31 March 2019 - no use swining about it

Today's Readings

(Audio)

And he longed to eat his fill of the pods on which the swine fed,
but nobody gave him any.

What desires of ours once seemed so good but turned out to be mere pig slop when satisfied? A good sign that we were putting to must hope in the things of this world is when they come up short and leave us disappointed. But how long do we stubbornly keep after them anyway? Let's come to our senses. Let's return to our Father's house. We've been drawn this way and that by our desires. The prodigal son lives a life of dissipation, which means dispersion, diffusion, dissolution, or disintegration. It means being pulled this way and that because the one true thing meant to center us is absent. So let's find our center in the Father's house.

Coming to his senses he thought,
‘How many of my father’s hired workers
have more than enough food to eat,
but here am I, dying from hunger.

Compared to our illusions we may not recognize the fullness of joy that awaits us in the Father's house from a distance. But rest assured, if we return, we will find it.

But his father ordered his servants,
‘Quickly bring the finest robe and put it on him;
put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.
Take the fattened calf and slaughter it.

What if we remain in the Father's house but still aren't fulfilled? Have we ourselves really ever understood all the blessings that belong to us? Or are we just stoically marching forward, assuming that the house of God is meant to be a privation to be endured?

‘My son, you are here with me always;
everything I have is yours.

Let us not stray from the Father. He will bless the land he has provided for us. He will give us the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain, the Eucharist to fulfill every hunger. All sweetness is contained within.

Brothers and sisters:
Whoever is in Christ is a new creation:
the old things have passed away;
behold, new things have come.

The younger brother who returns experiences himself as a new creation. And this is a truth to which he must cling, lest he become like the elder brother, ungrateful and bored with the Father's abundance. The elder brother for his part, must allow himself to experience being in a new creation. Maybe he once experienced this and lost track of it somewhere along the way. But he clearly did forget. Fortunately the Father is always ready to invite us into the feast.

So we are ambassadors for Christ,
as if God were appealing through us.
We implore you on behalf of Christ,
be reconciled to God.

Let's lay aside our own attempts at righteousness, at structuring our own lives apart from God, and receive what Jesus died to offer.

For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin,
so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.

30 March 2019 - claiming dependence

Today's Readings

(Audio)

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

We run the risk of being convinced of our own righteousness. Upon emerging from the confessional we begin to think and act as if, having been healed, we're good. We think that now we can walk in our own strength. We forget to consciously acknowledge our dependence on God until we begin to even live as though we don't need him. Then, when we go to mass, or to pray, or to give alms, it will all have the same character as the prayer of the Pharisee.

The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself

He doesn't even really pray to God. He prays to himself, to hear himself, and to know he prayed. This is how he convinces himself of his own righteousness. This is what can happen if our relationship of dependence on God is allowed to devolve into a list of things that we do for God. God forbid! He does not need any of the things we do. He prepares them in advance for us because we need them. Realizing this, we can become more like the tax collector.

But the tax collector stood off at a distance
and would not even raise his eyes to heaven
but beat his breast and prayed,
'O God, be merciful to me a sinner.'

He has no sense of deserving, because no one deserves anything from God. We did not even deserve the goodness of being created. He owes nothing to anyone. Yet the tax collector has a profound sense of his need for God. And he hopes that God will meet that need. He comes to the temple area even though he faces judgment from the supposedly pious Pharisee. He prays in a way that lays bear his heart and his need. May our prayers begin to flow from our need for God and not from self-righteousness.

For it is love that I desire, not sacrifice,
and knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

We have plenty of chances to mess this up and to step back into self-righteous religion. But every failure on our part is an opportunity for God to show us mercy. He won't abandon us!

Come, let us return to the LORD,
it is he who has rent, but he will heal us;
he has struck us, but he will bind our wounds.
He will revive us after two days;
on the third day he will raise us up,
to live in his presence.

Jesus chooses to depend entirely on the Father. Because of this he endures even the cross for our sakes just as the Father wills. He opens the way to healing our independent and disobedient spirits. Even when crosses weigh heavy on us we no longer need to turn inward. He shares the yoke with us. He opens the path to the third day, where all afflictions are healed.

The Jesus Prayer

29 March 2019 - like the dewfall

Today's Readings

(Audio)

You are right in saying

The scribe knows that Jesus gives the correct answer.

And when Jesus saw that he answered with understanding,
he said to him,
"You are not far from the Kingdom of God."

But there is still a difference between knowing that Jesus has the answer and knowing that Jesus is the answer. It is this difference that scares us. It is why we try to substitute a predictable moral law for a Messiah who might call out beyond our comfort zones.

And no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Our trouble is often that we hedge our bets. What is at its root a deficiency of faith on our parts is covered over by backup plans and worldly distractions. This Lent God is calling us to rely more on him and to set aside the things we use to anesthetize ourselves.

Assyria will not save us,
nor shall we have horses to mount;
We shall say no more, 'Our god,'
to the work of our hands;
for in you the orphan finds compassion.

We need to believe in God's love for us. We need to believe that he wants us to lead lives that are completely fulfilled, joyful, and peaceful. If we don't, we'll seek fulfillment elsewhere. But to the degree that we find it in God we need nothing else.

I will heal their defection, says the LORD,
I will love them freely;
for my wrath is turned away from them.
I will be like the dew for Israel:
he shall blossom like the lily;
He shall strike root like the Lebanon cedar,
and put forth his shoots.
His splendor shall be like the olive tree
and his fragrance like the Lebanon cedar.
Again they shall dwell in his shade
and raise grain;
They shall blossom like the vine,
and his fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon.

The beauty of God's love for us is more than poetic verse. The dew for Israel, especially in word and Sacrament is really and truly meant to sustain us and make us blossom. That is why we pray "Make holy, therefore, these gifts, we pray, by sending down your Spirit upon them like the dewfall".

God really does want to bless us. But to receive it we must first believe it.

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

28 March 2019 - inside and out

Today's Readings

(Audio)

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

It wasn't the healings to which they objected. When it comes to demons their own people were said to "drive them out" as well. What bothered them was the person of Jesus himself. When Jesus healed things didn't just return to the status quo. People and situations where forever changed. This was something unique to the authority that only he possessed. He was the one who could tell a paralytic to get up and walk. But he was also the only one who could forgive his sins and make him right with God. Other healers seem to have been able to make an impact on the outside. But the radical transformation of the soul was something only Jesus could do.

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

The people were upset because the finger of God was so close, closer than it had ever been in history. They felt the unpredictable nature of that presence as danger and recoiled. They sought to test, to categorize, and to ultimately tame the divine power. But it could not be tamed. The status quo actually meant that the devil guarded his palace and that his possessions were safe. Jesus refused to leave the world in the possession of the devil.

But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him,
he takes away the armor on which he relied
and distributes the spoils

We have a history of not listening to God. We tend to harden our hearts when he speaks. We skip legitimate discernment of the action of God and ignore anything that doesn't conform to our expectations, anything, really, that takes us by surprise. Today the call is to open our hearts and to listen. God is doing something new. If we let it, it will surprise us. But if we don't, we'll miss the opportunity for the grace he gives.

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

May our hearts not be hardened as you speak to us, O LORD!

Oh, that today you would hear his voice:
"Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
as in the day of Massah in the desert,
Where your fathers tempted me;
they tested me though they had seen my works.

27 March 2019 - the law, firm

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Or what great nation has statutes and decrees
that are as just as this whole law
which I am setting before you today?

Are we grateful for the law of God? We should be.

Observe them carefully,
for thus will you give evidence
of your wisdom and intelligence to the nations

The law helps us to live well ordered lives. It helps us order our actions toward God's purpose in creating us. The moral law would be no less real if we didn't know it. Our actions would still have consequences but these would take us entirely by surprise. But we are blessed to know how these moral laws work. Knowing how gravity works prevents the frustration of trying

to fly like a bird merely by flapping our arms. Knowing how the moral law works similar prevents the frustrations of efforts that cannot bear fruit.

This is particularly plain in the fuss about the “negative” morality of the Ten Commandments. The truth is that the curtness of the Commandments is an evidence, not of the gloom and narrowness of a religion but of its liberality and humanity. It is shorter to state the things forbidden than the things permitted precisely because most things are permitted and only a few things are forbidden. 
- GK Chesterton

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

Jesus is not changing the moral workings is the world. Rather he is making something entirely new possible even within the old framework. He fulfills the law and in doing so he makes it possible for us to fulfill the law as well.

By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit (see Romans 8:3-4).

The issue with the law was that all it could do was make us aware of our guilt. But now the law always points toward the ever present possibility of walking according to the Spirit in a new kind of freedom, one which we do not use as an opportunity for the flesh.

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

Sometimes we think that evangelization ends with meeting Jesus. But clearly Jesus wants us to help others to know the law as well, so that they can fully experience the freedom that he died to give us.

He sends forth his command to the earth;
swiftly runs his word!

26 March 2019 - family sharing plan

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant,
as I had pity on you?

This is about forgiveness but not only forgiveness. It is about loving as we have first been loved. Jesus paid a debt that we could not pay. He purchased us at a price (see First Corinthians 6:20). We in turn must not merely forego exercising our rights of justice on those who owe us. We must actively love as Jesus loved. We must delight to set people free just as the forgiveness of Jesus sets us free. Even people that haven't wronged us specifically are still entitled to receive spiritual mercy from us.

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

God gives us mercy so that it can overflow from us to others. He is not happy to see us set free only to use our freedom to build our own little kingdoms. He sets us free so that we can all rejoice together in his kingdom. And yet we have so many in spiritual poverty on our doorstep. How many of them must we evangelize? Seven? Seven times seven? No! We must never grow tired of mercy.

But with contrite heart and humble spirit
let us be received;
As though it were burnt offerings of rams and bullocks,
or thousands of fat lambs,
So let our sacrifice be in your presence today
as we follow you unreservedly;
for those who trust in you cannot be put to shame.

The way to ensure we don't start isolating ourselves into our own kingdoms and demanding from others that, at the least, they don't bother us, is humility. Humility undercuts the subconscious ideas of deserving that keep us trying to structure lives apart from God and his Kingdom, that keep us hoarding graces for ourselves that are meant to be shared.

And now we follow you with our whole heart,
we fear you and we pray to you.
Do not let us be put to shame,
but deal with us in your kindness and great mercy.
Deliver us by your wonders,
and bring glory to your name, O Lord.

Our hearts need to be changed. We don't care as much as we should. It is no use feeling bad and beating ourselves up about it. We confess that we have been selfish. Let us resolve to make the words of Paul our own:

We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God (see Second Corinthians 5:20).

25 March 2019 - after these messages

Today's Readings

(Audio)

For with God nothing will be impossible.

God can even raise up our lowly human nature. Even though he is so high above us he chooses to draw so very near to reveal himself. He can work through a humble virgin. He can work through us as well. If a human and divine nature can be joined in one person then we should not despair of God's ability to have an impact even in our world.

And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end.

How do we prepare for this? In stillness and in listening we await the words of the angel. And when he comes we receive the grace his words impart.

Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 

In Jesus we have all found favor with God. He tells us again and again not to fear. He sends his Spirit upon us as it overshadows Mary. Jesus was born in the womb of Mary. But he longs and desires to be born more and more in our own hearts.

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, a young woman shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Imman'u-el. 

In our hearts as in the womb of Mary the presence of God comes to meet a world in darkness and in need. Mary was open to the words of the angel. She welcomed the Spirit when he came. Do we?

I have not hid thy saving help within my heart, I have spoken of thy faithfulness and thy salvation; I have not concealed thy steadfast love and thy faithfulness from the great congregation.

24 March 2019 - above all names

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Sir, leave it for this year also, 
and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; 
it may bear fruit in the future.

The gardener is rich in mercy. He wants to see the fig tree bear fruit and will take extra steps of cultivating around it and fertilizing it to ensure insofar as it is up to him that this takes place. He is himself the new Adam, tending the new Eden of his Church. He himself bears fruit from the tree of life in her center and waters her with the water from his side. Is it any wonder Mary mistook him for a gardener at the resurrection?

Jesus is the culmination of God's self-revelation. What began in the burning bush with a God who could not be seen be only shown in sign by an angel of the LORD climaxes in the face of Christ.

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (see Second Corinthians 4:6).

God revealed his name to Moses. The philosophical import of "I am who am" was inexhausitbly vast. God was not merely one being among others. He was not simply the first in a chain of cause and effect. It would seem that this might have made him almost unknowable. Most attempts to go beyond this self-revelation wound up in pagan forms of anthropomorphism. Hence the prohibitions against graven images were given. And yet, God did have more beyond this name that he would eventually reveal in Jesus. The name revealed to Moses was joined with another word in the name Jesus, to mean God saves. Jesus revealed the Father's heart of love for his people. He was still beyond all knowledge. But he was no longer beyond the bonds of love.

She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins (see Matthew 1:21).

We are fig trees struggling to bear fruit. God is offering to fertilize and cultivate us with the revelation of the love that never ceases to flow from his heart. Just as his revelation to Moses gave Moses the courage to go to the Israelites to lead them out of Egypt so too does the revelation of Jesus Christ empower us to bear fruit in the new Israel, the Church of God (see Galatians 6:16).

More than an invitation to understand something merely abstract, we are invited to let the gardener do his work in our hearts this Lent. We are invited to see that he is not merely one thing among others by allowing him to prune away things which compete with him for our attention. We are invited to receive the true nourishment that only he can give.

Bless the LORD, O my soul;
and all my being, bless his holy name.

23 March 2019 - where the party is

Today's Readings

(Audio)

While he was still a long way off,
his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion.
He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him.

The parable of the prodigal son isn't nearly so much about what either son did wrong as it is about the heart of the father. He never stops loving the son who treats him as if he were dead so that he can have and squander his inheritance. He never stops loving the son who remains with him even as that son grows resentful and bitter for his imagined lack of blessing.

The father is waiting for an opportunity to love his sons. He loves the prodigal when he is still far away. The Father himself draws us to turn back toward him. He himself runs out to meet us. When we don't realize our blessings he is quick to remind us that all he has is ours in Christ.

For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s (see First Corinthians 3:21-23)

God is really looking for the slightest excuse to forgive us and to bless us. He does not delight in the death of the sinner (see Ezekiel 33:11). He is not some angry old man looking for reasons to condemn. He himself runs to meet us so that we might have life and have it to the full (see John 10:10).

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

The Father has a heart of kindness and mercy for each one of us. He is drawing us now. He asks whether we are content with the slop of pigs. He asks whether we are content to live near the blessings of the LORD without sharing in the feast. He invites us to enter in.

He became angry,
and when he refused to enter the house,
his father came out and pleaded with him.

Let us enter into the feast.

22 March 2019 - bearing fruit

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Therefore, I say to you,
the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you
and given to a people that will produce its fruit.

Are we a people that will produce that fruit of the Kingdom? Or do we rather resist when the master sends his servants to obtain his produce? The LORD has filled us with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is meant to bear fruit in our lives, "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control" (see Galatians 5:22-23). But when we're doing work, standing in line, on the road, or at any other time when God asks us to show forth these fruits do we do so? Or do we send his angels packing without offering anything?

"Your brothers, you know, are tending our flocks at Shechem.
Get ready; I will send you to them."

There is something prideful that wants to keep the fruit for ourselves when the vineyard that is growing that fruit isn't even ours. It is the same sort of pride in Jacob's sons that causes them to be unable to accept the unique way in which Jacob loves Joseph and sends him to his brothers even though this was intended as a blessing. The brothers feel unloved and threatened, but it is an illusion of their egos. We can learn from their mistake. When our Father sends Jesus to us we need to learn to not feel threatened by him but to offer him all that we have and all that we are.

They sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver.

When God reaches out to us there is always a choice. We can allow our hearts to be hardened or we can listen, surrender, and respond. There is no future in keeping the fruit to ourselves. It will only spoil. Only the plans of God endure.

The king sent and released him,
the ruler of the peoples set him free.
He made him lord of his house
and ruler of all his possessions.

21 March 2019 - the great reversal

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Abraham replied, 'My child,
remember that you received what was good during your lifetime
while Lazarus likewise received what was bad;
but now he is comforted here, whereas you are tormented.

Injustice is going to be set right. The good things of this life matter so much less than the matters of mercy and justice. Lazarus hungered and thirsted after righteousness but is now satisfied. The rich man only hungered for his sumptuous feasts. Lazarus was on his door but he was more interested in fine clothing. So the question to us is who are the poor on our doorsteps, those who we must ignore or step over in our quest for worldly comforts?

We need to learn that seeking our strength in flesh doesn't work in the long run. It hurts ourselves and it hurts others.

Cursed is the man who trusts in human beings,
who seeks his strength in flesh,
whose heart turns away from the LORD.

When we trust in God we not only flourish ourselves but we have fruit to share with those who need it.

Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
whose hope is the LORD.
He is like a tree planted beside the waters
that stretches out its roots to the stream:
It fears not the heat when it comes,
its leaves stay green;
In the year of drought it shows no distress,
but still bears fruit.

We have the riches of the gospel. We have a real treasure within our earthen vessels. We have found the pearl of great price. This wealth must be shared. In doing so we imitate Christ.

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich (see Second Corinthians 8:9).

We have to be willing to empty ourselves (see Philippians 2:7), not just of money, but of our own self will, in order that these riches may be shared and Jesus may be glorified. It doesn't matter what our abilities are or what knowledge we possess. The Holy Spirit promises to give us words (see Matthew 10:19). He, after all, is the treasure we are truly sharing, not any skill we ourselves possess.

Let us delight in the treasure we have received above all else. Let us ask the LORD for opportunities and grace to share it.

20 March 2019 - not to be serve

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant;
whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave.

Why are we here? What is our purpose in life that brings us to this day? Why did we get out of bed this morning? Many of us usually look to serve ourselves, although we don't think of it that way. We want pleasure or achievement or some other satisfaction for ourselves. The unspoken consequence is that we thereby expect others will help us achieve those desires. The trouble is that when we seek happiness for ourselves we cannot grasp it. It slips through our fingers like mist.

When the ten heard this,
they became indignant at the two brothers.

We may become aware of our selfishness when we experience feeling indignant at others who are basically just doing the same thing. Perhaps they are using us as rungs on their ladder to happiness. When this happens we tend to overreact. We do more than simply insist on well defined boundaries. Because we feel our own desire to be the greatest threatened we lash out.

Come, let us contrive a plot against Jeremiah.
It will not mean the loss of instruction from the priests,
nor of counsel from the wise, nor of messages from the prophets.
And so, let us destroy him by his own tongue;
let us carefully note his every word

We need to be like Jesus. He is able to love even those people who are trying to take advantage of him. He does this without succumbing to them or letting them sidetrack his mission. Like Jeremiah, he stands before God to speak on our behalf to turn his wrath away from us even while we are acting as his enemies.

Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve
and to give his life as a ransom for many.

If we seek to gain our lives we lose them. Only in service and love do we find the true joy for which are hearts are made. When we begin to feel indignant at someone today let us instead turn to God and speak before him on their behalf.

Into your hands I commend my spirit;
you will redeem me, O LORD, O faithful God.

19 March 2019 - father in faith

Today's Readings

(Audio)

It was not through the law
that the promise was made to Abraham and his descendants
that he would inherit the world,
but through the righteousness that comes from faith.

Abraham is an example of the faith to which we are called. He believes that God will be able to grant him offspring even in his old age. He becomes the father of many nations through his faith. In this, he foreshadows the even more impressive faith of Saint Joseph.

When Joseph awoke,
he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him
and took his wife into his home.

Let us imitate the faith of Saint Joseph. Like us, he sees things from a natural and human point of view first. Hence when Mary conceives we read that he "decided to divorce her quietly." Yet even after coming to this conclusion he is able to hear the voice of the angel and believe God's perspective about the situation instead of his own. Abraham believes that his age might disqualify him but believes God that it won't. Joseph believes that without him a baby could not be conceived but believes God when he tells him it will. Joseph believes in a more seemingly impossible conception than Abraham. It is because of this that Joseph more truly than Abraham becomes a father of many nations, even if he is a foster father.

“Son, why have you done this to us?
Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.”
And he said to them,
“Why were you looking for me?
Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”

As we continue to walk in faith we learn again and again not to confine Jesus to our usual human expectations about what he ought to do or what he is able to do. We learn again and again the lesson Saint Joseph has to teach us. When we allow God to be the Father of Jesus the secret is revealed. It is our human expectations, our lower ways of thinking that keep us from participation in the divine family that is built, not around flesh and blood, but on faith. When we let these go we experience Jesus as brother, and the paternal love of Joseph and Mary, even as we and they share with Jesus in being sons of our Father God.

I will be a father to him,
and he shall be a son to me.
Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever before me;
your throne shall stand firm forever.

Saint Joseph, pray for us!

"He shall say of me, 'You are my father,
my God, the Rock, my savior.'
Forever I will maintain my kindness toward him,

and my covenant with him stands firm."

18 March 2019 - adjusted judgment

Today's Readings

(Audio)

It isn't enough to escape judgment and condemnation. We must stop judging and condemning others. God is interested in more than any sort of legalism. He is interested in loving us and helping us to love like him in our turn.

Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

How often do our negative assessments of the behavior of other people prove helpful? How many times are we able to bring them some sort of wisdom or clarity that actually makes a difference for them? And how many times is it rather that we simply have a sense of smug superiority? How long is it merely a division between us and them that prevents either of us from reaching out to the other in love?

Jesus eats with sinners and tax collectors. Yet we make mental barriers that keep even the most mild of sinners away from us, and that for the sake of our pride.

But yours, O Lord, our God, are compassion and forgiveness!

We can turn back to the LORD together with those from whom we formerly separated ourselves. We can realize that we really are no better than anyone. This realization lets us seek mercy sincerely and frees us from the selfish illusions that prevent us from offering mercy to others.

Let us learn the spiritual law of giving. It is the antidote to our selfishness. 

Give and gifts will be given to you;
a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing,
will be poured into your lap.
For the measure with which you measure
will in return be measured out to you.

Do we know anyone who seems to give and give and take little for themselves and yet who is still thriving and at peace? This is the stuff of which saints are made. And, without saying we need to give all the possessions or all of the free time we have to achieve it, even still it is a path to which we are called. Little gifts given in the right spirit are a wonderful place to begin to experience this. God continues to bless us to ensure that we always have more to offer. We become rich to the degree that we don't cling to the riches.

Then we, your people and the sheep of your pasture,
will give thanks to you forever;
through all generations we will declare your praise.

17 March 2019 - bright hope

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Jesus took Peter, John, and James 
and went up the mountain to pray.

Jesus brings us up the mountain of transfiguration. He reveals his glory so that we can follow him even when we don't understand. It enables us to persist in hope even when we betray him. We see one to whom we can turn back even after our failures. We behold one who somehow gives us strength to take up our crosses and follow him. How?

While he was praying his face changed in appearance 
and his clothing became dazzling white.

In the light of glory that shines from Jesus we can already begin to see the light of his resurrection. We can see that the victory is already won. And we see this precisely while we hear him speaking "of his exodus that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem." We can learn that his cross and ours are not accidents nor are they defeats. Rather they are the way through which God shows his glory.

In short, Jesus reveals his plans, showing us that hope underlies every step of the journey.

He will change our lowly body
to conform with his glorified body 
by the power that enables him also 
to bring all things into subjection to himself.

When we ask the question that Abraham asks about our heavenly inheritance..

"O Lord GOD," he asked, 
"how am I to know that I shall possess it?"

..we see the guarantee we need in the glory shining from the face of Jesus.

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (see Second Corinthians 4:6).

This morning Jesus invites us to greater hope and greater confidence even in the midst of trials.

The LORD is my light and my salvation;
whom should I fear?
The LORD is my life's refuge;
of whom should I be afraid?

16 March 2019 - clean burning coal

Bishop Barron's Advice

Today's Readings

(Audio)

But I say to you, love your enemies,
and pray for those who persecute you,
that you may be children of your heavenly Father,
for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good,
and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.

We must learn to actively will the good even of those who persecute us. But why? Wouldn't it be better to just give everyone, even enemies, space, and not deal with them to the greatest degree possible? Why must we actively attempt to love them?

It is not enough to simply avoid seeking vengeance. 

Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head (see Romans 12:19-20, emphasis mine)

Coals? Saint Jerome suggests that, "[h]eaping coals of kindness on one who has wronged you can cure him of vices, burn away his malice, and move him to repentance" (from Homilies on the Psalms 41). After all, was it not a coal that purged the lips of the prophet in the book of Isaiah? Is it not the fire of the Holy Spirit who purifies us? Yet it is precisely God's kindness and ours that can have this purifying effect. It is precisely the tender love of Jesus that opens us to mercy. It is our tender love and forgiveness for our enemies that can do the same for them.

that you may be children of your heavenly Father

The goal is to have hearts like the heart of the Father. He loved us while we were enemies.

Indeed, if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more, once reconciled, will we be saved by his life (see Romans 5:10).

What kind of love is this that not only doesn't give up in the face of hatred and persecution but instead doubles down and loves all the more? It is something divine, beyond mere natural comprehension. Yet it is something in which we are invited to share. This is what it means to be a people "peculiarly his own".

And today the LORD is making this agreement with you:
you are to be a people peculiarly his own, as he promised you

It is "peculiar" precisely because it only exists in the heart of the Father and in those who participate in that heart through faith. As Catholics we need to be peculiar in this way. We need to show a world becoming more and more tribal and divided that love can be greater and more powerful than any differences between us.

Oh, that I might be firm in the ways
of keeping your statutes!

15 March 2019 - forgiving peace, more than forgetting

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar,
and there recall that your brother
has anything against you,
leave your gift there at the altar,
go first and be reconciled with your brother,
and then come and offer your gift.

We are called, so far as possible, to be at peace with all people (see Romans 12:18). We are called to seek forgiveness from others whom we have wronged and to be ready to reconcile with others who have wronged us. 

Jesus came to make things right between God and humanity. We took offense at him but he sought to overcome it even though he was not at fault. Even as we crucified him he still prayed that we would be forgiven.

When Jesus taught us to pray he told us to ask for forgiveness just as we forgive others. This forgiveness is serious business. We can't be like the ungrateful servant whose master forgives him an unpayable debt and who nevertheless, even after having experienced that forgiveness, still refuses to show mercy to his fellow servants.

Forgiveness is important to Jesus. He wants to unite all of us in himself. Any unforgiveness creates barriers to his love flowing from him to us and between us and our brothers and sisters.

But if the wicked, turning from the wickedness he has committed,
does what is right and just,
he shall preserve his life;
since he has turned away from all the sins that he committed, 
he shall surely live, he shall not die.

We need to turn back to the LORD and away from the willfulness that holds onto grudges. There may be those who have offended us whom we have not yet forgiven. We should strive to forgive them "from the heart" (see Matthew 18:35), not simply emotionally, but in terms of how loving we act toward them. There may also be those whom we have offended, whether intentionally, justifiably, or not, with whom we have not sought to cultivate peace. Let us seek that peace! 

Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! (see Psalm 133:1).

Ultimately, we all need to learn to rely on the LORD's mercy together. We are all forgiven debts we cannot pay. We who have been shown such mercy must now show mercy in our turn.

For with the LORD is kindness
and with him is plenteous redemption;
And he will redeem Israel
from all their iniquities.

14 March 2019 - knocking is no joke

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Ask and it will be given to you;
seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.

What do we desire? Let's be specific, thinking of the next day or so. Are these things for which we have sought the LORD? Have we asked, sought, and knocked? And if the door did not open immediately did we keep asking? More likely, we tend to briefly pray a tacit acknowledgment of these desires and then move on. There is a problem we conceal when we do this.  It is believing that God isn't interested in these deep desires or that he really can't intervene practically in our lives. But if he is not interested, than neither should we be interested. Yet we know that when it comes to giving good things God is indeed interested.

If you then, who are wicked,
know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will your heavenly Father give good things
to those who ask him.

True, sometimes the Father's good gifts are even better than we ask for. They are gifts of the Spirit rather than of the world. But even so our desires are never too great but only ever too little for what he wants to give us. The more challenging belief is to believe, like Mary, that all things are possible for God. Practically speaking, we believe that God can give us good and warm feelings and little else beyond subjective comfort. When we don't see the door opening day after day we get used to seeing it closed. How do we escape that vicious cycle? His words can empower us to transcend the limits of our expectations.

For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds;
and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 

Queen Esther understood the practical sense in which God wanted to be involved in her deliverance.

God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob, blessed are you. 
Help me, who am alone and have no help but you,
for I am taking my life in my hand.
As a child I used to hear from the books of my forefathers
that you, O LORD, always free those who are pleasing to you.
Now help me, who am alone and have no one but you,
O LORD, my God.

The main point today is that we are meant to be able to truly bring to God the things we care about, and to keep bringing them before him, trusting that he has answers waiting that are even better than that for which we ask.

Save us from the hand of our enemies;
turn our mourning into gladness
and our sorrows into wholeness.

The LORD will complete what he has done for us. Let's get to asking!

13 March 2019 - greater

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Jonah began his journey through the city,
and had gone but a single day's walk announcing,
"Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed,"

Jesus is greater than Jonah. Yet ironically, his preaching seems to have less effect. Nineveh repents when Jonah preaches. But only it is a minority who fully embrace the teaches of Jesus. He speaks with wisdom greater than that of Solomon, but more people are interested in arguing with him than in learning from him. Given the greatness of Jesus, why is he so apparently easy to miss?

One thing about the people of Nineveh and the queen of the south is that they are both foreigners. They do not have familiarity with the message of God sufficient to be contemptuous or complacent. The crowds in Jesus' day think they know him. They believe they understand who he is and where he is from. He seems to be just one from among them. And so Jesus, in his love, tries to upset these preconceptions.

and there is something greater than Solomon here. 

and there is something greater than Jonah here.

As to what, precisely is here, Jesus leaves us to imagine. He is the ever greater, more than we can fully grasp or imagine. And this is the other part of the reason why he is easy to miss. We prefer safe things which can be neatly categorized and held to certain expectations. Jesus, however, is not like them.

These risks about misunderstanding the identity of Jesus face us as well. He is always greater than the ideas and expectations our past experiences of him have shaped. We can become complacent.  We can argue when he goes against our expectations. We can dismiss him when we don't understand what he is doing. Or hopefully, by grace we can come to him sincerely, allowing him to be who he is, demanding no conditions for our part.

Cast me not out from your presence,
and your Holy Spirit take not from me

12 March 2019 - how you are to pray

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

We don't pray to tell God anything he doesn't already know. We don't pray to persuade him to act against what would be his normal inclination. We pray instead as people praying to a Father who delights to give us the Kingdom (see Luke 12:32). If Jesus himself tells us to persist like the widow against the unjust judge it is not a change in God that is the actual result. Rather prayer changes us first. The miraculous results in the world, though we should expect them, must be secondary in the mind of God or else he would not hold back until we ask.

Our Father who art in heaven

To pray well we must know who we are. We must begin with a sense of our identity as children of our heavenly Father. Only if his name is hallowed in our hearts do we have the confidence he wants us to have. When we cry out to God as Father we are able to desire what he desires and to ask in faith for the things he wants us to ask.

thy Kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.

The word that goes forth from the mouth of God will not return to him void. It is given to us through the Jesus who is the will of the Father. As the prayer we know as the Our Father this word has its effect in our hearts and in the world. It achieves the end for which it was sent.

We often underestimate the power of the Our Father. This is perhaps because we've gotten used to rushing through it, to simply babbling like the pagans. But there is immense power when we pray it attentively and with perseverance. The Father who gives good gifts to his children (see Matthew 7:11) is waiting to answer us.

I sought the LORD, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears. 

11 March 2019 - the least of these

Today's Readings

(Audio)

When the Son of Man comes in his glory,
and all the angels with him,
he will sit upon his glorious throne,
and all the nations will be assembled before him.

This image of the Son of Man coming in glory should be something to which we look forward. It should give us joy to imagine it. No longer shall the glory of the Son of Man be hidden or only revealed partially and hidden as during his transfiguration. Rather, all the nations shall behold him. Yet rather than giving us joy, this imagine sometimes makes us fearful.

And he will separate them one from another,
as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

If we are made fearful by the coming judgment it may be because that day will strip us of our pretenses. We will no longer be able to pretend that a merely abstract religion means anything.

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

God increasingly identifies himself with the poor and needy of his people. When we deny, ignore, or mistreat them we are in effect denying something of God's identity as love itself (see First John 4:7). This identity is why Jesus himself is persecuted when Saul persecutes his people.

And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting (see Acts 9:4-5).

For Jesus to recognize us at his coming we need to allow his love in us to reach out to his presence in our brothers and sisters.

You shall not act dishonestly in rendering judgment.
Show neither partiality to the weak nor deference to the mighty,
but judge your fellow men justly.
You shall not go about spreading slander among your kin;
nor shall you stand by idly when your neighbor's life is at stake. 
I am the LORD.

Jesus wants us to recognize his presence in others so that the seed of love placed within our hearts can reach out and grow and embrace them.

Amen, I say to you, whatever you did
for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.

These may seem like nice words of a pleasant metaphor. But there is a fearsome truth in Jesus' words of self-identification with those who suffer. If we embrace that truth we can have confidence on the day of judgment because he will not be a stranger to us. We will recognize him and he will know us as his own.

Come, you who are blessed by my Father.
Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

10 March 2019 - the word is near us

Today's Readings

(Audio)

For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

We tend to have a whole list of things we try before calling on the LORD's name. The Jewish people thought that their covenant of circumcision was all they needed to worry about. We tend to think more of our health and our bank accounts. What is the problem that each of these approaches share? They cannot save us. Only in the people of the New Covenant of God, the people with no distinction between Jew and Greek, under the same LORD, only there can we find salvation. 

the same Lord is Lord of all,
enriching all who call upon him.

We can only approach God through the redemptive work of his Son Jesus. We come to him through faith. But we do not stop there. If we want to abide in him we must continue to walk in faith. We must begin not just once with him, not just once a day, but moment to moment we should make faith our foundation.

The word is near you,
in your mouth and in your heart
—that is, the word of faith that we preach—, 
for, 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.

This sounds, perhaps, like a one and done situation. Believe, confess, and then chill, because everything is settled. But this is not correct. Rather, the faith to which we are called is a faith that can shape each moment of our lives.

For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin (see Romans 14:23).

To clarify, this doesn't mean we need a conscious thought of faith every time we act. But it does mean that we need a strong coherence between even the seemingly small aspects of our daily life and the faith which our lips profess. Only such faith can sustain us in the desert of temptation. The one and done, once saved always saved approach will fail us in the desert. It will be too distant of our word to keep our trust in God alive.

Jesus said to him in reply,
"It is written:
You shall worship the Lord, your God,
and him alone shall you serve."

The word of faith is meant to remain near us, not just in our hearts, but on our lips. We confess it for salvation not just once, but often, especially when we experience temptation. Just as the descendants of Moses stayed connected to their salvation history by faith so too do we. Just as that faith enabled them to generously offer themselves to God, so too for us this Lent.

Therefore, I have now brought you the firstfruits
of the products of the soil 
which you, O LORD, have given me.

The word of faith is not far from us unless we allow it to be so. Rather, let us pray with the psalmist, "Be with me Lord, when I am in trouble."

9 March 2019 - unencumbered

Today's Readings

(Audio)

He said to him, "Follow me."
And leaving everything behind, he got up and followed him.

Lent gives us a time to lay down encumbrances which keep us from following Jesus. What keeps us from moving at his word? What stifles the good impulses he inspires in our hearts? To this end, some soul searching is necessary.

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

We need a physician who is able to show us the path to life. This is the way Jesus alone can lead as we follow after him.. When we abandon possessions or habits or comforts it is not simply a negation, nor even for the sake of an abstract good. We do these things so that we can remain near to Jesus Christ.

Following Jesus ultimately means becoming like him. It means learning that we get more joy out of loving and serving than we do from receiving for ourselves.

If you remove from your midst oppression,
false accusation and malicious speech;
If you bestow your bread on the hungry
and satisfy the afflicted;
Then light shall rise for you in the darkness,
and the gloom shall become for you like midday;
Then the LORD will guide you always
and give you plenty even on the parched land.

This is not an easy lesson. But Jesus shows it to us first hand. He came not to be served but to serve. He came to lay down his life as a ransom for many. Even though he emptied himself and took the form of a slave to die for us while we were yet sinners he did not lead a life of self-loathing. Rather, no one was ever more joyful and secure in the Father's love.

We are invited to put Jesus absolutely first in our lives this Lent. If we hedge our bets we will miss the whole point.

If you hold back your foot on the sabbath
from following your own pursuits on my holy day;
If you call the sabbath a delight,
and the LORD's holy day honorable;
If you honor it by not following your ways,
seeking your own interests, or speaking with maliceB
Then you shall delight in the LORD,

When we choose to follow Jesus and to learn to love as he loves we begin to experience the same joy and peace he has in the Father's love for him. We become for others a sign of his presence.

He will renew your strength,
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring whose water never fails.
The ancient ruins shall be rebuilt for your sake,
and the foundations from ages past you shall raise up;
"Repairer of the breach," they shall call you,
"Restorer of ruined homesteads."

So, with the psalmist, we pray "Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth."