31 January 2019 - bro science

Saint John Bosco

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Is a lamp brought in to be placed under a bushel basket
or under a bed,
and not to be placed on a lampstand?

Jesus is the light of the world. He calls us to shine with his light and become lights of the world ourselves. He asks us to shine brightly as a city on a hill which cannot be hidden. Yet we tend to withdraw. We have the bushel basket close at hand and if it is taken for us we'll quickly move the light under our bed. But why? Why hide such a great light? The light also tends to reveal us as weak and flawed. It shows the power of God, to be sure, but only insofar as it shines through human weakness. Jesus calls us to make our peace with this now, to be ready to be revealed as frauds and hypocrites as long as the light he gives us is allowed to shine through.

For there is nothing hidden except to be made visible; 
nothing is secret except to come to light.

The Kingdom will be fully revealed to all eyes and ears eventually. And so too will we, at the last judgment. Let's not live lives of pretending to be better than we are by hiding from that which would reveal us. Let us instead welcome, as best we can, the full revelation of the Kingdom now. Then, on the last day, we are less likely to be surprised. Hopefully we've helped others to be ready as well.

Our weaknesses can weigh us down, even when we're fully transparent about them. The author of the letter to the Hebrews knows this. But this is one reason it is so important to have brothers and sisters with whom we can share our weaknesses. God intends them to be for us sources of strength.

We must consider how to rouse one another to love and good works.

Our brothers and sisters help us to keep our focus sharply on the reason for our hope.

Since through the Blood of Jesus 
we have confidence of entrance into the sanctuary 
by the new and living way he opened for us through the veil, 
that is, his flesh,
and since we have "a great priest over the house of God," 
let us approach with a sincere heart and in absolute trust, 
with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience 
and our bodies washed in pure water.

It is only by the Blood of Jesus that we have grounds for hope. Let us join together as brothers and sisters encouraging one another to enter more into the assembly of the Church and not less, to reveal more of ourselves, rather than hide "and this all the more as you see the day drawing near."

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

30 January 2019 - seeds of perfection

Today's Readings

(Audio)

For by one offering he has made perfect forever 
those who are being consecrated.

All we need for perfection is already done. Of course, we aren't yet perfect. We bear some fruit, but we also produce weeds and thorns. Some seed bears fruit, other seed quickly withers and dies. How can we enter more fully into the consecration?

And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be consecrated in truth (see John 17:19).

We need the truth of the word of God. This truth is not philosophical precepts or theological dogmas so much as the living person of Jesus Christ.

The dictionary says that to consecrate is to "make or declare (something, typically a church) sacred; dedicate formally to a religious or divine purpose." Jesus sets himself apart for the Father's purposes in order that we might see what it looks like to be set apart. Jesus is the living fulfillment of the law. He is the living revelation of God that allows us to set ourselves apart for God as well.

This is the covenant I will establish with them
after those days, says the Lord:
"I will put my laws in their hearts,
and I will write them upon their minds,"

When the seeds are planted deeply enough in us what grows is the very divine life of the word of God. This seed will bear fruit by its very nature. There are many wrong ways to tend the garden, all of which amount to not giving the seed due care and attention. We are consecrated precisely when the seed is deep in our good soil, bearing fruit for God.

Jesus is the one who is a priest forever. He is the one who makes us perfect and offers our lives to the Father together with his own. Let us welcome his word. It has the power to save our souls.

29 January 2019 - like obedient children

Today's Readings

(Audio)

We know that obedience is important. We know that Jesus was perfectly obedient to the Father and praised obedience in others. Yet when we ourselves try to obey we quickly become frustrated.

Since the law has only a shadow of the good things to come, 
and not the very image of them, it can never make perfect 
those who come to worship by the same sacrifices 
that they offer continually each year.

We try our best to obey the law. Even so, our best efforts are hit or miss. We have successes, occasionally, but we can't seem to eliminate failures. We can't seem to grow in the freedom Jesus promises to those who follow him and know the truth he teaches.

The problem is often that we try to obey on our own. We try to fix our wills, in order to simply will the right thing. This didn't work for Paul and it won't work for us.

For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members (see Romans 7:22-23).

Given that Jesus praises obedience and isn't just setting us up to fail what are we to do?

Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! (see Romans 7:24-25)

Obedience, counterintuitively, does not begin in our will, but in that of Jesus himself.

Then he says, Behold, I come to do your will.
He takes away the first to establish the second.
By this "will," we have been consecrated 
through the offering of the Body of Jesus Christ once for all.

We must come to Jesus and take his yoke upon us rather than trying to make things work on our own. His yoke is easy and light. In his yoke we find rest.

Even Mary does not obey God on her own strength. She is the one who is full of the grace she needs to obey from her birth. She receives this grace from Jesus. It is thus that she is perfectly his mother both spiritually and according to the flesh.

For whoever does the will of God
is my brother and sister and mother.

We are invited to be brothers and sisters of Jesus by sharing the yoke of the obedience which he has already perfectly offered for our sakes.

Burnt offerings or sin-offerings you sought not;
then said I, "Behold I come." 

28 January 2019 - free of charges

Saint Thomas Aquinas - the "Dumb Ox"
Chesterton's short book on Aquinas explains better than anything the revolutionary nature of his thought.

Today's Readings

(Audio)

If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.

The strong man isn't going to give up his house or his property freely. Rather, the strong man, who is the enemy, keeps humanity captive. Jesus comes from the Father to set us free.

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery (see Hebrews 2:14-15).

For freedom Jesus sets us free (see Galatians 5:1). From a genuine captivity he leads us to greater and greater freedom.

When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men (see Ephesians 4:8).

What is freedom? We really don't have the best sense of what it means. This world provides conflicting answers. It tells us freedom is license to satisfy the desires of our flesh. And so we don't even realize when we our held captive by fear and sin. We're like the Pharisees

They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” (See John 8:33).

It is only at the extremes that we really have a sense for how sin is synonymous with slavery. It is the addict who hits rock bottom who knows it best. But we are all addicted in some way or other. We all need more freedom. We need real freedom, grounded in the truth. We see the ultimate truth of what it means to be human and to live excellence in Jesus:

If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free (see John 8:31).

How does Christ set us free from the enemy? How does he liberate those enslaved to the devil? What exactly is the strength Jesus has that is greater than that of the enemy? It is precisely the love by which he surrenders his life for us. Satan tries to claim for himself what is not rightly his. He exhausts his rights to sinners souls by trying to claim the sinless one. He himself accidentally causes the path from death, by which he held us in fear, to new life.

Christ is mediator of a new covenant:
since a death has taken place 
for deliverance from transgressions under the first covenant, 
those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance.

Now that we have this freedom we must stand in it. We must live it consciously. The enemy tries to tell us we are still powerless slaves, but we are not. And the best is yet to come.

so also Christ,
offered once to take away the sins of many, 
will appear a second time, not to take away sin 
but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await him.

So let us sing a new song, joyfully awaiting our LORD's return!

27 January 2019 - nothing missing

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Do not be saddened this day,
for rejoicing in the LORD must be your strength!

One thing that can make us sad is too much comparing ourselves to others. We want the gifts that we see other people have and forget about our own gifts. Whether intellectual, apostolic, or charismatic, it is often the case that the gifts others have seem more glamorous than our own, which we may not even fully realize we've been given. Or our concern might be that we haven't done enough, just as Israel seemed sad because of the book of the law had been absent from their lives until they rediscovered it in the reading today. The Little Flower suffered from sadness of this sort:

"And yet other vocations make themselves felt--I feel called to the Priesthood and to the Apostolate--I would be a Martyr, a Doctor of the Church. I should like to accomplish the most heroic deeds--the spirit of the Crusader burns within me, and I long to die on the field of battle in defence of Holy Church." - Therese of Lisieux

But she was liberated by the teaching of Paul that the body has many parts, all of which are important.

"I knew that the Church has a heart, that this heart burns with love, and that it is love alone which gives life to its members. I knew that if this love were extinguished, the Apostles would no longer preach the Gospel, and the Martyrs would refuse to shed their blood. I understood that love embraces all vocations, that it is all things, and that it reaches out through all the ages, and to the uttermost limits of the earth, because it is eternal." - Therese of Lisieux

The solution she found was more than simply telling herself that she would do one thing while others did those things she could not. Rather, she discovered that she was so connected to the rest of the body that her hidden and small acts of love were actually the fuel that enabled all of the actions of the body as a whole. This is what the unity of the body means, not just for Therese, but for us as well. Whenever we choose to love, even if it is not apparently successful, even if no one sees it, or they see it but do not understand, even then it is still the fuel that makes the whole body throughout the world move and grow.

For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body,
whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons,
and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.

The Spirit that anoints us and makes us one is the same Spirit that Jesus tells is upon him.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me 
to bring glad tidings to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.

Because we are united with Jesus as our head, and the body throughout the world, as long as we choose love lack for no good gift (see Psalm 34:10). We too can say, "Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing." If we're lacking nothing, what can keep us from rejoicing?

26 January 2019 - power, love, and self-control

Saint Timothy - with deference to Saint Titus, a publicly licensed image of whom I could not find.

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Let's begin with a quick inventory. How much power, love, and self-control do we feel that we have right now? Have their recently been tasks which seemed too hard because we didn't feel strong enough? Similarly, has the choice to love seemed too hard to make? Maybe putting others before ourselves seemed too hard. Or maybe we just found some people too unlovable and couldn't stretch ourselves that far. What temptations have overwhelmed us because we simply couldn't resist?

For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice
but rather of power and love and self-control.

Whenever we fail at love, at living from the strength God gives us, or at controlling ourselves, we are succumbing to a lie about ourselves. We are believing what the enemy says about us and not what God tells us through Scripture. In truth, we have received the Holy Spirit of God and have all of the fruits he offers. But because we forget we need the advice of Paul to Timothy:

For this reason, I remind you to stir into flame
the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands.

We may well wonder how to do this. But look at the verb stir or fan into flame. We are told to get the embers moving and breathing. We are to work with what we do have in order that greater flames might be ignited. If there is a song of praise that makes us confidence, let's begin with that song and see how we can naturally spread out from there. If there is a prayer that helps us to love or to resist temptation let's really put it to use! If we follow Jesus there must at least be embers. Let's find them and fire them up and see what catches fire nearby.

Fanning the Spirit within us into flames is how we can take our place as laborers for the harvest. When the flames are burning we don't need to rely on our own money bag, sack or sandals. We don't need to fear rejection or worry about having our preferences met. The Holy Spirit burning in our hearts will be enough.

Whatever town you enter and they welcome you,
eat what is set before you,
cure the sick in it and say to them,
'The Kingdom of God is at hand for you.'

25 January 2019 - blinded in order to see

Today's Readings

(Audio)

The God of our ancestors designated you to know his will,
to see the Righteous One, and to hear the sound of his voice;
for you will be his witness before all
to what you have seen and heard.

What is true of Paul is also true of us. God has designated us to know his will.

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ  as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth (see Ephesians 1:7-10).

We too hear the sound of his voice, for he is the one speaking in scriptures.

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work (see Second Timothy 3:16-17).

Scripture is not dead letters on a page. It is God speaking. That is why it "is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart" (see Hebrews 4:12) and why it is the "sword of the Spirit" (see Ephesians 6:17).

We are blessed with a more complete and easily accessible compilation of Scripture than was Paul, who lived while the New Testament was still taking shape, and who lived before easy Internet searches. We have the same Spirit Paul received when he was baptized. We needn't fear, then, that we also have the same call to "be his witness before all" to what we have seen and heard.

Go into the whole world
and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved;
whoever does not believe will be condemned.

May the light of the LORD shine on us today to change our ways of seeing so that we can learn to follow Jesus and to put him first in our lives. If needed, may he knock us to the ground and blind us to those things which were only distractions until we discover the riches we have in him. May Paul pray for us that we become disciples filled with the same zeal that motivated him. Transformation is available to us if we want it.

All who heard him were astounded and said, 
"Is not this the man who in Jerusalem
ravaged those who call upon this name,
and came here expressly to take them back in chains
to the chief priests?"

The Spirit will make up for whatever shortcomings we have if we simply trust in the one who calls us.

For steadfast is his kindness toward us,
and the fidelity of the LORD endures forever.

24 January 2019 - always able to save

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Jesus is always able to save those who approach God through him,
since he lives forever to make intercession for them (Hebrews 7:25 - suggested memory verse).

Jesus is able to save us because he is not limited by his own sin. He is able to save us because he offers the true and acceptable sacrifice in the "true tabernacle that the Lord, not man, set up." Everything before this was earthly copy and foreshadowing. This is the fulfillment. Jesus is in heaven offering himself to the Father for us. Or, put another way, he takes us up into his eternal self-offering to the Father.

Jesus offers himself because he wants to to save us, not because he must. It is more than saving humanity generally. He wants to save us each personally from the things that specifically afflict us. His sacrifice does this precisely because it contains his sympathy for us, since he was afflicted just as we are, yet without sin. His sacrifice contains his perfect love of and obedience to the Father and also his perfect love for each created man and woman.

He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, 
so that they would not crush him.
He had cured many and, as a result, those who had diseases
were pressing upon him to touch him.

Jesus comes to heal body and soul. He comes to make all things new. From heaven, before the Father, he offers all that is needed to bring about this healing. We as Church must now join and that offering and receive the renewal it brings. When, during mass, the priest says "Through him, with him, and in him" it is precisely this sacrifice which we, as the body of Christ, join in. In turn, the Spirit is poured out and the sacraments are unleashed. This should add great joy when the Great Amen resounds from the congregation. This is why Saint Jerome said that it resounded like thunder.

May all who seek you
exult and be glad in you,
And may those who love your salvation
say ever, "The LORD be glorified."

23 January 2019 - indestructible life

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Jesus said to the man, "Stretch out your hand."
He stretched it out and his hand was restored.

Jesus invites us to take the parts of ourselves that are withered and in need of healing and to stretch them out to him. Even though there might be Pharisees watching waiting to judge we don't need to hesitate. It is good that we desire and therefore it is lawful. We fear the risk of being exposed, being seen imperfect, in need of healing. We fear condemnation if the mode or circumstances aren't perfectly aligned with societal norms. But Jesus speaks, "Stretch out your hand", and the opportunity is given.

His name first means righteous king,
and he was also "king of Salem," that is, king of peace.
Without father, mother, or ancestry,
without beginning of days or end of life,
thus made to resemble the Son of God, he remains a priest forever.

Jesus is the priest in the order of Melchizedek. But what does that mean?

His name first means righteous king,
and he was also "king of Salem," that is, king of peace.
Without father, mother, or ancestry,
without beginning of days or end of life,
thus made to resemble the Son of God, he remains a priest forever.

Jesus is in truth that at which Melchizedek was mere foreshadowing. He has no beginning of days or end of life. He is the king of peace who not only has a life that cannot be destroyed but can share that power with whosoever he chooses. Melchizedek offers bread and wine, whereas Jesus conveys the power of his indestructible life to us through his own body and blood.

It is to the feast of the Eucharist that we are called to stretch out our hand for healing. Perhaps we first reach to reconciliation if needed. But the goal Jesus has for us is that we receive the fullness of divine life. He wants to make us partakers in the divine nature. Well, the Eucharist is Jesus who has the divine nature. We are free to partake if we simply stretch out our hands.

Yours is princely power in the day of your birth, in holy splendor;
before the daystar, like the dew, I have begotten you.

22 January 2019 - hope that does not disappoint

Today's Readings

(Audio)

We earnestly desire each of you to demonstrate the same eagerness
for the fulfillment of hope until the end,
so that you may not become sluggish, but imitators of those who,
through faith and patience, are inheriting the promises.

Paul wants us to have great hope because we need it. Without hope we become sluggish. From there it is a short distance to becoming lukewarm. This can undercut our patience and eventually even the faith that we need to inherit the promises. Paul wants us to have this hope because he knows God wants us to as well.

So when God wanted to give the heirs of his promise
an even clearer demonstration of the immutability of his purpose,
he intervened with an oath,
so that by two immutable things,
in which it was impossible for God to lie,
we who have taken refuge might be strongly encouraged
to hold fast to the hope that lies before us.

We see in Jesus the fulfillment of our hope. We see God doing more than we can ask for or imagine in him. Even the sabbath, a basic element of the created order, finds new meaning in him.

"The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath.
That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath."

Without Jesus we find ourselves more oppressed by the law than liberated by it. We cannot discover the deeper truth of God's love which is always foundational. Jesus comes to us to give us this hope: that everything is coming from love, and is destined for love as its fulfillment. This hope will allow us to stand strong to the end, even to endure joyfully whatever may come.

He has sent deliverance to his people;
he has ratified his covenant forever;
holy and awesome is his name.
His praise endures forever.

21 January 2019 - all together now

Saint Agnes

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Jesus doesn't offer us a patch for our old lives.

No one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak.
If he does, its fullness pulls away,
the new from the old, and the tear gets worse.

He doesn't just offer more wine for the wineskins we already have.

Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins.
Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins,
and both the wine and the skins are ruined.

What Jesus offers us is newness of life. He makes us a new creation. He himself is the one who makes all things new. But we are often content to fit him in where he fits and to use religion as seems convenient to us. We have many areas of our lives where we don't invite Jesus in. These are often torn and at the point of bursting, but we fail to notice. Jesus wants to be the new framework on which we depend entirely. He wants to do life together with us. He doesn't want us to keep anything back for ourselves. If it matters enough for us to do it at all it matters enough to do it with Jesus.

Jesus is a high priest who can sympathize with us. He too was tempted to act apart from the plans of the Father, to keep parts of his life back from total self-offering. But he refused. And he can help us refuse whenever we rely on him.

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

We sometimes don't even seem realize we're being disobedient until it is too late and something has gone off the rails because we didn't involve Jesus at the start. He wants to be the source of our salvation, not just at the hour of our death, but now as well. Let us receive the new wine of joy he longs to give us.

"Yours is princely power in the day of your birth, in holy splendor;
before the daystar, like the dew, I have begotten you."

20 January 2019 - wedding presence

Today's Readings

(Audio)

"Do whatever he tells you."

Mary continues to trust Jesus even when he acts as though he isn't going to help. She senses that the true bridegroom won't leave any wedding feast lacking the joy of wine if the attendees are open to his work among them.

The secret to joyful celebration of the Kingdom begins in the hiddenness of faith that holds on in spite of obstacles. Zion was subjugated for a long time, and considered forsaken. Zion was like a bride for whom the wedding party had gone very wrong indeed. But the bridegroom did not abandon her.

As a young man marries a virgin,
your Builder shall marry you;
and as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride
so shall your God rejoice in you.

If we want our own Church to shine forth like the dawn, her victory like a burning torch, then we need to simply heed the words of Mary when she says, "Do whatever he tells you."

Filling jars with water might seem not only insufficient but entirely futile. This sort of analysis is what keeps God from working in power through us. We just need to listen and act, trusting that what he is asking of us is just what is needed.

To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit
is given for some benefit.

Jesus wants to be a close to his Church as a bridegroom is to his bride. He wants the celebration to be real, not simply routine. He pours gifts on his beloved to ensure that the celebration is joyous.

To one is given through the Spirit the expression of wisdom;
to another, the expression of knowledge according to the
same Spirit;
to another, faith by the same Spirit;
to another, gifts of healing by the one Spirit;
to another, mighty deeds;
to another, prophecy;
to another, discernment of spirits;
to another, varieties of tongues;
to another, interpretation of tongues.

Both charismatic and institutional graces of the Church are meant to be profound and life changing when we really open ourselves to them. Especially today, let us open ourselves to the wine of the Eucharist, the Precious Blood of Jesus, to which no mere earthly wine can compare. This will ensure that our celebration of the wedding feast of the lamb brings us more fully into union with the bridegroom who invites us.

19 January 2019 - the throne, no games

Today's Readings 

(Audio)

"Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.
I did not come to call the righteous but sinners."

Those who know they are sick don't recoil before the word of God, even though it is "sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart." The word of God is the tool of a surgeon which makes us nervous unless we realize that our hearts truly need him to operate on us. We are meant for life but our hearts so often choose death in small ways. This cancer of selfishness within us can be removed by the word of God if we don't run from it and if we expose ourselves to it as much as we are able.

The surgeon has good eyes. He knows what is wrong and what must be set right even better than we are willing to admit.

No creature is concealed from him,
but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him
to whom we must render an account.

Tax collectors are in a better position than Pharisees to receive healing because tax collectors know they are sinners. They know that their own lives are insufficient and the recognize something deep in the words of Jesus for which they have always longed.

As he passed by, he saw Levi, son of Alphaeus,
sitting at the customs post.
Jesus said to him, "Follow me."
And he got up and followed Jesus.

We needn't worry about making Jesus unclean by inviting him in to every part of our lives. The reverse will happen. Wherever we humble ourselves and let him in he will transform us. 

Recommended memory verse:
So let us confidently approach the throne of grace
to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help.
Hebrews 4:16

The word of God is the way we approach. It is the call which draws us to the throne, the Eucharist. Let us go rejoicing.

The precepts of the LORD are right,
rejoicing the heart;

18 January 2019 - rest and the rest

Today's Readings

(Audio)

When Jesus saw their faith, he said to him,
"Child, your sins are forgiven."

One wonders what his friends were thinking at that point. Did they go through all the trouble of carrying him and lowering him through the roof just to hear these words? It definitely wasn't the reason they were there.

What happens when we come to Jesus seeking one thing and then receive another thing instead? How do we handle it? Do we protest, or do we continue trust in the one in whom we trusted at least enough to come in the first place? Do we, as the reading yesterday said, "hold the beginning of the reality firm until the end"?

The "promise of entering into his rest remains" and it is this promise which draws us to Jesus. To pursue it we must be willing to surrender our ideas about what it would mean. We need to let Jesus define and draw us into the rest that only forgiven hearts living a life of selfless love can know.

Therefore, let us strive to enter into that rest,
so that no one may fall after the same example of disobedience.

God works in history to assure us that we can trust him all the way to the promised land. We see this in the story of Israel's deliverance and in the paralytic himself.

That they too may rise and declare to their sons
that they should put their hope in God,
And not forget the deeds of God
but keep his commands.

When our priorities are straight enough it is safe for God to give us the thing which originally drew us to him. When we seek the Kingdom first we do receive all else besides.

But that you may know
that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth"
–he said to the paralytic,
"I say to you, rise, pick up your mat, and go home."

Jesus wouldn't surrender the deeper healing of this man's soul to the superficial satisfaction he initially sought. Yet the heart of Jesus could not leave him in his afflicted condition. Jesus, who is himself God and man, never treats people as mere spirit or mere body, but as the whole which we were created to be.

They were all astounded
and glorified God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this."

The promise of his rest remains! Let us pursue it without turning aside when things don't go just as we planned. Something better is waiting for us than we dared to ask or hope.

17 October 2019 - encouraging news

Saint Anthony of the Desert

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Encourage yourselves daily while it is still "today,"
so that none of you may grow hardened by the deceit of sin.

We must not wait until it is too late.

For he says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation (see Second Corinthians 6:2).

Encouraging ourselves seems like a superficial affair that can wait until the real business is done. But if we don't take the time to encourage ourselves, to take the opportunities we are given to build up courage in others and to receive courage ourselves, we won't have it when we need it. When people give testimony, do we allow it to affect us or do we just tune it out? Do we ourselves share what God has done for us so that others may benefit?

"If you wish, you can make me clean."
Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand,
touched the leper, and said to him, 
"I do will it. Be made clean."

Jesus does will to make us clean. But sometimes, in the midst of darkness and doubt, it can be hard to remember that he is for us not against us. Hopefully, at such times we can treasure in our hearts the past deeds of the LORD. There is definitely a time when feelings will be unreliable and need endurance. With the endurance our hearts are softened and made more able to love. Without it, our hearts grow hard.

We have become partners of Christ
if only we hold the beginning of the reality firm until the end.

The reality isn't hard to hold if we take the time to be encouraged, to rejoice in what the LORD has done and is doing. If we do that we hope with great confidence for what he has yet to do.

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

16 January 2019 - free from fear

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Since the children share in blood and Flesh,
Jesus likewise shared in them,
that through death he might destroy the one
who has the power of death, that is, the Devil,
and free those who through fear of death
had been subject to slavery all their life.

We don't realize the subtle ways in which death controls our lives through fear. We don't generally go around moment to moment afraid that we could die at anytime (although this is true and there could be a right way to hold that thought). Nevertheless we do experience many fears that are the symptoms of death. When we fear failure, or fear to lose what we have, or fear getting what we don't want, these and any other kind of fears are actually the fear of death in disguise. Although intended to be a paradise this world is impermanent and imperfect. In many ways, it lives up to the expectations our fears set for it.

He approached, grasped her hand, and helped her up.
Then the fever left her and she waited on them.

Every healing Jesus performed was a victory over death in miniature. Death was a consequence of sin and Jesus came to solve both problems. God did not create death and does not delight in the death of the sinner. Sensing that an answer to their fear was at hand the whole town went out to see Jesus. They wanted to experience this reversal of death in their own lives.

When it was evening, after sunset,
they brought to him all who were ill or possessed by demons.
The whole town was gathered at the door.
He cured many who were sick with various diseases,
and he drove out many demons,
not permitting them to speak because they knew him.

Yet something more was required to solve the sin problem and grant access once more to paradise. The problem is not merely something external that can be solved by the snap of a finger. Deep, profound, internal changes were required in the human heart.

therefore, he had to become like his brothers and sisters in every way,    
that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest before God
to expiate the sins of the people.
Because he himself was tested through what he suffered,
he is able to help those who are being tested.

We often give in when we are tested. Fear makes us cave in when we should stand firm. It strips our confidence in God. Jesus conquers fear by his obedience. This victory is revealed in the resurrection and is the beginning of the final reversal of the death and the opening up of paradise to believers. We are now invited to taste the freedom of fearlessness.

For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!" (see Romans 8:15).

for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control (see Second Timothy 1:7).

that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear (see Luke 1:74)

Let us take fearful thoughts captive in our minds today. Let avail ourselves of the freedom Christ died to give us.

Glory in his holy name;
rejoice, O hearts that seek the LORD!
Look to the LORD in his strength;
seek to serve him constantly.

15 January 2019 - sympathetic ears

Today's Readings

(Audio)

For it was fitting that he,
for whom and through whom all things exist,
in bringing many children to glory,
should make the leader to their salvation perfect through suffering.

Jesus is in this together with us. We have a high priest that sympathizes with us. Let's take the time here to be amazed. Even angels don't have to experience what Jesus chose to experience for our sakes. When Jesus appeared on earth he allowed himself to seem "lower than the angels" because he wanted to be like us and to embrace the whole of human experience. He wanted to renew us from the inside out, transforming every facet of the human experience. He didn't care what that entailed for him as long as it meant "bringing many children to glory".

The people were astonished at his teaching,
for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes.

His authority was surprising, wrapped as it was in the humility of his incarnation. But it is precisely this combination, the authority of God from God, Light from Light, and the human nature and flesh he receives from Mary, that make him the perfect redeemer of mankind. He has the most profound sympathy for us but abides in the truth. We often hand one another over to lesser instincts and call it sympathy. Jesus is at once too human and too divine to let any misplaced sympathy keep us from the fullness of life that he wants for us. 

Along with the demons we may feel that healing will destroy us. It does seem that way at times. That is, that we feel it may remove some essential aspect of who we are. But we can trust the one who speaks with authority and who has complete sympathy for our suffering.

Have you come to destroy us?
I know who you are–the Holy One of God!" 
Jesus rebuked him and said, "Quiet!  Come out of him!"
The unclean spirit convulsed him and with a loud cry came out of him.

How do we respond to a God so great as the one we meet in Jesus? The crowds have the answer.

All were amazed and asked one another,
"What is this?
A new teaching with authority.
He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him."

Let's pause to be amazed at the greatness of our God. When we suffer today let us try to remember that Jesus is with us and that he need not have been and let this amazement permeate our day.

What is man that you should be mindful of him,
or the son of man that you should care for him?

14 January 2019 - fullness

Today's Readings

(Audio)

This is the time of fulfillment.

This is the time when the empty are filled. The hungry receive the food they desire and the thirsty receive the drink for which they thirst. Jesus himself fills this emptiness in us. How else can we explain the readiness of Simon, Andrew, James, and John to follow Jesus?

Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.

There is something in Jesus that makes it worth abandoning a life of familiarity to stay near to him. His presence now means more than the sense of security the disciples have in being able to provide for themselves. They learn that in the occupation of fishing they only experience a hint of the true fulfillment for which they are intended.

Then they left their nets and followed him.

Jesus leads them from a place of finding their satisfaction in the simply physical to the spiritual. They gain more fulfillment from bringing souls to Jesus than any stores of wealth could provide. No mere human could fill this emptiness. Not even an angel could merit such dedication from the disciples.

he took his seat at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
as far superior to the angels
as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

It is ultimately enough just to be near to Jesus and to gather the rest of creation together with us unto him. The Father's Son is the only one who can assuage this need.

For to which of the angels did God ever say:
You are my Son; this day I have begotten you?

The one begotten by the Father is the one who fills us all. Even our own fishing for souls has its source in his love spreading and gathering us all.

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth (see Ephesians 1:7-10).

Let's allow ourselves to be gathered and to gather today. Let us experience the gravity of love by which Jesus draws all people to himself.

13 January 2019 - the Holy Spirit and fire

Today's Readings

(Audio)

He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

We are baptized with the Holy Spirit and fire because Jesus brings humanity with him into his own baptism. At creation the Spirit hovered over the waters and from this primordial state all things were brought forth. God caused the world to revert to this uncreated state when he brought his judgment in the time of Noah. He promised after that he would not destroy the world again by flood. Yet his creatures, because of sin, still fell back into nothingness, eventually succumbing to death. It is those waters which Jesus entered as the new ark. His Body, the Church entered with him. The Spirit descends like a dove, proclaiming Jesus, and therefore all who are in him, to be beloved children of the Father. In this ark even death cannot destroy us.

He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

We tend to treat baptism like it is no big deal. We hear 'sacrament of initiation' and think of something primarily ceremonial. Honestly, we like those things. We're good at those things. We are less sure about fire. Fire isn't something that can be predicted or contained. It is either extinguished or unleashed. We need to realize just how important this fire is to God so that our own baptisms can have their full intended effect.

He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

It is fire more than ceremony that leads to genuine renewal. It is not because we check the box of attendance that we are heirs of eternal life. That which is old and dying within us is allowed to burn away to give place to the rich new grace that God pours out. Baptism does this. Our part is to let the flame continue burning and to stir up the gift we have received when it seems to weaken.

He saved us through the bath of rebirth
and renewal by the Holy Spirit,
whom he richly poured out on us
through Jesus Christ our savior,
so that we might be justified by his grace
and become heirs in hope of eternal life.

We, like Jesus, are now anointed with the Holy Spirit and power. We, like him, must now go "about doing good and healing those oppressed by the devil" for God is with us. The world longs for God to come with power. They long to taste the reward and receive the recompense he offers. They long to hear the voice of the shepherd. It is the Spirit we receive that they desire. It is the fire we have that they long to have burn within their own hearts. Therefore we must continue burning brightly ourselves.

The LORD grasps us by the hand and calls us to the victory of justice. Because his Spirit is within us we in turn must live as be his hands and feet in this world.

I, the LORD, have called you for the victory of justice,
I have grasped you by the hand;
I formed you, and set you
as a covenant of the people,
a light for the nations,
to open the eyes of the blind,
to bring out prisoners from confinement,
and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.

Fire seems dangerous. But if we embrace it we can proclaim a genuine comfort to a people who have been so long in the cold, light to those so long in darkness, and peace to those who have never truly known peace.

12 January 2019 - not to us

Today's Readings

(Audio)

He must increase; I must decrease.

We must be willing to let Jesus take center stage in our lives. We often enjoy esteem among at least some of the people that we know because we follow Jesus. We gain a certain credibility and respectability because of him. If not that, even those that are opposed to our beliefs at least have to notice us when we stand our ground. Perhaps even from them we win a grudging respect. Are we willing to let all of this visibility and fame go so that Jesus may be more fully known?

He must increase; I must decrease.

Are we willing to be less popular, less respected, and less trusted if it means that Jesus can be more fully known? Can we allow Jesus to work through even our foolishness and mistakes and weakness? This is key. If our case for Christ requires us to be perfect we are setup to fail. If we really want Christ to increase then our own failures won't stand in his way.

It is only by our commitment to put Christ first that we ourselves are safe from sin.

We know that anyone begotten by God does not sin;
but the one begotten by God he protects,
and the Evil One cannot touch him.

It is precisely the emptying of ourselves in love, not counting equality with God a thing to be grasped, that keeps us from the power of the evil one. It is when we allow Jesus's own heart to be manifest in our lives that we experience the protection of the one begotten by God.

He must increase; I must decrease.

Where are we upstaging Jesus in our own lives? Where are we depending too much on our own ability. Let's surrender those things to Jesus today.

For the LORD loves his people,
and he adorns the lowly with victory.

11 January 2019 - victory song

Today's Readings 

(Audio)

God wants us to have confidence in Jesus Christ. In order to have victory we must believe. It is for this reason that the Spirit himself testifies. He wants to convince us and to convict us of the truth of who Jesus is.

So there are three who testify,
the Spirit, the water, and the Blood, 
and the three are of one accord. 

The Spirit reveals Jesus to us. In the living waters of baptism, in the water flowing from the side of Christ, the Spirit himself comes to us as a living revelation. And only along side the precious blood of Christ does the living water of the Spirit flow. Wherever Jesus expresses his heart of love for us the Spirit bears witness and the Father confirms the testimony, either by his voice at the baptism, or by raising Jesus from the dead, or again by pouring out the Spirit at Pentecost. The Spirit is not merely floating around us telling us about Jesus. He actually comes into our hearts as we enter into the mysteries of the life of Jesus. We enter the mysteries in many ways, foremost among them are sacred scripture and the sacraments. In this way he provides a deeper confirmation than mere intellectual data.

Whoever believes in the Son of God
has this testimony within himself.

If we have this testimony within us, not just in our heads, but, as it were, in our bones, we have life. If we believe in the name of the Son of God we have victory. Believing in his name and his testimony means believing in his power. It means becoming convinced of the love he has for us.

"Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean." 
Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him, and said,
"I do will it.  Be made clean." 

It is certain that we all need more victory and more life. Let us begin with the testimony that God provides. Let us become ever more convinced of the love of Christ so that we can experience that victory for ourselves. Both promise and fulfillment are given to us in the Eucharist where he who eats with faith eats "Fire and Spirit" as St. Ephrem says.

And the leprosy left him immediately. 

Let us sing songs of victory today. If they don't feel sincere at first, let us listen once more to the testimony which the Trinity never seeks to offer. They long for us to know the joyful shout of victory.

Glorify the LORD, O Jerusalem;
praise your God, O Zion.

10 January 2019 - claim victory

Today's Readings

(Audio)

This is the commandment we have from him:
Whoever loves God must also love his brother.

Because the Father loves the Son he also loves all people who bear the image of his Son. We become sons and daughters of the Father in baptism. Even the unbaptized God loves in this way because he wants them, like the prodigal, to come home to the house where they are meant to live as part of his family. Since the Father loves humanity he wants us to love what he loves.

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is begotten by God,
and everyone who loves the Father
loves also the one begotten by him. 

The commandments are guidelines to check ourselves against so that we can be sure that we are loving as we are meant to love. It isn't finally about rules. It is about love. Not that the rules or negotiable. They simply point out the ways that love can go wrong and turn into selfishness. They protect us from deception.

We often find ourselves struggling with the commandments. We find ourselves not loving as we ought. It is at such times that we risk descent into a legalism that is concerned primarily with the letter of the law and not love. This is the minimalism that asks what the least we can do to get by and make it to heaven. It is not the glorious freedom of the children of God. When things get tough we must persevere. But we must not simply struggle. We need God's help.

And his commandments are not burdensome,
for whoever is begotten by God conquers the world. 
And the victory that conquers the world is our faith.

It's one thing to talk about victory. But what does it look like?

He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring glad tidings to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.

We might feel condemned if we ourselves tried to read this passage and claim it for ourselves. We'd think about how we can't possibly manage to keep more than one or two of those things in mind. But Jesus has the confidence that God's Spirit in him has the power to make the passage real through him.

"Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing." 

We are called to love. The commandments reveal that the victory does not come through our own strength. Rather, like Jesus, we need the Spirit to fulfill this call.

O God, with your judgment endow the king,
and with your justice, the king's son;
He shall govern your people with justice
and your afflicted ones with judgment.