizing he had been healed,
returned, glorifying God in a loud voice;
and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him.

Today's Readings (Audio) 

Don't we spend most of our lives living like the other nine who were cleansed? We receive mercy and then it is back to business as usual. What we suffered was actually worse than leprosy. Part of the problem is that we don't realize just how bad it is to be apart from grace.

For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, deluded,
slaves to various desires and pleasures,
living in malice and envy,
hateful ourselves and hating one another.

There may be some among us who, like the Little Flower, never committed a mortal sin and willing turned away from God. But even such people have moments when they do not fully embrace the grace God is offering. In a small way, they are investing in the same temporary things that eventually end in death. They are constituting their existence based on things which must eventually fall away. This is true leprosy. We do not sufficiently recoil at the horror of it. We seek the cure but fail to fully appreciate it.

But when the kindness and generous love
of God our savior appeared

The love of Jesus makes us whole. It renews and restores us but it does not simply reassemble us. It becomes within us a source of life.

but because of his mercy,
he saved us through the bath of rebirth
and renewal by the Holy Spirit

Lepers eventually die. But so do all who are under the sway of sin. Only those whom Jesus cures become "heirs in hope of eternal life." This is why we return to him and give thanks!

Only goodness and kindness follow me
all the days of my life;
And I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
for years to come.

Bonus: Check out the new songs from St. John the Baptist on this Spotify playlist.

13 November 2018 - while we wait

Saint Francis Xavier Cabrini

Today's Readings (Audio)

The purpose of sound doctrine is not simply the knowledge of sound doctrine. It is meant to play out in the life of each individual in accord with his or her station in life. Older men, older women, younger men, and younger women each have their own unique ways of expressing a temperate, just and devout life.

For the grace of God has appeared, saving all
and training us to reject godless ways and worldly desires
and to live temperately, justly, and devoutly in this age,

Indeed the particular gifts and challenges are as varied as each individual. The good news is that no matter how different we feel God has a plan for how his grace is meant to be expressed in our lives. Jesus Christ came to deliver us from the things that hold us back from embracing this life. He died and rose to cleanse us and make of us a people eager to do what is good. As we let this grace bear fruit in our lives we come to long more and more for his appearing again.

as we await the blessed hope,
the appearance of the glory of the great God
and of our savior Jesus Christ,

When we let the grace of Jesus and the power of the Spirit bear fruit in us it is not an excuse to start bragging about ourselves, as if we could ever manage to manifest these gifts of the Spirit through sheer force of will.

When you have done all you have been commanded, say,
'We are unprofitable servants;
we have done what we were obliged to do.'"

The LORD will indeed invite us to his heavenly banquet if we stick with him and endure. But we don't somehow oblige him or put him in our debt by our work. We eventually learn the privilege of service. After all, the one who tells us this himself said that he came not to be served but to serve. We learn that love is its own reward.

Trust in the LORD and do good,
that you may dwell in the land and be fed in security.

12 November 2018 - life witness

Today's Readings (Audio)

Things that cause sin will inevitably occur,
but woe to the one through whom they occur.

Sin is serious. It is not simply a problem within us, but it actually hinders "the recognition of religious truth, in the hope of eternal life". This is why Paul exhorts Timothy to appoint priests in every town who not only know the truth but do it, people who are "blameless".

For a bishop as God's steward must be blameless, not arrogant,
not irritable, not a drunkard, not aggressive,
not greedy for sordid gain, but hospitable, a lover of goodness,
temperate, just, holy, and self-controlled,
holding fast to the true message as taught
so that he will be able both to exhort with sound doctrine
and to refute opponents. 

Faults of arrogance, drunkenness, and even being irritable and aggressive cannot be tolerated. Holding fast to the message as taught and being able to refute opponents is important. But no amount of correct doctrine will work if the witness of one's life is saying something different. 

It would be better for him if a millstone were put around his neck
and he be thrown into the sea
than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin.

Given that none of us are perfect, it is discouraging to hear how much responsibility we have for the example we give to others. Jesus, realizing this, immediately speaks of forgiveness. He isn't building a Church for people who are already perfect. He is building a Church for those who are willing to cling to mercy and to keep trying.

If your brother sins, rebuke him;
and if he repents, forgive him.
And if he wrongs you seven times in one day 
and returns to you seven times saying, 'I am sorry,'
you should forgive him."

Sound doctrine and and right practice have one origin: faith. Even a little faith is enough to overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles. We tend to encounter obstacles and give up when they don't yield. Instead we ought to pray, "Increase our faith." God wants our faith to be increased. We can know for sure that when we pray this way he will answer.

Such is the race that seeks for him,
that seeks the face of the God of Jacob.

11 November 2018 - jarring examples of generosity

Today's Readings (Audio)

I have nothing baked; there is only a handful of flour in my jar
and a little oil in my jug. 
Just now I was collecting a couple of sticks,
to go in and prepare something for myself and my son;
when we have eaten it, we shall die.

In the readings today we see two examples of the type of generous heart that Jesus wants us to have as well. The widow is able to attend to Elijah's request even though she has almost nothing left. Her faith enables her to make the cake for which he asks even though her jar of flour is almost empty. The widow about whom Jesus speaks is able to give two coins even though it was all she had.

A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents. 

This is contrasted with the scribes who are too obsessed with honor to really notice the plight of widows. They may give money to the treasury but it does not stem from any compassion for others. It is not a true offering in the sense that Jesus desires it.

The sacrifice of Jesus is meant to be the model for all of our own giving as well.

But now once for all he has appeared at the end of the ages
to take away sin by his sacrifice. 

When we give we can unite our offering to his offering. We can give all we have even when it means embracing our crosses. The widow who helped Elijah does this. In faith she is able to see beyond the potential death of herself and her son, believing in the eventual everlasting reward symbolized by the endless jar of flour and jug of oil. The widow in the gospel is able to give her two coins precisely because she knows that the one to whom she gives them is faithful. Even if she has nothing left on our she can trust him.

For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth,
but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had,
her whole livelihood.

Our own selfishness is going to get in the way unless we rely on Jesus for help. Our faith in him is what allows us to take up our crosses and to give without counting the cost. It is a faith that sees beyond the cross to hope on the far side of desolation, to the resurrection and the reward of eternal life.

The fatherless and the widow he sustains,
but the way of the wicked he thwarts.
The LORD shall reign forever;
your God, O Zion, through all generations. Alleluia.

10 November 2018 - eternal dwellings

Today's Readings (Audio)

Jesus said to his disciples:
"I tell you, make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth,
so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.

Jesus is calling us to learn to be trustworthy. We need to be able to handle the things of this world without being corrupted by them. We are called to use the things of this world in such a way that we may be welcomed into eternal dwellings rather than simply being caught in a system of gain and loss that distracts our hearts from God.

Not that I say this because of need,
for I have learned, in whatever situation I find myself,
to be self-sufficient.
I know indeed how to live in humble circumstances;
I know also how to live with abundance.

The point today is that we need to learn to live in both humble circumstances and abundance. Both, in their own way, can cause us to turn from God. Both, lived well, can draw us nearer to him. Mammon can rule our hearts if we aren't using it for a higher purpose. Lack of what we think we need can make us bitter and focused only on making up for that lack.

We need to become like the Philippians whose offering became "a fragrant aroma" and "acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God." This doesn't mean we are called to the radical poverty of some monastic orders. But it, while considering our own needs, our wealth, along with the rest of our time, talent and treasure, are put to use primarily not for us but for others.

Well for the man who is gracious and lends,
who conducts his affairs with justice;
He shall never be moved;
the just one shall be in everlasting remembrance.

It seems that loving others might detract from what we ourselves receive. But this is not the case. It is only in living lives of self-gift that we truly receive anything that lasts.

"Man cannot fully find himself except through a sincere gift of himself. - Saint John Paul the Great

What is a small way in which we can use the "dishonest wealth" of this world today to prepare our places in eternal dwellings?

His heart is steadfast; he shall not fear.
Lavishly he gives to the poor;
his generosity shall endure forever;
his horn shall be exalted in glory.

9 November 2018 - whipped into shape

Today's Readings (Audio)

His disciples recalled the words of Scripture,
Zeal for your house will consume me.

The same motive that causes Jesus to drive the money-changers from the temple causes him to purify us as well.

Do you not know that you are the temple of God,
and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

At times our purification from attachment to sin feels like a whip of cords. In those moments we often let ourselves believe that we are loved less. But it precisely because God treasures us so much that he refuses to settle for mediocrity. He refuses to share space in our souls with the money-changers not because he hates us but because he loves us so much that he wants us all to himself. This is, after all, the purpose of a temple.

If anyone destroys God's temple,
God will destroy that person;
for the temple of God, which you are, is holy.

Jesus Christ is our foundation. Zeal for his Father's house consumes his body entirely on the cross down to the very foundation of his obedience to the Father. His zeal which is able to embrace even the cross is the same zeal that transforms and builds the temples of our own lives based on his resurrection.

But he was speaking about the temple of his Body.
Therefore, when he was raised from the dead,
his disciples remembered that he had said this,
and they came to believe the Scripture
and the word Jesus had spoken.

To what degree has this already happened and to what degree do we still need to welcome purification? That is in the hands of Jesus. But fruit is a good sign.

Along both banks of the river, fruit trees of every kind shall grow;
their leaves shall not fade, nor their fruit fail.

Imagine the fruits of the Spirit in our lives, not just on our best days, but also on our worst. Imagine fruit that never fails no matter how the seasons change around us. The world needs our fruit for food and our leaves for medicine. They can't bare too many more winters without them. Let us therefore welcome Jesus. Let us even pray that he make us saints by any means necessary. The potential is too great to ignore.

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